He looked for the river and missed it. He thought of it of an ocean, an ocean moving past him, with stories of where it had been and what it’d had seen. The great ocean merely glanced at you as it passed, and you hoped that it would reveal something of its greatness. It was a great river, never tamable, but willing to be managed. Many thought because it had boundaries that it was solved, that they had tamed the untamable. And then one morning it greeted them at their doorsteps, running its own course, and determining your boundaries. Whole cities and lands would suddenly become its own and stay that way till it would move on, on its own schedule, looking for the next place to claim.
He looked and thought again of the life that lived there, on the edge of the river, using it and beware of it. So much lived in and lived by the river that it gave and took equally. Food floated down from far away places to be bought or caught, used and eaten. Whole lives were lived, deaths came in time and in flood.
The great place that was the river carried life for everyone but it knew judgement too. Too much rain, or too much snow and if one isn’t watching it will come for you and everyone. Not a judge of anyone, but the consequence of all who dare to care and live with it.

OpenAI CEO suggests international agency like UN's nuclear watchdog could oversee AI
Artificial intelligence poses an “existential risk” to humanity, a key innovator warned during a visit to the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, suggesting an international agency like the International Atomic Energy Agency oversee the ground-breaking technology.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is on a global tour to discuss artificial intelligence.
“The challenge that the world has is how we’re going to manage those risks and make sure we still get to enjoy those tremendous benefits,” said Altman, 38. “No one wants to destroy the world.”
https://candorium.com/news/20230606151027599/openai-ceo-suggests-international-agency-like-uns-nuclear-watchdog-could-oversee-ai

Last night was a wild game that led to some important map changes for the next chronicle. Here are some highlights and observations.
Setup: Oath was most relics and banners. Chancellor had chosen this due to only one relic among 5 faceup sites.
Sacred ground(Denizen): Exiles may only reveal visions at the site of the Sacred Ground. This was located at the River, which was the seat of the Cradle this chronicle and last. Also it was a province before that. Now it has disappeared into the annals of time. The banana clan(yellow) revealed their Vision of Sanctuary and fought an apocalyptic battle here(18 vs 11).
Narrow Pass: This site has been with us, but not continupusly, for three chronicles. My friend hates it. We have seen it in the cradle, provinces, and hinterlands.
Skeleton Key: This relic turned the game from likely empire victory to chaos. A small secret economy led to 3 relics, including circlet of protection, being stolen from the reliquary.
Brass Horse: The winner was delivered victory by this horse. Middle of Turn 7 they controlled six provinces and obviously held a facedown Vision of Conquest. However they sat in the hinterlands with only 1 supply. The brass horse called and a nomad card emerged.

I (21F) am currently dealing with a very difficult family situation, to say the least. This isn’t what this post is about but a brief summary is necessary.
My childhood and early adulthood was one of severe emotional, psychological, and even physical abuse from both my parents, mostly my mother. Recently I was pressured to come out as bisexual, and that- plus other fights about my educational choices and my relationship with a (really great) guy not of their religion- escalated the abuse to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore.
So I left in the middle of the night with only a couple of bags, moved out with a friend who was looking for a roommate and got a job. I immediately cut contact with my entire family. Since I left my parents have been relentlessly stalking and harassing me. My mother has sent me a barrage of horribly abusive messages and threats. I’ve been pressing harassment charges but the police only warned her and it hasn’t stopped her. No one seems to listen to me about the abuse I’ve endured or the fear I feel. They just keep saying I have no grounds for a protective order and well, I can try to get a restraining order served.
My parents showed up at my apartment complex after somehow finding out where I live and I ran into them in the parking lot while I was starting to walk to work. My mother screamed at me, called me a whore among other slurs, and physically assaulted me. I slapped her in the face and ran, but she only left with my dad after the manager of a nearby restaurant called the police.
Anyway, last week I went to my local courthouse to try and file for a restraining order. I wound up going to consult with a legal aid about the paperwork and getting a court appointed attorney to help me file. I have an appointment to meet with the attorney soon and hopefully will get the order served that same day. But during the discussion about the reason I’m filing, the legal aid repeatedly sexually harassed me. Here is some of the conversation as I remember it:
Legal Aid guy (LG): Ok tell me more about the reasons behind this action
Me: [mentions my coming out]
LG: So you have a female partner?
Me: No sir, I do not have a female partner
LG:Do you have a male partner? How does that contribute to the situation?
Me: Yes, I have a male partner. [describes parent abuse concerning my relationship]
(This was repeated similarly as he asked the question again)
LG [a bit later]: So you have a male partner and a female partner?
Me: No, I don’t have a female partner
LG: But you have feelings for both? Nothing wrong with that [weird smirk]
(Later)
LG: What’s your major at [my university]?
Me: [tells him what I’m studying and that I’m a musician]
LG: You’re smart too! That’s amazing. You should send me some of your music [gives me his business card with his personal number written on the back]
Me: [nods, smiles]
(at the end of the meeting, as I’m leaving )
LG: Well your boyfriend’s a lucky guy, because you’re hot! So hot, you’re very attractive. You’re just a dream girl
Me [smiling politely through clenched teeth]: Thank you?
The worst of it is, I didn’t stand up for myself. I let it happen. I reacted with a smile like society expects of women. I was under so much distress because of the situation I was in and the pain of having to file a restraining order against my own parent that I just… didn’t care. I wanted to leave, to get the meeting over with. It barely even registered at the time what had happened. I feel so inadequate because I didn’t fight for myself.
And… just why? I was wearing the borrowed sweatpants and tshirt I had slept in, braless,I had not brushed my hair in days, my face was streaked with tears and there were dark circles under my eyes. I looked awful, not sexy. This guy took advantage of my vulnerability, my helplessness as a young woman going through a terrible time alone. I was trying to be brave by fighting against my abuse, and he reduced me to nothing. He made me feel like a plaything instead of empowered.
I’m going to report him, but I feel like it’s not going to do any good. Who’s going to believe me? No one has listened to me so far about my parents’ abuse, and this is just one more thing that no one will listen to me about. I’m so broken down I feel like it’s useless to speak up. This guy meets with many people every day some of whom are probably in similar positions. I’m just one girl barely in her twenties who keeps talking about being abused. Who’s going to listen to my story?

Out of curiosity, I wanted to see how much our team will change next season compared to this one, and the results shocked me.
Here are the starting 11 for Chelsea in the first match of the season, away at Everton (Tuchel was our manager):
Mendy
Azpi-Silva-Koulibaly
James-Kante-Jorginho-Chillwell
Mount-Sterling-Havertz
Out of the starting 11 (the manager is already gone lol):
Mendy - probably will leave
Azpi - will leave
Silva - There were rumours about him going back to Brazil, but probably will stay?
Koulibaly - there are rumours about us using him as a swap bait for Onana, might leave, might get loaned out, might stay and not be a first choice?
James - injured, will stay
Kante - probably will leave
Jorginho - already left
Chillwell - injured, will stay
Mount - probably will leave
Sterling - probably will leave
Havertz - might leave for Real Madrid
Only James, Chillwell and potentially Silva will stay out of the starting 11+manager that started the season for us!!
Later in the season we got Aubameyang and he will leave too.
But wait, there's more!
Chelsea's bench for that game:
Broja - injured, will stay
Pulisic - will leave probably
Loftus Cheek - might leave for Milan
Cucurella - fans want him gone, might leave, might get loaned out, might stay and not be a starter, who knows
Callagher - might leave, might stay, might get loaned out
Kepa - some say he might leave cause we want Onana, but he might stay, who knows
Chalobah - Probably will stay
Kovacic - will leave probably
Ziyech - probably leaves
Out of 20 players and 1 coach...you can not find a single player who will 100% stay (and is currently healthy lol)
Insane change!
On top of that, in contention for the Everton game was Timo Werner who was injured for the game so he wasn't in the sqauad, and he already left.
We are going to witness a massive change next season and I legitimately don't think we've seen a top contender change their entire starting 11 + bench from the first game from the previous season.

I recently moved into a new house in a quiet Suburban area. I’m not going to say where because it’s had it’s fair share of media coverage, and teens showing up at night trying to get a glimpse inside the infamous house.
It had been on the market for three-years, and I secured the house at a much cheaper price due to the fact that two people had been found murdered there.
The mystery and brutality of the murders catapulted the story into the local news. No specific details were released to the public, and I only found out about it because a friend of mine is a local realtor with connections.
Nobody was ever arrested for the murders. A male in his thirties was found in the living area, and a female in her thirties was found barricaded in the basement. Another mysterious fact was that the woman had barricaded herself in from the inside, in a desperate attempt to stop someone or something from getting in.
Yesterday whilst doing some cleaning in the basement, I came across a cell phone that had fallen down a gap behind the washing machine and the wall.
And there’s a voice recording on it.
Recorded the same night of the murders by the female victim. And, It’s pretty terrifying. I’ve already handed it into the police, but I made a transcript of the recording.
What you are about to read is the unedited transcript of the cell phone recording found in the basement.
I have to admit, it’s extremely disturbing. The desperation in her voice will haunt me forever.
Here goes.
“If you’re hearing this, please, please, please give it the police. My husband is dead, it killed him. I’m so sorry Scott.
I can hear it now, upstairs, looking for a way in, and it’s only a matter of time before it finds one.
I’ve barricaded myself in the basement and I’ve got my eyes on the only door, one way in one way our.
You see, it can’t move if you’re looking at it.
It began twelve weeks ago. The night Scott, my childhood sweetheart and husband of five-years confessed that he’d had a drunken one-night stand on his bachelor party in Europe. The apparent guilt had consumed him for the past five-years, and his sudden urge to be truthful was due to the fact we were due to get married this same year.
His words hit me like a freight train, and the urge to vomit washed over me like a tsunami. I stormed out of the house, our house that we’d bought together twelve-years prior. I felt like the world had swallowed me whole, and in a way, it had.
I was struck with a throbbing chest pain that rapidly spread down my entire right side. The pain intensified, taking my breath away, and I stumbled into a tree to steady myself as I felt my body about to faint.
Then darkness.
The next thing I remember, was waking up in a dark and dismal forest, devoid of colour. The air was dry and had a distinctive, malodorous smell, like rotten meat or that of a decaying carcass. But worst of all, was a terrifying feeling that I’d never experienced before, and one that I pray I’ll never feel again.
The feeling of absolute hopelessness.
The sky was dull and cloudless, and was ripped apart by soundless, ferocious lightning that illuminated the bleak landscape I found myself in. I felt like I’d been wandering for hours, maybe even days when I came across a decaying cave. Animal bones crushed beneath my feet as I made my way towards it.
As I approached the cave, the putrid smell grew with intensity causing me to retch, and I was violently sick, bringing up my own stomach bile. The entrance was made of crumbling stone and was completely opaque. I threw a small stone into it and heard it ricocheting down the stone steps and off the walls. The silenced lighting strobed the area, and I was able to glimpse into the cave and see a few descending steps.
Then, two yellow reptilian-like eyes flashed in the darkness.
I stumbled backwards, and just as the lightning struck, I was forcefully thrown by an unseen force. The lighting flashed continuously, accompanied by a gale-force wind, tossing me around like a rag doll. My eyes were fixed on the cave, and I crippled in terror, as a pale, gangly hand reached around the crumbling stone. Another flash hurled me hard against a tree, and suddenly -
I woke up in the back of an ambulance with paramedics hovering over me with a defibrillator, and two words that sent a cold and grotesque shiver through my spine.
“Welcome back”.
Welcome back? Back from where? What was that place? That thing in the cave? How long was I gone?
Hundreds of questions raced through my mind, but none of which I had the answer for.
Not yet anyway.
“You died in the back of that ambulance” the doctor said as I lay in a bed in the ICU.
The room tilted as I tried to digest what the doctor was telling me. I felt like I was in a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. I’m thirty-years old, I eat healthily, and I run four times a week, how could this be happening to me?
My scans revealed I’d inherited a faulty gene and developed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and suffered a cardiac arrest. I spent the next seven-weeks in the ICU and told nobody of the dark forest and the creature with the yellow eyes. Just the thought of that place was enough to raise the hairs on the back of my neck.
My mother practically moved into the hospital. Fussing over me like mothers do. She blamed herself for my condition, even though her scans were clear, meaning that I inherited the faulty gene from my absent father.
My husband Scott came on the first day, but I asked him for space. I needed some time to heal and process everything that had happened, about both my condition, and his infidelity. Although he kept that promise, he would call my mom every day to check on me, to make sure I was okay.
I wasn’t.
Not because of my condition, but for something else.
I’d started to see something.
I wasn’t sure what it was at first. It started as a tiny dot in my peripheral, nothing more than a spec on my retina. Of course, I had my eyes checked, but all results came back clear, as did the results for my visual cortex.
Days later, what started as a dot in my peripheral began to grow.
The first time I saw it, I was at my doctor’s office. He had left me alone for a moment whilst he consulted with my surgeon. It was dark outside and the sound of heavy rain pit-a-patting against the glass was hypnotic. I stared out of the window, watching as a small handful of people came in and out of the hospital.
Then, my eyes were drawn to an ominous silhouette at the far end of the parking lot. I couldn’t make out any distinguishing features due to the minimal light, but there was something there, standing deadly still in the shadows.
A car horn broke my reverie, a man was getting into his truck in the lot and must have pressed the horn by accident. I turned back to the silhouette, and it was in a completely different position.
It had moved.
It was standing eerily still again, but like it had frozen mid-walk. I could just about make out its elongated limbs, like it’s arms and legs had been stretched out.
The doctor returned momentarily, startling me. He’d gotten my scans, and everything was how it should be.
“Good news, you should be okay to be discharged in a few days” he said.
That was great news, I was so ready to get out of the hospital. I turned back to the window in curiosity, but whatever I saw had gone.
I didn’t think about it again until the night before I was going home. It was late and most of the patients were sleeping. My room is situated at the end of the hall, so I get a clear view of it through my observation window. I wasn’t quite ready to go to sleep and was watching something on my iPad.
Suddenly, there was a putrid odour wafting in through my open door. The same unmistakable smell that I’d experienced in that ‘other place’. Two nurses walked past my room, neither showing any signs that they too could smell it. I covered my nose and mouth to try and stop me from heaving.
Then, my eyes drifted to the observation window, and to the corridor.
It was here again. The silhouette.
At the far end of the hall. Completely still, with its back pressed up against the wall. But I could see it. It was tall and skinny, and had either feelers or tentacles stretched up against the wall like an ink spill. Its daunting yellow eyes stared straight at me.
I saw another nurse walk up the hall and straight past it, like it wasn’t there. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe visual hallucinations were a symptom of what I’d been through, or maybe it was a side effect of the many meds I was taking. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“There’s nothing there, there’s nothing there, it isn’t real” I whispered to myself.
I opened my eyes and, it hadn’t gone.
It had moved closer.
Halfway down the hall. It had dropped onto all fours like a large dog. Starring straight at me. Its long tentacles spread across the floor and up the wall.
I was absolutely petrified.
I moved over to the window, tentatively. The smell that resonated from this creature was overpowering. I watched it for a few moments, until a nurse walked past the window, startling me. And, like before, when I looked back, it wasn’t there. It was as though I’d imagined it. I climbed back into bed, but I didn’t sleep a wink that night.
The next morning, my mom came to pick me up. I left with a suitcase of medication and instructions on how and when to take them. I didn’t tell my mom or anyone at the hospital about my hallucinations. I was worried If I did say something, the doctors wouldn’t let me leave.
I had decided to stay at my mom’s until I was ready to talk with Scott. He brought a box over with some essentials, like my comfy clothes, pyjamas, and my own toothbrush as I’d been using a cheap store bought one up to now. He was sorry, and it was clear he hadn’t been sleeping. He said he’d wait for me until I was ready to talk. I missed both him and our home so much, but I just wasn’t ready to talk about it. Not yet.
My mom suggested that I go into town, see the locals, get some fresh air into my lungs. She offered to drive me, and then we would meet back up at the car after an hour.
Whilst in town, I noticed a poster for the yearly travelling fairground in a storefront window. I have fond memories growing up of this fair. It’s where Scott and I shared our first kiss. We were halfway round the Ferris wheel, when it started to rain. He covered us with his jacket, and then he kissed me. This was the moment I knew I’d fallen in love with him. I was flooded with happy emotions, and it felt right that I text Scott.
“I’m ready to talk, I’ll be at the place where we shared our first kiss at 8 tonight, Chloe x”.
He replied almost instantly.
“I’ll be there, thank you x”.
After a quick smile to myself, I went for a walk through the local market. It was bustling with energy. Vendors selling local, fresh produce, handmade furniture, bakeries, and plenty more.
After browsing the stalls, I was hit with that smell. That horrific, nauseating smell. And I felt the hairs on my arms prickle up.
I knew it was here. Somewhere. Observing me.
My eyes narrowed as I scanned the area. I weaved in and out of the locals looking for it. Paranoia struck me like lightning. I was bumping into people as I went. All eyes had now turned to me. I burst into tears, sprinted back to the lot and leaped into my mother’s car.
I was sitting in the passenger seat crying my eyes out. I looked out of the window and saw my mother rushing back to the car shouting my name. Someone must have told her about my freak out.
I looked out of the opposite window and, IT WAS THERE, standing on top of a vehicle several cars over!
“GET AWAY FROM ME” I screamed.
My mother whipped open the door.
“What is it? What happened?” she replied.
She couldn’t see it. Nobody could. I told her that I’d had a panic attack. I hadn’t been around people outside of the hospital for a few months and I felt overwhelmed. She knew I wasn’t being truthful, but it’s the only answer I could give.
That night I decided to go ahead and meet Scott at the fair. When I saw him waiting for me by the Ferris wheel, my heart felt hole again, if only for a moment. We got our tokens and went on the wheel. We talked as we went round, about how sorry he was and how much of an idiot he’d been, which I agreed with.
Everything was going well until I saw the creature again. Standing on top of the ghost house attraction. Watching me.
I kept my eyes on the figure whilst grabbing Scott’s arm.
“Do you see it?” I asked with a shaky voice.
“See what?” he replied.
“It’s standing right there, on top of the ghost house”.
I could see him squinting to look, but I knew deep down that he wouldn’t be able to see it, because only I could.
“Sweetheart, there’s nobody there, look at me” he replied, calmly.
“I can’t” I said solemnly. “If I look away, it’ll move”.
“Chloe, look at me, there’s nothing there” he said, as he grabbed my chin and turned my face towards his.
“No! it’ll move, it wants me to look away” I screamed.
I quickly spun round, my eyes darting back to the ghost house, but it wasn’t there. I looked around, anxiously, Scott looking on with worry.
“Shit, where is it?” My anxiety palpable.
I looked down, and it was at the bottom of the Ferris wheel. It had moved inhumanly fast. I screamed and almost fell out of the carriage, but Scott held onto me.
“Hey, hey, I got you, what is it?” he said, desperately trying to keep hold of me.
I stood up in a panic, rocking the carriage, Scott tried to hang onto me, but it was too late, and I plummeted twenty feet to the ground.
The last thing I remember, was Scott screaming for an ambulance.
I was fortunate enough to only suffer a sprained wrist and a slight concussion. My doctor wanted to keep me in overnight for observations, which I reluctantly agreed to.
I decided to confide in Scott. I told him everything. From the cave in the forest to this creature that’s stalking me. This monstrous entity that must have crawled out of the pits of hell. And worst of all, it’s getting closer to me.
He could see that I was terrified, and instead of trying to explain away what I was experiencing, he just held me. And, for the first time in a long time, I felt safe. We spent hours just holding each other. He offered to stay the night, to stay awake in the chair whilst I got some sleep, but I couldn’t have him doing that.
After Scott left, I managed to get a few hours rest. I woke up just after two AM and grabbed my bottle of water from the nightstand. That’s when I noticed the door was closed, even though I specifically requested it to stay open.
And then, there was that horrendous smell. I knew it was close.
It was in the fucking room.
It was crouched down in the corner on all fours, blending into the darkness, watching me. I desperately tried to scream but no sound would come out.
Keeping my eyes on it, I slowly climbed out of the bed with my back pressed firmly against the wall. I knew it couldn’t move if I didn’t look away. I side-stepped along the wall towards the door.
I started to manoeuvre around a set of drawers, knocking something off that caught my eye for a millisecond. But that’s all it took. It was now standing on its two legs.
It must have been eight-feet tall with outstretched limbs. A streak of moonlight illuminated part of it’s pale-blue face. Its yellow eyes glistened in the light. Its slimy tentacles spread up the wall and onto the roof.
I kept my back to the wall and kept moving. I made it to the door, grabbed the door handle, but it was fucking locked. I kicked the door, but nobody could hear me.
I could see the key for the door on the table in my peripheral. I fumbled around on the table without looking. I grabbed everything but the key. I knew I had to look to find the key.
I quickly glanced to my left – Saw the key – Looked back, and the creature was point-blank in front of me. Reaching out for my throat, its black, curved talon had pierced my neck and blood trickled down.
Somehow, I managed to scream and within seconds two orderlies had barged through the door. All they found was me, alone with blood trickling down my neck. I barged straight past them and ran as fast as I could out of the hospital.
I ended up running all the way home. I banged as loud as I could on the door, forgetting that it was almost three-thirty in the morning. Scott answered the door in his pyjamas with a worried look plastered across his face.
I told him what had happened at the hospital whilst he bandaged my neck.
“See, this is proof that what I’m seeing is real, this is physical proof, you believe me, right, you have to?” I barked.
After a momentary pause, he replied:
“Yes, I believe you. I believe... I believe you’re seeing something”.
I registered the pause, and the hesitation in his voice. He didn’t believe me, and I didn’t blame him.
After talking for a few hours, I had calmed down enough that I told Scott to get some sleep. He was reluctant to leave me, so he took a nap in the chair. I grabbed my laptop and searched the web for anything related to what was happening to me.
There’re thousands of incidents across the world relating to haunted houses, demons, cults, and possessions, but none that was specific to the entity that was stalking me.
Every time I heard a sound, a car outside or a floorboard creek I jumped. I was a nervous wreck. I went into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. I looked out of the window into the darkness, expecting to see it watching me. But it wasn’t.
I went back into the room, and –
IT WAS THERE!
I dropped the glass, and it shattered on the floor. Scott leaped from the chair.
“What, what is it?”
I couldn’t speak. My lips were glued shut. I slowly raised my hand and pointed at it. It was standing at the far end of the room. I kept my eyes on it the entire time. Scott rushed over to me.
“Hey, Chloe, there’s nothing their sweetheart, whatever you’re seeing isn’t real”.
He headed towards it.
“NO, SCOTT, PLEASE DON’T!” I pleaded, as I grabbed his arm.
He shrugged it off and marched over to it.
“There’s nothing here, I’m going to prove it to you” he said.
He cocked his arm back and swung his fist, only his arm stopped mid-swing.
HE HIT THE FUCKING CREATURE!
I moved to grab Scott and stood bare foot on the broken shards of glass, cutting my feet, I screamed out, and for a split second, I LOOKED DOWN.
And that’s all it took.
When I looked up, the creature had already grabbed Scott and folded him in half like a piece of paper. The sound of his spine breaking echoed through the room. Scott laid dead on the floor, his eyes widen open and looking at me.
I screamed and backed away into the kitchen. I slammed the door shut and ran to the rear door. It was locked and I’d left my keys in my bag in the front room. I noticed Scott’s cell on the countertop, so I grabbed it and ran down into the basement.
I shut the door and pushed the spare fridge in front of it. And then I hid in the corner. Crouched down beside the washing machine.
Which is where I am now. Hiding. Crying. I can’t call anyone because Scott’s cell doesn’t have a signal down here, which is why I’m recording this message on his cell in the hopes that someone will hear my story.
I can hear it now, moving around upstairs. It knows my eyes will be watching the door, so it’s looking for another way in. I’m so scared.
I’m the reason Scott’s dead. My true love. And I’ll never forgive myself for that. The thought of that is far worse than anything that monster can do to me.
Oh God, it’s here!
The old fucking laundry chute! Goddammit!
WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!?!
It’s watching me with those horrifying yellow eyes.
I can’t keep running because it’ll find me.
And I won’t put anyone else in danger.
It’s me that it wants.
Scott I’m so sorry, I love you so much.
And Mom, I love you so much.
I’m going to close my eyes now.
Three.
Two.
One”
That’s it, that’s the recording. It’s very disturbing to me. If only you could hear her voice. She was terrified.
The police haven’t been back in contact as I write this, and I’m not expecting them too either.
The woman mentioned her mother in the recording, I might try and find her. Tell her what I've found, just in case the police don’t believe it.

Part 1
Part 2
We were driving rapidly down Main Street as a horrible creature from another dimension followed behind us, its long strides keeping pace and making the car shake with each step it took. The engine roared as we sped away from the butcher shop. Randy was sitting in the seat next to me and it took me a minute to realize he was eating something.
It was a bucket of KFC.
"Seriously!? How can you be hungry at a time like this?? We're about to die, Randy!"
"We got bigger problems than that right now," he said, patting down his pockets with greasy fingers and leaving stains as he searched for something. "We're all out of booze! We need to make a pit stop as soon as you get a chance."
Normally this would be an absurd statement. But unfortunately the lack of alcohol was a bit of an issue, since there were plenty more monsters ready to come through into our world, and the only thing keeping them out was our ability to stay intoxicated so we didn’t see them. I had kept my percentage down below the legal driving limit, but I was starting to feel like that wasn't cutting it anymore.
"You need to start drinking more," Randy explained. "You're the one who saw it first, remember? If anything, this is kinda your fault."
I gripped the steering wheel with white knuckled rage and continued driving.
Regardless of what he said, I want to make sure it's on the record that this was all Randy's fault. He had admitted to making at least one wish using a cursed magic monkey paw - and we all know how that usually plays out.
I saw a convenience store and immediately slammed on the brakes. Reaching over Randy, I threw open his door and kicked him out. It was easy since he wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was already beginning to fall asleep.
"What the fuck, dude?" He yelled as I pulled away.
"Get us more booze! I'm gonna circle the block," I shouted at him out the window, picking up speed.
Then I took out my gun and aimed at the monster which was getting closer by the second. I took three shots at it over my shoulder and missed two of them. But the third caught it squarely in the neck and it began to howl a guttural cry, dripping black blood all over the street from its fresh wound. It slowed down momentarily, but then picked up its pace again, coming after me with renewed rage.
My goal had been accomplished, though. I’d been trying to keep it away from Randy, since he was on foot and more vulnerable. We would need to abandon the car, though, I realized. If I was going to start drinking more I wouldn’t be able to drive safely. As bad as things were getting, I wasn’t about to start breaking the law - especially that particular one. I’d seen enough death and destruction caused by drunk drivers over my years on the force. I wasn’t going to go down that road.
I looked back to see the creature still gaining on me.
My mind was racing trying to think of a way to evade it, to outwit it. I needed to do something to kill it. But what?
Suddenly my cell phone was ringing. I picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It was Jay, the delivery driver. He was in the car ahead of me and I had kind of forgotten he was there.
“Listen,” he said quickly. “I got a plan. We need to lure that thing to the swamp. Just follow me and keep up the pace.”
“It’s a cop car,” I said dryly. “I’m pretty sure I can keep up with your piece of shit-”
My words were cut short as the line went dead and the car ahead of me began to accelerate rapidly. I floored it but found the guy was still gaining distance between the two of us.
Whatever he had under the hood was making that little car go a lot faster than I would have thought possible.
My phone dinged and I looked down to see a text from Jay. It was an eggplant with a water spray emoji.
This fucking town…
*
We reached the edge of the city limits of Hollow’s End to find a parking lot which sloped at an unnatural angle downwards. At the bottom of this strange gravel lot was a murky-looking swamp full of brackish green water. A small copse of trees stood to one side near the shore.
No other cars were parked there which was good, since the creature was still close behind us.
I was following Jay as closely as I could and imitating his car’s movements, although my vehicle was sluggish and clumsy by comparison. He was still driving at top speed, and I figured it was important that I keep up with him for whatever he planned to do.
When we reached the edge of the water, near that little grouping of trees, he hit the brakes and swerved to the right. His tires stayed on the gravel, but just barely. The entire parking lot was sloped so severely towards the water that the force of gravity was insisting on taking us into the swamp.
Realizing that my bigger vehicle wouldn’t make the turn in time, I hit the brakes early and tried to slow down, knowing that otherwise I would crash right into a tree or go into the water trying to make the move.
As soon as I slowed down I could hear the creature’s breath and its movements just behind the car. I avoided the temptation to look back, since I knew it would be my death if I did. Instead, I yanked hard on the wheel and turned it to the right, skidding to a stop on the grass, my fender just inches away from a large pine tree.
The creature’s brakes were not quite as good as mine, since it was desperate to kill me and hadn’t really slowed down. Instead, it went skidding into the green water, coated with algae and looking much thicker than was normal. It was like a giant bowl of pea soup. The creature was thrashing around, looking as if it were in pain, and then I noticed the tendrils of swamp water moving on its skin, pulling it in deeper, like an enormous squid wrestling with a shark.
My phone rang again and I picked it up, my eyes still focused on the creature trying to get out of the swamp. It looked like it would not be able to escape from whatever was holding it there, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn’t gone in with that wild last minute maneuver.
Then it was as if an enormous hand reached up from below and pulled the creature under. Despite the fact that there were only dark empty sockets where eyes should have been, I could have sworn I saw them widen as it was dragged under, and then was gone.
“Problem solved,” Jay said when I answered the phone. “You can thank me later. And we’ll definitely owe Swampy a favor. Now let’s get back into town and grab Randy. Maybe the three of us can figure out a solution to this whole mess.”
*
I managed to convince Jay to let me ride shotgun in his car, telling him that mine was having engine trouble. This was partly as a ploy to make him our designated driver, but also to cover for the fact that he was clearly the superior driver of a far better automobile than my cruiser. And who knew when we’d have to outrun one of those monsters again?
After applying copious amounts of duct tape to all of the mirrors on the vehicle, we were off, heading back towards the convenience store where I’d left Randy.
We found him out front with a large paper bag full of bottles in his arms, sleeping in the grassy ditch near the road. There were several children taking turns at poking him with a stick.
“Okay, beat it, kids!” I yelled at them as we approached.
The children ran off and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a few of them looked very odd. One had a furry face and ears like a dog, while another had red eyes, and yet another was running on all fours. They scattered in every direction, making it difficult to pinpoint any other discrepancies.
“What’s the deal with this town?” I muttered to nobody in particular.
“How much time do you have?” Jay asked, laughing. “This place is weirder than you could possibly imagine. There’s a lot of history here. Sorry to say, you didn’t really know what you were getting into when you moved to this place.”
“Can you give me a quick summary?” I asked, kicking Randy gently in the ribs. He snored and swatted the air like an annoyed cat, then rolled over on his other side. His right leg began to pump up and down as if he were chasing a rabbit in his dreams.
“I’m not really at liberty to discuss all of it. People in Hollow’s End prefer to keep their secrets to themselves. But if you get to know them, you’ll find most folks are nice enough. As long as you live here, anyways. Tourists do tend to occasionally go missing if they stay out past sunrise. And if you meet anyone wearing a hooded robe your best bet is to avoid them. Oh, and there’s this guy named Frank who-”
Randy sat bolt upright, screaming at the top of his lungs, clutching the bag of liquor bottles so tightly against his chest that I thought they would shatter.
“It’s okay, man,” I said, leaning down to pat his shoulder in what I hoped was a comforting gesture. “It was just a nightmare.”
He was breathing heavily for a few moments and didn’t respond. But then finally he unscrewed the cap of one of the liquor bottles and took a long gulp.
“Right. A nightmare. That’s all it was.”
He didn’t seem entirely convinced.
“Alright, what’s the plan, guys?” Jay asked. “I’m happy to help out if you need me to.”
I took one of the liquor bottles from Randy and took a long drink from it. After wiping my mouth, I screwed the cap back on and stuffed the bottle in my pocket. Thinking hard about the next lead to follow up on, I came up short. We didn’t really have anything.
“Do you know anyone who would be interested in buying a monkey paw?” I asked. “Is there anyone in town dumb enough or reckless enough to take ownership of it? Because I feel like that fucking thing is at the center of all of this. It’s like a murder investigation - if we can find the weapon used to commit the crime, we might be able to solve it.”
Jay looked at me and Randy looked at the ground between his legs.
“I know just the guy,” Jay answered. “You know how I was telling you to stay away from Frank? Well, we might need to disregard that advice, just temporarily.”
*
The three of us pulled up outside a house a short while later, now with Jay behind the wheel, chauffeuring us around town.
We went up to the front door and he continued explaining the protocol for how to deal with this Frank individual.
“Remember, whatever you do, don’t stare. And don’t go inside his house - whatever he wants to tell us he can tell us outside. People who go in there are usually tourists, and they’re never, ever seen again. That’s like guaranteed death just stepping into that place.”
I tried not to think about how many rules I was breaking, how many vows in my oath as a Sheriff were completely null and void now.
“You know I’m a police officer, right? Most people don’t speak so freely about the kidnapping and murder of tourists.”
Randy slapped my arm.
“Come on, man. Just when we’re starting to think you’re cool, you go and say something like that. Killing tourists is a proud tradition in Hollow’s End. If you don’t like it then you shouldn’t have moved here.”
I didn’t have time to debate the subject anymore, as Jay was now knocking on the front door of the house.
The door swung open on the first knock, as if it had been slightly ajar.
“Hello,” Jay called into the darkness. “Frank? Are you there? I need to talk to you about something.”
He stuck his head into the dark gap afforded by the open door. For a moment I had a horrible mental image of it slamming shut on his neck, squeezing and choking him as blood poured from wounds created by the pressure of sharp wood on his flesh.
But instead, something worse happened.
Jay let out a gasp and then disappeared through the gap. As if he had been picked up by his hair and was dragged inside by a hungry bear.
My heart was pounding fast as I realized I was going to have to ignore all of Jay's warnings if I was going to save him and the town. Despite the dangers, we were going to have to go inside after all.
YT
TCC

A question for the community: Who else has been flagged on grounds of "attitude" specifically related to duties assigned but not compensated in some way?
My example: A while back, boss called me in and congratulated me on a fine performance review. He said he had a list of "responsibilities" that he felt that I should take on.
I said, "All right, you want me to take on an increased workload. I assume this means some sort of promotion?"
He frowns. "No, not workload. Responsibility."
"Yes, you want me to assume responsibility for some things that I was not formerly responsible for. But now, I am thinking that perhaps this does NOT mean a promotion?"
He continues to frown. "We feel that you are not shouldering your share of the responsibility for this subsection."
"I don't understand," I said. "A minute ago, you're telling me I had a great performance review. Someone -- I thought it was you -- was saying I did a great job. Now you're telling me that I am NOT doing a great job. Which is it?"
"No, no," he says. "We just feel that you could be taking on more responsibilities."
"All right," I said. "And what compensation, above and beyond what I have now, am I offered for taking on more responsibilities? Promotion? Raise? Or am I hearing you just want me to do more work for the same pay?"
He frowns again. "I don't think you're taking the right attitude about this," he said.
Conversation went downhill from there. As far as I could determine, he felt that I should be shouldering more of the managerial workload without a matching increase in authority, position, title, or pay. And that I should be glad to do this. And that my failure to be glad to do this, or to agree to it, was in some way a personal failing, and would be noted in further performance reviews.
I transferred to a different section after that, but noticed not long after that this method of personnel management seemed endemic to the organization. "We don't want to raise your pay, but we want to slowly increase your workload, and your recognition of our underhandedness is NOT APPRECIATED! But if you just smile and nod and do it, we'll imply that you will be rewarded in the future in some unpromised and nebulous fashion."
I'm new around here. Has anyone else run up against this particular method of personnel management?

My abbreviated story if anyone wishes to read it. TW: su1cide/mention of sexual abuse
My father is a malignant narcissist. He abused my mother, my sibling, and I our entire lives. He has abused us financially, emotionally, physically, and sexually. My mother was very sick for a very long time and her sickness was made tremendously worse by the ongoing, never-ending abuse. He was a cruel bully throughout my childhood but my mother took the brunt of the abuse to protect me until she became too ill to fully protect me as she once did.
I am the oldest daughter and the scapegoat. My father became possessive and sexually obsessed with me when I became a teenager and began to develop (around age 12). He constantly grounded me to keep me from leaving the house and if I ever did leave or go to a birthday party he would stalk me while I wasn't home often driving by the house I was staying at numerous times or following us if we went to the movies or the mall to watch us for the entirety of the time I was out. My friends often bullied me because of my father's abuse and tendencies. My father's sexual obsession with me accelerated when I began talking to a boy at the age of 18. At that time, he began to stalk and harass me and my friends and the boy's family. He made ludicrous and offensive accusations, insulted me and my mother, and made my life absolute hell. The boy broke up with me. No one did anything to help.
It was at this time my mother attempted to leave him by moving out and into an apartment. But my mother was already very sick and struggled to support herself. My father took advantage of this and abused her further until she could take no more and moved back in with him out of fear for her youngest child. At the time I was in college and he was paying people to stalk me, calling and harassing me and my friends, and even their families. I never graduated.
My younger sibling was born when I was 15. I became my mother's caretaker and raised my sibling until I was 22. My father despised my mother at this point and her inability to perform as a trophy wife. But he also refused to let her go. Abuse of my mother included harassing her doctors so she was denied health care, berating her for being ill and calling her a hypochondriac and faker, calling her a fat loser and a terrible mom as well as other forms of abuse I don't feel like elaborating on at this time. It was relentless.
But to the public my father was a loving caretaker father and husband. To the public he was a hardworking, kind business owner who dedicated his entire being to his wife and children. He was just so pitiful because his wife was sick and he loved her so much. But his oldest daughter was lazy, selfish, and spoiled. As time went by, any mention of the abuse was automatically blamed on the oldest daughter (me)the black sheep, the scapegoat, as making shit up and lying. That I was just "crazy" or "sick in the head". Ppl chose to believe him because it was more convenient and because he always paid for dinner or bought them vacations or new cars! People can be bought so cheap.
My father was real particular about the abuse he directed at me as the scapegoat and turned my younger sibling into the golden child.
My father specifically worked to sabotage any dream or attempt at happiness I ever had. From the moment I was born I became a threat to my father. I was everything he could never be and he despised that. He made sure I didn't date, he ensured I didn't graduate college, he made sure I never got to study my passions, he sabotaged my attempt at becoming a singer, an artist, even went after my friends so I would be all alone. What ways you ask? Fake social media accounts to attack my reputation, harassing people, trash talking, calling people and telling them not to hire me, leaving vicious comments and bad reviews, you name it. He would even contact my landlords so that I would get kicked out of my home.
He also harassed me at every job that I had for years to the point that I lost jobs and learned I had to notify my managers of who he was and develop a system of what to do if he showed up. I couldn't even keep a job because he was so determined to sabotage me in every way.
I developed numerous anxiety disorders and by the time I was in college I was on four different medications. My father delighted in my suffering.
My mother held out for as long as she could doing the best she could as a buffer between my father's abuse and me but in the end she couldn't do it any longer. She finally made a voluntary exit from life 2 days after Christmas in 2010. In the note she left behind, she specifically pointed a finger at my father and his abuse as the number one reason that she decided to do this. He hid this note before police arrived. On that day, he called his best friend, who took me aside and asked me if I believed my father had done it. Years of fear made me instantly say "no" but really I thought " Yes".
Like my father's best friend, many of those who surrounded our family were well aware that something wasn't right and that my father's behavior was unacceptable and abusive. While there were one or two attempts over the years to mediate, it never went past that. You see my father has always had access to a lot of money and while he's never been good with money, he IS great at buying friends and loyalty.
Our childhood home was in my mother's name and my mother ignorantly believed that it would be passed on to her children when she died. Instead my father had that house put in his name as soon as he could, sold it (using corruption and lies, it's complicated but I'm sure you all know that too well) and is now moving to Florida under the guise that it is what his wife would have wanted for him.
About a year ago I found out that my father assisted and ensured that my mother would be successful in her attempt. He was heard by three different people on the phone verbally telling my mother that she should do it and that he would ensure the gun was loaded and available to her saying he was "sick of her shit" and her "children would be better off without her depressed, selfish bullshit". These people who witnessed this are happy to tell me this information but are cowards in every other way. My father's behaviors on the night that she did it have always been bizarre. He received numerous calls from my mother advising them him that she was intending to attempt and he did absolutely nothing to counteract or stop it. Some witnesses believe that he may have even encouraged it from phrases he said and his overall demeanor that night in particular. It's clear now that he operated in a way to provide her the most opportunity to succeed and free him of the burden of being held responsible for his abuse by his nagging wife. I fully believe this revelation.
My sibling is disabled. Disability support is not as easy to attain as most people think it is but we are working on it. For the time being my father is financially supporting (financially abusing) my sibling. After years of abuse including financial abuse I am not financially stable enough to support them and they are fully dependent upon my father. My father has decided he is going to move to Florida and cut them off completely bc my sibling won't bow down to him. My father promised to always take care of my sibling but that was a lie. My father is moving to Florida with half a million dollars that will not last because he blows through money so quickly (but he projects that his children blow all his money, fkn hilarious), I give it 2 years. $200k of that money was meant for me and my sibling from my mother. But because my mother was so sick and because she did not have access to a lawyer she did not understand that my father would get all that money for himself and be able to keep it legally.
Also, My father has wrapped my fiance into the abuse. He abused my fiance from the moment we first met when I was 23. My fiance fought back and has done his best to protect me over the years. My father attacked his reputation, attempted to get him fired from numerous jobs, created fake social media accounts to attempt to ruin his reputation, accused him of cheating even attempting to get him to cheat by paying a woman to hit on him, harassed his friends, harassed his family to the point of showing up at their homes, so on and so forth. My fiance and I have been together for 18 years. My fiance got wrapped up in working for my father's company ( It's complicated but we were in a financially difficult position and desperately needed money). My father recently (illegally) sold his company to a man that's not even legally allowed to own it, lied about my fiance's and another employee's tax classification to get out of paying taxes for his employees and my fiance's pay has been lowered and neither my father or the new " owner " are doing anything to correct it. We know that we can notify the IRS and the department of Labor but if you know anything about narcissistic parents, we are of course afraid.
My father just texted my sibling saying " you're going to be so sad if you don't see me before I move. I'm trying to help you see me because I know you'll be sad if you don't see me before I die." And I'm trying not to have a full blown break down.
Obviously it's so much more complicated than this and there's so much more abuse and horrendous things that he has done that are simply unimaginable.
Just feeling very helpless today about it because we are poor and I can't support myself let alone my sibling. I can't currently work because of health issues due to years of abuse. And my fiance works constantly but is being underpaid and doesn't know how to address the matter while ensuring that we are safe from any of my father's revenge. He has taken so much from us and it makes me feel scared for my sibling and for my fiance. He doesn't deserve to retire, he doesn't deserve to keep this money that was never meant for him, and there's nothing I can do about it.
I'm just so tired.

Hey y’all, so I’m an EDCLV veteran BUT I am truly considering attempting to secure a GA pass for forest next year because EDCLV falls on my second to last week of my second semester in nursing school 🤞🏼 forest is AFTER the semester so there’s no conflict. I only do one big fest per year and work the others with ground control if my schedule allows me. I’m so sad that I will have to forfeit my time at EDCLV which is why I’m looking into forest. Here is the issue. I love all the way in Southern California and have no idea how to even bring camping supplies through flying. It confuses me how people even do this and how they manage it. I’ve been reading through the Reddit posts but still have confusion. So, how do y’all do it …? 🫶🏽

​
Our 21-year old league needs a manager to fill the spot vacated by a longtime member.
We play in a dynasty league where we keep 22 players each year. Our roster is NFL-legitimate, utilizing every position except for offensive linemen.
QB – WR – WR – RB – RB – TE – FLEX – K – LB – LB – LB – DE – DT – DT – DE – S – S – CB – CB
This league has existed since 2003 and has grown in roster size with Yahoo’s additional features. Very likely moving to Sleeper in 2024.
Our primary rules are that everyone shows up for the draft (live online) and that you must field a complete team each week. Every position, despite bye weeks and injury, MUST be filled each week.
Trading is not only encouraged but very necessary over time to keep your team competitive. The entire offseason is open for trading. Every player on your roster is available for trading. Keepers are not locked down until two weeks before the draft.
Our roster size and defensive line-ups prove to be a challenge for most newcomers; even scares some veteran guys off. There is no buy-in fee.
Contact me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

AVAILABLE TEAMS
Team #1
Offense:
QB Mac Jones
WR Drake London
WR Allen Lazard
RB Najee Harris
RB AJ Dillon
TE Noah Fant
WRB Clyde Edwards-Helaire
BN Jakobi Meyers
BN Kadarius Toney
BN Darnell Mooney
BN Joshua Palmer
BN Tyquan Thornton
BN Romeo Doubs
BN Tim Patrick
K Eddie Pineiro
Defense:
LB Foye Oluokun
LB Zaire Franklin
LB Alex Singleton
DE Kwity Paye
DT Chris Jones
DT Denico Autry
DE George Karlaftis
CB Jonathan Jones
CB Logan Ryan
S Donovan Wilson
S Jaquan Brisker
BN Josey Jewell
BN Dre Greenlaw
BN Kenny Moore
BN Travon Walker
BN Jordan Hicks
BN Kyler Gordon

Team #2
Offense:
QB Jared Goff
WR Justin Jefferson
WR AJ Brown
RB Nick Chubb
RB Aaron Jones
TE Evan Engram
WRB Brian Robinson
BN Dawson Knox
BN Leonard Fournette
BN Kareem Hunt
BN Daniel Jones
BN Kyle Pitts
BN Jameson Williams
BN Kevin Harris
BN Khalil Herbert
BN Rashod Bateman
BN Trey Lance
K Younghoe Koo
Defense:
LB Jordyn Brooks
LB Shaq Thompson
LB Patrick Queen
DE Josh Allen
DT Harrison Phillips
DT Jonathan Allen
DE Brian Burns
CB D.J. Reed
CB Carlton Davis
S Chuck Clark
S Derwin James, Jr.
BN Damar Hamlin
BN Matt Milano
BN Davon Godchaux
BN Quincy Williams

Team #3
Offense:
QB Kirk Cousins
WR DK Metcalf
WR Keenan Allen
RB Latavius Murray
RB Jerrick McKinnon
TE Tyler Higbee
WRB Cordarelle Patterson
BN Dak Prescott
BN Donovan Peoples-Jones
BN Gus Edwards
BN Courtland Sutton
BN Curtis Samuel
BN DJ Chark
BN DeeJay Dallas
K Harrison Butker
Defense:
LB Christian Kirksey
LB Drue Tranquill
LB Nicholas Morrow
DE Zach Sieler
DT DaVon Hamilton
DT Kenny Clark
DE Trey Hendrickson
CB Charvarius Ward
CB L’Jarius Sneed
S Rayshawn Jenkins
S Grant Delpit
BN Dean Lowry
BN Kyzir White
BN Ryan Neal
BN Eddie Jackson
BN Jamal Adams

A while ago I asked for advice on buying a birdfeeder. I have gone through a few options and thought I should post again about all of the great birds I have seen.
Feeder 1 – SaffloweSunflower. I started this with Safflower seeds and it immediately attracted house finches, cardinals and tufted titmouse. They eat through those seeds very fast so I started mixing black oil sunflower seeds. I have also seen brown headed cowbird at this feeder.
Feeder 2. Bug berry nut suet. I took the advice of reddit birders and went to wild birds unlimited. They recommended the mealworm and berry suet. This has attracted the Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, blue jays, brown thrasher, and mockingbirds.
Feeder 3. Seed mix suet from Lowes. I thought we didn’t have many squirrels in our neighborhood but once I put this up, they found me. The squirrels will eat a lot faster than the birds so sometimes I have to cut them off. This feeder attracts many of the same birds mentioned above except for blue jays who prefer the bug and nut. I have noticed what I think are chipping sparrows on this feeder. To be honest there are so many sparrows that look the same so it’s hard to tell.
Ground birds. There are a few who only peck around the ground and can’t seem to manage the feeders. Mourning doves and robins peck around the shells and dropped worms. If I forget to fill the feeder then cardinals and finches will scour the ground.
I'm looking out the window now and there is a blue jay at the feeder. One comes, caws a few times and then the other comes and they have a snack. This happens every day several times throughout the day.

Hello,
I was training against Nexto and I can't understand how he manages to never go flying in the air when I bump him. Sometimes it's like he doesnt even care and continues as if nothing happend.
I would love someone to help me with this and explain the way bumps work in this game and how to stay grounded when the opponent is trying to bump you. Thanks !

This post is for anybody else out there who might be dealing with achilles tendonitis or bursitis in your ankle. I’ve had a 2.5 year journey dealing with this, and recently completed my first 50 miler (Mohican 50 in Ohio) in 11:08, after only running trails 3 days/week (more on my plan later). I thought I’d share my training adaptations and lessons-learned for anybody else struggling with these issues too. Note: I’m \not* a doctor, though I’ve spent a ton of time seeing doctors, sports chiro’s, massage therapists, physical therapists, etc over the years for this issue. Take this like a conversation with a crazy trail runner friend over of a nice cup of coffee, or better yet, a nice cold beer. I hope it’s helpful!*
Context
I started trail running in summer 2020 after about 18 years of casual road running. I was never competitive, but I did complete two marathons in college. I started running trails for fun with my ‘crazy’ ultra-running friends in fall 2020 and heard countless stories of their races, learned their training tips, and signed up for my first 50k in May, 2021.
Late fall 2020 my rapid switch to trails caught up with me, and I started experiencing a burning pain in the back of my ankle, near the heel. After a few doctor visits and an ultrasound of my achilles (this is important, please do this if you suspect achilles issues!). I found out that I had bursitis from insertional achilles tendonitis. I was assured by multiple doctors that my achilles itself was fine, but the tension in my weak-a$$ calves was pulling on everything downstream and causing the inflammation. I ran through that pain and somewhat ignored the PT exercises I was given, also half-a$$ing my training for the 50k. I did finish that 50k (it was a spicy one to boot, with over 5,000ft of gain on technical trails), but finished thoroughly broken with an average pace of 14:30. Woof.
I took 2022 ‘off’ from racing and was feeling good enough in November 2022 to sign up for my first 50M. But I still had bursitis, along with some other issues like high hamstring pain and pain in my right hip. Here’s where the changes started. I was going to do this right this time.
Changes I made First, I got a solid PT and orthopedic doctor based on the recommendation of a local trail-runner friend - a doctor that understood runners and wasn’t just going to tell me to stop running. In January 2023 I hit the PT exercises hard. Hundreds of calf eccentrics (heel lowers to ground-level only) each week, hamstring eccentrics to help with high-hamstring pain I developed, and lots of single-leg work with the leg press. I also worked on my hips using a band doing clamshells, monster walks, etc. I continued every single exercise throughout training up to the week before my race, which was June 3rd, 2023.
Second, I decided this time I wasn’t going to wing it: I was going to follow *a plan* (gasp), but adapt it so I spent less time running, more time cross training to take stress off my ankle. I got a Trail Runner Mag. subscription and gobbled up every article I could find: Training plans. Nutrition. Speed work. Hill work. Weight lifting. Nutrition. Hydration. The list went on, and I read it all. I eventually landed on a few training plans I liked (linked after this), and paid close attention to them both while allowing myself some flexibility for my bursitis. I officially started training 22 weeks out from race day, January 7th, 2023.
Key Training Adjustments for Bursitis/Achilles Tendonitis
When I started training in January the burning pain post long-runs was real. My ankle would “stiffen up” after the long runs, so any prolonged sitting or sleeping made it much worse post-run. I used the following techniques to help with this and today have nearly zero pain while running and very minimal to no pain post-run (even after 18-20 miles!). Now, mind you, my ankle was angry for about 3 days after the 50M, but I expected that. These tactics got me a good 80% better. I still have work to do, but I’m close, and I hope this helps you too!

1. Run less (but maintain time on feet): Every single 50M training plan you’ll find has you running 5-6 days/week. I knew my ankle couldn’t handle that, so I adapted my plan such that I was only on trails 3 days a week - the long run on Saturday, the back-to-back Sunday, and one mid-week run on Wednesdays, when I also did my hill workouts. I found that book-ending the long weekend runs with two days “off my feet” allowed my ankle time to recover and inflammation to go down. But I wasn’t idle Tuesdays and Thursdays! These days I’d use a combination of elliptical, stairmaster, and treadmill hiking to get in the equivalent miles and time-on-feet necessary, while also ensuring I kept my HR in the equivalent zone to what I’d see on a run. As you’ll see in my race results - THIS APPROACH WORKS! A summary of my weekly plan follows this list.
2. Calf eccentrics: I’d suggest Googling this (or better, talk to a knowledgeable sports doc), but the basic idea is you rise up onto your toes with both feet then stand on the affected leg and slowly (3-5 seconds) lower your heel down to floor-level. The floor-level part is important based on *which* part of your achilles is damaged (please see a doctor about this!). For insertional achilles issues, I learned you don’t want to lower your heel below ground-level (e.g. on a stair), which is suggested for other achilles issues. I did 2-3 sets of 15 once or twice per day the entire training cycle, except days I was running on trails. I would also leave one day (Mondays) completely off for rest and recovery.
3. High-drop shoes: I’ve always run in a higher-drop shoes (I wear the La Sportiva Jackal II, which has a 7mm drop). The higher drop takes some load off your achilles.
4. Heel lifts/shoe inserts: Towards the latter end of my training my sports doc suggested I try a ¼” heel lift in my shoes to help with the bursitis, and it made a huge difference (put one in each shoe to prevent other issues, of course 🙂 ). The idea is: the heel lift takes additional load off your achilles - I wish I had done this sooner. There’s lots of research online about how effective this can be. The only downside is that it changed the dynamics of my shoes, so I had to start heel-lock lacing to prevent my foot from sliding forwards in my shoes. I’d say this was a major contributing factor to why my ankle started feeling a lot better, even in the peak training period.
5. Apply Voltaren and Arnica Cream to affected area: Voltaren is a topical NSAID and Arnica cream is also an all-natural pain reliever. I’d apply these to my ankle at night and wrap it in Saran wrap (I know, sounds crazy), but the wrap helps both absorb into the skin. I’d wake up feeling much better
6. Vibrants Pain Relief Patches: now this is a little “out there” but these biofrequency patches also worked great for relieving pain and inflammation on my ankle. I’d put them on post-run and my pain would melt away. I’m not sure I’m 100% bought-in to the science behind them (or pseudo-science), but they worked for me, placebo effect or not.
7. Similar to the above, the KT Tape Wave also was great for pain-relief: a little more pseudoscience that I’m skeptical about, but it works. My sports chiropractor recommended this to me and it absolutely works. It’s also great for relieving muscle pain and speeding recovery overall.
8. Massages and dry needling: I also got regular massages and dry needling and have a collection of foam rollers, balls, etc to release my muscles at home too. Keeping your calves loose is key to relieving the strain on your ankle.
9. A note on ibuprofen: overall, ibuprofen never seemed to do much for me. Ibuprofen is known to be a bad idea before/during/after runs because of how it affects your kidneys, so I avoided it altogether.

My training plan
My training plan was a combination of pure trail runs (I never wasted time running on roads or treadmills), cross training on ellipticals, stairmaster, bike, yoga (almost daily) and weight lifting. I believe the lifting, specifically addressing my weak areas, was key to my race-day success, and I broke it up into pieces throughout the week so my “off” running days focused on upper body and abs. I also believe the mobility work in yoga was incredibly important.

• Saturday long run on trail

1. The longest run I did was a 50k 4 weeks out, and by then my ankle was handling that distance quite well. I did about 3 other 20 miles runs and a few 18 mile runs

• Sunday back-to-back run on trail

1. I used a time-on-feet model for Sundays, usually between 1-2.5 hours

• Monday active recovery/upper body weights and abs + yoga
• Tuesday cross training on elliptical//stairmastetreadmill hiking + leg day (focused on hips) + yoga
• Wednesday speed day on elliptical or hill work on trail + yoga
• Thursday medium length trail run (if it was a speed week) or cross training as above with a bigger leg day (working hamstring, quads, doing mountain legs, all the big ones) + yoga
• Friday active recovery/upper body weights and abs + yoga

Note: I integrated calf eccentrics whenever I could, except for the weekends. I did around 450 calf-lowers every week (done on both legs to keep things even)
Race Results
The big day was June 3rd, 2023. The race was the Mohican 50 miler in Ohio. This wasn’t what you’d call an “easy” first 50 miler. The course was nearly 100% single-track on MBT with around 6-7,000 ft of gain, depending who’s watch you’re reading. The day-of was also above-average hot (upper 80’s), so I was very happy I spent 6 week prior heat acclimating in the sauna at my gym (link to the heat acclimation plan I used follows).
The race started at 6am and I felt good in the cool morning air. I noticed around mile 10, after we had apparently completed the first big climb that I didn't feel the climb was all that bad - all that hiking and stairmaster work was paying off! As the day went on the temps rose, but dumping ice water on my head at aid stations and taking s-caps every 30 minutes like it was my job kept me from feeling nauseated and good to keep eating both solid + liquid calories (I used tailwind). I had no issues with fuel - whoo-hoo!
But there's always something... The only major issue I had in this race ended up being my shoe-lacing (classic!). I had loosened my heel-lock lacing prior to the race because that lacing was rubbing on the tops of my ankle, causing some discomfort. Well, when your shoes are too loose you cause other issues, and my feet were sliding forward in my shoes the entire race, leading to some major big-toe pain and blisters.
Nonetheless, I finished with a smile in 11:08, just about 50 minutes ahead of my goal time. I snagged 1st place woman in my age group, and 9th woman overall, 39th runner out of the pack. My ankle didn't’ bother me at all during the race - only when I stopped (of course!). It took about three days for my ankle to recover, but at this point I know how to treat it and keep the pain manageable. I’ll continue to monitor my achilles with my doctor, continue all the exercises I’ve been doing, and get back to running after a few good weeks of recovery!
In Summary
If you’re dealing with achilles tendonitis, I sure do hope this is helpful! I’ve heard from many that this is an issue that may never fully go away. I’m also convinced (again, not a doctor, but based on my experience) that rest is not the answer, because if you aren’t strengthening your calves and your legs, you will never take the strain off your achilles or get blood-flow to the area to promote healing. My ankle felt better and better the more I got into my training plan - wild! Training your body to adapt and grow stronger, while not overloading the ankle is key. Take an off-day if you have pain, and see a doctor regularly to make sure you aren’t doing further damage. I hope you have the same success!
My training plan links:
Training Plan 1: https://relentlessforwardcommotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Free-50-mile-ultramarathon-training-plan-outline.png
More Specific Training Plan with Hill and Speed Work: https://www.trailrunnermag.com/training/training-plans-training/an-advanced-50-mile-training-plan/
Heat Acclimation Plan: https://trainright.com/ultrarunners-heat-acclimation-cheat-sheet/
Taper Week Plan: https://www.trailrunnermag.com/training/trail-tips-training/a-day-by-day-training-guide-for-race-weeks-and-tapers/

I want to start by crediting Tarnished Archaeologist, Hawkshaw, Sinclair Lore and SmoughTown for their video essays on Elden Ring lore. The credit is general, because I, to my shame, really can’t remember exactly where I first heard a particular notion brought up, and how it goaded me into my own further thoughts. Most of my thoughts on Elden Ring lore are like this, it all gets muddled and I forget if an idea was even my own initially. You can probably hear many of the below ideas in their work, and more fleshed out at that. But (in case anyone here actually needs to hear this) the point is that I warmly recommend them all and don’t really want to take any personal credit for what follows, it’s more or less just the conclusions I’ve reached based on all the Eternal City-related lore I’ve consumed.
Happy to hear any thoughts, further observations and counter-points on anything below as nailing down the timeline/nature of the Nox and their cities is one of the biggest conondrums I've had with the game's lore.
 

PART 1: FLOURISHING ON THE SURFACE

The Nox once lived above ground

Nox Monk Armor says:
“Long ago, the Nox invoked the ire of the Greater Will, and were banished deep underground. Now they live under a false night sky…”
They most likely lived above ground, and had their heyday, at least partially in pre-Erdtree times. Siofra River map says:
“This vast region is said to be the grave of civilizations that flourished before the Erdtree”.
There are only two civilizations in Siofra: the Uhl/Ancestral Worshippers, and the Nox.
Nokstella features statues matching the ones found on Divine Tower bridges (and lots of other places, like the Fortified Manor; basically early/pre-Erdtree statuary). It isn’t common imagery in the Eternal Cities, but it is there. This ties them to whatever civilization - be it pre- or early-Erdtree - that made those statues.
 

Reason for banishment

It was for invoking the “ire of the Greater Will” they were banished. But they were once, in some way, aligned/allied with the Greater Will.
The Fingerslayer Blade says that it is:
“...proof of the high treason committed by the Eternal City”
You can not commit high treason against something you’re not aligned with in the first place.
This could mean they were banished early on in the Age of the Erdtree, when the Greater Will is perceived to have become the “main god” in power, or that they themselves served the Greater Will directly in pre-Erdtree times.
The implication seems to be they were a faction/part of an alliance, but not necessarily the leading one - because someone had the power to determine their actions were to be considered treason, and banish them underground. This is all, of course, assuming the details haven’t all been lost to time to such an extent that it’s only believed at present they were banished for treason when the actual truth was something a bit different…
 

People of the day and of the night

The giant ever-shining Erdtree and the removal of Death from existence symbolizes a land out of natural balance. Life has won over death. Day has won over night. The Erdtree is like a perpetual sun that prevents the Lands Between from having any true night, coupled with the literal complete halting of the stars’ movements by the warrior, born of sorcerers, Radahn.
Like how Marika, the golden-eyed queen of life, claimed complete victory over the gloam-eyed queen of death, the stars- and night-worshipping Nox completely lost to the Erdtree and its everlasting day. But as we said before, they weren’t just conquered in war like the Fire Giants - they specifically committed high treason. Nox architecture also looks conspicuously modern and advanced, much more in line with modern Leyndell architecture (totally different style, but in terms of advancement) than any older civilizations like the giants or dragons.
I believe, therefore, the Nox most likely had their heyday right before and in the transition period to the Age of the Erdtree. It’s pretty well-supported that this was the civilization Marika herself actually arose from; early patches called the Nox “Empyrean Family”, the BK Assassins are said to both be Numen and descendants of the Eternal City to this day, so-called Numen Runes are found underground in the domain of the Eternal Cities. But the Nox’ original religious beliefs, cultural practices and ultimate desires became increasingly incompatible with the newly established Golden Order. They didn’t openly rebel and start a giant civil war or anything, but… we’ll get to the rest.
 

TERMINOLOGICAL INTERMISSION

Does the term “Eternal City” only refer to the cities underground? I think it’s worth considering. This was my initial assumption, but the Black Moon
“once hung above [Nokstella]” and was “the guide of countless stars” but is now “lost”
Its fragments are all found on the surface, collected by sorcerer-astrologers and kept in their towers all across the world. Not one is found underground, where Nokstella itself only has a talisman that “represents" their lost moon. So it seems likely that the moon hung above Nokstella when it/its people was on the SURFACE, and guided (pulled in with gravitation?) stars to them. This would imply the term “Eternal City” can refer interchangeably to the cities as they were on the surface or the rebuilt (?) ones underground. And that has at least one possible further implication.
 

PART 2: LIFE UNDERGROUND

How did the “banishment”/ruination of the cities come about?

Eternal Darkness is a sorcery originating from the Eternal City, and is said to be
“the despair that brought about its ruin made manifest”
The spell creates a black hole that draws in sorceries and incantations. One interpretation would be that this was considered heretical, and was part of why they were banished, but I do not think so due to the use of the word “despair”. Did the Eternal City conjure such a giant version of this black hole that it pulled in a deluge of stars, which smashed their black moon and wreaked havoc upon their cities? That would certainly be cause for despair, and ruin to follow.
But the Fingerslayer Blade is also
“proof of [the Eternal City’s]high treason … and symbolizes its downfall”
So it seems we have two items that function very differently yet both lay claim to symbolizing/closely relating to the ruin/downfall of the cities.
Personally, the most elegant way to square the two is to say that time has muddled the specificities of their downfall. They did turn against the Greater Will and either attempted to, or did, slay one of the Two Fingers. They ALSO fucked around with cosmic research and found out. They made themselves public enemy number one with their treason, and brought ruin on their own cities with their reckless starchasing. Thanks to the passage of time, the two events coalesced into one story about them “drawing down the ire of the Greater Will and being banished underground”. Or maybe was promoted as such by the powers that be.
 

How did the move underground actually happen?

There are no “Eternal City ruins” on the surface whatsoever. They’re all underground. There are the towns in the style of Sellia, Ordina and lower Leyndell, but these seem much less advanced, perhaps residencies for commoners and not the high clergy/researchers that make up their high society. This is actually pretty odd considering there are ruins of virtually EVERY type and from every time period for us to inspect and ponder on across the Lands Between.
So this raises the question of whether the Nox literally moved their stuff underground.
Spatial displacement is uncommon in Elden Ring, it’s not something you can just theorize someone did and leave it at that. But the few times it actually comes up can be at least tangentially tied to the Nox. Astel can teleport freely, and while he’s known for destroying, not helping them, his is still the kind of power the Nox were eagerly fucking around (also known as researching) with. And the teleporter gates - so omnipresent and mysterious - by their outward appearance at least, are, in fact, distinctly Noxian. The first time your average player is likely to run into one is probably in the Siofra River, bringing them from the lower Uhl ruins to the higher strata right below the Eternal City proper.
Personally, I also think the particular way the Nokron Eternal City buildings intersect with the older Uhl ones looks really odd and slapdash. There seems to be little rhyme or reason and you go from one to the other pretty spontaneously. Lastly, let me tie this back to those few conspicuous statues - why would they bring these with them, or rebuild them exactly, if they represent a tie to a civilization they have left behind, betrayed, and become hated by?
 

Astel's assault

This presumably had to happen before Radahn stopped the stars, or an Astel would not have been able to descend on the Lands Between.
The Nameless Eternal City is the only one missing its false night sky and so it’s assumed that it was also inhabited by Nox & friends before Astel’s assault killed every last one of them. Leyndell later hermit-crabbed in with their gargoyles, mausoleum and Godwyn burial.
HOWEVER,
an alternate take would be that Astel’s assault refers to the very same event that caused them to flee underground in the first place. The sky he took away was their true sky. This doesn’t really work with the item description as written though, because it specifically says “an Eternal City”, so it would require there to be some translation errors at play... I know plurals can sometimes be weird in japanese translations, but I'm otherwise totally ignorant and won't delve further into this here.
This would call into question what actually happened with the Nameless Eternal City, seeing how it's the only one without any actual Nox present and also completely wrecked. Tarnished Archeologist’s thesis is that it actually was part of Leyndell itself - the odd giant moat with its gates to nowhere between the main city and the outskirts which matches the location and shape of the underground Eternal City almost perfectly. We can perhaps attribute the ruination to lack of upkeep combined with the wild growth of Erdtree roots, and the Nox aren't there because Leyndell came down and chased them away (they probably wouldn’t want their hated enemies that want to destroy their order, right at the very roots of their golden tree that empowers said order).
 

Research into artificial life

I believe the Nox were screwing around with artificial life even before their downfall. It marks a clear symbolic opposition to the Greater Will, the Erdtree and its power of natural, organic life - true gold and false silver. I believe the Albinaurics were at one point, in cut content, outright said to be made by the Eternals; in the present game it seems more likely that the sorcerers of Raya Lucaria (likely with aid from Nokstella, though) are responsible but the tie still remains. This research seems to have accelerated underground, in any case, with them deprived of any access to the true life of the stars.

• Dragonkin Soldiers were made in imitation of the Ancient Dragons.
• Silver Tears are able to imitate any kind of life. They’re weak but incredibly numerous.
• Mimic Tears were intended to mimic a lord, but could only mimic appearance and power, not true strength of will.

One can see a force of counter-revolution take shape. A small number of immensely powerful shock (har har) troopers; a large and extremely flexible base force; and a lord to lead them, though all under the control of their masters, the clergy of alchemical savants.
 

PART 3: REMAINING THREADS TO THE SURFACE

Sellia

Sellians are, as per Gowry,
“descendants of the Eternal”
They use sorceries that originates from Nokron as per Night Maiden’s Mist and the aforementioned Eternal Darkness. Nox are also present in Sellia itself. Sellia is known as a shady town of treacherous sorcerers that competed violently for clout, which seems to have been spurred on by them acquiring powerful sorceries from the Nox, repeating the theme of an excessive yearning for power and knowledge leading to self-destruction. Its secretive nature and geographical distance from the center of power in Leyndell likely made this a convenient place for the Nox to scout the surface and begin to reestablish some connections.

Caria

The Carian-controlled Church of Vows features a statue of a Nox Nightmaiden. In its basin one can use a Celestial Dew, a hidden “Night Tear” originally from the Eternal City itself, to absolve oneself of sins.
This could be taken in multiple ways. The Nox statue is probably used because they are known to all as great sinners. But it may have served a different purpose originally, and to the Carians (just not to any Golden Order-friend who comes sightseeing), perhaps still?

The Black Knives & Ranni

The Black Knife Assassins were descendants (scions) of the Eternal City nobles. They were clad in silver, the cities’ metal of choice for their craftsmanship.
Liurnia lies above the Eternal City of Nokstella. Ranni has a portal to Nokstella in one of her towers. Iji says he presumes we have heard of Nokstella. But it is Nokron which contains the secret relic of betrayal, the Fingerslayer Blade.
The implication seems to be that the Carians communicated with Nokstella, which in turn had been separated from Nokron for a long time. After all, we find no teleporting devices connecting the two, and the Golden Order has placed its mighty full-grown gargoyles at the waterfall which could potentially connect them via Deeproot Depths.
Ranni’s compatriots were possibly a mix of ladies of the court, who had ostensibly stayed with Marika but secretly plotted a new betrayal, and sorcerous technology from Nokstella.

Hi everyone! I've been a lurker here for a while, and I've been reading different stories about people who worked in crypto sharing their regrets and/or spiteful feelings here, so it encouraged me to share my own. I never really post or comment on reddit except in gaming subreddits for help, so this is a first! I hope I don't bore you to death, but I imagine it might feel a little nice venting it out.
In hindsight, I didn't realise this would be such a long, long read, so please forgive the wall of text. This is really really long, but I don't care; I just wanted to get it all out to actual people. Read it if you will.
Lemme get some key points outta the way so we don't start off on the wrong foot
· at the beginning, I was never really "pro" or "anti" crypto
· I didn't lose any money lol
· throughout the whole thing, I was crypto neutral
· I managed to stop the project before it launched
· please do not refer me to suicide hotlines, I'm already going through therapy
· I was ignorant about crypto at the beginning; but now I know, so please, no lectures!
· I haven't "made money" either; in fact, I put a stop to the thing my friends were working on.
· I don't think I'm very smart, in fact, I feel stupid and useless after this whole debacle
· This doesn't really have a happy or "bad" ending, so please don't expect a happy ending. Also, again, please, please refrain from "giving advice." Just hear this out, and that's it. Make fun of this or ridicule it or empathise with it, I don't care; just don't "give advice" or "reassure" or whatever. Have the decency to just read something like this and let it be. Thank you!!
About myself: I don't really have a background in tech, and most of this is rather confusing stuff (then and now). I'm actually never on social media or the internet too often. I'm a writer, musician, and artist (mostly writer and musician), and I've done administrative work, project management, and journalism work to get by. I'm currently studying my undergraduate degree. I'll go about this chronologically.
2021 Jan - Sep: one of my friends got into crypto. He's a programmer (and a good one at that). I observed from the sidelines, and he kept talking about how much money he's made by trading. The concept of it never made any sense to me, but I'm not a programmer and I trusted my friend, so I was like "well, good for you." I never really understood any of that trading hubbub either!
I never really paid attention to any of this stuff, I was usually out with my friends, working, making music, playing games, or just writing. I never even owned a twitter account until late 2021!
2021 Sep: My friend made a whole lot of money one day, and I was pleasantly surprised! This guy always had those chart things on his screen 24/7 (never closed) whenever we went to his house, so we were all like "what the heck, that's hard work, huh?" I was genuinely happy that he's gotten his big break, because I believed he deserved it. He's one of the most talented people I know. Turns out one of his friends ran this crypto project with all these strange buzzwords that I still couldn't quite understand and gave him some "airdrops" before the "governance" token things launched. Oh, this isn't the thing I worked for, by the way!
2021 Oct: I didn't know too much about crypto, but I got it's selling point (or, well, I was dumb enough to fall for it). At least according to them, it's internet money that you can send anywhere at any time that you "own" and no central authorities own whatsoever (now I know that this concept is just incredibly stupid, but bear with me). I mean, I wasn't really an anti-government nut (and I didn't really turn into one either), but my friend's adamant on it, so I was like "well, why not?" and put $1000 in — wired it to this exchange (hint: it's not FTX, Coinbase, or Binance). Long story short, I put some money into that "Sandbox" thing and made a good few hundred bucks when it went up. There wasn't any real reasoning other than "well, Sandbox is a game, and people must use it for things, right?"
Oh, also, sandbox did these giveaway things for some "alpha pass" where you play their game and post a screenshot on twitter and win one of these alpha pass NFTs that you can sell on the market. I lucked out, got one, immediately sold it — I made like $5000 reselling that thing at "floor price." I remember thinking "woah, these guys must really want to play this game," which was naive and stupid, I guess.
2021 Nov - 2022 March: I cashed that out (the exchange wires that money back into your bank account for you) and steered clear later, because the whole thing was too much for me, staring at those dumb charts watching lines go up and down. That was all the money I ever made from crypto. I used it to buy some much needed medical devices, a guitar, and.. well, a new mattress. I donated the remainder away. Every time I asked my programmer friends to explain something or the other, it's always handwaving to "DYOR!" Every source they pointed me to confused me even more, and now I know that's deliberate with these grifters.
2022 March - May: I was still in their group chat so I could see them talk about it every now and then. Sometimes I drop in my comments about real-world news. One day, my friends were talking about starting an actual business. This was something I had experience in, and as far as I've seen, anything tangible that anyone's ever done with crypto was usually with games. I've had this idea for a type of game that I really cherished, and one of my friends had experience as a game developer. It was a relatively simple idea.
Let me tell you though, I really loved this game subcategory. I'm even in a university society for it. It's been one of my lifelong dreams to see my idea come to life. So I pitched the idea in, cause why not? The subcategory was never done in crypto, so at least we'd have the advantage of novelty, I thought. They weren't really sure how to monetise it, so I said "why not monetise the characters?" It seemed reasonable at the time: the characters could act as access points to the game and anyone could buy new characters for like, what, 5 bucks? At least that's what I had in mind. They agreed, so I found a popular NFT project to pitch the idea for (since it made more sense to work under an organisation rather than going full indie into a space we had no reputation in yet).
At the time, my friends said making these characters NFTs would give people "real ownership" and be a way to "support digital artists by cutting out the middleman." I mean, as a writer and musician, that did appeal to me. I didn't really question much of it (and I know I should have, it should have been due diligence, that was careless on my part). I thought "maybe we could make these NFTs customisable, because that's what RPGs are about, right?" and we went ahead with that.
2022 April - June: Here's a reminder: I'm a social media hermit. I never get on it unless it's checking on someone on Facebook or Instagram (or messaging). I never had twitter until 2021! So, I've never heard of people like Molly White, Tante, David Gerard, Amy Castor, yada yada until around this time. One my friends showed me Dan Olson's "Line Goes Up." And man, what a watch that was. It confirmed my gut feelings about crypto, that this is all just... hollow, insane, crazy stuff. My heart sank after watching that video.
I remember googling "responses to Line Goes Up" because I was in denial back then, not because I "believed" in crypto but I just didn't want to admit I've wasted so much time and energy. And I remember how every single "response" was just... idiotic. At that point, I sent that video to that NFT organisation's discord and said "if we're all genuine about this, maybe we should watch this and try to improve ourselves." It was the whole sunk cost fallacy thing, I wanted to believe that I didn't waste my time being a complete dork.
But after a certain point, I just couldn't run away from it anymore. I told my friends "let's just switch to making a steam game, we haven't lost or earned any money yet." It was an idea that was doable with a steam game, like... all you had to do was just change the monetisation bit to having players spend 5 bucks buying it... on steam... lol. Ah, but my friends were like "no." They won't do it. They wanted to make NFTs, and I couldn't understand for the love of god why you would do that. It was my idea, they had never played a game like that in their lives, I was the only one with any exposure in that regard.
Also, I was the one making the art as well, like... the character sprites. I'd spent so much time drawing those character sprites, their features, etc. I spent some time making some music, and even some background lore that fit in with the other NFT project we were working under. I barely checked their stupid discord things or twitter posts since I was so busy actually drawing and writing stuff. This was a passion project for me, and I was focused on making the game. You have no idea how much I love these types of role-playing games (but I'm not going into detail as to what that is because I'm not so comfortable).
Little did my stupid ass realise that these things were a pyramid scheme, and I was right at the middle or bottom. Little did my naive ass realise that none of these people liked my idea or even cared; people like me doing actual stuff gave them legitimacy, so people like me were just... pawns, I guess. Being the idiot I was, I engaged with my real name and my real identity, because that's what honest people do when they're selling a fucking game they'd be proud of, right? What a mistake. And my friends who knew what this stuff is never stopped me from doing any of it while I naively put my name and reputation at the front. After watching line goes up and then reading more and more sources (and eventually stumbling across Buttcoin on reddit!) I reached the point of no return:
Crypto and blockchain were useless in all possible ways, they never made sense as a technology, they're filled with disgusting people with disgusting anarcho-capitalist ideals, and there will never be a point where the "blockchain" will ever find a use-case beyond grifting, speculating, gambling, and money laundering because that is inherent to this technology's design. It is irredeemable. NFTs were never about empowering artists like us and it could never even do that at all because the premise and technology are flawed to begin with!
That was my realisation over time after actually reading about this from critical sources (which, at the top of the hype, I thought wasn't even really there because I had bought into my programmer friends' narrative that this is just like the internet and "everybody is in.")
I only wish I realised it sooner.
2022 June - July: I vehemently begged my friends to stop. I didn't want to make or sell NFTs anymore after realising what it was. I didn't even want the money (and god knows I could use that money since it could pay off my father's debts, but not like this. Not by hurting other people who may just be in the same position as I am by "winning" or "doing really 'smart' stuff.")
No one listened. I was about to quit, until the NFT organisation we were working under announced a grant. I saw this as an opportunity to put a stop to my own friends making their own NFTs, and I grabbed it. I begged and pleaded them to apply for that grant, which they begrudgingly did. I applied for that grant thing and it got approved, and all my friends were really excited about it. They all agreed to not make NFTs anymore and just make a free-to-play game. We worded the grant that way too.
But it still didn't sit right with me personally. I agonised over it still. Sure, it's grant money now... but how did that bigger NFT organisation get that money? Obviously, by selling NFTs and collecting resale "royalties." I guess it didn't matter to my friends, but to me, that's blood money. None of them were writers or artists, by the way. They were just... tech people. Techbros, I guess.
Anyway, the grant thing works by having people vote for it, and you get as much money as the votes you get. Our idea was good and we actually had a skillset, so we got like a little over four digits, which is big to someone like me, at least!
But it still didn't sit right with me.
I agonised over it all the time, thinking about just how I had soiled and shat on my lifelong passion idea, and how my name was out there associated with these people.
I just couldn't stand it anymore. One day, I told my friends that I was fucking quitting (this was in the middle of the grant voting process, that thing dragged on for about a couple of weeks) if they didn't turn this into a steam game instead. They chose to just let me quit, take the project for themselves, and... uh, take the grant money.
My friends got me on voice call and kinda hounded me, saying "well we understand if you want to quit but damn that sucks, it's a lot of money, man. It's been my dream too to make a game like that ever since my childhood." That last line really struck home because it was something I could empathise with, but then I recognised it as just... them trying to justify making fat stacks lol. They never really felt that way, and I'll tell you why I think that in a bit.
Either way, I quit. I got out. I didn't even take any compensation money. I mean, why would I lie about it here under an anonymous throwaway account anyway? I have nothing to gain from it, not even "karma farming" since I'm throwing this account away lol. Just... I couldn't stand it anymore, man.
2022 July - September: I spent this time distancing from these people and this crowd. I grew depressed. I hadn't lost any money, but I wasted so much time. I was left feeling disillusioned about my friends. To them, I was overreacting, I was being a cunt, I was just being so difficult! I just was standing in their way of "making bread" and "hustling!"
I stopped going out or hanging out with my friends.
I stopped going to that uni society out of shame. They don't know about it but I just can't even see the game the same way anymore. I felt so ashamed.
I never played that game with my usual other friends who I used to play it with a long time back either. They don't know about any of this either, but I was just so ashamed and disgusted. It kind of feels traumatic.
I stopped writing and barely made any music. I picked up a new tablet and learned to draw in a new style, but eventually I stopped that too. I just didn't feel like it anymore.
I got burned out. I barely was able to hand in my assignments. I had stopped going to classes because I just couldn't bother getting out of bed and going out there into actual society again. I felt like I was a disgusting, naive piece of shit that would just stain otherwise normal people.
I spent my days agonising about the day someone found out that I made art for this dumb project, that I was out there passionately talking about this idea like a stupid nerdy dumbfuck, and that I am associated with it even though I quit. One of my other friends who quit with me said he'd provide testimony of my side of things, but that's not really comforting.
I mean, it's a fringe thing anyway, we barely made anything. My friends got the grant, and I spend every single day agonising over it. I mean, it's not direct "profits" from NFTs, but where'd that grant money come from in the first place, huh?
My worst fear was that they'd pocket it and not even make the game. And they did. I guess those other NFTbros really didn't notice it since a few thousand bucks is just spare change to these grifter overlords. Again, I never took any money from it.
I can only thank god that I stopped them from making their own NFTs though, otherwise I really couldn't live with myself.
Every single day, I keep checking my old discord account and twitter like I'm obsessed, out of fear. I honestly don't care if it's just me that gets fucked by association, but I don't want my existence to become a burden to my poor siblings and parents just by being associated with me. I don't want their reputations to go to the shitter. They're hardworking, honest people who don't waste their time on stupid things like I have. They don't deserve that, at least. It should be me that should suffer.
Everyday, I agonise over it.
I couldn't really cry or anything about it, I just felt hollow, I guess. I've lost interest in most of the things I loved. Sometimes I play games, sometimes I scribble for the fucks of it, sometimes I read, sometimes I write in my notebook, but that's it. I had stopped going out, and I hadn't seen anyone for a long while.
2022 September - 2022 November: I bought a rope and a pull-up bar. I continually kept writing in my journal to prepare a good, coherent suicide note instead of, like... writing it all incoherently at the last minute and then peacing out lol. The pull-up bar is because my dorm doesn't really have any places I could hang my rope from, so if I attach the pull-up bar to the door, I could tie the rope onto it and hang.
The other way I thought of doing it was heroin, because apparently it just quietly puts you to sleep; but I'm scared of needles and I don't want to buy anything on the dark web. I've never done hard drugs like that anyway.
I kept procrastinating it. Partly because I had grown too lazy to even learn how to tie a hangman's knot, and partly because I was still afraid. The thing is, I've already been diagnosed with a mental health issue that also causes depression for nearly a decade now. This, though, was the worst I ever felt. The part that sucks the most is that the game idea was a passion project for me. It was something I've always dreamed of doing. It was the sort of games I really, really loved. It was the sort of art I loved making and seeing too. It was the kind of music I had fun composing. The story idea was something from my own long-held ideas that I wanted to bring to life, and now that's in the shitter too.
On some days, I woke up with absolute certainty of what I was going to do: learn to tie that knot, hang it up, and be done with it. I got distracted, and eventually I'd forget and doze off again. I spend most of my time chatting online with some of my friends (via text), which was something I rarely ever did a few years ago. I was more known for rarely responding to texts because I was outside so frequently lol.
I decided to see everyone for one last time before I did it, so I waited to get back to my own home country first. I wanted to just see everyone and sort of hang out with them as an unspoken farewell thing before I did it.
2022 December: I went back home, I hung out with my friends and family, and I was my usual self. I don't think anyone really caught on. We all made plans to go places and do stuff, and we did. It was a nice little time with everyone. I even kind of felt like myself again. I went swimming, went to friends' houses, met up with old friends, etc. I even put up a local art page and dropped some of my writings, music, and art on there.
2023 January: It was almost time to go back, but I went on a vacation to this country with a friend by ourselves. We ate local food at the stalls and just backpacked on a budget. We went hiking and sightseeing. We went to night markets, canoed in a river, and went camping in the woods. I actually finished one of my assignments on a train ride to this city. We did so many things, but I don't want to go off on a tangent. That experience made me forget these feelings for a while. It meant a lot to me, but I'll keep it at that for this subreddit.
2023 Late January - Now: I went back, these feelings returned. I've spiralled back into agonising now, but I'm seeing a therapist and a university counsellor now. It hasn't gotten as bad as it was in September last year, and especially now I feel reluctant to do it because one of them told me "your death doesn't happen to you, it happens to the people around you."
I'm kind of just picking myself up from here, trying to forget this ever happened, and working in other industries I used to work in back then. But I know that as soon as anyone finds out I was associated with any of this, I will get rid of myself. At the very least, my family would be spared then, and I wouldn't be such a burden, no matter what my therapist says.
I'm more or less just empty and neutral now. I haven't really done anything other than just study, go to classes, and do my assignments. My daily activities consist of eating, shitting, pissing, sleeping, and repeat. If someone from 3 years ago saw me now, they'd think I'm an entirely different person.
One day I'll move on, make peace with myself, and forget about it. That's what I hope for, at least. I'm at least thankful that I've been able to stop my friends from actually making NFTs or a crypto coin and actually hurting people. I'm just glad. I don't know or care what they're up to now. I couldn't be arsed anymore.
I saw people share their stories, and I felt like doing that myself too. It turned out longer than I expected, but I didn't want to leave anyone hanging, lol, so I wrote about everything from start to finish. Sorry if that turned out to be way too long. Thanks for taking your time getting this far if you have.
I hope no one else has agonised or will have to agonise the way I have.

Context: You just got a nice home in the middle of the woods, a few ways from the nearest town, Willow Creek. You love all the nightly critters coming out and saying hello to you every time. After a few months in your new home and family constantly keeping tabs on you, you wanted to go for a nightly walk as you usually did before moving into your new little cabin. But something was amiss this time, you felt something was near, and it was getting closer...
Usage: This script is up and running! Please let me know if you are recording or for any other usage beforehand! If it's to be posted on Youtube, Patreon or the like, then being credited is a must! This script is also open to collaborations! Please feel free to gender swap but let me know in advance!
The Night of Bloody Fields
Werewolves Fight over you.
Scene 1
\SFX: walking on crunching leaves in the forest, give a few seconds of walking before the listener slowly hears tearing of meat. The sound grows closer before they immediately stop and look to see a large figure tearing through what seems to be a man’s body\**
\The listener stops and looks horrified, SFX: Growling or snarling for a few seconds before paw running sounds. The listener sprints away as fast as she could\**
\With the giant creature high on the listeners tail, the listener runs harder and harder until they tumble on a arched root\**
*The creature makes them fall to the ground, the snarling growing closer to their face\*
*The listener looks on in horror, heart beating fast\*
*The creature’s voice rumbles, it seems to laugh menacingly\* It seems I finally managed to catch you~ *It mouth chuckles sinisterly* You…, almost, managed to lose me, but I’m afraid I caught you just in time. If you were just a little bit closer to your little cabin…I would’ve lost you forever~ *It mouth chuckles sinisterly\* You…,almost, managed to lose me, but I’m afraid I caught you just in time. If you were just a little bit closer to your little cabin…I would’ve lost, you forever~
*The listener speaks out, questioning how they knew them and how they knew where they lived. They could only think of its menacing taunting\*
J: Little rabbit, I know you because you’ve wandered into my woods before. I’ve silently looked upon your delicate face, your slim figure, all your features of which I knew just from your…*Inhales and exhales with a growl afterwards\* wonderful scent~. Your little cabin is the only home away from any prying eyes…I could only think, “what human would want to live so far from Willow Creek?” And thus…I found you. You have taken my interest, so all I had to do was quietly wait until you were all alone. If it wasn’t for your family that had visited so frequently, I would’ve done so sooner…
*The listener stiffens, W-What ARE you? \*
J: I am what you humans call…a “werewolf”. You humans think that something like me would just be a wife's tale to scare children…but we are very much real.
*The listener shuffles underneath him, “Why take an interest in me? Why wait so long if you are just going to kill me?” \*
J: Kill you? *Chuckles\* I don’t kill without reason, my dear. I only kill the ones that I see fit. It would be unsightly of me to just be a ruthless killing machine! ~ I choose my prey very carefully…And you, you are the most intriguing…
*The listener is stunned, “W-What do you mean by that?”\*
J: Well, It’s your scent. Your scent is…indescribably different from the most I have smelt before…How curious—
*He leans in and sniffs her. With this, the listener punches his muzzle, He is stunned by how powerful the punch was. The listener starts sprinting away*
*He growls lowly\* You shouldn’t have done that, little rabbit…
*He pins the listener again, his breath on the back of their neck, his growling becoming more furious\*
J: Now you got to pay the consequences, how about…I mark that neck of yours and…make you mine to play with as payment? Pretty good deal…don’t you think, little rabbit?
*His breath is close to their neck, only to be interrupted by something or someone else, SFX: A punch causes his body tumbling to the side\*
*He growls lowly, looking up to see who interrupted his playful time\*
E: That’s enough, Jax!
*The listener hears a new voice, Jax groans and ‘happily’ greets Enzo\*
J: Why, if it isn’t my dear cousin Enzo…how delightful to see you again.
*Enzo sternly looks to Jax, his voice stern and angered\*
E: Cut it with the facade, You will not lay a finger on her if you know what’s good for you.
*Jax sighs and stands up, his voice menacing and humming with fakeness\*
J: Oh, but I would! She’s too interesting to pass up! *He chuckles sinisterly\* If I had my way, I’d mark her right here and now~
*Enzo stepped closer to Jax, his voice commanding and low\*
E: You better not sink your teeth into her, Jax. Because if you do, I will not be merciful.
J: *Laughs out loud\* Merciful you say? How endearing~ I’d love to see what absolute destruction lies dormant inside you!
*The listener speaks out to Enzo, “Wha…? What’s going on…?” \*
E: You need to get back to your home, now—
J: Oh, come on~ We were just having a little fun, weren’t we, little rabbit?
*Enzo steps close to the listener, leaning in and talking lowly to them\*
E: Listen to me, you need to run and get inside, now.
*The listener says, “what’s going on? How do you know me?”
E: I know you have a lot of questions, but I can’t answer them. Not right now-Right now I need you to go home, got it? Go! Go!
*The listener starts backing away, they see Jax’s expression turn to anger\*
J: Get out of my way! She is mine.
*Jax suddenly throws a punch at Enzo, Enzo evades it\*
E: She isn’t yours to play with.
J: Man, you are such a buzzkill…It’s about time I put you in your place!
*SFX: Growling and punches echo as it fades out of the scene\*
Scene 2
\The Listener is back at their home, pacing back and forth as they worry more and more about the situation that transpired earlier. SFX: pacing footsteps and crackling fire in a fireplace,\**
\The Listener suddenly rushes outside, taking a lantern with them. A while has passed since the encounter, so they went back to the spot where the fight began\**
*SFX: Walking on dirt or leaves, looking for wherever that other man he saved her from that creature\*
*In the distance, heavy breathing can be heard, The Listener rushes over to the sound, seeing the man’s clothes teared and bloodied\*
E: W-What are you doing back? You shouldn’t be here—He might come back—*He says while trying to get up, the pain in his voice clear\*
*The listener shakes their head; I couldn’t leave you here. Not after everything that has happened…\*
E: *He clears his throat, grimacing a few times as he speaks, \* Even so, that's not—H-Hey!
*The listener grabs his arm and pulls him up, “You are not going to be left here to bleed out and die!”\*
E: T-That’s not really necessary! ---*He says as he is being dragged back to their little cabin home\*
*The listener exclaims, “And I insist on it! It’s the least I can do from you taking on…whatever that was!” \*
E: *He sighs defeatedly\* Very well then…
(After some time has passed, they arrive at her home, Enzo grimacing at the pain that seems to grow every second)
*SFX: Door opening, footsteps, stumbling footsteps as the listener is carrying Enzo to their couch, SFX: Couch cushioning\*
*The listener beckons him, “Please don’t move, I’ll go get some medical supplies\*
*SFX: listener walks over and opens cabinet, rummaging for medical supplies, after a few seconds they found what they need and kneel to him near the couch where he laid\*
E: P-Please, I don’t need medical supplies…I-I’ll be fine, really…
*The listener sternly compels him to comply\*
E: Sigh*\* You’re very stubborn I’ll give you that much—*Grimaces*
*The listener asks, “Please take your shirt off, I need to see how bad the injuries are”\*
E: I told you before, I don’t need any medical assistance! My body can—
*SFX: opening of shirt quickly: The listener opens his shirt to see his body almost fully healed, the listener is stunned by what they see\*
*A silence falls before the listener speaks again, “How are you almost healed already?” \*
E: I was trying to tell you—-
*The listener quickly says, “You were bloodied all over!”\*
E: If you can let me explain I’ll—-
*The listener cuts him off, “And what was that thing that came after me?!” \*
E: Hey! *He grasps their arms and looks at them in the eye\* Listen to me!
*The listener takes a couple breaths before nodding\*
E: First, what you just saw was a Rogue werewolf. Someone…I regretfully know. And second, I’m a werewolf too…
*The listener blinks at him for a moment, “So, werewolves aren’t just a wife's tale. They’re real?”\*
E: Yes…They are real. The reason why I didn’t need any medical assistance—
*He shows his body, already half-healed* Was because my body could regenerate the injuries.
*The Listener shakes their head, “Well your body is all battered and bruised so I’m still going to help you out”\*
E: But I just said—*He sighs reluctantly* Fine, but I’m telling you I don’t need any treatment…
*The listener speaks as they take a cloth and soak it in water, “You still may get infections, I may not know how good the regenerative abilities you, werewolves, have, but this is the least I could do…as returning the favor for you saving me” \*
E: *He sighs* Very well then…
*The listener, rubs the cloth all over his body, cleaning off the leftover blood and still healing gashes, “If I may be so bold, May I know your name, stranger?”
E: My name…is Enzo. Enzo Wilfred…yours?
*The listener tells him their name\*
E: Well…that is a lovely name…You know, you remind me of an owl, since you seem to enjoy the nighttime so much. *He chuckles\*
*The listener speaks, “Well, I do like the nighttime, Nightly walks I love the most.”
E: Heh, I can see that, since you managed to run into Jax…
*The listener replies, “Jax…So that’s his name” \*
E: Yes…He is no longer a part of our “community”. He’s shown how ruthless he can be, so he was banished.
*The listener questions him, “Banished?”\*
E: He has a tendency to want to express his true nature to the “community”. To show what we were “missing” he says. We thought his actions had gone far enough when he ended up killing humans more and more as time went by. And well…you might have an idea now of why we banished him…
*The listener speaks softly, “I see…”
*The silence was so great that you could still hear the fire crackling in the fireplace, the crickets outside, everything\*
*The listener cleans his body one more time before settling the bucket and cloth down, “This should be good enough. I’ll bandage you up and you can rest up here for the night” \*
E: Oh no, no I couldn’t…You already had quite the experience already and to have a…” werewolf” in your home probably is—
*The Listener interrupts him, “Whether you're really a werewolf or not, you saved my life. This is the least I can do for you…you also have to explain to me all this as well in the morning.” \*
E: I- *He sighs defeatedly\* Alright, I suppose that’s fair. You do have a lot of questions for me after all…I’ll stay for a little while before setting off.
*SFX: The listener smiles and takes the bucket and cloth, “Then I will fetch some blankets for you”. \*
E: I-...ok. *He spoke after her, SFX: The listeners footsteps fade and then fade back in as blankets rustle, indicating he’s bundled up on the couch\*
*The listener smiles softly at him, “Are you comfortable enough?” \*
E: Ah- yes…I’m comfortable enough.
*The listener speaks once more, “Then I hope you rest well tonight” \*
E: I will try to, but make no promises, Werewolves tend to be out and about during the night.
*The listener chuckles, “Then at least rest while you can, you risked yourself for me…” \*
E: It’s…what I was assigned to do…*He says under his breath\*
*The listener tilts their head in confusion, “What did you say?” \*
E: *Coughs\* Nothing, I’m just glad I could be of help, Owlet.
*The listener kneels down and starts doing bandages on him, “Well may I bandage you? Just so the bleeding doesn’t continue, of course…” \*
E: I don’t mind being bandaged…I’ll be out of your hair soon enough anyway.
*The listener chuckles, “Well I hope to see you again sometime around” \*
E: Well…We’ll see if we can meet again soon, Owlet.
*SFX: Bandage wrapping alongside a crackling fire with crickets just outside the windows of the home as it fades out\*
To Be Continued

The game has been an absolute blast so far (Xbox player here). I'm enjoying the hell out of it.
What I do think is a massive, massive step backwards for those of us on console is the inventory management...

• Items are no longer separated into categories and that makes them a nightmare to sort. The auto-sort is sort of nice, but doesn't help
• The "new" indicator not being a star or something more visible is a problem...that "shine" that you see is way too subtle and easy to miss, and if you scroll over it even once, it's gone.
• If I pick up a Helm, it takes way too many taps and way too much precision to go and find it. The combined equipped + in-inventory system of Diablo 3 was much nicer to use, especially in the form of a radial menu.
• Marking as junk is extremely slow. On Diablo 3, if you marked an item as junk, the cursor would automatically go to the next one, allowing you to rapidly mark as junk. This one, if you don't wait a full second each time you pick one, the item doesn't get marked as junk.
• It is really obnoxious how the name of the item on the ground doesn't always translate to the name of the item when it's in your inventory. I picked up a "Dirk" in the middle of a battle for a live event and had no idea what it was until I looked it up and realized it was a weapon. Again, that "shine" or "shimmer" is way too subtle and there's no indication on the weapon that it was a "Dirk".
• Gems should not take up an inventory slot in the same way that herbs don't take up an inventory slot. I find myself avoiding picking up gems because I don't want to use up the inventory space for loot. The game should be finding ways to let me go longer without having to go back to down to sell/dismantle/stash.
• Along with "Mark as Junk" or even replacing it altogether, we should be able to "Mark as Locked" or "Favorite" or whatever phrasing you want. Now that I think of it, I don't care about mark as junk, I just want to favorite the few things I actually want to keep and then go bulk salvage/sell the rest.
• The vendors should have the same "All Junk, Common, Rare" etc options that the Blacksmith has for salvaging. Instead, the "Sell All Junk" option is hidden behind selling any individual item you've marked as junk, and there's no way to rapidly sell off my equipment. My general preference, especially during the main campaign, is to equip what I care about and destroy/sell the rest. Not much is worth holding on to because you rapidly find better and better loot (and I think that makes the game extremely fun).
• Rearranging skills is very tedious...unless I'm missing something, I have to open inventory, go to abilities, go to skill assignment, and then pick a skill from the list and only then can I change it. Given that none of the skill categories are "locked" to certain buttons like they were in Diablo 3 (unless you enabled the "advanced" mode), this gets really annoying especially since the icon looks a little different in the skill mapping section than it does on your skill bar. Also, if you yank all the points out of one skill (such as your Basic skills), and then put them into a different Basic skill, the button mapping doesn't simply change it in place. It goes to the next free slot from left to right, so my "A" button skill is now sitting on LT or RT because I didn't have skills in those slots. Diablo 3 made it really, really easy to change out skills by button, not just by category.

I don't think I saw anyone mention these things yet, but I might not have looked hard enough.
None of this is enough to detract from the game for me. I absolutely love the hell out of it and will continue playing it, just hope that the console players can get some more refinement for controller usage.

I'm watching a drama series (set in an Asian country) and in the story, the rich mother-in-law of the main protagonist bought a building in a very high-end area (think privately owning an entire building on Wall Street in New York, and people/businesses rent space in your building for their business). She put the building under the main protagonist's name to avoid taxes as she's from a poorer background and has almost no assets to her name (tax brackets). However, main protagonist actually doesn't know about any of this since she's naive and the signature on the "ownership certificate" is forged*. What I'm wondering is, if she finds out that she has a building under her name and she decides to take over, ie. changing where rent is deposited, taking charge of landlordship, etc., does the mother-in-law have grounds to sue her or claim anything?
Regardless of where the show is set, I want to know what it would be like in real life. I know that this subreddit consists of mostly English-speaking countries - any insight is appreciated! I want to know whether the main protagonist can screw her mother-in-law (and son) over if she wanted to or not. Thanks in advance!
*Slight background information: The series is set in an Asian country where they still use personal seals in place of a signature. The mother-in-law asked the naive main protagonist to arrange herself a personal seal, and to give it to her when she receives it from the township, which is how she managed to put main protagonist's name on the certificate.

TjMaxx:
This BEAST of a woman came in to steal handbags. We knew what she was doing when we saw her partner in the car outside of the store, just sitting there idle (one of the red flags). She made a beeline for the bags and said "Mind your own" to the manager who asked if she needed any help finding anything. When the manager left, she grabbed two handfuls of bags and tried to run out.
4 inch stilettos are not the best footwear choice when one is morbidly obese trying to run with two hands full of handbags.
Bitch fell and broke her ankle. Her partner put the petal to the metal and bailed, leaving her there on the ground screaming. She tried to get up twice and fell both times, screaming bloody murder. She kept screaming until the ambulance and cops got there.
I had to take a bathroom break so I didn't pee my pants from laughing.