John was bored one night and decided to get to work on something. He didn't know what exactly to do, so he decided to write a story since writing was one of his hobbies. However, John was so bored that he didn't even know what to write about, so that's when he gave up and went right back to bed staring at his vinyl record copy of The Best of Bread resting on his turntable. He was too lazy to at least make an attempt to drop the needle on the record and listen to some music. Instead, he just stared at the ceiling desperately wanting to do something great, but lacking the energy and motivation to do so; he needed some kind of incentive... John suddenly jolted not realizing that he had dosed off, so he decided to call it a night and close his eyes for good till morning. It was 12:37am...
Twisting, turning, and mumbling, John finally woke up not feeling too well, but it was only 2:00am. He stumbled to the bathroom like a blind drunk man to pee and wash his face. He was cold and shivering like a worried puppy trying to shake off the unpleasant dream that he woke from. After he washes his hands, he stares at himself in the mirror recalling the dream he just had...
A white middle aged man was mowing a lawn. The lawn looked like a small version of John's childhood home in Jonesborough Tennessee. The man was wearing a beige straw hat and had a smirk on his face while constantly wiping his sweat. There was no one else around, just the man mowing the lawn. There was something cold and unwelcoming about the lawn mowing man's presence. He never made eye contact with John, yet John felt as though he was looking at him. "But how?" John whispered to himself... The more John wondered that question to himself, the more hostile the presence of the lawnmowing man became. Still, the man never batted an eye at John, but gave the feeling as though he knew everything about John and was watching him like a Hawk... The lawn mowing man's smirk grew larger, more sweat began to pour from his face as he violently swatted his hands across his sunburnt forehead... Suddenly the ambience became louder and louder which resembled a chaotic orchestral crescendo and...
John suddenly snaps back to reality while still gazing at himself in the mirror; he smirks and tries to laugh the dream away, but there was just something so unsettling about the dream that words just couldn't describe. John desperately wanted to forget about the dream and was too scared to go back to bed fearing that the dream may reappear. He gets back in bed and stares at the ceiling once again but accidentally doses off...
John finally sleeps well until morning when he wakes up to briefly eat some cereal and then gets back in bed realizing he doesn't work on Saturdays... It was dark and raining, but no thunder or lighting, just rain. John hears the sound of a lawnmower revving. It comes in and out of audible range. He rolls out of bed like lazy lion and peeks out of the window only to see the lawnmowing man once again. This time however, the lawnmowing man waves with a normal looking smile on his face while politely hollering, "Hi John! How are ya?"
John suddenly springs upward on his bed like a petrified deer unable to move and process what's going on! "Oh crap, it's 2:00pm!" John says to himself feeling like the end of the world is at hand. John's mind slowly starts to wake up as he begins to relax remembering that he doesn't work on Saturdays. But nothing seemed to be able to ease him away from that dreadful dream. Nothing he did could shake that feeling off, it was almost as though the dream really did happen in some unearthly dimension or realm that the human spirit goes to while slumbering... But there it was again, the sound of the lawnmower slowly going in and out of audible range... John chuckles realizing that the active lawnmowing team outside was the reason he dreamed of a lawnmower in his dream... But what about the first dream? he thought to himself...
It was a beautiful sunny day and John wanted to take advantage of the day while also hoping to forget about the unpleasant dream he had. He ate a quick meal and dressed himself for an adventure to the grocery store. He had to pee before leaving, so he went to the bathroom to take care of business... While washing his hands, he stares at himself in the mirror and chuckles again trying to convince himself that it was just a normal dream. "It was literally just a dream about a man mowing the lawn, I mean how is that scary?" he said. "I mean, maybe I was feeling a little sick and that's why such a normal dream felt so terrifying. Oh well, it's normal. Let's go get some groceries and ice cream so that I can focus on that story I want to try to write this time tonight!"
John hits the road in his silver 2012 Mustang leaving nothing but dust and bad bad dreams behind. As he's driving through a suburban area, he notices a man in a beige straw hat mowing their lawn... John chuckles and says, "Haha, see? Totally normal!" John finally arrives at the local grocery store... John parks his Mustang when the sky suddenly turns grey as rush of pale clouds dim the skies. The grocery store looked rather ghostly and depressing. There were many old looking cars that resembled a 2002 Toyota Camry, some with rusting canopies and dirty hubcaps. Out in the distance of the lot, there was a lawnmowing team truck branded with a decal that read Straw Hat Lawncare...
John made his way into the the grocery store and felt a bitter welcome from everyone inside. Nobody glanced at John. Everyone in the store looked like depressed fish passing by each other. There was a Hispanic family talking Spanish. The father was wearing a green jersey and the mother was sporting a pink sweater with grey sweatpants. Their kids were following along while randomly touching items. John was Hispanic as well, but felt no connection around this family. That's when John started to notice that nobody made eye contact with him, even when he said "excuse me" to reach for something. Not the employees, not the local sheriff, not the old lady looking at flowers, nobody... Not that John wanted to be looked at or noticed, but there was something odd about this, almost as if everybody was purposefully told not to make any kind of contact with him. It was a feeling that was hard to explain.
John quickly grabs some groceries to rush over to checkout to test if the cashier would at least say hello or something. But to John's disappointment, the cashier did not even greet John when he set his items down on the checkout countertop. The conveyor belt squeaks every time it moves; it's movement seems so lifeless, just like the cashier... Still, no eye contact whatsoever, not even if he tried to make conversation. The cashier just looked down the whole time. John started to panic inside, something just didn't feel right. It's not all in my head! John thought to himself... John grabs his groceries and heads for the exit when he notices a dirty looking man wearing beige straw hat smoking a cigarette. This man happened to be the only person that glanced at John, but it wasn't a pleasant glance. The man had a grim look on his face... John started to get the feeling that everybody was on to him, and that even the people who were ignoring him were actually very aware of his presence.
John was a good guy, not a saint, but a good-hearted person. He's never caused any harm to anyone and has always been a respectful gentlemen. But why? Why does it feel like these people hate me for no reason? John thought to himself again. Although John was physically being ignored, he got the feeling that everybody was actually looking at him... John quickly paces towards his Mustang. His heart throbbing, muscles tightening, jaw clenching, head aching; John starts his car and glances around. He looks out his right window and sees the dull grocery store. He looks straight ahead and sees the lawnmowing team truck. He looks to his left and sees a man with a beige straw hat right next to the window. The man knocks looking like he was begging for money. John being good hearted lowers the window but the man speaks before John could do anything, "Your back tire is flat!" The man kept repeating the same phrase over and over as if having a flat tire was bad luck. The man reeked of whiskey and tabaco, he had no front teeth and looked like he was wired on methamphetamine or something. "Come on out here and look!" the man exclaimed. "That tire's lookin bad man, you gotta get that fixed. You got one of them spares?" "Yeah, I got a spare." John said. "I got this, don't worry about me." "OF COURSE I'm gon worry bout you brother, that's what we do round here!"
The man starts telling a story about his brother Phil who had a flat tire because he was being shot at by some thugs. The man's story seems to go on forever and John starts to tune out. John glances out in the distance over the man's shoulder; the man's voice begins to get muddled as John focuses on someone getting out of the lawnmowing team truck in the distance. His heart starts to race when he sees another man with a beige straw hat stepping out of the car, except this time, John felt a very hostile vibration. The man in the distance puffed a cloud of smoke when he quickly glanced towards John's way with an evil look on his face... John looks behind and sees another man with a beige straw hat just like the one from his dream. Oddly enough, this man waved and shouted, "Hello! Need some help?"
John's heart started to pound and he almost felt like fainting. Maybe it's just my anxiety. "I've got to go!" John told the whiskey breathed man and cranked on his Mustang. He peeled out of the parking lot like a rabbit fearing for it's life. He could still hear the whiskey breathed man crying, "Hey man! I just wanted to help!" The whiskey breathed man kept crying, "I just wanted to help man! I JUST WANTED TO HELP!!" Tears rolling down his face, down his now sad face, "I just wanted to help you DOOD!! Why? WHY this gotta happen to me man? WHY! Why man? Come on! I JUST WANTED TO HELP!! I just wanted to help! Ahh!! AHHH!!!"
John finally arrived back home and hurried out of his car into his house... Suddenly everything was quiet... Too quiet... Finally, peace. I just have to rest and forget about that dream I had. It's ok, that whiskey breathed man was just really high on meth, he didn't hurt me. I was just really freaked out, that's all. I hope that man will be alright. I feel kind of bad, I didn't want to leave him there all alone. He looked like he was a hurting man, could've used a little company. No, what am I thinking? He was just high. Why should I trust some random meth-head like that? Awe, he's alright. He's cool... I'm tired now, I'm just going to relax and see if I can start that story! Yeah, that'll cheer me up! It's just life, weird stuff happens! But what about... No, forget it... But why was I seeing men with beige straw hats all day like the man in my dream? Nah, I'm overthinking, it was just a hot sunny day today, duh... But what about all of those grim looking people at the store? I felt like they were on to me, like they were all in on it. Oh crap! Maybe they know about my dream! No way, that's not possible... But what if dreams really are connected to real-life? I mean, it's part of life after all... Nah, that's too weird, it's all in my head...
Suddenly, the sound of a 4-stroke engine starts revving... Grass? At this time? It's late evening. John crawls over to his window and sees a man in a beige straw hat cutting the neighbors lawn... "Ahh!!" John jolts upwards biting his nails. He crawls back to his bed and tries to once again justify what's happening... Suddenly, he smells cigarette smoke. "What's that smell?" he says... He slowly glances at a dirty light blue uniform and before he could make out what it is, a raspy voice 'declares, "WE"RE WATCHING YOU..." Another voice says, "WE'RE LOOKING AT YOU, HAPPY NOW?" Another voice answers that one, "LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO DALE JERK! AH HAHA!" "YEAH, YOU'RE SO MEAN FOR LEAVING HIM BEHIND!" "DALE ERA UN BUEN HOMBRE..." Said a Spanish voice...
John slowly looked up and saw an extremely pale faced version of the cashier from the grocery store and still not making eye contact, but three inches away from John saying, "Hi honey, how are ya?" and then repeats the phrase over again, "I SAID HOW ARE YA HONEY? WHAT, CAT GOTCHA TONGUE? WELL I'LL FEED IT TO MUH CATS WHEN I GET HOME THEN! BET CHU DON'T HAVE THE DECENCY TO HELP OUT DALE WITH A LITTLE BIT OF FOOD, DO YA?" She kept shouting at John three inches away while still not making eye contact. "SO? HOW YA DOING HONEY? FIND EVERYTHING YA NEED? HAHAHAHA! YOU SU................
John wakes up again... It's 2:00am. Everything is quiet. Desperately trying to forget the bad dreams and the strange day at the grocery store, he finally decides to drop the needle on the Best of Bread vinyl record. The music is soothing. He begins to drift into slumber once again.
John sleeps in and wakes up at 2:00pm on Sunday, he doesn't work on Sunday's either. John realizes he never got the groceries that he actually needed, so he makes his way to the grocery store once again. on another sunny day. He pulls into the parking lot, but this time they sky stays sunny and blue. The lawn mowing team truck is gone. John makes his way inside the grocery store. This time, a jolly old man greets him as he walks in. "How are you doing young man?" Says the old man. "Fine, thank you." John replies. Today, everybody was acknowledging John and making him feel welcome. Lots of smiles and hellos. There was even another Hispanic family who smiled at John while crossing paths. Even the children seemed happy. Hmm, too suspicious. It's almost like they're watching me and know what happened yesterday.
John grabbed all the items he needed and headed for checkout. He approached the counter and was greeted by the same cashier from last time. This time she actually speaks to John... "Hey honey, how are ya?" Says the cashier with a cute smile. "Great, how are you? John replies. "Oh honey, I had such a busy day yesterday! First I had to go see my doctor because of my back pain, then my car ran out of gas and I had to tell my hubby to help me out. Then he starts going off on me about how these lawn mowing guys woke him up at 5 in the mornin' and I told him, honey, they just doin' they job. Oh honey, today is much better, it's a beautiful day and my back feels better." Something about this doesn't seem right... She knows... She knows and she's playing around with me... Everybody is... No, I'm just being paranoid. Forget it, today is a great day!
John makes his way back to his mustang with a kart full of groceries... "HEY DOOD!!" suddenly screams the whiskey breathed man from behind. "Whoa man, you scared me!" Says John. "Oh I'm sorry man, didn't mean to startle ya.. Hey, I noticed you got a spare tire now. Good job buddy! Hey listen man, I'm feeling happy today a.. a.. and I just want to give you my hat!" John looks at the beige straw hat... "Are you sure?" John asks. "Yeah man, go on and take it, it's time I let go of somethings in life. I'm trying to start a new life man and stay away from theses drugs out here man. You go on an take it, it has good luck man!" John accepts and takes the hat. The man smiles. John smiles. "Hey I'll see ya later DOOD!"
It's 12:37am and John is staring at the beige straw hat that the whiskey breathed man gave him... John lugged out his vintage 1970's typewriter and was finally in the mood to write. He knew what he wanted to start with, but just right before he was about to type the letter L with his ring finger, the sound of a 4-stroke engine starts revving...
​
​
WERE LOOKING AT YOU. WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. HOW YA DOING HONEY?

Hello! I've posted here on r4r a handful of times now and I wanted to try and write up a more definitive ad. Every time I've written up a new one it contained new information or less information than a previous post so, I'm going to try and compile it all into one master post. That way everything there is to decide whether you'd like to message me is easily available and accessible to you without having to dig around a dozen other posts.
Now that the "prologue" is out of the way let's jump into why you're here and what it is I'm looking for.
Who Am I?

• Future Lawyer - Currently working as a Student Attorney this Summer at my school's legal clinic before my final year of law school. Will probably be taking the Bar July of 2024. I'm not sure as to what kind of law I'll be doing as a full fledged lawyer, but I know I intend to practice here in California. I'm working in Sacramento.
• Philosopher - I got my BA in Philosophy from UC Berkeley. I've always enjoyed philosophical discussion and occasionally write philosophical pieces. I was always into the classical Greek philosophers; Socrates/Plato and Aristotle. If you ever need a deep conversation we can delve into the depths of any subject.
• ENTJ/Leo - For those that enjoy Horoscopes or Myers Briggs tests. I'm an extrovert. I enjoy people and being alone is draining for me. I'm a bit shy and anxious at first, but once I'm comfortable that all goes away.
• Muslim - I know religion can be a big deal for some people, but I don't ask that anyone hold similar religious views as me. As long as we both value humanity, family, and general goodness, a difference in religion shouldn't be an issue. As a Muslim I don't drink and I don't eat pork. I don't care if you do. I'm not the best at praying (it's something I should fix) and I don't do the prayers (I generally just recite prayers to myself without doing the ritual aspects). I do fast during Ramadan.
• Drug Free - I also refrain from smoking and doing drugs. I just ask that if you do any drugs it's no more than weed, but ideally you don't smoke. I just don't like the smell lol and it sets me into a coughing fit if I'm around people that are smoking.
• Writer - I enjoy writing if you couldn't tell from the absurd length of this post. I apologize in advance. I write short stories, philosophy, political opinion, and whatever else comes to mind when I feel inspired.
• Traveler - I've traveled to a handful of places and there are a handful more I'd like to complete. I've been to Italy, Ireland(for a day), Austria, Hungary, Germany, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan

Things I enjoy:

• Mythology - Especially Greek mythology which I'm more acquainted with. My favorite myth is Orpheus or as some know it from the play Eurydice which I have yet to see or read. Also love the myth of Sysiphus hauling the giant boulder up and the one about Prometheus stealing fire for mankind.
• Literature - I try and read on occasion. Haven't been too successful. The last book I completed was last winter and that was Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Trying to get through Homer's Iliad at the moment before jumping to Homer's Odyssey. Some of my favorite books include: Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Rand's Atlas Shrugged, Tolkien's The Hobbit, Luo Guanzhong's Romance of Three Kingdoms, and lots more.
• Gaming - PC Gamer, but do own consoles like the Switch, 360, PS4. I just bought a Gameboy Advance SP to play some old Pokemon games. I have a Gameboy Advance, but it doesn't have the light and the battery exploded inside it, rip...
• Movies/Shows - I love films. I watch a lot of foreign stuff too like Kdramas, Chinese, Japanese, language doesn't matter as long as it's good and it has subtitles for me to read. My favorite film of all time is The Godfather. Some of my favorite shows include Game of Thrones(prior to season 8 of course), Better Call Saul, South Park, Rick and Morty, Criminal Minds(before they changed the whole cast), and plenty more.
• Anime - I could've put the animated cartoons in here too, but I'm currently watching Dr. Stone. Some of my favorites include: Steins;Gate, Kaiji, Legend of the Galactic Heroes(the original although the new one is alright), Death Note, and plenty more.
• Comedy - Love a good comedy show. I've been to a few clubs, the Ice House down in Pasadena, the Laugh Factory in Vegas, and Cobbs in San Francisco.
• Sports - Big fan of Soccer. Watch the Premier League when I get the chance and try and keep up. Man United fan. Also enjoy going to Sacramento Republic games. Football is cool too, 49ers. Watch Basketball on the rare occasion as well, Sacramento Kings.
• Music - Rock and Metal fan. Going to be seeing Nickelback in July and I want to see Disturbed in July as well, but have no one to go with, rip. Some of my favorite bands include: Green Day(who I got to see live alongside Weezer and Fall Out Boy), Rise Against, Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed, and a handful of others. My music tastes can be a bit eclectic, but rock and metal is my go to.
• Tea - I'll definitely brew you some tea someday. I enjoy black tea for the most part. I order loose-leaf tea online. I enjoy Assam, Darjeerling, Oolong, Pu-erh, Keemun, Earl Grey, and more.
• Museums - A big fan of history so I enjoy going to museums and looking at old things. Love Renaissance/Enlightenment period artwork. Just about any kind of museum is cool. I love learning new things.
• Going out in General - Whether it's hiking in nature among the redwoods, going to a bar, dancing at a club/bar, eating out, or bowling with friends. I'm good for just about anywhere as I like getting out of the house.
• Homebody - As much as I enjoy going out and exploring new places, sometimes I need a break from adventure and enjoy relaxing at home. Play some board games.
• DnD - I'm relatively new to it, but I'm DMing currently for a group of friends that I played my first campaign with. Been playing around two years now if not three (a bit on and off due to scheduling conflicts).

What I'm Looking For?
A woman who I can meet, befriend, love, marry, have kids, and grow old with. I'm a hopeless romantic, I guess lol. It would go in that order and as for the timeline, that's for fate to decide.
Age - Ideally 21+, but will accept as long as you're 18+. Ideal age range 21-30. If you're slightly older or slightly younger that's fine too. +/- 7 is the general rule of thumb.
Looks - Personality beats looks, but attraction is still important. I don't have a type per se. Don't really care about race/ethnicity. I'm trying to work on my weight myself so I rather not cast a stone at a glass house, but proportionality is something I find attractive. A gym partner or someone who can help me with my weight would also be appreciated(we can run together or go hike, etc.)
Personality - I find that sometimes when I'm not attracted to a person , their personality attracts me to them. Personality can elevate a 5 to a 10 or reduce a 10 to a 1 instantly. All I ask is that you're intelligent(a woman who can think for herself, articulate her thoughts, and is able to challenge me when I'm wrong), kind, communicative(communication is key in any relationship), and is sociable(don't need to be extroverted, just able to socialize when the situation calls for it).
Location - In California, looking to move to California, or willing to relocate (a hard ask considering everyone is leaving California lol). For the foreseeable future, I'm stuck here for work and family. Maybe someday I'll have a nice plot of land in the middle of nowhere and can live off the fatta the land with some rabbits. If you read the post and know the book, you got the reference.
What can I Give You?
Tea - As I mentioned before, I'll brew you tea and sometimes I might have a good story to tell over tea lol.
Laughter - I have a contagious laugh and I enjoy joking around. I laugh at most things so it's not too hard to elicit a laugh from me which might get you laughing too.
Adventure - I like visiting new places with friends or a companion so as long as you desire it, we can always adventure out to new places. Whether it's a beach, a new city, a forest, mountain, you name it, we can go.
Optimism - I have a generally happy-go-lucky attitude with life and I'll be happy to reassure you life is good and things will be fine. And if you need the opposite with harsh realism, ask and you shall receive lol.
Hygiene - I do my best to keep myself clean. I also wash my own dishes. I try to keep my home clean, but it's a bit difficult when you're never home. I bought my first condo in 2021 and now I understand why people rent. It's difficult to maintain everything and expensive. And on top of all that you gotta keep it clean even when you're not home.
Attention - As much as you desire. I enjoy people and having someone around all the time is fine by me. I also don't mind some alone time and lawyer stuff can be a bit time-consuming.
Food - I can't cook, but I'll try. I tried to make sushi and failed two weekends ago. Rice was too sticky and too hot. Also the sashimi refused to thaw no matter how long I waited(was well over 12 hours...) But wrapping it was actually easier than I expected just not evenly distributed along the roll.
I think that covered everything I needed to add or wanted to add in here. If I come up with more I'll be updating this master ad over time. Feel free to message me or use the chat feature. Also if you like we can move to Discord, feel free to ask for it. Attached is a photo of me as well. Thanks for bearing through this long post. And if you didn't read it all, that's fine. It's too damn long.
https://imgur.com/a/GgHS6Iu

Hallo, Ich (M23)bin seit 9 Monaten in einer Beziehung mit meiner Freundin(F22).
Kurzer Kontext als Einleitung : Es ist meine allererste Beziehung überhaupt und und für sie ist es bereits die 4.Beziehung. Solange wie mit mir war sie allerdings noch nie mit ihren Exen zusammen(war alles toxisch). Bei ihr wurde im laufe der Beziehung ADHS diagnostiziert und sie hat einige Zwänge womit sie schon beim Therapeuten war. Darüber hinaus hat/hatte sie auch eine Drogensucht. Ich im Gegensatz bin eher ein ruhiger Typ und brauche manchmal meine Ruhe und Zeit für mich und mein Problem ist die Kommunikation von Problemen. Seit ein paar Monaten macht sie die ganze Zeit irgendwelche Probleme und ich will wissen ob es nach 9 Monaten schon normal ist oder ihr Verhalten einfach nicht normal ist. Ich bin manchmal einfach ausgelaugt. Jeder mit dem ich darüber rede sagt dass es nicht normal ist.
Also: Wir haben uns kennengelernt und sind nach 2 Monaten kennenlernen zusammengekommen obwohl ich von ihren Problemen wusste, wollte ich ihr eine Chance geben weil sie im Herzen ein wundervoller Mensch mit guten Werten ist und ich mich einfach verliebt habe. Die erste Zeit lief super und sie hat mich durch eine unfassbar schwere Zeit begleitet und unterstützt wie nie jemand zuvor (Ausbildung verloren etc.). Und auch sonst lief es gut es war alles harmonisch. Nur mit der Zeit wurde sie immer launischer (starke Stimmungsschwankungen wegen kleinster Sachen, was mich auf Probe gestellt hat da ich immer Angst haben musste was falsches zu sagen oder zutun).Sie hat immer mehr Zeit von mir gefordert und Aufmerksamkeit die ich ihr nicht geben konnte. Ich mache Vollzeit eine Ausbildung und gehe ins Gym und versuche die restliche bestmöglich mit ihr zu nutzen. Das hat ihr aber nie gereicht. Deswegen zweifelt sie ständig meine Liebe zu ihr an und ich muss mich für jede Situation erklären. Zudem hat sie mich 3 Monate am Stück angelogen und gesagt sie nimmt keine Drogen mehr obwohl sie es in der Zeit die ganze Zeit weiter gemacht hat und auch sonst hatte sie immer wieder kleine Abstürze um irgendwelche Probleme zu kompensieren. Ihr Selbstwert ist sehr niedrig weswegen sie auch oft anzweifelt dass ich sie sexuell noch attraktiv finde obwohl sie wirklich einfach nur wunderschön ist. Das mündet dann oft in Eifersucht obwohl ich der treuste Mann bin den man sich vorstellen kann und ich ihr nie einen Grund dazu geliefert habe. Sie macht mir auch Druck damit dass ich endlich zu ihr ziehen soll. Sie wiederholt ständig das alle Frauen so seien und dass solche Probleme ganz normal sind und man einfach daran arbeiten muss. Das alles laugt mich manchmal echt aus und sie zeigt auch Verständnis da sie nicht so einfach ist. Trotzdem tauchen diese Probleme ständig wieder auf und ich habe die Sorge dass sich einfach nichts bessert. Sie will an der Beziehung festhalten und dran arbeiten. Ich weiß nicht ob das alles noch Sinn macht. Ich hoffe ich konnte meine Situation halbwegs veranschaulichen und frage mich jetzt : ist das normal ?

Been feeling kind of annoyed and uncomfortable with the narrative around conservative figures (Tate, JP, Ben Shapiro etc) in left leaning groups online in general.
I feel like the focus is always on exposing them as failures by their own or the world's standards, "X doesn't have as much money/as big a business as he claims", "X doesn't really get laid as much as he claims", "X wasn't as successful a pro fighter as he claims" "X has daddy issues" etc
And it's always...young people who claim to be left wing but really take glee in exposing their failures and... like mocking them for things I wouldn't want someone "good" to be mocked for - like Andrew Tate being abandoned by his father as a kid, or Jordan P's myriad mental health and pill problems, for example.
And of course huge focus on any body flaw like Shaprio being short or Tate's small chin.
And when I've confronted them they always say "of course I don't care about that stuff - but HE would! HE claims to be perfect and alpha so we should mock HIM for failing his own standards!" But to me the focus always seems to be, making the figure look pitiful and pathetic in the eyes of the public.
And it seems like the current priority is, because the bad figure is bigoted, trans/homophobic, sexist etc, we need to just make them look stupid and pitiful in the eyes of young people so they won't listen to them, even if it means exaggerating their flaws, or ... inspiring mocking of them based on "bad" standards (them not being successful or macho enough etc)
And it seems to me like this "grifter" thing is pushed hard because young men aren't "supposed" to care about vulnerable minorities. Like if you say to a young man "JP's rhetoric harms LGBT people" they're not traditionally supposed to listen to stuff like that. But they are supposed to be embarrassed about being ripped off or conned. So it's quick way to get them on what they care about as opposed to the harder job of changing their "traditional priorities" or making them more empathetic.
and on a factual level I do genuinely think a lot of these figures believe what they're saying and would still be blogging/posting it if they weren't making any money. For example JP has years of old internet postings on places like Quora and Reddit from before he was selling anything or had fans.
I feel like I want someone to say... if they're wrong, they're wrong, whether they're "grifting" or not.
I dunno this is something that's been bothering me and I suppose it's a bit muddled, and if you feel like it's irrelevant or doesn't matter I understand.
I also feel like on places like Facebook and Reddit there's like, a minority of "informed" people who know why they don't like right wing figures - know what their own political position is etc, and a majority who've just got some vague idea that Ben Shapiro and Tate are uncool and unsexy - and the "informed" ones like it that way - they like having an "army" of persuaded people I suppose? Even if the "army" doesn't have strong convictions.
I dunno this is all just my frustrations with the last couple years of browsing facebook

🇦🇹 Wochenende 08 - 11.06

Do: ⛅ 23° Fr: 🌧️ 24° Sa: 🌧️ 24° So: ⛅ 24° 🇬🇧 Scroll down for English 👇
Kaum bekommt man einen freien Tag, schon wird das Wetter schlecht! Dafür gibt es diese Woche ein bisschen extra Inspiration damit, ihr nicht nur zu Hause sitzen müsst! 🙂
Also, let´s get to it! 🚀

🤌 Laurin’s Auswahl 08 - 11.06

Eine kurze Übersicht der 5 coolsten Events dieses WE in Wien. Der Link zum Event ist immer im Titel.

1/ Thursday Special: Sommernachtskonzert (Do 20:30 Gratis)

Okay, das ist wohl ein no-brainer diesen Donnerstag. Nicht nur ist der Donnerstag der einzig halbwegs trockene Tag dieses WE, sondern es gibt auch gratis die Wiener Philharmoniker zu hören!
Das ganze findet übrigens im Bereich des Schlosses Schönbrunns statt.

2/ Kleidertausch Party (Fr 16:30-19h - Gratis)

Du hast Lust, deine alte Kleidung gegen neue Styles zu tauschen und dich gleichzeitig mit anderen zum Thema Klima-Aktivismus auszutauschen? Dann schau bei der Kleidertausch Party im Dschungel Wien im MQ vorbei!

3/ Intimes Jazz Konzert (Sa 19-22h - Free)

In der intimen Atmosphäre einer alten Tankstelle gibt es ein Jazzkonzert zu hören. Über den Abend verteilt, wird es eine Kombination von traditionellen Instrumenten mit elektronischen Klängen zu hören geben.

4/ Championsleague Finale Public Viewing (Sa20-23h - Gratis)

Nagut, vielleicht nicht für jeden das richtige aber diesen Samstag findet das Championsleague Finale (ManCity - Inter Milan) statt. Gemeinsam schauen macht bei sowas ja dann doch immer mehr Spaß! Einen coolen Ort dafür bietet die Schankwirtschaft direkt im Augarten.
Alternativ kann man am Samstag auch ein recht cooles gratis Konzert anhören.

5/ Acoustic Sundays (So 19-23h - 15€)

Diesen Sonntag im werden vier Songwriter die Bühne von Wiens etabliertester Underground-Location, dem Chelsea, teilen. Gastgeber und Konzeptgeber ist der in Amerika geborene und in Wien ansässige Künstler Ian Fisher. Also warum nicht mal was Neues hören? 🙂

🔥 Party Party

Hier eine kurze Übersicht zum Wiener Nachtleben dieses Wochenende:
Thursday

• Vienna Pride Beach Day - Vienna City Beach Club // DJs, Yoga
• FM4 Swound Sound - Usus am Wasser // Electronic
• Space Odyssey - Kramladen // House
• Rooftop Sommer Party - Der Dachboden // Electronic

Friday

• Back on the dance floor - Weberknecht // 90s, 2000s
• Jetlag Disco - PRST // Disco, House, Techno
• Garten von Eben - Kramladen // Techno, House
• Zuckerwatt w/Dubfire - Grelle Forelle // Techno
• Bas Cave & Shake It - Himmel Und Wasser // DnB

Saturday

• Morgengymnastik - SAAS // Techno, Workout :)
• Kollektiv Ost: West & Friends - Badeschiff // House, Techno
• Dancehall BBQ - Usus am Wasser // Electronic
• Freizeit Exklusiv -PRST // Techno
• Werk in Love - Das Werk // Trance, House, Disco,
• Schlaflos im Juni - Pratersauna // Electronic
• Stromklang Festival - Das Werk // Live Concerts, Electronic
• The Hive, Burr Oak, TR Tactics & ChrisSU - Flex // DnB

🎨 A litte bit of culture & other gems

• Lebanon - in a state of unrest // Vernissage Thur 18h
• Meine Welt // Vernissage Fr 19h
• Essbare Kunst - Exhibition // Sa 12-19h
• Vienna Pride Special - Mumok // Sa 12-16h

Other 💎

• Grätzlfest Spengergasse 2023 // Local Event, Sa 17-21h
• Friday Night Skate // 21-23h

🤗 'Wien Was Geht' unterstützen

Wer mich unterstützen möchte, hat zwei Möglichkeiten:

1. Diesen Newsletter teilen ODER
2. Mich auf ein Bier einladen

👊 Ich wünsche euch ein schönes Wochenende!
-Laurin

⭐️️ Wie haben wir uns geschlagen?

• ❤️ Leiwand
• 😐 Meh
• 🥱 Mir ist immer noch ur langweilig, ich will mehr Content über ...
• 😡 Ich hasse dich, ich hasse den Newsletter - Du hast mir mein WE versaut

Ihr könnt mir auch direkt unter [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) schreiben.
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🇬🇧 English Version

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(Oida), What's up Vienna?

Do: ⛅ 23° Fr: 🌧️ 24° Sa: 🌧️ 24° So: ⛅ 24°
I am torn between joy and sorrow this weekend. On the one hand, it’s pretty bad weather, on the other hand, we have an extra day off. Well, let’s focus on the good things, there are definitely some fun events this weekend in Vienna! 🙂
Let’s get to it 🚀 !

🤌 Laurin’s Picks 08 - 11.06

A quick overview of the 5 coolest things happening this weekend in Vienna.

1/ Thursday Special: Sommernachtskonzert (Thur 20:30 Free)

Alright, I don’t care if you are new to Vienna or already more or less a local. The summer night concert by the Viennese orchestra is a musical highlight every year. Even if you are not a big fan of classical music, the concert is for free and right in the grounds of the Schönbrunn castle. So next to the impressive music, you have an amazing location. Enjoy! 🎶

2/ Clothing Swap Party (Fr 16:30-19h - Free)

Want to upgrade your wardrobe? Why not check out the clothing swap party with a twist? Bring some of your old cloths and swap them for different ones! If you are interested, you can also learn more about climate change while you are there.

3/ Intimate Jazz Concert (Sat 19-22h - Free)

This Saturday there is a small jazz concert in the building of an old and abandoned gas station. The concert promises intimate vibes, and a mixture of traditional jazz together with some more electronic beats.

4/ Champions-league Final Public Viewing (Sat 20-23h - Free)

Maybe not the right thing for all readers but this is probably the biggest football game of the year. It’s the champions league finals between Manchester City and Inter Milan. There is a great location to watch it outside at the ‘Schankwirtschaft’ located in the Augarten.
Alternatively there is a pretty cool free concert happening here.

5/ Acoustic Sundays (So 19-23h - 15€)

Want to explore some new and exciting live music? Go check out the concert of 4 live bands in Vienna’s most established underground venue ‘The Chelsea’ this Sunday.

🔥 Party Party

A quick overview of Vienna’s nightlife.
Thursday

• Vienna Pride Beach Day - Vienna City Beach Club // DJs, Yoga
• FM4 Swound Sound - Usus am Wasser // Electronic
• Space Odyssey - Kramladen // House
• Rooftop Sommer Party - Der Dachboden // Electronic

Friday

• Back on the dance floor - Weberknecht // 90s, 2000s
• Jetlag Disco - PRST // Disco, House, Techno
• Garten von Eben - Kramladen // Techno, House
• Zuckerwatt w/Dubfire - Grelle Forelle // Techno
• Bas Cave & Shake It - Himmel Und Wasser // DnB

Saturday

• Morgengymnastik - SAAS // Techno, Workout :)
• Kollektiv Ost: West & Friends - Badeschiff // House, Techno
• Dancehall BBQ - Usus am Wasser // Electronic
• Freizeit Exklusiv -PRST // Techno
• Werk in Love - Das Werk // Trance, House, Disco,
• Schlaflos im Juni - Pratersauna // Electronic
• Stromklang Festival - Das Werk // Live Concerts, Electronic
• The Hive, Burr Oak, TR Tactics & ChrisSU - Flex // DnB

🎨 A litte bit of culture & other gems

• Lebanon - in a state of unrest // Vernissage Thur 18h
• Meine Welt // Vernissage Fr 19h
• Essbare Kunst - Exhibition // Sat 12-19h
• Vienna Pride Special - Mumok // Sat 12-16h

Other 💎

• Grätzlfest Spengergasse 2023 // Local Event, Sat 17-21h
• Friday Night Skate // Fr 21-23h

🤗 Want to support 'Wien Was Geht'

If you enjoy these e-mails and want to support me you have two options:

1. Share this Newsletter OR
2. Buy me a beer

👊 Have a great weekend!
-Laurin

⭐️️ How was this weeks e-mail?

• ❤️ Awesome
• 😐 Meh
• 🥱 I am still bored, I want more content about...
• 😡 I hate you, I hate your newsletter, you ruined my weekend

If you have any other feedback, or suggestions for improvement, e-mail me under [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) or just reply to this e-mail. 🙂
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If you prefer it as an e-mail, check the newsletter.

(I only post about my oc if nobody has noticed yet, and for lack of artistic skills I will have to slowly get comfortable unleashing my writing skills online again.)
​
"So don't panic, but the door to the lab might be sealed off with ice."
"I was already a danger to myself but thanks for noticing."
"How many of these potions can I take without dying again?"
"The real magic is all of these perfect circles cause I couldn't do that myself."
(To his abomination) "I work so hard so you can sit in your little bottle all day."
(To his palisman) "These are my pretzels man, you don't even need to eat."
(To the doctor) "Am I supposed to feel like I'm melting?"
(To doctor's assistant) "You don't have to take a note every time I sneeze. Wait until I vomit."
"What a great day to have mystery pain."
(To group of enemies) "Fighting is cool but would you consider a picnic instead?"
"I know the exact monetary value of my life, so don't try to bargain with me."
(To Vee) "Can I borrow some blood? Doc has good money for me if I try out some basilisk genes."
"I'm getting a good grade in test subject for doing this."
(When caught out of disguise) "Would you mind forgetting about that? You know, for fun."
"Being bad at everything gives me room to be bad at losing."
​
(If this does anything for y'all let me know, maybe I'll brush off my real skills and try to slam out a little short story or two to help properly introduce him to the community.)

Sensible transfers – Defensive midfield
Welcome to another edition of my ‘Sensible Transfers’ series, where I analyse what I believe to be realistic transfers (to varying degrees) for Luton Town FC ahead of the 2023/24 Premier League season. In this post we discuss the defensive midfield position. with Nakamba’s loan finishing and him returning to Villa, there’s a huge void in front of the defence that needs filling. This list includes some ‘first-choice’ picks I believe are realistic, and some ‘wildcard’ picks that I think would be nice but are less realistic for one reason or another.
First-choice
I cannot stress how important it is that Luton sign Marvelous Nakamba permanently. His presence and ball-winning ability was pivotal to Luton’s rise from January onwards, providing the shield that the defence didn’t have under Nathan Jones. His wage demands might be a stumbling block, but he’s a known quantity at the club and thus worth the outlay. Bring him back!
I have been a fan of Ethan Ampadu since I saw him boss the midfield at the base of a diamond for Exeter at 16 years of age. Since a big money move to Chelsea, the versatile Ampadu has fallen victim to the loan merry-go-round that plagues Chelsea’s development team. This has allowed him to develop a pedigree playing in a number of different positions in different leagues. Given his utility in midfield and defence, either a loan or a permanent loan here could be win-win for all parties involved.
I know Hamza Choudhury didn’t pull up any trees for those lads down the road, but I’d imagine its hard to succeed in such a toxic atmosphere. He’s strong in the challenge, has Premier League experience, and is available on a free. He’s worth a punt as a rotation player in my opinion.
Daniel Neil was a key player in Sunderland’s rise into the playoffs this year. Capable of playing across the midfield, Neil was a product of Sunderland’s youth system. He chipped in with 2 goals and 4 assists this year, and could deputise for Nakamba with the potential to make the position his own in the long term. He would command a substantial fee however, having just signed a new deal in March.
Wildcards
Stefan Bajcetic is in this section as its unlikely Liverpool will loan him, but has shown enough talent in the limited time he’s been given for their first team this season that he should be under consideration. For a teenager he shows incredible poise on the ball and demonstrates an ability to dictate the tempo of a game. As Liverpool are rumoured to be signing up to 3 midfielders, he could be sent out on loan to gain more experience.
Another longshot is Tunisian anchor Ellyes Skhiri. I was impressed with Tunisia’s ability to defend at the world cup, with Skhiri key to their defensive shape. Domestically, he’s managed to chip in with 7 goals and 1 assist in the Bundesliga this season. As such, he’s likely to have a lot of suitors this year, especially as he’s out of contract.
Florian Grillitsch is set to leave Ajax on a free transfer after joining them for free last year. Ajax have not had a great season, and neither has Florian personally, only making 10 appearances in the Eredivisie. Before this, he was a solid Bundesliga defensive midfielder. A spell at Luton in the Premier League provides him with a big stage to revive his career.

Previous attempt (Linking to the third attempt, as I've scrapped the fourth version completely.)
Hey everyone! I've been working on my query. Manuscript-wise I'm essentially ready to go, but the query package is continually a struggle for me. Hopefully this version is clearer than other iterations.
Also for reference, this is an adult novel. Pretty much every beta I've had told advised against toning violence/themes down for YA, saying it works better as an Adult novel even with it starting in high school. So for that reason, I'd love feedback as to whether the query sounds too YA, as past queries where I didn't specify lead to that assumption.
Dear (Agent),
(Personalization). I am seeking representation for my queer supernatural thriller, HARVEY, complete at 98,000 words. With its emphasis on the Midwestern setting, it will appeal to fans of Gothic fiction and those with Y2K nostalgia.
In the fall of 1999, someone begins terrorizing the small, remote town of Harvey, Missouri. Some residents vanish without a trace, while others are found brutally murdered, their bodies lacerated and completely drained of blood.
There’s no clear pattern linking the victims, nor any viable suspects, but eighteen-year-old Oliver Whitman isn’t frightened about his own safety. After all, with his terminal genetic heart condition, death has loomed over him since birth, and he views his life as disposable—a mindset that his clandestine boyfriend, Jace, can’t seem to understand. Plus, no one but Oliver knows from wandering into the woods one evening that the culprits are beyond anything humanly imaginable. It’s an easy decision for him to sacrifice his life to protect his love from them.
Four years later, the last thing Jace—now a college senior—wants is to return to Missouri, especially Harvey, as he’s still grieving the loss of Oliver. However, when a former classmate’s body is found on the anniversary of Oliver's disappearance, Jace finds himself unwillingly pulled back in. While he has no idea who—or what—it is that has a personal vendetta against Harvey and its residents, a string of threatening messages written in blood make one thing certain: Jace is the next target.
Following dual POVs, HARVEY is a character-driven story that explores the lengths to which individuals will go to protect those they care about. My novel will appeal to fans of vampire novels such as CERTAIN DARK THINGS by Silvia Moreno-Garcia or THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB’S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES by Grady Hendrix, and fans of queer, supernatural romances such as the GREEN CREEK series by T.J. Klune or THE DEAD AND THE DARK by Courtney Gould.
(Bio)
First 300
“Bob, it seems we’re hearing no new developments on the recent missing person case coming out of Harvey, Missouri this morning. Nineteen-year-old Tyler O’Sullivan is the ninth person in Adams County to turn up missing or dead this year.”
“Truly awful, Janice. And such a terrible situation for what we hear is such a small, close-knit community. I think I speak for everyone when I say we all hope they find him safe and sound.”
“Well, the O’Sullivan family and the Adams County Police Department are asking for anyone with any information to please call the number—”
“Did you know him?” Jace’s mother asked as he wandered into the kitchen that Monday morning. She was setting the crockpot for dinner, but her tired eyes seemed unable to break from the small box TV on the linoleum counter.
Jace Silva pulled the milk carton from the fridge and stared at the image on the TV. On it was a list of Tyler’s physical attributes and clothes he last wore alongside his senior yearbook photo. His gray eyes were partially obscured by his black bangs, yet seemed to pierce into Jace’s soul.
“Not really.”
Of course, he knew of Tyler. He frequently saw him in the school halls until his graduation last year. Living in a small, rural town in fuckall nowhere, Missouri it was hard not to know everyone at least by face, especially someone one grade above. With shaggy hair and edgy black clothing in the middle of the rural bible belt, he stood out like a sore thumb.
Tyler and his family went to church every Sunday, yet people always looked at him and his equally black-clad friend, Evangeline Lark, like they were demon possessed. Not that anyone dared to say anything to Tyler’s face, given his cop father. Though after Columbine a few months ago, pressure did make him trim his hair and switch to normal blue jeans. Jace himself thought little of it.

Hello everyone! I am Pasi, located in the CET timezone and currently looking for someone willed to create a play within the above mentioned Fandom.
I am a very detailed writer, 3 paragraphs are no problem for me to fill; it always depends on the situation and mood within the character. With that being said, I am looking for someone willed to play a male canon character for a female oc (double possible, just ask if you're interested!). To specify further: G'raha Tia / Crystalexarch, depending on where we set our plot, is the role you would (gladly xD) play!
I have couple ideas in mind, yet prefer to completely figure our story together with your ideas being involved as much as mine.
Couple requirements:
-> please be above the age of 18++
-> be honest with me and communicate
(Yeah, it can happen that I forget to answer a message, we all do, in that case poke me again :p)
-> long-term interest, I do not want to put in effort just to see the rp dying within weeks. If you don't feel like it anymore, cool, just let me know. No hard feelings!
-> emotional driven roleplay are the best for me, it would be fantastic if you'd think likewise
-> spicy things? Of course. We just have to agree on how much of spice we are going to add ;)
-> English is my second language, mistakes may happen, you have been warned :p
-> we can chit chat OOC as much as you want, I do not count on you writing a post at any given time because ... real life.
-> Discord will be our platform
If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to shoot me a message or start a chat!
Have a wonderful day,
Pasi

Hello everyone! I am Pasi, located in the CET timezone and currently looking for someone willed to create a play within the above mentioned Fandom.
I am a very detailed writer, 3 paragraphs are no problem for me to fill; it always depends on the situation and mood within the character. With that being said, I am looking for someone willed to play a male canon character for a female oc (double possible, just ask if you're interested!). To specify further: G'raha Tia / Crystalexarch, depending on where we set our plot, is the role you would (gladly xD) play!
I have couple ideas in mind, yet prefer to completely figure our story together with your ideas being involved as much as mine.
Couple requirements:
-> please be above the age of 18++
-> be honest with me and communicate
(Yeah, it can happen that I forget to answer a message, we all do, in that case poke me again :p)
-> long-term interest, I do not want to put in effort just to see the rp dying within weeks. If you don't feel like it anymore, cool, just let me know. No hard feelings!
-> emotional driven roleplay are the best for me, it would be fantastic if you'd think likewise
-> spicy things? Of course. We just have to agree on how much of spice we are going to add ;)
-> English is my second language, mistakes may happen, you have been warned :p
-> we can chit chat OOC as much as you want, I do not count on you writing a post at any given time because ... real life.
-> Discord will be our platform
If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to shoot me a message or start a chat!
Have a wonderful day,
Pasi

Been evaluating DMARC recently, and I couldn't find much information to help guide me when comparing options. So I tried to write down my thoughts in a way I would have found useful. I hope someone on here gets a bit of value out of it.
A few observations is that there is a huge disparity between bottom range vendors and top range vendors in terms of price, and that there is a corresponding disparity in terms of tool functionality and Trust-center maturity. Top tier vendors offer some cool functions, but the increase in price was hardly worth it.
Common DMARC vendor problems
Common problems among nearly all DMARC vendors we spoke to (with 1 exception) was that they all had a hard time giving us a fixed quote, claiming that they needed to run a PoC/Trial to analyze our volumes before being able to quote us. A few would provide gross estimates for us. I got a bit grossed out, because it felt like the sales reps we met with were trying to gauge how much money they'd be leaving on the table.
Bottom Tier DMARC vendor problems
The bottom tier were sketchy in terms of where support is located, where data is processed (issue especially if we collect Forensic reports) and had a difficult time answering questions on the robustness and maturity of their organizational/technical controls for whatever certifications they held. They also provided low-usability UI:s and underwhelming project management features.
One of the vendors even suggested we spin up 2 instances of their platform to manage active/inactive domains separately. I assume sales person was either a) incompetent or b) thought we had just jumped off the bus from Jokkmokk or c) the tool was horrendous.
Another consideration was that these vendors were mostly in start-up mode, and really pushed their logo-slides, indicating to me that they are desperately accumulating corporate value to become attractive acquisition targets. God forbid they'd be purchased by like DarkTrace or something.
I did a bit of quick and dirty math, and couldn't see how they were running sustainable business models. When they described their headcounts and I looked at the revenue generated with an average across their entire "we have this many customers" slide. Especially since a few of the logos these guys said were 'customers' are actually using their freemium/trial to monitor (checked with contacts at company's who were part of the logo-slides.).
These vendors cost next to nothing, but introduce a level of risk I was not happy with.
Top Tier DMARC Vendor problems
3 of the vendors we looked at fit into this category, and the prices were absolutely outrageous. As in +30x higher prices. Than the other vendors. 2 of these were more forthcoming about price estimates, and the last one did the thing where the sales rep was really shady about the pricing so we finally had enough (I found their price list through google dorks and nearly puked).
However, the 2 vendors who were more forthcoming about their prices advised us that there is a mandatory Managed Service tacked onto the DMARC tool. The managed service sounded nice (bi-weekly/monthly project calls with a consultant from their side, effectively brining our time investment down by from ~6-8h / week to ~1-4h / week, which is helpful due to backlog). But we would be unable to unsubscribe from the managed service even after achieving p=reject and just monitoring.
The vendor who's prices nearly made me puke literally had 1 unique selling point compared to peers. The ability to generate DKIM keys through their console. Helpful, sure. But it absolutely does not merit a 2x higher price than the other 2 Top Tiers. The issue I have here is that this was the vendor pushed by Microsoft, and it really got under my skin that the sales rep almost took it for granted that the business was theirs because of the recommendation by MSFT. It made me wonder how many deals these guys get for outrageous price points by buyers who don't know any better.
These vendors cost a bunch, but offer the level of risk I am OK with introducing
What did we end up doing?
One of the vendors who didn't fit into either Top Tier or Low Tier fulfilled our criteria;

1. Mature trust-center backed by good contracts, DPA:s ISO-certs and SOC-II etc. Sales rep and Engineer could speak towards various elements and were happy to make introductions to their CISO:s direct reports for more information.
2. Price point was in-between Top tier & Bottom Tier.
3. Price transparency and Predictability (They could provide prices based on # active domains + number of employees, irrespective of email volumes & sending services)
4. Managed service portion could be removed upon renewal (once every 12 months) and the price effectively goes down by 50%.
5. The sales rep was slightly less sleazy, but maybe that was because their licensing model was simpler? He was also transparent when we asked about recent negative feedback about their support.
6. UI is decent & Integrated project management section so that tasks created in other sections of the console are populated into the project management time-line and assigned to an owner.

Notes;

1. I don't want to break any policy here. So won't post a link to the price-list I found via dorks. I found it on a publicly facing governmental digital market place, published by one of the vendor's partners. Example:
   1. 3-10 Domains + <5 Sending Services scales from £17.5K / year up to 3-10 Domains + <27 Sending services for £100K / Year. And god help you if you have +50 domains.
2. Don't want to mention which vendor we went with in the end. But we got 25 Domains + Unlimited volume + unlimited sending services for ~ €12K / year.
   1. As a comparison this is 10x the price of the Low-tier vendors, and 35% of the price of the most expensive vendor (when accounting for our number of sending sources, email volume and domains)
   2. Year 1 we added on Manage Services to help with our backlog, which we plan on cutting away once p=reject can be safely activated (expected time frame ~6 months -- Which realistically means ~8 months). At this point our annual bill goes down from €18K to €12K / Year.
3. A key consideration that I found tricky before finding the vendor we went with, was trying to forecast expected email volumes since the company is planning on entering new markets, with big marketing pushes. We could have woken up one day and gotten a "true-up" call with up-to a 6x license price increase if our outbound volumes exceeded 2.5million emails. (I don't see that happening anytime soon, but I'd hate to forget about this as the company grows).
4. Getting approval for the spend was done together with marketing, and we split it 50/50. We basically asked our CMO-lite what would happen if their marketing emails went to junk-folders or were rejected outright because one of their marketing services was unaccounted for.
   1. Convo went something like:
      1. "What's your worst-case projection for this initiative?"
      2. "It's x% of target"
      3. "Okey, does that worst-case projection account for if your email marketing ends up in junk folders?"
      4. "Ye... erhh.. end up in junk folders...?"
      5. (Marketing now has a vested interest in being open about the crap they use/want to get, and CMO-lite has raised this twice with her team so far).

Sorry for any spelling/grammar issues, guys. English =/= first language. Some of the information here could be inconsistent between territories/markets. Hope someone finds it helpful.

I am generally against the existence of laws and law enforcement, but this is something I've been wondering. How do we distinguish between children and adults without laws? How do we decide when someone is old enough to drive a car? Or old enough to have sex? Or old enough to make major medical decisions? I am of the belief that there should be a hard line for some of these things. If there's no hard line then it's a very slippery slope to some fucked up things going on. Obviously children do not have the mental faculties that adults do. How do we distinguish between a child and an adult without laws and law enforcement? I am generally against law enforcement but I do believe that something like an age of consent law should exist. I'm not cool with just letting pedophiles do whatever they want. Or letting little kids drive cars. Or letting little kids make medical decisions that they don't understand the consequences of. How would this work without laws and law enforcement? And don't even fucking try to tell me that pedophiles won't exist anymore in anarchism. Just don't.

A Prayer in Hell: X-Raided’s highly-anticipated Strange Music debut is an incredible, haunting masterpiece
Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)
“It was once said, no tree can grow tall enough to reach heaven, unless its roots are deep enough to reach Hell.”
X-Raided has been an underground king for over 30 years, releasing classics like Psycho Active, Xorcist, Unforgiven Vol 1, and Nefarious, the majority of which were recorded during his well-documented incarceration. After nearly a quarter of a century behind bars, X’s prayer was finally granted and he was released early on parole in 2018 and went straight to work, dropping There is a Storm (2018) and California Dreamin’ (2020). In May of 2022 it was announced X had signed to Strange Music, the home of legendary rapper Tech N9ne, setting fan anticipation and expectations at all-time highs.
From the moment the ominous lines of the intro begins, X grabs you and pulls you into the surreal, hellish landscape that serves as the setting for the album. “A Prayer in Hell” is a dark, fantastical refrain that showcases X’s incredible lyricism and unrelenting delivery as he describes his nefarious origin story. “He only behaves when ensnared in his cell, beware the evil he’s prepared to unveil, if he’s ever released from the place where he’s held, no escape, there’s not even a prayer in hell”.
On “Return of the Living Dead”, X likens himself to a “demonic angel” and tells how he lost himself and ultimately “became a dragonslayer in hell”. Next, X writes some “Life Sentences”, an introspective track that paints a despairing portrait of prison and street life over an atmospheric beat “Hard to change from demon to angel, when you spent the majority of your life learnin’ to scheme and finagle, when its glorified”. On “To Whom it May Concern”, X tells of the self-destructive and suicidal feelings that torment him as a result of his life of sin.
Here the album switches gears and begins a string of features with some legendary rappers. X stole the show with his feature on “Still Right Here” from Tech N9ne’s album, so Neena arrives to return the favor on the pulsating single “Stratus Fear”. Here the two rappers have some fun exchanging a string of tongue-twisting and mind-bending verses. Next, Ras Kass and X take on “Any Challenger”, a boastful, energetic banger. ”James Taylor, Carole King” is the mantra on the infectious “Legendary”, where X is joined by labelmate King Iso who delivers another signature highlight verse. Playboi Prada and Bleezy add some mayhem on “Knoccin’”, a street anthem with a beat that could have been produced by Michael Myers himself.
The second half of the album starts with “No1 is Safe”, another slammin’ single that X obliterates with his implaccable flow. The beat for “Celebration” is so laid back it could feel right at home on a Wiz Khalifa or Berner album. A-Wax adds a nice verse and hook to this smooth track. X-Raided takes it back to the 70’s with “Blaxploitation” a funky track where X puts himself in the starring role as a Shaft-like character.
“Villains in the Streets” is another standout anthem with a strong feature from Yowda. The album reaches its zenith with “Parasitic”, where X describes the dangers of gang mentality over an absolute banger of a beat. "I got you participating in genocide and you did it with pride.”
“That was then, this is now” the rapper declares as we transition to “The Bridge”, an old-school summer-time jam that has X reflecting over his childhood days. Joey Cool delivers an inspired guest verse. On “Ka-el” X dons the red cape and describes how he discovered his own powers: “It wasnt until I came down to earth that I realized, I was gifted, everything changed, my perspective shifted.”
“This is not a song, this is a poem” X states on “Many Apologies”, the final track of the album . “Seconds, minutes, hours, days” he repeats on the hook, reflective of the album cover that shows X sitting in a room with several clocks on the walls, an analogy for the despair he felt at never knowing when or if he would ever be released from prison.
A Prayer in Hell is an exceptional piece of art that is not only X-Raided’s best album yet, but one of the best albums of the year. The production is diverse and top notch, creating a chilling atmosphere that mirrors the intense storytelling and introspection found within each track. Moreover, the album's guest features are carefully curated and perfectly complement X-Raided's style. Each collaboration brings a unique dynamic, adding depth and variety to the overall sound. It's evident that X-Raided has surrounded himself with artists who share his passion and dedication to the craft, resulting in a cohesive and powerful musical experience. If you’re a fan of raw and authentic hip-hop, then this Prayer is a must listen.

My CPU's temps are around 65-70 on average during gameplay, but every now and then they ramp up to 85-90 for 1-3 seconds and then come right back down. I can literally hear it as it happens because my CPU fans go crazy.
I have an air-cooled Ryzen 7 5800X.
I've played a lot of different games and Diablo IV is the first one to do this. I could literally be standing still on my character in an instance without doing anything and it still happens.
Anyone else had this happen? It's very distracting.

My CPU's temps are around 65-70 on average during gameplay, but every now and then they ramp up to 85-90 for 1-3 seconds and then come right back down. I can literally hear it as it happens because my CPU fans go crazy.
I have an air-cooled Ryzen 7 5800X.
I've played a lot of different games and Diablo IV is the first one to do this. I could literally be standing still on my character in an instance without doing anything and it still happens.
Anyone else had this happen? It's very distracting.

Firstly I will state in advance I haven't completed the main story completely. I have gotten all the memories to get the Master Sword and three of the Dungeons. I have seen a bit more when my friend was streaming it as well. This is simply going to be my thoughts and opinions on the game as I've seen and experienced it so far as someone who loved BotW and Zelda as a Whole. This'll be quite lengthy as I went into a bit more detail then I initially planned as well as not being great at initially condensing my thoughts at times. There's a TLDR at the end with everything simplified with less details for those who want to skip what basically became a bullet point essay.
Firstly I will start with the positives.

• The return of varied Dungeons and Bosses. When I found this out I was actually excited to go do the dungeons and see what the bosses were. Though the divine beasts in BotW where interesting I was in the group who thought they were a bit lacking. The Return of Dungeons aren't perfect and aren't exactly like old dungeons but I feel it's still better, and more enjoyable, then the Divine Beasts personally.
• I absolutely adored the little caves you can find across the world and I adore the Depths and the challenge it brings. The Depths is such an interesting area and concept that adds so much more to the world and stuff to explore. Though I think there is a bit more they could have done with it but seeing as I wasn't expecting the depths at all I am not disappointed in the least.
• Seeing more enemies brought back from older Zelda games to add more enemy varity was such a needed addition and I'm so glad they did it. I was so excited when I first came across the likelikes and the Gleeok which seemed familiar but I didn't know from where and now I know it's from the first Zelda Game which is cool as heck. Then seeing the Gibdo as well. Was half expecting the Re-Deads as well but alas they didn't make the cut. It was just refreshing to have more enemies to come across.
• I quite enjoyed seeing where some of my favorite characters have gone or been up to since the events of BotW like Sidon and Riju. Even seeing Paya become chief as Impa has retired and just by chance running into Impa on my travels. I wish we got to see more of the characters we knew in BotW and more updates on how they're doing.
• The fact that your horses from your BotW save transfers over to your TotK save is just something I was pleasantly surprised by.
• The changes to bullet time where your stamina only drains when you fire instead of draining the second your in bullet time. On the point of stamina I appreciate the change of regaining a bit of stamina if you fall into water with no stamina. I also do appreciate the menu being a bit easier to get thru compared to BotW, though it's still not perfect but better and I appreciate that fact.

That's the main positives of things I just enjoyed about the game on its own as they are in the game. Now I want to talk about some things that I liked conceptually but not quite as much with how they were implemented into the game.

• Gannondorf. Was excited to see his full return and all the possibilities, even some of the early ideas people had of him not being fully evil even though that was never going to happen was still a fun concept. I knew he was going to be evil still and was interested to see where they were going to go with what I saw in the trailers. In game though it just wasn't anything even remotely to what I was hoping for while I wasn't expecting something as great as Wind Waker Ganon I hoped they were still going to do something interesting with him but no. Just pure evil becoming demon evil. Also that one face he made just what the fuck. Not the worst but just underwhelming to me personally.
• Gloom is awesome in concept and coming across it randomly out in the open on the surface when I was just trying to climb to a shrine is the kind of experience you can only get once without knowing about it in the first place. I love that defeating the arms makes Phantom Gannon appear. I don't like how it's implemented story wise and I don't like its name and I think that's where it falls short quite a bit for me personally. They treat it like it's something entirely separate from malice when it's basically a new form of Malice and calling it Gloom just doesn't really fit in my opinion. If they connected it more with Malice in the story and followed that threw line with it then that would have made it so much better in my opinion but as is how it's treated in story is just a miss for me.
• The Skylands or as they call them in game Sky Islands. When I first saw these introduced in the trailers I thought back to Skyward Sword and Skyloft and thought maybe we'll see some call back to the beginning of it all and get some hints or references to those events. Sadly that was not the case, at least not how I had initially expected, I will get more into the story elements later. All in All they weren't all that interesting in my opinion and some are just a pain to get too. The starting area is kinda interesting and how you can talk to Rauru at certain points but I don't feel as though it lived up to the Great Plateau personally.
• Zelda and the Past was a cool concept and idea they could have done so much more with it but in my opinion it just fell flat. Zelda felt so inconsequential and lacking in character thru all the memories and scenes you see of her and the past. The past itself felt like a waste as all it really did is retcon the Zelda lore, at least it seems so to me, and add another race as well as show that Gannon was always just selfish and evil. It would have been so much cooler if you had segments where you Played as Zelda thru the past as she tried to get home to Link and everyone else. Showing us a deeper look into the ancient race of the Zonai and their Culture. As well as give us more insight into what she's thinking and feeling as she's trapped separated from everyone. We don't even know how much passed between when she got stuck in the past and sacrificed herself. Instead we got very short disconnected snippets for the most part that don't tell us all that much and left me personally not caring about Zelda at all. Even longer or more cutscenes more closely connected would have been better but instead it just feels like Zelda was shafted so it was all on Link once again.
• I like the concept of what happens to Zelda in the end but how Zelda was handled in the game just makes this twist fall a bit flat for me personally.
• The Return of the Poes could have been so great but ended up to just be nothing more then another thing to spam A on. In previous games they were usually connected to some sort of enemy you had to best to collect and I think an Enemy Poe would have been such a great fit for the Depths but instead they're just a plentiful pickup that's all over the place in the Depths. Honestly just disappointing compared to what they once were.
• The Sage Abilities are cool in concept but in practice they can be a bit annoying and just don't live up to the Champion abilities in my opinion. I kind of like having companions to help fight with you but they do get in a way at times especially when you have to walk up to one to use they're ability and another can be in the way. I feel they could have been handled a bit better and aren't the worst but I personally prefer the ease of use of the Companion abilities.
• A more technical thing is the fuse ability. It's fun to mess around with and add elements to weapons to make them last longer but I don't think this is a perfect fix to weapon durability. Especially since it has replaced cool weapons that was in BOTW entirely and makes using elemental arrows much more annoying. In BotW you had Elemental Arrows that you selected and could use consecutively without having to reselect them. Now with the new fuse system you have to refuse stuff each and every time you want any sort of elemental arrow which disrupts the flow of gameplay. Sure it offers more variety in weapons and arrows technically but personally I preferred the old weapons and arrow systems for its simplicity.

Now onto the things I just straight up don't like and/or don't get within Tears of the Kingdom. If you've read up to this point then I really appreciate you taking the time to read everything.

• To add onto the point above with the fusing aspect of the game. The material system now that it's more important needed way more ways to sort thru things. Perhaps have categories of materials when you bring up the short menu or something so it's easier to find stuff on the fly instead of going thru a long list of random stuff from food to zonai devices. I just don't like how it's managed and handled.
• A small technical thing that I just don't understand is having to spam A to pick up Rupees and Poes where in BotW you just had to run over rupees. Why they made this change I have no idea especially now you have even more to pick up.
• Fuck you Zelda give me back my House.
• I greatly dislike calling the magic McGuffins "Secret Stones". I hate that so much it makes them seem so inconsequential.
• The lack of any of the Shikah stuff from BotW. Where are the Guardians, the Shrines, The Towers, the Divine Beasts, those pillars around the Castle? There's very little hint at the Guardians and that's it. There's no mention of what happened to them as far as I know. Like I can understand with the Gloom some of it may have gotten destroyed or lost but there was dozens of working and semi working and totally broken Guardians. Many many many shrines. Those huge ass towers. Those pillars by the castle. There is no reasonable explanation for it to all just disappear. It would have been so cool to see some functional guardians out working on your side to fight or maybe some in certain areas still affected and against you. Still come across ruins here and there but nope none of that really exist anymore with no good explanation on what even happened to it all.
• To add onto the previous point on things I just don't get and like in TOTK is the lack of continuity. Barely any mention of the Calamity, what you as Link went thru, and what Zelda went thru. There's plaques here and there that Zelda had made and some small mentions here and there but it seems like none of that happened. Barely anyone remembers you, even people the majority of players would surely have interacted with in BotW like Hetsu. No mention of the Divine Beast or anything. It feels like TotK is trying to be a sequel and it's own separate thing at the same time. They don't have to shove the events of BotW in your face but it would have been nice to see more continuity with the old Sheikah stuff and more people remembering you and remembering past events here and there. Even just the Sheikah part would have been enough honestly. Cause at the moment it seems the game is barely acknowledging the past game outside of reusing the map and reworking it.
• The story in itself is just not doing it for me. I don't care much about Zelda's part as I've stated in the previous section. There's just not enough to really latch onto. With BotW you are regaining your memories as Link so you see snippets from the past which makes sense they aren't completely all connected cause remembering memories can actually be like that. Yet it still gave us enough to go off of and gave Zelda way more personality and something to really care about. In this you aren't remembering anything you are getting memories without full context between them and Zelda in them feels less involved and not as fleshed out. We don't get to know the previous sages were at all or really get to know Rauru much or any of them really all that well. The story as a whole just doesn't work as well as the story in BotW in my opinion. At least what I've seen so far which is all the main memories and the one to get the master sword and what you see when the decedents get their stones.
• I'm just not a fan of the Zonai as a whole. I don't really care for their designs or the Zonai Aesthetic. I dislike that they turned Rauru into a Zonai when he was originally a Hylian. I preferred the Sheikah aesthetic of the shrines and towers and guardians/robots. I know the towers are Purah towers not Zonai but they are still kinda meh. In the trailers with the arm and certain aspects we were shown I intially thought back to the Twili and Twilight princess and thought some reimagining of the Twili would have been cool. I get that they may not have fit but honestly I feel the Zonai don't fit either.

Well I believe that is more or less everything and if you've read all the way to this point then just thanks, really. I appreciate it if you read this all cause I know this was a lot but I had a lot of thoughts. At the end of the day I still enjoy the game for what it is and still plan to complete it and a lot of it's extras side stuff. That being said doesn't mean I can't have critique or simply not care for certain aspects. For me there's a lot of potential in this game that I feel was missed out on among other things.
[TL:DR]
Things I really liked or loved were The return of Varied Dungeons and Bosses. I felt this was much needed in breath of the wild and I'm glad TotK have them. All the little caves you can find and explore and the wells to an extent as well. They made the world feel more interesting. I absolutely adored the Depths and the challenge it brings. I loved the return of more enemies bringing in more enemy variety. Being able to use my horses from BotW and the changes to Bullet Time.
Stuff I liked the concept of but didn't care for the exception of was Ganondorf as I feel like he was a bit weak characterization wise with missed opportunities. Gloom is awesome in gameplay and coming across it but how it's handled in the story was weak and should have just been an extension of Malice explicitly. Sky Islands the lands of missed opportunity as well as not being that interesting to explore. How Zelda and the Past was handled just feels underdeveloped, especially Zelda's role in most of it. The return of Poes is just a disappointing pick up with no interesting enemy attached like in the past. The sage abilities are cool in concept and it's kinda nice having pseudo companions but activating the abilities is annoying and discourages me from using them at times. The fuse ability taking away cool items and making elemental arrows more tedious to use also disrupting the flow of gameplay.
Parts of the game I just didn't really like at all like the lack of any continuity in either story or sheikah tech with all the sheikah tech basically vanishing without a trace or explanation to the limited or lack of mention of previous events. The cumbersome material system when going thru it for arrows or weapons on the fly. Having to spam A to pick up Rupees and Poes where in BotW you just ran over Rupees to pick them up. The Secret Stones being called Secret Stones. The Story as a whole is just lacking in my opinion and not as good as BotW in execution. Just not a fan of the Zonai as a whole. Also lastly Zelda stole my house and I want it back.