Really, I need other’s thoughts, here. Less advice, more interested in hearing other’s personal experiences with this lesson and what they did.
Okay, so my sister’s wedding is coming up. It’s very far away. As in, over 8 hours of flying, two layovers far away. I have two small children and am currently going through a very very long high conflict divorce with my Q. I am so utterly emotionally, spiritually, physically, every which kind of way drained. The thought of flying all this way with my very small children to be at said long ways away location for only a few days is actually giving me heart burn. Or a panic attack on my really bad days.
I’m doing my personal work through all this, because healing can happen at any time. Thanking HP for that. Well, so my prayer lately is “HP, please make me willing.” That’s it. She answers me a lot with this, and this time, in a very unexpected way.
I wanted/ expected her to send me messages on how to look at this trip positively. Instead, I read literature yesterday from Courage to Change, page 325, with a message that surmounted in when I feel spiritually broken, it’s okay to take refuge in curiosity to engage my own happiness, that I didn’t have to the God of other’s understanding.
Today, I listened to a seminar, the topic of which was taking back my own power. In it, she likened the human body to a power plant and said that when we unplug from the things that don’t serve us, we get our energy back. She also said she never does anything for others she doesn’t want to do, because then there’s never a need to hear a thank you. That really struck me.
I am taking away from this permission to not go, but I know my parents and sister will be very disappointed/ angry. My parents have been my support network through this divorce, so I Don’t want to disappoint them, specifically my mom more than my dad. My sister will be angry.
I don’t feel like this wedding serves me at all. It’s true that I can get away from my stbxh for a while with my kids while I’m still forced to cohabitate with him, but she already had her “real wedding”, according to her, with her friends. Which no family was invited to. I’ve already paid for everything. My flights aren’t refundable except for as credit. I already bought her a gift. I just don’t want to go. I want to conserve what little energy I have so that I can actually show up for my kids and myself each day. I feel like this is an obligation - it’s not something I’m personally excited or looking forward to, even though I’m close with my sister. I feel like I’m just supposed to be there for what? For appearances? She’s already married and the kids and I weren’t invited to what she called the real wedding. Their second wedding is in her husband’s family’s backyard. It feels more like the wedding is for his family. I’ve tried to call her to ask about details multiple times over the last going on four months. She never picks up the phone. I’ve gotten all the details I needed from our parents, including airports to fly into the venue and literally everything.
Maybe another aspect of this is that I know her and her new husband do a lot of drugs together at music festivals and with their friends in their private life. Idk if that’ll be happening at the wedding, but I just don’t want to be around all the drinking that comes with all weddings and possible drug use right now.
I recognize I am being critical and feel resentment towards her because of her lack of communication and the fact that it’s not even clear what the purpose of this second wedding is. That’s honestly secondary to me, though. I am just so. Damn. Tired. This is sucking me dry even thinking about going. I know I am getting the above messages, but I’m concerned it doesn’t apply to big life events like this. My oldest is also really excited to go. I would appreciate kind thoughts and opinions. I sort of feel like this is a test for me about taking my own power back, but I’m scared to fail and I’m scared to pass. your stories are appreciated. 💛

Going off my previous thread, I decided to do another Thriller Bark-based character for some underrated powerscaling. She was pretty formidable at the time of Thriller Bark, even if that means nothing currently.

Background Knowledge

• As the commander of Wild and Suprise Zombies, Perona is portrayed as someone who is above them in strength.
• Her Vivre Card doesn't have any notable feats, and she is not listed to have any haki.

Devil Fruit

Perona has a Paramecia Type, the Hollow Hollow Fruit, allowing her to produce and manipulate ghosts.

• Perona's ghosts are intangible, allowing them to shift through walls and be immune to physical attacks, such as fire.
• The ghosts are also capable of splitting into multiple ghosts.
• A notable trait of these ghosts is that touching them in any way allows them to make others depressed or "negative," giving them a win-con.
• Perona displays an ability to control multiple ghosts all over Thriller Bark, showing her range and capacity of using multiple ghosts.
• She can also use these ghosts to communicate with others without being physically present through her ghost network.
• Even someone like Luffy, who is known for his willpower, is easily susceptible to Perona's negative ghosts.
• Perona's ghosts are described to be a part of herself and can empty human hearts, leaving them in a depressed state.
• Perona is able to make an astral projection of herself that can fly, pass through objects, and change size at will.
  • She can only do this by projecting her soul from her body, creating a ghost version of herself.
    • By extension, all of her ghosts are also literal souls.
  • Flight- 1, 2, 3
  • Size transformation- 1, 2
  • Intangibility- 1, 2, 3, 4
• Perona has access to Mini Hollows, which create miniature shockwaves strong enough to destroy brick walls.
• Ghost Rap is the technique that allows Perona to set off her Mini Hollows, and she can rapid-fire them with just the snap of her fingers.
• Special Hollow, Kamikaze Rap is a supersized Mini Hollow that Perona can create to make a giant shockwave explosion.
  • The shockwave is strong enough to OHKO Lieutenant Hippo Gallant, who is one of the stronger Zombies in Thriller Bark.
• Perona's ultimate technique is a combination of Negative Ghost and Special Hollow, allowing her to immobilize and then blow up her opponent.
• Post-TS Perona seems to have developed her powers enough to allow her to fly without being in her astral projection form.

Speed

• Perona can produce and manipulate her ghosts fast enough to tag Zoro, Sanji, Franky, and Usopp, showing that she can somewhat keep up with their speed.
• Perona is fast enough to react to Usopp's projectiles, dodging them multiple times.
• Perona can instantly catch up with Usopp, despite him having a headstart.

I have a question about Qatar airways. I booked a ticket to Doha on their website and their sticker and pnr confirmed from Mco to jfk and jfk to Doha. There is no way to select seat for the flight from Mco to jfk. And JetBlue website does not show anything for this pnr. What do we do ?

My family has gone to GH Baha Mar for a week in February the last two years. We love it but with the new valuations, it’s going to run us an extra 70k points-ish (across our two rooms) next year.
We don’t use the casino, but quality of the resort, pools, beach, restaurants, etc, and plentiful easy, direct flights from the Boston make it an awesome destination for us. If I just have to soak the 70k, I’ll do it but wondering if there’s somewhere else I should be considering that could fire on these same cylinders.

I've used HyperX products for years. The issues with software, firmware updates killing headsets and drivers just not working right in Windows 11 have gotten incredibly bad. I just purchased a Cloud Alpha Wireless and it died following a firmware update that is forced via NGenuity.
I am no longer using or recommending HyperX products. Pretty sad, because when I was reviewing products full time I had no issues with them and generally found them to be a quality product:
https://www.legitreviews.com/hyperx-cloud-flight-s-wireless-gaming-headset-review_219158
Sorry, HyperX, but lackluster CS (Seriously, no chat or email support available right now?) and a myriad of software/firmware issues has me turned away from your brand.

Hey guys, I'm from Canada and have been studying Japanese for 10ish years but have been to Japan until now.
It's literally my 5th day moving here to Tokyo for work and hopefully I'm able to have time to explore after all the red tape with juminhyo, bank account, health check up, etc..
Btw, each of them took over 4 hours to finish and the bank account one especially a headache since I first travelled to whole branch by mistaking "Asakusa" for "Akasaka" and had to travel to a new branch after the Akasaka one was gone only to have to apply an account twice since the first time the lady didn't accept my document 🫠
Anyways, I'm basically an Asian nerd interested in everything Japanese 😂 so please feel free to hit me up if you're looking for someone to hang out, thanks!

Hello,
Not sure if this is the right place to post.. but we are flying from Christchurch, NZ to Tokyo next month.
We stop over in Sydney for 1hr 15mins.
Is this enough time to get through immigration and back through security again??
Has anyone done this before?
We won’t have any bags to grab
Cheers

It's hard to mention money without people considering it a 'boast post' but genuinely wanting ideas.
I often to tel aviv, where it gets hot from tomorrow on wards really (22-27 for the next month), but for some reason I've not booked it yet - I get flights and accommodations / hotels / air bnb separate - and so I'm wondering why I've not just booked and taken myself away as usual.
I need some inspiration.
Go reddit >

The greatest tragedy of war is that for some people the war never ends.

• Nebojsa Knezevic, head of psychiatry for Pallas Medical Institute, 2142

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Prev/First
Silijima hopped into the truck, next to Sargen. The massive Gojid's head nearly reached the roof of the vehicle forcing him to crouch ever so slightly. He was an even more imposing figure up close, his muscles bulging and his scars held taut against his skin. He seemed preoccupied, as if her presence made him uncomfortable when they were close. His claws gripped the steering wheel, lightly scraping the carbon material. He seemed to be in his late thirties to early forties, and a distinguished Gojid at that save for the eye and the prosthetic arm. Most would consider him quite handsome if it wasn't for the damage he had received, and even then she was sure some women would find a prosthetic like that doubly enticing.
Senek sat in the back, leaning his head back and yawning. He seemed exhausted, most likely from being on duty for the last good knows how many weeks. He kept an eye on Sargen, but it wasn't a distrustful one, more like he was concerned for Sargen's wellbeing. It was hilarious to Silijima, to think that Sargen warranted concern, but she didn't know him or his past so she wouldn't judge; sometimes the strongest people held the greatest burdens.
"So, where to next? Do we have any other stops to make?" Silijima asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"No, not unless you want to stop," replied Sargen.
Behind them, Senek grumbled. "We need to head back to the Collective and finish for the day; I'm fucking exhausted."
Sargen started the truck and turned around. "Then go home, Senek; you've done your work for the day. I'll show Silijima a bit of the station before I deliver the goods and introduce Silijima to the captains."
Senek didn't seem convinced. "They won't be happy that Sujek and I bailed halfway through the delivery."
Sargen snorted. "Ayaz and Igor won't give a damn as long as the delivery gets delivered. Take a tram and go home and see your mate and kids; you looked harrowed."
Silijima was inclined to agree. Before today, she didn't know if it was possible for a reptile to have bags under its eyes, but Senek surely did. He looked like shit, although Silijima would never voice that out loud.
Senek hissed but didn't argue, opening the door and leaving the back of the truck with a grunt. Silijima saw him walk down the street towards a tram stop in the distance, where one was unloading all sorts of people heading to shop at Zapadnyy tsentral'nyy rynok, as well as those ready finished with their shopping trips. Eventually, Senek disappeared into the crowd of humans, arxur, and the occasional venlil, harchin and gojid.
"So," Sargen started with an apprehensive sigh, "My name's Sargen, as you've probably been told. I'm sure Senek and Sujek have already told you all about me."
Silijima chuckled nervously. "Not much, actually. I've been wondering where you got that arm from; it seems very high tech. I've only seen prosthetics like that on high ranking military personnel in the federation."
The question only seemed to make Sargen even more tense. "I lost my real arm in battle. They replaced it with this." He flexed the arm, the prosthetic was agile and precise in its movements. "It's near identical to the real thing utility-wise, although the look of it took some time to get used to."
Silijima nodded absentmindedly, admiring both the arm and his physical build. Sargen must've been through hell and back to be so torn up.
"Are you ex-military? You have the hardware to be."
Sargen frowned lightly. "You could say that. But that's enough about me." Then Sargen put a soft smile on his face, a fake one, as if he was trying to hide his true feelings. "I was told you served in the navy; what was that like?"
Silijima didn't push for more information. "I was a Master Technical Coordinator for the Unwavering Credence. I kept the Guns and the hull functioning along with crews of grunt welders, and I pieced the ship back together after battles.
Sargen whistled, impressed by her rank. "You were pretty high up on the totem pole on that ship. Why'd you leave?"
Silijima scoffed. "The lies, the brutality, and the stress. I came to Skhamar looking for answers after losing faith in the state I defended for over a decade. Now that I know the truth, I realize that I hated every second of it, although I do miss it in a way. Once you get out, well, nothing seems right. For the first few months, I couldn't stand being off duty. I still miss that safety of knowing I was on a military vessel; at least we could defend ourselves. Back on Nishtal, I felt so… exposed, since I wasn't allowed to carry a firearm on my person anymore."
Sargen chuckled. "I know how you feel. I couldn't sleep right after I… left: I kept expecting an attack at all hours. Sometimes I'd wake up in a panic, clutching my ion pistol and ready to kill, only to realize it was just the sound of some puny asteroid bouncing off the outer shell of the station or a ship taking off."
Silijima snorted. "I remember nearly having a heart attack from the fireworks they set off for unification day. My parents didn't understand, or maybe they couldn't, but I don't celebrate that day anymore. It sounds too similar to Arxur hybrid charges slamming against the hull of a ship."
Silijima chuckled at first, but the laughter quickly died as reality set in. Her service in the navy had messed her up in more ways than one, but she couldn't imagine not living that life; she wouldn't know what to do with herself otherwise. She hated it, but she was better for it.
"So… What is there to do on this station? I'm pretty new to all of this freedom. What is there to do?"
"That's the good thing about this job; you get a good week or so in between missions to relax," Sargen smiled bitterly, but it was still a happy smile, "Me and the rest of the crew have so much to show you."
Silijima's heart skipped a beat at his statement. "Senek didn't seem too excited to show me anything."
"Senek's just tired; in fact he's always tired. He worked two missions in a row, same as Sujek, and they're probably going to push for another one," Sargen stated, "although I bet both Ayaz and Igor will send them both home and tell them to spend some time just relaxing for once since those two practically kill themselves working." He chuckled before continuing, "But as for things to do, well, there's a lot: Theaters, Restaurants, Museums, a full-sized futbol stadium, and even a few more exotic things the humans brought over. Humans are kind of the cultural heart of the entire Commonwealth; The big Arxur houses might be the dominant economic forces besides the coalitions, but the Humans really brought a heart and soul to what would otherwise be a pretty dull and barren place."
Silijima thought about that for a moment. She had seen sporting events before; Nishtal had plenty of ballastier stadiums to choose from, where Krakotl would work as a flock to move a floating ball from one end to the other. There were also games of airborne agility and such, so she wasn't too interested in sports.
But the idea of a theater intrigued her. Nishtal didn't have many theaters: the Krakotl didn't like being cooped up in a dark place for too long, since their instincts were to nest under the open sky instead of burrow underground. Mix that with a lack of any big theater culture and you git a species that vastly preferred doing over watching. Sports and music were far more popular with the Krakotl, their ability to fly and vast vocal ranges helping them flourish in alternative mediums of entertainment.
"How are the theaters here? I've never really gone to one before."
Sargen eyed her with disbelief. "Neither did I before I came here. They're pretty great, with lots of cheap snacks and reclining seats. There aren't any 'new' movies yet since there's no real movie industry here on Skhamar yet, but they play a lot of older human movies. A few months ago I went with Timothy, Sarah, and their daughter Maggie to go see The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. The art style was pretty mind-blowing, to say the least."
"The art style?"
"Animation. It's considered a proper medium of theater in human culture. There are a plethora of what humans call 'the animated classics': movies that have achieved universal human acclaim due to their outstanding quality. If I'm not mistaken, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is one of them."
Human art seemed so fascinating to her; the Federation was so cut and dry with what they considered art that anything that pushed the envelope was ridiculed and even reviled, often only gaining traction in underground groups that appreciated the bizarre and the condemned. To hear of artistic styles having entire mediums dedicated to them was astounding to her.
"That sounds incredible! What other movies have you seen?"
"Well, I've been itching to see Star Wars, but it's a long trilogy that's best watched at home. There's also a relatively new western by comparison called The Cursed that's being shown this week, so we can go see that. I've heard nothing but good things about it."
Silijima didn't know what a 'western' was, but if it was anything like how Sargen describes their animated movies, she was sure a human western couldn't be bad.
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Silijima casually read the synopsis for the movie they would be watching on her holophone.
The year is 1886: Aging civil war veteran turned outlaw Thomas 'Death-Singer' Lawrence ekes out a humble living amongst the Ojibwa Indians of what is now modern-day Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan, hoping to live out his final years of his life with his beloved wife, son and adopted tribe in peace. But when a bitter ex-Confederate, Klan member, and son of a wealthy plantation owner Shaw Cunningham and his gang of killers massacre the tribe for supporting the Union during the war, his entire world is torn from him. Now, all that's left after the carnage is himself and a teenager named Nanabush, the fatherless black sheep of the tribe.
Now, with nothing but vengeance burning in his heart, Thomas once again takes up the mantle of 'Death-Singer', and along with his newly adopted ward Nanabush, he travels south to reform his old gang of thieves and outlaws, 'The Cursed', in a last-ditch effort to gain the ultimate revenge and both kill Shaw Cunningham and ruin his family fortune. The curse must be passed on, and there couldn't be a more worthy recipient…
Now that sounded interesting. Silijima didn't understand much of the context, but a revenge plot wasn't a common theme in Federation media, or federation art at all for that matter, so it seemed like a great place to start. Besides, it wasn't like it was real, so if it was overly violent then she could just finish the movie and never watch it again.
But first, there were snacks to buy. Silijima didn't know why Sargen insisted on buying snacks, but he stated that they 'improved the movie experience', or whatever that meant. Either way, he practically dragged Silijima up to a counter operated by a bored human, preparing to order a whole slew of snacks for the both of them.
"I'll get two medium boxes of Çäkçäk style popcorn, a large bag of Korivka, and two large bottles of… Give me a moment." Sargen turned to her. "What do you want to drink?"
Silinima browsed the menu nervously, not knowing what to choose. "Uhhh, I guess I'll try some Baikal? Is it good?"
Sargen shrugged. "It's pretty good, a bit different than most colas." Then he turned back to the snack vendor. "And two large bottles of Baikal."
The bored human sighed, obviously just ready for his shift to end, and prepared the food for the two of them. Sargen prepared his credit chip and handed it to the worker when he returned, paying for everything.
"You don't have to, Sargen, I can pay for myself."
Sargen chuckled. "Maybe, but I'm the one who's taking you out. Just let me take care of it."
The human returned with the popcorn, which was two buckets of strange yellow… things that had a slight glowing orange sheen, along with a large bag of candies and two massive bottles of soda, which were also huge. Sargen somehow deftly balanced all the snacks in their arms as they made their way to the movie room they were assigned to without even a grunt and gave her a soft grin. Despite his obvious optimism, he seemed tense, as if she reminded him of something.
Sargen hurried down the hall, his large stride making it difficult for Silijima to keep up with him, but she managed. He avoided her gaze, his eyes focusing on absolutely anything else. There it was again, the strange behavior. It was as if she was some kind of phantom to him, but he couldn't point out her existence without seeming crazy.
They made their way into a door on the side that led down a dark hall with dim lights lining the floor. It opened up to a massive screen showing adverts for products before the movie began.
"Where would you like to sit? I'm partial to the back; you get better seats and a better view."
Silijima shrugged her feathered shoulders. "Wherever you think is best; I have no clue."
Sargen chuckled, but led her up toe stairs to the upper row of seats. They made it there, sitting down near the center, and Sargen handed Silijima her popcorn and baikal. Silijime pecked at the popcorn hesitantly, but found that she loved it! The sweet, nutty and floral flavors of the coating reminded her of the Vagra nectar from Nishtal when peddlers would sell organic jars of it during the summer months, and it paired wonderfully with the salty-sweet crunch of the 'corn' itself. The baikal was another thing entirely; the sweet-spicy and pine flavors of the cola tasted like nothing she had ever experienced like fruit and spices boiled in bitter tree sap and carbonated, but palatable. By the time the movie had started, a third of her popcorn was gone, causing Sargen to chuckle.
The lights dimmed, causing Silijima to panic for a bit, but Sargen's hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder, calming her. He was there, and he was big; nothing could hurt such a giant, right?
Then, the movie began to play. The sound of some kind of delicate stringed instrument being strummed softly alongside the croaking and chirping of amphibians and insects on a warm summer night. The sounds of the wildlife stopped suddenly for a moment, as did the instrument when a small gang of about a dozen humans riding strange, four-legged creatures reminiscent of suleans without horns advanced towards a gathering of flickering lights in the distance; probably a village. Their gallops were thunderous and destructive, nothing like the sound of a stampede. It was the sound of unwavering strength.
The men wore sackcloth hoods with holes cut out for their eyes and ropes around their necks. In their hands were primitive revolving handguns. They wore a myriad of different clothes; some wore gray army uniforms, while others wore khakis, union shirts and suspenders. They laughed and bickered as they spurred their steeds onward, obviously ready to commit some unspeakable atrocity…
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Silijima has two panic attacks during the movie. Sargen was there, able to quell them by offering his support. He seemed to know what it was like to have one because he reached out and held her when she began to hyperventilate and raise her hackles. He didn't speak, but he made himself known. He was there, and that was enough.
At least the movie ended with a triumph: Thomas Lawrence got his revenge, even if he died in the end. His adopted ward, Nanabush, took up the mantle of Death-Singer, using it to defend the weak. It was a tightly wrapped story that should've been happy, but the memories of war still scarred Silijima; the sounds of the gunshots reminded her of the blasts of flechette cannons, and the blood on Lawrence's knife…
She still felt the phantom pain in her wing and body from being run through by an Arxur skimming blade. She had survived, of course, but the near-death experience had permanently changed her. She couldn't stand being around knives too long unless she was actually on the battlefield, and even then it caused her distress. Luckily, she never needed to be around too many sharp objects, being an engineer, but she had her… moments. She was able to quell her attacks, her panic and anxiety being quelled by the far more substantial fear of what she would be subjected to if her true state of mind were to be found out.
If the Federation found out you acted out of the norm, they'd spend weeks forcing you through the most agonizing 'therapies' before stuffing you full of pills and sending you home, never to be the same person again. She had seen the effects of these treatments; her former colleagues practically turned into zombies, their brains melted from the drugs. They lived off of government stipends, unable to truly contribute to the workforce, but the Federation seemed to consider this an acceptable tradeoff, the politicians being praised for lowering the rate of self-termination by any means necessary. In reality, it just created a state-funded drug epidemic.
Part of Silijima did want answers, but she realized her true motive for coming to Skhamar was to escape; she was so scared of staying home on Nishtal because every little thing could set her off. And if she were to have a serious enough outburst…
No, she wouldn't become what many of her former prey-in-arms had; a babbling mess of drugs and trauma. She was strong; she could do this. She wouldn't let her trauma overcome her.
"Are you okay, Silijima?" Sargent asked her, shaking her shoulder lightly. They were in the truck, riding to the Corsair collective where Ayaz and Igor had docked their cruiser. He seemed far more tired than before like she was exhausting to be around. She didn't doubt it; having predator disease was already exhausting enough for Silijima alone.
"I shouldn't have recommended that movie, it was too violent. Maybe something animated would've been better," said Sargent. "I was hoping that your experiences as a navy engineer would've been less traumatic than the average foot soldier, and I was wrong."
Silijima turned to him, emboldened. "It wasn't your fault, Sagren; I agreed to watch it. Besides, it might've opened up a few wounds, but it was still an excellent movie. And the popcorn and baikal were wonderful as well. And besides, it was a good movie, triggers notwithstanding."
Sargen smiled a little, although he was still feeling guilty. "I'm glad you liked it. But we should get to the collective; Ayaz and Igor will be happy to become acquainted with you."
Silijima nodded before turning back to the window, watching as the city raced by. The spires of the station-city rose hundreds of stories into the air, hover-tram systems connecting entire levels of platforms that connected to the taller towers. It made sense that the station would focus on the height of buildings; the width was a rare commodity on space stations due to the cost of adding extra floor-level infrastructure, so extremely tall spires interconnected by platforms and hover-tram systems that stretched for kilometers made sense. Everything was brightly lit: massive glowing LED signs depicting everything from clinics and dispensaries to shops and eateries were plastered across the buildings, along with almost lifelike and three-dimensional digital billboards depicting a wide array of advertisements and entertainment. It was the very definition of an urban jungle, sprawl and all, with tens of millions of individuals living their daily lives unimpeded.
"The station's pretty cool, huh? It's technically one of the larger cities in the galaxy, with a population of around twenty-five million inhabitants of all races."
That number was impressive for a city, but not for a nation. "But how many planets does Skhamar control? Fifty-five million is nothing compared to the five hundred billion sentients in the Federation alone."
Sargen nodded. "Yeah, that's true. Antheia and Calaïs are pretty sparsely populated at the moment, maybe a few million each, and the planet of Skhamar itself has about ten million. That means this place doesn't really have the manpower to keep up with the Federation or the Dominion in terms of fleet size. We still beat them in engagements though."
Silijima didn't believe that. "But how? The Federation outnumbers you guys a hundred to one!"
Sargen snorted, eyes focused on the road as he pulled into the parking lot of a ginormous building. "If there's one thing that I learned after only two years of living on Skhamar is that the Federation's school of naval doctrine is laughably bad. They solely rely on the force of numbers and firepower to overwhelm their enemies before they can strike back. This would normally work on smaller fleet engagements against lesser foes, but the humans don't play fair. They hide in gas clouds, and in asteroid fields. They launch silent torpedoes, drone strikes, and shells filled with toxic gas before initiating boarding actions to cause widespread panic in enemy fleets. Skhamar's newly minted traditions of piracy have led to a whole new level of Naval military thinking, one where the entire sector is an ever-changing battlefield and anything's fair game."
"But wouldn't they get discovered? How hasn't the Federation just listed down Skhamar's tactics for admirals to memorize and quantify in fleet engagements?"
"You're demanding too much from a Federation full of scared herbivores, and you're forgetting who runs that Federation. The Kolshians and the Farsul vehemently believe that thinking like a predator makes you a predator and that anything that resembles predatory behavior should be scrubbed away. To them, the 'herd' is the entire reason for their existence, and to stray from that is to become food." Sargen shook his head, obviously bemused by their rigid mindset. "In reality, predators have been chipping away at herds for thousands of years. To think that any herd is impervious is just stupid."
Silijima knew the former, and she had suspected the latter for a long time. "But herds need to adapt to survive, right? I bet you that was the reasoning behind the gene-modding and culture erasure at the hands of the Kolshians and the Farsul."
Sargen rolled his eyes like he had heard it all before. "It shocks me that you weren't thrown into an institution, with how perceptive you are. I'm telling you, the Kolshians and the Farsul couldn't care less about the other species in the Federation. All they care about is controlling and leading that herd they've stitched together with lies. To them, adaptability is only good when it benefits their narratives and power structures."
It made a sickening sort of sense, and it was completely believable now that the treachery of the Kolshians and the Farsul had come to light. The Kolshians and the Farsul being afraid of any change that challenged their ideals was a cancer on the Federation, and one that Silijima was sure would eat away at it until it was nothing more than a corpse. "I'm glad I left, you know, not being afraid of being locked up for having predator disease. I just hope that isn't a thing here."
"It isn't, believe me, or I would've been incarcerated a long time ago." Sargen replied, "Now let's go; I think we've wasted enough of Ayaz and Igor's time."
With that, Sargen stepped out of the truck, slamming the door and taking a deep breath of the blatantly recycled air. Silijima followed, leaving the truck and stepping out into a small, empty parking lot, which seemed strange for such a large and important building. The building itself was less of a spire and more short and squat but also very wide, with glass walls similar to those of the urban business centers on Nishtal. There was an entrance of glass doors in the front of the building, along with a massive sigil above them made out of what seemed to be platinum. There was a sword with wings skillfully engraved on it, along with the words Qui militat præter me, frater meus erit surrounding the edges. Her translator struggled to translate it due to the age of the language and her translator's lack of exposure to the esoteric language, but it came out as something similar to He who fights beside me shall be my brother. An interesting term, but certainly more unique than the Federation Navy's slogan, Defend the Herd.
Sargen grabbed her feathered shoulder and steered her away from the truck just as something hovered down and clamped its magnetic claws onto it. A massive, black-colored hover-drone the size of an eighteen-wheeler buzzed as it deftly floated around the two of them, one giant crimson eye with an LED dot acting as an almost animated pupil darting between the two of them. Then it lifted away, making beeping noises as it carried the truck in tow towards a large tower several hundred stories tall in the distance made from a monotonous gray material. "What in sweet Ina's name?" Silijima said under her breath, causing Sargen to chuckle.
"Moth Drones; they’re very useful things. There's not enough space on the station to have traditional parking lots, so Sarn Robotics found a pretty neat solution: massive drones come and pick up vehicles and transport them to large parking towers like the one it's flying to right now. Then, when we come back, I can just call back for my car, maybe wait a minute or so, and have my car returned to me. It's pretty awesome, and something you wouldn't find in a million years in the Federation."
That was true; the citizens would be spooked by so many flying objects. She could just imagine the number of stampedes such a creation would cause.
"Wait, what about the food and ammo?" She asked, curious as to why he'd leave it there."
"Oh, don't worry about that: that tower specifically has an automated storage system. All of our goods will be sent to our ship in the next few hours sorted, packed up, and sealed up in space-grade storage containers"
"Huh, that's pretty incredible," she replied.
"Yeah, it is. Like them or not, these predators seem to think of everything. I guess their minds just work differently; nothing wrong with that."
They walked through the doors as they conversed, and a massive lobby greeted them. Over two dozen secretaries of multiple races greeted countless individuals, many of them armed. Most of them were humans and Arxur, although she spotted a few Harchens and Gojids in the mix. The sound of phones ringing and computer keyboards being typed on resonated through the building with an echo. The entire lobby was beautifully decorated, with corners filled with fine gold-trimmed mahogany furniture and intricately woven carpets covering the marble floor. Sargen guided her up to the lobby and towards a young human wan with blonde hair. He greeted her with a smile, causing her to smile back. The snarl made Silijima's blood rush, but it was far less noticeable now, more like the feeling of adrenaline than pure fear.
"Hey, Csilla, how are you?"
The woman, apparently named Csilla, seemed to brighten up in Sargen's presence. "Oh, you know, just swamped as usual. Igor is waiting for you at dock thirteen, just take the tram down." Then her eyes swiveled in there sockets towards Silijima, causing her to flinch slightly. "And who is this? I didn't know a Krakotl was joining your crew."
"I'm Silijima," Silijima croaked, "I'm the new Engineer."
"Aww, isn't she just precious? It's been a pleasure to see you both, but I have to get back to work; we've got too many customers even with two dozen secretaries."
And with that, they were off. Sargen led her up multiple flights of stairs, passing different office levels before reaching floor seven, which was the connection to the Dok-stantsiya Vest-Enda. There were at least two dozen fully sized trans on multiple levels, with signs detailing over a hundred docks available to travel to. It was truly ginormous, more insane than any public transit system she had seen all packed into one place, but also a testament to the engineering of the station.
They boarded a packed train filled mainly with humans, although there were Arxur, Gojids and Harchen there sprinkled throughout. They rode for a few minutes, before reaching an open-space area sealed with active magnetic field shielding, keeping gravity and a working atmosphere within its borders while simultaneously allowing ships to pass through. There were hundreds of ships, both big and small, docked within the Corsair Coalition's docks, and some of them were exceptionally huge. They ranged from gigantic, rust-red lengths of bulbous metal covered in cannons to sleek, flat warships packed with rocket pods and covered with graffiti of snarling, gaping maws and bloodied talons. Eventually, they reached a point where their tram stopped, and they descended. Just a few dozen meters away was a younger human, maybe in his late twenties or early thirties, an old human woman who couldn't have been younger than seventy, and an Arxur practically made out of cybernetics, his body glowing with energy. The latter seemed to be organizing and directing a small number of droids, which were loading sealed containers into the fuselage of the large, rust-red battle cruiser with the word Iconoclast printed in bold letters on the side. The man saw us and approached, a wide smile on his face.
He was huge for a human, about six and a half feet, and had a long, bushy beard with a handlebar mustache, a short military buzz cut with a bit of hair left a little taller near the middle like a short mohawk, and a pair of black camo pants and a white t-shirt that showed the outline of his muscles underneath. He was practically a bear of a human, with arms the size of bridge cables and a neck thicker than your average gas pipe.
Despite all of that, he was obviously friendly, a wide snarl on his face. "Sargen! Dobriy den, how are you?" Even through the translator, his accent was thick and exotic.
Sargen scratched his head with his claws, obviously a little nervous. "I'm doing great, Igor, listen, this is-"
"Ah, yes, Silijima! Senek called me on his way home to explain their situation. It is a pleasure to meet you, my dear!"
Igor took her wing and shook it vigorously, having to bend down to do so. Having and snarling predator lean down on her in such a way, regardless of their intentions, sent shivers down her spine, but she kept it together. She would not break down in front of her new boss.
"T-the pleasure is all mine, Sir."
Igor didn't seem to notice how intimidating he was, but luckily a distraction appeared. Tarlim arrived just in time, carrying several crates of birch water and plums on his shoulders like they were nothing. The old woman seemed to spot him, because she hobbled over to help, only for Tarlim to prevent her from doing so. "No, Babushka, I can handle it."
"Nonsense," she said sternly, her accent even thicker than Igor's, "I can carry some, boy; your Babushka is not helpless."
Tarlim simply ignored her, carrying the crates over to the droids, with both Tarlim and the Arxur snickering at Babushka's pestering.
"Tarlim, what do you bring? Did I order something and forget again?"
Tarlim chuckled merely at that. "No, Babushka, Sujek ordered some Birch Water and Plums for you."
Babushka softened up at that, placing a hand over her heart like the delivery of birch water was an emotional matter. "Oh Tarlim, I thank you." She hobbled over and practically buried herself in his fur, hugging him as hard as an old woman could.
"Thank Sujek, I'm just the delivery boy."
Babushka snorted. "Hah, I know better. You probably dared him to do something for it."
Tarlim blushed at that. "Well maybe, but he demanded the plums as extra, so make sure you give him a big hug and plenty of food as well."
Babushka seemed to brighten up at that. "Come in, Tarlim; we are having a feast, to celebrate a great victory! No meat in the borscht, just for you!"
"Tarlim seemed very apprehensive towards the idea of eating anything that was even near the meat, but apparently he couldn't resist the old woman. "For you, Babushka, anything for you."
Igor snickered. "They are like a circus, no? Come, we are having a feast, and you shall partake."
Silijima wanted to leave, as the whole situation had escalated very quickly, but Sargen placed a hand on her shoulder. "There is no denying an invitation to a feast; it is a grave insult to do so."
Silijima just sighed and prepared herself for the horrors that awaited her.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's finally here; THE NEXT CHAPTER OF INTERLOPER! Somebody pop open a bottle of champaign.
I want to thank u/Acceptable_Egg5560 for the support and u/Bushbacon69 for the wonderful fanart.
If you want an AI generated picture, just let me know. That's become my new method of conveying what I'm creating to the world since I can't draw for shit.
The Next chapters for Chains made from Hope and The Apostate should be out this week, along with a new short called The Life Shaper.

As fans eagerly await the release of Grand Theft Auto 6, speculation about the game's setting and location continues to grow. While Rockstar Games has been tight-lipped about the game's development, fans have been scouring the internet for clues.
One popular theory is that the game will be set in Vice City, the fictional Miami-inspired city that was featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. This theory is based on a number of clues, including a cryptic tweet from Rockstar Games that featured an image of a palm tree with the words "KIFFLOM" written on it. This phrase has appeared in previous games in the series and is associated with a cult that is based in the game's version of Los Angeles.
Other theories suggest that the game could take place in a new location entirely, possibly even outside of the United States. Some have suggested that the game could be set in Tokyo, Japan, or even in a fictional version of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Regardless of where the game is set, fans can be sure that Rockstar Games will create a rich, immersive world full of interesting characters and compelling storylines. And for those who can't wait to get their hands on GTA 6, GTA 5 Modder 👑 Buy gta 5 accounts http://Furymodz.com // Fortnite // GTA 5 Accounts, Mods 💎 Creator on Patreon: http://patreon.com/furymodz 🎪 offers a variety of mods and accounts to enhance the GTA V experience while we wait for the next installment in the series.

This is my Steam Profile: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198203904039/
SteamRep: https://steamrep.com/search?q=76561198203904039
​

Hero	Set Name	Price	status
Pudge	Doll of the Dead	$50	available
Chaos Knight	Wrath of the Celestial Sentinel	$30	reserved
Mars	Forgotten Fate	$8	available
Ogre	pyrexae polymorph perfected	$20	gifted
Razor	test of the basilisk lord	$10	available
Razor	test of the basilisk lord	$10	available
Drow Ranger	stranger in the wandering isles	$8	gifted
Abbadon	BlightFall	$8	gifted
Alchemist	cosmic concoctioneers	$8	available
Rubick	march of the cracker jack mage	$8	available
Rubick	march of the cracker jack mage	$8	available
Grimstroke	the chained scribe	$6	available
Brood Mother	widow of the undermount gloom	$8	gifted
Chen	Perils of the Red Banks	$8	gifted
Dragon Knight	Silverwurm Sacrifice	$15	gifted
Phantom Lancer	scale of the shadow walker	$8	available
Phantom Lancer	scale of the shadow walker	$8	gifted

the sets below are unbundled but still giftable
​

Hero	Set Name	Price	status
Faceless Void	claszureme incursion	$30	gifted
Mars	forsworn legacy	$30	available
Bristle Back	beast of the crimson ring	$15	available
Dark Willow	Tiara of the Faeshade Flower	$6	reserved
Dazzle	forbidden medicine	$6	reserved
Disruptor	Fury of the Righteous Storm	$10	available
Disruptor	Defender of the Ruin	$8	gifted
Doom	Wrath of the Fallen	$20	available
Earth Spirit	Jade Emissary	$8	gifted
Ember Spirit	Master of the Searing Path	$15	available
Enchantress	Songs of Starfall Glen	$6	available
Enigma	Mortal Deception	$10	available
Enigma	Evolution of the Infinite	$10	available
Grimstroke	Herald of the ember eye	$8	available
Grimstroke	Ink Dragon	$6	available
Huskar	Ember Demons	$6	available
Huskar	Flashpoint Proselyte	$15	available
Jakiro	Fissured Flight	$15	available
Slark	appetites of the lizard king	$8	gifted
Warlock	beholden of the banished ones	$6	available
Sniper	blacksail cannoneer	$6	available
Rubick	carousal of the mystic masquerade	$8	available
Timbersaw	clearcut cavalier	$6	available
Shadow Demon	crown of the calaphas	$6	available
Lina	Glory of the elderflame	$8	gifted
Phantom Assassin	Gothic Whisper	$15	gifted
Oracle	Hierophant	$6	available
Ogre	pyrexae polymorph perfected	$15	available
Tide Hunter	horror from the deep	15	available
Pudge	mindless slaughter	$6	gifted
Night Stalker	Origin of the Dark Oath	$15	reserved
Underlord	ravenous abyss	$15	gifted
Skywrath	secrets of the celestial	$8	gifted
Natures Prophet	Signs of the allfather	$20	available
Silencer	Silent slayer	$15	available
Templar Assassin	steward of the forbidden chamber	$30	available
Kotl	The king of thieves	$6	available

-Comment on my steam profile if you want to buy something
-be careful of those impersonator if someone added you with same name as my account its not me, remember you are the one whos going to add me, and double check his inventory, please take precaution on those scammers thanks
-you need to pay half of the price of the set you want before I reserve it for you.
-I can gift the set 30days after becoming friend on Steam
Dm me if you want to bargain
payment 1st thank you
sorry for my bad english :p

As you all probably know from my previous post, I purposely scheduled a flight with a two and a half hour layover because I will have my kid with me and when I do, I don't like to hurry. American Airlines a few weeks later rescheduled me for a flight that only has an hour layover. Is there any way I can call American Airlines customer service in somehow get back on those original flights that had that two and a half hour layover, or will the seats for those flights already have been filled? Otherwise, am I out of luck?

Height: 5'7
Age: 16
Backstory: Growing up in Flowriden, Luna's life was harsher before meeting the other Chosen. Darkness users face quite a bit of scrutiny as have gained the stigma of being the ones to always become evil. While it's common, it's not the same for every person that had darkness as their power. On top of being a Chosen, Luna kept this part of her hidden despite her birth being on television, she actively kept telling others that asked her that she was not a Chosen.
She wasn't born in Flowriden but she moved into the state when she was barely one year old. Her father wasn't the best, in fact, he was kind of a closeted racist. Luna never agreed with that ideology. Her mother kept taking night jobs so Luna barely got to see her unless she wants to pull an all-nighter.
All of that changed when she arrived in middle school, sharing certain classes with two other Chosen, Volt and Blu. Blu easily caught on that she was hiding that she was a Chosen and just hid that away. Blu breaking down her walls is what got the main Trio together. With Volt as the comedy and muscle, Blu as the leader and creative thinker, and Luna as the heart and clutch player the Trio would be nearly unstoppable when they started their journey to save the world with all they could.
Luna became a vital asset in the Trio, like family. After a couple of years Luna, Volt, and Blu came into contact with an alternate version of Blu that called himself "A Visitor." The Visitor told them about Surge, a multiversal threat who could spread his alternate selves to destroy countless universes along the Multiversal Helix Spiral. By now you know the rest. Trained by helping other universes until the day they met Surge for real, got their asses kicked, Visitor saved all 3 of them, retreat to their home universe to heal up and think of a better strategy, Uncreative was a sore loser, and went to fight Surge by himself, and vanished.
When Luna found out, she had a hard time comprehending why Uncreative would go on his own like that. She knew he usually isn't so impulsive but that mistake cost him. She called all the people she knew could help track down Uncreative, that being Volt, [Pink], and [Normal.] What's left is to put a plan into action and hopefully reach Uncreative from where [Pink] could last sense him before going off the grid. She hopes that they can pull this off, but she refuses to have another one of the Chosen fall and not be able to help.
Appearance: Luna has long black hair that extends down to the middle of her back. She wears a type of black long sleeve crop top (exactly like the ones that Gardenia from Pokémon has) that she puts a regular-size shirt over because she's slightly embarrassed about her belly being shown in public. And she wears track shoes with some tight, but surprisingly flexible, jeans that she tucks her shirt into.
Fighting style: Luna fights with speed and prefers to fight from long range. While she is more than capable of fighting up close with her quick movements, her fighting style revolves around projectiles, soul manipulation, and summons and steering clear of things that could hit her.
Abilities:

• Being a Chosen
• Superhuman strength, speed, and durability
• Dark energy/ Darkness creation and manipulation (Darkness is one of if not THE most versatile power to have if used right. Some of those powers include...)
• Flight (sprouts dragon wings and tail)
• Intangibility/phasing (she can make herself, objects, and other people intangible)
• Shapeshifting to a certain extent (she doesn't use it to disguise herself as other people but can shrink, expand and add things onto certain appendages like spikes to her tail)
• Extendable living hair
• Soul absorption/power stealing (she can steal people's/ creature's souls and use their power for herself)
• Portal creation (She's created portals to wherever she likes. Even sent a bomb that would have destroyed a continent to Segil, their version of Venus, which blew up and sent the planet on a course to die in the Sun)
• Possession
• Monster Summoning (too many to list)
• Reality Warping (while used to leave her universe, she can use it for other purposes like amply her voice for Sonic screaming, having a watered-down version of telekinesis, traveling through shadows, causing paranormal activities, gravity manipulation, etc.)
• Soul connect / health drain (she has a move where she attaches an invisible like to everyone but her that can let her drain the health of others or let her drain her health and give it to someone else)
• Dark variations of elements (Dark fire, dark lightning, dark ice, and that's it)
• Super / Eldritch form (In this form she completely lets any suppression she had left inside run wild and loose. She becomes a giant version of herself that turns herself and the world completely black and white, while her whole body turns into the size of a small country. Luna can create massive black holes, randomly erase people instantly, create galaxy-sized shockwaves, cause insanity, travel the universe in a bit under 3 minutes, connect and travel to other surrounding universes, erase people from existence, shape-shifting, clones, warp reality even more, and destroy universes without even being physically present. And if she's in the one you're in, may God help you.)

Extra tidbits:

• If she ever gets mad, eyes sprout under her hair
  
• Eventually helped change her father's perspective on race to not make him racist anymore
  
• Bisexual but prefers males
  
• Is called the "clutch player" from how many times she saved the other 2 from certain danger
  
• Counted around 5000 monsters she absorbed, but only uses around 60 of them
  
• Has a food allergy to shellfish
  

Hello everyone,
This is going to be long, sorry.
Well as the title says, I’m considering talking to her because of upcoming events and I’m so torn over this that I’m losing sleep… First off, I think it’s important to know that no contact with her as changed my life for the better in so many ways. No contact has been one of the healthiest things I’ve ever done for myself and in no way do I regret my decision in cutting her off. The healing that has come from it is priceless, until now.
It hasn’t been easy. She has played the victim to family, friends and anyone who will listen. A lot of people (who don’t know her well) REALLY feel bad for her and have even reached out to me about it. My family has begged me to contact her but they also acknowledge the abuse I went through. There’s a lot of trauma in my family so everyone just kinda looks at it like, “yes she could have done better with you but she’s still your mom”.
Here’s the problem, my (not so) little brother is getting married soon and having a huge wedding. I love my brother so much and want nothing more than to witness him on his special day. My mom will be there though and this is causing so much drama. My mom has reached out stating that she wants to fly to my brother’s state, for the wedding, together. Traveling together is a big “hell no” from me but the fact remains I will see her at the wedding. Or so I thought… after not responding to my mother’s proposal, I have stopped hearing from my brother. I reached out to him a week ago, via call and then text, to confirm wedding plans and let him know I was purchasing my flight… No response. My heart is shattered. My mom is partially paying for his wedding so she has some control over him but he’s fully aware she is a narcissist. He moved to the other side of the country to get away from her. But now that he’s been away for a while, and he needs money for the wedding, they are talking again and as a result, he’s being pulled away from me. My mom has done this to us all our lives (put us against one another) but once we became adults, we were able to figure out our mother’s game and we vowed to never allow her to make us question the other.
I don’t know what to do :( I’m worried that reaching out will bring so many future problems. I have my own elopement planned for next year and I’m afraid that mom will do something to ruin it. This will be my second marriage. My mom ruined my first wedding (she wore a white gown amongst MANY other attempts to get under my skin - too many to list)to the point I had a panic attack. The thought of her back in my life before my second marriage makes me feel sick.
I’m so conflicted and I feel like most people don’t understand. Has anyone else gone through similar?

​
'Paradox', Slowly's April 1 stamp for 2023

We recently saw a new Stamp disappear

...and a new, fresh version issued; this is the upcoming International Day of Human Space Flight stamp.
This was very curious, and happened very soon after it was added to the Slowly API, and we reported it here in the regular monthly new issues post.
Bang, a new one appeared a day after. The USA Space Shuttle craft shown in the first issue was replaced with the Vostok 1 rocket launcher, a Soviet craft which took the very first man (Yuri Gagarin) to low Earth orbit.
I believe there must have been some complaint from people in the Russian Federation, rightly pointing to their own country's achievement, the very first launch of a human being into space.
International Day of Human Space Flight, two versions now exist

Stamp Fans noticed the change

...and I edited the post, including information about the change. While in earlier cases we had seen a simple image replacement when they desired to make some small change (for example, the Montserrat Red Heliconia national flower stamp), in this case a NEW stamp was created, and a NEW ID number was assigned to it.
The original with the Space Shuttle design is still valid, and it became instantly a RARE stamp for the few people who managed to grab it - when it showed in 'Upcoming Stamps' in the newest mobile app versions and the Web Client.
Or when it was placed on the Time Machine, which I suppose was also a mistake as the stamp is marked as 'Discontinued' in its description.

And now another incident?

A friend sent me a message, saying the new April 1 stamp had 'disappeared' from the Stamp Store.
I messaged other friends in the Collector's community, and we checked - but the stamp can still be seen as various of them reported, in their respective countries.

Turns out, the stamp is really Missing,

...but only in the Russian Federation.
And curiously too, even there - it is missing in the Slowly Web Client, and the newest Mobile client versions as well.
It CAN still be seen, and picked up for Free, in OLDER versions of the mobile client; reportedly, this is possible with version 6.0.11 and 7.1.x clients. (it is Missing for people using the most current 7.4.x versions).

Why, what happened?

A friend commented in Telegram:

That paradox thingy looks a bit like a certain Nazi symbol, which is very much outlawed in Russia (among other things). Could it be the reason?

And that seems to be the core reason. I remember references in the media to the Azov Battalion of the Ukrainian armed forces, and how Russian authorities pointed at their insignia as Nazi related.
The Neo-Nazism in Ukraine, Russian language Wikipedia page has this image:
Azov Battalion and SS insignia compared
Which does have a general resemblance to the new Paradox stamp.
The 'Paradox' new stamp
Reporting here as things develop. Any new information will be added later.

Greetings!
Print & Play games are quite an interesting niche, they have gathered a lot of popularity these last handful of years, in large part due to Quinn's excellent video on solo PnP games over at SU&SD and to the wildly successful party games of Cards Against Humanity and Secret Hitler.
However, it remains a pretty rare topic to see a thread made up to this day. While there are some resources such as the excellent BGG contest for solo games and category listing, the subreddit's wiki page for them remains bare.
For the sake of some perspective, the last two popular threads on 2 player PnP games I could find are from 8 and 11 years ago. So, about time we get a thread going on them, isn't it?
Here are the ones I've been able to find, feel free to suggest any others in the comments, they don't even have to be in the 2-4 player category, solo and party games are still appreciated.

• Minipoly [BGG Link] 2 Players
• Pocket Imperium [BGG Link] 2-4 Players
• Tiny Epic Galaxies [BGG Link] 1-5 Players
• Roll Estate [PNPArcade Link] 1-5 Players
• Oh No, There Goes Tokyo! [BGG Link] 2-4 Players
• Gunfighter [BGG Link] 2-3 Players
• YOMI [BGG Link] 1-4 Players
• Air, Land, and Sea [BGG Link] 2 Players
• Crimson Company [BGG Link] 1-4 Players

Worth noting is that one of the reasons it's hard to find PnP games is due to the low amount of reviews they receive as they tend to be independently published. If one of these games catches your eye, you play it and end up liking it, leave a review for it! It will help its rank a lot and I'm sure any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for reading and take care, any discussion or recommendations are much appreciated.

I (30M) and my now Ex (31M) have been trying to patch things up between us for the last six months. We've both made mistakes and have trust issues within our relationship. Last week I had to travel interstate for my grandfathers funeral, everything was fine, he was somewhat supportive and cute. The night before he was not being himself and quite short. I said he wasn't being himself and asked what was wrong when he said he was fine. I explained that I know when something is up and I don't believe him when he replies that we need to have a talk when I get back. It was sudden and suspicious so I asked what it was about when he said 'if you didn't do anything you'll be fine!. Obviously I was confused and a little taken back. He just repeated the same thing and said 'Night. Hopefully tomorrow isn't too sad! I felt that was rude and condescending so I just said 'Goodnight x' The next day I never got a good morning message like I normally do and I didn't hear from him until lunchtime when I was in the middle of the funeral service. The funeral hit me harder than I expected and I was still pissed off about the night before so I didn't bother replying. I was busy with family and reminiscing so I never replied and then the next day I got a message saying ' hope you have fun with your friends' (as I was to see my best friend who lives an hour away from where I was) and I again, never replied. I flew back home the next day and got a message saying 'Hopefully a safe flight :)' I never replied again because at this point I just thought 'fuck you' - he clearly doesn't care enough to be sympathetic or even fake it and why start being nice now? I've had three messages in the last 5 days with the final one two days ago basically saying it's harder with me not replying and if I want to end it I should just tell him. I know that I should but with the complicated and extensive history that we have, if I was to engage I know that it would be a drawn out process and either result in a fight and him blocking me on everything again or me taking him back and wondering if it was the right thing to do. While I do feel like the asshole - is it valid??

Mai Kasai was part of a group of girls that brutally bullied fellow classmate Shino during middle school. Though she never directly bullied Shino, she watched her friends do the torture that forced Shino to transfer schools. Due to her father’s work transfer, Mai transfers from her high school in Tokyo to a school in the countryside. Although Mai thinks she can have a fairly easy school life by ma ... Read The Wounded Devil - Chapter 130 - MangaPuma. Read more at https://mangapuma.com/the-wounded-devil/chapter-130

Hello!
I am going to Hawaii for my honeymoon the end of May. Our first stop is 8 nights on Maui where we have a condo and plan to relax. We then have ~4.5 usable days on the Big Island and looking for recommendations of hikes & what else to do. I know we won't be able to do everything in that amount of time. We will take the early flight from Maui to the Big Island & renting a Jeep (if we do the summit).
Also looking for suggestions of where to stay. For this 2nd half of our trip we want to do a lot of hiking and outdoor activities (in our late 20s). My initial plan was to stay at the Royal Kona as I've never stayed at a resort & it's easier than splitting between 2 places. I've seen people suggest staying a few nights in HVNP though. We definitely want to do lots of hiking there.
Would it make sense to go straight to HVNP & stay 2 nights at a VRBO/Airbnb & then the last 3 nights at Royal Kona? Maybe stop at green sands/South point & black beach on the way the first day, hiking HVNP the next 2 days, & snorkel/relax at a beach the final 2?
I also wanted to go to Mauna Kea summit, but not sure how to fit that and HVNP both in. Is Mauna Kea best to visit at night for stargazing or is it also good for hiking during the day?
I've also heard the night manta ray snorkeling is incredible. My fiancee isn't a strong swimmer so I would have to do that by myself. I see some offer ride alongs & don't know if that is worth it to just be in the boat.

So I currently fly LAX-PHL for one week a month, but sometimes twice. Unfortunately (or I guess fortunately for my company), this seems to be a cheap route as I only get 2500-3200 loyalty points per round trip on average. At this rate it’s going to take me pretty much the whole year it seems to even reach Gold.
Given the long flight I would love to get upgraded from time to time- any suggestions? Unfortunately my travel policy only allows for business/first class on flights over 6 hours and I’m just an unlucky dude because my flights are typically like 5hr and 50 min lol.
I do get complimentary preferred seating and group 4 boarding as part of our corporate agreement with AA or something like that.
All of my travel expenses must be put on my green Amex so I don’t get points or anything.
Appreciate the insight!