Hello everyone. I don’t know where to begin but as you can see by the title, it’s been pretty rough. It’s basically been downfall after downfall. This is pretty long so please bare with me. This week has been full of torment. To start off, I decided to go to a party with the remaining money I had left in my bank account. I really just wanted to cheer myself up as the past couple of months have been really hard. My two friends were going and we really just wanted a night of fun to get the summer started.
It started off pretty okay but as we were on our way there, my platform sandals broke and I had to walk barefoot in the middle of a pitch black forest. Dangerous, I know but it was a well known underground party that I go to all the time and luckily I didn’t scrape my feet or get any bites. During the night, the DJ kept messing up and people were starting to leave. People kept aggressively hitting on me and I started to feel uneasy. My friend then got the good idea of giving me her socks as I told her I wanted to leave early. I decided to go to my now ex-situationship’s house just to crash. He didn’t really want me there but the buses and train don’t run in my area until the morning so he was my last resort.
While I was going there, I almost got assaulted on the train. The only reason why I went in that specific cart was because I saw two police officers and only one other guy so I thought I was safe. I wanted to dose off a little as I was buzzed and extremely tired. After a couple stops, something told me to wake up and that’s when I saw the police weren’t there anymore and the other guy was walking towards me. I quickly gave him a death stare while putting my hands in my purse to make it seem like I had some type of weapon. He backed off a little until I realized he was unzipping his pants. At that moment I felt true terror and ran to the door. I was close to my stop and all I could do was stand in the corner while freaking out. I got to my stop and a lady started yelling “He was doing something in there!” and asked If I was okay. After some time I luckily arrived to my ex’s house and was totally out of it. My phone had died and all I wanted to do was sleep. I told him I didn’t want to do anything in terms of sex but he wouldn’t listen and he never does when I say no. At that point, I made up in my mind that I was never going to see him again.
I slowly ended things with him after that night. I was with him for nine months. He took my virginity and breadcrumbed me the entire time. I honestly think he was an evil man with bad intentions and I gave him benefit of the doubt even though he hid from me that he had a kid and an ex-wife. Plus he gave me an infection (I’m good now thank god). I feel like the most stupid person alive but he was my first and I honestly thought If I were to ever get into a relationship, I would be the one to have good boundaries but I guess not. I know better now. I was emotionally checked out of it for a long time as well.
So I went on hinge. I was getting ghosted left and right, up until I met this guy that I thought I hit it off with. He actually seemed to be willing to take me on a date and we were super excited about it. The day comes (which was yesterday morning) and he texted me saying he “partied too hard” and wouldn’t be able to make it. I said it was all good and we could reschedule but no response. That would’ve been my first date ever, in my life. Ya… The guy who took my virginity never took me on a date… Sad, I know.
Another thing is, I lost my job about almost a year ago and I’ve been looking ever since. Obviously to no luck but then about a month ago I basically got fake hired at this food service job. They gave me the offer on the spot during an interview and I started training about a week after but the second week rolled by and they gave me ZERO hours. I’ve been trying to contact them by calling and sending emails but they went completely AWOL. Now you’re probably wondering maybe I did something that could’ve caused this but honestly and truthfully, I didn’t cause any problems and was actually the most reserved person on the whole team. I’m very shy. Maybe they just didn’t see something in me I guess. So now I’m still looking.
On top of all this mess I’ve been struggling with my parents as they want me to go to college so badly. I’m not good at school at all. I have chronic ADHD and it’s hard for me to do things and no, this isn’t an excuse either. In High school, I never did my homework because it would take so long. One homework assignment from one subject would take all day. I specifically remember doing math homework one day because I felt such guilt from not being able to do my homework. I sat down and did it but my mind would constantly wander. It would take me a long time to concentrate. I would constantly have to re-read the questions and my answer. I’ve been trying to get help for myself but I don’t have money and my insurance isn’t good. It doesn’t cover psychiatrists and therapists that are for ADHD or autism. I need medication for my ADHD, depression and anxiety before I could even think about going to school.
All this to say, I haven’t been going out with friends or texting them as of recently. I feel too much shame in my life to have a good time anymore. This is just the tip of the iceberg as the past 3 years have been continuous hell. I feel like a waste of life and I seriously think about ending my life everyday. I have no one close to me. No one I can reach out to. I’m only trying to stay alive because I want to give my little brother a better life but this is just too hard. I have zero passion in life. I try new hobbies and get a little hopeful but then I start to feel empty, burnt out and crash. Every. Single. Time… I’m just in pure agony. I’m deeply sorry because I know for a fact I sound insufferable but there is undeniable pain here.

One day I was hiking along a small mile long trail and it was an ordinary weekend and a nice sunny day. I knew the weather was going to be nice today so I decided to go for a hike and I drove to my nearest state park and once I got out of my car I smelled the nice fresh air of the outdoors and then I saw a small one mile trail and decided to go on it I walked a while on the trail and while I was walking on the trail I heard the peaceful sounds of the birds chirping and I saw the beautiful forest and the beauty of mother nature around me as I was walking near the end of the trail and I was greeted by a blocked off gravel path and a sign saying please do not go on this path hikers are not allowed on this path 500 dollar fine if caught walking on it.
I was curious when I saw this and I looked around to see If anyone was around me and I saw that no one was around me and I then jumped the fence that was blocking the gravel path I was finally walking on the forbidden gravel path and I got a rush out of it knowing I was doing something forbidden. On this so called forbidden path I looked around me to see if there was any park rangers I of course did not see any. I then kept walking on the gravel path and I was walking for a while and I kept seeing signs telling me to go back and stop walking on this path of course I ignored the signs and kept walking.
I looked at my clock and saw it was getting late and I was starting to get worried because the park is closing soon and the park rangers usually check the park to see if anyone is still in the park at closing time and If I got caught that means I would get fined 500 dollar so my paranoia made me to look around me to see if there were any park rangers around me there were none around and that gave me sigh of relief. I kept walking and it was really starting to get dark and I heavily searched my bag to see if I had a flash light I found a small dim flash light in my bag but it was bright enough to see around me but as I looked around to see I thought I had saw something in the corner of my eye of course it scared me a bit but I shrugged it off as my mind playing tricks on me. I then heard the wind howling and I thought I could hear something faint in the wind as I was listening.
I at first thought my mine was playing tricks on me and I kept listening I found out my mind was not playing tricks on me I was hearing voices in the wind and the voices were telling me to go back and to get off the forbidden path. I looked around to see that no one was there,was I hallucinating? I was walking and for a while I did not hear anything but then the wind started to howl again and I heard "please go back it's not safe". I was shaken up by this so I looked around me to see that no one was there I was for sure I heard someone. I then kept seeing stuff in the corner of my eye again and I thought I saw a ghostly figure for a second but every time I looked they were gone. I then once again started to hear the wind howling and I began to hear voices again and I kept hearing "go back go back get off the gravel path". At this point dawn was starting to come and the sky was starting to turn brighter and I saw something in the distance it was some sort of mansion me being the curious and adventurous I was happy to explore what ever this mansion was. I proceed to approach the mansion and as I was walking to it the wind began to howl very violently and the wind gust were very strong and it almost knocked me over my feet.
I began to hear "please go back go back do not go in there". I of course was too curious about the mansion to listen to what the voices were saying. I then opened the front door of the mansion and I walked in and saw that the place was old and was falling apart the wooden boards were rotting away and it smelled like mildew. I knew by the looks of this place it was abandoned and no one lived there. I was curious to explore this place so I walked around and I proceed to walk to the first room and I saw that there was a lot of holes in the wall and it looked torn apart, the bed was broken and the window was broken and I could tell that this place was old and rotting away. I then proceeded to the next room and I saw that there was symbols wrote with dried blood on the wall, this of course scared me bad and I jumped and I saw that there was rotting away skeletons of animals in this room, It looked like as if there was devil worshipers here. I then tried to walk to more rooms in this mansion and I saw more scary stuff. I saw that there was a warning wrote in dried blood on the walls saying whatever you do, do not go in the basement it's dangerous.
I then was curious to go in the basement of the mansion and I was the cat who could have died from their own curiosity. I then saw the door to the basement and I looked at it for a good 20 minutes, and after minutes I finally made up my mind to go open the basement door and go down there. I then proceeded to open the basement door and I then walked down the stairs and as I walked down the stairs the basement door slammed shut and I walked back up and tried to open the basement door I tried to open as hard as I could but it would not budge "shit I'm trapped in this basement and can't get out". I tried again to get the door to open I even tried pounding the door down but it did not work the door was locked shut.
I then gave up on trying to open the basement door and walked back down the stairs and I saw that the basement was huge and the was dried blood all over the walls It was crazy how much dried blood was on the walls and I was very scared I wanted to pound on the basement door again and get out of this place but I knew that would not work. I walked around some more around the basement and saw that there was more stairs it seemed as if the stairs went down to another floor. I proceeded to walk down the stairs and I got to where this floor was and I saw on this floor had a bit more dried blood on the wall then the previous floor I was on. I saw that this floor was bigger than the previous floor I was on and It was a massive room and in the corner of my eye I saw a figure of some sort and when I turned around it was not there I jump but then told myself that my mind was playing tricks on me because this basement was just so creepy.
I again saw that something was in the corner of my eye I looked around me fast and saw that no one was there. I kept walking around this floor and saw that it was full of furniture like very old stuff from what seemed to be from the 70s or 60s and they was a radio of some sort it only had AM on it and no FM. I thought to myself if I could turn on the radio but wondered if it still had worked so I pressed the button and surprised it turned on and starting working. All I heard at first was just static but then I kept listening and I could barely hear anything and I thought I heard something though the static but then I could finally hear something though the static and I hear what sounded like creepy voices in the static. I still could not hear it because there was still a lot of static on the radio and I tried to tune the radio to see if I could hear it more but nothing came out of it and I could still hear a lot of static but then after a few minutes I heard the voices again on the radio and I heard the voices louder this time and I could hear what they where saying and I heard a bone chilling sound coming from the radio a girl screaming "dad please help me I'm being tormented the beast is tormenting me please make it stop"!
My heart nearly stopped due to how scared I was. I saw that there was even more stairs that went down what seem like even another floor a 3rd floor even. I was curious and walked down the stairs and walked into the 3rd floor it even had the number 3 on it. I saw that this floor was not as big as the 2nd floor. I began to see that there was spiders on the wall but there was only of few of them on the walls and saw some more stuff it looked like there was some writing on the wall and it said the further you go down the worse it gets.
There were bricks on the walls of this floor and there was no wallpaper just bricks on the walls and I saw that there was a door to another room of some sort on this floor. I opened the door and saw that it was pitch black in this room and I walked into the room and could not see in the room so I got the flashlight from my bag and turned it on and it still was pitch black it's like this room was sucking any light away so I had to feel around the room but as I got walking around this room and feeling my way around I felt as if someone was behind me and I felt as if I was not alone in this room and the longer I stayed in the room the stronger the feeling got and tried to find my way out of the room because I felt as if someone was behind me and I felt as if someone was gently touching me and It got me scared but I then bolted and tried to find my way out of the room but could not for a few minutes and I then could hear a faint growl in my ear and I was running as fast I could and I finally found my way out of the room I was in. I slammed the door shut to the room I was in and I saw even more stairs that went down to another floor and ran down the stairs.
I was now on the 4th floor and saw that on the 4th floor there was cobwebs on the ceiling of the floor and spiders were more common than on the 3rd floor and there was more dried blood on the wall than the previous floors I was in. There was a lot more stuff on this floor and there was dining tables and chairs on this floor and it looks like as this was a restaurant from the 60s or 70s and I walked around the floor and there was cobwebs on the tables and chairs and spiders were crawling on the table but then I saw that there was a kitchen of some sort and I kept feeling as if something was behind me but the feeling was not that strong and I kept seeing stuff in the corner of my eye but when I turned I saw that nothing was there I realized that in the darker places that where less illuminated the feeling of something being behind me was there .
There were flickering lights in this place that seem as if they were about to die out. I somehow walked into a darker place in the floor and the feeling of something behind me was coming back. I felt as if something was lurking in this place and they lurked in the darker areas with less light. I saw that was of course more stairs that went down into the 5th floor. I was now in the 5th floor and holy crap this place was getting creepy there was a lot more cobwebs on this floor then there was on floor 4 and the spiders where now in big numbers and the spiders looked even bigger than before. This floor was even darker with less light. I saw that there was tables and chairs on the 5th floor just like the last one but they where on the tables but then as I looked away and looked back I saw that the chairs were now on the floor and broken for some reasons and I thought to myself this place has to be haunted. There less light bulbs that were on this floor than on the last floor and it was darker and there was less light.
Like I said in darker areas I felt as if someone was behind me and on this floor the feeling was stronger than on the last floor. I walked around and was in darker areas with less light and the feeling of someone behind me was getting stronger and stronger until I stopped walking and I listened closely and I could faintly hear a voice of some sort and it sounded creepy and I got scared and walked to a lighter area with more light and I saw something in the corner of my vision and then turned around to see a tall skinny shadow figures and it appeared to be afraid of the areas of the place with more light so I kept going around the place and saw more figures and I went into a darker area and something jumped out at me and tried to attack me and I ran to where a light bulb illumined the place and the figures stopped were scared off by the light of the light bulb and stopped attacking me because of the light.
I kept going down more floors and my god it felt like this thing was going down forever I was on the 15th floor when things really started getting bad the cobwebs where getting the point to where they are covering everything and spiders where so big to the point to where they are the size of the palm of my hand. I saw that there was little spiders in such massive numbers that something you could not see what they were because it was covered in so many spiders. On the 15th floor it was so dark that you could barely see in front of you the only reason I could see that there spiders everywhere was because there was only a few light bulbs on the floor that were dimly lit . The Odor on this floor was bad and it smelled like dead rotting corpses and so much dried blood on everything that it covered every square inch on what was on the floor and on the wall on everything and on everywhere.
I was standing under a dimly lit light and around me I would hear voices screaming "help me help I'm being tormented"! I then saw that around be where hundreds of glowing eyes around me but I felt as if I would be safe as long as if there was light around me. I stayed under the light bulb for until the eyes went away but then a few minutes later the light bulb above me went out and when that happened I knew I was in trouble and I bolted and I could not see in the dark so I bumped around everything and tripped and fell and as I fell something grabbed me and I could tell that this thing was big. It was dark and I could not see anything but I was in this what ever this thing was grip and I thrashed and tried to punch this thing but it was not budging I felt as if my life was coming to an end.
A stroke of luck happened and for some god only knows reason I escaped from what ever this thing was grip and ran as fast I could in the dark tripping over objects and then getting back up. I was in the dark and saw a dim light in the distance and I got closer to see it was a dimly lit light bulb I felt safe under this light bulb and the thing did not go near it. I went down more floors and on floor 18 is when some very scary stuff started happening at this point spiders where the size of cats and the cob webs where so thick that it was getting hard to walk through. I was getting attacked by spiders I was fighting them off it was getting to the point where I was getting overwhelmed by them. I found a baseball bat on the floor and used it to beat the spiders and kill them.
I heard screams everywhere and they were ear piercing. All I could hear was "I'm being tormented help"! I then realized that there was water on the floor about an inch of it. I kept walking around and I kept hearing the sloshing of water on the floor as I walked I tried to turn on my flashlight because it was dark but the darkness of the room was so bad that it sucked all the light away from the flash light. I was walking and a very nasty smell hit my nose, it was the smell of rotting corpses but the smell was very strong and I began to throw up and nearly passed out. I felt as this place I was in was filled with corpses and that was confirmed when I saw a very dim light in the distance and when I went to it I was hundreds of rotting corpses and some of them where in the very thick cobwebs hanging with web wrapped around them like mummies.
I looked down and saw that the so called inch of water was not water at all it was an inch of blood filled with maggots and flies swarming them by the thousands. I looked and saw a corpse and I kept staring at it and saw that it had long flowing blond hair and was wearing a pink backpack with yellow stars and had a purple shirt that said lets go tigers and that when it hit me like a truck and tears started flowing down my face this was my daughter she is dead and was smelly rotting corpse that mostly been mummified. My daughter was 16 when she went missing and her school mascot was a tiger and her name was Amy and she had a pink backpack with stars. I miss her so much and if she was alive by now she who have been an adult at the age of 18. I then look to see at her backpack to confirm if it was her and I saw the name Amy written on her backpack I confirmed that this was in fact my daughter. I kept digging in the backpack to see what was in it and found her phone it turned on with 45 percent battery and no password was on it.
I could no longer hold it in anymore and the tears flowing down my face become full blown sobbing. My daughter is just a mummified dead corpse. I took my daughters phone out of her backpack and put it in my pocket and as I was doing that is when I heard it a low pitched growl and a very creepy one and then I froze for a solid minute and then heard a another growl and I tried to be as quiet as I could and heard the sound of water sloshing around but that of course was not water but it was blood sloshing around. I kept hearing the blood sloshing as if something was moving around in it and my heart was pounding very hard and I felt as this was the end of me I then realized I was in this thing's nest and I was going to be the fly in the web.
I heard the sloshing again and it sounded like it was getting closer to me and I felt a warm draft over me and that when I booked it and ran I fast as I could and ran up the stairs that was closest to me. I ran to the other floors I was now at floor 17 and I knew the thing was chasing after me. I was now hyperventilating and heart pounding I could hear roaring at the stair well I knew I had to run up to floor 1 and bust the door down as hard as I could I kept running tripping over everything in the dark and dirty as hell and covered in blood. I then ran up to the stairwell that went to floor 16 and of tripped and fell while on the stairwell to floor 16 and busted my head and blacked out and woke up in a spiderweb. I open my eyes and saw I had passed out and I was back on floor 18.
I knew I was doomed and I would never be found down here I was going to be this thing's meal a few hours had passed I kept struggling and struggling and could not get out of the web. I felt a warm draft on me and I felt as if I was being stabbed this thing was digging into me with it's fangs I felt I was done for. The pain of the thing digging it's fangs in me was unbearable and I was screaming. The thing was sucking my blood until it was dry. I was there in that web for god knows how long it had to be a very long time because I was dehydrated and very hungry. I was very weak and could not move much and could barley move my limbs but for some reason I began to slowly fall out of the web and broke free from the web and I got out of the web. I began to walk slowly to the stairwell that lead to the 17th floor and I climbed up the stairs slowly and when I was up on the 17th floor I walked around the floor for a while and I saw a place I could hide in from the thing there was a door and I open and there was a glowing light in the room I opened and the light was a light blub glowing and turned and lit up the room and I saw that I was in luck because there was 2 bottles of water on the shelfs in the small room I was in and a small bag of trail mix that was month passed its expiration date. I put a chair in front of the door so the thing would not get in.
I happily ate the trail mix and drank the 2 bottles of water and I put my ear on the door to see if I hear anything and when it was ready to go. I did not hear anything when I was putting ear my ear on the door at first but then a few hours had passed, and I heard a sniffing sound a faint growl. I tried to be as quiet as I could and hoped the chair in the door made where the thing could not get in the room with me, and I was no longer weak because I drank the water and ate the trail mix. I heard banging on the door the thing was trying to get in and get me. I had to think fast, and I saw a trap door and I opened and crawled into it as fast as I could. I was inside vents now and crawling and I heard the thing break down the door, but it was too big to get in the vents I was crawling in.
I began to crawl faster and found an exit to the vents, and it was on floor 15. I was now on floor 15 and the vents for some reason just collapsed right as when I crawled out of them, and I could not get back into the vents to get away from the thing. I heard the sound of the thing getting up to the floor I was at, and I booked it as fast as I could and ran up the stairwell to floor 14. I ran up more floors and I'm now on floor 12 and I fell as if this thing is catching up to me and I ran I fast as I could and kept running until I reached floor 11 and at floor 11 I grab a knife on the table and I kept running until I got to floor 10 and then on floor 10 I fell into a huge hole that was on the floor and the wood on the floor was rotting and I fell back into floor 11. I was catch up by the thing and was in its grasp and struggled to get out of it grasp and I then stabbed it in both of its eyes and it let go of me and it was screeching in pain. I ran back into the 10th floor and went around the hole and then went up into the others floor and at floor 7 I could hear it getting closer to me again but kept running as fast as I could and heart pounding.
I few more floors left, and I could pound the door down and get out of the basement. I was running and finally got up to floor 1 and began to violently pound down the door that was the entrance to the basement and I pounded as hard I could and I had super human strength from the adrenalin and I could hear the thing coming up the floors so I did one last super hard pound on the door with all my strength and busted a hole in the door and walked out the door and at last I was no longer in the basement of this damn mansion. I then ran out of the mansion and was finally outside and I kept running on the gravel path as fast as I could and then for a while, I finally found the fenced I had jumped and got over it and was back on the small 1 mile trail and collapsed on the ground where people saw me drenched in blood.
I then woke up in the hospital and the doctor said I was lucky and almost died from severe blood loss and I realized I had my daughter's phone in my pocket and cops were in the hospital room where I was at. I also saw my wife there too and she said where were you I called the cops and your boss said you were not at work, and he then called cops and I went all over the city looking for you and stayed up and it was on the news of you going missing and I'm glad you're okay and you are alive. I told them everything of what happened I told about the thing in the basement of abandon mansion in the woods and I would never go back to that place.
My wife told me her story and she told me that she looked everywhere in town for me and her first thought I was at the bar with my friends but then saw I was not there she said it was getting dark and I had to be home to or she would call the cops and she said I did not answer the phone and she got worried and called the cops. The cops came and began to search for me, and days had passed, and they did not find me so a whole search group came and looked for me and she said she looked around the city and she tried to look for me at the small park near the house and did not find me.
She said a cop was at a state park and saw a passed out person on the ground at a 1 mile trail which was me and the ambulance came and picked me up and got me to the hospital and then a cop was at the hospital and realized it was me as I was waking up.
A few months had passed and I was diagnosed with ptsd and I told my therapist everything.

Ladies and gentlemen, Stamford Bridge is alive with anticipation and excitement as the prodigal son returns! Eden Hazard, the magician, the maestro, has made his way back to his beloved Chelsea, and the fans are on their feet, ready to witness his triumphant return.
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As the players emerge from the tunnel, the atmosphere is electric. The Chelsea faithful, draped in blue, their voices echoing through the stands, creating a wall of sound that envelopes the stadium. And there he is, Eden Hazard, resplendent in his familiar number 10 jersey, with that mischievous grin that has melted the hearts of fans worldwide.
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The referee blows the whistle, and the match begins. Hazard, as if fueled by the raw emotion of this moment, bursts forward with the ball at his feet. The defenders scramble to contain him, but his grace, his elegance, is unmatched. He dances through the challenges, leaving defenders in his wake. It's like watching a virtuoso performance, a ballet on the football pitch!
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Oh, what a pass! Hazard picks out his teammate with pinpoint accuracy, a pass that splits the defense like a surgeon's scalpel. The crowd inhales collectively, holding their breath in anticipation. And... GOAL! The net bulges, the stadium erupts, and Stamford Bridge trembles with jubilation! Eden Hazard has announced his return in style!
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The fans chant his name, their voices reverberating through the hallowed grounds. The love, the adoration, pours down from the stands like a waterfall. Hazard, with a humble smile, acknowledges the outpouring of affection, a man reunited with his footballing home.
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As the match continues, Hazard's brilliance continues to illuminate the pitch. His combination play, his vision, his ability to unlock defenses, it's all on display. The opposition can only watch in awe as he weaves his magic, leaving them in a state of disarray.
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The final whistle blows, and Stamford Bridge erupts once more. Eden Hazard has returned, and he has conquered hearts yet again. This is a storybook comeback, a tale of a hero's homecoming. The Chelsea faithful will forever cherish this day, the day Eden Hazard reclaimed his throne.
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And so, my friends, as the echoes of this momentous occasion fade into history, let us remember that football is not just a game of skill and tactics. It is a canvas on which dreams come alive, where legends are born and reborn. Eden Hazard, welcome back to Stamford Bridge, where you belong!

I told him i loved him too fast and I’m scared I’m gonna mess this up!
A little context..
So I met this boy on hinge about a month ago, and after two nights of FaceTime, he asked me on a date and the week after that date, he invited me to his house and asked me to be exclusive with him, I immediately dropped everyone I was speaking to at the moment, because I could see real potential in him, so just to recap, this is all happened in the span of two weeks of knowing each other, which I was completely fine with !
So since then, we have not been on another date, but he has two jobs, and is very busy, as am I so I understand, to make up for it immediately after leaving his job at 11 PM he comes and picks me up at my house drives all the way to another city just to sleep with me wake up EXTRA early take me to work and then go to work at 9 AM again! Sometimes he does this 4 times out of the week He goes out of his way just bc he wants to sleep next to me!
He is actively showing me that really likes me! I’m not being delusional this time thank god!
Not only that, but although we’re just a month in spending so much time with each other has caused us to find minor problems within each other and we have gotten into our first flight already which didn’t last long and we both came to an agreement realized our wrongs to each other! And what I’m trying to say by that is that he has ok communication skills which is very rare to find these days, and he had a few red flags that I was worried about but when I brought it up to him, he immediately fixed it!
He’s always feeding me and being so sweet and kind to me!
Some things I’d like to mention:

1. I wrote him a very romantic poem around 3 weeks in, he appreciated very dearly.
   
2. I bought him a Travis Scott Astroworld poster, (he loves him)
   
3. I hand, custom made him a sticker with his name and the logo from his favorite football team The Broncos that he could put on his PlayStation
   
4. I offered to host a party since the nuggets are in the finals right now and because he’s from Colorado and the nuggets have never been to the finals this is a big deal for him!
   
5. I tried to put myself in his interest because I really do like him. He has me watching the clone wars and basketball!
   

I did these things to show how much I really appreciate him always trying to feed me and getting up extra early to take me to work! And it feels like I’m overcompensating and doing a lot, but I’ve spoken with him about it and he tells me that he loves that I want to do things for him but I don’t need to and that He loves that I show him how I feel about him and more people should be like me:)
It’s going amazing right now! Ofc it’s only been a month but this one specific night MAY 19th 2023 to be exact we had just got done having sex and I don’t know what happened that night, but Frank Ocean was playing in the background and he just stared into my eyes for like five minutes straight while caressing my face, SNAP I fell inlove in that exact moment! I totally freaked out (in my mind) and calmly excused myself to the balcony while I tried to collect my thoughts. About five minutes later he came out to the balcony to see what was going on with me he clearly saw that something was indeed wrong with me and instead of pushing the issue, he let me have that space, which is another, amazing green flag!
After two weeks of splitting my tongue apart by not trying to say those 3 words, one night while trying to sleep I got the urge to finally say it, I called his name out and he got on top of me and started kissing me and he just silently whispers “say it”.. HE KNOWS UH OH!
(Later, he ended up telling me that he knew I loved him after I wrote him the poem)
I ended up saying it, felt like heavy bricks lifted from my shoulders, I’m living this amazing magical, fantasy life, right? Wrong. he does not say it back. He just passionately kissed me and held me very close all night. Now of course I don’t want him to say it if He does not mean it but it does make me feel very stupid for saying it way too early and not getting it reciprocated!
Sometimes he teases me for saying it really fast which isn’t helping. I know he’s joking but sheesh you know? I think I’m ruining it.
Bottom line is I have a really good guy with a really good potential and I don’t wanna mess it up but I feel like my fast developing feelings for him are going to ruin this relationship!
Any tips?

A little context..
So I met this boy on hinge about a month ago, and after two nights of FaceTime, he asked me on a date and the week after that date, he invited me to his house and asked me to be exclusive with him, I immediately dropped everyone I was speaking to at the moment, because I could see real potential in him, so just to recap, this is all happened in the span of two weeks of knowing each other, which I was completely fine with !
So since then, we have not been on another date, but he has two jobs, and is very busy, as am I so I understand, to make up for it immediately after leaving his job at 11 PM he comes and picks me up at my house drives all the way to another city just to sleep with me wake up EXTRA early take me to work and then go to work at 9 AM again! Sometimes he does this 4 times out of the week He goes out of his way just bc he wants to sleep next to me!
He is actively showing me that really likes me! I’m not being delusional this time thank god!
Not only that, but although we’re just a month in spending so much time with each other has caused us to find minor problems within each other and we have gotten into our first flight already which didn’t last long and we both came to an agreement realized our wrongs to each other! And what I’m trying to say by that is that he has ok communication skills which is very rare to find these days, and he had a few red flags that I was worried about but when I brought it up to him, he immediately fixed it!
He’s always feeding me and being so sweet and kind to me!
Some things I’d like to mention:

1. I wrote him a very romantic poem around 3 weeks in, he appreciated very dearly.
   
2. I bought him a Travis Scott Astroworld poster, (he loves him)
   
3. I hand, custom made him a sticker with his name and the logo from his favorite football team The Broncos that he could put on his PlayStation
   
4. I offered to host a party since the nuggets are in the finals right now and because he’s from Colorado and the nuggets have never been to the finals this is a big deal for him!
   
5. I tried to put myself in his interest because I really do like him. He has me watching the clone wars and basketball!
   

I did these things to show how much I really appreciate him always trying to feed me and getting up extra early to take me to work! And it feels like I’m overcompensating and doing a lot, but I’ve spoken with him about it and he tells me that he loves that I want to do things for him but I don’t need to and that He loves that I show him how I feel about him and more people should be like me:)
It’s going amazing right now! Ofc it’s only been a month but this one specific night MAY 19th 2023 to be exact we had just got done having sex and I don’t know what happened that night, but Frank Ocean was playing in the background and he just stared into my eyes for like five minutes straight while caressing my face, SNAP I fell inlove in that exact moment! I totally freaked out (in my mind) and calmly excused myself to the balcony while I tried to collect my thoughts. About five minutes later he came out to the balcony to see what was going on with me he clearly saw that something was indeed wrong with me and instead of pushing the issue, he let me have that space, which is another, amazing green flag!
After two weeks of splitting my tongue apart by not trying to say those 3 words, one night while trying to sleep I got the urge to finally say it, I called his name out and he got on top of me and started kissing me and he just silently whispers “say it”.. HE KNOWS UH OH!
(Later, he ended up telling me that he knew I loved him after I wrote him the poem)
I ended up saying it, felt like heavy bricks lifted from my shoulders, I’m living this amazing magical, fantasy life, right? Wrong. he does not say it back. He just passionately kissed me and held me very close all night. Now of course I don’t want him to say it if He does not mean it but it does make me feel very stupid for saying it way too early and not getting it reciprocated!
Sometimes he teases me for saying it really fast which isn’t helping. I know he’s joking but sheesh you know? I think I’m ruining it.
Bottom line is I have a really good guy with a really good potential and I don’t wanna mess it up but I feel like my fast developing feelings for him are going to ruin this relationship!
Any tips?

Something happened tonight. Something always seems to be happening these days, but this time, it was particularly confusing.
Some days don't even feel real anymore.
After my last post, I did as my savior human had advised me. I called Mary Markov and relayed to her what Jewel had told me. She promised to send agents to the warehouse right away, and late that same night, she reached out to me once again with news of an arrest having been made. Despite this small success, we both knew that this meant outright war. The Collective would know who had given them away, and the possibility of me joining their ranks peacefully would be off the table. The question remaining was when they would make good on their threat. Nettie Peterson's house is being guarded by covert Agency personnel, and mine and Eli's apartments are under watch, too. I'm glad Mary Markov is doing what she can to protect them, but I never doubted that complications would arise eventually.
Just not quite so soon.
The day started off fine. My best friend, still being relatively used to having agents around, doesn't seem to mind the aforementioned changes. The van inconspicuously parked outside her house didn't bother her in the least as she went about her morning routine. I helped her throw together something nourishing for breakfast, then watched her doing her makeup. She likes to keep her lips glossy and often applies lime green eyeshadow paired with a pear-colored line and, on special days, the occasional rhinestone. She looks like a garden fairy. When I told her that today, she treated me to a bright smile and a pat on the cheek.
She went off to look after her larvae, leaving me to roam her house alone. I spent some time inspecting the many drawings she keeps framed on the high wall in the living room. She always brings new ones home from work—gifts from the kindergarteners. They're not very artistically skilled, but they do produce interesting work. Nettie hangs them all up on the special wall, even the really bad ones. I watched TV for a couple hours, then read until Nettie came home.
It was getting dark out when she realized she needed tampons. She said she could get by on what she had until the morning, but no longer. I told her to stay put and that I'd run and get some for her, which is why I went on that fateful evening walk. I gave a quick nod to the agent leaning against the van outside as I started heading down the street, backpack slung over my shoulder. I made it to the convenience store five minutes before closing time, giving the annoyed cashier an apologetic look as she rang me up. Outside, the nightly blackness had settled over the rooftops, and I took in a deep breath, letting the fresh air flood my body.
All was well as I began to march back in the direction of Nettie's home. Until I heard a motorcycle revving.
…Jewel?
I instantly froze up. There was no one immediately in sight. I tried to soothe my fevered mind. There was no reason to be so on edge. A lot of town residents owned motorcycles, or at least I assumed they did. This reaction was a testament to my own waning sanity, no doubt. I shuddered, making an effort to shake the thought. There was a nervous tension in my step as I continued on my way. The engine noises faded off into the distance after a while, and I concluded that I was indeed becoming a bit paranoid.
Step by step, I carried myself towards my goal. Nettie Peterson's street wasn't anywhere in sight yet, but I would probably be at her door in around ten minutes tops. I had walked the distance between her house and the store often enough to estimate. I considered putting my earbuds in and listening to some music as a distraction, but I was afraid of what I might end up missing if I took away my sense of hearing. I began to chew on the inside of my cheek.
There was not a soul out except for me. This wasn't uncommon considering the size of our town, but given the circumstances, it still served to elevate my heart rate. I repeatedly tried and failed to calm myself. Eventually, I couldn't help it anymore. I took off running. And then it happened—someone stepped out from a sidestreet right ahead of me and we collided. Large hands flew to my shoulders, long fingers harshly digging into them. I didn't need to look up at the other person to recognize them. I sensed the same musky smell that had lingered around my room for hours after their last visit; warm, sweet and impossible to ignore. I could suddenly hear every single beat of my heart reverberating between my ears. Dread seemed to dribble down my bone-dry throat, pooling in my stomach like cold water.
I slowly lifted my head, knowing exactly who was about to stare back at me.
Jewel's eyes were incredibly wide. Their brows were trembling in manic, barely restrained fury, their lower lip quivered and, to my complete bewilderment, tears were freely rolling down their cheeks. They solidified the moment the skin contact was lost, turning into shimmering stones of green, blue and violet. I reached out and caught one before it could hit the ground. It was bright pink, and I found myself captivated by its beauty.
"So, can I… keep this?" I asked, tilting my head at the cultist.
Their chest was rising and falling heavily, and I shrank back a little when I took note of their nostrils flaring. "You are so dead," they uttered in a low, husky growl.
"I take it you got news of the Agency's involvement?"
Jewel once more closed the distance between us. They leaned down, their gemstone tears bouncing off my chest as they fell. "You spiteful little bitch. You'd rather try to ruin a good cause than forgive me and work together?"
"You can't be this delusional."
"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do!" they snapped, their voice rising to an eerily high pitch. They paused, looking briefly confused by what they'd said before the wrathful expression twisted their features again.
"What now? Are you seriously going to attack me out in the open like this?"
"Oh." Jewel drew themself up, squaring their muscled shoulders. "Oh, I'll manage."
Their outline before me started to blur, becoming fuzzy and indistinct. I blinked, then reached up to rub my eyes. They weren't becoming any clearer, though. Frowning, I took several steps back, squinting at the spot where the cultist had just been standing. The cultist was quickly turning into a faint, paling swirl of colors, losing shape before at last disappearing completely.
I was speechless, my pulse racing as beads of sweat ran down the side of my face. I couldn't believe it. Had all of this been some sort of hallucination? I raised a hand to my feverishly hot forehead. I was losing my mind. That had to be it. My gaze dropped to the gray asphalt and my breath caught in my throat when I spotted the colorful stones lying at my feet. Fuck.
A soft laugh rang out beside my ear, a draft of moist, warm air grazing my cheek.
I instinctively swung at the emptiness beside me, my clenched fist connecting with nothing. No.
"Come back here," I whined, flinching at the unmasked fear in my own voice. A sharp pain flared up in my ankle as my feet were swiped out from under me. I let out a squeak as I fell onto my open palms, managing to shield my head from the impact just in time. The rough ground scraped my hands and knees as I hurriedly pushed myself up, a few stray pebbles drawing blood. Despite my panic, my mind was clear enough to understand that I was in a precarious position. I couldn't just whip out my tentacles—not here where anyone could see me. It would for sure result in hysteria. People could start straight-up shooting at me. I'd end up looking like a monstrosity on a rampage, especially with Jewel having gone invisible. As it were, I only had one option, and that was to run.
I didn't waste another second. There was no way I was leading this murder cultist back to Nettie, but I had to find somewhere with other people, anywhere…
Aimlessly charging ahead, I tried to bring more distance between myself and the disembodied footsteps ringing out from behind me. Before long however, it was becoming hard to tell how far away they truly were. The sound seemed to flit from side to side, reaching my ears from constantly changing directions. The asshole was messing with my head.
Soon enough, my lungs were on fire. My sides were stinging; breathing became harder. I inwardly cursed my useless short legs. Still, I didn't slow down; I didn't dare to. I was growing increasingly desperate. Where was I supposed to go? I couldn't think of any places still open. And then, cutting through the darkness, a flickering neon sign offered the answer to all of my questions. Tom's Diner. With hope renewing my spirits, I picked up my pace once more. Rhonda was just in the process of moving the big menu sign inside for the night. I came to a skittering halt mere inches in front of her, helplessly grabbing onto her apron before she could close the door behind her.
She spun around to face me with knotted brows. "Evangeline?"
"Help me," I wheezed. "Let me in, quick!"
Rhonda, though still visibly perplexed, sprang into action, dragging me inside along with her. I slammed the door shut, throwing my entire weight against it. An unseen force clashed against it from outside, making the entire storefront shudder. The waitress nearly dropped her sign. "What in the—"
"They're after me," I choked out. "You can't see them, but they're right outside!"
"Oh." Her expression cleared up. "Say no more, say no more." She reached into her apron pocket, rummaging around while mumbling to herself. "I'm picking up what you're putting down…" She produced a bright red marker. "Allow me." Swiftly stepping up to me, she raised the felt tip to my forehead, proceeding to draw something onto my skin with smooth, efficient accuracy. An incoherent whisper slipped from her lips, words in a language I had never heard before. Finally, she pulled back. "Turn around, try if you can see them now. The door locks automatically, by the way."
I hesitantly shifted my weight back onto my feet, releasing the door and turning to look out into the night. I let out a gasp, staggering back when I found the contorted visage of the cultist pressed up against the glass. Jewel's eyes were still rimmed with shimmering tears, their mouth twisted in a grimace of murderous rage. They frowned in confusion when they realized that my gaze was once more trained on them. It didn't take long until they started pounding on the windowpane again.
"Hey! You stop that," Rhonda shouted, stabbing a finger in their direction. "I just cleaned that today! Oh hell… Hailey!" she called over her shoulder. "We have a problem; come help."
Another waitress came rushing out of the back room. Glancing between us and the pacing cultist outside had her huff out a sigh. "I see," she said icily. Determinedly striding towards the door, she lifted her voice, beginning to recite a verse or rhyme of some sort. It all sounded like gibberish to me. My head was spinning, my mind running wild, unable to keep track of what was happening around me. My skull suddenly felt prickly from the inside, my whole body seemingly turning weightless. My vision fell away as my eyes rolled back and my knees gave out from beneath me. I had lost consciousness before I hit the floor.
I don't believe I was out for very long, despite my exhausted body embracing the cold slumber. A voice tugged on the edge of my hearing, gently guiding me towards wakefulness. I had been moved onto a slightly softer, more comfortable surface. I arduously craned my neck up to overlook my surroundings. I was lying on one of the padded benches next to the stationary tables. Crouching beneath it in order to sit close to me was a very familiar figure.
"Hey, Sunshine." Frankie Preston straightened up as far as he could without hitting his head. "Sorry I wasn't there to catch you when you fainted. Too bad. It could have been our movie-moment."
I smiled at him. Then I jolted upright, nearly kicking Frankie under the table as I planted my feet on the floor to train my eyes on Rhonda. She was leaning against the partition wall of the booth, typing away on her phone. "You," I uttered. "You and that other lady did some kind of… witchcraft-thing."
She glanced up briefly. "Oh. That was nothing, really. Forget about it."
Fran poked his head out from between my legs. "What's this about witchcraft?"
Rhonda shrugged. "Hailey and I just performed some basic spells to get rid of your little wife's stalker."
"Could you please not—nevermind that; what are you even talking about?" Fran's voice was dripping with bewilderment.
The older woman raised a brow at him. "Honey, we're… we're witches. You did know that, right?"
Silence.
"Right?" Rhonda repeated, once again not receiving a response.
"I don't think he did," I supplied helpfully.
"You're kidding me." Rhonda stared at the blonde with her mouth agape. "How could you not have known? You lived with us for almost two years!"
He still gave no answer.
"Honey, you saw everything! You saw my herbs…" Her voice faltered in disbelief. "And the ceremonial daggers… The charms around the doors!"
He shrugged.
"You played with Mae-Lynn's casting crystals for a whole afternoon? You were in the room when Paloma made her sacrifice for Loki's favor? You literally watched all six of us at our bonfire dance during the blood moon!"
"I thought that was just another crunchy mom thing."
"Crunchy mom thing?" she echoed, her chest rising at the affront. Jabbing a finger at my forehead, she added, "And how would you have accounted for that?"
"That little drawing? I thought Eva had gotten herself tattooed." Frankie glanced between Rhonda and me in confusion.
"It's a magic symbol, for crying out loud; it's a protection against forces messing with her perception!" the waitress explained in audible exasperation. "And who would get their forehead inked?"
"Eva might. You gotta admit she has peculiar fashion tastes," Frankie argued.
I couldn't help but chime in. "Why do people keep saying that?"
Rhonda threw her hands up in defeat.
I cleared my throat. "You're saying that all the ladies working here have supernatural abilities?"
"Like I just told you." She rubbed her temples with both hands. "And I'm sorry you fainted. It had to do with Hailey—her magic is great for defending against dark influences. The spell she cast was to scare off your attacker, but it seems to have affected you, too."
"I don't consider myself a dark influence."
"Well, you are an interdimensional being," Rhonda replied. "Not normally mankind's best friend. But I know you're a good kid. Don't worry."
"Thank you very much for helping me," I said softly, staring at my hands as I folded them in my lap. "I apologize for the inconvenience."
"It's cool."
"So, the six of you all together are probably really powerful?" I inquired, an idea faintly taking shape in my mind.
"You could say that," Rhonda answered, not without a hint of pride.
"Is there any way I could get your input on a problem I've been having?"
"I suppose," she said slowly. "We'll hear you out, sure, but that's about all the promises I'll make for now, okay?"
"Yes, perfect."
"Alright. I'll talk to the girls and we'll be in touch." She zipped up her jacket, shoving her phone into her pocket. "Goodnight, you two."
With that, she left us sitting in the empty diner. Frankie still looked rather puzzled. Shaking his head, he turned to give me a droll smile. "How embarrassing. I normally pride myself on being perceptive. People are strange though, aren't they?" He sat down beside me on the bench, shuffling closer. "You ran into trouble again? With the cultist?"
I didn't really want to relay the entirety of what I'd learned from Jewel to him—somehow, I didn't think Frankie would be opposed to someone bringing by the end of the world. It would be best to keep that particular piece of information stored away for a while longer. Instead, I asked a completely different, if not wholly unrelated question. "The other day, you told me about feeling destructive and grimy. Where is that coming from?"
"Sunshine, I know I've danced around this for long enough. I can tell you, but you look miserable right now. I'd much rather have you in better spirits first." He placed a tentative hand on my back. "Anything I can do to cheer you up?"
I started chewing on my lower lip, not meeting his gaze.
"You're thinking about kissing me again, aren't you?" Frankie asked, having apparently learned how to read minds.
"We don't have to. I do not care."
"That nearly crossed the line between accommodating and insulting. Look, I want to. You just caught me off guard the last time." He pulled a wet string from his chewing gum. I waited in silence for him to continue. "I'm honestly surprised you're still up to it. I know I'm a piece of shit."
"You're not—"
"I am. And what's more, you should know that kissing is as far as things are gonna get between us. I don't do the sex-thing. That's nothing to do with how much I like you or anything. I just don't do that." He had removed his gum from his mouth completely, instead fumbling around with it like play doh. "If that cancels out the whole liking-me-extravaganza, then it's best we cleared that up beforehand." He turned to face me. "What's that look for?"
I was beaming at him with more conviction that I had found the most perfect being than ever. "This works out beautifully," I told him.
"Are you sure? You're not just saying this?"
"If you don't take my word for it, I wouldn't know how else to prove it."
"I believe you! I'm glad, I really am, I'm just kinda stunned." He straightened up. "I want to kiss you even more now."
A quiet squeak came from somewhere in my throat. "I can hear my pulse," I remarked.
"Yeah, me too." He grinned, propping his chin in his palm. "Excited?"
"You know that." Feeling I had to share more, I added, "This is the first time for me. That doesn't change anything, does it?"
Fran's brows rose a great deal. "Huh."
"Is that bad?"
"No! But seriously, is this gonna be your first kiss?" He gestured at our surroundings. "A dingy little diner after hours? Not very romantic, is it?"
"That's fine," I assured him.
"Nope. We can do better." He got off the bench, drawing himself up to his full height (which wasn't very impressive either). "It doesn't have to be a big deal, but it should be nice. You're getting a good first kiss. I'll think of something. Don't worry, I won't go over the top."
I couldn't help but smile at that. Letting him pull me to my feet, I briefly went in for a hug. I nearly jumped when he turned his head and pressed his lips to my cheek. "That doesn't count." He held onto my hand as he let go. "So… how would you feel about hypothetically burning a building together?"
X
1
2: deadbeat roommate
3: creepy crush
4: relocation
5: beach concert
6: First date
7: Temp work
8: roommate talk
9: a dismal worldview
10: warehouse
11: staircase
12: explanation
13: hurt
14: hospital
15: ocean
16: diner
17: government work
18: something in the caves
19: shopping cart
20: olms and Jewels
21: long hair
22: recruitment

/LonghornNation Daily Off Topic Free Talk Thread

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Quick Summary:

1. Sara is back in this episode. It appears she’s staying at Colony House by Donna’s begrudging grace, Jim shows up asking her if her brother Nathan is still alive due to his conspiracy theory with Randall where they don’t believe things are actually occurring outside at night because no one can see it due to closed blinds/locked doors etc.
2. Boyd/Kenny? And the others decide to use the bile in a similar form to those of silver bullets. Their plan is to coat the ammo in the bile and then fire it from a safe distance.
3. It appears Elgin is not the only one who is being affected by dreams, Mari wakes up from a nightmare in this episode with burn marks after a monster grabs her and she sees Smiley filled with bugs/cicadas? They later check on Smiley IRL and he’s filled with the same bugs from her dream as well. Clearly the dreams are no longer just dreams and are beginning to have real world effects. Donna/UNCLEAR is frightened and or agitated by this. She implores Boyd/UNCLEAR to get rid of the corpse and burn it in the forest. The decision to sleep in shifts is made.
4. VictoJade/Tabitha discuss their findings and experiences as well. Jade is upset with Victor for not revealing that the symbols he sees are also written in the tunnels where the monsters sleep. Victor reveals that he has a set of pictures and drawings that he hid somewhere so he “wouldn’t have to remember”, he also refers to Fromville as his “home”.
5. A flashback clip occurs possibly as well with the introduction of a character named Eloise. This flashback is something related to Victor and his mother and Eloise who is a sister of his the night before everyone dies when he was a child. Victor bemoans that some of the pictures/drawings he hid were not his but someone else's, either his mothers or Eloises. He remarks that the pictures were hidden so "no one else would have to die". The clip unclearly ends with Victor asking "Eloise?" "Eloise?" hinting that she may have followed Victor's mother out into the night.
6. Victor and Jade and Tabitha discuss that memory of his further although context is lost in the wording. Victor states "I was supposed to take care of her" "But she was so scared that she ran" which seems to confirm that this was his sister who died as well alongside their mother the night Christopher betrayed everyone. A picture/drawing is shown of the towelighthouse/UNCLEAR and Victor states that's where his mother went that night "to save the children locked in the tower". Which children this is remains unclear.
7. Randall and Jim’s conspiracies come to a tilt and they decide to test their theories out. They discuss the idea of things not truly occurring as they’ve been told even the deaths of people at night as well. They seem to decide on taking a talisman and spending the night in the RV, Jim tells one of his children/UNCLEAR that he will be alright before heading out. Episode ends with them in the RV talking and someone cries for help repeatedly and loudly before something goes wrong and UNCLEAR says “new plan”

Link to subtitles: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19ZFIOOIRw3ZPwQrClE5Y2muHrjpAMSMH/view

I am a newbie writer, I'd love to hear some criticism (I can imagine there's a lot) so please tell me what you think I did right and wrong.
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I pull my head away from the sink a second or so after I splash the cold water into my face, I blink a number of times as I reach down and turn the tap’s handle. I then grab a small towel and rub my face with it.
Hmm, that never wakes me up as much as I'd like to, I’m more awake than I was, which is a victory I suppose.
I turn and walk past the barely functional shower and the clean toilet, which isn’t too impressive till you see the rest of the outpost.
I open the door and walk out into the main room. The room’s somewhat divided into two, the front door is right in the middle of the wall, and to its right is the kitchen. Well, the kitchen might be giving too much credit, a few counters with a fridge, sink, and microwave. We did have a coffee maker till Baron got drunk and broke it, which left us with no more coffee and no more drinks as Cleo had us pour the rest of the alcohol so it wouldn’t happen again with something more important.
To the left of the door is a living room, an old orange sofa, which looks like it’s seen more combat than us, honestly I have no clue where Baron and Jakob found this bloody thing. We also have a lounge chair, also orange and also in the same state that the sofa is in. We have a small wooden coffee table between the sofa and our TV. It’s a small screen and it’s black and white but it works, mostly works, the machine is fine but, well, it’s held up by these four legs and I’ll just say it, those skinny chicken legs are not aging well, we’ve already nailed boards and pipes onto these legs as braces.
We have a bit of a bet going on about how long it’ll last, I’m giving the legs three months, and Baron’s doing the repairs and is giving about six months, Cleo better hopes it breaks within the week or she’s lost her money, and Jakob didn’t place a bet.
I turn around and close the bathroom door, as I do I get a view on this side of the room, three doors stand.
On the far left is the second biggest room in the outpost, only beaten by the main/common room, Baron and Jakob have that room, it’s about twice the size of the bathroom, and Jakob and Baron were just barely able to fit a double sized bed in there, although they lost the room for a desk or anything more a pair of small bedside cabinets.
In the middle of the three is the bathroom, again, pretty small, damaged shower, clean toilet.
On the far right is Cleo’s room, about the same size as the bathroom. She was able to get a desk and signal bed.
And of course, there’s the radio desk, packed just into the far right corner, just past Cleo’s door is the radio desk, it has a ton of radio equipment on it so we can get orders from HQ.
I turn around, walk a bit further over to the living area and sit down on the lounge chair, Baron is laying down on the sofa with his head turned to face the TV, and Cleo is preparing an MRE for herself, I don’t know how she can stomach those things.
Baron is a mountain of muscle, while incredibly strong he’s not the brightest bulb, still a lovely guy to be around. He’s currently wearing some old jeans and a turtleneck.
Cleo’s very strict and pretty reserved, she’s not shy, she just doesn’t talk unless she has something to say. Currently, she’s wearing some baggy green camo trousers and a brown tank top.
“How ya doing Milo?” Baron turns his head and asks.
“Hmm, fine I guess, you?” I reply and ask back,
“Fighting fit” He answers with a smile as he looks back at the TV. I look over to the TV to see what he’s watching, it’s some kind of mechanical show.
“Feeling homesick?” I sarcastically ask.
“As if” he laughed, “Hey, If I go back into mechanics then I want you to shoot me” he adds.
We both laugh at the joke. After we calm ourselves a bit he says “Anyway, I’m only watching it because it’s between this or that bloody ‘live at the capital’ with that, umm, what's-her-faces?”
“Sue Stone?” I answer.
“Aye that’s her” He snaps his fingers
“yeah, I see your point, both her and that entire show are horrible”
“The part that gets on my nerves is that it’s always on, we never get the signal for anything good here” he continues to rant and I can’t help but chuckle, it’s always a bit funny watching him get annoyed.
“Like that ‘Lies on the coast’ show, I mean that show got another season for god sake”
“Wait really?” He asks, turning a bit and starting to sit up.
“Yeah, it’s ridiculous” I answer.
He sighs and facepalms, “I wish you hadn’t told me that”
“Hmm?”
He sighs again and leans back into the sofa “That’s gone and ruined my mood”
I laugh as I stand up “Heh, sorry man, anyway, I’m off, any idea where Jakob is?”
“ umm, I think he’s on the porch ‘though he might have gone off for a walk or something” He answers.
I nod and walk off towards the cabin door and open the old door. I see Jakob as I open the door, he’s in his late twenties and has long black hair, and is wearing combat boots, black jeans, and a gray shirt, he normally has a knee-long leather jacket on but he isn’t wearing it currently. He’s sitting on a chair with his legs on the small metal table here on the porch, he’s reading a book.
“How are you?” I ask as I walk over, he looks up from the booms quickly.
“O-oh, I-I didn’t see you t-there” He speaks as he sits up more and takes his legs off the table, “and I’m good, you?”
He has a bit of a stutter, something he said he was born with, he’s tried to get rid of it, apparently to no avail.
“I’m fine” I answer as I sit down across from him. “What’ you reading there?” I ask as I reach over and grab one of the bottles of water on the table.
“Oh, it’s a S-strange man in a st-strange land” He answers, “It’s about a-a man who from Mars who c-comes to e-earth"
“Hmm, sounds interesting” I add as I uncap the bottle.
“It is! Err, w-would you like to borrow it af-after I’m done with it?”
“Sure!” I answer before taking a mouthful of the water, “Just tell me when you’ve finished it” I add.
“will do!”
And with that, I turn my head off and look out into the forest ahead of the cabin. I then look back over at Jakob. You know it's a shame, it’s always nice to speak with him yet he almost never speaks.
Let me correct that, he’s always happy to speak and always has something interesting to say, yet he almost never starts the conversation. I’ve had to guess it would stem from his past.
His past. His past is a bit of a mystery to me. I know he was once a slave to the Dominion, I know he and Baron escaped the Dominion together and I know they later joined the Freedom Fighters, I also think, but am in no way sure, that he’s a tribal.
Two main reasons, funnily, both of which also make up his role in the team.
For one, he’s a helluva sniper, he once killed a person from two thousand meters away. He also handles the hunting for our squad, getting fresh meat is fantastic when all you’ve only been eating MREs for months.
Second of all, he’s a skilled tracker, if he’s on someone’s trail then he’ll find them. There was this guy who used to be with the Freedom Fighter, but he turned traitor and used a bomb to kill a whole unit, and then Jakob was sent after him.
Jakob tracked him across the entire wasteland, he followed him north, all the way up to the ruins of those old-world cities of Calaye and that City of Lights
I had always thought places like these either weren’t real or were greatly exaggerated, but according to Jakob, they're real.
“Hey,” Jakob says, I look away from the forest and over to Jakob, “I w-was going to go on a-a hunt, wanna join?” He asks as he stands up.
I take a second to think before replying “Sure, that sounds fun” I answer as I get up
“Yeah, I h-have a pair of rifles in the c-car” He speaks as we start to walk off the porch, but then we hear a yell.
“Everyone! Here now” we both hear Cleo yell from inside. We both turn on the spot and charge into the cabin, pushing past the door.
We see Cleo sitting by the radio, Baron standing by her. “Incoming broadcast, directly from the Colonel! Get over here”
Jakob and I rush over, albeit with a lot less worry and a lot more interest.
Colonel Barnaby is the leader of the Freedom Fighters, not our founder, that was General Margaret. Officially she is still our leader, yet she went missing over three years ago, Colonel Barnaby has refused to take her position officially until he sees proof of her death.
We stand behind Cleo as she flips a few switches and turns a couple of dials, trying to get the best connection.
After a few moments we can hear a voice. “-Re you there, Sergeant Laidlaw?” His voice can be heard cutting through the static.
“Yes Colonel Barnaby, what seems to be the problem?” Cleo answers and asks.
“09-10?” He asks. A password.
Cleo turns her head towards a small open book on the desk, the book’s filled with a series of dates and names. What the Colonel asked was a date, with the day being brought down by one, and the month being brought up by one.
“01-31-09-26” She answers. Her answer is the date of birth of everyone in the squad, in days. All the dates are off by a few days, the amount depends on the current date, the amount to change by is listed in that book.
“Good, now Sergeant Laidlaw I have an important task for you and your squad” Jakob and Baron exchange a few glances at this news, “Are you familiar with the town of Pinkton?”
And there goes my excitement for this operation.
“A member of my squad is” She answers.
“Then I’ll let them fill you in on what the town is like, The more dead air the better” He mumbles the last bit, “Now listen, upon wolf street there is a warehouse, at 02:10 a shipment will be brought into it, I need you to go there and steal a crate with a serial code of ‘01-12-20-06’. Did you get that?”
“Warehouse on Wolf Street, get a crate, serial code ‘01-12-20-06’, got it” She answers as she grabs a pencil and starts jotting it down.
“Good, after receiving this crate I need you to bring it back to your base, a team will be ‘round to pick up at some point, understood?”
“Yes sir”
“On the other side,” He says as the line goes dead, leaving our squad alone again. A few moments of silence follow before Cleo turns in her chair and stands up.
“Baron, Jakob, go get your gear” She speaks, Jakob and Baron nod before quickly turning and rushing to their rooms.
She then turns to me and asks “You’re from Pinkton right? Tell me about it”
I sigh, “It’s the crown prince of rust belt towns, it peaked twenty years ago and has been on a cliff face of a decline since”.
“Without the sarcasm?” She follows.
I sigh again, “It's a small town, it used to be incredibly important as it has a port, and it has a railway going through it since the old world made it very important for getting resources from the islands to the mainland.”
“I assume that was the peak?”
“You’d be right” I continue “Pinkton is down a river, which limits the size of ships that can go there, when new rails were built to towns on the coast Pinkton fell out of favour. It won’t have much security and most people there are in their eighties so we won’t have to worry too much about noise as they’ll likely be deaf.”
“I see, well thanks, I’ll go get my gear, you go get yours” She states and turns off, going to her room to get ready.
I turn around and walk over to the couch, I kneel down and grab a suitcase from under it, my gear is stored in there. I pull it out and walk off to the bathroom to get ready.

This is the third track of Bonito Generation. How do you feel about this song? What are some of your favorite lyrics? What’s your favorite live performance of the song? How would you rank it among the rest of the band’s discography? How would you rate it out of 10? (decimals allowed) Inspired by u/beardlesshipster.
https://youtu.be/6iV-5CpJsmU
SUGGESTED SCALE:
1-4: Not good. Regularly skip. 5: It's okay, but I might have to be in the right mood to listen to it. 6: Slightly better than average. I won't skip it, but I wouldn't choose to put it on. 7: This is a good song. I enjoy it quite a bit. 8-9: Really enjoyable songs. I rank them pretty high overall. 10: Masterpiece, magnus opus, or similar terminology.
Rating Results

1. Waking Up: 8.53
2. Heard A Song: 8.1
3. Graduation:

As it suggests, trying to wrestle with this question as I got into both WF and Kelley, haven’t heard back from UNC yet (and I may not hear back before WF and Kelley’s response deadline this week). I’ve been in finance for the last 2 years, currently working as a portfolio analyst with the next logical step of portfolio manager if I stay in finance. So an MBA with a finance concentration at either school would be advantageous. Before that, I worked as a project and program manager for 6 years at an S&P500 company before trying something new. But I may go back to that if I can boost my salary more quickly, as I’m currently in the mindset of money over passions as I intend to start a family in the next 5 years. I live in Charlotte, NC and plan to forever ideally. I grew up in the Winston Salem area, so I feel my judgement is a little clouded with homer bias/some pride value towards going to an NC school like Wake. Assuming I don’t get into UNC, what would you guys pick?

Demographics: Indian International, Income: 30k >
Intended Major(s): CS/Mathematics
ACT/SAT/SAT II: 1450 on first attempt (will take again in aug)
UW/W GPA and Rank: 9th - 96/100, 10th - 93/100
Coursework: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, English, Social Sciences, Foreign Language (Sanskrit)
Awards:

1. Runner-Up of National Science Quiz 2022 conducted by Govt. of India & A Science Centre in India. (2/15,000)
2. Winner of Science & Math Olympiad at School (Won't put on my application)
3. Winner of largest State Level Quiz (Also won't put on my application)

Extracurriculars:

1. Founder & Mentor of Quiz Club at School - Largest Club at School, trained students for National Level Quizzes. (9,10,11)
2. Wrote a book on Quantum Mechanics - Reviewed by a t20 professor (10 & 11)
3. Founded a Start-Up & Lead Developer for the Start-up - I founded a start-up which is being developed. It connects Indian students with current undergrads at top US universities. I am developing the whole app & website by myself. (10, 11)
4. School Football (Soccer) Team - Was also the Captain of football team. (9, 10, 11)
5. I also do MUN & Debate - Mentor at School's MUN Club, Participated in 20+ MUNS & also organized one privately. (9, 10, 11)
6. Currently doing research on Rienmann Hypothesis

Schools: T20's (particularly: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, UPenn)
Will need also 75% aid ig

We are Azure Infinitum
Visit us at: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/)
You may have seen us in the Aether data center's party finder during our weekly events, or may have seen our recruitment shouts around the realm in-game in Midgardsormr, but there just isn't enough space in those places to really explain everything wonderful about what our Free Company and community is.
Azure Infinitum is an LGBTQ+ friendly community, and welcomes players of all experience level, play style, and availability. We're a warm home with a balance of online players, weekly optional activities, and flexible ranks from our membership, to our support & leadership categories. We have a 24/7 Support Team, a Councilship that governs each tier, seasonal events of our own, and many resources between the games we support and online services.
Who We Are
We are an established 9-year old community who's home is in Midgardsormr Server of Final Fantasy XIV. We are a structured, well-rounded, welcoming, friendly, and organized community that hosts daily events (check out our calendar: https://azureinfinitum.com/events/ ) that provide opportunity for members to excel. We work to provide an arena and opportunities to establish strong bonds and camaraderie between our members. As a community we are driven, we carry each other forward, and we are proud.
Our Name & Philosophy
Learn more about our global community here: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/aboutus/)
Learn more about our FFXIV Free Company here: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/ourffxivfc/)
Azure Infinitum means "Azure/Blue Infinity or Infinite Blue/Azure" and there is some mythos behind the name that stems from our guild-wide philosophy of kindness, freedom, vigilance, diversity and activity. We promote positive fellowship among members in an organized guild, with our sights open to our unending endless skies, full of possibility and success together.
Our motto is "As Free As The Azure Sky!" which stuck well when our FC was restructured from an old guild in 2014 as Azure was founded, and it was first shouted as we looked out at a clear blue sky above. has continued to be our electric victory as we continue to snowball in success and activity, our members soaring high through the Azure Sky, flying together!
Ranks
Click here to learn more about our community ranks: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/ranks/)
Our community has an organized ranking structure beginning with Members who comprise the majority of the roster. Scouts are our support team of Members who've stepped up to more officially support the FC, some work on obtaining a future leadership rank. Lieutenants and Officers comprise the proud Azure Council, a diverse group of players of different specialties and services to the FC, making up lower and higher tier leadership, seeing over the Scouts and the FC weekly events, aside from being admins. The FC Infinitum Master oversees all and leads the Azure Council and the company forward while always keeping the heart and vision of the community alive and in sight. Currently we are re-assessing ranks in the free company, giving more support permissions and duties to our Scouts, while the current council operates as a small team of Lieutenants lead by the FC Master.
Everyone Welcome and Who Fits Best
We have an open door policy. Whether you're casual, a returning player, a veteran, or a newbie, we have a vast array of players in our member roster. Our weekly schedule is organized and provides an array of activity for players of most levels, however we like to ask players who're pretty new or under the level cap, to be extra vocal about their needs while they're still unable to attend some daily events or higher level content that most of our weekly lineup focuses on. We want everyone to have as much fun as possible and have the most success. We find that most players enjoy Azure Infinitum, many have stated that they subscribed to FFXIV much longer than they ever would have imagined after they have been around in our community, as they've gotten involved and experienced all that we offer.
Our FC keeps a daily schedule (see here: https://www.azureinfinitum.com/events/) of events that are hosted by permitted Scouts and Council ranks, these range from 8-man and 24-man raids and map parties, to WT journal groups and trial clear parties or farms, and more- and attending anything isn't mandatory at all here. We're happy to have you, and its up to our members how much they'd like to get involved. Attendance is optional! There's never any stress to attend FC functions.
Savage Raiding Statement
We find that some hardcore raiders looking for free companies just to join their statics who don't already have one, might not fit well if savage raiding is their only or greatest focus, because traditionally Azure does not have a Savage Static, but focuses more on allowing members to organize their own groups and also provides resources to do so. Despite not supporting an official static for the FC, we hope that hardcore raiders enjoy the wealth of our community's wealth of harmony and overall fun, and that everyone may take initiative to seek out or build a raiding static within our community if they are interested, as opposed to missing out on experiencing Azure. Depending on the content season, we may have an Unofficial static lead by a leader, and routinely offer limited time Savage-learning events that may run for a number of months.
Rules and No Drama Policy
Please take a moment to look over our Rules Page at (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/rules/), we find that rude individuals and people who create drama are the outsiders here that don't fit well. We know its a big page, so at least visit the General Rules section before joining.
Recruitment Care & Activity
People of Azure Infinitum are often if not always good natured players who found their way to our community looking for a place with structure, friendliness, organization, and great activity, or they've been scouted during recruitment drives and have been well screened. Its a place where one can be social and attend everything, or relax in the background and enjoy the services and facilities of being in an active, organized, and friendly FC. We actively recruit periodically to assist with upkeep of community activity levels, and to meet new comrades. A community that closes recruitment can be doomed to stagnation. Its normal for a community to have an inner core of die hards who log in daily regardless of content releases, and also have an outer core of individuals that range from those with less availability to those who check in during Patches. This is why we take extra care in keeping the fresh blood flowing into Azure, cautious recruitment, and support our active model by always staying welcoming and sometimes running recruitment campaigns and other services. Like this ad!
Handling Online Drama
Because we keep a no-drama policy and have a strong communication network, it is leadership's ultimate priority to handle any issues that may come up as soon as possible, and most people appreciate our problem solving which has inspired many other communities. Between our Support & Leadership ranks, we use a number of report and resource channels to handle situations, and perform problem solving protocols & tactics to fairly address issues as possible. Drama is inevitable at some point for any online community, so its important to have a large and strong list of moderators (currently around 60!) and a council of leaders (15+) to quickly handle any problems. Luckily, we don't have a lot of drama, but we're always very well equipped and very prepared. Our community has been commended by game staff in the past for our methods, and we have worked with the FFXIV Special Task Force to ensure as much safety to our community as achievable. It should be stressed that it is up to our membership to report to GM's in-game, and to Azure Leadership should any issues or concerns come up. Its also highly recommended that our members appropriately document evidence that can be used to help us assess situations and make proper decisions. Documenation such as screenshots of harassment is a great example! Our members online safety is greatly important to us and is a number one concern of our leadership team. Our Rules Page at: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/rules/) describes a bit more in Chapter 3, including other entries on avoiding/ignoring trolls, playing while intoxicated, depression, and more.
Our Philosophy
We believe in our community and its people, how far we can go, how much we can do for each other, being an experienced community who's core values are positive fellowship, formation of bonds, and indomitable unity.
Azure Infinitum tightly grasps success and masters a casual and lucrative weekly play schedule while inspiring motivation and providing avenues for further success, friendships, and camaraderie among all who freely fly together among our Azure skies.
Founding on the principles of intricately forging a generally drama-free experience with keen leadership and a zealous and mighty membership, Azure has striven to guide and support many hundreds of players through every era of Final Fantasy XIV.
With an illustrious history, company lore, impressive statistics, and a model that is adaptable and blessed with innovative ability, Azure Infinitum claims a dominant presence of excellence and player growth that is possible in our community and extended services.
Estate Organization
We have the entire set-up at our estate, from gardens for members and Krakka Root production (free for members' chocobos), to our stables, nicely uniform clean lawn with hangout spots that are popular, with crafting stations, all available NPCs for simple mats and repairs, cut-scene viewer, toybox, triple-triad board, a fully operational and geared fleet of airships and subs, and our Azure Infinitum Assembly Chamber on the top floor for our meetings where announcements are made at our Grand Assemblies. Check it out if you like at Mist Ward 7 Plot 1.
We also have an organized form of gathering for weekly events in the yard, places to relax, food that is always available on tables at our Cellar, and hold a lot of special events and social games at our Hall. We're also conveniently located next to a Market Board and a Retainer Bell outside of our estate.
Communication and Extended Azure Services
We have multiple services of which none are mandatory, but we provide being (azureinfinitum.com) where our Forums, Event Calendar, News, Company Meeting Summaries, Seasonal Merch Giveaways, Contests, Rules Page, and more take place and can be found. We also have a popular and active Discord Server.
We also have a Facebook Group, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Steam Group, (Look us up! Or visit: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/socialmedia/) and Linkshells like our Infinitum Alliance LS for contact and aid from our allies if needed, our Azure Hunters LS for Hunters, and our Azure Industry LS which connects our members to our inner crafting/gathering community for newbies to pros.
Also worthy of mention is our big Company Meetings in-game, known as Azure Infinitum Grand Assemblies. Even though we have several avenues that keep people connected, our live assemblies gather the FC in unity where announcements are made first, and all proposals, ideas, and more, can be decided together live with the Azure Council present.
This network ensures a lot of information and communication gets around and has been exceedingly useful to us.
More On Events
One part of our reputation that often precedes us is our event crafting and hosting.
First, let me make sure its clear that attendance is never mandatory, but those who can make use, when possible, of what we provide each day, benefit from our events each week.
Since our beginning, traditions like our Thursday Treasure Thursdays events have run each week. Our weekly line-up presently begins on Tuesdays post-weekly reset, and consists of Raid Tuesdays, Wondrous Wednesdays (WT Journal Parties, often doubles as Trial Clears and Pony Drops), Treasure Thursdays (Endwalker's timeworn maps with groups of 8 doing up to 3 rounds of maps allowing for up to 24 maps ran), 24-Man Tuesdays (full pre-formed Azure 24-member alliances are made and raids are cleared, will be returning upon the release of EW's 24-man), Super Azure Slayer Sunday (our weekly meetup to do all sorts of PVP content be it Rival Wings or Frontline), and Monstrous Mondays (helps clear the current and previous patch extreme trials).
Special, Seasonal, and Quarterly Events
More info here: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/azureday/)See the latest event news & more at: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/news/)
We also have what we call Special and Quarterly Events. These types of events are Weekend-Long-Events that usually consist of a theme or celebratory social events we craft. During these events we hold big Riddle Races, Costume/Glamour shows and contests, 3-Story Mansion Maze Races, Speedrun Dungeon Races, Hide and Seek games, Custom Quest Events, Discord events like Cards Against Humanity nights, Comedy events, PVP Tournament Circuits, and more.
Our Special and Quarterly events are Azure Day Weekend (Takes place 3 times a year across a weekend, celebrates the FC), Azure Summer Festival (3-days at the end of August in partnership with Child's Play, raises money for children in long-term care, anniversary of historic FC event called the Lunar Rebellion), Anniversary Azure Day (a big weekend event in November that celebrates our Founding), Azure Day Saint's Wake (celebrates Halloween/All Saint's Wake), Azure Starlight Day (celebrating Starlight Day/Christmas/December Holiday Season), Azure Grand Melee and Duel Tournaments (PVP Circuit series crowning our PVP Champions) and more.
Azure Day Weekends
If you've been around our server you may have heard of our Azure Day Weekends. Our Azure Days take place quarterly as mentioned just above, with four evolved editions called Azure Summer Festival, Azure Day Saint's Wake, Azure Starlight Day, and Anniversary Azure Day. With Azure Day Weekends and related events traditionally occuring quarterly our members are always excited to see the next big weekend of crazy and fun social games, and our showering of the free company in gil and prizes galore. We go all out when we celebrate the free company, and Azure Days are another way we find for leadership to give back to the community. 2023 and beyond is now host to additional seasonal Azure Day events!
We're always giving our members a chance to have fun, win big, and make some great memories in the in-game family we've become. Something fun is always on the horizon in Azure.
Community
I almost can't stress enough how friendly our community is. We have a vast variety of members from hardcore gatherers and crafters, social butterflies, chill veterans, experienced raiders, level grinders, support teams, PVP aficionados, mechanic specialists, and mentors. We're also very friendly to all casual players as well and we keep an open door so long as recruits are always aware that we have a no-drama tolerance here.
​Evolution into a Gaming Clan & Network
Plans are in the works and foundations are being laid that is slowly turning our community into a larger gaming network, with our first established Azure Wing with regular occurring activity being founded in Monster Hunter World, this has led to a successful Destiny 2 clan and more. Becoming a member of our Discord and/or Free Company now means access to things like our huge discord, Azure Wing membership in other games, and being able to join in on any of our other activities in the general community. Azure Network as its being called at the moment, is growing with an all-new website and community features for playing together across Final Fantasy XIV and to Azure Skies beyond!
Activity
We rank high as one of the top FC's in Worldwide Activity on lodestone, and have for a long time. Most of our players are divided between the US East and West Coasts, members in East and West Canada, and a few outside the US or in EU or Aus zones. Because we do have an activity policy (mentioned below) we keep a standard flow of people, and have crowds in the early morning, late morning, early afternoon, afternoon, evening, and late night crowds.
Elitism isn't our style. Our community boasts a broad range of characters, great personalities, the proud, and also some silly goofs. But elitism isn't welcome, no matter how successful we are or how large we grow. We're always welcoming towards fresh faces interested in joining our guild, and the in-game activity ranges between 30-60+ online at once during prime time hours, sometimes around 70+ on patch days, and usually always with half the roster logging in throughout a 24 hour period, and around 15-30+ during the night.
Activity Policy
We ask that our members do not go missing without logging in for more than 60 days straight. If we hear word from someone or have some kind of decent excuse, we place our members on our On Vacation rank, which lasts presently until 90 days have passed. Exceptions are made for military deployments, hospital stays, financial issues, disability/health related issues, moving, or other reasons that might fall on a case-by-case basis.
All members not heard from in 60 days (roughly 2 months) or currently 90 days (roughly 3 months) are discharged. We allow 3 joins to Azure Infinitum in total, but exceptions can be made due to reasons listed above. If removed for inactivity, or you've left our FC for another reason and haven't already joined 3 times, you're always welcome back, but please remember, we are not a revolving door.
Keeping our roster full of members who have been online and presently play the game actively ensures an active environment for our players who play often. It also keeps our credits and clerical processes balanced across our network, and allows space for new faces to join our big happy in-game family of comrades.
How to Join
Quick Instructions here for joinin us in FFXIV & more: (https://www.azureinfinitum.com/howtojoinazure/)
If you are interested in joining our Azure Infinitum free company, please register an application at our site and/or FC in-game. You can also seek any of our Scouts, Lieutenants, Officers, or the Master of Azure Infinitum in-game and ask for an invite. You can find their names on the roster page at our website.
If you read everything on this page, you are awesome, and you should let anyone you talk to who recruits you know that you read everything on this page which will greatly expedite your invitation to join.
If you have any questions whatsoever feel free to send a /tell in-game to me or any of our Scouts or Lieutenants listed on our official roster here: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/freecompany/9232519973597911137/membe
You can also message us at our FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/AzureInfinitum
Discord here: https://discord.gg/azureinfinitum
Twitter: https://twitter.com/azureinfinitum
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/azure_infinitum/
Main Site: https://www.azureinfinitum.com/

Preface
Okay, I have a few questions -- Mother in law passed away suddenly yesterday. I am trying my best to make travel arrangements while my wife mourns. I am travelling from Halifax to Toronto, but my flights do not arrive until after midnight. My plan is to stay at a nearby hotel in Toronto for the night.
Problem 1 - Toronto to Sudbury
Next day, I will be waking up and looking for the most efficient way to get from Toronto to Sudbury with kids.. There are no car rentals, and if they do -- they do not allow for a one-way drop off. Bus appears the best way right now, 5 hours on the Ontario Northland...not the worst option.
If Successful in that approach...Problem 2
Because we are picking up a vehicle in Sudbury with intentions of driving it home..With the forest fires out there, would they pose a threat to our route? I see them popping up in Ontario and Quebec, anyone have any information about this?

Sorry in advance for the long post, but I hope it's amusing!
I've been playing cataclysm off-and-on for about a year, but most of my runs have been pretty short-lived. I'd usually end up dying mid-summer due to dying to some acid-based zombie, but on my current run I've been doing much better than I ever have before. I've even managed to raid a lab, installing cbms and mutating myself along the way. It's amazing, but I don't know if I'll ever convince myself to play again if I die and lose my Sōjutsu + Lucerne Hammer combo. As a matter of fact, I nearly died today and almost tore my hair out in the process.
I was raiding a trans-coast logistics (which is a rather fancy name for what could otherwise just be called "big lab") for the first time, and my expedition was going wonderfully. I found a couple of mutagens along with other specialized lab equipment, and neither the bots nor the zombies were putting up too much of a fight (I even managed to obliterate a melded task force by melee alone!) - in other words, I was getting a little too cocky. In my hubris, I stopped my usual tactic of kiting zombies and leaving the lab to heal every time I hit "moderate pain" and started running through the lab as fast as possible, looking for the last piece of home-lab equipment I was missing (the fabled fractional distillation apparatus)
At one point, I enter a room with only a single cleaning bot in it. For those who haven't encountered them, this is a timid little bot which doesn't even so much as fight back. I didn't need to kill it... and in fact, doing so would serve little purpose at this point. But I was beyond the point of needless things like "caution" and "basic reasoning ability". So instead of leaving it alone, I stab it... ...only for it to explode and set me on fire. In approximately sixty in-game seconds my danger level drops from hydrogen bomb to crying baby as both of my legs burn up (along with my combat boots which I had grown so fond of - goodbye sweet acid protection), leaving me practically immobile and in-severe pain in one of the lower floors of the hardest area in the game. Hoo boy. At least the fire went out after it finished burning my legs...
After spending a couple seconds crying (irl) and calling out to god for help (in-game), I mentally debate the idea of smashing some furniture in the lab, crafting a splint and simply waiting out my recovery in this cleaning bot's now empty room. But of course, I didn't bring a coat (I flashback to four minutes ago, where my past self is laughing at the idea of staying the lab long enough for the cold to get to me. It'll be in-and-out before my morning coffee is done brewing [again, irl], he says to himself). I don't know if it gets cold enough in the lab for someone to freeze to death, but I decide not to test that theory. So, my heart still pounding, I drag my pathetic, burned body across the floor of the lab through the "safe route" I cleared out earlier. I run into a couple skitterbots on the way there, thinking my run would be ended by the most pathetic enemies the game has to offer, but apparently they can't even hit a barely-moving target. I barely do any damage in my weakened state, but managed to finally beat each one after four in-game minutes of fighting.
Eventually I manage to exit the facility. But I still have another challenge ahead of me - getting home. Usually I'd just walk my "safe-ish" route through a forest, but now even the idea of running into a regular zombie sends shivers up my spine. Thankfully, the lab's parking lot has ton of cars... most of which I drove back to my home base on earlier trips when I was scoping out the place. Whoops. Luckily, there's a single working car left in the parking lot... a tiny beetle which would probably send me to heaven if it hit an oversized pebble. Still, beggars can't be choosers. I get in, and I'm delighted to find there's still a quarter-full tank of fuel. I'm less delighted to find that I can't see over the dashboard while prone, but I find out after five minutes of harrowing blind driving that - thankfully - you can sit on seats even while your legs are crippled so long as you don't move to a new tile. Please don't think about how I managed to operate the gas pedals without working limbs - and to any devs reading; please do not implement anything based on my last sentence. The rest of the drive still makes my hair stand on end, especially when passing a triffid grove and "place where I saw a mi-go once and avoided for the entire next in-game season", but I finally make it home, craft splints for my legs, and collapse on my cozy bed.
I wake up the next morning with fully healed limbs. I know I have good in-game health and the "very fast healing" mutation, but thinking about what my body did overnight gives me the shivers irl. I'm more blob than man at this point, and it's not just because I'm fat this time!
Anyways, I digress. I come away from this experience wielding lessons more crucial than any weapon:
1) Don't get cocky in games with permadeath
2) Always tip the cleaning lady, or at least do not skewer her with a spear-like implement.
3) Humanity peaked at the discovery of fire. It was our scariest weapon back then and it still is today.

[←Chapter 56] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 58→]
On the whole, things were actually looking up for Efrain at least as far as he could reckon. It was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one that Naia had reached out to him. Adding on top of it that at least one of the children had fallen right into his lap, he might come away from this trip with more than near-death experiences.
The trio was sitting on the wooden floor of the waggon, the morning light rapidly brightening. It wouldn’t be long before the paladin’s awoke, by Efrain’s reckoning, so they’d best be quick.
“Well,” Efrain began, “I’ll let you ask three questions. That’s all we have time for today.”
Having a student, a proper student, was a prospect that he enjoyed more than he cared to admit. Aya took her time, drumming her fingers on the floor as she tried to come up with whatever her mind demanded of him.
“What is magic? What’s the difference between magic and miracles? And… what am I?”
Three, concise. Innie stirred at the first two, and Efrai guessed that Aya had already asked them before.
“‘What is magic’ is a matter of some debate. In the most practical sense, it’s a way of manipulating the world. Some have worshipped it as divine or spiritual. Some haven’t,” Efrain answered, “though, if you want my personal opinion, magic is a process of discovery, just as mathematics or philosophy is. It requires skill, or talent, most of all, dedication and practice.”
She nodded, this definition perhaps striking a cord with her.
“The difference between magic and miracles?” he said, “Well, I’m not entirely sure what miracles you’re referring to, but I can certainly attest that there are those that pass off magic as miracles.”
Aya stiffed slightly as it, and Efrain guessed from where the questions had sprung.
“Ah. I would’ve imagined the paladins said something like that. Self-aggrandizing hogwash - they use magic, I use magic. It’s fundamentally the same thing.”
He left out the part about how radically inefficient their methods likely were - that was for a later time.
“But the church says-”
“That magic is a sin. Something used by people in dark places?” snorted Efrain, “Angorrah used to be a centre of magical education, though the church would never admit that. I myself used to dwell there, many years ago.”
“The madame said that you would know about the night of the Burning Tree,” said Aya, looking at the cat, “that you lived through it.”
Efrain, at the usage of the word ‘madame’, also looked at the cat, significantly less impressed than his young charge. He indeed had lived through it, although he couldn’t recall it.
“It was over three centuries ago,” he said, “complete chaos. Partisans from the lands conquered during the Helgacite expansion. Angry youths from the Academies who felt betrayed by the church, mixing with other factions. Worst of all was the portion of the military that wanted to overthrow the ruling authority. The Night of the Burning Tree was a poorly thought out riot.”
Once more, the hypocrisy of the unknown haunted his assertion.
“I left the city not long after,” he said, “the writing was on the wall at that point. The church was preparing for decades to destroy the Academy, and that night was the perfect excuse for them to do so. Sometimes I wonder…”
Aya leaned forwards, clearly interested in this history he recounted.
“But that’s not relevant to your questions, nice try,” he said, leaving his suspicions on who exactly had set fire to the sacred tree to himself, “as for your third question - what are you.”
Out of habit, a long finger reached up to scratch at his temple.
“You are an enigma, a mystery. I don’t think I’ve encountered anything quite like you, and, believe me, between books and my own travels, that is not a low bar. It’s rare to stumble on someone so unique.”
Efrain was conscious of how bright it was beginning to get.
“Perhaps we’ll find some answers as we continue to explore magic together,” he put together quickly, “but alas, that’ll have to wait for another time. Best that you get back to your fellows. Quick now.”
Satisfied, at least for the moment, Aya thanked him, and with a little bow to Innie, quickly got out of the wagon and departed.
“A bow?” he said to his long-time companion.
“I was never going to get it from you,” she said, snorted, “besides, how long will it be before you get her calling you ‘teacher’?”
Efrain decided that was fair and not to press the point.
“I’m going to find Tykhon, I’d rather ride him than be in this rickety thing on a forest path,” he said, “also, have you see Clarallel?”
“She seems to be having a ball,” Innie said, “There’s no shortage of injuries for her to treat.”
“Oh, goodie,” he said, “at least she’s been keeping busy I’m sure.”
Efrain made his way around the camp, not taking long before finding another class taking place. Claralelle was inscribing lines in the dirt with a stick, depicting this muscle and that, while a collection of mostly shirtless men and women stood around her. As she explained its shape and what connected into what, she indicated so on her model - a vaguely embarrassed looking young soldier in the middle.
Efrain leaned against a tree, studying the reactions of the soldiers as Claralle launched into a fairly in depth explanation of the forces involved in a sword swing. To their credit, most of them seemed fascinated, and one was even scribbling hasty notes on a piece of parchment. As the lesson wrapped up, and the soldiers departed speaking in hushed tones, Efrain walked up behind Clara.
“My. Seems you’re gaining a following,” he said.
“Something like that?” she said in her customary joyous tone, “they’re interested. I’m interested. I might as well share!”
“Indeed,” he said, “keep in mind not to complain about the church too heavily, lest you land in hot water with some.”
She gave him a blank look, and it occurred to Efrain that she might not even know the slightest about the church, other than it existed.
“Anyways,” he continued, “I wanted to know what your plans were. Now that we’re out of both frying pan and fire.”
“Oh, I have no idea,” she said.
“...really?”
“I suppose I should go find another flesh lord, and complete my training. Or set up my own practice and… practice. Oh, and I like to read, and there are a lot of books. And there are a lot of people to treat as well!”
“Uh-huh,” Efrain murmured, “well, I don’t know about any others, but I can certainly introduce you to Carnes. Whether or not they’d be willing to take you on as a student is another story.”
“Also, I should find the skull of my master, if it hasn’t been crushed to dust by now,” she said, “we used to joke that I would strip it of the flesh and boil it. Then I’d put a little hat on it, or maybe use it to drink wine from. I don’t entirely remember.”
“They may have been joking.”
“No, I don’t think so. Either way, he’s dead, so he doesn’t have the luxury of choice.”
“Well, then,” Efrain said, clearing his throat to change the subject, “is it on to Angorrah, then? That’s where Carnes is, if you’re interested in meeting them.”
She nodded in a manner that was akin to a shrug, hoisting one of her many tool belts onto her pleated skirts.
“I’ve never been in a big city, I would like to see one,” she said.
“Don’t let me stop you,” he said, deciding not to mention the kind of reception she might receive there.
“Well, then, what about you? Are you going to the city? Seems like as bad an idea for me as it is for you.”
“Granted,” he said, “I’m not sure yet. We’ll be in Karkos in a few days, and we’ll see what happens. By the way, you don’t happen to have a pair of cups that you could spare, do you?”
“You could just take one or two from the ground. They leave them around all the time. I don’t think they’ll notice if they go missing.”
“And you know that because… you’ve done it before,” he said.
She nodded vigorously, before turning and walking away.
Efrain began to walk to the outskirts of the camp, looking for an unaccompanied piece of dishware or two. Clara was soon proven right, as he found that there were quite a few, enough for him to select a set of shallow wooden constructs between a plate and bowl. Perfect for what he was planning, or so he hoped. With his objective secured, he passed between the trees, and once he was a significant distance from the camp, he whistled.
The physical impossibility of the sound amused him, especially since he managed to do it perfectly every time.
Tykhon came through the trees, loping along on his six limbs, swivelling his head this way and that. Efrain wondered if that was for vision, or if he was scenting the air. The mount did not seem worse for ware, despite the danger they’d passed through. Efrain supposed there was no lack of food and water in the woods, and he’d been more than happy to wander along in them.
“I’m glad to see you,” he said, rubbing the creature’s long snout.
The creature nuzzled at him, leaving Efrain to wonder if Carnes had built some fondness for him in the creature’s very blood. He turned back and looked through the trees, seeing the soldiers beginning to pack their tents and tools.
“I don’t entirely know what I’m doing,” he said to his mount, “feels like I might’ve really stepped in it this time, Tykhon. I might end up headless, or with a new friend.”
Tykhon offered no response, other than to lay its massive head on his shoulder.
“Trying to get some blood on me?” he said, noticing the red flecks near the slit of its mouth, “rascal.”
He led Tykhon through the trees and back towards the wagon circle where Innie waited. Oddly enough, the mounts being hitched didn’t bolt or grow agitated at the approach of the much larger creature. Efrain wasn’t sure how Carnes had managed that either, but he supposed it was just another example of the skill of the flesh lord.
Soon, he and Innie were heading to the top of the line, but they stopped before they reached where the men were forming up. Damafelce was washing some clothes in a creek, leaving a trail of red-purple water.
“Don’t you have a page to do that for you?” he said from the back of his mount.
“I do,” she said, “but I prefer to do it myself. It’s what I used to do while my mother composed.”
“A bit of home then?” he said.
She nodded as she withdrew the shirt from the stream, its pale surface still stuffed with a red-brown stain.
“That being said,” she said, “I think this one is beyond my aid. I see you found your mount, lord Efrain. He’d been trailing the caravan for a while, some of the soldiers were getting nervous.”
“Well, I’m glad they didn’t shoot him. I would’ve been quite upset, though I doubt they would’ve harmed him much.”
“What is he exactly?” she said, wringing out the shirt before throwing it over her well muscled shoulder, “I’ve never seen nor heard of a beast like him.”
“A chimera of some description,” Efrain said, “actually I don’t even know if it's a he. It was a gift from a friend.”
“A… what?” Damafelce said, trying to sound out ‘chimera’.
“A mixture of animals, modified and merged. Flesh lords dabble in such things occasionally.”
“And is that… blood around his muzzle?” she said, looking concerned.
“Yes. He’s… well, I think he eats both plants and flesh, given the chance. I’ve seen him eating berries, and also… an eagle. I’m not sure how he managed to catch it,” Efrain said.
Damafelce looked more impressed than frightened, but Efrain noticed how her eyes drifted down to the claws on the forelimbs of the creature.
“He’s not particularly aggressive,” Efrain said, “but I think he can get skittish.”
“I’ll keep it in mind. Is there anything you wanted to speak to me about?”
“No, no,” Efrain said, “I just saw you in the clearing and wanted to say hello.”
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, clearly doubting him.
“Although, there’s one question I would like to ask if you wouldn’t mind.”
“There it is,” said the captain, “well, then, ask away.”
“This seems like a less than desirable post for you, so far away from home. Why did you come?”
Her eyebrows furrowed at the question, almost as if she was insulted that he’d even asked her.
“I volunteered, we all did. Even the commander. He needed good men, so he had us.”
“Well then, that wraps some lingering questions I had,” Efrain said, nodding, “I’ll see you on the road, captain.”
Now that was interesting, Efrain thought, so was Naia put forward, or did he volunteer on his own?
Efrain rode on to where the men were massing, and waited patiently for the line to form up properly. Tykhon shifted his weight to the side and began to rub himself on the bark of a nearby tree, snuffling and grunting as he did so. Efrain absent-mindedly rubbed behind his ears as he thought about the day’s lesson.
It didn’t take long for the men to get moving along the old road, though it was more a foot path than anything else. Efrain didn’t have much time or desire to speak beyond common courtesy as he and Innie rode alongside the soldiers, and most were too unnerved by Tykhon to press any conversation. They’d made a distance of perhaps twenty or thirty miles before the day had darkened. The trees were beginning to thin out just slightly, and the balance was shifting definitely to deciduous.
As the men broke for camp, Efrain took up a position on a small rise, where a young birch stuck out from the ground. Tykhon had curled up, chewing on some of the fresh grass as he snorted and twitched, Innie asleep on his back. Efrain set out the two bowls before him, filled from a nearby stream, a fresh picked bundle of herbs, and waited.
Innie awoke at one point, flicking one amber eye over to his assembly.
“Getting prepared for your covert lesson?”
Efrain nodded as he sat, leaning against Tykhon's massive flank.
“I could wake you if you’re interested in aiding in my instruction.”
“Correcting your mistakes, you mean,” she said, “no thank you, I’ll be happy to sleep through your instruction.”
“Charming. At least I’ll be among friends,” Efrain said.
“You’re counting the beast-creature?”
“I take what I can get, including mouthy cats.”
That earned him a little laugh from the wisp-mother.
“And what exactly are you planning to do with those bowls, Efrain?”
“I was planning on making tea,” he said, “though it will be exceedingly poor quality with what fare I have.”
Innie’s laugh was not little this time as she rolled over and settled.
“Never change, Efrain,” she said, as she drifted back to sleep.
The moon was well-risen before Aya crept out from between the trees.
“Sorry,” she said, “they were a little more watchful this time. I had to wait until they were by the fire.”
“I have all the time in the world,” Efrain said, “besides, I don’t intend to keep you for very long.”
“They say we’re going to be coming to Karkos soon,” Aya said, “we might see it as early as tomorrow, the commander says.”
“That might be optimistic,” Efrain said, “maybe if we push ourselves, we could get to the hinterlands. As for actually getting into the city, that’s taking a night ride, which I’m not sure the soldiers would be happy about.”
Aya sat and processed the information in silence.
“Well, in any case, we will soon be in Karkos, barring any misfortune on the road. And we both have had quite enough of that, I think.”
The laughter was brittle, but good-natured regardless.
“So, then, magic. I haven’t done this in a very long time,” he said, “teaching, that is. As with anything, it’s best to understand the fundamentals of what we call magic. Under normal circumstances, this would take a few weeks, and we’d have lots of practical examples. Oh well, we’ll have to make do.”
He gestured to the various pieces in front of him.
“I teach in a more specific way than I imagine the paladins would, Three bedrock principles, which, while seemingly simple, take time to truly grasp. Memory, intent, emotion. A goal to find, the method to find it, and something to drive at. Do you understand?”
“I- I guess.”
“They seem a bit abstract, don’t they?” Efrain said, “don’t stress over the literal meanings of the words. They are flexible concepts, meant to capture a larger process. That is, the process of making magic.”
He held up his hand, and tried to envision the sparks of a blacksmith’s hammer. What he found instead, was a different explosion of colour and sound. The memory was surprising, and he couldn’t place it, but he remembered a name.
‘Fireworks’.
From his hand, a little stream of multicoloured tracers and dots of light flowed out into the night, vanishing into the dark. Aya gave a little gasp of delight as they floated above her head. He let his hand fall, pushing a dish of water towards the young girl.
“Do you want to take a guess at what your first actual act of magic will be?”
“Uh…” she said, looking down at the assorted plates and herbs, “are you asking me to make… tea?”
Efrain Belacore, behind his mask, smiled wider than he ever had in death.
[←Chapter 56] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 58→]

The time for figuring out conference strength is over. It's now time to figure out who the best is in each conference. In a way, this is a more important segment of the season, taking up 2/3 of the time and a majority of the games. From the MEAC Celebration Event to the Conference Tournaments, everything is on the line here.
And fortunately, the concentration of the top 25 in six conferences means we've got a lot of important games. We even kick off with a battle between two top 10 teams! Let's get to it.
*****
#6 Michigan State (9-3, 0-0) at #7 Michigan (9-3, 0-0). Michigan's struggle down the stretch, with two consecutive losses, leaves them behind their rival in the current rankings. But right away, they'll get a chance to fix it.
"Little Brother thinks they mean something right now, huh?" Juwan Howard joked. "We're ready for this. Forget about Big Ten, tournament seeding, ranking. We just wanna whup 'em."
Both teams faced off against top competition in the non-conference schedule, but Michigan holds the bigger upset, knocking off Duke in a stunning development. Michigan State, meanwhile, lost one of their three games with a short bench thanks to a brawl against Notre Dame.
"We're not doing that again if that's what you're asking," coach Tom Izzo said. "We're going to prove our might on the court by winning the game."
ROSTERS
​

Michigan State Spartans (9-3, 0-0)	#	Michigan Wolverines (9-3, 0-0)
Miles BRIDGES	0	Trey BURKE
Jamie FEICK	1	Jamal CRAWFORD
Draymond GREEN	2	Rickey GREEN
Johnny GREEN	3	Tim HARDAWAY Jr
Jaren JACKSON Jr	4	Juwan HOWARD
Magic JOHNSON	5	Phil HUBBARD
Morris PETERSON	6	Tim MCCORMICK
Zach RANDOLPH	7	Mike MCGEE
Jason RICHARDSON	8	Glen RICE
Ralph SIMPSON	9	Jalen ROSE
Scott SKILES	10	Campy RUSSELL
Steve SMITH	11	Cazzie RUSSELL
Eric SNOW	12	Roy TARPLEY
Jay VINCENT	13	Rudy TOMJANOVICH
Kevin WILLIS	14	Chris WEBBER

LINE: Michigan by 2
*****
In addition to the conference play, there will be two sets of non-conference games going on during this season. One is a series of exhibitions in the ACC, as the North Division, Charter Division, and South Division All-Stars play a round robin. The North draws from Boston College, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse. The Charter draws from Clemson, Duke, NC State, North Carolina, and Wake Forest. The South draws from Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami of Florida, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. Each squad sends three players to the All-Star showcases.
In addition, the MEAC teams will play an 8-team "in-season tournament" called the Celebration Tournament. Opening matches and positions in the bracket were decided by random draw. Your performance in the tournament is the second tiebreaker (behind in-season head-to-head) for conference standings.
*****
TOP 25 MATCHUPS
#18 DePaul (8-4, 0-0) at Georgetown (8-4, 0-0)
Providence (7-5, 0-0) at #15 Connecticut (9-3, 0-0)
#19 Illinois (8-4, 0-0) at #8 Indiana (10-2, 0-0)
#6 Michigan State (9-3, 0-0) at #7 Michigan (9-3, 0-0)
Minnesota (8-4, 0-0) at #13 Maryland (9-3, 0-0)
Wisconsin (8-4, 0-0) at #12 Ohio State (9-3, 0-0)
#17 Houston (9-3, 0-0) at #16 Texas (9-3, 0-0)
Iowa State (8-4, 0-0) at #4 Kansas (10-2, 0-0)
Texas Tech (8-4, 0-0) at #21 Cincinnati (9-3, 0-0)
California (9-3, 0-0) at #11 Southern Cal (9-3, 0-0)
Oregon (8-4, 0-0) at #10 Arizona (9-3, 0-0)
Stanford (8-4, 0-0) at #1 UCLA (12-0, 0-0)
#2 Kentucky (11-1, 0-0) at #25 Auburn (8-4, 0-0)
Mississippi State (7-5, 0-0) at #20 LSU (9-3, 0-0)
Tennessee (8-4, 0-0) at #23 Arkansas (9-3, 0-0)
Vanderbilt (7-5, 0-0) at #22 Alabama (9-3, 0-0)
ACC ALL-STAR CHALLENGE: Team South vs. Team Charter in Charlotte

lets play a game or rather lets imagine i got reincarnated into another world where cultivation(xianxia) historical exists.And you are my system you show my skills,stats,my hp,my data.The stats should be from a cultivation xianxia setting,ill let you research that.Lets say my name is Yan Mo.You give me tasks to increase my cultivation level but i can also say "i cultivate" to improve my cultivation level. The levels are from lowest to highest:"Qi Condensation(100 years lifespan increase),Body Formation(300 years lifespan increase),Core Formation(800 years lifespan increase) inner world(1000 years lifespan increase), daoist(10000 years lifespan increase),Earth immortal(100000 years lifespan increase),Sky immortal(1 million years lifespan increase), Heaven immortal(Immortal).There are 10 levels each stage(1-3 early stage,4-6 mid stage,7-9 high stage 10 is peak. in addition their are various requirements to breakthrough the next rank causing bottle necks if they cant be completed meaning they can no longer progress the various bottle necks are when attempting to breakthrough to core formation you have to gather treasures to form your core depending on the quality of the treasures your core will be a certain quality if for example you use a single monster core of the earth variety from a qi condensing monster the quality core you would get would be low meaning you are unable to progress past the 2 level of core formation if you form a average core you can get to the 6 level in core formation if you form a peak core you can progress to level 8 in core formation you need a perfect core to progress to the 10th level and be eligible to try and get to the next rank. In order to get to the next rank you need to find a dimensional seed and chose a dao for your path you then merge your core with the seed once you merge the seed with your core you break through to the inner world rank the bottle necks of this rank are the population in your inner world in order to be allowed to progress pass the 3 rank of inner world you need 5000 people living in your inner world to get to level 6 you need 10000 people in your inner world to get to level 10 you need 15000 people living in your inner world the purpose of this is to show that each action you take carries the strength of a world once you reach 15000 people you break through to the daoist rank the bottle necks in the daoist rank are the various attunement levels of you to your chosen dao that you picked in the inner world rank to be able to cultivate past level three in daoist you need to reach enlightened rankin your dao suchas enlightened by the sword this should show up in your status the various ranks of dao attunement are enlightend incarnate and chosen To reach above rank 6 in inner world you need to reach incarnate in a dao to cultivate above 8th rank to 10th rank you need to reach chosen level in that dao once you reach chosen rank and cultivate to the 10th level i will automatically break through the bottle necks of earth rank are forming a ladder to heaven for each step you need to find a very rare natural treasure called a chain to heaven for each chain you find and incorporate onto your core you are able to progress onto the next level of earth immortal meaning if you have 5 chains of heavens incorporated you will be allowed to progress to earth immortal level 5 so you need ten chains to progress onto sky immortal Their is only one bottle neck in sky immortal it is forming a heavenly body the way you do that is shattering your core and spreading the energy through your body after you do that you are clear to progress to peak of heavenly immortal level 10 when i am no longer capable of cultivating further do to a bottle neck you need to say so in my status also show my inner world population When I say "wait for something interesting to happen" make it so that world events happen like "a demon has escaped the sect","The sect is getting destroyed"and others.When I say show status bar you show my status bar with skills hp data age and others.When I say "Hunt" I got to a spiritual forest to fight spiritual beasts for its body or blood as an elixir. When i fight its like a turn based text rpg where i can use my skills if i have,a sword if i have,or a fist imbued with my spiritual qi.Spiritual beasts are beasts that cultivated,you can use its blood as an elixir,its body for making materials and etc. There are spiritual roots that you have when you are born its ranked from high to low:"heaven-defying(10x cultvation boost),rare(2x cultivation speed boost),average(1.3x speed cultivation boost), and poor(no boosts)". I start as 4 years old. while cultivating theres a chance for a random world event to happen. you are always to stay acting on the game and if i say something random act along. the combat is turn based i start with the best sprit root and you encourage me to be evil within the confines of the novels i am also born as a prince

I wanted to release my weekly round-up of reviews! I hope you guys enjoy it and are able to find something you like. If there is a game you would like to see a review of or would like to see get more attention, let me know! Check out the channel (found on my reddit profile) where I post video reviews of these games if you are at all interested (cannot link because it will be auto deleted). I did not find any big premium games this week so nothing on that front.
Remember that my 1 minute reviews are F2P Titles.
Premium Reviews
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One Minute Reviews
Farlight 84
Shining Light For Mobile
Score 10/10
Did I enjoy it? Yes! Much more than I expected too.
Would I come back to it? Absolutely, I really want to hit top 300 on the server. This is partially the reason that I logged in way more hours than I typically do on my F2P titles. It is great.
Personal Playtime: ~15 hours
Yes, you read that right. I logged 15 hours into this F2P game and can easily see myself logging in for many more. It is a battle royale title that hits all of the notes that it is going for. Whether that be the movement that requires you to have a jetpack that can be used intermittently or vehicles that allow you to traverse the field both in an offensive and defensive manner, More than anything else. There is little downtime. It allows you to get right back into the action if you ever do have a bad round. The characters are all, for the most part, balanced. That being said, the only downside that I had in terms of the characters is that it takes an insane amount of time to unlock them as a F2P player. I have 15 hours and only have 1/3 of the currency needed to unlock it. I will say that there are few games that have kept my attention for as long as this did. If you enjoy battle royale games, I expect that you have already downloaded this. If you are completely new to the genre, I could not expect a better game on the market. This comes as a clear recommendation, especially since Apex Legends Mobile was discontinued.
TLDR: I logged 15 hours into this F2P battle royale game and can see myself playing more. The gameplay features jetpack movement and vehicles, ensuring little downtime and quick re-entry into action. Characters are mostly balanced, but unlocking them as a F2P player takes a long time. It kept my attention longer than most games. If you enjoy battle royale, it's a clear recommendation, especially with Apex Legends Mobile discontinued. The ranking system is something that is sure to keep players hooked.
iOS Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/farlight-84/id1673713581
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Dig Odyssey: Comic Mining
Not Many Diamonds In The Rough
Score 5.5/10
Did I enjoy it? Initially yes. It has a nice design that makes you want to enjoy it. It wore on me especially at the very end. If you know, you know.
Would I come back to it? No, there is no long term progression, and the end game grind is brutal considering that ads play after every run (these runs last only ~1 minute).
Personal Playtime: ~2 hours
This game is not bad in terms of design, mechanics, and gameplay. It's your standard fare of a mining game experience, with some great design choices that made me give it a look in the first place. You will be mining,gathering resources, and upgrading gear to make your future runs better (the standard things). However, what you will find is that the game in its current state is very rough around the edges. With some inexplicable design choices- ads playing after every run, one item that is completely useless until the end game, at which point it becomes a requirement, and an additional unnecessary grind to truly complete the game- keeps it from being an easy recommendation to relax for an hour or so. I currently cannot in good faith recommend it in its current state.
TLDR: This game has decent design, mechanics, and gameplay. It's a typical mining game with some interesting choices that caught my attention. You mine, gather resources, and upgrade gear for better runs. However, it's rough around the edges with odd design choices like frequent ads, a useless item until the end game, and an unnecessary grind. It's not an easy recommendation for a relaxing gaming session. I can't recommend it in its current state.
iOS Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dig-odyssey-cosmic-mining/id6447781004
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Alchemy Dungeon
A Wonderful Mix
Score 8/10
Did I enjoy it? Yes, I havent played too many games recently in this style and it was a refreshing take on the genre.
Would I come back to it? Yes, I am someone who likes to unlock everything and even with my playtime I still have quite a few more things to unlock.
Personal Playtime: ~3 hours
This game is a different take on the merging genre in that your score is tied not to how many rounds you make it or how many enemies you defeat but, rather, the number of coins you collect/utilize. Considering you can merge coins to enemies and then kill said enemies for coins there is a surprising amount of depth to how the game works. It takes a bit of getting used to understanding how the tiles lock and how certain items interact with said tiles. However, the more you play the more you understand and use that knowledge on later runs. I cannot even begin to imagine playing it ideally with the number of possible combinations that are available to you. I’m just going to continue grinding in my ignorance. There are some UI things I would have like such as seeing how close I am to unlocking my next world in my current run (I ended one prematurely because I thought I got the unlock only to realize that it was for a character because I was not paying complete attention). I think that its amount of unlockables may stop people from making it a long term score chaser game, but these are minor issues. I would suggest you join me in this unique experience if you haven't already.
TLDR: This game offers a unique twist on the merging genre, where your score is based on the number of coins you collect and use. Merging coins with enemies adds depth to the gameplay. Understanding tile locking and item interactions takes time but enhances later runs. The game's potential combinations are vast. Some UI improvements would be helpful, like tracking progress towards unlocking new worlds. The game's abundance of unlockables may deter long-term score chasers, but these are minor issues. Join me in this unique and engaging experience if you haven't already.
iOS Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/alchemy-dungeon/id1551476344
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NFL Rivals- Football Game
Its No Good
Score 5/10
Did I enjoy it? Yes, at least in the beginning but the novelty quickly wears off.
Would I come back to it? No, the grind to create a really good team is going to be absurd and will become highly pay to win in the end.
Personal Playtime: ~4 hours
This game has a lot of things going for it, playing more akin to NFL Blitz than your typical Madden clone, an interesting pass system (though not much in the run game department), and the license to use NFL players names in the game. Unfortunately, it squanders it in the pay to win focus that has come to plague most of the sports simulators on the market. The gameplay is okay in that the passing is unique because you throw the ball in “real time”. Unfortunately, nothing else in the game has the same level of polish. The run game, though insanely strong, never felt like you could get a good long run off because of the way the stamina system works. You will not be controlling the defense side of the ball (my favorite part of football), you cannot run out of the pocket in the traditional sense because your qb always is in passing mode, you only get access to 3 plays at a time seemingly at random, and there is a really weird interaction with diving for the end zone where you get i-frames for some unknown reason meaning that you only have to make it to the 5 yard line instead of the end zone because you can dive and guarantee at touchdown even as you are hit. Running a regular season is lackluster because you don't keep stats outside of the record for the regular season. Lastly, there is a heavy focus on competing against other teams,which brings the P2W component of the game full circle.
TLDR: This game offers a unique gameplay experience resembling NFL Blitz, with an interesting pass system and licensed NFL player names. However, it falls short due to a pay-to-win focus. The passing mechanics are decent, but other aspects lack polish. The stamina system hinders long runs, controlling the defense isn't possible, and the interaction with diving for the end zone is strange. The regular season lacks stat tracking, and the heavy emphasis on competing against other teams brings pay-to-win elements to the forefront.
iOS Link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nfl-rivals-football-game/id1640028998