I posted this over in /rTechSEO, and someone suggested that I post it here as well.
As Koray's semantic SEO course gets more and more full, more people are asking why he refuses to do what was promised and advertised in the course. The two main selling points of the course as Koray advertised were that you'd 1. learn how to make topical maps, and 2. you'd have him to guide you in the "elite" private group. Yet based on the majority of posts and comments (until the moderators required posts to be reviewed) most still have no idea how to make topical maps. This is the most important part of the course, and without it, you can't really employ anything learned in the course. Which wouldn't be a big deal, if it weren't for the fact that he refuses to help anyone in any way shape or form when it comes to this topic. It is clear now why he refuses to do what was advertised, and that is the announcement of a $4,000 coaching group he decided to release after the $1,000 course was released. He never mentioned it prior to the course being released, and waited until people started begging for him to answer topical map questions. The only response he gave on topical maps was that if we want to learn more, we'd have to pay $4,000 for a coaching program. I can't post images in this subreddit, but I'll link to the original post where I have the images attached. In those images, I show a response I noticed he made the other day. A user politely suggested Koray add some video content that Koray mentioned he already had, but decided to leave out, due to the suggestions of the beta testers. I think the man is insanely smart, and am thankful for his case studies, his videos and everything, but he has lost a lot of respect in my eyes. Not only has he shown incredibly deceitful business practices in the dishonesty of his advertising, and his failure to provide the agreed-upon products and services, but when called out for this lack of professionalism, he makes it clear he has no intention of making things right.

You found the Facebook reviews captivating. Despite being unsure how you ended up here in the first place you were now hooked. Scrolling through page after page, with countless women reeling off adjective after adjective but ultimately saying that they still felt as though they couldn't put the experience into words. You caught yourself with your mouth agape. The reviews were just that. Jaw dropping.
They made the man they talked about seem almost mythical. Like he was a fever dream. A masseur without a place of work. Who'd turn up anywhere he was booked to go and give the woman in question the massage of her life. It seemed as though it couldn't be real. But then all these reviews were testament that it was. Each review was left by a real woman, with a facebook account to prove it.
That was it. Not able to take this anymore you just knew you had to find out more. Quickly you clicked on the DM's and typed out a message. With giddy excitement overwhelming your body you hit send...
Happy for your first message to be in the format of an intro or the format of the first message as described above - please include your age and be 18+
(I prefer to roleplay in shorter and snappier replies of a few sentences at a time rather than multiple paragraphs)
I look forward to hearing from you very soon!

The fast franchise is an interesting case study for movie history. “The Fast and the Furious” setting up an entertaining action thriller in the world of street racing with solid plot and acting received average reviews from critics and good ones from the audience. “2 Fast 2 furious” brought in entertaining characters and a more immersive vehicle scene/culture but subpar plot which was poorly rated by both audience and critics. “Tokyo Drift” literally drifted from the connection and established a whole new plot line of teenage angst and the thrill of drifting. It could be argued the plotting wasn’t getting much better but it’s turned into a cult classic and got a better audience score than “2 Fast 2 Furious”.
Then it called back to the original cast and took off from there. They went back to the original cast in a move that predated the Hollywood trend, they’ve retconed several popular characters and they’ve kept the franchise thriving with high audience ratings for the last 7 movies. The most amazing part is how long the franchise is at 10 movies deep and counting. It’s the 7th highest grossing Hollywood franchise at 7 billion and is still going.
The other Franchise’s that beat it are: “Marvel” cinematic universe, “Star Wars”, “Harry Potter”, “James Bond”, “Spider-Man”, and “X-men”. “Lord of the rings” finished just behind The “fast” franchise as did “DC” universe, “Jurassic park”, and “Batman”. You think about the immense history, creativity, and fanfare around these worlds. You see were Fast started and where it got to and nobody else has been able to establish more from less. I’d say the closest is the “mission impossible” franchise for where it started and where it is now. Doesn’t come close to the”Fast” franchise revenues.
It’s almost stupefying, there is a brilliance to it. nobody could have predicted it. They really achieved a Hollywood impossibility to an extent.

Do you just wait for your 3mth reviews and just suggest the preferred strain you’d like to try? I’m new patient with sapphire only just had my confirmation through that I passed the MDT meeting so one very happy man right now, I’m happy with what they’ve put for my first meds but would just like to have a choice on my portal like others I believe have, I understand it’ll probably take time to get there but wanted to ask if I can just suggest different strains I’ve seen on here to them that I’d like to try. My Dr did say they like to start “low and slow” so I’m assuming if I can add more and higher THC if and when needed, but would just like to choose s few myself. I’m so happy to of been accepted now I just gotta wait for pharmacy to contact me for payment and my weed will now be delivered legally, what a world we live in ay. At 50yr male never thought I’d see the day. Hope everyone is having a blessed day, one love.

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If the straight wire outer casings is difficult to push down there may be an issue with the hydraulic system or the clutch cable. This might not require a change of the component but it is always important to check.
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A clutch kit needs to be properly installed to ensure that you have a safe drive. Keeping the clutch well maintained will also help to keep the car in good condition without damaging extra parts. Don't ignore the signs.
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We have driven ahead to the local landing field, waiting until Hangy-Man has had his fill of local soaring. Shading our eyes from the late-afternoon sun, we see him on approach. Getting low, he gently pushes out the bar, skimming the ground and slowing to jogging pace as the nose rises high. As if pointing longingly to the sky from whence it came. He's down, and Hangy-Man's Bird is machine once more.
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Glider-Girl Hurled Into The Sky
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motorcycle cables parts runs through her checks, in charge of the launch from the perspex covered cockpit. The glistening white aeronautical marvel is poised on the hard dirt strip. Thumbs-up she signals to the wing-runner, the towline takes in slack. As it tightens, girl and glider seem to move tentatively, but soon gather pace rapidly as the wing-man lets go of the wing tip and the glider surges off the ground.
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Smoothly, Glider-Girl allows airspeed to build before nosing high, high into the cool winter air. The sailplane climbs like a fighter jet, high-tensile cable reeling in quickly to the V8-powered winch exerting itself far below. Finally, she lowers the nose, pulls the release and the cable is gone with a jolt. Girl and glider fly in silence, covering ground so effortlessly compared to those other more flimsy craft.
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But it is winter, even a sailplane must soon land, if it has no rising air to frolic in. 900 feet above ground, Glider-Girl runs through another checklist and joins circuit. Flaps set, undercarriage down.. the familiar pre-landing routine. We see her flying the cross-wind leg of her circuit, now turning gracefully onto final approach, a slight curve in those magnificent long slender wings. Glider-Girl pops the airbrakes halfway out.
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Getting closer but still a little high, she rotates the brakes out some more, they claw at the breeze over the wing. It's a delicate job, a coordinated dance of stick, rudder pedals and airbrake lever, but she does it well. She floats over the runway threshold, gently lowering the heavy machine's main wheel to the dirt strip. A few small rattles as the tail wheel contacts at almost the same time, now slowing, now dragging a wing tip in the dirt as the craft slows below flying speed. We walk out to meet her, and help to push the machine back. Like a pelican, it seems so clumsy on the ground after such a display of grace in the air.
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Why not make sp outer casing or two so your family can see your local Para-Man, Hangy-Man or Glider-Girl for yourself! And perhaps dream about flying as they do.
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Tim Parish is a motorless flight enthusiast, the webmaster of Paragliding Tales and Reviews , a site which will introduce you to many aspects of paragliding, with a sprinkling of humor. Tim has had the pleasure of soaring in sailplanes, hang-gliders and paragliders in the past, both real and simulated. His enthusiasm for these activities is evident in his writing, which he hopes will inspire others.
STEEL WIRE ROPES

So for whatever reason, I had it in my head that we were only doing one story this month - “Phone Calls”. So I had listed that at the end of last month’s read, and read it this morning. But then I realised when I checked the schedule that this was one of our double months. So apologies in case anyone was reading along and didn’t get to the second yet - but they are both reasonably short anyway (which I think is why I doubled them up).
We are nearing the halfway point of the year (and thus the read). I have led each week so far, but if anyone else wants to take a crack at one of the stories just say so. Am sure just reading my posts all the time gets a bit boring.
“Phone Calls”
This story reminded me of the last one we read in April. I suspect it is because we are again dealing with the same narrator (‘B’) and we also get other characters in the story represented only by letters. So on a superficial level it might just be that. But there is also something in the plotting, and the character travelling around the country and making those odd calls that act as a call back to that story. They were both originally published in Llamadas Telefónicas in 1997 - so they may have been written together, which perhaps accounts for those similarities.
Interestingly that collection is named after this story - which at first may seem an odd choice, given how brief and minor this story feels (particularly in relation to others in the collection). Worth noting that the collection Last Evenings on Earth is titled after a story in it that was actually published in Putas Asesinas in 2001. The English collection here, and the next published (The Return) draws together stories from both of these Spanish collections (incidentally the story “The Return” is also from Putas Asesinas). I suppose one thing I will reflect on is that the name Llamadas Telefónicas maybe have less to do with the importance of this story and more to do with the fact that phone calls tend to play an important role across many of Bolano’s works - stories and novels.
So as you can tell from the above, I don’t exactly rate this story. Given how brief it is, it does a decent job of pulling us along through the circumstances. But it is a bit too on the nose, and wraps up a bit too cleanly for me. It feels like a sketch that might have made it into a novel (and perhaps it did in some sort of amended form, though I can’t think of it). But I can’t help feeling this one is a little too unfinished.
That isn’t to say there weren’t elements I enjoyed - we get moving very quickly in the first paragraph - the story kicks of will B in love (admittedly “unhappily”), and then broken up with, and then years going by. Out of the blue, “when he has nothing to do” (67) he calls X - an odd choice, and I can’t decide if this is just Bolano being a bit lazy with the set-up or if this just adds to the surreal quality of it all. They rekindle a relationship, but it is again bittersweet - “his attentions are loving and diligent, but awkward too. They mimic the attentions of a man who is truly in love” (68) - and B struggles to help X fight her depression. She asks him to leave and “their farewell is tender and hopeless” (68).
More phone calls then happen - B noting “I can’t stand these phone calls any more, I want to see your face when I’m talking to you” (69) which is perhaps the key to why Bolano chose this title for his Spanish-language collection. So many of Bolano’s stories, including this one, are about the difficulties of connections, or missed connections, or connections disrupted by or despite distance. Letters play a similar role in his works, though as you can imagine the act of writing is generally valued more highly than the phone call.
The odd twist on this story is that it suddenly turns into a murder mystery, with two police showing up a B’s door and informing him that X was killed. B is released, and after heading back to X’s city and meeting with her brother it is revealed that phone calls played a part in this as well - and the person making mysterious calls to X is found to be the killer.
So not sure what to make of it - it feels a bit too much like an outline for a story that has yet to be actually written, rather than the story itself. There are plenty of Bolano tropes in here - B as narrator, the phone calls themselves, his mysterious connections made and lost with X, her depression. But it left me unsatisfied on the whole.
As before, here is a link to the Big Strong Book video review of this story - I note he doesn’t think that the ‘B’ of this story is the same ‘B’ from “A Literary Adventure” (the previous story).
“The Grub”
As I said, it wasn’t until this morning that I realised I was meant to cover this story as well. I have run out of time to reread that this morning. It is a better story than the first, in my opinion - far more fleshed out. This time we deal with Arturo Bolano as the main character, and given it is 3x the length, we get a much more fleshed out picture of both the protagonist, the secondary character and the location in which it all takes place.
I can give you a bit more than this, as Ithis story has been covered before on the sub. It appears in a slightly different form in the posthumous collection Cowboy Graves (2021), and we did a group read of that when it is published. Here are the relevant sections from the post that covered that part of the read:
>[note: this short summary was part of the main post by u/W_Wilson].
>The second episode, ‘The Grub’, appeared as its own story in Last Evenings on Earth. This story is about Belano, now in Mexico, skipping school, mostly to buy, steal, and read books and get off in cinemas. He develops a friendship with a man, ‘The Grub’, who spends his days sitting on a bench inattentively observing the public. One day The Grub has a bad fever, which Belano tends to, which The Grub repays with cash. He also gives Belano a knife and then leaves town suddenly.
>[note: these were then my comments on the post - which probably are not especially relevant as they mainly deal with the story in relation to other parts in Cowboy Graves].
>Part Two - The Grub

• This was already a story in Last Evenings on Earth. I had a quick look at the afterward in Cowboy Graves, and it mentions “significant changes” (187). Side-by-side I couldn’t see them--there are differences, but given that Last Evenings on Earth was translated by Chris Andrews/these novellas were done by Natasha Wimmer, most differences seemed attributable to that.
• This part revolves around Arturo again meeting a somewhat unusual older man. We are now in Mexico City, where Artruo skips school, steals books, write and watches films.
• Violent impulses from Arturo again: “for a moment, I thought that I could have kidnapped Jacqueline” (35). We learn “the Grub was always armed”, that he has used it “many times” and Arturo becomes “obsessed” with the gun (40 - 41). He also mentioned that people from his hometown “made a living as hired killers and bodyguards” (42). Are we to believe this, or is it the active imagination of a young man? The Grub one day gives Arturo a knife, and then disappears (44 - 45), and which later turns up in The Coup section (68).
• As before, there are elements of this story that are dreamlike. Early on Arturo notes that “what happened next is hazy and at the same time sharp, hyperreal” (37). The Grub’s story of his travels, and his gun and possible violent past also add to this feeling, as does his final disappearance.
• Imitation again comes up: “he seemed like a lunatic imitating a lunatic” (39).

The full post is available here - obviously it contains spoilers for the relevant sections of Cowboy Graves.
And Big Strong Book continues to make his way through the collection with a video on this story as well.
Discussion questions
Just sticking a few of these on here:

• What did you think of these two stories - did you like one more than the other? Why if so?
• How do you feel about the collection and the read so far?
• Anything other observations on these stories, Bolano’s stories in general or the group read.

Next up
End of June: “Anne Moore’s Life”

This is week 02 of our dragon gate rewatch project. If anyone wants to take part please join the tape machine discord https://discord.gg/45RDA8A4 where we do a dvdr board inspired best of non wwe/tna/roh 2000s
This week we're discussing the first dragongate ppv.
Spoiler free Reviews
Week 02 Dragon Gate The Open Gate - Tag 13 01.08.2004 Note: I am a complete novice to dragon gate.
opens with angle where main even multi man confront each other. Seems like a fair amount of comedy based on crowd reactions. Brother yashi seems to have some kind of a Rastafarian gimmick based on his surfer shorts and dreadlock combo. Yashi alludes to a red box which I can only assume will be used as a weapon. Naruki doi forgets his baseball bat on the ring, and then gets attacked by someone dressed like an umpire.
Six Man Tag Team Match Do FIXER (Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi & Magnum TOKYO) vs. Italian Connection (Anthony W. Mori, Milano Collection AT & YOSSINO)
WATCH Match opens with extended dance sequence with women children and men spinning umbrellas and dancing. Magnum and his dancers are wearing eyes wide shut masks. This is followed up by a magnum promo. After introductions magnum ripped off his pants and he production crew missed the pivotal money shot. Genki is bullied for the entire match by everyone including his own team. Magnum asscodentalu nails genki and one one point and laughs about it. Milano collection is such a star and does so many unique things. Watch. Lots of high flying action. Unique offendse, good comedy spots. Great introduction to the dg style.
Naoki Tanizakis' Road To DO FIXER ~ Surfing 10 Match Trial Series Match #10 Naoki Tanizaki vs. Shogo Takagi
SKIP Brother yashi comes out and his followed by a wrestler in boxing gloves, who I assume either is/presented as some kind of shooter. Magnum Tokyo gives his underling a speech, the fans laugh at whatever magnum is telling his charge. There seems to be some kind of issue with a wrestlers trunks. Magnum offered the mic to the shooter, but yashi speaks for him. Massive heat. Yashi also makes an issue of the wrestlers trunks. Fun spectacle but I would still SKIP because this seems to be filled with deep lore that might be confusing for a novice, or at least it confused me. There is also a post match shenanigans that involve men skimpy underpants, so if that's your thing you'll get it here.
Singles Match Don Fujii vs. Ryo Saito
SKIP Ryo starts match cutting a promo on don Fuji. I think it's overkill for pre match antics, however it's possible they are trying to get angles over for a new audience. Thankfully the talking was short before the action started. Solid well worked match but nothing spectacular SKIP MAgnum Tokyo returns for a segment again and at his point he has go away heat with me. These pre and post match segments really drag down the pacing of what would have to far been a very fine show. The post match dance sequence in particular is bizarre and perhaps with context I wouldn't be so annoyed by it.
Intermission. It seems like he announcers are recapping the events so far. There is a package showing highlight footage of the FLOrida brothers. Who are two Japanese guys doing a patriotic American gimmick. They do Eddie Guerrero cheating spots that I get a kick out of. There's even a match where they get abused by Kensuke sasaki WATCH
Tag Team Match Florida Brothers (Daniel Mishima & Michael Iwasa) vs. Crazy MAX (CIMA & SUWA)
WATCH Unless you understand Japanese I would skip the intro.There is a promo before the match that seems to crack everyone up. If you saw the highlight package during intermission you kind of get what their shtick is. If you're a realism fetishist don't watch this match. If you like good comedy wrestling with Chikara type antics
Elimination Eight Man Tag Team Match Final M2K (Kenichiro Arai, Masaaki Mochizuki, Second Doi & Susumu Yokosuka) vs. Aagan Iisou (Shuji Kondo, Takuya Sugawara, Touru Owashi & YASSHI)
WATCH Main event featured a box vs box gimmick where each unit came to the ring with a box they could legally use in the match. I'm unsure of the context, but it created a situation where each side could do creative spots involving the box. Tons of action in this multi man elimination contest, including a penis biting spot which was a first for me. Crazy heat for this match too, they seem to have paid off several angles at crowd went nuts for.
Overall: very enjoyable show with a bit too many pre and post match antics. I sat through those segments for review purposes. However, most normal people would probably skip over those segments anyway. This show is an easy watch if you have a free evening, but if not make sure to watch the first and last match on the card.

The sequel to 2018’s Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is getting a lift from good buzz and residual fondness for its predecessor, one of the inaugural cinematic forays into all things multiverse. And while reviews are still embargoed, critics flipped for the first one, so assuming the follow-up sticks the landing, the notices could propel “Across the Spider-Verse” ever higher. But it’s a crowded marketplace and five years has passed since audiences were first introduced to Miles Morales and a wide web of Spider-People. Plus, there’s been an ever expanding array of superhero films and streaming shows to turn to, increasing the competition for moviegoers who like their heroes costumed and masked.
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That said, tracking suggests that “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” should have no trouble swinging to the top of box office charts when it opens in wide release on June 2. Initial projections have “Across the Spider-Verse” bowing to $80 million. That’s a big leap forward from the $35.4 million that “Into the Spider-Verse’ debuted with when it launching in theaters. But rival studios and exhibitors believe the sequel has a chance of opening to $90 million or even higher. To hit or eclipse that mark, “Across the Spider-Verse” will need to broaden its appeal, not only attracting teenagers and adults under the age of 40, but also bringing in families.
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It also may depend on how well “The Little Mermaid,” which topped the Memorial Day box office with $117.5 million over the four-day holiday and $95.4 million for the weekend, holds. The Disney remake of the animated classic is looking for a sophomore weekend of roughly $40 million, which would represent a drop of just under 60%. If it over-performs that could make it harder for the Spidey sequel to draw younger crowds.
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Sony Pictures produced “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” for $100 million, which is relatively economical considering that many major studio animated movies cost double that figure. The film is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson and follows Miles as he teams up with his lady love Gwen Stacy try to save his Spider brethren from a super-villain called the Spot. Shameik Moore returns to voice Miles along with Hailee Steinfeld once again portraying Gwen. The cast also includes Brian Tyree Henry, Issa Rae, Jason Schwartzman, Daniel Kaluuya and Oscar Isaac.
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“Across the Spider-Verse” isn’t the only new major studio release. Disney’s 20th Century Studios will look to frighten horror fans with “The Boogeyman,” an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story of the same name. The movie was originally slated to debut on Hulu, but the studio was impressed enough by the footage to change things up and re-conceive “The Boogeyman” as a theatrical proposition — hey, it worked for “Smile!” The film centers on a father who works as a therapist but finds himself unable to help his daughters deal with the recent death of their mother. But things get dicier when a desperate patient shows up unexpectedly at the family’s house asking for help, bringing with him a terrifying and sinister force. Rob Savage (“Host”) directs the $35 million production with a cast that includes “Yellowjackets” star Sophie Thatcher and Chris Messina. “The Boogeyman” is on track to open to $15 million, a respectable result for the modestly budgeted movie.

This post will update as more reviews come in:

• Rotten Tomatoes: --% (1 Review)

Critics Consensus:

Pending

• Metacritic Score: TBD (0 Reviews)

Across the Spider-Verse takes everything that made the first one so special and multiplies it, expands it with ambition and depth. (...) It is everything we could ask for a sequel of a movie so groundbreaking, and then some.

• Jesus Agudo, eCartelera (Score: 9/10)

With Midnight hitting at 12 pm EST, the world premiere of Across the Spiderverse has arrived, and reviews from Across the Spiderverse ae beginning to pour in as well. Some early reactions from audience members online have begun to appear:
“Spider-Man: #AcrossTheSpiderVerse is so f\**ing good, I want to refrain my children from ever seeing any other entity of the character because they pale by comparison. This is MY Spider-Man. This is what we've long deserved. It's better than the first, and I LOVED the first.”* ~ Clayton Davis, Variety
“SPIDER-MAN: #AcrossTheSpiderVerse is very much a Part 1, but when it's this great of a first part who cares?! Perfect in every aspect, with a metatextual element that interrogates the very nature of the Spider-Man mythos. A new high for Hollywood animation AND superhero films.” ~ James Preston Poole, Discussing Film
“It’s amazing. Even better than the first. It took 5 years to make and it shows. Absolute piece of art. And that’s all I’m gonna say. Surprises await you.”~ Patton Oswalt, Actor“
Absolutely bonkers how good Across the Spiderverse is! The animation team is too powerful and they must be stopped. I’m going to have a six pack on my face from alternately grinning like an idiot and staring in slack-jawed amazement.” Dan Casey, Nerdist“
Right when you thought EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE peaked with multiverse stories, SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, swung in to take the Miles Morales’ story and the animation medium to the next level. It’s a transcendent work of art that should be held as 2023’s first Best Picture. Believe the hype. See it on the biggest screen possible. Lo and behold the artistry and rich storytelling about identity unlike any Spider-Man story done before. Yes, bolder than its predecessor. I—ooof. I need to see it again immediately.” ~ Rendy Jones of VanityFair and Ebert Voices
“Every once in a while, an animated film pushes the medium to new frontiers. Into the Spiderverse was one of those movies. #AcrossTheSpiderVerse takes it several steps further! Just, wow!” ~ Nicholas Spake, Watch Mojo
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is EVERYTHING I wanted it to be and more. The animation is the best I’ve ever seen in any film ever. The story is phenomenal. The future is so bright for this franchise. 10/10. Go see it right away. You will love every moment.” ~Jack “CouRage” Dunlop, Co-owner of 100Thieves
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is one of the most visually stunning movies ever, regardless of format, style, live-action, or animation. It outdoes the first film and gives us one of the finest examples of film in recent memory. It’s about as perfect as it gets.” ~Hunter Bolding, MPA certified press
“#AcrossTheSpiderVerse take the saying “Every Frame’s a Painting” to an entirely new level. Your eyes dance around the screen in awe as the film brings arthouse animation to the mainstream. You’re so captivated by the dazzle and heart that you forget the film’s 2+ hours runtime” ~Robert Butler III, Geeks of Color
Edit: More rolling in.
"There’s never been a SPIDER-MAN movie quite like ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE! What an incredible, exhilarating, ingenious cinematic triumph & a landmark achievement in groundbreaking animation! So much heart & humor too! An epic winner! Can’t wait to see it again!" ~Scott Mantz, Film Critic
"Across The Spider-Verse is a masterpiece." ~Stephen Amell, actor
"And just like that #AcrossTheSpiderVerse just skyrocketed to one of the best comic book movies in the last 5 years. The animation was a thing of pure beauty. A visual rollercoaster for my eyeballs. This felt like the truest Spider-Man movie ever. Take notes, Marvel." ~Emmanuel Noisette, Film Critic
"Still catching my breath from #AcrossTheSpiderVerse*. Absolutely blew me away. Not just a powerful restatement of everything that made the first film special, it expands the Spider-mythology for a story that’s both bigger and deeper. The wait until the next part will be agonizing!*" ~Zaki Hasan, Journalist
"After the hype for Spider-Man Across the Spiderverse, I couldn’t imagine how it could meet the glory of the first film. Trust me, it does. Gorgeous art design. Heart wrenching turns. A powerful tale for ANYONE who has ever felt like a mistake. See it this weekend! In a movie landscape clogged with multiverse fiction, Across the Spiderverse accomplishes the difficult task of establishing easy-to-understand architecture and holding variants’ actions accountable. I’ve been dying for the MCU to at least TRY to do this. This movie fixes it all. " ~Erik Voss, DeepDiveNR
"We’re going to look back at #AcrossTheSpiderVerse as the film that revolutionized animation. It is such a technical achievement and I’ve never seen a more beautiful looking movie. The way the incorporated all of the different types of art styles together was amazing. We thought the first movie blew away animation and this one is 10x the animation of the first one…" ~Matt Ramos, Actor
"#AcrossTheSpiderVerse is so absurdly good. A ton of fun, and \gorgeous.* I want to go back and just stare at almost every frame. Really, don’t temper your expectations - you’re gonna love it as much as people say. I was specifically looking forward to #AcrossTheSpiderVerse partly because I was told there was a lot more Spider-Gwen (a personal fave). Tried to keep my hopes in check just to be safe, but guys. We get SO MUCH. Hailee Steinfeld remains a heroic casting & she really gets to flex*" ~Andi Ortiz, The Wrap
"Wow! Even for a Part One, SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE exceeded all of my expectations. More emotional & thrilling than the first with a vibing soundtrack & dazzling animation. Oscar Isaac is the voice MVP. A highly ambitious but satisfying set up for what’s to come." ~Matt Neglia, Owner of Next Best Picture
"There aren't enough words to describe how much I LOVED #AcrosstheSpiderVerse! The animation, the art direction, the music, the performances, the story. 10/10. WHERE IS THE 3D VERSION?!" ~Adam Hlaváč, Creator of Heroes Reforged
"#AcrossTheSpiderVerse is spectacular! The animation is a visual delight and more impressive from one scene to the next. What is really great is how dramatic and emotional the story becomes for Miles and Gwen. It’s an excellent sequel." Leo Brady, film critic
"Believe the hype! #SpiderMan #AcrossTheSpiderVerse is even better than I expected. Every character, action scene, and conversation are executed so well incredibly well. I can’t wait to watch this again. Get ready to be in awe of this movie." ~Wendy Lee Szany, Film Critic
"WOW! #AcrossTheSpiderVerse was incredible! A heart racing & emotional addition to the Spider-Verse franchise. Spider-Gwen and Spider-Punk were among the many standouts, but Miles is the anchor. The visuals were phenomenal. SO many twists, turns, and surprises. I loved it!" ~Duane Miller, creator of Cinemaniaworld, film critic
"SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE can be described with one word⁠—masterpiece. From the first beautifully animated frame, it’s a masterclass on believable characters and worlds. The gap between this and other superhero films is wide." ~Sheraz Farooqi, Film Critic
"#AcrossTheSpiderVerse is incredible. Visually, emotionally, it’s bigger and more intense than the first movie, but that mirrors how Miles is growing up and dealing with more complex problems and emotions. Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen is the stand-out. It’s her movie as much as Miles. The critic in me wants to point out that in some respects #SpiderVerse is half a movie (it’s not a spoiler, we all know there’s another one). But as a Spider-Man and animation fan I was too busy muttering “holy shit” to myself on a loop for two and a half hours to really care." ~Alex Zalben, The Decider
"I can't quite sing the praises of #AcrossTheSpiderVerse as the greatest thing ever because it is currently incomplete. It is, however, well on its way to being half of the greatest achievement in animation since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. #AcrossTheSpiderVerse builds on the first movie in brilliant ways, it finds new emotional stakes for Miles that make sense and fleshes out Gwen brilliantly. Does it have a million Easter eggs and references? Yes, and I don't care. It's about the characters." ~Dirk Libbey, Cinemablend
"'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ is a practically perfect movie. Its color palette and blending of different animation styles is a treasure trove for the eyes, making it one of the most visually innovative films in years.There are dozens of cameos and easter eggs for superhero fans to obsess over for weeks to come. The #SpiderVerse story masterfully balances heart, humor, and action throughout its 2h20m runtime.Audiences will adore several characters, both old and new, with Miles Morales remaining an absolute star. Other standouts include performances from Oscar Isaac, Daniel Kaluuya, and Luna Lauren Velez." ~PopCrave
"#SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse isn’t just a masterpiece, isn’t just THE definitive Spider-Man film…it’s one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. I’m still picking my jaw off the f\**ing floor from this REMARKABLE work of art. Truly at a loss for words.*" ~Griffin Schiller, creator of FilmSpeak
"#SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse is not just the BEST Spider-Man film of all time, it’s not just the BEST COMIC BOOK FILM of all time, it’s not just the greatest sequel ever made, it’s bar none one of the best films I’ve ever watched. More than a masterpiece. This is everything. The feeling this film gave me brought back the feeling of when I watched my first movie.. every core memory of Toy Story being watched for the very first time. I’m in tears #spiderverse" ~Zach Pope, Critic

The Glastonbury Festival
For those of you who don't know it, the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts is the biggest music festival in the UK, and one of the longest running. Since its first iteration in 1970 (preceded by the Bath Festival in 1969) it has become a cultural touchstone in the UK. While the mainstream may still be interested in more traditional affairs like the royalty, queuing or scones and tea, for the others music festivals have led the way for the counter culture.
In its early days, when dairy farmer and all round nice guy Michael Eavis organised the festival at his farm (Worthy Farm) located near the town of Glastonbury once a year and tickets were £1, the festival was naturally (and fairly) associated with soap-dodging crusties, a reputation that has evolved over the years. In the eighties the travelling community used the farm as a base and the festival took on an anti-Thatcher edge. During the 90s the festival became known for seminal sets from up-and-coming British bands and pushing dance music into the spotlight, but its popularity attracted more and more people each year, most of who were not paying for tickets and instead hopping over the flimsy fence as security did nothing to stop them.
By 2000, the local council had had enough, and ruled that the festival take exceptional security measures to be granted a licence. A 'super-fence' was created, and the festival got back to focusing on music, albeit when it wasn't being hit by record rainfalls twice in two years. In 2008, a combination of two years of campsite floods and underwhelming headliners meant that tickets didn't sell out until the first day of the festival and the future of Glastonbury looked to be in doubt. Yet a headline set by Jay Z (goaded on by Noel Gallagher) helped change the festival's fortunes, and every year that it has run since then (it takes a year off to fallow the fields every five or so years and didn't run during the pandemic) it has sold out its tickets on the day that they went on sale. It is now arguably in a stronger place than it has ever been, with over 100 stages, 1000s of performers including musicians, theatre, opera, comedy, dance, and art, and about 210,000 people on site over the course of its five days still overseen by Michael Eavis, although his daughter Emily Eavis is in charge these days.
A festival is nothing without its attendees, and among the general Glastobury festival attendees are a passionate, dedicated and obsessive cohort. Many of this cohort have been going to the festival for decades, and each year their rank is joined by new, younger members who attend the festival for the first time and see just what is so magical about it. Like any pop culture icon, the fans of Glastonbury congregated online, and that place was eFestivals.
eFestivals - the unofficial Glastonbury forum
eFestivals was founded in 1998 by owner Neil (his username is Neil, I'm not doxxing him) - more on him later. The site was essentially set up as a news source on music festivals around the UK and abroad. It was set up before the official Glastonbury website. News would include general information about various upcoming festivals, announcements of artists' tours, and rumoured acts appearing at the festivals. It was the latter that was eFests' unique strength, thanks to connections that Neil had with various booking agents around the UK. News of headline acts that were supposed to remain secret for weeks or months often leaked out at eFests, which attracted a lot of followers in the early days of widely accessible internet.
As many sites of a similar ilk did around the same time, eFests started a forum as a place for its visitors to sign up and discuss their favourite festivals. Very quickly the Glastonbury subforum became the most popular section of the website, and remains so to this day. While other subforums attracted a lot of footfall at times, the year-round post count on the Glastonbury forum drove the visitor numbers to eFests through the roof as the hardcore Glastonbury fans found their home between festivals. As the banner on the forum promises, eFestivals would let you 'Experience the spirit of Glastonbury all year round, a place for general chat about the Festival.'
The normal times
Now, I am going to skip forward here. I only started visiting eFestivals around 2014, so there is a lot of history that I am not familiar with. What is clear though, is that between 1998 and 2014 Neil was the pre-eminent source of reliable information on artists performing, and particularly the headline acts, at Glastonbury. His information was right almost all of the time, and the forum users lapped it up. In fact, they lapped it up so much that they generally turned a blind eye to his somewhat hardline moderation.
Like any popular forum, there were big names that could dominate conversation. On eFests, these included Crazyfool01, an obsessive known for his fancy dress; russycaps, an obsessive known for his aggressive trolling and later his imgur account; the Nal, a older veteran obsessed with trolling in the threads on weather; Bamber, a poster aggressively obsessed with female pop acts and their looks; and Matt42, a newer member obsessed with being aggressively wrong about most things. There were many others too, a true mix of old veterans, always complaining that the festival wasn't as good as it was in the 80s/90s/00s; middle aged music fans arguing about how Kasabian were an awful choice for headliner or how Foals were ready to step up; and newcomers who had never been, seeking advice on where to camp or how much drink to take.
The trouble begins
The forum was going from strength to strength but around 2018 Neil (who had almost exclusively been the sole moderator) started to get the banhammer out more frequently. He wasn't happy about the amount of in jokes, Simpsons references and off topic threads that would dominate the forum in long stretches between festivals and official announcements. One small group, dubbed the 'wacky banter crew' by Neil, were viewed as the source of the forums' problems. Eventually many of them were banned, in what was seen as an unnecessary move by many. They all rejoined with different names.
It was also around this time that Neil's information appeared to be getting less reliable year on year. Whereas before he had been able to share details of many of the acts due to play the festival months ahead of official announcements, by 2019 Neil was generally as well informed as the average forum user. Although he would get the occasional tip off, often these were on acts that users already had knowledge of. In fact, it became apparent that a number of forum users had better sources and connections with the music industry than Neil. Neil would often dispute their information, but the users would be proved correct more often than not. Nowhere was this more apparent than when Neil confidently stated in 2022 that Nightmares on Wax would be headlining the West Holts stage on the Sunday, much to the bemusement of many. When the line up dropped, Nightmares on Wax were in fact third on the bill, a whole five steps down from headliner.
After Brexit in 2016 politics also seeped more and more into the forum, which is understandable given the left leaning stance of the festival and many of its attendees. For most, opposing Brexit and the Tories was standard, but some users instigated arguments about the state of the country that could takeover threads in an instant. Neil would often join in with these arguments, taking what can politely be referred to as a 'right wing' view point, while maintaining that he was anti-Conservative.
Looking back, by October 2019 the forum, while still attracting users and hundreds of posts a day, was clearly heading toward melting point. In the ticket sale for the 2020 festival that month, fancy dress obsessive Crazyfool01, like many others, was not successful in getting himself a ticket. For a man who made his entire personality the festival, this was the end of the world. In a thread that was deleted not long after, he lamented how his pain in not getting a ticket was worse than anyone else's, which earned him the ire of other ticketless users angry that he was monopolising the communal disappointment and that he shouldn't be so entitled. For balance, I should point out that Crazyfool01 is very, very popular among many of the forum's users, and one of Neil's most loyal fans. He was seen by many to be most influential user on the site and a poster boy of the friendly Glastonbury-goer image.
Crazyfool01 would continue to post about his ticketless situation daily, and launched initiatives to help as many people as possible in the upcoming resale, although cynics would say that was entirely motivated out of his own pursuit of a ticket. Hundreds of others had been ticketless in years previous, but he had never put so much effort in the resales. Soon enough he had a huge number of forum users to help him secure a ticket in the resale as part of this. Some users suggested that he volunteer at the festival as a way in, but he refused. He also discussed his idea of going to the homes of the festival bosses at Christmas to beg for a ticket, although thankfully he was talked out of this. Although the pandemic would see the 2020 and 2021 iterations of the festival cancelled, Crazyfool01 would eventually have a ticket bought for him in the resale for the 2022 festival.
The pandemic years were probably the darkest time for the forum, and for the festival itself, which was apparently close to bankruptcy. As users had to wait longer than usual for their Glastonbury fix, there was nothing festival-related to talk about, and the politics that had crept into the forum was amplified as conversation turned to the rights and wrongs of lockdowns, facemasks and other contentious issues. There were a number of megathreads on covid (Neil would delete them occasionally) that were full of arguments, personal attacks, hot takes and general desperation about the situation. Users organised social skype meets during lockdown to give them something to do, and they were about as awkward as you would expect.
It was some time in 2021 that Neil had some serious health problems. I don't know the specific details, but it had a significant impact on his way of life and, unfortunately, his approach to moderating and posting on the forum. Crazyfool01 took it upon himself to quietly organise a whipround to raise some money to gift to Neil so that he could afford a electric scooter to get around the festival site for the upcoming festival in 2022. Neil and his wife found out about the money by reading user PMs, accepted the money, never said thank you, and later said that they didn't need the money. Add on to this some severely transphobic comments that Neil made, and his reputation was well and truly sullied, a matter complicated by his ill health.
The split
It was in this context that the first great split happened in May 2022, less than two months ahead of the first Glastonbury festival since 2019. Neil's moderation was too aggressive for many users as he sought to remove 'troll' posts, and then users. Some users were identified by Neil as being part of the 'wacky banter crew', but their posts were part of the normal festival discourse, and were in no way trolling. In particular, Neil found out that previously banned user 'Gucci Piggy' was going by the username 'Somto Unigwe Raphael', and was furious that this seemed to be common knowledge.
Neil banned the account of Hugh Jass for the crime of knowing that Gucci was Somto (as did 90% of other regular users) and shit hit the fan. Users were outraged that one of the forum's most popular users had had their account removed, despite not doing anything to antagonise Neil or being in any way affiliated with the WBC. A war of words ensued, with the highest profile victim being Matt42, who was branded a 'cuck' by Neil, while some other innocent bystanders were banned. It was clear that this was a step too far as users who normally turned a blind eye to Neil's tyranny called out this move as incorrect. The users not loyal to Neil were even angrier, and some said that they would be leaving the site. It turned out not to be an empty threat.
Almost instantly a discord server (named Other Fests) was set up by the WBC, and the link began to circulate around the Efestivals forums. Within a week of the discord starting it had over 500 members. It was a chaotic place in the beginning, with many users unfamiliar with discord and confused by the faster moving conversations. Amid users trying to continue their usual Glastonbury chats, conversation was dominated by slagging off Neil and eFestivals users that didn't make the move, and bemoaning leaving the forum. Able to speak freely for the first time without the risk of being banned, a lot of posts were made in anger, with many declaring that they would never go back to eFests.
To the surprise of many, including Neil, who had declared that people had tried to set up rival forums before and failed, Other Fests was successful. People were happy with the move and didn't miss eFests. Glastonbury festival always happens at the end of June, so the months of May and June were always the busiest months on eFestivals. This proved to be the case for the discord too. While the 'eFestivals drama' thread quickly became the most popular thread, other discussions about the festival (and other festivals) were just as busy as, if not busier that, the old forum thanks to the new format. On eFests the difference was noticeable. During this period there would normally have been thousands of posts a day, but in 2022 there was barely any activity at all.
Users still loyal to Neil remained on eFests, preaching Neil's gospel that the rebellion would fail, and the traitors would eventually come crawling back. Due to the bad blood and barbed words being traded, the annual eFests Glastonbury meet was not officially organised, although some users did meet up on site at the usual place and time. The 2022 festival happened, and once the post-festival reviews and hot takes had happened, it seemed that the new way of life had set in: a much quieter, less popular eFestivals forum had the historical importance but tainted reputation; and the up-and-coming OtherFests discord, where the emphasis was on not being as bad as eFests. Everyone seemed happy.
Then something strange happened. The discord disappeared. While traffic had certainly dropped off after the 2022 festival, this was usual for that time of year. There was no obvious reason as to why it was deleted. Although I haven't been able to find the exact reason, it seems like the original creator JLeather had some doubts about the exercise around October or November 2022, so deleted everything.
Confused, many users ended up reluctantly going back to eFests, while others ended up on reddit and some just didn't do anything. The traitors reintegrated to eFests, many still unhappy about having to be there. This continued on for a few months, and then, in January 2023, a second discord, 'OtherOtherFests' (OOF) was founded.
The second, permanent split
This time aroundon discord there was a bigger moderation team, a clear purpose (to exist alongside eFests, not in spite of eFests), and a set of principles that users were asked to adhere to (be nice). OOF also had a softer launch than the original discord - there was no particular event that sparked its necessity, which meant that user numbers built slowly. As the link circulated, many eFests refugees moved back over the discord, with some saying that they would be using both sites.
As this was quietly happening in the background of eFests, the foreground was dominated again by Neil. In late 2022 BraveSirRobin, a user with always reliable sources, posted in the Headliners 2023 thread that he had solid information that Guns 'N Roses would be headlining the festival in 2023. While rumours like this are to be taken with a pinch of salt, BSR was known to be one of the most reliable sources of Glastonbury information. Many users were upset at the prospect of their festival hosting GNR, particularly given their up and down live performances, reputation, and the fact that they didn't really fit in with the ethos of the festival. No one was more upset than Neil. He refused to accept the rumour as viable, and would disrupt any conversation on the matter to say that it was a made up rumour and that he would not be going to Glastonbury if GNR were announced.
As Neil's rants were becoming more and more unhinged, the link to the discord server was circulated more, and greater numbers of users shifted over to OOF. Occasionally the link was posted in the open after a particularly bad rant, and Neil got wind that he had a rival again. As he was increasingly erratically, (such as banning the word 'discord' in PMs), users encouraged him to stop and to at least appoint another moderator to help him out. Crazyfool01 made it his mission to become that moderator, and after a private campaign, Neil eventually made him one, doubling the size of the moderator team.
In March GNR were announced on the first official poster and the fallout on eFests was toxic. The majority of users saw it as a poor booking and indicative of a poor line up. BSR asked Neil for an apology over the abuse he received for (correctly) predicting GNR and Neil belligerently refused to do so, doubling down on his insults and stating that he would be returning his ticket due to GNR being booked.
It was not long after this that Neil posted more transphobic bile (bizarrely related to GNR), and despite being asked to remove his post, he kept going. Users were disgusted that Neil was continuing to post hate speech on the Glastonbury forum, a festival that is supposed to be for everyone. By the time Neil stopped his transphobic posts, he had driven a huge number of previously loyal users over to Discord and had Crazyfool01 resign as moderator. Crazyfool01 even joined the discord after negotiations with the mods, posting on both sites.
OOF was now in rude health, with users taking part in world cups of crisps and biscuits and trading all sorts of solid line up information (on the agreement that it would not be leaked to eFests). Very quickly it had over 1000 members and this time it didn't buckle. While the eFestivals drama thread still attracted a lot of attention, users sensed that eFests' days were limited and many campaigned for other users to stop slagging off users loyal to Neil and to make it a welcoming place for them. The mods frequently discussed whether to delete the drama thread, as there was no need for it any more. Almost every single time they had that debate there would some new drama on eFests (such as Neil being transphobic again, user Kalifire sending abusive messages to a young woman, Crazyfool01 quitting the discord after being politely asked to stop recruiting members back to eFests, or Russycarps returning from the dead) that would reignite the chatter as users gathered to watch the unfolding binfire.
That brings us to the present. eFests is looking like it is about to have its life support turned off, and the OOF discord is attracting the vast majority online Glastonbury-related chatter, and has a far more active community. It even got its unofficial flag into Yves Tumor's promotional material. This has all come about thanks to one man. Neil built eFestivals from the ground when websites were still a confusing and new technology. He amassed a loyal following and cultivated the best online space for UK and European music festivals out there. His change in behaviour over years however, is yet another example of someone not dying a hero, and instead becoming the villain. Where either site goes from here is unclear, but it's hard to see eFests recovering given that its greatest assets - its users and its reliable line up information - now belong to the discord.
Addendum - new ownership
Between the time that I started writing this and finishing it, arguably the most significant event of eFests 25 year history occurred. Neil sold the site. He had said several months ago that he was looking to sell it, but no one realistically thought that a) he would get a price that he was happy with or b) that he would be able to relinquish control. It was announced a few weeks ago that the sale had gone through, with someone going by the name 'Iggy Makarov' taking ownership of the site. Users scattered for clues of who this mysterious figure was, with some detective work on OOF suggesting that he was a crypto-bro.
Days later Neil couldn't refuse one final piece of drama, almost as this post was being written. Crazyfool01 (him again) started a thread for the 'official' eFests meet to take place at Glastonbury 2023. Within a few posts Neil arrived, and attacked his most loyal servant for making the meet 'all about him' (hilariously by posting a McFly video). Neil continued attacking Crazyfool01 and stated that the 'official' eFests meet wasn't the one that Crazyfool01 had announced, but would be taking place in the same bar, at the same time, as Crazyfool01's unofficial meet. (Neil never did return his ticket to this year's festival like he said he would for months and months.)
It was in this context that Iggy, the new site owner, appeared for the first time. He described himself as an ad man, and wasn't initially looking to make a profit from the forum. Users on both eFests and OOF were suspicious of his motives (he claimed to have never been to a festival), but everyone was glad that Neil's reign of terror was finally over. We end on an optimistic note, hoping that eFests and OOF can co-exists, waiting to see what Iggy will do.
Author's note
I know that a lot of hobby dramas are posted with receipts, but unfortunately in this case it hasn't been possible, mostly because I never kept any of the old days, and if I ask those who might have them, I doxx myself. I'm sure that there are slight inaccuracies in the above account of events, so if anyone wants to PM me to correct me, I will happily do so.
I hope I have given everyone a fair write up - I use both sites and see the merits of each. I recognise that Neil comes out of this badly, and that the issue is complicated by his health issues. I can assure you that he has always behaved like this (since I have been part of the online Glastonbury community at least).
Thank you to the mods of this sub for their patience and help in making sure that it adheres to the rules.
See you on the farm.

Hi-
New here :)
I grew up with a highly functioning, successful alcoholic father who kept it together most of the time, married and divorced a serious, hospitalized-many-times alcoholic, and, most recently, fell in love with a man with serious alcohol and sometimes drug problems. I have endured a great deal of pain at all of their hands (which is not to say I am perfect or easy or a martyr).
Both my EH and EBF have worked the program and made their amends to me (dad denies a problem). However, I've not found either of those amends satisfying or helpful, in part because I feel like they apologized for the wrong things, and also in part because I feel like the language of recovery gives them cover to skirt around taking responsibility. I'm left even more angry and hurt.
Phrases like "because I was in my addiction" or "I'm sorry I wasn't present" or "I couldn't accept your love because I didn't love myself" or "I acted this way because I needed to get sober" or "I couldn't be there for anyone else because I wasn't there for myself" may be true, but strike me as a slight cop-out. No sh*t you weren't present - can you apologize about the specific times you humiliated or disappointed me? It's like they get to blame their cruelty on being victims themselves. No one has said to me, I was so unkind to you, and I feel so guilty about incident Y. I was just awful in the case of X, and I'm so sorry. They cast themselves as helpless, in which case I feel like the implication is I can't be mad at them - I should be mad at the disease.
I also feel like in both of my cases, these men were very aware of the specific things that really destroyed me, and neither got into those things. It was just general talk about "my addiction was bad, I wasn't present, I'm sorry I disrespected you, I'm sorry you had to deal with my addiction."
And then there is the invitation - "if you'd like to share more with me about the ways I hurt you." No! If you want to do amends to me, freaking reflect. Think deeply. Review our conversations and exchanges. Think about what you feel guilty about and what you really did wrong and what you should be ashamed of. What you know I was hurt by. Making amends to me would be showing me you cared enough about me and had thought deeply enough about everything that you had acknowledged and felt ashamed about what you'd done. That you'd considered me, which would actually be the amend to your initial behavior. Reflection!
Me telling the person my grievances so they can just apologize for the 9th step feels totally useless and insincere. What would make me feel better is knowing they had arrived on their own at remorse and regret, that in reflecting on me (unprompted) they'd felt guilt and sorrow. That I was important enough outside of serving their recovery to feel genuinely bad about.
Am I misunderstanding the purpose of amends? Am I unfairly asking too much? Does anyone relate? Also, sorry this is so long - the ex-boyfriend's amends came within the last few days and have me spinning out and feeling very hurt.

I saw in a review of System Shock enhanced Edition that it had controller compatibility, which they said made the game a lot more playable and less like going through my BIOS menu. I had it already through Gog so I added it with the heroic launcher but it's not wanting to detect my controller when I try to remap the controls. Anybody bought this through Steam that can confirm or deny that controllers work on that version? I know there's some community controls that I can use but man it's going to take me years to figure all that crap out and memorize it

Kinda just the title, but I needed somewhere to rant about this. My teachers have been saying since January that, "It's just the final push! You're almost there!" and I believed them. I really believed that I was just a few more assignments away from finishing out the year, but I was dead wrong.
Instead of scaling back work towards the last few weeks of school to help us prepare for finals, all my teachers did the opposite. Massive, 100+ point assignments worth huge chunks of your grade, all due within a few days of each other, it was tiring.What's made it worse is that I'm a perfectionist, which has lead to me forcing myself to stay up incredibly late sometimes to just get that last paragraph in or that last bit of review. What's even worse is that I still get good grades on the work I turn in, even if it was completed at 4:00am. So, I haven't really felt the need to change my habits. I know I would if I didn't think the end of the year was so close, but I guess I just felt I could keep it going. Man, I'm so tired. I haven't hung out with my friends outside of school in months, nor have I even wanted to. I'm not depressed or suicidal, just tired.
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I've been pushing myself too hard, but I can't stand to see a 'B' on my report card after all I've been through. Along with football, which has been a few hours a day since November, I've felt much more tired, bitter, and stressed ever since winter break.
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Now, there's only two more days of school, but it feels like there's a month left. I can't get bad grades, but I'm just done. I'm done with most of my teachers being completely oblivious to the amount of work they've been giving, I'm done with the hours of work and stress, I'm done with school. Thankfully it's almost over; I don't know what I'd do if there wasn't.