Clayton county international park deals

All prices are in USD. Add an additional $5 to the total for shipping, $10 for consoles.
I live in Canada, but close enough to the border to ship to either country domestically.
All games CiB unless stated otherwise. Pics are available upon request.
NES (all loose except for Battletoads)

• Battletoads $125
• Final Fantasy $25
• Isolated Warrior (label wear) $30
• Power Punch II $35
• Super Mario Bros. 3 $15

SNES (all loose)

• Battletoads In Battlemaniacs $40
• Mortal Kombat $10
• Mortal Kombat II $15
• Super Bomberman 2 $40
• Super Mario World $10

GB (both loose)

• Final Fantasy Adventure $30
• Kirby's Star Stacker $25

GBA (all loose)

• Dragonball Z Supersonic Warriors $20
• Harvest Moon Friends of Mineral Town $35
• Mega Man Zero $35
• Shaman King Soaring Hawk $10

GameCube

• Mario Party 7 $60
• Megaman X Command Mission $75
• Time Splitters Future Perfect (no manual) $65

Wii

• The Last Story $65
• Little King's Story $20
• Pikmin 2 $80
• Punch-Out $30
• Wii Party $45

Wii U

• The Croods Prehistoric Party $65
• Sonic Lost World $45

Switch

• Gear Club Unlimited 2 (Porsche Edition) $15
• The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild + Explorers Guide $65 ($35 without the guide)
• Pokemon Brilliant Diamond $40
• Trine Series 1-3 $45

DS

• Bangai O Spirits (sealed) $55
• Dynasty Warriors DS Fighter's Battle $15
• Elebits The Adventures of Kai and Zero $40
• Harvest Moon Island of Happiness $15
• Scooby-Doo Unmasked $15
• The Sims 3 $15

3DS

• Adventure Time: Hey Ice King $15
• Code of Princess $70
• Mario Kart 7 $25

PS1

• Clock Tower 2 $390
• Nightmare Creatures II $55
• Resident Evil 3 Nemesis $65
• Resident Evil Survivor $70

PS2

• Castlevania Curse of Darkness (no manual) $45
• Dark Cloud 2 (no manual) $25
• Darkwatch $30
• Manhunt 2 $55
• Need for Speed Most Wanted $15
• Need for Speed Underground 2 $20
• Raw Danger $30
• Rogue Galaxy $15
• Spy Fiction $50
• Time Splitters Future Perfect $25
• True Crime New York City $15
• The Warriors (Greatest Hits) $40
• Ultimate Spider-Man (no manual) $30

PS3

• The Amazing Spider-Man $20
• God Of War Origins Collection (no manual) $30
• The Legend of Spyro Dawn of the Dragon $70
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance $15
• MotorStorm Pacific Rift $15
• Ridge Racer 7 $15
• Splinter Cell Classic Trilogy HD $25
• The Sly Collection (no manual) $40

PS4

• Deadpool $40
• Donut County $60
• Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition $20

PSP

• Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII $15
• Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower $25
• God of War Ghost of Sparta $55
• Legend of Heroes III Song of the Ocean $175

Xbox

• Conker Live & Reloaded $40
• Jet Set Radio Future $50
• Mortal Kombat Armageddon $25
• The Warriors $25

Xbox 360

• Dragon Ball Raging Blast $30
• Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 $35
• Fist of the North Star Ken's Rage 2 $45
• Lord of the Rings Conquest $20
• Metal Gear Solid HD Collection $35
• Top Gun Hardlock (sealed) $40
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon $15
• Transformers: Fall of Cybertron $45
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $10
• Transformers: The Game (Cybertron Edition) $25
• Transformers: War for Cybertron $40
• X-Men Origins Wolverine $30

Genesis

• Ariel the Little Mermaid $20
• Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Quest (no manual) $15
• Chester Cheetah Too Cool to Fool (no manual) $25
• Dynamite Headdy (no manual) $45
• Greatest Heavyweights $15
• Hardball $10
• The Jungle Book (loose) $10
• Jurassic Park (no manual) $10
• Jurassic Park Rampage Edition (loose) $10
• NHL 96 $10
• NHL 98 $40
• Road Rash 3 (loose) $20
• Sonic the Hedgehog (loose) $10
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (loose) $15
• Super Hang-On (loose) $10
• Talespin $25
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (loose) $30

Consoles

• Black GameCube (Complete) $150
• White Wii (Complete with Wii Sports) $50
• Wii U Mario & Luigi Edition (Complete) $230
• Sega Genesis Model 1 & 2 Consoles (loose) $40 each
• Sega Saturn Console (loose) $155

Miscellaneous

• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Xbox One) $55
• Jet Force Gemini Player's Guide $15
• The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask (N64, box wear) $185
• Silent Hill: Book of Memories (Vita) $75

Hello there!
I've started using reddit a lot more this year, and thought It'd be good to have a bit of an online presence. I mostly live on Discord, chatting app I've used the most so far. And I try to touch grass as much as possible, so these are mostly reserved for when I am on a computer. I dislike mobile texting, and would rather have phone calls, if I need to use the phone at all.
I’ve always enjoyed listening to people’s experiences and learning about how life has been for them. I feel like I can always learn something new from their stories. Specially whenever I meet someone very close to my same age (30). I start wondering about all sorts of things, I have been genuinely interested in people’s origin stories since I can remember and would always be amazed when you hear stories about people meeting someone whom they had almost crossed paths in life many times, but never interacted or met.
With that being said, there’s no wonder that I was drawn to Philosophy and Psychology, from a young age. A fun fact about myself, I’ve never had an internal dialogue. This was very shocking for me to learn at the time, how did this work? Did everyone have a little buddy in their head to bounce thoughts with, where did mine go?! But maybe this is the reason why I am so comfortable with silence. Despite being raised among the most festive people I have ever known. My family seemed to have a penchant for uprooting and traveling to a new country every generation it seemed. I was born in the Caribbean, despite not sharing any nationality with the prior 3 generations of my family, being mixed, and having the standard identity crisis growing up. I’ve come to enjoy the uniqueness of my life experience. Somehow, I ended up in Massachusetts, after university and have been here ever since.
I’d like to say I’ve been a productive member of society, for nearly a decade now. Ended up joining the corporate world and working my way up the ladder. But the whole pandemic, certainly did not make it feel like that. It does feel like outside of working, reading, listening to music, keeping up with local Politics, playing D&D, watching anime & gaming (not as much these days), YouTube and Netflix, I haven’t done much else. And so, I decided to put myself out there, physically, outside the house, and touch grass again. I used to enjoy nature a lot back in my Uni days. Going into Natural Reserves, the beach, and taking walks through parks is where I would spend a lot of free time whenever I wasn’t studying and needed a breather.
One of my goals this year, is to get out there and meet new people, but I honestly don’t know where to go after spending so much time inside these last few years. So, while I explore my way around my area again. What better way to broaden my horizons than to leap into the virtual world and see what’s out there. Hopefully finding some meaningful connections along the way.
Some things I have been interested in:
I started to get into the whole MBTI personalities as the concept seemed interesting, haven’t delved too much into the topic, but I went through one of the free versions and got The Advocate (INFJ-T), which sort of made sense, although I did not agree with everything on there. Might be an interesting topic to discuss if folks are interested.
As for Netflix I currently have Shadow and Bone S2 on my list to watch. And if I could recommend some good shows, I’d say try: Ozarks, The Sandman, Money Heist (Spain Version), Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Sweet Home, and Extracurricular. I generally lean towards more sci-fi, and thrillers.
Well, I think this is as good an intro as any. If you were able to make it through all that thank you for reading.

G’day. I don’t really have an intro to this one.
I do have a warning. The first story gets heavy. I will try to lighten it up in the second story, but there’s no way around it. If threats against schools (even written in the most YouTube-friendly way possible) are upsetting to you then skip this one. This is the reality of being a teacher so, welcome to it. Anything between a set of asterisks is not what was said and is me trying to use language that is YouTube-friendly. I think you can figure out the context.

1. “MathBeard Over Beards”

So, the last time I shared a story about MathBeard Red seemed to borderline defend her. Perhaps I didn’t truly convey how incompetent she is or maybe it’s easy to overlook if you don’t have to bloody deal with her every bloody day. Either way, I dare anyone to try to defend her after this one. Writing this story is my outlet so I don’t cross a line into a very career-limiting move.
Since the last time we saw MathBeard she continued to be a nuisance and I continued to get frustrated texts from Beatle about how annoying and incompetent she is. (And to the commenter that thinks she has a thing for Beatle…I don’t disagree). I never shared these because it was more of the same and Red defended her before so it seemed like a moot point. So, let’s set MathBeard aside for now. We’ll come back to her.
This story really starts on 3/27/23. How do I know? Because it was the very same day as the incident at the Nashville private school. Beatle and I heard about that and were sad but at the same time, we’ve sort of become semi-apathetic to news like this. It’s like ‘another day, another school’ at this point. It’s the reality of teaching in the States.
Wee One was out of state as a student delegate for a national anti-bullying program and prior to that she’d been staying with Mum to help with her injured dog. With Wee One gone, Beatle and I were eating dinner at Mum’s and staying until bedtime to help Mum. When we finally got home that night Beatle checked his work email and had an email from a parent. The parent wanted Beatle to call her ASAP. Normally we don’t call parents outside school hours, but this seemed urgent to Beatle and this wasn’t a parent known for being overdramatic so Beatle decided to call her from his cell phone (something we almost never do as it’s not considered best practice for parents to have our personal cell numbers). Beatle had her on speaker so I heard everything.
“Ms. Hart, this is Beatle, Kelly’s teacher. You asked that I call you?” Beatle started.
“Oh, yes. Thank you so much for calling me so late. I just wanted you to be aware of something that happened at school today that has raised Kelly’s anxiety,” Ms. Hart said.
“Oh no, what is it?” Beatle asked.
I was laying on the bed catching some Pokemon on my cell phone wondering what could be so important it couldn’t wait until morning.
“Well, as you know, what happened in Nashville is one of Kelly’s biggest fears and so it was already bad enough that she saw that in the news but in her math class today a student made a comment about getting a *specific weapon that is popular* and *doing what was done in Nashville at Standard High*. This is a student she is already uneasy about and has told me before he makes her uncomfortable,” Ms. Hart said.
At this point I let the Pokemon flee and dropped my phone. Yeah, this was important.
“I have a pretty good idea of which student you’re referring to,” Beatle said.
“I did talk to Mr. Principal about this and he said they are investigating but obviously he couldn’t tell me much about what they would be doing and I know you can’t either, but this student is in her English class tomorrow with you and Kelly is so anxious she doesn’t want to be on campus,” Ms. Hart said.
“Honestly, this is the first I’m hearing of this so they don’t exactly tell me much either. I can tell you I highly doubt that student would be on-campus tomorrow and if so certainly not in my class. If he is, I will do everything I can to reassure Kelly. And you have my personal cell phone number too so feel free to reach out to me anytime,” Beatle said.
“I do appreciate that. I will also be on campus tomorrow doing some parent volunteer work so I will be there if Kelly needs me,” Ms. Hart said.
“Perfect. If the anxiety becomes too much for Kelly I’m happy to write her a pass to go hang out with you,” Beatle said.
Beatle and Ms. Hart finished discussing details of the next day and once Beatle hung up I looked at him.
“Johnny?” I asked, pretty sure I knew the student in question too.
“I think so,” Beatle said.
I sighed, “Great.”
“So much for sleeping tonight,” Beatle said, shaking his head. He went and fed our pets and we got ready for bed. Once everything was done for the night we settled into bed.
“If *an incident* starts in my room I don’t know how I would text you to ask you to call a lockdown,” Beatle said.
“I’m sure TypicalBeard or Gabby would hear it and call a lockdown. You focus on trying to protect your kids. I would be fine. I have a storage closet in my cave. I would just cram my class into there and we’d hunker down. No one is gonna think of trying to get into a storage closet. It’s you I’m worried about,” I said as I reached for his hand.
“I have a bookcase to hide behind which doesn’t do a bit of good if it starts in my room,” Beatle said.
I nodded, “I’m honestly kinda glad Wee One is out of town right now and won’t be on campus tomorrow.”
“Me too…but it could happen any day,” Beatle said.
I nodded, “I know. If it does I pray she is in my classroom so I can protect her.”
Yes, this is the type of conversation a couple that are both teachers have in bed at night. How do we keep ourselves from being unalived by students in case our school is next? That’s our pillow talk. Sexy huh?
Yeah, every day when my husband leaves my cave to go to his room there is a fear in the back of my mind…what if today is the day? We say ‘see you at lunch’ or ‘see you after school’ but is today the day that I don’t see him again? All we want to do is teach the children and we have to worry about being human shields. And no, this is not me being political or taking a stance on anything. This is just me telling you the reality of teaching. I don’t care what side you are on in relevant debates, this is a reality that no debate can change. This is just what it is to be a teacher and to be married to a teacher in this country today.
That night I was so exhausted I passed out hard. I didn’t dream or anything. I was out. Beatle…well he was right…he didn’t sleep much at all. We have different ways of coping with high-stress situations. I tend to shut down. Try to sleep until it goes away, especially if it’s something I can’t fight that is out of my control. Beatle…he worries. And he did. All night.
“But Mandy! MathBeard! Where is the beardery?!” I know! I hear you. It’s coming. I promise. Hang in there.
The next day Beatle and I pulled into our parking space and neither of us made a move to get out of the car.
“I don’t really want to be here today,” Beatle said.
“I know Love. But Mr. Principal knows…I’m sure it will be ok,” I tried to reassure him before sighing, “But neither do I.”
“Should I pop into Mr. Principal’s office and chat with him?” he asked.
I nodded, “That is a brilliant idea. I know he can only tell you so much because of privacy, but maybe he can tell you something that will put your mind at ease.”
Beatle nodded and we finally got out of the car and headed inside the school.
“OK, I’ll stop by your room after I talk to him,” Beatle said.
I nodded and we parted ways.
In the interest of not dragging this story out, I won’t recreate Beatle’s whole conversation with Mr. Principal.
I went to my classroom and tried to get ready to start my day like normal. About 25 minutes later Beatle came in.
“Do you feel better?” I asked.
Beatle nodded, “I do actually. Mr. Principal said they are taking this seriously, but this student is a pathological liar and doesn’t understand social norms. He believes it started as an off-hand comment and once he was given attention he expounded on it.”
“Ok, I get that, but it does still need to be taken seriously. Is he on campus today?” I asked.
“He is, but he won’t be in my class. I don’t know if that means he is in ISS or just in the AP office, but he won’t be in my room,” Beatle explained.
“Well that is good news,” I said.
“Mr. Principal said he hadn’t heard about what happened in Nashville yet when he got the report of this whole thing. So it was quite a day for him yesterday,” Beatle said.
“I bet,” I nodded.
And I thought that was the end of it. Well, it wasn’t or it wouldn’t be a beard story.
The next day (so 2 days after the threat was made) Beatle had his SPED team meeting before school. They meet once a week before school and the meeting usually consists of Beatle trying to get important information from Missy (his boss) in between MathBeard interjecting really stupid comments. This has become such a regular occurrence he doesn’t even normally text me to vent anymore. He has accepted that once a week he has to listen to MathBeard’s stupid. That is why I wasn’t expecting to hear from him when I got the following text: “I just got more info about that incident the other day. The teacher didn't report it. One of the kids did an anonymous alert...And apparently, the kid that made the threat has access. I guess he and his dad have "quite the arsenal" and love to go out and shoot. It's like their hobby…”
I reread that text a couple of times as I connected the pieces in my mind. What teacher wouldn’t report that sort of thing?! What sort of idiot would blow that off? Even forgetting we are mandated reporters, that is something no one should ignore. Wait…Ms. Hart said that this happened in Kelly’s math class and Kelly’s math teacher is…
“The kid whose mom you talked to...her math teacher is MathBeard and her mom said it happened in math class…” I texted back.
“Aye. That would be correct,” Beatle texted back.
“So the teacher in question here is fucking MATHBEARD?! So she will report a kid for having earwax on their earbuds but NOT for making comments about that?!” I replied.
“RIGHT?! I am NOT happy,” Beatle said.
“OK, this puts me in a whole new state of fury,” I said, “How DUMB do you have to be?”
“I understand that this kid has social skills issues and probably was joking and apparently he's a pathological liar too. But still. WTAF!!” Beatle said.
“So what if it's a social skill issue? That is not something you can be wrong about. What if he did it? "OOPS! I thought it was a social skill issue and he was lying again. My bad,"” I said.
“Yeah. It has to be reported no matter what,” Beatle agreed.
“How did you find this out?” I wondered.
“Missy. She didn't name names, but I know what class it happened in. She said the teacher didn't report it, but one of the students did an anonymous alert and the campus officer and Number One rushed up there and searched him and whatever,” Beatle explained.
OK, so MathBeard was gonna get us all unalived.
“Did Missy remind everyone we are fucking mandated reporters?” I asked.
“Aye, she did. She reiterated that things like that need to be shut down and ALWAYS reported because we don't know when it's a serious threat or not. It's up to admin to investigate and determine if there's a credible threat,” Beatle said.
“Honestly, she should be terminated for that, or at least written up. She won’t, but she should be,” I said. Teacher shortage. Nothing was gonna happen. And no, there is no tenure for public school teachers…but there is a teacher shortage, especially in SPED.
“Yeah, but you’re right. She won’t,” Beatle agreed.
I was seething at this point. Did something this stupid even qualify as beardery? I was pretty sure this went beyond beardery. This was a whole other level of stupidity! I also found out that the individual that Mr. Principal was referring to that engaged with the student and gave him an audience was MathBeard herself!
“OMG, the meeting is over and MathBeard is talking to Missy and Missy was like telling her what to do if it happened again. Like, she had to be told AGAIN. WTF?!” Beatle exclaimed.
I sighed. The bell rang and I went to open my door to let my students in and greet them. I saw MathBeard coming down the hall from the English wing and she stopped RIGHT IN FRONT of my door to talk to a teacher standing at the door of the next room. I glared at her and had to mentally talk myself down. Every ounce of me wanted to lunge out of my room and say “you are a mandated reporter but you're more worried about an ESL student learning their ID number you complete and total idiot! You are gonna put us all in danger!". I didn’t do that, because I generally love my job. But if looks could kill…
So telling this story is my way of not snapping. Beatle’s was to write an IEP goal since MathBeard clearly needs some extra help so I will end this with the goal that Beatle wrote for MathBeard (I have his permission): “By the next annual ARD, given instructional coaching and a swift kick in the ass, Mathbeard will independently manage her classroom without involving the tracking teachers for no good reason. As evidenced by sending 0 emails about classroom management issues.
By the next annual ARD, given repeated instructions, Mathbeard will report incidents of students making threats against the school, no matter her supposed logic behind why they said what they said. As evidenced by 0 teachers getting shot or fearing getting shot due to her incompetence.”

1. “East or West?”

For our 2nd story today let’s go a bit lighter and look at a beard that isn’t trying to get fellow teachers unalived. ManiBeard…annoying…but generally harmless.
Remember Becca from Chapters 17 and 19? The student that randomly walks out of class and caused Mani’s class to be evacuated? Yeah, this story starts with her.
Evidently, when Missy went to talk to Ms. Dean about the issues in ManiBeard’s class the solution provided was not to actually do anything about Mani…it was to move Becca to Sonia’s class. Because clearly, that will solve everything. Of course. This wasn’t exactly the change Beatle had been hoping to see, but it was all he got. They moved Becca into the class period Sonia had that Beatle supported so Beatle continued to have the opportunity to support Becca, which was needed. It was just also clear that Mani had no business trying to manage a class that had Becca in it (or any other class to be honest, but…baby steps?).
Beatle was already abnormally perturbed by this situation because he felt it was putting a band-aid on a much larger issue (and a flimsy band-aid at that). I can’t even blame this situation on Beatle being non-confrontational. What happened was out of his hands and confronting ManiBeard about it was absolutely pointless. He went to Mani’s class that day like a good little soldier boy and supported the children, trying his best to avoid unneeded interaction with Mani. Then…
“Where is the Pacific Ocean? Florida?” a student asked.
“Ew, Florida. Um…eh…,” Mani replied.
Beatle shook his head, “Actually, that would be the Atlantic Ocean. The Pacific is off the coast of California.”
“Oh yeah! That makes sense!” ManiBeard said, making it clear he legitimately did not know the answer to the student’s question. I suck at geography and even I knew that one!
The student was satisfied with the information he had been given but Beatle just stared at ManiBeard. I’m not sure why ManiBeard’s canyon-size knowledge gaps still surprise Beatle at this point…I’ve come to the conclusion any knowledge ManiBeard does actually have is simply accidental.
Beatle shook his head and walked out of the room to go to Amy’s class, his next class that period. He had absolutely no words for Mani at this point.
So, that was a short one but I wanted to end this on a lighter note. Remember to like, comment, subscribe, ring the bell, and do all the things for our boy ReddX. We love ReddX.
Until next time…

On the New York Architecture website, the 1 Bryant Park building is classified as Postmodern style, but then is listed as "Late Modern, International Style III"
Is this 'International style' a subgroup of the overarching Postmodern category? The original World Trade Center is listed as "International Style II", would this also be considered a type of Post-Modern architecture?
Thank you

Fans of classic soul will know the song.
Oh, Jimmy Mack, when are you coming back?
In another world it would be funny, but for years I asked that very question.
You see, my fiancé’s name is Jimmy Mack. He disappeared without a trace in 2018.
How do you disappear without a trace these days? It just doesn’t seem possible in a modern world, where almost everyone is somehow connected. Yet he did; he vanished. The police were baffled, private investigators were a waste of money, and my own attempts at sleuthing were futile.
If it wasn’t for the fact that we were ridiculously in love and things were so perfect, I wouldn’t have tried so hard. But everything was a vomit inducing fairytale for us. Even our names were cute af; Jimmy & Jessie sittin’ in a tree… I know he loved me as much as I loved him, and he would have done anything for me.
I heard all the theories. ‘Jess… Maybe he has a secret family… He might have been involved with criminals… Perhaps he took his own life…’
They didn’t know Jimmy like I did. I know you can never really know someone fully, but I knew those things could never be true of him. So I became estranged from family and friends, my life consumed with finding Jimmy. Every penny was spent on expensive investigation and cheap booze.
But then came the intervention. My mom, brother, and best friend Lori came to my apartment one evening. Mom took my hands.
“I want my daughter back,” she cried. And as I met the eyes of those closest to me it was like a weight had lifted. I dropped to the floor and cried for hours, releasing years of internal pain. It was exactly what I needed.
It wasn’t that I never thought of Jimmy again, but I began to move on. I even went on a couple of dates, and attended therapy sessions. There’s a whole psychology behind mourning an unexplained loss. I found it all very helpful.
Then I received a handwritten letter:
Dear Jessie,
You don’t know me but I have information about the disappearance of your fiancé James Mack in March 2018.
If you are interested in finding out more, meet me at Marcy’s Diner off [redacted]. I will be there between the hours of 20:00 and 22:00 every evening from Monday 13th - Friday 17th.
Come alone and sit in a window booth. I will make myself known as soon as I feel it’s safe to do so.
I repeat; come alone. If there’s any indication you have alerted the authorities, or discussed this with friends/family, the offer is void.
This offer is time sensitive. If you don’t visit the diner between those dates and times I will assume you are not interested. This will never be offered to you again in future.
Regards,
Anon
My hands trembled as months of progress began to unravel. I poured a shot of vodka and downed it, followed by one more to take the edge off. I was so close to calling Lori, her number ready to speed dial. I needed someone to talk sense into me, to tell me it was a hoax.
‘Don’t go through with it Jessie, it’s just some sicko taking advantage of your grief. Let’s go for cocktails!’
But I put my phone down and read the letter again. And again. I read it over and over, looking for something I might have missed despite the contents being clear.
◈
Monday came around. I pulled into the Marcy’s Diner car park just after 20:00, observing the patrons from the safety of my car. It looked pretty empty. Some tourists, a few trucker types. It was a convenient rest spot due to its location off the highway. No one screamed I have information about your beloved Jimmy Mack, like there was a physical description for that type of person.
I hung around for an hour or so before I chickened out and drove home. Rinse and repeat Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. On Thursday I didn’t even think about it. I parked up just before 20:00 and stepped out of my car, hesitating for the slightest moment before entering the chrome and candy stripe diner.
A few people observed me briefly before going back to their hot mugs and oversized burgers. As instructed I found a vacant window booth. They were all vacant. I chose the one furthest from the entrance. As I sat down I thought why the fuck did you think that was a good idea? My anxiety stopped me from switching seats regardless.
“Evening darlin’,” said a blond 40-something waitress wearing a blue gingham dress. She held a pot of coffee as she smiled down at me. “What can I get for you?”
“Oh, erm,” I was going to say nothing but realized that would be weird. “Coffee is good, thank you.”
She turned over a white mug that was on the table amongst novelty condiment bottles and laminated menus.
“Can I get you a slice of pie darlin’?” she said as she poured the coffee. “Cherry or chocolate-pecan.”
My stomach was in knots but I didn’t want to appear rude, so I opted for a slice of cherry pie. It arrived barely a minute later and I thanked her, then proceeded to tap my fingers on the table as I discreetly looked around the diner.
After an hour had passed I was three mugs of coffee down and had finished the pie, which was delicious. For a moment I’d forgotten my purpose for being there, beginning to relax a little. Then the door opened and a man walked in, giving me a quick glance as he headed to the counter. He wore a camo parka and what I’d call worker jeans, with a black baseball cap. He turned around after being handed a mug and I averted my eyes, looking out of the window. I could see his reflection getting closer to my table. When he stopped in my peripheral vision I turned, and he slipped into the seat opposite me.
“Jessie,” he said with a nod. “Pleased to see you inside the diner this evening.”
He had chiselled features and a little stubble. I put him in his early 40s. I cleared my throat.
“And what do I call you?”
He smiled. “You can call me Mike if it makes this easier for you.”
I shifted in my seat, trying to get comfortable. I folded my arms, then unfolded them, then put them on the table.
“Relax,” he said.
I let out a quick laugh. “That’s easy for you to say. I have no idea who you are. I don’t even know why I’m here, you gave no proof that you actually know anything about Jimmy.”
“I know everything,” he said deadpan. “And I’ll tell you if you want to hear it.”
I stared into his eyes until I felt mine glaze over, then cleared my throat again. “Let me guess; for a price?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want your money, Jessie.”
“Why now?” I snapped. “Do you know what these past 5 years have been like for me?” I felt tears coming on and he went to reach for my hand, but I recoiled. He pulled his hands away and looked apologetic.
“Unbearable, devastating, frustrating…”
“All the above!” I said as tears started to fall. “I couldn’t function at times. I stopped looking after myself. I abandoned my friends and family. It’s crazy how someone can do that to you.”
“Because you were in love,” he said.
“We were in love. We were the fucking Shutterstock image of love. And when that ends abruptly without explanation…”
“Everything alright darlin’?” the waitress interrupted, holding out a tissue. She glared at Mike. I took the tissue and nodded.
“Yes, thank you. I’m fine. Sorry, I’ll keep it down.”
“Don’t be sorry darlin’, you just let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“I will, thank you.”
She walked away and I wiped my eyes, feeling a little embarrassed.
“I can only apologize for how you’ve been feeling,” he said. “But I’m here to make it right. You could say I developed a conscience, or moral compass. I don’t know. I’m a changed man.”
I looked at him with confusion. “I don’t understand?”
“It’s easier if I show you,” he said. “But not here. You have to ask yourself if you trust me enough to go for a drive.”
“In your car?” I said. “Absolutely not!”
“Okay, how about if you drive?”
“To the middle of nowhere I bet?”
“Look Jessie,” he said, his eyes burning into me. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m really trying here, but if you’d rather leave it I get it.”
Call me stupid or naive, but something in his eyes made him appear somewhat genuine. I took a crazy chance.
“No… I need to know what happened to him.”
Mike nodded then raised a hand. “Say, could I get a slice of pie to go?”
◈
As predicted we were driving further into the wilderness than I would have preferred. The passing cars were few and far between.
“How much further?” I asked. “I might need to stop for gas.”
“Not too far now,” said Mike. “If you don’t mind sharing, do you remember the last moments you spent with James?”
I sighed. “I do, but I can’t remember the last time anyone called him James outside of the media. He hated it. He’d been Jimmy since elementary school.”
“Sorry,” he said. “Tell me about that last day you spent with Jimmy.”
“It was an ordinary day. A Wednesday. We woke up, had breakfast. I went to work, Jimmy worked from home. He called me on my lunch break like usual, just to hear your voice he always said. God, we were insufferable.” I let out a laugh.
“Take the next left,” said Mike. “I’m listening.”
“So yeah. We had a little chat, then I went back to work. I got home and Jimmy had already started dinner. He was a much better cook than me. We drank wine, watched a movie.”
“What movie did you watch?”
“The Notebook,” I laughed. “For the umpteenth time. I know, I hate us too.”
“Keep driving straight,” said Mike. “It’s a few minutes away.”
“What is?” I asked.
“What happened after the movie?” he said.
“Nothing, we went to bed.”
“Did you make love?”
I briefly turned to him in disapproval. “Excuse me?”
“Did you fuck?” he said, unflinching.
I shook my head. “No, sorry to disappoint you. Now where the hell are you taking me?”
“It’s just up here,” he said. “So you went to bed and then you never saw him again?”
I took a deep breath and shook my head. “Jimmy had already gone when I woke up. No note, no text. It was strange but I didn’t think too much of it at the time. I sent him a text asking where he was. When half the day went by with no response I started to worry.”
“And the rest is history, as they say.”
I nodded as I fought back tears.
“We’re here,” said Mike.
I looked around. It was dark, but from what the headlights illuminated I couldn't see anything but trees.
“What’s here?”
“Just stop the car. It’s a short walk.”
I felt my heart race as my vulnerable situation became apparent. I really was in the middle of nowhere with a strange man, one who had withheld information about my missing fiancé for 5 years. I stared at him wide eyed.
He shrugged. “I’m not really sure what I can say to make you more comfortable?”
I slowly reached for my bag and pulled out a pocket pistol. Mike let out a surprised laugh.
“Maybe I don’t need to say anything?” he said.
“This makes me more comfortable,” I said.
He nodded. “Fair enough. Let’s go.”
◈
After walking for several minutes, feeling grateful that I’d opted for comfortable footwear that evening, we came to a cabin within the trees. The porch was lit.
‘Jessie; you know better than this girl’ I thought to myself, my hand clutching the pistol inside my bag.
“Why did it have to be a cabin in the woods?” I said, Mike a few feet in front of me.
“I like solitude,” he said. “I couldn’t think of anything worse than living in the city.”
We walked up the steps to the porch area. At one end there was a single chair with a blanket on it, and a small table with some beer bottles. At the other end I spotted some deep red patches on the floorboards. Mike noticed me looking.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “It’s deer blood. I’m pretty self sufficient out here.”
We entered the cabin and Mike turned on the lights. It was quite basic, not overly decorated. There were some framed pictures on the walls, a dinner table, and a living area with some chairs, a small television and a log burner.
“I’m kind of disappointed there’s no stag’s head mounted on the wall,” I said as I took in my surroundings.
Mike shrugged. “I don’t see the animals as a prize. It’s food, survival. There are a few skulls out back if you want to check them out?”
I shook my head. “I’m good.”
Mike put the slice of pie he’d got from Marcy’s on the kitchen counter.
“Water, beer?” He opened the fridge and pulled out a beer bottle.
“This isn’t a social visit,” I said. “And call me paranoid but that would make me very stupid."
He nodded. “You’re right, I hope you don’t mind if I have one though.” He screwed off the cap and took a swig. “Let’s sit.” He motioned to the living area and I followed him.
“You know it’s dangerous to leave your fire burning when you’re not home,” I said, feeling the warmth from the log burner as I took a seat on an armchair. I kept my bag by my side and my hand on the pistol.
“It gets cold in here,” he said, sitting on another chair. “I’ll take my chances.”
He spoke about his cabin for a while, the whole time I became increasingly more uncomfortable due to the fact that I’d needed the bathroom since leaving the diner.
“I’d like to get straight to the point,” I said. “But I really need to use the bathroom.”
“Sure,” he said, pointing to a door down a hallway. “Over there.”
The bathroom was clean enough, though I did my business without touching the toilet seat. Something that had become a habit when using strange or public bathrooms. As I washed up I heard a groaning noise that sounded like it came from another room in the cabin. My heart jolted.
“Mike?” I said, creeping out of the bathroom. I had my bag over my shoulder and my shaking hand gripped the pistol. “What was that sound?”
I peeked over to the living area and couldn’t see him. I started to panic.
“Mike?” I said loudly. “This isn’t cool. Where are you?”
I heard that muffled groaning noise again and jumped, turning on the spot. There was another door further down the hall. Against my better judgement I crept closer to it, flinching each time the groan was emitted. It got louder the closer I got to the door.
“Mike?” I said, my whole body trembling.
“Sorry Jessie,” I heard Mike say from behind, and suddenly a cloth covered my mouth. My bag slipped from my shoulder but I still had the gun in my hand which I lifted as I struggled. Mike brought his other arm around me and squeezed tight, pinning my arms to my body. I became lightheaded as I breathed in chemicals.
“Shush,” he said quietly in my ear. “Just let it be.”
As I blacked out I was screaming inside my head. ‘You stupid girl!’
◈
When I came to my vision was momentarily blurred, but as I focused I saw Mike opposite me. We were sitting at the dinner table.
“Welcome back,” he said. I attempted to stand but my right hand was cuffed to the table leg. I pulled on it several times until pain shot through my arm. “That’s solid oak. I mean, you might get free but probably at the expense of your wrist.”
“You bastard!” I screamed. “Let me go. Help! Help me please!”
“Calm down Jessie,” he said. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you there’s no one out here to help you.”
I started to cry as I shook. “Oh God… What are you going to do to me? Are you going to…”
“I told you already, I’m not going to hurt you! Though that wasn’t completely true because I’m sure you have a splitting headache right now?”
He got up and retrieved a small bottle from a cupboard, then filled a glass from the faucet. He placed the glass in front of me as well as two pills from the bottle.
“Paracetamol. You’ll thank me later.”
“I’ll never thank you!” I screamed, then moaned as my head pounded. I reluctantly picked up the pills and swallowed them with water. “Why am I cuffed?”
As he spoke he walked across the cabin. “Because I believe what you’re about to hear would cause you to run. When I’m done you’re more than welcome to leave, you have my word.”
He returned with a MacBook and placed it on the table. It looked alien amongst the cabin interior. My surprised expression must have been clear.
“I’m not a Luddite,” he said. “I have WiFi and Netflix just like you city folks.”
“Great,” I said sarcastically. “But you really need to start talking.”
“I don’t think you’re in any position to give demands,” he said. “But very well. Here’s the first thing you’re not going to like hearing: I’ve been inside your apartment.”
My jaw dropped. “Wha… What?”
He opened the MacBook and tapped on the keyboard, then showed me the screen. There were several images of my apartment interior. I picked up the glass and took a swig of water, wishing it was something stronger. “Why were you in my apartment Mike?”
“Well, here’s the next thing: I’m a serial killer.”
I shifted back on the chair and pulled on the cuffs, starting to hyperventilate. “Oh God oh God oh God…”
“Calm down Jessie,” he said.
“Give me a fucking break,” I shouted. “Jesus Christ!” I clung onto the cuffs with my free hand and pulled hard, groaning. The table only moved ever so slightly but I felt like I’d run a marathon. I sat up and stared at Mike as I breathed heavily. “You killed Jimmy?”
“I target lovers,” he said. “I observe them for months before I take things further. When the time is right I abduct one. Which one I choose is more down to opportunity than anything else. Then I pose a question: Are you prepared to sacrifice yourself for the one you love? Make a choice; you or them.”
I covered my mouth with a trembling hand. “Oh Jimmy… You sacrificed yourself for me.”
Mike tapped on the keys some more. “I install secret cameras in the lovers’ homes when they’re out. Like I said, I observe them for months, and not just outside. I need to get a feel for their relationship before I intervene. It has to be true love or it just doesn’t feel right. And you only get to see the real deal when no one else is looking. Excessive PDAs are often a sign of insecurity, they mean nothing really.”
He turned the screen back to me and a video was playing. “I edited this just for you.”
It showed Jimmy and I sitting at our breakfast bar. In the corner of the screen was Mar 7th 2018, 07:54.
“Wait!” I said, my heart beating out of my chest. I paused the video. “I don’t think I want to see this.”
“You have to, Jessie. I’m sorry. You’re free to leave once it's over.”
I felt my heart through my chest. “Can I at least take you up on that drink?”
He got up and walked to the fridge, taking out a beer.
“Do you have anything stronger?” I asked.
He nodded and reached under the kitchen counter, then returned with a whisky bottle and two tumblers. He poured two measures and pushed one towards me, then sat back down.
“We’re all out of ice unfortunately.”
“Fuck the ice,” I said, downing it in one gulp. I closed my eyes as I felt my chest burn inside, then signalled for Mike to top me up. After a moment I hit play on the screen.
◈
Mar 7th 2018, 07:54
Jimmy and I eat breakfast. He picks up a strawberry and rubs it against my lips.
“Stop it,” I say, giggling as I slap his arm. “I have to leave shortly.”
“Come on Jess,” he says. “Open wide.” He puts the strawberry in my mouth then gently kisses my lips.
“To be continued,” I say, getting off the stool and grabbing my things.
“No fair!” he sulks.
“Have a good day babe,” I say, kissing his cheek.
“I love you, Jess,” he says, momentarily holding me against him.
“I love you more,” I say, pulling away to run to the door. “See you this evening.”
09:11
Jimmy comes out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around him, then goes to the bedroom.
10:36
Jimmy sits at the table on his laptop and takes a few work related calls.
12:05
Jimmy takes another call. “Hey you. Yeah. No, she won’t be back until like 7 at the earliest.”
I took another sip of whisky and briefly met Mike’s eyes as he watched me. I held the glass close to my chest, my knuckles white.
Jimmy continued. “Absolutely, I’d love to see you… Great, see ya soon.”
12:48
The buzzer rings and Jimmy uses the intercom. “It’s open.”
I downed the whisky and pushed the glass towards Mike. He leaned over and poured another measure.
Jimmy opens the door and in comes my best friend Lori. She embraces him.
13:09
They sit on the couch together.
“Shit, I’ve got to call Jess,” says Jimmy. “It’s our thing.”
“Seriously?” says Lori.
“Yep, every lunch break without fail. She’ll get paranoid if I don’t.”
Fucking asshole. It was never something I asked for or insisted on. Whatever makes him feel better.
He makes the call and puts a finger against his lips. In the meantime Lori unzips his fly and feels inside.
“Hey baby, how’s your day going? Ah, that’s awesome! Yeah, it’s been a productive morning. I’m gonna heat up some soup, what are you having?”
He puts his other hand behind Lori’s head and pushes it into his lap. His head slowly tilts back.
“That sounds amazing. Okay, well I just wanted to hear your voice baby. And you, can’t wait to see you later. Love you too. Bye.”
16:32
They come out of the bedroom and Lori puts on her shoes. Jimmy puts his arms around her from behind and nuzzles her neck.
“Do you have to leave already?” he says.
“What if she comes home?” says Lori.
“I promise you she won’t be home for a while. Come on.”
She turns and slaps his chest. “You’re a bad boy, Jimmy Mack.” They kiss.
17:43
They chop vegetables in the kitchen.
“I wish we were cooking for us,” says Jimmy.
“Me too,” says Lori. “We really should tell her soon. It’s gone on long enough.”
Tears stream as I finish my third whisky.
He nods. “I know. I keep trying. I already know how tonight will go. We’ll eat dinner and then she’ll want to watch some shit like The Notebook.”
Lori laughs. “I feel so bad for you.”
“She’s such a hopeless romantic,” he says.
“Hopeless being the operative word,” laughs Lori.
“Me-ow!” he laughs.
Mar 8th 2018, 01:22
The door to our apartment opens and in comes a tall figure dressed in black. They slowly open our bedroom door and creep inside. After a few minutes Jimmy leaves the room in a t-shirt and boxers, his hands up as he’s followed by the figure at gunpoint. They leave the apartment.
◈
I sat in silence staring at the screen.
“I’m sorry for what you’ve been through Jessie,” said Mike. “But as you can see he didn’t deserve your pain and suffering.”
I put the glass on the table and wiped the tears from my face. “Maybe not. But he didn’t deserve to die.”
“Would you say the same if you knew he chose you?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, like I said. I take one of the lovers and give them a choice. I’d never experienced something like this, having only observed genuine love. It threw me. He was a lying piece of shit but I still posed the question.”
Mike found another video and played it.
Jimmy is sitting on a chair in a dark room under a hanging light, his arms tied behind his back. He struggles to free himself.
“James Mack,” says Mike offscreen.
“Who are you?” screams Jimmy. “I’ll fucking kill you when I get free!”
“How much do you love Jessie?”
“What?”
“Would you die for her?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Jimmy shouts.
“Would you die for her?” Mike roars, coming into shot and putting his forehead against Jimmy’s. He holds a gun at his side.
Jimmy recoils. “I… I…”
“It’s you or her James!” Mike cocks the gun and holds it against Jimmy’s head. “Make your decision.”
“Her!” Jimmy cries. “Take Jessie! You’ll be doing me a fucking favor you psycho!”
Mike stopped the video as I covered my mouth. “How does that make you feel Jessie?”
I shook my head. “I’d like to see what your response would be if someone held a gun to your head.”
He nodded. “Fair point. But just so you know, I’ve targeted 5 couples so far and they all chose to sacrifice themselves.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I hate him for this but he still didn’t deserve to die.”
Mike came over and took a key out of his pocket, then released the cuff around my wrist. I gripped it with my other hand and held it against my chest.
“Oh, he’s not dead Jessie,” said Mike, walking to the kitchen counter. He picked up the box containing the pie.
“What?”
He walked across the room down the hall, then stopped at the door at the end.
“You’re free to go Jessie,” he said. “Or you can come say hi.”
He pushed open the door then disappeared. I got up and frantically looked around the cabin. I saw my bag sitting on a coffee table and rummaged inside. My gun, my keys, my phone were all there. I ran to the main door and breathed in the cool night air, then hesitated. I looked over my shoulder.
You stupid girl I repeated in my head over and over as I approached the door down the hall. There was a staircase leading down into a dimly lit basement. I could hear Mike’s voice and some groans as I slowly began to descend, my body trembling. There was a vile smell that got worse with every step. It made me retch.
When I got to the bottom I saw Mike standing over the figure of a pale man that sat with his back to me. He was wearing rags, and the skin I could see was dirty and covered in sores. His skin was impossibly stretched over visible bones. He was eating noisily as he groaned.
“Is that good James?” asked Mike, and I saw the figure nod enthusiastically. The back of his head revealed long thinning hair with bald patches.
Mike looked over his shoulder and smiled when he met my eye. “Oh my, James. You’ll never guess who’s come to visit?”
The figure looked up inquisitively, then turned his head in my direction.
I could see it in his eyes. His handsome features had been buried under a pale, gaunt complexion. But I could tell it was Jimmy by his eyes. It took him a few seconds to acknowledge who he was looking at but suddenly his eyes widened, the thin skin of his forehead flaking as it wrinkled. He had pie smeared across his mouth. He had some teeth missing and the ones I could see looked jagged and broken.
“Jessie?” he said, in a voice that wasn’t quite the same. It was weathered, like that of a senior citizen with a bad smoking habit.
My lips trembled as I nodded. “It’s me Jimmy.”
He suddenly stood and lunged towards me, his hands outstretched. I flinched but he was held back by shackles around his ankles.
“Jessie!” he groaned. My heart couldn’t take it, feeling like it was going to explode. I fell to my knees as the 5 year mystery was solved in the most horrifying way.
“Isn’t it nice of Jessie to stop by?” said Mike. “Even after the way you treated her.”
Jimmy became restless, pulling on the shackles. He kept groaning like he was in pain.
“How could you do this to him?” I cried. “Even a rabid beast doesn’t deserve this!”
Mike shrugged. “I guess I felt bad for you. I’d never really considered the feelings of anyone else until I saw just how much you loved this man. And when I witnessed his betrayal day after day I just grew to hate him more. I knew a bullet to the brain wasn’t enough for this piece of shit.”
Mike turned to Jimmy and started rubbing his back. “But you know, over the years this piece of shit has grown on me. We’re like family now, aren’t we James?”
“No!” Jimmy screamed, making me fall back. “No no no!”
He buried his face in Mike’s neck, making him scream in pain. Dark blood cascaded down Mike’s shirt. Considering Jimmy was wasted away to nothing, Mike's attempts at freeing himself were useless. He fell to the floor and pushed himself against the wall, holding the gaping wound on his neck.
“James… Don’t…” he managed before Jimmy pounced. It sounded like a wild animal devouring its prey. I covered my ears as I watched in horror, my body refusing to let me look away.
Before long Mike was silent and still, his eyes remained open as he slouched against the wall. Jimmy turned to look at me, at first appearing shy or embarrassed. His face and chest was covered in Mike’s blood. He licked his lips and attempted to wipe it away with the back of his skeletal arm.
Eventually he started to crawl towards me, only stopping when the shackles wouldn’t allow him to get any closer. He groaned, but it wasn’t in anger. His eyes became glassy and he started to cry.
“Jessie,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
My hands trembled as I reached out to him, scared beyond belief but my heart was breaking all over again. I was in two minds, but eventually my hand met his and I felt his bony fingers between mine.
“Oh Jimmy,” I said breathlessly. “I forgive you.”
We held hands for a moment before I stood up. “I’m calling for help.” I made my way to the stairs.
“No!” Jimmy shouted. His eyes pleaded with me. “No Jessie. Please.”
It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but I think most people would have done the same from a place of love.
Jimmy Mack is never coming back.
dd
DB

Trying to think of some rules that would make the tournament interesting. So far I've thought of the following:

1. Demons must listen to their master, and must comply with almost every request that is within their power. However, demons are also individuals with their own personality.
   
2. Although demons can fight other demons, demons cannot affect the world unless they are within a "host", usually a body or an object that is related to their ability (If your ability has something to do with chains, your demons must possess chains. Tigers? Then your demon has to inhabit a tiger)
   
3. Each demon is given a power that allows them to manipulate reality in a limited, specific way (That's where the JJBA influence comes in). Each demons ability usually has a drawback or weakness that is easily exploitable.
   
4. Demons are ethereal beings that can only be seen by participants. However, demons that are within a host can be seen by everyone. When demons have a host, they can manipulate it's appearance. Demons can also possess their user upon request, granting the user their ability.
   
5. Although demons must listen to every request, there is one thing that takes paramount. Protecting their user. A demon will ignore any request that would cause harm to their user (Unless it's related to their ability) or drop whatever they are doing in order to protect their user from harm. This is at the demon's discretion (So if the demon doesn't see how something can harm the user, then it might not act.)
   
6. Whenever a demon is summoned, they give off a strong aura that is detectable by other users. Although it's not pinpoint accuracy, if other tournament participants are in the area, they will know that there are enemies in the area.
   
7. Generally, demons are on no ones side. They just must follow the rules of the tournament (Fulfill their users request, protect them, ). It's entirely possible for a demon to spoil the plans of a user or to inform their opponents of their weakness if they wanted to, as long as their user does not forbid it.
   
   1. When a Demon is defeated, their soul becomes owned by the victor of the battle. If the user decides to consume the demons soul, it will strengthen their demons abilities. However, strengthening your demons abilities makes their summoning aura more potent, and spread further. So although your demon is stronger, you're making yourself a larger target.
8. Although battles can happen at any point or anywhere, if the user sets up a Blood Brawl (name pending), then an area, stipulations of the duel, and time will chosen, during which no one can attack them or their loved ones without agreeing to the terms. Blood Brawls use Demon souls as currency. (Ex. I defeated a demon, and set up a Blood brawl at this nearby park. Unless I am defeated, myself, my classmates, teachers, or family cannot be interacted with, either with demons, or dealings related to the tournament. I know this is kinda shit right now and needs refinement, but I'm just trying to find a way to stop someone form just hiring some dudes to kidnap people's families and force them out of the tournament.)
   

So what other rules would make things more interesting? One thing I'm brainstorming is how do I stop regular non combatant people from not knowing about the tournament? One idea I had was that all cameras, phones, video doesn't work in the presence of demons.
Also interested in an alternate term to use instead of Demons. Familiars sounds lame.

Good day people!
Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how to write posts like this here, but I'd absolutely love to find someone to connect with. Hopefully, someone reading this will find something to relate to, if you did - drop me a message! :)
I'll start by saying I'm not someone desperately looking for affection, I was somewhat of a 'lone wolf' most of my life, and I've learned to be completely fine with it, and truthfully - I am. But lately I've grown to realise that it would actually be nice to have someone to create new experiences, memories and share them together. I find it very important to be able to form a connection with someone, I've learned that it's an awful feeling when you are with someone with whom you constantly feel careful about what you say, do and can't be fully yourself. I've always been someone who tries to find a laugh in everything, so a sense of humour is a big deal for me.
Here's a little about me - I am 30 years old, white, have hazel eyes, 6"2 in height and I currently live in a small country in Eastern Europe.
I'm naturally super curious as a person, I constantly listen to various podcasts or watch documentaries and I'd like to think I can hold a conversation about plenty of different topics. It comes to the point where I feel like I have so much information in my head, but majority of it is at a very shallow level. A lot of people must feel that way too - like having awareness and understanding on a vast number of different topics, but only on a surface level.
Outside of that I love nature and animals a lot, and when I say a lot I mean it - it hurts me deeply when I see tree branches being cut. On the other hand, I do have a bit of a nerdy side too, for example I love Lord of the Rings and fantasy worlds in general, and one of my items on my bucket list is to one day release my own book. I know gaming is a big thing nowadays, and I might have been called a gamer years ago, but, unfortunately, I had to pretend to be an adult at some point of my life and cut the gaming drastically. Not against it tho.
I would also say I am extremely open-minded as a person and non-judgemental at all, I always try to understand the other side, and what they may be experiencing internally before comitting to judgement. Also, very clumsy and I prefer cold over hot.
ANYWAY, hopefully this caught someones attention and if you'd fancy to have a chat with this internet stranger who eats sushi with hands and occasionally hugs trees - drop me a message! :)

I understand this is an unpopular opinion but the March of the Machines ending flopped in my opinion. Simply put many consequences from previous stories were reversed, undermining the tension of past story. Furthermore some decisions within March of the Machines story itself lacked any dramatic importance or consequences. Finally, the build up of the Capennan angels was poor and stretches my ability to believe it makes sense.
This does not mean the story overall was awful, there are many stories (especially side stories) which were excellent. With only a few exceptions the writing itself was excellent. However, as someone who was incredibly excited about this story going in: the ending felt incredibly flat and unearned. I will post full reviews of each story over time, but reviewing some of the specific faults of the story to start.
Elspeth's Decision to Return to New Phyrexia was Meaningless
The set up to Elspeth's return ends with a choice. In a decision which was partially set up by Elesh Norn sending Ajani to Theros (a plane which Elspeth sparked to first, and loved dearly) and Atraxa to Capenna (Elspeth's home plane). I think the framing here was excellent, with the best summary being this line in Episode 6:

If it was someone who'd already lost—why not Ajani? Why not repay her old mentor for everything he'd done for her? Maybe there was still a way to save him.
And for that matter, why not take to the field in New Capenna? If she struck down Atraxa, perhaps the angels there could return—and perhaps their returning might cleanse the plane.
As much as she doesn't want to read them, the answers are plain across her heart: if she saves Ajani, she will only be saving a single person. Alone he isn't enough to turn the tide. New Capenna can save itself. Which leaves Wrenn, and Nissa, and the glowing thread tying them together.
Yes—she understands.
The decision isn't whether to save Nissa or save Wrenn.
It's to keep Nissa occupied long enough for Wrenn to reach the tree.

As mentioned above: Elspeth chooses to return to New Phyrexia and save Chandra and Wrenn. She choose to save the multiverse instead of defending two planes she has attachment to. She chooses the multiverse over her love of Daxos, her relationship with Ajani, and her home plane. So one would believe the choice would have meaning: that choosing to save the multiverse will have implications.
In short, it doesn't.
Ajani is saved and is returned to us, Capenna is not destroyed and the angels return anyway. In short: the decision was without consequence. Elspeth gave up nothing to save the multiverse. Instead of a character moment with resonance: it's more like getting the right answer on a multiple choice pop quiz. Good job Elspeth you made the right call! Don't worry, we'll make sure that this costs you nothing in the long run.
The Capennan Angels Don't Make Sense
Let's start with this: Halo is basically essence of angel. The archdemons of Capenna trap angels in statues so they can turn them into Halo. By the event so Streets of New Capenna the entire plane is running out of Halo. Only one angel, Giada, is known to exist and her mere existence is dramatically changing the plane. Why? Because she can provide Halo, which is running out. We then learn in the Capenna side story that the plane is still running low on Halo. Furthermore the only way to get more Halo is to take it from an angel as Della (the angel we meet in the story) hints at:

"You two were greatly wounded. Luckily, I was present to mend your wounds instantly, though it required a significant portion of myself . . . of my Halo, as you call it."

So in order for Capenna to get more Halo they would need more angels. Did many angels rebirth when the invasion began? Errant suggests there are incredibly few angels (emphasis mine):

It wasn't odd to encounter people she'd never met among the resistance. But Errant had never seen an angel in the flesh, only their statues that stood as bitter monuments to a better time in New Capenna's history. The long-ago stewards of New Capenna had returned at last. Far too little, far too late, most likely. Two iridescent wings extended from the woman's back, arcing gracefully around her shoulders and framing her in a faint, mother-of-pearl glow.

So a prominent member of the resistance has never seen an angel (even though angels are crucial to the eventual victory). However, at the end of the side story the Capennan angels repel the Phyrexian invasion of Capenna and then are sent across the multiverse to save the other planes and provide Halo. To make matters worse Episode 9 confirms what the side story already told us:

But Phyrexia's armies are teeming ten thousand, and there are far fewer angels on New Capenna than there once were.

Ok. So to recap on the Capennan angels:

1. There's no explanation as to how they actually return...they just do
2. The story explicitly confirms that the Angels are "fewer than before" (and they barely repelled the previous Phyrexian invasion of Capenna)
3. Somehow, even though the angels are few, they somehow completely turn the tide of the Phyrexian Invasion of the Multiverse

To me, this is incredibly sloppy writing and set up; a rushed story if you will. It is never a good sign when the text in your own story contradicts what is happening. Wizards wants me to believe that the angels are weaker and less numerous than before, and yet I am also supposed to believe that they easily defeat Phyrexia (which is stronger than before) over more ground.
What makes this worse to me is that the angels save the day in spite of Wizards also setting up the notion that Elspeth chose to protect Wrenn instead of rallying the Capennan angels. Once again: choices do not have consequences. Wizards will allow characters to make decisions, and those decisions don't matter.
Previous Story Points are Reversed
There are three specific characters who return to us in either Episode 9 or Episode 10. In Episode 9 Giada returns to the story. How is she returned? It's glossed over: "Halo" returns Giada to the story. This is not supported by the story basically at all. It also completely undermines the ending of the Streets of New Capenna story where Giada sacrifices herself to protect Elspeth in her final battle with Ob Nixilis and to create Luxior.
This is a comparatively minor gut punch, because Giada is a new character we have not spent much time with, but still annoying. Giada makes a sacrifice, except it's not a sacrifice because it's reversed and it's reversed without some other character making a sacrifice. Wizards did it purely to do it.
The next two characters who return to us are Ajani and Nissa. Once again: these are two characters whose compleation were major gut punches in Dominaria United and Phyrexia: All Will be One. Both are fan favorites, so the fact that Wizards allowed the Phyrexians to compleat them were big deals in both stories. MORE infuriatingly: Wizards raised the stakes of reviving both of them in Elspeth's arc, specifically in Episode 6 (as stated above). Elspeth explicitly thinks about saving both of them, but rules it out in favor of doing the 'right' thing in saving the multiverse over an individual.
Well, Wizards undermined that choice by simply making it irrelevant. Elspeth didn't have a choice to make, she just had to perform her story duty. I could, maybe, live with Nissa returning: but Ajani being sent to Theros was explicitly done to distract Elspeth from going to New Phyrexia. In short:

1. Wizards sets up Ajani being used as bait to distract Elspeth from saving the multiverse
2. Elspeth then makes a decision to choose the multiverse over her friend
3. Wizards decides to make the choice to send Ajani meaningless, and make Elesh Norn's plans fruitless

Stories and decisions only matter if there are consequences. Reviving Ajani undermines Elspeth's own character choices, specific plot points, and previous stakes from different stories. Reviving Ajani and Nissa also undermines one of the critical threats poised by Phyrexia: that they can turn your allies against you; and that Phyresis is irreversible.
Finally, the price paid to revive them is, in my mind too low. The cost of reversing Phyresis is Karn's spark and the life of Melira. Why this works is somewhat inexplicable. Except...the cost isn't really that high, why? Melira is dying anyway as we learn in Episode 10:

If we're going to do it, we have to do it soon. I don't think I have much longer.

Whether or not Nissa/Ajani are returning to us: Melira is going to die; this isn't that much of a sacrifice. Next, Karn loses his spark, which I would BELIEVE is a price to be paid if we don't have two characters IN THE STORY (in this very chapter) who have regained their sparks. One, of course, is Karn and the other is Teferi. So personally, I have zero confidence that Karn will remain without a spark. Which, to me, means Wizards allowed their characters to make two "sacrifices" which aren't really sacrifices. Karn will become a planeswalker again when it's convenient.
This says nothing about Vraska, who is neither confirmed dead nor confirmed 'cured' but I struggle to see why they would do what they did unless they intended to cure her.
The Cost to the Multiverse Was Comparatively Low
Finally, although we do not have a full account as to the damage done to the Multiverse, it does not seem particularly heavy in my eyes. Yes, thousands (probably millions) died, but the deaths of unnamed characters is not much of a sacrifice. Many secondary/tertiary characters also died, but frankly: I do not consider the losses of (in order by plane)
Capenna: AnheloEldraine: Algenus & Linden KenrithIxalan: EtaliKaldheim: Toski & SarulfTheros: Heliod, Brimaaz and two other godsZendikar: Omnath
None of these characters are focuses of a set, some are antagonists (ahem: Heliod) and some did not even get a true story appearance (Omnath being a prominent example). None of the planes, best I can tell, are being dramatically changed (no the destruction of Boseiju does not count). When we return basically all of them are going to be pretty similar to what they were before.
In short, for a multiversal threat which was supposed to almost wipe out individuality across the multiverse: the multiverse got off easy.
Glistening Oil "Turning Off" Makes No Sense, and It's Potency Fluctuated Confusingly
The danger glistening oil varied dramatically in the story. In the first episode of ONE: Nahiri is infected after a slight cut and exposure to Glistening Oil. Mirrodin itself is infected and compleated based on the oil merely being present on plane. However, in many stories (notably, in my mind, on Ixalan) characters contacted glistening oil without issue. Zacama herself basically ate Etali (who was covered in oil) and had no consequences. In short the potency and danger of glistening oil was not static and became a danger entirely based on the whims of each individual author.
Additionally, the theory that glistening oil "turns off" with the absence of Elesh Norn makes...little sense. Nowhere is this mentioned in the story, to my recollection, before the last episode. Furthermore, if Norn could control glistening oil: how in the world was there any dissension in her ranks in the first place? Would it not stand to reason that at least some of the glistening oil would not react to Norn because the other Praetors were not entirely subservient to her (otherwise how would Jin, Urabrask and Sheoldred able to rebel)? The obvious answer to me is: YES, of course that makes sense.
We also know that Ajani (at least) was not compleated by Norn, but by sleeper agents under the command of...Sheoldred. We also do not know whether Nissa was compleated by Elesh Norn or Vorinclex, but given that she was chased down by Lukka (who was compleated by Vorinclex) it stands to reason that it's at least likely that she was compleated by someone else. Finally, if glistening oil was designed to respond to the Father (or Mother) of Machines: why did the oil work after the death of Yawgmoth in the first place? This plot point is entirely fabricated at the end of the story to suit the needs of the plot.
Conclusion
Contrary to what some may claim: I am not critiquing that the "body count" isn't high enough. I am a pointing out that the story undermined its own consequences, and allowed some characters to make decisions which were not true choices but allowed them to have their cake and eat it too. I further would contend that the way they portrayed Phyrexia in March of the Machine was far different than how they portrayed Phyrexia in Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Instead of being incredibly powerful: Phyrexia rolls over.
It would be one thing if they set up the ending (angels from Capenna saving the day) and if they had avoided setting up pivotal decisions which they later undermined. Unfortunately Wizards chose to rush the ending, avoid characters facing consequences, and undermined previous story beats.
Furthermore, I understand that Wizards can now tell stories about Ajani and Nissa. I know they can show how they wrestle with what 'they did' after they recover. I am sure they can tell that interestingly. That doesn't mean that it was the right story decision. I also understand that there are limits to how much Wizards can change each plane; if they're too different then its more difficult to return to them (probably why Tarkir and Alara are so difficult to return to as they changed those worlds dramatically). That means ensuring the characters face consequences is even more important. I do not think Wizards did a good job in this case.

Yeah, I know. Another "my thoughts on x" post. Yet I wanted to share with you guys and know what you think.
Got a good number of hours spent in the game and came back after a two months or so break.
Current run: I play with mods, most of them cosmetic, but the important ones here are More Game Rules (for reduced seduction schemes) and Less Artifact Claims (game is unplayable without at a certain realm and family size).
Started as a custom Count, Bosnian culture, in Lower Bosnia. Formed Duchy, later conquered Upper Bosnia and Zachlumia as well, formed Bosnia via Decision. Created custom faith, formed custom Empire of Yugoslavia with the kingdoms of Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Hungary (You really need Hungary for the province number required). Later added Wallachia and Bulgaria, added via de jure drift. Created hybrid Yugoslavian culture, with Greek and Bosnian. Not historically correct, but anyway. As Byzantium collapsed, added Constantinople without resistance. Bit cheesy, I know, but it's too good to not have it. Right now, I'm in the late 1200's and I added Italy to the mix. Bohemia, Poland and Moravia's rulers are also of my dynasty. But let's get to the point.
​
The good:
I really love taking care of my family. Children are cute, and I love to see them growing up and become a great steward, good queen of a foreign King, or becoming friends with them at a feast. Educating your kids and not getting the beating event always feels like a tiny success each time. Painting the map in your colours, a bit, not too much, fighting off the first crusade or just defending against a holy war against three attackers larger than your army really feels great. You won't get a lot of events, and you take your time to plan things and are happy if they come together.
The bad:
You don't realise it always at first, but there is a point where the gameplay swings. I don't know how to call it, but from one moment to the next most things feel tedious. I'm not gonna mention artifact clutter here, since this has been addressed by the devs and will be improved.
Every 30 years, the Pope will call a crusade against you, no matter how much you handed his ass to him the times before. Everything about it gets obnoxious. Catholics are only left in Scotland and Norway, yet they come in numbers of 300k. You stackwipe them each time, getting 50 prisoners. You can't execute them all in most cases, because suicide of stress. Or you get a random kinslayer trait, because one of your dimwit cousins ran away and became Catholic. Or you can't release them all at once, because, sadistic. But that's not the worst part. You know why? Because every one of them has 3 plots against them, which are of course discovered immediately by your hard working spymaster. Every couple of days you get a disturbingly loud popup that random unimportant courtier #3874 tried to plot against your prisoner Count Dumbass. I don't need this. I know there's a mod for stuff like that, but I tried it and found I was missing on a lot of other stuff which was more important in my opinion. I'd really love some improvement on spymaster notifications. Too much useless stuff gets popped up in your face (knight A fabricates hook on knight B or tries to kill them BUT if knight A succeeds in the murder, you don't get anything. Unless they had a position.) while valuable info is hidden from you. If your heir loses his best piece, you wouldn't know. The "Scandal" event only fires if your niece gets pregnant out of wedlock, not your daughter, wtf? The worst thing is, you can at no point do anything against any of it, since you have no power whatsoever. Some duchess killed my nephew? Bad luck, she's not of my dynasty. People killing each other in your castle, if they're found out, they just don't want to be arrested. Deal with it. This useless, meaning-to-be-immersive-but-fails-miserably plotting could be cut down by 95% and it would be fine. It's just garbage, especially during times where you have to focus on important stuff.
The ugly:
Even with less seduction schemes AND a faith where all adultery is illegal, you better pray if you're marrying 17-year-olds to another, because they already have someone on the side. Horrible amount of cheating going on, find secrets 3 times and you can arrest half your vassals. Is this how it should be? Also, the lack of respect everyone gives you. Everyone gets irritable and insults you without giving you the option to retaliate. You give one word back and you have a rival, who will now try to kill you, every time, without failure. You appoint one court position (because your last royal architect just decided to leave, without the courtesy to ask you first and no chance to get them back) and another random douce insults you and your princess in front of everyone. You hold court, because why not? You have avoided doing it because few good things come of it. 3 events? You can become your daughter's ward, because "her dear mama is no longer around", although you're it already. You can give some stupid knight one of your domains for free. And you can give 500 gold away for 20 years of 10% increased development in one of your counties. Next time I'll get something better, for sure. And what we really need, is a better stress management for the AI. My one daughter was ambitious, calm and humble and managed to flagellate herself to death before 30. I landed her, my fault I know, but still.
And don't get me started on personal artifact claims. -60 op for not giving them precious things (or just pressed flowers) without compensation. They are angry, start a faction, you have to take them down, their siblings do the same after the rebellion failed. I blinded and tortured the shit of three of your brothers and took their land, what does the fourth one expect to happen? Please make this stop. Please. Before anything else.
So what do I want? Less, but more useful events. There are some things I avoid (never hold court while romancing your wife, never get a pet cat, always tell the steward to repair the latrines, never investigate the mass murders in your castle. You know why).
​
Sorry for the wall of text, everyone. Thanks for reading and your input. Appreciate it. Until then, I'm putting my faith (not all of it, but still some) in the next DLC - and of course in the AGOT mod - , because it's still a great game.

So Weathsimple recently on a run to become a super bank with increasing their offering and I love some of their changes in last 6 months but the one that came today is just a gimmicky move of wealthsimple by offering exactly same pro account with same fees in new name “USD Account”. I don’t think it’s gonna attract anybody who already know about it as it just doesn’t make sense to keep paying forex for conversion over and above monthly fees specially for the people who are not traders!
I would have liked if they have launched a enhanced cash account where I can park my money in both the currency. And use the cash card for things I want to spent and money deduct from the relevant account. Resolute use to have this kind of account with card before they left Canada and we need a bank like wealthsimple to provide a features like that as hope for getting some international competition is nil in the current government. https://i.imgur.com/AiYowhg.jpg

Anyone near the south shore of LI know if Long Beach has figured out a way to weasel themselves into a no-guns-allowed area on the boardwalk? Also, do the town parks that are not state parks (not playgrounds) allow carry? Lastly, does Jacob Riis or Gateway national park allow carry too? Not sure if that is outside of NYC jurisdiction regarding carry laws since it is policed by the USPP rather than NYC.

[Mega List] Singapore Gigs & Concerts: Early April Good Friday (31 Mar - 13 Apr 2023)

30/3 Thu

• Music Theatre: The Soldier & His Virtuous Wife 都是当兵惹的祸 ft Joanna Dong till 16 Apr, drama centre theatre (national library), $40
• Blu Jaz: Love, Death & Robots Poetry Slam, blu jaz L2 at bali ln (bugis), $12
• Cool Cats: Melissa Indot, at JW Mariott Beach Rd (esplanade), $25 idk
• NAFA x NTUA Collaborative Concert: Wind Ensemble, NAFA Lee Foundation Theatre (bencoolen), free with reg
• DJ, Offtrack: Kin Leonn & Bongomann, offtrack hong lim park, gastro bar

31/3 Fri TDOV

• KENNY G, marina bay sands theatre, $88
• Esplanade Ska Friday!: Gruv St Runners set, Geylang Ska Syndicate set, Cesspit set, esplanade outdoor theatre, free
• Tze Toh & the TO Ensemble: Koru (modern classical & carnatic fusion), esplanade recital studio, $38
• SSO: Chloe Chua Plays Mozart 3 (Day 1), victoria concert hall, $15
• YST Conservatory: Visiting Artist Series: Miró Quartet, NUS Yong Siew Toh Concert Hall, $10
• SMU Guitarissimo Guitar Ensemble: Guitarra Grande (local & intl pop), SMU arts Cultural Centre, free?
• Jazz Loft: The Maya Nova Quartet, blu jaz L3 at bali ln (bugis), $22
• Maduro: SOULED OUT!! ft. Yvette Atienza & the East Street Groove (jazz fusion/funk), maduro jazz bar dempsey, $65 drink credits
• Ryosuke Kiyasu (experimental snare drum solo) ft dharma, microchip terror & beelzebud, lithe style (rochor), $12
• Movie + Live Improv Music: Salomé, the projector holden mile tower, $20
• DJ, Yousuke Yukimatsu: Midnight Shift presents ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U (post-industrial, rave), ikigai the riverwalk, $42
• DJ, Blu Jaz: Blasé (afrobeats reggaeton hip-hop), blu jaz at bali ln (bugis), $15
• DJ, Neil Conversion Therapy: K-pop Night, 43 neil rd (maxwell), gay bar-club, $35 liquid buffet
• DJ, Club Hell: Pop in Hell, 113 telok ayer (mrt), gay club
• DJ, Untamed : CHARACTER NIGHT (desi bollywood party, somewhat queer friendly), kult kafe the grandstand (sixth avenue), $40
• DJ, Spaceone SG Guest: Kiyota, jln sultan plaza
• DJ, Luxe Club: REC ROOM (hip-hop, reggaeton, afrobeats), marina square (esplanade), $35
• DJ, Goodfellas Bar & Grill : DJ Val, 41 north canal rd (clarke quay)
• DJ, La Grandezza's Traffic Light Party - DJ Nicole Alexa & Kiara, $18 promo
• DJ, DJ Jag's Retro Disco Party by DMC Productions (80s-90s), Furama Riverfront (havelock), $22
• DJ, Party Social SG: Groove Hauz (deep house & tech house pop-up), Rubato Steakhouse 2 Teck Lim Rd (Maxwell), $25
• DJ, Prism Club: 7 Sins: Sloth Pyjama Party, Marina Square (esplanade), $33
• DJ, Headquarters: Vaibs, Leland, Sivanesh, 66 boat quay, $30 walk-in
• DJ, Potato Head Bar and Grill Disco House Night: Yujin, keong saik
• DJ, Yang Club x RewindSG: Back to Old School (90s-00s r&b hip-hop), clarke quay, $30-$45
• DJ, HADONE (techno, breakbeat), tuff club 138 robinson rd shenton way, $37
• DJ, Sake Matsuri Fest - DJ Itch & Vanan M (city pop, asian funk, disco house), urban park @ guoco tower (tanjong pagar), Hazel Guestlists's version $18 with free access to prism club pillow fight party later
• DJ, Zouk Phuture: Underground, zouk phuture clarke quay, $45 crossover ok
• DJ, Zouk: One Dance with Deorro (MEX edm), zouk clarke quay, $50
• DJ, Enclave Bar - Enclave to the Grave Closing Party ft. your friend dan, dj rushing, metal_upa, thebryanstate, golden mile complex, bar
• DJ, Morten, marquee mbs, $55
  

  1/4 Sat

• TOMORROW X TOGETHER TXT, singapore indoor stadium, $168
  
• Bandwidth (Bollywood-Rock), capitol theatre city hall, $63
  
• 重逢17 演唱会 CHONG FENG 17TH REUNION CONCERT, esplanade theatre, $98
  
• Bloody Oath: Cactus Cactus, Intermission, Zeta Mind Flayers, Slugg, SxVIxGMM, lithe style (rochor), $15 presale sold out
  
• Bye Bye Golden Mile Tour + last sounds of golden mile (see below), golden mile complex, $38 sold out
  
• Last sounds of golden mile ft. XUE, Forests, Xingfoo & Roy, Disco Hue, Subsonic Eye, golden mile complex, $28 sold out in 15 mins i was browsing then gone :(
  
• Klassique Musik Presents CORINNA - Souvenirs (bach, hisaishi, jj lin, bts etc), esplanade recital studio, $50
  
• SSO: Chloe Chua Plays Mozart 3 (Last Day), victoria concert hall, $15
  
• YST Conservatory: Nouveau Départ: A Harp Studio Recital , NUS Yong Siew Toh Orchestra Hall, free
  
• NIE Winds: Everyone Loves Music (disney, anime, Mayday), NTU North Spine AIA Canopy, free
  
• Jazz Loft: The Maya Nova Quartet, blu jaz L3 at bali ln (bugis), $22
  
• Maduro: A Sassy Romance with The Kent Ridge Quartet, maduro jazz bar dempsey, $65 drink credits
  
• Singapore's Youngest Busker Lyla Ng, ion orchard outside, free
  
• Strait Up (open) Blues Jam at Nineteen Eighty Studios, 361 joo chiat rd, $20
  
• Raya: Retro Raya at Our Tampines Hub: Live Performers everyday to 19 Apr, our tampines hub, free
  
• Drag: RIOT! Hosted by Becca D'Bus, hard rock cafe orchard, $15
  
• DJ, Mismatch X Fomohomo: Miss Homo - Fool Moon Party Queer Rave ft MEZ (US), EJ Missy & Høwrong, MDLR 62 cecil street (telok ayer), $35 left
  
• DJ, BYOT - Bring Your Own Trunks - Funky House, Happy Vocal Circuit by Man about town (lgbt), Sofitel Singapore City Centre (tanjong pagar), $40
  
• DJ, Straight Outta Kampong at Overeasy ft. DJ KFC, Ramesh, Ollie Des, Deejay xG (hip-hop r&b funk afro), OverEasy One Fullerton (Merlion), bar & diner
  
• DJ, Blu Jaz: The Africa Night Club (afro, amapiano, kizomba etc), blu jaz at bali ln (bugis), $15
  
• DJ, DJs Creed Rooftop Revelries (international DJ fest, deep house to afro to hip-hop), levant cocktail bar 32 tras st (tanjong pagar), $25
  
• DJ, Headquarters: Gabriel Desanctis, Daryl Knows, Kevin Sy, Basil, 66 boat quay, $30
  
• DJ, Thugshop Presents - KRYSTAL KLEAR (nu-disco, techno), tuff club 138 robinson rd shenton way, $37
  
• DJ, Yang Club: Slumber Party - 'College/School' (and dress code), clarke quay, $30 to $45
  
• DJ, Prism Club: Pillow Fight Day, Marina square (esplanade), $40 free flow
  
• DJ, Vertigo 26: Teenage Pop (indie, pop), vertigo26 @ MINT Museum City Hall, listening bar
  
• DJ, Offtrack: Jura (hip-hop, soul-funk), offtrack hong lim, gastro bar
  
• DJ, Mugic Sound System's PurnRao Killa KTV Takeover, golden mile complex, $20
  
• DJ, BAD HARE DAY: A Pagan Goth Nite (industrial ebm, electro folk, darkwave - post punk rave), Chips Ming Arcade Orchard B1, $20 with drink
  
• DJ, Elysium Songkran Festival ft. DJ Nicole Chen, Clammr, Limmy, sand bar siloso beach sentosa, $35
  
• DJ, Rainbow Disco Club x Ice Cream Sundays - Sisi and Kikorix (JPN), haw par villa, $37 sold out
  
• DJ, Culture Presents Far Far Away (Disney-Dreamworks-Pixar Night, y2k Movies, High School Musical), Luxe Club Marina Square, table open & setlist but $31 sold out
  
• DJ, WastedSG: Candyshop ft. Mistercjc, special k & roy (90s-y2k pop, hip-hop, party anthems), ikigai the riverwalk, $15 tix with 1 drink here
  

  2/4 Sun

• Esplanade: Aaron Bunac - Songs From My Time (50s-90s), free
  
• Esplanade: Syurga Jeffrey Serenades (indie, r&b), free
  
• Esplanade: Baracuda Batucada - Reinvigorate (brazilian percussions), esplanade outdoor, free
  
• NTU Symphonic Band: Sojourn 2023, SOTA Concert Hall (dhoby ghaut), $15
  
• NTU Guitar Ensemble: Nocturne, NAFA Lee Foundation Theatre (bencoolen), $20 tix
  
• The Arts Place: Opera - Spring Blooms Concert (western opera & chinese ethnic vocal-poetry), esplanade recital studio, $50
  
• Voices of Singapore Men's Choir: Songs from Silence Recital, Capitol Theatre (city hall), free/payasyouwish
  
• Derrick Tham 谭志华's D20 Music Showcase (mando), 11 Sam Leong Road (jalan besar), $30
  
• Music for Wellness: Drum Jam Destress (1st Session), Chinatown 531 Upper Cross St, $17
  
• Jazz Loft: Sunday Jam Session with Rachma Lim Trio, blu jaz L3 at bali ln (bugis), $22
  
• DJ, indigo: genesis (hip-hop, top40, edm), PRISM Club Marina Square, $25 tix
  
• DJ, Potato Head x Dubclub x Suksuka: Irie Vibration (Reggae, Dub, Roots Carribean Party), potato head keong saik rooftop bar
  

  3/4

• Esplanade: NUS Resonance A capella (pop tunes), free
  
• Esplanade Coffee Morning & Afternoon Tea: Joey Wee's Songs from Old Shanghai , esplanade recital, $18 with refreshments
  
• Jazz Loft: ONE NIGHT IN APRIL - Aya Sekine Trio ft Tim De Cotta, Christy Smith & Aaron James Lee, blu jaz L3 at bali ln (bugis), $22 sold out
  
• YST Conservatory: Primarily Piano around Liszt, NUS Yong Siew Toh Orchestra Hall, free
  

  4/4

• Esplanade: Owen Li - Esplanade, free
  

  5/4

• Esplanade: Jayne Peh - To Sea, My Journey (singer-songwriter, mando), free
  
• Romantic Fantasies and Fugues - A Piano Recital by Kenneth Hamilton, esplanade recital studio, $22
  
• Music for Wellness: Drum Jam Destress (2nd Session), Chinatown 531 Upper Cross St, $17
  
• Singapore American School's Jazz Night 'S-wing Swing', SAS Woodlands, free
  
• DJ, Offtrack: DJ Itch (city pop, asian boogie), offtrack hong lim, gastro bar
  

  6/4 Thu

• Fang Wu 吴汶芳, esplanade recital studio, $128
  
• Esplanade x Laselle: Voltaic - Two Strands (lush electronic experimental), free
  
• NUSVoices Mandopop: Emerge: 寻星者 Star Chaser, NUS University Cultural Center, $18
  
• Wheeler's: Leslie Cheung & Anita Mui Tribute Night 风华绝代 by Stephanie Chan (陈莉祝) & Alex Chia (謝中傑), wheeler's estate 2 park lane seletar, $44
  
• Piano Recital by Lilya Zilberstein (schubert, liszt, shausson, czerny), victoria concert hall, $25
  
• DJ, Thugshop Presents - CASPER TIELROOIJ aka Dekmantel Soundsystem (NED deep house, techno), tuff club 138 robinson rd shenton way, $37
  
• DJ, EATMEPOPTART: House Party - Diner, Sixteen Ounces Bar & Kitchen The Rail Mall (hillview), free/table
  
• DJ, Spaceone SG: MC/ DJ Red, jln sultan plaza
  
• DJ, Hopheads 90s + 00s Boom Boom Party , Luxe Club Marina Square, info $30
  
• DJ, Ofttrack: Emma SS, offtrack hong lim, gastro bar
  
• DJ, Hard Ascension 150: DJ Sakura Birthday Bash ft MC/DJ Matt (KL hardstyle, hardcore), PRISM club Marina Square (esplanade), $32
  
• DJ, EMONIGHTSG: The B-Sides (pop punk, emo, alt rock), hard rock cafe orchard, $20
  
• DJ, Roman Flügel (idm/ambient, tech house) & Kindergarchy, ikigai riverwalk, $48 with drink
  
• DJ, Marquee 4th Anniversary Day 1: Timmy Trumpet, marquee mbs, bundle here, single $75
  

  7/4 Good Friday

• Manu Chao (latin alt, reggae folk): 1st show, haw par villa, $40
  
• Zhuang Juan-Ying 庄鹃瑛 (Ball of KatnCandix2), esplanade recital studio, $100
  
• Dialogue & Exhibition: Prohibited Projects x Shrub: Post Punk, shrub golden mile tower L1, $20 rsvp
  
• Esplanade x Laselle: The Cosmic Owls x ABANGSAPAU (hip-hop, live band), esplanade outdoor
  
• Esplanade x Laselle: Jazima Cook - Butterflies (folk, pop-r&b), esplanade outdoor, free
  
• Esplanade Poetry + Music: Word, Play, Music (dikir barat meets Hidayat Nordin meets pop) by AURUM , free
  
• SSO: The Kozlovsky Requiem (choral, symphony), esplanade concert hall, $15
  
• Jazz Loft: Kersley Piron Band: Sega-games melodic jazz fusion, blu jaz L3 at bali ln (bugis), $22
  
• DJ & Drag, Two Queens Asia: Good Good Friday, ikigai riverwalk
  
• DJ, Kampong Boogie: Late Night ft. SWTLKR, Kenneth Francis, Joshua Pillai (walk-in only), the projector golden mile tower, free
  
• DJ, Brown Roast: Jalebees Fusion Night (Kollywood x Bollywood), 78a Boat Quay, $35
  
• DJ, Thugshop Presents - Edu Imbernon [anjunadeep, Fayer] indie prog house, techno, tuff club 138 robinson rd shenton way, $37
  
• DJ, Headquarters: Ulysses, Dang, TMDDJ, 66 boat quay, $30 walk-in
  
• DJ, Party Movement SG presents #Tasty with DJ Sweezy, Gabby, Ethan, MC T Williams (top 40, reggaeton, hip-hop, latin), blu jaz at bali ln (bugis), $10
  
• DJ, Offtrack: Dean Chew (darker than wax), offtrack hong lim, gastro bar
  
• DJ, Zouk Phuture Transfix: Billy Gillies (UK trance), zouk phuture clarke quay, $45
  
• DJ, Unfiltered: Flashback Friday (y2k), hard rock cafe orchard, $25 sold out
  
• DJ, Marquee 4th Anniversary Day 2: Marlo, marquee mbs, bundle here, single $55
  

  8/4 Sat

• TREASURE (트레저), singapore indoor stadium, $168
  
• PSY and Rain 비 - Marquee 4th Anniversary Day 3, marquee mbs, bundle available, main: presale over $95 doors left, 1am afterparty: $30 here
  
• MaSiWei (of Higher Brothers) WORLD TOUR, capitol theatre city hall, $88
  
• Esplanade x Laselle: Jiasi and friends (bilingual singer-songwriter), Samuel Tan (jazzy yacht rock?), Aidil Iskandar (funk), free
  
• Esplanade: RP Jammerz Arena - Local Fever (indie, alt), esplanade outdoor, free
  
• YST Conservatory: Orchestral Institute x Chamber Singers & Voice: A Gala for Creation (Haydn's Die Schöpfung). NUS Yong Siew Toh Concert Hall, $50
  
• NAFA: 85th Anniversary Celebration Concert (Prokofiev's Violin Concerto no. 2 and Symphony no. 5), Victoria Concert Hall, $37
  
• Jazz Loft: Tim Stocker Quartet (Baritone Sax), blu jaz L3 at bali ln (bugis), $22
  
• Open Jam Food Court: Strait Up Blues Jam at Timbre+ one-north, timbre one-north ayer rajah, $20 with drink for jammers (otherwise free)
  
• Drag: RIOT! Hosted by Becca D'Bus, hard rock cafe orchard, $15
  
• DJ & Brunch, Thugshop x FomoHomo - Sunny Side Up: Your Queer Brunch Party, 66 boat quay, $55
  
• DJ, Darker Than Wax takeover of Headquarters - 404EROS & DEAN CHEW, hq 66 boat quay, $37
  
• DJ, Thugshop Presents - SHUBOSTAR (KR dark disco), tuff club 138 robinson rd shenton way, $37
  
• DJ, Hazel Guestlists' SUNKISSED Pool Party (hip-hop, reggaeton, house), Grand Park Hotel (city hall), $15
  
• DJ, Guilty Pleasure : Latin x Afro x HipHop-RnB ft DJ Kizka x Sam, blu jaz at bali ln (bugis), $11
  
• DJ, Offtrack x Syndicate: Kiat & Intriguant, offtrack hong lim, gastro bar
  
• DJ, Trance4M x iki: Lostly (trance), ikigai the riverwalk, tix $40
  
• DJ, NOBYSTANDERS: RHYTHM ROOM VOL. 1 ft. Clammr, Momentaro, Shaney Ricochet & SXSI (hip-hop, r&b), 100 Turf Club Festivo Mr Gallop, $25
  
• DJ, Ciel Social Sunsets: Fejka (GER ambient house) ft. Raja Rani, Andre Marc, Chirag K & Halis, Sand Bar Siloso Beach Sentosa, $27
  

  9/4 Sun

• Manu Chao (latin alt, reggae folk), haw par villa, $40
  
• Keat Hong Chinese Orchestra: Tunes of Reminiscence, esplanade concert hall, free with reg
  
• Esplanade: Vocal Associates Ensemble of Young Voices, free
  
• Esplanade: Sign Off (rock, jazz-r&b), esplanade outdoor, free
  
• Ms Khor's Boutique Theatre: Mozart's Magic Flute, esplanade recital studio, $35
  
• Candlelight: A Tribute to Coldplay by Pianist Sueli Tang, Victoria Concert Hall, $47
  
• DJ, Solid Gold with Miles Medina & DJ KoFlow (hip-hop, turntablism), Honcho 12 Ann Siang Road, $15
  

  10/4

• Esplanade: Nanyang Primary School Choir. free
  

  11/4 Tue

• Esplanade: Gan Eng Seng & Zhangde Primary School Choirs, free
  
• Blu Jaz: The Joyspring Jazz Jam every Tues, blu jaz at bali ln (bugis), bafree
  

  12/4

• Esplanade: NUS High School Choir, free
  
• DJ, Kings of Bass x HOSPITALITY 2023 - Unglued, Lens & Degs (UK D&B), TPI Building 62 Cecil Street (cbd), $35
  

  13/4 Thu

• Esplanade: Paheli (soul-pop, jazz, bollywood), free
  
• YST Conservatory: Tracing the Roots of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes, NUS Yong Siew Toh Conservatory . free
  
• Maduro: TENGO TANGO! - Xperiments Social ft David Loke & friends, maduro jazz bar dempsey, $65 drink credits
  
• Blu Jaz: Skunk Jive funk-blues band, every thu, blu jaz at bali ln (bugis), bafree
  
• DJ, Offtrack: MLCH (hk, fra) and a bar takeover by Bar Termini (uk), offtrack hong lim, gastro bar
  
• DJ, Thugshop Presents - JOYHAUSER (techno), tba, $37
  

1. I'd say that the UFLL and the APR are meant to be interchangeable on purpose. The whole game is about the meaningless futility of war, so that's why both of them are nearly-indistinguishable. Some say that one is about pan-Africanism, and the other one is nationalist, but I couldn't really pick up on it.
1.5. My theory for why both factions attack you even when you're running a mission for them is because Clint Hocking and his team wanted to have a faction system at one point, but then dropped it during development, hence leading to "you're an undercover merc so our guys will attack you, just deal with it." Which, judging by how the Faction Wars in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky turned out, understanding technical limitations might be a good decision to avoid frustrating bugs. I don't know if anyone dev actually brought up the idea for a faction system, but that's my wild guess.
Certainly, a FC2 remake could potentially differentiate the UFLL and APR more, introduce a faction system and have them fight over checkpoints, etc., but that sort of detracts from the game's minimalism. (see below)
2. As game journalist Tom Bissell pointed out in his book Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter, all of the playable mercenaries are connected to colonial conflicts. Besides the examples he listed, you've also got an Algerian and a (Hungarian) Israeli. Among the non-playable female mercs you've got a Cuban-Angolan, a former Soviet Central Asian (Tajik), and a Frenchwoman who is heavily involved in in Africa.
(Funnily enough Marty, often the face of the game in the promotional materials, might be an exception- he's a Brazilian immigrant who joined the Marines and married an Egyptian woman near where he was stationed, which doesn't refer to a specific colonial flashpoint.)
All of this is just dossier info that you might find scraps of info about in the game as the Buddy relationships improve, or you can just do what I do and skip to reading the strategy guide, but I really like the subtle creative touch that reinforces the game's setting about colonialism and imperialism.
2.5. This sort of diversity of backgrounds also extends to the adversary mercs working for the UFLL and APR. (Also the interchangeable nature of factions- Bastion UK and MacGrudder-Powell are just two faceless PMCs profiting off of the conflict, and I don't even know if they're mentioned in the actual game!) You've got ex-Rhodesians and Cypriots and so forth. Who knew Arturo Quiepo is Filipino.
My theory is that the latter games, in true Ubisoft fashion, sort of copied this approach to characterization without thinking about it, and it ends up being exaggerated to absurdity. Thus you get the weirdness of Far Cry 4 being about a half-Chinese gangster from Hong Kong going in and taking over a Himalayan kingdom, also an African arms dealer (okay to be fair Longinus possibly being Prosper Kouassi is a nice touch). Actually even back in Far Cry 3 you have a South African drug lord invading a South Pacific island chain with international privateers, and there's also a Liberian guy who went native?
African military conflicts often do turn rather international, because lots of mercenaries, especially European ones, go to make money there. But it rings a bit odd in the other settings.
3. As nice as the Jackal tapes are to hunt for, they really should've made it easier for players to access them, since they really contain a huge amount of characterization for the Jackal, and thus end up filling in a lot of the story or at least lore in FC2.
Everything about FC2 is minimalist, from the UI to the wilderness environment, and so it works that the story is pretty sparse as well. The core really is your character's near-death experiences, constant betrayals by the factions, and most of all your relationship with the Jackal. I'd say the former two brings you closer to the latter, as you understand him more and more.

Is there a process to request more police presence in a particular area? Is there an extra fee to have police officers Police while they are at a site? Genuinely asking, trying to understand why in some areas Police are actively Policing, no double parking for a second police actively watching pedestrians, while in others like Newark the Officers are in their cars on the phones while deals are going on in plan sight, double parking a must, illegal u turns and four wheeler crews taking over side streets 🤣😂 in other, I am asking for a Friend 😅

Location: Indiana
Hoping a real estate guru has seen this type of situation before and can offer some experienced insight.
I have a friend who has been totally screwed over on a piece of real property... or has she? Here is the situation:
Friend needs a place to live. We will call the friend Ann. Ann wants to buy a house, but Ann has poor credit and cannot get a traditional mortgage.
Ann has an acquaintance. The acquaintance has a house in Indiana which she would like to sell, but acquaintance is a hoarder. The house could be worth about $125k, but as a house in hoarding conditions, it is difficult to sell.
Ann and acquaintance make a deal. Ann will buy the house on contract and move in to the house, acquaintance will move out. Ann has to clean up the house as part of the deal. Acquaintance also offers a "down payment loan" to Ann. The contract is signed and recorded with the county, November 2022. Ann is now the legal owner... maybe.
Ann makes payments for a few months. Tax time comes and Ann requests interest information for her taxes. Acquaintance cannot come up with paperwork and something seems odd. A few weeks go by and acquaintance's family shows up at the house "to collect belongings" because the house is IN FORECLOSURE. The house HAS A MORTGAGE which was not disclosed. The acquaintance could not legally sell the house because she has an active mortgage on the house. The acquaintance then claims all payments Ann made on the house were "for the down payment loan" and no payments had been made on the house. Ann was making full mortgage-size payments for 4 months.
Ann cleaned the property and made improvements to the house.
To recap: Ann's name is recorded legally as the owner with the county. Acquaintance has a mortgage on the house, which is now in foreclosure. The bank has a lien. Acquaintance sold the house to Ann fraudulently.
Should Ann: Walk away and abandon the property (she will be homeless). Negotiate with the bank to take over the mortgage (not very likely because she just lost her job and is looking for a new one). Sue the acquaintance (for... fraud?). Squat. The legal battle could take years.
The house in question is in ill repair from years and year of neglect. It would not qualify for a traditional mortgage.
There is no mortgage clause in the sale contract. No mortgage was disclosed, and no mortgage was listed or mentioned in the contract. There is no "subject to mortgage" clause, nor any language declaring the mortgage due upon sale.