Hey everyone! Hope everyone is having a great start to their Friday. I don’t have to work today, so my weekend is starting a little bit earlier. I slept in a little later than I usually do and I’m still in bed. As usual, I woke up with morning wood. Needless to say I woke up pretty horny this morning. I’m looking for someone who’s horny too. If we hit it off I’d like for this to be a long term thing.
For things we might have in common, I love music (rock, metal, some rap and pop), sports (baseball, football, basketball), going to concerts, running, reading, watching tv shows on Netflix, playing video games, and hanging out with friends.
If you’re interested, we can chat on here first. I have a couple different messenger apps as well, so we can chat on one of those if you’d like. Hope to hear from you!

Something Lurks in the shadows; I think it’s my dead girlfriend.
One night, I was taking a walk at 4AM to calm down.
Here is some context: My Girlfriend had recently been in a car accident. I used to treat her terribly even though she was awfully nice to me.
She would always try to make our relationship work but I was stupid and refused to care, I would always spend time in-front of a TV screen, or I would be out with my friends while doing drugs and drinking until I would black-out.
I honestly regret treating her bad.
About 2 months later, I ended up getting a new girlfriend. I honestly tried to do the best I can for her because I didn’t want the same thing happening. The relationship with me and my dead girlfriend Amanda was just toxic.
3 months later, we moved into a house together, thinking about early-marriage.
1 year later, me and Amanda are married with a baby boy. It was truly a miracle of nature. But ever since me and Amanda got married, odd stuff seems to be occurring. When we first came home from getting married, our front door was unlocked. ‘Hm, that’s weird, I thought I locked this.’ We went inside and were about to take our shoes off, but our shoe rack was moved into our kitchen, I thought somebody was in our home. ‘Hello? Is anybody there?’ I called out but no response. So, I decided to check the camera’s. I opened the app on my phone, I saw a motion alert that went off at 1:42 AM, 4 minutes before our arrival. I was shaking in fear, my palms sweaty as I clicked on the footage. The video was 34 seconds long.
The footage started playing, and as I sat through those 34 seconds, nothing. There was nothing, everything was untouched. Until I noticed a shadow on my doorstep. But no figure was there. I saw the shadow somehow open my door a tiny inch and close it silently after flying inside. ‘Babe, did you find anything?’ ‘No, I didn’t, it was nothing, I must have moved it before we left.
I didn’t want to freak her out, so I lied. I decided to go to another room and call my friend. I wanted to launch a secret investigation with my buddies.
2 hours later they knocked on my door and came inside. I rushed to the door and told them everything, ‘Something weird is going on with my home, I think it’s haunted.’ Knowing they are into spiritual activity; they could be useful. Before we could continue, I went to grab a water from the kitchen. When I entered, I witnessed something that made me freeze and stare for 45 blank seconds. It was Amanda on the kitchen table, dead and covered in blood with a knife in her chest. I walked closer, and the closer I got, the more I saw the blood and gore. When I inspected the body, I saw a message written with Amanda’s blood on our refrigerator. It read, “You betrayed me, [Name], how could you?”
My friend decided to come into the kitchen, humming a tune while walking in. As soon as he entered, he saw Amanda. He stopped and froze and had the same exact reaction I had. At first, He thought I was the one who did it. So he called me a monster, and decided to call the rest of my friends into the kitchen. Then I told him It wasn’t me and showed him the blood written on the fridge. He quickly believed me and apologized. ‘Dude, who would kill you’re Wife like that?’ The rest of my friends arrived in the kitchen, they looked at Amanda in terror, and the expected reaction, they screamed. ‘WHO WOULD DO SOMETHING THIS HORRIBLE?’ I was still wondering why the message said that I was betraying it. Then that was it, that’s when I saw it, staring at me from the dining room. It was my wife with a knife and a white dress with pure black hair. I quickly pointed and shouted. The rest of my friends saw her and shouted as well. ‘Honey? Baby? You’re alive?’ She then put the knife up to her chest looking at me with it deadly. She then slowly opened her mouth. ‘You got a new girlfriend, and you treat her good? No, that’s against the rules dear, [Name]. Unfortunately, you broke the rules of a relationship, your supposed to treat her bad!’ I then took a small step back, ‘Listen, I understand your angry because of me, but you had absolutely no reason to take away Amanda’s life.’ She then started to frown. She started holding the knife in a way that seems like she’s going to unalive me. I decided to run and never go back to my home. I am now living in a small apartment in a crowded area so I can easily call for help if she ever finds me. Don’t ever treat your girlfriend or wife that way. It’s going to come back and haunt you for the rest of your life.
​
(Part 2?)

Hi! I'm looking for a new display for my racing sim, my 720p TV just isn't cutting it anymore. I would like to still use a TV as it works better with my sim layout because I use it to watch movies and such when I'm not racing. I'd like something between 50 and 60 inches, with really good response time and good latency for racing purposes. Bonus points if it's under 1000 Canadian dollars. Thanks in advance for the help!

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[IGNORE] Is Resort to Love on Netflix? Resort to Love is not available to watch on Netflix. If you're interested in other Movies and shows, one can access the vast library of titles within Netflix under various subscription costs depending on the plan you choose: $9.99 per month for the basic plan, $15.99 monthly for the standard plan, and $19.99 a month for the premium plan. Is Resort to Love on Hulu? They're not on Hulu, either! But prices for this streaming service currently start at $6.99 per month, or $69.99 for the whole year. For the ad-fre eversion, it's $12.99 per month, $64.99 per month for Hulu + Live TV, or $70.99 for the ad-free Hulu + Live TV. Is Resort to Love on Disney Plus? No sign of Resort to Love on Disney +,which is proof that the House of Mouse doesn't have its hands on every franchise! Home to the likes of 'Star Wars', 'Marvel', 'Pixar', National Geographic', ESPN, STAR and so much more, Disney+ is available at the annual membership fee of $79.99, or the monthly cost of$7.99. If you're a fan of even one of these brands, then signing up to Disney+ is definitely worth it, and there aren't any ads, either. Is Resort to Love on HBO Max? Sorry, Resort to Love is not available on HBO Max. There is a lot of content from HBO Max for $14.99 a month, such a subscription is ad-free and it allows you to access all the titles in the library of HBO Max. The streaming platform announced an ad-supported version that costs a lot less at the price of $9.99 per month. Is Resort to Love on Amazon Video? Unfortunately, Resort to Love is not available to stream for free on Amazon Prime Video. However, you can choose others hows and Movies to watch from there as it has a wide variety of shows and Movies that you can choose from for $14.99 a month. Is Resort to Love on Peacock? Resort to Love is not available to watch on Peacock at the time of writing. Peacock offers a subscription costing$4.99 a month or $49.99 per year for a premium account. As their namesake, the streaming platform is free with content out in the open, however, limited. Is Resort to Love on Paramount Plus? Resort to Love is not on Paramount Plus. Paramount Plus has two subscription options: the basic version ad-supported Paramount+ Essential service costs$4.99 per month, and an ad-free premium plan for $9.99 per month. costs$4.99 per month, and an ad-free premium plan for $9.99 per month.

As the title says, I’m looking Head set for the hard of hearing for PlayStation 5. I’m hard of hearing and wear hearing aids. Generally I don’t play with sound as it’s bothersome. However people won’t play with others that don’t have it. Especially for the raids and operations.
Currently I use a wired headset, microphone sensitivity all the way down, headset all the way up. However the microphone still picks up just enough to constantly show active on the tv. Thankfully it doesn’t actually belch out any sound but it gives a visual to others I’m in the area. Yes I now play constantly on mute and no proxy chat.
So I’m looking for a good wireless head to use that will be comfortable with hearing aids, loud enough to hear the footsteps and glass and the microphone good enough to not pickup the head set and only the user.

Apologies in advance, writing on mobile
Alright, this is a long shot, I know, but I’ve been wanting to watch this video for years now and I can’t find it.
Back before Lego Pirates of the Caribbean came out (May 2011), there was this 2 parter fan stop motion someone had made. It made use of Lego Pirates, Indiana Jones, Castle, and a custom ship (more later).
How before anyone says, no, it’s not Doug Vandegrift’s Lego Pirate movie (would highly recommend it, holds up really well nearly 12 years later!)
I’m going to try to describe the plot, and I’m sorry if they’re not great, going off memory here.
Part 1:
The first part has no voice acting, but not a silent film, uses sound effects, etc. It makes use of the native/indigenous sets being abandoned as 2/3 pirates look into them in search for the natives with no luck. They proceed to travel on the mainland in a arid/desert region and come across the Lego Castle Dwarves mine entrance, minus the medieval aspects. There, they find the natives captured by a mix of other natives and imperial soldiers with an Admiral/Governor type (think a blend between Governor Hacienda and Governor Tierney). They investigate, get spotted and run into the mine, as the other natives and Imperial soldiers pursue. The set then transforms into the Lego Indiana Jones Temple of Doom where they make their getaway successfully, however the main captain (using the Captain Brickbeard model) is captured and is taken away with the natives.
Part 2: This part has dialogue, but very little and will be mentioned. Brickbeard is taken by the Governor to his fortress, makes use of the Eldorado set but heavily modified with a dock/mole and barrackes, and is imprisoned along with the other natives. There’s a full garrison of imperial soldiers and several ships, including a custom made, 2/3 tier ship of the line with 2/3 masts used as the flagship. The Governor is essentially floating in his office without saying anything. However, Brickbeard’s comrades come after him with an armada of smaller ships and breaks Brickbeard out alongside the natives. It’s not a one sided fight by any means, the imperial soldiers killing there fair few pirates and natives. The Governor takes the ship of the line, and obliterates the main flagship of the pirates, killing one of the escapees from part 1 but the other (first mate?) escapes. Brickbeard, now freed, boards a buccaneer and boards the ship of the line, and duels with the Governor. He says something like “This is for my father” or something comparable to what Luke says in Episode 5 of Star Wars to Vader, showing a relationship between the two men and slays the Governor, think by beheading. Concentrated fire targets the flagship and it’s inevitable destroyed. Brickbeard and his first mate sail into the sunset with the natives, yet the final scene rests on the Governor’s hat washing to shore, always reminded me of the Master’s ring from Doctor Who season 3 finally. Once it comes ashore, it focuses on it for a few seconds and the part ends.
Reading this back, this is very ramshackle and the likelihood this animation still exists is minimal, but it’ll be good to hear if anyone remembers it, and the possibility it still exists keeps me going.
Thanks for reading!

TW: eating disorders just in case, also spoilered for mentions of Kent and Ginger Island

TLDR: Jodi is overwhelmed by her life and also affected by diet culture.

I've gotten lots of compliments on my flair and I wanted to take a minute to explain how I think about Jodi's character more in-depth. I love Jodi, I feel for her, and I think about her a lot. Almond-specific analysis will be near the end of this post.
"What do I do for fun? Hmm... That's a good question. I like sleeping."

Jodi is THE desperate housewife.

Domestic labor is labor. Home economics Family and Consumer Sciences is a legitimate field of study, and a complex one. Keeping house has so many moving parts, and the job is never done. Cleaning, cooking, budgeting, child care, and time management all have to be planned and carried out, and it's really difficult to get it all right all the time.
Jodi is under a ton of pressure, especially for the year she's alone, to raise her children right, spend the family's money right, keep the house right, and somehow also make time for herself. But she doesn't make a lot of time for herself, because she's overwhelmed.
What Jodi doesn't know (and what a lot of people who struggle IRL with the need to "do everything right" don't realize) is that feeling overwhelmed when faced with an overwhelming situation is a completely normal reaction. The person who feels snowed under by the demands of their life also usually experiences shame at not being able to achieve whatever unrealistic goal they've set.
Neither the IRL person nor Jodi realizes that the goals are unrealistic, because nobody ever comes out and says "hey, one person actually cannot do all this? maybe let's stop beating ourselves up for not being able to Do It All."
That's what "desperate" refers to in the phrase "desperate housewife." Desperation to achieve every task, to not let anything slip through the cracks, to not let anyone down who depends on you, to show up, to keep going and going day in and day out without ever really getting a break.
"Housework is frustrating because you're never finished. The day after I sweep the floor, it's dirty again."
"The food at JojaMart might not be the healthiest for my family, but with such low prices you'd be crazy to shop anywhere else!"
"I'm taking a break from house chores today. I'm taking the day off. If I don't spend any time outside, I'll go crazy!"
"If I was rich the first thing I'd do would be to hire a maid and a chef. My goodness, that would be nice!"
Girl needs a vacation (I'm always so happy to see her on Ginger Island once the resort is unlocked).

On Jodi's "lost youth"

"It's nice to have a family... but I'd be lying if I said I never long for the freedom of youth..."
"I had a dream that I had complete freedom, no obligation to anyone but myself... Then I woke up and realized I had a full day of house chores ahead of me..."
"We kind of rushed into our marriage, with Kent being a soldier and all... I hardly got a taste of youth and freedom, and now it's too late to ever go back. Just don't make the same mistake."
“\sigh*... Sometimes I dream about life on my own... without a family to look after. Is that horrible? Don't tell anyone.”*
Pining for lost youth is not an uncommon trope within the archetype of the desperate housewife, but it doesn't show up in every character. Clearly it does show up in Jodi, and her wishing for a different life is another thing she feels shame about ("Is that horrible? Don't tell anyone").
One thing that breaks my heart about Jodi is that she seems unable to just be herself. Her entire life is set up with a focus on her being of benefit to other people, and she feels like she's lost some of herself along the way.
She specifically mentions "freedom" so many times. Longing to feel freedom is something she probably can't talk to Kent about, since he was in an actual prison camp and the two situations are not at all on the same level.

Almond Analysis

What is an almond mom? An almond mom is one who is obsessed with looks and maintaining or losing weight to the point that her own eating-disordered behavior rubs off on her children. (I've heard steak dad or protein dad used to refer to the same phenomenon in fathers.) IRL this can look like: negative body talk about oneself or the child; placing moral value on certain foods; forcing the entire family onto the same diet when differing needs are present; and lots of other things.
Is Jodi really a full-blown almond mom? No, of course not.
She's trying her best to feed her family in a way that maintains their health-- Vincent wouldn't be excited about the lentils or boiled beets even if they were a once-in-a-blue-moon dinner, he's a kid and he just doesn't like lentils. I don't think Sam or Vincent have or are going to develop issues with food or weight. I don't think Jodi has an eating disorder-- what I do see in her dialogue, likes, and dislikes is someone who's affected by diet culture.
Jodi's Loved Items list only includes one item that is conventionally "healthy" and that's vegetable medley. Her other Loved food items are chocolate cake, crispy bass, eggplant parmesan, fried eel, pancakes, and rhubarb pie. Her unique Liked Items are eggs, fruit, and milk, with a couple exceptions in each category.
So she likes items that are generally regarded as healthy but loves items that are high in fat. As someone who's been in dieting spaces on the internet for two decades, that's a dieter if I've ever seen one.
At the movies her favorite concession is chocolate popcorn and her liked concessions include cappucino mousse cake, fries, ice cream sandwich, nachos, personal pizza, popcorn, and star cookie, again including fewer conventionally healthy items like the salmon burger and jasmine tea. Going to the movies is a "special occasion" where she's more likely to eat something outside the diet.
I also think it's funny that Jodi doesn't like mushrooms. Mushrooms tend to be polarizing in diet spaces, they're very low-calorie but a lot of people just don't like them enough to make them worth eating no matter how low-cal they are.
Sam has a dialogue about her cooking fish casserole, plus her Fish Casserole 4-heart event. Fish casserole sounds like the kind of do-those-ingredients-really-go-together diet concoction you see get popular now and then.
"Exercise is important for staying healthy. I always make sure to set aside some time for it. As a parent, I don't have much time to devote to myself. So I try and make every minute count."
The good news is that this and the end of the line "If I don't spend any time outside, I'll go crazy! Plus I don't want my legs to turn soft" are the only dialogues she has regarding looks/fitness. I've joked before about her shopping at Joja to get her steps in, but I don't really think that's the case. I think Jodi's relationship with exercise is far more typical than disordered.
She says she makes time for it because she knows it's important, but she doesn't seem to enjoy it. If Jodi posted on an IRL diet or fitness forum they'd advise her to ditch the aerobics class and find something she actually enjoys. Jodi does say she likes to be outside. She might enjoy hiking or something, but as you know if you've read this far, she doesn't have the time.
This concludes the longest post I've ever written about a video game, and if you read the whole thing I want to thank you for your time and wish you the highest possible luck day.

Hi!We're two swedes (Both 20) looking to make more friends! We're 4 close friends, and we wanna expand and find more people to hang out with! Usually we play games, chat, spam cat memes, make plans to hangout etc. We're also planning to start watching more shows, movies and k-dramas together! The games we play or plan to play together are;

• Stardew Valley
• Minecraft
• Dragon Raja
• Gartic Phone
• skribble.io
• Fall Guys

.... etc We're looking for someone between the age of 18-29. We are accepting of all religions, ethnicities, sexualities, genders etc so we'd wish for you to be too.

Hi!
We're two swedes (Both 20) looking to make more friends! We're 4 close friends, and we wanna expand and find more people to hang out with! Usually we play games, chat, spam cat memes, make plans to hangout etc. We're also planning to start watching more shows, movies and k-dramas together!
The games we play or plan to play together are;

• Stardew Valley
• Minecraft
• Dragon Raja
• Gartic Phone
• skribble.io
• Fall Guys

.... etc
We're looking for someone between the age of 18-29. We are accepting of all religions, ethnicities, sexualities, genders etc so we'd wish for you to be too.

I feel like I'm going crazy I can't find anything about it. Here is everything that I can remember

• It used to play in the morning on a Quebec tv channel called Vrak.TV
• Pretty sure it was 5 minutes episodes. It was used as an "in betweener"
• It came out between 1980 and 2010, pretty sure it was made in the early 2000s.
• It was in the classic horror setting, haunted house, bats, weird machines, creepy frankeinstein stuff
• I feel like it was clay animation or a similar technique cause I remember it being realistic, I was convinced it was made by Aardman but can't find anything about it.
• I feel like the name of the show was a single word, which would be the name of the main character. I keep thinking about the word "Tom" but I don't think that's it.
• The main character (maybe there were more) is mute, he was definitely bald with dark circles around his eyes. I remember him being a hunchback/igor but maybe he wasn't.

Each episode went like this, the intro is pretty long, I'm almost sure it opens with a creepy old gate opening, and the camera in first person view going through a cemetary or something, the sky is dark/red I think, and then it goes up a bunch of stairs of a haunted mansion (pretty sure it was a tower) and possibly ends on the face of the "igor" character. Once the intro is done, we get to see the "igor" and the narrator talks to him, about whatever is going on in the mansion, his latest invention that will blow up in his face, ect. Each episode ends in a funny way (for example, I remember him flipping a switch and the whole screen going dark)

Currently rewatching the scene that separated Succession from all other TV shows (Boar on the floor) and I think no matter what Gerri answered on her opinion of the Pierce deal Logan was never going to make her do it. Tom and Greg you would expect but I find it hilarious that Karl had to do it as well, Logan is a fucking savage to Karl at times even though he’s one of his longest serving employees🤣🤣

Let me start by saying I’m breaching contract by sharing this. If the company’s lookouts link this post to me – which they will – I’ll be disgraced, and any chance at getting a job in this profession again will be out of the picture. I have the common sense to keep my name unknown, but all that’s gonna do is slow them down.
Keeping this hidden would be a crime against humanity of the highest order. You all deserve to know, as terrible as it is.
I work at an unnamed technological research company as, you guessed it, a researcher. In recent years, we’ve made astonishing advancements in developing technology that can interact with and harness tachyons.
Tachyons are particles that travel faster than light; that’s the most important part. They’ve been a subject of theoretical physics since the late 60s, but as far as public knowledge goes, they’re still just that. Theoretical.
But they are most certainly real. Well, not “tachyons” per se, though their behaviour is equatable. I won’t bore you with the technicalities, but the result of a particle travelling faster than light is that said particle is able to, effectively, travel backwards in time.
My other group members and I have been experimenting with these particles for the best part of two years now. We’ve made major advances, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.
Yesterday, 23/03/2023, at 09:07 am, my equipment detected a tachyon signal. This was in the morning, mind you, and no tests had yet been carried out. From what I can tell, this signal originated – or, rather, will originate – from elsewhere.
Playing it out loud, it at first just sounded like a garbled mess of frequencies. But after observing the audio structure, I found it to be made up of thousands of tones, of which there were only two types – long, and short.
The realisation hit pretty quick. It was Morse code, or, at least, it could be interpreted as such. The most fundamental form of digital communication known to man. So, I ran it through an auto-interpreter a few times, and got a fully coherent message.
I refuse to believe that I’m seeing patterns where there are none. The chances are so astronomically low that I can’t feasibly consider it to be a random signal, especially considering I’ve never received one from somewhere outside the lab.
I’m going to copy over the translation here. I do not wish to instil panic, but please, spread this post. People need to be aware that this is a real possibility.
To whomever is reading this, prepare yourself.
Here it is.
[TRANSCRIPT BEGIN]
Hi.
My name is Tim Hermelle. Before I write down this account, I should insist that this is the truth. This is happening to us all right now. This is not a joke, prank, or an interactive project.
This is the truth. You HAVE to believe what you are about to read, for our sakes.
Okay, with that out of the way… shit, it’s getting closer. I’ll write down what I can before we’re pulled back to the city, to join the others. I hope enough context is given in my account for you to fully understand.
I live - lived - in the great city of Pharades (that’s Pha-ra-dees). The utopia of humanity’s future. Life was amazing. Every aspect brought joy and satisfaction to every person. No hunger, thirst, no overpopulation, pollution… a Nirvana if there ever was. The level of advancement may be difficult for some of you to believe
Work was optional, and automatons would fill the spaces left by those choosing to pursue their own personal dreams. Even so, a large number of people here still choose to have jobs, vocations I suppose. Healthcare was unparalleled, and not one person has died during my time here.
Everything major was decided by a vote. It was the perfect democratic system, but I’m no politician, so I wouldn’t be able to explain to you why that is.
Hell, we even had a collective vote to decide the next week’s weather every Sunday. That’s right, we’d taken control of the weather. Want to splash around in puddles, smelling the petrichor? Maybe get a tan on? You’d just have to go and vote for it.
Pharades was, without hyperbole, fucking beautiful. In between the city blocks, there were great swathes of woodland and meadows. Crystal rivers flowed underneath silver bridges, and leaves of every colour painted the landscape like polka dots.
And the city itself, well, they say nature trumps anything manmade in terms of beauty, but I disagree. The intricately designed towers were accented by all the most complementary colours, gold, chrome, red, blue, any combination you could imagine, it was here. Arches, spirals, and patterns of every variety adorned the structures.
The day in question was a Wednesday – not that days of the week held any particular significance anymore. I’d planned to meet with two of my buddies, Erin and Tuan, at our favourite coffee shop a couple of districts over, in the Wantania area.
Historically, the journey may have been arduous, or frustrating. Not now. Most people didn’t even use vehicles anymore – instead, the city had built a vast underground network of ever-shifting and rearranging tracks, called “Tubyrinth”. Each person owned a personal pod of sorts, customisable to any degree.
I input Wantania Central, and hopped inside. My pod contained a sofa and a minifridge, stocked up with my favourite drinks. The journey was always snappy. Each time, the underground superstructure would arrange a new and unique track to be used, direct to a reserved bay.
Just fifteen minutes later, I was stood under the vaulted, ornamental expanse of the station roof, a hundred or so feet above. I always stopped here to just stare upwards for a moment, absorbing the imaginative architecture.
After exiting the station, I was surprised to see that both Erin and Tuan were already waiting for me outside. The good kind of surprised, that slaps a goofy smile onto your face.
“Took you long enough!” Tuan chuckled, finding the irony in his own words hilarious.
“God, I know right?” added Erin, “I was worried I’d need crutches after standing out here waiting!”
“Well, heh, you’re not gonna like this next part,” I joked, and we set off down the street, laughing. Our favourite café was called “Beansmith’s Forge”. It was a cheesy, but endearing name, and the theme fit the three of us like a glove; as I said before, we’d been working on worldbuilding for our fantasy RPG, an immersive neurolink VR experience, where the player could design their own character and have a unique questline auto-generated out of a complex system.
We ordered brunch, and, of course, coffee. I won’t get into the details of our talks, but we quickly finished up, paid, and set off down Gerben Street.
The more exciting event of the day was our session booked at the aptly named Noji Box, something you could call an “anti-grav playground”. Admittedly, I’ve never fully known how it works, just that it involves paired wormholes, immensely powerful electromagnets, and a huge vacuum-chamber.
One thing I was always grateful for was that the automatons, who I saw working robotically through storefront windows, were withheld any accurate human likeness – I’m sure you’ve heard of the uncanny valley, so you’ll know what I mean. They fell just short of it.
All was calm on the walk, as to be expected. We made it to the Noji Box in good time, ten minutes before our session booking. I get it’s company policy to take everyone through the safety basics, but it was admittedly a little boring after many, many past visits.
The only real requirement was that you’d have to wear an “osteopatic suit”. No, osteostatic? Something about keeping your bones from floating away from each other, or from disappearing over time.
We were suited up, ready to enter “S.S. Slamdown”, when a sudden tremor shook the building’s foundations. Everyone shared the same puzzled expression – not once had something like that ever happened in Pharades.
The staff looked a bit stumped at first. I guess they never had to deal with a situation like this in the past. To our dismay, but unsurprisingly, our session was cancelled, and we were told that they would call us later to sort out a re-booking.
I had the strangest feeling when we left and began back down the road. Something similar to déjà vu, but not quite. Like nostalgia, but without the accompanying feeling of reminiscence or joy.
Trying to brush it off, I distracted my mind by humming a tune. I didn’t know what it was from, at the time, but I knew it was a stringed melody. A violin? Thing is, I wasn’t really humming it as much as hearing it in my head.
We rounded a corner, and Erin paused in surprise.
“Oh, that’s… hey, that’s Jeremiah! He’s been playing that fiddle the street over from mine for the past, what, two weeks? Come on, let’s go listen.”
I grew confused when we approached, only to hear the exact same melody that had just been looping in my head. Before I’d heard this guy playing. I don’t remember stumbling upon this particular street performer before this point.
We stood listening for a few minutes, then continued our walk. Thoughts no longer infested with that tune, I was hit with what I can only describe as a taste. The savoury taste of something on my tongue, complete with mustard and relish. Meat of some kind?
The concern started to flourish when we came upon a food truck, and Tuan asked if we were hungry. Sure, we’d just eaten at the coffee shop, but I could fit in one more tasty bite. He offered to pay, which we gladly accepted, and he returned with… hotdogs. With mustard. And relish.
My gratitude masked the ever-growing confusion within me. Was this just a weird coincidence, or something else? Did I know we were going to get hotdogs?
We wound up back at the station, where a feeling of detached sorrow welled up inside me, something you might feel after recalling a bad memory from which you’ve since recovered. I understood then that I would run into my on-good-terms ex inside. But, before we could enter, another rumbling tremor swept across the street, followed by the clamour of destruction and screams from inside.
A grey dust cloud plumed out from the entrance, sweeping us off of our feet. I saw Erin flipped face-first into the pavement, just as I caught my heel on the base of a stop sign. Yet another quake boomed underneath the asphalt.
The asphalt I was falling down onto… but the impact didn’t come. Instead of a hard surface, the sensation of falling went on. You know that feeling when you think there’s another step at the bottom of the stairs, only to find the floor instead? It was just like that.
The ground I fell upon wasn’t asphalt. It rang out as I collided, almost hollow-sounding. Metallic. Maybe it was just my head ringing, but without a doubt, I was not in the street anymore.
I sat up, and my palms confirmed I was on a metal floor, the kind with those diamond-shaped grips. Looking around almost caused a complete sensory overload, immediately. A multitude of flashing lights, screens, wires, buttons, and all sorts decorated the room. It looked not far off from the control room of an intelligence agency – at least, how they’re depicted in movies.
I got onto one knee and pivoted to look around. The tall man standing directly behind me almost led to a second fall, but instead I scooted backward frantically at the sight.
The man – well, I say “man”, but this person didn’t really have any distinguishing features. They were wearing a spotless black and white cloak of some kind, and a metal cage covering the upper half of their face, so that only their mouth was visible.
They stood still, not reacting to my show of surprise, then spoke in the most androgynous voice conceivable.
“How did you get in here?”
I scanned the room, finding that there were no obvious entrances anywhere around, like we were inside a closed-off box.
“I- uh, I fell over, a-and next thing I know – here,” I stuttered.
“Well, you shouldn’t be here, and there’s no way that you should be able to get here.”
I stood up, feeling a little more comfortable in the presence of this stranger, though not letting my guard down entirely. Now, I could see the pictures displayed across the screens – they seemed to be feeds of countless locations in Pharades, streets, woodlands, you name it.
“What… what the hell’s going on here? Who are you? Why are you spying on the city?”
The stranger didn’t seem amused, being pelted with questions, and held up a hand, gesturing me to stop. They let out a deep, held breath.
“Well, since you’re here, I may as well enlighten you. Take a seat.”
So I did. I sat in shock and disbelief for the next five minutes as the person answered all my questions, even the ones I didn’t know I wanted to ask. They introduced themselves simply as “Administrator”, but I chose “Admin”, to avoid the mouthful.
Admin proceeded to tell me the truth, as casually as one would talk about the weather.
It wasn’t real.
A simulation.
They told me we were inside a highly advanced, self-sustaining, supercomputer pod travelling through deep space, harvesting energy from ions extracted from the surrounding vacuum. Over a hundred trillion years ago, those living here now consented in having their consciousness imported to the device.
On top of the ion harvesting, power was supposedly generated from emotions experienced by a consciousness – the more intense an emotion or feeling, the more power generated.
I interrupted the monologue at this point with a question they hadn’t seemed to consider,
“Let’s say I believe what you’re saying. If this system’s been up for as long as you say, why did I only just have my 29th birthday, what, two months back now?”
“I understand your concern, but allow me to continue. Every 50 years, it is reset. All your memories are wiped and locked away until the moments when you would again make those memories. There are only a set number of people who were uploaded to the system, and their minds cannot simply be deleted if they were to die.”
Not only a simulation, but an endless loop? My brain felt like it might burst.
“Wait,” I said, “if we’re reset every time, and everything plays out the same… then, we can’t possibly have any free will of our own, right?”
“I suppose you could say that. But the illusion we, I, have worked tirelessly to maintain, gives the impression that you do.”
“Wh… what? So, the original me signed up for this? But I’m not him! I’m a copy, aren’t I? Do I have a choice in this?”
“There is no way for me to erase any person that lives here. Only if the pod itself is damaged or destroyed, can I, or anyone else, truly die. The Great Stellar Extinction has come and gone, and all that remains outside is cold, and dark. A handful of black and brown dwarves, and black holes. To my knowledge.”
The sudden feeling of intense, hollow loneliness filled up my chest. We were alone in a great black sea of nothingness. My slack jaw must have told Admin I didn’t have the capacity to speak.
“Over time, I have lost contact with the hundreds of thousands of other pods that were ejected from Earth all that time ago. Either they are too far now, or they met a destructive end. I can’t say which is the better, anymore.”
Absorbing the sudden truth, the emptiness evolved into anger.
“Let me get this straight. We, living our lives down there, are puppets to you? Is that it? Just an endless cycle of digital paradise, kept in the dark of all you’ve just told me? How can you possibly justify this?!”
“Calm down. Having your memories wiped is a luxury I cannot afford. Anyway, that’s only the preface of what I need to talk about. I’m sure you also noticed the tremors, down there?”
“The tremors? Oh, oh yeah. Sort of ruined my plans, but I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
“I didn’t do anything. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Whatever the cause, it’s not within this pod.”
I took it all in. A system malfunction? Why did the Admin feel the need to share this with me?
“Is… is that why, maybe, that I could predict some of the things that happened afterwards?”
“It’s worse than I thought. The memory suppression seems to be failing.”
Both of us paused for a moment. The silence was deafening.
“I’ve been taking readings on the external sensors. There’s… something out there. An object. It’s been following us for a while now, but with no starlight left, I don’t know what it is. Space debris couldn’t move on its own accord like this thing is.”
“What are you trying to say?” I sputtered, the dread I felt deepening by the second.
“I’m saying that something has found us.”
My blood ran cold. Found us? What could have found us?
“Didn’t you say all the stars are dead? The universe is just darkness now. What could have found us? What?”
“I wish I had the answers, too. I don’t think we’re safe anymore. The most recent readings imply that whatever it is, it’s latched onto the pod somehow. Possibly-“
Admin was cut off by the loud screech of static from the speakers around the room. Their head shot up to the nearest corner in a manner that set me on a knife’s edge.
The tremors returned with a vengeance now, and the both of us were sent sprawling onto the floor. I didn’t fall through it this time, though. Sparks flew and monitors went offline.
I was about to ask what we should do, when the roaring static settled, and something else started to play.
An innocent, childlike giggle. Gurgled coos, infantile squeals of joy that pierced my eardrums like needles and left them ringing. Remembering the sounds that came from those speakers make my insides twist and yearn to escape my body, knowing what came next.
The laughter grew, and so did the tremors. The room started to collapse, wires and boxes raining down upon us. Well, not really collapse, no, but change. The far wall crumpled, like something on the other side assailed it with forceful impacts, and the room began to shrink.
As if that dark place wasn’t claustrophobic enough, the ceiling, walls, everything began to close in on us. All the while, the childlike giggling only grew in joy. I thought we were to be crushed and snapped by the pressure, when we were abruptly freed.
It had happened again. Pushed through the floor and spat out somewhere else. This time, I – we – found ourselves near a paved road leading out of one of the city blocks, into a green meadow which gave way to trees a ways down.
Something was terribly wrong. Only after brushing myself off and standing up did I become aware of the swirling darkness that replaced the once baby-blue sky, with its cotton candy clouds. A heavy and unsettling calm had fallen upon us, dampening the city’s brilliance. No more did sunlight gleam off the ornate spires and arches, replaced by a still, hanging shadow.
The eerie quiet was shattered by that godforsaken crackling, booming across the landscape, despite not a speaker in sight, again followed by those ill-belonging coos and cries. Accompanying the infantile sputtering came an uproar of cracking and crumbling, great impacts from deep within the city’s heart.
Both Admin and I stared in disbelief as distant buildings sunk into the ground, while others twisted and warped their way into the sky, as if made from soft clay. Some just disappeared entirely, leaving not a shred of evidence behind that they had ever been there, while their former inhabitants plunged from storeys above.
“It’s taken my place.”
Those four unprompted words shook me to the core of my being. The god of this world had been usurped.
“But why?” I found myself asking, “with what motive?”
Admin went to reply, but stopped upon seeing the great, pinkish masses floating up out of the streets, far ahead. We stared in bewilderment, trying to make out what they were. The chorus of screams hurried us to the realisation that the balls were… they were made of people.
Agonised, howling faces littered the fleshy abominations, while more objects rose around them. Structural beams, signposts, metal objects of every kind gravitated toward the amalgams of humanity, before their relentless assaults began.
Ripping, tearing, stabbing, slicing… it was already too much for my mind to comprehend. It garnered no reaction from myself other than stunned shock. Flesh and blood spewed from the masses, and orbited around them like the rings of Saturn, falling back in to haphazardly patch themselves back onto the wailing people.
My thoughtless attention was redirected as a frantic deluge of citizens fled the city, running down the street towards us. One by one, the exodus was halted, people seeming to stop in place abruptly, though the screams did not relent.
I couldn’t see what had stopped them until the crowd drew closer, where I saw an elderly man whip forward, foot stuck fast, instantly snapping his knee from the momentum. He let out a heart-wrenching cry as he fell down and looked to see what had stopped him.
Something that looked like roots, water pipes maybe, had erupted through the tarmac and coiled their way up his leg. I could see the strength draining in his eyes as they stood him back upright by force, wrapping around his entire body.
I watched in abject horror as he was raised off the ground, and each and every one of the old man’s limbs were bent and snapped at unnatural angles, shattering frail bones into dust.
His feeble cries were promptly silenced as a squirming metal tube forced its way inside his mouth, his eyes rolling back in unfathomable agony as the bulging mass forced its way down his throat, splitting his ribcage apart and allowing the organs within to slop out and float in the air, as if weightless. The whole process seemed to reverse itself in time, then repeat, over and over.
I could only hear the echoes of Admin’s shouts and the faint sensation of their grip on my forearm as they pulled me away from the mind-bending atrocity. My vacant body tumbled backward, sending both of us falling onto the grass.
Still I could only sit there, frozen. Somewhere off to the right, I saw a young woman pulling presumably her daughter along by the wrist, fleeing the hellscape of flesh and bone down a small alley. Her head spun wildly as she noticed the walls of the alleyway closing in around them.
She burst out into the open, but was yanked back, her grip fast. She turned in desperation, only to see her daughter, who couldn’t have been more than seven, being slowly crushed into a paste of bloody flesh and yellow fat. Her pitiful screams still ring in my ears, seeing her child suffer such a terrible fate.
Admin was finally triumphant in breaking my trance, and I rushed to my feet, stumbling before gaining my footing and bolting the fuck out of there. The childish giggling echoing out over the sky only served to push me forwards and away from that place.
“What the fuck is going on?!” I yelped, glancing over to Admin, hoping they could offer just the slightest of explanations.
“I have an idea, but we need to get somewhere first. You see that hill through the woods, right over there?”
“Hill? To the observatory?”
“There’s one last thing we can try to stop this. It’s a shot in the dark, but I can’t just stand here and fade away with the rest.”
High speed winds whipped the trees as we ran below them, leaves fluttering in a wild seizure. Air-splitting cracks sounded, so loud my ears began to ring once more, and I looked over my shoulder to see what they could have been.
Blazing spouts of fire shot down from the clouds behind, more akin to lightning than anything, striking the forsaken with white-hot temperatures. Even from a distance, I could see skin and flesh melt off of bones like candle wax, forming spiralling clouds of organic vapour.
In my distraction, I ran straight into a tree, and tumbled over, blood leaking from a small cut on my forehead. Admin skidded to a stop and pulled me up to my feet, and ran onwards, not waiting for a moment to ask if I was okay.
Neither of us were okay. That was a given now.
We reached the top of the hill without too much effort – seems it was programmed for everyone to have an above-average level of fitness, young or old regardless.
Admin frantically, but methodically, sifted through what appeared to be a large hoop of keys, searching for the one to fit the observatory’s door. I looked back over to where we had fled from.
The twisted buildings coiled toward the sky, gargantuan talons holding captive everyone I’d ever known. But there was something else. Far behind the city, in the distant hills and woodland, a great black wave that spanned the horizon was travelling towards us, eviscerating the world itself. All it left behind was an endless chasm of darkness, defying reality itself.
The tsunami came closer, before stopping at the city’s outskirts, leaving only a towering earthen spire of suffering, flaming bolts cracking down upon it.
“Admin, what is going on?!”
They paused for a moment, then continued working on the several locks barring our entry.
“Do you remember what I told you earlier, when you found me? How this system is able to keep on running, over the trillions of years?”
“…ions?”
“Yes, but that’s only the basis. I told you that emotional activity generates power, yes? The more intense an emotion, the more power generated?”
“What are you getting at?”
“This is pure theory, but I believe that whatever is out there is feeding off of the system.”
“Is that why all that was happening? The-“
I stifled a gag, recalling the horrors fresh in my memory.
“Again, it’s a theory. I don’t understand what it is. If the constraints of the universe are loose enough for something to evolve in its endless darkness, to predate on the last sources of energy within it… I don’t know. And I doubt we ever will.”
I stared out at the hellscape, speechless. Finally, Admin found the right key, yanked the door open, and pulled me inside by the arm.
“Hey!” Admin yelled, snapping their fingers, “I need you to be present for this. I am restricted in this world, I can’t break and reform things like you can. A failsafe, for if the power were to go to my head. Follow my instructions exactly.”
They told me how to break apart some of the technology in the observatory, and rewire it into a different machine. I had no idea what we were creating at the time, but complied nonetheless.
The finished product was a makeshift beacon of some kind, connected to the nearby terminal.
“Thank you. Now, type.”
“Type what?”
“Everything that has happened. Add as many details as you can, because we won’t have another chance to get this out there.”
“O-okay, what is this thing? A radio?”
“In a way. The observatory is one of the only places here that has a connection to the outside. I have used it more than once to observe the universe fading away. This setup will send our transmission as a unique, superluminal type of wave. Hurry, we can’t waste time chatting about this.”
And so, here we are. I don’t know who will be hearing this, if anyone at all.
I beg of you, consider how our advancements might be our downfall.
It’s almost here. I can hear the flaming bolts striking the forest, closer.
This is my account. Please save us. Please spare us.
Don’t condemn us as you have.
[TRANSCRIPT END]
There it is. I’ve revised the translation more times than I can count, and I’m sure there’s no mistake here.
Other readings imply that this message has travelled an unimaginably vast distance, and not only over space. Repeated triangulation only tells me this came from above, somewhere far away, among the stars.
I can feel the edges of my mind singeing. This can’t be proven as truth, nor can it be discredited. There’s no possible way to explain how this message came from our own planet.
I’m trying to be rational, but I think we need to consider future development very carefully. As a people, we have always rushed through our technological advancements at an incredible speed, not stopping to consider all the consequences that might follow.
If anyone will believe this, please spread it around. I have no doubt this post will be taken down the moment they find it. As for myself, I’ll be disgraced, probably. Stuck in a cold cell, most likely.
Spread the word. The fact that the higher-ups will attempt to conceal this is a cruel thing indeed, if any of it’s true.
Signing off.

It's only been a few days since some interesting GTA VI gameplay was leaked. The leak, which was authenticated by Rockstar Games, confirmed the location to be Vice City, and that there would be male and female protagonists. Some eagle-eyed viewers noticed something about GTA Online, though. What they found was an art asset that seemed quite familiar. A texture asset specifically.
Those viewers of the leak video noticed a Vice City Metro sticker in the Arena War update for Grand Theft Auto Online that hit a while back. ViceCityMetroMule GTAO White Back Art Asset from Grand Theft Auto Online showing the Vice City Metro Mule Logo
The original tweet no longer displays the side by side imagery, unfortunately. The Arena War Update for Grand Theft Auto Online was release four years ago after all. While this is interesting, it is not uncommon for developers to re-use assets, especially if there isn't a significant change to the artwork. Asset re-use can shorten development time in most cases and it is not limited to video games. Many people are familiar with the "Pixar Easter Eggs" in that film studio's pieces. It's an excellent way to not waste development cycles on things like debris and common texture work that is repeated throughout the virtual worlds -- whether in games or movies.
It is also not uncommon for Rockstar to hide Easter eggs in their games that may reference other games in the same series, or different titles altogether. Bully even included a Grand Theft Auto vehicle asset in its shop class. Sometimes the developers just throw in things to drive community interest, such as the inclusion of Bigfoot in a later patch of GTA V. Another fun Easter egg is known as the "Mount Chiliad Mystery." When it was found, players suspected it meant there was a jetpack somewhere in GTA V -- there wasn't -- but one eventually appeared in a GTA Online Mission
gta online arena war t shirts T-Shirts from the GTA Online Arena War Update
It's definitely an interesting inclusion, but it's certainly not the only reference to Vice City within GTA V and GTA Online. There's an entire wiki article on Vice City related Easter eggs on the fan wiki for Grand Theft Auto. Still, this particular metro logo was not seen until GTA Online, and now in the unauthorized leak, so in a way, players had confirmation Vice City would be used in GTA VI, if they were paying attention and connected the dots.

I (18F) have an Onlyfans account. My brother, Mike, and I are twins, and we've always been really close. Mike has two friends, Joey and Alex, who he's known since childhood and with whom I get along well.
It was friday evening and our parents were out, so my friend Bella came over and we decided to have a few drinks. Mike had planned to spend the night with Joey and Alex and they were to pick him up later that evening. I was already feeling a bit tipsy when they showed up at the house and they ended up hanging out with us in the living room, watching TV, and chatting. I must have been more drunk than I thought, and I don't know how it happened, but somehow, my Onlyfans account ended up on my phone's screen.
Joey and Alex saw it, and I immediately realized my mistake. I was so embarrassed. Mike walked in just as Joey and Alex were staring at my phone. He was furious and started yelling at me, calling me a bitch and other names for exposing myself like that to his friends. I felt so ashamed and humiliated. Bella took my side saying it wasn't a big deal and told him to stop being a jerk.
Bella and Mike had a huge argument, then he glared at me and stormed off. The rest of us felt embarrassed and everyone left. Bella later texted me it's ok I shouldn't worry about it since nothing really explicit was shown. Joey and Alex also tried to reach out to me but I just ignored them.
Mike has been avoiding me for 1 week now, and I can tell he's still really angry about what happened. I don't know how to make things right with him.
I know that what I did was wrong and inappropriate. I shouldn't have shown my OnlyFans publicly, especially not to my brother's friends. But at the same time, it was an accident, and I didn't mean to do it. I'm not sure if I'm the asshole here or if my brother is overreacting.

Hi I need some advices for a new pair of in-ear earphones to use at home for gaming and watching movies/tv series on my pc (pc motherboard source), i'm looking for a sound similar to my Philips shp9600, my butdget is up to 130€.

These incidents essentially led to me(34M) and my ex (27F) breaking up. I guess I'm just looking for some opinions on the matter (good or bad), particularly from a woman's point of view.
We'd been dating for 5 months and things were going well. One night I went to show her something on Instagram (I only reactivated my account at her request). She noticed a story on my home page and asked who the girl was. I explained it was an old co-worker who I was friends with. She wouldn't stop asking questions about her. Did anything happen between us? Do I still speak to her? When did I last see her? I assured her nothing ever happened, but confessed I once had a crush on her. That was back in 2016. I'd last spoke to her in 2019 which was also when I last saw her. She exclaimed that the first story on your home page means that's the profile you view the most. I was quite sure that's not how Instagram worked, backed up by the fact I never viewed anyone's profile cause I never used the damn thing. After about an hour, while watching a movie, she looked at me and said, "Do you still have feelings for her?". Of course I answered "no", but was really thrown by how insecure she was behaving.
The last incident was when she was asking what stuff my friends and I talk about in our group chat (3 males, 1 Female). We've all been pals for 8 years, been to gigs around europe and the UK together and been through thick and thin (deaths, break-ups, mental health issues) together. She wanted to know what stuff my female friend would post. I explained we would all talk about everything and anything. I told her one story our female friend shared which was when she was at fancy dinner function for work, and the strap on her dress broke, and she nearly flashed everyone. My ex immediately seemed outraged that she told us that story, and became even more annoyed that we found it amusing. She claimed that my female friend was just wanting attention, and by giving her it, it meant I had an ulterior motive. Never mind the fact we'd been friends for 8 years and that nothing had ever happened between us. Not to mention we lived 200 miles apart and on average would meet once a year.
She went to bed that night without speaking to me, and when I eventually went to bed she tried to be all nice and sweet. I was frankly disgusted at her accusations towards me and my friend. She knew I was angry with her. The next day she left for work and neither of us messaged one another for a week. Eventually I got in touch, apologised for my part in the whole thing and said we should work it out. She simply replied with "we should go our separate ways". I messaged back but got no reply. After 2 weeks I asked her when we should arrange her collecting her things from mine and she preceeded to block me on all social media.
Sorry for the massive post. I just find myself feeling like I'm the bad guy in all this. I'm doing the classic case of putting my ex on a pedestal. There were many more incidents such as going in a mood on my birthday night out because I wasn't staying at hers that night. The reason? I was helping a friend the next day who's 2 year old son was having surgery on his pancreas.