My cat, who's almost 2 years old went missing 17 days ago. I did everything i physically could to make him come back and a few days ago neighbors told me where they saw him but that they repeatedly failed to catch him since he was running away from them. This was unusual for him since he really isn't scared of people, just sometimes doesn't care to be pet and cuddled.
An hour ago, I was searching for him and found him in the same condition as he ran away in, he was still a bit chubby with nice well kept fur. We've looked at each other for a few seconds while i was calling him, but he just turned and left. Later I've came to him with his favorite food, he went back, ate it and ran away when I've started coming closer to him.
It's important to mention this was the first time he ever ran away. He went looking for a mate since he isn't neutered. (should've been but my mom was forbidding it)
I've never gave him one reason to fear me, never punished him, yelled at him or even thought of doing so, I think I'm one of the gentlest cat owners since i really gave everything i could for him to be happy and now he won't come back to me.
What could be the reason he's acting this way and how can i make him come home? I'm extremely grateful for any advice, and sorry for being so scattered I'm to tired to look back to what i even wrote.

Hi, this is my first post here and I'm still kinda beginer... Did my first pour 5 days ago in SAB. I used PDA from fresh potatoes.
500ml - water 200g - potatoes 10g of agar 10g of honey
I waited to see if thoese dishes are clean before inoculation and took one, opened it and swung it few times around my kitchen to see if I catch contams and then taped it with parafilm to see how it looks first hand. (This was done around 3-4 hours after pouring)
Thing that concerns me is that it looks like all dishes are look clean without visible contam (at least that's how it looks like to me) including THE CONTROLL dish that I intentionally exposed to outside air. This makes me think I did some mistake there. Are my concerns justified or is it just beginer luck/anxiety?
Hope I don't use some terms incorrectly. O
PS: hope that using contamination tag is correct even tho my problem is lack of it Edit: typo

Hi all! First thing's first, congratulations to everyone who matched. I know not everyone got their desired specialty or location, but the horror that is residency applications is now past us and the only thing to do now is keep moving forward. Things will eventually fall into place. For those who didn't match, I'm so sorry. This process is brutal - emotionally and financially - and I hope you're holding up alright.
This post is for my fellow IMGs (honestly US students too if you vibe with it). I understand that the anxiety of going through this whole process eats away at you when you're feeling overwhelmed and underprepared, so I'd like to detail my journey from the beginning until now for those that may find solace in reading others' stories, especially if you identify with it. Those that hyperfocus on timing of exams and USCE, and the 'who what where when why' of things might appreciate this; I'll explain my strategy when approaching different parts of the application. What I ultimately hope to convey is 1. even the mediocre students can make it, and 2. there's no one 'right way' to do things. And I hope that this is able to encourage you to continue pushing forward, especially if you feel you're at a standstill in your own journey.
Growing up I was never the most academically disciplined. I sometimes joke that I was the only Asian in school that took majority regulars classes. I was fortunate in that my mother had the singular requirement that I simply not fail any classes, so that's pretty much what I did. I coasted through school while I saw friends beat themselves up over grades better than I ever even strived for. The way everyone stressed over getting into great colleges? High SAT scores? Foreign concepts to me. That same attitude carried through to med school.
I ended up not applying to colleges in the US and instead decided to go to Latin America to study for XYZ reasons. My grades were decent first year, worse second year, and even worse third year. When I say I was mediocre, I mean mediocre. It was to the point where I had to get >25/30 on final exams to pass classes, and I spent all three years stressed out of my mind because I was always in danger of failing something. It wasn't because I was dumb. Laziness is powerful, and I just never cared enough to sit down and study properly for anything.
Rotations were better; I'm better working with my hands than with my face in a book. I had fun in the hospital, as crazy and fast-paced as it is. Grades were still meh, because I still wasn't actually studying. I essentially spent my clinical years learning empirically instead of academically. This also doesn't mean I didn't know anything. No life was ever in danger because of my lack of knowledge. I simply do horribly on written exams and never cared to strive for A's.
Graduation came and went (2020) and I moved back to the states in 2021 to begin preparing for Step in July. I took Step 1 November 2021, OET January 2022, and Step 2 end of May 2022. Step 1 was average, and I don't actually know my Step 2 score lol. I wrote two incredibly detailed posts (1,2) about my Step 1 experience. This means there is a gap in my CV from October 2020 to November 2021, but I decided Step studying and 'moving my entire damn life back to the states' was good enough of an excuse to bullshit my way through if asked about during interviews.
My approach to apps in general were: do everything on time and completed before September, fill up my CV as much as I could with extra US associated stuff by September (and afterward in case I didn't match and had to update my CV for the 2024 cycle), and network as much as possible, which included joining online Psych caucus meetings and going to annual Psych conferences.
USCE was done in:

• May 2022: IM, private clinic. Through connections, and I got an LOR from the doctor. She specifically mentioned I want Psych in the letter. LOR strength maybe 7/10.
• June 2022: IM, big name hospital. Also through connections. He also mentioned I want Psych in the letter. Strongest LOR by far. 9.5/10.
• July 2022: Psych, private, remote. Googled the man, had to pay for it. Horrible bedside manner, etiquette a solid 0 in all aspects. The epitome of the type of psychiatrist not to be. Got an LOR, didn't even use it.
• July, August 2022: Psych, private, remote. Through connections. Loved this guy. Was the only Psych LOR I used, even if it was painfully average, short, and generic sounding (but still sincere in a way). 7/10.

I didn't want to have any gaps in my CV now that post-Nov 2021 I emerged from Step hermit land and there was activity again, so I took up volunteering at a health center September 2022 and started tutoring high school students in Spanish. I've also been doing Psych related research since May 2022 with a well known CAP PD, and I was able to fill my CV with stuff I've done since meeting her.
My PS was written painstakingly slowly between July and August 2022 and sent to 10+ people to edit. Too many? Yes. But I had an idea of how I wanted it to look, and my FOMO meant the more eyes, the better. I knew which edits to accept and which to reject. What I looked for in edits were things I was missing that I wasn't noticing, better wording, and order of information (what to mention in which paragraph?). There were enough edits that my PS was improved substantially, but not so many that I lost my voice. I asked non-medical, medical non-Psych, and Psych people to read it, because I wanted perspectives from all sides.
What I lacked in academically I made up for in other areas. I filled up every single character in the hobbies section. I put mainly non-medical things in the supplemental application. I complemented an experience in PS with one of the entries in the supplemental (as well as an entry in my main CV), so things were connected throughout my entire application and explained in detail in different ways. My strategy here was for them to see I didn't only care about medicine and that I've done and do more things with my time that are enriching to my person and would contribute to my formation as a psychiatrist. Sounds corny, but it worked. Instead of filling my app with medicine, medicine, and medicine (understandable for more academically competitive specialties), I focused on everything outside of it and somehow made a type of association with medicine in the end. Besides the common questions asked in interviews, people mainly focused on my extracurriculars and asked what I did outside of medicine. I suppose I'm fortunate in wanting Psych since it's easier to do that than in other specialties, so obviously take this all with a huge ass grain of salt.
Applications were sent out the moment ERAS opened. I edited my CV with a friend (another applicant) the day before so she could catch errors I glossed over, and also for moral support. But I asked a non-medical friend to help me write my CV beforehand because she's chef's kiss for these kinds of things and I am very much not.
Before each interview I took propranolol cause I shake like no other when under pressure. I had an entire Word doc with every question from the Psych spreadsheet (and my answers in bullet points) on one half of the screen, and the video call on the other half. I made sure I was in a well lit and quiet area, with minimal visual contamination behind me. If I didn't know how to answer a question, I would stall in the most natural way possible. The way you look on paper gets you the interview. Once you're in the interview, social skills come into play and are in large part what determines if and where they rank you, so it was imperative for me to shine through with how I sat, how I spoke, how I answered, and damn, even how I breathed.
I sent out my LOI at the end of January, written with the help of two friends, and got a hopeful response from the PD. Didn't read too much into it, but I rode the wave of confidence until Match Day. Ended up matching there, and here we are now.
My point with all of this is:

• There's no magic recipe for success. People will tell you IM rotations for Psych are a bad idea. Others will tell you 0 publications = 0 IVs. What matters is how you frame these experiences in your application and IVs. I said I did IM rotations because IM's important. When is it not? It doesn't take away from the type of physician I'll be in the future, but rather adds to it.
• Prepare for everything. Do things on time. Strategize. I started networking at the beginning of last year, and even if I didn't get IVs in places I had connections, these are all people that know me now, and they have seen my progress since meeting them a year ago. I started forming these relationships preemptively because I didn't want to start residency at 0.
• Your attitude matters. The way you see yourself matters. Have confidence in yourself! You've made it this far. But don't be cocky. It is possible to consider yourself intelligent and still be humble. It is also possible to consider yourself intelligent and have it backfire because arrogance gets in the way of adequate progress. And the more negative the mindset, the worse the outcome. Not always, but the people I know with such a negative view of the world and negative approach to Step and applications have had the worst performance since beginning this entire process. Understand that you are objectively capable of doing what everyone else is doing. Own your shit.
• You can match with Step attempts. You can match with CV gaps. You can match with YOGs > 5y. You can match no matter what your credentials.
• Basically, understand how to play the system. Work smarter, not harder. Work hard regardless, but ensure that the return on the work you put in is worth it in the end. Understand what these programs want. Understand that the way you present yourself to them matters. Learn how to catch their attention, and be prepared when it's your turn to speak.

Thank you if you've read this entire thing. And as always, AMA.

Should I Hire a Private Investigator to Help to find a lost relative or catch a cheating spouse
When we think about private investigators, most of us imagine something out of a movie: The private investigator sits in his car, chomping a sandwich and smoking a cigar while he tries to catch a cheating spouse and lover in a clandestine embrace. But is this the way it is in real life? Yes and no.
How a Private Investigator Might Help
Private investigators are often hired to Help to find a lost relative or catch a cheating spouse, and they can be very helpful for a variety of reasons. However, more often than not, the evidence they collect is more circumstantial than what you see in the movies. When the case involves extramarital affairs, the couples are usually discreet enough that the film is PG-rated at best. Still, every P.I. has stories of catching people in the act and capturing some very private, revealing moments on film.
The Illusion of Privacy
Most people close the blinds unless they’re on an upper floor in a building where they believe they can’t be seen from the ground. But what if a private investigator manages to take video from an upper floor in the building across the street? If a house is in a secluded area, the spouse who has hired the private investigator can give the P.I. permission to walk onto the grounds of the house. The illusion that the lovers can’t be seen because of the seclusion of the house is just that; an illusion. The investigator can easily record their activity through the windows.
Example One: Video Recording
In one case, a male client knew his wife was having an affair, but the investigator hadn’t been able to get any real evidence. So, the P.I. suggested that the client go on a short trip. It wasn’t long after the client went out of town that a strange car appeared at the house. The P.I. called the client and asked him to come back to town, after which the client and P.I. entered the house together and retrieved the client’s gun.
They could hear the wife and her lover in a downstairs bedroom, but the door was locked. The investigator stood by with the gun visible on his hip and a video camera in his hand while the client removed the door to the room and yanked the bed covers off of his wife and lover. The investigator had rehearsed with the client what to say because it was important that he not threaten his wife’s lover in any way. Needless to say, this relationship ended in divorce, and the investigator’s film was instrumental in the husband’s case.
Example Two: Setting Your Spouse Up to Admit Guilt
In another situation, a male client was able to intercept his wife’s emails and learn that she was seeing a man who was arriving in town the next evening. She told her husband that she was going out with the girls, but when the investigator followed her, she ended up at a hotel. He observed her coming out of the hotel with her boyfriend, and while they were gone in the boyfriend’s car, the client moved his wife’s car from the parking lot. The investigator contacted the police to let them know that even if the car was reported stolen, it wasn’t actually stolen. Of course, if the wife reported the car stolen, she would have to admit that she had parked it in a hotel parking lot.
When the wife returned and frantically looked for her car, the client drove up in a van and threw all of her clothes onto the ground. He had gathered them in garbage bags just for this purpose. She was now officially caught and could no longer deny her affairs.
Example Three: Workplace Monitoring
In another case, an employer was related to the spouse of an employee who was suspected of having an affair with a coworker. The employer hired an investigator to place a hidden video camera in the office, which caught the married employee and lover having sex numerous times during the day. So, this couple was not only guilty of avoiding work, but they were committing acts of illicit sexual behavior
Most of the time, people have affairs with just one person that they’ve met at work. This is why the first question an investigator usually asks a client is: Where does your spouse work, and who works with your spouse? Investigators say it’s much less common for a married person to pick up several lovers in bars or to be caught involved in prostitution. But it certainly isn’t unprecedented.
Example Four: Following Someone
In one case, it was discovered that a man had placed a profile on a dating website, stating that he was separated. He began dating women in the area, and the investigator was surprised to find the man out with different women on different evenings. Eventually, the man picked up a woman at a bar and engaged in a sexual act with her in his car in a parking lot. The private investigator was able to shoot video of the couple through the window of the car.
Avoid Hiring Friends to Watch Your Spouse
What if someone asks a friend to follow the spouse or place a wiretap on the spouse’s telephone? This is a recipe for disaster. First of all, wiretapping is illegal a violation of both federal and state law. There are trespassing and harassment laws as well that the average person might not understand, so a friend could be criminally prosecuted for making an inadvertent mistake. Besides criminal charges, the injured parties could take the friend/amateur investigator to court for monetary damages.
Even if the friend stays within the law, a non-professional is much more likely to tip off the party who is being followed. Once the spouse knows they’re being watched, obtaining evidence is next to impossible. This mistake can be costly since private investigators generally charge by the hour. Tipping off the spouse may require considerably more time on the part of the professional investigator, resulting in added cost. One private investigator likens it to getting an estimate on a malfunctioning transmission only to go home and take the transmission apart. When you have to return the transmission to the mechanic in dozens of pieces, the estimate will be higher because it will take the mechanic longer to put the mess back together again.
When Should a Private Investigator Be Hired?
Even if there is nothing more than a suspicion of something amiss in the marriage, consulting with an hacker is a good idea. If the matter ends up in court, the evidence gathered by the P.I. is much more likely to be admissible in the case if it has been gathered with the guidance and direction of an hacker.
Some people believe they can confront their spouse and find a way to work on the marriage. While this is certainly a possibility, if the cheating party is unwilling to work on the marriage, it’s helpful to have the evidence before the confrontation takes place
Feel free to contact us at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) for expert guidance

Hey everyone, I apologize if this is against the rules, please remove this post if it is.
So I'm missing a few stays to retain Hilton Diamond. I was told by the customer service agent that if I stay 3 stays before the end of March I will retain my Diamond status. Is there a way to schedule a stay at the cheapest hilton hotel somewhere in the world and then virtually check in and not show up? Has anyone done this before? I'm looking for cheap hotel recommendations.
I ran into problems where I would find a cheap hotel and then try to call that hotel to ask if they do virtual check in and they don't pick up. I've already been burned once for checking the website and seeing how the hotel website says they offer it but when I reserved it I found out they actually don't.
Also, the requirement is 3 stays before March ends. If I were to find a hotel and reserve one night and then another night and then a 3rd, do these count as 3 different stays if they are reserved on separate confirmation numbers but consecutively?
Once again, please remove this post if this is against the rules, both customer service reps I spoke to on the phone did not say anything about it.
Thanks!

Want to attempt a Hardcore Nuzelock on Brilliant Diamond but would prefer not having to grind on wild pokemon for several hours to get to level cap.
Noticed Rare Candy dupe glitches existed in previous versions of the game but seeing nothing for V1.3.0.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Can someone explain to me how our premade of silvegold players get constantly matched against teams of gold/plat with at least one player in diamond? And more importantly, why do these diamond players always have an average enemy rating of Gold 1?

From the novel Salammbô, By Gustave Flaubert.

The most annoying were the bullets of the slingers. They fell upon the roofs, and in the gardens, and in the middle of the courts, while people were at table before a slender meal with their hearts big with sighs. These cruel projectiles bore engraved letters which stamped themselves upon the flesh;—and insults might be read on corpses such as “pig,” “jackal,” “vermin,” and sometimes jests: “Catch it!” or “I have well deserved it!”

From the novel Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro.

'I suppose it wasn’t you making that crowing noise this morning, Stevens?’
My employer was referring, I realized, to a pair of gypsies gathering unwanted iron who has passed by earlier making their customary calls. As it happened, I had that same morning been giving thought to the dilemma of whether or not I was expected to reciprocate my employer’s bantering, and had seriously worried at how he might be viewing my repeated failure to respond to such openings. I therefore set about thinking of some witty reply; some statement which would still be safely inoffensive in the event of my having misjudged the situation. After a moment or two, I said:
‘More like swallows than crows, I would have said, sir. From the migratory aspect.’ And I followed this with a suitably modest smile to indicate without ambiguity that I had made a witticism, since I did not wish Mr Farraday to restrain any spontaneous mirth he felt out of misplaced respectfulness.

From the short story From Tumble Home, by Amy Hempel

I am the only one who seems to like her jokes. She tells them wrong, and I think her way is better. The one about Christa McAuliffe and Donna Rice both going down on the Challenger? Chatty told it this way: They both had sex all over Florida.

Part two tomorrow.
That first passage makes me think of this modern version.

I'm assuming the answer to this will be a resounding yes, but before you answer:
I've never played it. At that time, I was more into console gaming and didn't like the PC style of game. I have in years since played plenty of ARPGs and CRPGs. Questionable reviews kept me away from Diablo III and the franchise. However, for some reason or another, I preordered Diablo IV, I think in part because of its having some coop, and thinking it would be fun to play at the beginning of the game's life cycle. I have also played a few seasons of Path of Exile and had a brilliant time, so it didn't seem too risky. Some things I'd change, but overall I had fun in D4 so now I am wondering about D2 while waiting for June.
Would it be fun to play in the meantime? I don't know anyone who plays it. The excitement around it in my PSN friend groups wore off when D3 came out and everyone played that for a while. There's coop, but it isn't quite like D4, where coop is more pervasive. If you like PoE and D4, would D2 be worth checking out if it looks like you'd be playing solo? How active is D2 these days, on console? Being a classic, and D4 being a few months away, maybe it is still active?
I probably should just check it out from a gaming history standpoint, I realize, but any thoughts?

Hi!
Of course, anyone 18 or older is welcome but I’d love to befriend someone older in their 30s or 40s etc who is perhaps in need of some company as I know how it feels to be feeling alone.
My name is Dylan and I’m a 21 year old single guy from northeastern Illinois in the US. Ever find yourself nice and cozy and really wishing you had that special someone to look forward to talking to and hearing from?
I’m seeking some kind of close connection, whether that’s something where we remain friends yet can be flirty or romantic such as a friend with benefits.
Sexually I’m very open and have been very affection starved and touch starved lately, haha.
I like to say upfront that I will always be mindful and considerate of your feelings and boundaries, especially concerning anything flirty or more intimate that we might get into. It’s important to me and we’d never have to do anything we weren’t comfortable with or ready for.
Physically I'm 6ft tall, I'm average/slim build, and I'm white/Caucasian with hazel eyes and dark brown hair. I wear glasses too :)
Now that we've established who I am and what I'm looking for, here are a few interests of mine to get to know me better!
• Fall/Autumn season
I had to list this one because I just adore the fall and everything that comes with it. My birthday is in October too so it's always been my favorite month. I much prefer fall and winter over a muggy humid summer. In the cooler seasons there's always ways to warm up.
• Candles and Incense
I love candles and incense and stuff like this!! I feel like you don't find guys into this stuff that much but I definitely am an exception.
• Technology
I'm good at fixing electronics and I'm quite nerdy in that aspect. So if something breaks I can fix it ;) I'm also good with my hands and quite inclined mechanically and quite the nerd :P
• Music
I love genres such as classic rock, alternative rock, psychedelic rock, gothic rock, heavy metal, punk, post punk, hardcore, etc. My current favorite bands are The Cure and Joy Division/New Order. But I like tons of older and newer bands as well. such as: Bauhaus, Velvet Underground, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Type O Negative, Nirvana, Rush, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, the Wipers, Spacemen 3, Meshuggah, Megadeth, Buzzcocks, MC5, Stooges, 13th Floor Elevators, Screaming Trees, Green Day, Alice in Chains, Asylum Party, My Bloody Valentine, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Jefferson Airplane, etc.
• Cooking and Baking
I like to cook and learn new recipes, as well as bake fun things too! It's always nice when the house feels nice and cozy and smells good. I appreciate the simple pleasures in life, a cozy cup of tea and music or a movie in bed or sitting outside is so nice! I believe in veganism and I've been trying to become more vegan lately in what I eat.
• Animals
I love animals of all types, and I currently have an older cat which I adore to death! We rescued her from the local shelter. She's the sweetest thing. (I think I love her more than anyone in the house lol, she just makes me so happy) :) I also don't kill insects or bugs, I catch and release them outside.
• Art
I enjoy art, both creating it from time to time such as drawing, and admiring other peoples work. There's just something so fun about it and seeing things so beautiful.
• Houseplants
I love houseplants and really anything nature related and also spiritual such as crystals and rocks. I love to help my mom in caring for all of our plants and also gardening outside when its a good growing season. Its fun! I also like cottage core and goblin core type vibes and enjoy sitting out on the deck burning incense, its peaceful :)
• Photography
I recently got a DSLR camera, a Nikon D5500 and a D200 and I've really been enjoying taking photos of my cat and nature landscapes! This includes closeups, photos of trees, the fields, etc. I've been working a lot on composition, long exposures, getting nice blurred backgrounds, depth of field, etc. It's interesting.
Thanks for taking the time to get to know me.
Thank you for checking out my post and if I seemed to catch your interest I'd love to hear from you soon!

[First] [Prev] [Next] (placeholder, not trying to troll, just can't do links and editing is perilous)
Days ticked by, now marked by the change in temperature and light, not that I cared much, I stayed in my hole and ate some meat. It turns out mutagens have two sources, I think stats have two and skills have two making a triangle of sorts. What I figure stats and mutagen are fed by food, feats give mutagen and skills and something gives stats and skills.
I think the missing thing is doing stuff cause I have done nothing. I filled my belly with meat as soon as I had a belly to fill, weird notification that was. I got a new mutagen, Mottled Coat, came from the apparently highland cow I ate, causes my hide to thicken, my scales to grow out in curls and flakes providing more soft armor and insulates me against unwanted elemental effects.
A perfect pick when I CAN FINNALY GET TO SLEEP, it has been nothing but this ungodly racket from the cave entrance and it has kept me awake with its shrill whining and occasional thumping. Noting like being just about ready to doze off when some booming shakes you to your core. And I don't even get the dignity of being able to be worried about it because the star in my mana sight hasn't moved in all eight days of me being hatched.
I chew on bone because at least I can vent on something rather than stew forever. But I don't think gnawing here is healthy at all.
---
She knew she'd arrived ahead of a big storm, it had that feeling for awhile but this was still impressive.
A wall of water and slush crashed over the entrance to the gave with the prodigious downpour, outside was sleet, hail and thunder. There was even an eye to the storm some ways away, it seemed deflected off the mountain in such a way that the face she was on caught the worst of it for the whole thing.
At least it wasn't some Aroura Caster going nuts with Nature's Wrath or some such storm breath, then it would just be chaotic and devastating. This way the ecology adapted to take advantage of the downstream wash and the current scouring of anything soft. She could see moss pods, burrowing insects and various mana creatures taking advantage, probably most important though were the underground rivers and reservoirs that lead to the other side of the mountain though gaps in the sheet rock.
A storm beyond any a dragon could dare to fly though and an air sprite's wet dream but part of the lands here, she'd have to keep it in mind.
She wound her neck against her clutch and soothed them as best she could, they were already trying to one up each other, which while it'd make any dragon proud, was unproductive. The rest Twelve of them all had to get along with the first and some had radically different plans for development. The next closest to hatch was sired by the first to help her on her escape.
He took after his father's inquisitiveness, while leaving the learned paranoia behind. Sired by an Elemental Dragon he had a natural talent for magic and got a lot of options to lean into it, though he seemed to go for the ones from her side more. Likely due to not knowing the possible environment outside or having seen what deserts do to ice-cream.
His father helped her scrub all of the conventional tracking and recognition methods dragons use, leaving them to look for the wayward prodigy with the normal sight and smell. He helped cover her and get her out to the outskirts of the elder's territory in exchange for assistance continuing his bloodline. It made for a good exchange on her end because if he came to her asking for favors she'd be the one doing the work and assisting the bloodline.
This way she got to be lazy and flee half a world away to a land where dragon's calls are never heard.
She'd have to find some way to thank him, maybe some of the cattle from around here, he'd been asking about bovines a lot.
---
[Feat Achieved: Great Awakening, New Mutagens available, New Skill available.]
What?
My bleary ass was gonna need an explanation. The system wasted no time in showing me that the feat was to remain awake and alert for a whole TEN DAYS. The rewards, some stuff about better focus and stamina but what I cared about was anything to get me to sleep. As soon as it listed off something sleep in the name I picked the hell out of it.
[New Skill: Hypersleep]
I smiled at the prospect of finally catching up on my sleep but the system was already heading me off with visions of how the skill works.
[Hypersleep] apparently didn't work to make your sleep longer, instead you spend manna on sleeping to sleep deeper and more vividly. Compressing my time asleep was not my goal damnit, I don't care about the regen and prophetic clarity, I want to skip my whole growth phase in one long nap. I want to live up to the Dwagon's Legendary feats of hibernation.
But fine. Anything to knock me out at this point.
I fill my belly again and poke my snoot towards the fresh air, dumping all my...whatever mana is into [Hypersleep]
With a crack of glass and a pop I'm finally asleep.
So deeply asleep I can see myself...wait...

(Author here, didn't realize I put an apostrophe in the first title. RIP, it's there forever now)
First Next
Date: May 3rd, 2235
"My what?" Tom asked, completely confounded.
Surrender? Is this alien actually asking for my surrender? The poor thing is shaking like a leaf, He pondered.
"Y-Your surrender. I'm here to accept it... Accept it from your leader or leaders specifically," Teresh stuttered, the device around their neck blinking blue with a robotic voice delivering it in sterile English.
"Okay, well... can we talk about that after you get medical attention? You look to be wounded," Tom explained, seeing a bit of dark red on its neck.
It looks more superficial than anything, not a deep cut. That knife though, did he try to stab himself? Tom analyzed, falling back on some of his training.
From what Tom could make out, the creature before him was bipedal like himself. Looks to be around four and a half feet tall, tops. Almost no muscle to speak of, clearly not a very physically strong species; or individual at the very least. The alien resembled a large avian in many ways, though it had two arms in addition to two sets of wings. What really stood out to him was the aliens face. It was shockingly human in many ways; in that it was able to express itself with the movement of its eyes and shorter beak. Tom was clearly able to see fear in its eyes, the slight shake of its feathers. Even more interestingly, it had a crown of feathers around the back of its head that dipped up and down, with its green feathers even shifting colors on occasion. He had thought it was the lighting at first, but it seemed this alien possessed some kind of camouflage ability or similar. Good lord, the biologists were going to have the discovery of the millennia when they got to him.
However, for now, he needed to assess the situation. Starting at the beginning:
The alien hailed all available frequencies and made no attempt to hide itself. It wasn't aware of the local electromagnetic fields so it's message was garbled and self-contained. The craft it arrived in didn't look to possess any weapons, and it freely complied to relinquish its ship. It is terrified of me to an extent, that much is obvious. At some point recently it had cut itself, either accidentally or an attempt to take its own life. Lastly, it is here to accept my surrender, or the surrender of humanity.
With all this in mind, Tom came to the most probable conclusion: Wherever this alien is from, it was sent here to perform this task but without any aid or support from armed forces. Meaning that it is considered expendable in some way or belonging to a pacifist organization. If I can discern what entity or government sent it here, we can begin to form a strategy for the defense of earth if need be.
While he was thinking, the alien was still shivering and terrified. Mustering a weak, "I will accept aid if you offer it. As a diplomat, I simply ask that you do not maim, brainwash, or torture me. It will not reflect well on your species."
He seems to think that we're a cruel, violent race for some reason. He's not entirely wrong, but I doubt he knows our history, Tom surmised.
"Again, not going to hurt you. If you'd allow, I'd like to take you to our medical ward. I can take care of that wound for you, if you'd allow," Tom relayed, keeping his tone calm and steady.
"W-What of the others, how do I know you will not attack me once I'm surrounded?" Teresh chirped.
"I'll get them to wait in the bridge. All I ask is that you put the weapon away. I won't be armed either," he replied.
He could see the gears in the alien's head turning. Building a repour with Teresh would help make the process easier. He'd could get Ally and Maxim to head back to the bridge, but man the comms so they could record and monitor everything. Cleaning and helping them with their wounds should build a level of trust, one that he can use to discover more about the alien.
"That is... equitable," they paused for a moment, "I accept. Just please make the others leave first."
"That's, that's great. Thank you Teresh, I'm happy to help you. Just set that off to the side, and I'll make sure it's just us," Tom replied, letting his posture ease.
Still facing Teresh, Tom slowly backed up and then out of the ship. Despite the other two wearing their helmets, he could tell exactly what they were thinking.
"The hell's going on? You've been in there for ages. Pilot dead or something?" Maxim asked. His voice reverberating inside their helmets.
"This ship too, computer had nothing on it. New model, old model?" Ally asked. She had a data pad in her hands and was tapping at the screen.
"Guys, I need you to trust me on this. You need to get to the bridge and shut off all comms. Nothing in or out. Keep this ship impounded and get on the cams and record everything that happens in med bay," Tom spoke rapidly but concisely. There was a pregnant pause in the air.
"Tom, what's going on?" Maxim asked, sounding worried.
"Haven't heard you talk like that in ages, what-?" Ally began.
"This is a matter of national security. I need you both to trust me. Man your posts, radio silence. Understood?" Tom interrupted, putting on a stern voice.
Seeing the man come back into his own, the two straightened their posture and saluted out of pure muscle memory. Delivering back a: "Sir yes sir!"
"At ease, now get the hell out of here," he commanded. Watching the two jump up and head for the door.
How long's it been, four, five years? He asked himself, shaking his head.
Tom climbed back up into the ship, just in time to watch his crewmates exit through the far door. He glanced over and saw Teresh's knife on the ships controls. The alien now standing and holding their neck with one of their clawed arms. It still looked terrified of him but was mustering up courage as far as he could tell.
"Are you ready?" He asked, holding out a hand.
"Y-Yes, thank you," Teresh replied. Slowly stepping forward, the click of his talons echoing through the ship.
Click, click, click, click.
With a great deal of hesitation, the alien eventually held out his other hand and allowed Tom to take it. Now slowly leading them both out of the ship and into the greater cargo space.
"You're doing great. The medical bay is on the right-hand side of the ship. I'll escort you up to the door, then take you down a few hallways to get there. Does that sound agreeable to you?" Tom asked again, making sure to keep his tone steady.
"It does. I will cooperate as long as my safety is assured," Teresh answered.
"And it is. I give you my word," he replied.
"Your... word?" They replied.
Right. Different species, different metaphors.
"It means my honor, my trust. My… respect. If that makes sense," he explained.
Their eyes widened, something seemed to garner recognition, "Honor, yes. I understand. I will take your... word."
"Good, thank you Teresh," Tom replied. Letting out a breath inside his helmet.
He had no idea what kind of eggshells he was walking around. This was completely out of his depth. He was just going to do his best to remain as civil and neutral as possible. No more metaphors or complicated concepts just in case it might cause offense. They are a diplomat after all. Best not to muddy earth's politics so early in its new development.
The two began to travel towards the side of the ship. Tom turned the valve on the rough metallic door, and it let out a hiss, the door slowly opening. Not the best first impression of humanity. His ship wasn't the prettiest out there but damn was she dependable. Never a problem he couldn't fix or a mission she couldn't complete. Tarva never disappointed. She could, however, use a new coat of paint.
Much of the interior was varying degrees of brown or gray. They passed through several closed doors, vacant crew rooms or extra storage. The lights tracking their progress as they went, some flickering ever so gently to show its age. This went on for another fifty to sixty feet, before Tom opened the door at the end of the hall. Entering into a small white room, fit with two cots, a cabinet full of OTC meds, and a few IV's. He had no clue what effect the drugs would have on the alien, so best to avoid those for now. Instead, he gestured towards the cot on the side.
"Please, sit. I'm going to grab some gauze and medical tape. It should be enough to stop the bleeding," he explained, watching Teresh clamber up onto the cot.
He actually couldn't help himself from smiling under his helmet. It was adorable, but he knew that was an inappropriate attitude to have for the present situation, so he suppressed it for now. Teresh sat with their skinny avian legs hanging of the side and waving like a child's, which was even more adorable than before. He turned towards them with the gauze in hand.
"If you're uncomfortable, you could apply it yourself. It just might be difficult considering..." Tom explained, only to see Teresh put up a claw.
"I will be fine. You may administer aid without worry," they offered, though he could still see them shaking from here.
It was then that Tom had an idea, though it might be a bad one. The alien seemed frightened by his helmet, he could remove it and hope it made the interaction easier. However, if there were any microbes present it may be disastrous for the human race. Maybe he'd be even more terrified of his human appearance. Admittedly he wasn't the most handsome guy, but he was more concerned that he may perceive him as some kind of "predator species" or something similar.
Biting his tongue, Tom decided to play it safe and slowly stepped towards Teresh. Once he was in front of them, he began to dab the wound with gauze before covering and taping it. He wasn't sure what kind of effect alcohol would have on their biology, so he kept it away for now. Once outfitted, he could see Teresh's breathing begin to slow, and become calmer. The avian gave him a look, the feathers around their head turning a deep blue.
"Thank you, Tom. I will not forget this," Teresh said, giving him a feeling of pure pride.
"I'm happy to help anytime. I hope this is the start of something great," he replied, exhaling.
"Yes, I think so too," Teresh affirmed.
Thank God I can still do something right in my life. Now, I need to make sure Ally and Maxim haven't lost their minds and contact an old friend. Things are about to move really quickly at home. He pondered.
"I'm going to step outside a moment to contact someone who can get us where you need to go. Do you mind staying there for me?" Tom asked.
"Of course, do what you need to. I'll do whatever it takes to get my mission done," Teresh replied, his translator concluding his speech.
------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile...
Mikael had just finished making breakfast. A small bowl of corn flakes, a side of toast, and half a glass of orange juice. It was what he considered the most luxurious breakfast. He sat down at his table and looked out into a beautiful vista. Neo Washington may have had the most pretentious name he had ever heard, but the colony itself was a wonder to behold. Set on the moon, is was the first permanent settlement outside of earth's atmosphere. Even though the job could be an absolute bore at times, the view was well worth it. He could pick out almost all the continents from where he was. Sometimes catching a passing satellite, green and red blinking lights in the distance. He took his spoon and hand and went to take the first bite of breakfast.
Zzzzz! Zzzzz!
"Ugh," he groaned, his face curling into a scowl. "It's my day off. What could it possibly be."
With a click, his holo-projector whirred to life. Seeing a familiar face appear, a light blue sheen over his features. Mikael cleared his throat, "Tom, why are you calling me on my day off? I was just about to enjoy my cereal, and you know how much my breakfast means to me."
"Sir, this is an emergency. I need you to authorize an impromptu docking as soon as possible," Tom replied.
"What? On the base? You should still have clearance to land," Mikael asked, confused.
The hologram fizzed for a moment, reforming into Tom's exasperated look, "Sir, I need to dock at the private hanger."
"Why in God's name would you need to do that? I hope you know my clearance isn't something to be tossed around willy nilly," Mikael continued, growing increasingly frustrated.
With a huff, Tom looked him right in the eyes and replied, "Sir, I need that clearance as soon as possible. This is a St. Louis situation sir."
Now that, that caused him to pause. It was a code word that he and only few others knew. There were only a few scenarios that afforded such severity. He knew Tom wouldn't exaggerate something of that nature, he was serious.
"My ship is out for maintenance, dock in hanger 10. I'll meet you there," Mikael concluded. With a nod, the projection shut off and he sighed.
Never a dull day in my life... he reflected.

So here are the datamined unique items (build 0.8.0.39517). *Please note: These may not be final and there could be additional unique items added.
You'll notice a few fan-favorite uniques returning in the list from previous games along with uniques that are completely new. If this is the final list, I'm a bit surprised there aren't more, but I guess we also have to remember that there are many legendary powers and legendary paragon boards/glyphs as well to hunt for.
In beta we got to see only a tiny part of charactebuild customization. Once we combine legendary powers, affixes and stats on gear, paragon boards, glyphs (socket these into paragon boards), uniques, skill trees, and the class-specific systems (enchantments, book of the dead, spirit boons, etc) we should be in a great place which should be enough to satisfy even the most veteran arpg fans out of the gate.

Unique Items

Barbarian specific uniques:

Item Name	Type	Power	Flavor Text
Ramaladni's Magnum Opus	1h Sword	Skills using this weapon deal x% increased damage per point of Fury you have, but you lose x Fury every second.	"Without him the wine is less sweet, the hearth less warm, and our blades less keen. Our blood brother is gone, but Bul-Kathos willing, we will meet again one day." - Sorrowsong for Ramaladni *this is a tribute to Travis Day, a Blizzard developer who passed away.
Ancients' Oath	2h Axe	Steel Grasp launches 2 additional chains. Enemies hit by Steel Grasp are Slowed by x% for x seconds.	"Weapons wielded by the fiercest warriors often catch the eye of the Ancient spirits. If the wielder is worthy, the spirits may bless the steel with their strength." - Gerti, Oxen Tribe Forgemaster
Hellhammer	2h Mace	Upheaval ignites the ground Burning enemies for an additional x damage over x seconds.	The demon prince Ikonoth slew hundreds of the Heavenly Host with this infernal hammer before falling to none other than the Archangel Imperius himself.
Overkill	2h mace	Death Blow creates a shockwave, dealing x% of its Base damage to enemies. Enemies who die to this effect also reset Death Blow's Cooldown.	The malformed snake creatures that live in the swamps are not content with simply killing their prey. They seem to take a malicious pleasure from inflicting as much suffering as possible before death.
Fields of Crimson	2h Sword	While using this weapon, damaging at least one enemy with Rupture creates a blood pool that inflicts x Bleeding damage over x seconds. Enemies standing in the pool take x% increased Bleeding damage.	"We've been fighting these flesh-eaters for so long, been soaked in so much blood, that after a while it's difficult to tell what side you're truly on." - Daelyr, Crane Tribe warrior
Battle Trance	Amulet	Increase Frenzy's maximum stacks by x. While you have maximum Frenzy, your other Skills gain x% increased Attack Speed.	"The change that overtook my brother in battle was terrifying. His eyes turned hard like diamonds, and the way he moved... it was like he was dancing to music only he could hear." - Captain Dervin
100,000 Steps	Boots	After gaining the final damage bonus from the Walking Arsenal Key Passive, you automatically cast Ground Stomp and gain x Fury. This cannot happen more than once every x seconds.	"While many Barbarians remained in the Dreadlands, small groups from the Oxen, Crane and Bear tribes instead chose to search the land for a new home." - A History of the Children of Bul-Kathos
Rage of Harrogath	Chest	Lucky Hit: Up to a x% chance to reduce the Cooldowns of your Non-Ultimate Skills by 1 seconds when you inflict Bleeding on Elites.	Harrogath, the final bastion of resistance against Baal's assault on Mt. Arreat was destroyed along with the Worldstone. The survivors never forgave the betrayal that led to the loss of their home.
Gohr's Devastating Grips	Gloves	Whirlwind explodes after it ends, dealing x% of the total Base damage dealt to surrounding enemies as Fire damage.	"The brutish construction of these gloves belies the strength they bestow. Gohr was clearly no craftsman, but it would be foolish to ignore the triumph of his work." - Barrett's Book of Implements
of Hammering *(this is listed as unique test, but the name reads more like a legendary.)	2h Mace	(PH) Consecutive Hammer of the Ancients increase the next cast's damage by x% its radius by x%.	-

Druid specific uniques:

Item Name	Type	Power	Flavor Text
Waxing Gibbous	1h Axe	Gain Stealth for x seconds when killing enemies with Shred. Breaking Stealth with an attack grants Ambush which guarantees Critical Strikes for x seconds.	The nights preceding the full moon are sometimes far more dangerous than the event itself. The frenzy has begun to rise, yet the night is just dark enough to obscure a hunter from their prey's sight.
Greatstaff of the Crone	2h Staff	Claw is now a Storm Skill and also casts Storm Strike at x% normal damage.	"She has existed in Scosglen since before Fiacla-Géar walked the land. Her purpose is a mystery to us all. However, approach her with deference; she may grant you her counsel." - Airidah, to Donan
Mad Wolf's Glee	Chest	Werewolf form is now your true form, and you gain +2 Ranks to all Werewolf Skills.	"He was not a victim of the curse - he sought it out. As his skin split and his bones cracked, his laughter never ceased." – Tale of the Mad Nobleman
Insatiable Fury	Chest	Werebear form is now your true form, and you gain +2 Ranks to all Werebear Skills.	When the Days of Ash began, the great druid Nafain reminded his disciples that nothing, not even the loss of their humanity, was too great a sacrifice to protect Túr Dúlra from Astaroth's flames.
Tempest Roar	Helm	Lucky Hit: Storm Skills have up to a x% chance to grant x Spirit. Your base Storm Skills are now also Werewolf Skills	"Listen, child, to the music of the storm. It has its own rhythm. Its own melody. Hear how beautifully it sings, and perhaps one day you will be able to join in its harmony." – Airidah
Vasily's Prayer	Helm	Your Earth Skills are now also Werebear Skills and Fortify you for x.	"Roots from the Great Oak growing at the seaward statue of Vasily will, on rare occasions, be found twisted back upon themselves, suffused with ferocious magic." - Barrett's Book of Implements
Storm's Companion	Pants	Your Wolf Companions are infused with the power of the storm, dealing Lightning damage and gaining the Storm Howl ability.	"The storm's rage is my own, brother. I call, and the skies roar in reply." - Vasily, to Bul-Kathos
Hunter's Zenith	Ring	Gain a bonus when you kill with a Shapeshifting Skill: Werewolf: Your next Non-Ultimate Werebear Skill costs no Resource and has no Cooldown. Werebear: Your next Werewolf Skill will Heal you for x when damage is first dealt.	"By fang, claw, spear, or sword - send the bastards back to the flames from which they crawled! Soak the peat with their blood! For Fiacla-Géar! For Scosglen!" - Nafain, during the Days of Ash

Necromancer specific uniques:

Item Name	Type	Power	Flavor Text
Black River	1h Scythe	Corpse Explosion consumes up to x additional Corpses around the initial Corpse, dealing x% increased damage and with a x% larger radius per additional Corpse.	"The scrolls describe a river of tar that separated the living from the land of the dead. Any unfortunate soul who tried to cross would be dragged down into oblivion." - Notes of Scholar Kamien
Bloodless Scream	2h Scythe	Your Darkness Skills Chill enemies for up to x%. Lucky Hit: Your Darkness Skills have up to a x% chance to generate x additional Essence against Frozen targets.	"My companion swung her odd weapon in a wide arc, and our pursuer stopped short. The look of horror on his face as his body fell to pieces will haunt me forever." - The Ebon Pages, Canto II, Verse XI
Deathspeaker's Pendant	Amulet	Blood Surge casts a mini nova on your Minions, dealing x damage. Damage is increased by x% per target drained by the initial cast, up to x%.	Once a sanctum for Rathma's studies, the Temple of the Deathspeaker became a proving grounds for potential leaders of his priesthood. Its halls are filled with the corpses of those who failed.
Greaves of the Empty Tomb	Boots	Create desecrated ground beneath your Sever spectres as they travel, damaging enemies for x Shadow damage over x seconds.	"The massive door to my family's crypt, which had taken a dozen men to close, was thrown open. Had I known the horrors to come I never would have set foot inside!" -The Ebon Pages, Canto I, Verse VII
Blood Artisan's Cuirass	Chest	When you pick up Blood Orbs, a free Bone Spirit is spawned, dealing bonus damage based on your current Life percent.	"The infamous Necromancer Gaza-Thul's mastery over blood magic was indisputable. Many suspect that upon his death, his skin was used to fashion this eldritch armor." - Barrett's Book of Implements
Howl from Below	Gloves	Instead of detonating immediately, Corpse Explosion summons a Volatile Skeleton that charges at a random enemy and explodes. Corpse Explosion's damage is increased by x%.	"Can you not hear it? That endless scream from the cold earth beneath your feet!? They are down there, trapped, blind with rage! Waiting to drag us down into the sod!" - Ravings of Madman Gustav
Deathless Visage	Helm	Bone Spear leaves behind echoes as it travels that explode, dealing x damage.	"Rathma is endless. He was the first Ancient, and will remain at the end. He is the master of the Great Cycle of Being. When Death comes for him, why should he fear it?" - Vauntus, Acolyte of Rathma
Ring of Mendeln	Ring	While you have x or more Minions you gain: Lucky Hit: Up to a x% chance to empower all of your Minions, causing the next attack from each to explode for x Physical damage.	The signet of Mendeln ul-Diomed, the founder of the Priests of Rathma and the first Necromancer, was lost for over 3,000 years. The immense power over death held within, however, has not diminished.

Rogue specific uniques:

Item Name	Type	Power	Flavor Text
Condemnation	Dagger	Your Core Skills deal x% increased damage when spending 3 Combo Points. Your Basic Skills using this weapon have a x% chance to generate 3 Combo Points.	"I've never seen such ruthless butchery. He deserves to be be shipped off to die in the swamps with the rest of the godless murderers." - Witness to the murder of Sergeant Walcot
Asheara's Khanjar	Dagger	Hits with this weapon increase your Attack Speed by x% for x seconds, up to x%.	When Caldeum's gates closed, Asheara led her Iron Wolves out of the city knowing full well they would never return. Instead they roamed Kehjistan pledging their blades to any who were in need.
Skyhunter	Bow	The first direct damage you deal to an enemy is a guaranteed Critical Strike. If you had maximum stacks of the Precision Key Passive when you cast the Skill, gain Energy, this can only happen once per cast.	"Genai took up her bow and aimed at the sun itself. The light burned her eyes, but her arrow flew true. Wounded, the sun hid, and brought forth the first night. - Fable of the Great Sky-Hunt
Windforce	Bow	Lucky Hit: Hits with this weapon have up to a x% chance to deal double damage and Knock Back the target.	"There have been numerous world-shaping conflicts throughout history. This bow has been found on the battlefield of every one, and always in the hands of the victors." - Barrett's Book of Implements
Word of Hakan	Amulet	Your Rain of Arrows is always Imbued with all Imbuements at once.	"Let the great gates of Caldeum be sealed. Let its proud walls stand fiercely defended. The rest of Kehjistan may suffer this plague, but my city, and my people, will not." - Proclamation of Hakan II
Grasp of Shadow	Gloves	Lucky Hit: Damaging a Vulnerable enemy with a Marksman or Cutthroat Skill has up to a x% chance to summon a Shadow Clone that mimics your attack.	Dark wisps creep hungrily across these gloves, like an assassin's blade seeking a life to steal on a moonless night.
Cowl of the Nameless	Helm	You gain x% increased Lucky Hit Chance against Crowd Controlled enemies.	"He is banished from the Guild, his name stricken from the Book. His punishment is to never have been." - Excerpt from a burned parchment
Eyes in the Dark	Pants	Unless it hits a Boss or Player, Death Trap will continue to re-arm itself until it kills an enemy. However, Death Trap's Cooldown is increased by x%.	"And so, when the sun dipped behind the hills each night, he knew that Ashen Jack would soon be near. Watching, and waiting." - Greenslade's Tales, Chapter 2: "Each Long Night" name: Eyes in the Dark

Sorcerer specific uniques:

Item Name	Type	Power	Flavor Text
Flamescar	Wand	While Channeling Incinerate, you periodically shoot embers that are attracted to enemies, each dealing x Fire damage.	The burn may heal, but the pain is eternal.
Staff of Endless Rage	Staff	Every 3rd cast of Fireball launches 2 additional projectiles.	"Leaving even blackened bones for your kin to mourn is too good an end for you." - Josiah
Staff of Lam Esen	Staff	Charged Bolts pierce, but deal x% less damage.	"Also known as the Greatstaff of the Old Religion, this powerful relic is one of only a small handful of Skatsimi artifacts that have survived to this day." - Barrett's Book of Implements
Esadora's Overflowing Cameo	Amulet	Upon collecting Crackling Energy, there's a x% chance to release a lightning nova, dealing x Lightning Damage.	The only thing more potent than Esadora's magic was her endless hatred of humanity. As she lay dying, the pale amulet around her neck drank in both.
Esu's Heirloom	Boots	Your Critical Strike Chance is increased by x% of your Movement Speed bonus.	"While scholars have proven these boots were not created by Esu herself, it is noteworthy that they have been passed down since the formation of the Mage Clans." - Barrett's Book of Implements
Raiment of the Infinite	Chest	After using Teleport, Close enemies are Pulled to you and Stunned for x seconds, but Teleport's Cooldown is increased by x%.	The power you have is never enough.
Gloves of the Illuminator	Gloves	Fireball now bounces as it travels, exploding each time it hits the ground, but its explosion deals x% less damage.	After Inarius returned to Sanctuary, he sought a way back to the High Heavens. His first step was to reignite the religion he had abandoned millennia before: the Cathedral of Light.
Iceheart Brais	Pants	Enemies that die while Frozen have a x% chance to unleash a Frost Nova.	The mad artisan saw his fingers turn black from frostbite as he worked the cloth, but refused to stay the needle and thread for even a moment.

General (used by all) uniques:

Item Name	Type	Power	Flavor Text
The Butcher's Cleaver	1h Axe	Lucky Hit: When you Critically Strike an enemy you have up to a x% chance to Fear and Slow them by x% for x seconds.	A nightmarish amalgam of blood, bone and steel, this axe is as horrific, and as deadly, as its creator.
Doombringer	1h Sword	Lucky Hit: Up to a x% chance to deal x Shadow damage to surrounding enemies and reduce their damage done by x% for x seconds.	Whenever this ancient sword has reappeared throughout history, it portends a time of great strife, as well as a devastating loss of life.
The Grandfather	2h Sword	Increases your Critical Strike Damage by x%. The other properties on this weapon can roll higher than normal.	An unbroken lineage of unwavering strength.
-	2h Sword	-	-
-	2h Sword	-	-
-	2h Sword	-	-
Melted Heart of Selig	Amulet	Gain x% Maximum Resource. In addition, when you take damage, drain x Resource for every x% of Life you would have lost instead.	"Do not allow your passions to become obsessions. Fuel the fire that burns within you, but it is madness to allow yourself to become ash to please an uncaring universe." - Last words of Master Selig
Penitent Greaves	Boots	You leave behind a trail of frost that Chills enemies. You deal x% more damage to Chilled enemies.	Remorseful devotees of the Cathedral of Light must undertake a grueling pilgrimage, journeying across the frigid glacier known as the Serac Rapture. Only then may their gravest sins be forgiven.
Razorplate	Chest	Gain x Thorns	Crafted by the cannibal Armoda, each piece of this interlocking armor has been sharpened into a knife's edge. Even a century after death, the plate remained on her corpse, unable to be removed safely.
Fists of Fate	Gloves	Your attacks randomly deal x% to y% of their normal damage.	"Will you let fear cheat you, or will you risk everything to find understanding? After all, death is simply the coin with which we purchase life." - Zurke
Frostburn	Gloves	Lucky Hit: Up to a x% chance to Freeze enemies for x seconds.	A touch so frigid it stops the heart and chills the very soul.
Andariel's Visage	Helm	Lucky Hit: Up to a x% chance to trigger a poison nova that applies x Poisoning damage over x seconds to enemies in the area.	The horrific whispers of the Maiden of Anguish flicker through your mind, pushing you ever closer to madness...
Harlequin Crest	Helm	Gain x% Damage Reduction. In addition, gain +x Ranks to all Skills.	"This headdress was once worn by an assassin disguised as a court mage. Her treachery was unveiled, but not before she used its magic to curse the king's entire lineage." - The Fall of House Aston
Temerity	Pants	Effects that Heal you beyond x% Life grant you a Barrier up to x% of your Maximum Life that lasts for x seconds.	"The revelation that master tailor Callas was in fact a witch only served to further fuel the desire for her uniquely enchanted legwraps." - Barrett's Book of Implements
Mother's Embrace	Ring	If a Core Skill hits x or more enemies, x% of the Resource cost is refunded.	"Every tome, every scroll, every book in this temple produces the same answer. The only being willing to stand against the Eternal Conflict, against the Prime Evils, was Lilith." - Elias
Ring of Starless Skies	Ring	Each consecutive Core Skill cast reduces the Resource cost of your next Core Skill by x%, up to a maximum of x%.	"Yours is the power to pluck the stars from the heavens with the ease of a child gathering fruit from the bough." - Unknown

Hello guys!!
So, what are your thoughts on our 1st experience with D4? I must say I was suprised how much fun I have got in this beta.
I was worried about how far I will get since I was working on friday/saurday//sunday 12 hour shifts. But jeez the game is smooth. I picked up wizard on veteran difficulty and it was honestly so smooth and enjoyable, that I did not switch to other classes :P
The atmosphere and audio was magnificent. I would rate it 9/10.
Graphic is amazing too. 9/10
Game mechanics are not oversimplified, yet easy to catch on. But since it is end game what really matters, I will not rate this one yet.
Crafting is my cup of tea for me too. It was nice change of pace to check on the rare drops. 8/10.
Dungeons was kind of, how to say it. Visualy amazing, but not very exciting. Nothing special. But it was not bad experience. 6.5/10
Open world was for me the weakest part of the game. Dont get me wrong, I spent a lot of time running around and enyoing the beuty of ACT 1. But in terms of rewards, it was lacking. 4/10
As I said I picked the wizard. Leveling was a breeze, yet I had to stayed focus. Once I twinked him a litle bit, he became quite strong. I was playing tthe frozen orb build and 2 variants of hydra build.
frozen orb: https://youtu.be/L-ZegrWiffM
crit hydra: https://youtu.be/T_4Mv5gARKk
burn hydra: https://youtu.be/PmVXLGFRgZ0
I loved the fact that you could just switch 1 or 2 legendary power and make different build. But yeah there was actualy no space for midmaxing anything in terms of stats. But thats even better, becouse you are not stuck at one skill set.
What I am wondirng about is how much expensive the rspect on talent tree will become. At lvl 25 it is nothing. 2800 gold is pathetic, becouse when you sell the drops from one dunegon run, you will get round 20-30k in 10 minutes.
Right now I am realyy happy howit goes and I hope blizzard will keep improving and listening to feedback.
Thanks boys and cya next weekend, it is Necromancer round. (and this time I will have day off :P)

Hello everyone, this is probably going to be pretty long and scatter-brained and if you get through it all thank you.
Three months ago I suffered a psychotic episode and it has left me feeling terrified of the prospect that this might be schizophrenia and is doomed to reoccur.
I've always really struggled to make friends and haven't had any close real life friends since puberty. I ended up turning to the Internet for the bulk of my social interaction. This was good for a time and probably better than nothing, but since I graduated college my online friends have grown up and moved on and I have failed to do so myself.
My best (online) friend of about 8 years and I used to talk, play/develop video games together pretty much every day. During this time, I also was really unhappy with my job and got talked into quitting by my friend but he assumed I would look for another job when... I didn't really. Our talking abruptly stopped when he got his first girlfriend. Slowly he became rarer and rarer with brief periods of resurgence every so often when she was unavailable. When we did talk, it usually involved smoking Delta-8 THC/HHC which I think we both started doing about a year into us not talking as much. I don't really blame him for this, but it did leave me feeling more alone than ever.
With him being fairly rare, I decided that the best course of action was for me to get a girlfriend myself. I had always wanted to but am riddled with anxiety and an extreme fear of rejection that has always made the prospect really daunting. I think I was about 24 and I tried alcohol for the first time so I could make some dating app profiles. I wasn't able to find a girlfriend... lol. Blame it on living in a rural area, blame it on being less attractive or maybe the weakness can be seen in my eyes I'm not entirely sure. The point is this only further isolated me because it was able to reinforce those suspicions that I am truly as undesirable as I feel on the inside.
At some point during this extreme loneliness period, I resorted to using Omegle text chat to talk to random people. I met a woman on there that completely turned my world upside down. She showered me with compliments and made me feel a lot better about myself. She built me up then told me she had feelings for me. Then a week later she told me she was already married. I'm not proud of this whole saga and regret it immensely. I don't want to go into too much detail but please trust that she was a very troubled woman and she seems quite malicious in retrospect now that I am not blinded by feelings. I had never seen someone lie so blatantly and frequently before. Worse still, I always somehow ended up feeling like the bad guy. She threatened suicide a lot and told me I was the only person in the world she trusted, it made it difficult to leave in good conscience. In retrospect, I should have called the police and told them what I knew and left it at that but I was too weak. Eventually, in the middle of her having a meltdown about something inconsequential I simply closed the chat, logged out and never opened it again. Telling her my intentions always led to me being manipulated into staying so it was the best I could do.
Months after ghosting her, I found myself in another online relationship with another troubled woman. She was much younger than me and I was quite ashamed of that because I felt the only reason she was attracted to me was immaturity. I also felt unable to connect with her largely due to that maturity gap. She actually visited me and we had some moments here and there but it became obvious that she was addicted to Adderall, and I witnessed her having a manic episode in person when she visited which really worried me. I wasn't sure how to help her, I felt extremely drained from the previous relationship and I didn't feel right for me to continue the relationship so I ended it. She got extremely upset at me and immediately started dating another guy. I was mostly upset at how effortlessly she was able to do that versus how difficult it was for me to do. This whole situation just made me feel like an asshole.
After that relationship, I was even more depressed. I felt like I'd be alone forever. I was mad at the world, the culture and most of all myself. Throughout all this, my performance at work had been steadily deteriorating after I negotiated doing exclusively work from home. I work as a programmer at as small company. Truthfully I feel like my job is kind of pointless because a premade solution would work even better than the hobbled together code that we have. I had been butting heads with the department manager quite a bit over code practices (for the uninitiated we just do things in an inefficient way). After those discussions and me going remote he became really micromanagey and just in general started causing me an enormous amount of stress. I was barely holding it together mentally but for some reason was able to prepare examples and stuff to show to our department and present it in front of everyone (which is very difficult for me with my anxiety). They got shot down however.
During that girl's last visit, an argument between my Mom and sister on one side and my Dad broke out about getting a new house. My sister and Mom at the time were unemployed and my Dad had the only income. The house they wanted, they really couldn't afford unless they also started working. I noticed during this fight that my Mom was being manipulative because she claimed that she never wanted something that I know that she wanted before (in terms of her and my Dad's retirement plan), she used this to claim that my Dad was being selfish. My Dad didn't want to sell the house that they were currently living in because it was locked in at a pretty good rate and they'd invested a lot into it.
I've kind of wanted to move away for some time, I've never been really close to my family. However, my lease was up and I proposed the idea to rent the existing house from them even though it's kind of out of my personal budget. I found this frustrating because it did kind of work against my own interests but I guess I had the urge to make everyone happy, you know? When I moved into the house, it was covered in clutter (mostly unwanted children's toys) that had not been cleared up. I wasn't against cleaning it up myself but I wasn't sure what sort of stuff they wanted to keep and what they wanted to get rid of. They told me to leave. So the house was mostly full of clutter, it looked almost like a hoarder house and it did bother me.
Eventually in about mid-December (also my 26th Birthday), I started clicking around YouTube and stumbled upon these narcissism videos. I was immediately struck with how well it fitted that first girl I mentioned, I suppose I "diagnosed" her. I then started thinking about my family, the fighting growing up, the way I am with my attachment issues. I started remembering some key moments from my childhood that kind of highlighted to me that my upbringing wasn't as normal as I had thought it was. I started asking my sisters things and they started telling me all sorts of twisted versions of stories. I learned that supposedly one of my sisters might not even be my Dad's and Mom has covered it up for 29 years.
I also have an estranged half sister that we haven't talked to for years and has been in and out of our lives. I contacted her and talked to her. I think by the time I contacted her I was a manic episode (this is based on my own interpretation), I didn't feel depressed anymore, I was just blinded by outrage of my own mother. This sister is a therapist and told me about dysfunctional family dynamics and how she thought our family was dysfunctional. This sister turned out to be a fairly unhinged conspiracy theorist however...
Things get kind of blurry at this point. I wasn't sleeping or eating much, I know I at least went 2 consecutive days without sleep, but I don't have a way to be sure. I just started seeing narcissism everywhere. It was like I went back and retroactively blamed every bad thing that had ever happened to me on narcissism. At some point I got it into my head that my Mom was going to steal money from me (she has asked for money in the past that I've never gotten back, or at least I didn't get it back when she said I would). My dad had me sign a rental agreement contract, just a generic one off Google. It had a deposit on it, I had become convinced that my Mom was planning to ask me for the deposit behind my Dad's back.
It's hard to piece this part together, but at some point I just snapped. One day I paced around the clutter-filled house convinced that someone was spying on me using different listening devices. I remember there were these bullshit Chinese "air purifiers" that plugged into the wall. I kept switching back and forth between those being Chinese listening devices and them being utilized by my family. I had the delusion that my family was secretly aware of my depression and because I was also a narcissist they had to covertly help me get better because it is impossible for a narcissist to be self-aware (this is something I heard on YouTube I don't know how accurate that is). I think I was really shaken by the prospect that I might be a one myself and a tsunami of guilt overtook me when I had that thought.
I ended up forgetting that I was already in contact with my oldest sister and found a scam website (truthfinders, if curious) that claimed to be able to find addresses. I became convinced through a variety of coincidences that this website had an unexplainable connection to my life and that maybe the world was a simulation or I was being recruited into some government program. This delusion caused me to deliberately start screwing with my family. I hid my Dad's wallet because I thought my Mom might make a new bank account behind his back (she wanted it). I caused a big scene and was taken to a local mental health place at the request of my oldest full sister. They were unable to detect that I was in psychosis and allowed me to leave. On the way out I started screaming at my oldest sister and accusing her of prescribing our mom prescription drugs (this is something she does but I'm unsure if she abuses it).
From here the delusions get crazier and crazier. Despite these outbursts, nobody in the family did anything but have my Dad watch over me. I felt a lot of shame having him there with me and he also snores very loudly which makes me worry for his health and also makes it harder to sleep. My 29 year old sister came to my house on the night January 1st and screamed in my face about something I don't remember what. I felt really scared and ran out the house over to the neighbors and the cops got called and stuff. My sister falsely told the police that I pulled a knife on her and my Dad. In reality my Dad had just handed me a butter knife from the drawer and I ran out the door. I'm not sure why I wanted it. I was allowed to go back in the house by the cops but couldn't sleep and started frantically trying to do something nonsensical. Eventually when my Dad was asleep I snuck out into the streets at 12am-1am and started knocking on doors. When nobody answered I started singing the national anthem really loudly which is actually kind of funny lmao.
The cops took me back to the mental health place that had cleared me previously. The cop waited with me for some time while I talked complete nonsense to him. He eventually took the cuffs off and left me alone with a "mental health professional" who promptly left me alone. After some time, I wandered off again into the streets in a bad part of town. I was thinking all sorts of crazy shit that I won't even bother going into. I was trying to get into cars and succeeded. The owner of the car stepped outside and locked me in and I panicked. I was then arrested and brought to jail. The jail treated me like shit, they immediately put me in full body restraints despite full cooperation and then wheeled me into a brightly lit gym. Within 15 minutes I was able to work the restraints loose and thought that I was in an escape room and needed to get the ball in the hoop with only my legs. They saw this on camera and came in and restrained me once more. I panicked and thought they were going to kill me so I started flailing my free legs. They tased me and finished restraining me. I was then left alone in there for 13 hours without water. This was literally the most terrifying experience of my life and I just wanted to mention it even though it isn't particularly relevant lol. I eventually got transferred to a state psychiatric ward where I was also treated very poorly but did manage to find reality once more.
When I got out of the pyschward I stopped taking the medication because I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't schizophrenic. In hindsight, this was reckless. I also immediately caught my Mom in more lies. She denied going through my phone when I can tell that she did because iMessage syncs with my Mac and I could see the stream of files and shit she sent to herself on it. She also denied that my older sister wasn't my Dad's and later admitted it. I immediately got worked up again and nobody seemed to really care about why I was worked up and dismissed it as nonsense (maybe it was?). They just kept asking me if I was sleeping not how I was feeling. I'm a chronic insomniac, all that pressure being put on me sleeping wasn't helping me sleep. I did manage to stabilize without medication and now I'm just back to being depressed.
After all that shit, the feeling I cannot shake is this lingering fear that I might have schizophrenia. I keep spacing out during the day and I have no motivation to do anything. Sometimes I just feel strange like I'm watching the world through a screen, it kind of reminds me of what it feels like to be high but I haven't had any THC for awhile. Sometimes I'll get hyped up and come up with all these ideas about how I need to start eating well, exercising, etc. But the second I set foot in this house all motivation disappears. I don't know if it was depression or what, but the only thing that I enjoyed towards the end (and even now) was smoking THC with that one friend when he occasionally comes around. It's the only thing that makes anything fun, otherwise it just feels completely pointless. I still want an intimate partner but I'm too afraid of getting hurt and I know that I'm not exactly a catch in my current state, you know?
The psychiatrist at the state-hospital didn't really say much and was constantly busy. The one I have now has given me the green light on not taking medication and said I don't have schizophrenia as well (although I have recently changed my mind and decided I need an antidepressant, I'll see him tomorrow about that). Despite this, I just don't know what they're basing this on. How do they truly decide whether or not this was an isolated incident or if this is a sign of things to come? When you look it up online you see that most schizophrenics recover after their first episode but have another within 5-7 years. I don't get how they decide if that'll happen or not. Can anyone offer any insight?
TLDR; I had psychosis (no voices or crazy visual hallucinations, just extreme delusions) and am wondering if it's schizophrenia or not.

[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) --------------- Are you worried that your significant other is spending a lot more time than usual on Facebook? Do you think that he is being secretive about the conversations he is having online? Perhaps you’re wondering whether you should be worried about this behavior? Concerned that your partner might be using Facebook to cheat on you? Worried they are having secret conversations with a lover on Messenger? Thanks to this guide that I put together, you can catch cheating on Facebook. Learn to spot the signals of infidelity and about the best app that you can use to find out all you need to know about those cheating on you.

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• How to Catch a Cheating Spouse on Facebook
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• Create a Fake Account to Trap Your Partner
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• Hire a Private Detective

How To Spy If Someone Is Cheating On Facebook Messenger
Facebook messenger is a mobile application that supports effective conversation with other people, including chats, conversations, video calls and much more. Getting connected with people around you makes your life more fun and interesting. Facebook messenger has certainly helped millions of people around the world, to stay connected and always feel happy. The application is also found to be compatible with Windows, Android and iOS devices. Apart from compatibility, they also provide you with interesting features like audio or video calls, share media files or document files, fast, easy chatting and much more. It is because of these interesting features, that more people choose to use Facebook messenger whenever they want to have an easy conversation with their friends.
When someone makes a text to you on Facebook, you will be notified via this app, if you are using it. You can even check out your Facebook messages, without actually logging in to Facebook. Many people are already addicted to this app since this app has helped them to stay instantly connected to their dear or near ones. Now what people are really interested to know about is, how well you can use Facebook messenger to spy on the Facebook activities of anybody. And that is exactly what we will be talking about more, here.
How Facebook Messenger Spy Expose A Cheater?
Facebook Messenger is so concerned about the safety of all account holders, and hence track all messages exchanged between the account holder and their friends. If you find anything suspicious about your friend, relative or spouse, then Facebook messenger is the best way to do it. So there is no doubt that Facebook messenger is a super cool instant social messaging application, that lets you text with one another by sending gifs, images, emojis, texts, videos and much more.
When it comes to spying, the Facebook messenger is surely going to be of great use to you. This app is pretty cool, whenever it comes to spying on people because it helps you retain all old conversations unless someone chooses to delete them manually. All messages are stored systematically in chronological order with their respective date and time saved.
How To Spy Facebook Messages & Conversations?
The best way to spy on chats effectively will be to try out using reputed apps that are designed specifically to spy on others Facebook conversations. Such apps will help you to keep an eye on others social media activities, without missing out on anything. For example, GHOST SQUAD is an app, that will let you spy or monitor all the social media activities of other people with ease. Such apps give you all accurate details including keystrokes, which you could use to hack their passwords. It gives you more control over the other person’s Facebook account, takes regular screenshots as evidence against your cheating friend, relative or spouse. Lets you spy on the call log, messages, photos, videos etc.
You can also try World’s #1 Phone Monitoring Software To Spy someone’s Facebook Messeges, and you don’t need to be a tech whiz to use this software.
How Does Spy Applications Work Towards Detecting Suspicious Activities?
GHOST SQUAD messenger spy apps are sure to have designed with a set of programs to work efficiently. All these programs work independently and collect all necessary data from various segments like memory, backup, programmed designation and so on. And it is via the internet that the data being collected from mobile phones will be transferred to the website.
How Spy Apps Hack Facebook Messenger?
Most of the reputed and well-known spy apps have features to hack Facebook messenger, site or application. The Facebook messenger actually stores all its data, which includes conversation and shared data on internal storage. The spy apps work by trapping this folder and sending it to the main dashboard of the app. The next thing that they will be working on will be to decrypt collected data and monitor on the targeted person’s Facebook activities. Such spy software has a set of tools to monitor the entire activities of the targeted person. Most common tools that they might include are browser monitor, app monitor, keylogger and so on.
Why to Use Spy App for Facebook Messages?To Track Conversations
This is the best way to know who your child, friend, family member or spouse is talking to, all the time. Parents can constantly monitor what their child is watching and doing online on Facebook, as the number of online sexual predators are fairly raising these days. This also gives parents an idea of whether the child is watching or interested in drugs or drug-related stuff.
To Make Sure You Are Not Cheated
This can also be useful to those people who are married or are in a relationship, to check out with whom all your partner talks and have conversations on a daily basis. So this will give you more confidence and happiness, that you are not being cheated. Facebook messenger will surely help you to detect any suspicious activity of your partner since, Messenger is a private app, and such people are likely to carry out their conversations through it.
How To Spy On The Facebook Messages Of Your Suspicious Spouse?
Facebook gives you access to many personal details of people, and if you are in a confusion as to whether your partner is having some affairs with someone, then Facebook messenger is the best thing, that you can start spying on, cause it is sure to give you some hint to unlock the mystery. If you want to find more, then probably you should start using an app for the same, to get complete details in a short time.
If you feel that they are spending too much time on Facebook, then you should probably start monitoring all their Facebook activities. So the Facebook messenger will help you to reveal the truth behind this, as they will give you a clear idea about all their activities on Facebook.
Spy applications are usually not visible on the targeted person’s device, and it usually runs on background. The person will never come to know that you are monitoring or spying on them. As they are hidden, you will be able to discreetly collect all necessary data from them, without letting them know that you are detecting or spying on them. If you ever suspect that your loved or dear one is no more truthful to you, or is hanged up in another relation, then you can try your hands on such spy apps, cause they help you to monitor all activities in an effective, easy and organized way. So never be worried thinking about how to spy Facebook messenger, as this is quite possible in many ways, out of which a perfect alternative is to try using [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
.

At the risk of being called job pi**ed, I want to talk about pride. I don’t mean the colourful flags and rainbows on our cars and lanyards, I mean our pride.
My dissatisfaction with some elements of the job are fairly well documented in my post history, but that doesn’t detract from my pride to be doing this job, catching criminals and (hopefully) making safer communities.
There was a time, albeit a hundred years ago, where police officers in the UK always wore uniform. Whether they were on duty or not was simply down to a band. CoL Plod even had to have a sign outside their house to say a fed lives there.
At some stage over those 100 years, we somehow went from very ‘out’ to very ‘in’, almost doing everything to hide ourselves, including introducing ourselves as Prison Recruitment at parties.
Now, the thought of doing my weekly shopping in black box-legged cargo trousers and an ill-fitting sports polo doesn’t overly appeal to me, but I wish we could be a little prouder about what we do.
The US, as we know, does everything bigger. This topic is no different. Whilst there are some exceptions, LE officers seem pretty ‘loud and proud’. You see officers in the gym with t-shirts that have POLICE across the pecks or the insignia of their department on the heart. Some departments do car schemes where you can have your own marked job car to cruise about in. Their socials are plastered in pictures of them looking proud and dapper in their uniform. The NYPD makes a fortune out of proud police marketing.
It’s funny how hidden things seem here. From telling people what we do, to having bland, hidden social media profiles with no pictures of us in uniform anywhere. We don’t (shouldn’t) travel in half blues, let alone taking a job car home. I’m getting married last year and briefly thought about doing the ceremony in my tunic. That thought lasted about 5 seconds until I pictured my colleagues laughing.
I don’t want a panda on the drive. I don’t want to walk around with handcuffs on my belt. But I also don’t think we should hide. I know it’s easier said than done, and I’ve heard stories about officers being targeted, but there has to be a middle ground surely?
I note our century old colleagues had to wear uniforms all the time because of a lack of public trust. While times are different, we do seem to have lost our ‘police are the public, public are the police’ way. There are walls up, largely defensively at the moment, but when we actively try to hide ourselves, it probably doesn’t help break those barriers down. It feels us and them because it is.
Bit of a ramble, and I’m not really sure where I’m going with this. I just wanted to open the conversation. Why do you think it’s different in ‘murca to here? (Guns aside). Why don’t you have a proud picture of you in a Metvest on Facespace? Would you go to the gym in a t-shirt proudly stating ‘Team 2’ below a Merseyside Police crest? Why wouldn’t you get married in a tunic? Why don’t you stand up at parties and boldly exclaim “I’m an overworked, tired, grouchy response cop, and I will drink copious amounts of alcohol as a coping mechanism for all the trauma.”

Part 2
I fell backwards through the portal, landing on the ground back in the reality of hell. The dread spiked as I got back up on my feet. I thought the two blond maniacs would follow me back in, but they didn't. The portal closed, offering me a view of somebody crying over the phone on their porch across the street. Did they notice the flash of light? They're probably too caught up in their own business. The attacks being as gruesome as they are, I'm surprised I haven't died yet.
I stepped back into the house and closed the door behind me. William and Jason sit on the couch, faces pale and mouths hanging open as they watched helicopter footage of wild tentacle creatures running down streets and tackling people. A tighter dread overtook me.
Was this really it for me? Was I going to die here because my parallel self thought revenge would somehow fix things? Do I think that way? No, I don't. If she thought nobody should feel trapped, she wouldn't have been okay with making me feel trapped. I guess that's because he only cares when she's the one feeling trapped. People are human to her until they do something she doesn't like, then she lowers her standards and treats them like animals… Somehow that's supposed to make peace. It doesn't.
I asked Jason if there was a room I could stay in. I was given a spare bedroom down the hallway. Once I found it, I layed down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, hoping I'd be alive for more than another 24 hours. Any moment, some creature was probably going to crash through the window or something, or a giant monstrosity was going to smash the house to the ground. I had never been more afraid of death in my life.
About 20 minutes later, I decided I had to distract myself from all the mayhem and fear in any way possible. I pulled out William's spare phone and Googled various things I was interested in. I assumed TikTok would be filled with video clips of the attacks, so I wasn't downloading that. I watched some YouTube videos though. My adrenaline decreased, but I knew that if I ran out of things to enjoy, I would get bored and the adrenaline would shoot back up.
I'm not sure I'd say putting autoplay on was a mistake. It kinda was, but it kinda led to something interesting for me. The third video to play automatically was a video of a news report from the day the attacks began.
It started with Ontario politicians answering questions from reporters, then the Breaking News animation flashed across the screen. A video taken in Sharon, Ontario showed one of the giants moving down a street, smashing houses along its way. The uncanny look of the thing and how it moved sent chills down my spine. I tapped the screen. The title appeared on the screen.
"First news reports of the giant attacks - Full news broadcast 11 AM to 12:30 PM"
This was the very first attack. Interesting. Morbid curiosity overtook me. The attacks were historical, and if I was going to die here, why not know more about what's going to kill me.
I kept watching. Video footage taken from the Newmarket Community Center was played. It showed two giants smashing buildings down Main Street. The white church blew up, with debris flying all around. The buildings to the south were also reduced to rubble and dust. It was saddening to watch. As the giants began smashing buildings beside the Community Center, the camera operator let out a shaky "Oh my god" then backed away. They aimed to their left. A dozen of the bystanders were slowly turning away. As if they wanted to run but were too curious. A couple of them ran. A few other people from up the street ran by with pale faces. After the giants had passed by and smashed the buildings further to the south, some people in the crowd began to have a conversation.
"What is going on today…? why is this happening…?"
"We don't know why they're doing this… have they been reported elsewhere?"
"I checked the news five minutes ago. Nothing."
"I'm checking it again… nothing"
"I just checked CP-2-4 and they have footage of one in East Gwillimbury"
As they're talking, the giants smash the churches to the south, then they knock down the grey apartment building. Explosions can be seen inside as it crumbles and a plume of smoke rises up.
The next video I watched was of the two giants knocking the apartment building down but from an angle to the south based on what I knew about the location.
The next video began with the camera pointed to the ground. The camera was aimed up and a bit shaky. The camera was aimed at two giants standing a mile away. Flames were thrown at an area obscured by trees. This is Aurora, isn't it? I guessed it was since it was the first of two places to be torched. The giants torched side to side then back and forth, then the trees obscuring the area caught fire. The camera operator turned around and ran without hesitation.
Another video was taken near the Burlington Skyway Bridge. Two giants knocked the bridge down from north to south. My gut clenched watching cars fall into the water below.
As terrifying these videos were, it was interesting to see the beginning of the attacks this close. The news mostly only played footage taken from news helicopters and the same bits of footage over and over. Many of the videos I had seen on the internet so far were videos I hadn't seen yet.
I looked up videos of the attack on Central Manhattan.
One video was taken from a window somewhere to the east of the Empire State Building. One of those horrifying giants seamlessly smashed its way through the skyscrapers, leaving expanding plumes of smoke behind. Once it reached the Empire State, it focused a ton on smashing it to the ground. A plume of smoke rose up against the oncoming plumes of smoke created by the destruction of the nearby buildings.
I had seen many things like this over my journey throughout the different realities, but this just seemed too familiar to me. Nothing about this reality was different until the attacks began. Not even some detection of the Godzilla-like giants beforehand. I'm in this reality where these attacks are happening and I can't escape. I sank in a pit of dread as that dawned on me. I had to deal with the craziness of the I was in. I needed to learn as much about the attacks as possible.
I looked up a more recent attack. The one in Bradford parallel me mentioned. I found multiple videos of it. The first video I watched showed a giant leveling a two story facility as people ran by and screamed. It was sad to see a place I was so familiar with be destroyed. The second video was shaky camera footage of two giants leveling some other facility, also with people running by and screaming. One was crying. The third video was helicopter footage of four giants smashing and attacking the town. Carving up the southeastern and northern areas. As sad as I felt, I noticed they didn't attack the part of town I lived in.
Wasn't that attack supposed to kill me? Or was it just supposed to scare me? Either way, I wasn't there to witness it. Of course, I could've been killed in a part of the town that was destroyed. Maybe my parallel self was playing coin toss. Either I live or die. Either way, he'd be benefited by the fact I would be fearing for my life in the event I'd survive. Then he visited me where I was miles away, after the attack on the town. He brought his cronies with him. The evil alternate versions of two people I knew of and liked very much. I'm still not comfortable specifying who.
As I continued my watch through the footage, I found some videos of the creature dump on the place I was just in. Watching the giants pour the creatures onto the city… the creatures running all over the place… down roads… across the roofs of buildings… through parks… just chill inducing and gut wrenching. I couldn't get through one whole video. Flashbacks of escaping that thing just kept popping up in my head as I watched.
I looked up some discussion threads about the attacks. Of course, everyone expressed how they didn't know what they would wake up to the next day, how they didn't know where they would be safe… some speculated hiding out in the mountains or down in subways would be a safe bet to stay alive. The subway part of the discussion was shot down later on in the thread by one claiming the creature dumps would render that idea hopeless. Others said bomb shelters would work. I needed to know if there were any bomb shelters around. Probably useless though, as the government probably wouldn't just let anybody in. The closest mountain that could keep anyone safe would be 4 hours away. There was another comment though, one that brought up Iran and Belgium being wiped off the map entirely by dozens of miles wide giants, and they suggested any country could be next to be destroyed by giants that size. The middle of the ocean would be a safer bet.
What about Lake Ontario? The eastern half of it. It's not an ocean but it's a pretty big body of water. As long as I don't go near any shoreside cities I'll be good. I ran over to William and asked him if he had a boat. I explained to him eastern Lake Ontario may be too big a body of water for the giants to care about. Unfortunately, he, nor Jason, nor anybody they knew had a boat. At least I had some relief for a moment. I fell back into the pit of dread and walked back to the spare bed.
As I browsed through Reddit, I came across a post about a rare angle of the attacks. The video was taken from a live stream that was held in a suburban area not too far away from where the giants were standing. Chills overtook me, seeing the giants again. They were holding their giant bags of creatures. The streamer said he didn't know what the giants were holding, then the giants tilted their bags and the thousands of creatures came raining down. My gut clenched hard. The last words of the streamer were what one would expect, but they chilled me due to the context.
"What the hell? No… god… please…"
He turned around and sprinted down the road. He aimed the camera up at the incoming creatures. They blocked the view of the sun and everything was darkened by shade. The streamer aimed the camera back out in front of him. You could see the sky on the horizon, but then a wall of blackness obscured it. My gut began to ache. The streamer fell to the ground and screamed. Nothing could be seen. Loud thuds were heard, then the stream ended. Then the video ended.
The people in the comments were freaked out. Many of them mentioned the chills they got watching the video. One comment thread went like this:
"I can't imagine standing there. Thinking you'll live, then just seeing that and KNOWING with great certainty you're about to die. Chilling. This is probably the most up close video I've found of this."
"I know more videos will surface, especially because the attacks are still going on right now, but this video will be something that always sticks with me"
(I pressed the link and it took me to a YouTube video showing a livestreamer in an office. She tells her viewers she's in the Empire State Building. She aims her camera out the window towards Central Park.
"It's 1 PM right now and…" A giant pops up in the middle of Central Park. I jumped while watching it. Chills ran straight down my spine. "What the hell is that?" The giant walked south, smashing through the buildings along Park Lane. It knocked down the world's skinniest skyscraper, then it smashed its way through some more buildings, including the Museum of Modern Art.
"Oh my god," the streamer says with a shaky weak voice.
She puts the camera down and you could hear quick footsteps and the creak of a door being swung open. The giant continues its straight faced rage through Central Manhattan, smashing down the Rockefeller buildings, the East Times Square buildings and battering Times Square in dust and smoke, then it stumbles a couple blocks to the east. A man over the intercom tells everybody to evacuate immediately.
The giant smashes the low rise buildings two blocks away, the low rise buildings one block away, then the room shakes. Loud crashes echo from below, along with light crashes somewhere behind the camera. Then the office light goes out. It looks as if the giant is rising, but then you can see its triangles, then the sky. The section of the building the room was in was falling. The camera started spinning, then the livestream ended. Then so did the video.)
"Absolutely terrifying. Imagine that being the last thing you see… this stuff going on right now is probably the worst, most insane stuff to happen in a long time. You should see the video where people are hiding in a room from the literal Lovecraft-like wild creatures.
Edit: here" (I opened this link and it took me to a YouTube video showing three people, including the camera operator, in a small toll booth room. The two others, one woman with blond hair who looked to be in her 30s and an adrogynous looking person with black hair who looked to be in his 20s, were both shaking, glancing between each other and the camera operator, then there was a loud bang at the door. Adrenaline rushed through me, hoping those people could be rescued. The camera was aimed at the door, which had multiple cracks in it. There was another bang. The door shook and the cracks got longer. One of the two people on the left began to cry. With yet another bang, pieces of the door flew across the room. The door itself began to loosen off its hinges. Then with one more bang, the bottom half of the door was pushed in by a round dark gray beast with about 10 long tentacle-like appendages. It was so uncanny looking, adrenaline shot up through me. My eyes were wide open watching it. It ran up to the camera operator, who moved to his right then backed up. The creature climbed up on him. He struggled, then the camera fell face first on the ground. Nothing could be seen, but loud painful screaming, growling, and a couple wet crunches could be heard.
Further down the thread was something even more terrifying but interesting.
I wonder why we haven't seen any videos of creatures attacking people
Those videos are probably very NSFW. They likely haven't made it past content filters.
Some pictures were posted to MorbidReality and somebody found a video of a creature attacking somebody's back and legs. If you can't take that kind of stuff do not look at it. It's very gruesome.
There's some on Archive.org, along with many other videos I haven't seen anywhere else. Here's a link to an archive somebody is making.
I opened the link. I was taken to the page with the archive. The first video was titled Footage From Upper Canada Mall. It began on the roof of the mall. All that was heard were sirens and the sounds of helicopters. The camera operator aimed up at two giants being circled by two military helicopters. The giants appeared to be holding people. The giant on the right was holding two people who I can only describe as looking like a man and a woman, while the giant on the left was holding a woman. The giant on the right tossed the woman. She glided through the air. She hit the roof of the mall with a loud bang and turned into a red mist. I gagged and twitched. The camera operator kept the camera still. He had to have been in shock. He panned to the left a bit and caught the man landing on the roof of the mall with a loud thud while also turning into a red mist. I gagged again. What the hell? The camera was aimed up at the giant on the left, who was getting ready to throw the person it was holding. It tossed them towards the roof of the mall. They too landed with a loud bang while turning into a red mist.
That was something I never thought I'd ever see. People exploding into a bloody mist like they were nothing. Or just bags of blood. That's not something anyone should ever have to see. I'm glad that stuff won't make it past content filters. Hopefully, nobody who doesn't want to see that will ever see that ever. It's okay to be morbidly curious, and yes, it's historically significant, but I hope people are careful with footage like this.
The next video was titled "Seattle Explosion" and began on a freeway in what seemed to be the late afternoon. A man off camera said he was driving towards Seattle. He said he was driving down highways and filming in case he catches anything historic, and added that all his friends are doing the same in various parts of the US such as Houston, Texas. I was beginning to think about skipping this one due to anxiety. I didn't want to see people explode, but I assured myself it wasn't filmed close enough to capture such things. A minute into the video, the Seattle skyline could be seen in the distance. Seconds later, balls of yellow and orange erupted from every building.
These giants sure are making it a point to scare everybody. Dumping deadly creatures, torching entire areas, EMP Bubbles, Godzilla-like smashing, and now blowing up entire cities.
I don't know which one of those is going to happen to me.
What the hell do they want?
I'm afraid of having my guts sucked out by a creature
I'm afraid of being caught up in a torching
I'm afraid of being gassed
I'm afraid of being crushed to death
I'm afraid of being in an exploding city
I'm afraid of being tossed to the ground from high up in the air
Where are they going to hit next? Where are they going to hit next? Where are they going to hit next?
Where do I go?
I was hyperventilating for a couple minutes there. I paused the video and attempted to not judge my thoughts or feelings, then I wrote the above to acknowledge my feelings. Now I'm really starting to understand why people write sad songs about depression and anxiety. More so than I already did.
I looked at some of the titles of the next few videos in the archive. I hesitated to watch them, but I'll list the titles I read for curiosity's sake.
"SEATTLE EXPLOSION - East angle"
"Naypyidaw attack"
"Manila attack"
"Manila attack from north"
"Bradford attack from helicopter"
"Bradford attack angle 7"
(Six more Bradford attack videos, two of which are probably the ones I've already seen)
(Ottawa attack videos #27 to #2)
"Ottawa attack angle 1 - filmed by a Canadian Minister"
"Aftermath of Creature Dump in Niagara Region, Canada"
Out of curiosity, I decided to watch that last one I listed. It started in the backroom filled with boxes. The camera operator walked out of the room, into a smashed up restaurant. The front windows were shattered, tables and chairs were strewn everywhere. The camera was aimed to the right. Two bodies covered in blood were laying in the corner. It was unsettling to see. The camera was aimed back towards the windows. The operator moved up to them. A body was laying under an outdoor table.
After exiting the shop, the camera operator took a right and walked down the sidewalk. As he walked, he briefly looked inside different stores and multiple cars, all of which had shattered windows and thrashed items. No cars drove by. Not even police, fire department, or paramedics. No people were around at all. My breaths became shallow as I anticipated the worst. Something like a creature popping out of nowhere or another body.
A couple more blocks down the road, sirens began blaring in the distance. The camera operator walked by a store that had music playing from inside. It was something I hadn't thought of. Music that was being played as background noise was still being played through all the death and roaming creatures. They stepped through the shattered window, and as they walked to the center of the room, the music got clearer. It was a slow piano ballad about a woman telling her lover to go easy on her. It was weird hearing the song play in a smashed up deserted room with the world crumbling all around right outside. The words made it sound eerie in the context it was playing right in the middle of. As the song played, the camera operator moved broken table pieces out of their way and dug through some piles of table debris along the cracked wall on his left.
What is he looking for?
As the camera operator continued looking under knocked over tables, he began to sniffle. The song changed to a sad pop song with a high pitched piano melody. I knew the song. It was eerie too. It was about a breakup, but the lyrics about taking a metaphorical final bow echoed what I was feeling. The end of civilization, or at least the end of the civilization I was used to. I was getting very settled into this reality.
The camera operator walked to the back wall and looked around at the wreckage again. An ambulance drove by outside. The camera operator walked into the bathroom. It was reduced to rubble. Stalls ripped apart, toilets shattered, most of the mirrors were cracked… and blood was smeared across the wall near the back. The camera operator stood in one spot for a couple of moments before turning around and stepping out the door and back into the restaurant. They took some steps through the restaurant, then they aimed the camera at the ceiling. Then at the picture frames. One of them was lying on its face. Another one of them was tilted and ripped in half. Some happened to be in good shape.
After the tour of each of the paintings, the camera operator started rummaging the debris on the left side of the restaurant. As he did so, the next song began. This one was upbeat, juxtaposing the context it was playing in. It kinda creeped me out. It was supposed to be played for people's enjoyment, but nobody was enjoying anything. At least the lyrics were about persisting through absolutely anything. I guess that kinda fit, but things were too dark to think straight. The camera operator stopped rummaging about halfway to the back of the restaurant and stared on at the rubble that he would be digging through next. He zoomed in on what was clearly a shoe being worn by somebody unmoving under the rubble. He zoomed back out, turned around, and walked to the front of the restaurant.
As they looked at the buildings across the road, a creature crawled into view from the right, climbing above each window before climbing in through the window of a bike store. The camera operator moved back a bit. A minute later, a military jeep pulled up in front of the building the creature climbed into. Three soldiers climbed out and entered the store through its shattered front window.
As the camera operator zoomed in on the building, the next song began to play. It began with a whistle melody then led into lyrics about not being worried. Another upbeat song that juxtaposed the seriousness of the situation, which unsettled me more so. Inaudible shouting echoed from inside the building. Gunshots followed. A moment later, two of the soldiers stepped out of the building, uniforms stained with blood. They stood around, talking into their radios. Then the video ended. A couple seconds of the next video, titled Incoming Creatures, played before I paused it. That video began on an elevated platform near a forest. I was done watching videos of the attacks, so I wasn't going to stick around for more.
I checked the time. 10:58 PM. I slid the phone into my pocket and walked out into the livingroom to see what the others were up to. They were discussing what the giants may want while the news played on the TV. A woman was talking about the destruction of Town Zero… Sharon. Footage was played of a colossal giant popping up just north of the town, then with two swoops, the giant smashed the town to dust and rubble. My heart sank. We're getting colossal giants here too? I mean, of course we are. They're not just going to reserve certain things for certain areas. Clearly they will attack just about anywhere, right?
William asked me to help him get something from the shed out back. I told him I'll go out and wait for him there. I got my shoes on and stepped outside into the warm dark night. There was an eerie calmness to it. Like nature hadn't been going nearly as insane as we humans have. I stepped around back and spotted the shed. As I stepped towards it, two colossal silhouettes formed in the sky some distance away. They contrasted the light polluted light orange glow. I don't want to under describe how massive they were. Not tall enough to reach above the clouds, but tall enough to make my chest drop to the point I thought I was about to have a heart attack. They moved in my direction, their silhouettes growing, obscuring the light orange glow of the sky.
Why here? Who's here that they want? Unless it really is me. They aren't going for some random people I don't know. This is an alternate reality in which they're coming after me. But that theory seemed to small minded. I wasn't possibly going to be in multiple places in the US, China, North Korea, Belgium… maybe they're also going for my relatives… but I don't know anybody who would ever be in North Korea of all places.
I thought about it as I sprinted for my life over the fence into the neighbors yard, then over the next fence, then over the next… I kept hopping fences until I made it to the corner of the town. It was just a field. Thumps shook the ground. Car alarms began going off. I fell to my knees due to the heavy vibration. I avoided looking to my left, at the giants' massive silhouettes. I stared at the ground and hoped for the best with the worst pit of dread I ever felt.
Loud booms and crashes blew out my ear drums. I never heard loud sounds like those so up close. I covered my ears, but the piercing sounds still hurt. The smashing lasted a couple minutes, getting quieter and quieter as the giants moved further away from me. My curiosity got the best of me and I glanced at the giants. They had to have been 500 meters tall or something. For some reason, not being able to see them was more dread inducing than being able to see them. A cloud of dust hit my face. I coughed like a motherfucker and walked forward, finding my way out of the choking smoke.
William and Jason…
I looked in the direction of Jason's house. It was too dark to see anything but some fires a couple houses away. Whatever was left of those houses anyway. The giants were still smashing their way through the town when I heard a fast plane. I looked up and saw a light flying towards the giants.
Fighter jets? Missiles?
The missile struck the giant in its midsection and exploded in a ball of fire. The giant continued smashing. It didn't move differently after the hit. It continued eliminating the town. Another explosion occurred near the head of the other giant and it was the same outcome. The attack continued on for another minute, with more explosions that didn't faze the giants. Maybe the missiles made a mark. It was too dark to see those marks if so. Finally, the crashes and booms stopped. The giants stood in one spot, not moving at all, then they vanished into thin air.
That was seriously screwed up. I almost died. I want out of this. Who in the multiverse would wish this on their worst enemy? The idea of possibly being crushed, gassed, blown up, thrown to your death… I walked back to Jason's house. It only took a couple of minutes. When I got back there, it was a pile of wood, broken up walls, unrecognizable rooms, scattered roof tiles, and bricks. I hurried around to the front. When I saw Jason's arm crushed under a pile of bricks and wires, I almost gagged. I looked away and stepped to where the front door was. William's hand laid beside a growing fire.
Where am I supposed to go? I'm a refugee now. I should check the news. Any news outlet that hasn't had its data center destroyed. I haven't heard of that happening but it has to have happened by now.
I pulled out my phone and opened CNN.
"THE GIANTS CONTINUE TO BERATE THEIR ROOTS"
"Ontario, Canada is ground zero for the attacks. Everyone is still wondering why"
"WATCH: See Seattle explode in a ball of fire"
"The black chemical agent sprayed on multiple American towns and Chinese cities may not be of this world"
"Bomb shelters, caves… even sewers. Americans are desperate for safety, but some Americans claim all they need to do is stay armed and ready"
MILITARY: "Civilians shouldn't push their luck thinking standard rifles are enough to defend against Giants"
"Security camera footage shows Manila attack"
"Ukraine is free, but for how long?"
""I'm tired of living through history" The attacks from Gen Z's perspective"
It was always interesting to go into an alternate reality and look at the top news headlines. This time though… it's very serious, as I'm a full on victim of the wild stuff that's going on in the alternate reality. I sat down and read all the news articles I could. I read all the Reddit threads about every major development in this whole event. I also felt it was important enough to go back to that archive on Archive.org and download all the footage posted there for archival, especially in the case I ever made it out of here. There was a ton of interesting things I saw in the various realities I traveled to over the years. If I get the device back, I can go back and download some footage from those realities. I could become an archivist or something. But it hit me that I was more likely to die than fulfill any dream I ever had.
At around 1 AM, I heard my name being called by a familiar deep voice.
"You were supposed to die!" he said. "How are you still alive!?"
"I saw them pop out of nowhere… so I ran like hell."
"Well now we're going to have to take you somewhere else."
"Why not shoot me?" I asked, frustrated. "Why not end my life right now?"
"True Nicole said you needed to be weighed down by the stuff going on in this reality," he said, resting his hand on his hip. "Either you are scared of the giants or you are killed by the giants."
I stood up, slid my phone into my pocket, and walked away. I didn't think I was going to make it far without confrontation. A couple homes down, a pain hit my neck. Before I could process it, I woke up in the trunk of a car. All I could hear was the news. All I could feel was the car bumping up and down. All I could see, other than the interior of the trunk of course, was a light morning sky. One right before the sun rose above the horizon.
"...still no word from British officials after the attacks on London and Cheltenham, England. Reports of giants being present in London and Cheltenham came out just after 4 this morning. The number of casualties is unknown, and the British Prime Minister is still missing…"
"She's awake."
"What's up fake Nicole?"
"Where are we?" I asked.
"Williamsport, Pennsylvania," alternate me said. "We're going to Washington DC."
"How do you know anything is going to happen there?"
"She never said anything would," Ian said.
"You said I was supposed to die," I said. "You knew the giants were going to strike the place I was in."
"I traveled to a reality where it was this timeline, but one month after the attacks began," alternate me said. "Then I copied a list of everything that happened in these attacks. I know what happens next."
I froze. They really did have this planned out, didn't they…
"Now, I want you to stop talking," alternate me said. "Don't breathe too loudly either. Also, if we catch you calling for help, I will stop on the side of the road, Ian will inject you with fire ants and Billy will inject you with steroids."
"To keep you awake and energized so you feel the pain more intensely and for a longer amount of time," she said.
"Yes," alternate me said. "And you can still go on the internet if you want."
I stared up at the blue morning sky, strangled by dread. I realized I had cold sweats all over me. I pulled out my phone and Googled some more Reddit threads. 20 minutes into reading comments, the news channel on the radio switched to a Pop music station. At first, I assumed alternate me changed the station, but when I went back to the Giant Attacks search results, they had all changed to results about some unrelated game.
My hopes went up. Could it be? A slip? I was ready to believe it, even if it was mostly to ease my anxiety. I went to CNN's website. To my relief, the headlines were about… normal topics. [Top news headlines on the day I post this story]
I don't know how long I'll be back in our reality. If I even am back here… I guess you will know if you see this update.
Alternate me is swearing. I think she caught on to what happened… Now she's turning the car around. I'll update again when I'm back.

I think I’ve finally catched one.
He’s like 40 years older and works at a health retreat. But there’s just something about this dude.
He’a danced for 20 years. I lovw dancing. It comes naturally to me.
But he learnt it. From scratch. Literally, logically learning how to dance to a beat step-by-step. I found that so impressive the way he described it.
And I feel some kind of connection, but ZERO emotional connection. And I feel so calm in his presence.
We had a connection in the kitchen where I work where he ”extraate” or whatever he called it — and I just burst out laughing and he vibed right in and pure love flow just came from around my heart, it was amazing.
He has this focused, grounding, calming energy about him that I find intriguing. At first I didn’t really get it but it’s been growing on me.
Have I caught my first INTJ?