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As I've tried to understand the "Bell's Theorem" more, I've really gotten stuck on this "loophole" into "superdeterminism" through the path of denying counterfactual non-contextuality. I have even come across many (including Nobel laureates) who argue that this kind of counterfactual thinking is critical for practicing science. Why is this the case? Let me clarify:
Bell, in his 1964 paper, writes, citing Einstein, that:

The vital assumption [2] is that the result B for particle 2 does not depend on the setting a, of the magnet for particle 1, nor A on b.

Einstein apparently shared this perspective with Bell. Bell quotes Einstein who wrote,

But on one supposition we should, in my opinion, absolutely hold fast: the real factual situation of the system S2 is independent of what is done with the system S1, which is spatially separated from the former.

An explicit part of Bell's formulation is thinking "counterfactually" and "noncontextually."
Counterfactual means we can reasonably talk about what would have happened if we had run the experiment with different settings. This does NOT mean that we are talking about what will happen in subsequent runs, but to really fill in a table from our assumptions about what would have happened. I'm fine with this part.
Noncontextually means that in these counterfactual cases, we assume that the thing being observed (photon, electron, etc) does not change. That the state of the particle is independent of our settings. The detector is not part of the context of the thing detected. This is where he says "particle 2 does not depend on the setting of the magnet for particle 1"... Basically, the two detector states are independent and they are not connected to the state of the particle. This part seems wrong to me.
This is often called the "free will" or "free choice" assumption. It means that there were many possible realities (in fact, a continuum of settings) in one space of the universe (the detector) for the same particle state (the thing measured). These "possible" other states are explicitly discussed in the computation of the experimental results which invalidate Bell's inequality.
So counterfactual noncontextuality is called necessary for doing science. Bell argues that the particle state is not a function of the settings of the measurement device. But is this reasonable? It seems to me that the counterfactual part is fine, but the non-contextual part is false.
If we want to consider a different setting for the measurement device, then we need to understand that the device is a collection of particles that have a causal history. So, for considering a different measurement device state, we must consider a different causal past as well. Then the question is, does the state we wish to observe depend on this state?
The Nobel Laureate Gerard 't Hooft puts it this way in his 2016 book (emphasis mine):

In the older discussions of superdeterminism, it would have been stated that Alice does not have the 'free will' to do this, but now we say: maybe not, but we can certainly allow ourselves to study the state obtained, and ask what the physical structure was in its past, by solving the microscopic equations backwards in time... And now, it is not difficult to see what then happens. The quantum state of the entangled photons will no longer be as it was originally prepared

This is not "retrocausation" or anything crazy. It's just really thinking through the consequences of counterfactual thinking.
There doesn't need to be any conspiracy any more than any other physical law is considered a conspiracy. There doesn't even need to be a statistical correlation between the states of the measurement devices! CH Brans wrote a 1988 paper titled "Bell's Theorem Does Not Eliminate Fully Causal Hidden Variables" in which he reworks the math of Bell's theorem in terms of the conditional contextuality of the measurement settings and the particle state. He says:

The arguments above are entirely consistent with the outcome that [the detector settings] are "random" functions of i, the experiment number, i = 1,2,..., and that there is no statistical correlation between [the detector settings].

There can be no correlation at all between the detector states, so I'm not really sure what people hope to gain by looking at cosmically separated photons or using random number generators for detector settings.
It seems to me then that what Asher Peres says is true:

The conclusion is surprising. Physicists are used to thinking in terms of isolated systems whose behavior is independent of what happens in the rest of the world (contrary to social scientists, who cannot isolate the subject of their study from its environment). Bell's theorem tells us that such a separation is impossible for individual experiments, although it still holds for averages... As it often happens, the subtlety of nature beggars the human imagination..

He's saying that the other option is that Bell's test suggests that non-contextuality is false. As such, this is just back to saying that Laplace's demon is fine and that everything is mechanistically interconnected. That Bell's test results are completely consistent with a local hidden variable explanation of reality that is fully (super) deterministic and doesn't leave room for a dualism of the human actor... Which is really just back on track with how we used to think in the 19th century, but with the speed of light limit (locality).
All these arguments for non-local signaling, indeterminism, multiple worlds, etc, are all just people not willing to stick with a deterministic monism and in no way does Bell's test eliminate local hidden variables as possible.
Bernard Kastrup asked Sabine Hossenfelder (in a youtube video): "If I had taken a picture of the moon with different settings on my camera, would it have changed the moon?!"
The answer seems to logically (and non-controversially) be, "yes, it would require everything to be different!" Or "it's not that YOUR CAMERA changed the moon by dialing in the settings" but that, in order for you to dial in the settings on your phone differently, the course of the universe would be changed, including the spin state of particles in the moon.
There seems to me to be nothing conspiratorial or spooky about this way of thinking (nor does it to 't Hooft or others). The universe, under determinism, is contextual. Context matters for everything including you and me and what we do. Everything is interdependent. This is like some ancient hindu/buddhist philosophy that preceded the Greek philosophers on this point. This is what universal determinism means.
Bell's theorem seems to simply be "Bell's mirror." It reflects back your presuppositions at you. Do you think that people can act non-contextually? Well then, the universe is non-contextual and appears spooky. Do you think that everything is contextual? Well then, the universe is not spooky in the normal sense.
It seems that both Einstein and Bell were wrong on this aspect of non-contextuality. Counterfactual thinking is fine, but they don't walk it back far enough. They believe that the changes start and stop at the person twisting the dial and that this has no ramifications for the rest of preceding state of the cosmos in this counterfactual thought experiment.
The only reason we label determinism as "superdeterminism" and call it a "loophole" is because we've somehow lost our roots, or relativity scared the hell out of us somehow. Superdeterminism is DEFINED as a term against the concept of a dualism of inanimate nature and then free actors in a cosmos where actions are non-contextual. It's only been defined as a "loophole" because we've been scared for 100 years and forget our roots in Laplace's clockwork cosmos.
I think what's actually happening is as Peres said above and that Physicists are realizing that the cosmos is super messy, just like social sciences and biological sciences. They've waded down past particles into a vibrating cross-correlated soup of waves and they've been bogged down by it because of previous ways of thinking. As such, nobody is continuing science... Few people (basically just 't Hooft and two others) are looking at superdeterministic models of reality. Some sort of scientific dark ages have set in and nobody knows why... It's because EVERYTHING is contextual. And there is nothing spooky about any of that. That's just the web of fate.
But then we have voices like the most recent Nobel Laureate (for precisely Bell related work) Anton Zeilinger who writes:

"This is the assumption of 'free-will.' It is a free decision what measurement one wants to perform... This fundamental assumption is essential to doing science. If this were not true, then, I suggest it would make no sense at all to ask nature questions in an experiment, since then nature could determine what our questions are, and that could guide our questions such that we arrive at a false picture of nature."

This seems to include non-contextuality (the "free" part) as well as counterfactuals. It also seems absurd on its face. If nature "guides us to arrive at a false picture of reality" and then we test our picture of reality.. nature would have to continue the ruse in a real conspiracy, but then isn't that just a law of physics?
Is this just egoism? The idea that the cosmos is deeply coupled and that counterfactuals can just be broken ideas seems completely benign. Lets imagine I had set that detector to another setting... Maybe then the particle wouldn't even have been emitted in the first place since that's such a fragile event anyway. That seems totally non-conspiratorial and plausible. Then what am I supposed to write down to compute the bell inequality?
What is going on with these people demanding non-contextuality for science to be successful? Have I just fundamentally missed something here?

i
From the back cab in Sea-cold air of my 4Runner Vibrational thrum & boom Of long-period waves Every second an exponential explosion In Power Even one behemoth mother Could, when quantized, civilized and harnessed Power the fridges and coffee pots of Godforsaken SanFrancisco
Last thing I wish at this warm huddle moment Is to crawl out from under This dogpile Heap of blankets
To step outside to pee But my right shoulder begs For cold clear water To flush out heat
Of shredded sinue and spent muscle From the redhead beating taken At the hands of mother liquid That never cares whether We are In Or no Today, I was a sad clown
ii
Ooo Cameron and I Yet the day before Met in the water And only 5 seconds in With but a wave and nod
It was on me A natural turn and Paddle-paddle down the slow-build face Quick right turn at the bottom And justlikethat Cold Liquid molten glass Pink Slipper smooth Fluid warping will Shining overhead I won’t recall SHOOM At Speed far too fast For memory
For I am liquid Flown At the speed of Eons & Ions Son of Suns Easy Light Born of Winds too mean to tell Armless, legless Only This endless wave Blasting barreling Through, Beyond This Body The sand And Fathomless Far

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As I thought about where to go next, a familiar voice called out to me.
"Hey!" they shouted. "What happened there? You were missing for a day and a half."
I looked over. The woman in the suit stepped into the open bushy area.
"I was taken back," I said. "I had to find my way back here. What happened to you?"
"I'm struggling to remember," she said. "It's… a blur. I got caught off guard by… something… I looked at the time and 1 hour had passed."
"Can you help me with the three murderers?" I asked.
"What I can do is investigate you, and while doing so, you'd be protected from interference. If anything actually happens, we'll just get the police on the phone." she said. "But come on. You need to come with me."
She walked me through the forest. I was glad to be in better hands. I didn't know which agency she was from, so I asked her.
"I'm affiliated with the Directorate of Science and Technology," she said. "CIA."
The CIA? I could only think of the worst things they've done. MK Ultra, enhanced interrogation… hopefully they've toned it down by now.
We walked onto a parking lot with a single black car. She unlocked the doors and told me to get in the passenger seat. I climbed in, buckled up, and hoped for the best. I decided to ask her some questions, as my curiosity was piqued.
"Is it okay if I ask you questions?" I asked.
"Depends on your intention," she said.
"Curiosity… about how much the government knows about my situation," I said.
"Well, yes, but don't push too hard or it'll be suspicious," she said, starting the car.
"The CIA… is investigating anomalies…?"
"Yes," she said. "We are studying natural scientific anomalies. Our goal is to go on a deep dive and discover everything about the physics of our reality. In this case, alternate realities and teleportation."
"How many people like me have been investigated?"
"Not too many to count," she said. "There's incomplete to no evidence for most of them."
"Was the Man from Taured real?"
"Man from Taured?" she asked.
I explained the story to her.
"Oh, no, that's an urban myth," she said.
"Any similar stories?" I asked.
"There was a man who mysteriously appeared at an airport in Virginia," she said. "That's all I can tell you at your level."
"Is NASA involved in this?"
"That's a bit above what I can tell you," she said.
"How long has the investigation into anomalies been going on for?" I asked.
"The 90s," she said.
"This is so interesting," I said.
"I'll give you a non-disclosure form to sign," she said. "Until then, I'm going to put the radio on."
"Am I asking too much?"
"No, not at all," she said. "It's just that it's going to take six more hours to get to where you live, so we're definitely going to need some music."
She turned the radio on. A Pop music station was playing The Weeknd and 21 Savage. Seemed normal enough. Nothing was off about the instrumentation or vocals. I relaxed myself, bracing for the rest of the long ride.
I caved in and asked her if I could receive full time protection from my alternate self, despite what she already told me.
"A helicopter is going to circle the area and scan for anomalous signals while 15 agents watch the area," she said. "They're just part of the investigation though. I'll need evidence of danger in order to act against said danger."
Luckily, all those agents were going to be around, so if my claims were proven true, I would be defended. It was nice to hear. I could rest assured, but I wasn't feeling right about the timing. What if my alternate self got tired of chasing me around, then shot me with something he pulled from some alternate reality I've never been to before? I could try to predict what those realities may be, but we didn't have the exact same things happen to us over the past six years, so there was no certainty.
As we drove through rural Pennsylvania, I asked her some things about me.
"How much do you guys know about alternate realities?"
"What I can tell you is we have always speculated about parallel realities. We didn't have much evidence until the 2000s when there was a sudden uptick in anomalous events that pointed to the existence of realities parallel to our own. Again, most of the time, we'd have little to no evidence of the alleged travels, but also little to no evidence disproving those travels. We have images and videos of stuff anomalous people took that we have hidden in our databases that we're… unsure of. The footage we've gotten from you is stuff I've never seen before. But anyway, we've run test after test after test. It's not safe for us to go in ourselves, so we only have what's alleged."
"So no teams came into our reality to talk to us?" I asked.
"We've witnessed anomalies in which people who looked like agents followed… well… other anomalous stuff into this reality, then, brought them back into a portal. We have no idea who they are. They've never spoken to us. Do you know who they are?"
"No," I said. "I've never seen or heard of them before. They must be chasing chaotic things."
"Sometimes they bring people here," she said. "We investigate those people, it turns out they're from here, and they start talking about… terrible places."
"How long has that been going on?" I asked.
"Late 2018," she said. "Even we feel like stuff is being kept hidden from us. We have agents in blue, but they're only one level above mine."
"I mean, I've been to 485 realities… or… well… 490 realities now, and I've never been contacted by them," I said.
"490?" She asked. "Are there any you don't mind talking about?"
"Oh boy," I said. "I've been to realities where the sun was half its size, the Earth had two moons, zombie apocalypses, zombie endemics, a reality where the dinosaurs were still around, where Mu was a real continent… it might sound like I'm ripping stuff from YouTube alternate history videos, but those are some of the ones I was curious about going to."
"Do you have any evidence of you being in these realities?" she asked.
"Well… I've taken some pictures," I said. "But not a lot. As I told you before though, I would like to go back and film all the interesting stuff."
She nodded her head.
"Are these pictures on your phone?"
"Yes, you'll find some on there," I said. "Just look for ones of pink sunsets, very realistic dinosaurs, dilapidated cities, and advanced technology. Smart homes and such. Oh, and I have some pictures I took in personally interesting realities too, so there's those ones, but it'll look like I just edited some webpages or found deleted scenes."
She nodded her head.
"Can you tell me about these personally interesting realities?" she asked.
"They're not very serious, but… I guess if it's important because… alternative realities…" I said, unsure of how much of the lesser serious stuff I was able to explain.
"You're under investigation," she said. "You need to tell me everything you know."
"I've been to realities where certain hyped up video games had been announced and released, where certain singers were much more popular, where one of my favourite shows went on as normal despite the pandemic. It was pretty interesting…"
"Try not to bring any personal opinions into this," she said. "This is just an investigation. We need unbiased information."
"Yes, of course," I said.
"Can you tell me of a specific one of those realities?" she asked.
"There was one where video of the Austin J. Tobin plaza on 9/11 was never lost," I said. "Whoever decided to call it LOL SUPERMAN back in 2006 was a piece of shit. I just wanted to see a rare historical angle."
She nodded her head.
"So, lost footage of historical events?" she asked.
"Not just lost footage," I said. "Unknown information. What if certain things were easy to figure out and had been figured out?"
"Anymore examples?" she asked.
"Well, I found out what happened to that Malaysian flight that went missing," I said. "I'm not sure I want to go there though, in case it turned out to actually be different from this reality."
"Anything else then?"
"I found out who shot JFK by going to a reality in which the shooter was identified," I said. "That sounds like it would be important to you."
"If you're sure of any details potentially being the same as those in our reality, you can tell us," she said. "But remember, we won't just believe everything you say. We'd need to travel to the realities in question for proper evidence."
I told her who the shooter was, then I got in over my head telling her everything else about my travels. I gave her every last detail of most of the other realities I have traveled to. I guess I never opened up about them. It helped me escape the anxiety I had about my alternate self. I was actually having some fun above the fear. I knew it was going to end soon, but with traveling to about 500 different realities, I learned to just live in the moment.
As we drove into Aurora, I was fidgeting with my hands. It was half an hour away. I asked the agent one last thing.
"Is there any advice you can give me?" I asked.
"Lure your alternate self into your room and get him to use the alleged device," she said. "As you've implied, we may have a small window of opportunity here. As I've said, we will be watching you. We have five plans for this scenario. Each one of them is committed to ethics and morality."
Well, it assured me once again. But not completely. With the unpredictability of this, it seemed just as likely things were going to get messy as it was for everything to turn out to be fine.
As we pulled into the driveway, I was frozen. This was it. It was time to face my alternate self. I climbed out of the car, expecting to be shot at any second. I gently opened the door. Once I could peek my head in, I did so gently. Nobody was around.
"Hello?" I shouted.
Nobody answered. I climbed the stairs and checked the living room. No one was there. The silence was killing me. The doors to the other rooms were closed, but I wasn't going to check them anyway. I needed to be in my room. When I walked into my room, nobody was in there. Thank god. I looked out my window. A black helicopter flew in the distance, probably just posing as a training exercise helicopter. I looked at the driveway. The agent was sitting in her car, talking into a radio.
My guts were tight. It was only a matter of time before my alternate self arrived. As I looked at the agent's car, I wondered if there was an alternative to having me face my alternate self. As I thought to myself, I heard three familiar voices. I looked in the direction they were coming from. When the three walked into my view, my stomach clenched harder. I sat beneath the window and listened in on what they were saying.
"It was so satisfying when she stepped on those nails," Billy said.
"Yeah and she was like oh my god! No!" Alternate me said.
The three chuckled in unison.
"And that was the 200th alternate Nicole we killed too," Billy said.
"Yeah… wait," alternate me said. "Who's car is that?"
"The light's on up there," Ian said. "Someone's home."
Well… I hope this ends well.
The front door creaked open. I felt like sinking as I heard their footsteps come in.
"Hello?" Billy shouted as she, along with the others, stepped in. The thumps of footsteps came up the stairs. What was going to be their first reaction? The footsteps got closer and closer, then Billy stepped into view. She looked into the room and stopped. Her eyes widened up.
"Nicole?" she asked. "How?"
I explained to her the whole government agent situation. How I explained every reality I visited. Then I told her if she tries anything, government agents are watching and they will intervene. There was a look of frustration on her face as I gave the warning. She opened her mouth, but then alternate me walked up behind her. She expressed the same amount of surprise.
"What's going on here?" Alternate me asked.
Billy repeated to my alternate self what I had just said. After hearing about what was happening, my alternate self had a confused look on her face.
"How aren't you dead?"
"I guess that place wasn't dangerous enough," I taunted.
Alternate me took out her device and pressed the big button, opening the portal. Her look of confusion turned into a look of determination.
"Step back in," she said. "Right now."
"I'm going to do what makes me comfortable," I said. I stood still, worrying she'd get aggressive, but remembering she wasn't strong enough to pound me.
The front door creaked open again. Multiple footsteps rushed up the stairs. Billy walked up to me, with the deepest look of frustration on her face, and grabbed my hands. I pulled my hands away, but Nicole and Ian walked up to me and grabbed me tight. While I was acting confident, I still felt as if I was about to throw up. I didn't want to go back to that reality. Come to think of it, I no longer wanted to go to any unfamiliar horrific reality for another year. Flashbacks of me watching people hit the ground and explode, seeing the tentacle creatures eat people, and the specks of death flying around all kept popping into my head and triggering anxiety attacks. I needed a break for the sake of my mental health.
I slowly attempted to move, but the three grabbed me tighter in response. I begged for them to let me go, even though I knew it wouldn't work. The dread was only getting deeper. The three brought me over to the portal, and with an overbearing strength, they pushed me back in.
I fell and landed on my back. I stared up at the ceiling, letting myself lay on the soft carpeted floor, wondering why I was still alive.
Well… hopefully I live, right?
I got back up, then I looked out the window. A distant trail of black smoke outlined the horizon. What made it worse was the dead silence. It was pretty surreal.
A light began to reflect in the window. I looked behind me. The portal was open again. A man in tactical gear walked out, stepping onto the floor. He asked me to come with him. As I took a step towards him, something pushed him forwards, straight into me. I fell backwards into the wall with a thud. The man stumbled over to the wall on my right and regained his posture as the Billy, Ian, and alternate me marched out of the portal. Alternate me closed the portal, then walked up to me. Looking me dead in the eyes, she spoke with deep frustration.
"Please understand that I just want you to feel bad for me."
"Um… you want to torture me," I said, still seriously not understanding her logic. "And I want to be comfortable and not scared because I'm about to die."
"You're so stupid," she replied.
"What is going on here?" asked the man in the gear.
Alternate me pointed her device at the man and pressed the button. A portal opened up under the man's feet, causing him to fall. I watched as the portal closed, hoping he wasn't sent to a different gruesome reality.
Two men in suits carrying handguns ran out of the portal. They asked us to freeze and pay attention to them. As they explained they needed us to follow some instructions for research purposes, the front door creaked open. Who could that even be at this point?
"Who's in here?" a male voice shouted.
"I think that's my dad," I said. "But an alternate one of course."
One of the agents walked out into the hallway. He told the man there was a classified investigation happening so he had to stay out of the bedroom. What he responded with chilled me.
"Alright, I see. I guess it has to do with my daughter's death? I know you can't tell me much but I'm looking for someone to talk to after she and her mother were… killed in Richmond Hill."
It was about time I thought more about my parallel self from the reality of the Giant Attacks. It was like speculating on what the fictionalized version of you would be doing in movies like the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds or 2012. Except this was a reality. Another parallel version of me died.
I felt a pain on my neck again. I glanced at my alternate self. She was smiling, Ian was giving me an evil glare, and Billy was giving me a look of disgust while resting her hands on her hips. That was the last thing I saw before I woke up sitting up against a wall in what looked like a bank. There were five others, all looking to be in different age groups, sitting across the room, in the corner to my left. Billy was standing in the middle of the room, speaking to them.
"No one is going to spoil this for me," she said. "I'm going to take the reality hopping stuff further. You know there's realities where advanced weapons exist in easy to use ways. You know there are realities where stuff that's unknown to us has been learned and is very well known. I could learn so much about the universe."
"Please… can I call somebody?" asked one of the older men. "It's not the police, I swear."
She walked into a room on my right. About a minute later, she walked out with a plastic box. She set the box on the ground, then she looked at the group.
"Give your phones to me," she said. "Put them in this box."
The hostages pulled out their phones, stood up, walked over to the box, and dropped their phones in. Then they went back to their spots.
She walked into the room again, this time returning with a water bottle. She twisted the cap off, then she threw it in my direction. She poured water into the bin. The five had distraught faces. The girl kept dumping water into the bin until the bottle was empty. She then threw the bottle at me. She carried the bin over to the five, then she set it down in front of the woman who talked.
"You can take your phones back now."
Alternate me and Ian walked in through the front doors. They raised their eyebrows, looking at Billy as she looked back at them.
"What are you doing?" Ian asked.
"I drowned their phones," Billy said. "Is it time to make them watch?"
"Yes, let's cut to the chase," Alternate me said. She glared at me, staring into my eyes with her usual look of entitled anger. "Nicole, we're tired of chasing you. I'm going to make sure you die here, and I'm going to make sure those people watch it happen."
She pulled out a chrome blue handgun with a design I had never seen before. She walked past Billy, then stopped a couple meters away from me. She pointed the gun at my forehead. There was no higher level of dread I could feel. It was time. In the back of my mind, I knew something like this was going to happen. My alternate self was going to get me somehow, somewhere. Part of me doubted it, as I didn't know what I would've done if I were psychotic and angry. I felt like time was slowing down.
"What k-kind of gun is that?" I asked, expecting little to no explanation.
"It's a brand that gives you the illusion of slowed time while pumping your nerves and organs with sharp pinching robots until you bleed out," she said. "It's from a reality where pain is always ensured as anybody dies."
I shook. Of course she'd explain it with that much detail. I was going out in pain, because of course I was. My alternate self knows all the personal events that have built up to my fear of dying in pain. There was nothing I could say, nothing I could do.
"No," Billy said.
"I need this," Ian said.
A gunshot rang out, striking Ian in the head. He fell to the tiled floor. The people in the corner twitched. The older ones covered their mouths while the younger ones looked more distraught. Alternate me turned around.
"What the hell are you doing?!" she shouted.
"It's best if I do this alone," Billy said.
"Well… I… okay… it doesn't matter," alternate me said. "Don't shoot me."
"As long as you don't interfere, I'll leave you alone," Billy said.
Alternate me pulled the trigger. My stomach was struck an excruciating pain. A painful tingling ran up to my face and down my legs. Alternate me lowered the gun and stared into my eyes with her look of determination. The tingling grew stronger. The excruciating painful bites started on my intestines, making me twitch. I laid on my side, almost jumping at every bite. My stomach and kidneys were the next to be bitten. I wailed. The tingling had grown strong enough to make me lightheaded.
"When will this fucking end?!" I screamed.
The pain was too excruciating for me to talk anymore, so I accepted those as my final words.
Screams echoed from somewhere outside. Billy stepped outside and looked to her left. As the screams continued, she walked towards their source, out of my view.
"Billy!" alternate me shouted. She walked up to the front doors. "Stay there or each of you get what Nicole has," she said, looking at the five hostages. As she pushed the doors open, a white light illuminated everything in the room. Alternate me stopped and looked back at the source of the light. A dark haired woman stepped out. She looked the room over, which included her making eye contact with me. I didn't see a way out of what was happening to my organs, so I didn't bother to scream for help.
The portal woman looked at my alternate self.
"Can you explain to me what's happening here?" the portal woman asked.
"I'm defending myself against my fake alternate self," alternate me said. "Who are you?"
"Agent Arilyn Campbell," the portal woman said.
Arilyn held her gun up at my alternate self's forehead and pulled the trigger. A silver dart struck her. She opened her mouth, but froze before she could speak. Arilyn walked up to her, then she pulled out a handheld device. She held the device up to my alternate self's face. From my angle, I could see a brain was going on. Different parts of my alternate self's brain were lit up. A minute into the scanning, POV videos of walking down side walks, riding in advanced cars, and using advanced phones played.
"So you're the one who's from reality 57470.1 in relation to this reality," Arilyn said. "Let's look at your wrongdoings."
The cool POVs switched to POVs of planting bombs, running people over, throwing people in front of trains, shooting people speaking to an audience, shooting people in various government buildings, drowning people, pushing somebody into a portal, shooting somebody with a glowing blue gun… it wasn't until I watched the repeated portal shoves that I realized the ones in the videos before all had the same oval head shape and facial feature orchestration as me. I had watched my death a couple dozen times over.
Arilyn slid the scanner into her vest.
"I'm taking you in," she said. She put my alternate self's hands in cuffs. This was amazing! I guess there is a team or two out there! Arilyn sprinted up to me. She took a smaller handheld scanner out of her vest and held it up to my face.
"Fuck," she said under her breath. "I'll be right back. Stay here while I get you something."
She took her device out of her vest and opened a portal. She ran into it, leaving me with my frozen alternate self and the shocked looking hostages. My shirt was soaked in tears. My nose, my hands… were red. I threw up on the floor. The portal reopened, then Arilyn sprinted out with a glowing red handgun. She knelt down in front of me, pointed the gun at my stomach, then pulled the trigger. A force hit my stomach. As I squirmed some more, the biting stopped. The tingling began to decrease. The tingling was going back down to the wound. Yes! Arilyn put the gun in her vest, then she pulled out some eye drops she put into both of my eyes. Within a minute, I was in a state of euphoric calmness I hadn't felt in years. Arilyn finished up by putting a bandage over my stomach.
"I'm going to get you to a surgeon for some repairs," she said.
"You're awesome," I said, slipping further into a euphoric high.
Arilyn stood up and walked up to my alternate self. I was glad this was ending, and that I was going to get to stay alive. Arilyn's equipment looked quite advanced. Maybe she was from my alternate self's home reality. That would be quite the narrow-minded assumption, however, considering all the advanced realities there has to be.
Arilyn opened another portal, beside my alternate self. She then grabbed my alternate self by the hands and dragged her into the light.
Three minutes after having left, the portal opened back up. Arilyn stepped out with a look of relief. I made eye contact with her. She looked into my eyes with a look of concern. She closed the portal, then she opened a new one to my left. I noticed right then the hostages in the corner were staring in my direction… likely at the portal, with looks of determination on their faces. Concern accompanied the determination when a certain growling noise echoed in from outside. From the sound of it, it wasn't too far away.
Two paramedics came out of the portal with a stretcher. I was carried onto the stretcher, laid down in a direction giving me a view of the front doors. The growl got louder and louder. A tentacle creature ran in front of the doors, stopping as it saw me. Chills ran down my spine, even despite the medical drug I was put on. It's appearance was still so uncanny. As the paramedics looked me over, there was a bang at the doors, followed by a clicking sound. The hostages' eyes widened. There was another growl, and with that, the hostages got up and ran towards the portal. The paramedics moved to either side of the stretcher and wheeled me through the portal.
"We don't have room for them," said the medic behind me.
On the other side, the portal closed right behind the medic pushing me, revealing a concrete wall. It was over. Well, sort of. I was wheeled down a concrete hallway with windowless steel doors. I was taken into one of the rooms. A surgery room, where I was asked a couple questions about medication, then I was given an anesthesia pill.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"It's best if we let Agent Campbell choose whether to give you that information," the medic said as he put an oxygen mask on my face.
Some time later, I woke up near a waiting room. A flat TV hung off the ceiling above me. A news channel was on. A female reporter talked about released footage of a cyberterrorist's terrifying memories of shooting hostages in the head. Apparently the footage was released via the Freedom of Information Act, and that they captured the terrorist's memories using a brain scanner called HICS.
Am I in some future reality or something?
The date was on the top of the screen, but only the month and day. June 18th.
What year is it?
In the midst of my confusion, Arilyn stepped into the room.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Better," I said. "A little bit drowsy too, of course."
"Well once the anesthesia wears off, I'll take you back to your reality," Arilyn said.
Great! I was finally going back to the comfort of my home reality. All I needed to do was start the discussion about multiverse journalism. I'm going to hold off on going to the darkest realities for about a year, so until then, I plan on going to the tamer realities.
"I just have one question," I told Arilyn.
"Yes?" Arilyn asked.
"I want to become a journalist," I said. "But I want to record the events of different realities. Is there an extra reality hopping device I can have?"
"Well, I could work something out," I said. "But only because when you were asleep, I scanned your memories and saw many of the realities you have gone to. You have much more experience than I do, and it seems you have learned from your reality hopping mistakes. I know I've learned from mine. Hold on a second."
Arilyn stepped out of the room. Once she was gone, I remembered Billy. She said some things, then she left the building. Hopefully she was caught as well. If Arilyn caught my alternate self, she had to have caught Billy too, right?
Anyway, I have a lot of work to do. I'm posting this from an alternate reality on a computer that's able to send signals to different realities. It's pretty cool. I might not give any updates for a while, if I ever do. If I never update again, don't worry. I'm just busy.

Hi folks,
I'm pretty new to this forum but want to share an unpopular opinion.
Reviewing many posts, I see the notion that more pressure is needed. That no new efforts, angles, information, etc. have come up in the news.
Now, of course, I have no idea what will happen. But, I do want to share some light in that perhaps no news is good news.
Politics are largely driven by perception/reputation.
Are any of you from Canada? Comment below where you're from.
As a Canadian, I recall that the Liberal government was not responsive to pressure from other parties, tourism bodies, protests, etc. In fact, the more requests the Canadian government received to remove the travel restrictions, the more they seemed to double down on how effective and necessary the restrictions were. But, when things went quiet... when the Liberal government had a chance to paint a narrative that removing the restrictions was THEIR fully vetted idea, not a matter of external influence, they removed the restrictions.
As I said, I have no clue what is going to happen. I check various sources hourly to see if I can find anything new. I come up empty-handed. However, I'm hopeful that the silence means the Biden government will have a chance to paint its own narrative. The last thing they want is for the population to believe they were pushed to do something by another party. Because... Perception. Reputation.
The next three days will be critical as we approach the current April 10 expiration date. My understanding is most amendments happen at the end of the month if they happen. I'll have my fingers crossed. Thinking of you all as we grow increasingly impatient together!

Vent time! Good day everyone, hope you're doing great, in this post i'd like to talk about how we are represented in tv series. Before we start i want to specify that with "tv series" i don't mean like Stranger Things, Game of Thrones or Rings of power, but instead the series you can find on cable tv. Specifically, but not limited to, crime channels. I'm taking those in considerations because that's what my parents like to watch and because horrocrime stuff triggers me as much as mistreatment of our community does.
Now, with that out of the way, let's talk about how in every episode a member of our community is seen they're always, ALWAYS represented as the "weird" ones: looked down on from every other character in a "i'm better that thee" kind of way; being one of the first to be seen as a suspect; sometimes even painted in a really gross and even disrespectful light.
Some examples: A character having a secret gay relationship saw as something gross and to be ashamed about; the "good guys" completely disregarding a trans person's journey and, sometimes, even questioning their transition (I particularly hate when, the first time they meet them they DEAD NAME them from the start or do the "Good evening... Sir? Ma'am?" like wtf). I'm sure there are many more examples but these are the one that still haunt me.
Even when the lgbt character is not the "punching bag" they just cannot get a break almost as if they don't deserve a happily ever after.
That's it tho, thanks for reading through this vent. Please let me know your thoughts and be kind, we want to create a constructive and peaceful environement. Thanks again and good day! <3

I've posted here once before but it's buried and I'm honestly too lazy to find it, haha. And sorry for the long post! I remembered so much stuff.
In the past years I haven't been myself (mental health) and my mind has felt dull. It's been a long time since I've felt a strong sense of ME. Like my individuality. And then, the other night something happened.
I've been listening to paranormal stories on Reddit as a way to ingest stories and experiences while I mindlessly play Neopets or whatever tickles my fancy. The stories are interesting because I've had vague experiences myself.
I used to get strong, intense vibes from people or places. Like my sisters old bedroom at my moms house. That room had all the bad energy. But once I moved out and my sister took over my old room, it was gone.
So the other day I listened to some stories on YouTube and didn't think much of the feelings I was getting in the previous week at night. I just assumed it was my anxiety making me paranoid. I always stop listening to stories before 8 at night as to not scare myself. 10 o clock rolled around and my fiance went to bed and I stayed up late. Just me and my cat. I had this weird feeling and the sudden thought that explained the weird feelings I had been having: something or some vibe/energy is sweeping through the house when it's late. I can almost feel it come from the second bedroom at the end of the house (trailer) and follow into the living room and then the kitchen. It seems to stop at our bedroom doorframe.
It drove me to go to bed as it was spooking me. I usually take my night medication, clean the litter box, go pee, and lay down. Not that night. It was around 2 and I went to bed and snuggled my fiance. He's snoring lightly and I'm lying awake when I feel more unnerved.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I calmly breathed and envisioned lying on the bed, a light blue shape of me. In my chest was a gold spark and similar one at my forehead. Breathing deeper I collected my 'energy' to myself from where I envisioned it in the house, spots I frequented. The light blue shape filled with white gold light and I gathered more into my mind, rich gold.
Then I 'lashed out' with the gold light like a rippling aura to disperse anything that shouldn't be near me, negative or whatever.
For some reason that action made me feel the way I used to be; creative and intuitive and much more. Albeit I was immature back then so I suppose it was more refined.
It made me remember how my intuition used to ping accurately with people. How easily I could read someone. A lot of times if things were too close to me, I couldn't detect much because my desires got too involved and clouded it.
I'm still having my 'prophecy' like dreams and have strong, wracking senses of deja vu whenever they come to pass. I can never clearly remember those dreams when I wake and only remember little pieces when the deja vu hits.
I want to delve deeper into what may be. What ability might I have. I once tried an animal totem trance but nothing panned out. I know there's a million different paths and cultures with myriad meanings.
I see red-tailed hawks often when driving and always project my mental voice or speak out loud to greet them, impart my thanks and respect, and wish them good hunting. They may not be my animal spirit but I wish they were and always show them respect.
What really spurred me to post today is that I have this overall sense of well-being and happiness. Just now I had a shock of deja vu. I remember typing this out, talking to my fiance about totems maybe? and holding a lump or some sort of unidentified object. Anyway, I feel well because I had one of my rare dreams last night about Unicorns. I've always held a deep connection to myths and the unicorn has always felt so... right.
Sorry for this book of a post. If anyone takes the time to reach this end note I would love to discuss my experiences and stuff.

Now isn't this a curious sequence of events?

• In 53 AC, king Jaehaerys I is out on a royal progress (which can take the better part of a year).
  
• Queen Alysanne "Targaryen" is pregnant, so she stays behind at King's Landing, but demands that he goes on without her.
  
• But by the time the king returns, he finds the child is not only born, but apparently already knows how to speak! And soon, at only 1.5 years, she's not only walking, but running!
  
• This wunderkind receives the name Daenerys Targaryen. Unfortunately, the child dies from "feeling cold", aka. the Shivers, in 60 AC.
  

...Some fans have speculated about this Daenerys being a bastard, but I think the question to ask isn't whether "she is her father's daughter", but whether "she is her mother's daughter".
A child that's mysteriously at least 1-2 years more developed than her age? That's a clear baby swap, if there ever was one.
Whether Daenerys was susceptible to a "cold" disease because she wasn't fully Targaryen, or because the "Doctrine of Exceptionalism" was a lie all along - either way, it benefits anti-"dragon blood" agendas.
And I've always wondered about Alysanne having such a Hightower-sounding name, while also being so pro-Faith and anti-sibling-marriage. (Apparently she had golden hair, despite her mother being one Alyssa Velaryon with silver hair. Alysanne's next daughter Alyssa is another one with a Hightowery name and yellow hair. In the "current time", Jorah's wife Lynesse Hightower has golden hair.)
Was there an Oldtown-centered faction trying to shape royal genetics from the very earliest times of the Targ dynasty? What was their motivation, some magical tinfoil? Are they on some Bene Gesserit - Kwisatz Haderach shit? (ha-Derach means "the road", and the Hightower words are "We Light the Way"...)

Awful Tier - Maps that I regularly back out of - ranked below a 4/10
Border Crossing - Overall 1/10
Theme - 4/10
Design - 0/10
Fun Factor - 1/10
6v6 - 1/10
10v10 - 2/10
This is legitimately the worst designed 6v6 cod map ive ever played. I would not care if they removed it from multiplayer and used it for other modes only like invasion where it actually plays pretty decent.
Museum - Overall 2.5/10
Theme - 8/10
Design - 2/10
Fun Factor - 2/10
6v6 - 1/10
10v10 - 6/10
Visually stunning, bright colors, good lighting, nice theme. Just way too big and a terrible layout. This map should absolutely not be in 6v6 but plays okay in 10v10.
Crown Raceway - Overall 3/10
Theme - 1/10
Design - 2/10
Fun Factor - 2/10
6v6 - 3/10
10v10 - 4/10
This one is just plain boring, ugly, and disappointing. A cool concept and theme on paper but executed poorly and is further ruined by horrible map design and atrocious lighting. Visually the worst looking map, so unfortunate what could have been a 9/10 theme is instead a huge weakness. For some reason everything is lit up to indicate that its night, yet the sky is still dark blue. Additionally the way they laid everything out is a travesty. Ridiculously long sniping lanes and cookie cutter interiors that make it feel samey everywhere you go. I wont play this one unless its 10v10, and its still mediocre even then.
Mediocre Tier - These maps are very flawed but I wont always skip them - ranked 4 to 6.5/10
Taraq - Overall 4.5/10
Theme - 7/10
Design - 4/10
Fun Factor - 5/10
6v6 - 4/10
10v10 - 5/10
Probably the most realistic map theme and design. Theres actually quite a few cool spots, map knowledge goes a long way here. This isnt shipment, you gotta play at a slower more calculated pace, mindlessly rushing everywhere will get you killed. Its not a great map but I like having a more open layout for variety.
Breenbergh Hotel - Overall 5.5/10
Theme - 5/10
Design - 5/10
Fun Factor 4/10
6v6 - 5/10
10v10 - 7/10
Im not as big on hotel as a lot of people seem to be, imo its the most overrated map in the game. I just cant get excited to play any mode on this map. Definitely some awkward sights and angles too, its not like they designed the place IRL with pvp combat in mind. Overall theme is okay but nothing special. Much better on 10v10
Al Bagra Fortress - Overall 6/10
Theme - 9/10
Design - 3/10
Fun Factor 6/10
6v6 - 6/10
10v10 - 5/10
Smaller size, cool theme, whats not to love other than the cheesy camping spots and the notorious spawn trap. The more I play this map the less I like it. I will say its not so bad for hardpoint and other modes outside of domination. Probably the hardest to rank because it plays so differently depending on the teams. I dont think 10v10 is an improvement on this map.
Zaya Observatory - Overall 6.4/10
Theme - 2/10
Design - 4/10
Fun Factor - 7/10
6v6 - 6/10
10v10 - 4/10
Ive actually never played Dome before so this was new to me. Not much of a theme here and its cluttered with junk randomly scattered throughout the map. A bit awkward to play, not a fan of the building chokepoint with the only other option being exposing yourself on the ladder route. Pretty terrible design but at least its small so there is plenty of action on 6v6. On 10v10 this map gets somehow simultaneously spammy and campy
Good Tier - Maps that can be great on certain modes but have inherent flaws that keep them out of top tier - ranked 6.5 to 8/10
El Asilo - Overall 7/10
Theme - 2/10
Design - 7/10
Fun Factor - 6/10
6v6 - 7/10
10v10 - 5/10
Pretty underrated map. There are sightlines for sniping but not enough to constantly be killed out of nowhere like Taraq or Musuem. The center building allows use of close range weapons. ARs and medium range split the difference. Hardpoint is a blast here if you play the objective. Yea I know its El Ass but honestly there are a lot of maps that play worse than this.
Zarqwa Hydroelectric - Overall 7.6/10
Theme - 7/10
Design - 6/10
Fun Factor- 8/10
6v6 - 6/10
10v10 - 9/10
One of the best looking maps with good lighting and beautiful water. The underwater passages are the x factor, allowing me to play this map differently from the rest and enjoy it for the uniqueness. Best for domination or hardpoint rather than TDM. If it was a bit smaller it would easily jump up a tier. Other than Musuem this map is improved the most by 10v10 and becomes top tier.
Great tier - I rarely have bad matches on these maps. Ranked 8 to 9/10
Shipment - Overall 8/10
Theme - 8/10
Design - 6/10
Fun Factor - 10/10
6v6 - 7/10
10v10 - na
I dont care what anyone says, this map is great for throwing on some music, having a beer or a joint, and just fucking shit up. Liking shipment doesnt mean you have adhd, you can enjoy the map and still appreciate slower paces of combat. A godsend for those of us who dont have much time to grind out camos or challenges. Design is better than previous Shipments, not much they can really do there with the size of the map. Best themed ship as well and the rain is a nice elemental touch. Just make it 24/7/365 already so I dont have to hear people constantly bitching about other people constantly bitching about not being able to play shipment. A 3v3 or 4v4 playlist would be a improvement over 6v6 imo, would be way less spawn deaths.
Embassy - Overall 8.4/10
Theme - 6/10
Design - 7/10
Fun Factor- 9/10
6v6 - 8/10
10v10 - 8/10
Very underrated map in MWII. Not too large, good verticality, lots of different sightlines that allow for gun variety. Lowkey the best map to get longshots. My favorite spot is the recessed corner right next to the tennis court. Just go prone and throw up a shield on your blind side. Theres a few cheesy window spots that prevent it from being a top tier map but still great overall.
Himmelmatt Expo - Overall 8.6/10
Theme - 9/10
Design - 8/10
Fun Factor - 9/10
6v6 - 8/10
10v10 - 8/10
The first original map added to the game, and it only took over 4 months. Some of the indoor areas of the map can be annoying, specifically the theater, but the rest of the map is top tier. I love diving in the pool while attempting trick shots and knife throws mid air. If you play to have fun instead of taking it too seriously its a great map. The theme and visuals are top tier as well and visibility of enemies is excellent.
Shoot House - Overall 8.8/10
Theme - 3/10
Design - 9/10
Fun Factor - 7/10
6v6 - 9/10
10v10 - 8/10
Is it overrated? Maybe a tiny bit. A nearly perfect map on paper, but it plays a bit too predictably, especially with all the camo grinders. Still a very good map with a good variety of sightlines. Little known fact : you can perch up on the rock climbing wall next to to broken cars if you sprint jump and even hop from peg to peg.
Top Tier - Maps that have no real flaws in their designs and work well for every weapon class - ranked above a 9/10
Farm 18 - Overall 9.2/10
Theme - 8/10
Design - 9/10
Fun Factor - 9/10
6v6 - 9/10
10v10 - 8/10
Nice overgrown post apocalyptic theme. Adequate size for 6v6. A great variety of guns from snipers to shotguns can be used effectively if you go to the right areas. Map knowledge is huge on Farm, theres a spot you can climb on inside the center building that has a direct sight on the slanted rooftop. Also a few lesser known ways to climb up certain places for unsuspecting counter plays. Top tier map, we need more like this.
Mercado Las Almas - Overall 9.5/10
Theme - 9/10
Design - 9/10
Fun Factor- 9/10
6v6 - 10/10
10v10 - 8/10
Visually the best color palette, great lighting, and more importantly the one of the best map designs. This map is made for 6v6. Small enough for plenty of action, big enough to allow various sightlines so any gun is viable. A good longshot alley that has enough cover to advance forward and have some good gun battles. Different routes available to flank with no major choke points. Some closer combat corners and small buildings for shotgun and smg users. My favorite spot is going prone on top of the RV and challenging opposing snipers down the alley. Good for pretty much all playstyles and game modes. Its not quite Highrise or Terminal but for me it ranks among some of my all time favorites.

For context I dated this girl for almost 3 yrs. She (23) had terrible mental illness when I mean terrible I mean suicidal terrible. I(25) helped her get back to reality. At first I was just really helping her out, I struggled with mental illness myself and couldn't let her be. After months of months of talking she mellowed down and she was gorgeous. Her smile can calm the raging waves. Her skin light as white. Her eyes opens your soul. Her laugh louder than noise itself. I am in love with this woman, smitten I must say. She really grew on me and I in her. We become lovers for sometime but as all we know things will not be happy always. She had to go away for her studies. Before we broke up she staged something like she cheated on me. To discourage me from chasing her because we both know we both don't want the relationship to end. We love each other so much and that love was standing at her path in chasing her dreams and passion. We talked it out over the phone, not a dry eye was left that night. It turns out I was the one who put our love in her path and didn't even realized it. I put her in a difficult situation that led to our demise. I tried to fix the problem but it was to late, she already decided to end it. You can hear it in her voice that she doesn't want to end what we have but must in order to go forward. I was left to realize my mistakes. The last thing she said was "why couldn't it be sooner? Why did you just tell me now?Whyyyyy". And I just cried there ungracefully. I am waiting for her to come back home and talk to her.
And now my question is.
Could the relationship be saved? And since that day I am trembling uncontrollably and still in my crying voice. What is this? Is this the FEAR of losing someone you TRULY DEEPLY MADLY IN LOVE WITH? If it is, this is one scary madafaking feeling. PLS HELP ME GOOD SIR'S AND MA'AM.🙏

Are the AI cheating or something? Seemingly unlimited manpower, ill massacre 20k guys and they just keep coming, and the light artilleries ability to shred my entrenched troops is a little ridiculous when my heavy artillery doesn't even do that to theres. Also Ive taken enemy command trenches on multiple occasions and the game just, hasnt ended lol, then im swarmed by the enemy counter attack since again they have unlimited troops and supplies. Im enjoying the game but this is really making it hard to, the AI's unlimited supplies mean I just cant hold a trench, my troops are suppressed and lose half their health by the time the enemies arrive, which would be fine if it wasn't constant throughout the entire battle. I could never keep up a barrage like that, and this is early in the game so theres no way the enemy has researched some magic tech.
​
Also their artillery will absolutely demolish my troops in the open, but mine don't do *anything* to there's, like seriously not a lick of their health bar being removed, they just get suppressed which means nothing since they can still sprint through artillery and get into melee. As well as this one light artillery barrage will destroy my MG's, whilst I have to hit them with at least 3, which with unlimited supplies has led to me just not building MG's, seems the only way to win is to stack trenches and barbed wire and spam all your infantry. Idk, maybe is a skill issue, but if this is how the game is meant to be played im disappointed, hopefully they fix it to make it a little fairer.

So I have been living down in Colombia for the past year or so and I wanted to share some fascinating insights about the Inga tribe and their spiritual practices involving ayahuasca.
The Inga people have been living in the mountains of southern Colombia for centuries, and they have a long history of using ayahuasca in their traditional medicinal and spiritual practices.
The Inga people have a rich history and deep reverence for the plant medicine. They believe that through its consumption, they can connect with the spiritual realm, access ancestral wisdom, and gain insights into the cosmos and their place within it.
At the core of Inga metaphysical beliefs lies the concept of duality, that light and dark, good and evil are inextricably intertwined. They believe that the use of ayahuasca can help them to navigate and understand the duality in the world, with Mother Ayahuasca, the spirit of the plant, acting as a guide.
The Inga people see the universe as an interconnected web, where everything and everyone is intertwined, and they believe that through the use of ayahuasca, they can connect with the spirit world and experience this unity first-hand.
In Inga cosmology, the world is divided into the physical realm and the spirit realm, and they believe that ayahuasca can serve as a bridge between the two. They hold that the plant has an intelligence of its own and can teach them to connect with and understand their place in the world.
Ayahuasca ceremonies are deeply woven into the fabric of Inga society, and they view them as a means to create a sense of community, promote social cohesion, and resolve conflicts. During the ceremony, the shaman or spiritual leader guides the participants through the experience, and everyone sings traditional icaros songs that are believed to possess spiritual power.
The Inga people believe that the icaros songs have the ability to open portals to the spirit world, and that they can help to heal both physical and emotional wounds. These songs are not merely a form of entertainment, but a way to communicate with the plant spirits and gain insight and guidance.
One of the most interesting aspects of Inga spiritual beliefs is their connection to nature. They believe that the natural world is alive and conscious, and that all beings are interconnected. The use of ayahuasca is seen as a way to connect with this essence of nature, to experience the interconnectedness of all things, and to gain a deeper appreciation of the natural world.
I wanted to share some of these insights into the Colombian tribe because I feel Colombia has been a bit underrepresented in comparison to places like Peru and Costa Rica. If you are looking for a place to connect with the inga or some of the other Colombian tribes in an authentic setting feel free to shoot me a PM

It was suggested I make a full post from a comment in another thread.
I work in ecommerce as a fractional brand owner, consultant, and have a software company around data collection designed for the Shopify + Klaviyo ecosystem. We work with brands ranging from a few hundred thousand a year to $80+ million. In that past I ran Marketing for a consumer hardware company that started on Kickstarter and was later acquired for around $50 million.
So I've seen ecommerce from all sides up close and personal including retail relationships and large partnerships with massive brands.
​
I've now made the transition to Data First ecommerce marketing without exception.
Here's my advice for anyone looking to start a store or scale an existing store.
This is a condensed version of my exact playbook.
​
Part 1: The reality of where we're at within the ecommerce landscape
The average DTC ecommerce company spends more on advertising than the cost of the goods being sold.
The markup of between 4-10x is what they rely on to makeup for the difference.
As a consumer, you're actually paying for them to advertise.
We're all collectively paying Facebook and Google for product discovery, which in turn makes everything more expensive.
How warped is that?
Adding to the irony, most brands would be thrilled with 2.5-3x if they could sell in bulk which is what they would get from a wholesale account.
So if you can come up with a way to move volume, brands would love you.
(sell through is a separate issue in retail and wholesale)
The costs associated with digital advertising are so high these days that it prevents growth for a lot of brands.
For small brands this is causing cashflow crunches that shouldn't be there.
(add in rising costs of goods, shipping, and inflation...things are tough right now)
This is especially true in CPG where a 12 pack of carbonated flavored water has to sell for $48.
This isn't sustainable.
We have an unhealthy obsession with digital advertising.
While everyone is focusing on attribution and being told that email is the answer for retention, everyone is largely ignoring the shift continuing to take place in digital advertising and the increases in the costs associated.
Email addresses aren't free and few even track the email signup to conversion rate.
Even well optimized ads often have CACs that are higher than the first order AOV product costs.
The fact that a CAC to LTV payback period exists is all you need to know about how inefficiently things are setup.
You're betting that enough people return in order to cover the initial amount of money that you spent to get someone to shop the first time.
Madness.
The math just doesn't check out anymore for a lot of brands, our addiction to digital media has allowed for monopolies to dictate prices, profit billions a week and essentially forces people into taking outside investment.
Maybe you'll go viral?
Our current systems highlight a trend that doesn't benefit the little guy in most situations and in fact has been systematically setup to prevent people from growing.
Bottom line, building a following is time consuming and expensive.
​
Part 2: What current optimization looks like and the gaps
The average brand for every $1 million in revenue will spend about $300k in ad spend to do so or 30%
The average brand fully optimized will spend around $200k to do so or 20%.
This translates to a 5x blended ROAS.
But it's one and done.
This figure incorporates return customers into it as it's a blended average.
When we look at a paid acquisition channel:
A super great ad campaign might do 5x.
Most brands would be thrilled with ROAS of between 2-3x.
But on average across all of them with first touch, it's likely you're somewhere around 2x being considered good.
The same brand is chasing at max around an 8% conversion rate on a day without a big sale or an email boost.
They are actually happy with anything over 2%.
The truth is, there's a massive amount of inefficiency in ecommerce.
But when you take a deeper look, it becomes quite clear why this is the case.
There's 9 points in the customer journey that can all play a role in conversion for a first purchase.
Audience Creative Ads Landing Pages Popups Offers Product Pages Price Product
Often they aren't aligned.
The audience isn't known. The creative doesn't speak to that audience. The ads don't stand out in a feed. The landing pages are trying to just sell. Popups don't offer any real value and show only once. Offers are the same for all traffic sources. Product pages lack all the necessary information. Price is usually inflated or unclear on the value. Product looks the same as other competitors.
The truth is, most of the time, website owners are just too close to the problem to see the issues.
We're all very good at creating the company journey, we're all pretty bad at creating the customer journey.
A lot of this stems from not knowing your audience and not seeking to understand your audience.

Your success starts with attracting a quality audience, one that is looking for a solution and has the budget necessary to purchase from you.

It's about molding your copy and content to match what they are looking for while providing the value needed for them to feel comfortable making a purchase.
​
Part 3: The framework we recommend to everyone these days even those starting out
Good rule of thumb - product should have at least 5-6x margin on it.
If product costs $1 - sell it at $5-6
Here's the exact framework we recommend to brands from sub $5k a month to $6mil+ a month:

1. Pick your hero product, offer a reduced price through paid acquisition channels only, hide the url from search or gate the offer by requiring a signup form with data collection to access the link. Cap this at one item per purchase per person, first purchase only.
2. Put them in a separate welcome flow, if they leave the page or don't add something to the cart, they won't be able to access the offer, some will buy at full price, some won't, on email number 3 which should be about 15 hours the first email, give them the link to the offer again. If they don't sign up you can double tap them later, with a smaller offer.
3. Collect data during signup connected to revenue, orders, and conversion rate, baseline the conversion funnel, aka subscription to conversion rate.
4. You should average at around 15% opt-in rate and at least 20% subscription to conversion rate. This means for every 100 people that click on your ad, you should see 3-4 purchases (3-4% conversion rate from cold traffic). Your CPC should be around $0.50-1.00 which means you're paying between $50 and $100 for 3-4 purchases which puts your CAC at anywhere between $12 - $33.
5. If you're not hitting these numbers, you have a CRO issue or quality of audience issue. Figure this out through data relationships.
6. Use data for repeat and return purchases to understand likely buying periods, generally, the top 25% will purchase again within about 8 days from the first purchase, top 50% will do so in around 16 days, top 75% 30 days, 90% within 60 days, and 99% can take up to 5 months. (these are percentiles, ignore the 90%+)
7. Know your numbers on repeat purchases and offer discounts and bundle suggestions relevant to existing purchases accordingly. Don't go too early, but know your confidence intervals based on the sale number and automate all of this.
8. Email campaigns should now be automated and straight forward, product releases, company updates, customer spotlights, and occasional sales (though you really shouldn't need sales anymore if you have your automation setup proper) this should reduce your emails so people will look forward them again.
9. Stop tracking ads by ROAs, instead pay attention to the cohorts that are driving repeat revenue by signup data patterns and answers they provide to determine trends on quality. Now adjust your entire acquisition strategy to find more people with patterns like those that are regularly converting more than once.
10. Become data first, profit and grow.

Sidenote: This framework works on repeat for multiple purchases. If you're one and done YOU REALLY NEED TO COLLECT DATA AND SCALE to move into retail distribution. Buyers want to see sell through and knowledge about your ideal customer and what matters to them. They have large email lists, but you need to help them connect the dots.
If you have data, it's that simple. It's all offers and timing.
Some of the things to really pay attention to - CAC to 1st purchase AOV - this is pretty much your guiding light on if you have a profitable business.
It's all about getting the best margins in whatever business you start.
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Part 4: The exact popup strategy we use to collect usable data to leverage into strategy
This is the exact framework we use with clients to grow their businesses through data collection.
You can do this with a combination of current tools on the market right now.
(Disclosure: we have a tool that combines all these as our software and provides context relevant to revenue, orders, and conversions but there are alternatives on the market that don't provide the context.)
(This post isn't about our product though, we're not a public app, so use what you've got.)
If you're a small company multiple tools will cost you around $400-$600 a month.
If you're more than $10 mil revenue multiple tools will cost you $4000+ per month.
The following framework assumes that you've realized that you should be using multi-step forms with live data collection to collect intent data during a popup offer beyond just an email or a phone number.
Not sure that these are? Just Google "multi step forms intent data" and click on the top non-sponsored post.
Statistically 50% of people will never open your email and emails aren't free so at least trade for some valuable intent data from everyone that subscribes.
The below uses popups, some people hate popups, but they work really really well, find the highest intent purchasers and are a treasure trove of data collection prior to a purchase.
Whatever discount your providing is made up for by the amount of data you can collect and leverage globally across your entire marketing stack.
It's not a reduction in revenue but an investment into a higher conversion rate and optimized advertising.
This is a really important mind shift to embrace. Odds are you're spending so much money on advertising and really not getting any real qualitative value out of it.
Follow this framework:
Strike the right balance between data collection, conversion, and customer experience through popups.
Make them multi-step to collect data related to the customer journey as it matters to the customer. Make sure that you’re tying these data points and combinations to things like revenue, orders, and conversion rates.
Home Page Popup Clear offer 8-10 seconds after someone arrives
Landing Page Popup 20-30% scroll usually only targeted at your paid traffic Can split test different offers based on url or utm
Product Page Popup 45-60 seconds after landing page Depending on how you are sending traffic to this page, you can limit it to people having taken action on your home page or landing page forms e.g. if visitor dismissed Home Page or Landing Page form and not subscribed show Product Page Form, if not then do not show
Thank You Page Embed or Popup (prefer popup from results) Embedded post purchase survey OR Post purchase popup with the same questions (this one has a higher response rate)
Quiz Stand alone page after someone clicks on a link or a button Do not ask for an email Do not just present products at the end, instead send people to a landing page with the product results with context as to why they were selected, offer alternatives at the end
Quiz Follow Up Popup (for after people take quiz) 60% scroll tied to the landing pages with the quiz results Same offer as before, triggered only if quiz is completed Reduce the questions to complement ones asked in quiz By default to get to this page the quiz has to be completed
Yes this could be considered a lot of popups but people will only see one if they subscribe and at max they see 3 only if they hang out on a product page for a really long time.
The double tap on the product page makes the average business an additional 18-20% in revenue through signups and averages up to 40% subscription to conversion rate so it's super high intent data collection.
When we do data modeling we only use the signup forms, we do not use quiz or post purchase as they are both pre-purchase trend related during the discovery phase and post purchase is too limited to actually show anything more then trend data. Data on the upfront side is more reliable.
Part 4: Why Retention is really secondary acquisition and how to treat it appropriately
If people don't shop more than once you're likely going to take a hit to revenue.
Most retention strategies are actually secondary acquisition strategies facilitated by discounts.
Unlock free money from people that converted by automating from the customer journey perspective.
We are a largely discount adjusted society these days, so lean in strategically, knowing your margins.
Understand your cohorts based on intent signals to maximize revenue while balancing repeat purchase offers.
Some people purchase again in as little as 8 days some take 5 months. Most never purchase again.
As a general rule of thumb focus on the first 45 days for repeat purchase, through content and education post purchase and remove people from offers and sales. If the experience is good and there's a need they will come back within 45 days. This will maximize your CAC payback and prevent you from losing more margin via discounts.
Day 45-90 position offers to unlock that second purchase for people that didn't purchase again, go deeper on offers until they buy, pay attention to your unit economics to understand profit v. cac payback.
(Note exact times vary by cohort and data combination, so segment your list appropriately, or find a service that can help you do this, you'd be amazed what the proper data can tell you.)
During this period mix it up with offers that include bundles so you can raise the AOV, usually of the same or similar products they purchased. Also cross sell products other people with similar buying habits made as well to increase your odds of conversion.
This has been the blueprint for years. For most companies if people don't buy a second time in 45-90 days they never will at a percentage worth paying attention to.
They will wait for big sales periods or new product releases to dive back in to the customer pool.
You can tweak based on events and behavior but it's more effort than it's worth most of the time.
There is a downside though to running this playbook, when you couple this with normal occasional sales and specials, you really need to have your acquisition down solid.
If you do this cadence, people will be trained to ignore your offers and wait, so you'll usually have to bribe bigger on the discount ladder.
This will also impact your topline acquisition costs, you'll get more low quality people trained on discounts.
And you're going to do a lot of chasing people that won't come back when you start to not be able to distinguish between people that purchased because they wanted to vs. those that were just waiting for a sale.
I don't disagree with it, I've talked previously about torching lists if you don't get a sale in the first 90 days and just putting them on slow informational updates and only including them in on large sales and new product launches.
To me this isn't retention, it's milking the living shit out of someone that's taken an action and getting them drunk on discounts to continue purchasing.
It's successful if your margins can support it, but I've seen it being used as a crutch to drive revenue at all costs.
Reminder though, revenue is not profit.
​
Part 5: Goal of this post and Stats
I've tried to simplify this for a reddit post that people can find value in, this is a subset of more than 120,000 words that I've written about ecommerce over the last few years.
This approach is data first. As such a lot of agencies and other marketers hate it. Largely because it's an audit on all ideas and breaks everything down to simple mathematical testing.
You're running businesses and businesses are math.
The other reason people don't like this approach is that if you have enough of the right data, you don't need agencies and you quickly realize that they are largely spending time on the wrong things.
While we were building all the tests around these things for the last few years we looked at ecommerce as a blank slate, no rules.
So we opted to run our playbook on a commoditized good, good margin, but super competitive.
We decided against sales, leveraged 2x use discounts on signup, and have kept our ad creatives and campaigns to a minimum (40 creatives and 40 campaigns or so in 2.5 years, this is not a typo).
This goes against what all common advice is in ecommerce.
Stats on current store we own part of and run all marketing strategy for:
Financials:

• $12k year before I joined
• $220k first year I joined
• $550k second year
• $2.5 mil estimate this year

Current Performance KPIS:

• $10-$12 First time order CAC
• $30 AOV first order
• 6% conversion rate
• 20% repeat purchase rate
• 3.5x blended ROAS (high growth with a low AOV impacts blended ROAS)
• ~30% net profit

Assets:

• 40 pieces of creative total for ads
• 40 campaigns total for emails
• 3 key email flows

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Part 6: My take on modern ecommerce
Ecommerce brands that stay digital only should grow via two channels max (Facebook, Google) to between $2 million - $8 million a year in revenue and look to sell to Private Equity or Holding Company.
It's a sprint that with the right approach and funding can be done in less than 4 years with a valuation of between 1.8x - 3x depending on your margins. Without funding it will take slightly longer and you'll have to forego a salary.
On the low end this nets you out between $3.6 - $24 million for your work.
With a small team of 4 people you can all walk away with an average of between $225,000 per year to as much as $1.5 million a year if perfectly executed with all work done internally.
The trick here is that the value is 100% in the exit for most ecommerce businesses.
During heavy growth the majority of all profits have to be reinvested into inventory and marketing.
​
There is a trend to pay attention to though, the rise of the influencer and celebrity led brands.
Increasingly, creating a product isn't the hard part, marketing the product is the hard part. By and large most products are completely commoditized at this point and you'll have knockoffs popping up in a matter of months if you're product is successful. Brands take years to develop.
You're not Ryan Reynolds, if he's reading this, even he'll tell you that, you're not getting paid millions of dollars for movies and being paid by studios to be front and center promoting yourself across all the airwaves.
The amount of bought for press that allow celebrities to create successful businesses in spaces like booze (Teremana Tequila, Aviation Gin, Dos Hombres Mescal, Skinny Girl Vodka, etc.) which is largely all the same at the end of the day shouldn't be overlooked.
It's all marketing today, cost effective marketing and getting your product into hands at the most affordable price with a quality product that people look to purchase more of.
​
Last bit on this and I can't stress this part enough.
KPIs are largely outdated in today's marketing environment.
ROAS - Return on ad spend, shouldn't be measured in a fixed time frame. CTR - Click through rate, it's the quality not the quantity. CAC - cost to acquire a customer - I actually like this but narrow it cost to acquire a first time customer AOV - average order value - separate this by first purchase v. returning purchase
At the end of the day, micromanaging an ad account will not provide results, but taking a holistic look at your entire customer journey can provide outsized advantages.
If you can understand the quality of audience, then you can influence CAC, if you can influence CAC, then you can build sustainable growth models, if you can build sustainable growth models, you can build a profitable business.
If you follow the steps above and you meet the criteria, you'll know inside of 90 days if your business can be successful.
A closing note on data, near 100% of the people collecting it aren't collecting the right data, it's become something people check a box to rather than properly leverage. It's a complicated topic that isn't widely spoken about.
In truth there's a big difference between people that say they are "data-driven" and those that actively understand how to use data to drive efficiency increases.
All that said, for the love of all things, focus on building an audience first, it's 10 million times easier to succeed if you have an existing audience that is adjacent to your product and industry.
So here's where I tell you to sign up for my course and join a paid cohort of moderated Q&A sessions every Friday!
Entirely joking, there's no course, there's no newsletter.
I know how reddit gets with things like that.
If you have questions, drop them on this thread, if there's a lot of the same ones, for the sake of time I might just record a video to save my fingers from typing the same thing over and over.
Happy Wednesday and good luck!

TW: domestic abuse, violence
My best friend has had this deeply dysfunctional situationship with an abuser for two years now. We all hoped it would flame out or get better. It's done neither, not really. When I first met him, he was a charmer, he knew what felt like half the town, he could hold a whole room in the palm of his hand, he put a lot of good into the world. He still can do that, sometimes, but I've been watching that light flicker and dim for a long time now and it breaks my heart. At the bottom of things, he's thoughtful and observant and that's why I owe him a lot; he might not be book smart but he sees a lot, and I think people have been too hard on him in that respect anyway. He taught me how not to hate myself when decades of effort hadn't stuck. I quit drinking because I saw how it was impacting people around me. We're a good team and I'm a better person for having known him.
And this wretched asshole is not a good person, they're not a good team. She's chipped away at every friendship he has- forget half the town, there are only a handful of us left now because we're the only ones stubborn enough to stick around through her tantrums and bans. She lies about him, stalks him, gets other people to spy on him, makes scenes where he works, harasses him, hits him, bites him. She's an abuser, pure and simple, and she's figure out if she plays the victim and cries, people will let her get away with it- worse, they'll help. I hate seeing the way she exploits the good in people nearly as much as I hate seeing her abuse him. She's lied to and about a lot of people I respect and care for, just to get her way. She's used so many people and wouldn't know hard work if it bit her. She's bullied God knows how many people out of our gym and while I've tried to maintain strict containment for years- she's blocked on every platform, I don't speak to her, I avoid being in the same room whenever possible- even that isn't enough for her anymore. I'm going to talk to the gym owner about that, but like...FUCK YOU. Fuck you, you lazy dishonest coward, fuck you and your sad-ass bullying, fuck the way you treat people like things, fuck you for being so goddamn stupid, fuck you for everything you do. You want to run around playing Becky Badass, well, go right ahead with me- except you won't, because you know I'll actually defend myself (My best friend, bless him, will not, because he knows how it will look and what she will make up to hurt him) and it won't be fucking pretty. Like...I really do not want to fight anyone, not ever, because I grew up with my mom whaling on me and my dad with impunity and then lying about it. I really do not believe in physical violence; I train MMA six days a week, but for the challenge and for the community, not because I want to mess someone up. But also, at the same time...I train MMA six days a week, and I am always watching my back and the door when I am out with him, and I'm not going to sit there and let someone beat on me. Don't start none, won't be none, as they say. I hate that this is something I have to spend brain power on at all. If this miserable ass was Thanos-snapped out of existence, the world would be a kinder, safer, smarter, better place.
I know this isn't my call to make. I know I can't force anything. All I can do is be there, lend a hand, tell him he deserves better, try to help other people she's hurting or using. I'm already not engaging and I know that I need to have boundaries about how much I can help without hurting myself too. I worry I am not managing that well, and burning out because I remember growing up like this and I want to outlast another one, I want to make sure he's got one person there to say, no, you don't deserve this. I know what my place is here and I'm sticking to it, I just...wish I had my friend back. This nervous, mean guy isn't him. I want to laugh together and not worry about her showing up or war-dialing him to punish him. I want not to have to be quiet as a mouse when she calls because he's not allowed to talk to me. I want my friend back and I want this rotten piece of shit to stop hurting people.

I recently went on a sailing trip in the Caribbean and just got back to some place with reception. I wasn’t sure if this is the right place to post this but it’s definitely one of the strangest occurrences I’ve ever witnessed.
There are two parts to this, I’ll try to include what I think may be relevant.
We were anchored just off a small beach in a little island off the coast of St. Barths “Île Fourchue” on March 22nd 2023 in a small catamaran. We had been there all day and explored the island, snorkeled, etc. That evening after dinner around 9pm, we noticed two small red lights on the shoreline that appeared to be moving. Definitely thought they were people but did not know how they got ashore. The island is rocky with strong surf all around the island except for this one bay. The small beach is the only way to get on. We would’ve heard a dingy motor up and there were only 3 other boats. Too dark/dangerous to swim up.
It’s possible they had been on the island already but we explored a good deal of it and there’s barely anything (decimated by goats a few years prior, only some cactus, rock, and grass are left) let alone any people we could see. Any ways as these lights moved we saw the most powerful light we’d ever seen shine up a hill onto a rock face about 500 meters up, and completely lit it up like day light. I mean truly the brightest light I’ve ever seen. From what I could tell the source was holding it with one hand like a normal flashlight. Definitely wasn’t a large spotlight from something like a helicopter.
We were amazed at this and watched the two red lights move around fairly quickly for the pitch black terrain after. They fired this light two more times and eventually everything went dark again.
My wife and I were hanging out on the front of the boat for about another hour. There is very little light pollution so the amount of stars you see is pretty amazing (for a city person like me) there was one star that was directly in front of us at maybe a 45 degree angle (if head straight up is considered 90 degrees) also right over the small rocky beach that’s there.
As we discuss this particular star, the fact we like it and it’s pretty, it just vanishes. As if it had a quick fade out. In half a second it was gone. Didn’t move in any direction, it hadn’t floated up there or moved any faster than any other star we could see (there were thousands) it just looked like the the light sucked into its self and it never returned.
There were no clouds at the time and no real noises around other than quiet water against shore or boat hulls. It seemed much to high, far and stationary to be a drone (although I am definitely not a drone expert) literally looked like every other star.
My wife and I both jumped up and yelled when we saw this but there was no one else to confirm. Has anyone seen anything like this before? I added part about the light in case it’s relevant but two super weird occurrences in one evening is worth mentioning. I’ll post a pic of the area that was lit up by the light from the shore as well if that helps with the light situation.

Drama builds faster then an industrial mining rig. As always DM me or comment any questions or feedback, I like reading them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Alaskan snow coated the construction site as the CEO watched from a catwalk just as Dr. Lamarr stepped up watching the construction too while speaking. “Chief. I was unaware of your visit. We managed to contact our Russian partners and they were more than willing to sell us the reactor.” In front of them the reactor core was slowly being lowered into a newly dug and constructed pit in the earth connected to the portal facility.
“I'm glad it went smoothly. Iv read the reports on the portal operation what are our estimated figures on the exports from the portal?” The doctor shuffled, thinking and pulling out a tablet and sifting through it. “Well sir we don't actually know the properties of the obsidian substance but if it's as described and counting the water pumping. Our initial guesses point that what we can pump in the first month should net the company about.” There was a pause as the doctor read and did the math freezing at the figure. “ 153.4 billion assuming our estimates are correct but I can't ensure that sir. “The CEO stopped pulling a cigar from his pocket, taking one out and lighting it before responding. “Good, we can work with that. Get our enforcer and his new…pets… what they need to begin drilling i want drills in the ground by the next board meeting.”
The doctor nodded while listening to the CEO. Lamarr only started working here about 5 years ago but he still didn't understand how that figure didn't even cause the man to flinch. It was not his job however so he shook it off staring at the reactor as sparks started from the workers welding the core and securing it to its mounts assembling the facility. There was a moment of silence in the air that hung as they watched the work as snow gently fell on the site.
Suddenly the doctor spoke. “It's going to break eventually you know that.” The CEO didn't even look continuing to smoke. “I trust the engineers to make the reactor stronger and safer than before..” The doctor tapped his foot looking down. “That's now what I'm talking about and you know it.”
There was another long pause but the doctor could feel the CEO glare daggers into the back of his head as he took another drag from the cigar. “I trust in your work doctor, Coulson’s veil will hold there's nothing to worry about.” The doctor pounded his fist on the railing. “That's not true! You saw the data. It's failing and eventually he will remember and when he does then what?
“Then my good doctor. He will be dead, that world is a dangerous place if he somehow does remember and decides he wants to fight through a portal he will dealt with. Afterwards we can send another person or team to continue the work.’
The doctor clenched his fist sighing and nodding. “I have work to do, thanks for your time sir.” The doctor walked off as the CEO only grunted in acknowledgement.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coulson and the dwarves had been wandering the area for the past few days during sunlight and returning while it was night. The radar while being able to penetrate deep into the surface had a very narrow view meaning they had to move quite a large distance before scans and only got a small view of what was below.
From the data they had gathered and as the dwarves learned how to use some of the tech around the base it was clear that below them was a gigantic set of caves and tunnels stretching for miles. The dwarves had said that what they were seeing was called the “Underdark.” Apparently it was some sort of underground world filled with evil and riches but it was incredibly dangerous. Unfortunately they also stated that the liquid obsidian they were going for (if it existed) would be below it.
In order to figure out the plan and go about it they gathered up around the firepit. Coulson spoke first. “Alright so first set of issues the radar can't find any liquid but that's not because it's not there instead due to the massive voids in terrain from the Underdark. Luckily if we do the drilling correctly and pick a good location that shouldn't be an issue if we find a deposit that is.” Coulson rubbed his nose as the dwarves sat and thought Urist was twirling his pick as he responded. “Well the obvious solution is. We go down, we take as many weapons we can carry, find a way down and explore with that RAY-DER you got to find this liquid. Never mind the dangers there.” All of the dwarves seem to put their heads down very much not liking the idea of diving into that place. “If we are going for that liquid I don't see another option. We need to go down, if we have to drill anywhere near a void in the terrain or we risk the pipeline breaking causing who knows how much damage.”
“Boss if you want to go down into that hell we will follow but we need to go prepared.” As if a sign from the gods at that moment they heard the sound of space and time ripping as the portal was re-established and a test one opened. Immediately the group ran for it, the dwarves standing in awe as it was the first they had seen it. The portal this time however was much bigger standing at a solid 10 foot diameter.
Through the portal he saw movement as suddenly something came though. Wheels hit the ground on extended motorized arms as a drone rolled out a large set of cameras and sensors on the front and two large forklift style arms on each side with a third near the back that seemed much more nimble presumably for handling and using a set of tools.
The entire group stood back as it wheeled out standing at about 7 feet tall. Suddenly though the portal a comms channel opened up and a PA speaker spoke both from the portal and though the drone. “Stand clear IVA-N deploying sorry for the scare Coulson and our new employees R&D was eager to get this guy out and onto the field. They said you would have a hard time moving and setting up the rig so hopefully Ivan here should do the hard part for you. He was originally supposed to be sent out for drilling operations in volcanic terrain but we felt this was a better use of company resources.” Coulson was both worried and awestruck on one hand this was an amazing feat and he was happy to have the portal back. On the other the portal was bigger and they were sending in more resources, that could only mean the water was selling and with news of the liquid obsidian they were eager to see a return on their investment. Now it was guaranteed they weren't going to leave this place till any cent of profit was taken from it.
The dwarves on the other hand were amazed at the size and the use of self using machinery really not being able to fully understand what they were working at. Eventually however Urist snapped out of it and spoke almost shouting through the portal. “Ah i take it you are our new employers? It's a pleasure to meet you! We hope to find this substance quickly. If i may ask however would you happen to have our ‘payment?’” There was a stretch of silence before suddenly a keg was rolled through the portal, the dwarves catching it and picking it up cheering. “Thank you sir!” They quickly ran out of the tent presumably to drink said keg.
Coulson spoke into his comms. “Impressive sir our metal friend must be fresh out of the workshop i take it.” Foreman responded, laughing a bit. “Yes he is, the CEO redirected it himself. It also allows us to get an eye on what's happening in that camp. He's autonomous mostly if you give him an order but other than that he's controlled from here.”
Coulson clenched a bit. “Sir, we have a plan to find this liquid. We think we know where it is but between us there are a whole lot of dark caves and danger. We need some combat and spelunking gear. Not just for me but for my whole team. These guys are just as interested in finding this liquid as we are sir.”
Foreman mused over the situation a bit before responding. “Fine, we will see about sending over some supplies, send over a list of needed objects and the dimensions of the dwarves we will develop an equipment loadout for them.” Coulson responded quickly. “Thank you sir, you're clear to close the portal I'll stay in contact.”
The next few days would be VERY interesting. For better or worse.

For sale, for Steam gift cards (or gifted Steam Wallet balance):
​

• Dark Souls™: Prepare To Die™ Edition (removed from Steam Store; $350 $400 or best offer)
• Fall Guys (removed from Steam Store)
• Fall Guys - Dragon Hugger Pack (removed from Steam Store)
• Fall Guys - Fast Food Costume Pack (removed from Steam Store)
• Fall Guys - Icy Adventure Pack (removed from Steam Store)

​

• Humble Hunie Sakura Bundle (can also trade for a full "charity" bundle (Australia Fire Relief Bundle or similar))
• Humble Sekai Project Bundle (can also trade for a full "charity" bundle (Stand with Ukraine Bundle or similar))

​
For trade:
*tentatively up for trade, assuming I buy the bundle
​

• The Blackout Club

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• BIOMUTANT
• Edge Of Eternity
• Golden Light

​

• Call of the Sea
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

​

• 112 Operator
• 911 Operator
• The Amazing American Circus
• Armello
• Backbone
• Calico
• Cris Tales
• Euro Truck Simulator 2
• Farming Simulator 17
• Ghostrunner
• Gotham Knights
• Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
• Lust from Beyond: M Edition
• Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine
• Orbital Racer
• Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition
• PAYDAY 2
• Pilgrims
• Soulblight
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Starfinder Core Rulebook (Paizo key) and Starfinder Adventure: Junker's Delight (Paizo key)
• Strange Brigade
• Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
• Sunlight
• System Shock 2
• System Shock: Enhanced Edition
• Ticket to Ride
• XCOM® 2
• X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack

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• Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
• Fallout 76
• Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel
• Othercide
• Shady Part of Me

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• The Last Campfire

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• Sakura Dungeon
• Sakura Swim Club

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• Summer in Mara
• Townscaper

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• The Long Dark: Survival Edition

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• Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands

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• Conan Chop Chop
• DOOM Eternal Standard Edition
• Grow: Song of the Evertree
• Tribes of Midgard

​

• Styx: Shards of Darkness

​

• Hard West
• John Wick Hex
• Phantom Doctrine
• Red Solstice 2: Survivors

​

• Arizona Sunshine

​

• Backbone
• Blade Assault
• First Class Trouble
• Super Magbot

​

• Golf Gang
• Maid of Sker
• Monster Train

​

• Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Shadows of New York
• Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest

​

• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl

​

• Baldur's Gate: Faces of Good and Evil
• Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
• Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition

​

• Crown Trick
• Crusader Kings III

​

• Guts and Glory
• Hello Neighbor

​

• Day of the Tentacle Remastered
• Grim Fandango Remastered
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• STAR WARS®: Knights of the Old Republic™ II

​

• Duke Nukem Forever
• PGA TOUR 2K21
• WWE 2K Battlegrounds

​

• Emily is Away <3
• In Sound Mind

​

• Little Big Workshop
• Not Tonight

​

• Brigador Deluxe Edition
• Verdun

​

• Resident Evil 0
• Resident Evil 6
• Resident Evil
• Resident Evil Revelations

​

• EVERSPACE™

​

• Dreamfall Chapters

​

• Cultist Simulator
• GWENT: The Witcher Card Game - Ultimate Starter Pack (GOG key)

​

• The LEGO® NINJAGO® Movie Video Game

​

• 2064: Read Only Memories

​

• Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager
• Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense

​

• STAR WARS™: Squadrons (Origin key)(?)

​

• Bionic Commando
• Street Fighter V

​

• As Far As The Eye
• Impulsion

​

• Command & Conquer Remastered Collection (Origin key)

​

• Orcs Must Die! 2 - Complete Pack

​

• Bartlow's Dread Machine

​

• Blaston

​

• White Day: A Labyrinth Named School

​

• The Walking Dead
• The Walking Dead: Season Two

​

• Total Tank Simulator

​

• Archangel: Hellfire - Fully Loaded

​

• XCOM® 2

​

• Black The Fall
• Goetia

​

• Highway Blossoms

​

• Among the Sleep - Enhanced Edition

​

• Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
• This War of Mine

​

• Tom Clancy's The Division™ (Uplay key)
• Tom Clancy's The Division™ - Survival (Uplay key)

​

• Highway Blossoms
• HunieCam Studio
• KARAKARA
• Sunrider Academy
• Sunrider: Liberation Day - Captain's Edition

​

• Civilization VI - Australia Civilization & Scenario Pack
• Civilization VI - Vikings Scenario Pack

​

• A Kiss For the Petals - Remembering How We Met

​

• Hacknet
• Satellite Reign

​

• The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut

​

• The Elder Scrolls: Legends: 2 Card Packs (Skyrim) 1 Event Ticket 100 Gold 100 Souls
• ESO Vanity Pet: Bristlegut Piglet and 15 Days of ESO Plus

​

• Puzzle Agent
• Puzzle Agent 2

​

• Ame no Marginal -Rain Marginal-
• KARAKARA
• Memory's Dogma CODE:01
• Narcissu 10th Anniversary Anthology Project
• Narcissu 10th Anniversary Anthology Project - Season Pass

​

• A Kiss For the Petals - Remembering How We Met
• Sakura Angels
• Beach Bounce
• Beach Bounce - Soundtrack
• Blue Rose

​

• Lionessy Story
• My Personal Angel
• Natural - Beyond Nature -
• Postmen Of Horizon (removed from Steam Store)

​

• The Reject Demon: Toko Chapter 0 — Prelude

​

• Koi-Koi Japan [Hanafuda playing cards]
• Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle
• Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle : School Girls Edition
• Poker Pretty Girls Battle: Texas Hold'em
• Pretty Girls Mahjong Solitaire

​

• Guns of Icarus Alliance
• Guns of Icarus Online
• Impossible Creatures Steam Edition
• Lethal League
• Tempest: Pirate Action RPG
• Tempest - Treasure Lands
• Tempest - Original Soundtrack
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf
• Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide

​

• *Book of Demons
• *For The King
• PlateUp!
• Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition
• Kingdom Two Crowns
• White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
• Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
• Murder by Numbers
• Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
• Steel Rats™
• Hue
• Sifu Deluxe Edition Upgrade Bundle (Epic key)
• Gal*Gun: Double Peace
• The Invisible Hours
• Synergia
• ROCKETRON
• Project Nimbus: Complete Edition
• Dead Age
• Dusk Diver 酉閃町
• Spirit Hunter: NG
• Slain: Back from Hell(?)
• Cook, Serve, Delicious!
• Tower of Time
• Danger Scavenger
• Survive the Nights
• The Beast Inside
• Valfaris
• Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition
• This War of Mine
• My Time At Portia

​

• Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition
• Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Here Be Dragons

​

• 112 Operator
• 911 Operator
• Book of Demons
• Broken Age
• Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
• Crying Suns
• Crying Suns
• Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
• Driftland: The Magic Revival
• Liberated (GOG key)
• Moon Hunters
• Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
• Ring of Pain
• Rustler (Grand Theft Horse)
• Wanderlust: Travel Stories (GOG key)
• WARSAW
• X-Morph: Defense + European Assault, Survival of the Fittest, and Last Bastion DLC (I believe this redeems as the linked Complete Pack, minus the soundtrack)
• ΔV: Rings of Saturn(?)

​

• Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
• Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel
• Phoenix Point: Year One Edition
• Deliver Us The Moon
• Morkredd
• Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Spirit Hunter: NG
• Survivalist: Invisible Strain
• Warhammer: Vermintide 2
• ENDLESS™ Space 2
• Surviving the Aftermath
• The Long Dark

​

• Fallout 76
• Othercide
• Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition
• ScourgeBringer
• Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
• HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition
• Sonic CD (removed from Steam Store)
• LEGO® Harry Potter: Years 1-4
• LEGO® Harry Potter: Years 5-7
• STRIDER™ / ストライダー飛竜®
• Bionic Commando
• Full Metal Furies
• Ultra Street Fighter® IV
• Starbound
• Mafia III: Sign of the Times
• Outlast 2
• Dreamfall Chapters
• BioShock 2
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition
• Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter
• The Mean Greens - Plastic Warfare
• Crusaders of the Lost Idols Legendary Starter Pack
• Project CARS (removed from Steam Store)

​
WANT:
​

• 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel
• A Hat in Time
• Avernum: Escape from the Pit
• Bendy and the Ink Machine
• CODE VEIN
• CrossCode
• Dead Rising 4
• Dungreed
• Mega Man 11
• Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition
• NBA 2K Playgrounds 2
• NECROPOLIS: BRUTAL EDITION
• Omensight: Definitive Edition
• Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
• Submerged
• Tower Unite
• Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap

​
IGS Rep Page: https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/ti26nz/mizznos_igs_rep_page/

What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.**
Competitive apex legends

What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?

£500?

When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.

Asap

What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc)

Tower

Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?

Uk

If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.

I have 3060ti And Corsair vengeance pro 2x8gb CL16

Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?

No

Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)

No

Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?

No

Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?

No

Extra info or particulars:

This build is without a monitor, I need something that can run apex legends with stability and as high of an fps as possible with this card
Thank you in advance, show me what you’ve got!

So currently there is no holy resistance stat. Despite a Holy class being very desirable, it seems during design they have taken the 'Return to darkness' very literally and we only see shadow resistance. Some speculate that this means we will see a DLC Deathknight/Fallen hero knight instead of a Paladin, but is that why we only have shadow resist?
Do we only see shadow resistance because they truly have not planned any holy class? Are they just hiding stats so we don't speculate (like this post, silly Blizz we'll do it anyway)
or maybe Blizzard already have the system in place and maybe they do have a plan for a holy class
...maybe we do not have Holy Resistance, because you cannot resist the light.

I saw this Trailer when i was young and it scared the shit out of me. So basically it starts with a family living in a very rural area in a big house. When the sun sets and the night comes there are zombies outside their home and they break in. Then they breach the door to the bedroom of aman and his wife sleeping and attack them. The man uses the light from his nightstand to fight them. The next thing i remember is the man tying either his wife or rather his daughter to a bed because she got bitten and is turning into a zombie. He wants to cure her so he goes out and roams the world to find the cure. I think it was set in the USA specifically Texas or something with a desert/cowboy look, i mean these red mountains, sand etc. Please help as i want to relive this horrific childhood memory of mine.

Hello everyone I hope you are doing well. I’m getting better haven’t had a panic attack in a while. I have health anxiety so I get a lot of symptoms especially in my head like dizziness tense feeling heaviness and sensitive to light. When I go into shops and places it usually makes me feel off balance but recently everyday I’ve been doing something that makes me uncomfortable like going into the shop picking family up from school and today I even went inside a shop and handed in my cv ! I NEED A JOB BUT IM TOO ANXIOUS RHAT ILL HAVE A PANIC ATTACK OR HAVE SYMPTOMS AND IT WOULD BE EMBARASING. Anyway I had a dream 3-4 times in the past two weeks about being kicked by a horse now I googled it for some reason and it says I’m in danger and I’m unhealthy etc this has absolutely triggered me this was two days ago it happened but I’m trying to realise that dreams don’t have a universal meaning like that but everytime I look at my skin and think it’s pale or geg a head feeling I think the dream was right I’m in danger thinking something bads gonna happen in the near future it’s horribleim scared of illlness and dying basically. Can you guys just reassure me I’ve had all tests by the doctor and I’m fine. It’s just the dream meaning has set me back !