Here's my face! I'm completely open to sharing more, as we get to know one another.
I'm hoping to find someone I connect really well with. Someone who I can be silly with, but also have deep conversations with, someone who's not judgmental and I feel comfortable confiding in. I like the idea of having that person to talk to every day, being someone I can go to when something good happens, or fall back on when it's been a bad day. I'm open to whatever, with whoever, wherever they are.
About me:

• I'm a 32/M living in NJ
  
• I used to be a baker, but now I'm in IT
  
• I have a great sense of humor and love making people laugh. I don't take myself too seriously, ever.
  
• I'm a pretty good cook and love learning new recipes and techniques
  
• I'd like to think I'm a great baker, considering it used to be my profession
  
• My favorite TV shows are mostly comedies, such as Silicon Valley, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Bob's Burgers, Schitt's Creek, and others I'm sure I'm forgetting.
  
• I love listening to music and finding new artists. My favorite artists are The Weeknd, Always Never, Chase Atlantic, Aaryan Shah
  
• Podcasts are also a favorite of mine. My most listened to ones being Reply All (RIP), Heavyweight, Endless Thread, Underunderstood, Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend, etc. If you can get me hooked on a new one, we'd pretty much be best friends forever
  
• I enjoy getting to know people and being asked questions, so ask away!
  

Get to know me!

Here's my face! I'm completely open to sharing more, as we get to know one another.
I'm hoping to find someone I connect really well with. Someone who I can be silly with, but also have deep conversations with, someone who's not judgmental and I feel comfortable confiding in. I like the idea of having that person to talk to every day, being someone I can go to when something good happens, or fall back on when it's been a bad day. I'm open to whatever, with whoever, wherever they are.
About me:

• I'm a 32/M living in NJ
  
• I used to be a baker, but now I'm in IT
  
• I have a great sense of humor and love making people laugh. I don't take myself too seriously, ever.
  
• I'm a pretty good cook and love learning new recipes and techniques
  
• I'd like to think I'm a great baker, considering it used to be my profession
  
• My favorite TV shows are mostly comedies, such as Silicon Valley, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Bob's Burgers, Schitt's Creek, and others I'm sure I'm forgetting.
  
• I love listening to music and finding new artists. My favorite artists are The Weeknd, Always Never, Chase Atlantic, Aaryan Shah
  
• Podcasts are also a favorite of mine. My most listened to ones being Reply All (RIP), Heavyweight, Endless Thread, Underunderstood, Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend, etc. If you can get me hooked on a new one, we'd pretty much be best friends forever
  
• I enjoy getting to know people and being asked questions, so ask away!
  

Get to know me!

You know the one, the person you can't wait to text or call, to tell about how your day was or to gush about how much you missed them. The one you want to be wrapped up with on a cold snowy day, or sweating besides when a scorcher hits midsummer.
I want to find my person. Someone I can share and grow with, experience life with.
About me: plus sized, 5'6", heterochromia, PCOS, bipolar, fair skinned. I have pictures available and can video chat as well, though I prefer discord calls by far.
I enjoy gaming, spending time with my pets (2 elderly dogs, 2 kittens, plants), learning, watching movies/shows and live music of many genres.
I can't travel long distances to meet folks currently so I'd prefer people within 2-3 hours of me, and I should also mentioned that I have a primary partner and am looking to have children in the next 2-3 years. ☺️ Our relationship is stable and loving, but I am seeking a connection we do not have.
About you: preferably taller than me, 30-50, localish, able to carry on a conversation. Witty, intelligent, willingness to educate and exchange knowledge, etc.
Please live within a few hours of Syracuse, I'm not looking to travel extensively.
If anything seems interesting or piques your interest give me a shout via chat or messaging. Please provide me with something to converse with you about, saying 'hey' or a singular sentence doesn't entice me to want to get to know you, I'm sorry.
I look forward to hearing from you soon. 🥰

Link to my other flame's post https://www.reddit.com/twinflames/comments/142e1ey/my_miracle_my_everything_im_ready_to_tell_ou?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Here's the other side!
Have you ever dreamed that your person us out there waiting for you? Has the thought ever crossed that you're not where you should be in life? You're going through life as a shell of a person, pretending to be happy, pretending that you're compatible with your partner. A great awakening happens in every person's life, some are aware of this awakening, some are not and miss the opportunity. I had my awakening a few months ago. I knew something needed to change in life, I didn't know what or how. Then along came the most beautiful soul, a woman that changed my life. A happenstance encounter brought 2 souls together in the most improbable way. Seeking help for my mother's years of suffering from autoimmune illnesses, a happenstance encounter with a beautiful soul that started a support group for parents suffering with the same illnesses. A simple message of encouragement turned into another day of messages, turned into weeks of conversing. A message of encouragement turned into a improbability of similarities between 2 souls. Life circumstances happen, children of the same spectrum and a connection undeniably deep. 2,000 miles separated 2 souls meant to be together. A chance taken, a plane ticket West. A meeting of 2 souls, a rush of emotion built upon 2 lifetimes of experiences. The realization happened, 2 souls having spent a equal lifetimes yearning for love and yearning for each other without even knowing it. The realization - twin flames finally together ❤️. Separated by nothing, 2 souls having spent a lifetime seeking the same person without ever knowing it. 2 souls with individual lives, 2,000 miles apart impossibly connected forever intertwined.

TL;DR: my friend of 15 years told a man personal information about my recent love life, which was embarrassing and painful, in the attempt of “trying to set us up”. I told her I was really hurt and needed time and space from the friendship but she wanted it to be on HER terms so I’m now the villain for having boundaries and looking after my feelings and feel completely gaslit.
I had a falling out with one of my best friends of 15 years recently and I feel like I’ve been gaslit to be the villain for having boundaries when she was the one that betrayed me. For context we are both in our thirties and Moms, I’ve been a single mom for over a decade, she’s married with 2 toddlers. She was trying to set me up with her brother in law back in the fall, we never met as he lives in a different state but we chatted multiple times and hit it off really well but then he got involved with someone else and I also was kinda involved with someone who I’ve been on/off with for years who I had deep feelings for and was led to believe they loved me. I had a painful falling out with the guy I was involved with in march, which I still haven’t really fully grieved or processed yet. I thought our connection was profound and he loved me like no one else has but he showed me his true colors. Needless to say that was very painful for me. Fast forward to a month ago, I watched something that triggered my feelings about the guy I was involved in and realized I was indeed hurt over it, I shared this with my friend and told her I realized I’m just so emotionally unavailable and don’t know when I’ll be ready to date again. Literally not even 3 days later my friend calls me telling me she was having a bday party for her kids and my presence was requested by her brother in law who was driving 14 hours to stay w my friend for a while and was newly single by not even a week. I told her I didn’t like that I was the first person he thought of as soon as he’s single and was reluctant to accept the invite and go. He texted me a couple times to try to catch up but I was too busy at the time to have a phone call w him. So my friends way of trying to “help” this connection was by telling him my recent disappointment with the guy I was last involved with and told him details about the guys addiction and how he used me etc. I was shocked when she told me she told her brother in law and was not okay with it. I sat with my feelings for days before I determined I needed space and time away from our friendship in order to heal and told her this in a very composed message telling her I felt embarrassed and betrayed. Mind you I took days to compose my message and she immediately responded or rather reacted with essay long paragraphs demanding to speak to me immediately even tho I clearly stated I needed time and space. I refused to give in to her erratic behavior, and she has since made it about her. I’m now t the villain for needing to deal with my feelings. She’s incredibly manipulative which I’ve always known and she admits to herself and I feel like I’ve been completely gaslit. She left me a voicemail saying she’ll be there when u call whether It’s a week or a year from now but the message was still about her, how she missed me and never about how she regrets hurting my feelings so much. Clearly her voicemail wasn’t sincere as she texted me not even a week later asking me “so that’s it? You’re never gonna speak to me again?” And I told her I will when I’m ready to. She wasn’t pleased by that saying I was ruining our friendship by my silence and that I was acting like a middle schooler. I told her she wasn’t respecting my boundaries but she insisted that if I ever cared about the friendship I would talk to her and not take space until SHE says so basically. I’d like to also add I’m under a lot of stress as I have a play I’m in in 2 weeks and just do not have time or energy for hours of drama. She talks a lot and requires a lot of energy to listen to as she can go on for hours without stopping and I didn’t want to fall in to that trap of listening to her gaslight me, I knew it would make me feel worse which is why I have not given in to her demands of a phone call right now. She told me she’s done reaching out and deleted me on social media. I genuinely am devastated from losing this friendship but have dealt with so much gaslighting in my life I will not tolerate it anymore from anyone. I don’t know if there’s anything I should or can even do at this point, or if I’m in the wrong for having my feelings hurt when she shared private information about me? My feelings don’t feel cared for validated at all. She painted me out to sound like a guaranteed lay to this man because I’ve had such poor taste and bad experiences with men and I literally had just told her days before I wasn’t ready to date again! I would love to share the screenshots with someone for an outside opinion if anyone is invested after reading this much lol. Thanks if you made it this far.

Main hub thread with the full 131 rankings
THE MOUNTAINEERS HAVE JUST BEATEN THE MICHIGAN WOLVERINES!
Those words still echo in the mind of college football fans today, whether you like it or not. Since that game, App State has gone from little known FCS school to one of the premier Group of 5 programs in the country, going to 7 bowls and winning 4 conference titles in their first 9 years in the FBS. App State is so much more than their win over Michigan, they’re a 3x FCS national title winner with a 654-352-28 all time record.

Best Seasons and Highlights

1. 2019: 11. Appalachian State: 13-1 (33.774) 2. 2018: 16. Appalachian State: 11-2 (23.951) 3. 2015: 25. Appalachian State: 11-2 (19.956) 4. 2016: 23. Appalachian State: 10-3 (18.676) 5. 2021: 34. Appalachian State: 10-4 (11.872) 6. 2020: 27. Appalachian State: 9-3 (10.207) 7. 2017: 41. Appalachian State: 9-4 (5.885) 8. 2022: 72. Appalachian State: 6-6 (-11.144) 9. 2014: 73. Appalachian State: 7-5 (-12.051) Overall Score: 10445 (80th) 

• 86-30 record
• 4 conference titles
• 6-1 bowl record
• 0 consensus All-Americans
• 8 NFL players drafted

If you want the blueprint for a successful FCS → FBS transition, look no further than Appalachian State. App won right out the gate, winning 4 straight conference titles from 2016-19, winning their first 6 bowl games, and went 54-10 in their first 8 seasons in the Sun Belt. They’ve sent 2 head coaches to Power 5 programs in Scott Satterfield (Louisville) and Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri). While they’ve only finished in the AP Top 25 once, they’ve finished top 25 in my rankings 4 times, and I think they’ve generally been pretty underrated as a team year-to-year.

Top 5 Seasons

Worst Season: 2014 (7-5 overall, 6-2 Sun Belt)
Despite going 6-6 and 3-5 in the Sun Belt in 2022, the 2014 team was slightly worse according to my algorithm because of strength of schedule. The 2014 team played the 2nd easiest schedule in the NCAA, and when you look at some of the teams App State lost to/beat, it makes sense why they’re here. A 1-5 start included losses to 3-9 Southern Miss, rival Georgia Southern, and…FCS team Liberty. The Liberty loss is somewhat excusable, it was 48-55 in OT and App still had an FCS-level roster. A 6 game win streak to end the season could’ve gotten them out of this “worst” spot, but the wins were over 3-9 Troy, 1-11 Georgia State, 4-8 UL Monroe, 1-10 Idaho…with admittedly impressive wins over 7-6 Arkansas State and 9-4 UL Lafayette. The win over Lafayette actually caused them to miss out on a share of the Sun Belt title. App State finished 3rd themselves. RB Marcus Cox ran for 1400+ yards with 19 TD.
5. 2021 (10-4 overall, 7-1 Sun Belt)
App inherited former Clemson hero Chase Brice as a transfer QB. Brice helped lead a 10 point comeback against Syracuse in 2018 to keep #3 Clemson unbeaten. App State was expected to compete for the Sun Belt crown with Coastal Carolina and Louisiana, who went a combined 21-2 the previous season. After an opening win over East Carolina, App State travelled to Miami to play the Hurricanes who needed a late FG to escape with a 25-23 win. In a possible preview of the Sun Belt title game, 4-1 App State took on 4-1 UL Lafayette, but the Cajuns dominated from the opening whistle to easily take it 41-13. App would rebound with a huge 30-27 win over #14 Coastal Carolina, to take the lead in the East division. The Mountaineers won out, going 10-2, and by the time they entered the Sun Belt title game they were rolling, winning their last 5 games by an average score of 42-12. App State had a chance at their 5th title in 6 years as 2.5 point favorites in the rematch with #20 Louisiana, but again the Cajuns did enough for the 24-16 win. App would also lose the bowl game to a high-powered Bailey Zappe-led Western Kentucky offense.
The All-Sun Belt team was SSSTACKED with App State players, with 9 on offense and 7 on defense making 1st-3rd team. Even kicker Chandler Staton was 1st Team All-American, going 57/57 on XPs and 20/20 on FGs. Chase Brice earned 3rd Team All-Sun Belt, throwing for 3337 yards with 27 TD 11 INT. RBs Nate Noel and Camrun Peoples combined for 2054 rushing yards and 18 TD, both making 1st/2nd team. WRs Corey Sutton, Malik Williams, and Thomas Hennigan all had 800+ receiving yards, making 1st/2nd team. The LB core was one of the best in the country: D’Marco Jackson was the Sun Belt Defensive POTY with 119 tackles, 6 sacks, and 14 TFL. Nick Hampton was 2nd in the conference with 11 sacks. And Trey Cobb was 2nd team all-conference with 3 INTs, 4 PBUs, and 6 TFL. Both Jackson and Hampton were drafted into the NFL.
4. 2016 (10-3 overall, 7-1 Sun Belt)
In 2016 it was QB Taylor Lamb’s junior year and his 3rd year as a starter. App was in their 3rd year in the FBS and showed potential the previous 2 years going 7-5 and 11-2, but hadn’t made it to the top of the mountain quite yet. That was the expectation going into 2016, with the media picking them to win the Sun Belt. In an opening 13-20 loss in OT to #9 Tennessee, most people focused on the embarrassment for Butch Jones and Tennessee, ignoring the fact that this was a really good App State team, and not your usual FCS → FBS transition school. After going 2-2 in the non-conference slate, App went 7-1 in the Sun Belt, only losing to 10-3 Troy 24-28 while beating all other teams by 2+ touchdowns. In just their 3rd season in the FBS, App secured their first ever Sun Belt title, and beat 9-3 Toledo in the bowl for good measure. RB Jalin Moore won Sun Belt Offensive POTY, running for 1400+ yards with 10 TD. Backup Marcus Cox was arguably even better, running for 1000+ yards and 9 TD on 6.4 YPC in just 9 games. He probably would’ve won OPOTY had he not missed games due to injury. Lamb had his worst statistical year with just 15 TD passes to 8 INT, but did rush for 500+ yards with 9 TD. DBs Clifton Duck and Mondo Williams formed a buddy-cop show character name tag team in the secondary, both making 1st Team All-Sun Belt with 9 total INTs.
3. 2015 (11-2 overall, 7-1 Sun Belt)
People knew App State was a solid school after finishing 3rd in the Sun Belt the previous season, but how good? The media pegged them to finish 4th in 2015, so pretty good but not championship material. Taylor Lamb, Marcus Cox, and App State would quickly challenge that hypothesis. Not satisfied with an opening 49-0 win over Howard, App beat Old Dominion by the same score 2 weeks later. It wasn’t good enough, we needed more. 37-3 over Georgia State. 59-14 over UL Monroe. App ran like a well oiled machine with the Lamb-Cox backfield. All that winning set up their biggest game of their short FBS lives, at 7-1 (4-0 Sun Belt) taking on Arkansas State (5-3, 4-0), who’d won 3 of the last 4 conference titles. Experience won out this time, with the more polished Red Wolves taking it 40-27. Still with the possibility of sharing a title if Arkansas State lost another game, App won out to finish 10-2, but Arkansas State won the title with a perfect 8-0 record. In App State’s first ever bowl game, Zach “Auto” Matics hit a walk off 23 yard FG for the 31-29 win, starting a string of 6 straight bowl wins.
The Mountaineers had a top 25 offense and defense, averaging 36.7 PPG while giving up just 19.1. Lamb had his best year statistically, throwing for 2364 yards with 31 TD 9 INT, also running for 436 with 5 TD. Lamb would go on to finish his career from 2014-17 as the Sun Belt’s all-time TD leader with 113 (90 passing + 23 rushing). Marcus Cox had his 2nd of 3 1000+ yard rushing seasons, 3rd of 4 if you count his 2013 season in the FCS. He ran for a career high 1428 with 9 TD. DE Ronald Blair won Sun Belt Defensive POTY with 71 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 11.5 TFL, and 1 INT.
2. 2018 (11-2 overall, 7-1 Sun Belt)
After Lamb graduated, I don’t think App State fans thought they could get any better. After all, they’d won 2 straight Sun Belt titles, and while they were slight favorites to make it to the conference title game in 2018, this team exceeded all expectations over the next 2 seasons. They had #10 Penn State on the ropes in Happy Valley in week 1. New QB Zac Thomas was going drive-for-drive with Penn State veteran Trace McSorley, and App even had a 38-31 lead with 1 minute to go before losing 38-45 in OT. The game would be a good omen. After 5 straight wins, App was ranked for the first time in their history at #25. Unfortunately, Thomas went down with an injury against rival Georgia Southern, and the Eagles coasted to a 34-14 win. With just 4 conference games left to play, App State needed to win 2 more games than Georgia Southern to make the championship game, and it miraculously happened, with App going 4-0 and Southern losing to Troy and a weak UL Monroe team. App State had a favorable matchup with 7-5 Louisiana in the title game, winning 30-19 to 3-peat as Sun Belt champs. In typical App State fashion (and typical Middle Tennessee fashion), App dominated in the bowl 45-13, raining on coach/QB fatheson combo Rick/Brent Stockstill’s parade.
Zac Thomas turned out to be even better than Taylor Lamb, winning Sun Belt Offensive POTY with 2039 passing yards, 21 TD 6 INT, also notching 504 rushing yards and 10 TD. Scott Satterfield finally won his first Sun Belt Coach of the Year award after winning the Sun Belt title for the 3rd straight year. App State’s defense was one of the best in the country, ranking 4th in PPG allowed (15.5), 5th in passing YPG allowed (162.2), and 1st in pass TD allowed per game (0.6). The defense had over twice as many INTs as passing TDs allowed! DB Clifton Duck earned his 3rd straight 1st Team All-Sun Belt honors, and in total 7 offensive and 7 defensive players made 1st-3rd Team All-Sun Belt. All setting up for an even better 2019.
1. 2019 (13-1 overall, 7-1 Sun Belt)
Satterfield left for Louisville, and Eli Drinkwitz took over. There’s a reason he was hired by Missouri after just 1 year at App State. App State fans knew it was going to be a special season by week 3, when the Mountaineers beat Mack Brown and North Carolina, blocking a FG to hang on for the 34-31 victory. After narrowly missing out on upsetting Penn State the previous year, they got the job done this time over in-state rival UNC. From there, it was mostly smooth sailing. A 17-7 win over 4-1 Louisiana. UL Monroe and South Alabama by a combined 82-10. But still, for the 2nd straight year, even with a healthy Zac Thomas this time, App couldn’t beat Georgia Southern, losing 21-24 in a failed comeback attempt. Georgia Southern could have the rivalry trophy though—App had loftier goals for 2019. Not satisfied with the win over UNC, App State moved down the map to South Carolina, beating the Gamecocks 20-15 at Williams-Brice. After going 11-1 in the regular season, it was #21 App State in a rematch with 10-2 Louisiana. App took a 45-24 lead in the 4th, and held on for the 45-38 final, winning their 4th(!) straight Sun Belt title. A 31-17 win in the bowl over UAB capped off a 13-1 year, easily the best in school history. A #19 final ranking was also App’s first in school history.
Personally, I think they were underrated by the polls. They finished 11th for me, with wins over North Carolina, South Carolina, 11-3 Louisiana (twice), 9-5 UAB, and 6 wins by 20+ points. RB Darrynton Evans won Sun Belt Offensive POTY with 1678 yards and 23 TD from scrimmage. Evans can thank an offensive line which had 4 of 5 starters made 1st/2nd Team All-Sun Belt. LB Akeem Davis-Gaither won Sun Belt Defensive POTY, making an impact in all phases of the game with 101 tackles, 5 sacks, 9.5 TFL, 8 PBU, and 1 INT. 8 starters on offense and 7 on defense made 1st-3rd Team All-Sun Belt. 6 players have been drafted from this team into the NFL.
According to my algorithm, 2019 Appalachian State is the 22nd best Group of 5 team since 1983.

5th Quarter

Which game/play/player do you think of when you think of Appalachian State? Is their ranking of #80 fair despite only playing 9 seasons? Which was the best App State team on the list, if not 2019? Is 2016-19 App State the greatest Group of 5 dynasty of the 2010s? Who’s better between coach Satterfield and Drinkwitz? How would you rank the following QBs: Armanti Edwards, Taylor Lamb, Zac Thomas, Chase Brice? And now that we’re heading into the 70’s on this list…who’s next!?
If you appreciate the effort, please consider subscribing on substack!

https://fortune.com/2023/06/05/alt-right-economy-is-failing-real-performance-of-anti-woke-entrepreneurs-business-politics-sonnenfeld/
In commenting on Bob Iger’s defense of Disney’s values and brand in the face of threats from Florida Governor DeSantis, Nike CEO John Donahoe said, “I think Bob’s doing a great job at this. If it’s core to who you are and your values, then you stand up for your values.”
That spirit has been rewarded by the free market. Across many fronts, we have shown in quantitative analysis of business performance that doing good for society is not at the expense of doing well for shareholders, with clear examples ranging from Russian business exits to public engagement on voting rights.
Yet still, grandstanding political ideologues are using opportunistic attacks on iconic U.S. enterprises to showcase their own nascent anti-ESG businesses, and reportedly build a “parallel economy” catering to conservative constituencies. But far from flourishing, an objective review of the facts suggests these anti-wokester jokesters are financially foundering.
One little-known index fund provider, the American Conservative Values ETF (ACVF), recently received a flurry of media attention for boycotting Target over what they described as its “pandering to the woke agenda,” confidently declaring that their boycott of Target will ensure “Target stock’s long-term performance will suffer.”
Target stock is down, but in reality, the fund’s total holdings of Target amount to just $100,000–equivalent to the revenue that Target nets every 20 seconds. In fact, ACVF’s total assets under management are a rather measly $40 million–and many of their other “boycotted” companies–including iconic All-American enterprises such as Apple, Microsoft, Delta Airlines, American Airlines, Disney, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Salesforce, and JPMorgan–have performed quite well since being targeted by ACVF. Delta is up 10% this year, American is up 15% this year, Microsoft and Apple are both up over 40% this year and Salesforce is up 60%. Thanks in part to missing out on these top-performing stocks, ACVF is underperforming the S&P 500 by over 2% this year through June 1. No wonder even politically conservative investors stay away from these anti-woke ETFs.
ACVF’s struggles rather pale in comparison to those of its much larger and better-known rival, presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s Strive Asset Management. We have contacted both firms about our findings by phone and email, but their representatives directed us to figures published on their respective websites, which we checked–and double-checked.
The business models of both Strive and ACVF are similar: They construct exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, for mom-and-pop retail investors to passively track a basket of stocks, matching rather than trying to beat the broader market. Unlike hedge funds, these ETF providers do not care if the stocks go up, down, or sideways–rather, they get their money from fees charged on anyone who has their money in a Strive ETF. Most ETFs are very low-fee products–but the anti-woke ETFs come at a premium. BlackRock ETFs, for example, usually charge around 0.03% fees. Strive’s fees are comparatively higher at up to 0.41%–but nothing compared to ACVF’s 0.75% fee.
To survive over the long run, these nascent ETF providers need to continually attract new money from mom-and-pop investors. And that is exactly what it appears they are struggling to do. All the evidence, out in the open, shows that Strive has had a hard time attracting additional investor inflows beyond its original anchor investors after the launch of its ETFs last year. Its assets under management appear to have stagnated despite Ramaswamy’s loud media presence.
For example, its largest flagship ETF, the Strive US Energy ETF (DRLL), has almost exactly the same amount of assets under management (AUM) as of June 1, $320 million, that it did when it was launched in August/September 2022, and its AUM is down nearly 25% from the start of this year.
Fully half of Strive’s eight current ETF products–including the Strive 1000 Growth ETF, the Strive 1000 Value ETF, the Strive 1000 Dividend Growth ETF, and the Strive Small-Cap ETF–have less than $12 million assets under management each, which is microscopic relative to the industry standard–and less than the average compensation of a single major CEO at most companies.
Thus it is hardly surprising that some of the most admired CEOs are flippantly swatting away Strive’s attempts at “activism.” Ramaswamy has become the court jester of corporate governance. The mere mention of his name brings anything from smirks to outright gales of laughter amongst some corporate audiences.
One hopes that Strive is not on a path to fail as badly as some of Ramaswamy’s previous ventures, such as Axovant, a Ramaswamy-founded company whose stock price plunged from $200 to 40 cents, or Campus Venture Networks, Ramaswamy’s much-hyped undergraduate startup which, despite his self-aggrandizement, he apparently sold for just a few thousand dollars, if his tax returns are correct. Even one of Strive’s biggest financial backers, Bill Ackman, is apparently embarrassed and rushing to disavow Ramaswamy. Meanwhile, Strive is reduced to seeking “consulting contract” handouts from friendly politicos. Perhaps this helps explain why Ramaswamy is running his longshot Presidential campaign: Nothing turns around sagging business fortunes quite like a new burst of free publicity!
It is not only in high finance that these “parallel economy” startups are flailing. Attempts to build a new alt-right media ecosystem are similarly landing with a thud.
Perhaps most infamously, Donald Trump’s much-hyped Truth Social alt-platform has imploded in value, with its SPAC packaging (ticker DWAC) shares falling from $95 to $13 even as the former president flails away on this otherwise quiet platform. Alt-right social media rivals such as Gab and GabPay are struggling to gain traction, begging for donations through crowdsourced funding, while provocateur Alex Jones and his Infowars declared bankruptcy after a record $1 billion verdict for the Sandy Hook families. More prominently, One America News has now been dropped by every major cable operator, partially driven by low audiences, while its behemoth rival Fox’s struggles are just beginning after the record $787.5 million Dominion settlement–with its board reportedly becoming weary of deviating too far from the mainstream.
Efforts to expand the alt-right parallel economy across digital services and even physical goods are running straight into the ground as well. Virtually all major retailers from Bed Bath & Beyond to Walmart to Kohl’s to Costco have cut ties with Mike Lindell’s MyPillow, which just months ago closed its last in-person retail mall store while losing $100 million, according to Lindell himself. Former Trump personnel director Johnny McEntee’s project–an alt-right dating site, “The Right Stuff”–has been lambasted even by its core constituency, with its mostly men frustrated by the lack of women users, and its seed funding from Peter Thiel is reportedly scheduled to run out in the next few months.
To a hammer, everything looks like a nail; and the exertions of some anti-woke activists in extrapolating politicized rhetoric into the economy can stretch into caricature. Strangely, the struggles of the nation’s regional banks, such as SVB, Signature, and First Republic, were superstitiously blamed on “wokeism” and the facts–that these less diversified banks were unprepared for the Fed’s interest rate hikes and that larger, equally “woke” banks were better insulated from these interest rate swings–were ignored. This month, even the conservative New York Post was bewildered by the sudden ire this month of anti-wokesters targeting the privately owned, very spiritual, Christian values-guided restaurant chain Chick-fil-A because, years ago, they promoted a longstanding internal HR executive to oversee diversity and equal opportunity.
Despite positioning themselves as reverent guardians of free markets against government and social overreach, many anti-wokester jokesters seem to have forgotten the most basic requirement of capitalism: to make a profit. Ironically, the free market delivers the most condemning verdict of all. The favorite “woke” targets of anti-ESG activists continue to soar to record economic heights, effortlessly shrugging off anti-woke attacks.
Clearly, despite all the hype and drama, there is little financial threat to mainstream business posed by the anti-woke economy. It’s not a genuine parallel economy–these are scattered cases of ideological grifters and struggling entrepreneurs. Their real talent seems to lie in fast-talking media platforms into giving them an undeserved platform to unfairly target iconic pillars of U.S. enterprise. But as these anti-wokester jokesters struggle to gain financial traction, the numbers will continue to disprove their claims.

I (17m) have been dating my girlfriend (17m) for 2.5 years. Our relationship has had arguments and bad fights often, although theyve never lasted more than a day of not talking; we always chalked it up to us being eachothers firsts and trying to learn love together.
Recently shes become more busy and weve been seeing eachother once a week, which bothers me alot as id like to see her more, but i try my best not to show that it bothers me. I understand shes busy, and i dont expect her to take days off work or her sports for me. Ive known for nearing a year now that she finds other people attractive and good looking, but i know she would never cheat. 4 days ago, she was with her friends and i was with mine, me and my friends drove around, smoked some weed, and drank.. but her and her friends wanted to go to a party, and after two other places failed, they saw these random 18-22 year old men having a fire and her and her 3 friends decided to drink with them. The next day, i expressed how upset i was that she is willing to spend her free time with random guys but cant make time for me.. and things just escalated from there. Skipping past alot of unimportant details, she told me that she thought one of the 20 year olds (keep in mind she JUST turned 17) was good looking and she had thoughts of kissing him but didnt. I 110% believe that she didnt kiss him, but the fact that she wanted to hurt me so badly. A couple days ago, she told me that she loves me but wants to try being single because she doesnt want to miss out on "being young", but she also loves the fact that we woild be able to tell our kids weve been together since 14. I told her to do what makes her happy and i left it at that. Yesterday, she told me im the one she wants; when she pictures marrying someone, its me. Going on dates? She images me. Hooking up? Imagines me. And that makes me happy to hear, but she also told me that she cant guarntee she wont find others attractive/better looking than me. And personally , i dont think im bad looking.
Am i being crazy by this hurting me so much? Ive had a 2 relationships before, but i was 12 and 13 so i dont like to think they counted, and shes talked to alot of guys before me but never even saw them in person or did anything explicit with them. I think the reason this hurts me so badly, is because i truly feel so deeply in love. Ive had such deep feelings for her, to the point i felt like our souls just connected. I love her more than anyone or anything else in my life, and ive never even looked at a female (since weve been together) and thought they were even mildly attractive or even somewhat goodlooking.
Ive been thinking and i think that i havent felt that way about other girls, just because of how much i love her. In my eyes, shes the most gorgeous girl to ever walk this earth, even though to other people she may not be a 10/10, maybe a 7 or 8/10.
Im sorry for this being all unorganized and sloppy, i havent felt good at all during this time and i want to get this out the way im thinking it.
Basically, am i crazy for this being a possible end to the relationship, even though i want her more than anyone, just because i feel she isnt in love the same way i am? I feel like everytime she told me i was the cutest peeson every or hottest guy ever it was a lie, and i can help but feel like everytime she said she was in love with me, was a lie, just because she doesnt feel the same way i do.
TL;DR: girlfriend of a long time sometimes thinks about doing stuff with guys she thinks are better looking but "not more attractive" than me. I know she would never cheat on me, but it hurts because i feel so in love that i havent ever thought another girl was better looking than her.

Perhaps the biggest issue I have with Disney’s sequel trilogy is that it failed to justify itself as a continuation of the Skywalker Saga.
Aside from Canto Bight, Kylo Ren’s pull to the light, and the Force Dyad, the trilogy didn’t bring anything phenomenal to the table regarding the lore, and its characters didn’t help sell it as a fitting end to the story of all nine films. As it stands, the ST feels less like a continuation of the Skywalker Saga and more like a spinoff that includes characters from the Original Trilogy. It doesn’t feel like a natural exploration of Anakin’s legacy, but a separate story shoehorned into the saga. It makes you wonder why Lucasfilm called them Episodes 7, 8, and 9.
The only major bridge between it and the previous trilogies is the return of Palpatine in TROS. But it doesn’t feel like a natural progression of the story. Instead, it feels like a shoehorned-in piece of fan service to help add some finality to the Sequel Trilogy. Plus, the lack of a significant role for Anakin Skywalker also didn’t help matters.
The missed opportunities of the Sequel Trilogy have made me wonder just how necessary it was in the first place. I wonder if there was even a way to “finish” the Skywalker Saga without ending it at ROTJ. One of the biggest challenges in continuing the Skywalker Saga was figuring out how to tell a story without Anakin Skywalker and Palpatine. Anakin, Palpatine, and Luke are the three major players in the first six movies, and their relationships are resolved by the end of Return of the Jedi. So what story is left to tell with the Skywalkers in the saga?
Like, if you were to make a third trilogy where Palpatine returns after being killed by Anakin, no matter how hard you try and justify it, it's still going to feel tacked on, and unnecessary since Return of the Jedi makes it seem like he died after being tossed down the reactor shaft. Being the driving force behind the rise of the Galactic Empire and the fall of the Jedi Order, it makes sense for the Skywalker Saga to end with him being defeated by the person he hurt and manipulated the most; Anakin SkywalkeDarth Vader.
If the next trilogy in the saga were to introduce a new big bad unrelated to Anakin, even if they were some ancient dark side entity like what a lot of fans believed Snoke was supposed to be before TROS, it would feel inconsistent with the previous six films and make the third trilogy feel like hollow. Another problem with doing this is making the villain as formidable as Palpatine. Let's say the main villain of the ST was Grand Admiral Thrawn. From the general audience’s perspective, would he be able to top Palpatine as a villain in the third trilogy of the Skywalker Saga? I doubt it, as going from an evil Sith Lord who seduced the Chosen One to the dark side and brought down the Jedi Order to a high-ranking Imperial admiral would feel like a step down from the previous two trilogies, IMO. However, this isn't to say that Thrawn wouldn't make for a great villain in general. I think it would be far more appropriate to make him the main villain of an entirely separate trilogy or saga unrelated to the Skywalkers.
On the other hand, making the new villain of a third Skywalker trilogy stronger than Palpatine would raise many questions. If the big bad were, let's say, Darth Plagueius, it would raise a lot of questions regarding his whereabouts during the OT since Palpatine told Anakin that he was killed in ROTS. Even if the filmmakers reasonably explained how he survived and laid out his grand plan, it would still feel a bit jarring since the OT and PT did not indicate that he was manipulating the characters from the shadows. But now let's say they made this new big bad unrelated to Palpatine vet much more powerful than him. It would still make the ST feel inconsistent with the previous two trilogies as they wouldn't feel connected to Palpatine, the main villain of the PT and OT.
But do I think we shouldn’t have seen more of the OT cast? No. I believe that instead of making a sequel trilogy, Lucasfilm should have just made a brand new saga centered around new characters, with the OT characters playing supporting roles. They could've called it something like ”The Legacy Saga" and centered it around the New Republic and Luke’s new Jedi Academy dealing with the imperial remnants/First Order or some brand new threat from the Unknown Regions.
If Lucasfilm wanted to continue the stories of Luke, Leia, and Han, they also could have done what they are doing right now on Disney Plus: make spin-off shows that happen to include the cast from the OT. I don’t see why Lucasfilm couldn’t have explored them in separate projects. The Expanded Universe did plenty of times, with the Thrawn trilogy being a great example. Even though the story of Anakin Skywalker has already been told in the Skywalker Saga, there's still room to explore Luke and Leia rebuilding the New Republic and Jedi Order following Return of the Jedi. Then after doing multiple spin-off shows, Lucasfilm could've made a whole new saga about the remaining Skywalkers helping a new generation of heroes stop a new threat from bringing down the New Republic and Luke’s Jedi Academy.

I’m a 23M looking for the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.
My description

• 23 Years old
  
• 6 feet 5 inches
  
• A little bit plus sized but I’ve been working on it, making progress but still have some work to to.
  
• Brown hair, Hazel eyes
  
• Fiercely loyal and protective
  
• Extremely loving and caring once we connect but very shy at first.
  
• Deeply emotional. If I fall for you, I’m going to fall hard.
  
• Big old nerd about fantasy, sci-fi, reading, and pop culture.
  
• Will always love and be here for you to talk to or be with, you deserve to feel loved.
  
• Emotionally available
  

This is everything I feel comfortable sharing about myself right now. Hopefully you’re out there and looking for me as hard as I’m looking for you.
You’re the one I’m looking for if you are:

• Around my age, so between 20-25
  
• I don’t really care a whole lot about stuff like hair, eye color, race, religion, politics or anything like that. I just care about how much love and support we’re able to give each other.
  
• Fiercely loyal and protective
  
• Someone around average size or just over average size like me, I’d love some more inspiration and motivation to keep going to the gym and get better.
  
• Passionate about similar things, tell me about your passions when you reach out to me.
  
• Comfortable and available chatting and voice calling often and maybe meeting if we connect. I’ll always take a chance to hear your voice.
  
• Comfortable with exchanging photos after we’ve been talking for a week or two.
  
• A loving and caring person. I have a lot of love and comfort to give and hope to find someone similar.
  
• if I had to describe myself/personality or list some characters I aspire to be like I’d say Ted Lasso and Uncle Iroh.
  

If you’ve read this far, you’re just amazing. Direct message me if you feel a connection and want to talk more, but include something about yourself and include the phrase “I’ve missed you.” No chats please, my chats on Reddit have been bugging really bad so I might not see it. If you think we may be great for each other include your discord, snap, or whatever you normally use so we can talk.
If you’re here still, know that I love you and want to hear from you soon. ❤️❤️

Years back, I shared a link to this series of articles. I think it's time I share it again, and this time talk a bit about what it means.
In the first article, the authors start by saying that many of us today feel a lack of meaning in our lives, and that ritual is the treatment for this lack of meaning. Though not cited by the article, this is backed up by psychology research.
The article continues:

According to Catherine Bell, professor of ritual studies and author of the preeminent textbook on the subject, ritual has been traditionally defined as an action that lacks a “practical relationship between the means one chooses to achieve certain ends.”

This is really important. I've often thought about practicing magick, then gotten discouraged, because to practice magick is to generate evidence that it doesn't work. And yes, I know about open-label placebo, but if I want open-label placebo effects, I'd do better with hypnosis, which is faster and more efficient.
But the thing I've been missing this whole time is that ritual is not about results--it's about the feeling you get from performing it. If you're doing it as efficiently as possible to get results ... well, according to Catherine Bell it's not even really ritual.
Bell lists six attributes of ritual: Formalism, Traditionalism, Disciplined invariance, Rule-governance, Sacral symbolism, and Performance. There are descriptions in the article, so I won't go into detail here. You should read about them there if you'd like to construct rituals for yourself.
The second article gets into the sacred versus the profane, and liminality. It's an interesting read. I won't talk too much about it, because I couldn't say much more than exactly what the text of the article says. But I will quote this:

Traditionally, the religious man (and here we’re really talking about those who live/d in premodern societies) seeks to experience the sacred as much as possible, for he sees it as the realm of reality, the source of power, and that which is “saturated with being.” For the religious man, the profane feels unreal, and leads to a state of “nonbeing.” In contrast, the nonreligious man refuses any appeal to mystery or to the supernatural.

This, I think, is why I keep coming back here, and /wicca, and /satanists. I want something more than the profane. It's disappointing not having any mystery in life.
The third and fourth articles are also interesting, but in the fifth article is what I consider the final important piece:

Ritual boredom. As you’ve been reading through this series, you may have thought to yourself, “This sounds great in theory, but I’ve done some of the rituals mentioned, and I haven’t experienced any of these amazing supposed benefits.”
Dr. Tom F. Driver calls this common modern experience “ritual boredom.” While he argues that it is caused by rituals being kept too rigidly and not evolving to be more relevant to modern culture, I don’t personally believe that tradition itself is the problem. Two other factors seem more salient to me:
The first is an atrophied attention span. What feels like boredom to some is experienced by another as a meaningful exploration of truth. The first person, confronted with repetition and a current of stimuli much slower than what is experienced on their phone and computer, does not feel there is enough to hold their attention and their mind drifts off to that week’s grocery list. The second person, who has a keen and genuine curiosity, is able to focus in on what is happening and dig deeper into it, asking questions like, “Why do we do this at this point? What does this symbol mean? How are these things connected?” The more they dig, the more the ritual reveals to them, and the more meaningful and interesting the ritual becomes.
Second, ritual boredom can be traced to the postmodern gap between the signifier and the signified. That is, we see rituals and symbols as meaning different things to everyone, or really not meaning anything at all. Take something like Christmas. Originally a Christian holiday (and yes, before that, based on pagan celebrations), it is now something celebrated even by some Jews and atheists. The symbols of Christmas were designed to point towards something, but now symbolize nothing more than a certain time of year and “fun” and “family.” If you don’t believe there are deeper meanings to rituals, then you won’t believe they carry special forces. And in the absence of these elevating and electrifying powers, the ritual is experienced as just boringly going through the motions.
Take New Year’s celebrations. For primitive tribes, they truly believed that each new year they re-founded the world and that in reenacting the primordial deeds performed by the gods during the period of creation, their rituals released some of the potent, transformative power that was present at the very beginning of time. That’s heady stuff. On our New Year’s Eve, we drink, watch a ball slide down a pole, wryly discuss the pathetic statistics for how many people actually keep their resolutions, and go to bed with a sigh, feeling more blah than rejuvenated. The revelry isn’t connected to the gods or mythical ancestors, to mythology or history, or even a strong sense of tradition. We do it because, I dunno, Party City says we should? Because the ritual does not re-create anything, the juices that infuse creative acts, that makes magic and transformation possible, that open up pockets of the sacred are absent, and instead of the ritual feeling extra-ordinary, like a break in the everyday, it feels excruciatingly flat, one-dimensional — like just more of the same.

It seems like every year, particularly around spring, I start feeling this again, and I'm drawn back to this subreddit. These are the things I always get stuck on. I hope that this helps someone else as much as it helps me.

Hey lads,made the foolish mistake of staying in Japan long-term via the German Working Holiday (Designated Activities) visa. Of course, I settled in and eventually managed to land a job as a software engineer in a Japanese management company managing multiple hotel companies.
Slowly my 12-month visa came to an end and I had to apply for a visa. Luckily my company really wants to keep me employed as I run all the IT, website, system admin, and booking software (the old guy is quitting, I was supposed to take over). They offered to sponsor my work visa, I was very thrilled. Their office person finished all the documents necessary for me to apply for the Specified Skill Visa (software engineer).
For whatever reason they apparently misunderstood that I had a community college degree. I do not, I only have a general vocational school degree. I only found out after one and a half months of waiting for immigration to invite me to an interview. In that interview, Immigartion told me: "Yeah not gonna happen, 10 years experience or university degree". Multiple times I have asked the immigration officer if there are any other options (had an interpreter with me to help me as I only have N5) only for him to look at me and tell me that I should rather just marry someone in Japan.
Defeated and heartbroken I left the interview room, getting my residence card with a hole punched into it handed to me after they made me sign a document stating that I will leave Japan within 31 days.
Not only have I lost my job indirectly due to my visa status being revoked, health insurance revoked, and having to mentally prepare to leave my friends and surroundings when an hour before I thought of how lucky I am that I finally have a stable job.
I do not want to whine too much about it as I can't change it, I just need to find solutions, help, or advice right now. What should I do? How should I proceed? Here is how things are right now:

• (ex) job really wants to keep me, is ready to supply whatever document required to get me to get my visa.
• the company really really needs me as I am the only one who is taught in their custom OTA and worked on huge projects like their website (80% of the website is made and maintained by me when I was on a working holiday visa). A big chunk of the hotel companies' revenue stems from self-booking through websites. We are currently making a switch from traditional OTAs like booking.com and Airbnb to own HP. I was also managing their SNS, texting, and connecting with people for the company in English and German.
• I only have 5 years of actual work experience in the software engineer / IT sector in Germany from my old job. Besides that I only freelanced for around 3 additional years (Im only in my early 20s)
• No university degree, only vocational degree, some certifications of what I can do, and a letter from my old job stating what I have done at the company, etc.

From my research, I have a couple of options now: (1) Specified skilled worker 1: This would mean I have to go back to Germany as the tests I have to take requires N4 (I need to study more, which will take a couple of months) and the test to actually be able to apply to the visa is only held a couple of times a year. After a successful application, I can work in the hotel industry.
(2) Student Visa: Enroll in a language school, and get a student visa. Will take at least 8 months from now too so I would also have to go back to Germany and if I get it, I can only work part-time in that company which is not really what I would want to do. (Plus a grand a month for language school).
(3) Highly skilled work visa: Re-apply for the same visa category. This sounds like the only and best solution if I want to keep my life and job in Japan. I would somehow have to strengthen my application as much as possible to even have a slim chance of being considered. Contact lawyers etc too.
Of all those options, Option (3) is the one I'm striving for right now. I know it might sound unrealistic but there have been special cases of people obtaining said visa even tho they clearly missed the requirements. My question is now: What documents should I gather to have a higher chance when applying? Has anyone reading this gone through the same process already?
Thanks for reading this, I greatly appreciate any help or advice I can get as I now have 30 days left to prepare.

I got a free air compressor courtesy of Craigslist but it doesn't build any air pressure.
It's an AC electric motor compressor, Craftsman model 919.155611.
I tore it down to try and figure out the problem and here's what I found:

• Replaced leaking quick connect
• Valve plates in head and in manifold look okay
• Head and manifold O-rings are meh - not totally flat but due for replacement
• No obvious rust or holes in tank
• Looking at parts catalogs, it looks like there is a piston compression ring and o-ring that I don't remember seeing so they may be missing. I'll have to tear down the head again to inspect.

When running, I noticed that air is coming out of the intake "muffler" - is that normal?
After turning it off, that's a plug on the head that makes a hissing noise like air leaking. I believe this is called a cold start valve. I'm not hearing air escaping from anywhere else. Is that normal?
The only thing I haven't tried yet is to spray it with some soapy water while it's running to see if I can identify air leaks. That's my next idea, but after I noticed the muffler blowing air I thought, "that's not right. I should ask about this."
Thank you in advance!

I’m a 23M looking for the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.
My description

• 23 Years old
  
• 6 feet 5 inches
  
• A little bit plus sized but I’ve been working on it, making progress but still have some work to to.
  
• Brown hair, Hazel eyes
  
• Fiercely loyal and protective
  
• Extremely loving and caring once we connect but very shy at first.
  
• Deeply emotional. If I fall for you, I’m going to fall hard.
  
• Big old nerd about fantasy, sci-fi, reading, and pop culture.
  
• Will always love and be here for you to talk to or be with, you deserve to feel loved.
  
• Emotionally available
  

This is everything I feel comfortable sharing about myself right now. Hopefully you’re out there and looking for me as hard as I’m looking for you.
You’re the one I’m looking for if you are:

• Around my age, so between 20-25
  
• I don’t really care a whole lot about stuff like hair, eye color, race, religion, politics or anything like that. I just care about how much love and support we’re able to give each other.
  
• Fiercely loyal and protective
  
• Someone around average size or just over average size like me, I’d love some more inspiration and motivation to keep going to the gym and get better.
  
• Passionate about similar things, tell me about your passions when you reach out to me.
  
• Comfortable and available chatting and voice calling often and maybe meeting if we connect. I’ll always take a chance to hear your voice.
  
• Comfortable with exchanging photos after we’ve been talking for a week or two.
  
• A loving and caring person. I have a lot of love and comfort to give and hope to find someone similar.
  
• if I had to describe myself/personality or list some characters I aspire to be like I’d say Ted Lasso and Uncle Iroh.
  

If you’ve read this far, you’re just amazing. Direct message me if you feel a connection and want to talk more, but include something about yourself and include the phrase “I’ve missed you.” No chats please, my chats on Reddit have been bugging really bad so I might not see it. If you think we may be great for each other include your discord, snap, or whatever you normally use so we can talk.
If you’re here still, know that I love you and want to hear from you soon. ❤️❤️

We keep getting connection timed out code:water when joinining the game, and almost every game starts with at least one person from the squad missing and unable to join.
Does anyone know a fix? :/

I'm married, white, 41 years old and very discreet. I have a few tattoos, hwp, brown eyes and trimmed ginger beard.
I'm searching for a partner (online/in person). Let's see if there's a connection and attraction between us and take it from there. I'll put in the same amount of effort that I receive in return! I'm not scared of feelings developing...in fact I hope they do! Wanting to find someone local or within the same time zone as me (NC & surrounding or EST area)! I miss the fun, flirting, feeling wanted and desired as well as the sexual parts! I also enjoy voice messages and phone calls when we can fit them in.
I want steady communication throughout the day and night. All I ask is that some effort is made...I know we all have lives and obligations. 1 or 2 messages a day just won't work for me. I want to exchange pics early on and eventually want to move to another chatting platform.

I have been together with my bf for over a year and a half now. The start of our reltionship was unconventional just like most relationships that start off a dating/hook up app are. My bf at the time was recently seperated from his wife of almost 5 years for 3 months when I met him and I was still dealing with the truama and heartbreak of my first relationship 8 months prior.
When we went on our first date i think we both realized we got along really well and really liked eachother but we agreed in the beginning that we both werent looking for anything serious... until i started seeing him multiple times a week and started spending the night everytime we hung out. A few months later I had ended up getting really sick and quarantined myself for 2 weeks, and in those 2 weeks we were playing games online together every night, he would message me he missed me, he told me one night during those 2 weeks that i was 'his person'. So obviously from that point the dynamic of our relationship had shifted and things that hadnt bothered me before now started to.
One big thing is that my bf likes to go out every weekend with his friends, he really didnt have friends when him and his ex had moved to the area and once they seperated, he started going out and making friends and then it became his ritual every weekend. I didnt care about that, he deserves to have fun and at that time it wasnt really my scene anyway. Until i saw how much fun he and his friends would have and the cool experiences he would go to. Night art festivals with fire breathing dancers. Nightime pool dj parties. Clubs with cool themes and concepts. Silent discos. I started to get that fear that i was missing out on my life too. I started to want to be involved but when i brought up the idea of inviting me out some nights he got uncomfortable at the idea. He likes when we're together but he also needed a life outside me too so he didnt feel like he was jumping out of one relationship into the other. He needed to feel free and bringing me with would be an acknowledgement of commitment and he wasnt ready for that yet. Since this was ealier on in the relationship (probably 4 months in) and i wanted to be respectful of his life i let it go and started trying to go out by myself to find friends of my own and start having my own experiences but people are fucking crazy ngl. Some attempts i made to make friends resulted in funny stories to tell other people but also had discouraged me to keep trying. So i conceded and just went back to what i was doing before but the jealousy slowly built over the course of our time together.
I know everyones healing processes are different byt after a year of being consistently together i decided maybe i could bring up the idea again but as a comprimise and I had texted him this: "I love you so much. Youre so patient and caring and its really helped me feel more comfortable with my emotions and expressing them to you. I feel safe to talk.
I also want to preface that Im perfectly fine with you going out every weekend you going out doesnt bother me at all. I dont want you to think i dont like it cause i really dont mind.
what does cause me to be sad is that some nights when you go out it just looks and sounds like a lot of fun. It sometimes hurts my feelings when you guys will make plans right in front of me and i know im not invited too
Im def not the kind of person that goes out every weekend and I like that you have your time for just you and friends, its perfectly healthy to have seperate lives!! But being able to party and be loose with you sounds like fun some nights. I just feel sad and left out and that im not a fun friend to let your guard down around.
Is there some way we can compromise where you still have your freedom but every once in a while i can come with you guys on a friday night?"
This was my first true attempt at a comprimise but he still has the same reservations he had the first time.
So again i conceded, but this time the anger and jealousy were now constantly there. I would get hurt everytime i saw clothes that he would wear on weekends. I would get upset when i saw his friends. I would get uspet when he would start to get excited that the weekend was getting close knowing i was just an outsider looking in.
Another 4 months had gone from that point and we finally had our first big blowout. Not over the weekends or anything else but over something really small and it wasnt a huge fight either but it was enough for us to realize that i wasnt okay and neither was he. I took a couple of weeks to be by myself and when we came together we had a really big talk over everything. I told him that I wasnt interested in being an addition anymore. If he wanted his seperate friends and places, thats fine, but would it hurt if just some night it could be just us? Going to new places? That way i can get to go out with him like ive been wanting and he wont feel like im trying to insert myself into all aspects of his life. He kind of disagreed again but for different reasons. He said due to my truama with my ex hed feel like we wouldnt have fun going out because id be too busy watching him to make sure hes not checking out other women to have a good time.
I said "well are you the type of person that would openly disrespect me like that in front of my face and give me a reason to behave like that?"
He said "no"
So i said "then its not fair for me to be penalized for something i havent done yet. Why cant i have the opportunity to show you that I wouldnt do that and also gain the opportunity for you to show me that you wouldnt to that either?"
I could tell he still wanted to say no so i finished my piece by just telling him to think about it. If he couldnt give me a better reason to say no then there was no reason for us to not go with the plan.
That was 2 months ago. He ended up never bringing up an 'answer', i knew it was going to be no in the end so i just gave up.
I decided to get a 2nd job on the weekends to make some extra money and to help pass the feelings of loneliness. Its helped because my new coworkers are so nice and working nights with them fulfills the social need ive been searching for. My bf started taking a medication too that he'll be on for 6 months and during that time he cant have a drop of alcohol or else it could really mess up his liver so he stopped going out on weekends too but the pain of it all still sits heavy on my mind. Hes my best friend but i feel like im being treated less than a friend. I love him so much and i know every relationships have their ups and downs and theyre 80% and 20% but i feel like the 20% im missing out is too much. Im really starting to want a more conventional relationship with him after being together for so long and i guess that our biggest issue
He also has an affinity for saying since he wasnt looking for anything when we first met he doesnt want to have any power over me to hurt me. I get where hes coming from with this, but at this point when he says it, hes using it as a scapegoat to absolve himself of guilt for when he does things that inevitably hurt me. In the beginning I understood what he was saying depsite thinking it was a little unfair because at that point I didnt want to let him have anypower over me too, but that was a year and a half ago, that statement.
The reason I need help and advice is because of this most recent text from us here:
He said "I know you wanted to hang out today but I think you should take time to think about how we should go about things because we just keep kicking the can down the road. It's like "oh hey I want this. But I know you don't want this. Yeah. Okay anyways I'll see you tomorrow" and I get not wanting to switch things up but it's not gonna make either of us happy in the long run"
So i replied "Tbh i have thought about it and continue to think about it. I know what i want and i think im more just coming to terms with understanding and realizing what i want i might never get or probably wont see for a long time. I just dont know what the best course of action is because comproming on my end has been hurting me a lot. But i dont know what or if youre willing to compromise anything. I think its hard coming to terms wth what it means to actsully be incompatible. I just dont know how to feel everytime you tell me i need to take time to think about things."
So he said "Well. It's not that I think you need time to think about things. It's that we can't just keep kicking the can down the road"
And i left it at thag because I just dont know what to do. If i bring up ending things he tells we both dont want that, and yeah, i love the guy, we've talked about when we're both ready having a family and a house together. He even brought up the idea of matching tatoos of a character for the video game we played together from when i was sick and he told me i was his person, and that coming from him felt so sincere and significant because thats a big commitment right there in my opinion. Of course i dont want to end things but if hes unwilling to compromise then what? I know im partially in the wrong because this is soemthing hes wanted to keep seperate from the beginning but for me being able to go out with your partner helps build emotional connections and experiences I feel like.
I dont know. Since this is my 2nd relationship and the only relationship ive been in since being of age to drink and really go out I feel like its important to me to have those experiences with him.
Please help reddit. Im sorry if this was so rambly and long. This is my first time posting and i know there are a lot of sincere and genuine people who want to help.
Tldr; after being together for a year and a half im starting to want a more conventional relationship. Ive suggested comprimises to help with our situation but he wants things to remain as they are and in the end its hurting us both. When i bring up ending things he just syas that isnt what either of us want. But if he doesnt want to break up and he doesnt want to compromise, then what?

I need someone to give me HONEST feedback on my novel. I used AI to write this and it's my first time writing a book, so I'm not sure what I need to do better. Thanks in advance :)
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CHAPTER ONE: THE FRACTURING
Daestopia was one of the billions of worlds in the Multirealm, and it was a serene, flowing land. Lush green forests carpeted its rolling hills, while rolling blue rivers wound through the valleys, and a vast stretch of sky above was dotted with twinkling stars. The people here lived in harmony with nature and each other. And there he sat, Ares, perched on a weathered wooden chair, his gaze unwavering and intense. His midnight black hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, with not one strand out of place. His eyes were bright blue and sparkled like sapphires as he surveyed the room. He seemed untouchable, as if nothing could ever disturb him. But that was until the day everything changed. That was the day when The Fracturing descended upon Daestopia. Speaking the dreaded word out loud made people shudder as their hearts raced with fear, knowing that it marked the end of everything they had ever known. It was an apocalypse unlike any other, leaving behind only ruins in its wake. The sun shone brightly in the village of Earltree, where farmers tilled their fields and smoke rose from the workshops of the blacksmiths. People went about their day, blissfully unaware of what was to come. Ares was a popular young man- his copper hair and chiseled features attracted admiration, but it was his interactions with nature that truly inspired reverence. Many thought he had some kind of gift, which made sense considering his father's reputation as a great warrior. Little did they know that Ares possessed a gift far beyond what they could imagine. As he strolled through the fields, he felt a deep connection with nature, a bond that was unbreakable. He could feel the pulse of the plants and hear the whispers of the wind. It was as if he could communicate with the earth itself. And when The Fracturing hit, it was this gift that saved him. Ares stood up from his chair, feeling an inexplicable sense of unease. The air around him grew colder, and the trees began to rustle, leaves shaking off their branches as if trying to flee. A flock of birds flew overhead, their chirping turning into panicked cawing as they headed south. Ares knew something was wrong but couldn't quite put his finger on it. That was until he saw the crack in the sky. It started out small, just a hairline fracture that went unnoticed by most. But to Ares, it was like watching a wound slowly tear open. The crack grew wider and wider until it looked like a jagged scar cutting across the sky. A bright light shone through the crack, blinding in its intensity. The people of Daestopia were in a state of shock as they ran through the streets, trying to save what little they could carry. Ares couldn't help but feel sorry for them as he watched them stumble and fall amongst the debris. That was when the monsters appeared. They were hideous creatures, twisted forms of living flesh and steel. Their eyes burned with an inhuman hatred, and their claws glowed as they tore through anything that dared to stand in their way. Townships were destroyed as if by some fierce gale force wind or tidal wave- all in a single nightmarish instant! People screamed for help but no one answered them; only the sound of destruction remained. The people of Daestopia were in a state of shock as they ran through the streets, trying to save what little they could carry. Ares couldn't help but feel sorry for them as he watched them stumble and fall amongst the debris. And soon there was no trace left of Daestopia's serene beauty - not even a memory survived The Fracturing... Daestopia would never be the same. Desperate hope filled our hearts as we began to search for a savior. Someone who could be a hero, someone to free us from this tyranny, and grant us new life. If only we could find them, if only they existed...
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CHAPTER TWO: MEETING BJORN
Ares lay in the mud, his small body twisted and broken like a discarded toy. Tears streamed down his face as he cried for help, but his voice was lost in the deafening silence of destruction. All around him, debris from what was once his home littered the landscape like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie. His heart sunk deeper as he looked around and realized that no one was coming to his aid. He was alone in a world gone mad, doomed to slowly fade away if left on his own. Just then, something made Ares jump from fear – the sound of footsteps! At first he thought it might be someone come to help him but when the figure became clearer in sight, Ares saw with shock that it wasn't a rescuer at all but an old man stepping out amongst ruins like some ancient sage crossed over into another realm by nefarious destiny. The stranger had white hair so long and flowing; only aided further by its brightness against the greyscale backdrop of ruin surrounding them both. His face spoke of untold wisdom and years spent among those who could truly understand life’s struggles yet possessed enough confidence never surrendering hope for better days ahead - even during times such as these. "Hello there young one," said the old man in calming tones "it looks as though you can use some comfort." His voice carried warmth, inviting happiness rather than despair or dread which could have been expected under such circumstances. Ares cautiously looked up at the old man and in a timid voice asked "Who- who are you?" The old man smiled warmly, his wrinkles deepening from joy as he replied. “Do not be frightened young man, I am here to help.” As soon as he spoke those words all of Ares' fear was gone and replaced by hope and faith that maybe this strange person could make something good out of such chaos after all? Just then before either of them had time to react further, terrifying roars echoed through their ears piercing the sky like lightning! Both stilled on instinct looking around wildly for its source – what they saw made their hearts race with terror - A giant monster was coming straight towards them! A fierce roar shook the air as menacing red eyes glared, glinting with predatory hunger. Fangs longer than swords shone in the moonlight, striking terror into the hearts of all who witnessed them. Before Ares could scream in terror, it fell to the ground with a thunderous crash. An arrow had pierced right through its heart. Ares spun around with a gasp and saw the old man standing there, bow drawn, an arrow ready to fire. The man had appeared out of nowhere and saved his life. Ares' voice cracked with emotion as he looked the old man in the eye. "Th- Thank you!" he screamed, his gratitude radiating from him with tears flowing down his eyes. "You- You saved my life! Just who are you?" he questioned in awe. "My identity is irrelevant. You will be enlightened soon enough. But now, follow m - there's no time to waste!" The old man offered Ares his hand, and Ares gladly accepted it. He kept his hand in the old man's as he walked beside him, not knowing where they were going. And finally after some time Ares asked "Where are we going?" The old man smiled and answered, “Home. We’re going home." Eventually, they reached a small hut in the middle of nowhere. The old man motioned for Ares to take a seat while he rummaged around in the hut, eventually pulling out some bread with his withered hands. He placed the food on a table and said, “Eating this will give you strength.” Ares began to wolf down the bread hungrily as he listened in curiosity to what the old man had to say next. The old man then pulled up a chair so that they were sitting face-to-face and said, “I have seen many sorrowful things throughout my life; but I never tire of seeing people come back from despair when all hope has been lost". He paused for a moment before continuing: "My name is Bjorn - an ancient sage charged with guiding men across times of distress; Ready always for adversity and prepared should fate put its faithless test against which none can ever stand guard." Ares gazed at him in awe filled silence too stunned by his words even though he understood them not completely. Bjorn smiled and continued speaking, "Many have lost their way in these dark times, but you have the strength to find your path again. You survived, young one, and that is something to be proud of. Your journey has only begun, and I am here to guide you." Ares listened intently as Bjorn spoke of courage, resilience, and never giving up despite the odds. He learned about ways to harness his internal strength and become a warrior both in mind and body. With each passing day, Ares looked forward to their lessons with Bjorn, eager to absorb as much as he could from the wise old sage. But one day, during a training session, Ares finally found the courage to ask what had been plaguing his mind for days: “Bjorn, why are you helping me? What makes me so special?” Bjorn chuckled gently before replying, “You have been chosen for a great task," Ares' eyes widened in astonishment. "What task?" he asked eagerly. Bjorn took a deep breath and replied, "There is a prophecy that foretells of a great war that will engulf the land. It is a war between good and evil. You, Ares, are the chosen one - the one who will lead the charge against evil and restore peace to this land." Ares looked at Bjorn with disbelief, but as he saw the sincerity in the old man's eyes he knew that there was truth to his words. He had always felt a sense of destiny calling out to him, and now he finally knew why. Bjorn stood up slowly, his eyes shining with purpose. "It is time to begin your training in earnest. The task ahead will not be easy, but I have faith that you will succeed. You must learn to harness the power within you and become a true warrior of light." Ares nodded eagerly, his heart pounding with excitement. He was ready for whatever lay ahead. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months and months turned into years as Ares trained relentlessly under Bjorn's tutelage. With each passing day, he grew stronger and more confident, his skills in combat improving vastly. But even as he honed his physical prowess, he also delved deeper into the mysteries of magic and spirituality under Bjorn's guidance. He learned how to channel the energy of the universe through his body and mind, gaining greater control over his abilities until he felt like a master of his own destiny. "Say," Bjorn said as the sat back down in his chair. "have you heard of the Xonin?"Ares furrowed his brow. The Xonin? It sounded vaguely familiar, like some half-remembered myth from the distant past. "No, I haven't," he admitted. Bjorn's eyes glinted as he spoke. "The Xonin is the legendary artifact that wields the power to cure what ails our planet. If you don't find it in time, the world is doomed." Ares shivered at the thought. "What does this have to do with me?" Bjorn leaned forward, his gaze intense. "The Barrier is broken. The Barrier that diverges our world from others has been fractured, and the Xonin is the only thing that can repair it." He paused for a moment before continuing: "You have been chosen for this task. The Xonin would not let you die, that's why you're alive right now." Ares felt a sense of dread wash over him. The fate of the entire world was now resting on his shoulders, and he was not sure if he was ready for such a responsibility. But he knew that he had come too far to give up now. He took a deep breath and asked, "Where can I find the Xonin?" Bjorn smiled knowingly. He got up from his heat and grabbed a thick, dusty book. It looked like it was decades old. "Take this." Bjorn handed him the book. "What's this?" Ares said as the held the book in his hands. It was extremely heavy. "This is my logbook. I have recorded all my adventures and journeys inside this very book." Bjorn replied. Ares opened the book, and his eyes widened as he saw pages upon pages filled with notes and sketches. "This is amazing," Ares said quietly. "I can't believe you've been to all these places." Bjorn chuckled. "Yes, I've seen many worlds in my time. But there's one in particular that you need to visit." He pointed to a map inside the book. "Here - this is the world of Ziraxia. It's a dangerous place, filled with ancient ruins and powerful magic, but the Xonin resides there." Ares studied the map carefully, his heart racing with excitement. "You're giving this to me?" Ares asked with a face of amazement. "I have no need for it anymore, and someone like you deserves it." Bjorn replied. Ares felt honored to be trusted with something so valuable. He knew that he would have to travel to Ziraxia alone, but he felt reassured knowing that he had Bjorn's logbook as a guide. Ares' face suddenly turned upside down. "Bjorn, I don't think I'm ready." Ares said while setting down the book slowly. "It's too much work. I'm only 9 years old after all." Bjorn smiled and held Ares' hand firmly. "You'll be ready in no time. I will train you, and teach you all you need to know." Ares' felt a little better now, and he decided to head to sleep. "I'm tired. Can I go sleep somewhere?" Bjorn showed him around. There was a nice, comfortable pile of hay in front of him, which looked very comfortable. "You can sleep here," Bjorn said "though it may not look comfortable, you'll get used to it soon." Ares didn't think twice before jumping onto the mound of hay and quickly falling into a peaceful sleep. Bjorn put out the torch and walked out of the room, with a huge grin on his face, knowing that he had found Daestopia's next savior.

Eurovision Song Contest is an international competition that has been running annually since 1956. It's a massive event as a total of 52 countries participated in Eurovision and it's a fun event. Everybody has their own reason for watching it from supporting their own country, celebrating different cultures, enjoying music to appreciating Dustin the Turkey.
You don't need to know details on how voting works or how Eurovision works as we are going to focus on something else. Specifically, the process of choosing the performer. Some countries have a committee that picks a willing performed and some host a competition.
The size and length of the competition differ in each country as every country has their own budget. You can either have Swedish Melodifestivalen or Polish Tu Bije Serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję!. Today, we are going to focus on Poland's history of pre-selections and the latest drama.
Important information.
The post is a bit unique due to the nature of the sources. It's recommended to listen to music videos from 2023 with headphones and without them to get the full experience. There will be mentions of gossip and conspiracies, so wearing a tin foil hat is recommended. Almost all sources are in Polish and they were translated by me. I'm not a professional translator and so I am prone to making mistakes. After a while, this post is going to be edited to include a link to a comment explaining the translation process. Some sources have comments sections and you may encounter triggering content.

Holding onto memories - The history of Poland in Eurovision

Poland debuted in 1994 with "To nie ja" by Edyta Górniak, who was sent by a Polish tv broadcaster known as TVP. The song almost got disqualified, but it wasn't and Górniak got 2nd place for Poland. It was the first time, when Poland was in the top 3 and also currently the last one.
Then there were 5 years of being outside the top 10, which resulted in Poland withdrawing from Eurovision 2000. Poland returned for the 2001 edition, but Piasek's bad performance resulted in Poland withdrawing again.
Then in 2003, Ich Troje with "Keine Grenzen - Żadnych Granic" finally breaks the unlucky strike as they manage to get 7th place. Unfortunately, the unlucky strike comes back. Blue Cafe only manages to get 17th place. Next years are similarly bad. 2 years of not qualifying for the final, 24th place and 3 years of not qualifying. One of the representatives that didn't qualify was Ich Troje, who came back with "Follow my heart".
Poland withdrew again for 2 years, partially due to hosting UEFA Euro with Ukraine. The return of Poland in 2014 was controversial as "My słowianie" by Donatan & Cleo was chosen. The song is basically about how Slavic girls are the best wives as they know how to use body language. It divided Polish viewers. Some treated it as a fun satire of Polish stereotypes (hypersexual girls, poor old-fashioned country, etc.), while others had issues with the song spreading these stereotypes and the sexual nature of the music video. According to one of the biggest Polish newspapers, Britain described the song as a typical weird Eurovision song and they thought it was about bread. Sweden threw sexism allegations, while Germany described the music video as softcore porn.
It also started a discussion about Eurovision and how it's viewed by others. The same newspaper described Polish viewers treating participation in Eurovision as a matter of national pride and how the scale of emotions is similar to a schizophrenic patient running from one end of the room to another. Even when the quality of competition can be questionable.
Donatan&Cleo got 14th place and Poland didn't withdraw. It was probably a good decision as Michał Szpak with his song "Colour of Life" got 8th place in 2016. There were two controversies surrounding Szpak. One of them was a difference between televotes and judges' votes, but the controversy was quickly forgotten. Another controversy is related to TVP, but I will cover it later.
Then Poland got 22nd place and it had 3 songs not qualifying for a final in the row, again. The third song that didn't qualify was "The Ride" by RAFAŁ, which became a meme due to a horrible live performance. It was so bad that many Polish viewers wanted RAFAŁ to not qualify for finals.
The unlucky strike got interrupted by "River" by Ochman, who managed to get 12th place. The live performance became meme due to cheap special effects.

I ain't done yet - Everything about TVP

TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A) is one of the oldest TV broadcasters in Poland and also a controversial one. If you say "politics" and "TVP" in one sentence, you are legally allowed to change your name to Pandora. But you can't escape from TVP, especially if you are interested in music competitions for newcomers. They are associated with one of the biggest music festivals in Poland (Opole Festival) and run three different editions of The Voice (Of Poland, Kids and Senior). Other TV broadcasters don't offer too much. Polsat keeps changing trying different formats and the last music competition was in 2020. TVN has only Got Talent.
Going back to Eurovision, TVP is responsible for anything related to Eurovision. Depending on the year, you may expect either an internal selection carried or a competition. Both of them have their own unique reputation due to many reasons.
The most controversial entry from an internal selection is The Ride from 2021. At that time, most people expected to see Alicja with her song "Empires". Alicja won Szansa na Sukces (a music competition, where singers get a chance to perform somewhere) and she was supposed to participate in Eurovision 2020, but it got cancelled due to covid. Most countries decided to send their 2020 representative, so expectations weren't unreasonable. Yet, TVP decided to do something else and Poland ended up getting multiple memes about RAFAŁ instead of the sweet victory.
However, this doesn't mean that music competitions are without flaws. Some people in TVP wanted to remove Michał Szpak from the competition due to being worried about him potentially winning, but the director Radek Kobiałko and other people organising the competition 2016 decided to stand up against it. The reason behind it is unclear, but Michał Szpak used to be controversial due to his androgynous looks and presentation.
Then there were some minor issues with the first edition Tu Bije Serce Europy!, which were brought up one year later due to the 2023 drama. Some viewers have noticed that one song "Paranoia" by Daria has been promoted by TVP. Daria performed her song before the show. She performed at New Year's Eve's Music Festival by TVP and somebody could say that was TVP's conspiracy to secure Daria's televotes victory. However, Ochman won and some say it was due to the voting consisting of two rounds.
This leads us to 26th February 2023 and the latest drama. Grab your popcorn as we are going back to the past and I am going to serve as your host.

Welcome to the party - The show

It's 17:30 and you are watching TVP 1. The show begins and so it's time to explain to you how the show works.
Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję! 2023 works similarly to the previous edition. Every performed could send one song and that song had to meet standard requirements for Eurovision. Specific requirements are under point 6 and other rules, can be read here. Around 300 songs were sent to TVP and only 10 of them could make it to the show.
Each judge has 100 points and they have to judge each contestant... That's how I would explain rules if they weren't changed 4 days before the competition. It was a fully legal move from TVP as rule 39 specifies that TVP has the power to change rules. The explanation was given by TVP and rules were changed to be closer to those in Eurovision.
Now each judge gives points (12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) to contestants. Points are then added together and the contestant with the highest total gets 12 points. The next person gets 10 points, etc. Viewers can still vote and they are still as important as judges. Voting works the same, except viewers don't give points.
Without further ado, let's meet the judges and the contestants.
The judges

• Edyta Górniak - She is our first judge and the chairwoman of judges. She is a singer active since 1990 and she has been at the centre of gossip magazines since her participation in Eurovision. She was a judge in some TVP music competitions such as The Voice of Poland and she performed in many events organised by TVP. She also performed in other shows hosted by other TV broadcasters. Like in the case of many stars, Górniak caused many controversies. One of the things that you should know is the fact that Górniak is spiritual and openly talks about her beliefs.
• Agustin Egurrola - If you are watching a music/dance competition or a music festival on TV, you will probably see him or his name. Egurolla is a famous dancer and choreographer. He worked in many different shows as either a dance choreographer or a judge. His dancers performed at NYE Music Festival 2022.
• Marek Sierocki - So there is a mixture here. He is well known for journalism, hosting some music competitions or being a commentator for those. This includes Eurovision Junior 2021.
• Aneta Woźniak - A new director in TVP. There isn't a lot of information about her and she was mostly involved with TVP ABC (a channel for children).
• Marcin Kusy - A director of Polish radio Jedynka.

The contestants

• Natasza "Lift U Up"- If you ever watched other Polish pre-selections or 365 days, you may know her. Her career is longer than my life and you would probably see her at least once on TVP.
• Kuba Szmajkowski "You Do Me"- A fresh blood in the Polish celebrity world. His career started after performing in The Voice Kids 2017 and he managed to perform in finals. He performed in TVP's New Year's Eve Music Festival 2021 and 2022
• Ahlena "Booty" - A new singer that never for the public. She started composing in 2020 and her first song was "Booty".
• Dominik Dudek "Be Good" - The winner of the latest edition of The Voice of Poland that had a final in November 2022. The show started his career.
• Alicja "New Home" - The winner of pre-selections for Eurovision 2020, which unfortunately didn't happen due to covid. She has won 3 music competitions broadcasted by TVP and her music career has been steady since 2019.
• Felivers "Never Back Down" - Another fresh blood in the music world that has been active for 3-4 years. They performed Uptown Funk at TVP's NYE music festival 2022.
• Maja Hyży "Never Hide" - An established star that has started her music career thanks to TVN's X Factor 2012. She performed with Kuba Szmajkowski in 2021 and 2022 at the same music festival.
• Jann "Gladiator" - His career started in 2020 and performed in an alternative music festival known as Off Festival. Tu Bije Serce Europy! is his TV debiut.
• Blanka "Solo" - 2021 can be considered as the start of her music career. Solo is her second song and she performed it for TVP's NYE Music Festival 2022. She also performed as a guest for You Can Dance - Nowa Generacja 2.
• Yan Majewski "Champion" - Yan is another contestant of The Voice of Poland, specifically the 2021 edition. He later performed at the Grand Prix Festival of young talents 2022, TVP's NYE music festival 2022 and You Can Dance - Nowa Generacja 2.

At this point, you may probably see 3 things that were pointed out by fans and the media. The most obvious one is a lack of songs in Polish. Feliver's song only has one Polish segment and that's it. It has been a point of competition criticism, but it isn't anything abnormal. Poland has sent multiple entries in English and even English & Spanish before.
Another thing that can be noticed is the fact that only Ahlena and Jann don't have ties to TVP. Many contestants have performed for TVP at one point and many of them performed a couple of months before the competition. In the case of Yan Majewski and Blanka, you could see them on TVP a couple of days before the competition.
The third thing would be the quality of the show. While not all videos come directly from TVP, the quality doesn't differ that much from what you would see on TV. Journalists and fans openly talked about their ears bleeding thanks to some performances. There were even jokes about the quality of special effects and anything related to visuals. At this point, Poland's special effects are a meme and you can find videos depicting how the performance of (Insert Eurovision 2023 contestant) would look like if they represented Poland. What doesn't help is the fact that recordings from the audience and journalists tend to have better audio.
From things that you could only see by watching the full show, all contestants got at least one round of applause from the public. The craziest applause was for Jann before and after his performance. The beginning of his introduction could be barely heard and even hosts acknowledged the madness after his performance.
Now let's reveal results. During the show, Edyta Górniak was responsible for revealing results.

Name	Score
Blanka	12
Dominik Dudek	10
Felivers	8
Jann	7
Natasza	6
Alicja	5
Yan Majewski	4
Kuba Szmajkowski	3
Maja Hyży	2
Ahlena	1

This didn't sit well with the public. When Jann's score was revealed, many people started booing. It was so loud that Edyta Górniak had to ask whoever was giving her score to repeat themselves and you could hear it on TV.
There was also another moment of booing and screaming "EDYTA" after the results were revealed. Then it changed to screaming "USTAWKA" (set-up) and one of the hosts had to calm down the public again. Performances of the contestants were replayed and you can guess what happened when Jann's performance was shown. The crowd went for applause this time and became quiet during Blanka's performance.
This brings us to televoting. Rules changed again and now you can send up to 20 SMS from one SIM card. The cost of one SMS is 3.69 zł, which was the equivalent of $0.83 (US), £0.69 or €0.78. The total number of votes is unknown.
So now let's reveal the final score and the televote scores.
​

Name	Total Score	Televote Score
Blanka	22	10
Jann	19	12
Dominik Dudek	18	8
Felivers	14	6
Yan Majewski	11	7
Alicja	10	5
Natasza	8	2
Kuba Szmajkowski	6	3
Maja Hyży	6	4
Ahlena	2	1

Originally, TVP didn't reveal televote scores and viewers only had the total score. The televote ranking has been released by TVP one day later. Number of televotes is still not confirmed. According to one source, TVP has received over 35000 votes. There is also gossip that Jann has received 18000 votes, while Blanka has received only 6000.
But even without specifics, the audience was lukewarm. When 2nd place and 1st place were about to be revealed, the audience was cheering for Jann. When Blanka was revealed, the audience lost its energy. There were some cheers instead of booing, but they weren't too loud.

They mad - Initial reactions

While Blanka's show didn't end with booing, celebrities and social media exploded.
The celebrities' side had reactions ranging from strongly negative to neutral. Ralph Kamiński was openly supporting Jann and even promoted him. He also criticised the format of the show and how only viewers should decide whom to send to Eurovision. He called the situation a "SCANDAL!" and "SHAME!!!".
Michał Szpak was supporting Jann. When the results were revealed, he supposedly end up laughing and swearing on Instagram. During one of his interviews, he openly states that he is in Team Jann but he will be still supporting Blanka. He also added there will be lots of work for Blanka, but he is still hopeful and the song itself is catchy. Maja Hyży, Kuba Szmajkowski, Doda and Roxie Węgiel (Eurovision Junior 2018 winner) share similar views. Their interviews can be reduced to how they were cheering for Jann or another contestant, but it doesn't mean that they will not support Blanka. Then there is a small talk about how she doesn't deserve hate or how her song is catchy.
When ask about songs and singing abilities, Agnieszka Hekiert end up praising Jann's vocal abilities and only said that Blanka's song is a well-produced pop piece. Similarly, Ochman avoided answering a more direct question "Does Blanka sing nicely?".
Another celebrity worth mentioning is Ramona Rey. She also preferred Jann and she was the first celebrity to call out the lack of clarity from TVP regarding how songs for the show were selected. She also called out the lack of Polish songs and mentioned how her rejected song predicted the future.
Even those supporting other contestants had a negative reaction to Blanka. Sandra Kubicka was supporting and promoting Dominik Dudek due to him "singing, playing the guitar, composing and writing his own songs". Her reaction to Blanka was calling her song "disco polo". Disco polo has a similar reputation to modern pop. Some love it and some consider it low-quality music.
Social media was less kind than celebrities. People were either attacking Blanka or TVP. Every tiny move of judges and contestants was analysed. Some even dug through the social media of contestants to make their point about how somebody deserves or doesn't deserve to represent Poland. At that time, you could easily encounter homophobia, racism and conspiracy theories.
Media obviously decided to produce multiple articles about this situation and every website presented something different. It's hard to say if they media the situation worse or better as multiple things have been happening at the same time.
People were divided. For some, Blanka was a twin sister of Ariana Grande that didn't show anything special. That's from one article and from there comments kept getting worse or better. Blanka was either considered a shallow rich girl with a generic song or a singer making others smile with her summer vibes. On another hand, Jann was a talented underdog who was too controversial for TVP or a copy of Måneskin that was singing out of tune.
TVP and others also got lots of comments. Some openly stated that they would be fine with Jann losing, if TVP decided to send either Dominik Dudek or Alicja. Others mentioned the political situation in Poland and how TVP perfectly shows corruption in Poland. One of the things that got pointed out was Blanka having a contract with Warner Music Poland and how TVP could earn money by having Blanka work for them.
Similar theories were slowly popping out and they were discussed by fans. So quickly fix your tin foil hats as we will be moving to the next sections.

Dance along with me - Egurrola's involvement

One of the most popular theories was how judges were voting for Blanka due to personal reasons. Agustin Egurolla and Edyta Górniak were the main focus of these theories.
To start with Egurrola, you can't run away with him as he is always doing something associated with dancing. He either sends his dancers or creates choreographies for multiple shows. Egurolla was supposedly working with Blanka for NYE 2022 music festival and his dancers performed with her for Tu Bije Serce Europy!. There were implications of potential bias and some people pushed this theory further. Supposedly, Egurrola didn't want Jann as Jann wouldn't agree to perform with his dancers and Egurolla wouldn't make money. The extra bit of this theory is based on the fact that Jann created his own choreography and performed without dancers.
Egurolla's controversy got worse thanks to his co-worker, Michał Piróg. Piróg published on his Instagram a picture of him with Egurrola and judges from You Can Dance - Nowa Generacja. In his description he wrote:

"I always sat behind the table and waited for something that would suprise me and enchant me, but there were those who asked beforehand "Who should be the best?"...."

This was later followed up by his comment, which appears to be deleted. Fortunately, the media saved it.

"The chairman, the second man on the picture, the man of the internal businness. Call it as you like"

The post was published a couple of days after the show and most people interpret it as a criticism of what happened in Tu Bije Serce Europy! and the implication that Egurrola had something to do with Blanka's victory.
In the end, the drama surrounding Egurrola died after a reveal that he will not work on Blanka's choreography for Eurovision.

Everybody has somebody - Involvement of Górniak's family

In the case of Górniak, there were multiple dramas surrounding her and her son. They lived for longer than Egurrola's drama due to Edyta's multiple responses and the fact that she was a chairwoman of judges.
Allan Krupa is Edyta's son and he is known as Enso. Most articles refer to him using his real name and so I am going to use it to be more or less consistent.
Going back to the main topic, it has been noticed that Allan was sitting next to Blanka during the competition and one picture was enough to start drama. People quickly started calling Blanka his friend or even lover. However, the first theory that Blanka is his friend became more popular due to Allan already dating somebody.
Allan quickly reacted to negative comments as some people were also attacking his girlfriends. He explained that he didn't even know there were pre-selections and he knew about them after his mother called him a day before. He didn't know other contestants, except for Felivers. He thought that Blanka was just a dancer and she asked him if she can sit next to him.
This wasn't the end as Allan went on some angry rants. Some phrases can't be directly translated without losing their original meaning, so I've tried my best to localise some bits. Check this comment for more information.

"People are writing to me - as if I had a f^^^ing connection to Eurovision - you are re^^^^ed or you are f^^^ing something else"

There was also another rant where he called people NPCs and how they make sh^t on the internet like animals for attention. He ends his rant saying that he understands that pre-selections are a situation of life or death and there is slaughter, when somebody doesn't win.
His story of not knowing Blanka was considered as weird. If it was true, then why Blanka had to search for a seat? Some questioned the legitimacy of this story as Allan has performed at NYE Music Festival 2022 like Blanka and he could theoreotically meet her there.
Allan was later defended by Edyta. He also posted some memes about how he manipulated pre-selections and Eurovision.

You do you and I do me - Edyta's involvement

Just after Blanka's victory, Górniak has been interviewed. She started her interviews by saying that Blanka was chosen by judges and also viewers, when she was expecting to see a change. She then went on a talk about how she thinks that viewers chose Blanka as they need something sunny and international. Also, how people lack something optimistic after all these dramas in their lives.
She then started describing Jann. She described him as demonic, but characteristic and full of charisma. The use of the word "demonic" became controversial and a meme due to being peculiar. What makes the situation worse is the reputation of Edyta when it comes to spirituality. As I've previously mentioned, Górniak is open about her beliefs and she even talked about bad energies, including how Halloween is bad. Funnily, Jann and somebody from his environment knew about this line and even made a joke about his salt necklace and potential exorcism.
To add salt to this situation, a recording from Dobry wieczór Europo! caught Górniak looking away and staring at the ceiling during the performance of Jann.
The day after the show, Edyta wrote a comment on her Instagram post saying that if anybody sees issues with the clarity, they should report them to the producer of the show.
There was also a small misunderstanding of rules from Edyta's side as she said that if people really wanted Jann to win, he would have won as televotes are responsible for 50% of the total score. But according to her, there were probably not enough votes sent to him.
To clarify, Jann got the maximum possible amount of points from viewers and it's unlikely that getting more votes would change anything. So either Górniak was confused by how scores work or she didn't know that Jann has won televote.
Small bits like that started accumulating and started creating a weird picture. During one of the interviews, Edyta stated that judges were questioning a bit if they should vote together or separately. At the end they shared each other's views while hiding their notes and voted separately.
The weirdest thing was the timeline of events presented by Edyta. According to her, votes were collected right away and judges didn't have time to further discuss them. Votes were counted while she was preparing for her guest performance during the ad break. However, later she stated that judges gave their voting cards when she was going to the stage to perform. What doesn't click here is the fact that Górniak was performing after the ad break.
This either means that votes were collected twice (before and after the ad break) or Górniak misremembered the timeline of events. This added fuel to the fire and people kept asking for voting cards. Górniak responded to that stating that she wouldn't have issues with her voting card being revealed. She also revealed that she was receiving results through her earpiece. It had a mixed reaction as TVP didn't reveal anything specific about voting cards and the bit about the earpiece fuelled the theory that somebody was manipulating behind the scenes.
The whole drama with Edyta Górniak was closed by her final comments. In one of the deleted comments she openly said that she is getting hatred for just reading results and some hatred is coming from people due to her being an easier target than the institution. Then there were two comments that you just have to read:

"Regarding the project Eurovision, I've lost my trust to everybody. Even if the rules were about to be change and fixed, I will never go back to this topic. I've seen what was happening last year, I have also seen what people were doing when Rafał was sent to Eurovision. And now the same thing is happening. I feel like a shield that was borrowed by somebody and put at the front of doors. This topic is closed for me."

The other comment:

"I am sure that time will tell and respond to all doubts. [...] I recommend to remember that despite of me being an influential person, I am not a boss of bosses and I can't do everything. [...] I will pray for justice"

You are about to know - Other dramas

So before we talk about Blanka herself, there are some small things worth mentioning. They are mostly based on gossip and they didn't live too long.
According to one of the theories, TVP was setting up MaRina as Poland's representative. She supposedly had to just send her song and everything would be set up. But after her performance at NYE Music Festival 2022, she supposedly withdrew.
From the same source, there is a gossip that one judge had issues with Jann's costume and choreography They supposedly found his costume as too inappropriate and too controversial. His choreography supposedly had some errors. These factors together supposedly created an impression on this judge that Jann would struggle to get points at Eurovision.
Another drama was caused by the release date of the article about Blanka's victory. The article was supposedly released around 2 hours before the competition and some people supposedly have seen it before Blanka's victory was revealed. However, there is no evidence of that and TVP explained the issue with the time of the article. The article supposedly saved the date of creation of the article instead of the release or final edit. The article was created early to publish results as fast as possible and it didn't contain names of contestants.
The final thing worth mentioning is an article talking about how pre-selections in Moldova and Serbia were better than Polish pre-selection. Moldova showed the individual votes of judges and amount of votes sent by viewers, while Serbia released voting cards. Even Lithuania and Latvia were praised.
The cherry on top is a depiction of how much Germany's ranking would change if they followed the rules of Polish pre-selections. Lord of the Lost would get a second, while Will Church (the winner of the judge's voting) would win instead.
This is similar to one theory that the previous representative of Poland, Ochman wouldn't win if the competition followed new rules. This cemented an impression that rules were changed to set up a winner.

It's kinda crazy - Blanka

Since results the reveal of the results, Blanka had to deal with multiple comments and memes. Depending on whom you ask, their perception of Blanka will vary. For some, she became "Bejba" due to her pronunciation of "Babe" and multiple memes. Bejba became viral and Ochman joined the trend. Even Blanka herself embraced the meme by wearing a dress with the text "Bejba". She explained her decision by stating that everybody now calls her bejba.
For some, she became a symbol of everything wrong with TVP and people started searching for evidence of corruption or Blanka being evil.
Somebody pointed out that Blanka's mother was working for TVP as a make-up artist for some shows. But it's possible that she was working for a company that happened to work for TVP and other tv broadcasters. For some, it was treated as evidence that Blanka has direct connections to TVP and there could be some bias.
Then there was another controversy regarding Blanka's social media. She supposedly liked comments that were saying that Jann is from the margin of society, which was interpreted as a classist remark or queerphobia. Just in case, Jann didn't say anything about being LGBTQ+ and only his appearance is relatively androgynous. Going back to the topic, some people defended Blanka stating that she could miss this bit as the comment starts as rather supportive. Some questioned the validity of it as Blanka's relationship with Jann appears to be positive. Blanka complimented Jann, while Jann was one of the first people to cheer her up after the competition and even defended her.
Another controversy was plagiarism. Specifically, there were allegations that Blanka either copied Clean Bandit's Solo or INNA's Up. These allegations remained allegations and that was their end.
The final controversy surrounding Blanka was a petition for Blanka's removal. There were two petitions and one of them has 91170 signatures. People wanted transparency from TVP and to see Jann perform in Eurovision. Blanka reacted to the petition and she was hurt by it.

Never back down - Eurovision

This year, Eurovision was divided into two parts. There were two semi-finals and one final. During the semi-finals, only viewers could vote.
Blanka performed in the second semi-final without massive issues and got 124 points. As a result, she got 3rd place in the second semi-final. It was a gigantic success and she beat the previous representative of Poland. Details can be found on Eurovision website.
Generally speaking, there was a positive reaction. People have praised Blanka for improving her performance, especially her vocals. Solo became one of the most popular Eurovision 2023 songs.
There were only two minor issues worth mentioning. Norway's newspaper Verdens Gang has openly criticised Blanka. Unfortunately, my Norwegian is non-existent and so this translation is straight from Google Translate. The original comment can be found here.

"Polish plastic pop reggae in the category that was once dominated by Swedes in the Stone Age (nineties). Blanka is probably not singing about Norwegian orange soda or a scruffy looking Star Wars hero, but about being completely alone in a relationship. The best thing that can be said about the "Solo" show is that she has the best glove of the finale. She falls out of tune, and loses her tone several times, That she actually thinks she can sing is hopelessly overwhelming. That, and that no adults have stopped this - regardless of the corruption charges."

Even Sweden talked about potential corruption and nepotism. They mentioned that Blanka's choreography was created by Egurolla. Funnily, even Edyta Górniak was mentioned, but she was called Blanka's mother-in-law.
Then there was a final performance, which had a similar reaction. The only difference was the lack of drama from the media and Polish fans even being proud of her. Blanka was placed 24th by judges and she was better than two performers. However, she got 8th place in televoting and it got her 19th place. A bit worse than the previous representative, who got 12th place.

The conclusion

Blanka managed to partially save her face and it's unclear what's going to happen in future. Blanka after Eurovision went on vacation and there hasn't been much news about her.
There was some discussion regarding her placement in televotes ranking and some people in the Eurovision subreddit have used her to make a point about how televoting is bad, while discussing the whole drama that happened due to Loreen's victory. For more information, I recommend checking this write-up.
Other contestants of pre-selections are doing fine and many of them released new songs. Especially Jann is doing well as his fanbase tripled in size and he is going to perform at OGAE Second Chance. Edyta Górniak and her son are still active, while Agustin Egurrola is focusing on his dance studio.
TVP is still controversial due to politics and it will probably remain controversial for a long time due to recent events. Years of bad reputation are hard to erase and most people are ready for another controversy Eurovision controversy.

I (300 M Vampire) haven't had the easiest of lives. I was turned into a vampire at the age of 20, and it's all been downhill from there. I've had to see my loved ones wither and die, I've had to get over a refusal to drink blood because if I don't I'll go into a blind bloodthirsty rage, amongst other things. I've seen, and done horrible things and its turned me into a cynical person. But that hasn't stopped me from trying to improve myself. It's taken a long time, but I have an understanding with the nearby villagers that I use for food. I don't kill them, and in exchange for their blood I'll protect the village during the night. Other than that we have an understanding not to interact with each other. This has been the norm for the past hundred years or so, until I met her.
She's the first person I have spoken to in a very long time, and at first I didn't recognize the sounds that she was making as words. The language just sounded like incoherent babbling until I realized they were words coming from her. (If that makes sense) She explained to me that she had heard rumors of a guardian devil that watches over the town, and she had to see him for herself. I found her amusing, so I entertained her for a while. But soon I craved my silent solitude, and asked her to leave. Only for her to return night after night to my annoyance. She wasn't loud, or rude, or even prevented me from going about my night. But I had gotten used to my lonely routines, that her mere presence was irritating.
You can imagine my surprise at how odd it was to miss her when she failed to show up one night. It was as if I had lost a beloved pet… a presence that is always there… I believe the word is companion? After that day, I found that I wanted to make a real effort to connect with someone again, and so I did. We slowly grew closer, and after a few years our relationship blossomed into something I never knew I could experience, and now the two of us will soon become three. So in order to take our relationship to the next level, I popped the question. I asked her if she wanted to become a vampire, and stand by my side for all of time. She gave me a look, one that I didn't want to see on her face. She told me that she loved me, and that would never change. But she could do something like that, she couldn't see her loved ones, family, and friends, grow old and die. She said she wants to live a fulfilling life, and she would love to spend the rest of hers with me, but she can't stay forever. I knew she would say that, I know how she is, but I was still hoping that Sue would say yes to me, and that we could have an eternal happily ever after. But I let myself believe in fairytales instead of reality. With a heavy sigh and a heavier heart I agreed, and said I would cherish, and make the most of her life as long as it were intertwined with mine.
Our daughter was born a few months later. she was born during the middle of the day, and I couldn't be there for obvious reasons. But during the night, when I finally got to see, and hold my daughter I knew. I could not lose her, I don't know what dormant instinct she awoke within me, but suddenly nothing in the world was more important than the small creature holding my thumb. As the months came and went, I found myself hoping she would cry out for me in the still night. I was prepared for any situation regarding her needs, and found myself counting down the days to her first birthday as I saw her grow more and more each night. When the realization hit me. One day she'll wither and die just like everyone else in my life.
For the first time in my undead life, I felt an intense pain in my chest. It was as if someone was squeezing it at irregular intervals, I was having trouble breathing, and I felt as if the room was slowly tilting closer to me. I fell, which awoke my daughter and made her cry. Her crying snapped me out of that awful state, and I began to tend to her. By the time she had stopped crying, and I put her back to sleep, I had made up my mind. I couldn't lose her.
It was on the day of her first birthday that I told my wife what I wanted. She was not happy, and said she would not allow it because something like that shouldn't be forced on a baby. I countered that I would always be there to take care of her, and she would never be alone. This made her madder, and she said I was missing the point. She said that if I were to turn her into a vampire she would stay as she is, she wouldn't become more than a baby, and that it was wrong to give someone this curse as they would lose the goal of life, death. This hurt me as I didn't choose to become a vampire either, and as things are now, I'll blink and this wonderful moment in my life would be gone. I'll be standing at the graves of my wife and daughter, and I'll be alone again.
At that moment I felt lonely, even with her and my daughter in the room. I started to become desperate, feeling their lives slowly slip away. I told her, I was set on turning our daughter into a vampire, maybe not now but I will eventually. She put her foot down and said she forbid it, citing that because she wasn't one our daughter wouldn't be one either. This only served to anger me, but I bit my tongue. This is still my daughter's birthday, and I have every intention of making my daughter smile today. But as the night went on, I felt a distinct rift between me and my wife. I don't know what to do now, or where to go from here. But I know that if I don't do something, sometime in the distant future I'll be alone again. AITA?

Wow. This seems impossible but it's been four years since my last foray into the world of r4r. I met someone amazing back then. She was a sunflower and she pulled me out of the void and brought me a lot of joy for a period of 8 months.
I don't know if that's long or short by peoples standards here, but it was amazing.
I miss that sort of connection.
The kind where you and another person click instantly and get lost in the butterflies and dissorientation of falling for each other. That doesn't have to be you. Maybe you just miss a connection of a friend and want to have someone to keep you company. Maybe you want to start slow and see where this thing takes us.
About me. I'm a 5'10 blonde haired (maybe its more brown these days as I get older) blue eyed therapist living in the South. I'm attractive by most people's standards. I don't have any tattoos or piercings. Apart from my therapy practice I'm an avid reader and writer hoping to one day publish some books when I feel confident with their state.
I love sports, being active, working out, and getting out of the house.
I'm also a huge nerd. You can see I have posted about D&D in my post history. If you think find that distasteful then I'm not for you.
I'm looking or at the least a friend who makes me smile and at most someone I miss when I have to go to bed at night. I'm totally down to share pictures, chat, voice chat, and more!
Come say hi! I'm pretty chill.