I’m one episode behind the latest…why does everyone aside from Jordan (obviously being his teammate and best friend) care so much about what he does at GAU? If he stays or goes, if he does this or that, etc.? Are we suppose to assume GAU some fictional “homie” type town school similar to Crenshaw HS but for college? I had assumed it was likely in comparison to Cal University.

Trigger warning, of course, talking about sexual assault ahead.
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It's Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April) and I am a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) and I want to discuss some common myths and misunderstandings around sexual violence that I see every day.
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1. It's not rape unless it's by a stranger. This is completely false. In fact, most sexual assaults (8 out of 10) occur from a family member, friend, or acquaintance. Source
2. If you are raped, you will have injuries. False. So, without getting too technical here, it depends on a lot of factors (biological, incident-related, and time period to exam) whether or not injury will be found. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-50% of sexual assaults have genital injuries. In an effort to be concise in my post, I wont elaborate here, but will gladly in comments if desired! Source Source 2
3. "I froze, so I let it happen. It's my fault because I didn't fight back". Absolutely false. Most people have heard of fight or flight responses to stress/trauma, but there are others: Specifically, FREEZE. Freeze is a completely normal biological response to stress and trauma. Freeze does NOT mean consent. Source
4. Penis, vagina, vulva, etc. are bad words. No! They're not! These are body parts. In the same way that 'elbow' isn't a bad word, neither is 'vagina'. Please teach your children the correct names for body parts. "Uncle touched my cupcake" and "Uncle touched my vagina" elicit two completely different responses.
5. The hymen gets broken the first time you have sex. No, that is not how a hymen works. The hymen is not a "freshness seal" covering the vaginal opening. The tissue of the hymen changes based on puberty and hormonal influences. Most adult hymens look very similar to a (smaller) hair scrunchie at the opening to the vagina. Ruffled and stretchy. While it's true that you can have injury on the hymenal tissue (in consensual and non consensual sex) , "broken" vs. "intact" give the wrong impression to what this tissue actually is. Source.
6. A Forensic Medical Exam (or Rape Exam) can tell me whether I was penetrated or not. Unfortunately, false. As much as I would like to, I cannot tell you whether or not you were penetrated, or prove whether or not intercourse was consensual. The physical exam allows me to assess possible injuries and document them for the forensic record. This is one piece in the whole of the investigation (if you report to law enforcement).

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Of course, this is definitely not an exhaustive list of myths and misconceptions. I feel passionate about discussing and educating whoever will listen about these topics, so thank you for reading my soapbox moment!

I (26F) & my bf (27M) drove to his hometown to visit his mom (T) & sister (19F, K). It was my 1st time meeting both of them.
T & K had been arguing for weeks prior to our arrival, bc T is concerned about K's substance use. Ironically, T tried getting me to partake in cocaine & psychedelics with her, which I declined. My bf begged them not to fight prior to our arrival.
We all went to the bar. Got back to their place & in bed for the night. Until we heard screaming. My bf said he'd be right back & went to see what was going on & found his T & K in an argument. I waited up for him since he said he'd be back soon. I could hear them screaming at each other. I was uncomfortable at this point. I'm in a house I've never been in before, in an unfamiliar room alone and everyone I just met is screaming, also very high/drunk.
He came back 1 hour later, & I was relieved bc I wanted the screaming to end so I could sleep. It was 2 am. Well my bf went back in attempts to "mediate" the argument, saying he'd be "right back". I could hear everything & imo, he was prolonging the fight by getting involved & siding with K. I also was on K's side bc T was being really hurtful, saying mean things to K. As much as I agreed with my bf sticking up for K, I felt like he was causing it to go on a lot longer by getting involved. He knew I was waiting up for him so we could go to bed together so I found this a little frustrating.
More fighting passes & by this time, its already 4 am. He comes back, but this time, with K. She's crying hysterically & hes asking her what drugs she does which was clearly making her more upset. I could tell K did not want to have that convo in front of me. I told my bf that this was very awkward & he left the room with K & again, told me he'd be right back. So I kept waiting up for him.
He came back 30 mins later, told me that he was going to stay up with K which I understood but I was upset bc he could've told me this hours ago, I had been waiting up for hours because he kept telling me he would "be right back". I couldn't even fall asleep if I wanted to, because of the yelling all night long. I just wanted it to end. When he told me this, I just broke out in tears. I was exhausted. Frustrated. I felt this was rude to do when you have a first time guest in your home. More rude on T's part than anything. I dreaded the idea of spending the rest of the weekend there.
My bf saw my frustration & told his K he was going to bed instead. She was more than ok with that given the time. Him and I talked about what happened, we both cried for a while. He was scared I was going to leave him bc his family is "crazy". I reassured him I would not leave him over this, but that I was uncomfy. He said he didn't want to be near T anymore, and we both agreed to leave first thing in the morning. So we did. Now T is upset.
I feel bad, I really wanted things to go well with his family. AITA for leaving early?
Character limit, so slightly more detail in comments.

1. Scheana and Brock discuss the seating arrangements for their upcoming wedding in Mexico and comment on how "Raquel’s got a little roster stacking up" because the men she's being linked to at Scheana's wedding.
2. Katie joins the Toms at Scwhartz & Sandy’s for another food tasting. (This was Schwartz's peace offering to Katie after they got into a fight at Sandoval and Ariana's pool party.) The Toms are trying to lock in a food menu before they head to Mexico so they can get closer to opening their bar, and the deadline is tight!
3. Ariana, Scheana, and Lala invite Ally to lunch and discuss how they want to spend more time with her but also want to be delicate about Raquel’s feelings since she’s still getting over her break up from James. (Well, everyone except Lala is delicate about it.)
4. At lunch, they rehash Lala’s fight with Raquel at Sandoval and Ariana’s house. “This bitch calls me a mistress bimbo as she’s in a pink sarong with six inch heels at a fucking pool party in Valley Village,” Lala says, talking about Raquel.
5. Ariana defends Raquel and says, “She looked hot,” and Lala responds, “She looked like a baby prostitute.”
6. Lala and Brock have a heart-to-heart about how far their relationship has come since last season when Lala fought with Brock about the fact that he hasn’t seen his kids from a prior relationship in four years. Lala apologizes for how she treated Brock and they both gush over how much they love and appreciate each other.
7. Lisa Vanderpump hosts a surprise bridal shower for Scheana and one of the first shots we see is Sandoval standing with Raquel in the garden.
8. James is annoyed that Schwartz and Raquel are flirting at the shower. At one point when the two are talking, Schwartz explains why he has a tattoo of "LVP" on his butt. "My ass looks great with LVP on it, he says." Raquel responds, "I'm sure it does" and Schwartz says, "I'll show you in Mexico."
9. The Toms host everyone at Schwartz & Sandy's for an after party, where Schwartz and Raquel continue to flirt.
10. The gang finally arrives in Mexico for Scheana and Brock's wedding. As soon as they get there, Katie and Ariana FaceTime with Lisa and a realtor and find out that they secured the space for their new sandwich shop, Something About Her.
11. When Sandoval and Ariana enter their hotel room, he brings attention to the fact that there are "two beds!"
12. "I'm so excited to be in Mexico. Nothing else to get in the way of my quality time with Tom," Ariana says. "He is my prisoner."
13. The couple share a kiss on one of the two beds in their room.
14. Kristina Kelly shows up uninvited to dinner on the first night of Scheana's wedding weekend. While Scheana doesn't address the issue to Kristina's face, in her interview she talks about how Kristina and former cast member Stassi Schroeder made fun of her the first time she got married when she wore a crop top wedding dress.
15. The group dinner isn't without drama — in a moment that wasn't filmed on camera, James nearly got into a physical altercation with one of Brock's friends. James apparently body checked Brock's friend because the friend drunkenly said "hello" and hugged him.
16. Ariana addresses the incident with James at dinner and yells at him. "I wish you could hear your tone of voice when you speak to me because you’ve been very fucking rude to me," Ariana says.
17. James asks her not to yell and she replies, “I will raise my voice because when I talk at a normal volume you don’t fucking listen to me and I’ve had enough. We’re done!”

Link to article

... I couldn't think of another title, as this post is supposed to be a bit of an emotional one. I spent a lot of time with grown ups recently (I'm 18 and spent kost of my time with 14-20 year olds before), especially a circle of LGBT people, who meet monthly for a chat. Some things I realised through this are, that not only is the internet VASTLY more different in terms of opinions than I had imagined, but everyone is a lot calmer.
People listen to you, try to understand where you are coming from. I don't get insulted and yelled at for simply asking what the difference between pan and bi is - because I genuinely don't know, and just want to learn (tbh I still don't quite get it). The fact that you are face to face with someone who will see your eyes makes it a lot easier to not feel boxed into a certain set of world views that are acceptable. I HATE (and I'm fully honest about that) the push for constant trans representation and acknowledgement. Simply because it constantly reminds me of what I am. This doesn't mean I think people should stop fighting for their rights or representation - I will just personally try and avoid it, for my own mental health. I don't have a problem with you loving the representation we are getting, I just have a problem with it feeling forced, and pushed onto me.
In a lot of threads and forums terms like "amab", "transfemme" and such are seen as supportive.. Which I just don't understand... Why does my own community have to keep on reminding me that I'm different than all other women? Can I not just talk or think about it in certain situation? At pride events, the first question people ask me is "are you amab or afab?" Why the hell do you care? The ONLY people who really NEED to know about me being trans is Doctors, My Partner, and people I decide to tell. This doesn't mean that asking questions is wrong though... It's just SOME questions that make me personally feel horrible - and with that I want to stress again that I don't have a problem with you, If you feel differently about these things - we just have different opinions, and feelings, and that is ok.
Throughout these last weeks to months I learned a lot about the world. Hell, I'm 18 and the Duning-Kruger Effect that is present throughout puberty is just starting to wear off... I'm at my lowest point of confidence In my knowledge. I question myself daily: am I really right about this? Was this comment i made months ago correct? And sometimes questions invade my head like: Am I important? Will people remember me? How do I even want to be remembered? I'm now at that point in life where you have to make the biggest decisions with the lowest confidence. And before venturing out in the real life, adult LGBT community - I thought I'd have to do everything concerning my transition alone. But now, I at least feel confident about my part in the world as a girl. Confirmed in my identity and encouraged by the many many tips I got by girls older than me. Make up tips, outfit advice, all of those nice things!
Thank you for reading this. I really appreciate people caring for my thoughts and feelings - even though they might not even relate to them. And If you do relate - well I'm the wrong person to ask for advice. Because really, I need it myself.

The following transcripts were obtained from the Cedar Rapids Plumbing HR department. The recordings were obtained as evidence and are now being shared with the public in an effort to aid in an ongoing investigation.
Transcript #1: Meeting between Jade Hollet (HR and Customer Relations) & Ellis Beckert (Senior Plumber) Recorded Monday, January 16th, 2023 6:00PM:
Jade: Evening, Ellis. Grab a seat.
Ellis: Hi, Jade.
Jade: Thanks again for agreeing to do this. I know you had a busy last week.
Ellis: Ahh, It’s been crazy. All of it.
Jade: I hope the weekend helped you process everything.
Ellis: It really didn’t. I feel the same. Things are just as murky as they’ve ever been.
Jade: Sorry to hear that, Ellis. I really am. I want to hear everything, so let's get into it. I just want to disclose first that I am recording this. Kind of an unusual situation we have here, so I just want to make sure I don’t miss any information when documenting and updating our records.
Ellis: Understood.
Jade: Normally I wouldn't be asking for this level of detail, but you understand the circumstances more than anyone. I’m picking at this post-mortem and everything.
Ellis: I totally get it.
Jade: Let’s dive in then and get you home to Shirley and the kids. Remind me again, how long have you worked for CR?
Ellis: Haha. Kind of sad to admit this, but it’s been nearly ten years.
Jade: And with Dave, specifically?
Ellis: All ten, for sure. Dave’s the most senior guy we got.
Jade: And how would you describe him as an employee, generally?
Ellis: Davey boy? Oh, an absolute rockstar. That’s why it’s just so hard, what went down.
Jade: Could you elaborate?
Ellis: Hard worker, man. Busts his ass every day. He would cover shifts for you at the drop of a hat. Always willing to lend a helping hand. I have an affinity for the guy, us being the old pups around the block here. The guy is a gem and a good friend, at that.
Jade: Thanks, Ellis. Okay. So let’s get into what happened on the thirteenth.
Ellis: Okay. Well, I get the call from dispatch last Friday at around 2:00 AM. It’s a house on Oakwood Lane that’s complaining about a leaky pipe in the basement. Real emergency by the sounds of it. Megan sends the two of us: Me and Dave. Dave picks me up in the van and we head over right away.
Jade: Did he seem fine?
Ellis: Who? Dave? Oh, yeah. A little cranky, but so was I. Nobody likes these early morning visits. Working on call sucks.
Jade: Haha. I won’t argue with you there. I’ll stay quiet in my cushy cubicle. Anyways, I hope you don’t mind, I’ll also be taking some quick notes. If I'm not looking at you, just know that I'm still listening.
Ellis: No problem.
Jade: Okay. Continue.
Ellis: We get to the house and there are no lights on. It’s a sixties bungalow-style home, pretty standard for that neighborhood. Massive trees in the front yard. To be honest, we’re not even sure it's the right place at first, so Dave calls dispatch to confirm. We’re twiddling our thumbs for fifteen minutes with no response. I’m cursing the whole time, telling Dave to turn the van around and head home. He wants to wait another five, just to be sure. So, we do. Just as he starts the engine to leave, the porch light turns on. A middle-aged couple walks out and waves for us to come in. We get to the porch, and the lady confirms they made the call, so I head in first, and Dave heads back to the van to grab some tools.
Jade: Can you describe the couple for me?
Ellis: I mean, normal looking. White suburban family. They were just dressed odd, like an episode of ‘Leave it to Beaver’. The wife’s got a flower print dress on and one of those beehive hairdos that is hair sprayed solid. The husbands got on these god-awful plaid slacks and a yellow polo shirt. I don’t normally notice this kind of thing, but it reminded me of what my parents used to wear when I was a kid. Total blast from the past.
Jade: Seems like strange attire given the hour of the day.
Ellis: No kidding. Try coming to my door at that hour. I’d be in nothing but my briefs. No one deserves to see that.
Jade: Haha. Okay. So what happens when you get inside?
Ellis: I take a few steps inside and you can tell right away that something is off. The place looks like a bomb went off. There are stacks and stacks of newspapers, books, clothing, records, tube TV’s. We’re talking towers of this stuff right to the ceiling, lining the avocado-painted walls, littering the dusty shag rugs. The chandelier is black with crud. Extreme hoarder's level of crap. The lady offers me a coffee, so we walk through the foyer to the kitchen. It smells like mildew and rot. I’m trying my best not to be rude, but it’s a challenge holding back my gag reflex. I just can’t understand how people live like this. Anyways, I think she notices because once we get there she apologizes. She says they are in the process of deep cleaning the house or something. I don’t buy it for one second, but it is what it is. That amount of clutter is collected for years and years. But they seem like nice enough people.
Jade: Where is Dave during all of this?
Ellis: I hear him enter a couple of minutes later. He gives me the eyes, like ‘Holy shit. We are in for a fun one’. He drops off my tool bag and leaves with the husband to inspect the basement. I tell him I’ll be down shortly.
Jade: You don’t go with him?
Ellis: Not right away. Mainly because their story has changed. The wife tells me she now thinks the leak is coming from the bathroom on the main floor. The husband is adamant the issue is in the basement. It shouldn’t be that hard to pinpoint. I know from both of our perspectives, we just want to get the job done and get back to our warm beds, so it made sense to divide and conquer.
Jade: Hmm…okay.
Ellis: So, I finish my drink and that’s when things take a sharp turn. The wife grabs my coffee cup and starts washing the dishes. She points me in the direction of the washroom and says she’ll be right with me. I head toward the hallway through the forest of teetering junk, and there's a flicker of something that crosses my path up ahead. A shadow. I hear this little pitter-patter of feet. I keep walking. I figure maybe a toy or something fell from one of the piles. But it happens again just before I get to the hall entrance. I look back, and behind a pile of bell-bottom pants, a tiny head pops out.
Jade: Who was it?
Ellis: It was a cat. Midnight black. Big piercing yellow eyes. It climbs the tower of wrinkled clothes and sits perched at the top like the king of the castle. It freaks me out. I turn back around to leave, but I hear it hiss. It’s scratching at something stuck between one of its claws. It’s frantically digging away, and then finally the object releases and it tumbles down the clothing pile, floating toward me.
Jade: What was it?
Ellis: It was a newspaper clipping from 1967. Faded, yellowed, crumpled at the edges. But I swear to God, it was a local news article about my softball team winning the city championship. I was just a boy in the photo.
Jade: Wow. Incredibly strange…
Ellis: Sorry—I went off on a tangent there. I guess I’m just saying that to show you that this wasn’t a normal job.
Jade: I totally get it. The more context here the better. So, go on.
Ellis: I’m shitting bricks at this point. I’m calling the woman’s name, Victoria I believe it was, but I don’t hear anything back. The cat scurries down the hall, and I don’t know what else to do but follow it. I figure just diagnose the leak as quickly as possible, find Dave, make the repair, and get the heck out. I get to the bathroom and have a look around.
Jade: And how bad was it?
Ellis: There was a small pool around the toilet. It’s not uncommon for a bathroom that dated to have an issue with the wax gasket. Nothing to write home about and definitely far from the major disaster alluded to by dispatch. Everything else looked solid. No other signs of dripping or corrosion. It was an easy fix.
Jade: How long does it take to fix?
Ellis: Not long at all. It’s pretty simple. It made me think Dave was probably dealing with the real shit show downstairs. No pun intended.
Jade: Haha. So after you fix it, what happens?
Ellis: I never fixed it.
Jade: What do you mean?
Ellis: After I was confident with my assessment, I went looking for Victoria just to give her a rundown before I make the repair. We typically need some sort of sign-off before we can complete the work.
Jade: And did she okay it?
Ellis: The short of it is, I never found her. I stumbled through the mess of junk back to the kitchen. I walked back toward the washroom and then further down the hallway past a couple of the bedrooms. The doors were closed and the lights were off, so I didn’t want to intrude.
Jade: Unbelievable. So she just left?
Ellis: Yeah…so I don’t really know what to do at that point. I’m lingering by the washroom, contemplating whether I should just complete the repairs or head to the basement to help Dave. My guess was she got bored and went down there with her husband anyways to check on them. I start walking until I hear something.
Jade: Something? Like what?
Ellis: It’s moaning coming from the washroom. I step back inside and place my ear near the toilet seat. Down the pipes, I swear I hear Dave.
Jade: Oh my God. Dave? What’s he saying?
Ellis: He’s crying for help in these deep howls. Like a wounded dog trapped in a well. Ahh…
Jade: Take your time.
Ellis: Thanks. Sorry. It still fucks with me, Jade. I’d never heard anyone sound like that before, let alone Dave.
Jade: Your sure it was him?
Ellis: One hundred percent positive. Without a doubt.
Jade: So I assume you went downstairs to help him?
Ellis: I grab my tools and start running. I wasn’t careful about it either. I storm through the mess, mountains of videos games and comic books topple to the floor. I hear things crashing, glass breaking. I didn’t care anymore. I needed to find him and get us the hell out.
Jade: And how was he?
Ellis: Oh my God, Jade. It took me forever to find him. It felt like hours. I keep passing heaps of sweatshirts and newspaper bundles that I could have sworn I’d seen before. So I run faster, my arms sore lugging the toolbag around in circles. The whole time, I don’t see the lady. I don’t see anyone for ages. Only the black cat I saw earlier, with its sharp eyes, and a couple of his friends. They keep hissing at me. Snarling. And new ones keep popping up out of the woodwork, behind piles of plastic containers filled to the brim containing God knows what. There were too many to count. All of them, hissing at me.
Jade: Jesus Christ, Ellis. Corey never mentioned any of this.
Ellis: Ha. I’m not surprised. When Corey’s mad, he just doesn’t want to hear any of it. There was a bloody good reason for what we did.
Jade: So, eventually you find him?
Ellis: I do. The stupid cats end up huddling by the door. I follow them, using the toolbag as a sort of weapon to shoo them away. I’m convinced one of them is going to claw me down and give me rabies.
Jade: Well, I’m glad they left you alone.
Ellis: Stupid excuse for pets. They want nothing to do with you unless you have food. Anyways, I digress. I find the door and it’s pitch black down the steep decline. I fumble through my bag and flick on my flashlight. All I hear are the creaks from my footsteps as I enter. It’s cold. The stairs are brittle, they look like they can barely support my weight. I get down there, and the whole place is unfinished. The wood framing is done, but the electrical wires are still strung up. There’s no drywall, no nothing. Just a furnace and a couple of hot water tanks and concrete. Dave is down there. He’s sitting with his back toward me, cross-legged by the drain hole. He’s not responding. It’s like he can't hear me.
Jade: Was he okay?
Ellis: He has this blank expression on his face. He’s muttering something under his breath, but I can’t understand any of it. His hand is pressed up against the mucky drain hole. I try to shake him out of it, but he’s lost man. He’s gone.
Jade: Did he look hurt?
Ellis: No, he looked physically fine. He just looked rattled.
Jade: And was the leak bad?
Ellis: That’s the most messed up thing about it. The basement was bone dry. The pipes, everything. No sign of a leak at all.
Jade: And they weren’t down there?
Ellis: The owners? Nowhere to be found. We would have saw them too. Like I said, it was a wide open space.
Jade: So, what did you guys do next?
Ellis: I grab Dave under his armpits and drag him toward the stairs. We trudge our way up, but he was listless through all of it. He just keeps muttering gibberish. It’s not until we make it to the car and start driving that he snaps out of it.
Jade: So he was okay?
Ellis: He still looked stunned, but at least he was responsive. I mean, responsive, but none of what he was saying made any sense.
Jade: What do you mean?
Ellis: He was adamant that he lived in that home. He kept begging me to turn back. He was pulling on my shoulder so hard that we damn near hit the median. I told him to get bent, there was no way I was heading back to that place. But he keeps persisting. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out this bundled-up wad of paper. I smooth it out and it’s a picture of a little boy in overalls. There are banners on the wall, and a cake on the table off in the distance. He claims that the photo is of him. He found it in one of the piles.
Jade: No way…
Ellis: You’re telling me. I look at the photo and I tell him it’s all wrong. The placement of the kitchen relative to the hallway. The wallpaper color. The height of the ceiling. He wasn’t hearing any of it.
Jade: So…do you guys turn back?
Ellis: Hell no. I think Dave is pissed at me, but I don’t care. I dropped him off at his place and told him to get some rest.
Jade: And you?
Ellis: I headed home too. I was exhausted. But you wanna know what the most messed up thing is about this whole situation?
Jade: What?
Ellis: I call Corey when I wake up and tell him everything. And you know what he says?
Jade: I think I do.
Ellis: Yeah, you’re smiling. I get it. But there ain’t nothing funny about it. He can label it whatever he wants—abandoning the job, no-showing—whatever. Put the red strike against my name. But I’ll quit before I ever go back to that house.
Jade: I hear you. Sorry, I didn’t mean to make light of it.
Ellis: Promise me you’ll talk to him? That house is not a safe work environment. It needs to be blacklisted.
Jade: I’ll do what I can. Thanks, Ellis.
Transcript #2: Meeting between Jade Hollet (HR and Customer Relations) & Mike Coswell (Journeyman Plumber) Recorded Weds Jan 18th, 2023 5:53PM:
Jade: Hi, Mike.
Mike: Jade. You look lovely this evening.
Jade: Oh, thanks. Thanks again for meeting with me.
Mike: No problem. Where is Corey?
Jade: He won’t be joining us after all. He got pulled away on another job.
Mike: You’re kidding, right?
Jade: I’m not. I’m sorry…
Mike: Look, I’m happy to shed some light on this situation, but this all feels like a waste of time if he’s not here to hear it.
Jade: Please, Mike. I know you’re upset. You have every right to be. You, Dave, Ellis—everyone involved. But I can’t help if I don't know the story. It is really unfortunate that he’s not here, but I promise that I’ll relay the information.
Mike: It’s not you I worry about here, Jade. He needs to listen. He needs to start taking this seriously.
Jade: I completely agree. And I promise I will do my best to catch him, sit him down, and get him to listen. But I need your side of the story, Mike, in order to do this.
Mike: Alright.
Jade: Thank you. Before we start, I just want to let you know that I am recording this. This file seems to be a contentious one, so I just want to make sure I document everything.
Mike: All fine by me.
Jade: Perfect. So, walk me through what happened yesterday at the house on Oakwood Lane.
Mike: Corey calls me, livid, right at the start of my shift. He says he needs me to make a repair right away and Tony will take the job I was previously scheduled for. It’s a simple job, he says, replacing the wax ring around a toilet. I tell him yes and I drive over.
Jade: Does he tell you that Ellis and Dave had already been on-site the day before?
Mike: He doesn’t. And now I know why.
Jade: Can you describe the house once you get there?
Mike: Yes. It’s a single-story home. Pitched roof. Older. It looks well-maintained from the outside. The inside, though, was a nightmare.
Jade: How bad was it?
Mike: Oh, you know, just charming. It looked like they had never thrown anything out before. Ever. Mountains of CD’s, cassette tapes, phonebooks, magazines, and bottles of spray paint. All this crap sat in piles and piles. The house had these brown stains along the walls and this awful yellow floral wallpaper, maroon sofas with velvet sweaters and parachute pants cast upon them. And the smell…that was something else. Like cat piss and shit.
Jade: Really? Are you sure about all of those details?
Mike: Oh yeah, positive. The whole place was like a fucked up time warp.
Jade: Okay. So what happens once you get there?
Mike: They lead me to the main floor bathroom, but they say that someone else has already fixed it for them. I check it out, and it looks like the seal is new. The rounder fellow with the beard, he says the problem is in the basement. The drainage hole is plugged.
Jade: Wait…hold on. There were two guys?
Mike: Yes. Young guys. Maybe in their twenties. I didn’t want to judge or anything, but it seemed like they were a couple. They were pretty handsy with each other, anyways. There was a bigger guy with a thick beard and a skinny, clean-shaven guy with a baseball cap. They were dressed in these matching bright neon jackets with blocks of color. Comically eighties.
Jade: Are you sure they were the owners?
Mike: There was no one else there, besides the stupid cats. And they seemed to know their way around the place. I guess I made the assumption.
Jade: Hmm…Okay.
Mike: Anyways, they lead me to basement. I take a couple of steps down, and I’m asking them about what they think caused the blockage. I don’t hear a response back, just the slamming of the door. The whole room goes black.
Jade: Oh my God, Mike.
Mike: Exactly. This is why I’m so bloody pissed at Corey. This was Ellis and Dave’s mess to clean up, not mine.
Jade: They came and got you right?
Mike: They leave me down there. The door is locked.
Jade: Holy crap, Mike. I’m sorry.
Mike: So, I’m panicking. The two guys never respond. Luckily, I find the flashlight in my toolbox. I try to batter down the door with no luck. The bastards must have moved one of the couches or something to block it.
Jade: So you can’t go back up. What do you do?
Mike: I head down. The basement looks like some kind of construction project. I spot the drain hole, and there’s a pile of things beside it. I walk over and it’s a bunch of old toys that look familiar. Some Care Bears, an Etch-A-Sketch, a Fisher Price tape recorder. I owned all of these as a kid. They’re all in a pile facing me in this weird sort of memorial.
Jade: Jesus. That is disturbing.
Mike: I know. Chills still run up my neck at the thought of it.
Jade: How bad was the clog?
Mike: That’s the craziest thing, there wasn’t one. I’m inspecting the toys and I hear something coming from the drain hole. I place my hand on the metal grate and it’s cold but dry. I place my ear to the metal and I definitely hear voices. It’s a lot of gasping and wheezing. It sounds far away. I think I hear a tired cry for help. I can hear water running too, surging. But I don’t see anything building, it’s just blackness behind the grate. It didn’t make any sense. And then I hear the scratching, the claws scraping at the door.
Jade: My God, Mike. I hope you got out of there.
Mike: Oh, I did. At this point, I was completely freaked out. I take one of my wrenches, smash the window, and climb out of that basement as quickly as possible.
Jade: I’m glad you're okay, Mike. That story is terrifying.
Mike: Thanks, Jade. Just so you know, I called the cops. I don’t know if anything will come of it, but that place wasn’t right.
Jade: I think that was smart. Keep me posted if you need anything. I’ve got a meeting scheduled with Corey this week. I’ll make sure to include all of this.
Mike: Don’t let him send another one of our guys down there.
Jade: Agreed. I’ll let him know. Thanks, Mike.
Transcript #3: Meeting between Jade Hollet (HR and Customer Relations) & Megan Rodriguez (Dispatcher) Recorded Mon Jan 23rd, 2023 7:42AM:
Jade: Hi, Megan.
Megan: Hi, Jade. How was your weekend?
Jade: Oh, you know, quiet, so good. Sorry to grab you so early here. This will be super quick, I just need to hear it from your lips.
Megan: No problem. I don’t start for another fifteen or so.
Jade: Perfect. This shouldn’t take long at all. Have a seat.
Megan: So, what’s up?
Jade: A lot of people are talking about the Oakwood house jobs lately. I spoke with Ellis and Mike already. I just need to know your perspective.
Megan: Mmmhmm. Okay.
Jade: Also, before I forget, I’m recording everything. Just so you know.
Megan: Um…okay.
Jade: Not to be used against you or anything. I know, it’s weird. This whole thing is weird. But I’m getting some conflicting stories here that I need to verify, and I just don’t want to forget any of the details.
Megan: I guess that’s okay.
Jade: Awesome. Thanks for understanding. So a couple of weeks ago, Friday January 13th to be exact, Ellis said he received a call that morning from dispatch. He said you made the call. Then he said Dave made a call back to confirm the address was correct. [REDACTED]. They waited fifteen minutes, but they claimed they never heard back from dispatch.
Megan: Ellis is wrong. You can check the records yourself, I already have. No call was made to him that morning. We did receive a call from Dave that we returned. I don’t know when it was sent exactly, but we were dealing with another issue at the time. I know for sure that the call went to his voicemail though.
Jade: You’re sure about that?
Megan: I’m positive. That job ticket # was also for a job completed last year, it’s a completely different address.
Jade: Okay. Can you check if we’ve ever completed work at [REDACTED] in the past?
Megan: I did check. That address isn’t in our records.
Jade: Hmm…okay. Thanks, Megan. One more thing—
*knock*
Jade: Shoot. It’s Corey. I need to speak with him. Thanks, Megan. You’ve been a big help. I’ll reach out if necessary.
Megan: No worries, Jade. Have a good day!
Transcript #4: Meeting between Jade Hollet (HR and Customer Relations) & Corey Nanton (Operations Manager) Recorded Mon Jan 23rd, 2023 7:51AM:
Jade: Hi, Corey.
Corey: Hey, Jade. How’s it going?
Jade: I’m doing okay. Can you close the door?
Corey: Definitely.
Jade: Any word yet?
Corey: Nothing yet. But I think it’s pretty clear that we need to do something. I’ve left voicemails. I’ve tried reaching out to his girlfriend. No one has seen or heard from him.
Jade: It’s more serious than that.
Corey: What do you mean?
Jade: No one has contacted you yet?
Corey: For what?
Jade: I was contacted by law enforcement this morning. I’m sure they will be speaking with you shortly. They’re looking for him too. Do you know if anyone has seen him since?
Corey: No. This whole situation has been such an utter pain in the ass. He’s been a no-show since that job. I spoke with the guys. No one has heard from him. It’s not like him.
Jade: You know, Corey, Mike and Ellis’s stories don’t line up at all. I have a really bad feeling about this.
Corey: What do you mean?
Jade: When they claimed that the homeowners weren’t the same, I looked up the house online. There’s no sales history at all since the house was built in 1961.
Corey: Okay?
Jade: I…I don’t know why, but I’ve gone down a rabbit hole with this one. I called in a favor with one of my friends at the city. He pulled everything he could on the house. There were permits in place to demolish it years ago. It keeps getting delayed and held up in court. But no one has lived in it for years. It was deemed a safety hazard by the community. Unliveable. Pull up your phone and search the address. Tell me the first story you see.
Corey: Hold on. Holy crap…
Jade: I told you. You see all the cats?
Corey: This place looks like absolute shit. The ceiling looks like it’s about to cave in.
Jade: And the poor cats. Look at them all. Starved, rolling around in their own filth.
Corey: You’re sure this is the same house?
Jade: I’ll play you back the tapes of what the guys said. The description matches perfectly.
Corey: No bloody way. This makes no sense!
Jade: I know. I told you, Corey. We should have spoken sooner! That’s not even the worst part. I…
Corey: It’s okay, Jade. Here.
Jade: Thanks, Corey. Ahh, my friggin’ makeup. Anyways, I…Just wait until they speak to you.
Corey: Jade. Just tell me now. Please.
Jade: I don’t even think I should be speaking about it…but…
Corey: I know this must be hard for you. With Dave and everything…
Jade: That was a long time ago, Mike. We’ve been with other people for years.
Corey: I know. It’s not my place. I’m sorry. I just know from my own experiences that you never stop caring for them. I guess that’s all I’m trying to say.
Jade: Corey. You don’t get it. They’re trying to say he went back to the property. They’re saying he broke in and burst one of the pipes. The house is completely flooded. They found bodies…
*knock* *knock*
Jade: Well, I guess you can hear it from them yourself.
***
If you or anyone you know has been in contact with David Weiss or has visited the property on Oakwood Lane, [REDACTED], we urge you to please call the local authorities.
​
A.P. Royal

Hi everyone, a friend of mine works at Games Workshop, and he shared a review of Arks of Omen: The Lion with me the other day. I don't speak English so I apologize for the google translate. In a few words, THIS. SIMPLE. INCREDIBLE.
The spoilers themselves follow.
We are shown a vision of The Lion. He runs through a dense forest, jumping from tree to tree and chasing a red-skinned predator. Then he finds himself on the shore of a lake. Out of the water emerges a hand with a golden glove holding a sword. The lion swims towards her without a second thought and grabs the weapon. The inscription "Fealty" appears on the surface of the lake.
The Lion then regains consciousness on the unknown planet of Imperium Nihilus. He doesn't remember anything, not even his name and who he is. He only remembers his purpose: to hunt, and in his hands is the sword of vision. And he begins the hunt, destroying everyone who seems hostile to him.
As a result of his awakening, the Lion has a new ability: he can move between planets and the forests on them, but he cannot control it. After one of these displacements, the Primarch finds himself in a battle between space marines, some in green armor and others in black armor. Upon seeing the Primarch, both sides are stunned. Obeying a sudden instinct, the Lion eliminates the "green" squad.
The "black" troop kneels before the Lion and calls him his lord. The Primarch vaguely recognizes them, but does not remember. The warriors aid the Lion in his new hunt, and not even his new powers deter them.
Soon the squad receives a message consisting of only two words, "Starfire", and the coordinates of a certain planet. The lion, upon hearing these words, involuntarily activates his powers and finds himself on the small fishing planet of Red Herring. There he is greeted by Cypher and a large number of the Fallen, who are loyal to the Lion—there are enough for an entire order of them. In one hand he carries the Lion Sword, and in the other the Emperor’s Shield, which he acquired from some unknown place. The Lion recognizes Cypher, and even calls him by his name. Seifer gives the shield and sword to the Lion, and he recovers his memories, as well as all the knowledge accumulated by Seifer. The power of the memories is so great that primarch unleashes a psychic shriek, heard far down the warp.
Both the already recovered Angron, who is looking for a strong opponent, as well as Abaddon and Vashtorr react to him. His forces appear almost immediately in the planet's orbit. It turns out that it is the Lion Sword that activates the Silver Key. But the Loyalists have heard the cry too: the Dark Angels are searching for Vashtorr, and the Imperium Nihilus fleet, led by Dante, flies by.
AND THEN THE BATTLE BEGINS!
Angron embodies himself in the midst of the army of the Fallen and lashes out at the Lion, exhausted and even aged on the outside. He quickly comes to his senses, but is unable to retrieve the Lion Sword. The Lion then battles the demonic Primarch with the Sword of Loyalty and the Emperor's Shield. Seifer retrieves the Lion Sword, but the Ark Warriors, where Abaddon and Vashtorr were, have already surfaced. Daemons and Heretic Astartes attack the Fallen.
The Rock arrives. The Dark Angels are lost. They recognize his Primarch, but do not understand why he fights surrounded by the Fallen. At first they decide to attack their former brothers, but at that moment Dante's fleet appears in orbit to attack the Arks of Omen. The main force of the DA then decides to help the fleet so as not to arouse suspicion, and the members of the Inner Circle, led by Azrael, teleport to the Lion and the Fallen. They cross swords with Cypher, but Cypher manages to explain the situation and convince the Dark Angels to help the Lion first.
Meanwhile, El'Johnson is surrounded by a large number of demons. Seeing this, Azrael and Cypher work together to open a path to his lord. The Lion smashes all enemies, not noticing Angron's Black Sword above his head. BUT AT THE LAST MOMENT CYPHER SHIELDED THE LION WITH HIS BODY! Angron inflicts a near fatal wound on Cypher. His sacrifice buys the lion precious seconds, and he BREAKS ANGRON WITH HIS BLADE from him, putting him back in the warp!
Then Vashthorr himself appears on the battlefield. He turns the corpses of space marines into half-mechanical cyborgs, attacking everyone and trying to get the Lion Sword. Despite all the resistance from the Dark Angels and the Fallen who are fighting back to back, Arquiphein manages to retrieve the Sword and teleport to the Ark.
In the void, Dante boards Abaddon's Ark and fights him. In a frantic battle, Dante severs Abaddon's arm with a Drach'nyen. The Despoiler, badly wounded, is forced to retreat. For a second Dante feels the urge to grab Drach'nyen, but quickly changes his mind, and then the demon sword disappears somewhere.
Vashtorr has finally assembled all the pieces of the Silver Key. No one can stop him anymore. Arkifane is about to activate it, but at that moment (ATTENTION!) the LEAGUES OF VOTANN SHIPS appear! THEY DISABLE VASHTORR'S ARK AND TAKE IT WITH THEM, THEN DISAPPEAR WITHOUT A TRACE!
The Imperium troops then easily finish off the remaining heretics. The Lion finally talks to the Dark Angels. They tell him of Luther and the Fallen, and try to persuade the Primarch to finish them off. BUT THE LION IS OPPOSED. Instead, he forgives the Fallen and assembles a new order of the Forgiven, with his foremost warriors in the Lion Guard. Cypher is almost dying, and the Lion sends him to the Rock, in the care of the Watchers in the Dark.
Next, Lion talks to Dante. He tells her everything that happens in the Imperium, including the reanimated Gilliman. Lion has found out from Cypher, but he pretends to be very interested. Dante offers to cede his powers as regent of the Imperium Nihilus to Lion, but Lion refuses. For now.
In the end, the Watchers in the Dark help the Lion fully master his new powers. He decides to lead the Dark Angels and asks to gather all the orders of heirs. He then ponders what he should do next. Go to Gilliman, who is now engaged in the war against the Necrons and Tyranids? Fly to Terra to meet the Emperor? Find Luthor the Architraitor? Or... find out more about the mysterious ships that have come to his rescue?

I (26F) & my bf (27M) drove to his hometown to visit his mom (T) & sister (19F, K). It was my 1st time meeting both of them.
T & K had been arguing for weeks prior to our arrival, bc T is concerned about K's substance use. Ironically, T tried getting me to partake in cocaine & psychedelics with her, which I declined. My bf begged them not to fight prior to our arrival.
We all went to the bar. Got back to their place & in bed for the night. Until we heard screaming. My bf said he'd be right back & went to see what was going on & found his T & K in an argument. I waited up for him since he said he'd be back soon. I could hear them screaming at each other. I was uncomfortable at this point. I'm in a house I've never been in before, in an unfamiliar room alone and everyone I just met is screaming, also very high/drunk.
He came back 1 hour later, & I was relieved bc I wanted the screaming to end so I could sleep. It was 2 am. Well my bf went back in attempts to "mediate" the argument, saying he'd be "right back". I could hear everything & imo, he was prolonging the fight by getting involved & siding with K. I also was on K's side bc T was being really hurtful, saying mean things to K. As much as I agreed with my bf sticking up for K, I felt like he was causing it to go on a lot longer by getting involved. He knew I was waiting up for him so we could go to bed together so I found this a little frustrating.
More fighting passes & by this time, its already 4 am. He comes back, but this time, with K. She's crying hysterically & hes asking her what drugs she does which was clearly making her more upset. I could tell K did not want to have that convo in front of me. I told my bf that this was very awkward & he left the room with K & again, told me he'd be right back. So I kept waiting up for him.
He came back 30 mins later, told me that he was going to stay up with K which I understood but I was upset bc he could've told me this hours ago, I had been waiting up for hours because he kept telling me he would "be right back". I couldn't even fall asleep if I wanted to, because of the yelling all night long. I just wanted it to end. When he told me this, I just broke out in tears. I was exhausted. Frustrated. I felt this was rude to do when you have a first time guest in your home. More rude on T's part than anything. I dreaded the idea of spending the rest of the weekend there.
My bf saw my frustration & told his K he was going to bed instead. She was more than ok with that given the time. Him and I talked about what happened, we both cried for a while. He was scared I was going to leave him bc his family is "crazy". I reassured him I would not leave him over this, but that I was uncomfy. He said he didn't want to be near T anymore, and we both agreed to leave first thing in the morning. So we did. Now T is upset.
I feel bad, I really wanted things to go well with his family. AITA for leaving early?
Character limit, so slightly more detail in comments.

It breaks my heart to hear this story from my 8th grader.
I am Asian, and my husband is white. My son looks biracial.
Earlier this week, as he was waiting for me to pick him up, my son stood near a bunch of other kids. One of them started making slanty-eyes and saying, "Ching chong chang" as part of playing around. It was not directed to my son or to me.
He did not lash back, as he did not know how to react. I told him that he would not be in trouble whatsoever if he had gotten into a fight with this kid. I would like to give better advice than that.
Should I tell him to ignore it? Should I advise him to tell a teacher or the principal? If so what do I say?
Although he doesn't know that other child's name, he does know he is in 8th grade and could probably identify him from a yearbook.
Thank you for your help.

My (29F) father (61M) had a heart attack at the end of 2020 and survived it luckily.
Over the course of most of 2022, my brother (33M) was withholding his children (8M, 5F) from seeing our parents. My brother himself also barely spoke to our parents for the better part of a year. His and his wife's (29F) reasoning for this was ridiculous in my opinion. Essentially, my brother's wife is constantly picking fights with members of my family. Several times a year, when things are seemingly great, she'll just explode out of nowhere and verbally attack a member of my immediate family (me, my mom, dad, and other brother). At the end of 2021 it was my turn to get attacked I guess. I didn't entertain the harassment, and she ended up apologizing to me. But before she apologized, my dad had sent her a text saying "I was just waiting for something like this to happen again, and sure enough it did." That one sentence was the reason my brother and his wife wouldn't let their kids see their grandparents, even though it was the truth. They wouldn't even let the kids see my mom, and she didn't even say anything.
So, as you can imagine, my brother not talking to my parents for the better part of a year and not allowing them to see their grandchildren was extremely stressful for my parents. My mom would cry to me every day, so finally I decided to stand up and confront my brother. There were a lot of words exchanged, but part of our conversation was me telling my brother that I was worried he was going to give my dad another heart attack from the stress.
Months went by and he never told me that comment bothered him. Eventually, my wedding rolls around in October 2022 and his wife does not attend, but wouldn't give me a reason why, even though her and I had several text conversations that seemed perfectly fine. We went to family therapy a few weeks ago with my brother, myself, and my parents and my brother said the comment I made about giving my dad a heart attack was the reason his wife did not attend my wedding, and that he almost wasn't going to attend either because of what I said.
Am I really the asshole for saying what I did, even though it was a real concern of mine?

How many damn kids need to die before the US government does something about it. Gangs fighting gangs and children in the crossfire but they can't say anything about it because it's black on black SO WHAT IF IT IS THOSE FUCKING SHITHEADS ARE KILLING PEOPLE AND ALL THEY WANT TO DO ABOUT IT IS BAN GUN LAWS WHEN THAT'S NOT GOING TO FIX ANYTHING IF THE PLACE THAT DOESN'T ALLOW GUNS HAS GANGS WITH GUNS. PEOPLE ARE GETTING KILLED. YOUNG KIDS ARE GETTING KILLED I DON'T CARE IF THEY'RE BLACK FUCKING DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT IF IT WAS WHITE ON BLACK IT WOULD BE TALKED ABOUT SO MUCH LIKE WHEN THAT RANDOM ASS BLACK GUY WAS CHOKED TO DEATH BY CORRUPT POLICE OFFECER. FUCK UKRAIN FUCK RUSSIA FUCK ANYWHERE ELSE HOW ABOUT YOU FIX THE DAMN PROBLEMS HERE BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE YOU FUCKING FRAIL SKIN FORGETFULL FLESH PUPPET OF A PRESEDENT I'M DONE WITH THIS SHIT A PLACE THAT'S MENT TO BE A BECON OF HOPE AND FREEDOM IS A FUCKING SHIT SHOW OF A DAMN PLACE DO THEY NOT CARE AT ALL ABOUT CHILDREN ABOUT PEOPLE TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFRENCE.

Yes, this is the 5th year in a row I'm doing a Wrestlemania Haters' Guide. Why? Because the subject of pro wrestling hasn't been banned from the subrebbit, so loopholes ahoy, baby!
Anywho, this year's event is at SoFi Stadium in California. The last Wrestlemania in the state of California? Wrestlemania 31. A mostly well regarded PPV with one of the most shocking main event outcomes in Wrestlemania history. Remember when Wrestlemania shows had SEVEN matches on the main card? Apparently, since everyone needs their Wrestlemania payday, and two nights pay better than one, that is a reality that can no longer exist. Nowadays, Wrestlemania weekend means that for four consecutive days from Friday Night SmackDown to the Monday Night RAW the night after, your eyes are to be glued to the squared circle with zero deviation. With that in mind, and considering how batshit crazy WWE's behind the scenes drama and shift in power balance has been over the past year, we actually made it to Wrestlemania 39. Let's see the 13 matches vying for ultimate immortality.
​
Brock Lesnar vs. Omos (with MVP)
Try to act surprised when I tell you that this matchup is rumored to be a Vince concept. It seems HHH has given Vince the one match to book, and thankfully nothing more.
That being said...guys...we need to take this time to particularly talk about Omos. This dude isn't getting over. He's fallen off ever since he lost the tag titles, and ended his feud with his former tag partner, AJ Styles. What's he been doing since? Mostly matches with Bobby Lashley again. Yes, Lashley vs Omos was a match at last year's Wrestlemania, and that loss has proven to only hurt Omos' relevance, and especially his TV time. Over the past year, his matchups have pretty much been exclusive to house shows. Either squashing much smaller men, or jobbing to Lashley in order to make The Almighty look better. The one time WWE actually chose to use him in any meaningful situation was a matchup against Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel. Which of course he lost that match.
Bottom line, He's just not that much of a presence anymore. I know that WWE under the HHH regime has seen the end of mass talent layoffs, but this guy is a waste of a matchup. He's got to go. His career is going absolutely nowhere, even with MVP at his side. Who in their right mind believes he can hang with Brock Lesnar?
Granted, Brock's the perfect opponent for him. A typical Omos match does not exceed 10 minutes, which is perfect for Brock's aggressive, fast-forward style. Furthermore, in terms of overall size, Omos is outside Brock's normal range of opponent. It's gonna be a Wrestlemania moment on its own when Brock lifts Omos up for the F-5, but after that... you're left with Omos getting tossed back into the toy chest until the next house show rolls around. Take the hint, WWE. Give Omos another loss, and send him back to his home in Nigeria. He misses his family dearly, and I think his fellow Omo-sapiens will understand how homesick this man is. (It's really bad when The Great Khali has done your act better).
​
Seth "Freakin" Rollins vs. Logan Paul
Ok, you also get ONE celebrity based match, too, but that's it.
In all honesty, Logan Paul has lived above expectations as far as his in-ring performances are concerned. He's not the most compelling and relatable character, but he's able to put on matches that are at least good (vs Roman) to above average (vs Miz). I like to think of him as the male equivalent to Ronda Rousey, where WWE is just using his name for brand recognition. Although unlike Ronda, his name is not exactly lighting up the mainstream media, just social media. And it's not translating well to ratings and awareness that he's living in WWE City. I know that WWE saw how well Logan adapted to the sports entertainment scene. That's just what the Paul brothers tend to do. But here's the kicker. People don't want to see a Paul brother succeed. They want a Paul brother to get knocked on their ass via a huge crushing piston called "reality". Here's an example. When Jake Paul won a boxing match, it was whatever. When he lost to Tommy Fury just recently, now THAT is where the entertainment value was. And Jake did say to judge him by his losses, not his wins. We are prepared to do the same to Logan. Because all he has done so far in WWE is lose. Match quality aside, he has put the "L" in Logan. Let's see if this showdown with Seth gives him his Wrestlemania triumph.
Speaking of which, there's so little to say about Seth Rollins in this equation. At least he knows who his opponent is this year. At least he had the spectacular Cody Rhodes feud before the wrestling gods gave Cody time off (and a hell of a match to go out on). He did kinda get stuck trying to put Matt Riddle over before Riddle succumbed to his own vices, but this is the most over Seth Rollins has been. Most of it is the fancy new "sing me to the ring, and never stop singing" entrance, but it's the little things that make you a big star around these parts. And really, I can't picture anyone else in this scenario. The Visionary vs The Influencer. This should be a fun contest, and bragging rights for weeks to come if Rollins walks out the loser. However, if it means more of Logan Paul appearing in WWE... honestly, every wrestling fan loses. I know Logan says his contract is up after Wrestlemania, but somehow, I'm not a believer WWE will let him slip away that easily.
​
Trish Stratus, Lita, and Becky Lynch vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky)
Let's take you back to Summerslam 2022. Bianca Belair standing tall over an obsessed Becky Lynch, and then out comes Bayley. Away from the WWE for over a year to rehab a freak accident during training for the return to live events. But the twist no one was expecting is that Bayley didn't return alone. She brought back two women to form a stable that would be ever present across RAW ever since. Dakota Kai, previously handed her pink slip a few months prior, was given a second chance at her WWE life by Bayley. As well as Iyo Sky, who already had one foot out the door while living in NXT limbo. Thus, they formed the group Damage CTRL, and while neither member was successful in capturing singles gold (Especially Bayley.), the Women's Tag Team Championships... that was a different story. Aside from one week being without the titles, Kai/Sky have held them for 5 months. It's only recently that Becky Lynch and a returning Lita have come into possession of said titles, with a little help from Trish Stratus, who much like Lita, is never REALLY retired.
And now we have an interesting 6-woman tag contest that's been put together as a result. Becky Lynch and two Hall of Fame legends combat a group that needs a decisive Wrestlemania victory as a trio. Becky's been fighting Damage CTRL longer than anyone else, so it is safe to assume this will be the beginning of the end of this neverending war. Especially if Damage CTRL can finally walk away from their battles against Becky with heads held high... hopefully.
​
Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
Yeah, this match was pretty much a foregone conclusion. I feel like they could have done this match at any Wrestlemania possible, but first we need someone to be heel in this contest, and it's sure as hell not gonna be Rey Mysterio.
So... Dominik... I'm a bit mixed on his career trajectory. Because right now, across the board, he's just good, but not great. He's trying to be on the same level as his father, sometimes even emulating him either for heat or grasping the Mysterio name for some miniscule level of credibility... but at this point, it's been more than a minute since his career started, and the excuses are running out. Hell, that promo where he declared he's the next Eddie Guerrero... yeah, that definitely ruffled a few feathers online. btw, still using Eddie's name as a vehicle in your Wrestlemania matchup build in 2023... come on, guys. And yes, Eddie came a long way as shown by his WCW work, and the level of promo that Guerrero was cutting at the time. So maybe it's better we get this shit version of Dominik out of the way now, so he can eventually become WWE Superstar Dominik Mysterio, with a celebrated World Championship reign of... 2 months.
What is actually happening here is that Rey Mysterio is being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, so his career clock is running out. So this match is immediately happening before Rey's knees collapse into themselves, and thankfully, the way this match was booked ensures that Wrestlemania will be the point where this feud has absolutely peaked. God, the pop on Rey finally striking his son. I haven't seen him get that much pleasure out of beating his kids since he got his copy of WWE '13.
​
Hell in a Cell Match
Edge vs "The Demon" Finn Balor
Ladies and gentlemen, your neverending feud. It wasn't too long ago that Edge formed The Judgment Day, a heel stable dedicated to taking the younger generation under Edge's wing. First, it was Damian Priest, a lost soul looking for guidance, looking to escape his never ending punishment. Then, it was Rhea Ripley, a individual whose presence in the group took on a life of its own (more on that later). And somewhere along the way, they even added Rey Mysterio's son, Dominik, into the fray, which he sorely needed. But none of those additions compared to their last member... Finn Balor, who immediately led a coup overthrowing Edge as their leader. It could be because Edge opposed the direction that The Judgment Day was going, but don't let rumors and heresay dissaude you from the fact that the preceding battle of Finn Balor leading The Judgment Day in a crusade to make Edge's life a living hell has been happening for a couple months too long. Even Edge's own wife had to pay the price for her troubles, and because Edge taught them too well. It feels like we've gone just about everywhere these two can go together... except Hell in a Cell. Oh, and Finn Balor's "Demon" persona is listed as the opponent, but hey, 3-4 hours in the makeup chair will absolutely be worth it to bring back a character he said he discarded in his second NXT run. Of course, wrestlers say a lot of things, but Finn's such a professional, we figured that declaration would stick.
At least this way, these two can guarantee a great Wrestlemania match... for about 15 minutes until Damian gets involved in some way. Plus it's probably Edge's match to lose. Unless he makes another agreement, this is his last year on his WWE contract. And of course The Judgment Day has nowhere to go but up. Even though it could possibly be a splintered group if Rhea gets the job done at Wrestlemania (again, more on that later.)
​
Men's Wrestlemania Showcase
Braun Strowman and Ricochet vs. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar)
Since the Tag Team title match later on is a 2 team affair, we need to show the world that, yes, we do indeed have other teams in reserve, and no, our tag team division is NOT dead why would you even say that!
These are, admittedly, the usual suspects. The Viking Raiders have been a "pushed one week, not pushed the next" team over the past couple years. More importantly, they haven't been consistently healthy. Finally getting their chance to make their mark, and a new face among them in Valhalla who's career is probably gonna last longer than theirs, perhaps they get a credible win this time around?
The Street Profits... still exist. WWE, in their endless quest to not pull the trigger on a Montez Ford push, has him continued to be weighed down by Angelo Dawkins, a guy who is good, but not AS good. Even if they win, let's be real. It's not going to improve their standing as a tag team.
Alpha Academy... is also still here. Despite WWE not knowing exactly what they are going to do with Otis, and Chad Gable continuing to be another jobber to the stars, we still have a team, miraculously. It feels like nowadays these two would be better off apart, which is weird to say considering they were mostly on top around this time last year.
The underdog in this scenario is the makeshift team with no name... Braun and Ricochet. Braun has seen success in the past, but Ricochet... the mountain he climbed wasn't nearly as tall. You look at this team, and you look at a duo that just doesn't belong. Individual success in singles, cannon fodder in a tag match. If anything, they might be the team to surprise everyone, and secure a victory here. It all depends on what their future holds, as well as the future of the tag division, considering what lies ahead.
​
Women's Wrestlemania Showcase
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya and Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville
Supposedly, Becky Lynch & Lita were supposed to defend their Women's Tag Team Championship at Wrestlemania on top of the 6-woman clash with Damage CTRL. Now that is crazy. And clearly, WWE wasn't crazy enough to have Lita wrestle 2 nights in a row. So we have a Women's Tag Team showcase. And what a tag team showcase it is. Including tag teams that... aren't really tag teams. I could give you writeups on where each of these women are in their career prior to this tag team extravaganza, but let's cut to the chase. Ronda Rousey is in this match. Considering all the other women in this mix, Ronda Rousey is not walking away with an L at Wrestlemania (forget Wrestlemania 35, one of the most celebrated wins in women's wrestling). Her and Shayna Baszler would have more than likely become Women's Tag Team Champions had things been a little different, and I believe they will be by the end of the year, so if anyone needs this win for bragging rights and for the rocket to propel them towards the gold, it's Ronda and Shayna. Any other win is a waste of time. I will say I am surprised to see Chelsea Green at Wrestlemania. I feel like I just saw her in Impact Wrestling 6 months ago. She was absolutely gonna team with Carmella, but it appears the wrestling gods aren't done bringing maximum misfortune upon Carmella, so Sonya Deville, you're here. You're not doing anything. The rest of you... one of you is more than likely eating the pin. Natalya, thank you for your 15 year long service to WWE, and your service will continue with a Ronda exclamation point. You understand, of course...
​
Still, what would Wrestlemania be without title defences? A legit question I hope that WWE never answers.
WWE United States Championship
Austin Theory (c) vs. John Cena
John Cena has not wrestled at Wrestlemania in 3 years. And hasn't wrestled at a live Wrestlemania in 5 years. And it was an Undertaker match that wasn't even properly advertised (Is a 2 minute match at Wrestlemania even a REAL match?)! It's so weird to see the hero of the Ruthless Aggression era absent from Wrestlemania. Not even talking about a match, just... not even a cameo? But it's fine. John Cena has his noteworthy career in Hollywood, and has to stop being Peacemaker to become WWE Superstar for one night only. His opponent?
​
Austin Theory. Austin Theory is absolutely living up to his potential, at last. Over the past year, he has become a superstar that you can slot into pretty much any situation. Get your cheek bashed in by Tyson Fury? Done. Keep the US Championship relevant? Oh yeah. Main event for RAW? Done and dusted. While Roman is mostly King of SmackDown, it's RAW that is lacking in a World Title to call its own, and it feels like Austin Theory has done his damndest to take up the mantle. It's a shame that he has yet to receive that one victory to cement his place on the upper card. That match could very well be pinning John Cena at Wrestlemania, which is more than likely going to happen because Cena has so few Wrestlemania matches left in him, and the torch needs to be passed. Not that such a torch passing achievement is a sure thing, because Kurt Angle passed the torch to Baron Corbin in 2019, and... yeah. Should be a better match than people are thinking considering I don't think Cena has lost a single step post-Hollywood, and Austin Theory will no doubt be not only pulling out all the stops, but ripping them out, to boot. I assume there's a lot of certainty behind this stop ripping, because it's going to be the opening match of Wrestlemania on Saturday. Best of luck, Theory. Admittedly, this isn't the Austin vs Cena match I wanted, but we haven't fully invented time travel yet.
​
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Gunther (c) vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre
Damn. Just... damn. If there was a singles match with any combination of these 3 men at Wrestlemania, you are guaranteed ****1/2 star minimum. The evidence speaks loudly. Drew and Sheamus wallop each other, and it's 4 stars. Gunther and Sheamus take lumps of flesh out of one another at Cardiff, it's considered a match of the year candidate. I feel for the human bodies in this war. Through Gunther's own impatience, what would have been a competitive 1v1 brawl turns into a Triple Threat clusterfuck, said in the nicest terms. There's only so much unique text I can type being envious of everyone in this match. It's not THE main event, but it's my main event.
Sheamus has spent the past year or two putting the heavy in heavyweight, being the hard hitting bruiser he always knew he could be. Teaming with The Brawling Brutes and being an overall menace in the 6-man division (Ha! You thought there was a Trios division in WWE, didn't you?).
Drew has been all over the card. World Title shot one month, feuding with Karrion Kross the previous months, and now he's got his chance at gold he can realistically carry for at least a couple months. If only said gold wasn't held by Gunther.
Gunther... the walking weapon of WWE (get well soon, Josh Alexander). I petition this man should absolutely get his name changed to Midas, because everything he touches is gold. All I have to do is point directly at his NXT matches with Ilya Dragunov, and say that such excessive violence is the peak of WWE content. And his match quality has stood strong even when he leapt up to the main roster. It's been that way for the past 9 months ever since he won the IC title. Body after body falling before his presence. The best IC Champion in a long time. If he loses this match, it's because WWE looked back at his... well, it's less of a true one-on-one match, and more of a "last two guys in the Royal Rumble" match against Cody, and realized that Gunther is that guy. And hopefully, he does not fall between the cracks in the process. This match has potential to be match of the year. Watch out, grab a bucket of popcorn, and hold it tight.
​
RAW Women's Championship
Bianca Belair (c) vs. Asuka
Bianca, congratulations on your year long success. I'm all for you breaking down barriers, and making history (herstory's too cheesy, and I don't want to devalue her accomplishments), but what awaits you at this Wrestlemania is a challenger to your title unlike any other before her.
Asuka.
Asuka has transformed into a figure better representing her previous life as KANA. This is an Asuka not hindered by wacky dancing and horrendously awkward promos, this is an Asuka that plays with your head. Make you fear NOT what is coming, but why it hasn't already appeared. We've seen so little of this Asuka in WWE, and we've seen very little of these two in a one-on-one setting. Maybe a match here and there on RAW, but this pairing have yet to see a long term rivalry. At last, WWE have realized to, as the Fighting Game Community used to say, save that shit for nationals. Well, Wrestlemania is your nationals.
Asuka is a dangerous customer all her own. If she hasn't knocked your head off with precise kicks, or ripped you limb from limb in one of her many submissions, then beware what awaits you if she opens her mouth. And heaven knows how this new persona has affected her typical approach.
Bianca, you also know the score with her. Stamina to spare, and power for miles. She's been holding that RAW Women's Championship ever since last year's Wrestlemania, and has worn that title to the fullest, decimating any and all competitors who think they can hang with her. Including against Asuka at Hell in a Cell, with a little help from Becky. Now Bianca and Asuka need only focus on each other. This is a fresh new Asuka against a Bianca who is prepared to weather this tsunami threatening to take her title. Another classic Wrestlemania encounter awaits.
As for who will walk away with the cherry championship, I feel like Asuka wins, just because Bianca isn't ready for Asuka. Not to seem cliche, or desperate to squeeze in a catchphrase or two, but I feel like one of Asuka's newest unknown tricks is going to be the deciding factor. And it's also definitely not going to be the last time these two square off with a championship at stake. Here's hoping.
​
SmackDown Women's Championship
Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
You know, when this match took place 3 years ago, I hoped Rhea would win. A rising star straight out of NXT with the boost she needed to be at the top of the mountain. But that's not what happened. Charlotte outperformed her. Back then, I figured Rhea winning was a must. The momentum of WCW Lex Luger after his world title win over Hollywood Hogan, and with a loss, it would be turned into WWF Lex Luger with no title to his own. That's also not what happend. Rhea climbed her way back up, scratched and clawed for every achievement. For a while, she was at the top of RAW's Women's Division. It's clear now she didn't need the boost, she just needed to plant her feet above ground level, and the business would work for her from there. And then something happened. She became a part of The Judgement Day. She got the kudos, she got the tutelage, and she got herself a Royal Rumble win. And a ticket to a championship opportunity. The roles are reversed. Now it's not Rhea insisting Charlotte use her Rumble win to challenge her for the NXT Championship, now it's Rhea using her prize as a chance to correct history, and become SmackDown Women's Champion.
There is debate on whether or not this match is worthy of a Wrestlemania main event slot. Considering how white hot the storylines are in the last two matches being covered, and the potential of just having women main event a Wrestlemania night for PR backpatting, it's definitely a match with a case to state. A Royal Rumble winner being in the last match of the show isn't a sure thing, and the build might not make the match seem as hype as others, but if these two think they are worthy of closing the show... then I hope they tear the roof off SoFi.
These two are top of the line. Charlotte can turn her offensive focus on a dime, Rhea is prepared to play dirty to realize her dream, and Rhea is facing the daughter of the dirtiest player in the game. This isn't gonna be a pretty contest. A heated, brutal slugfest is a much better descriptor. I believe Rhea will leave behind any shred of doubt that she is on Charlotte's level. But Charlotte's not just gonna lie down, and let her title slip away. Look forward to this match being talked about for the next few months afterward.
​
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
The year is 2023. The Usos continue their eternal stranglehold on the WWE Tag Team division. It's been due to The Bloodline's dissention being one of the most compelling storylines in recent WWE memory, and at the center of that discourse is Sami Zayn. We've been watching him over the past year align with Roman, damn near become the second-in-command of The Bloodline, fight against his best friend Kevin Owens (which to be fair, is neither the first nor the last time that's happened), and then have Sami reach his boiling point with a payoff betrayal of Roman Reigns being a deafening roar of heroism, to Sami getting squashed underneath Roman's boot. But now Sami knows his true target; The Usos. But he can't do it alone. He needs help from his former best friend, Kevin Owens. Owens wants no part of Sami's personal war, considering that Sami joined in on any and all Bloodline beatdowns of Kevin Owens. However, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so friends turned rivals turned friends again believe they have the best chance of finally overcoming The Usos and their umpteenth day reign as Tag Team champions.
And the bond of The Usos is stronger than it's been. Jey Uso, with a small drop of uncertainty, spent a whole month absent from WWE itself, uncertain if the direction of The Bloodline was one he was willing to follow. In the end, blood was thicker than water. And rather than Sami and Jey be the duo to get it done, Jey kicked those dreams away, picking family over personal glory. Just be glad the titles haven't been given the proper Freebird rule, because there was a house show or two where the part of Jey Uso was played by Solo Sikoa. Ah yes, Solo is finally a part of WWE's main roster proper. Spent the first 6 months of his career undefeated (just had his first loss to Cody on Monday. Still looked strong). If the Usos start to, in any capacity, show signs of losing, expect this enforcer to interject.
In reality, you know how strong The Usos are as a unit. Slick teamwork, lethal attacks and combinations to double up their mighty blows... they've been holding on to those titles legit, even without interference. Will this reunited twosome of Kevin and Sami be any different? I don't think so. Sami's been on the inside until recently, and Kevin's been fighting them longer than anyone. In my mind, they might just be the force to catch The Usos slipping, and become the new Tag Team Champions. Of course, that depends on if the wrestling gods have grown tired of seeing The Usos hog the tag titles for over a year plus. I think most of us are.
​
---
With the dirty dozen of Wrestlemania clashes chronicled, we now come to the final contest; The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. You know the first name, but the second one is a name seeking glory that his generation could never grasp. Let's get the obvious one out of the way first.

Roman Reigns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZwTHoHI8cQ
Roman Reigns wanted his Head of the Table gimmick realized, or he would walk out on WWE. The fans believed in their Tribal Chief becoming the face of WWE. Over the past 900+ days, that's what happened. The fans got their reward..... their eternal reward. Roman has stood on top for far longer than any human being in the Wrestlemania generation. Male or Female. Singles or Tag Team. In fact, walking into this match, this is the 3rd straight year that Roman is defending his world championship. No one else can make such a claim. Not even Hulk Hogan, who felt like his time at the top of the mountain lasted far longer.
It's not hard to see why Roman is breaking as many records as he is. It's because of how far he has come. You look back at his time even 5-10 years ago, a time where the crowd wanted absolutely none of Vince's personal project. His promo material was awful, his matches were against people who were either leagues above him in wrestling ability, or they were far too immobile to be of any help. Roman Reigns was everything except over with the crowd. You can throw him in as many main events as you want, he will never be acknowledged. The fans despised him because of the simple fact that he was "The Guy". The guy in the big Wrestlemania matches, the second man ever to have defeated The Undertaker at Wrestlemania, the guy who got chance after chance at the spotlight when many other favored sons received diddly-squat in comparison.
With that, Roman worked smarter. Seeking his family entourage to grant them guaranteed success, his wise council in Paul Heyman being the Don King to his Mike Tyson, his general improvement and diversity in his offense beyond just spears and superman punches, as well as limiting when and where his title matches take place to make them the big deal that they deserve to be. Roman has been used in a significantly smaller capacity over the past year, to the point of some considering him a part-timer, which is a dangerous role around these parts. The continuous rumors over Roman taking time off were constant, and everpresent. They felt more like a tease that the oppressive era of The Bloodline was coming to an end. In actuality, it meant that the other members of The Bloodline got their chance to shine on equal terms.
Roman has been at the center of damn near every major storyline going on in WWE. Whenever Roman appears, whether making his way to RAW, or defending his title at a Premium Live Event, it is a big deal. A must see for any and all eyes on the product. He is what he, and the people who believed in him all those years ago, wanted him to become. The face of WWE. His actions as of recent have made him anything BUT face. Him destroying Sami Zayn at Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber have secured his place as the top heel of the company for the near future, and it has been reflected in how he achieves his Ws. One way or another, he has pulled win after win out of his ass, either through capitalizing on chaos, or outpeforming the opposition. But there is one man he has never been able to defeat in a meaningful encounter. That is Roman's Wrestlemania opponent. A man, who as of 4 years ago, was All Elite.
​

"The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i36tXq7yK6c
​
This really is the embodiment of never say never. Cody Rhodes left the WWE in a huff, shamed and embarrassed at his personal exit. But he didn't linger for long. He went back on the grind.
So.. what do you wanna talk about? Well, let's talk about Cody's post-WWE life.
You name a wrestling promotion in the United States, the likes of the NWA, the likes of Ring of Honor, he has swam to the top of it. Creating and forging his own legacy and identity. Not afraid to speak his own mind, not afraid to step above his station, and especially not afraid to fight his ass off, and put on matches well above his own average. As a result, a special thing happened in 2017. Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer felt that Ring of Honor would not sell out a 10,000 seat arena any time soon. Cody took him up on that declaration. In an event known as "The Bet", such a PPV exceeding that crowd capacity was called All In, and it planted the seeds for what is now the #2 wrestling promotion in the United States. It's crazy to think way back when that THAT Cody Rhodes would be partially responsible for helping to create the first promotion to take a sizable chunk out of WWE's audience since the WCW days; All Elite Wrestling.
But what no one else was expecting in the early days of AEW was Cody's career trajectory. The first to challenge for the AEW World Title held by Chris Jericho under the condition that if Cody can't beat Jericho, he will never challenge for that title again. It would be Cody's one, and only, shot at that title. He failed. From then on, Cody would obtain a title worth fighting for; the TNT Championship. Challenger after challenger vanquished every single week for as long as Cody held that title. With the exception of getting mauled into submission by the late Brodie Lee, Cody would stay the course. The only thing that would stop him... was discourse. Among the AEW fans. They felt that Cody only had his success because it was his company. And it was that stigma that eventually caused the fans to turn on him. Through a combination of that bitterness, as well as clashing with his fellow EVPs, Cody felt the time was right to leave AEW to its own devices. Unthinkable at the time, but by January 2022, it became reality. Cody was a free man once again.
From there, it was a matter of days. The day... was Wrestlemania last year. Speculation on Seth Rollins' mystery opponent had the rumor mill swirling. Perhaps Gable Steveson, maybe Shane McMahon? But Cody Rhodes? Come on, there's no way. And then the lights went black come match time.. to the tune of "Kingdom". And a crowd reaction that broke the sound barrier. My god... it actually happened. Cody Rhodes returned to WWE.
It must have come with a hex on Cody's body, because a couple months later, Cody tore a pectoral muscle meaning his WWE return would be short lived... if this were a man of logic and discretion, perhaps. Cody wrestled a classic Hell in a Cell encounter despite his pec looking incredibly sore against Seth Rollins to cap off that rivalry. And then the recuperation began.
Not a peep on Cody's return until the Royal Rumble. After putting on another clinic with Gunther to fight over the Wrestlemania main event, Cody stood tall. And thus, the match was set in stone. It's Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes. WWE's golden boy, vs AEW's exiled founding father. Cody Rhodes attempting to realize a dream that his father, The American Dream, was never able to make reality. A matchup that didn't even seem possible 2 years ago is now suddenly the main event of Wrestlemania. Wrestling is a special thing, sometimes.
In short, this matchup is indeed main event worthy. It's an even bout from top to bottom. Roman's power and authority vs Cody's acumen and knowhow. A godlike force vs a man seeking wrestling immortality. It's either going to be jaded WWE fans swearing to never watch again as long as Roman's still the champ, or AEW fans seething and coping that Cody is standing tall in enemy territory. A main event for the ages that one man has to lose. A duel of the fates that will be spoken of in documentaries and future montages to come. The quest to decide the undisputed WWE Champion.
Who will it be?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aST-5fzb1Iw
\A DYNAMITE PREDICTON**
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_HFnIGszr4
All things considered, I think this match is a lot closer than people think it is. Cody has been fighting to no end, and he's confident that he has Roman's number. He has a reason to be champion other than just being the top guy in the company, but to Roman, that is his only reason. And that is his driving motivator. And such an obsession will be his undoing. All it will take is one mistake, one spear off the mark, and Cody will strike with an unforeseen fury and desire. This is Cody Rhodes' night. He will raise both titles, and discard both physical championships to bring back the golden World Heavyweight Championship that his father once wore proudly. Don't deny me this moment, WWE. Don't deny your fans someone new at the top for fucking once. And please keep away from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The morality of your fanbase depends on it. Not like morality has stopped any of your poor decision making in the past. Speaking of poor decisions, enjoy your weekend of bodyslams and crossbody splashes to the outside. Ring the bell, fuckers!
​
---
https://youtu.be/4CUXV3BfeD4?t=184
Thanks for reading. Have fun with Nick Khan saying the quiet part out loud.
Nick Khan: Just one note on that, I don’t run the WWE. There’s only one person who actually runs the WWE, Vince McMahon. A lot of folks help me to help run the WWE.

My relationship with my dad has been extremely tense the last couple of years, and I understand I’m not the best daughter but he seems to believe he’s the best father and that I just need to “fix myself.”
This has resulted in several arguments and fights and I’ve even attempted to run away before.
Currently I haven’t been feeling very well, I had really bad arm and stomach pain along with short breath so I had to be pulled out of school to go to the ER on Wednesday. There’s a possibility that I have a blood clot in my lung however it doesn’t seem too severe and since they didn’t find anything with the tests they did that was too concerning they said I should be good and that my body will absorb the clot eventually.
I stayed home on Thursday as well due to bad nausea/stomach pain but I had tried to push through it the best I could while at home and still made myself eat even when I didn’t feel like doing so. This made my dad think I was feeling better and that I was okay to go to school.
Flash forward to this morning, I tell him my stomach is still hurting(which does sound like an excuse but I was in the ER for this shit the other day so idk) and he tells me to just go to school. I missed my bus so I had to walk to school as fast as I could and since I was still in pain and now stressed out about missing my bus I had forgotten my backpack on my way out.
My stomach has been non stop hurting and it’s only getting worse with the added stress here but I can’t contact my dad because I think he’ll just get more upset with me. I genuinely hate being in a situation like this because I keep gas lighting myself into thinking it’s not that bad for his convenience.
My teacher had to send me to the nurse because of how unwell I looked to her so now I’m sitting here debating if I should call or text my dad asking to go home.
I’m honestly afraid to do even that because this morning he had told me that me and him needed to have a “serious talk” about my attitude and me not listening to him so I don’t think he’d even let me go home. It’s as if this is some form of punishment.
I don’t know what to do nor do I think I can do anything in my current situation. I’ve honestly been thinking about moving out because of how unhappy I am living with him(plus some other financial issues he’s been having recently.)
All I know is that I don’t want to be here and I just wish my dad would try to understand instead of assume he’s always right.

I'm using google translate to work through some Finnish, and its gotten very confused with this passage from Jussi Aro's "Tie ja veräjä":

Jotkut niistä todella vanhoista heränneistä olivat myös todella syvältä maailmasta heränneitä, niin kuin Lammin vanhan emännän isäkin, Kaappo Kaaponpoika Porolan mäeltä. Hänestä tuli kerran puhe vanhan Iisakki Porolan luona, joka oli nuorena poikana kuullut tämän vanhan naapurinsa muistelevan. Kaappo oli ollut vuosikausia vankilassa, alun perin hänet oli tuomittu Siperiaan. Syynä oli ollut tappo eräissä häissä. Kaappo oli myöntänyt »heiluneensa mukana», mutta oli aina kieltänyt, että juuri hänen puukkonsa teki sen kuolettavan haavan. Ainakin hän Porolan isännän kertoman mukaan oli vanhoilla päivillään sanonut: — Mukana minä heiluin, mutta toinen oli se, joka tappoi.

This is what Google came up with:

Some of those really old awakened ones were also really awakened from the deep world, like the father of Lammi's old mistress, Kaappo Kaaponpoika from Porola hill. He once became the talk of old Iisakki Porola, who as a young boy had heard this old neighbor reminiscing. Kaappo had been in prison for years, originally he had been sentenced to Siberia. The reason had been a murder at a wedding. Kaappo had admitted that he had "swayed along", but had always denied that it was his knife that caused the fatal wound. At least, according to Porola's host, he had said in his old days: — I swayed along, but the other one was the one who killed.

1. The first sentence-- what the heck is going on here?
   
2. My attempt to make the second sentence more idomatic in English: "Old Iisakki Porola used to tell stories about him, who as a young boy had heard this old neighbor reminiscing." Is this the correct meaning of the sentence?
   
3. "Swayed along" -- does this mean "went along"? Is Kaappo saying that the other guy swung his knife first, and Kaappo was defending himself? Or does Kaappo mean that they were sort of "playing" with knives, not intending to fight or hurt each other, but the other guy did end up getting slashed and killed by Kaappo, presumably accidentally?
   
4. Bonus: How would you translate the book's title, "Tie ja veräjä"?
   

My baby boy will be a month old next week. My husband and I were getting into a pretty good routine with him but the last two nights we've been thrown for a loop. He eats pretty much every three hours, give or take 15 minutes. Most times I bottle feed him breast milk mostly so I know he's getting enough and also so hubby can help feed him too but he does get breastfed about twice a day. He gets 3oz (increased from around 2.75oz a week ago) at a time and seems good with this amount although he will take his time drinking the last bit; I think he may be full at this point but if we try to take the bottle out of his mouth he fights against it and drinks the remainder.
One change I've noticed recently is he seems to be spitting up more in the past few days. We try to burp him, even halfway through a bottle or switching breasts, but it's tough getting it out of him. I can bounce him on my knee, sit him upright and pat his back, or over my shoulder and a lot of the time nothing even after 30 minutes. Then later, regardless of bottle or breast at his previous meal, he'll spit up or actually just burp if we're lucky. I say all this in case it's related to the bigger issue.
During the day, he'll eat at the normal 3 hour intervals but then come about midnight to 9am he drops down to every 2 hours. He still has the issue of being un-burpable and even fights against it and cries so he ends up getting laid back down after maybe 10 minutes of trying without a burp. This is an issue as far as both baby and us getting enough sleep at night since he goes straight from sound asleep to full on crying when he's hungry (he's always done this, even during the day) and we're hardly settled back to sleep before having to get up again.
I have his one month appointment next week but wanted to see if anyone has had similar issues and what worked for you. Thanks in advance!

Plots that I have - victorian era: vampire X vampire hunter, or demon X demon hunter. Victoria has been alive for many many years after being blessed with vampire blood. Recently however a group of human hunters have shown up in England, her home and it has displeased her greatly. Since she is one of the wealthiest households around money is never a problem. But most humans won’t fight their own. So she’s going to have to take matters into her own hands. After taking out most of a hunting party she takes one of them back alive to get information out of them and ends up being charmed by their personality and decides to let them live… a little more - Vikings- Astrid had been trained to fight her whole life. She was a force of nature and the gods protected her. She had never lost a fight, so she was ready for battle. But battle is always far bloodier than you can imagine. After a particularly violent raid she returns home. Though missing many of her fellow Vikings who died along the journey. Her childhood friend is waiting for her to get back, having finally worked up the courage to confess her feelings and yet. The person who came back was different than the Astrid she new - Avatar- Rinaí was the chiefs daughter so she had many responsibilities that others did not. She had spent many many years in the forests of pandora taking care of her tribe and the nature around it, protecting it from the sky people. When her father told her she is to marry the daughter of a water chief from miles away, to unify the tribes once and for all. Well she was shocked, the water tribes are so different from us, sure we were much closer to the coast than other tribes but why her? Why not her brothers? She and the other chiefs daughter will have much to teach each other. They are very similar and yet very different. - the last of us: that was it, she couldn’t run anymore. She was too tired to keep going. There was a hoard not to far back and if she wanted to live she was going to have to think of something fast. As she hears the screams and clicks getting closer she suddenly hears shots going off. She looks around and then up and sees flashes coming from a building beside her. It was a tall apartment building which had vines growing all over it. She uses the last bit of energy she has to run into it, slowly but surely making her way up the stairs to the sound of gun fire. Finally she gets to the room she can hear it coming from. She opens the door and sees the woman swing around, pointing the gun at her. She opens her mouth to say something but her vision goes black and before she can help herself she’s slumped over on the floor, passed out. - mafia: Ari was a waitress at a bar, and she enjoyed it too. She got to meet lots of people. She made good tips, her boss was always polite and respectful to her. It was perfect for her. Then one day a woman walks in she doesn’t recognize, and she’s got body guards with her. ‘Who the hell brings body guards to a bar?’ She thinks with a sigh as she goes to serve her. The woman seemed very interested in her when she went to get her drink order. So Ari asks her boss about the woman, little did she know is that woman ran the largest crime syndicates on this side of the country. She did know however that the woman wanted her, she had made it very clear. - Hades(f) and Persephone: all the other gods have always been jealous of their eternal love for eachother. Constantly sending them trials and challenges to test their love. The gods of the underworld prevail every time much to the other gods annoyance, as does their love. (Very lovey dovey rp)
Hi! I’m nicki and these are some prompts that I’m looking to play out! I am only looking for F or someone playing F at the moment, and I’m happy to rework the plots of these into something that we both would enjoy if you aren’t feeling any of these. I am looking for someone who can respond AT LEAST once a day or just let me know if you will be busy for a few days. I like to have fun, and I want you too as well I don’t have minimums cause this isn’t an essay but as long as you put effort in your responses I will be satisfied. Romance and what comes with it is necessary for me not to get bored so if you don’t like that it’s okay, we might just have different styles. I can write in third person and first which ever works. Finally all I ask is if we are Rp and for whatever reason you aren’t feeling it instead of ghosting just be mature and let me know, I’ll do the same!

Huh. Well that definitely was a pretty explosive and exciting finale wasn't it? And earth shattering finale I should think, considering. It seems to be a turning point, too. But we'll talk about that in a moment.
​
First, we go back to the Ebou Dar party for one last hurrah before the book ends. I'm surprised that we jumped back to them at all, to be honest, considering we were in the middle of a FUCKING KIDNAPPING, but what do I know. I suppose we're easing the tension a bit before addressing it.
​
Briefly we go back to Mat who is told that Elayne and Nynaeve snuck out of the palace. Again. They seem to be really good at that. So he goes to prepare to find them and defend them. More importantly, Olver, the kid that Mat adopted, has been doing horse races as a jockey, which is pretty cute. And funny that Mat didn't know he was doing it. Also funny how he starts flirting with a woman who's been babysitting him and Mat wonders where he got it. Um hello? Mat? No self-awareness? Alright alright.
​
There's a lot of descriptions of Rahad as the bad side of town as Elayne, Birgitte, Nynaeve, and Aviendha go through it. It really just could be the poor side of town in any city ravaged by capitalism now, but in this setting it would be ravaged by feudalism. This is one thing about these fantasy epics that often gets unaddressed, how the main characters won't actually try to fix the systemic issues that lead to poor people being poor, they'll just address the giant world ending threat. It's the classic Marvel problem: thanks Captain America for stopping the world from ending or whatever, but you want to push for universal healthcare? In reality, I could see Rand trying to fix it, considering he came from a non-noble place as a Two Rivers person. But I don't know if the books ever will. Considering we're pretty directly bringing it up here and throwing it in the reader's face, maybe we will?
​
They witness a brawl followed by a woman, Asra, coming forwards to heal the person who lost and got stabbed. She tries to use the power to heal, but it doesn't work. And she tells the person who won the brawl to go tell the dead man's wife that he killed him. However, they're after the bowl, not a random wilder woman, so Birgitte tells Elayne not to talk to her since Elayne will probably get herself into trouble doing it. All this to set up the next book, so we'll see how all this Ebou Dar stuff goes next time. Considering we introduced Asra as a powerful wilder, I assume she'll come into play here at some point.
​
Egwene goes to see Logain where he's being shielded. There's some nice foreshadowing here where she suggests tying off the weave for the shielding, but it's seen as taboo to do that. By tradition six Aes Sedai shield a man at all times and never leave the shield unattended.
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Egwene weirdly asks Logain what he thinks about Rand's amnesty, which is a weird thing to ask. Like obviously he's not going to be a fan of where he is now compared to going to someone who will let him continue to channel. Understandably, Logain is pissed that there's still any question of whether they will gentle him after everything he's done for them. He's cooperated at every turn. There was also that debate earlier that I found interesting: that gentling a man actually looks incredibly bad if you want to get Rand on side.
​
The Salidar party is indeed on the move and Gareth Bryne's forces have been growing while Mat's forces have been following. Egwene has been using the tension of two armies following each other who clearly are at odds with each other to trick nobles into pledging fealty to them. Which means that they're going to have to be in it until they can topple Elaida or those nobles will also get executed in addition to all the Salidar Aes Sedai.
​
Egwene then goes to Tel'aran'rhiod and reports to Elayne and Nynaeve what's going on and they report back to her. This conversation isn't super interesting, it's just stuff we already know. Just that they can't find something with "need" again, which is how they found the bowl in the first place. Finally, when Egwene awakens, Siuan is there to report that the plan to free Logain has been started. It's the correct thing to do, since the Hall will gentle him if they don't free him and send him off to Rand. I like the conversation here. Siuan, as the former Amyrlin, tells her that she's often found the stole to be heavier than ten men and doesn't leave a lot of easy decisions.
​
Finally, we see Myrelle and Lan finally has made it to her. Moiraine passed Lan's bond on to her when she died/disappeared. Interestingly, this has political connotations because Myrelle is in Sheriam's inner circle and she's accepting Moiraine's former warder.
​
Finally we get back to the kidnapping. The next two chapters, especially Chapter 54, that lead up to the final battle aren't very exciting to be honest. Mostly because they're with Perrin. Perrin not only sucks, he's also just really boring as a character. The most boring of the main three that's for sure. But we're stuck with him. Again, there's a reason why he was exiled from the previous book and the majority of this one. And there's a reason why I started to actually like these books with the previous one. I'm not gonna say it's just because Perrin was gone, but it definitely was a factor, I think.
​
So we're in the middle of the Feast of Lights where everyone's partying in the streets shirtless, even the women, and Perrin is shocked out of his mind. I loved the little statement that the Tairen men took one look and joined in and the Tairen women took one look and said NOPE, went back inside and put armed guards on the door.
​
There's a nice little meeting with all the people in Rand's inner circle including Perrin, Faile, Loial, Dobraine, Berelain, Sulin, Rhuarc, and Sorilea. Quite a rogue's list of characters. We find out that Colavaere has been taking advantage of the chaos of the partying in the streets for the Feast of Lights to assassinate some of her political rivals, to make her way to the throne. And now that Rand is gone, she possibly could take it. Berelain comes in and Perrin, being Perrin, immediately assumes she's there to flirt with him. Instead of, you know, showing the things that Rand left behind after he's been gone for so long. Sulin immediately recognizes that Rand has been kidnapped because they're things that Rand wouldn't have left behind and she decides she's done enough time as a servant, thank goodness.
​
Berelain apparently also got pressured by the Aes Sedai to go home because they're trying to make the city and country more friendly to the Tower and Rand's inner circle is not likely to be, particularly after they KIDNAPPED HIM. Obviously. Dobraine was also pressured into leaving. This political pressure is what convinces Perrin that Rand was kidnapped and so he takes off with an army at his back to fight the Tower Aes Sedai. What's even more wild here is that the Wise Ones agree to take part in the battle since they can channel. It's cute how Sorilea lights a fire here to show that she can channel, but she's not very powerful in the power as we've made clear. She's powerful politically, so she can convince a lot of the Wise Ones to fight.
​
Back with the kidnapping Aes Sedai, we learn that they've also kidnapped Min. That's apparently where she was when the Aes Sedai kidnapped him. When Rand found out that Min was also kidnapped, he managed to kill a Warder with his bare hands and injure another who died from the Healing. And both Warders belonged to an Aes Sedai named Erian, so she's insanely pissed at Rand and wants to punish him. Which she gets to do. She gets to whip him over and over again.
​
Interestingly, Rand actually works with Lews Therin. If they tie off the shield, then Lews Therin can break through. One thing that made me think Lews Therin was really there was when he asks who are you or some such to Rand. It made me wonder if there actually is a real connection there, through time, to Lews Therin. What if the two are actually hearing each other in their heads talking to each other? Perhaps after the tainting of saidin. Because if that's the case, that's huge. They can communicate what's happening to each other and literally work together to solve what's happening in their own time periods.
​
Sevanna, the Wise One of the Shaido that they allied with, just wanted to see Rand as part of the deal. The other part of the deal is that the Shaido kill Gawyn and the Younglings. Presumably they're too much of a bother or unwieldy to deal with or some such. I'm not sure why. I do think I remember earlier in the book the Aes Sedai in this party complaining about them. But again I'm not sure why. Seems like a bad idea to have your only defensive force offed, but then I'm not a Tower Aes Sedai. Sevanna intends to turn on the Aes Sedai, though, and take Rand for herself to marry him. The real Car'a'carn instead of her fake Car'a'carn that she supported, Couladin. Rather abruptly she has Desaine murdered because, according to the app, she opposed Sevanna being made a Wise One. She also tosses away a little cube she had been given at the beginning of the book that she was supposed to use when Rand was taken captive. Not sure of the significance of that.
​
And then the Perrin chapter where they're tracking him. This is the least interesting part. It's kind of funny how they have to push through all the festivities of the Feast of Lights to get a boat to cross the river, though, and it's a struggle to get the people on the boat to do anything. Understandably so.
​
Perrin slowly builds up his force here as more and more troops join: Dobraine's men, Mayeneres from Berelain, Rhuarc's Aiel and Maidens, ninety four Wise Ones ready to break with tradition and actually get involved in a battle, the wolves that Perrin talks to, his Two Rivers men, and finally the rebel Aes Sedai using Alanna's Warder bond to track him down.
​
We open up the final chapter with Gawyn getting warning that thousands of Aiel are about to attack. He tells Galina that they should actually be cautious for once and prepare for the defense. She, amazingly, relents her arrogance and agrees. Inside the trunk, Rand can tell that Alanna is getting closer, but obviously doesn't trust her since he doesn't trust any Aes Sedai at all anymore.
​
When Perrin's forces arrive they see a battle already in place, the Shaido are besieging the Aes Sedai and Younglings, trying to take Rand for themselves. The Shaido also have a few channeler Wise Ones, most of whom probably killed Desaine in the other chapter. There's all kinds of magic being cast on both sides: lightning, fireballs, earthquakes. The usual battle magic. Perrin realizes that the Shaido will probably eventually overwhelming the Aes Sedai position and take Rand, so Perrin leads the charge. They don't have a plan other than to get Rand out. There is a plan, though, the Two Rivers men and Mayeners are supposed to go in two squads with the Wise Ones with one group and the Aes Sedai in another group. They're supposed to be pincers to attack from both sides. Except they don't actually follow this plan and Aes Sedai do whatever the fuck they want because of their arrogance, I guess. Perrin sends wolves out to be the initial charge, attacking and surprising the backs of the Shaido ranks. It's also shocking that the Aes Sedai are fighting offensively in this battle at all. According to the three oaths, they're not supposed to take part in battle except in self-defense. All of a sudden, a bunch of gateways start appearing all over the battlefield as Asha'man from Rand's Black Tower appear and start fighting.
​
In the meantime, Rand manages to break free from the chest. He feels the shields tied off because the Aes Sedai holding him have to go take part in the battle. With Lews Therin's help, Rand is able to exploit that, pushing through the ties, like untying a shoe, and weakens the barrier enough to break through and burst out of the chest in an explosion of wood and splinters. Very dramatic and cinematic, I love it. He also might have accidentally stilled and killed some of the Aes Sedai holding him.
​
Rand finds Min and Min wants him to create a portal and get the fuck out of there, but Rand doesn't want to abandon the people who came to save him. Plus he can't because he doesn't know the place well enough. Presumably he could use the other method, the one where you have to know the place you're going, but you don't have to know the place you're at and then you have to sit in blackness for hours. But he doesn't use that. Instead, he starts knocking out Aes Sedai and shielding them from behind cover. The Aes Sedai don't know who's doing it, because they can't feel Saidin like Rand can feel both sources.
​
Gawyn rides up briefly but leaves because Elayne loves Rand and Egwene doesn't want anything bad to happen to him. Plus Gawyn couldn't kill Rand if he tried. Instead, he simply runs out of the battle with the few remaining Younglings that are still alive.
​
Mazrim Taim appears and offers to heal Rand, but he doesn't accept it. Rand doesn't want anything to do with anyone wielding the Power at all anymore except himself. Understandably so. There's an Asha'man who tries to attack Rand and Taim stops him. AGAIN, this seems to be a consistent problem: the Asha'man not knowing who Rand is. I can very easily see this being a long running problem throughout the books, actually, to the point of a big political crisis or something. Rand is not around them often enough for them to know who he is. They don't recognize him.
​
Taim and the Asha'man secure the campsite with a dome of air. They manage to secure the Aes Sedai as well, shielding them and binding them. That, in itself, is fucking wild. The Black Tower is holding prisoners from the White Tower. That has huge political implications. The White Tower is not as powerful as it once was and is being brought low by MEN who can channel for the first time in a long time.
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Perrin begs Rand to open the dome of air because most of their force is still out there fighting the Shaido. Taim doesn't want to open the dome, he'd rather learn the place well enough to escape. Loial's idea to slip out and let the rest of the force know that Rand is alright reminds me of the tactics Perrin used in the fourth book when Loial slipped out and closed the Waygate during the battles in the Two Rivers. Instead, Rand just orders Taim to open the dome of air and unleashes the full might of the Asha'man in what can only be described as absolutely fucking insane and horrifying.
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"Asha'man, KILL!" shouts Taim and the line of Asha'man start doing just that. Shaido bodies literally just explode. Lines of bodies just explode in guts and gore. The first line, then the second, everyone dies in an instant and the Shaido can't escape fast enough. It's absolutely horrifying. Everyone retches, understandably. The Asha'man are so insanely powerful that they can decimate an entire army. They are very much the superior fighting force. Not only did they make an entire army explode into mists of blood and guts and gore, they have captured and are holding prisoner Aes Sedai from the Tower. Again, this all has massive political implications. With an army of Black Tower Asha'man behind Rand, it's going to be damn near impossible NOT to conquer the rest of the world.
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The Salidar Aes Sedai come to Rand and, he is understandably spooked by Aes Sedai. He doesn't recognize any difference anymore between Tar Valon and Salidar. They are all Aes Sedai to him and absolutely all not to be trusted. Especially when the Salidar Aes Sedai were told they could bring six and they brought nine, breaking the little trust Rand had left for them. He's been distrusting Moiraine this whole time, he distrusts anyone who can channel including Wise Ones, and then he was understandably spooked by Alanna forcibly making him a Warder. Then the Salidar Aes Sedai tried to intimidate him, there were suddenly thirteen and he left, only to be kidnapped by the Tower Aes Sedai. He's been fucked around with by Aes Sedai for the last time. He demands fealty so that he can finally feel safe around Aes Sedai. He demands that they bow to him and Taim backs him up. "Kneel to the Lord Dragon, or you will be knelt."
​
"As stories do, the tale spread, across Cairhien and north and south, by merchant train and peddler and simple traveler gossiping at an inn. As stories do, the tale changed with every telling. The Aiel had turned on the Dragon Reborn and killed him, at Dumai's Wells or elsewhere. No, the Aes Sedai had saved Rand al'Thor. It was Aes Sedai who had killed him- no, gentled him- no, carried him to Tar Valon where he languished in a dungeon beneath the White Tower. Or else where the Amyrlin Seat herself knelt to him. Unusually for stories, it was something very close to truth that was most often believed.
​
On a day of fire and blood, a tattered banner waved above Dumai's Wells, bearing the ancient symbol of Aes Sedai.
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On a day of fire and blood and the One Power, as prophecy suggested, the unstained tower, broken, bent knee to the forgotten sign.
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The first nine Aes Sedai swore fealty to the Dragon Reborn and the world was changed forever."
​
The politics of the world are forever changed. The Aes Sedai, who never kneel to anyone, EVER, at least nine of them, have been forced to kneel to the Dragon Reborn. What will happen in the series going forward now that that has happened, that the Aes Sedai have been humbled so? Time will tell I'm sure. I'm also realizing, now, that the cover of the book is this scene: Rand standing with the Aes Sedai kneeling to him. And with that, the story comes to a close in what I can only describe as an epic and exciting and fantastic ending. What a great ending to one of the best books in the series so far. This series really does get better with each book, that is for sure. I'm so glad I wasn't completely turned off by Eye of the World and kept reading. There will be one more post for the final thoughts for the book as a whole, so look out for that!
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Only we do have a brief Epilogue to consider with some disparate scenes. Falion, a Black Ajah Aes Sedai from the last book, had been given a secret task by Moghedien and we find out that it is to go to Ebou Dar to find a cache of angreal. Only, Moghedien hasn't talked to her in awhile on account of being captured so Falion is enjoying her time without being harassed by a Chosen. If she can capture Nynaeve and Elayen, though, Moghedien might be very grateful.
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The scholar who hardly ever noticed that Rand was there, Herid Fel, gets killed by something called a gholam, something we've never seen before.
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We see a rider leaving Ebou Dar saying something about it being ripe for looting. And he thinks that the Return is coming soon. Which, I have to assume, means the Seanchan. Again, it's that Seanchan activity that we saw in Pedron Nial's chapters. The Seanchan have taken over Tanchico, I'm almost certain of it, and are going to start spreading across the continent, possibly in the next book, but at some point in the future.
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Moghedien gets rescued by Aran'gar, the resurrected Forsaken that had been hiding out in Salidar. Aran'gar is using saidin to channel as Moghedien never felt saidar being channeled. Which confirms my suspicions, that Aran'gar is one of the male Forsaken that died being resurrected. That had to have been the case, because none of the female Forsaken died before this book. So Moghedien finally escapes after having spent the whole book as a prisoner.
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Egwene felt the necklace come off. Somehow she's able to know that a man did it, something about a particular stab of pain. I'm not sure why she's able to recognize that. She has already let Logain go free and so naturally wonders whether Logain let Moghedien free as well, though it's doubtful he would do that.
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And finally, we see Demandred in the pit of doom, where this whole story started, kneeling to his Dark Lord.
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"'Have I not done well, Great Lord?'
​
The Great Lord's laughter filled Demandred's head."

Plots that I have - Victorian era: vampire X vampire hunter, or demon X demon hunter. Victoria has been alive for many many years after being blessed with vampire blood. Recently however a group of human hunters have shown up in England, her home and it has displeased her greatly. Since she is one of the wealthiest households around money is never a problem. But most humans won’t fight their own. So she’s going to have to take matters into her own hands. After taking out most of a hunting party she takes one of them back alive to get information out of them and ends up being charmed by their personality and decides to let them live… a little more - Vikings- Astrid had been trained to fight her whole life. She was a force of nature and the gods protected her. She had never lost a fight, so she was ready for battle. But battle is always far bloodier than you can imagine. After a particularly violent raid she returns home. Though missing many of her fellow Vikings who died along the journey. Her childhood friend is waiting for her to get back, having finally worked up the courage to confess her feelings and yet. The person who came back was different than the Astrid she new - Avatar- Rinaí was the chiefs daughter so she had many responsibilities that others did not. She had spent many many years in the forests of pandora taking care of her tribe and the nature around it, protecting it from the sky people. When her father told her she is to marry the daughter of a water chief from miles away, to unify the tribes once and for all. Well she was shocked, the water tribes are so different from us, sure we were much closer to the coast than other tribes but why her? Why not her brothers? She and the other chiefs daughter will have much to teach each other. They are very similar and yet very different. - The Last of Us: that was it, she couldn’t run anymore. She was too tired to keep going. There was a hoard not to far back and if she wanted to live she was going to have to think of something fast. As she hears the screams and clicks getting closer she suddenly hears shots going off. She looks around and then up and sees flashes coming from a building beside her. It was a tall apartment building which had vines growing all over it. She uses the last bit of energy she has to run into it, slowly but surely making her way up the stairs to the sound of gun fire. Finally she gets to the room she can hear it coming from. She opens the door and sees the woman swing around, pointing the gun at her. She opens her mouth to say something but her vision goes black and before she can help herself she’s slumped over on the floor, passed out. - Mafia: Ari was a waitress at a bar, and she enjoyed it too. She got to meet lots of people. She made good tips, her boss was always polite and respectful to her. It was perfect for her. Then one day a woman walks in she doesn’t recognize, and she’s got body guards with her. ‘Who the hell brings body guards to a bar?’ She thinks with a sigh as she goes to serve her. The woman seemed very interested in her when she went to get her drink order. So Ari asks her boss about the woman, little did she know is that woman ran the largest crime syndicates on this side of the country. She did know however that the woman wanted her, she had made it very clear. - Hades(f) and Persephone: all the other gods have always been jealous of their eternal love for eachother. Constantly sending them trials and challenges to test their love. The gods of the underworld prevail every time much to the other gods annoyance, as does their love. (Very lovey dovey rp)
Hi! I’m nicki I’m 24 looking for 20+ and these are some prompts that I’m looking to play out! I am looking to move to discord eventually but I am happy to talk out ones that you might have too that you think I may be interested in based on the ones I’ve put. I am only looking for F or someone playing F at the moment, and I’m happy to rework the plots of these into something that we both would enjoy if you aren’t feeling any of these. I am looking for someone who can respond AT LEAST once a day or just let me know if you will be busy for a few days. I like to have fun, and I want you too as well I don’t have minimums cause this isn’t an essay but as long as you put effort in your responses I will be satisfied. Romance and what comes with it is necessary for me not to get bored so if you don’t like that it’s okay, we might just have different styles. I can write in third person and first which ever works. Finally all I ask is if we are Rp and for whatever reason you aren’t feeling it instead of ghosting just be mature and let me know, I’ll do the same!

Hey TDP fandom! Welcome to this monthly update toward season 5 with brand new TDP content, news and updates within the month of March!
I hope everyone had a wonderful St.Patrick’s Day and a safe Spring Break!
As springs starts to welcome us with its breezy winds, sunny days and warm temperatures, it’s also a season where new beginnings occur occasionally! That’s right I’m talking about season 5!
While there’s still no major updates about season 5 ocean yet, that doesn’t mean there’s something big going on with the TDP team!
Let’s review on what TDP content, news and updates that occurred within the month of March!

1. I’ll cut right to the chase on this one. For a long time, the fandom has been asking Wonderstorm on what’s the latest information regarding the development of TDP’s video game.

There hasn’t been much discussion about TDP’s video game not until now.
TDP’s video game is called Project Arcanum and it’s now available for everyone to sign up to beta test the game on pre-alpha mode! It’ll feature everyone’s favorite characters from the TDP series and also including a few new ones as well! You have to be at least 13 years old or above to test out Project Arcanum.
Here’s the link for everyone to get started to sign up for Project Arcanum to get all the latest updates about TDP’s newest video game as it continues to undergo early development! https://www.wonderstorm.net/projectarcanum
Here’s a side note: Project Arcanum will only be played in North America first before extending to other countries and will be accessible to be played on PC only.

1. The TDP team made changes to the official TDP discord server as they changed some of the hashtag names to be more saga related to connect to the TDP series while also retiring some old hashtags to make room for upcoming TDP content projects.
   
2. The TDP team attended the 2023 Wondercon event performing a wonderful exhibition educating the audience about animation how scenarios make it from storyboards to the live screen by doing it on a fan favorite scene from season 4 and performing a Q&A with the audience!
   

Here’s a quick recap from the panel:
They featured a scene between the fight of Claudia and Ibis fighting over the staff of Ziard at the Storm Spire showing how they set out a episode step by step.

1. Episodes are arranged in three acts using index cards to indicate the plot.
   
2. They begin to write the script in two documents that sets the outline and give voice actors time to read the lines their going to record.
   
3. The writers read the script out loud to see if the tone matches the specific scene.
   
4. They go on to the storyboard and animation phase then continue further down to animation using LRC.
   
5. Finally they go to sound and mixing on soundtracks which is performed by an entire orchestra!
   
6. Season 5 is confirmed to arrive this summer!
   
7. A few Out of context spoilers were revealed from some season 5 episodes.
   
8. The TDP Team announced more brand new merchandise are now available for purchase through HotTopic that includes a variety of new clothes and face masks!
   

Here’s the link to get started to check out on all the merchandise HotTopic and Wonderstorm has to offer! https://www.hottopic.com/pop-culture/?cgid=pop-culture&prefn1=license&prefv1=Dragon+Prince

1. The first play test of TDP’s video game of Project Arcanum has begun to enroll!

Here’s the link to sign up on the pre alpha version if you haven’t already yet signed to check out the contents of Project Arcanum! https://www.wonderstorm.net/projectarcanum
That is all the TDP news, content and updates that occurred within the month of March! We were blessed with a miracle to get an official season 5 announcement from the TDP team and now knowing it’ll be coming this summer!
Now that season 5 has finally been announced, we best prepare ourselves for more possible season 5 major updates in April!

Back with another account of thoughts East Blue Shenanigans, Finishing up Orange Town then off to the early parts of Syrup Village!
Ep 8 Who is the Victor? Devil Fruit Power Showdown! : Wrapping up the Orange Town Arc and honestly this ep was the best one since Ep 4 recounting Romance Dawn. Perfectly paced. Comedy was on point, and a wholesome ending with the townspeople. That Usopp eyecatch at the very end was wild though. What kind of Dio Energy pose was that!?
Ep 9 The Honorable Liar? Captain Usopp!: Sadly it looks like the anime is skipping the Island of Strange Animals and getting straight to Syrup Village stuff (though I think that episode comes later one), of course this is the episode God D. Usopp appears and one of my favorite characters in the series and he's the best part of the ep by far. (Seriously the kill it in the VA casting when it comes to major characters). Couple changes I noticed though, Usopp actually has pirate flag props to try to front to the crew he does indeed have a crew which was a nice touch and not in the manga. The Yasopp flashback happens earlier too, however, and I'm not sure I like that. But overall good ep.
Ep 10 The Weirdest Guy Ever! Jango the Hypnotist!: In this ep, we meet Jango and then learn about Kuro's sneaky plan. Seeing and hearing Jango was a joy and he's the highlight of course. Instant comedy. Usopp's "I'm the son of a pirate" declaration also happens at the beggining which is one of my more favorite Usopp moments. And Kuro shows he's evil which....eh, I've never been the biggest fan of Kuro anyway. I have also notcied the pacing is a bit slower in these last two eps, though nothing bad and probably not a bad idea when Orange Town was paced so briskly.
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That's it for now, hopefully soon I'll get through more Syrup Village and into the coming action!