Hello, I'm the Fort Bliss Bone Marrow Guy. I'm a specialist in the army who started an initiative at my first unit about 8 months after I arrived out of AIT. I ran around shamming out of work to go suave my way into Battalion CSM offices all around post so I could organize Bone Marrow Registry drives at their unit. Doing this for a year I registered 3000 soldiers all around Fort Bliss. After catching some good ol media buzz hunting for good PR, building a bunch of resources off everything I learned the hard way while doing this work, and some semi-ethical power moves. 1AD decided to pick up the program as a yearly initiative across every unit on post. It's called Operation Ring the Bell.
This program has the sole objective of registering as many soldiers as possible into the National Bone marrow donor registry through Salute to Life. Currently I'm working to cement it into Fort Bliss yearly operations and SOP. As well as working to get other bases on board and mirror the same yearly program. Though my real love is when other individual soldiers like myself reach out and learn how they can organize these drives at their unit. Whether it's just for awards, recognition, or their own big heart; I don't care because it saves lives. I will make every effort to ensure they get whatever they need to get those registrations. As well as every single drop of credit for their work.
WHY YOU SHOULD REGISTER
Bone marrow is that funky spongy bit in the middle of all of your bones. This is where white blood cells are made, which make up your entire immune system. Chemotherapy destroys your bone marrow's ability to create white blood cells, often making it incapable of recovering on its own. So you're on heavy-duty antibiotics until you find a donor. Getting a donation is a lot like jumpstarting your 29% APR dodge charger, a little bit of juice and the whole system can start right back up again so it can drive on to get pulled over for illegal tints another day. Registering as a donor does not mean you will be donating today, this year, in ten years, or more likely never at all. Bone marrow is entirely unique to donating blood or plasma in this way. The only way you'll ever get a call to donate is if you are almost genetically identical with someone who needs your specific bone juice asap. The chances of you ever donating are astronomically low. That's why registering is so vital.
If the vape clouds and diesel fumes catch up and you find yourself laying on the hospital bed. Tossing back antibiotics every day like breathmints before prom so that a rogue sneeze in another room doesn't wipe you out. You're going to need a bone marrow donor. You're not just going to need any bone marrow donor. You're going to need a very very very specific donor. And it's actually very unlikely that they are going to be from your family. 70% of the time you need to find your genetic twin from some random place in the country. You have to hope that there's someone somewhere that's your genetic twin and just as handsome as you are and that they registered as a donor. You're going to have to hope joebillybob from Nebraska took a minute from wearing shorts in the snow to donate some spit and get on the registry. His DNA is so close to yours that they can take his bone marrow and plop it into yours, and your body will recognize it as its own DNA and not just immediately reject it and kill you.
This system seems pretty rigged from the start, but the system is lucky that it's made to find donors for humans. And humans love to make more humans. This system works because there are 8 billion of us on the planet and by sheer probability you're likely going to have a just-as -handsome twin somewhere with a just-as-ate-up hairline as yours. But the only way to find them is to register. Notice I haven't been just describing this system as you donating. 14,000 Americans a year are diagnosed with leukemia. Tens of thousands of people a year are diagnosed with other illnesses that require chemotherapy or other methods. Registering to the database isn't exclusively to give you the chance to rack up some huge good karma. You or someone you know just might be so unlucky to be one of them. If that happens and you need a marrow donation;
-Unless you want to wait around in a sanitized room for months waiting to just get processed into the registry you'd likely better register now.
-Unless you want to see your friend, brother, sister, spouse, children deathly pale lying in that hospital bed sick for months while you and your family rushes to get registered to see if you're the lucky 30% whose family can save them and having to waste crucial time just to get your DNA sequenced and made searchable in the database.
You had better register sooner than later.
You could have a million reasons for saying no to registering but if the biggest excuse is that you're afraid of that big needle going into your bones or your spine. That reason is no longer valid. They do not touch your bones anymore. 80% of all registrations are done by PBSC. That's stem cells, but from your blood. If you've donated plasma you've essentially done the exact same process of donating bone marrow. Two needles, two arms and a pill that sheds bone marrow stem cells into your blood accompanied by some sitting around watching "grey's anatomy" for the 15th time. Completely painless, completely noninvasive. That percentage of PBSC has gone since Ring The Bell started, and it's only going to go up more each year as medical technology improves. You will not have a spinal tap, that hasn't been an option in decades. If you need to travel they cover wages, travel, per diem, and allow you to bring someone along, all expenses completely paid for.
Hundreds die each year waiting for their nurse to run in and tell them they found a match. Dozens die each year hearing their nurse tell them that their match said no when they called. Parents dying before they can see their kids grow up. Children dying before they get a chance to grow up.
You will never have to donate if the time comes and you're a match, you will never be forced to save someone in need. You could register today just to safeguard yourself for the future, and that's absolutely fine. But if you ever find yourself desperately needing a donation, spending months or even years nauseated and sick from the medication, you'll be praying that your only genetic match in the country picks up that phone and says yes.

Hello, I'm the Bone Marrow Guy. I'm a specialist who started an initiative at my first unit about 8 months after I arrived out of AIT. I ran around shamming out of work to go suave my way into Battalion CSM offices all around post so I could organize Bone Marrow Registry drives at their unit. Doing this for a year I registered 3000 soldiers all around Fort Bliss. After catching some good ol media buzz hunting for good PR, building a bunch of resources off everything I learned the hard way while doing this work, and some semi-ethical power moves. 1AD decided to pick up the program as a yearly initiative across every unit on post. It's called Operation Ring the Bell.
This program has the sole objective of registering as many soldiers as possible into the National Bone marrow donor registry through Salute to Life. Currently I'm working to cement it into Fort Bliss yearly operations and SOP. As well as working to get other bases on board and mirror the same yearly program. Though my real love is when other individual soldiers like myself reach out and learn how they can organize these drives at their unit. Whether it's just for awards, recognition, or their own big heart; I don't care because it saves lives. I will make every effort to ensure they get whatever they need to get those registrations. As well as every single drop of credit for their work.
WHY YOU SHOULD REGISTER
Bone marrow is that funky spongy bit in the middle of all of your bones. This is where white blood cells are made, which make up your entire immune system. Chemotherapy destroys your bone marrow's ability to create white blood cells, often making it incapable of recovering on its own. So you're on heavy-duty antibiotics until you find a donor. Getting a donation is a lot like jumpstarting your 29% APR dodge charger, a little bit of juice and the whole system can start right back up again so it can drive on to get pulled over for illegal tints another day. Registering as a donor does not mean you will be donating today, this year, in ten years, or more likely never at all. Bone marrow is entirely unique to donating blood or plasma in this way. The only way you'll ever get a call to donate is if you are almost genetically identical with someone who needs your specific bone juice asap. The chances of you ever donating are astronomically low. That's why registering is so vital.
If the vape clouds and diesel fumes catch up and you find yourself laying on the hospital bed. Tossing back antibiotics every day like breathmints before prom so that a rogue sneeze in another room doesn't wipe you out. You're going to need a bone marrow donor. You're not just going to need any bone marrow donor. You're going to need a very very very specific donor. And it's actually very unlikely that they are going to be from your family. 70% of the time you need to find your genetic twin from some random place in the country. You have to hope that there's someone somewhere that's your genetic twin and just as handsome as you are and that they registered as a donor. You're going to have to hope joebillybob from Nebraska took a minute from wearing shorts in the snow to donate some spit and get on the registry. His DNA is so close to yours that they can take his bone marrow and plop it into yours, and your body will recognize it as its own DNA and not just immediately reject it and kill you.
This system seems pretty rigged from the start, but the system is lucky that it's made to find donors for humans. And humans love to make more humans. This system works because there are 8 billion of us on the planet and by sheer probability you're likely going to have a just-as -handsome twin somewhere with a just-as-ate-up hairline as yours. But the only way to find them is to register. Notice I haven't been just describing this system as you donating. 14,000 Americans a year are diagnosed with leukemia. Tens of thousands of people a year are diagnosed with other illnesses that require chemotherapy or other methods. Registering to the database isn't exclusively to give you the chance to rack up some huge good karma. You or someone you know just might be so unlucky to be one of them. If that happens and you need a marrow donation;
-Unless you want to wait around in a sanitized room for months waiting to just get processed into the registry you'd likely better register now.
-Unless you want to see your friend, brother, sister, spouse, children deathly pale lying in that hospital bed sick for months while you and your family rushes to get registered to see if you're the lucky 30% whose family can save them and having to waste crucial time just to get your DNA sequenced and made searchable in the database.
You had better register sooner than later.
You could have a million reasons for saying no to registering but if the biggest excuse is that you're afraid of that big needle going into your bones or your spine. That reason is no longer valid. They do not touch your bones anymore. 80% of all registrations are done by PBSC. That's stem cells, but from your blood. If you've donated plasma you've essentially done the exact same process of donating bone marrow. Two needles, two arms and a pill that sheds bone marrow stem cells into your blood accompanied by some sitting around watching "grey's anatomy" for the 15th time. Completely painless, completely noninvasive. That percentage of PBSC has gone since Ring The Bell started, and it's only going to go up more each year as medical technology improves. You will not have a spinal tap, that hasn't been an option in decades. If you need to travel they cover wages, travel, per diem, and allow you to bring someone along, all expenses completely paid for.
Hundreds die each year waiting for their nurse to run in and tell them they found a match. Dozens die each year hearing their nurse tell them that their match said no when they called. Parents dying before they can see their kids grow up. Children dying before they get a chance to grow up.
You will never have to donate if the time comes and you're a match, you will never be forced to save someone in need. You could register today just to safeguard yourself for the future, and that's absolutely fine. But if you ever find yourself desperately needing a donation, spending months or even years nauseated and sick from the medication, you'll be praying that your only genetic match in the country picks up that phone and says yes.

First Prev Next Royal Road Patreon
u/KieveKRS providing the Trash certification of quality! (with help from u/coldfireknight cuz this one needed it.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Nalah affixed the massive shield to her back, the rectangular form large enough for him to fit behind while only needing to crouch slightly. It was mostly ironwood, but the sides and front were metal-plated, so it still weighed a considerable amount. Despite that, the thing’s bulk hardly seemed to be noticed by the blonde-furred female, likely due to the constant construction work she involved herself in. It paired oddly with the long pike she insisted on using, but he couldn’t deny that poking at things while hiding behind a mobile wall sounded like a good idea.
Jax was wearing his new armour, the bulky chest-piece a mirror of his blond-furred pack mate’s. Though he forwent the protection a buckler or likewise would offer, he doubled up on gear. Gauntlets, vambraces, pauldrons, and anything else he could wear to compliment the massive axe he had taken a liking to.
Where Nalah was fitted to look like an apocalypse survivor—her protections limited to her torso, forearms, and shield—the black-furred male resembled a giant, if underfunded, paladin. All he needed now was some religious imagery and a penchant for exalting the qualities of their god. Joseph almost nudged the guy to suggest it for kicks.
On second thought, he decided that Jax absolutely did not need a reason to start yelling about the Human-turned-religious-figure, because there was no way in hell he wouldn’t. There was no telling what he would choose to say, and the Grand Hunter was perfectly happy never knowing.
Having been with the male as long as he had, it would probably involve ‘taming’ females or something else that would leave him groaning for weeks, if not just contemplating another high-dive from the cliff.
Joseph fixed his own equipment, the ‘Wraith armour’ worn over his own thin iron breastplate. He wasn’t thrilled to wear the extra weight, but it beat being mauled by the thing they were heading out to kill. The trips so far had been tolerable, fog and overcast skies keeping the temperature in check, but he didn’t want to go out in this on a hotter day as Summer really kicked back in. He was sweaty enough without baking inside all this crap.
He adjusted the wolf-skull mask, the rest of the hunting party having gotten over the worst of the unease it gave them. Though they’d needed to rotate people out for the sake of fairness, this would be their eighth consecutive scouting. Using the information that Raine and Faye provided, they narrowed down a likely stomping grounds for the creature and were systematically clearing sectors. It might have been discouraging to keep looking after so long, but the occasional marking on trees and the odd moss-wolf corpse tipped them off that they were getting close. There was still another week’s worth of searching left if today wasn’t the day, but somehow he doubted they wouldn’t need that long.
All in all, they numbered six; larger parties were attempted, but their efforts at stealth quickly became pointless between so many trudging through the forest and stopping for breaks. There was a bit of a scare where one of Mi’low’s pack went missing, but the guy had just stopped to relieve himself. Since the discovery was made by someone else knocking him over in the process by mistake, they decided that keeping the number smaller made communication easier. And lowered the amount of grumbling about needing a bath.
Jax, Nalah, two security members, one of the hunters, and him. Sure, grabbing Tel or the Wraiths would have been a bit more useful for cohesion, but they were all busy with things, and he didn’t want to grind everything in the settlement to a halt for nothing if the search turned up empty again. They were more suited to taking out their fellow Lilhun than some monster in the woods, as much as he disliked the thought.
Scarlet was spending a lot of time with Violet and the new Atmo, Faye was spending much of her recovery with the moss-wolves and moss-pup, and Tel was in the process of helping Harrow shore up the few security members that were slated to become snipers. Kaslin was still learning chemistry with Toril, and Raine was helping whoever needed a hand, so that marked off all of his usual accompaniment. He could have taken more of his direct pack, but they all had important things to take care of as well.
Sahari was managing the pack and putting people where people needed to be put, Pan was working with Idee and Heralt to make a line of armour for the whole pack, and Mi’low was...well, Mi’low. He was pretty sure she was unofficially the master of the hunter’s lodge and spent most of her time keeping track of what came in and out of it, while also making sure that everyone got their fair share. It needed to be done with the settlement growing as much as it had, and it kept Mi’low busy enough to stymie the flow of complaints, so he wasn’t about to complain.
They double checked that they had everything that was needed; food, water, arrows, bolts, and some bags to store anything that the snares had caught on the way back. Four ranged and two melee weapons meant that they would be mostly using Jax and Nalah to soak hits if it came down to it, the others peppering it with projectiles. Given that Harrow was insistent on the bear-thing being resistant to anything they could use at a distance, they also carried spare weapons for the ranged users, just in case. Nodding, Joseph gestured to the group finishing up their preparations for the day’s trip.
“A moment, sir?” Scarlet called to him as she approached the gate, the Wraith flanked by Rose and Cobalt. The two Atmo were decked-out in their own armour, which appeared to be almost entirely metal, save for the palm lining the inside for comfort. Each of their six legs were adorned with broad shields, their bases capped off with a flat storage carriage. They looked like someone had a little too much fun testing how much the insects could effortlessly carry and had ended up with sapient hexapedal tanks.
“Only if you explain why those two would look more at home if they had cannons installed on their backs,” he quipped, an expression somewhere between surprised, amused, and plain dumbfounded plastered on his face. The blackish red-furred female smirked for a split-second before resuming her usual servile presentation.
“The young mistress had extended her request for these two to accompany you.”
Joseph tilted his head incredulously. “Violet told you to send them?”
Scarlet nodded, gesturing to the outfitted Atmo. “They have been under her tutelage for some time now, and wish to be of assistance.”
The Grand Hunter snapped his mouth closed when he was about to ask why his daughter would teach them anything that might be useful for fighting a deadly beast. Of course she did; It was one of the first things he did for her. It would have been weirder for her not to pass on what she knew after all the hours she spent either seeing him coach the others, or being coached herself. With the time she had under her belt, she was the local Atmo Close Quarters Combat specialist, and no one else understood how the modified boxing she learned worked with their bodies like she did.
He wore a hesitant expression, shifting his weight to his other leg. “Well, they’ve certainly geared up.”
“It is a product our smith is rather proud of,” the Wraith affirmed confidently.
He exhaled slowly. “Seems a bit much.”
She seemed to be expecting the remark, barely pausing to register what he said before responding. “Your kit wishes you safe, yet understands you would not allow her to accompany you. These two wish to be of assistance.”
To punctuate her point, the two nodded in agreement, walking forward and slinging some of the backpacks onto their carriages. It seemed ‘no’ wasn’t something they were going to accept after Violet had said her piece. He sighed, conceding that they wouldn’t slow the party down with everyone carrying so much weight in equipment, regardless of the bags. They took breaks frequently enough to accommodate the Atmo, so that wouldn’t hinder anything either.
“Fine,” he relented with a wave of his hand. “We’ll take them. Not like they’d hurt anyway. But–” He put a warning into his tone. “–they’re not playing the hero and getting themselves killed. This isn’t going to work if they think any of us dying is still a net positive, got it?”
The two Atmo mimed their understanding, Scarlet replying with a victorious smile. Joseph couldn’t help but bemusedly roll his eyes. The female had taken rather well to baby-sitting, and that seems to have extended to humouring the young Queen’s schemes now. It wasn’t an unwelcome addition to their little sojourn. At least they could haul back any larger game without it tacking hours onto the return trip.
He thanked Scarlet for her trouble before dismissing her, confirming with the group that everything was accounted for, and set off before it grew too late. He wasn’t looking to get caught out in the woods during the night. The Lilhuns might be fine, but he was pretty well blind unless the moon felt generous.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Jax watched the two Atmo quietly follow on the sides of the group, their heavily armoured forms posing no issues with their naturally soundless movements in the forest. In the den, they would make moderate clacks and clicks as their chitinous legs contacted the ground, but the soft dirt and foliage stifled all but the smallest report of their travel. With Scarlet supervising alongside Violet, he wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the former Blade had influenced their movement with the goal in mind, though he had never paid much attention to how they walked before to compare.
He had to admit, having them carry the additional equipment was exceedingly useful. He had proposed having the group use the newly acquired platforms on their more arachnid-like abdomen to rest in shifts, but Joseph was quick to insist that the insects were of lesser stamina than even Lilhuns. The phrasing seemed like a comparative insult, but Jax had more than enough experience with the Human to know that he had simply spoken his mind. To him, everyone had sub-par stamina. Training had gone some way to remedy the discrepancy, but the Grand Hunter could still continue for longer than even the most well-conditioned of them.
The black-furred male rolled his shoulders, feeling the heft of his axe shift with the movement. It was an impressive size, the weight well-balanced and its edge sharp. He had once laid it to the ground out of curiosity and confirmed that it was about as tall as Pan from head to haft, though only if she stood to her full height. Regardless of its size, it was still lighter than the armour he chose to don.
Having only really worn leathers or a few sets of ironwood protections, the encumbering prominence of the iron equipment took getting used to. It wasn’t entirely restrictive, but did put a damper on any chances he had of sprinting from danger. That was fine, he supposed, since he was wearing it against a beast he had no experience with. It could very well outrun him regardless, and he would rather have the defences in either case.
Nalah seemed to be doing fine, the large barrier she kept on her back swaying slightly as she walked. She was unhindered by it, her movements barely affected by the bulk, which was reassuring. Joseph, however, seemed to be panting more than usual, the rolling cloud coverage easing as the sun progressively warmed the environment. The fog from earlier meant that it was rather humid, and that seemed to bore no well wishes for the male encased in dark leathers and thick plates. He had even flipped down his hood, the sweat beading on his skin adding a sheen to his visage.
“I liked this better when the sun didn’t exist,” the Human lamented quietly, just loud enough for Jax to hear. The black-furred male chuckled.
“It would be rather dark.”
Joseph glared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes. “I just don’t rank ‘heavily armoured hike through the woods’ high up on my list of things I want to do regularly.”
“I believe that list would be occupied by your mates, no?” he ribbed playfully, a smirk arising when the Grand Hunter shunted his eyes closed in a grimace.
“I hate you.”
“I can see your smile underneath your displeasure, Joseph,” Jax quipped, nudging the male with his elbow, then giving an apologetic smile when his friend almost fell. Joseph sighed, waving Cobalt over and fetching a water-skin from the luggage that the insect was ferrying without breaking stride—though he needed to be careful not to get stepped on.
The Atmo always amused Jax. Be it their passive demeanour hidden by their towering stature, or his interactions with the den-kit, they never failed to be curious people. Having the two that accompanied Volta with them was an unexpected development, but he couldn’t claim to disapprove. If they had been imparted the methods of combat that Violet had cultivated, then there was little worry of them being harmed by naught but perhaps their current target. At least not until there was a better reference of its strength than the single encounter the first-years had so long ago.
At the time, it had smashed pillars and pierced flesh effortlessly, claws proving to be little more than tempting ministrations of tender touch to the thick hide. Jax only had some of the pack’s recount to base the experience off of, but was content to take their word for it. He was, ashamedly, preoccupied taking care of baser needs when the event transpired, so he was woefully unprepared for the eventual encounter. Still, he was afforded the best the settlement had to offer so that he might serve his duty of protecting the Grand Hunter. Harrow would never forgive him if only he returned.
His thoughts were disturbed by Joseph calling for a rest, Jax’s legs thankful for the break from supporting the unusual weight for so long. The Human dispensed rations and water for the pack, the Atmo waiting until everyone else was supplied before accepting their portion. They rested on their base directly, instead of curling their legs beneath them like Jax had become accustomed. Perhaps the armour impeded such, or they wished to remain mobile in the event such was required. Regardless, they blocked what little breeze there was, forcing the Grand Hunter to walk beyond them to enjoy it in the shade. It was short-lived however, as Rose quickly repositioned to stay between the pack and whatever lay beyond their protections.
It was a futile effort, it seemed, because it repeated again twice before Joseph groaned loudly and threw himself atop the carriage to lay back, his legs dangling at the knee. He seemed perfectly content with the unorthodox arrangement, snorting his amusement along with a muttered comment about a ‘taxi.’
The entertaining sight was marred by a distant yelp, snapping the group to attention. Jax and Joseph traded looks, subtle nods and gestures given to move out while remaining quiet. Ignoring his earlier complaints, the Grand Hunter flicked his hood up and donned the mask, drawing his crossbow and readying a bolt. The hunter of the pack mimicked the preparation, the two security members loosely nocking their arrows while Rose, Cobalt, Jax, and Nalah took point.
They proceeded quietly for far longer than the proximity of the noise would have suggested, but marks and gashes upon the trees implied a moving conflict. Thoughts of it being a lost cause quickly became moot as a closer growl and bark shattered the careful silence they had been maintaining.
Motioning for the pack to stop, Joseph waved Jax forward, Nalah approaching the other side. Using the large shield as additional cover, they peered around a particularly thick tree. Locked in combat were two moss-wolves, both attacking a truly massive grey creature.
Twice the Human’s height, half that in width. Four pillars as legs—the muscular trunks sinewy and defined—supported the disturbing hunched figure, the wide base tapering slightly into a thick and extended torso. A singular eye-stalk replaced the head, the ocular organ atop it pitch black and free of any indication of its focus. Four arms with deadly claws parried and sliced the two yellow beasts as they attempted to drive off the predator, a sickeningly large maw gaping to catch any attempts at a lunge. The mouth of the creature almost occupied the entirety of the available surface area upon its front, the jagged bone tools of manduction undulating with the promise of sustenance.
Joseph pulled them back, cursing under his breath as he tried to fight off the tension. From Nalah’s worried expression, it seemed his caution was rather potent, the other members of the group smelling his reaction as well.
“So, what’s the plan, Jax?” the Human whispered, his grip on the crossbow alternating with his fingers stretching across the trigger lest his fidgeting cause a misfire.
“I thought that, with your record, you would wish to tame it for the settlement,” Jax replied while thinking through a plan of action. He was glad that his friend trusted him, but he wished he had known the true scale of the beast prior. Joseph grit his teeth, turning to glance past the tree again with sarcasm pouring out of his response.
“Can’t quite see Winnie-the-woodchipper there playing great with kids.”
“You say that after adopting an Atmo as kit, Grand Hunter,” he returned, nodding to himself when a plan formed. The Human smiled, the banter easing the tension somewhat. “Rose, Cobalt, you two are the most well defended of us. Circle around and drive the beast this way. You should be capable of such without noise, yes?”
The two insects nodded, emptying their luggage behind a tree so as not to lose any of it before disappearing into the trees. The slight glimmer of their iron armour was the only indication of their position through the dense forest. Jax hoped that the beast was not particularly curious about the dimly pulsing glare, nor finished with its current altercation in time to impede the pair.
Satisfied with their progress, he motioned for the two security members to scale a tree and gain a superior vantage point. Their weapons would be able to maintain a more rapid pace of sustained fire at longer ranges. Joseph and the hunter were instructed to hide behind trees nearby, though the Human would need to remain grounded as his lack of claws made scaling the large flora difficult with his equipment.
Finally, Nalah and he positioned themselves much closer, in order to flank the creature as it fled the Atmo and occupy it long enough for the others to bleed it out, if not outright dispose of it.
With the forms of the Atmo peeking through the brush opposite them, Jax raised his axe to signal the start.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Joseph felt the hammering in his chest, his heart preparing him to fight for his life against the walking abomination that easily outclassed the only other predator that he had experience with. Sure, the moss-wolves were easy to take down once you had equipment and a plan, but that thing screamed danger.
He watched Jax and Nalah set up behind thick trees, their goal being for Jax to hopefully disable a leg or two with the war-axe while Nalah occupied it with the shield. As the two strongest members of his little family, he trusted both to do their job.
As a clusterfuck of animal and torture device, he had no faith in the creature playing along.
Swallowing his hesitation, he adjusted his grip on the crossbow again, mentally tallying his shots and cursing himself for not researching explosives. Sure, Toril didn’t want to be involved in that kind of weapon, but at the moment, the tailless white-furred male could suck it up and make one anyway. Joseph would give his left nut to see how quickly the chemist would make weapons of mass destruction just to annihilate whatever that thing called home.
Jax raised his axe, glinting the sunlight of it towards the Atmo. Receiving the start signal, the two clicked and loosed a deafening screech, the Human’s ears ringing even from this distance.
The beast seemed unperturbed by the noise, though the lack of visible ears may have had something to do with the lacklustre effect. Regardless, it did notice the two armour-clad insects charging at it, and smartly decided to extradite itself from the area. The moss-wolves, however, didn’t quite get the memo, mistaking the advancing assistance as yet another foe to defend themselves from.
He had to say, Violet taught the two well. They flashed their blades out in the same flicker jab that he had shown his daughter, and with an unceremonious squelch, the two bisected canines landed in four pieces, a vibrant green ichor now staining the weapon-like appendages of the Atmo. Undeterred by their first act of violence—as far as he was aware, anyway—they continued herding the beast.
It wasn’t as fast as they might have feared, its quadrupedal gait hindered by its proportions, but it was still quick enough to be damn intimidating. Its arms acted as a counter balance, constantly adjusting this way and that just to keep it stable. That thing was clearly never meant for sprinting, all its mobility being given to the overactive maw that pulsated with the exertion.
He readied his crossbow, the shaking in his hands not ruining his aim against such a large target. He eyeballed the distance between the creature and the ambush point, forcibly moving his finger off the trigger so that he didn’t fire early.
Closer. Come on. Almost.
Now.
Jax wound up like a particularly enthusiastic lumberjack, putting his full body into the rotation. The massive axe swung like a horizontal pendulum striking home with all the finality of a clock tolling midnight. It bit into the front leg of the beast, only sinking a few inches before momentum nearly wretched the weapon from the black-furred male. Luckily, the force and timing was enough to trip it, the creature crashing to the forest floor with a deafening roar of pain.
They could hurt it. That made him feel better.
His relief evaporated as the beast swiftly recovered, hauling itself from the ground faster than he thought possible, but his archers took it for an unspoken signal. Arrows and bolts peppered its thick hide, to no effect—it shrugged off the projectiles like they were nothing more than pine needles, none sinking far enough to gain notable purchase.
Jax hefted his axe for another strike, careful not to over-commit this time. Nalah prodded the beast wherever she could with her pike, the melee weapon sliced and skewered just past the surface of the hide, though not enough to do more than marr. It was, however, enough to gain the attention of the target, the creature swinging two of its four arms to rake across the shield that the blond-furred female held. The iron plating across the front let out an unearthly shriek as claws ripped and crumpled the metal.
Well, fuck.
Nalah was quick to react, treating the shield less as an immovable barrier and more like a slight distance buffer, dodging in and out of range to steal jabs with the polearm. The security members nocked another volley, picking different targets than before. An arrow bounced harmlessly off the black orb of an eye, another finding purchase in what passed for gums in its mouth.
The hint was received; aim for the mouth. Thankfully, that was a large target. Less thankfully, it realized that flashing its teeth was detrimental to its health, slamming the maw closed.
Jax managed another swing, this time into one of the rear legs. It wasn’t as effective as the first strike, but it did warrant a sweeping double back-fist from the creature, scoring Jax’s armour with shallow claw marks as he jumped backwards. Joseph let out a breath as he fired his second shot, only just narrowly missing the sliver of a gap between razor teeth that the enraged attack afforded. It couldn’t keep its mouth shut forever, each frenzied swipe pulling its form enough for glimpses of softer flesh within to appear. The hunter dropped from their tree, darting across to reposition for a wider angle to capitalize on. The creature noticed, lunging forward to eviscerate the easier target.
Joseph blinked as two armoured figures jumped in front of the Lilhun, raising their blades in a tight guard to block the four arms grabbing for a quick meal. The beast recoiled with a thunderous screech, two of its appendages sporting deep gashes that fountained blood, while the others managed to impact above the edged outside of the blades. Rose and Cobalt pressed forward, buying time and space for the hunter to collect themselves and scale up another perch. Taking advantage of its pain, two new arrows ripped through the air, smacking into exposed inner flesh. Two new protrusions joined the first in the mouth, one landing next to the existing projectile, while the other cleared the gateway of serration, driving deeply inside of it.
More flicker jabs and extended straights pushed and cut the beast as it tried to gain distance from the two that wounded it, every retaliatory strike earning it another gash in its grey hide.. Unencumbered by the constant barrage, Nalah thrust into its legs more vigorously, her body leaning into each attack to gain every inch of penetration she could into the muscle and thick hide.
Jax used the chance to score another chopping blow, doubling down on a previous wound to a back leg—striking bone this time, based on the unholy wail the beast uttered. Joseph raised his crossbow to land another shot into its mouth, but the beast flailed wildly to fend off the ambush.
Rose managed to block, Jax lunged backwards, Nalah deflected most of it with what remained of her shield, but Cobalt was caught by a strike, taking the hit to its torso. The Atmo flew backwards, rolling when it landed, the carriage and assorted armoured plates trailing behind it. Rose shifted instantly, covering the direction that their companion had been sent while Jax and Nalah focused on pulling the beast away from the downed combatant.
Joseph’s eyes flicked to the Atmo, waging an internal battle on whether helping the insect would be better or worse for the situation as a whole. He didn’t want to lighten up their assault if it would just mean more injuries, but Cobalt could be in dire need for a patch job. It was hard to tell from where he was.
Cursing, he bolted from his spot, firing off one last round into the gaping maw before clipping the crossbow onto his armour and sliding on his knees in front of Cobalt, healroot hastily retrieved from his pocket.
He paused, sighing in relief when none of the armour bore more than deep gashes, the carapace underneath unblemished by the attack. Cobalt clicked lightly, dazed, but otherwise seeming unhurt. Unlearned in the physiology relevant, he ushered the Atmo to remain out of the fight for fear of concussion or something similar. They could look at the insect back at the base to be sure later.
“Joseph!”
His head spun around at both Jax and Nalah screaming his name, a massive clawed hand sweeping at him—the monster's approach unnoticed while he focused on Cobalt. Lacking a better option, he lunged forward towards the underside of the beast to dodge the swipe, crashing to his shoulder on the dirt below.
The creature raised a leg above Joseph, pounding the earth scant inches from his head as he rolled sideways. Ignoring the kicked up dirt, he brought his fist to the underside of the beast, flicking the release on his bracer.
Blood spouted from the newly formed wound, the blade breaking at the mechanism as the massive animal lurched in pain, Joseph rolling out of the way of another attempted trampling. He scrambled to his feet, feeling the wind of another strike narrowly missing him.
Yeah, that would probably kill him.
Luckily, the injuries renewed the desire to flee in the monstrosity, the group of attackers proving too dangerous to continue challenging. It stumbled away from them, sparing Cobalt from its panicked trudging. Jax and Nalah started to run towards him, worry evident in their eyes, but he barked for them to finish it, redirecting the two to keep the pressure going. He didn’t want to mention the pain in the arm from where the bracer hitched. It didn’t feel broken, and thus was irrelevant.
Pressure applied, the grey beast picked a random direction free of opponents to escape, ignorant of the waiting security. When it was too close for them to shoot into its mouth at a decent angle, they slung the bows over their shoulders and drew the swords they had been afforded, patiently waiting with the blades turned down.
It passed below them, the two Lilhuns dropping from the branches to put their full weight into the plunging blades. Both landed on the large target, one sword sinking deep into a shoulder, while the other managed to pierce one of its hip joints. The beast spun haphazardly to dislodge the ‘new’ threats, both security members kicking off and finding new trees to set up in.
Whatever damage was actually done, it had lost the use of an arm, and its gait shifted awkwardly as the blade lodged in its hip worked more harm with each shambling step.. Emboldened, Jax picked up the pace, struggling to position himself with the amount of metal he wore. Ducking another swipe of its claws, he saw his chance and swung, pivoting with his axe as a counter weight. For the third time, his axe blade found the wound in its leg, adding a sickening crunch as the bone snapped from the impact.
The creature swung wildly, forced to favour its two remaining good legs, and the only other leg that could still support at least some of its weight. It was unstable now, the hunched figure swaying while unmoving. Unable to run, it decided to go down with as many of them as it could.
Rose caught up with the attack, drawing attention from the comparatively squishy Nalah as the blond-furred female deflected a wayward swing with her shield. The once iron-plated ironwood now sporting little more than jagged scraps of metal atop its silver wooden structure, a series of deep gouges marring the surface. Two lunging thrusts with the pike bit flesh, drawing new blood from the beast.
Joseph loaded his crossbow, getting off two bolts, but not managing to keep it steady enough to hit anything of use, his arm faltering under the weight of the weapon. Cursing, he decided to flank the beast and try his luck with the other bracer. If nothing else, the force in which the blade deployed was enough to pierce the thick hide, and the others were doing a good job of distracting it.
The red armoured Atmo let loose a series of directed swings, the fifth severing an arm in motion, the flying appendage forcing Nalah to raise her shield to block the unorthodox projectile. The female was sent sprawling from the weight of the impact, but the beast was too busy voicing its agony to take advantage of it. Jax worked another two chops into the broad legs, but neither managed to incapacitate it any more, and the prolonged exertion was slowing his reflexes.
As if cued into his waning energy, the beast flung Jax with another strike, the hunter of the group sinking a bolt deep into the cavernous flesh of its mouth to prevent an attempt at following up.
Joseph roared, desperate to finish it off before the creature could do the same to his downed pack. He sprinted at the monster's back and slid underneath it with as much speed as he could muster. Throwing his fist into the passing undercarriage, he let the deployed blade leave a long gash in its wake.
The grey monster lost its ability to stand, torn tendons, blood loss, and inflicted injuries taking their toll. The Grand Hunter kicked off his knees to fling himself out of the way of the collapsing figure, grimacing as the remaining bracer proved unable to support the abuse he had put it through. He looked back at the beast, the flailing body failing to right itself as teeth did little more than gouge dirt, its back exposed. Rose approached, raising their blades together and plunging it through the body over and over until it stopped moving.
Exhausted, the Atmo dropped where it was, breathing heavily. Joseph’s instinct to yell their victory was delayed as he hurried over to Jax and Nalah to confirm he didn't need to bring back bad news. Nalah seemed fine, if a bit sore from hitting the dirt and rolling, while Jax just asked to lay down when he heard that everything was over. Cobalt came over to the group, the armour that had come off collected atop the carriage it had managed to loosely affix to its base.
It was light, a chuckle originating from the Human as he slumped to the ground against a tree, but soon the entire group was roaring with laughter as victory settled in their minds. The two security members helped the hunter begin disassembling the beast, their contribution to the fight leaving them with more energy than the rest. They hadn’t been slacking off, that much was certain. The number of arrows jammed into the maw of the thing would have guaranteed a few extra seconds of survival and chances to escape if one of them had been forcibly tossed into there, and it had caused enough pause for the rest of them to get in a few hits up close.
Joseph rested across from Jax and Nalah, letting his heart rate slow from the rapid pace it had been pinned to since the start of the conflict. His arm continued its protests, but from the amount of movement he still had, he guessed that he had just strained the elbow. A few days taking it easy should straighten that right up.
Once the active members were about half way through processing the creature for hide and meat, Cobalt approached him, a mimed request for assistance putting their armour back on being redirected to Nalah since he doubted he could lift the damn pieces without hurting himself at the moment. She obliged, getting the blue Atmo back in full attire, though it took a while.
Rose stood first, stopping over to allow the hunter to place collected bits and pieces onto the carriage before securing it with whatever they could make due. A security member gathered the moss-wolf corpses for a similar treatment. Waste not, want not, he supposed.
Rose ended up carrying most of their spoils. When he was about to ask why, he, Jax, and Nalah were dragged to Cobalt and hefted onto the carriage. A series of confused questions revealed that the rest wanted to head back before it started getting dark, and it was pretty obvious who was the most exhausted of them. Lacking the will or energy to argue it, he flopped back on the Atmo as the trees passed them by, Nalah resting her legs across him as her head sat on Jax’s lap. The black-furred male didn’t so much as smirk, so it was clear he had pushed himself too far to quip about the arrangement as he laid down.
“The next time you wish to exhaust me this much, Joseph,” the Head of Security started after a long while of silence, tiredness in his voice, “I would prefer it to involve my mate and a bed.”
The Human snorted, closing his eyes and enjoying the lack of walking as the surprisingly stable Atmo carried the three of them. “Fuck off, Jax.”
“Of course, Grand Hunter.”
Next
A/N: Patreon is fixed!... aka new one cuz problems with the last. Check it out to support the story, get AI character art every now and then, or even preview sections of chapters as i write them! (aka, before kieve gets to fix them :D)

If ANYONE WANTS them (http://smmacourses.site/)
NEW COURSES (Included when buying my whole collection!):
· ⭐Iman Gadzhi – Agency Navigator 2023
· ⭐Sam Ovens - Consulting Accelerator 2023
· ⭐Cole Gordon – 30 Day Closer
· ⭐Montell Gordon - Agency Transmulation
· ⭐Charlie Morgan - Easygrow Course
· ⭐Sebastian Esqueda - Ecom Revolution
· ⭐Biaheza Droppshiping Course 2023
· Andrew Tate – Courses Bundle
· Charlie Morgan - Imperium Agency
· Charlie Morgan - Gym Growth Accelerator
· Biaheza - Full Dropshipping Course 2023
· Jordan Welch - The Reveal 2023
· Savannah Sanchez - TikTok Ads Course 2023
· Iman Gadzhi - Copy Paste Agency
· Sam Ovens - UpLevel Consulting
· Miles – The FBA Roadmap + The Profit Vault
· Andrew Giorgi – Amazon Dropshipping Course
· Sebastian Esqueda – Ecom Revolution Training Program
· Luca Netz – Advanced Dropshipping 2023
· Kevin King – Freedom Ticket 3.0
· Jordan Platten – LearnAds – Facebook Ads Pro 2023
· Miles – The FBA Roadmap + The Profit Vault
· Dan Vas – Ecom Freedom Shopify Blueprint 2023
· Alexander J.A Cortes - WiFi Money Machine
· Kody Knows - Native Mastery
· Bastiaan Slot - Six Figure Consulting
· Kaibax - Centurion agency
· Joe Robert - Print On Demand Accelerator
· Ryan Hogue - Ryan's Method Dropshipped POD
· Kevin Zhang - Ecommerce Millionaire Mastery
· Ryan Lee – 48 Hour Continuity
· [METHOD] ⚡️TikTok Algorithm Domination Skyrocket your engagement TODAY Updated 2023✨
· Troy Ericson – Email List Management Certification
· Larry Goins – Filthy Riches Home Study Course
· Ry Schwartz – Automated Intimacy
· Patrick Bet-David – All Access Bundle
· Andrea Unger – Master the Code & Go LIVE
· Jon Benson – 10 Minute Sales Letter
· Alen Sultanic – Automatic Clients & Bonuses
· Taylor Welch – Cashflow for Consultants
· Akeem Reed – Slingshot Rental Blueprint
· The Futur Greg Gunn – Illustration for Designers
· Trading180 – Supply And Demand Zone Trading Course
· Jim McKelvey (Foundr) – How To Build An Unbeatable Business
· Master of AI Copy – Copy School by Copyhackers
· Copyhackers – Copy School 2023
· Matei – Gann Master Forex Course
· YOYAO Hsueh – Topical Maps Unlocked
· Tyler McMurray – Facts Verse Youtube Automation Course
· Ashton Shanks – 7 Day Copywriting Challenge Featuring ChatGPT
· Rene Lacad – Rockstar Marketing Blueprint
· Top Trade Tools – Hedge Fund Trender
· Brandi Mowles – Conversion For Clients
· Glen Allsopp – SEO Blueprint 2 (DETAILED)
· Trading Busters – Prop Trading Formula Course
· Sam Woods – The AI Copywriting Workshop (Complete Edition)
· Brian Anderson – Recovery Profit System
· LOW COMPETITION KEYWORDS IN MINUTES ⚡ 70+ REVIEWS ✅ BONUS PDF WORTH $200+
· Devon Brown – Easiest System Ever
· Duston McGroarty – St. Patrick’s Day 2023 Live Event
· Dan Wardrope – Click & Deploy Sales Android
· Lost Boys Academy – How To Make Life Changing Money With OnlyFans!
· WealthFRX Trading Mastery Course 2.0
· TOM & HARRY – Digital Culture Academy
· 100+ Cold Email Templates
· [METHOD] ✅ Make Real Cash with Auto Blogging ⛔Get $1199 Worth of Resources ❌ CUSTOMIZED SECRET PROCESS⚡DONE FOR YOU SITE ⭐ Unlimited Niche Opportunity & So on
· Tobias Dahlberg – Brand Mastery
· Raul Gonzalez – Day Trading Institution 2.0
· Rasmus & Christian Mikkelsen –Impact Academy 2023
· [METHOD] ☢️ The Quick eBay Money Loophole Guide ☢️
· Apteros Trading – March 2023 Intensive
· Rob Lennon – Zero to 10k Twitter Accelerator
· Rob Lennon – Next-Level Prompt Engineering with AI
· Rasmus & Christian Mikkelsen – NEW Audiobook Income Academy Download
· Grow and Convert – Customers From Content
· Charles Miller – The Writersonal Branding Playbook
· Kaye Putnam – Convert with a Quiz
· Forex Mentor – London Close Trade 2.0
· Chase Reiner – Fortune Bots Update 1
· Andrew Ethan Zeng – Social Marketing Mastery
· [Method] Upload FULL, 100% Unedited Copyrighted Videos on Youtube! Content ID DESTROYER!
· Digital Daily – Top 150 ChatGPT Prompts to Make your Life Easy
· Patek Fynnip – Psychology Course
· Thomas Frank – Creator’s Companion (Ultimate Brain Edition)
· [METHOD] ⚡ See the MAGIC of Bulk Posting ✨ Untapped Method ✅ [ BONUS ChatGpt and Affiliate list Pdf]✅
· ⭕️ YouTube Content Machine – Unlimited FREE traffic for CPA – Fully Automated Method ⭕️
· Jakob Greenfeld – Scraping The Web For Fun and Profit
· Adrian Twarog – OpenAI Template Starter Kit for ChatGPT / GPT3
· The Secret Merchants List of Over 2000+ Dropshippers and Amazon FBA Suppliers Based in The US
· Top Trade Tools – Top Swing Trader Pro
· Charlie Houpert – Charisma University 2023
· ▶️ [METHOD + GUIDE] ✅ Make Money ✅ with Kindle Books ⚠️ Even if You Can’t Write ⚠️ [STEP-BY-STEP] ⚡ NO INVESTMENT REQUIRED! ⚡
· Charlie Morgan – Easy Grow
· Nina Clapperton – Jasper AI Course for Bloggers
· Travis Stephenson – Simple Profit System
· Manny Khoshbin – Real Estate Starter Program
· Tanner Henkel & Jerrod Harlan – 7-Figure Email Machine
· [METHOD] Stop Wasting Money on AI Writers Train And Fine-Tune Your Own AI For Free With No Code ⚡⚡⚡Real Method & Practice Examples ⚡⚡
· Creator Hooks – YouTube Title Mastery
· Thomas Frank – Creator’s Companion (Ultimate Brain Edition)
· Sean Dollwet – Royalty Hero
· Jason Bell – Birthday Marketing Formula
· NXT Level FX – Investors Domain
· [METHOD] ⏩ My ETSY $40K~ Passive Income 2023 + HOT Products (Earning Proof) ⏪ Make Money No Marketing Easy $40K~ Guide FOR NOOBS ✅
· Rob Jones & Gerry Cramer – Profit Singularity Ultra Edition 2022 (AI & ChatGPT)
· Cody Wittick & Taylor Lagace – The Influencer Marketing Blueprint
· ⚡️➡️$390/Week BLUEPRINT+PROOF✅Scalable Method❤️Amazon to eBay Dropship✅
· Kody Ashmore – Simpler Trading – Drama Free Day Trades ELITE
· Youri van Hofwegen – YouTube Search Automation
· Montell Gordon – Agency Transmutation
· Csaba Borzasi – Breakthrough Conversions Academy
· Tim Denning – Twitter Badassery
· Geoff Cudd – AI Writing Course for Bloggers & Digital Marketers
· RED CPA FORMULA – UNTAPPED UNDERGROUND CPA SYSTEM
· BowtiedCocoon – Zero to $100k: Landing Any Tech Sales Role
· Holly Starks – Make LINK BUILDING Great Again!
· Mike Warren – Deeds4Cash
· BITCOIN BRITS – The Crypto Course
· Max Gilles – ⚡️☄️ UHQ Leak ❤️CPA JACKER – Epic CPA Blueprint✅⚡️
· Aidan Booth & Steve Clayton – 123 Profit Update 9
· Christina Galbato – The Influencer Bootcamp
· John Thornhill – Ambassador Program
· [Sales] 999+ Ultimate ChatGPT Prompts To Copy & Paste (250+ tasks)
· Pollinate Trading – Curvy Trading System
· Content Mavericks – The Greatest Hits Content System
· Andriy Boychuk – Flowium – Klaviyo Mastery 2.0
· Dagobert Renouf – How To Dominate Twitter (Advanced Growth Bundle)
· Darius Lukas – ⭐ The Marketer’s Bible to ChatGPT ✅ 1000+ ChatGPT Prompts to Copy, Paste & Scale
· Billy Gene – 5 Day A.I. Crash Course for Marketers
· Alex Cattoni – Posse Eye Brand Voice Challenge Program
· Casey Zander – YouTube Fame Game Blueprint
· Harlan Kilstein – Midjourney Mastery
· Shawna Newman – YouTube for Niche Sites
· [Marketing] 1099+ Ultimate ChatGPT Marketing Prompts To Copy & Paste (200+ tasks)
· Karen Foo – Star Traders Forex Intermediate Course
· TheMacLyf – Hive Mind & Masterclass (Onlyfans Course)
· Brittany Lewis – Top Seller Secret
· Dan Henry – Facebook Ads for Entrepreneur
· Russ Horn – Ultra Blue Forex
· Scott Phillips – Crypto Salary System
· Roland Frasier – AI Powered Expert Apprentice + Update 1
· Roger & Barry – Give Academy 1k/Day Platinum Mastermind [COMPLETE with LATEST UPDATE]
· Bretty Curry (Smart Marketer) – Smart Amazon Ecommerce
· Steven Dux – Traders Edge 2023
· Aidan Booth & Steve Clayton – 123 Profit
· Allie Bjerk – Tiny Offer Lab
· Dicke Bush – Generate 10x More Content Using AI
· Mateusz Rutkowski – New Money Blueprint
· Smart Raja Concepts (SRC) – Forex 101
· Chase Reiner – Short Form Riches Bootcamp 2023 – AI ChatGPT Bot Update 3
· Chase Reiner – AI Profits
· Travis Sago – Cold Outreach & Prospecting AMA Offer (Best Value with All Bonuses)
· Live Traders – Professional Trading Strategies
· Allan Dib – The 1-Page Marketing Plan Course
· Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree
· The Trading Guide – The Gold Box Strategy
· The Complete XAUUSD GOLD Forex Scalping System On Real Trading Account
If ANYONE WANTS them (http://smmacourses.site/)

John was bored one night and decided to get to work on something. He didn't know what exactly to do, so he decided to write a story since writing was one of his hobbies. However, John was so bored that he didn't even know what to write about, so that's when he gave up and went right back to bed staring at his vinyl record copy of The Best of Bread resting on his turntable. He was too lazy to at least make an attempt to drop the needle on the record and listen to some music. Instead, he just stared at the ceiling desperately wanting to do something great, but lacking the energy and motivation to do so; he needed some kind of incentive... John suddenly jolted not realizing that he had dosed off, so he decided to call it a night and close his eyes for good till morning. It was 12:37am...
Twisting, turning, and mumbling, John finally woke up not feeling too well, but it was only 2:00am. He stumbled to the bathroom like a blind drunk man to pee and wash his face. He was cold and shivering like a worried puppy trying to shake off the unpleasant dream that he woke from. After he washes his hands, he stares at himself in the mirror recalling the dream he just had...
A white middle aged man was mowing a lawn. The lawn looked like a small version of John's childhood home in Jonesborough Tennessee. The man was wearing a beige straw hat and had a smirk on his face while constantly wiping his sweat. There was no one else around, just the man mowing the lawn. There was something cold and unwelcoming about the lawn mowing man's presence. He never made eye contact with John, yet John felt as though he was looking at him. "But how?" John whispered to himself... The more John wondered that question to himself, the more hostile the presence of the lawnmowing man became. Still, the man never batted an eye at John, but gave the feeling as though he knew everything about John and was watching him like a Hawk... The lawn mowing man's smirk grew larger, more sweat began to pour from his face as he violently swatted his hands across his sunburnt forehead... Suddenly the ambience became louder and louder which resembled a chaotic orchestral crescendo and...
John suddenly snaps back to reality while still gazing at himself in the mirror; he smirks and tries to laugh the dream away, but there was just something so unsettling about the dream that words just couldn't describe. John desperately wanted to forget about the dream and was too scared to go back to bed fearing that the dream may reappear. He gets back in bed and stares at the ceiling once again but accidentally doses off...
John finally sleeps well until morning when he wakes up to briefly eat some cereal and then gets back in bed realizing he doesn't work on Saturdays... It was dark and raining, but no thunder or lighting, just rain. John hears the sound of a lawnmower revving. It comes in and out of audible range. He rolls out of bed like lazy lion and peeks out of the window only to see the lawnmowing man once again. This time however, the lawnmowing man waves with a normal looking smile on his face while politely hollering, "Hi John! How are ya?"
John suddenly springs upward on his bed like a petrified deer unable to move and process what's going on! "Oh crap, it's 2:00pm!" John says to himself feeling like the end of the world is at hand. John's mind slowly starts to wake up as he begins to relax remembering that he doesn't work on Saturdays. But nothing seemed to be able to ease him away from that dreadful dream. Nothing he did could shake that feeling off, it was almost as though the dream really did happen in some unearthly dimension or realm that the human spirit goes to while slumbering... But there it was again, the sound of the lawnmower slowly going in and out of audible range... John chuckles realizing that the active lawnmowing team outside was the reason he dreamed of a lawnmower in his dream... But what about the first dream? he thought to himself...
It was a beautiful sunny day and John wanted to take advantage of the day while also hoping to forget about the unpleasant dream he had. He ate a quick meal and dressed himself for an adventure to the grocery store. He had to pee before leaving, so he went to the bathroom to take care of business... While washing his hands, he stares at himself in the mirror and chuckles again trying to convince himself that it was just a normal dream. "It was literally just a dream about a man mowing the lawn, I mean how is that scary?" he said. "I mean, maybe I was feeling a little sick and that's why such a normal dream felt so terrifying. Oh well, it's normal. Let's go get some groceries and ice cream so that I can focus on that story I want to try to write this time tonight!"
John hits the road in his silver 2012 Mustang leaving nothing but dust and bad bad dreams behind. As he's driving through a suburban area, he notices a man in a beige straw hat mowing their lawn... John chuckles and says, "Haha, see? Totally normal!" John finally arrives at the local grocery store... John parks his Mustang when the sky suddenly turns grey as rush of pale clouds dim the skies. The grocery store looked rather ghostly and depressing. There were many old looking cars that resembled a 2002 Toyota Camry, some with rusting canopies and dirty hubcaps. Out in the distance of the lot, there was a lawnmowing team truck branded with a decal that read Straw Hat Lawncare...
John made his way into the the grocery store and felt a bitter welcome from everyone inside. Nobody glanced at John. Everyone in the store looked like depressed fish passing by each other. There was a Hispanic family talking Spanish. The father was wearing a green jersey and the mother was sporting a pink sweater with grey sweatpants. Their kids were following along while randomly touching items. John was Hispanic as well, but felt no connection around this family. That's when John started to notice that nobody made eye contact with him, even when he said "excuse me" to reach for something. Not the employees, not the local sheriff, not the old lady looking at flowers, nobody... Not that John wanted to be looked at or noticed, but there was something odd about this, almost as if everybody was purposefully told not to make any kind of contact with him. It was a feeling that was hard to explain.
John quickly grabs some groceries to rush over to checkout to test if the cashier would at least say hello or something. But to John's disappointment, the cashier did not even greet John when he set his items down on the checkout countertop. The conveyor belt squeaks every time it moves; it's movement seems so lifeless, just like the cashier... Still, no eye contact whatsoever, not even if he tried to make conversation. The cashier just looked down the whole time. John started to panic inside, something just didn't feel right. It's not all in my head! John thought to himself... John grabs his groceries and heads for the exit when he notices a dirty looking man wearing beige straw hat smoking a cigarette. This man happened to be the only person that glanced at John, but it wasn't a pleasant glance. The man had a grim look on his face... John started to get the feeling that everybody was on to him, and that even the people who were ignoring him were actually very aware of his presence.
John was a good guy, not a saint, but a good-hearted person. He's never caused any harm to anyone and has always been a respectful gentlemen. But why? Why does it feel like these people hate me for no reason? John thought to himself again. Although John was physically being ignored, he got the feeling that everybody was actually looking at him... John quickly paces towards his Mustang. His heart throbbing, muscles tightening, jaw clenching, head aching; John starts his car and glances around. He looks out his right window and sees the dull grocery store. He looks straight ahead and sees the lawnmowing team truck. He looks to his left and sees a man with a beige straw hat right next to the window. The man knocks looking like he was begging for money. John being good hearted lowers the window but the man speaks before John could do anything, "Your back tire is flat!" The man kept repeating the same phrase over and over as if having a flat tire was bad luck. The man reeked of whiskey and tabaco, he had no front teeth and looked like he was wired on methamphetamine or something. "Come on out here and look!" the man exclaimed. "That tire's lookin bad man, you gotta get that fixed. You got one of them spares?" "Yeah, I got a spare." John said. "I got this, don't worry about me." "OF COURSE I'm gon worry bout you brother, that's what we do round here!"
The man starts telling a story about his brother Phil who had a flat tire because he was being shot at by some thugs. The man's story seems to go on forever and John starts to tune out. John glances out in the distance over the man's shoulder; the man's voice begins to get muddled as John focuses on someone getting out of the lawnmowing team truck in the distance. His heart starts to race when he sees another man with a beige straw hat stepping out of the car, except this time, John felt a very hostile vibration. The man in the distance puffed a cloud of smoke when he quickly glanced towards John's way with an evil look on his face... John looks behind and sees another man with a beige straw hat just like the one from his dream. Oddly enough, this man waved and shouted, "Hello! Need some help?"
John's heart started to pound and he almost felt like fainting. Maybe it's just my anxiety. "I've got to go!" John told the whiskey breathed man and cranked on his Mustang. He peeled out of the parking lot like a rabbit fearing for it's life. He could still hear the whiskey breathed man crying, "Hey man! I just wanted to help!" The whiskey breathed man kept crying, "I just wanted to help man! I JUST WANTED TO HELP!!" Tears rolling down his face, down his now sad face, "I just wanted to help you DOOD!! Why? WHY this gotta happen to me man? WHY! Why man? Come on! I JUST WANTED TO HELP!! I just wanted to help! Ahh!! AHHH!!!"
John finally arrived back home and hurried out of his car into his house... Suddenly everything was quiet... Too quiet... Finally, peace. I just have to rest and forget about that dream I had. It's ok, that whiskey breathed man was just really high on meth, he didn't hurt me. I was just really freaked out, that's all. I hope that man will be alright. I feel kind of bad, I didn't want to leave him there all alone. He looked like he was a hurting man, could've used a little company. No, what am I thinking? He was just high. Why should I trust some random meth-head like that? Awe, he's alright. He's cool... I'm tired now, I'm just going to relax and see if I can start that story! Yeah, that'll cheer me up! It's just life, weird stuff happens! But what about... No, forget it... But why was I seeing men with beige straw hats all day like the man in my dream? Nah, I'm overthinking, it was just a hot sunny day today, duh... But what about all of those grim looking people at the store? I felt like they were on to me, like they were all in on it. Oh crap! Maybe they know about my dream! No way, that's not possible... But what if dreams really are connected to real-life? I mean, it's part of life after all... Nah, that's too weird, it's all in my head...
Suddenly, the sound of a 4-stroke engine starts revving... Grass? At this time? It's late evening. John crawls over to his window and sees a man in a beige straw hat cutting the neighbors lawn... "Ahh!!" John jolts upwards biting his nails. He crawls back to his bed and tries to once again justify what's happening... Suddenly, he smells cigarette smoke. "What's that smell?" he says... He slowly glances at a dirty light blue uniform and before he could make out what it is, a raspy voice 'declares, "WE"RE WATCHING YOU..." Another voice says, "WE'RE LOOKING AT YOU, HAPPY NOW?" Another voice answers that one, "LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO DALE JERK! AH HAHA!" "YEAH, YOU'RE SO MEAN FOR LEAVING HIM BEHIND!" "DALE ERA UN BUEN HOMBRE..." Said a Spanish voice...
John slowly looked up and saw an extremely pale faced version of the cashier from the grocery store and still not making eye contact, but three inches away from John saying, "Hi honey, how are ya?" and then repeats the phrase over again, "I SAID HOW ARE YA HONEY? WHAT, CAT GOTCHA TONGUE? WELL I'LL FEED IT TO MUH CATS WHEN I GET HOME THEN! BET CHU DON'T HAVE THE DECENCY TO HELP OUT DALE WITH A LITTLE BIT OF FOOD, DO YA?" She kept shouting at John three inches away while still not making eye contact. "SO? HOW YA DOING HONEY? FIND EVERYTHING YA NEED? HAHAHAHA! YOU SU................
John wakes up again... It's 2:00am. Everything is quiet. Desperately trying to forget the bad dreams and the strange day at the grocery store, he finally decides to drop the needle on the Best of Bread vinyl record. The music is soothing. He begins to drift into slumber once again.
John sleeps in and wakes up at 2:00pm on Sunday, he doesn't work on Sunday's either. John realizes he never got the groceries that he actually needed, so he makes his way to the grocery store once again. on another sunny day. He pulls into the parking lot, but this time they sky stays sunny and blue. The lawn mowing team truck is gone. John makes his way inside the grocery store. This time, a jolly old man greets him as he walks in. "How are you doing young man?" Says the old man. "Fine, thank you." John replies. Today, everybody was acknowledging John and making him feel welcome. Lots of smiles and hellos. There was even another Hispanic family who smiled at John while crossing paths. Even the children seemed happy. Hmm, too suspicious. It's almost like they're watching me and know what happened yesterday.
John grabbed all the items he needed and headed for checkout. He approached the counter and was greeted by the same cashier from last time. This time she actually speaks to John... "Hey honey, how are ya?" Says the cashier with a cute smile. "Great, how are you? John replies. "Oh honey, I had such a busy day yesterday! First I had to go see my doctor because of my back pain, then my car ran out of gas and I had to tell my hubby to help me out. Then he starts going off on me about how these lawn mowing guys woke him up at 5 in the mornin' and I told him, honey, they just doin' they job. Oh honey, today is much better, it's a beautiful day and my back feels better." Something about this doesn't seem right... She knows... She knows and she's playing around with me... Everybody is... No, I'm just being paranoid. Forget it, today is a great day!
John makes his way back to his mustang with a kart full of groceries... "HEY DOOD!!" suddenly screams the whiskey breathed man from behind. "Whoa man, you scared me!" Says John. "Oh I'm sorry man, didn't mean to startle ya.. Hey, I noticed you got a spare tire now. Good job buddy! Hey listen man, I'm feeling happy today a.. a.. and I just want to give you my hat!" John looks at the beige straw hat... "Are you sure?" John asks. "Yeah man, go on and take it, it's time I let go of somethings in life. I'm trying to start a new life man and stay away from theses drugs out here man. You go on an take it, it has good luck man!" John accepts and takes the hat. The man smiles. John smiles. "Hey I'll see ya later DOOD!"
It's 12:37am and John is staring at the beige straw hat that the whiskey breathed man gave him... John lugged out his vintage 1970's typewriter and was finally in the mood to write. He knew what he wanted to start with, but just right before he was about to type the letter L with his ring finger, the sound of a 4-stroke engine starts revving...
​
​
WERE LOOKING AT YOU. WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. HOW YA DOING HONEY?

Hey all,
So like many of you I have given lemmy a go because they are taking away my preferred way of browsing reddit. Unfortunately the small amount of time ive used lemmy (and considering running my own server) ive come to the conclusion that as a social network I don't think it will scale. Plus there are a bunch of usability issues with it for new / non tech users.
So what I am proposing is an open source codebase, hosted centrally and and a business model (because if we don't have a way of generating revenue it will implode) of having a few ads in the feed and the ability to pay to remove them. To start with though it would be patreon.
Ideally there would be a number of passionate maintainers that will vet the code and anyone who wants to can submit a pull request.
I've cobbled together a first draft that seems to be working - you can check it out now:
https://www.quokki.me
Its similar to reddit, but using quokkas as the theme and they have baby joeys so thats what subs are called. As its all open source that can be changed anyway.
Yes it will be buggy - if you want to make a pull request submit one!
Anyway, it is what you make it, in the end the value is in the community so if nobody wants it no problem, it was a fun little project I smashed out in two days.
PS. scaling and infrastructure wise its currently running on an autoscaling instance of google cloud run, the database will be a bit limited but can be upgraded quickly if it gets a hug of death. Provided it gets some traction I would propose to have an image host included as part of the income derived from the donations / fees.
In any case, nothing is set in stone and I would love your feedback

The following events happened on this day in history!

• 06/08/1985 - Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling - Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling S1985E159
  
• 06/08/1985 - Mid-South Wrestling - Mid-South Wrestling S1985E23
  
• 06/08/1987 - Prime Time Wrestling - Prime Time Wrestling S1987E23
  
• 06/08/1988 - Clash of the Champions - Clash of the Champions 2 S1988E2
  
• 06/08/1993 - ECW Hardcore TV - ECW Hardcore TV S1993E10
  
• 06/08/1996 - Superstars - Superstars S1996E23
  
• 06/08/1997 - King of the Ring - King of the Ring 1997 S1997E1
  
• 06/08/1998 - Raw - Raw S1998E23
  
• 06/08/1998 - WCW Monday Nitro - WCW Monday Nitro S1998E23
  
• 06/08/2000 - SmackDown - SmackDown S2000E23
  
• 06/08/2002 - WWE Confidential - Controversy for the Tough Enough II winners S2002E3
  
• 06/08/2002 - Velocity - Velocity S2002E3
  
• 06/08/2007 - SmackDown - SmackDown S2007E23
  
• 06/08/2009 - Raw - Raw S2009E23
  
• 06/08/2010 - WWE NXT - WWE NXT S2010E1
  
• 06/08/2012 - SmackDown - SmackDown S2012E23
  
• 06/08/2015 - Raw - Raw S2015E23
  
• 06/08/2015 - Raw - Raw Pre-Show
  
• 06/08/2015 - The WWE List - Trending Divas S1E1
  
• 06/08/2015 - Raw - Paige sets the record straight: Exclusive
  
• 06/08/2015 - Raw - Zack Ryder talks The Big O and WWE Tough Enough
  
• 06/08/2016 - Main Event - Main Event S2016E23
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - WWE NXT TakeOver: The End... S2016E25
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - WWE NXT TakeOver: The End...Pre-Show
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE Breaking Ground - Breaking Ground: Reloaded S1E11
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE Main Event - WWE Main Event S2016E23
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - Was NXT TakeOver: The End... Asukas greatest chal
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - Big E predicts Samoa Joe vs. Finn B lor: WWE.com
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - Who does Seth Rollins pick: Joe or B lor?: WWE.co
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - The Revival on their historic victory over America
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE Top 10 - Top 10 Raw Moments: June 7, 2016 S2016E68
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - Cesaro gives his prediction for tonights Steel Ca
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - Kevin Owens makes a shocking prediction for TakeOv
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - Nakamuras actions speak louder than Aries words:
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - Samoa Joe is willing to sacrifice it all for the N
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - American Alpha are visibly shaken after being atta
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - Andrade Cien Almas on his NXT debut: WWE.com Exc
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - NXT TakeOver: The End... was a hard pill to swallo
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE NXT - Neville on when he will return to action: WWE.com
  
• 06/08/2016 - WWE Now - John Cena Meets The Avengers S2016E10
  
• 06/08/2017 - Main Event - Main Event S2017E23
  
• 06/08/2017 - WWE Main Event - WWE Main Event S2017E23
  
• 06/08/2017 - Event - Mark Andrews goes after Pete Dunnes WWE UK Title
  
• 06/08/2017 - WWE Now - Paul Heyman Reacts to Samoa Joes Raw Beatdown S2017E49
  
• 06/08/2018 - Something Else to Wrestle With Bruce Prichard - WWECW S1E8
  
• 06/08/2018 - This Week in WWE - June 8, 2018 S2018E23
  
• 06/08/2018 - WWE List This! - 7 Superstars Who Broke Their Face in the Ring S2018E21
  
• 06/08/2018 - WWE Now - Velveteen Dream Mocks Ricochets Indie Origins S2018E126
  
• 06/08/2018 - WWE Network Pick of the Week - Bruce Prichard weighs in on WWE taking over ECW S2018E22
  
• 06/08/2019 - WWE Top 10 - One-man Wrecking Crews S2019E90
  
• 06/08/2020 - WWE Playlist - The Summer of The Nexus S2020E50
  
• 06/08/2020 - WWE Now - Full NXT TakeOver: In Your House Results 2020
  
• 06/08/2020 - WWE Now - 6 things to know before tonight s Monday Night Raw S2020E97
  
• 06/08/2020 - Raw Talk - June 8, 2020 S2020E23
  
• 06/08/2020 - Raw - Raw S2020E23
  
• 06/08/2020 - Raw - Exclusive: Apollo Crews is ready for Andrade
  
• 06/08/2020 - Raw - Exclusive: Charlotte Flair can t be topped
  
• 06/08/2020 - The New Day: Feel the Power - A Conversation About Racial Injustice S2020E23
  
• 06/08/2021 - WWE Top 10 - Top 10 Raw Moments: June 7, 2021 2021
  
• 06/08/2021 - WWE NXT - WWE NXT S2021E25
  
• 06/08/2021 - WWE NXT - Exclusive: The Way brawl with Dunne & Lorcan
  
• 06/08/2021 - WWE NXT - Cameron Grimes Million Dollar Dream
  
• 06/08/2021 - WWE NXT - Adam Cole vows to take back the NXT Title
  
• 06/08/2021 - WWE NXT - Exclusive: Raquel Gonzalez fed up with Ember Moon
  
• 06/08/2021 - WWE NXT - Exclusive: William Regal is at a loss for words
  
• 06/08/2021 - Raw - Exclusive: New Day on shaking up RK-Bro s momentum
  
• 06/08/2022 - WWEs The Bump - June 8, 2022 S2022E29
  
• 06/08/2022 - WWE Top 10 - Top 10 NXT 2.0 Moments: June 7, 2022 2022
  

What event was your favorite in this list?

The last few days I've been researching a lot for a cloud storage service that can handle my needs. Basically what I am looking for is the following primary aspects: - local folders in different locations to be synced to remote folders in different locations - reliable two-way sync across multiple devices - supports Win, Linux and Android - can exclude single files
Secondary aspects: - zero knowledge encryption - reasonable pricing
What I've tried so far: - Google Drive - not support on Linux. No sync on Android, no file exclusion, acts somewhat buggy when revoking sync - iDrive - does not support 2-way-sync, only on the drive, not multiple folders - Dropbox - no 2 way sync on mobile - Icedrive - no support for Linux, no sync on Android - pCloud - actually pretty good. Sync on Android via "FolderSync" or "AutoSync" though not reliable. Deleted files at some point in time show up again eventhough they were gone on all devices and the cloud
Overall it seems, Android (or mobile in general) is a 2nd class citizen in cloud storage. There is often no more sync than "upload fotos" which simply does not cut it for me.
Am I missing something? Anyone having a valuable suggestion?

1. The Burj Khalifa

The Burj Khalifa is for sure THE place to visit in Dubai!
The tallest skyscraper in the world (828 meters) has been open to the public since 2010 and has quickly become the symbol of the city.
Every day, thousands of visitors flock to the tower and take one of the fastest lift in the world up to the viewing platforms located on the 124th and 125th floors .
From there, you can enjoy an extraordinary panorama over the whole city!
And that’s not the highest point yet!
You can even go up to the 148th floor, to reach the highest viewing platform in the world (555 m high).
You should visit the Burj Khalifa in the evening, to enjoy the view over the illuminated city from the highest observation deck in the world.
To visit the Burj Khalifa, you should really book your skip the line ticket online in advance.
This will allow you to choose your visit time slot and avoid the long waiting lines to buy your tickets.
Another important advantage is that tickets are cheaper online than directly at the counter. And that’s the same for all the activities you can do in Dubai!
​

1. The Dubai Mall

In the city center, right next to the Burj Khalifa, there is the Dubai Mall.
This huge mall is the most visited shopping center in the world!
With more than 1200 shops and hundreds of restaurants, you will for sure find something that fits your taste and your budget.
And there is more:
This shopping temple also houses indoor waterfalls, an aquarium (more about it below), an ice rink, a go-kart track, a flight simulator, cinemas, arcade games and a lot more!
The Dubai Mall is open every day from 10am until midnight. Restaurants and food court until 1am.
If you want to prepare your visit, you can have a look to the official website to see all the existing shops, restaurants and attractions.

1. The Dubai Fountain

This fountain (the largest water fountain in the world) is one of Dubai’s main tourist attractions.
The fountain show takes place several times a day on the artificial lake located at the exit of Dubai Mall, at the foot of Burj Khalifa.
You must attend it during your trip to Dubai!
The best is to go there at nightfall, when the tower is illuminated. It’s simply magical to watch the ballet of water jets dancing to music.
The show takes place every 30 minutes between 18.00 and 23.00 (there are also a few during the day).
The access is free of charge.
Quick tip: To get a great viewpoint, try to be there as early as possible, as the fountain show attracts thousands of tourists!
​

1. Deira district and its souks

Dubai isn’t just about luxury and excess: there are still traditional and authentic neighborhoods to visit!
During your stay, you should really take a stroll through Deira district, a picturesque and popular place featuring several souks:

• The Gold Souk and its large number of shops with magnificent jewellery displays. It’s the largest of its kind in the Middle East.
• The Perfume Souk, in Sikkat Al Khail street.
• The Spice Souk and its colourful stalls to stock up on curry, saffron, cinnamon and more.

To visit the Old Dubai and Deira, the best is clearly to book a guided tour!
During this 3-hour tour, your guide will show you the souks as well as Dubai Museum, which I mention a bit further down this article.
The guide is really amazing, he will teach you everything about the culture, religion, daily life and history of Dubai.

1. Bur Dubai

Bur Dubai is the other typical district you should definitely visit in Dubai.
This neighborhood is also one of the oldest in the city. It’s located just opposite Deira, on the other side of Dubai Creek.
To get there, you will have to take an Abra, a small traditional wooden boat (1 AED per person).
The short crossing will allow you to enjoy a beautiful view and see “Dhows”, the old ships with bright colors supplying the souks with goods.
Here are the best places to visit in Bur Dubai:

• Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum House: The old house of the Al Maktoum family until 1958. You will see photos and documents about the history of the city.
• Old Souk, one of the oldest in Dubai. You can find everything there: slippers, souvenirs, fabrics, traditional lamps…
• Meena Bazaar, a market where you can buy Indian goods: fabrics, spices, jewelry.
• Hindi Lane and its Indian stalls. The best place to try traditional dishes at a reasonable price.
• Sheik Mohamed Cultural Center: Here you can have lunch with an Emirati in a traditional house. The center was opened by the Sheikh to allow tourists to learn more about United Arab Emirates (UAE) traditions. Reservation is required, click here.
• Al Seef Market, where you can admire replicas of traditional houses, with restaurants and shops.
• Dubai Museum: I will tell you more about it in section 9 of this guide.

https://bestholidaybooking.com/visit-dubai-top-5-things-to-do-and-must-see-attractions/

Jeongyeon: I first met Jennie in 2017 at an award show. Since then we have been acquaintances. Now I have never told anyone this, but me and Jimin went to the same school, and we hated each other. We even once got into a fight(I won). Although we don't hate each other now exactly, I can't say that we don't at least dislike one another. I have ran into BTS once, and although Jimin was rude, V defended me. Since then, we have been close friends.
Jeongyeon: So let me make it crystal clear that MALE AND FEMALE IDOLS CAN BE FRIENDS AND NOTHING MORE. This is a very important theme for this whole story. Me and V are not interested in each other, but im sure if photos were taken you crazy fans would be having a field day. However, hearing about the recent situation between Jennie and V sparked my curiosity. I had no idea those 2 had any relationship, and they were being extremely secretive. But after going on a 3 day quest, I can say that they are definitely NOT DATING. First, we have to go back to this Monday.
MONDAY
Momo: "Have you heard about Jennie and V?"
Jihyo: "Yes I have... They must be dating."
Jeongyeon: "Woah, woah, woah, I wouldn't go as far and say that. I don't think so..."
Momo: "What makes you say that?"
Jeongyeon: " I'm saying that because I know both of them. I haven't heard anything. We can't jump to any conclusions yet..."
Jihyo: "True, why don't you go and just text both of them and see what's up?"
Jeongyeon: "I can't just ask them that! They'll think im invading their privacy."
Momo: "Jeongyeons right, you can't just be so direct. There's not much we can really do."
Jihyo: "Well im not gonna just take that for an answer! Somethings up and I wanna know!"
Jeongyeon: "Well, there is someone I know who can help us out..."
-50 minutes later-
The trio opened the wooden door which revealed a mysterious colorful hallway. Jeongyeon led the way, pushing aside a blue star curtain which led to a new room.
Rosé sat on a pink throne coated with rubies. Heart statues, love symbols and spiritual objects coated the hexagon shaped room like stars in the sky. The room was dimly lit by neon led light strips in the shape of hearts on the wall, spewing a deep purple-pink.
Rosé: "What is it that you have journeyed here for?"
Jeongyeon: "We need info on what is going on between your group mate Jennie and V of Bts."
Rosé: "That situation is a huge mystery that my power can't even fully understand, miss. I possesses the power to make anyone I want to fall out of love and break up. I can make love potions and charms. I can look into someone's heart, and see who they desire, if anyone. But Jennie's heart is a special case. Taehyung is in there, yes. But how much of him I don't know. For all I know they could just be acquaintances.."
Momo: "But you like her sister! Hasn't she told you anything?!?"
Rosé: "Naur, not even a murmur. But my power tells me that there is a connection, though potentially small."
Jihyo: "I see. Thankyou for your time Rosé, we appreciate it."
Rosé: " It's my pleasure"
Jihyo Jeongyeon and Momo left Rosé's building and entered the busy city.
Jihyo: "You've gotta be kidding! Even the mastermind of love can't even shed any light. This us pointless, let's just go home."
TUESDAY
Jeongyeon: I can give up, but I won't. I have to prove that they aren't dating.
Dahyun entered the room.
Dahyun: "Hey Jeongyeon, doing something?"
Jeongyeon: "Oh, not much really-
Dahyun: "I know what you've been up to and what you want, if you want answers follow me."
Jeongyeon: how did she know!?!?
Dahyun drove Jeongyeon to a remote grassy area blanked by a dark status cloud. Finally, they stopped at a worn, dirty, tiny house that looked like it came from a horror movie.
Jeongyeon: "Dahyun, are you sure this will help?"
Dahyun: "Positive, I wouldn't trick you"
They entered the suspicious house, only to be met with a young girl no older than 18.
Sophie: " OH. MY. GOSH. ARE YOU DAHYUNA AND JEONGYEON FROM TWICE? IM SOPHIE AND IM YOUR BIGGEST FAN!!!"
Jeongyeon: "HI Sophie, it's nice to meet you!"
Jeongyeon smiled cheerfully, while Dahyun rolled her eyes.
Dahyun: "You can cut the act already, we need info."
Sophie's tone changed dramatically.
Sophie: "Ugh, your no fun, whaddya want?"
It was at this moment Jeongyeon learned the truth. Sophie was a Sasaeng.
Dahyun: "We need to know everything there is about Jennie and V, can you help us?"
Sophie: "Whats in it for me?"
Jeongyeon: "I can tell you about my history with Jimin."
Sophie: "Deal. Now not to brag, but I was the one who took that precious video of those 2 love-birds."
Jeongyeon:"YOU WHAT!?!? WHY DID YOU SHARE THAT?"
Sophie: "Zip it ajumma. Anyways, I heard them talking. Apparently they were talking about candy and a time machine idk."
Dahyun: "That makes no sense?"
Sophie: "That's what I thought to, until I saw where they were going. They entered a secret tunnel. I tried following them, but it's like they just- vanished after making the first turn. I'm still confused on what they are doing though.."
Jeongyeon: "Well, V told me once that he has a passion for time travel, maybe they are making a time machine?"
Sophie: "But what does Jennie have to do with that?"
Dahyun: "Her solo.... I was spying on YG and I heard her screaming saying that her solo comeback was destroyed."
Jeongyeon: "When was this?"
Dahyun: "May 15th."
Jeongyeon: "That's right before the video was taken... it makes so much since now. Jennies solo was deleted, so now she is trying to reverse time with the help of V..."
Dahyun: "But why were they talking about candy..."
Jeongyeon: " That - I don't know..."
Sophie: "Alright times up im done, now where's my payment?"
Jeongyeon: "On second thought, I don't think I will tell you anything after you called me Ajumma.."
Sophie: "Oh great! I guess I'll just stop telling your friend Dahyun here everything I know about idols"
Dahyun: "Jeongyeon!! Tell her the story!!"
Jeongyeon: " Alright, fine."
WEDNESDAY
Jeongyeon: I'm so close to figuring everything out
Jeongyeon met with Momo, Jihyo, Dahyun, and Rosé. The 5 of them were determined to get to the bottom of the situation.
They traveled to the tunnel. The suns rays tried their hardest to reach down the walls of the dark cave, but they gave up after 50 feet. Besides the sun, dim white lights poorly illuminated the tunnel every 20 meters. The 5 of them braved down the ominous, uninviting, damp hall. Suddenly they were met with a T shaped intersection. They could turn left or right. Sophie did not say what direction Jennie and V turned.
Jeongyeon: "We split up. Me and Rosé will go left, and the rest can go right. Let's meet up here In 30 minutes."
And with that, Jeongyeon and Rosé walked on for another 15 minutes, until finally, they found a door. They opened it, revealing a large high tech room, with wires and buttons everywhere. The place was a mess, with boxes and paper everywhere, levers sticking out at the most random spots. Candy wrappers sprinked the floor like confetti. Most Jarring was the giant machine in the middle, a metal disk with a 3 meter diameter, and wires connected everywhere. Metal boxes held the thing together, and a huge lever labeled "start" stood on top.
Jeongyeon: "This is it...."
Rosé: "Well no shit-"
Jeongyeon reached for her phone to call the others, before the door swung open.
Jennie and V.
V: "What the hell are you two doing?!?!?"
Jennie: "Rosé? Jeongyeon? How did you find this place?!?!"
Jeongyeon: "Better question is, what are YOU two doing. This is some mad scientist shit."
Jennie sighed.
Jennie: "This is our project... I know we have been secretive, but it's no use hiding anything now. I never thought i would meet someone with such a passion for science as me but then I met V. He is such a bright mind, and together, we made this..."
V: "This is the electrobit 7000. Here's what it does."
V flipped the switch.
V: "you might wanna step back..."
Suddenly, an electric arc appeared between the metal ring, spinning and glowing fiercely. It turned into a white circle. Unexpectedly, a variety of candies erupted from the machine, and landed In a box before the machine shut down.
Rosé: "That's it?"
Jeongyeon: "It spawns candy? It's not a time machine?"
Jennie: "Time machine, we haven't even started making the design for that yet! No this is just something fun we build together. Halloween is gonna be fun now that we have infinite candy."
V: "Now why would you bring up a time machine?"
Jeongyeon: "That's what the Sasaeng who recorded the video said you were talking about."
V: "Oh, I think she means our Thyme machine. We were working on it just that night. It's a real shame we got caught together."
Jeongyeon: "But Jennie, what's this about your solo being destroyed?"
Jennie: "I'm guessing Dahyun told you? It's okay my producer had a backup saved. I was just screaming in the moment."
Rosé: "Well I gotta say Jeongyeon, you and Dahyun really fucked up huh."
Jeongyeon: "Don't act like you didn't believe it. Well o must say, I'm sorry for all this, sneaking into your lab and all."
V: "Don't worry about it, just please don't tell anyone. And also show me who took the video, so I remember"
And with that, the truth was revealed, and Jeongyeon could finally go back home with the full story of what happened.
Jeongyeon: So this brings us to now. Jennie and V are not dating. They are just friends, and would like to be called that. I'm sharing this so that everyone knows the FULL STORY. Jennie and V have decided they are ready to let people know about their lab, so it is okay for me to share this.

in short: more and more companies are attempting to force their clients' loyalty to maximise profits. even if they could rationalise it with intellectual property law, it has at least been contradicting with the competition one. Reddit's API change is one of them, and all the theoretical QoL losses and side effects as mentioned are exactly what they want to do, therefore everything is as-is. these corporations that chose to sacrifice the good values and anything that made them great are practically soulless, it's better to force them bring it back or get it destroyed and build a new one with those back.
after reading what you guys have been talking, considering more companies are turning into exclusivity, monetising the basic service component that everyone uses, playing with their power, i have also decided to make a post about this. below, i will share part of my findings from elsewhere to explain the current situation of Reddit. forgive me that i might not be able to have everything at once.
so the context from what i have heard from the flyer, is that Reddit is now changing the API pricing, removing API from mature content, lowering limits for third-party apps we commonly use.
speaking of the new API standard, so much as Twitter now requiring people paying for certain API and then requiring monthly fees.
regarding premium access that is to be introduced, i want to throw out a simple question: why would they want another paycheck when other advertisers and premium users could literally cover those instead of optimising the servers' technology stack to decrease the unneeded cost?
the reason is simple, exclusivity and profits. it has been a while that this narrative that "if you don't pay for the service, you're the product." however, the same reason, they are moving to a trend that not only having it worsened no matter you have paid or not, you are not given any choices and are required to subscribe to a complete service that is supposed to be free, while removing essential communication features like forum or email things. which means the need of money is debunked to certain extent.
now look at some examples from elsewhere. on YouTube, the monetisation threshold is that they want to bring a better content creation platform. but if you search certain terms like free game credits live (which is obviously a scam), you can see several channels with monetisation enabled and you can even send a super chat for it. not only smaller creators having to race for that, it's no way you can survive without those tools. if you know how to use bots, you could spam people with traffics and chats with absolute ease. which has actually increased the use of bots (when they were supposed to decrease it), because it's actually hard to have organic traffic nowadays even for certain talented creators.
now it comes to the apps. if you use Reddit on your phone web, the website pursues you to use their app per 2~3 hours (see the video below). if you are a website developer, nowadays you do have tools being optimised for mobile web, allowing the entire app being run on a website with second-to-zero tradeoffs in terms of performances and features.
when they want you to use apps instead, they want to introduce another monetisation model, they want a more complete tracking through apps, considering you could block trackers with ease using a browser.
take a look at the Windows 11's interface? even for the latest Windows 10, it is full of data tracking, advertisements, and even hardware DRMs on plain sight. not only going worse, they are moving forward to the exclusivity like Reddit does. how bad it is? even Valve has been developing Linux compatibility for a while.
the second one is that they are removing the mature content from their API. it has been for a while that they are locking guests out from accessing. what i find is that is traumatising legal users' safety with their real-life identity verification, more than it is even meant to protect children from those abuse. here is a video explaining:
https://youtube.com/live/U6F2NlZEmgs
in short, it's all about censorship and letting bots ramping up to do it, mature content is just a pretext. it is a matter of time all other services you use will do the same.
remember the day that the "place" sub was a thing? remember how a large chunk of people drew 2B's ass and then got immediately deleted in the form of black pixels? so at the end of the day, if Reddit isn't going to back down, we should find a way to double down, whether everyone leaving from it or getting banned all at once is going to work.
people willingly trade freedom for temporary security deserve neither, and will lose both. - Benjamin Franklin
the last one is about your daily lives that has been relevant to this. notice how they are slowly changing the system against the users, often because they have all the cards that they are betting you are going to stay at the end of day. they are trying to change it into a subscription service so that they are always profitable, and less likely they will need to innovate to compete.
Twitter's Blue verification process, it was meant to have those bots or false identity less likely to spam by demanding payment of so, but i have seen certain bots paying for that and also being able to take advantage of. if you knew how those works, you could significantly decrease the cost of doing so, as well as being prioritised.
look at YouTube after they introduced their Premium. if you don't pay for it, more likely you suffer a long series of advertisements that may not even be relevant to anything you are watching, and sometimes, it's a literal scam. meaning they are doing things specifically to pressure you pay for it, even though paying for channel payments like super chats would charge a 30% fee.
Adobe, a company that pioneered what we call it subscription-based software. it is the leader of the entire content-creation industry, and their Creative Cloud is $55 per month. if you don't have enough money to start with, you're practically ineligible to it. what happens if you end up a loss that you cannot afford that payment at the time? things do happen.
Twitch made one of the most controversial policy ever on the recent few days, and the huge backlash has basically forced them to at least apologise about it. however, it has been notorious that they would charge people 50% of what audiences have paid, and then often sudden ban or double standard.
i don't think boycotting will work, considering it is a coordinated threat towards the people, don't assume that any words will make then listen. every time the backlash ended, they will silently impose all those things. so as soon as any alternatives become suitable, copy all the posts to that place as an archive and go on there.

If ANYONE WANTS them (http://smmacourses.site/)
NEW COURSES (Included when buying my whole collection!):
· ⭐Iman Gadzhi – Agency Navigator 2023
· ⭐Sam Ovens - Consulting Accelerator 2023
· ⭐Cole Gordon – 30 Day Closer
· ⭐Montell Gordon - Agency Transmulation
· ⭐Charlie Morgan - Easygrow Course
· ⭐Sebastian Esqueda - Ecom Revolution
· ⭐Biaheza Droppshiping Course 2023
· Andrew Tate – Courses Bundle
· Charlie Morgan - Imperium Agency
· Charlie Morgan - Gym Growth Accelerator
· Biaheza - Full Dropshipping Course 2023
· Jordan Welch - The Reveal 2023
· Savannah Sanchez - TikTok Ads Course 2023
· Iman Gadzhi - Copy Paste Agency
· Sam Ovens - UpLevel Consulting
· Miles – The FBA Roadmap + The Profit Vault
· Andrew Giorgi – Amazon Dropshipping Course
· Sebastian Esqueda – Ecom Revolution Training Program
· Luca Netz – Advanced Dropshipping 2023
· Kevin King – Freedom Ticket 3.0
· Jordan Platten – LearnAds – Facebook Ads Pro 2023
· Miles – The FBA Roadmap + The Profit Vault
· Dan Vas – Ecom Freedom Shopify Blueprint 2023
· Alexander J.A Cortes - WiFi Money Machine
· Kody Knows - Native Mastery
· Bastiaan Slot - Six Figure Consulting
· Kaibax - Centurion agency
· Joe Robert - Print On Demand Accelerator
· Ryan Hogue - Ryan's Method Dropshipped POD
· Kevin Zhang - Ecommerce Millionaire Mastery
· Ryan Lee – 48 Hour Continuity
· [METHOD] ⚡️TikTok Algorithm Domination Skyrocket your engagement TODAY Updated 2023✨
· Troy Ericson – Email List Management Certification
· Larry Goins – Filthy Riches Home Study Course
· Ry Schwartz – Automated Intimacy
· Patrick Bet-David – All Access Bundle
· Andrea Unger – Master the Code & Go LIVE
· Jon Benson – 10 Minute Sales Letter
· Alen Sultanic – Automatic Clients & Bonuses
· Taylor Welch – Cashflow for Consultants
· Akeem Reed – Slingshot Rental Blueprint
· The Futur Greg Gunn – Illustration for Designers
· Trading180 – Supply And Demand Zone Trading Course
· Jim McKelvey (Foundr) – How To Build An Unbeatable Business
· Master of AI Copy – Copy School by Copyhackers
· Copyhackers – Copy School 2023
· Matei – Gann Master Forex Course
· YOYAO Hsueh – Topical Maps Unlocked
· Tyler McMurray – Facts Verse Youtube Automation Course
· Ashton Shanks – 7 Day Copywriting Challenge Featuring ChatGPT
· Rene Lacad – Rockstar Marketing Blueprint
· Top Trade Tools – Hedge Fund Trender
· Brandi Mowles – Conversion For Clients
· Glen Allsopp – SEO Blueprint 2 (DETAILED)
· Trading Busters – Prop Trading Formula Course
· Sam Woods – The AI Copywriting Workshop (Complete Edition)
· Brian Anderson – Recovery Profit System
· LOW COMPETITION KEYWORDS IN MINUTES ⚡ 70+ REVIEWS ✅ BONUS PDF WORTH $200+
· Devon Brown – Easiest System Ever
· Duston McGroarty – St. Patrick’s Day 2023 Live Event
· Dan Wardrope – Click & Deploy Sales Android
· Lost Boys Academy – How To Make Life Changing Money With OnlyFans!
· WealthFRX Trading Mastery Course 2.0
· TOM & HARRY – Digital Culture Academy
· 100+ Cold Email Templates
· [METHOD] ✅ Make Real Cash with Auto Blogging ⛔Get $1199 Worth of Resources ❌ CUSTOMIZED SECRET PROCESS⚡DONE FOR YOU SITE ⭐ Unlimited Niche Opportunity & So on
· Tobias Dahlberg – Brand Mastery
· Raul Gonzalez – Day Trading Institution 2.0
· Rasmus & Christian Mikkelsen –Impact Academy 2023
· [METHOD] ☢️ The Quick eBay Money Loophole Guide ☢️
· Apteros Trading – March 2023 Intensive
· Rob Lennon – Zero to 10k Twitter Accelerator
· Rob Lennon – Next-Level Prompt Engineering with AI
· Rasmus & Christian Mikkelsen – NEW Audiobook Income Academy Download
· Grow and Convert – Customers From Content
· Charles Miller – The Writersonal Branding Playbook
· Kaye Putnam – Convert with a Quiz
· Forex Mentor – London Close Trade 2.0
· Chase Reiner – Fortune Bots Update 1
· Andrew Ethan Zeng – Social Marketing Mastery
· [Method] Upload FULL, 100% Unedited Copyrighted Videos on Youtube! Content ID DESTROYER!
· Digital Daily – Top 150 ChatGPT Prompts to Make your Life Easy
· Patek Fynnip – Psychology Course
· Thomas Frank – Creator’s Companion (Ultimate Brain Edition)
· [METHOD] ⚡ See the MAGIC of Bulk Posting ✨ Untapped Method ✅ [ BONUS ChatGpt and Affiliate list Pdf]✅
· ⭕️ YouTube Content Machine – Unlimited FREE traffic for CPA – Fully Automated Method ⭕️
· Jakob Greenfeld – Scraping The Web For Fun and Profit
· Adrian Twarog – OpenAI Template Starter Kit for ChatGPT / GPT3
· The Secret Merchants List of Over 2000+ Dropshippers and Amazon FBA Suppliers Based in The US
· Top Trade Tools – Top Swing Trader Pro
· Charlie Houpert – Charisma University 2023
· ▶️ [METHOD + GUIDE] ✅ Make Money ✅ with Kindle Books ⚠️ Even if You Can’t Write ⚠️ [STEP-BY-STEP] ⚡ NO INVESTMENT REQUIRED! ⚡
· Charlie Morgan – Easy Grow
· Nina Clapperton – Jasper AI Course for Bloggers
· Travis Stephenson – Simple Profit System
· Manny Khoshbin – Real Estate Starter Program
· Tanner Henkel & Jerrod Harlan – 7-Figure Email Machine
· [METHOD] Stop Wasting Money on AI Writers Train And Fine-Tune Your Own AI For Free With No Code ⚡⚡⚡Real Method & Practice Examples ⚡⚡
· Creator Hooks – YouTube Title Mastery
· Thomas Frank – Creator’s Companion (Ultimate Brain Edition)
· Sean Dollwet – Royalty Hero
· Jason Bell – Birthday Marketing Formula
· NXT Level FX – Investors Domain
· [METHOD] ⏩ My ETSY $40K~ Passive Income 2023 + HOT Products (Earning Proof) ⏪ Make Money No Marketing Easy $40K~ Guide FOR NOOBS ✅
· Rob Jones & Gerry Cramer – Profit Singularity Ultra Edition 2022 (AI & ChatGPT)
· Cody Wittick & Taylor Lagace – The Influencer Marketing Blueprint
· ⚡️➡️$390/Week BLUEPRINT+PROOF✅Scalable Method❤️Amazon to eBay Dropship✅
· Kody Ashmore – Simpler Trading – Drama Free Day Trades ELITE
· Youri van Hofwegen – YouTube Search Automation
· Montell Gordon – Agency Transmutation
· Csaba Borzasi – Breakthrough Conversions Academy
· Tim Denning – Twitter Badassery
· Geoff Cudd – AI Writing Course for Bloggers & Digital Marketers
· RED CPA FORMULA – UNTAPPED UNDERGROUND CPA SYSTEM
· BowtiedCocoon – Zero to $100k: Landing Any Tech Sales Role
· Holly Starks – Make LINK BUILDING Great Again!
· Mike Warren – Deeds4Cash
· BITCOIN BRITS – The Crypto Course
· Max Gilles – ⚡️☄️ UHQ Leak ❤️CPA JACKER – Epic CPA Blueprint✅⚡️
· Aidan Booth & Steve Clayton – 123 Profit Update 9
· Christina Galbato – The Influencer Bootcamp
· John Thornhill – Ambassador Program
· [Sales] 999+ Ultimate ChatGPT Prompts To Copy & Paste (250+ tasks)
· Pollinate Trading – Curvy Trading System
· Content Mavericks – The Greatest Hits Content System
· Andriy Boychuk – Flowium – Klaviyo Mastery 2.0
· Dagobert Renouf – How To Dominate Twitter (Advanced Growth Bundle)
· Darius Lukas – ⭐ The Marketer’s Bible to ChatGPT ✅ 1000+ ChatGPT Prompts to Copy, Paste & Scale
· Billy Gene – 5 Day A.I. Crash Course for Marketers
· Alex Cattoni – Posse Eye Brand Voice Challenge Program
· Casey Zander – YouTube Fame Game Blueprint
· Harlan Kilstein – Midjourney Mastery
· Shawna Newman – YouTube for Niche Sites
· [Marketing] 1099+ Ultimate ChatGPT Marketing Prompts To Copy & Paste (200+ tasks)
· Karen Foo – Star Traders Forex Intermediate Course
· TheMacLyf – Hive Mind & Masterclass (Onlyfans Course)
· Brittany Lewis – Top Seller Secret
· Dan Henry – Facebook Ads for Entrepreneur
· Russ Horn – Ultra Blue Forex
· Scott Phillips – Crypto Salary System
· Roland Frasier – AI Powered Expert Apprentice + Update 1
· Roger & Barry – Give Academy 1k/Day Platinum Mastermind [COMPLETE with LATEST UPDATE]
· Bretty Curry (Smart Marketer) – Smart Amazon Ecommerce
· Steven Dux – Traders Edge 2023
· Aidan Booth & Steve Clayton – 123 Profit
· Allie Bjerk – Tiny Offer Lab
· Dicke Bush – Generate 10x More Content Using AI
· Mateusz Rutkowski – New Money Blueprint
· Smart Raja Concepts (SRC) – Forex 101
· Chase Reiner – Short Form Riches Bootcamp 2023 – AI ChatGPT Bot Update 3
· Chase Reiner – AI Profits
· Travis Sago – Cold Outreach & Prospecting AMA Offer (Best Value with All Bonuses)
· Live Traders – Professional Trading Strategies
· Allan Dib – The 1-Page Marketing Plan Course
· Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree
· The Trading Guide – The Gold Box Strategy
· The Complete XAUUSD GOLD Forex Scalping System On Real Trading Account
If ANYONE WANTS them (http://smmacourses.site/)

I look out in front of me, and perceive the sea lit up out to the horizon. I look around me: to my left and right, I see the limitless straight line of the beach, and behind it, the dunes -- all in space. With my gaze I make the space my own. The objects are clear and plain. I see the wind bend over to the ground, the reeds that keep the dunes in place.
I am at the center of this universe by means of my gaze, which sweeps across this space and lets me know everything in it. By combining these images of reality, I grasp it as a whole, and become a part of it as a result of my looking.
My sight constructs a universe for me. It reveals to me a directly perceivable reality composed of colorful, simple, harmonious images. But it also furnishes me with more subtle materials. I learn to read my brother’s or my enemy’s face. Transmitted images are superimposed on one another, and as a result, I now know that a given image belongs within a particular context of reality. It conjures up another image; I anticipate what I am going to see, but what is coming will in any case be located in space and will constitute part of reality -- deeper and hidden, in a sense, but still reality.
Such information is precise and pinpointed, and deals only with reality. Nothing else, no other dimension, is ever involved. …Sight has made me the center of the world because it situates me at the point from which I see everything, and causes me to see things relative to this point. My vision makes a circular sweep of space, working from this point: my point of view. But now I am tempted, as the center of the world, to act on this spectacle and transform this setting. What was missing in my vision was someone to act, and I am available.
Sight moves to action at the same time that it serves as the means of action. Again, without it, how could I act, since I wouldn’t even know what my hand was touching or what was within my reach? …I am a subject, not separated from what I look at. Rather, what I see becomes a part of me, as my action involves me in what I see. Images both permit and condition my action; they are always imperative. I lean out the window and look searchingly into the emptiness. Images of distance and depth thrust themselves on my consciousness. I know I mustn’t lean out any further.
The image defines and marks the boundaries of my action. The image does not induce my action, but establishes its conditions and possibilities. Without visual images my action is definitely blind, incoherent, and uncertain. Sight conveys certainties and pieces of information to me, as we have said. Such information is reliable. I perceive a gray ocean and an overcast skyline. This is unquestionable. The reality around me is a certainty in which I can be confident. It is neither incoherent nor deformed. I know, of course, that this is also something learned; there are no data coming directly from the senses, and the shapes and colors and distances I apprehend are perceptible to me because I learned them. My culture has furnished me with the very images I see. But however important this may be (and we must not push this idea too far!), it is still true that I see.
What a dreadful uneasiness takes hold of us when reality is submerged in fog…sight fails to furnish me with clear images and I can no longer act. The world loses its midpoint. It is off center because I cannot see it anymore. The center could be anywhere, but it is no longer located where I am.
In order for my sight to mislead me concerning reality, there must be some unusual phenomenon, like a mirage. The image is not ambiguous. This peach I am looking at is red and weighs heavily on the bending branch. This is absolutely certain. But the image is insignificant. It has no meaning in itself and must be interpreted. In the case of a fruit ripe for picking, the visual image gives me indisputable information, but if I stop there, nothing will happen. It must therefore be interpreted. In order to move from the vision of the fruit to "I should pick it" or "It can be picked," there must be an interpretation: an attribution of meaning to these real images of reality.
Another dimension must be added to sight: interpretation will come through speech. Thus the image contains within itself a deep contradiction. It is not ambiguous: it is coherent, reliable, and inclusive; but it is insignificant. It can have innumerable meanings, depending on culture, learning, or the intervention of some other dimension. For this reason I must learn to see, before looking at the image.
After seeing it, I must learn to interpret it. The image is clear, but this clarity does not imply certainty or comprehension. My certainty is limited to this directly perceived reality that my sight reveals to me. Nothing beyond that.
I call these images "vision" because they are connected with the other images I am accustomed to. I would be tempted to say in this case that the order is reversed. The visual image exists, and then I attribute a meaning to it; but the vision appears only as the illustration of a previously established meaning. No matter how insignificant it may be, the visual image is always rigorous, imperative, and irreversible. I saw what I saw. I cannot change the reality which is conveyed to me in this way, except through my action. There is no ambiguity at this point. Nor is there reversibility.
If I had only one "view" of my universe, I would be a participant in a totality which would be both terribly coherent and yet at the same time composed of fragments without any necessary relationship. The totality would be like a cloud of irrational dots which can form only the framework of an action, a change in the relationships between the points. But the cloud of dots cannot be used for understanding anything, because this pointillism of images is space but not duration. The image is present. It is only a presence. It bears witness to something "already there": the object I see was there before I opened my eyes.
I have a point of view, a location from which I see things, but it is situated within what I see and inseparable from it. Wherever I place myself, however I shift my position, I remain in the field of vision, I remain in the middle of what I see. I can never take my distance, act as if I were not present, or even begin to think independently of what I see.
At night, when I cannot see, a certain distance is established. This explains why the day’s events become so painful at night: the distance between me and the world around me allows for reflection and meditation. A flood of images overwhelms me, beckons me, and carries me along: an image I have seen follows immediately after the one I have just dismissed from my mind. I can never stop this movement of reality in space. I can never consider a given image like a diamond or a painting from which I can take my distance in order to be "myself," instead of being overwhelmed by the images composed of dots.
The image prevents me from taking my distance. And if I cannot establish a certain distance, I can neither judge nor criticize. Of course, I also feel pleasure or displeasure in what I see. I can find it beautiful or ugly. But this is not a critical process. No judgment is involved. Furthermore, what possible criticism or judgment can we make with respect to space and reality? In spite of the frailty we have all observed in a person’s testimony about what he has seen, everyone has the same certainty about anything he has seen. He has seen reality.
Sight involves a relationship with reality as established in space. It is an artificial construction. Medusa’s head transfixes whoever gazes at her. Whoever looks at the scenes on the shields of the Iliad is terror stricken. Sight introduces us to an unbearable shock. Reality when seen inspires horror. Terror is always visual. Horror stories play only on our visual sense and suggest representation.
In contrast, the spoken word can involve us in mystery or drama. It places us in situations of conflict and makes us conscious of tragedy. But it is never on its own terrifying or stupefying. We are dazed by sight -- by an image or a vision. The word takes us to the edge of terror only when descriptive and painting extremely precise images. Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories are an example. All the descriptions we have heard of Nazi death camps move us to revulsion and to a judgment that may be based more on strong feelings than anything else. The image of bulldozers pushing along mounds of skeletal corpses, which shortly before had been living beings, faces teetering from the machine’s pushing -- this image drawn from ‘Night and Fog’ moves us to abject horror. It terrifies us, because we see. Such terror results from the horror of reality.
Reality apprehended by sight is always unbearable, even when that reality is beauty. We have a horror of reality, perhaps because we depend on it so. Language, even when it is realistic, allows us to escape from this terrible reality. Sight locks us up with it and obliges us to look at it. There is no way out -- except by controlling and mastering the reality.
Images fall into a pattern with respect to each other, but sounds do not. Instead, sounds contradict each other and cancel each other out. I am listening to a Mozart concerto, and suddenly near me someone speaks. Or a visitor knocks at my door. Or someone starts noisily putting away dishes and silverware. Sounds produce incoherence. The noises I hear form no panorama of the world.
Alone among all other sounds there is one that is particularly important for us: the spoken word. It ushers us into another dimension: relationship with other living beings, with persons. The Word is the particularly human sound which differentiates us from everything else. In this connection a fundamental difference between seeing and hearing is immediately apparent. In seeing, the living being is one form among many. A human being has a special shape and color, but he is included with all the rest as part of the landscape: a discrete, moving speck. When I hear speech, however, the human being becomes qualitatively different from everything else.
The spoken word, even if it involves an essential proclamation or the thought of a genius, falls into the void, passes, and disappears, if it is not heard and recovered by someone. The ocean over there, even if no one contemplates it, remains what it is and what it was. I see it, and it produces a flurry of emotions in me. I leave. I go away, but it does not. The spoken sentence has sunk into nothingness; time has gone by, and there are no "frozen words" which can make themselves heard again later.
Thus speech is basically presence. It is something alive and is never an object. It cannot be thrown before me and remain there. Once spoken, the word ceases to exist, unless I have recovered it. Before it is spoken, the word places me in an expectant situation, in a future I await eagerly. The word does not exist on its own. It continues to exist only in its effect on the one who spoke it and on the one who recovered it. The word is never an object you can turn this way and that, grasp, and preserve for tomorrow or some distant day when you may have time to deal with it. The word exists now. It is something immediate and can never be manipulated. Either it exists or it doesn’t. It makes me what I am, establishes the speaking me and the listening me, so that my role is determined by the word itself rather than by its content. For the word to become an object, someone must transform it into writing. But then it is no longer speech. Yet even in that form, it requires time.
The word is, of necessity, spoken to someone. If no one is present, it is spoken to oneself or to God. It presupposes an ear; the Great Ear, if necessary. It calls for a response. Every word, even a swearword, an insult, an exclamation, or a soliloquy, begins a dialogue. The monologue is a dialogue in the future or the past, or else it is a dialogue incorporated into a monologue. Here again, time is involved. Dialogue develops according to a variable timetable, but dialogue cannot exist unless those engaging in it are inserted into time. Language is a call, an exchange. I avoid using the threadbare term "communication." It is not true that language exists only to communicate information.
Language never belongs to the order of evident things. It is a continuous movement between hiding and revealing. It makes of the play in human relationships something even more fine and complex than it would be without language. Language exists only for, in, and by virtue of this relationship.
Dialogue involves a certain distance. We must be separated as well as different. I do not speak to a person identical to me. I must have something to say which the other lacks, but he must also be different from me. Yet similarity is required as well. When Adam sees Eve he bursts into speech. He speaks because of her and for her. She was flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone; and yet different: a dissimilar similar person. Speech fills the infinite gap that separates us. But the difference is never removed.
Discourse begins again and again because the distance between us remains. I find I must repeatedly begin speaking again to restate what I have said. The result is an inevitable, yet rich and blessed, redundancy. The word is resumed and repeated because it is never fully explicit or an exact translation of what I have to say. It is never precisely received, never precisely understood.
The word reduced to the value of an algebraic formula with only one possible meaning would be useful for us in carrying out an identical superficial activity. But such language could never create meaning, and would never produce agreement and communication with another person. "Algebraic" language could never produce -- or suggest a story. Bees communicate pieces of information to each other, but do not produce anything like history.
The word can also obstruct and impede history, when mythical language immerses us in an ahistorical time that is repetitive and continually reduced to myth. Language is either historical or ahistorical, either a discourse on action to be undertaken or of a myth to listen to. According to the sort of language used, human history either arises and becomes a significant aspect of humanity’s existence, or else it remains on the level of everyday incoherence.
With insight, meaning becomes perfectly transparent. The other person’s words become mine; I receive them in my own mind. I experience utter intellectual delight, but a delight in my whole being as well, when I understand and am understood. The Word ushers us into time.
When I say that language normally deals with Truth rather than Reality, I only mean that there are two orders of knowledge, two kinds of references we use as human beings. There are references to the concrete, experienced reality around us, and others that come from the spoken universe. The spoken universe is our invention -- something we establish and originate by our words. We derive meaning and understanding from language, and it permits us to go beyond the reality of our lives to enter another universe, which we may call phantasmic, schizophrenic, imaginary, or any other name we choose.
I am certain that since the beginning, human beings have felt a pressing need to frame for themselves something different from the verifiable universe, and we have formed it through language. This universe is what we call truth.
The important thing is that the unique value of language lies in truth. Language is not bound to reality, but to its capacity to create this different universe, which you can call surreal, meta-real, or metaphysical. For the sake of convenience we will call it the order of truth. The word is the creator, founder, and producer of truth.
When it uses a loudspeaker and crushes others with its powerful equipment, when the television set speaks, the word is no longer involved, since no dialogue is possible. What we have in these cases is machines that use language as a way of asserting themselves. Their power is magnified, but language is reduced to a useless series of sounds which inspire only reflexes and animal instincts.
How often we have come up against a blank wall instead of a face, when the other person did not want to understand! How can we make him understand as long as he persists in that attitude? In reality, language is an extraordinary occurrence in which each person’s liberty is respected. I can oppose my word to the other person’s. Or I can turn a deaf ear. I remain free as I face someone who tries to define me, encircle me, or convince me.
In other words, of necessity I give my listener a choice to make. A situation where there is choice is a situation where there is freedom. But at the same time, I invite him to use the gift of liberty inherent in language, just as I have. He must speak in turn, consciously making use of his freedom. I invite him to start down the difficult road of self-knowledge and self-expression, of choice, self-exposure, and unveiling.
Language always involves the exercise of freedom. It is never mechanical, just as it is not an object! Subtle structural linguistic analyses are of course limited to texts; that is, to finite, fixed words rather than open-ended ones. Such analyses seem to account for everything…But they overlook one thing. Once the languages and lexicons, rhetorics, discourses, and narratives have been stripped of their mystery, one thing is left: language itself. It remains because it is history, and such linguistic analysis excludes history.
This is its second characteristic. The paradox, let us remember, is something situated beside or outside the doxa (opinion). The paradox is free of all doxa, but at the same time calls the doxa into question. Roland Barthes is right in showing that "the real instrument of censorship is the endoxa rather than the police."
Our civilization’s major temptation (a problem that comes from technique’s preponderant influence) is to confuse reality with truth. We are made to believe that reality is truth: the only truth. At the time of the controversy over universals, the realists believed that only truth is real. We have inverted the terms, believing that everything is limited to reality. We think that truth is contained within reality and expressed by it. Nothing more. Moreover, there is nothing left beyond reality any more. Nothing is Other; the Wholly Other no longer exists. Everything is reduced to this verifiable reality which is scientifically measurable and pragmatically modifiable. Praxis becomes the measure of all truth. Truth becomes limited to something that falls short of real truth. It is something that can be acted upon. The Word is related only to Truth. The image is related only to reality.
Of course, the word can also refer to reality! It can be perfectly pragmatic, used to command an action or to describe a factual situation. The word enters the world of concrete objects and refers to experiences of reality. It is the means of communication in everyday life, and as a result it fits precisely with all of reality. It conveys information about reality and takes part in the understanding of it. It can even create reality, producing effects that will become part of reality. Thus the word is ambivalent. But its specificity lies in the domain of truth, since this domain is not shared with anything else.
On the contrary, the image cannot leave the domain of reality. It is not ambivalent. At this point I can hear someone tempted to ask: "What is Truth?" I will carefully avoid answering by suggesting some specific content for the word. Such an answer would be challenged immediately, involving us in a long digression which would exceed my capacity. Without attempting this sort of definition, I can show what the object of truth can be, and this will serve to distinguish it clearly from reality. The very questions asked about truth can indicate its nature, replacing the answer that cannot be given. We can grant, then, that anything concerned with the ultimate destination of a human being belongs to the domain of Truth.
It does not matter if one can answer or not, nor does it matter whether the answer is personal or is objectified as philosophy or revelation. But when a person asks about his own life (consciously or unconsciously), then the real question of truth has been asked. And when anyone claims to have resolved it, he is lying.
When he tries to answer this question within the framework of reality alone, he has no answer to offer.
An individual can ask the question of truth and attempt to answer it only through language. The image, on the other hand, belongs to the domain of reality. It can in no way convey anything at all about the order of truth. It never grasps anything but an appearance or outward behavior. It is unable to convey a spiritual experience, a requirement of justice, a testimony to the deepest feelings of a person, or to bear witness to the truth. In all these areas the image will rely on a form. Images can convey a rite, and thus people have a tendency to confuse religious truth with religious rites.
An image can catch a psychological expression on someone’s face: ecstasy, for example. People will believe that they are seeing authentic faith, whereas all they have is a psychological state that can be utterly unrelated to faith. Such a state can be induced by a drug, for example. Faced with such a problem, those who identify reality with truth are so monumentally confused that they deny faith because a psychological state can be artificially induced! An image can show a body’s position, as in a photograph of clasped hands and bowed head, seeming to say that this is prayer. But in reality, no prayer is involved in this image; it could be only a joke. Even when no one is joking, an image is incapable of expressing the seriousness of truth.
…An image can report miracles, but only recorded miracles -- after they have taken place and grace has departed. The image can never penetrate as far as the holy place where the Word proclaims that an individual has become a new creation. The miracle is an expression of this new creation. No image is able to convey any truth at all. This explains in partly why all "spiritual" films are failures. When we insist on expressing spiritual matters this way through images, something other than truth is always perceived. Even more serious and alarming, truth tends to disappear behind all the lighting and makeup. It tends to vanish when squelched by images.
Our generation is characterized by the exclusive preeminence of reality, both at the factual level and in our preoccupations. We are moved in this direction by the marvels of technique, the prevailing tone of our time, the great concern about economic matters, etc. Our era is further characterized by an absolute identification of reality with truth. Marxism has prevailed absolutely in this matter, and science has finally convinced people that the only possible truth consists in knowing reality, and that the proof of truth is success relative to reality. Thus in the thinking of modern individuals the image is the means par excellence which communicates reality and truth at the same time.
This attitude concerning images can be held only if one confuses reality and truth to begin with, believing that a scientific hypothesis is true when it is confirmed by experiments. Such a hypothesis has nothing to do with truth, and is merely accurate. Of course, this preeminence of reality and this confusion coincide with the universal belief in the "fact," taken to be of ultimate value.
The image is an admirable tool for understanding reality. A documentary film of a riot enables us to penetrate the world of anger better than any speech could. But an image is explosive only if the spectator knows what it represents and if it is taken for what it is: a faithful representation of reality. An image becomes falsehood and illusion as soon as a person tries to see truth in it. At that moment, by means of an amazing reversal, the image loses all its explosive power.
When the image is understood to speak only of reality, however, it is explosive and terrible. At this point we discover a new problem. images in our society are always the product of a mechanical technique. Technique is truly an intermediary, since the universe of images is established for us by technique. But this is the equivalent of saying that we find ourselves in the presence of an artificial world, made by an outside force with artificial means. Therefore it is important to realize that stark reality is never conveyed to us in this universe of images. Instead we find a more or less arbitrary construction or reconstruction, with the result that we must constantly remind ourselves of the ambiguity behind the apparent objectivity of the image: it expresses a reality, but of necessity it presents us with an artifice. In this sense the image is deceptive: it passes itself off as reality when it is artifice; it pretends to be unilateral truth when it is a reflection of something that cannot be truth.

As the title suggests, I am in an incredible amount of pain from watching myself and the person I love slowly become strangers through the course of multiple break-ups. We live together, but our lease is ending now is 2 weeks, and neither of us have a plan for where we are going.
The experience went kind of like this:

• There were some minor issues that led to the first break-up. I initiated the first one. It obviously really hurt him and it felt like the wrong choice for me, too. We both regretted breaking up, really missed each other, and got back together after he had taken some time for himself to travel and see his family.
• But when we got back together, I became emotionally close to him again. He seemed to withdraw and treat me coldly when I became closer, or he would just flat-out avoid any date ideas I was suggesting to him. Occasionally, he would agree to the date, and then cancel because his friend would invite him to the pub. All bids for affection were completely ignored and shot down by him during this part of the repetitive avoidance cycle, and it seemed like resentment was festering inside him.
• This was terrible for me. It left me in multiple emotionally fractured states. I couldn't focus on work and my health began to decline. I was desperate to make things better initially, but he seemed to mock me while I was in a pit of despair, confusion, and grief for the cold ways he was treating me. Suicidal thoughts came up so often for me, that the world became a very dark place. We split into two separate rooms.
• I realized I had to survive now. So I would snap out of the suicidal place, and start working on myself, almost selfishly treating myself to coffee, books, nice clothing, and art supplies. I had to teach myself how to hate him so that the emotions could no longer hurt me, so I began to view him like a narcissist in order to justify his painful behavior.
• I learned how to be social again. Any time I was vibrant and unconcerned about whether or not he was communicating with me (basically, I stopped pursuing his love), he reverted in an amazing, supportive, funny, and loving person. He wanted to hug me more often and give me his attention more often, when I was like this. It was terrible. I would ignore him for a bit, but I never have as much will-power as he does. Eventually, I'd end up trusting him again with my heart.
• And the cycle repeated itself.

​
What I'm struggling with the most, is that neither of us actually want to break up with each other. We just want things to get better. He obviously still loves me, and I still love him. He is the love of my life and I'm having a fucking difficult time accepting that our once beautiful relationship has rotted into this ugly, terrible thing. We were living together for almost 4 years. We did everything together. At one point, we were truly each other's best friends and lovers.
​
Like I said, our lease is ending in a couple of weeks and neither of us have any where to go. He has not started looking for a new place to live, and instead he's going on a work road-trip for "2 months, maybe longer, more like 4-5 months..."
He won't tell me a date that he'll be back in this part of the country. He says he wants to "stay in touch as good friends" and "visit me in 2 months" to "see where we are at." This whole thing sounds terrible to me, and he has no solid dates in mind, which is causing my anxiety to fly through the roof. Am I being unreasonable for wanting more certainty than this?
He has even admitted that he would love for us to be together "in the near future, maybe 5 or 6 months from now" - But, if that's the case, then why does he need to leave for long periods of time and then, maybe, come back 60 days later, to treat me well as my "good friend"? To me, this is just going to set me up for more pain. In 2 months, I will probably be feeling better. He will probably like that. But then he's just going to come here for a couple days, and leave again to travel for another 3-4 months, and I will feel confused and possibly abandoned again. I don't want my life to be like this.
​
In my mind, it should be as simple as this: If you love someone and if you truly intend on being with them, there should always be an understanding that we are a couple working towards some common goals. If he needs to travel for a few months and visit me every so often, I am open to that and wouldn't say no, but I am not cool with just being his "good friend" - I want some sort of definite understanding that we are a couple taking a break...
​
All of this may sound trivial, but I am on the edge and suicidal thought has been clouding my perception of life lately. I feel like I've lost my best friend, lover, purpose, myself, and my future.

Occupation – Government employee
Age – 34
Location – Zimbabwe
My salary – $500 (paid monthly)
Side Gig Income – $0
Other income – negligible amounts from dividends received from my stock portfolio that I re-invest
Housemates – 4 (husband P, 6 year old L, 4 year old E and nanny F. My nephew M is around and makes appearances too)
​
Assets and Liabilities
​

Equity	$60,000 fully paid off
Retirement Balance	??	I contribute monthly, and employer matches fully. But because of changes in currency and hyperinflation, I don’t really count this as an asset
Savings	$1700	(went down due to travelling trying to get my passport done since it expired)
Current account balance	$660	Includes my mum's money since I'm managing her financial affairs while she's abroad
Loan from employer	$130	I took a personal loan from work, because the interest rates are lower than rate of inflation and repayment is over 18 months. Loan was used to make improvements on our house, and what wasn’t used, I bought shares on our stock exchange, due to hyperinflation, the amount I owe in US$ has gone down
Investments (shares in various counters on our local stock exchanges)	$1,186
Car	$4,000	Based on current resale value. Car was bought secondhand for cash

​
Income progression- (https://www.reddit.com/MoneyDiariesACTIVE/comments/vbbb7s/i_live_in_zimbabwe_making_3600year_and_i_just/)
​
Expenses
This year, my husband and I decided that he would take on the bulk of our expenses since I do most of the domestic work/childcare. Expenses I pay will be indicated. My salary is now for my expenses, my investments and my savings, and spoiling the kids. Husband caters for the family basics. There was a point last year when I felt my husband wasn’t as invested in the family because he barely did anything financially. By having him cater for all expenses, he is now definitely involved and invested. My husband’s income is just about the same as mine, slightly higher at some times.
​
My Expenses

Expense	Amount /period	Note
Car insurance and licensing	$300/annum	This is due in March, and I pay for the entire year
Petrol	$60/month
Electricity	$10/month
Airtime/data	$20/month
Groceries	$60/month	This is for additional groceries such as bread, veg and fruit bought during the month
Kids’ clothes	$40/month	I’m trying to build up their winter wardrobe so I try to buy them something each month
Makeup/clothes/toiletries/ supplements/hair	$30/month	I do not us this much monthly though
Water	$15/month	Based on last bill received in April. We do not get water consistently so bills are infrequent
Donations	$20/month	Ad hoc donations to a soup kitchen, and maternal health fun
Stock market investment	$50/month	May invest more or less, but I do try to buy shares every payday

​
Household Expenses (paid by P)
​

Expense	Amount /period	Note
Groceries	$200/month	Bulk grocery shopping of staple food items and toiletries
LP Gas	$30/approx. every 2 months	We buy when it runs out. Usually every 2 months depending on how bad the power supply is
Medical	$15/month	For OTC meds (painkiller, cough syrup, antacid stocked for emergencies) and any prescriptions
Pet expenses	$60/ twice a year	For vaccinations and checkups for 4 dogs. Pet food is covered under groceries
School fees for the kids	$347/ term	One kid has fees paid every month, the other every 3 months
Nanny	$80/month	Less than before as both kids are now in school fulltime, and nanny is there to get them ready for school and care after school for 3 hours.
DSTV subscription	$37/month
Transport for kids to/from school	$60/month	L gets picked up and dropped off at home daily, E is dropped off after school

​
Previous MDs - (https://www.reddit.com/MoneyDiariesACTIVE/comments/vbbb7s/i_live_in_zimbabwe_making_3600year_and_i_just/) and (https://www.reddit.com/MoneyDiariesACTIVE/comments/yc801g/i_am_33_years_old_and_i_just_graduated_with_my/)
​
MD Q&A
Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, I have a BSc in Accounting, a Masters in Accounting, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Taxation. My parents both have Masters degrees, and in my family, the bare minimum acceptable for education was getting a Bachelors. My mother paid for my undergraduate degree, and I paid cash for my postgraduate studies.
​
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money?
My parents divorced when I was very young. My dad is the wealthier of the two, my mum has always been middle-class. My mum brought me up with very little financial help from my dad, he only covered tuition and healthcare until I turned 18. My mum catered for everything else. My mum taught me how to look for bargains, how to save and invest, and also how to sometimes enjoy your money.
​
If you have, when did you move out of your parents'/guardians' house?
I would say I moved out at 26 when I got my current job. I had moved out when I got my first fulltime job, but moved back home when that contract ended
​
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself? Does anyone else cover any aspects of your financial life?
At 26 again. That's when I earned enough to cover all my bills without needing help. My husband P covers some aspects of my financial life, and my mum occasionally helps out with stuff for her grandchildren.
​
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I worked as a receptionist at my mum's law firm after finishing my A Levels (age 18) while waiting to start university. My mum gave me the job to keep me occupied and out of mischief, lol.
​
Do you worry about money now?
I worry about building generational wealth for my children. I want to make sure they will be set for life as adults. I do worry about money because hyperinflation is eroding my earnings and retirement dramatically. This is my second time losing my retirement. My mum and in laws are losing their retirement for the third time, so honestly our old age looks bleak if we do not invest outside of work pensions.
​
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income?
I receive negligible dividends from the shares I own, lol.
​
Day 1
0430 – I’m woken up by loadshedding. I sigh, rollover, and sleep some more
0600 – Alarm goes off. I turn it off, enjoy cuddles from P and finally get out of bed. Our water tanks ran out 4 days ago, and council has not yet deigned to give us water, so we rely on P’s parents and friends to give us water. I get my water that was warming up on the stove, and take a quick bucket bath. I moisturize, do my brows, throw my lace wig on (I cut my hair in January, and I’m at a really awkward stage where my hair looks bad when I wear it out all day) and get dressed. It’s cold in the mornings so I put on winter stockings and a black and white chevron patterned dress, nude ballet pumps plus my warm jacket. I get E from the couch where he was watching Cocomelon and my lunch bag out of the kitchen and we head off to his school. After dropping off E, I go to the office. No electricity means no elevator, so I go up the stairs. I see my boss’s boss and greet him as we do the ZESA (local electricity company) sponsored workout. I log in to the work register, fill up my kettle, and settle down to check out my work email. Nothing urgent came through overnight, so I go into my personal email. The wig company I patronize has given me a code for my birthday, and I’m wondering if I should pull the trigger on my cart. I decide to do a report while thinking this through.
My mum is currently working out of the country, so I am managing her local finances/obligations while she’s away. I remember I have to buy the prepaid electricity token for my childhood home as well as for the house she lives in when she’s working in the country. I spend $23 on electricity for both houses (mum’s money so doesn’t count)
1030 – After doing some firefighting and office gossip I have my breakfast. Today its rice, peas and 2 fried eggs. I sprinkle some peri-peri Aromat on top since I don’t have a sauce/gravy ad I have been craving spicy food lately. I also pop my multivitamin and supplements. I check my team’s work and send back anything that needs correcting. I also generate the multiple reports my boss expects from me. I suddenly remember I need to claim my allowance for performing a role that is higher than my actual position at work. I quickly complete the form, and send it to my boss for his signature. The extra money from this is what I use to fund my stock market investments. I also remind my team to send a report to me for consolidation by noon.
12.00 – I do a major push of all my work due today so I can relax after lunch. I compile my reports and set them ready to send. I also finish my first 2 litres of water of the day, and cue up the next 2 litres
1300 – Its lunchtime, and my work bestie and I head out around town**. I find shorts that L would fit and buy 2 pairs for $10**. We head back to the office and I have caramel popcorn for lunch. Then I remember I forgot to have my afternoon meds, oops. Anyway, more work before heading to an audit meeting
1630 – The audit meeting is finally over, and I rush to shut down my computer, pack up my things and go home. I have an agreement with my manager that as long as I make up for the hour, by either coming early or skipping lunch, I can leave work at 4pm. I had a total hysterectomy end of last year so I still can’t manage driving in heavy traffic. I arrive home, make the bed (P had not made it when he went to work), and harvest chilies from our garden that have ripened. I also harvest a local herb used as a flu remedy and lemongrass, so I can brew up a tea/tisane for the flu affected people in my house. I also pack L’s lunch for tomorrow, a pie, a naartjie and juice. It’s also F’s payday, so I give her US$80 (P gave me this money).
E says he is hungry so I feed him sadza and sour milk by his request. I multitask covering L’s school textbook while supervising his homework and watching Married to Real Estate and the Great British Bake Off. I then have my dinner of sadza, greens and beef. I have a chat with the kids about their day at school. P gets home.
1900 – P and my nephew M go to fetch water from P’s friend’s house. The city council still hasn’t opened up our water supply. I do some French on Duolingo while the boys wreak havoc in their playroom. I read L and E their bedtime stories and put them to bed. I decide to do my hair in cornrows while watching Masterchef Australia. They get home and I help them carry water indoors. I remember that when power comes back I need to boil tripe on the stove, so I cut it up, put it in the pot with water, salt and garlic, and place it on the electric stove. We have serious loadshedding these days, so we have a gas stove and solar power to tide us over. I take a quick bath and change into my pyjamas. While P watches TV, I read Wild Sweet Love by Beverly Jenkins and continue to do my hair in cornrows.
2200 – My arms are tired and I’m only halfway through with the cornrows. I give up and go to bed with P.
Total spent - $10
​
Day 2
0600 – I hear crying. E is in a bad mood today. I turn off my alarm, and go to see what’s wrong. E does not want to get dressed for school. I sigh, and help F dress him while he throws a massive tantrum. E is dressed, so I go do my morning routine of shower, moisturize, contact lenses, and eyebrow makeup. Today, I wear a green dress I took from my mum, black tights, nude ballet flats and a black and white coat. E gets put into the car by F, and starts crying for porridge. We are already late, so he learns that the consequence of refusing to eat his porridge on time is to go to school without having his porridge. It’s not a big issue though, as he gets fed at school. So I lock the doors and windows and drive him to school as he throws a tantrum for the entire 10 minute drive. I shove him into the school gate and head to work.
It’s another ZESA sponsored stair workout today. I log into the register, and fill up my kettle with water. I switch on my computer, check my work email and send off client emails to my team for their response. My personal email has an annual report from one of the companies I have shares in so I check out if there’s a dividend this year. I own a negligible number of shares in the company though, but 28c per share is quite impressive. I check to see if my stock exchange wallet has been credited with the money I transferred there so I can buy more shares. It still hasn’t so I send a follow up email o the enquiries desk at the stock exchange. I do have a stockbroker, but I prefer doing my trades myself. I also do some French on Duolingo before 8am.
0830 – Our HR is in a tizzy because people are late for work. I don’t make a big deal out of it usually, because salaries are shit and people are demotivated. As long as my team shows up and does some work, I’m ok. I approve some work, and warn my team about coming in a bit too late. I also tell a teammate that she will have to cover for me on Monday as I am taking the day off. Our internet connectivity is shit so I can’t log into our system to check some stuff. My work bestie gives me avocados from her house. I almost cry because I have been craving avocados, but been too cheap to buy them.
1000 – I have a really bad sore throat. I am also hungry since I haven’t had breakfast yet. I jot down my shopping list for the weekend and head to Pick ‘n’ Pay to buy carrots, green peppers, tomatoes, lemons, cheese, polony and bread. I also buy my breakfast/lunch, which is rice, beans, ox liver and egg salad**. It all cost $10**. I leave my shopping in my car, and go to the office to wolf down my food, and take my multivitamin and painkiller. I also receive my wigs that I bought in May. Perfect timing, as I want to wear a new wig tomorrow for our girls’ day out.
I do some more work, and remind my team to send me the information I need for my daily reports.
1300 – I go out to buy a few items I didn’t find in Pick ‘n’ Pay earlier**. I go to Spar and buy peas, eggs, soft drinks for the outing tomorrow and a sausage roll. Total cost is $10**. The outing has been deemed kid friendly, so I needed drinks for the boys to have tomorrow. I get back into the office, and spend the rest of the lunch hour working.
1600 – It’s finally time to go home. I send my email to handover work issues for the person who will take over my role on Monday while I am on leave. I also send my out of office email, and head home. The kids are at their grandmother’s, so I take a leisurely bath, put on my pyjamas and eat dinner. Then I watch Masterchef Australia until P and E get home. I also get in some French Duolingo practice
2000 – P goes out with his friends, so I snuggle up on the couch with E and watch TV. I put E to bed, read him his bedtime story and kiss him good night. I finally finish season 13 of Masterchef Australia, and move on to My Kitchen Rules Australia. I love Australian reality shows, ngl.
2200 – I go to bed P gets home and tells me some bad news about a friend of ours. I feel very sad for him. He cuddles me and we sleep.
Total spent - $20
​
Day 3
0700 – I wake up feeling like a truck ran me over. I get out of bed, and get ready to hand-wash our laundry. We still have no running water so we can’t use the washing machine. I play music while doing my laundry to keep me motivated
0900 – Laundry has been hung out to dry. F has cooked potato curry, so I boil eggs and water. I have my breakfast of potato curry, egg, multivitamin and coffee. Once I’m done, I give E a bath and dress him. I also bath, moisturize, do my brows and get dressed. I’m wearing jeans and a t-shirt today as my friends and I ae supposed to take our kids out for a playdate. Then I receive a message that the outing is cancelled since one of our group is really sick. I try to think of something I can do with E, since L is out having fun with his grandmother. I do my Swahili Duolingo practice.
1100 – The welder comes to do some work on our garage door. I monitor the work for a bit, and then my nephew takes over. E starts really bugging me to go out. So I put on my headband wig and sneakers, and pack a cooler bag with snacks and drinks. We head into town and I buy myself some ciders for $9. These are for me to drink when the mood strikes me. E wants to go to a resort by the lake so I oblige him. We pay $8 for our entrance. He goes to play on the swings, and I take pictures of him having fun. Another family turns up, and one of his classmates is among them. He’s so happy, and goes to play with his friend. I watch him running around.
1500 – I get a call from my friend that she’s in town with my cake. This cake was meant for the cancelled outing. I pack up our stuff, hustle E into the car and drive back into town. I let out some colourful swear words when I realise I forgot to get our change of $2. Anyway**, I meet up with my friend and get the cake, and pay her $30**. It’s so pretty. I call my MIL while still in town to find out what time she will be there so I can pick up L. She says it will be an hour, so E and I head home to drop off the cake so it doesn’t melt in my AC-less car.
1600 – We are back in town waiting for L and MIL. E wants an ice cream so I buy him one for $0.50 using money I had in my Innbucks wallet. MIL calls and asks me to head over to where she is to pick L up since she can’t leave yet. E and I get there. MIL gets me sadza and goat tripe stew, which I eat a bit of to be polite even though I am not hungry. When I’m done, I pack up the kids and drive home. I bath and change into my pyjamas.
1800 – I feed the kids, and we play until their weekend bedtime of 8pm. I read them their bedtime stories and tuck them in. I watch TV and iron my morning laundry while having a gin and juice until 9pm, and head to read in bed. P and my nephew arrive home from their amateur soccer league match and subsequent outing with the boys. I fall asleep soon after.
Total spent - $49.50
​
Day 4
0700 – I’m woken up by L demanding that I come and play with them. I am still sleepy so I fob him off.
0900 - F knocks on the door and tells us she is off to church. I finally get out of bed and get dressed. I see the boys playing relatively peacefully so I let them continue with their antics. In the kitchen, I find F had cooked breakfast, and since I’m starving, I heat up water for coffee. L surprisingly isn’t hungry so I serve up breakfast for P and me. I have my daily multivitamin. P heads out to go fetch water, while I bath, change and hang out with the kids. I also do my French Duolingo practice for the day
1200 – I have played with the dogs and kids, and I am exhausted. I collapse onto the couch and watch MKR Australia. P gets home, and naps on the couch. I give the kids haircuts and baths.
1700 – L is hungry and really wants cake, so I feed the kids a dinner of sadza and sour milk. Then some cake for dessert. I also pack L’s school lunch, which will be a polony sandwich, a cupcake and juice. The kids play until its bedtime at 7pm. The usual routine, bedtime stories and tuck in is done
2000 – P and I watch a movie while having some alcoholic drinks.
2200 – Bedtime for us
Total spent - $0
​
Day 5
0600 – It’s my birthday today. I am going all out celebrating myself since TW I tried unaliving myself twice in the past year. L wishes me a happy birthday before he goes to school. I get birthday messages from my mum, dad, SILs, and friends. I also get a call from my brother, his wife and their son, and they sing to me. I feel very loved today. P goes to drop off E at school today so I can sleep in
0800 – I am finally up and hungry. I cook a quick breakfast of boiled eggs, and a bean curry. P takes my car to get serviced, while I bath, moisturize, contact lenses, do a full face of makeup and get dressed for the day. Today I wear a tie-dyed cutout mini-dress and sneakers, and my wavy headband wig
1300 – P is home and he drives me to a hotel outside town near a renowned tourist site in our country. We have a platter of fried fish, chicken strips, pork strips, fries, and a salad to share and multiple Savannah Drys while there. It’s really nice getting to reconnect after a very tumultuous year in our marriage. P pays.
1700 – We drive around the area, before heading home. Once we get home, P and my nephew go on a hunt for water, while I feed the kids. P and I head off to take our showers. I remember why I don’t do a full face of makeup when it take a long time to get the makeup off my face.
1900 – The family sings happy birthday, and we eat cake. Birthday gifts were gin and chocolate. I hustle the boys off to bed. No story today, as they went to bed later than usual. P watches TV while I read my novel.
2100 – Bedtime for the grownups
Total spent - $0
​
Day 6
0530 – I wake up and lie in bed for a bit. Then I read my novel some more.
0620 – I am up, and take my bath, moisturize, do my brows and get dressed. It’s cold this morning, so I wear a yellow dress with black polka dots, black tights and ankle boots. I pack up the cake I’m giving to my colleagues, as well as my water bottle. E and I head out. I drop E off at school, and go to the office. I log into the work register, turn on my computer, and check my emails. There are a few pressing issues I need to get up to speed with. One of my colleagues gives me $50 as a birthday gift. I also hand out the cake to my team.
0900 – Work is pretty quiet today, so I update my MD. I also receive news that one of my nephews is getting married. He is not that much younger than me, and could be my younger brother, but it makes me feel so old.
Note on my family: In our culture, even distant relatives are given close relationships so the large number of nephews/nieces is from those relationships. It’s a big thing done to maintain close family bonds. I have 4 actual (in a Western sense) nephews and nieces who are all under the age of 6.
1000 – I head to the supermarket and buy bread, onions, carrots, pork chops, pork trotters and my breakfast and lunch. This costs $25. The meat is the main cost driver here. I have a sausage roll, my multivitamin, supplement and milk for breakfast. I remember that I need to check if my stock exchange wallet was credited, ugh. The website is refusing to load and I’m very frustrated. I finally log in and see the amount is still not credited. I email and send a tweet to the stock exchange. Hopefully the tweet will get them to start moving.
1200 – My boss is mad. One member of my team left his desk without informing me and there’s an urgent matter. I was about to go downstairs to give P the groceries, so I stick around for a bit before committing the same offence as my subordinate, lol. I quickly get back into my office and check on work, sign some papers and letters, and clear out my emails.
1300 – My work bestie has to run other errands at lunch so I decide to stay in the office. I check my personal email and see I have received a dividend of $0.27, lol. The share price will probably drop soon, so I will buy more shares in this counter if I can get them to increase my shareholding. My goal for this year is to breach the 10,000 share mark for one counter. I suddenly remember I have work to do, so I use my lunch hour to do the work, and then take a quick break to eat my lunch of fries and a sausage and do some Swahili Duolingo practice.
1500 – I am thinking of going home when one of my team members calls me to deal with an angry client. I go to the office, and find out it’s a surprise birthday party from my team. I am so happy, lol. We have more cake, and there’s also fruit and juice. I head home feeling so appreciated with even more cake.
1700 – P and my nephew go out to get water. I warm up my bath water, and give the kids their dinner. Today its rice and croc meat. I make L’s lunch for tomorrow, a toasted polony sandwich and juice. I also pack my lunch, rice, a fried egg and peas. And some cake for my work bestie’s kids. I take my bath; change into my pyjamas and hound E to eat his food. If we let that kid be, he would probably live on the bits of our souls he sucks out daily by being stubborn. I am feeling nauseous so I have plain rice with a bit of avocado. The kids watch cartoons, while I do some more Swahili on Duolingo.
1900 – Bedtime for the kids. Today, there’s no demand for a bedtime story, so I just tuck them in and tell them I love them. I read my novel as increasingly feel more nauseated. I end up going to hurl my guts out. P comes home and finds me lying limply on the bed. He gives me a cuddle, and goes to eat his dinner. I get up but smell fish, and run back to throw up. If I hadn’t had a hysterectomy, I would be doing a pregnancy test ASAP.
2100 – I go to bed, and lie in bed for a bit, before finally drifting off.
Total spent - $25
​
Day 7
0500 – I wake up feeling nauseated again. Ugh, this reminds me of having hyperemesis while pregnant. I put my water on to heat and get back in bed to read some more.
0600 – E comes to lie on our bed. I get out of bed, and go throw up. I get my bath water, take my bath, moisturize and put my contacts in. I look like a reanimated corpse this morning. I do my brows to try bring a bit of life to my face and get dressed. It’s very misty and cold today so I put on warm brown tights, a long black dress, my warm jacket and ballet flats. I grab my lunch and the cake, pop E into the car and head out. Visibility is extremely low, so I drive slowly. I don’t know why people like surprising other drivers by having their cars pop out of the mist without switching on their headlights. I successfully avoid the drivers who hate life and drop E off at school before heading to work.
0700 – I am in the office, and I log into the register, before turning on my computer and checking my work email. Not too much in there, so I check my personal email. My stock exchange wallet has finally been credited with the $100. I also ponder whether I should pull the trigger on a V-part wig.
I do my weekly report, and start doing some boring work in the system. I realise I didn’t save the work I did yesterday, so I have to re-do it, so I can have the list of error messages to send to ICT.
0830 – Everyone is in the office, so I do some reshuffling of duties, so that essential areas are covered while one of my colleagues is on leave. I give the cake to work bestie, who tells me how much her daughter was excited over the cake yesterday. It’s now time for me to put my head down and really focus on knocking out the system work today. I also log into an online training, and I listen while doing my work. My mum also deposits money for my birthday gift and to spoil her grandkids.
1000 – I log into my stock exchange account and buy shares for $99.14 (doesn’t count as spending, as the money was moved before the MD started). The deadline for other departments to submit their weekly reports to me for consolidation has passed so I start following up. One department is a big problem as they always send their report late. Le sigh. I draft a very passive aggressive email to them. I also decide not to buy the wig and instead ask the person making me my custom earrings that I got myself for my birthday to bill me the rest of the money so I can pay and move the remainder of the money in my account into savings. Our currency has taken an enormous hit in the last week, and is free falling dramatically. I’d rather keep USD cash than money in my account at this point. The training finally ends.
1100 – I’m getting hungry so I go warm up my lunch, sprinkle on peri peri Aromat and dig in. Yum. I also have my multivitamin and supplement. A lady who sells local snacks comes in. She persuades me to buy maputi (corn nuts mixed with roasted peanuts) for $0.50. I buy them for my afternoon snack. I end up sending the report with missing statistics, and tell the department to send directly to the compiler, as they were late. That was a very aggressive email tbh. I’m still hungry, so I munch on my maputi, leaving the peanuts because I don’t feel like eating them lately.
1200 – I see a missed call from a number I don’t know. I call and it turns out they had sent money to my mobile wallet mistakenly. I check the mobile wallet and it shows it had an extra $11. I send the money back to the person. Times are too tough to keep people’s money
1400 – I snack on a few skittles instead of having more food. I just want something to entertain my mouth, I’m not hungry at all. I review more work and drink more water. The jeweler has sent the payment request for the earrings. I pay $100 (total spent on the earrings comes to $200, which is worth it for sterling silver custom made Jewellery. I use $50 of the birthday money from my mum to cover for part of this expense)
1600 – Finally time to go home. I shut down my computer, and drive home. Once I’m home, I put on my bath water, and help L do his homework. Then I do some Swahili Duolingo practice and pack L’s lunch for tomorrow. He requested maize (corn on the cob), a boiled egg and a naartjie. His wish is my command for once. I also pack my lunch, a boiled egg, peanut butter sandwich and a bit of birthday cake. The jeweler sends pictures of the final product. They are absolutely gorgeous. Happy 34th birthday to me!!!
1800 – I serve the kids their dinner, and go to take my bath. P sends a text that he will be home late as they are working late today. I have my own dinner while persuading E to eat his food
1900 – Bedtime for the kids. I read them their bedtime stories, tuck them in and tell them I love them. Then I go to watch TV. I’m catching up on Married to Real Estate, Food Factory and Man Vs Food. You can tell that reality TV is my jam.
2100 – I decide to have some decaf black coffee and cake as my bedtime snack. P and my nephew arrive home. They are later than they thought they would be because nephew dropped his phone in the middle of the highway and they were searching for it. Because nephew’s ancestors were on the job, they found it intact. It’s a big deal because this is a major highway and huge trucks use that road constantly. I chat with P as he has his dinner and takes his bath.
2200 – Cuddles and bedtime for us
​
Total spent today – $100
​
Total spent this week – $204.50
​
Spending by categories
Food & Drink – $84.50
Home & Health – $0
Clothing & Beauty – $110
Transportation – $0
Fun & Entertainment – $10
​
Reflections on this week’s spending
The spending is pretty much about normal for me tbh (excluding the cake and earrings). I had quite a bit of petrol in the tank so I didn’t need to top up my tank this week. The converted US$ prices are a bit inaccurate since our currency had a big drop this week, and most of my spending is in local currency. I could reign in my spending a bit, and focus more on investing. However, I do enjoy using my money to bring joy to my kids and myself. Particularly myself after the absolutely shitty year I had.

DH (36) and I (35) have been together for 20 years, and this year will mark 10 yrs of marriage. A month ago, he found out he had fathered a child with a stranger whilst we were in a break. The girl had been looking for him since 2005 to do a DNA test. I spoke to him then about the woman wanting to do a test, but he denied that she was telling the truth since she had a boyfriend. We later parted ways. However, when he returned, I asked him about potentially fathering the child, and he denied it again, and she went silent. During this time, I believe she was in a relationship, and her partner was helping raise the child, so she made no further contact. We moved on. However, in 2008, she asked again for a DNA test, this time saying he partner took DNA without her knowledge and was not the father. From what DH said, she did not provide him with the necessary details, so he dismissed the idea because it seemed as though she would only want a test if she was not in a relationship. She went radio silent again. We moved on, we travelled, got married, and bought a house, but now, in 2023, she made a Facebook post displaying a MSN photo from 2004. She didn't know his surname or address and had just a picture from his profile. We have been struggling in recent months with the new house and new job and prospect of children as I feel he is not emotionally intelligent and struggles to make the right decisions for our future without my supervision. I wanted us to seek counselling before children. However he found the post, made contact with the woman and arranged to do a DNA test in the following days and decided to come home and emotionally abused me for 6 hours stating he wanted a divorce and how bad I have been to him. Only after 6 hours did he tell me the truth and then told me that he wanted a divorce so I would not find out about the child but he didn't mean it as he loves me. I was shocked but glad it was conceived outside marriage and that the child was an 18 year old adult but angry that he lied about the girl and also turned our marriage upside down without speaking to me first. The next day I left for work he asked me if I wanted him to stay in the house and said yes however when I got to work he texted to say he was booking a hotel and and would take the test the following day and then return home. I raced back home to find him with a new shape up haircut and a freshly ironed shirt being placed in his car boot. We briefly disagreed, but he was not going to stay as he was determined to go. He came back the following day to reveal that he took the test. I felt he knew the child was his, he got a brief entail on the child's background and seemed very excited by fantasies in his head as he mentioned possibly becoming a grandparent in the next 2 years time, going to her house to celebrate milestones with her family, buying her jewellery, her coming into the home we share together for the upcoming Christmas and meeting her friends. At this point, he hadn't even heard her voice or discussed her expectations. He was very insentive, but whilst speaking on these things, he made no future plans our marriage going forward or discuss how we were going to get through this together itmif it was confirmed to be his child. At this point, I felt he had decided that I wouldn' t be part of his life going forward as he mentioned it would be to hard for me to watch him bond with his not yet confirmed daughter. He offered no comfort or reassurance that he would preserve our relationship. I cried a lot but he was not concerned. He did, however, inform his sister of the news of a potential niece however I have to mention this was not yet confirmed. 4 days later , it was confirmed, and all his worries disappeared. He returned to normal life and says we should focus on starting a family of our own - he mentioned he will not have a father and daughter relationship with the new daughter as too much time has passed, he will get to know her in very small steps if that is what she wanted. I mentioned marriage counselling however he did not seem to want to invest in this, instead he booked us a hotel in Brighton for the BH monday however I did not go as he did not want to discuss us but rather forget about the last 3 weeks. He said he wanted us to have a child together so he could be a proper father and watch the child grow, a child that resembled us and raised in our new home together. He agreed with the mother to meet the daughter 2 weeks down the line. They met, he came home and said she wanted him his life and she came across quite 'keen'. He assured me we should focus on conceiving. However, I felt he was offering a booby prize, but I could tell mentally that he was uncomfortable with something. We argued as he continued to dismiss my feelings about the way things were handled from the start - how could he reach out without speaking to me first? Out of frustration, I kicked him out because it was draining, and all this new information was too fresh for me to process. He said he felt no connection and did not love the daughter. He texted to say he was sorry and would always love me when he left, but I did not respond. We stopped communicating for 3 days. However, I was shocked that he wasn't attempting to reach out to salvage us. He texted to say he was collecting his stuff on the weekend and contacting a solicitor in the week. He kept using the fact that I kicked him out as a 'get out of jail' card. He said if it was the best for both of us to divorce, as it would not be fair on me, and he was sorry. He later left me a voice note screaming down after I asked to talk, stating that I had kicked him out and I was messing with his mental health. He said he has felt better in the days we had been apart. I don't know why I have become the villain in his movie as I have done nothing wrong. At this point, I am not sure whether the fantasies of a smooth run with his new daughter are clouding his judgement of the reality of the situation. He wants to throw his and marriage away to parent a 18 year old woman but refuse to commit as a husband. Please can someone make sense of this? Do I work on things or move on as he is coming across erratic about his feelings towards me and the situation. It seems as though because it is convenient for him now as we don't have children together after 2 misscarriages and we were arguing, he mentally removed himself from the marriage and made the decision to reach out but is now confirmed he has fathered the child he is being forced to step up which is why he is so angry at me. Almost like, if we were on good terms, he wouldn't have stepped forward. He actually blamed me for not forcing him to take the test sooner but I feel he didn't realise how much of an impact it would have on him mentally. Please share your thoughts!!!

I look out in front of me, and perceive the sea lit up out to the horizon. I look around me: to my left and right, I see the limitless straight line of the beach, and behind it, the dunes -- all in space. With my gaze I make the space my own. The objects are clear and plain. I see the wind bend over to the ground, the reeds that keep the dunes in place.
I am at the center of this universe by means of my gaze, which sweeps across this space and lets me know everything in it. By combining these images of reality, I grasp it as a whole, and become a part of it as a result of my looking.
My sight constructs a universe for me. It reveals to me a directly perceivable reality composed of colorful, simple, harmonious images. But it also furnishes me with more subtle materials. I learn to read my brother’s or my enemy’s face. Transmitted images are superimposed on one another, and as a result, I now know that a given image belongs within a particular context of reality. It conjures up another image; I anticipate what I am going to see, but what is coming will in any case be located in space and will constitute part of reality -- deeper and hidden, in a sense, but still reality.
Such information is precise and pinpointed, and deals only with reality. Nothing else, no other dimension, is ever involved. …Sight has made me the center of the world because it situates me at the point from which I see everything, and causes me to see things relative to this point. My vision makes a circular sweep of space, working from this point: my point of view. But now I am tempted, as the center of the world, to act on this spectacle and transform this setting. What was missing in my vision was someone to act, and I am available.
Sight moves to action at the same time that it serves as the means of action. Again, without it, how could I act, since I wouldn’t even know what my hand was touching or what was within my reach? …I am a subject, not separated from what I look at. Rather, what I see becomes a part of me, as my action involves me in what I see. Images both permit and condition my action; they are always imperative. I lean out the window and look searchingly into the emptiness. Images of distance and depth thrust themselves on my consciousness. I know I mustn’t lean out any further.
The image defines and marks the boundaries of my action. The image does not induce my action, but establishes its conditions and possibilities. Without visual images my action is definitely blind, incoherent, and uncertain. Sight conveys certainties and pieces of information to me, as we have said. Such information is reliable. I perceive a gray ocean and an overcast skyline. This is unquestionable. The reality around me is a certainty in which I can be confident. It is neither incoherent nor deformed. I know, of course, that this is also something learned; there are no data coming directly from the senses, and the shapes and colors and distances I apprehend are perceptible to me because I learned them. My culture has furnished me with the very images I see. But however important this may be (and we must not push this idea too far!), it is still true that I see.
What a dreadful uneasiness takes hold of us when reality is submerged in fog…sight fails to furnish me with clear images and I can no longer act. The world loses its midpoint. It is off center because I cannot see it anymore. The center could be anywhere, but it is no longer located where I am.
In order for my sight to mislead me concerning reality, there must be some unusual phenomenon, like a mirage. The image is not ambiguous. This peach I am looking at is red and weighs heavily on the bending branch. This is absolutely certain. But the image is insignificant. It has no meaning in itself and must be interpreted. In the case of a fruit ripe for picking, the visual image gives me indisputable information, but if I stop there, nothing will happen. It must therefore be interpreted. In order to move from the vision of the fruit to "I should pick it" or "It can be picked," there must be an interpretation: an attribution of meaning to these real images of reality.
Another dimension must be added to sight: interpretation will come through speech. Thus the image contains within itself a deep contradiction. It is not ambiguous: it is coherent, reliable, and inclusive; but it is insignificant. It can have innumerable meanings, depending on culture, learning, or the intervention of some other dimension. For this reason I must learn to see, before looking at the image.
After seeing it, I must learn to interpret it. The image is clear, but this clarity does not imply certainty or comprehension. My certainty is limited to this directly perceived reality that my sight reveals to me. Nothing beyond that.
I call these images "vision" because they are connected with the other images I am accustomed to. I would be tempted to say in this case that the order is reversed. The visual image exists, and then I attribute a meaning to it; but the vision appears only as the illustration of a previously established meaning. No matter how insignificant it may be, the visual image is always rigorous, imperative, and irreversible. I saw what I saw. I cannot change the reality which is conveyed to me in this way, except through my action. There is no ambiguity at this point. Nor is there reversibility.
If I had only one "view" of my universe, I would be a participant in a totality which would be both terribly coherent and yet at the same time composed of fragments without any necessary relationship. The totality would be like a cloud of irrational dots which can form only the framework of an action, a change in the relationships between the points. But the cloud of dots cannot be used for understanding anything, because this pointillism of images is space but not duration. The image is present. It is only a presence. It bears witness to something "already there": the object I see was there before I opened my eyes.
I have a point of view, a location from which I see things, but it is situated within what I see and inseparable from it. Wherever I place myself, however I shift my position, I remain in the field of vision, I remain in the middle of what I see. I can never take my distance, act as if I were not present, or even begin to think independently of what I see.
At night, when I cannot see, a certain distance is established. This explains why the day’s events become so painful at night: the distance between me and the world around me allows for reflection and meditation. A flood of images overwhelms me, beckons me, and carries me along: an image I have seen follows immediately after the one I have just dismissed from my mind. I can never stop this movement of reality in space. I can never consider a given image like a diamond or a painting from which I can take my distance in order to be "myself," instead of being overwhelmed by the images composed of dots.
The image prevents me from taking my distance. And if I cannot establish a certain distance, I can neither judge nor criticize. Of course, I also feel pleasure or displeasure in what I see. I can find it beautiful or ugly. But this is not a critical process. No judgment is involved. Furthermore, what possible criticism or judgment can we make with respect to space and reality? In spite of the frailty we have all observed in a person’s testimony about what he has seen, everyone has the same certainty about anything he has seen. He has seen reality.
Sight involves a relationship with reality as established in space. It is an artificial construction. Medusa’s head transfixes whoever gazes at her. Whoever looks at the scenes on the shields of the Iliad is terror stricken. Sight introduces us to an unbearable shock. Reality when seen inspires horror. Terror is always visual. Horror stories play only on our visual sense and suggest representation.
In contrast, the spoken word can involve us in mystery or drama. It places us in situations of conflict and makes us conscious of tragedy. But it is never on its own terrifying or stupefying. We are dazed by sight -- by an image or a vision. The word takes us to the edge of terror only when descriptive and painting extremely precise images. Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories are an example. All the descriptions we have heard of Nazi death camps move us to revulsion and to a judgment that may be based more on strong feelings than anything else. The image of bulldozers pushing along mounds of skeletal corpses, which shortly before had been living beings, faces teetering from the machine’s pushing -- this image drawn from ‘Night and Fog’ moves us to abject horror. It terrifies us, because we see. Such terror results from the horror of reality.
Reality apprehended by sight is always unbearable, even when that reality is beauty. We have a horror of reality, perhaps because we depend on it so. Language, even when it is realistic, allows us to escape from this terrible reality. Sight locks us up with it and obliges us to look at it. There is no way out -- except by controlling and mastering the reality.
Images fall into a pattern with respect to each other, but sounds do not. Instead, sounds contradict each other and cancel each other out. I am listening to a Mozart concerto, and suddenly near me someone speaks. Or a visitor knocks at my door. Or someone starts noisily putting away dishes and silverware. Sounds produce incoherence. The noises I hear form no panorama of the world.
Alone among all other sounds there is one that is particularly important for us: the spoken word. It ushers us into another dimension: relationship with other living beings, with persons. The Word is the particularly human sound which differentiates us from everything else. In this connection a fundamental difference between seeing and hearing is immediately apparent. In seeing, the living being is one form among many. A human being has a special shape and color, but he is included with all the rest as part of the landscape: a discrete, moving speck. When I hear speech, however, the human being becomes qualitatively different from everything else.
The spoken word, even if it involves an essential proclamation or the thought of a genius, falls into the void, passes, and disappears, if it is not heard and recovered by someone. The ocean over there, even if no one contemplates it, remains what it is and what it was. I see it, and it produces a flurry of emotions in me. I leave. I go away, but it does not. The spoken sentence has sunk into nothingness; time has gone by, and there are no "frozen words" which can make themselves heard again later.
Thus speech is basically presence. It is something alive and is never an object. It cannot be thrown before me and remain there. Once spoken, the word ceases to exist, unless I have recovered it. Before it is spoken, the word places me in an expectant situation, in a future I await eagerly. The word does not exist on its own. It continues to exist only in its effect on the one who spoke it and on the one who recovered it. The word is never an object you can turn this way and that, grasp, and preserve for tomorrow or some distant day when you may have time to deal with it. The word exists now. It is something immediate and can never be manipulated. Either it exists or it doesn’t. It makes me what I am, establishes the speaking me and the listening me, so that my role is determined by the word itself rather than by its content. For the word to become an object, someone must transform it into writing. But then it is no longer speech. Yet even in that form, it requires time.
The word is, of necessity, spoken to someone. If no one is present, it is spoken to oneself or to God. It presupposes an ear; the Great Ear, if necessary. It calls for a response. Every word, even a swearword, an insult, an exclamation, or a soliloquy, begins a dialogue. The monologue is a dialogue in the future or the past, or else it is a dialogue incorporated into a monologue. Here again, time is involved. Dialogue develops according to a variable timetable, but dialogue cannot exist unless those engaging in it are inserted into time. Language is a call, an exchange. I avoid using the threadbare term "communication." It is not true that language exists only to communicate information.
Language never belongs to the order of evident things. It is a continuous movement between hiding and revealing. It makes of the play in human relationships something even more fine and complex than it would be without language. Language exists only for, in, and by virtue of this relationship.
Dialogue involves a certain distance. We must be separated as well as different. I do not speak to a person identical to me. I must have something to say which the other lacks, but he must also be different from me. Yet similarity is required as well. When Adam sees Eve he bursts into speech. He speaks because of her and for her. She was flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone; and yet different: a dissimilar similar person. Speech fills the infinite gap that separates us. But the difference is never removed.
Discourse begins again and again because the distance between us remains. I find I must repeatedly begin speaking again to restate what I have said. The result is an inevitable, yet rich and blessed, redundancy. The word is resumed and repeated because it is never fully explicit or an exact translation of what I have to say. It is never precisely received, never precisely understood.
The word reduced to the value of an algebraic formula with only one possible meaning would be useful for us in carrying out an identical superficial activity. But such language could never create meaning, and would never produce agreement and communication with another person. "Algebraic" language could never produce -- or suggest a story. Bees communicate pieces of information to each other, but do not produce anything like history.
The word can also obstruct and impede history, when mythical language immerses us in an ahistorical time that is repetitive and continually reduced to myth. Language is either historical or ahistorical, either a discourse on action to be undertaken or of a myth to listen to. According to the sort of language used, human history either arises and becomes a significant aspect of humanity’s existence, or else it remains on the level of everyday incoherence.
With insight, meaning becomes perfectly transparent. The other person’s words become mine; I receive them in my own mind. I experience utter intellectual delight, but a delight in my whole being as well, when I understand and am understood. The Word ushers us into time.
When I say that language normally deals with Truth rather than Reality, I only mean that there are two orders of knowledge, two kinds of references we use as human beings. There are references to the concrete, experienced reality around us, and others that come from the spoken universe. The spoken universe is our invention -- something we establish and originate by our words. We derive meaning and understanding from language, and it permits us to go beyond the reality of our lives to enter another universe, which we may call phantasmic, schizophrenic, imaginary, or any other name we choose.
I am certain that since the beginning, human beings have felt a pressing need to frame for themselves something different from the verifiable universe, and we have formed it through language. This universe is what we call truth.
The important thing is that the unique value of language lies in truth. Language is not bound to reality, but to its capacity to create this different universe, which you can call surreal, meta-real, or metaphysical. For the sake of convenience we will call it the order of truth. The word is the creator, founder, and producer of truth.
When it uses a loudspeaker and crushes others with its powerful equipment, when the television set speaks, the word is no longer involved, since no dialogue is possible. What we have in these cases is machines that use language as a way of asserting themselves. Their power is magnified, but language is reduced to a useless series of sounds which inspire only reflexes and animal instincts.
How often we have come up against a blank wall instead of a face, when the other person did not want to understand! How can we make him understand as long as he persists in that attitude? In reality, language is an extraordinary occurrence in which each person’s liberty is respected. I can oppose my word to the other person’s. Or I can turn a deaf ear. I remain free as I face someone who tries to define me, encircle me, or convince me.
In other words, of necessity I give my listener a choice to make. A situation where there is choice is a situation where there is freedom. But at the same time, I invite him to use the gift of liberty inherent in language, just as I have. He must speak in turn, consciously making use of his freedom. I invite him to start down the difficult road of self-knowledge and self-expression, of choice, self-exposure, and unveiling.
Language always involves the exercise of freedom. It is never mechanical, just as it is not an object! Subtle structural linguistic analyses are of course limited to texts; that is, to finite, fixed words rather than open-ended ones. Such analyses seem to account for everything…But they overlook one thing. Once the languages and lexicons, rhetorics, discourses, and narratives have been stripped of their mystery, one thing is left: language itself. It remains because it is history, and such linguistic analysis excludes history.
This is its second characteristic. The paradox, let us remember, is something situated beside or outside the doxa (opinion). The paradox is free of all doxa, but at the same time calls the doxa into question. Roland Barthes is right in showing that "the real instrument of censorship is the endoxa rather than the police."
Our civilization’s major temptation (a problem that comes from technique’s preponderant influence) is to confuse reality with truth. We are made to believe that reality is truth: the only truth. At the time of the controversy over universals, the realists believed that only truth is real. We have inverted the terms, believing that everything is limited to reality. We think that truth is contained within reality and expressed by it. Nothing more. Moreover, there is nothing left beyond reality any more. Nothing is Other; the Wholly Other no longer exists. Everything is reduced to this verifiable reality which is scientifically measurable and pragmatically modifiable. Praxis becomes the measure of all truth. Truth becomes limited to something that falls short of real truth. It is something that can be acted upon. The Word is related only to Truth. The image is related only to reality.
Of course, the word can also refer to reality! It can be perfectly pragmatic, used to command an action or to describe a factual situation. The word enters the world of concrete objects and refers to experiences of reality. It is the means of communication in everyday life, and as a result it fits precisely with all of reality. It conveys information about reality and takes part in the understanding of it. It can even create reality, producing effects that will become part of reality. Thus the word is ambivalent. But its specificity lies in the domain of truth, since this domain is not shared with anything else.
On the contrary, the image cannot leave the domain of reality. It is not ambivalent. At this point I can hear someone tempted to ask: "What is Truth?" I will carefully avoid answering by suggesting some specific content for the word. Such an answer would be challenged immediately, involving us in a long digression which would exceed my capacity. Without attempting this sort of definition, I can show what the object of truth can be, and this will serve to distinguish it clearly from reality. The very questions asked about truth can indicate its nature, replacing the answer that cannot be given. We can grant, then, that anything concerned with the ultimate destination of a human being belongs to the domain of Truth.
It does not matter if one can answer or not, nor does it matter whether the answer is personal or is objectified as philosophy or revelation. But when a person asks about his own life (consciously or unconsciously), then the real question of truth has been asked. And when anyone claims to have resolved it, he is lying.
When he tries to answer this question within the framework of reality alone, he has no answer to offer.
An individual can ask the question of truth and attempt to answer it only through language. The image, on the other hand, belongs to the domain of reality. It can in no way convey anything at all about the order of truth. It never grasps anything but an appearance or outward behavior. It is unable to convey a spiritual experience, a requirement of justice, a testimony to the deepest feelings of a person, or to bear witness to the truth. In all these areas the image will rely on a form. Images can convey a rite, and thus people have a tendency to confuse religious truth with religious rites.
An image can catch a psychological expression on someone’s face: ecstasy, for example. People will believe that they are seeing authentic faith, whereas all they have is a psychological state that can be utterly unrelated to faith. Such a state can be induced by a drug, for example. Faced with such a problem, those who identify reality with truth are so monumentally confused that they deny faith because a psychological state can be artificially induced! An image can show a body’s position, as in a photograph of clasped hands and bowed head, seeming to say that this is prayer. But in reality, no prayer is involved in this image; it could be only a joke. Even when no one is joking, an image is incapable of expressing the seriousness of truth.
…An image can report miracles, but only recorded miracles -- after they have taken place and grace has departed. The image can never penetrate as far as the holy place where the Word proclaims that an individual has become a new creation. The miracle is an expression of this new creation. No image is able to convey any truth at all. This explains in partly why all "spiritual" films are failures. When we insist on expressing spiritual matters this way through images, something other than truth is always perceived. Even more serious and alarming, truth tends to disappear behind all the lighting and makeup. It tends to vanish when squelched by images.
Our generation is characterized by the exclusive preeminence of reality, both at the factual level and in our preoccupations. We are moved in this direction by the marvels of technique, the prevailing tone of our time, the great concern about economic matters, etc. Our era is further characterized by an absolute identification of reality with truth. Marxism has prevailed absolutely in this matter, and science has finally convinced people that the only possible truth consists in knowing reality, and that the proof of truth is success relative to reality. Thus in the thinking of modern individuals the image is the means par excellence which communicates reality and truth at the same time.
This attitude concerning images can be held only if one confuses reality and truth to begin with, believing that a scientific hypothesis is true when it is confirmed by experiments. Such a hypothesis has nothing to do with truth, and is merely accurate. Of course, this preeminence of reality and this confusion coincide with the universal belief in the "fact," taken to be of ultimate value.
The image is an admirable tool for understanding reality. A documentary film of a riot enables us to penetrate the world of anger better than any speech could. But an image is explosive only if the spectator knows what it represents and if it is taken for what it is: a faithful representation of reality. An image becomes falsehood and illusion as soon as a person tries to see truth in it. At that moment, by means of an amazing reversal, the image loses all its explosive power.
When the image is understood to speak only of reality, however, it is explosive and terrible. At this point we discover a new problem. images in our society are always the product of a mechanical technique. Technique is truly an intermediary, since the universe of images is established for us by technique. But this is the equivalent of saying that we find ourselves in the presence of an artificial world, made by an outside force with artificial means. Therefore it is important to realize that stark reality is never conveyed to us in this universe of images. Instead we find a more or less arbitrary construction or reconstruction, with the result that we must constantly remind ourselves of the ambiguity behind the apparent objectivity of the image: it expresses a reality, but of necessity it presents us with an artifice. In this sense the image is deceptive: it passes itself off as reality when it is artifice; it pretends to be unilateral truth when it is a reflection of something that cannot be truth.

So I came in and passed the Security + exam today. My score was an 803.
I don’t have an IT background (degree in biology) and no concrete IT work experience. So obviously I came in at a disadvantage. There were a lot of things I didn’t know about and had to pack in my brain. The one thing I did have was my CCNA certification. So that definitely helped me on the network side of things. However many many things were entirely new to me. Such as PKI, using Windows and Linux, CIA triad, hardening OS, attacks and defense, software/applications, tools, and everything web related just to name a few.
What I did to study: I took a little over a month and a half studying almost full time. I started with the Gibson book, read from start to finish in order to get a grasp of the scope of the exam. The book gave a good introduction for me, but alone was not enough. Reading it through and thinking you understand most of the concepts…then realizing how deceptively hard everything was came as a bit of a shock to me. This was me taking a few practice tests and coming to the realization.
I’m a bit of a resource hoarder so I used a ton. For additional books, I almost read through the Meyers one. All others I just skimmed or glanced at. I also pretty much took all the practice exams I could get my hands on. Hundreds of questions…
I’m not much of a note-taker so barely took any. I read other peoples’ notes though. Thanks guys!
I regret not watching the Messer videos as initial foundation like most have (seems to be the norm around here) but I did read his notes and take his practice tests. I think I did high 70s-low 80s on the initial tests then came back later and got high 90s.
For Dion I listened to his lessons on audio on the go. I also took the 6 Dion tests. I took 4 early on and was scoring again high 70s-low 80s. Retakes on those 4 were in the 90s. The last two I took only once and very near to the day of the test, and got 85 and 86.
I have a better attention span for reading than for watching videos.
I also went through the entire chapple and lachance practice question book twice. Both early on and right near the end. I feel this one is underrated. I used a bit of CyberVista and Skillsoft learning and some Shannon videos.
On YouTube I watched ‘inside cloud and security’ for another run through. And also some ‘cyberkraft’ for PBQs. I even used chat openai which is pretty fun.
Really, my learning was all over the place and I became a hoarder of practice tests. For instance I used security+ app (globe), pocket prep app, and learnzap app. All good in their own ways for closing the gaps.
There were some random other tests I found scattered around the internet. Really…it was all over the place, it was hard for me not having any IT background. I felt I had to learn a lot of stuff from the ground up (or more like skipping a few steps then up) that most wouldn’t need. So for advice, I don’t think one would need to take as many practice exams as I did, or even use half as many resources. If you are new to IT, I recommend the variety.
What the actual test was like: Really..it was a mixed bag. Some questions were shockingly simple. Many more wordy, but straightforward with a clear answer. Some so ambiguous and confusing with the selection of choices they give you. And they might randomly hit you with something you’ve never seen before despite everything. Although those weren’t that common.
The pbqs…I just didn’t like half of them. Felt they were ambiguous in many areas kind of like the complaints I get from ExamCompass pbqs. Just reading Sec+ material and looking at mc questions will only prepare you for about half of them. You’ll probably do much better with more background in IT. Perhaps if you do sec+ practice labs it would help a lot more.
In the end I think what saved me was the huge amount of questions I took and the diversity of the wording each source had. It’s like looking at the same thing from a myriad of angles. You take enough, you will learn to recognize patterns or gain ‘impressions’ despite not knowing everything there is to learn on a particular topic.

"The Oasis" - A Panam Palmer side mission, by Pat Merz Original Characters and Worldbuilding by CDPR.
​
Chapter 1
The rust-colored sun dipped below the horizon, its golden light filtering through the dusty atmosphere of the Badlands. Panam Palmer stood atop the crumbling highway overpass, scavenged binoculars pressed to her eyes as she surveyed the desolate landscape.
Nothing but sand and scrap metal as far as the eye could see. But Panam knew better than to let her guard down. Dangers lurked out in those wastes, vicious creatures and ruthless raiders alike.
Panam sighed, lowering the binoculars. They'd been stranded out here for nearly a week now, the nomad clan's vehicles giving out one by one in the unforgiving heat. Food and water were running low, and tempers were starting to fray.
But Panam couldn't give up hope. She was the clan's de facto leader, and they were counting on her to get them out of this mess.
"See anything?" Her friend Fina had climbed up to join her, shielding her eyes against the dying sun.
Panam shook her head. "Just more of the same. But the storms will pass eventually. We just have to hold on a little longer."
Fina nudged her with an elbow. "When have you ever given up on us?"
Panam smiled, a surge of warmth and determination flowing through her. She'd do whatever it took to keep her clan safe. The Badlands could try their worst, but they'd never break her. Not as long as she had her family by her side.
"C'mon," she said, slinging an arm around Fina's shoulders. "Let's get some rest. We'll be back on the road before you know it."
The wasteland stretched endlessly before them, harsh and unforgiving. But Panam gazed out at the ruins of the old world with hope in her heart. Their journey wasn't over yet. The road ahead was long, but they'd travel it together.
The next morning, Panam woke as the sun peeked over the horizon, bathing their makeshift camp in a golden glow. She stretched her arms above her head and got to her feet, ready to face the day.
Her younger cousins, K and J, were still asleep, curled up under a ragged blanket. Panam ruffled their hair affectionately, and they blinked awake, yawning.
"Time to get up," she said. "We've got a long drive ahead of us."
K groaned. "Do we have to? I'm still tired."
"The sooner we get moving, the sooner we'll find more food and water," Panam replied. "Now come on. Pack up your things so we can get on the road."
Her cousins grumbled but did as they were told. Panam smiled, pride swelling in her chest. She'd raised them since they were babies, and though the life of a nomad wasn't easy, they'd grown into capable, resourceful kids. They were her responsibility, and she'd do whatever it took to guide them to a better future.
While K and J broke down their camp, Panam went to check on their vehicles. Their collection of cars and motorcycles was their most valuable possession, and constant maintenance was crucial. She inspected each one, tightening loose parts and refilling empty gas tanks. Everything looked ready for the long journey ahead.
By the time she finished, the rest of the clan had woken up and packed their gear. Panam climbed into the driver's seat of the lead car, her usual spot. The others followed suit, cramming into the remaining vehicles.
"All right, let's move out!" Panam called over the roar of engines.
They set off into the wasteland, kicking up clouds of dust behind them. The road ahead was uncertain, but as long as they had each other, the clan would survive. Panam smiled as she gripped the steering wheel, following the twisting path through the ruins. Their journey was just beginning.
The sun beat down mercilessly on the dusty Badlands as Panam guided their convoy down a crumbling highway. Beside her in the passenger seat was Fina, her closest friend and confidante. Fina fiddled with the radio, trying to find a station that wasn't static.
"Any luck?" Panam asked.
Fina sighed. "Nothing but white noise." She leaned back in her seat, brushing a loose strand of hair from her eyes. "The heat's making my head pound. How much further till we stop?"
"A few more hours at least," Panam said. "But don't worry, I saw some ruins in the distance that should give us good shelter for the night."
Fina nodded gratefully. "You're too good to us, you know that?"
Panam just laughed. "What else are friends for?"
Behind them trailed two more cars and a motorcycle. In one of the cars was K, monitoring their vehicles and supplies with a careful eye. He'd been a nomad his whole life, and there was no one Panam trusted more to keep their convoy running.
Bringing up the rear was J, kicking up dust on his bike. J was the clan's scout, constantly scanning the horizon for any signs of danger. But he was also the life of the party, quick with a joke or playful insult to lighten the mood.
The four of them made a good team, each contributing their own skills and strengths to the group. And together, Panam knew they could survive anything the Badlands threw at them.
"There!" Fina said, pointing at a crumbling building up ahead. "That looks perfect."
Panam grinned. "Then that's our stop for the night!" She steered their convoy off the highway toward the ruins, ready to set up camp. The day had been long, but they were used to hardship. As long as they had each other, they'd make it through.
The ruins loomed before them, crumbling concrete and rusted metal jutting into the orange sky. Panam pulled up to the largest intact structure, what might have once been a warehouse, and killed the engine.
"Everyone out!" she called. "Time to make camp."
They spilled from their vehicles, weary from hours of driving but moving with purpose. There was work to be done.
K popped the hood of their truck and began checking fluids and connections, ensuring their vehicles would start again in the morning. J jogged the perimeter of the ruins, scouting for anything useful or anything dangerous.
Fina joined Panam in hauling gear from the cars, setting up tents and a firepit. The sun was nearly set, its light fading fast. They had to work quickly.
"I'll get the fire started," Fina said. "See if J's found anything we can burn."
Panam nodded and continued unpacking. Her hands were calloused from years of hard labor, her fingers nimble and sure. They all had skills like these, honed by necessity. Out here, you adapted fast or you died.
By the time full dark had fallen, they had everything set up. A fire crackled, casting flickering shadows over the ruins. K had fixed a busted hose in one of the cars and was cleaning his tools. J emerged from the darkness, his arms full of old wooden crates.
"All clear," he reported, dumping the wood by the fire. "No sign of anything nearby."
"Good." Panam slid down next to the fire with a sigh. The day had been long, but they'd made good progress. She looked at her friends, their faces lit by the dancing flames, and felt a surge of affection for them.
Whatever came at them next, they'd face it together. They always had.
The next morning dawned pale and chill. Panam woke as the sun crested over the horizon, its weak light filtering through the tent fabric.
She emerged to find K already up, frying synth-eggs over the fire. "Morning," he said with a nod.
"You're up early." Panam yawned and scratched the back of her neck. "Everything okay?"
"Just restless." He shrugged. "Figured I'd get breakfast started."
Panam studied him, noticing the tension in his shoulders. She knew him too well to miss the signs of worry. "What is it?"
K hesitated. "It's probably nothing."
"Come on. Spill."
He sighed. "Tracks. Big ones. About a hundred yards out, heading west. Looked like reaver bots, maybe six or seven of them."
Panam's heart skipped a beat. Reaver bots were bad news—heavily armed killing machines left over from the last war. If they were active again, it could spell trouble.
"You're sure?"
"Pretty sure. But like I said, they were headed away from us. Might've just been passing through."
Panam mulled this over. They'd have to be extra vigilant now, in case the reavers doubled back. But no need to worry the others just yet.
"Keep an eye out," she said. "We'll stay on guard. But let's not panic unless we have a reason to."
K nodded. "Right. No sense borrowing trouble."
"Exactly." Panam gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks for letting me know. I'm glad I can count on you."
"Always," he said. "We look out for each other, right?"
"Damn straight." Panam squeezed his shoulder, feeling the solid weight of muscle and chrome beneath. However tough the road ahead might be, they'd face it together.
They always had.
Panam gazed out at the rust-colored dunes stretching to the horizon, her keen eyes searching for any signs of movement. Somewhere out there lurked danger in the form of reaver bots, but for now, the wasteland appeared empty.
Still, she remained on high alert as she guided her truck down the worn dirt road. The rest of the Aldecaldos followed close behind in their own vehicles, Fina riding shotgun next to her and the others packed in with supplies they'd scavenged from an old fuel depot.
"See anything?" Fina asked, scanning the horizon with a pair of battered binoculars. Her fingers tightened around the grip, tension evident in her posture.
"Not yet." Panam kept her hands steady on the wheel. "But we're not out of the woods. Stay sharp."
Fina nodded and resumed her vigil.
A few moments later, J's voice crackled over the CB radio. "So, uh, did we make a wrong turn or what? I don't remember the road taking this long last time."
Panam sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Leave it to J to complain when lives were on the line. "We're taking a different route back for safety. Now pipe down, will you?"
"Copy that," J grumbled. "Geez, just trying to make conversation."
K's voice came through a second later, calm and reassuring. "Sit tight back there. Panam's got it under control."
"If you say so," J said. "My ass is numb, that's all I'm saying."
"Your ass will be numb and lifeless if you don't shut up," Fina cut in, her tone brooking no argument.
J wisely stayed silent after that.
Panam bit back a smile, grateful as always for her friends' support. No matter what dangers they faced in this harsh world, they faced them together—and that was what really mattered.
The wasteland stretched before them, holding unknown terrors, but Panam gripped the wheel tightly and drove on. The Aldecaldos would make it through.
They always had.
---------
(Please let me know if you wanna read more or if this totally sucks >:- )

Available Vacancies, Sales Executive, IT Manager, Financial Analyst

Financial Analyst – Facilities Management

Location: KW
Company: Alghanim Industries

Job Summary

The job holder will support the Finance Manager in managing the finance analysis function for a specific business and support the business in preparation of budgets, forecasting financials, perform meaningful analysis of financials, cost allocations and assist operations in defining meaning KPIs for monitoring and improving performance and supporting business growth initiatives

Job Responsibilities

1. Provide analytical support and ongoing monitoring to aid key decision making.
2. Manage the closure of financial and accounting books on monthly basis.
3. Contribute towards Budgeting & forecasting exercise by integrating with key business stakeholders across functions.
4. Cost monitoring of projects vs budget and project management reporting.
5. Cost allocation to business based on predefined keys/rates.
6. Monitor and interpret financial performance, providing regular analysis and expert guidance to General Managers/Directors offering insight and recommendations to enhance business performance.
7. Review current systems, make recommendations for systems enhancement, and participate in implementation of new systems.
8. Review capital expenditure models prepared by the team and managed administrative process of seeking internal approvals etc.
9. Direct and co-ordinate all activities of the financial control function

Candidate Requirements

• Professionally Qualified – CA/ACCA/CPA/MBA or equivalent.
• 1-3 years of post-qualification professional experience within finance
• Strong analytical skills; should be capable of identifying and interpreting key business drivers.
• Sound knowledge of financial and management accounting concepts coupled with excellent financial analytical capability.
• Self-starter, able to work across functions and in teams. Results-driven, with the ability to perform on unstructured assignments
• Positive attitude and flexibility to work in a multicultural environment
• Exposed to ERP systems and strong excel skills.

Apply now »
Company vacancies, Sales Executive, Service Advisor, Analyst – Projects

Jobs Available in Kuwait, Accountant, Sales Executive, Analyst – Projects

Available Vacancies, Sales Executive, IT Manager, Financial Analyst

Sales Engineer

Location: KW
Company: Alghanim Industries

Long Description

Job Summary

The Sales Engineer is responsible for the implementation of the sales plan to achieve the target and increase the department growth by optimizing the sales and market share of the existing products.

Job Responsibilities

• Always looking for new customers and sales channels and searching the market for potential initiatives. • Delivering the technical and sales presentation to the potential customers, explain the plans clearly and be ready for any customer enquiry during the meetings • Clearly revealing the pros and cons of each brand and acting as an honest mentor to the customers looking to keep the long term relationships. • Meeting customers mainly MEW to introduce our products, attending prequalification meetings and seeking MEW approval for Lighting and Solar systems. • Being available for customers’ queries and questions. • Preparing, reviewing, and qualifying the technical drawings and designs with the customer in preparation for the installation stage. • Being customer-oriented providing the highest level of services to the company clients. Improving networking with customers by keeping updated records and database. • Always looking for ways to improve the department profits by promoting the available services to satisfy the sales targets. • Being legally, socially, and environmentally responsible, acting as an ambassador presenting the professional and healthy image of Alghanim Industries. • Liaising with Marketing department to propose the necessary marketing tools. • Continuously keeping an updated customers’ information.

Candidate Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering field
• Up to 5 years of experience in direct sales activities. Working in the same field is a must.
• Creativity: Being able to think of new systems and new ways to work. Being able to think creatively and ask the right questions.
• Analytical Skills: Being able to understand complex mathematical analysis, calculus, and other mathematics for design and troubleshooting.
• Lighting / Street Lighting /Solar systems knowledge: Having the ability to use equipment and tools, able to read lux calculation reports
• Problem-Solving Skills: Ability to develop new solutions to problems. Having the skills to identify the source of the problem, create, and test solutions.
• Teamwork: Having to work well with others in order to get the job done.
• Listening Skills: Listening to workers, teammates, end user, and management is crucial to an engineer’s job.
• Communication Skills: Being able to communicate plans, thoughts, and rationale in the job. Good communication skills will greatly help in accomplishing the job.

Education

Apply now »
Multiple Job Vacancy in a MNC company – Jobs in Kuwait Sales Support Engineer, Visual Merchandising Manager, Financial Analyst, Gaming Consultant
📷
Available Vacancies, Sales Executive, IT Manager, Financial Analyst

Available Vacancies, Sales Executive, IT Manager, Financial Analyst

Audit Manager – Hyderabad India

Location: IN
Company: Alghanim Industries

Job Summary

Reporting to the Audit Manager, the incumbent is responsible for performing governance, risk management, and controls review and assurance related activities at PEB operations in India (Kirby India) and other locations as may be directed by the Internal Audit Management. In performing reviews and assurance activities, the role holder will follow guidance from Audit Manager and the testing guidelines in the control framework in engagement planning, preparation of audit working papers, documentation of findings, and analysis of information obtained from BU Finance and Operations, and past Audit and Investigation reports. Under the supervision of the Audit Manager, the incumbent will also undertake statutory compliance audits or fraud investigations. The role holder should always represent the department in a professional manner, abide by professional standards and the code of ethics as laid down by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), and seek every opportunity follow the principles articulated in the department’s vision, objectives, operating manual (procedures), and Alghanim Industries’ code of conduct.

Job Responsibilities

• In consultation with the supervisor or Audit Manager, design test plans and independently perform substantive audit procedures as per defined test plan. • Deliver engagements including the mandatory statutory compliance audits with minimal supervision. • Prepare working papers in accordance with departmental procedures and best practice. • Prepare clear and concise audit, statutory compliance, and investigations reports to articulate engagement findings. • Perform special audits, including the investigations of suspected incidents of fraud. • Provide support in companywide risk assessments activities for the preparation of the annual audit plan.

Candidate Requirements

• Educated to degree level or equivalent preferably in Mechanical Engineering. • Holder of professional certification such as CA/ACCA/CPA/CIA is mandatory • Minimum of 3 -5 years of internal audit experience, Having pre-engineered steel (PEB) building industry background or manufacturing will be an added advantage. • Some line responsibility or project management experience will be an added advantage. • Knowledge of local language is preferable.
• Working knowledge of recognized standards such as International Professional Practices and Competency Framework for Internal Audit Activity, COSO, COBIT, etc. • Knowledge of relevant accounting standards • Basic working knowledge of relevant ERP systems to navigate and understand accounting transactions.
Apply now »Company vacancies, Sales Executive, Service Advisor, Analyst – Projects

Available Vacancies, Sales Executive, IT Manager, Financial Analyst

Sr. IT Manager – Data Analytics

Location: KW
Company: Alghanim Industries

Job Summary

IT Manager – Data Analytics, AI, ML. will help drive Alghanim Industries’ efforts to leverage data to gain insights that facilitate better decision making, customer-focused marketing, and improved business / financial performance. Manager will provide technical and thought leadership, and work collaboratively across the various business units. The candidate will help us to jump to the next level by implementing Data Governance and new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning.

Job Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities: · Formulate strategy and roadmap for analytics across business units. · Lead cross-functional projects using advanced data modelling and analysis techniques to discover insights that will guide strategic decisions and uncover optimization opportunities. · Build, develop and maintain data models, reporting systems, data automation systems, dashboards and performance metrics that support key business decisions. · Design and build technical processes to address business issues. · Oversee the design and delivery of reports, performance metrics, and insights that analyze key business functions and operations. · Recruit, train, develop and supervise analyst-level employees. · Ensure accuracy of data and deliverables of Data Analytics team with comprehensive policies and processes. · Deliver elements of systems design including extraction, staging and reporting; viz. solution architecture. · Required to work with internal and external BI resources to deliver projects and support. · Vendor empanelment and management. · Examine, interpret and report results of analytical initiatives to stakeholders in leadership, technology, sales, marketing and product teams. · Oversee the data/report requests process: tracking requests submitted, prioritization, approval, etc. · Develop and implement quality controls and departmental standards to ensure quality standards, organizational expectations, and regulatory requirements. · Anticipate future demands of initiatives related to people, technology, budget and business within your department and design/implement solutions to meet these needs. · Organize and drive successful completion of data insight initiatives through effective management of analyst and data employees and effective collaboration with stakeholders. · Leverage analytics techniques to contribute to company growth efforts, increasing revenue and other key business outcomes. · Conduct technology and partner evaluations · Interface with business partners for roadmaps, requirements, and projects. · Conduct end user training to drive self-service reporting. · Ensure appropriate error handing, identification and notification procedures are present on all processes.

Candidate Requirements

General Business Skills: · Extensive experience interacting and partnering with senior executives. · Excellent communication, collaboration and delegation skills. · Excellent presentation skills. · Experience managing large complex BI projects and teams. · Proven ability to complete projects and achieve results in an ambiguous work environment. · Proven strong leadership skills within the project team and in the business community. · Proven ability to establish and articulate a vision, set goals, develop and execute strategies, and track and measure results. · Proven ability to build and motivate a team. · Proven strong negotiating and consensus building abilities. · Proven skills to work effectively across internal & external functional areas. Technical Skills: · Working knowledge of data mining principles: predictive analytics, mapping, collecting data from multiple data systems on premises and cloud-based data sources. · In depth expertise in Enterprise Data Warehousing tools such as Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, Spark, MSSQL etc. · Strong DB & SQL skills, ability to perform effective querying involving multiple tables and subqueries. · Understanding of and experience using analytical concepts and statistical techniques: hypothesis development, designing tests/experiments, analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and developing actionable recommendations for business units. · Experience and knowledge of statistical modeling techniques: GLM multiple regression, logistic regression, log-linear regression, variable selection, etc. · Strong programming skills in: SQL, Python. · Strong Experience in at least one of the listed data management tools: Talend, Matillion, Glue Data Studio, BODS, Informatica or similar ETL Systems. · Strong Experience with Cloud Platforms such as AWS & Azure · Experience with data visualization tools: Power BI, Amazon Quicksight, Tableau, R, Raw, chart.js, etc. · Functional Experience & Strong Understanding of Customer Data Platforms, Data Lake and implementation experience. Education and Experience: · Continuing education and training to stay abreast of latest developments and best practices in data analytics field. · 10 – 15 years experience in SAP as well as non-SAP based technologies not limited to cloud technologies.

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science
Apply now »
Latest Jobs Today Accountant, Costing Clerk, Financial Analyst

Sales Executive

Location: KW
Company: Alghanim Industries
Position Overview
Developing customer base and managing the business in terms of Customer relationship, Sales, Marketing and Profitability .The Industry segment covers Freight Forwarding, Exports , Imports and Transportation.
Essential Job Roles:

• Creating foreign agent and local client base and building business
• Selling Logistics services to various clients.
• Packing & Removal / Relocation services/ Export & Import
• Customs Clearance
• Warehouse and Distribution
• Land transportation / Sea Freight / Air freight / Imports by Land/ Ai Sea.
• Visiting individual customer once receive call or email / pre survey various location in Kuwait
• Handling diplomatic client
• Prompting our service with worldwide foreign agents
• Manage an assigned or entire geographical sales area
• Develop prospective clients, make cold calls and service and grow existing clients
• Respond to inquiries by clients
• Send inquiries to agents
• Prepare quotations through Sales support and send to clients
• Follow –up on quotations and close business, if lost revert with reasons
• On receiving confirmed business hand over to customer service / coordinators
• Coordinate through Customer service / coordinators with operations for container placing / container releases, booking the packing dates, getting quotes from the agents.
• Monitor timely Delivery of invoices to clients if any disputes, update credit control
• Collect dues and outstanding amounts from clients in allotted credit limit
• Meet volume targets
• Timely submission of reports set by the management as per the deadline. Weekly report/ monthly report.
• Provide MIS information on Market & Competitor activity to Management
• Ensure Credit customers are wetted out through the with Credit approval process
• Communicate with customer, suppliers, contract administration,
• Obtain the various relocation agency or membership

Skills, Knowledge & Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree (BA/BS) from four-year University, ideally with majoconcentrations in business/marketing, logistics and/or supply chain management, or equivalent degree.
• 5 to 15 years related work experience
• Aggressive sales generation by nature,
• Self-motivated and man of ideas,
• Excellent communication and presentation skills,
• Thorough understanding of freight deal makings in GCC. Sales and marketing qualifications
• Customer relationship
• Administration and management
• Capable to make decisions
• Problem-solving
• Computer Skills

Apply now »
MNC Jobs, IT Manager, Purchasing Engineer, Cashier Vacancy

Finance Analyst & Senior Finance Analyst

Location: KW
Company: Alghanim Industries
POSITION OVERVIEW
Alghanim Industries is recruiting Finance Analysts and Senior Finance Analysts for the Automotive and Retail Group. The job holder will be an integral part of the finance team providing clear, accurate and insightful business/financial analysis. The job holder will also contribute to business planning and be included in project work and or specialist ad hoc reporting.
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

• Conduct detailed analyses as per business needs.
• Prepare and present Key Performance Indicators.
• Prepare budgets and periodic forecasts.
• Perform resource efficiency analysis.
• Carry out cost saving analysis and provide recommendations.
• Analyse Advertising and Promotion and other key expenses.
• Prepare and update financial and/or managerial reports.
• Update the BU’s Master Data File.
• Provide data on day-to-day issues to operations, logistics & operational excellence.

QUALIFICATION

• Must have a university degree in finance or a relevant field
• Professionally Qualified – CA/CPA/CMA/MBA or equivalent

SKILLS AND CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

• Must have a minimum 2+ years of relevant experience post qualification
• Sound knowledge of financial and management accounting concepts.
• Demonstrated analytical ability.
• Fluency in English; strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficient in Excel and PowerPoint.
• Good interpersonal and presentation skills.

Apply now »
Latest Jobs Today Accountant, Costing Clerk, Financial Analyst

If ANYONE WANTS them (http://smmacourses.site/)
NEW COURSES (Included when buying my whole collection!):
· ⭐Iman Gadzhi – Agency Navigator 2023
· ⭐Sam Ovens - Consulting Accelerator 2023
· ⭐Cole Gordon – 30 Day Closer
· ⭐Montell Gordon - Agency Transmulation
· ⭐Charlie Morgan - Easygrow Course
· ⭐Sebastian Esqueda - Ecom Revolution
· ⭐Biaheza Droppshiping Course 2023
· Andrew Tate – Courses Bundle
· Charlie Morgan - Imperium Agency
· Charlie Morgan - Gym Growth Accelerator
· Biaheza - Full Dropshipping Course 2023
· Jordan Welch - The Reveal 2023
· Savannah Sanchez - TikTok Ads Course 2023
· Iman Gadzhi - Copy Paste Agency
· Sam Ovens - UpLevel Consulting
· Miles – The FBA Roadmap + The Profit Vault
· Andrew Giorgi – Amazon Dropshipping Course
· Sebastian Esqueda – Ecom Revolution Training Program
· Luca Netz – Advanced Dropshipping 2023
· Kevin King – Freedom Ticket 3.0
· Jordan Platten – LearnAds – Facebook Ads Pro 2023
· Miles – The FBA Roadmap + The Profit Vault
· Dan Vas – Ecom Freedom Shopify Blueprint 2023
· Alexander J.A Cortes - WiFi Money Machine
· Kody Knows - Native Mastery
· Bastiaan Slot - Six Figure Consulting
· Kaibax - Centurion agency
· Joe Robert - Print On Demand Accelerator
· Ryan Hogue - Ryan's Method Dropshipped POD
· Kevin Zhang - Ecommerce Millionaire Mastery
· Ryan Lee – 48 Hour Continuity
· [METHOD] ⚡️TikTok Algorithm Domination Skyrocket your engagement TODAY Updated 2023✨
· Troy Ericson – Email List Management Certification
· Larry Goins – Filthy Riches Home Study Course
· Ry Schwartz – Automated Intimacy
· Patrick Bet-David – All Access Bundle
· Andrea Unger – Master the Code & Go LIVE
· Jon Benson – 10 Minute Sales Letter
· Alen Sultanic – Automatic Clients & Bonuses
· Taylor Welch – Cashflow for Consultants
· Akeem Reed – Slingshot Rental Blueprint
· The Futur Greg Gunn – Illustration for Designers
· Trading180 – Supply And Demand Zone Trading Course
· Jim McKelvey (Foundr) – How To Build An Unbeatable Business
· Master of AI Copy – Copy School by Copyhackers
· Copyhackers – Copy School 2023
· Matei – Gann Master Forex Course
· YOYAO Hsueh – Topical Maps Unlocked
· Tyler McMurray – Facts Verse Youtube Automation Course
· Ashton Shanks – 7 Day Copywriting Challenge Featuring ChatGPT
· Rene Lacad – Rockstar Marketing Blueprint
· Top Trade Tools – Hedge Fund Trender
· Brandi Mowles – Conversion For Clients
· Glen Allsopp – SEO Blueprint 2 (DETAILED)
· Trading Busters – Prop Trading Formula Course
· Sam Woods – The AI Copywriting Workshop (Complete Edition)
· Brian Anderson – Recovery Profit System
· LOW COMPETITION KEYWORDS IN MINUTES ⚡ 70+ REVIEWS ✅ BONUS PDF WORTH $200+
· Devon Brown – Easiest System Ever
· Duston McGroarty – St. Patrick’s Day 2023 Live Event
· Dan Wardrope – Click & Deploy Sales Android
· Lost Boys Academy – How To Make Life Changing Money With OnlyFans!
· WealthFRX Trading Mastery Course 2.0
· TOM & HARRY – Digital Culture Academy
· 100+ Cold Email Templates
· [METHOD] ✅ Make Real Cash with Auto Blogging ⛔Get $1199 Worth of Resources ❌ CUSTOMIZED SECRET PROCESS⚡DONE FOR YOU SITE ⭐ Unlimited Niche Opportunity & So on
· Tobias Dahlberg – Brand Mastery
· Raul Gonzalez – Day Trading Institution 2.0
· Rasmus & Christian Mikkelsen –Impact Academy 2023
· [METHOD] ☢️ The Quick eBay Money Loophole Guide ☢️
· Apteros Trading – March 2023 Intensive
· Rob Lennon – Zero to 10k Twitter Accelerator
· Rob Lennon – Next-Level Prompt Engineering with AI
· Rasmus & Christian Mikkelsen – NEW Audiobook Income Academy Download
· Grow and Convert – Customers From Content
· Charles Miller – The Writersonal Branding Playbook
· Kaye Putnam – Convert with a Quiz
· Forex Mentor – London Close Trade 2.0
· Chase Reiner – Fortune Bots Update 1
· Andrew Ethan Zeng – Social Marketing Mastery
· [Method] Upload FULL, 100% Unedited Copyrighted Videos on Youtube! Content ID DESTROYER!
· Digital Daily – Top 150 ChatGPT Prompts to Make your Life Easy
· Patek Fynnip – Psychology Course
· Thomas Frank – Creator’s Companion (Ultimate Brain Edition)
· [METHOD] ⚡ See the MAGIC of Bulk Posting ✨ Untapped Method ✅ [ BONUS ChatGpt and Affiliate list Pdf]✅
· ⭕️ YouTube Content Machine – Unlimited FREE traffic for CPA – Fully Automated Method ⭕️
· Jakob Greenfeld – Scraping The Web For Fun and Profit
· Adrian Twarog – OpenAI Template Starter Kit for ChatGPT / GPT3
· The Secret Merchants List of Over 2000+ Dropshippers and Amazon FBA Suppliers Based in The US
· Top Trade Tools – Top Swing Trader Pro
· Charlie Houpert – Charisma University 2023
· ▶️ [METHOD + GUIDE] ✅ Make Money ✅ with Kindle Books ⚠️ Even if You Can’t Write ⚠️ [STEP-BY-STEP] ⚡ NO INVESTMENT REQUIRED! ⚡
· Charlie Morgan – Easy Grow
· Nina Clapperton – Jasper AI Course for Bloggers
· Travis Stephenson – Simple Profit System
· Manny Khoshbin – Real Estate Starter Program
· Tanner Henkel & Jerrod Harlan – 7-Figure Email Machine
· [METHOD] Stop Wasting Money on AI Writers Train And Fine-Tune Your Own AI For Free With No Code ⚡⚡⚡Real Method & Practice Examples ⚡⚡
· Creator Hooks – YouTube Title Mastery
· Thomas Frank – Creator’s Companion (Ultimate Brain Edition)
· Sean Dollwet – Royalty Hero
· Jason Bell – Birthday Marketing Formula
· NXT Level FX – Investors Domain
· [METHOD] ⏩ My ETSY $40K~ Passive Income 2023 + HOT Products (Earning Proof) ⏪ Make Money No Marketing Easy $40K~ Guide FOR NOOBS ✅
· Rob Jones & Gerry Cramer – Profit Singularity Ultra Edition 2022 (AI & ChatGPT)
· Cody Wittick & Taylor Lagace – The Influencer Marketing Blueprint
· ⚡️➡️$390/Week BLUEPRINT+PROOF✅Scalable Method❤️Amazon to eBay Dropship✅
· Kody Ashmore – Simpler Trading – Drama Free Day Trades ELITE
· Youri van Hofwegen – YouTube Search Automation
· Montell Gordon – Agency Transmutation
· Csaba Borzasi – Breakthrough Conversions Academy
· Tim Denning – Twitter Badassery
· Geoff Cudd – AI Writing Course for Bloggers & Digital Marketers
· RED CPA FORMULA – UNTAPPED UNDERGROUND CPA SYSTEM
· BowtiedCocoon – Zero to $100k: Landing Any Tech Sales Role
· Holly Starks – Make LINK BUILDING Great Again!
· Mike Warren – Deeds4Cash
· BITCOIN BRITS – The Crypto Course
· Max Gilles – ⚡️☄️ UHQ Leak ❤️CPA JACKER – Epic CPA Blueprint✅⚡️
· Aidan Booth & Steve Clayton – 123 Profit Update 9
· Christina Galbato – The Influencer Bootcamp
· John Thornhill – Ambassador Program
· [Sales] 999+ Ultimate ChatGPT Prompts To Copy & Paste (250+ tasks)
· Pollinate Trading – Curvy Trading System
· Content Mavericks – The Greatest Hits Content System
· Andriy Boychuk – Flowium – Klaviyo Mastery 2.0
· Dagobert Renouf – How To Dominate Twitter (Advanced Growth Bundle)
· Darius Lukas – ⭐ The Marketer’s Bible to ChatGPT ✅ 1000+ ChatGPT Prompts to Copy, Paste & Scale
· Billy Gene – 5 Day A.I. Crash Course for Marketers
· Alex Cattoni – Posse Eye Brand Voice Challenge Program
· Casey Zander – YouTube Fame Game Blueprint
· Harlan Kilstein – Midjourney Mastery
· Shawna Newman – YouTube for Niche Sites
· [Marketing] 1099+ Ultimate ChatGPT Marketing Prompts To Copy & Paste (200+ tasks)
· Karen Foo – Star Traders Forex Intermediate Course
· TheMacLyf – Hive Mind & Masterclass (Onlyfans Course)
· Brittany Lewis – Top Seller Secret
· Dan Henry – Facebook Ads for Entrepreneur
· Russ Horn – Ultra Blue Forex
· Scott Phillips – Crypto Salary System
· Roland Frasier – AI Powered Expert Apprentice + Update 1
· Roger & Barry – Give Academy 1k/Day Platinum Mastermind [COMPLETE with LATEST UPDATE]
· Bretty Curry (Smart Marketer) – Smart Amazon Ecommerce
· Steven Dux – Traders Edge 2023
· Aidan Booth & Steve Clayton – 123 Profit
· Allie Bjerk – Tiny Offer Lab
· Dicke Bush – Generate 10x More Content Using AI
· Mateusz Rutkowski – New Money Blueprint
· Smart Raja Concepts (SRC) – Forex 101
· Chase Reiner – Short Form Riches Bootcamp 2023 – AI ChatGPT Bot Update 3
· Chase Reiner – AI Profits
· Travis Sago – Cold Outreach & Prospecting AMA Offer (Best Value with All Bonuses)
· Live Traders – Professional Trading Strategies
· Allan Dib – The 1-Page Marketing Plan Course
· Dan Koe – Digital Economics Masters Degree
· The Trading Guide – The Gold Box Strategy
· The Complete XAUUSD GOLD Forex Scalping System On Real Trading Account
If ANYONE WANTS them (http://smmacourses.site/)

Brace yourselves, this is gonna be a long one.
Table of Contents
1…… The Main Goal
2…… What I’m Seeking
3…… Personality
4…… Interests
5…… Physical Characteristics (with pics)
6…… Expectations of You
7…… Living Situation
8…… Deal Breakers
9…… Closing Remarks
(1)
The Main Goal:
Well if you’re browsing this subreddit then much like me, you were alone this weekend and I’m sure you’d like to change that as much as me. I won’t lie, I am going through a rough part of my life right now. It’s difficult for me to find the energy for anything at the moment and I’m just really seeking affection in general, anything that will give me a push. I don’t want to be that person who brings everyone down but I could really use someone to talk to right now. I’d really like to find someone who’s similar to me so much to the point that we do everything together and talk about everything while not having to pretend to be interested. I want someone with whom we can mutually spew our emotions onto and have those feelings reciprocated. Not an emotional punching bag, but an emotional teddy bear to hug and cuddle until everything feels better as many times as we need. There’s people who I’m sure have told you the same, they’ll be there no matter how many times you need the support, no matter how many times the insecurities and bad thoughts come back but they don’t mean it. I will be the exception, I’m not so ignorant to think some nice words and tales of relating to you will magically forever heal whatever ails you then get mad when you seek the same support again. Mental ailments are rarely temporary and I don’t care about someone because they’re perfect, caring about someone means being there no matter how many times they need you to be. It doesn’t feel like a chore, it doesn’t get old, and it never will.
(2)
(2.a)
What I'm Seeking:
I will upfront let you know if I’m clicking better with someone else or if you’re the one, I’m not here to tread the sea of fish or keep my options open, I’m here for one singular person.
(2.b)
Relationship:
A relationship is difficult for me right now, it’s been nearly half a year since I got out of my last relationship and the reasons for it ending are partially responsible for how I’ve been feeling and why it’s so hard for me to seek the comfort I so desperately crave. I will tell you about it but for the sake of not treating the entirety of the internet as my therapist, it’ll be in private. I really need the comfort of intimacy and the warmth of someone who cares. I'm not going to feel better if I just sulk and don’t move on. This is my attempt to get better, I’ll admit I’m not great right now and I don’t expect you to be either. If we can help each other heal, then I’d be more than happy :) A relationship isn’t just being there for when someone’s at their best. Even if a relationship is hard at the moment, I do want a life partner and I don’t want to be alone. Things aren’t going to get easier without you so I don’t want to hesitate. I view my other as an equal, I don’t like categorizing us into specific roles. We take care of each other and treat each other how we like to be treated, whatever that is, it's as simple as that. I don't care if you're "successful" or not, living simple lives with our days filled with love is the ultimate measure of success to me.
(3)
Personality:
(3.a)
On the Surface:
As you can tell I can be rather… stoic but that’s largely due to my current stressors, I truthfully am goofy and fun loving but I just can’t find it in me right now. I want to return to that but without someone to light up my world it’s been difficult to just have fun and enjoy stuff. I’m definitely more introverted, you won’t catch me at any parties or really outside at all. I definitely prefer being home though the occasional outing is not out of the question and one day I’d like to travel to other countries because I think that kind of perspective is important.
(3.b)
The Core of My Being:
I like being a spectator to it all and if we bear witness to humanity burning or its miraculous recovery, I want to watch it with you. I enjoy watching humanity advance, less so when it devolves but I want to watch it to the end nonetheless. I’m both a realist and someone who lives with my head in the clouds dreaming of scenarios or worlds that don’t exist. I’m saying that I enjoy a good narrative and can suspend my disbelief to enjoy something but you won’t catch me refusing vaccines or ignoring blatant facts for the sake of some pseudo science or witch doctor’s remedy. I’m an atheist but I do not rule out existence after death, not because I’m agnostic but because due to the nature of potentially infinite time at some point after how many googol years with a googol amount of 0s after that, something’s bound to replicate your consciousness perfectly at some point. It’s actually a really fascinating topic I like talking about. If infinite time and infinite possibilities exist, does non existence exist? Though that’s an awfully existentially dreadful thought process considering the ramifications of infinite existence and infinite possibilities during said infinite existence. I would say I’m confidently left leaning and I don’t think I could truly get along with anyone right leaning, at least America’s definition of right leaning. Left and right seems to have just become; do people deserve to suffer or do they deserve to live good lives? Being political is not something I expected to become but how can you not be when crimes against human rights are being passed on a daily basis and at the end of the day, everything’s political. Oftentimes I imagine the perfect moment as relaxing with my significant other playing games or cuddling in a cold room under blankets.
I value that special someone above all of the existential thoughts, the bad of the world, the good of the world, they practically become my world. So many worries wash away when I’m with them. I don’t know if that’s the defense mechanism my brain created to not feel bad 24/7 but if it is, I’m currently without it.
(3.c)
Insecurities:
I talk of philosophy and politics here but really I spend most of my time just playing games, watching stuff, and trying to not be sleep deprived. I’m also nowhere near as well spoken, heck sometimes I feel like my speech is broken. I won’t claim to be something I’m not, I sit at home while I complain about the world doing nothing about it wishing I had someone here with me. I’m not noble nor do I really want to be, I have morals I uphold but much like most other hypocrites I acknowledge that my comfortable life is built on the suffering of others without doing anything about it. Why? My sleep problems? Am I depressed? Is that why I have no energy to do anything? Do I just think nothing I could do could help? I can’t nail it down myself, maybe it’s a mix of everything, maybe I’m just a bad person. I have always told myself that if I had wealth I would help people but if I get that kind of wealth will I just become a wealth hoarder who tries to justify my riches as something I earned rather than something given to me through incredibly lucky circumstances? If I do help people is it because I’m a good person or out of guilt? Will I die alone? I feel like I drive everyone away with my clinginess, I get paranoid often and need reassurance often. It’s something I want to work on, something I’ve been trying to work on. Hearing that someone cares about me just never gets old. I value self awareness even if it’s painful.
(3.d)
Socializing:
I’m definitely a socially anxious/awkward mess, especially around strangers. I do feel a large amount of anxiety in public, people can’t tell by looking at my face since I kind of go stone faced in an attempt to block everything out but yeah you’ll notice that if we go out in public. Growing up my pediatrician said I was probably autistic, never got a formal diagnosis so that’s just great. But yeah that explains why I can’t make eye contact with people, I kinda just stare at the ground and avoid their gaze at all costs. A lot of these social struggles go away to a great degree once I know you for a bit but yeah I apologize for how terrible I am at socializing at first. Don’t let my social struggles fool you though, I love cuddling and being close with my person.
(3.e)
Sexuality:
I am a heterosexual male, though I’m not very masculine like at all. I may even be a bit feminine sometimes. Not that I believe any activity or manner of acting belongs to a gender but I don’t know how else to describe it. I’m definitely super affectionate and love it when my partner is too. I am open to dating demi people but I do have a libido so I don't think asexual would work out.
(4)
Interests:
(4.a)
Video Games:
As stated before, I do spend a lot of my time playing video games. It’s been hard lately with me having no energy but I really do want to play more games and have a good time playing them with you! I primarily play on PC though I do have a switch. I’m primarily into platform fighters, roguelikes, open world, survival, and sandbox games. As for single player story games, I enjoy watching them through twitch or youtube but for the most part I don’t play them myself. I’d watch you play them though!
Here’s a list of games we can play:
-Minecraft (Java)
-Risk of Rain 2
-Gunfire Reborn
-Roboquest
-7 Days to Die
-Phasmophobia
-Rust
-Unturned
-Bloons TD 6
-Platform fighters: Super Smash Bros. Melee, Slap City, Multiversus, Flash Party, Fraymakers
Whatever you want to play I’ll give it a shot! I will say that League bores me to death but I’ll play it for you :) I try to avoid MMOs, not because I don’t like them but because of how addicted I can get to them. I enjoy learning games in-depth so MMOs can be a fast track to addiction.
I recently got Kerbal Space Program 2 and ehhh not really worth it right now but hopefully later it will be? I’m super excited for Tears of the Kingdom! In the far off future I’m excited for Rivals of Aether 2 which is a platform fighter releasing in 2024, let me know of your most anticipated releases and I’ll see if I could play them with you!
Also I never got into FPS games but I could totally see myself playing like CoD with you or Escape From Tarkov. Any FPS really, I’m down.
I am a fan of Pokemon but with how things have been lately I don’t know how long that will last. Pixelmon is a common Pokemon mod I play for Minecraft if you want to play that! Also if I say I want to play something with you I mean it but there are often times when no matter how much I want to I'm just drained and can do little more than lay in bed so please don't think I'm making an excuse.
(4.b)
Science:
I really enjoy keeping up with the latest advances in pretty much everything, it could be biology, technology, astronomy, anything! I love seeing progression and I love talking about it! Really I could go on and on about what I’m obsessing about that day. I particularly love technology, ask me for my laptop specs I dare you. When I was little I always wanted to be a scientist of any kind but then insomnia and fear of college stuff hit me like a truck aaaand that’s the end of that dream.
(4.c)
Anime:
You got me, I like anime but I’d like to think my tastes are benign.
Here’s some of my favorites I can list from the top of my head:
- To Your Eternity
- Vinland Saga
- Spice and Wolf
- Re:Zero
- Mob Psycho
- Dr. Stone
- Attack on Titan
- Spy x Family
- My Hero Academia
- Ranking of Kings
- Demon Slayer
Okay I can go on and on but I will say I don’t like pointless fan service and the spamming of cliche anime moments. I mostly enjoy action and anything well animated if it doesn’t have a potato story. Heck Demon Slayer could be my top 3 out of season 2’s animation alone. I don’t watch slice of life often or romance but I would with you!
(4.d)
Misc:
I’m not going to go on and on about the tiniest little things when the main ones are covered but I’ll watch pretty much any show with you and anything really. I like random youtube videos that explain some kind of lore or mystery, sometimes mini documentaries too.
As for food I looove sushi and I’m a sucker for fast food. Okay and candy, definitely candy.
I used to play tennis but haven’t really had the opportunity nor friends to play it with and I’m way too socially anxious to seek it out. Also I will say that when we move to something like discord I type waaaay more casually. I’m not going to expect long paragraphs back and forth like we’re writing English papers for each other, I do enjoy long conversations but seriously don’t worry about having to put the utmost effort into every response, I just like making good first impressions I guess.
(5)
(5.a)
My Physical Characteristics:
I’m 5’8 (172cm), 128 pounds (58kg), with curly brown hair and blue eyes. I like keeping my hair long in the winter and cutting it in the summer. I’m pretty slim in general so if you’re looking for someone large, that’s not me. I don’t work out but my work is pretty physical so at least I’m not totally inactive. I don’t have the urge to work out or gain muscle but I do want to maintain my slim figure so if I start losing control of that I’ll work out. I like to keep my face shaved because I don’t think I look good with a beard/mustache so if you’re into those I apologize. I have an average amount of body hair? I’d prefer to be completely shaved but it’s easy to lose motivation with that battle, if you prefer shaved then I’d have no problem complying. Anyways here’s what I look like: https://imgur.com/a/MZZgf2t
(5.b)
My Physical Preferences:
Having physical preferences makes me feel shallow, if I could make myself not have them I would but unfortunately that’s now how that works. I don’t care if you’re shorter or taller than me and I don’t care if you weigh more or less than me. All I ask is that you’re slim-average weight. I would never ask for someone to be something I’m not. I don’t care about tattoos or piercings.
(6)
Expectations of You:
I am not looking for someone “exciting” or someone to “keep me on my toes” I’m not looking for someone to cater to my every whim or anything like that. I don’t care if you’re “boring” or if you aren’t “successful”. I know it’s a common thing for people to not want a “boring” relationship and to seek something argumentative or something with constant challenges but I just want to be with you. During the exciting times, the boring times, and everything in-between, all of it will be great with you! Maybe we do argue sometimes or maybe there will be challenges but that will never be something I purposefully seek out and I don’t want that to be something you seek out either. I will not play tricks on you and I will not play mind games, I expect the same from you. We all have personal measures of success we may or may not have lived up to but what I care about most is our commitment to each other. If we have each other we can get through tough times, near the ends of our lives I want us to look back and feel that this life together was worth more than anything. That’s not saying I want us to be haphazard, I don’t want us to make poor decisions for the sake of yolo and I want us to always be rational, especially with each other. I want you to be someone I can trust to make decisions and weigh the options with a level head, I’ll try my best to live up to the same for you. Most of all I want empathy, understanding, someone to feel the utmost comfort and trust in.
(7)
Living Situation:
Currently my life is pretty relaxed, I work 3 times a week as a night shift stocker. I currently live in a 2 bedroom apartment with my roommate but we’re looking to move into someplace larger by the end of the year if everything works out. The internet is weirdly great for Ohio too like I have fiber and later this year we’re supposed to be getting dedicated fiber so that’s neat. I’m not attached to Ohio so the ultimate goal living location wise is probably moving to a country that won’t send you into a lifetime of dealing with the repercussions from one medical emergency.
(8)
Deal Breakers:
Might as well make this simple and make it a list.
- Anti-vaxxers
- Unironically believing astrology
- Right wingers
- Hard drugs (occasional 420 and alcohol is fine, may even join you)
- Wanting children, there was a time when I was younger when I wanted children but with the state of the word that’s a definite no and I feel like I wouldn’t be able to handle the stress. I’d love a stress free life with as much time with you as possible.
- Homophobic
- Transphobic
- Racist
- Super Religious
- Don’t be a bigot and don’t deny facts.
(9)
Closing Remarks:
Well you made it, I was thinking that finding someone I’d be willing to put a lifetime of effort into at least required this much effort. If I think of anything more I’ll update the post. Also about timezones, it really doesn’t matter where in the world you are. I don’t have a sleep schedule and I have most of the week off from work so it really doesn’t matter.
I request that in your response you do put effort into it, it doesn’t have to be anywhere near as long as this but at least enough so I know that you read this and enough about you so I know why you saw potential compatibility. I will seriously read all of it and respond the best I can. I do also request a pic included in your response (sfw please) or one soon after we start talking to prove identity, I’ll send identity proving pics too. As long as this post is up, you can send a reply!