The train pulled out of the station and stopped. A storm had coated tree branches in a thick layer of glassy ice, twinkling and ringing in frigid gusts.
A young man whose path was blocked by the halted car brought the camera slung around his neck to his eye and pressed the shutter button. The train crawled forward.
On the exterior wall of a once beautiful art deco structure, chipped paint declares this the former home of a mailing tube manufacturer. Embedded in the brick is a basketball backboard, the hoop for which I assume must've been ripped up to make way for the rail line.
My landlord insists my place isn't haunted, but he's sure that there are many ghosts walking the streets of the glimmering cities lining America's third coast. He tells me that they waft in on breezes from the Great Lake, sailors and factory workers and soldiers and nurses.
Sometimes, in rusting signage and crumbling bricks, I tell myself I can see them too.
In another town at another time, I am 21. It is dusk in the midsummer and I swear to God the chorus of cicadas makes the temperature 10° hotter than the thermometer on my dashboard reads.
I must have been a sweaty mess, my bangs glued to my forehead and my thighs sticking to leather seats, but these are details I haven't bothered to remember.
I am dropping you off for the last time at the house that after tomorrow you will no longer call your home. For the last time, I ask you the same question I've been asking in jest for weeks: "is the last time I'll ever see you?" And for the first time, you answer yes.
I don't cry until you do. I don't think either of us mean to.
I left that city years after you did. Part of me hoped that The Things I Never Said would stay there with the lingering ghost of you.
But who's to say that the spirits of those who are carried in on the Great Lake have to have died?
Sometimes, as I move through this new old city, I imagine you beside me. I would point out the years stamped into the sidewalk slabs, and I would tell you that all of the best bars are in the basements of 150 year old houses.
Perhaps I would tell you how madly in love with you I was in another town at another time, but I didn't because I already knew how the whole thing would play out.
But in those final moments together, sweaty and crying with each of our hands grasping the other's face and foreheads pressed together, I told you that we'd meet again.
It was such a proud declaration that I struggle to this day to not believe it's true.
I have felt very confident at times that if your voice appeared on the other line of a call from an unknown number that I would hang up. I've clenched my teeth and held back tears late at night, thinking about what I should have done differently.
Regardless of what I've told myself, I find myself scanning the faces in crowds, hoping one day that one of them will be yours.
But I don't know that I would even recognize you anymore.

it was like 8pm and some guy stopped me on my way home and asked for directions. then he asked if there was a dentist nearby??? and i said that if there were dentists i’m pretty sure they’d be closed. he asks me if dentists deal with tongue related issues and i said i don’t think so and then he stuck his tongue out at me and asked if it looked normal (it did).
i only realised it might be shady because his hands were near his crotch region the entire time. and he was looking around a lot, saying he was sorry for wasting my time, but then kept asking dumb questions that made no sense. like he has google he can search these questions himself.
what do i do?? i feel kinda weirded out by it but i don’t know if it’s severe enough to make a report.

Everytime when the topic of locrian in pop music comes up, "Army Of Me" by Björk is used as the main example. And technically it is Locrian because the ostinato bass line in the verses uses B♭-C-A♭-G♭ notes and has C as the tonal center. So we have ♭VII, I, ♭V and ♭VI and there is much of D♭(♭II) in vocal line. But there's no G♭ in the verses melody (and there is G natural in chorus melody!). And if you replace that G♭ with G natural in the bassline, it sounds basically the same and still works with the melody. So this song sounds to me more like С phrygian with a "color" note in bassline rather than C Locrian. Is that the right way of thinking?
It seems to me that I've found another example of Locrian and it's the chorus part of "Before I Forget" by Slipknot. Main riff uses notes B-C#-D-E-F#-G-A notes with C# as the tonal center and it looks like pure phrygian, because it is I-♭II-♭III-IV-♭V-♭VI-♭VII and replacing the G (♭V) with G# (V) makes the riff sound very off. But the chorus melody doesn't contain G or G#, for the most part and it has G# note in one of the later choruses. But it has G natural in the verse (in bluesy-sounding G-F#-F#-E-E-C#-E phrase), with underlying riff based on B-C#-D-E notes so I guess this song has Locrian/Phrygian modal mixture? And the bridge which is most melodic part of the song has pure V and ♭II in the guitars but II in the melody (in different places) so it looks like aeolian/phrygian mixture.
So, my question is: what makes Locrian mode "really" Locrian? And can I call verses or choruses in "Before I Forget" the examples of Locrian mode?

decided to do this cuz not only could i not find a guide but all i found was people saying it was impossible so i decided to give it a shot.
Pawlenty VP, cakewalk difficulty
split visits half and half with Florida and Ohio with maybe one more to Ohio as it will be the closest states.
​
-1 I’d like to take a trip to Europe, meeting with NATO leaders to talk about Russia and giving the European Union my assurance that the United States is committed to collaborating on strengthening relations, and tackling current economic issues.
​
-2 Governor Pawlenty has served as a lesson in good governance to us all. I’m mightily impressed with his administrative experience and excited to get to work crafting legislation with him at my side.
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-3 In 2008, it is clear that the American people want change. I will build upon the progress made in the last eight years, while working with both parties in Congress to forge a path ahead. My opponent claims he represents change, but his ideas of big government and raising taxes are just as old and out of touch as ever.
​
-4 I’d rather not make a big deal of the endorsement; I’d be happy to let him endorse me, but tying my name to Bush so vocally might hurt our chances in the long run.
​
-5 There’s no way we can compete with Obama’s celebrity status. Let him grab the attention for a bit, while we solidify our campaign organization, unveil specific policy planks, and continue to spread the message that I am the experienced, capable candidate who can lead our nation in troubled times.
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-6 There’s no point trying to compete with Obama’s celebrity online. What we can do is outrun him on television. I want to be hitting the swing states hard with advertisements. We can lock up the older voters in a way Obama can’t.
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-7 Only if that’s what it takes to defeat the terrorists. My number one priority is creating the conditions to get American soldiers home, and those conditions are safety at home and safety abroad.
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-8 I don’t want to get too much into the policy, what we need to focus on is the message. Voters need to know that in times like these, experienced and capable leadership will see us through the worst crises.
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-9 (achievement question) We should have broken up these monopolistic corporations years ago and brought the financial sector closer to the people. Too big to fail is too big to exist. How many Americans will suffer at the hands of this Bush-made crisis before they realize the folly of capitalism?
​
-10 It’s time to set politics aside. I’m suspending my campaign for the time being, and going to Washington to help negotiate a bailout. I invite Senator Obama to do the same, so we can focus on making a deal for the American people.
(5201) (if youre like me and you didnt know, right click on questions and hit inspect element to see the code value for every question so you can pick the best debate answers)
​
-11 I’d like to take some time, maybe an ad spot or two, to specifically target the people who are spreading these lies, disavow them and disprove them. We need to come together as Americans, and we’ll reach out to the Obama campaign to make it happen.
​
-12 We expected this attack to be made. His answer wasn’t perfect, but we’d be best served by moving on and forgetting all about it. Let’s shift the focus back to the issues ahead of the debate and stick to the message during it.
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-13 Obama is too dangerous for America. I want that to be the message we’re putting out -- on the internet, on the television, everywhere. I want a massive robocall campaign to hammer the point home: we don’t know the real Barack Obama.
​
-14 I plan to revolutionize health care. By deregulating individual insurance markets so people can get covered across state lines, we can provide a tax credit of up to $5000 to offset the cost of insurance. Senator Obama will impose a mandate that will hurt small businesses immeasurably.
​
-15 We need to turn the tables. Let’s release an ad highlighting his disrespect for our troops in Afghanistan, and how he voted to cut off their funding, increasing the risk to their lives. Obama is too dangerous for America.
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-16 No ma’am. He’s a decent family man - a citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, that’s what this campaign is all about - he’s not.
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-17 I do support closing the center at Guantanamo, and I certainly oppose the use of torture against detainees. All that we have accomplished through maintaining these policies is providing more recruits to al-Qaeda.
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-18 His age isn’t an issue, but his experience is. We have a lifetime of political and military experience to capitalize on here. Obama lacks any of that, and is dangerously unqualified to handle the problems we face.
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-19 I believe climate change is a serious issue, and if you look at my record, you can see I’ve taken it very seriously. We need to innovate in nuclear, solar, wind and ethanol, and as President I will work to achieve a 65% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.
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-20 I would support peoples’ rights to enter into legal agreements, for insurance and other areas. The unique status of marriage should be retained between a man and a woman. I don’t, however, support a federal ban.
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-21 Yes, I believe Roe should be overturned. I would support a constitutional amendment banning abortion in all cases outside rape, incest and risk to the mother.
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-22 We need to increase our energy independence. The best way to do this is to expand offshore drilling making new investments in electric cars and nuclear energy. I oppose a windfall profits tax, unlike Senator Obama.
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-23 Wright is off the table. Any such attack would smack of desperation and racism at a time when we should be coming together. I do not want to be seen as a racist candidate. We’ll stick to the issues and our other attacks.
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-24 The many crises facing our nation demand a steady hand. I may not be able to reach above my head, but I will reach across the aisle to make sure both parties are united in working for the American people. Let’s come together, and bring the right kind of change to our beloved country.
​
-25 Ohio and Indiana are going to decide this election. We’re going to blitz Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Dayton, before one final rally in Fort Wayne.
I tried this strategy 4 times and won all but one so it shouldn't be too RNG heavy.
You don't need to campaign in Colorado as you get 270 exactly without it but you can totally win it even without visiting it
​
Not impossible! hope this helps!

My mother passed of Cancer in May. I found myself lost. I felt isolated and alone, in a world that was not home. My family had moved to England after they had me, but my father moved back to Japan shortly after, due to falling into a depression brought on by a mixture of homesickness and his inability to find a job. That was thanks to his struggle with speaking English, and no one would hire him. He split with my mother upon moving back, so when she passed, I had no family left.
To honour her memory, and hope to find a sense of peace again, I decided to move back to her home town, Okinoshima, on the Oki Islands (Shimane prefecture). I found myself on a small, private hire boat just a few months later with two others plus the captain and his crew. Each person had a small room with a bed and a nightstand to themselves, but considering the size of our vessel, it seemed as if the bed would burst out of the walls of the room. I spent most of our month long journey in my assigned room, reminiscing and grieving. I loved everything about my mother. She was kind, and loving to all creatures and had an immense love for the ocean - hence why I decided to take a month long boat trip rather than a twenty-one hour plane. Little bit dramatic in hindsight, I know, but I needed a lifestyle break. My mother had always wanted a career in marine biology, but had never made her dream come true for various reasons I won't get into. Mostly familial. Mammals were her favourite, with whales in particular. Even on her death bed she always insisted the nurses let her listen to whale calls to help her rest, but they weren't ordinary whale calls. She once let me listen to her tape when I was little and was struggling to sleep for weeks on end after my parents divorce. The calls had something else in them: a sense of eternity, and a feeling of hope, love and loss all at once. Noises that would put you in a state of solitude, and would wake you feeling as if you had already lived a thousand lives and had just been reborn.
She put the tape in her will; stating that only her child (me), and my children were allowed to listen to the tape. After my children passed, it was to be destroyed. Wishing I had a chance to talk to her about it, I spent most of the first two weeks listening to it over, and over again. It was the only thing that could break me from my grief, even for a split second.
Until the last week on board, when we entered the East Sea. Honestly, I'm not sure what changed, but it was as if I had been splashed awake after a deep sleep. I began to spend every second watching the ocean, right up until we encountered the storm. It wasn't a rough storm, however it was enough to knock our petite boat around, risking the safety of those onboard. We were advised to stay in our cabins, but I refused. A new feeling of peace instilled within my soul, I felt connected to the storm and embraced every drop of rain that touched my skin. With the winds battering our sails, and desperately trying to steer the ship off-course, our captain fought with all his might. Rain felt like gunshots while splashes from the sea were stronger than any man you've ever met. So strong that I was swept overboard.
In a frenzy of waves and desperation I clung onto anything I could, clawing at the railings on the edge of the boat while everyone else shouted, screamed, and ran over desperately, but I slipped. My grip wasn't strong enough and I was tugged beneath the water. I tried everything I could to stay afloat, but every time I got to an arms reach of the surface another current would pull me back under. Adrenaline could only last so long though, and I quickly began to lose all strength within me, submitting to nature's will. I panicked, feeling more fear than I ever had in my entire life, praying to Gods that I didn't even know existed to help me out of this situation. I quickly lost hope, and sinking to the bottom of the ocean, savouring my last breath, all I saw was my mother. The last of my oxygen bubbling up around the imagine of her in her prime. Before chemo. When she was still happy. The light flickered from my eyes and all I could feel was guilt. I became one with the water. It's endlessness and I were all we had. A void of empty nothing. Pressure consumed me on all sides and a ringing sounded throughout my ears - similar to that of a trainline. Any consciousness I had left screamed throughout my head in an attempt to burst my skull.
A school of fish darted past me, and circled back. How deep was I?
I stared around in the deep silence for what seemed like an eternity until a light emerged. Thousand of fish, both tiny and as big as a shark, and following it… a whale. A whale emanating a beautiful blue aura, surrounded by glimmering fish. They swam around me, beginning to rip small chunks out of my skin until the whale urged closer and began to sing. Almost a cry of pain, and the fish darted away. It was a call I recognised, and had grown to love. The call on my mother's tape. As the whale grew ever so closer, and it's figure became clear through the ominously dark waters, I noticed it's skin was transparent, and it contained no organs. All that was visibly solid were its bones. Huge white masses, each one the size of my body. It was terrifyingly beautiful, and though I should've felt fear, I was filled with a sense of comfort. The whale recognised me, as I recognised it. It felt my mother's blood within me, and fought off any aquatic creature that sought out to harm me as I lingered on my last breath. I don't know how I survived for so long. It felt as if time slowed down, or maybe the whale helped me to hold the remaining oxygen with me. I had never been a frequent swimmer, but I knew my mother had dived without oxygen tanks for her whole life. Despite the whales docile behaviour I could tell it was not usually so calm. Gashes lined its skeleton like something from a museum. Cold turned to warmth as the dangerous, unnatural being reached within an arms length from me, and my eyes began to close. Desperately, I took in the scene for the last time, and remembered my mother - my lifeline.
And in that moment the whale changed course towards me. Its bones creaking and cracking as it crashed into me from below. With overwhelming strength, it threw me towards the surface in an effortless flick of its tail, and before I knew it, I was above the current. Waves became less murderous and I found the boat just 20 feet away.
Immediately, the crew spotted me and turned the vessel in my direction. Somehow, I floated with ease until I was heaved on board. The rest of the trip was a blur, and now I write this from my new house. One that feels more like home than England ever did, despite it's many, many flaws. Following in my mother's legacy I took up freediving, searching for the whale every day for 5 months until I almost gave up hope.
Last night I found her. She greeted me like an old friend.

Hi all, looking for some advice
I'm currently running HA OS on raspberry pi 4. Initially I installed onto the SD card, and soon after got an SSD and used the data disk migration tool to use this in place. I've been getting unresponsive periods from HA usually around the middle of the day (10:00 to 13:00 approx) most days, which it seems can only be resolved by rebooting and some patience. During this time the HA server can't be pinged.
I believe this still leaves the SD card responsible for holding some aspects of home assistant, and want to remove my dependency on potentially an unreliable part as much as I can.
Can anyone explain when using the data disk migration, exactly what is moved to the selected disk, and what is left on the original SD? I can still see the HA db and all other content in the config dir on my sd card, but am not sure if this is now just an unused old file (not a Linux expert)
My main question is relating how to approach getting set up for booting from the SSD (if this is a good idea) from my starting point of using the rpi with sd as boot and SSD as data disk. I'm using the Google drive auto backup extension, so I have up to date backups, which presumably would be restored. Would all data I need be part of the HA backup I already have, despite the split between sd and SSD I have? Also, I run zigbee with ZHA, is this content data part of the backup?
Alternatively if anyone has any ideas on how to diagnose the cause of these near daily lockups, I'd appreciate it. Looking through the logs there are errors in there, but nothing pointing to a smoking gun far as I can see.
Thanks all for any advice.

Sure, I can create a dialogue between Ethan Klein from h3 and Ryan Kavanaugh. Here is one possible scenario:
​
Ethan: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the H3 podcast. Today we have a very special guest, the CEO of Triller and the man who is suing me for millions of dollars, Ryan Kavanaugh. Ryan, thank you for joining us.
Ryan: Thank you for having me, Ethan. I'm here to clear the air and set the record straight.
Ethan: Okay, well, let's start with the obvious question. Why are you suing me?
Ryan: I'm suing you because you illegally streamed the Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren fight on your podcast, which was a pay-per-view event that my company Triller produced and distributed. You also made false and defamatory statements about me and my company, such as accusing us of inflating the pay-per-view numbers, lying about our investors, and being a scam.
Ethan: Well, first of all, I did not illegally stream the fight. I only showed a few seconds of clips that were already widely available on social media. That's fair use, and it's protected by the First Amendment.
Ryan: That's not fair use, Ethan. That's piracy. You showed the entire fight to your millions of viewers, and you deprived us of our rightful revenue. You also encouraged your fans to pirate the fight and spread lies about us.
Ethan: That's not true, Ryan. I never encouraged anyone to pirate anything. I was just commenting on the fight as a public figure and a critic. And I didn't spread lies about you. I only reported on what was already out there in the media.
Ryan: The media is biased against me, Ethan. They have an agenda to smear me and my company. They are jealous of our success and our innovation. We are revolutionizing the entertainment industry with Triller, and we are giving opportunities to new talent and new audiences.
Ethan: Come on, Ryan. You can't seriously expect me to believe that. Triller is a rip-off of TikTok, and your fights are a joke. You have no credibility or integrity. You are a con artist and a bully.
Ryan: How dare you say that to me, Ethan? You are the one who has no credibility or integrity. You are a hypocrite and a coward. You hide behind your microphone and your lawyers, and you attack people who are more successful than you.
Ethan: Oh, please, Ryan. You are the one who is hiding behind your lawyers and your money. You are suing me because you can't handle criticism or competition. You are trying to silence me and intimidate me.
Ryan: I'm not trying to silence you or intimidate you, Ethan. I'm trying to hold you accountable for your actions and your words. You have crossed the line, and you have to face the consequences.
Ethan: What consequences, Ryan? You have no case against me. Your lawsuit is frivolous and baseless. It's a SLAPP suit, designed to harass me and drain my resources.
Ryan: It's not a SLAPP suit, Ethan. It's a legitimate claim for damages. You have harmed me and my company with your illegal streaming and your defamation. And I have evidence to prove it.
Ethan: What evidence, Ryan? Show me the evidence.
Ryan: I can't show you the evidence right now, Ethan. It's confidential and proprietary. But trust me, I have it.
Ethan: Yeah, sure you do, Ryan. Just like you have evidence for all your other claims that turned out to be false or exaggerated.
Ryan: They are not false or exaggerated, Ethan. They are true and accurate.
Ethan: Okay, Ryan. Let's test that. How about we make a bet?
Ryan: A bet? What kind of bet?
Ethan: A simple bet. If you can prove any of your claims against me in court, I will pay you whatever amount you want. But if you can't prove any of them, you will drop the lawsuit and apologize to me publicly.
Ryan: That's a ridiculous bet, Ethan.
Ethan: Why? Are you afraid to take it?
Ryan: No, I'm not afraid to take it.
Ethan: Then take it.
Ryan: Fine. I'll take it.
Ethan: Great. It's a deal then.
Ryan: It's a deal.
Ethan: Alright then. Thank you for joining us today, Ryan Kavanaugh.
Ryan: Thank you for having me today, Ethan Klein.
Ethan: And thank you for watching the H3 podcast everyone. See you next time.
​

Thinking that my abortion failed, I decided to go to a regular clinic I go to for a Beta HCG to know how far along I am actually with my early pregnancy. But based on my LMP, I was about 4 weeks pregnant.
I didn’t think that I needed a referral from their in-house doctor, and now they have a record of me being pregnant. My doctor is actually really nice, he asked me why I wanted to get a quantitative blood test, I told him that I’ve already missed my period and that I tested that morning using a home pregnancy test told him that I got a faint positive.
I plan on re-doing my MA (this time the correct way) in a couple of days or once I get my result from the test (In 3 days). I asked the clinic to just email me my results as I wouldn’t be able to get them personally bc I go back to work by the time they release it.
The stars aligned for me that day as I took some of the meds vaginally (my huge mistake) and abortion is illegal here and the doctor recommended me I get a Trans V. Luckily enough, there wasn’t anyone abailable to do so. So that was a huge sigh for me.
My question is, in a couple weeks, to make sure my abortion was successful, I plan on getting an ultrasound or trans V, is it necessary to do and get them from the same clinic and to have them convinced I had a miscarriage? Or I can just go to another clinic/OB? Really need help with this..

I'm confused. I got all my slots occupied by random villagers in order to get K.K. to come on my island. Now I wanna replace them all by looking for ones i really want.
So on Saturday one of them asked me if It's okay to leave and i agreed, he moved out on Sunday and the plot became available. Sunday and Monday I've been visiting lots of island but couldn't find anyone I want and yesterday the plot was sold to Renee (whom i rejected already). So my question is : I only have 2 days to get someone or they will send a random villager? Or i'm doing something wrong?

I spend all of my daylight hours scared and alone in this musty old cellar.
It’s woeful, and I bet it smelled this bad even before everything around here turned to crap. Great. My second sentence and I’ve already resorted to swearing. When I decided I’d start this diary (five minutes ago when I got a tiny sliver of signal) I thought it would be my poetic and deeply-moving goodbye to the world. Maybe I’d write about love and loss, or maybe the splendour of nature. Then, when all is done and dusted, I’d have left something to be remembered by. As well as my corpse, of course.
This was a bad idea.
*
Okay, I’m an idiot. There’s nothing else I can do down here. I’ve rooted through every cardboard box a hundred times, organised and reorganised my supplies, I’ve even built a fort. So, I’m back. Hello. Again. God, this diary is going badly.
But there’s just enough light coming through the boards I nailed over the cellar’s tiny window to type by. So I may as well type. Stops me staring up at the window just waiting for a shadow to pass by.
Maybe I'll just write and not hit Submit. Right, where to start? Well, my name is – actually, I think I’m going to refer to myself as ‘X’. That sounds mysterious. If you’re reading this and want to know my real name, I still carry my purse. My railcard is in there and, if you really want to know who I am, go find me and fish it out. I won’t bite...
So, my name is X. I live in a little English village in the middle of nowhere. Before all this happened, I had a mum, a dad, a sister and there was a boy I liked, his name was Jonah.
*
I couldn’t think of anything else to write so I waited until I came back from my rounds. That’s the stupid name I have for when I go outside at night scrounging for stuff. Drinks are the hardest. I only trust bottles or cans, or did, and I was running out of places to search for them. But I guess that doesn’t matter now.
My leg is doing alright actually; didn’t hold me up at all. I saw Jonah too. He’s looked better, I have to say. It’s strange because this is only the second time I’ve seen him since we came here. Maybe his ears were burning.
Anyway, I found some tinned pineapple in a creepy old caravan I hadn’t searched yet. Had to bust the door open with Old Trusty – which I thought might attract some unwanted attention – but it was fine. I’m actually eating the pineapple right now, tastes good. I also found a radio in there. I already have three down here, but none of them work. Not that the caravan radio works either, all you get is static. It’s just nice to collect something. You know, to have a hobby.
*
I can tell the sun is rising. I managed to sleep for a couple of hours, but I woke up after a bad dream. I know some people can remember their dreams, but I never do. I wake up and grasp at them, but I never manage a hold before they fade away. It’s like trying to pinch the corner of a wisp of smoke; the harder you try, the quicker it fades to nothing. I’m just left with a sensation, a kind of imprint which sums up the most intense part of the dream.
And a cold sweat. That’s new.
*
I’ve been through the box of photo albums I found at the back of the cellar again. I’ve looked through them a few times now, but I always notice something new.
There’s a photo of this little girl playing with a pretend guitar. I can tell it’s pretend because it doesn’t have strings, only brightly-coloured plastic dials. Kind of like My First Guitar Hero or something. The girl has dark hair and she looks a tiny bit like my sister did a million years ago. I don’t have a picture of my sister. I suppose I could go and get one from my old house, but it’s right in the middle of the village. I’m lucky I wasn’t torn to shreds the last time I went back. So, what I’ve done is put this girl’s photo in my back pocket as a substitute.
I guess I should probably write something about my real sister now. But I don’t think that’s a good idea just yet.
*
Daylight is starting to fade and I’m getting ready to go out on my rounds. I always take my satchel with me, packed with useful objects. I have Old Trusty (a crowbar) which sticks out of the top for easy access, a small toolbox, a pair of heavy-duty gloves (there’s a good story about how I got those, I might write that one down later) and a hammer. I carry a penknife I found down here in my pocket, my purse and phone, and a torch in my hand.
I don’t like to use the torch because its battery is running out and there’s always the chance it might attract them. I probably shouldn’t have used it last night when I got back. Maybe I’m starting to enjoy this writing malarkey? I need to be careful with luxuries.
*
Okay, that could have gone better.
Picture the scene: I’m using Old Trusty to try and lever a kitchen window open, when one of them just walks right through the garden hedge. Seriously, straight through it. It’s not the mightiest of hedges but, still, it just appeared like it was walking through one of those Japanese paper walls. My satchel was on the ground, but I legged it anyway. I’m not stupid. I know I can go back for it tomorrow. I felt strangely naked without it on the way back here though.
Like I said before, I need to be careful with the torch so I think I’ll try and get some sleep now.
*
I slept pretty well last night; no nightmares or cold sweats. Maybe a midnight chase was just what I needed to blow away the cobwebs.
I actually woke up wondering about you. If you’re reading this, who are you? If you’re like me, living through this village nightmare, how have you managed to go this long without being killed or whatever? Maybe you’re Army or some such. Maybe you’re just some kid who’s played so many videogames that surviving all of this was already second nature to you. Or maybe you’re like me; living on borrowed time and searching for a good place to die. Maybe Future Me was brave enough to tap Submit on my diary and you're currently reading this on your phone or computer.
Here’s an idea. Maybe you can carry on this diary from wherever I left it at. God, I really hope this isn’t my last entry, although I suppose any entry might be. If you do carry the diary forwards, and I'm a corpse, maybe it will become cursed. Spooky.
*
I’ve been preparing for my next excursion.
If I know I’m going somewhere I’ll likely run into an ugly, I like to take extra precautions. And I want my satchel back. It was a present from my dad, and I know it cost him a lot of money.
So, I’m taking a pair of shears from the shelf of old tools down here. That way, if I lose Old Trusty, I’ll have a backup weapon.
If you are local, I wonder how you like to kill them? Pretty morbid question I know, but everyone around here seems to have their preferred method. The last villager I saw alive carried a pair of mini cricket bats and seemed to have bludgeoning down to an art form. He never saw me though, I was watching from a grove of trees as he killed his way along the main road near the village.
That was before I decided to stay inside during the daylight hours. We can at least see a little bit at night; ambient light and everything. They can’t though. I’ve seen them, they bump into things. It’s pretty funny to be honest. If they hear a noise, they walk in the direction of the sound, never trying to avoid any object in their path. They either bash said object out of the way, or, like that hedge, blunder right through it. Obviously bigger things stop them dead (ha!) though. If that happens, they sort of shuffle backwards and then try again a few times. Eventually – and I’ve seen this too – they just give up and stand there, waiting for something else to attract their attention.
That’s not how it works in the daytime though.
*
I think it’s about an hour before the sun sets so it’s nearly time to head out. I’m going to change my bandage. One minute.
Okay, it didn’t look that bad really. The original scratch wasn’t too deep and now the wound seems to be doing that scabbing thing I remember from normal injuries. It just doesn’t smell very good. A bit like when you walk past a bin that needs emptying.
Anyway, I’ve applied more antiseptic and redressed it. Time to go.
*
That was fun. I’m glad I had those shears with me.
I got my satchel back you’ll be happy to know. And I got inside that house I’d been trying to break into as well. More through necessity than choice in the end, but I’m pleased I did. I found more batteries! That means I can justify writing at night a bit more. In fact, the people who used to live there (I think the husband owned the local garage) were pretty well kitted out. There were a lot of tins in their cupboards, and they’d even left a shotgun. It wasn’t loaded though.
Not that I need a shotgun. I didn’t tell you this before, but I have my grandpa’s old service revolver. He always told me and my sister that it was decommissioned, but my dad apparently knew otherwise. I keep it tucked into the back of my jeans at all times. It had three bullets, one of them is gone, so only two left.
I’ll only be needing the one of course.
*
Morning. I’m feeling pretty low today. I think concentrating on getting my satchel back took my mind off things, but now I feel pretty deflated.
Surely that’s understandable? The village I knew and loved has been replaced with this sodding hell. I miss my family, my friends, TV and hot dinners and Instagram. Before all of this I was a pretty positive person. Sure, I had a bit of trouble getting up in the morning, but, once I was up, that was it. I’d meet the day’s challenges head on, try to enjoy myself as much as I could. Not today though.
Maybe if I write about Jonah I’ll cheer up. Not Jonah as he is now of course, Jonah when he was all smooth-skinned, curly-haired and bright-eyed. Now he’s like the anti-Jonah or something. His face looks like it lost a fight with an angry lobster. No, wait, I’m supposed to be writing about Jonah version one here.
He’s one of those people that I can’t remember meeting. My family has always lived around here and so there are lots of people who have just always been, if you get me. I always thought we would drunkenly get it together at a party – that’s what I’d usually do if there was a boy I liked. Classy.
*
I’ve perked up a bit. Out of sheer frustration I went upstairs (naughty, I know) and looked out of a window. Sure, I saw an ugly, wandering aimlessly as they always do, but I saw that the trees are starting to turn too. That means it’s nearly autumn, and I love autumn!
My sister and I always used to go out and kick leaves at each other in the autumn. I don’t know if it was because of her low centre of gravity, but my sister was amazing at it. She could somehow whip up a blazing whirlwind of golden-yellow and fire-red, surrounding us both in a leaf storm that I couldn’t help but flail my arms madly at. Then we’d both fall backwards into the leaves laughing, me wondering how on earth what had happened was possible. She was that good.
God, I let her down in the end.
*
I think I’ll stay away from the house with the shotgun tonight. It usually takes a day or two for a group of uglies to disperse once they’re all riled up. I could use the rest of that tinned food I suppose, but I’ve got plenty to be getting on with for now.
Instead, I think I’ll swing by another farmhouse I was scoping out before I decided to turn nocturnal. I never met the people who used to live there, but I remember Mum telling me they liked their privacy. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me visiting now though.
Also, there’s a woodland between here and there and I might be able to find some leaves to kick about a bit. I think that would make me feel close to my sister again.
I’ll check back in later.
*
I’m still alive, but only just.
I made it through the woods just fine (only the odd leaf on the forest floor at the moment though, sadly), the trouble started at the farmhouse. I couldn’t get in – the doors and windows were barricaded – so I tried one of the outbuildings. Locked. It had a cat flap though.
My first instinct was to leave it, but then I wondered if there might be something useful inside. Lord knows what thinking about it now. I lifted the cat flap with one hand and shone the torch beam through with my other. That’s when an ugly dived at my pinkies. Luckily, it misjudged its leap and got a mouthful of plastic cat flap instead. As for me, I fell backwards onto my bum.
Next, the damn thing started bashing on the door from the inside. I don’t think it could ever have got out, but the noise attracted more uglies from out of nowhere. I only just managed to outmanoeuvre them and hightail it back into the woods.
That’s not the worst of it though. On the way back my leg started to hurt. A lot.
*
I woke up this morning and I’m walking with a limp. It’s funny, Dad had a limp when he and Mum died. He was nailing planks of wood across our windows and doors because there was no signal (as per bloody usual) and we thought that what was happening here was probably happening everywhere. It's only recently that I realised this was an isolated, local outbreak. Anyway, Dad dropped the hammer onto his toe, he always was useless at DIY. I think it was only a couple of hours after that when he and Mum were taken.
It was like a wave of death. No, not like, that’s exactly what it was. A hoard of uglies swept through the village, probably originating from the secret research facility in the woods we're not supposed to know about. My sister and I wouldn’t have had a prayer if Mum and Dad hadn’t charged down the first few that got into our house. They gave us just enough time to escape, to run away and leave them to die. My sister was screaming all the way and I had to drag her like she was four again.
She wouldn’t speak to me for a few days after that. I didn’t blame her, I hated myself too. But I would have hated myself even more if I hadn’t done what I did next. On my own, I snuck back into our house with the crowbar I found here. Then I dispatched my parents. I can’t bring myself to type it any other way. It wasn’t like in the movies, I didn’t pound their skulls into mush whilst sobbing, ‘Why?’ over and over again. I just found them, or what was left of them, forced the crowbar through each of their eye sockets, and came straight back here.
Then came the crying.
*
I haven’t told you about the heavy-duty gloves yet, have I?
After I got back from our old house, my sister started speaking to me again. A shared, day-long cry will do that for sisters. Once we felt up to it, we decided to explore the parts of the farmhouse we hadn’t searched yet. All the bedrooms were empty, only a few belongings flung about the place (I suspect the previous tenants left in a hurry). The problem came when we investigated the attic. Once we’d opened the ceiling panel in the upstairs hallway, once we’d pulled the compact staircase down, I went up. My sister stood at the top of the hatchway shining the torch beam over my shoulder. And that’s when it touched me. Terrified, I fell to my left, screaming as the thing came crashing down on top of me. I was yelling things like, ‘Shoot it!’ and, ‘Run!’ but my sister was just laughing her head off. I soon realised that my attacker was in fact a shop-window mannequin.
I think the people who previously lived here must have been arty (or into some seriously freaky stuff) because the mannequin was dressed in scarves, bandannas, ties, watches – loads of things. The rest of the attic was pretty empty but at least we got the mannequin’s gloves.
*
I’m not feeling good at the moment. I’ve got a sore throat and I’ve coughed up blood a couple of times. My leg pain is getting worse too.
I don’t think I’ll go out tonight. I have enough tins left and one of them is a Full English In A Can. Sounds pretty disgusting, but intriguing at the same time. I’ve been saving it for near the end. A sort of consolation prize.
*
There are two mattresses down here. Obviously one is mine, and the other one was my sister’s. After she died, I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. I don’t have a photo of her, only Guitar Girl’s. Her bed is the only thing of hers I have left. And she didn’t even sleep in it that many times.
*
The tinned Full English was vile! You’ve got to laugh though, what else can you do?
*
I’m crying as I write this. Tears of sorrow, shame and regret.
It happened as we were searching a cottage just off of the main road. We’d used Old Trusty to get inside, and I’d rushed straight into the kitchen to find the food. We’d run out more than a day before and I was famished. My sister followed me into the kitchen, a wide grin on her pretty little face because I was sitting there with an open can of beans. Then one of them came at her from behind. I must have walked right past it on my stupid way to the cupboards. It bit into her neck and blood gushed over the tiles in a torrent. As she yelled out in agony, I leapt up and implanted the crowbar right into the thing’s skull. It crumpled to the floor, but the damage was done.
‘Don’t let me lose myself.’ That was the last thing my sister whispered to me before she passed out. Her wound was much more severe than mine is, and much closer to the brain. That seems to make it quicker. I took grandpa’s revolver from behind my back and blew her brains out.
I buried her in the back garden.
*
After my sister died I went kind of crazy. I took Old Trusty out across the fields and pulverised every ugly I could find. I don’t even remember it that well, it was just, find, kill, find, kill…
We’d only been going out in daylight before then but, in my anger, I carried on through the nights. That’s how I learned about their inability to evade in darkness. Eventually, though, one got me. I found three munching on a dead cow and ran straight at them. Took out the first two easily enough, but the third managed to scratch my leg with a bloody fingernail just before I clobbered it into oblivion. Once I realised its nail had broken the skin, it was like a switch had been flicked inside me. That’s it, I’m dead too. I lost my bloodlust and came back here.
*
If none of this had happened, I think my sister would have eventually gone into medicine. I was doing okay at College but she was top of her class at school. And she had a really kind nature too. She’d never squish any bugs that got trapped in our house; she’d get a glass, scoop the little critter up and seal it inside with a book. Then she’d take it outside and release it, even if it was a wasp.
*
I’ve decided that here’s not the place. I'll hit Submit and then I’m going to do it in those woods I wrote about; consider this diary as my Note. I’ll be able to find a nice spot to sit and look at the trees, some place that's calm and peaceful. I’m going to leave the picture of Guitar Girl in this cellar, she belongs in this house. The tree leaves will remind me of my sister more than any photo ever could anyway.
I guess all that’s left to say is thank you for listening.
I know it’s possible that no one will ever read this, but that’s not really the point is it?
Love,
X
*
Thanks for reading! If you want more from this universe check out The X and Wye Anthology Series
-- Jack
*

Yesterday our 6 month old boy started feeling unwell, husband just got him to the vet and the vet said he had a fever (40.4c) he's had 2 injections and had 2 meds to take, a bacterial antibiotic and a pain med. My question is, the vet said it was caused by the cold weather-its winter, its cold but its not THAT cold! Has anyone heard of this?

Heo Soo Ran is a full spirited trainee reporter, unfortunately she is quite the fool and makes a lot of mistakes during her training. To avoid being fired she sneaked secretly to get exclusive information from the number one criminal gang 'black snake'. After succeeding, her identity was instantly discovered by agent 'blue', the cold blooded elite agent. 'Blue' pointing his gun and told her that h ... Read Don't Move, Spy! - Chapter 13 - MangaPuma. Read more at https://mangapuma.com/dont-move-spy/chapter-13

I feel like a lot of people here are a little bit confused about the upcoming Prestige Katarina Skin so I decided to help you guys out!
First of all! The Battle Pass launches at thursday at a specific time, depending on your timezone. For europe its 10 PM for example.
How do we proceed?
YOU HAVE TO BUY THE BATTLE PASS IN ORDER TO GET THE SKIN!
Fairy Court Katarina Prestige is a Token Skin! That means you have to collect 2000 Tokens to buy the skin in the Token Shop. You don't need any mythic essence for that.
Some small tips for you guys:

• Play at least 3 - 5 Games a day! It doesnt matter which mode you pick. There is no guranteed faster way to do it. Your token gain comes from your game time and win / lose ratio. However TFT farming is heavily nerfed and I don't encourage doing so. If you do that you can gain the Border, the Chroma and the Prestige Skin for a total of 2550 Tokens! That is totally doable! You have time till 24th April 2023 to farm your tokens! Thats 1 month of playtime.
• If you are unsure, wether or not you have the time to grind for it, I recommend not buying it immediately. They changed the whole system, which means there are no exclusive pass missions. What does that mean? It means that if you buy the pass at the END of the event, you will still earn all of the tokens you would have collected with the pass. So don't panick if you can't afford the pass tomorrow or in the next 2 weeks. It's alright!

For all the free users:
The event grants you a total of 300 Free Tokens. So you can either get the Border or the Chroma but not both if you don't plan on spending any money!
There will be a Border Skin Bundle but tbh, these are overpriced because they always come with a ward skin that puts the price up by 200 - 300 RP and I personally don't care about ward skins at all.
​
If you have any more questions I happy to answer them for you!
​
Good luck fellow dagger swingers :)

Hello fellow dwellers!
I had a question about my carry weight in T60 (Not Excavator) power armor. I usually have travelling pharmacist, and the grocers backpack mod to give myself 90% weight reduced Chems and Food/Drink. This works really well and lets me horde a ton of stuff. However, because my backpack gets unequipped whenever I go in PA, I'm usually always over encumbered.
So... I thought: Why not make a power armor special loadout. So, I maxxed strength, included 3* Travelling Pharmacy, 3* Thru Hiker (to compensate for the grocers backpack mod) and everything would be great.
Of course, that wasn't the case.
When I go into my PA (T60 in this case, not Excavator) , my carry weight is reduced by 60, and I can't figure out why. The Travelling pharmacy and thru hiker cards are working because the amount carried didn't change, only my max carry weight did.
I've included a link to screenshots of my character before and after.
https://imgur.com/a/6FjoKig
First pic is of my special loadout, second and third pictures are of my SPECIAL and Carry weight without PA. Last two are with PA. To keep things simple, I've unequipped all armor (Full set of SS ) and under armor before I went into the PA, to rule out any STR enhancing armounderarmor skewing the results.
Any ideas why this would be the case? Is it a bug?