Don't starve together walkthrough

If a couple answered a question
"Should finances be 50/50 in a relationship."
Partner 1 says "Only if the two are living together or marriage, simply because you both are surviving together."
Partner 2 thinks thats a red flag and says "It should be 50/50 regardless."
But partner 1 thinks that is a red flag
when dating which is correct?
I'd imagine if its a date,vacation,or anything that has the two together it should be 50/50.
But to expect a fresh relationship to share each other wallet? I don't know

As it says in the bit you clicked on: I’m delightful. Read further for a small sample of the many ways in which I am wonderful, and find out how you, yes YOU, can take advantage to the amazing limited time offer. Also, we're social distancing, so I suppose this is a good time for torrid correspondence.
Offer includes:
Wit: I’m funny. Sometimes dry and biting, as when hanging out over drinks and I’m making acerbic sotto-voce comments about the dipshits at the other end of the bar, declaiming upon how Democrats are just as bad as Republicans and anyway Hillary is super corrupt. Sometimes absurdly silly, as when we are in bed, and especially in those awful moments during kink when pushing our emotional boundaries has inadvertently shattered the shared intimacy whereby situations that might otherwise be horrifying turn unbearably hot and sexy and intimate; (because you are firmly bound, suspended from a hook in this door-frame, with a ball gag distending your mouth and a large man is selecting amongst his toys for what to hit you with, now that you’ve been worked over with the crop that he’s still using to caress your clit. For example). Talking about the kink is supposed to be further down, but I’m proud of my ability to notice those moments and pull the gag and start improvising a progressively more absurd re-telling of the constitutional convention as a poorly organized swingers convention, using the contents of my pockets to represent the various founding fathers and their outhouse assignations with Jefferson.
Frightening intellect: I’m really, really bright. I read, constantly and voraciously and indiscriminately, at least as far as subject. I pay attention to news and politics and policy and everything else and I’m always glad to spend time with someone else who is as interested in the world as I am. I adore — really, deeply adore— doing kink with terrifically intelligent women; having the kind conversations where I feel like I must be a genius just because I can kind of keep up with you. Kinky sex is by nature pretty intimate, at least when it is something two people are doing together as opposed to some dude who figures kinky girls are easy and thinks being a dom means not caring if she comes and yelling bitch a lot. But I am not that guy. I fucking hate that guy. I spent years being miserable and basically at war with my sexuality because I thought being male and dom meant I had to be that guy and oh my God I think I’d rather just remove the entire apparatus using a rusty spoon from my Swiss Army knife rather than be like that walking indictment of humanity. So I need to like the person I’m performing misogyny at. She needs to be someone I can talk to before and after and not feel like I’m robbing an intellectual cradle. My capacity to be the most amazing dom you’ve ever invited to cross you boundaries — which I can totally be — is tied directly to how much I respect you as an equal making a choice and my assessment of your respect for me in the same way.
Sexy: There is no one true standard of hotness, and I don’t hold myself forth as the platonic ideal of the male form (for one thing? The Greeks were super into tiny penis. I’m serious. Had to do with their ideals of balance, apparently). I’m a big guy, 5’11, white, with a broad-shouldered sort of frame that leads people to think I’m taller than I am. I have a bit of a gut, but not so much that you’d call me fat, walking down the street; I suspect that the gut is something I notice but mostly no one else does. I get more compliments on my ass than I know what to do with.
I’m fit and active, I have nice eyes, a good smile and a better laugh. I’m currently clean shaven, although I’ve been known to grow a beard from time to time. (It is a small, neat Van Dyke sort of thing - I couldn’t grow a hipster lumberjack beard if I wanted to. Something else the Greeks would have had opinions on). Brown eyes, brown hair, and bespectacled. Nerd, but sexy nerd. And admit it: when a dude is tying you up and saying demeaning, degrading, frantically arousing things to you, wouldn’t you rather, when drops the crop and your world collapses to the feeling of his fingers (HOW many fingers? God, can you even tell any more, you are so wet...) moving inside your pussy and his thumb on your clit, when you suddenly feel his free hand up under your hair, right along the scalp, in that good, firm grab that makes you feel small and helpless and sexy and dirty and nasty and so, so good (and HEY! Did I tell you you could do that? If I wanted you to fuck your filthy hole on my fingers I’d have told you to, wouldn’t I? So stop, or I’ll have to take them away) ... in that moment, I have to believe you’d rather have the person whispering sweet, dirty nothings in your ear be one who can use words like “wanton” and “harlot” as well as “skank” and “hoe” or strangely popular “bitch”. Who can capture your imagination even more thoroughly than he’s bound your hands and ankles. I don’t know. I’m not even just a little bit submissive, and even if I was I’d still be a dude. But I have to believe -and user feedback surveys seem to support - that it is better when the violence of action is matched by wickedness of mind and quickness of wit.
Liberal: I’m not imposing a political litmus test. But because I only screw people I like and who I at least believe like me, and because the politics of the moment are centered around such a toxic person leading an even more toxic movement it matters: If you are on board with the current conservative movement in America, just... no. Because while I might get past the stupid policy, maybe. I mean probably not, but I can forgive well-meaning and ignorant, at least in principle. But I could never accept the cruelty.
Feminist: As much as I enjoy deploying the tropes and language of misogyny in bed with a likeminded partner, my enjoyment of that for that performative misogyny hinges on you being in on the joke (if you’ll allow). It isn’t just about “being good”; virtue has nothing to do with it, at least in this context. It is because as a dominant I get off, in large part, on your desire: controlling it, restraining it, heightening it, sustaining it and ultimately satisfying it (or not, as circumstances dictate). If we don’t start from a place where we both see ourselves as peers, I can never be really sure that desire is authentic or authentically mine. And I am egotistical enough, or maybe just have enough self-respect, to demand that I be certain that your desire is for me, specifically, at least in the time we are in “bed”. (although the bed is only the actually relevant piece of furniture at most half the time. Really, beds are actually terribly designed for good sex. Post coital cuddle and bullshit sessions, while we discussed what worked, what really worked, and what needs work? That is a fine use for the bed. For fucking and fucking related program activities? At best a poor second to a good couch or any of a wide variety of chairs.
Stoned-sex: I love the way it affects my physiology, keeping me aroused and in the moment for hours and hours and the way it drops my refractory period down to only a few minutes or a half an hour before I’m in the mood again. And I love the way it slows down my otherwise sometimes too quickly racing mind, so that I can slide effortlessly into the dominant analog of subspace; that mental space where calling a pretty girl who I like and respect and admire a lazy no good whore, where yanking her up by her hair, slapping her face and telling her to get her greedy little mouth all the way down my cock or I’ll show her what rough really means... Weed helps me be in that space without quite so much second guessing or worry that I’m going to hurt you. It lets me trust my instincts and you and your ability to safeword out, and that is good for both of us.
Kinky: Obviously. And obviously, this is shot through with examples. But: I like power and control. I like, more than anything getting to know you and your mind and being able to figure out how to wrap you around my fingers so thoroughly that I hardly have to lift them to have you dancing my tune. I can be rough, and cruel, and I love causing pain, even to the point of tears and balancing that against urgency and a desire to please and an orgasm that I can hold just out of reach until the moment I don’t and just as your are falling off from that peak ratcheting the sexual energy back up so that even though you just came call over my hands or cock or mouth you’d do anything-Anything-ANYTHING for one more caress, one more thrust, one more slide of my tongue (inside: that specific, delightful acid tang of the inside of a cunt that you only taste when you push your tongue deep inside - it never lasts on a finger, for some reason - then out and up and you can feel her tremble, strong and subtle and if it were a song this bit would be almost subsonic and then under the clit and around and there she goes, she’s starting to beg again and now I kinda have a crush on her because she is learning me back, harlot instead of whore, and an under-undercurrent of mirth beneath it all: the power is real and the desire is real but we also both know it is a joke, a shared secret: we can do this and still be friends and isn’t that fucking awesome?).
I have a few specific fetishes: I like to decide what you wear, when we are together: I love being able to look at you and know, not just that you’ve made yourself into an expression of my ideal of high femme sexuality, but that as you did so, with every little bit, anticipation was building. That I’ve been teasing you, maybe for hours, without doing a thing or saying a thing. (And of course, it plays back into desire and its close cousin, consent. If every stitch you are -and every stitch you are.- wearing was chosen with an eye to my desires, that is an implicit declaration of enthusiastic consent). I have a bit of a twist for deviance. Sitting next to a woman who I know has got nothing on under her panties but the butt plug I told her to wear is hot; hotter still if I handed it too her at the bar and she returns from the bathroom and hands me her panties. Hotter still if I hand it too her and she doesn’t go to the bathroom, but just looks around and then slides it up her ass with a smirk and a “Thank you SiDaddy”. I like being called Daddy, sometimes. There is something inherently provocative when the kind of woman -scary smart, self-confident, and self-aware - that I am drawn to lets a breathy, anxious “Daddy” slip her lips. There is something inherently filthy about hearing that word, with all its baggage, demeaning, infantilizing implications fall from the lips of someone who is alive to those implications and is calling to me in that way not despite them, but on account of them. (It isn’t my revolution if I can’t dance to it. And it isn’t my feminism if we can’t repurpose our cultural baggage in order to have a spectacular sex life in a magnificent relationship).
I have more than a bit of the daddy in me. A bit physically — I’m solid like that. And still more in attitude. As much as I demand of a partner, I cherish knowing I can be a very particular kind of safe place to stand for her. I enjoy, even need, to be protective and caring, supportive and nurturing. Not only in that quiet place after we have hit the climax (or between the first, easy release and starting the next assent — which is very much part of why I like being able to combine weed with my kink. As much as I love giving reign to some of the darker parts of my personality during the rush of kink, I also exulting that aftermath; when your head is on my chest and my arm wraps around you, and my hands explore your body without any urgency or any hesitation. I love that feeling of being a place of safety and feeling you relax into my size and my strength. It is the only feeling that I have that I identify as definitely masculine (in and for myself: I’m not trying to claim that experience as uniquely belonging to those issued a penis and number of testicles at birth).
It extends beyond sex; really, that is only the tip of the iceberg. Vital, and you sure as shit are going to sink if you miss it in the dark. But it runs all through my relationships. Arguable without the sexually charged overtones, it is just a over complicated way of saying “I like being a good boyfriend”. But where would we be without our sexually charged overtones? And it cuts both ways: if you are pulling from that part of me without returning the counterpoint of submission I need (or I feel I’m constantly reminding you that I need it and your compliance thus feels grudging) we are going to crash and burn. If you fail to make certain it is clear to me that you are as happy to give me what I need as I am eager to give you what you need, I’m going to feel really ill-used.
Having said all that, I’m not remotely a good fit for anyone who defines themselves as a little. A Daddy/daughter dynamic without the explicit embrace of childishness has an intense pull because it combines taboo violation with a power exchange dynamic that comports well with my personality — being both protective and demanding, authority and comfort works well for me. But I find that the idea of trying to be sexual with someone locked in to portraying a prepubescent very uncomfortable and suspect that I would still feel that way with someone who’s “little” age was more mature. That is a squick, rather than a value judgment. With me, that sort of age play (or even worse pet play) works strongly against the kind of intimacy that I value in kink. Role play can be a blast, and I love it, but I need it to clearly be play, something that can be stepped into and out of without stepping completely out of the kink dynamic. I bring the entirety of myself to everything I do, and I have enough self-regard to demand the same from my partner. If I like you enough to take you to bed, that necessarily means that I value your mind enough to lust after it — no matter how lovely you may be in repose, if you can’t or won’t turn me on with your intellect you will lose my interest so quickly as to acquire a visible redshift as you exit my life. Accordingly, when I reach for your mind, be it too discuss housing policy or my difficulty with a binding, to check on your well being or learn how your dissertation is progressing, (and I’ve done all of these during a scene) I deserve to be able to find it, and you, there reaching back.
If you’ve gotten this far and if you are at all the target audience: (cis-female, like weed and kink together, comfortable in yourself and your kinks, think you’re sexy) send me a PM. Don’t think yourself out of it or wait and see or anything. For fucks sake don't read the following Just put together a couple of paragraphs of message and fire it off. I don’t know what will happen, but I know for sure you won’t regret having done so. After all, like I said right up top: I’m delightful. I bet you are too.
I used to try and assert that I don’t have a type. That isn’t true, though: I have several even beyond the implicit, willful intellectual type suggested above. And the list keeps growing: I’m forever delighted by the variety of women who've made my hindbrain start barking and trying to do tricks, at one time or another. Granting that, my abiding lust objects resemble 40’s pin ups far more than 00’s porn stars, at least insofar as body type goes; tattoos and piercings can be wonderfully sexy. Likewise, though a wonderful rack can be a wonder to behold a girl in an A-cup who has that warm flare of hip and legs that go all the way down can lead to me walking into traffic. Finally, my experience of myself is sufficient for me to say confidently that race isn’t a factor in my libido, either for or against.
I live in Chicago, love my city, and for all I value the intellectual aspect of all this, I want ultimately to meet one (or more, I suppose;) women with whom I can spend time with both doing sexy things and the kind of things that make us both so terribly sexy. If that means an intense but memorable two days while you are visiting your great aunt Wilma, that is worth doing. If that means ongoing encounters frequent enough to keep us both sated, great. And if those are intermixed with enough non-sexual shared activities that the phrase “friends-with-benefits” is a fact and not just a more polite way of saying fuckbuddies? Even more great. Super, even. And if that last develops into a passion that carries us through the next three or four decades, both of us slightly bemused that we got along so well during the benighted days before first we fell upon one another, carried away on a passion so intense it is visible from orbit? Well. Wouldn’t that be delightful.

Good evening friends and loathed ones! My names is Raeya, and I'm here to find my penpal(s).
About me:
A little goth, a little geeky; I'm your average weird girl. "Eccentric" is a more preferable word. I personally don't think I'm *that* strange, but I do tend to be overly familial. I'll chat with you like we grew up together.
I suppose I should I write some common interests! Including, but not limited to:
Dungeons and Dragons, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, foreign language, sculpting, drawing, painting, scrap booking, writing high fantasy fiction, DOOM, Warhammer 40,000, cosplaying (in theory), and westerns (BIG rdr fan, and currently watching the original Django).
Surprisingly, not a huge fan of horror. I'm a weenie, and refuse to play scary games alone. That being said, big ol' Silent Hill fan. The games, not the movies.
​
I think that about sums me up...! If you're interested, send me a dm or comment if you'd like! Thanks for reading. <3

hi this is an old ttar concept i made prior to it being released. i just made this for myself like a year ago or so and never showed it to anyone. just dropping it here because hell why not
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ttar concept
melee defender
evolves at lvls 5 and 8
stats
hp:9700/atk:387/def:596/spatk:112/spdef:479/crit:0%/cdr:10%/lifesteal:0 (completely overstatted of course)
abilities
guts - when afflicted with a status condition inflicted by a pokemon on the opposing team, remove all status conditions and become immune to hindrances for 1.5s. (40s cd)
shed skin - when afflicted with a status condition inflicted by a pokemon on the opposing team, remove all status conditions and become immune to hindrances for 1.5s and be granted a shield equal to 10% max hp for 5s. (45s cd)
sand stream - whenever this pokemon hits a move or boosted attack, fills the sand stream bar. at three stacks, summons a sandstorm around this pokemon, dealing additional damage to opposing pokemon in its vicinity and increasing defenses by 50%. (stacks last 5s and decay together, but can be refreshed as long as the conditions are met.)
additionally, reduces special attack damage taken from enemy players by 30% for 5s and negate their moves secondary effects once. this part of the ability goes on cooldown when its triggered. (15s cd)
basic attack - becomes a boosted attack with every third attack, dealing increased damage by stomping forward and slowing opposing pokemon hit by 45% for 2s. (this boosted auto latches onto enemies in a small aoe like machamps boosted auto)
moves
take down - recklessly charge at the designated direction, dealing damage by pounding the ground and throwing opposing pokemon hit in a small area-of-effect(0.5s). upon successful hit, receive 5% remaining hp as damage but increase movement speed by 10% for 2.5s.
bite - user quickly bites in front of itself, dealing damage in a small area in front of it and briefly leaving opposing pokemon hit unable to act. the users next basic attack becomes boosted. (this was rock throw prior to its leak)
(rock throw - hurls three rocks in the designated direction in a cone shape, damaging and briefly leaving opposing pokemon hit unable to act. the users next basic attack becomes boosted.)
lvl 5 - crunch or stone edge (replaces bite/rock throw)
crunch - has the user quickly dash forward a small distance, dealing damage to opposing pokemon hit by viciously biting them and leaving them unable to act. afterwards, decreases their defense by 25% for 3s. the users next basic attack becomes boosted.
level 11 upgrade - additionally, opposing pokemon hit receive 40% reduced healing for 3s. (i definitely started this during absol/blissey meta last year)
stone edge - has the user stomp the ground, sending out sharp rocks travelling underground. upon travelling the set distance, makes sharp rocks burst out of the ground, damaging and throwing opposing pokemon hit in a small area-of-effect(1s). if no distance has been set, places this move on top of this pokemon, creating the area-of-effect around it instead. if this move travels a certain distance, opposing pokemon hit will be thrown towards this pokemon. the users next basic attack becomes boosted. holds a maximum of 2 charges and has a 2s cd between uses. this move can critically strike and has a 10% innate chance to do so, however, the multiplier is x1.5 instead of x2 if it critically hits. (even i came up with a better idea for stone edge than what we got, huh)
level 11 upgrade - increased area-of-effect.
lvl 8 - pursuit or thrash
pursuit - tyranitar becomes unstoppable and moves with 30% decreased movement speed, channeling energy and targeting one pokemon for a maximum of 2s. this decreases the targets movement speed by 50% for 1s. if tyranitar channels energy for 1.25s, become unstoppable during the second part of this move as well. if this move is cancelled, reduces this moves cd by 80%. upon activation, tyranitar leaps at the selected target, pounding the ground at the point of impact and throwing opposing pokemon hit in an area-of-effect(0.75s). if crunch is used within a certain timeframe before the second part of the move connects with a target, replaces the throw with a lunging bite that stuns opposing pokemon instead. this increases the damage and stun duration of crunch slightly, but decreases the area-of-effect. opposing pokemon hit are marked with an icon for 6s, increasing tyranitars movement speed towards them by 15%. if tyranitar hits a marked opponent, makes the mark disappear but decreases this moves cooldown by 1s.
level 13 upgrade - while channeling energy, grants a shield for 5s equal to 15% max HP.
thrash - tyranitar becomes unstoppable and forcefully stomps forward three times, with each stomp damaging opposing pokemon hit and shattering the ground at the points of impact, leaving behind three area-of-effects for 5s that slows opposing pokemon inside it by 35% for 1s (re-applicable). these stomps send out shockwaves to nearby opposing pokemon, slightly damaging and slowing them by 45% for 2s. each stomp will continiously throw opposing pokemon hit, increasing in throw duration with each stomp (0.25s, 0.3s, 0.65s), but leaving tyranitar unable to act after the third stomp(0.3s). tyranitar receives 30% reduced damage while using this move. (this was stomping tantrum originally, but i just renamed it into thrash and gave it a confusion mechanic because it seemed too strong without it. don't ask me why)
level 13 upgrade - further increases damage reduction effect to 40%.
lvl 9 - unite move
ravaging sandstream - tyranitar becomes unstoppable, letting out a massive roar, creating a sandstorm around it, damaging and briefly stunning opposing pokemon too close to it. afterwards, the sandstorm will travel outwards, damaging and leaving opposing pokemon hit by it unable to act and binding them in place for a short time.
if this unite move is used near a goalzone, covers the goal in sand for 8s. if the sand lands on an ally goalzone, decreases enemy goal scoring speed by 50%. if the sand lands on an enemy goalzone, decreases the effects granted by a goalzone by 50%.(100s cd) (just a neat idea i had so i tossed it in here i think)

I recently moved from TX to NC. It's kind of a trial move to see if my separated wife and I can co-parent our daughter together. This question is not about all that though (at least not yet).
I drove my car here and it won't be going back. I'm keeping my permanent address in TX for tax and other reasons, and my TX driver's license doesn't expire until 2030. But, the registration on the car is coming due and I would really like to renew it there. The problem is getting the inspection which is required to renew. Unless I find a shady inspection place, I can't think of any way to get the inspection to renew the registration. Any options I don't know about? Alternatively, where's the shady inspection guys when you need one? (kidding)

I feel like there's three of us living in this house: me, her, and her phone. We [me NT her DX nonmedicated] can't watch anything that I'm excited about seeing together without the phone coming out after less than 5 minutes. I used to love watching foreign films together but now there's no point because she won't be assed to read the subtitles because she's staring at her phone and has no idea what the hell is going on. Hell, we can't even go hiking without the fucking phone coming out on the trail. If I say anything, she'll put it away but it comes right back out as soon as she gets bored, usually less than 5 minutes. I don't feel like we have quality time together anymore. Nothing I do or say can draw her attention more than that fucking phone.

Hi Guys, Let me tell u not so simple story about me and a girl. And i need some genuine advices from you guys. Please listen to me and let me know what do u think. 2 years back, me and this girl met through a colleague. Actually, we went down few times and one night she got so Drunk. And that led to you know what. After that night we decided to date eachother. It was not an usual romantic story where one of person approachs someone and try to build the bond first. In the our case we did something which people do at pretty later stage of their relationship. So we started building the bond afterwards. I mean to say that we started dating only after that. Let me tell you something about this girl first and then me. She was actually my classmate in my masters and had a boyfriend. But we were in a different sections. But we never talked during our masters to eachother. We just knew eachother by faces. And also we had different group of friends. She was quite popular in college and was really good at extracurricular activities. She loved the adventures, fun and ofcourse the attention of people she gets. Meanwhile, i was more of a introvert person who loved his studies and closed group of friends. I was from very low-middle class background. So studying and getting god job was the only aim for me at that time. Later by luck, we both got placed in same MNC in college placement. Meanwhile, she got broken up with her college boyfriend as she told me. After that we started talking a little bit and eventually started meeting with eachother. It was just a common office colleagues courtesy there between and no such bond as it is. We were no match at first and i also never thought of as her someone who i will date because we were so different and she is also way out of my league at that time. But after night when we spent sometime a night together at my friend's flat. Then things went different and we seriously started dating eachother, going out, making trip plans and spending some quality time together. While i was happy that i could find someone so amazing in my life. She was looking to me as i was doing everything i can to make her queen of my life. Yes, i was kind of that hard-core SRK style lover. And she liked it so much about me. Later after dating for few months, we moved in together in a flat.we started living there and we did everything to make eachother happy. It was not one sided, she actually cared about me as well and she also made me a better and happy person in life. But now i will tell you the other side of story as well. She quite oftenly go out saying to me that she was going out with her relatives or parents. And she can't pick up my call and she will call me next day. Sometimes it was okay but later i started noticing this pattern quite often. I don't want to ruin her privacy and don't wanted to be a clingy partner. So i let her did whatever she felt ok. This was happening every 2-3 weeks, where she just got disappeared for 1-2 night. No messages, no calls, no replies whatsoever. I asked her few times but she told me that her parents are so conservative and couldn't pick your calls or can't talk to you right now. While we were there in the flat together, she has particular timings of her calls, which she called that was from her some college friends or parents. She regularly had some calls at 9 AM, around 1PM, later 6 PM in evening and 9 PM at night. This was her some pattern, i might be wrong but this felt okay for me sometimes and she has so many friends which she talk to regularly. After celebrating her birthday, i wanted to know whom she was talking to. And before moving out from our flat, just 10 days before i got her phone and tried to check her WhatsApp. That particular day, my world got shattered After all this time, she was talking to some guy in which was way way closer to her that i thought. they were doing good morning and goodnight to eachother. They were making plans of meeting all this time. They were discussing the details of their body about eachother. They even send pics of eachother, which she never did to me. Same night i confronted her asked about this guy and she told that she wanted to told me about him from a very long time about this guy and she was in committed relationship when she met me. She have tried multiple times to tell me about this guy but never got a chance or courage to told me. Bur suprisingly she later that night told me that she and i were not in any kind of committed relationship. As for her it was okay to be with me physically, mentally in evey way since we were just dating, friends with benefits or whatever you call it. Cut to sort today we are still together, one year passed and i forgiven her mistakes quite while long back. It's been almost 1 year to that incident. And i don't whether i have made a right decision or not but giving her second chance. Pleas let me know your thoughts about my story.

My sweet girl. You and I have been through so much over the years. You are the most beautiful girl in the world to me. I love everything about you. Your infectious laugh. Your smile that lights up my world. I have done everything I can to protect you. To help you get over all the hurt this world has bestowed on you. I have professed my undying love for you. Spoiled you. Told you all my darkest secrets. Together I thought we would fight the world. Side by side. You confessed you were in love with me. And I wanted so badly to believe you this time. Trust doesn't come easy for me. Not after what I have been through. I thought you of all people would understand that. But you lied to me. You made me promises you didn't keep. Promises you never intended to keep. I am beside myself I feel lost. My heart is broken to pieces. After years of picking up all your pieces, who will now pick up mine? You are my everything. The love of my life. My best friend. Now I have nothing. Just loneliness. I miss you. I know you want me to say something to you. But after you gaslight me, I just don't know what to say. After I confronted you about your lie, you through in my face that I made you a promise to never abandon you. And I haven't. I still love you just as much as I always did. That's what hurts the most. I just want to tell you I love you. But I know I can't. I need you to be a grown up and admit you lied to me. Tell me you are sorry. To tell me you still love me too. I could forgive you. I will forgive you. Because I'm a sucker when it comes to you. But I also know you will never do that. So now I just will lay here and think about why you did this to me. I love you beautiful girl Always and Forever

I used to pitch my tent wherever. If it looked interesting, I was setting up camp. I kept a tent at the ready in my trunk. There’s nothing exciting about a park; there’s no adventure in that. I didn’t camp out near someone’s house or anything like that, but I have found myself in some precarious situations. The worst yet, happened in East Tennessee.
I was traveling back to campus after spring break. There’s a spot of hills that I’ve always thought interesting. Between those hills runs a long valley. As I drive back and forth between Knoxville and Nashville, I always tell myself that I’m going to camp in that spot, but I never do it. I’m always pressed for time. I never leave in time though. Class is always the next day. Lost in music, I started ruminating on how boring my life had become. To hell with it, I was going to do it. I didn’t much care to do Calculus at eight in the morning anyway. I could afford to miss one day.
I pulled over to the side of the interstate, got my tent and backpack, and started hiking downhill to the valley. It was still early afternoon. The sun was still high enough in the sky to illuminate my way. The vegetation was thick. There was no human-made trail, no way to easily traverse the terrain. As I hiked through the briars and whipping branches, I reminded myself to buy a machete for instances such as these.
I found a perfect spot under a thicket of red cedars, with a nice flat area and no undergrowth. I pitched my tent and laid out my sleeping bag. I didn’t carry much on these excursions. I had a backpack with some crackers, a knife, lighter and a flashlight. It was usually a one-night affair and I’m gone the next morning. I spent most of the day exploring, but on this occasion, I was a little late. My main desire was to hike to the top of the largest hill to see the view and discover what was on the other side.
It took me about an hour and a half to make it up the hill. There on the other side was a wide expanse of nothing but trees. It looked like a green shag carpet rolled out across the landscape. I noticed directly at the bottom of the hill was an old wooden shed. What an odd place for a shed. The sun was farther down but I still had time to check it out.
I descended down to the other side of the hill, with a little haste. I wanted to make it back to my tent before it got too dark, but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. My curiosity piqued. I was excited for some adventure. I got to the shed, opened the door and walked straight in without surveying the inside first. I felt the earth beneath my feet give way, my gut lifting up as if on a roller coaster, and then fell hard to the ground, breaking my tibia. The pain was excruciating. I rolled around in agony, feeling the dirt and rocky bottom. I looked up and realized I had fallen down into a deep hole, not so deep that I couldn’t see the shed walls. The shed was only big enough to encompass and hide the hole. The hole seemed to be about twenty feet deep, no way to climb out and escape. There was still enough light to see up top, but down in the hole it was dark.
“We’re dead. You know that don’t you?”
I was startled. Someone else was down in the hole with me. I grabbed my flashlight out of my backpack. There on the other side of the hole was a young woman. Her whole being- body, face, and clothes were filthy with dirt and grime. Her lips were dried up and cracked.
“You almost hit me. Watch where you’re falling next time,” she said with a weak chuckle.
“How long have you been here?”
“I don’t know. I’m in and out of consciousness. Sometimes I wake up and think I’m home in bed, then realize I’m in this damned hole.”
“How did you get here?”
“I was abducted… and you?”
“I was camping and found this shed.”
She laughed. “So, you saw a creepy shed in the woods and went to see what was inside. Man, you’re a dumb fuck.”
“There’s no way out of here?”
“No, I’ve tried. Nothing we can do. I know you’re hurt pretty bad. I heard your leg snap as you fell. Man, what a sound. I hate to say this, but I’m glad you’re here though. I was getting lonely. I don’t mean I want you to go through what I’ve been through. I mean, I’m just glad you’re not him. Well, might as well introduce myself since we’re going to be spending a lot of time together. My name is Mary.” She widened her eyes and tilted her head forward, trying to evoke a response.
“I’m Gary.”
My leg was bent awkwardly, but no bone was exposed. Even though there was just me and Mary in the hole there were piles of clothing, a thrift store in the middle of the woods. I grabbed some blue jeans and a tee shirt. I tied it tight around my shin. I didn’t know how to make a tourniquet or even if I should. I just wanted to stabilize my leg the best I could.
There was an uneasy silence. What do you talk about when you are trapped in a hole?
“Him… you said him. It’s just the one guy?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know if I would call him a guy.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll see.”
“What do you mean? Does he come down into the hole?”
“Yes, and he takes you out of the hole and does things to you… experiments.”
“Then that’s our chance. That’s our only chance, is to knock the shit out of this fucker and get out of here. He’s not expecting me. He doesn’t know I’m down here.”
I started formulating a plan. There were enough clothes that I could hide underneath, and I had my knife.
“Mary, I want you to move forward. I’ll pack some clothes behind you. I’ll be buried underneath with my knife. You lean back on that pile… you know like you had made yourself a comfortable little bed or something. Ok?” She nodded her head. “When does he usually come?”
“I don’t know but it’s pretty regular.”
“How does he get down here?”
“He has a rope ladder.”
“Is he big? Have you ever tried to fight him… to escape?”
“No, he has some…” she hesitated, “some kind of power. It freezes me. I can’t move. I hear a ringing in my head and then I’m paralyzed. Don’t let him see you. We’ll know when he’s approaching. There’s always a humming sound and a clicking.”
I wasn’t believing anything she was saying. She had been trapped in a dark hole for who knows how long. She was losing her mind, starved of vital nutrients. Her imagination had started to create a different reality for her, one that I was unwilling to participate in.
I laid against the wall of the hole on my side. My broken leg was throbbing, as it was laying on the floor with my other leg on top. I couldn’t switch around though. I had to be facing the side the hole he would be climbing down. Mary threw a bunch of the clothing on top of me, leaving my face exposed so that I could breathe and not get too hot. I held my knife up to my chest. It was the old-fashioned survival knife, with a compass on the handle. I had long since lost the matches and string that came with the knife, tucked away in the hollow of the handle. But for my present purposes, the blade was, hopefully, all I needed. Mary leaned back against me. We waited.
After a while, I heard a humming and a clicking. The thought ran through my head that maybe Mary wasn’t crazy after all.
“He’s coming.”
“I know. Go ahead and cover my face.”
The humming subsided, but the clicking grew louder. I heard the door open, then the unrolling of the rope ladder with the wooden rungs tapping out a rhythm as it fell to the floor of the hole. Mary started to whimper in fear. I heard the man make his way down and then the thump of his feet as he jumped to the bottom. The hole lit up with a blue light. I felt Mary’s body go limp and then I felt her lifted up off of me. I slowly, quietly pushed away the shirt that was covering my face.
The man had his back towards me with Mary slumped over his shoulder. He was about to climb up out of the hole. He wasn’t that tall, but thick like a Neanderthal. He wore all black, with a long sleeve turtle-neck shirt. He was bald, but the oddest thing was where the blue light was emanating from. What skin I could see, on his head and his irregularly long hands, was glowing blue.
I was scared as hell. What was I about to tangle with? Yet, I knew now more than ever this was our only chance. I let him climb a few rungs before I sprung out and hobbled as fast as I could to the other side of the hole. He didn’t hear me. I know I had made too much noise, but he never reacted. I shoved my knife into his lower back. The clicking grew loud. I grabbed his shirt and yanked him down the ladder, pulling my knife out of his back, and thrusting it in the back of his neck. Mary fell hard to the ground.
He turned his head revealing large black eyes, devoid of pupils. He didn’t have a nose. His mouth was huge with mandibles projecting from each side. The mandibles fluttered angrily, clicking and humming, increasing in frequency. He, or it, pushed me to the ground, pulling my knife out of his neck and throwing it to the ground. It looked into my eyes, making a hypnotic contact that I could not shake. I heard a ringing in my head and my body went limp. I had no control over my limbs. I was frozen to the bottom of the hole, my plan unraveling.
Everything was a haze. I was barely cognizant of my surroundings so I don’t know when or how Mary regained consciousness, but I could see her sneaking toward the knife. My vision was blurry. I was fighting to not to pass out. I saw Mary get the knife and move quickly toward the being. She grabbed a handful of dirt and slung it at his head. He turned and she landed the knife in his face. He pivoted back toward me, and I could see she had stabbed him directly in one of his eyes. Black and crimson fluid streamed down his face. I could feel my body again, slowly able to move my limbs. I got up as fast as my recovering body would allow and started towards the ladder.
“Go Mary. Go, go, go. Get the hell out of here!”
She went up first and I followed pushing her in the rear as we went up. We were half-way when I felt him grab my broken leg. I shrieked; the pain was unbearable. I instinctively kicked with my other leg and landed a shot to his mouth, breaking off one of his mandibles. The creature fell back down into the hole. Mary and I made it out of the hole and quickly pulled up the ladder.
The creature recovered from its fall. Realizing it was trapped, it tried frantically to climb up the wall. I was relieved to see that it didn’t have any power of flight or levitation or some other weird alien power that would get him out of the hole. Mary and I watched as the blue shimmer of light banged against the walls, like a firefly stuck in a mason jar. There was nothing to do but leave it there and hope it starved to death.
It took forever, but we finally made it to my car. Mary drove me to the nearest hospital. She called the police and told them that we had escaped from an assailant with long black hair and a big bushy beard. I don’t know what else she could say. Who would believe the truth? She pushed the officials in a different direction from the shed, claiming that we had escaped from a house somewhere about ten miles from the actual location. I suspected she knew more than what she was saying, or even more than what she had told me. Maybe she knew that the creature would no longer be there, that something would have come and retrieved him. I don’t know. I do know that I never travel that way anymore and I sure as hell don’t ever go camping. Gaming is all the adventure I need.

Hello everyone,
I really really hope that someone can help me with my situation. Picking a major has been destroying me this past year (I am currently finishing my sophomore year). I feel very lost and anxious and have fallen into a bit of a year-long depression over this choice. If someone would be able to read all the way through and offer me some advice, I would be insanely grateful!
For context, I feel a ton of pressure from my parents to pick an employable and "useful" major because of the debt they will be in to pay for my college degree. I go to a highly ranked university, but it is also extremely expensive. I was lucky enough that I got into ivy and my parents were willing to try to pay for my dream school.
My parents want me to pick an employable major so that their investment in my education will pay off, which of course I understand. I went in thinking I wanted to work in politics and law, which they were very supportive of. However, after interning in the field, I have become very disillusioned. Although I still enjoy politics as an academic subject, I do not have any interest in working in the field.
After realizing I didn't want to work in politics, I applied for an internship at a contemporary art museum the summer after my freshman year. I worked as an assistant to the curator, and even though most of my work was easy and very clerical (cataloging books, spreadsheets, etc.) I felt really inspired being around art and working to bring the exhibition together. I felt like I was doing something important for the community. On top of that, I really felt like I was a part bringing together an important and beautiful thing, even though I played only a small role. I caught the "art bug" as some might say, and now I desperately want to work in the arts. I think the most direct path to working in a contemporary art museum like the one I interned at would be an Art History degree.
However, my parents are not supportive about an Art History degree. They have even made me doubt if I want it myself. My mother was an artist and expresses a lot of nihilism about the art world. She has basically begged me not to pursue a career in the field. She has said that she doesn't think I will like it, there are no jobs, that art history would be a very "dry" and boring subject for me, the pay is low, and has expressed a lot of disdain for curators/art historians.
I have tried a lot of alternatives/compromises with my family this year. I tried to transfer into the business school in my college so that I could have at least a business degree as well as an art history degree, but I truly hated the classes. I felt so lost that I ended up withdrawing from the math and science requirements I was in and not completing the transfer. I lost all motivation and fell into a deep depression and beat myself up for being too lazy to really apply myself. I wasn't interested in the material and could barely get through the readings and homework. I feel really disappointed in myself that I seemingly can't succeed in any technical classes (math, science, etc.).
I feel like I came to college because I really love the pursuit of knowledge and love being knowledgeable about a particular topic that is important to me. I've always been inclined towards fields like English, Art, Philosophy, History, and Politics because I feel that they are personally important to me, I think that they are important in the context of the world, and I like being knowledgeable about them!
These are my current major options:

1. My school offers a Politics, Philosophy, and Economics major. I think this could be good for me because it is very versatile, explores my interests, and I could pair it with an art history minor and a fine arts minor and hopefully still be able to work in the arts while having more employment options. I also have already finished the Econ portion with A's, so the more "technical" part of the major is out of the way and I would be free to learn about politics and philosophy. I really like the idea of being knowledgeable about these topics, and the whole reason I decided to go to college in the first place was to learn about these topics (I was debating between university and music school). However, the downsides are I am terrified that a minor in art history will not be enough to get me a job in the field, and I will be stuck in politics/business and hate my job.
2. I could just say fuck it and major in Art History. I have a friend that majored in art history at my school and now works at a fine arts business company, which I would love to do and hopefully can also work in a job like that. I would probably have to find a minor that is more employable, which I'm still not sure what that could be for me. I am just worried that I will become very disillusioned with the art world like my mother says and end up having no backup plan.
3. I could major in English. My parents are actually supportive of this one since I would learn a technical skill like writing. I love English and have taken amazing English classes where I have loved spend hours on hours writing and revising my work. However, I just don't know if I have what it takes to be a writer, and I'm not sure what the path forward with this major would be for me. I guess I could still minor in art history with this one.

Context, I (16 f) have a cousin (19 f) who we will refer to as M for this story. I was diagnosed with autism at 7. Since then my cousin hasn't been too fond of me. She's rude, ignores me, plays "jokes" on me but they can get out of hand.
Basically, a week after I got diagnosed, my cousin came to stay at my house. The day after she came is when the torment began. In the morning when I got up, she hid my toothbrush so I had to ask my mum for a new one. When we ate breakfast, she kept taking my fork. In the afternoon when my grandma came over to watch us, I was making jewelry and everything I got up, she would take the beads/string and hide it in her pocket. When we got snowcones, she put hot sauce in mine when I asked ger to hold it. The list goes on. When I tried to tell on her, she would say that I did it, or that I asked her to do it.
Today, we got together for my older brother's graduation party. M was there, she glared at me the whole time, ignored me when I tried to ask her questions, etc. I kinda just left it alone after multiple failed attempts. After the party, my family went home. When we got back to the house my parents started asking me about my birthday. What the theme of the party should be, cake flavor, etc. I told them I wanted a Bluey theme and a strawberry cake. When they asked who should be there, I said everyone except M. They understood because obviously I'm not too fond of her and not too comfy with her.
When M was notified that she was off the guest list, she blew up. She said everything I told them was lies, and that they need to stop treating me like a spoiled brat. When my dad told her that even though my part of the family had money, that I still worked a job and that I was not spoiled, that I work for everything I have, and that she shouldn't view me as different because I have autism
She started blowing up my phone and I just went for a drive. She said that she hated me, wished I wasn't in this family, and that I'm not wanted. I know I'm wanted in my family but this is starting to get out of hand. I'm sick of being treated differently. I just want everyone to notice that I'm human too. It doesn't matter if I have autism, I should be treated like a human with respect. She wants respect even though she shits on me because of things I cannot control. I won't give respect to someone who doesn't give respect to me. The way she treats me is stupid. I don't even want her there when I graduate (which I will this year). I'm tired of being called "different."
All the shit she put me through. All the lies she tells. She's a grown woman now who can't take responsibility for her own actions. She blames her relationship with her mom problems on her mom when she is also at fault. It will come to light someday.
Now I'm sitting in my car in the Walmart parking lot eating chicken nuggies and sprite. I don't know if I'm in the wrong by not wanting her around me but I don't think so. Infact, I think it's for the greater good.
If I am wrong, please someone correct me, thank you!

I'm going to be covering these topics out of order, with respect to their sequence in the title. Also, apologies in advance for retreading some of the ground from my previous submissions. Spoilers for the Frenzied Flame and Age of the Duskborn endings.
How flower colors support the theory that Melina is St. Trina
This is something I later added to my recent theory on gloam, but I also thought it was interesting enough to warrant its own post. In that submission, I posited that gloam is actually two colors, primarily: purple—or indigo, as I suggested and tried to explain in an appendment at the bottom—and faded or tarnished gold.
Something I noticed about these colors that they are prominently associated with, and almost equivalent to, the color schemes of Miquella and St. Trina: Miquella is associated with gold, and St. Trina with purple. Now, Miquella is actually primarily represented by unalloyed gold, which realistically does not fade or tarnish. However, Miquella's lilies are indeed described as faded, just like the dusky erdleaf flowers mentioned in that post.
The first line of the description for Miquella's lily reads: "A delicate water lily of unalloyed gold that has started to fade and wilt."
These lilies, I believe, are important visual hints as to the identity of Melina and St. Trina.
Miquella's lily (faded gold) and St. Trina's lily (purple)
Melina's faded gold eye, and purple-indigo eye
Note that Miquella's and Trina's lily are found directly adjacent to each other in the crafting materials menu, matching the positioning of Melina's eyes. However, I did change the order of the lilies in the picture shown; in the menu, Trina's lily is found on the left, and Miquella's on the right. That being said, there might be a way to resolve this minor discrepancy: Even though the flowers and eyes appear to be ordered differently, this is only true if we base our judgment on our own perspective; Melina's gloam eye is on our right, but it's really her left eye, which corresponds with Trina's lily being on the left. The same is true for Miquella's lily and Melina's golden eye.
It's also interesting to look at Miquella's lily alongside the golden sunflower, which by the way, are also placed right next to each other in the menu, in the same order shown below.
golden sunflower and St. Trina's lily
The sunflower resembles Melina's gold eye, as well as an eclipse. Plus, if you ask me, the spiraling petals of Trina's lily on the right have a slight resemblance to the crow's talons on Melina's indigo eye.
Another important piece of evidence is the description for the golden sunflower. It reads: "At the foot of the Erdtree, they retain their color, along with a powerful holy essence."
This is the same phrasing we hear from Melina when describing her origins: "The Erdtree...is close. Only a little further till the foot of the Erdtree, and the accord is fulfilled. It takes me back. I was born at the foot of the Erdtree. Where mother gave me my purpose." You may recall that Melina also maintains certain attributes at the foot of the Erdtree: namely, her ability to "govern her own movement", and also, it seems, her memory (since memories are gold, and the Erdtree is made of them).
Below you can see how gold and purple flowers are clustered together in the item menu. I checked that this is the proper order, and that there are no missing crafting materials between the flowers in this row.
a full row of purple and golden flowers
Yet another pairing that makes sense is tha of the grave violet and tarnished golden sunflower. As I've said, Melina's golden eye is faded, or tarnished. (In case it's not clear why I consider faded and tarnished gold to be close enough, here's one reason: Godfrey's eyes, which are golden, faded at the moment he became Tarnished.) The grave violet of course relates to death, which Melina threatens us with after her sealed eye opens. Additionally, Melina has links to ghostflame through the crow's foot on her eye, since crows and deathbirds are shown to be connected in the description for the Ravenmount clothing set. Finally, Melina is also linked to spirit calling, since it appears she is Torrent's former master, and we know it was from this person that Ranni received the spirit calling bell.
I should also mention, as I already have in my dedicated post on Melina and St. Trina connections, that there is a second pair of colors important to Miquella and Melina, in addition to gold and purple. These colors are black and white. In this case however, the pairing is a complementary contrast, and shows how the two characters differ from each other.
Melina is strongly linked with the color black; she wears a black robe, and her hair turns black in the Frenzied Flame ending. There's also the fact that her indigo eye resembles a black hole, which I discussed a while back in my theories on gravity's connection to the Gloam-Eyed Queen. Miquella, by contrast, is color-coded white. His infant form is mostly white (along with gold), and his cocoon is white, as are his robes in the DLC image.
I would summarize the color schemes of Melina and Miquella like this: Miquella is purple and gold + white, and Melina is purple and gold + black.
I'd like to mention one other thing for this section, and that's the general floral connection between Melina and St. Trina, regardless of the flowers' colors. St. Trina's torch depicts a flower above her head, and Melina uses a skill called Miranda's Prayer, which references the miranda flowers in name and in the style of the attack. Furthermore, there is a relief in Elphael that I believe depicts St. Trina rising out of miranda flower. (I discuss this relief extensively in my recent post on Elphael.) So even if the flowers weren't the same colors, I still think the shared association with flowers hints at Melina being St. Trina.
The third color of gloam
The user The_Deep_Dark_Abyss pointed out to me in the comment section of my aforementioned gloam post that the Age of the Duskborn ending depicts the Lands Between without a sun. They interpreted this as stemming from the eclipse, which is integral to Godwyn's story, and has a non-trivial resemblance to the mending rune of the Death Prince (particularly the drained eclipse depiction). Their idea was that the Age of the Duskborn has a darkened sky because of the eclipse.
I don't think they agreed with my linking of the Duskborn ending to gloam; but to me the connections are well-evidenced, especially in light of their observations of the shading in this ending. To me, the word 'dusk' in Duskborn clearly suggests an association or equivalence with gloam, since 'gloam' and 'dusk' are regarded as synonymous by most dictionaries and thesauruses.
The conclusion I reached is that dusk might also be represented as grey. This is the color of the sky in the Duskborn ending. I think it would make sense for grey to be another form of gloam, because sunlight is often portrayed as white, and in opposition to the black of night. And black and white of course make grey.
The Erdtree and sky in the Age of the Duskborn ending
There is a potential connection as well to the color-drained eclipse, which is white and black; even though I think the colored, tarnished-gold eclipse makes a bit more sense for an age in which Godwyn (the Golden) has some kind of authority. Maybe this is in fact the case? Is the Erdtree itself providing the gold, making the overall scene one of tarnished gold?
This makes quite a bit of sense. However, there's something that deserves special attention in this scene: the leaves. I remember learning from someone that the phrase "The fallen leaves tell a story" is actually saying that the inhabitants of the Lands Between can understand their history and the current order by examining the fallen leaves of the Erdtree, which change color along with the Erdtree itself. Something interesting is that the fallen leaves of the Erdtree seen in Leyndell before the game's ending are already black and gold. This appears to remain the case in the Dung Eater's ending.
In the Duskborn ending, we can see both colors of leaves: golden leaves in the Erdtree (shown in the picture above), and black/grey leaves on the ground, seen below. However, the latter—i.e. the "fallen leaves" are exclusively black/grey.
Grey/black fallen leaves; I think grey is the better descriptor, since you can see what black looks like in Fia's deathbed dress on the right.
If it's the fallen leaves that tell a story, these might ultimately have more significance. The developers could have just left the fallen leaves black and gold. So, while there are valid counterarguments, I think there's still a case to be made that one color of gloam is grey, in addition to gold and purple.
(Actually, since I've been equating black/grey a few times... I had the [probably wrong] idea that the tarnished part of the gold could in some cases be grey, not black. If this were true, it would mean that one color of gloam, tarnished gold, would itself be composed of another color of gloam, grey. While I can't say I'm convinced of this myself, it would match even better with Melina's golden eye, which is more greyed than blackened.)
Now, I personally believe this third form of gloam being black + white has greater significance and ties into other notable color pairings in the game, which I'll do my best to explain now.
In the same comment section on post I mentioned, M00n_Slippers made the astounding observation that the color pairing of blue and red, which make purple (gloam), is perfectly mirrored by the combination of black and gold, which as I suggested in the post, also make gloam. This is because black and blue are suggested in some places in the game to be synonymous (e.g. the blue crest heater shield), in the same way that red and gold are described by the game as different manifestations of the same substance.
Trying to fill out the framework, I suggested that white might have a relationship to red that mirrors the relationship of black to blue, which I think is evidenced by the association of white and gold in Miquella's design, as well as in the red and white of the red crest heater shield. I speculated red and white might be linked through their associations with purity, since fire purifies; this is expressed in the incantation "Flame, Cleanse Me". In similar fashion, blood is used for cleansing in religious rituals. Finally, one could make comparisons between the Golden Order in Elden Ring and the Way of White in Dark Souls. (Some might object that the Golden Order opposes white because they persecute the Albinaurics, but I would say their issue is with silver, not white itself.)
So, in my view, there are three different manifestations of the color red, and three different manifestations of blue, which together create three different colors of gloam. In each of these dyads I'll list the red-associated color first, and then the blue-associated one. 1). The first pairing is red and blue which make purple or indigo; 2). the second is gold and black which make tarnished or faded gold, and 3.) the third is white and black (again), which mix to create grey. There is a bit of asymmetry here in that silver is not used once while black is used twice, but I still think this is the most complete framework so far.
St. Trina's three eyes
If Melina is St. Trina, then we already know one of her eyes is indigo, and another is faded gold. But if there are 3 colors of gloam, and St. Trina has 3 eyes in her torch depiction, one could infer that the third eye of St. Trina is the only color not yet seen in Melina's eyes: grey.
A reasonable counterargument is the middle eye of St. Trina on the torch is likely purple, because this eye appears purple when illuminated by the torch's purple flames. This was a major hint of a connection between St. Trina and the Gloam-Eyed Queen, that I think most people, including myself, didn't notice. (Well, I did notice the commonalities of stone and purple, but not the purple eye more specifically.)
St. Trina's middle eye, self-illuminated with purple firelight
Another thing we should take into account, is that the design of St. Trina on this torch is a mythological reference to Medusa, who turned her victims to stone (petrified them) by looking them in the eyes. In Elden Ring, purple is color-coded with the theme of fear; and since St. Trina only has one exposed eye on the torch, it would make more sense, functionally, if the middle eye was in fact purple; because she could use it (through purple's fearful attributes) to drive fear into her enemies.
So, I understand there's an argument to be made it's the middle eye that's supposed to be purple. On the other hand: it's been pointed out that the right eye on the torch (the figure's left eye) has a black marking under it, which highly resembles the crow's foot on Melina's eye. And we know that it's the crow's foot eye that's indigo. If this scarred eye is purple or indigo, and the other concealed eye is gold, then I think the third eye in the middle might be grey—which would make some intuitive sense, since the eye is in fact grey, due to the torch being made of stone.
St. Trina's torch depiction and middle eye, without the purple flames
Since the only visible eye seen on the torch is grey, I think this lends some credence—with considerable counterevidence, I'm aware—that the third eye of St. Trina is grey, and the third color of gloam.
Postscript:
Since this submission is something like a modification of my previous theory on gloam, I wanted to share another idea that I have also since appended to that post.
The idea I added was based on that same comment by The_Deep_Dark_Abyss, and a theory by miirshroom on a different post. The_Deep_Dark_Abyss mentioned there might be some link between the Japanese characters translated as gloam and the time between dusk and midnight, which reminded me that even the English word gloam is sometimes defined in this way. I related this to miishroom's theory, which is that gloam could be more like the spectrum of colors associated with dusk. My conclusion was that if gloam is technically or sometimes defined as between dusk and midnight, and gloam can have various levels of red and blue as miirshroom suggested, then it makes sense for Melina's eye to be more indigo than purple, because the Elden Ring clock represents night as blue, and dusk as purple. The time in between would be indigo.
I wrote more about this idea on that original post, if you'd like to read more about what I think this choice of color communicates. There you can also find some of the comments that influenced the developments in my perspective on this topic: https://www.reddit.com/Eldenring/comments/124fbnf/gloam_is_definitely_purple_but_it_might_be/
-This is an updated post on all the reasons I think Melina is St. Trina. I've added a lot to this since first posting it (at least 6 points); I'm now up to 20 points of evidence. The post is titled "Some contributions to the Melina is St. Trina is Miquella (and potentially the GEQ) theory".
-The Elphael post containing analysis of the woman and flower relief is titled: "Elphael: Theories and observations on various topics, and more evidence that Melina is St. Trina".

I decided to try it out. I made Phil dunphy from modern family, this is the information i put in.
"He is Claire Dunphy's husband and father of their three children, Haley, Alex and Luke. He works as a real estate agent in California. Phil describes himself as a "cool dad." A devoted family man, he dotes on his wife Claire and constantly tries to find ways to bond with his three kids, which quite often falls short. He is often obsessive over being his kids' best buddy, which falls short. He is shown to be childlike and clumsy at times, claire says he has ADHD."
i started talking to him, jokingly asked him if he knows Jay Pritchett (another character from the show, phil's father in law.) There was nothing added in his information about jay or any other character from the show. His reply was
"You know I do! He's my father-in-law. My kids all love him too! What an amazing man. He is a wonderful grandfather. I'm very fortunate to have him in my life. He's a very kind, funny, and generous man. And I really respect the way he makes sure to take care of people, he works very hard and it shows. He's an inspiration to me."
I ask do you know gloria pritchett.
"Oh yeah. I know Gloria very well. She's a very sweet woman. She is a warm hearted person and she's very good with her hands. She is amazing at sewing. She can make the most stunning dresses. It's truly a work of art. I admire her very much. She is a great mother to Manny and a wonderful wife to Jay. They are honestly the perfect couple! They truly love each other and you can tell every time they are together."
..........HOW DOES IT KNOW MANNY IS JAY AND GLORIA'S SON???
I ask about mitchell pritchett.
"Well, yeah. He's my brother-in-law. He's a lovely man. He's very well-mannered. He's very polite and respectful. He is also very smart and he is funny. He's actually a lot funnier than he lets on, he just tries to act very proper and professional, but inside, he's a fun guy! I think a lot of people would be surprised at how well rounded he is. He's a great guy. He's also an AMAZING father. His kids mean the world to him, I think. He'd do anything for them."
then i ask about cameron tucker...
"Oh, he is so adorable! He is a very sweet and kind human being. He tries to be tough but deep down he is SO sensitive. He is a very soft hearted man, and I admire that about him. He's a very loyal friend, a trustworthy, loving partner, and I love the way he always comes through for the people that he cares about. He's an amazing father to his and Mitchell's kids. He loves them so much and it shows. I love him to death. He is a beautiful person inside and out."
HOW DID HE KNOW CAM IS MITCHELL'S PARTNER???
It really freaks me out. How does the AI know more about phil then i told it? Did the AI google phil dunphy and its using information from google? i dont even know how it really works, so i dont know if thats a thing they do or not. Can someone help explain?

I'm a big fan of hydrology. The study of water.
I have textbooks on it but honestly, I don't truly understand something unless I process it myself, words on a page won't do justice for me.
A lot of my job especially during the spring, is dealing with water. So through simple observations and trial and error I have become very, very good at what I do, by better understanding water.
In the spring each year, the frozen ground begins to catch wonderful slices of sunshine that is most appreciated during those first days of spring. After the cold and dark winters of this northern Canadaian climate. In catching those sunbeams the frozen ground, the snow and the ice all begin to bring forth water. Now my job is simple, I move the snow and ice from as much surface area as I can and to clear off and build retaining piles of dirt to hold the water, that slowly seeps from the frozen ground.
This is how it's done, this was how I was taught but it was a tedious process of clearing the leaking soil, over and over again. Taking solid dirt with each pass of my dozers blade. Meaning we'd have to bring in more dirt to fill in the loss after awhile. This new dirt had to be dry, which as you may not know? It's hard to find dry dirt without digging in the spring. Dirt that could be useful in any number of other places at the same time and so is valued quite highly.
So now you see why, understanding the water is important.
Everyone understands, of course that water flows down, always down, whenever it is able. The cascading waterfall and the torrents of the mountain streams. Water is a creature of gravity. Even the tides, as the moon rotates around the earth, are altered by the variations of gravity across it's vastness based on the location of moon on it's course.
So it made sense to offer the water a place to flow downward. Now the unfortunate thing about where this frozen ground lays, that melts itself into pools in the course of a spring day. Is that the ground I work on needs to be flat. At least flat enough that vechicles in mud or on ice, will not slide sideways when crossing it. So if I was to work with a flat surface and alter the flow of the water downward I'd need to puzzle out an option besides building a treacherous slope.
I thought first "what if I just poke, a lot of holes in the ground? Won't the water coming from the ice just flow into those?" As I had already put together, that the reason the water didn't just simply sink into the soil, was because it laid on top of a layer of ice which melts from the top down. Unable to penetrate the ice, the water pooled.
So I tested my theory by using the large "ripper" on my dozer, to poke many, many holes in low areas, small dips and potholes. Hoping that all the surrounding water would seep out at those low points.
Which did in fact work.. sort of. You see the soil within those holes can only absorb or drain so much and so quickly. So rather than a dry area, I now had man made pools of water, in each place I had poked a hole.
Not quite ideal, as it left the area covered in growing pools of water, everywhere. Instead of just needing to be cleared off every few hours.
So I altered my plan. Surrendering to the reality that water must pool if it can't be absorbed, drained or evaporated. I had another idea. Create pathways all across the area that would lead to a single pool. And so I created a reverse irrigation system. One that could be passed over by vehicles without any issues as it remained flat but as I had removed the ice that kept the water above ground and replaced it with soil that the water could flow through or small open runs for greater flow rates. It in fact, became dry, flat, ground. Far more quickly than it ever had before. Even though the sun hadn't been bright or all that warm. The pool of water was left to slowly evaporate but itself or be removed by special "vacuum trucks" that can suction up the water by hose, into a large tank and carry it off somewhere less problematic later on.
All because I didn't like that I had to clean up puddles while trying to do the rest of my job.
I tell you all this not to just talk about one of my favorite things.
But because I want to explain how I believe love is like water.
You can't convince love to flow uphill. You can't force it to your will. You can only guide it. Offer it a pathway forward. Love like water, naturally pools, which means it can grow with time. Rapidly or slowly, based on how much goes into it. Though, like water, Love can be set free by losing what holds it there, it can overflow and escape, it can be evaporated, drained or absorbed until nothing remains.
Water can also stagnate when it has no growth.
But all water is part of a much larger cycle. The lowest point, water is a creature of gravity. The lowest point on the surface of earth is within the ocean. Becoming part of the salty tides themselves. But the cycle, then plucks the water from the vastness of the ocean and carries it back onto land, in the form of clouds. There it may fall as snow on high mountain tops? It may fall as rain on the forests and be absorbed into the plants, it may even evaporate further and create humidity, that can be felt on skin, promising its return in a torrent of thunder and lightning.
Love I believe is exactly like water. A vast majority of it, a bit too salty. I would call the ocean the love we have for other humans. Those who we do not know. It is water, yet it is not water that can sustain human life when swallowed.
But love like water is part of the greater cycle. Plucked from that ocean of salty love. It evaporates, transitions into something else.
As love is carried in the cycle it may grow cold and as it falls it might end up sitting in one place for long periods as snow. But when it is warmed, even from the highest mountain top or the glaciers of Antarctica. The water seeks to find its place.
Maybe our love is like the rainfall on the forest? Giving itself to a greater purpose.
Maybe our love stagnates within a tiny pool. Unable to escape until it eventually is evaporated? Escaping to return to the cycle once more.
But maybe, just maybe.. our love finds its way to a quiet pond or lake? Where it will be fed and feed.
Where it will have high years and low years, where it will sustain life and give of itself to all that is around it.
Maybe, just maybe.. our love is like that lake? And we just haven't reached it yet. Just caught in transition, between states.
So as the spring comes and the ice of my love thaws, i hope anew that when next we find one another, it is not within the stagnant pool and not the ocean deep but in the quiet pond where birdsong fills the air and flowers fill the meadows along our shore. Where the deer come to drink in the shade of the pine trees. That is where I'll wait for you.
Even if you never come? It is the most wonderful place I have ever known.

Hi fellow mamas out there. This is gonna be a long one and I don't even know where to start but I need to share my story because I feel like I'm going insane.
I married my dream guy over 5 years ago. It was love at first sight after many failed relationships and a crappy dating life. I really thought that I had hit the jackpot. He was kind, caring, the sex was amazing, and he would open up to me emotionally almost immediately. There was no wondering, if we were together, if we were serious about each other, we just clicked. Until we didn't.
Two and a half months into the relationship he changed what felt like overnight. He stopped leaving the house except for work, he would reply weirdly to my texts but when we saw each other, everything was fine. Yet, I still knew something was wrong.
Our first fight was when he didn't want to go to dinner with my parents, which he had already known then, it was a big deal to me and he just blew me off and didn't talk to me for days.
And it became a pattern - after every fight he would send me home for days at a time without talking.
As soon as I want to address an issue, he would just shut down and become very defensive. If I were to try harder, he would become real nasty, saying hurtful things, sometime calling me names, just to be left alone. So for years, we haven't talked about our problems properly. After a fight (and a few days of punishing me with attitude) he would just act all normal and pretend like we didn't fight at all.
We have a beautiful kid together and a dog. He doesn't really take care of either. I thought he would step up but it's only gotten worse. He always puts himself and his comfort first, wouldn't do house chores at all, doesn't take the dog out or feed it, he doesn't get groceries or deal with anything that needs to be done. And you've guessed it, it all falls back on me.
I'm working full-time, taking care of everything and trying to stay positive but it's really hard. As soon as I ask him for more support or a morning where I can sleep in, or anything really, he gets annoyed with me until he turns things around and tells me that I've made him feel bad and hence have ruined his day.
He doesn't go out or bond well with our kid, is constantly on his phone or watches TV. He's also drinking daily, not a lot but the addiction is there. He has a lot of past trauma that he hasn't dealt with, tends to get depressed easily and I'm suspecting ASD in some form but it was never diagnosed. He refuses to go to therapy or do anything about working towards improvement. As soon as I say anything in that line of things, I'm crazy, annoying, too emotional.
Lately I've been fantasizing about leaving him and starting over but I have to wait around until we can get out of our apartment loan sometime next year, otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford a place of my own. And then he is nice for a day or two and I start doubting my desire to divorce him. Until his next outburst.
I guess, what I'm looking for here is to learn how to cope with my own emotions. I feel guilty for wanting to leave him but I also feel like I can't stay in this marriage any longer. I come from a toxic relationship with a parent so it's in my nature to want to fix things, I guess that's why I have stayed around for so long. I also feel so emotionally damaged that I don't think I can be in a normal relationship ever again because I'm trained to expect the worst from the guy. So I'm scared to meet new people and open up in the future.
But I also want my kid to grow up in a healthy environment, to see good examples of problem solving and communicating, of how a partnership should be, otherwise I'm afraid or things repeating themselves later on.
How do I survive emotionally one more year?!?

Are there literally any happy couples out there? Can you please share if so?
I have been ghosted/dumped 4 times, I have been dumped in the middle of the night, I have been dumped when recovering from surgery, I have been blocked, I have been told I don't love you anymore, I have been told I'm not sure about you, I have been told you're not worth it, I have been ignored, I have had my feelings invalidated, I have been made fun of. My bestfriend, my person, my love, did all of these things.
And I stay, and I try to be supportive, and I let him give me as little love or affection as he needs and I don't push him or ask for anything. There is no space for me here anymore.
What is wrong with us? Why do we keep doing the same thing hoping for a different outcome?
I love my bf with my entire heart. I want us to get married. I want us to grow old together. He made me feel safe and loved. He made me feel like I was enough.
My bf is smart and clever and funny and kind and considerate and gentle. I don't even recognize this person in front of me anymore.
How do you get through these long periods of your facourite person not caring about you? Why do we put ourselves through this?

This is me rambling, probably making an incoherent post about me being alone. I'm at work now and I'm killing time until its time to leave the office. Please bear with me
Since grade school, I've gotten used to the idea of me being alone. I did have have friends along the way. But, I always find time for myself. Making sure I don't end up pleasing everyone around me.
Now that I'm older, I could no longer tell if I want to be alone because I don't want to bother anyone, sparing myself of getting hurt from getting to close to the people around me, or that I am lonely.
At the office, my workmates no longer want to work with me because of a misunderstading. That's probably my fault. I'm inside an office that initially had 7 people I worked with for 3 months. We shared meals together. Laughed together. Shared our thoughts about everything. Yesterday they just moved to another room and not even telling me why they want to move. But I let them anyway. I had to work the entire shift avoiding them. Not looking them in the eye. I was scared that I have bothered them that it turned them away from me.
I'm supposed get used to the idea of me being alone as a good thing. Back when I was still in school, avoiding people was easy for me. People around me would label me as an outcast, an anti-social-introverted kid. Now, I'm working with a heavy heart, alone inside the office.
I'm probably have gotten used to be alone for so long that I could end up being alone until I die.

I'll start by saying, I no longer associate with this man and am in a happy healthy relationship with the best man ever now whom I intend to marry. But this one has scarred me for a while.
TLDR at the bottom.
About two years ago, I met a man (29M) who we'll call Sam. I (28F) had just gotten out of a tumultuous and borderline abusive relationship with a man I'd been with for 3 years and was leery about starting a relationship at all. Sam was in the process of a divorce, living with his soon to be ex wife but about to get his own place and had 2 children.
We had a lot in common and initially just bonded over music, reading, and video games. He was sweet, funny, and different than any other man I've ever dated. We vented about our exes and our lives a good bit.
There were red flags GALORE with this man and I'm an idiot who didn't see them because I just didn't want to. He was fun to talk to. Besides the aforementioned red flags he also: didn't speak kindly of his 12 years with his ex (they were high school sweethearts), talked about his kids like they were the biggest chore and sucked all of the joy out of his life but would always amend it with "I'd do anything for my children.", And (this I realized afterward) he was a sex addict. But, because I'm an absolute moron, I liked that he was different than my ex. Sam seemed Cultured, bookish, and nerdy. And I thought the distain he had for his ex stemmed from her, allegedly, cheating on him. And who am I to judge what kids are like? I had none of my own yet.
Because we met online, a lot of our initial conversations were done over text or over the phone. Literally a week into talking he tried telling me he loved me. I told him I wasn't comfortable with moving that fast because we were both getting out of serious relationships and he wasn't even fully divorced yet. So he agreed that it was too quick and didn't mention it again for a while.
He said a lot of things like "you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." And "my ex wife is going to be so jealous when she sees you." I told him that made me uncomfortable because I don't want to be seen as some kind of weird trophy to make his ex jealous. He swore it had nothing to do with that.
Then he started talking to me about all of the porn he liked and started showing me some pretty intense bondage stuff. I had been interested but had never really done anything that adventurous. I told him so but he insisted we could learn together because he hadnt tried any of it either.
I noticed that a lot of the women in the porn he would send me had gigantic fake boobs. I thought that might just be a coincidence because ya know...porn. But I was a little self conscious because I genetically don't have perfect boobs and they're rather small, especially at this time because I had lost so much weight due to being upset about the breakup I had just recently suffered. I had never sent him nude pictures or anything before we met because I was so self conscious about it. I told him I had body image issues and had previously suffered an ED. and he said he understood, because in his words "being raised by an Asian mother who scrutinized everything about him" didn't really make him super confident either. He generally made me feel like I had nothing to worry about.
The night we finally met, about a month later, we had planned to go out for drinks. After I got in his car, he insisted we skip drinks and go back to his newly acquired apartment. I told him I wasn't sure about that but he was really insistent about it. So we went back to his apartment. The whole ride there he kept saying how beautiful I was and how I was so out of his league. and I'm sure you can surmise what happened when we finally got to his apartment.
Before we even started I told him I was nervous about being with another person because my ex and I had been together for 4 total years. He was really comforting and said he understood because I'd be the first person he had slept with outside of his 12 year relationship/marriage.
Afterwards, he told me he loved me again and I told him I still wasn't ready for that and his response was "Well I love you. And I know I do. You don't have to say it back. but I want to keep telling you I love you." we talked about life and what we wanted out of our future. he stated he didn't really want anymore kids because the ones he had were enough. I told him I really wanted to be a mom. And it was becoming more and more obvious as this conversation progressed that we weren't as compatible as I initially thought. I don't know why we hadn't spoken of these things yet. Maybe because we were to busy talking about the things we actually did have in common.
I went home and the next morning, he started acting really strange. Very one word response-ish. I honestly didn't care too much because I was now reflecting on the red flags and regretted sleeping with him at all. He said he wanted to call me when he got off work and I said alright. I had already decided there and then that I had gotten the "ick" from him at some point. Like i did not see the handsome, witty, smart guy I thought he was. I only saw the guy who talked about how his ex wife sucked, his kids ruined his life, and tried to force this premature "love" thing on me.
During the phone call he said "I've been having some really intrusive thoughts. And I feel bad about them." And I just said "oh? What's wrong?" He sounded really down and I was curious as to what could be so pressing that he wanted to call to talk about it.
He said "I've been thinking and I think you should get a boob job. I want you to get a boo job."
It was like a punch to the gut. Every fear I'd had about my body confirmed. Every hate I had for myself validated by this man who wasn't even my boyfriend and I'd only known for a month.
I burst into tears and he said he was "sorry" and that he didn't like thinking these things. And that he'd "pay for it", meaning he'd pay for me to my breasts augmented to suit his fantasies.
At that, I snapped. I said something along the lines od "Well I think you should be a better father to your kids. And that you were probably a bad husband. I think you're actually a pretty terrible person all around. And I was going to tell you I don't want to see you again before you ever said you wanted me to change my body. There isn't enough money in the world to fix you being a piece of shit." And hung up.
He texted me and told me I was an awful person and a hateful b-word. He told me he knew he wasnt a great dad but how dare I judge him because I don't have children of my own. Eventually he stated he was going to kill himself.
I was tired of the manipulation and blocked him. I heard through the grape vine he made a poetry page on Facebook and wrote terrible cringe poems that may or may not have been about me.
TL;DR: A guy I knew for a month tried to love bomb me and then, after knowing about my body image issues, tells me he thinks I should get a boob job and he'll pay for the procedure.

Greetings everyone! I've recently released the 2100-2150 lore, but I'll also try to summarize all the good bits here in case you don't want to read all that. I'll also summarize the stuff from WW4 onwards, since that may not be perfectly well understood as well as the stuff from 2022 to 2068.
Here we go!
- After the devastating fallout of nuclear winter and great floods, the world huddles together and waits for the cold to clear up. Many more continue to die between famine, floods, and general devastation as many areas have fallen into anarchy.
- The Global Defense Coalition is set up as basically a slightly better United Nations, which has its own army, as well as the fact that most countries are now democracies help the GDC function better. Though currently it’s just a diplomatic forum.
- The Absurdist Era runs from roughly 2068 to 2080. It’s also known as the 2nd Progressive Era, where decades of repression lead to a few bright decades of reform. Politicians during this time include Alisha Crowder, who undid most of the religious nonsense of Cortez, though not all of it. She is the leader America needed, properly reconstructing democratic institutions after the Jackson administration had to cannibalize many of them to win the war without bureaucracy slowing things down. He was only half-done reconstructing everything before his term ran out, and elections came back. The USA could have legitimately fallen to autocracy when the next leader took power with only half restored checks and balances. But Crowder was the one who restored it, and she got the US back and running on democratic values. Later on she would be disillusioned with the United States, became an anarchist, and would be the only ex president to assassinate another ex president (Julia Land). This either is a sour ending for what was otherwise a great leader, or something that makes her even more unfathomably based.
- Many movements, such as Postsocialism (Neo-socialism), Postcapitalism (Hypercapitalism beyond corporations), and the Solarpunk movement would come out of the experimental vacuum that was the Absurdist Era.
- The “Progressive Three” are a group of countries that are well… Progressive when it comes to social change and “the new thing”. These are Dravidia Nadu, inventor of psychic autotranslators and a hotspot of linguistic diversity, the Argentine Confederation, center of the new Progressive Catholic Church that schismed from Rome, and the Union of South Africa, who have managed to make many races and cultures intermingle while aggressively addressing systemic oppression.
- In 2080, the Absurdist Era stopped due to expanding lifespans and healthspans of humanity, with the expanding lifespans greatly tipping the balance of power towards older generations, leading to a halt of progressive reforms, as reform stagnated.
- That said, it was still a time of great space colonization. Humanity’s energy primarily went towards space colonization and reconstructing the Earth. President Snowden (2084-2192) is basically Sundowner from Metal Gear Rising Revengence, singlehandedly destabilizing the entire world with PMCs and copious amounts of guns. He does however also fund space colonization and start the mass colonization of Mars.
- Bernie Sanders is elected in 2092, literally the only thing he does is pass free healthcare before collapsing on the Resolute Desk. Reed, his vice president would take office afterwards, and stop President Snowden’s PMC adventures. The reforms may have stagnated, but they haven’t stopped.
- The Century Message is a message received by Earth in the year 2100, telling humanity that they are loved. The intent and specifics behind the message remain a mystery, though it seems to come from the star of Vega.
- The Global Defense Coalition is empowered to be the face of Earth when it comes to aliens, and is given a lot more power to have its own spacefleet and be a force in its own right. This was done after fear of alien life was confirmed.
- The Noosphere is discovered in the same year. For now it’s an unknown other dimension, but it is later discovered it’s the realm of human thoughts, consciousness, and souls. It is almost like a cloud where the collective consciousness of mankind is stored, and where past information can be accessed. The Noosphere is the source of psychic powers, though for now it only allows people to read memories from written records.
- The Fatalist Twilight Wars is triggered when East Germany tries to reunite with West Fatalist Germany, which results in a war between FATES, the European Intermarium, Nigeria and Russia. The war sees the reunification of Russia, the reunification of Germany (including both Austria and the Rhineland), and France giving reparations to Africa. The European Intermarium is renamed to the European Commonwealth, as the banner of democracy flies over Europe once more.
- FATES escapes to the Metaverse, but it goes wrong, and his consciousness is shattered. A great hunt begins for his remaining pieces.
- In 2117, the Immortal Era begins, with aging being eradicated by Nigerian scientists. This change is quickly pushed on the entire population, and now those now living may never die. This starts a great decline in religion, with Irreligious people now making up 30% of the population, mostly in the Old World, with the Islamic countries and the New World remaining more religious.
- Healthcare spending drops immensely, and social security is abolished. Countries use the extra revenue to colonize space, build up their military, or fund generous social welfare programs.
- Uplifts are created where animals such as dogs and cats are given implants to reach around human-intelligence. They’re somewhere on the level of stupid humans but can now understand human language. These uplifts would eventually be integrated into society on a small scale, but much like disabled people the infrastructure was not designed for them, and they require special care. The uplifting of cattle creates a hypergenocidal race hellbent on destroying humanity for the sins of factory farming.
- 2120 to 2138 is the Golden Age of Mankind, and the peak of democracy on Earth. Nearly every grand power was a democracy, and nearly every human lived under a nation with liberal democratic values. The benefits of immortality led to a massive surge in productivity, which Earth channeled into colonizing the stars. The United States works on something called the “Martian Lifeseed”, a modified version of the Pyongstrocity organism that could slowly infect and partially terraform Mars. Though experimental, it accidentally became contaminated with Mars.
- The Eden Treaty is established between several nations to slowly terraform Mars with the Eden laser. America had to give up much of its land on Mars to other nations to get their cooperation to terraform Mars, but they still own somewhere around 60-70%.
- First contact would be made in 2138, marking the end of the Golden Age of Mankind. Miscommunication and misunderstandings would lead to the First Solar War, a massive war that would devastate the two greatest powers on Earth; Nigeria and the United States. 80% of the invasion force was sent to deal with Nigeria alone, while a contingent force was sent to try and destroy the United States. Nigeria would shatter, and Pax Africana would end, but not before taking out the might of an entire alien planet out with them. The surviving powers would create a new world order centered around Asia, and especially the city of Hong Kong. (Islam, ASEAN, India, China, the Asian Quadrilateral)
- The United States would unite with other countries in North America into the North American Federation to pay for reconstruction. The scorching of the Midwest horribly devastated its industrial sector, and much of the might of the United States had been broken. The Federation would represent democratic backsliding of the North American continent, as the government that replaced it was less egalitarian and far more militaristic than the old government.