Hi, this is my first time posting in here and about something like this. This was more of an experience but 2 things portray this as an encounter, here it is. I live near 7 graveyards in a small town called Alsip (will not disclose where for obvious reasons) I had always wanted to do a i Ouija Board in one because I love the paranormal, one haunted my house at one time (I’d say around 7 to 8 years ago) I can’t say I was having the time but it made things interesting in the house if you catch my drift. It threw shit and watched sadly just ME from the closet but that’s ok done and said I’m 20 now, so my mom had enough because me and my brother had a brother on the way and closing in on time, so my mom got the house cleansed be a priest, basically it lived in the crawl space on the last floor in the house which is underground, the whole house’s floor started to shake and that’s that, priest said somethings louder it shook harder and it all stopped. We thought it was over but we were wrong, you see I’m going to bring I’m up those 7 graveyards again because this is the only logical way a ghost could keep getting into our house. They would come and they would go overnight (no big deal just felt a presence everywhere you went) but this brings me to current day. 6/4/23 if you recall back to what I said about wanting to try Oujia Boards in our grave yards (IM SO GLAD I LEFT MINE) I have one but I have never touched it because I want to buy sage first incase I accidentally screw up and want to have friends also but anyway preset day, I went into one of our graveyards at 3am (The Devils Hour) on the phone on Discord with 2 friends and I had my camera on I would occasionally turn it off to record my surroundings to try and catch something, I went further into the grave yard taking videos and once I was just going in further I look at my surroundings, sadly I didn’t catch this on video but I saw something in the distance by a tree and thought oh it’s a pole, that pole moved behind the tree and disappeared and that’s when I got spooked but I wasn’t going to let an appertain scare me so I went on a bit further but what’s next is what really had me running, I hear footsteps from my right (where the tree was) and I got elbowed or punched in the Solar Plexis and knocked out of wind but apparently that didn’t keep my body from running because it went into fight or flight and when you can’t see your target somethings not right, my legs just start kicking into high gear and I had been about to record until I got hit so my hands hit the record button so I have a video of me running through the graveyard. I think whatever it was tried to follow me home though because walking on the out edge of the grave yard I had chills going up my spine like needles talking to my friends say “I think there’s something evil in there” when I reality I went there to catch some Orbs and Appertains maybe when I’m reality I caught some hands. I look back on it now, I don’t think it was something much evil but they were trying to rest in peace in the graveyard and probably got angry from me disturbing they’re slumber, but then again it was The Devils Hours and you never know what may be lurking at that time, in a place that is haunted or your homes. (Videos & Pictures will be a second post if you want to see)

New Headset Store Activation Credit

You need to use the link before you activate or sign in on your new Quest 2:
https://www.oculus.com/referrals/link/knackered/
We will both get $30 credit after you activate. Thank you!

Game Discount Links

I also have links for 25% off a lot of different games (some are cross buy):
Steps

1. Click on someone's app referral link
2. You will see a page with the app's name telling you about the discount, click "Claim discount"
3. You will see the 25% discount on the checkout page. If it asks for a code use "FRIEND"
4. Complete your purchase within 7 days as the discount will expire

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• A Fisherman's Tale
• Accounting+
• Acron: Attack of the Squirrels
• Anshar 2
• ARTIKA.1 (Rift)
• Asgard's Wrath (Rift)
• Audica
• Blade & Sorcery: Nomad
• Blaston
• Bonelab
• Call of the Sea
• Carly and the Reaperman
• Clashbowl
• Contractors
• Cook Out
• Creed: Rise to Glory
• Dance Collider (Rift)
• Dead and Buried (Rift)
• Death Horizon: Reloaded
• Death Lap
• Defense Grid 2: VR (Rift)
• Demeo
• Down the Rabbit Hole
• Drop Dead: Dual Strike
• Edge of Nowhere (Rift)
• Electronauts
• Eleven Table Tennis
• EVE: Valkyrie - Warzone (Rift)
• First Person Tennis
• FitXR
• Gadgeteer
• Ghost Giant
• Golf+
• Gravity Sketch
• Gun Club VR
• Guns'n'Stories: Bulletproof VR (Rift)
• I Expect You to Die
• I Expect You to Die 2
• In Death: Unchained
• Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
• Lies Beneath
• Lone Echo (Rift)
• Lone Echo II (Rift)
• Lucky's Tale (Rift)
• Marvel's Iron Man
• Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond
• Mondly
• Pistol Whip
• Please Don't Touch Anything
• Prison Boss VR
• Puzzling Places
• Racket NX
• Real VR Fishing
• Red Matter
• Resident Evil 4
• Resist
• Rez Infinite
• Richie's Plank Experience
• Robo Recall
• Rock Band VR (Rift)
• Runes: The Forgotten Path (Rift)
• Sairento VR: Untethered
• Sculpt VR
• Shadow Point
• Shadowgate VR: Mines of Mythrok
• Song in the Smoke
• Space Channel 5
• Space Pirate Trainer (Rift)
• Space Pirate Trainer DX
• Sports Scramble
• Star Trek: Bridge Crew
• Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge
• Stride
• Superhot VR
• Superhot VR (Rift)
• Swarm
• Swords of Gargantua
• Synth Riders
• Tetris Effect: Connected
• The Climb
• The Room VR: A Dark Mirror
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2 - Retribution
• Traffic Jam
• Until You Fall
• Virtual Virtual Reality
• Walkabout Mini Golf
• Waltz of the Wizard
• Wands
• Warhammer 40,000: Battle. Sister
• Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall
• Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife
• Yuki
• Yupitergrad
• Zero Caliber: Reloaded
• Zombieland: Headshot Fever
• ZR: Zombie Riot

Dr. Jean Kaseya, the recently appointed director general of the newly empowered Africa CDC, is enmeshed in a highly charged imbroglio with his former employer, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, my colleague Sara Jerving writes in an exclusive report you’ll only see on Devex.
It’s a winding saga but a must-read because it raises serious questions about the man who was a somewhat surprising pick for a job that puts him at the helm of efforts to ensure the health of a continent of over 1 billion people.
The story also concerns the fate of two CHAI employees detained in the Democratic Republic of Congo in a case potentially linked to longstanding tensions between DRC and its archrival Rwanda. Involved in the discussions around the detainees is Kaseya, a Congolese doctor, who says the employees are being held because authorities allege they covered up the whereabouts of a Rwandan colleague accused of “suspicious” activity.
A source familiar with the situation suggested that Kaseya’s involvement in the discussions around the detained employees is “troubling and potentially dangerous.”
Kaseya calls those charges not only “simply ridiculous but also an insult to a country,” saying he intervened because CHAI asked and because one of the detained individuals is a childhood friend.
Also thrown into this cauldron are demands CHAI needs to fulfill if it wants its employees back, including one of dubious origin that a “deposit” be made in U.S. dollars.
But the story doesn’t end there. He’s hauled CHAI to labor court for not renewing his contract. He also purportedly stormed into CHAI’s office in Kinshasa, accompanied by an armed guard and is claimed to have confronted staff members for not giving him a farewell party and internal documents he had requested, according to an incident report obtained by Devex. Kaseya rejects this characterization of the visit.
All of this happened in a short span of time as he assumed the reins of Africa CDC, which has been considered a global health success story and has increasingly grown in prominence and responsibility in recent years.
This account is being reported here for the first time after nearly two months of investigation based on confidential internal reports, emails, text messages, and interviews.
🔸 FREE TO READ: Africa CDC head’s bizarre entanglement with Clinton initiative

What are your opinions on this one? The What I eat in a Days where all they eat are protein bars and vegetables with no sauce, the blatant body checks at very low weights, the before and after pics, the ones showing their compulsive exercise which they call ‘balance?’ For me it has to be the ones about ‘bad body image days where they show themselves being ‘bloated’ by sticking their non existent stomachs out and posing in a mirror vs a photo where they are posing to shove their abs in your face. Wow, those are a lot of inverted commas for one post. Just curious to know your opinions on the most harmful and triggering types of posts these quasi or pro ED accounts post.

Modified post from here

Dear BadHistory members,

On June 12th this sub will go private for at least two days in protest to the ridiculous charges Reddit will impose on API access come July 1st.
This change will affect all third party apps and tools like Apollo, RIF, Baconreader, Sync, Relay, etc. Unless something changes between now and the 1st of July, this change will be the end of them, forcing you to use the official app from then on. The Apollo app dev did some estimations and calculated he'd have to pay Reddit $20 million a year just for API access, which for obvious reasons isn't feasible.
To add some historical context since that's our thing, most of these apps were created because there wasn't anything released by Reddit for tablet or mobile devices for years. Most have been around for more than a decade and have worked closely with the API team in Reddit so far. Reddit even bought one up (Alien Blue) and turned it into the official iOS app rather than develop one themselves from scratch. Only in 2016 did they release the first official Reddit apps for Android and iOS, when over half of Reddit users were already using mobile devices to access the site.
In that light, this move is almost cartoonishly mean. "Thanks for gaining us mobile market share, now pay up big bucks or get out. You have 30 days to comply." The app developers don't get any time to wind down operations for premium members, get easy access to their usage stats to investigate, or appeal reported usage data for their apps.
In addition to that, this move also affects moderators. The third party apps have better mod tools that allow us to moderate on mobile with close parity to the desktop experience. With those apps gone, some of us mobile only mods might just give up moderating altogether, which is not a good thing for most subs. Here it will mean more ancient aliens did build the pyramids, TIK reviews that will praise him because he's using 50 sources, and people demanding to be able to spread the Truth that Graham Hancock is completely right about every claim he makes in that dreadful Netflix "documentary".

the Plan

On June 12th, many subreddits (the current list of participants is on modcoord) will be going dark to protest this policy. Some will return after 48 hours: others will go away permanently unless the issue is adequately addressed. Since many moderators aren't able to put in the work they do with the poor tools available through the official app, they're not going to continue putting in the effort to keep their subs running. I do not think that this will be the fate for BadHistory, but we might go offline for a longer time than two days. It all depends a bit on how this all works out.
The two-day blackout isn't the goal, and it isn't the end. Should things reach the 14th with no sign of Reddit choosing to fix what they've broken, we'll see what further actions are possible.

What can you do?

1. Complain. Message the mods of /reddit.com, who are the admins of the site: message reddit: submit a support request: comment in relevant threads on /reddit, such as this one, leave a negative review on their official iOS or Android app- and sign your username in support to this post.
   
2. Spread the word. Rabble-rouse on related subreddits. Meme it up, make it spicy. Bitch about it to your cat. Suggest anyone you know who moderates a subreddit join us at our sister sub at /ModCoord- but please don't pester mods you don't know by simply spamming their modmail.
   
3. Boycott and spread the word...to Reddit's competition! Stay off Reddit entirely on June 12th through the 13th- instead, take to your favourite non-Reddit platform of choice and make some noise in support!
   
4. Don't be a jerk. As upsetting this may be, threats, profanity and vandalism will be worse than useless in getting people on our side. Please make every effort to be as restrained, polite, reasonable and law-abiding as possible.
   

Please see the linked community for details. https://www.reddit.com/Save3rdPartyApps/

This started last summer over a water drainage issue. my neighbor files, multiple complaints within our town about my drywell, which is buried 4 feet underground and over 6 feet from her property. Last summer after I told her, I would not dig it up she started yelling and cursing and threatening to sue me for any potential damage to her property. Until this weekend I have not said a word to her but every time me, my wife and my kids are outside she gives us dirty looks and she stares into our backyard this past weekend. She called the police after my landscaper, touched her fence while discussing installing a garden, retaining wall and bringing in topsoil, which would help slow down any water flow. I told her to mind her own business. She gets nasty calls, the police sirens yelling and screaming her boyfriend threaten me physically and started with the name calling like faggot and pussy and I’m gonna kick your ass, etc.. so the police came, and I filed paperwork against the boyfriend for terroristic threats I forget the exact code number in New Jersey but that is what the officer told me I should file. I’m not sure if I can hit her with a harassment charge but even yesterday when I was back outside, cleaning up my yard, she was again staring at us. She has a backyard three times the size of mine. She can literally look anywhere she wants, but she always chooses to stare at what I’m doing even after I told her to stop looking at us and mind her own business. Is it worth me filing a harassment charge against her?
Also, please note that the water drainage issue is only present in the back 1/3 of her yard and she has this big plastic wind rock river that is literally designed to catch and move water. I believe there are pictures of it in my previous posts. it causes 0% risk of flooding her home or anything near her home .

Well I just left the dentist and I got a taxi as so I could test my breath and he didn't recoil when I gave home the address and I called my sister and he didn't wind down the windows. Although he has a mask on. But normally that would not stop my breath from being smelled going to test it out some more. !!! Sometimes people are polite.

Once upon a time, there was a small, quiet town nestled deep in the woods. The town, called Hemlock Hollow, was known for its picturesque beauty, but little did anyone know, there was a dark and sinister secret lurking beneath the surface.
It all started when a group of campers went missing in the woods surrounding the town. Despite an intense search, no trace of the campers was ever found. Rumors started to circulate that something horrible had happened to them, but the townspeople refused to believe it.
Soon after, strange occurrences began to happen around the town. People reported hearing strange noises in the woods, and shadows lurked in the corners of their eyes. Some even claimed they saw ghostly apparitions floating through the town.
Meanwhile, a young reporter named Sarah was assigned to investigate the disappearances. She arrived in Hemlock Hollow, determined to uncover the truth behind the town's dark history. As she delved deeper into the case, she began to uncover a tangled web of lies, cover-ups, and secrets that the townspeople had been hiding for years.
One night, Sarah was doing research in the town library when she came across an old journal written by a man named Samuel Hargrave. It detailed his descent into madness after he and his family had moved to Hemlock Hollow in the late 1800s. Samuel's family had been part of a cult that worshipped a dark entity known only as "the Master."
At first, Samuel was skeptical of the cult's teachings, but soon he became obsessed with the Master and began participating in their twisted rituals. It wasn't long before he realized the horrifying truth: the Master demanded human sacrifices.
Terrified by the realization, Samuel attempted to leave the cult and flee the town with his family, but it was too late. The other members of the cult had discovered their attempt to escape and hunted them down. Samuel was the only one to survive, and he fled into the woods, where he lived out the rest of his life in solitude.
The journal ended abruptly, and Sarah realized with horror that the cult was still active in Hemlock Hollow. She knew that she needed to leave the town and report her findings to the authorities, but she soon discovered that the townspeople were not going to let her leave alive.
They had been watching her every move and knew that she was getting too close to the truth. Sarah found herself hunted and chased through the dark, winding woods surrounding Hemlock Hollow. At every turn, she was met with terrifying images and noises, the likes of which she could barely comprehend.
As the night wore on, Sarah found herself trapped in a small cabin, surrounded by the cult members who were intent on sacrificing her to the Master. She fought back with all her strength, but it was no use. They overpowered her and began chanting in a language she couldn't understand.
With a sudden burst of strength, Sarah broke free from her bindings and fled into the woods. She ran until she couldn't run any longer, her heart pounding in her chest. She eventually collapsed, exhausted, and saw, through her half-closed eyes, a figure walking towards her. Sarah recognized it as Samuel Hargrave himself, who had been awakened from the dead to protect her from the cult members' attacks.
Samuel helped Sarah to her feet and led her to the outskirts of the town, where they came across an old, abandoned factory. The haunting sounds of the cult members' chants could be heard in the background as Samuel pushed a hidden button on the factory's door, which opened an underground passage.
The two of them descended down into the dark, musty tunnels, using a flashlight to guide their way. Samuel explained that the passages had been built by his family, originally designed to hide from the cult members, but the tunnels had become corrupted by the Master's influence. The tunnels had become a labyrinth of horrors and terrors, a place where the cult would come to offer sacrifices to their dark lord.
As they ventured deeper into the tunnels, they came across a series of rooms, each filled with gruesome trinkets and artifacts. The air grew colder, and the smell of death filled their nostrils. There were human skeletons and carcasses hanging from the walls, rows of jars filled with unidentifiable body parts, and makeshift altars built around candles and skulls.
Sarah and Samuel eventually made it to the central chamber, where the Master's presence was strongest. The chamber was lit up with a strange, flickering light, and the smell of sulfur filled the air. In the center of the chamber was a large altar, and on top of it, a large, dark shape was slowly taking form.
As Sarah and Samuel watched in horror, the shape began to take on a humanoid form, and a voice echoed throughout the chamber. "Who dares to enter my domain?" the voice boomed.
Samuel stepped forward and helped Sarah up to her feet. "I offer myself as a sacrifice," he said. "In exchange, spare the life of this innocent."
The Master laughed a deep, guttural laugh. "Very well," it said. "Your sacrifice has been accepted. But remember, the next time our paths cross, I will expect another offering."
Samuel nodded, then stepped back, ready to meet his fate. The Master's form grew larger and darker, until it consumed Samuel. The Master then vanished into thin air, leaving Sarah alone in the dark chamber.
She stumbled her way out of the tunnels and into the woods, where she collapsed once again, feeling a mix of relief and shock. Her mind raced with the horrors she had witnessed in Hemlock Hollow, and she knew that she could never fully escape the memory of what she had seen.
From that day on, Sarah vowed never to return to Hemlock Hollow again. The town, with its dark secrets and sinister past, would remain a haunting memory, a nightmare that would never truly leave her.

Wow I typed a lot... Sorry for the long read and if it makes no sense, I definitely started ranting, I haven't been sleeping, I'm not entirely sober and I started almost crying a few times. I'm leaving out some details since my SO uses Reddit. I'll keep this account open for now though...
My thoughts are absolutely racing about this and have been for weeks, among other things (my life is going nowhere and falling apart in general). I want to start by saying I'm aware of the fact that it's my own insecurities and my own thoughts that are the real issue here, I know that and not here to have that pointed out. I'm also aware plenty of people would be ok with this and just move on or not even care about it in the first place, I'm not one of them. I just want some insight from anyone who may have gone through and dealt with something similar, whether that ended with them splitting up or fixing things. I'm welcome to answer any questions and I'll be responding, if slowly.
So basically my SO and I met in college, I was 21 she was 18, I'm about to be 31 she's about to be 28. In college we had a good time, and we had a friend group, (me (M) her (F) my best friend at the time (T) one of the others (J) is the reason we even started hanging out, plus a few other people. She had a long distance boyfriend when we met, so things were a bit awkward but we really clicked and hung out alone a lot. Eventually we talked about it and she decided to end things with her ex, we started actually dating. While we're dating I obviously learn about her, a lot of great but some not so much. So almost a year goes by and things are pretty good, but her eating disorder takes a turn for the worse. Eventually it gets to a point where she needs help, and not from me. We have a long conversation about how I'm not the one to help and how she needs to get professional help, I need to focus on my studies, we end with us both in tears. I made it clear I didn't want to leave her and wanted to help and stay close and in contact, with the hope of having a real relationship once she was better. The next day I come into college, my closest friend in the group has lunch with me and the first thing he asks is "are you mad about F and J?" I'm kinda taken aback by this and respond nonchalantly trying not to let onto what I just heard. The next day I have my class with F, she's not there. After class, I saw her in the hallway, I walked by her because of what I'd heard yesterday, she started crying when I did. I ended up not being friends with any of the group after that and she stopped talking to me after a few attempts. I find out she went to the hospital for a long term stay to get better. She can call me but I have no way to get in contact with her.
So a few months later she sends me a message on Facebook asking to hang out, I'm still single and haven't been with anyone. We hang out and I actually ended up talking to her about that and how I've been constantly thinking about her, she says the same and that she wasn't with anyone else since she met me, we had sex that night. We kept hanging out and having sex for a week or two, not actually official but based on our conversations we only wanted each other exclusively... At this point I'm about to go on a mini vacation and want someone to go with me, so I invite her. During this vacay she gets a text from J, she tells him she's with me at the beach, and he says "ok" and stops texting her which she seemed a bit upset about. He never texted back again after that but she tried to talk to him, and told me about it. I brought up that I didn't know they still talked at all and she didn't have much to say about it.
So we keep this up for a bit and end up dating. About a year later, we were just kinda randomly talking about stuff that was badly timed or something, she says "I wish you would have texted me a little sooner cause if you had some shit would not have gone down". At this point I knew she had sex with someone else, there was no hiding it. I thought maybe she hooked up with some random guy at the hospital, or maybe had sex for drugs... After dragging it out of her she informs me she had sex with J. I'm disgusted at this point — A little aside, when we first met she wasn't shy about the fact that I was not even close to her "ideal man", she likes tall dudes with big arms, I'm the definition of average. Guess what J looks like... IDK why but she still says it was love at first sight with me — I ask what the hell happened, how or why she decided to get with him. She tells me it was when she got sick and he took advantage of her, meaning right after we broke up. After talking about a lot of stuff I realized if that were true, she wasn't of sound mind and I couldn't hold it against her, but was still pissed at her for lying to me for over a year.
Flash forward another year, somehow this comes up again, I really don't know how but it did and it was during an argument. She let it slip out that she had sex with J multiple times, including after she got out of the hospital and we started talking again. The argument happened while we were drunk so I don't remember a lot of details, but it was confirmed the next day with a civil conversation followed by a lot more thinking. So she lied to me twice about this and was likely still having sex with J when we got back together, even if it wasn't truly official. At this point she tells me that he "tricked her into sex" and again that it was a one time thing. I mentioned that her timelines with the previous story didn't add up, she now changes her story to that it happened twice.
I want to add a little bit of extra detail here that I think it's important. My girlfriend is not a super sexual person, in fact I might say she's asexual if I met her in any other capacity. We've been together 10 years and it's hard to convince her of anything other than vanilla. She is extremely uncomfortable talking about our sex even after this amount of time, and I could probably count the number of times she's initiated on my hands. She's not against sex, she enjoys it and I give her an orgasm most of the time according to her, but again it's hard to get that info out of her. I feel this is important info because she's vehemently against random hookups and casual sex, and says she's only wants it if she's really into the guy she's with. Obviously she's into me, but if it happened several times, that means she was into him. I understand if he legit "tricked her" once, but a second time, to me, means that she liked it and was into him as well. It wouldn't be so much of an issue if she had been honest from the start, and she was willing to do things with me that she did with him — she was willing to tell me about that, I guess to rub it in?
Anyways, that's the end of the actual story. We're still together now. The saga of her fucking my friend has come up again a couple times over the years in fights and shit. Apparently she thinks about it all the time, I do as well. For me, it's almost every time we're about to have sex or it'll happen in the middle of it, and it's not good for me if you can imagine. I end up getting sad and closing my eyes to think about someone else half the time anymore, sometimes I imagine she's thinking about him and getting off to that. I guess it works but it's sad. I don't think that she feels the same way, I think from the moment I took her on vacation she knew I was serious and she committed herself, but I was under the impression she was committed only to me well before that point. I guess at the end of the day, her unwillingness to have sex with me always brings up the memory of how she was having casual sex with a my friend in college while we were together. It's always made me feel like shit but has really been messing with me lately. She recently said something that really made me think about it, in relation to committing to me. She said that a lot of women freak out when they realize they become committed, and have flings with other guys before they settle down and only have sex with one guy for the rest of their life. I'm now thinking that was a confession, that she just wanted to fuck a guy before we ended up together forever, but that still doesn't sit right with me when she won't be openly sexual with me. For perspective, as far as I'm aware I'm the only guy she's been with she hasn't given oral to, even though I have basically begged for it and she's promised for years. I shave for her, I do the positions she likes, and I try my hardest to make sure she's satisfied. I told her the other day to use me however she wanted and she had zero interest. She tells me 4 hours after I get home from work how she was horny all day while I was gone but then didn't initiate anything cause she didn't think I'd want to cause I was at work. By the way, when she was having sex with both of us for those few months, was the only time she really seemed into exploration, why didn't she just do that with me?
I guess it's just sexual insecurity that's the problem, maybe I should just get over it, but like I said it's really been getting at me lately. I'm now thinking I should go have a fling before I fully commit to her. Honestly I'm ready to cheat because at this point I'm not being satisfied sexually, and the more times I'm left unsatisfied the more I think about how she was willing to satisfy J while she was with me. I am at the point where I'm 100% going to cheat on her if the opportunity comes up, and I've even come close to trying to initiate. I'm also not sure if she's currently cheating, she maintains her mindset that having sex with me is "gross and weird enough" and couldn't imagine doing it with anyone else, but she literally fucked a guy a few days apart from me in the past. I love her, but something needs to change, she needs to talk to me about what we both want in the bedroom, she needs to own up to the fact that she actually likes sex and start having it with me in a way that feels like she's into it. It's not just the bedroom, but it feels like she locked me down and decided that we're just gonna do things a certain way and that's it. She had her crazy sex with someone else, she just wants missionary with me forever... Now apply that to all aspects of life.
Wtf do I do?

I have a friend who has this weird compulsion. Anything he does, he does in halves. What I mean is, well, let’s say you go out for pizza. The pizza comes, eight slices, you’re ready to eat it. What he’ll do is take four of the slices and eat them all in one go. Then he’ll take two slices and eat those, and then he’ll take one slice and eat that. Now you’re down to one slice. He’ll take that slice, cut it in half, and eat one of the halves. Then he’ll do it again. And again. And again. Eventually what’s left of that last slice is too small to be cut. That’s where he calls it quits, but he always does it with this real weird look in his eyes.
It's not just food that he treats this way, though. Like I said, he does it with everything. He’ll read half a book in one sitting, then half the remainder in the next, then half the remainder of that, until finally he’s at the very last page. If it can’t be physically halved, he does it mentally. If he drives somewhere that’s ten minutes away, for example, he envisions the five-minute mark as the halfway point. Once he’s there, it’s the two and a half-minute mark that’s the halfway point, then the minute fifteen mark, and so on. Everything is neatly organized in his head.
I asked him why he did it once. Well, more than once. Usually he gives half-answers, but eventually I started to see the full picture. I think he wants to preserve that feeling you get during the first half of anything. You know, when you’re looking forward to what lies ahead. Once you reach the second half, of course, all you can think about is how close you are to the end. I get it. I did this study abroad program in Taiwan back in college, it was a summer thing so it was about two months long. During the first month I was all excited since I was meeting and hanging out with the other people in the program. Then it was the second month, and it was like a timer had popped up in my head to tick down the time that was left. Thirty days left, twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven… Once that timer hit zero, I’d never see these people again, I’d never be in this place again, I’d never feel like this again… Sure, maybe I’d talk to them every once in a while or maybe I’d go on vacation someday, but it would never be the same. I guess that sounds kind of sappy but whatever. Point is, if I started seeing everything in halves maybe that sinking feeling you get in the second would never show up. Maybe I’d finally be able to enjoy life without worrying about the end.
I decided to be consistent, like my friend. If I only halved the good things, after all, the trick probably wouldn’t work since I’d be consciously switching in and out of that mindset. It was something I needed to fully commit to, and so that’s what I did. Each morning I woke up and ate breakfast in halves, then brushed my teeth and took a shower in halves. I dressed myself in halves and then I drove to work in halves. You get the idea. Sometimes it was hard for me to really conceptualize what doing something in halves actually entailed. One day we got a new recruit at work and I was supposed to get acquainted with them and show them the ropes. How do you become half-acquainted with someone? I guess stuff like that’s up to interpretation, so I tried my best. Talk to them, tell them about yourself, but don’t say too much. Where’s the halfway point? I’d get the hang of it eventually, is what I told myself.
And I did. It took a few months, sure, but eventually I could feel something shifting in my understanding of the world. When I would look at a pizza before, what I would see is something finite – eight slices, and then an ending. Things were different now. Half of a pizza becomes a quarter of a pizza becomes an eighth of a pizza becomes a sixteenth of a pizza. I could gaze at that pizza for hours, contemplating each half becoming smaller and smaller, forever. Then, things become too small and I can’t even comprehend it. Maybe there is a point where the pizza ends, on an atomic level. Thinking about the end of the pizza scares me now. So, let’s talk about something else.
The other day I felt that I’d really internalized the whole idea of dividing things into halves, so I decided to cut, well, the day itself into halves. I know that probably sounds like it would be a really easy thing to do, but I’m talking about doing it alongside all the other halving that’s going on. Think of it as like an extra layer on top of my regular routine. On a work day I wake up at six and go to bed at ten, meaning the first halfway point would be at two. I didn’t obsess over it too hard, after all if I did that would defeat the entire purpose of splitting things into halves. No, I kept it in the back of my mind, and as soon as the day was halfway over I shifted my perspective of things. No, the day was not halfway over. It would be halfway over in four hours, at six o’clock. In this way, the end of the day steadily grew closer. Well, if you viewed time like your average Joe would, maybe. To me, the day had just started. It wasn’t even halfway over. I had all the time in the world.
Then, something happened at 9:59. From my perspective, it had been 9:59 for a very long time. How many halfway points could I possibly fit into that single minute? It’s hard to say, really. Each half felt just as long to me as any of the other halves I’d experienced that day. Eight hours, four hours, fifteen minutes, twenty-eight seconds, these values meant nothing to me. They were halves, nothing more and nothing less. To the untrained mind, I suppose there’s a point where time can no longer be divided. Before you can even process it, the time that’s left has already passed. But I kept going.
Eventually, everything ground to a halt. Each interval, each half, was simply too short – in a physical sense – for anything to happen. All I could really do was lie in bed and think. I wasn’t really bothered, though, because I had plenty of time to think about the things I wanted to think about. All sound had slowed to a steady drone and to be honest I felt as though I was at total peace. If this was what eternity was, I thought, then maybe eternity wasn’t so bad.
At some point the world around me grew dark. I suppose there just wasn’t enough going on to keep my brain stimulated, like when you leave a computer idle for a long time and the screen shuts off. Something like that. To put it another way, maybe the gap between physical time and my mental time was just too large to fit the two together. I’m not like a scientist or anything, though, so don’t take my word for it. Anyway, the point is that everything had become totally still. There was no light, no sound, no feeling of anything. I existed, and that was it. So I thought.
Gradually I became aware of something, some movement in the darkness. Well, maybe “movement” isn’t the right way to put it. I could sense something else out there, all around me, something that existed between the seconds of the day. It was gazing at me, I was certain, in the very same way that I had gazed at all those pizzas. What would become of me if I was halved? Hard to say. Would there then be two of me? And what if I was halved again? What if I was halved over and over again, and then those halves were scattered to the winds? I’d exist everywhere at once, I suppose. I wasn’t really sure why I was thinking those thoughts. Maybe I wasn’t even doing it of my own volition. Whatever the case, I was suddenly aware of how badly I wanted the day to end.
And then I blinked and looked over at the clock and realized that it was ten o’ clock, even. So, I went to sleep, and the next day when I woke up I decided that I’d had enough of the whole cutting things in half dealio. Everything needs to come to an end eventually, after all. Telling yourself otherwise is just a coping mechanism. I don’t mean that as an attack on my friend, though, to be honest I pity the guy. I guess I understand it now, that look he always gets in his eyes. I think it’s something like fear. I think he’s seen the same thing I have, the thing that lies between the smallest possible halves. It’s hard to really go back to normal, knowing something like that’s out there. Or maybe he just doesn’t know how to go back. I should probably ask him about it, but I know I won’t get a complete answer. Really, it’s better that I just leave it at that, get this shit off my chest so I don’t have to think about it anymore. So, that’s what I think I’m gonna do

Hello! I'm sorry if this is a silly question, but I've been a bit out of the loop with PvP gearing in WoW for awhile. If I start playing a new character near the end of the season, is it possible for me to acquire the same gear level (ilvl, tier, everything) as someone who's been keeping up to date with the vault every week since the beginning of the season? The only thing that comes to my mind is that I'll be behind on some gem slots due to missing out on the vault tokens. But, if I understand correctly, I'll be able to buy all the conquest & crafted gear that I need (after grinding a ton of course) and I can even use the crucible to acquire 4-piece tier gear. Is that right? Or am I missing something else that I'll be behind on for this season?
Thanks in advance! Sorry for the long-winded question, I probably could have simplified that a bit.

For anyone who is considering joining Lemmy or has already joined and may not be aware, there is an instance known as lemmygrad.ml which is founded on the principals of extreme-left communism. In their own words via recent announcement, "we would like you to know before you request an account that Lemmygrad is a Marxist instance, principally Marxist-Leninist. We like Stalin and we uphold the DPRK’s sovereignty and legitimacy over the whole of Korea. We love China’s Socialism with Chinese Characteristics." Additionally, they openly try to refute/justify things like the Tiananmen Square massacre, sympathize with Russia's terrorist activities in Ukraine, and spread misinformation. Don't take my word for it though, take a look at it for yourself: https://lemmygrad.ml/ You'll also find them on the lemmy.ml server in many of the communities such as worldnews posting and commenting so feel free to read and judge for yourself there as well (here is an example of a recent post about the Tiananmen Square massacre and the detention of peaceful civilians that took place the other day).
Due to the nature of federation this in and of itself is not an issue since other instances can choose to block instances that they view as problematic. Unfortunately, you as a user cannot do the same though so if you don't want to see posts, comment, and communities from lemmygrad you have to join an instance which is already blocking it. (edit: to be clear, as a user, you can block individual communities and users, but if you want to block an entire instance you can't do that) What I will call the "main" instance at the moment, lemmy.ml, does not block lemmygrad. Having open discourse with someone that you disagree with is one thing, but there is a limit to it and in my opinion lemmygrad takes it far far beyond the point of being reasonable. Lemmygrad was one of the larger instances on lemmy for a long time as well although they are comparatively noticeably smaller than communities like lemmy.ml and beehaw now. I suspect that the previous ratio of lemmygrad users to lemmy's overall users is why lemmy.ml (which is the instance that the main Lemmy devs spun up) didn't block lemmygrad because they didn't want to alienate any portion of their already small community. The only other reason that I can think that they wouldn't block it is because they are sympathetic to their ideals or just think that they are being reasonable when they come to lemmy.ml to post and comment (which they do very very often). Regardless of their reasoning, my suggestion if you do not support the ideals of the North Korean dictatorship, the CCP, Russia, etc is to not join lemmy.ml.
In addition to not supporting an instance which seems to be perfectly fine with lemmygrad users spreading misinformation, lemmy.ml is currently being overwhelmed with new users anyway so even if you do join it you will likely have server issues until they are upgraded. There are other options though such as:
-https://feddit.de/
-https://beehaw.org/
-https://slrpnk.net
-https://midwest.social
-and more
If you are unsure of what other instances any given instance blocks you can scroll to the bottom of their page and click "instances" which will give you a list of all of the other instance which they federate with as well as which ones they block. You can also start your own instance even if you intend on being the only one in it which will give you more control over what you interact with and how you interact with it. Regardless of the size or scope of the instance that you wind up joining you can always see everything on every other instance that isn't blocked so you don't have to worry about losing functionality or anything like that by joining a smaller instance. The most important things when choosing an instance in my opinion is to find one that you feel the admins of said instance are reasonable and the rules that they have in place make sense. Additionally, since you can't block instances as a user, choosing an instance based on who they choose not to federate with is also very important in my opinion.

One year ago I stood before you and told you of the threat we face. I told you of the tyrant, of the inhuman army he had brought with him and the threat he posed to all we hold dear. I told you, and you listened. You listened and you understood, understood what had to be done, what sacrifices needed to be made and you stood ready to make those sacrifices.
We sought allies and we found those of the other tribes receptive to our words, promises were given, pledges were made, and alliances were forged.
Not half a year ago I stood before you once again and told you of the alliance we had formed and how we would take the fight to the tyrant before his machines were ready to face us. Our forces were numerous, our allies were strong and our wills unshakable.
Today I stand before you again, I stand before you to tell you that I was mistaken.
I believed our alliance was strong, I believed that honor, duty and brotherhood still meant something in this world.
I do not blame the tribe of the central plains, the tyrant’s army stood ever watchful amongst their numbers and the tyrant himself claimed their chieftain as his concubine. I do not blame them no, they were on their knees before they had a chance to stand.
The Stone men of the north, those I blame. Once I had called their chieftain brother and with my brother we carved our resolve to oppose the tyrant into the very mountain they call home. I thought the stone men warriors like we, made hard by the hard lands they live in, but I was mistaken. Their hardness was only skin deep and that skin cracked easily when the tyrant offered them an easier way to live. They let sloth take hold of them and it exposed just how weak and soft they were beneath their stone skin. To stand became too taxing for the lazy stone men of the north and they found life easier on their knees.
The wind singers of the west I never had high hopes for, their allegiance changes with the wind, but I hoped they would see how the Tyrants would clip their wings. But before the fickle folk of the west was able to see the truth in our words the Tyrant had already set his plan in motion. He used his magic to tear the very land apart and cast it into the sky. He placed his army of machines onto those islands of the sky and from there they rain death upon any Wind singer who would try to take off towards freedom. So the song of wind singers have gone quiet, their song no longer soars through the air, instead their cries echo between the cliffs.
In the east the royal family of the great lake claimed they possessed both wisdom and humility, but I found only cowardice and arrogance in their throne room. Their king had sat the throne from over a hundred years and he swore to act should the tyrant prove a threat to his people. We sent word to him that the time had come to act and his response was as far from wisdom as any man can get. “No army of metal and magic can approach my gates, so I see no threat from the tyrant.“
The arrogance, the hubris, the pure simple stupidity...
As he promised no army breached his gates, his hall was never ransacked and his people never had to raise their weapons for war. But the Tyrant did not need to storm his gates, his islands between the clouds moved far beyond where and from there he worked his magic. Not a drop of water fell on that great lake during the rainy season and when the tyrants stepped into the throne room the king of a mere puddle lowered his knees to a floor as dry as our own desert.
So I stand before you today and I tell you this: We stand alone against the tyrant.
We stand alone against his machines, his magic and against the very allies we tried to raise against him.
I tell you this because you need to know where we stand: we stand in the sand our mothers raised us in, we stand in the sand our mothers trained us in, we stand in OUR sand.
I tell you this because you need to know how we stand: we stand without his machines in our midst, we stand with bodies hardened to the core, we stand firm with the will to act quickly and decisively, and we stand without the delusions of those who have lived safe lives behind their walls.
And we will do more than simply stand where others kneeled, we will act! We will act with more strength than the stone men, more speed than the wind singers, more wisdom than those of the great lake, and most importantly we will act with the ferocity of the desert. We will move in the soft glow of the stars, strike from the shadows and grasp victory in the darkness. We will do what others are unable or unwilling to do, for we understand that it must be done. We will rip the tyrant’s accursed power from his hands and use it against him.
He would rule us from that monument to his ego he calls his castle but I swear to you all that I shall never bend my knee to his rule. The tyrant wields light to burn away all who stand against him, so I shall wield a darkness so deep it could swallow the sun and I will snuff out his light like the smallest candle.

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I was with FM since 2010 when they were called Wind and I made the mistake of switching to Telus when 5G was launched (peer pressure).
I’ve since gotten offers from Freedom to return ($35/month for 30GB) but I was still tied to a 2 year plan. The offer expired in January and haven’t an email offer since.
I have one month left until I can switch and I’m planning on buying a phone for BYOD plans. I’m hoping now’s a good time to return to FM.
Is there a strategy for getting a similar $35 offer and are there still friends and family discount? Should I call customer service or go in person?

So, here's the deal. I desperately needed a break, so I hopped on my badass Harley Davidson V-Rod for a vacation. The open road was calling, promising me wild adventures. That's when I stumbled upon this picture-perfect spot and booked a guest house on Airbnb in this remote freaking village, surrounded by breathtaking mountains, kickass lakes, and epic waterfalls. Little did I know, I was about to step into a fucking nightmare.
When I rolled up to the house, I was greeted by this smoking hot mom, Rachel, and her drop-dead gorgeous but mysterious daughter, Lily. Their place had this mysterious vibe, like it was one with nature, you know what I mean? It was pouring rain outside, so we decided to have a cozy dinner by the fireplace. Let me tell you, the fire was crackling, casting these sexy-ass shadows all around us. And I couldn't help but notice Lily giving me these seductive looks, like I'm the tastiest piece of meat on the menu.
The sexual tension between us was off the charts, and I couldn't resist the unspoken invitation in her eyes. So, as the night got steamier and the rain poured harder, I took a chance and followed her to her room. Holy shit, the atmosphere was electric in there. Our encounter was mind-blowing, with the rain adding a sense of urgency and secrecy. Time seemed to stand still as we explored the depths of our desires, totally oblivious to the fucked-up horror that awaited us.
But fuck, life had to throw us a curveball. Just as we were getting it on, the damn bedroom door slammed open. And who do you think was standing there? Rachel, looking like she was gonna murder us. Tears streamed down her face, and she had this look of pure horror.
A chilling silence filled the room as the truth of our actions sank in. Rachel's anger erupted like a goddamn volcano, and she unleashed a shitstorm of betrayal and anguish. The rain outside seemed to intensify, pounding against the windows like a symphony of despair.
That's when I realized the dark secret that plagued that picturesque house. Rachel, consumed by grief and desperation, had made a pact with some fucked-up dark forces to bring her dead husband back. But she had no clue about the consequences, man. Her actions opened a door to unspeakable evil that now threatened to devour us all.
The room turned ice-cold, and there was this sinister presence in the air. Shadows danced on the walls as creepy whispers filled the fucking room, coming from god-knows-where. It was like hungry entities craving our souls. The demonic force unleashed by Rachel's actions was out to claim its due.
We had to fight for our lives, man. I joined forces with Rachel and Lily, bound together by the darkness that had engulfed us. As we navigated that godforsaken house, we encountered nightmarish apparitions and faced unimaginable horrors. The demonic presence taunted us at every turn, its evil influence fucking with our minds.
As we delved deeper into the heart of that place, we discovered the source of the goddamn evil that plagued us. It was this cursed artifact, an ancient relic steeped in darkness, that held the key to the demonic forces threatening to consume us. With every step, our sanity teetered on the edge, each confrontation pushing us closer to the brink of fucking despair.
But we didn't back down, man. We fought like motherfuckers, determined to confront the malevolent entity terrorizing the house. In an epic battle against the forces of evil, we gave it our all, fueled by the bond we forged in the darkness and the tiny flicker of hope that kept us going.
Finally, as the first rays of dawn broke through the stormy sky, the demonic presence faded away, releasing its grip on the goddamn house. We emerged, battered but fucking victorious, from the clutches of that supernatural nightmare that had unfolded.
Leaving behind the cursed relic and the memories of our forbidden encounter, I hopped back on my bike, ready to ride the fuck away from that village forever. The scenic beauty that had initially drawn me was forever tainted by the horrors we had witnessed.
As I left the village behind, the weight of that experience settled upon me, forever etched in my fucking memory. The road stretched out before me, winding through mist-covered mountains and past shimmering lakes. But no matter how far I rode, I couldn't escape the haunting echoes of that fateful night. It served as a constant reminder of the goddamn price we paid for indulging in our illicit desires.
to be continued...

Welcome back blood suckers! We return with the next part of the Anne Rice vampire saga. I don’t know about you guys, but this section was a struggle for me. I was hoping Marius was going to snap Lestat back to reality and send him on his way to meet Louis. Instead, we got the backstory of all backstories without even a mention of Lestat for seven chapters. At times, I wished I could crawl into the dirt and experience my own ‘first death’, but I’m curious to hear what y’all thought so let’s dive in!
Part 7 Chapter 2: Lestat makes his way through Marius’ house and realizes it’s the first time he’s seen a vampire’s home fully stocked with awesome mortal stuff (including “giant stuffed beasts” which I originally thought said breasts). The guy really has everything: amazing murals, huge library, menagerie, indoor greenhouse, and sculpture hall. Lestat is eventually pulled away from these incredible sights by Marius’ heartbeat.
Chapter 3: Marius and Lestat sit down for the long-awaited chat and we learn that what I last week called ‘Lestat’s pity party/hunger strike in the dirt’ was actually his first death and is totally normal for vampires. Marius has such strong ESP that he can tell what’s going on with vamps all over the world, which is how he knew about Lestat (so vamp GPS does exist!). But, unlike other old vamps, Marius chooses to speak as he finds the ESP imprecise and prefers a consensual mode of communication. He also opts to move like a human as he finds this elegant and all those vamp powers tire him out. Marius wants to share his vampire secrets with Lestat and show him Those Who Must Be Kept, but warns him that he will still need to find ‘his own reasons to exist’. Forgetting all about the emo phase he’d just been having, Lestat is like, “Yeah, yeah whatever. You don’t even know how perfectly awful I am. But why me?” Marius tells Lestat he’s the chosen one since he’s an innocent and curious dude who’s happy just living in the moment. We learn that Marius was born at the start of the Roman Empire and that being born ‘on the cusp of the old way of seeing things’ also unites him with Lestat. Plus, they were both turned into vamps because they were…pretty? Before Marius will continue his story, he tells Lestat he wants to show him Those Who Must Be Kept.
Chapter 4: Marius takes Lestat down a creepy staircase to an ancient Egyptian vampire shrine where two figures are revealed. Lestat thinks they are the most incredible statues he’s ever seen until he touches the woman’s cheek and realizes…THEY’RE ALIVE! Lestat is initially spooked, but slowly understands that Marius cares for these beings and can’t really do anything else to them without being cruel. Lestat apologizes for being a rude scaredy cat and Marius tells him Those Who Must Be Kept don’t even eat anymore and haven’t had a drop of blood in 300 years. Yet even without food, they can move or control things with their mind, but never do so in Marius’ presence. At Marius’ urging, Lestat stares at the figures and tells them how beautiful they are and the woman’s name, Akasha, appears on his lips. Mesmerized, Lestat wants to KISS THE WOMAN AND SPIT BLOOD INTO HER MOUTH until he realizes he’s fucking nuts and pulls back, begging Marius to go upstairs. As they leave, one of Those Who Must Be Kept opens up the tabernacle, proving all Marius said true. Marius has a little meltdown upstairs wondering why Akasha revealed her name to Lestat and not him, her protector for the past 17 CENTURIES, but snaps out of it and is ready to tell Lestat the whole story.
Chapter 5: Marius was an illegitimate son in a rich Roman household who had everything he could desire except the love of his dead mother (but at least she gave him her beautiful Aryan looks). One evening, he’s in a Gaul tavern, so busy writing, drinking wine and doing his own philosophizing that he doesn’t notice a creepy giant staring at him. They have a long chat about Egypt and religion and, just when we’re about to die of boredom, the stranger tells Marius he is going to become a god and then knocks him out. Marius comes to in a wagon being pulled through a forest and eventually arrives at a Celtic fortress where he realizes that if he doesn’t want to become a human sacrifice he “had better try to get the hell out of here.” (Apparently, Marius also cannot keep the same speaking style).
Chapter 6: Marius’ captor, Mael, and his Druid pals are now dressed in white robes and tell Marius he will drink the Divine Blood and become a father of gods. Until this occurs, Marius is kept under constant watch and passes the time getting drunk and eating. To keep his boredom at bay, he listens to Mael tell him all about their gods, especially the god he is to become who goes by many names including ‘the lover of the mother’. This god takes blood sacrifices every full moon but on All Saints Day gets to have a yummy feast and make prophecies. He serves the Great Mother who ‘is without visible form but nevertheless present in all things’ (Ok, so Mother Earth, not a literal mother. Phew). Marius recalls others who have served this goddess and things don’t go particularly well for them (castration, dismemberment, etc.) so he’s not feeling too great about his upcoming transformation and continues to get drunk and yell at Mael. Eventually, Marius’ hair is long enough and it’s time for the feast. After a little makeover, Marius is placed in a wagon and driven deep into the forest. He is shocked to see the Druids have made two massive wicker figures and are filling them with evildoers who will be sacrificed in the ceremony. Marius is taken to the ‘sanctuary of the gods’, a grove with creepy faces carved into the trees and skulls on spikes. A voice comes from within one of the trees, double checking that Marius is indeed the chosen one, and then invites Marius to come on down.
Chapter 7: Descending a set of winding stairs, Marius is no longer afraid, but excited that all the nonsense Mael’s been spouting is true and he really is about to become a god. But this feeling doesn’t last long as he comes face to face with a shrivelled, burnt skeleton-like figure (but with beautiful hair of course). The figure tells Marius he will make him a god, but only if he promises to escape the Druids, go down to Egypt and figure out why the sun is burning up all the gods of darkness (aka vampires if you haven’t caught on). Marius is turned into a vampire and, as the blood is passed back and forth, is given his own set of vamp rules to follow. The figure drains Marius one last time and is like, “Go feast. But don’t forget to run away after. I’ll be dying now. Buh bye.”
Chapter 8: Confirming the Druids’ hopes and beliefs, Marius emerges and he is STARVING. He feasts on dozens of men and then plays judge for a while until finally the festival is over and Marius knows he must escape and go to Egypt. He tries to use his god status to persuade the Druids to leave him alone, but they’re not falling for his nonsense and try to force him down into the tree dungeon. They grab the old, shrivelled god out of the tree and casually chuck him into the fire, and his last words to Marius are to obey his command and go to Egypt. Pretending he’s a weak, scared boy, the Druids loosen their grip on Marius and he is able to break free. Sprinting into the forest, Marius finally realizes he has some sweet vamp powers but doesn’t have time to appreciate these as he's being pursued by thousands of Celtic worshippers. He still manages to escape and digs down into the Earth for his first day of vamp sleep. When he wakes, Marius is hungry and is like, “How the hell was that burnt guy only eating once a month!?” After some dinner, he decides he will go down to Egypt, but not for the gods, just to have a vamp adventure! Yet when he finally arrives, Marius realizes how alone he is among mortal men and cannot bear being ‘the relentless bringer of death’ so continues to seek out the old gods.
Chapter 9: In Alexandria, a god appears to Marius in the middle of the night and the next evening something speaks to him, telling him to come to a door. Down another windy stairway, Marius finds an underground temple where he encounters another burnt vamp god with beautiful hair who’s like, “Hey, how come you’re not all crispy?” We then meet the Elder, a vamp god that survived ‘the burning’ and who Marius recognizes as the one that came to him the previous night. Breaking his years of silence, the Elder tells Marius that vampires started BY ACCIDENT four thousand years ago. After Osiris was killed, dismembered and then put back together by Isis (except his penis of course), he became the immortal ruler of the dead and drank blood sacrifices. But who knew that drinking blood would have so many fun side effects!? So Osiris and Isis became the first vampires. Despite their blood creating stronger and stronger vamps, Osiris and Isis eventually got stingy and refused to let others drink from them, while also starving themselves. Because of the blood connection, whatever happens to Isis and Osiris happens to all other vampires, so it was not so nice of them to have these suicidal ideations. Their keeper eventually decided this must all be a big joke so left Osiris and Isis out in the sun. But surprise, surprise, it was all true and thus caused the BBQ vampire fest. The other vamps managed to get Osiris and Isis (who only got a nice suntan) back underground, but they no longer chat or eat and DEFINITELY aren’t letting anyone have their blood now. But guess what!? That’s just the version told in Egyptian mythology. Now we get to learn the real story. (And at this point I let out a vamp-volume scream and curse Anne Rice’s ghost.)
Chapter 10: Two humans, Akasha and Enkil, came into Egypt from ‘some other land’ and taught the cannibal Egyptians how to play nice and worship Mother Earth. One day, a furniture-throwing, dirty-language-loving, demon was causing problems with the royal steward so Enkil decided to go have a chat with it. After a night in the haunted house, Enkil emerged with the knowledge that demons are so grumpy because they don’t have a body! Akasha then joined her husband for another wild night in the demon house. Everyone else was terrified of the demonic commotion and ran away, except for a small group of men who were fed up with the Mother Earth ways and wanted to go back to eating people. These men entered the house in the middle of the night and stabbed Enkil and Akasha over and over. Out of nowhere, Gabrielle emerged and was like, “You done fucked up now.” Ok, just kidding that didn’t happen. But it was a horrible idea because the stab wounds were now convenient openings for the demon to enter the bodies of Enkil and Akasha. When their blood mixed, a new creature was created, with the intelligence and souls of the mortals and the mind reading abilities of the demon. But the worst of all was that they could only be kept alive by drinking blood! Enkil and Akasha also learned immediately that fire and sunlight would kill them. The King and Queen tried to keep all of this a secret, but people were a bit weirded out that they no longer saw their mighty rulers during the day and could only worship at night. Conspirators continued to try and kill Enkil and Akasha, but they always magically healed, so people instead sought to gain their immortality by taking their blood and drinking it. We learn that the vampire transformation is only successful if the mortal is near to death so we don’t know if some people figured this out or if Enkil and Akasha chose to pass on their ‘gift’ to people out of loneliness, but more vampires were created and spread throughout the world. In an attempt to rationalize what happened to them, Enkil and Akasha placed themselves within the world of myth and made up the story of Osiris and Isis. This went well for a few thousand years, until societies began to open up their temples to the sun god and let all the vamps burn to a crisp, leaving only a few places on Earth where vampires gods were left in peace. We learn that there have always been rogue vampires who don’t need no goddess and just want to have fun. But no matter what type of vampire they were, they all went crispy when Mother and Father were put out in the sun. As the story finally comes to a close, Marius is like, “I don’t believe this crap,” and storms out of the temple, laughed out by the Elder.
Chapter 11: As Marius lays in bed at night, he has to admit that the whole story may actually be true, but is still pissed because he wants to be an individual, not a host to a blood-thirsty demonic parasite. After getting drunk on blood and coming to terms with his destiny, Marius decides he has to see this Mother and Father and hide them in order to keep them (and thus all other vamps) safe forever. Conveniently, the Mother then appears to Marius, telling him to take her and the Father out of Egypt. The Mother leads Marius out into the desert where he finds a trap door and...you guessed it...another twisty staircase! At the bottom, Marius finally meets Akasha and Enkil. A burnt vamp suddenly appears out of nowhere and wants to put them back into their chamber, but Enkil and Akasha decide they’re going to move on their own which terrifies burnt vamp and makes Marius weep uncontrollably. Just to see what happens, Marius convinces burnt vamp to try and drink from Enkil, who responds by throwing him across the room. Marius feels bad so lets burnt vamp drink from him, and then tells him to get the eff out and not let anyone in to the crypt. Marius steals two mummy cases, puts Akasha and Enkil in them and temporarily buries them outside his house while he makes plans to flee Egypt. The Elder appears and it’s revealed that he was the keeper who put the Mother and Father out in the sun. Marius is like, “Don’t worry, bro. I got it from here,” but the Elder won’t let them go without a fight. The Elder is much stronger and a more experienced fighter, but Marius goes for the old eye sockets and gets some surprise back up from Akasha who crushes the Elder like a bug and lights him on fire. Sealing his fate as their guardian, Akasha allows Marius to drink from her.

As crazy as it sounds, I am very concerned and I am not sure what to do with my dog.
For my whole life I owned cats but I’ve always wanted a dog. As they require more attention, having to commute everyday for work didn’t allowed me to have enough time to dedicate to a dog until the pandemic hit. My company closed all the offices, we all started working from home and I no longer needed to commute. It was very nice to get to spend more time at my house with my family but we decided that was the perfect time to add a new member to our family and soon enough we adopted a puppy. He was 6 months old by that time, now he’s 3 years old. We aren’t sure about his breed but I see some lab traces. Well, since we brought him home we gave him all love and all attention he needed but as time passed it turned out to be a nightmare. I know a good dog needs a lot of patience, we just wanted him to be somehow independent and handle well if we have to leave the house to run errands or need our own space. We spent a lot of money for the trainers since he was a puppy but It didn’t work much, he always had his own stubborn personality but never violent. He can’t handle being alone in a different room with no human presence and the main issue is the excessive barking. Over the years we tried everything, even giving him anxiety medications, take to a dog day care, bones and activities to stimulate him but it keeps getting worse and worse. He loudly bark at any single noise, the mailman, a person walking by the sidewalk or even the wind shaking the trees, any outside noise it’s a good reason to start barking and it usually takes 10-20 min to settle down again, we tried giving him treats to get his attention back but he isn’t too interested and there’s literally nothing we can do about that. It’s a major problem during the night, we can’t sleep when he barks and our energy levels dramatically decreased over the years, I feel like we have a forever newborn at home thats unpredictable and we need to be always on call. We tried to crate him or have him sleep in another room or the basement to give ourselves some space but seems like it makes it worse, if he’s crate free, he will destroy anything he sees to get our attention back, we no longer have a couch on our basement because he teared it apart when we tried having him sleeping off crate. If crated, he barks as much as he can until he’s out, it can be heard from outside and disturbs the neighbors. During the business hours when I am working I usually had him in the office with me but the excessive barking made impossible to conduct my work meetings and my work performance has been so bad since I don’t have energy to focus and lack of sleep. I used to love going to the gym and taking care of myself but having the dog made me change who I am and I feel terrible. He barks all night and we are developing health issues due stress levels. My boss suggested get rid of the dog and I didn’t do it because I have hope he will get old and it will change. I no longer have the job and the reason is the dog. It’s a really complicated situation and I don’t know how to deal with it.