Hello, i am installing DynDOLOD and having issues when im trying to run TexGen.
following this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=encZYHEeQrQ

i have followed everything perfectly, but when i am at the stage of running the TexGen64.exe from Vortex, i get this message after selecting SSE on the menu and clicking next

TexGen 3.0 Alpha-121 x64 - Skyrim Special Edition (SSE) (11D61A25) starting session 2023-03-26 21:49:41
The Source Code Form of this program is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public License, v. 2.0 If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this file, You can obtain one at https://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
The Source Code Form is available at https://github.com/TES5Edit/TES5Edit
Using Skyrim Special Edition Data Path: D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\Data\
Using Scripts Path: C:\Modding\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\
Using Temp Path: C:\Users\bigbo\AppData\Local\Temp\TexGen_SSE\
Using Output Path: C:\Modding\DynDOLOD\TexGen_Output\
Using ini: C:\Users\bigbo\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\Skyrim.ini
Using custom ini: C:\Users\bigbo\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\SkyrimCustom.ini
Using save path: C:\Users\bigbo\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\Saves\SyVLs50xn\
Warning: Could not find save path
Using plugin list: C:\Users\bigbo\AppData\Local\Skyrim Special Edition\Plugins.txt
Using settings file: C:\Modding\DynDOLOD\Edit Scripts\DynDOLOD\TexGen.ini
Using language: English
Using general string encoding: 1252 (ANSI - Latin I)
Using translatable string encoding: 1252 (ANSI - Latin I)
Using VMAD string encoding: 65001 (UTF-8)
Loading active plugin list: C:\Users\bigbo\AppData\Local\Skyrim Special Edition\Plugins.txt
Fatal: Error loading plugin list: [D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\Data]>

i have looked in all of these folders, and everything that is says isnt there IS THERE, so what am i supposed to do about that? lol how do i get TexGen to recognize that my plugin.txt is where its supposed to be?

I desperately need somebody to help me understand this mission. I have tried every single possible combination of strats, team comp, or loadout, I have tried 3 man I've tried 2 man I've tried solo. Probably close to 20 attempts, not a single time was I or any of my teams able to get past the hydra section. We'd get past the first damage phase, complete one cycle of the deletion protocol, then get absolutely destroyed. Every single time. I'm seeing so many people at rank 8 and I genuinely can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. It's impossible to survive in general, and going in as a 3 stack makes everything take a ridiculous amount of damage to kill. Not to mention the revive timer basically not existing. For the record, I'm 1822. I don't know if I'm too low level or me and every single teammate I've ran with is just garbage at the game. I will never understand why bungie makes content this hard. I understand wanting a challenge, but this goes beyond challenging. Even if I do ever complete this, I'm not going to feel satisfied for having beaten something difficult. I'm just gonna be angry about how many attempts it took to complete something that literally doesn't even give rewards. Great job bungie. You're making me want to quit your game.

Introduction

I thought I'd share my multi-year journey to acquiring somewhat impressive pulling strength. I didn't keep perfectly organised training logs, one of my regrets looking back on it, but I loosely remember what I was doing, and when I was doing it, give or take, at least to give a somewhat accurate representation of my training up until now. For those expecting a clear-cut, structured path, this post won't be that. Instead, I simply meandered through the years, acquiring a hell of a lot of pulling volume, and eventually hit a rather decent milestone. Let's dive in.

2004

My earliest memory of some type of pull-up achievement, was 19 years ago. It was the year 2004, and I was a skinny 13 year old kid. No idea how much I weighed, or exactly how tall I was, but those figures don't really matter. We had some type of PE class, and we all went down to the rowing sheds. There were 2 trees next to said sheds, with a pull-up bar between. The teacher had us do as many reps as we could, and I got 10. I didn't get the most, but I was near the top, so obviously this felt pretty cool.

2009

Fast-forward 5 years to 2009, and I'm a skinny 18 year old. Maybe not as skinny as some, but not exactly big. I didn't really do any form of actual strength training. I played rugby, sprinted, swam etc. I'm not a particularly gifted athlete at all, I just liked being physically active. Around this time, I was around 6ft, 70kg/154lb. I messed around with bodyweight movements mostly. Lots of push-ups and pull-ups on one of those Iron Gym pull-up bars you attach to a doorframe. I could do a set of +/- 15 pull-ups at this stage.
Training
I did your traditional 3 sets of 8-12/15 reps of pull-ups, push-ups & sit-ups, 3 times a week. I ran 5km about 3 times a week. I played school sport. That was the extent of my "training", and I use that word very loosely. It was more like exercise.
I was rather skinny, as you can see here and here.

2010-2011

I joined the gym on university campus, and sort of messed around with basic stuff. Your typical "bro" movements. Curls. Triceps extensions. Etc. I didn't really see a whole lot of improvement, but that's because I didn't put anywhere close to the required effort to see substantial improvement. I ate badly, I slept badly, and I went to the gym a few times a week, more just exercising vs actual training. Outside of this, I would run a few times a week, and still do some bodyweight stuff here and there. I don't know how many pull-ups I could do at this stage, but I doubt I had any significant improvement since 2009.
Training
I still followed your traditional 3 sets of 8-12/15 reps, but just added some barbell movements. Bicep curls. Triceps extensions. Bench press. Deadlift. Bent over row. I did this 3 times a week. I ran 5km, 3 times a week. While those movements and that format can elicit somewhat decent results, I didn't put in a whole lot of effort, and probably could have pushed much harder. Again, I'd hardly classify this as "training", it was more like general exercise.

2012-2013

I was living with my parents at the time. The university gym wasn't quite for me, and I was just messing around with bodyweight movements again. One day, I was chatting to my friend, a gymnast, and he lent me Christoper Sommer's book: Building the Gymnastic Body: The Science of Gymnastics Strength Training. Sommer is a world renowned gymnastics coach for the US on various levels. I don't know why, but something just clicked, and this was what I wanted to be doing for training. So I bought a pair of gymnastic rings, hung them up outside on a tree branch above the driveway, about 4m off the floor. I started doing a bit more of a structured program. Lots of pull-ups, L-sits, dips etc. The book didn't exactly have training programs, more movement progression work etc.
Training
This was the first time in my training life, that I think I actually started to put in some form of real effort. I shifted away from the 3 sets of 8-12/15 reps, and moved towards going to just short of failure for 3 sets. On the rings, I did pull-ups, l-sit, dips, front lever tuck rows. I carried on doing push-ups to (somewhat) balance out all the pulling movements. I did this 3-4 times a week. I also ran 5km, 3 times a week. Basic movements, at adequate intensity, can yield decent results. This was far more efficacious than my previous "training".

2014

Training on rings was great, and at the time I was pretty happy with how things were going. My one university friend was getting quite into CrossFit, and suggested I give it a go, and sent me the link of a CrossFit gym in my town (there were only 2 at the time). I looked at some of the workouts, and it was certainly intriguing. Sleds, burpees, kettlebell swings etc. I thought why not, let's try it. In the first few weeks of being there, we tested our 1RM for pull-ups. I'd never done any form of weighted pull-up before, so that was completely new to me. I ended up having the top score in the gym, BW + 40kg/88lb. I was around 6ft1, and weighed about 75kg/165lb. Obviously this was a big confidence booster, and my training on rings had paid off a bit.
Training
I trained 5 times a week. Mon-Tue & Thu-Fri were somewhat intense training days, Wednesday was active recovery. CrossFit classes consisted of a strength movement or two, and a metcon/conditioning piece. The formats for the strength movements could be anything from doing 4 sets of 10 reps at X percentage of your 1RM, all the way down to testing your 1RM. The metcon/conditionion, could be as short as 2 minutes, all the way up to 30+ minutes. CrossFit has hundreds of movements, so there was a lot of variety here, and each week was different to the next.

2015-2016

Fast-forward a year, and I've added... 3kg/7lb to my max pull-up. Something didn't seem quite right, that is very slow progress. Instead of going on YouTube like I should have, and searching for weighted pull-ups and seeing tons of guys lifting way more than I was lifting, I asked the CrossFit coach about it. He simply said well when you have high enough strength numbers, progress is slow. He is right in theory... just not about me. BW + 43kg/95lb is not exactly world-class pulling strength, so I shouldn't be progressing this slowly. What he should have said is, hey we mainly do kipping pull-ups here, not a whole lot of accessory work that would benefit strict pull-ups, so that's why you're progressing the way you are. I eventually left CrossFit, for reasons other than slow pull-up progression. I got a squat rack and barbell for home, still had my pair of gymnastic rings, and did some basic bodyweight movements again, on top of some squats, bench press etc. After doing this for a while, my pull-up 1RM improved to BW + 50kg/110lb. I hadn't really improved a whole lot, but I suspect this was due to a lack of effort, and perhaps not the best training decisions.
Training
I trained about 3 times a week. I did 5X5 on squats, deadlifts and bench press, each movement done once per week. For accessory work, I did dips, pull-ups and hanging leg raises, each once a week. I did these in the same format as 2012-2013, 3 sets to failure. I ran 5km, 3 times a week.
I looked like this. My training and general nutrition wasn't particularly where it should be, and this photo kind of shows that.

2017

I happened upon Chris Heria of Thenx. He gets a bit of hate for his tattoos (among other things), but he had impressive feats of calisthenic strength, he had a huge amount of well-produced videos on YouTube, and he had a training app that was clean and easy to use. I thought what the hell, let's do this. I followed his beginner program for about a year, and in that year, I didn't touch any weights. Not a barbell, not a dumbbell, not a weight vest or dip belt, nothing. The program included copious amounts of pull-ups and all of its regressions, stuff I'd never even considered doing. If my 1RM pull-up is BW + 50kg/110lb... why would I do negatives, jumping pull-ups, ring rows etc? I was an idiot. You can never do enough of the basics. I don't know exactly how many pulling variation reps I did over that year, but it must have been in the thousands. Maybe even tens of thousands. Some workouts would have you do stuff like 3 pull-up sets to failure, and I got 60+ reps across those 3 sets. Then you did some other pulling movements in the same workout, similar format. Some workouts ended up having 200+ repetitions of pulling movements, just a lot of volume.
Training
If I thought I was putting in decent effort in 2012-2013, this blew that out of the water. Thenx workouts were rough. I'll just list one of the pull-focused days:
3 rounds:

• 4 X Pull-ups (Wide, Shoulder Width, Close Grip)
• Max Reps: Jump Negative Pull-Ups
• 5 X Australian Pull-Ups (Wide, Shoulder Width, Close Grip)
• Max Reps: Commando Pull-Ups
• 10 X Bar Curls
• 12 X Hanging Leg Raise
• 15 X Hanging Knee Raise

As you can see, in just one round of that, you are amassing a hell of a lot of pulling volume. 3 rounds, it was ridiculous. I did similar workouts for pushing and leg movements too, lots of different movements, a ton of reps. You'd see a pulling workout, like the above, 1-2 times a week. And then some other workouts sometimes included a bit of pulling movements too.
I did Thenx workouts 4-5 times a week, and ran 5km, 3 times a week.
At the end of 2017, I looked like this. This was by far the best I'd ever looked and felt. A product of high effort in training, and for the first time in my life, actually eating according to a plan. I was eating around 2500 calories a day, decent amounts of protein, and quite lean.

2018 - March 2020

After that year of Thenx, I found myself able to hold an l-sit for over a minute, I could do 30 pull-ups unbroken etc. But if you asked me to squat 100kg/220lb, I'd probably have struggled. While I was thoroughly enjoying Thenx, I needed a change. I needed some barbell movements again, as well as BW movements. Before taking a pivot in training direction, I tested my 1RM pull-up. I got BW + 70kg/154lb, and I weighed around 75kg/165lb. That was a bit mind-blowing, given I hadn't touched a weight in over a year. All of that BW pulling volume from Thenx must have paid off. Never did I think I could be approaching a 2X BW pull-up.
My training shifted to a somewhat CrossFit-esque model, just without kipping movements, snatches etc. I started doing squats, weighted pull-ups, farmers carries etc. Metcons/conditioning where quality was the goal. Rather get 3 rounds and move well, vs 4 rounds and move badly. My weighted pull-up strength work consisted of working up to a heavy 3-5 reps for the day. Over this period, I got my pull-up 1RM up to BW + 77kg/170lb. I weighed around 80kg/176lb, so I could almost do a 2X BW pull-up.
Training
I was training 3 times a week, and running 5km, 3 times a week. My training in the gym was similar to 2014. Strength movement or two, followed by metcon/conditioning. Lots of different movements, lots of variety. I did strict pull-ups/bent over row/front squat/back squat/bench press for strength, working up to a heavy 3-5 reps, once every 2 weeks. I did a lot of different pulling movements in the metcons/conditioning, of quite different formats. Something like 21-15-9 pull-ups and Erg for calories, which was very quick. Or something like AMRAP 20: 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 air squats, where you amass a lot of pull-ups. So I was doing some form of pull-ups, whether it be for strength, or for metcon/conditioning, twice a week at least.
After this training period, I looked like this.

March 2020 - August 2021

Yeah... Covid happened. That turned my life upside down, as it did to many others. Without getting into too much detail, during this time I was separated from my wife and newborn daughter for 17 months (I was in South Africa, they were in Vermont, US). Safe to say, my training took a bit of a nosedive.

August 2021 - June 2022

I finally got to Vermont in August 2021, reuniting with my family. Training resumed, and I was able to get some consistency again, getting my pull-up back to BW + 77kg/170lb relatively quickly. I just worked up to heavy singles, doubles and triples, and hit accessory work hard. I also started doing ring pull-ups vs bar pull-ups. I'm in my early 30s, rings are arguably better for the shoulder, and the movement just feels great. It's not quite a pull-up, but not quite a chin-up either, your grip just shifts throughout the movement. I tested my 1RM, and it was BW + 73kg/161lb. I weighed around 82kg/181lb. So a bit less than my bar pull-up, but that didn't particularly bother me.
Training
My training here was very similar to my 2018-2020 training. Only real difference was, I worked up to heavy singles, doubles and triples. Otherwise, format and frequency was much the same.

July 2022 - February 2023

I started following 5/3/1 around July 2022, as I was curious about how it would work with something like pull-ups. AMRAP sets at submaximal loads sounded interesting, and not something I'd ever really done before. I think my body responded well to all the volume of heavy pulling, and I got my ring pull-up to 83.5kg/184lb BW + 92.5kg/204lb. For anyone who wants to do pull-ups within the context of 5/3/1, it is certainly doable, as long as you have a high enough 1RM where the %s make sense.
Training
I modified 5/3/1 quite a bit. Traditional 5/3/1 has you doing squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, once a week each. You go relatively heavy on these, usually for at least 5+ reps. You also typically do some supplemental work with the same lift, at a lighter load.
I chose the Coffinworm variant, which is Jim Wendler's version of wave training. A pull-up day would look like this:
Warmup:

• 5 reps @ 40% of TM
• 5 reps @ 60% of TM

Wave 1:

• 5 reps @ 70% of TM
• 5 reps @ 80% of TM
• 5 reps @ 90% of TM

Wave 2:

• 5 reps @ 80% of TM
• 3 reps @ 90% of TM
• AMRAP @ 100% of TM

I would do the above, once a week. Besides pull-ups, I did the same format, for Larsen presses, and front box squat. Unusual movements for 5/3/1, but it suited my goals.
Coffinworm has you pushing heavy for 2 weeks, then taking a mini-deload in the 3rd week. I just did this 3 week cycle, rinse and repeat.
For accessory work, I did each of the following, once a week:

• PureTorque (EMOM 6: 30s)
• Hanging Leg Raise on rings (AMRAP 5)
• 2 rounds: 1 Min Echo Bike + KB Row (AMRAP 3) & 1 Min Erg + Archer Push-Up (AMRAP 3)
• Nordic Curl (EMOM 5: 5 negatives)
• Kneesovertoesguy Movements (KoT Calf Raise, ATG Split Squat, Poliquin Step-Up, Reverse Squat, Tibialis Raise, QL Side Bend, Back Extension). 2 rounds, 10 reps of each.

My accessory work was always the same, regardless of whether I was in a heavy, or deload week, for the main 3 lifts I chose.
On 3 of my 4 off days, I'd do active recovery, instead of taking completely off. My active recovery took the form of:
5 min stations:

• Walk w/ Weight Vest
• Sled Push/Drag
• Echo Bike
• Erg

Regarding leadeanchor cycles... I kept it simple. I just did anchor cycles, which are very similar to leader cycles, you just PR the final set of the 2nd wave, instead of going to a fixed weight.
To amalgamate all of the above, a training week looks like this:

• Mon - 5/3/1 (Pull-Ups) + Accessory (PureTorque & Hanging Leg Raise)
• Tue - Active Recovery
• Wed - 5/3/1 (Larsen Press) + Accessory (Echo Bike + KB Row & Erg + Archer Push-Up)
• Thu - Active Recovery
• Fri - 5/3/1 (Front Box Squat) + Accessory (Nordic Curl + Kneesovertoesguy)
• Sat - Active Recovery
• Sun - Rest

This is what I currently look like. Perhaps leaner than I was during my Thenx days, and 8.5kg/19lb heavier. Definitely feels better being pretty much as lean, weighing more, and eating nearly 1000 calories more than 2017. I have come a long way from that skinny 18 year old, 14 years ago.

Conclusion

I achieved something I didn't think possible, at least for me. There are some monsters out there lifting far more, but for a former skinny kid, not exactly blessed with the best genetics from an athletic POV, this was a truly satisfying milestone to hit. Could I have done it in far shorter time with a more structured approach, more weighted pull-up work earlier on, adequate effort from the start etc? Sure. But that's not how it played out.
I sort of view what I did, as some tend to view Tom Brady, or Jerry Rice etc. "Longevity Award" is a term I've seen tossed around. They have accumulated stats and records that might never be broken, just because of the sheer amount of years they played, which is impressive by itself. Nevermind the Superbowls and MVPs etc. I don't view labelling their freakish stats as "longevity awards" an insult, if anything, that's a compliment to how they were able to last so many years in a professional league, implying they were still playing at a decent level into their older years.
Now I'm not comparing myself to 2 NFL legends, but this notion of a "longevity award" is sort of how I view this ring pull-up. I certainly didn't have the most efficacious training. I didn't make the most of my time. I didn't always train with the intent and effort that I should have. But I did stick with it over the years, where others may have simply just stopped, and the end result is a somewhat impressive ring pull-up. I think many people could achieve this feat, if they just stuck to it, but a pull-up is not exactly high up on the list of things people try to improve, vs a squat, bench, deadlift etc. I don't want to diminish this achievement, I'm quite proud of it, but at the same time, I'm quite aware that this is simply an unusual movement to pursue to the degree that I have. I'm proud of my perseverance, vs some of the training decisions I made.
Happy to answer any Qs on any of the above, I can get as specific as my memory will allow.

FAQ

1. Why do you call it a "ring pull-up"? That's just what I know this movement as, as do most gymnasts I've spoken to. A ring pull-up is where your grip starts pronated, and shifts throughout the movement. It's a mix of different grips. I've seen it referred to as a ring chin-up as well. If we want to get into semantics, then neither term is technically correct. My bar pull-up is about the same as my ring pull-up.
2. Why do you start with your feet on the floor? 2 parts to this answer. My wife is shorter than me, and if I put the rings any higher, she'd need to get a step or something and jump to reach the rings. The more important answer, however, is that over the years, I've found that this is just more convenient for doing waves of strength work. You can also brace better. My numbers are around the same if I hang at the start, and if streetlifting ever finds it's way to Vermont, I'll do that at the competition, as that's the standard.
3. Why!?!?!? This usually refers to why would I put so much time into an unconventional strength lift. Honest answer, is that it's based on how my first strength training experience went. I couldn't compete on squats or deadlifts or cleans etc, but I could beat everyone on pull-ups. I got compliments from bigger guys, which I'm sure many here can appreciate how great that feels. I just stuck to what I was relatively decent at, and over the years, have achieved a somewhat impressive amount of pulling strength.
4. Why don't you use chalk or wrist wraps? I personally like doing the movement clean, without assistance. Just my personal preference.
5. Why do you use a dip belt and weight vest? Personal preference, I like splitting the weight up a bit. In a perfect world, I'd somehow have a suit that distributed the weight evenly across my entire body, but such a thing doesn't exist. So I went for a combo of a dip belt + weight vest.
6. What brand dip belt/weight vest do you use? Hypeletics Weighted Dip Belt & Kensui EZ Vest (Pro V2 Model). Most comfortable dip belt and weight vest I've ever worn, and it's not even close.
7. Aren't weighted pull-ups of X weight dangerous? I use X here, because I've heard this question a few times, X being a range of numbers, sometimes as low as 20kg/44lb. Not exactly sure where this notion came from, but in my anecdotal experience, no, weighted work past a certain amount is not inherently dangerous.
8. Can you do a one-armed pull-up? This question somewhat baffles me, because you could do a one-armed pull-up with far less pulling strength. So the answer is yes.
9. Can you do a bar muscle-up? Same answer as #8.
10. Can you do a front lever? Yes. In fact, I managed to attain a OAP, bar muscle-up and front lever, without actually working on them specifically. It was just a byproduct of increasing my pulling strength.
11. How do you deal with fluctuating BW? I weigh myself before pull-up workouts. If I weigh 1kg/2lb more, I add 1kg/2lb less to the dip belt/weight vest. The total amount of weight lifted (bodyweight + additional weight) is what matters.
12. What's your diet currently like like? I eat generally healthy foods. 3400 calories, 210g protein a day.
13. What's next? Given I don't particularly want to lose weight, 400lb total weight will come first. And then BW + 100kg/220lb additional weight. If I ever achieve that, I'll be on cloud 9, and anything more is just icing on the cake. I'll probably test this movement again at the end of 2023.

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I support urbanism. I found a ton of wumaos on r\fuckcars praising the CCP.
Two particular comments that really get to me was one guy who got downvoted for saying “I don’t hate China, or the common people, I just hate their government” and one guy who got upvoted for saying “but the evil see see pee”
I know how the CCP channels people’s dissatisfaction with the US to make them praise China. It hurt me seeing that this was happening to a movement I wholeheartedly support. I tried to fight back by posting this on the sub after my first post on the subject went to hell:

“Please read this entire post before drawing any conclusions.
“I hate car-centered societies. I don’t drive, and I cycle everywhere. I love that this sub is so big and is promoting this cause. I love the attention that this is getting. It makes me so happy that this sub has over 300,000 members.
“There is something about this sub that I can’t stop thinking about, something that deeply concerns me.
“I know some of you will be offended by this, but I’m worried this sub will start to turn towards dictatorships thinking they are the solution to all their problems.
“That might sound pretty delusional, but I assure you that this is a very real concern.
“I made a post a week or so ago to test how this sub would respond to anti-communist opinions. It didn’t go very well.
“I came across a post a while back that showed a certain fake-communist country in a positive way (real communism doesn’t exist). There were people in the comments praising authoritarian regimes, and getting upvoted for it. While people who criticized them were getting downvoted.
“The overwhelming amount of people who are extremely against what I have to say that will inevitably be in the comments is further proof of this.
“If this community continues down this path, it could result in people who are anti-car-centrism being thought of by others negatively. This would make people less accepting of this cause, which is what concerns me. This anti-car movement deserves as much attention as possible.
“Many people here understand that America is not entirely free, but they obviously don’t understand just how not-free a country can truly be. They make fun of words like ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ because they think that America actually isn’t free and uses buzzwords like those to make people think it is.
“America might not be free in terms of where people can walk, what they can look like (somewhat), and how they can live. But in terms of what they can think, who they can be, what they can support, what they can hate, and more. By those terms, America is very free. And that’s what they mean by ‘freedom’.
“Now before you say that people in America aren’t free because they must support car culture, that is not true. The entire fact that this sub is so big disproves that.
“But many people here turn to fake-communism believing it will solve all their problems. I know you won’t believe this, but trust me: it won’t. If America was the kind of country you want, then everyone on this sub would be arrested for disagreeing with the government’s car-centric mindset.
“As some of you probably know, real communism has never been tried. And that’s why I say ‘fake-communism’
“I'm all for communism, I love the idea of it. I hate that corporate greed runs the world. I think governments should control the economy and resources. But I am not for dictatorships.
“I know this post is somewhat off-topic, but I feel that people should be aware of this.”

The post was removed within minutes. I sent the mods a message. They haven’t responded. It’s been two weeks.

By frequently i mean like more than 8, and sometimes 4 times within 2 hours

In my opinion-yes, because so many things changed.Also-no, because alot of people from that time ar atill alive. Mostly those who wete kids and young adults in the 1950s tho. If you were 30 in 1950, youre prob dead.
Hey, I even know a woman who has worked in accounting since the late 1950s, and still does!
Also, how likely is it that we will soon atop calling the 1950s "50s", but the full name, as we get closer to 2050.

Hi all, looking for career advice here. I am a Salesforce developer in a service based MNC with 2 YOE(Joined as fresher).
I have been working well and have learnt a few things in Salesforce environment ranging from Admin tasks, Apex, LWC, FSL. I have implemented them in my projects as well but now I am feeling stuck and confused.
With all these new AI tools coming, it's a genuine concern that many tasks can be automated, even writing code. Is there something I can do in Salesforce environment currently to improve my future prospects or is it a dead end? I currently have Salesforce Admin and PD1 certs.
I am willing to jumpship to other technologies but it's a bit confusing which one to take based on how unknown the future market seems to be. I am willing to put in the work just need a direction based on each of your experience.

There could be a whole series on the topic of " I think she's in trouble " in terms of album covers. These two were near each other in my record queue serendipitously. When this happens I like to capture the moment and wonder why this pairing occurred. Late '70s rock and roll glory. The cars features some classic jams, and 10 cc just never seems to miss for me. But I'm curious about the ladies that have to model like corpses in so many sessions. Pay attention and you will see that a lot of them seem to have headaches. I dare you to go to the magazine rack and count how many women are touching their heads, while guys get to pose with their hands on their hips or on their chin. Body language is fascinating.

In 6.21 when Josh and Donna are in the hotel bar discussing Santos accepting VP Josh says “how did you get so smart about this stuff?” Donna “I had a good teacher” Josh “thanks” Donna “I meant Will”
Did she mean Will or was she talking about Josh and just said will?

Chapter 1: The Start of a New Conflict
It was midnight in Kingswood, Arrowswift, a far from welcoming neighborhood. The type where its resident’s only idea of “welcoming” would be to greet new visitors (along with their wallets and other belongings) with open arms if they so much as suspect you’re of higher class, and won’t even hesitate to teach you some “manners” if you’re not a very well-behaved guest. On this one particular night, there was an event currently taking place inside the back alley entrance of a closed-down bar.
And through this entrance, just downstairs to the dim-lit hallway, turning a corner of the basement, right passed a muscly, rugged man guarding the door, was a fight club. A considerably large crowd bordered the cage, captivated by the brawl going on inside, bets were already placed and it was the end of the 5th round as a fighter was swiftly brought to the ground, defeated.
“Wow, five straight wins people, FIVE STRAIGHT WINS!” emphasized the announcer of the cage match. “It's like you guys WANT to look bad, c’mon!”
The crowd roared as the loser was dragged out of the cage.
“Alright, final round folks,” said the announcer. “Who wants to have the last dance with this handsome stud?” He gestured to the fighter of five straight wins, Dominic Ledger. The man of the hour nonchalantly stood there with his arms crossed and eyes closed as he waited for the 6th and final participant to enter the cage.
“I’ll take 'em!”
Ding Ding!
The sound of the bell made the fighter’s lips curl into a smirk as his hazel eyes slowly rose to meet the gaze of a big, burly man who looked to be in his 40s at least. He strutted up to Dominic with a smug grin on his face, towering over the shorter man with his shadow swallowing him whole, and sneered with a low, raspy, menacing voice.
“Hope you’re quick on your feet, pretty boy.” He cracked his knuckles and got in a fighting stance. “Cuz I dance dirty!”
Mildly amused, Dominic got in his own fighting stance and beckoned him to make the first move. As his opponent charged at him, Dominic sprung into the air with perfect timing and flipped over his back, causing his bulky contender to stumble and slide to the ground. Regaining his composure, the young fighter whipped his long, wavy poliosis-colored hair out of his face and turned to his “dancing” partner.
“Hmph, your ballet could use a little more practice, don’t ya think?” Dominic taunted.
Growling with anger, the bumbling bodybuilder let out a roar while lunging forward as he tried endlessly to throw every punch and kick under the sun at his younger, yet more experienced contender, all of which were unsurprisingly countered with ease. Dominic soon gained the upper hand, successfully returning every single jab and kick onto the bigger man before throwing him up against the cage face first as the crowd went nuts. So the cocky fighter took a moment to relish in the attention.
Meanwhile, a guy in the crowd, who wasn't cheering along with everyone else just looked around stoically with his arms folded, then mumbled to himself, “Alright, time to cut this short.” before walking off. The guy made his way to the cage gate when the announcer noticed him.
“Hey hey hey! Where ya th-” He was cut off by a hard shove to the face as the man proceeded to go inside. Not noticing, the soon-to-be champion walked up to his defeated combatant.
“Hey muscle man, I thought you’d be more of a challenge,” Dominic continued taunting. “I’m disappointed.”
“Don’t be cute with me boy. I’d give your ass something to sas about if I didn’t have to put ya away first,” he replied slyly.
“Wha- GHAHHH!” The champ suddenly got tased from behind by the same man from the crowd and was brought to the ground.
“Hey, you!” shouted the announcer, confronting the intruder. “First off, no weapons allowed! Second, if you ain't a fighter, you can’t just enter the cage like that!”
The man pulled out a police badge and put it right in the announcer’s face. “APD, I can do whatever the fuck I want. Now shut up.”
The announcer was completely stunned and backed away with his hands up as the cop addressed the entire crowd. “Alright everyone, show’s over! You’re ALL under arrest!”
Meanwhile, Dominic’s "opponent" who’s also revealed to be undercover handcuffed him while he was subdued on the ground, chuckling at his expense.
“Fuck…” was all the passionate fighter could groan out as he rolled over on his back and just laid there, deflated by what just happened.
Four Months Later…
“Dominic Ledger!”
Dominic’s hazel eyes popped wide open, jumping slightly in his bed. Previously asleep in his cell, he is suddenly startled awake by the gruff voice of a correctional officer.
“You’re free to go.”
“Huh?” Dominic was a bit stunned that he was being released so soon after just four months of incarceration. As he’s being escorted out, he passes by an inmate who calls out to him, “Yo Dom, lemme know when you open up ya dojo!” to which Dominic only nodded with a smile.
He changes from his prison garments back into the black tank top, baggy purple, black, and white tribal tracksuit, and white sneakers that he wore at the fight club, and walks up to the front desk for the rest of his belongings.
“Looks like the early jailbird gets the worm, huh?” said the female jail clerk, handing him his stuff.
“I know, thought I’d be here longer,” Dominic admitted to her.
“Yeah well, that’s how it is when your uncle’s a famous boxer,” said another officer walking passed the former inmate. “By the way, thanks for teaching me that knife hand strike,” he whispers to him before walking away as Dominic gives him a wink, leaving with his things.
Outside of the Corrections Department, a red Volvo drives up to the front of the building. The driver of this expensive car is Clarence Dukes with his son Seth in the passenger seat.
“Get outta the car and get in the backseat boy.” Clarence barked at his son.
“Huh?” Seth answered confused.
“You heard me!” Clarence bellowed. “Backseat now! So your cousin can sit up front.”
“He can’t sit in the back?” Seth shot back, unbuckling his seatbelt.
“No,” he said sternly, “that boy’s had a hard life and we gotta be courteous to him. And maybe if you had the same drive and discipline your cousin does, you’d get the same privilege. Til then, earn it first!”
Seth gets out of the car and into the backseat just as Dominic exited the building. Clarence gets out to greet his approaching nephew with his arms extended wide, accompanied by a deep, raspy, “He-ey Dominic!”
“Hey, Uncle Clarence.” Dominic greeted back as they embraced with the older man’s big, beefy body practically engulfing him.
“Ahh It’s been so long, how ya feelin' boy?” Clarence asked.
“Never been better,” Dominic replied.
“Hey, Dominic.” Seth waves at his cousin unenthusiastically.
“Hey, Seth.” Dominic waved back.
“C’mon, get in.” Clarence opens up the passenger seat for his nephew. “We’ll go get the rest of your stuff back at your old place.”
On the way to Dominic’s apartment, he and his uncle continued catching up while Seth remained quiet in the backseat.
“So how was it in the clink?” Clarence asked. “Ya shoulda called and told me you got locked up, I would’ve posted bail sooner.”
“Eh, it’s not too bad in there, nothing I’m used to,” Dominic replied.
“That’s what I always admired about you, Dom; hard like iron. Ya know what that is? That’s that Dukes blood running through your veins.”
“I’ll say this,” Dominic continued, “their gym is much better than any I’ve ever been to.”
“Yeah? Well, just wait til you see mine, you’ll have a field day.” Clarence chuckled, “But I see you’ve been packing on some muscles of your own, I bet you had all those inmates at your mercy huh? Ya let em know you’re the nephew of the great Duke of Steel?”
“Actually, I’ve just had some guys ask me to teach them a few moves,” Dominic corrected him, “Some even said I should consider becoming an MMA instructor.”
“Well, maybe someday you can be,” Clarence assured him, “but ya gotta work your way up to that first. Shouldn’t take too long though cuz I’ve always said you were a rising star, I just never understood why your mom never saw that in ya.”
“Mom already had enough to deal with, but she definitely never approved of my relationship with violence,” Dominic said.
“Hey! Martial arts ain’t violence, it’s an art form,” Clarence argued, “Believe me, if your mom could see you for the champion you’ll become (thanks to me), she’d change her tune.”
“If you say so,” Dominic replied tentatively.
“You got lots of potential kid, and heart; just no direction is all. But don’t worry my nephew, cuz when I'm done with you, you’re gonna be a legend. No more going behind back alleys or small, stuffy, overcrowded bars fighting a bunch of no-names and winning chump change. Picture this instead: A big, flashy stadium, packed from every angle, with ALL eyes on you as you go neck and neck with other big-name fighters and hearing YOUR name echoed throughout the whole damn building when you rise as the victor!” Clarence chuckles, “Now that’s a dream, right?”
Dominic gives a half-hearted laugh. “Yeah, that sure is a lot to take in.”
They finally arrive at Dominic's apartment, once parked, Clarence turns to his nephew and puts a hand on his shoulder.
“Well, you’re with us now, and we’re happy to have ya. And right on time too, cuz Seth here needs ALL the push he can get. Speaking of which, Seth! Go help your cousin get his things!” Clarence ordered his son again, snapping his fingers this time. “Go! Pick up the pace! A good workout for ya.” Seth moaned, rolling his eyes but did what he was told.
After gathering the rest of Dominic’s things, Clarence drives them back to the wealthy neighborhood of Copper Lane where they eventually arrive at his mansion. Inside, Clarence’s daughter Claire was in the middle of an online kickboxing session in her father’s personal gym.
“Remember, keep it straight, don’t lean.” said her instructor over the laptop.
“How’s this?” she asked.
“Good,” he complimented, “You’re a pretty fast learner.”
“Well, you’re a pretty good teacher.” she flirted back winking at him.
“CLAIRE!!!” Claire jumps when she hears her father.
“Oh fuck, dad’s home! I gotta go!” She rushes to close her laptop and quickly hides behind the door just as her father barges in looking for her.
“Claire, I know you’re in here!” With his back turned, she tries to sneak out only to bump into her older cousin.
“Oh, Dom! You’re here!” she exclaimed nervously.
“In a rush?” he playfully asked.
“Yeah well, ya know how it is. So how was it in ja-” Her words are cut off by a sudden yank of her shoulder as her father spins her around to face him.
“Claire!” Clarence holds up a bracelet she left in his gym. “You been in my gym again?”
Avoiding his question, she responds with, “Dad, do you mind? I’m trying to catch up with my cousin.”
Clarence grabs her by the arm. “Scuse us, Dom.” He drags her to her room and shuts the door. “I told you you can’t be a fighter!”
“Dad, this isn’t the 50s, I can be a fighter if I want to,” she argued back.
“Bullshit! You’ll just get pummeled out there and make me look like a fool.”
“How would you know? You never even bothered to train me!”
“I don’t train girls! You know that, and for good reason; I mean look at you, you spend all your time whining and being a brat, I can only imagine you in the ring with another fighter.” he demeaned.
All Claire could do was just stand there and grit her teeth at her close-minded pig of a father with squinted, green eyes full of hatred. Meanwhile, the two male cousins are placing Dominic’s belongings in his new bedroom when the elder cousin broke the silence.
“So Seth, we got a long road ahead of us, hope you’re ready for a ride.”
“Yeah.” Was all the younger cousin could respond with as he places a box down.
“Yeah? You know, you haven't said very much since I got here, something bothering you?” Dominic asked.
"Uh, no. Forgive me, I’m just a bit flustered with everything going on.” Seth looked out the window facing away from his cousin.
“Hey, it’s natural for fighters to get the jitters, but you can’t let it get to you,” he advised leaning against the wall, “Uncle Clarence told me in his emails that you’re in serious need of some motivation, I suppose I could offer some expertise.”
“Thanks, but that’s not exactly what I meant.”
“What’s stressing you out then?”
Not even looking at his cousin once, Seth paused for a minute before letting out a sigh. “It’s just… dad’s so hell-bent on making me into a fighter, he even put me to work at his gym as a janitor, so when I’m not training, I’m cleaning showers. Either way, I’m bound to that gym.”
“Sheesh, and I thought I was passionate, he got me beat,” Dominic remarked.
“Sure… so into HIS passion, I barely have any time for MINE.” Seth’s tone had a bitterness to it.
“What does that mean?” Dominic asked.
“Uh… You know what? Never mind. It’s not that important.” Seth dismissed as he ran a hand through his messy, short black hair before turning back to his cousin. “Oh, by the way, dad bought you some new hand wraps and he told me to give them to you.” He motioned to his cousin to follow him. “C’mon.”
Dominic followed his cousin into his bedroom where his workout bag was, when Seth reaches into it to pull out the wraps, a drawing tablet falls out.
“Shit…” Seth cursed under his breath.
Dominic picks it up off the floor before Seth could grab it first and starts flipping through it. Seth had drawn a bunch of comic book-style illustrations of various fictional characters.
“Uhhhh, th-th-that’s not important!” Seth stuttered trying to take the pad from Dominic.
“Oh, are these the drawings Uncle C mentioned? They’re actually pretty good,” said the older man.
“Please give that back.” Seth finally takes the pad from his cousin and quickly puts it back into his bag. “Dad’s on my ass enough as it is, I’d really rather not get into this right now.”
"Yeah, cuz keeping it secret is a better solution, huh?" Dominic asked sarcastically.
"I’ll see you at dinner okay?” Seth says with a sigh as he walks out, ignoring the rhetorical question.
Dominic suddenly hears the ear-piercing shrill of “You're such a sexist dick!!!” before hearing a loud door slam. He comes out into the hall to see his uncle angrily storming off from his daughter’s bedroom, and takes a breath before stopping short of his nephew.
“Come with me Dom, I wanna show ya something really cool,” he says as he directs his nephew to his den which has a double door.
When he opens it, Dominic sees the den as a big, exaggerated trophy room. Inside, many of Clarence’s trophies are showcased in individual glass cases on one wall with the middle wall having a large fireplace holding a flat-screen TV. And all around the fireplace are framed pictures of Clarence in his youth along with other famous fighters. And right in the middle of the hard, shiny wooden floor was a 2-seater, home theater recliner facing the TV.
“Woah.” Was all Dominic had to say as he looked around.
“Impressed beyond words?” his uncle asked, “One day, you and Seth will have a place here.” He points to the opposite wall that also had glass cases on the shelves but no trophies inside of them... Yet. Dominic takes a closer look at them and notices that the plaques below the cases already have his and Seth’s names on them. He then goes to look at some of his uncle’s framed pictures as Clarence begins to narrate to him.
“Yeah your uncle was something else at your age, I had that same drive as you. I was on a roll and didn’t wanna stop. Did you know your uncle has NEVER lost a single fight? And I went up against the best of the best: Clive 'Brick Wall' Donovan, Max 'Bigfoot' Graves, Jack 'TNT' Morris. Those guys were also legends of their own, they NEVER lost a fight… Until of course, they went up against a new legend… Clarence “Duke of Steel”!”
He laughs fawning over some of his pictures and then lets out a nostalgic sigh. “Sometimes I regret how things turned out, cuz you could bet I’d still be making history right about now.” he turned to his nephew. “Like I said, with you here, Seth could really learn a thing or two about discipline. Boy’s been slacking, more focused on his silly drawings than he should be on his form.”
“Well Claire sure seems into it, can’t you train her?” Dominic asked. However, the question was only met with big, thundering laughter.
“HAHAHA! Ah, kid, women aren’t equipped to be fighters, I mean they’re equipped to be trained just not for fighting if ya know what I mean,” he scorned, elbowing his nephew. “Besides, that girl is barely college material, ya think she could get her head out her ass long enough to dodge a single punch? Good one Dom.”
“I dunno, I’ve seen quite a few female fighters and they're not exactly “trainable” when they’re flipping guys over in a spar,” Dominic said, trying to remain light-hearted but clearly rather put off by his uncle’s ignorance.
“Aw, that’s just chivalry, Dom. no self-respecting man would ever let the woman pull the strings.” Clarence scoffs and puts a hand on Dominic’s shoulder. “Now, get some rest, my nephew. Tomorrow I’ll show you the gym,” he says, walking out of the den.
Around 11:00 PM later that night, the rest of the family has long since retired to their rooms. Dominic, still feeling active, decided to visit his uncle’s den again. While looking over some of his trophies, memories started flooding his mind:
“How many times do I have to keep bailing you out of trouble boy?”
“Mom, it’s not my fault this time-”
“Well, whose fault is it? That boy you put in a coma?”
“He had it coming to em-”
“I just don’t know what to say to you, not even in college yet, and already you've seen the clink!”
“C’mon mom, college is not that big a deal, at least you'll save more money for your medication.”
“I'm not worried about me Dominic Travion Ledger, I'm worried about you. You’ve been at this since childhood, anytime I think you're in good hands, you always find a way to stir up trouble. I might as well just let your uncle raise you 'cause I’m at my wit's end here!”
“What's wrong with Uncle Clarence? He seems nice! He said he could train me to-”
“No! Over my dead body! Listen here, you think I like being so hard on you? You and I are in some rough times, but my main concern is making sure my only son has his head on straight so he won’t get locked up or even dead before I am. I’m gonna straighten you up whether you like it or not, cuz if you don’t start manning up around here, who will? Do you understand me?”
“…Yeah mom.”
Dominic walked over to the empty shelves and stuck his focus on a specific glass case that had his name on the plaque, he saw his reflection in it, though it wasn’t staring back at him very favorably. He turns to leave the den and as he’s walking out, he notices Seth quietly leaving his bedroom fully dressed. Not noticing his cousin, Seth tiptoes over to Claire’s bedroom door, quietly knocks, and sneaks in when she opens it.
Curious, Dominic walks up to the door and puts his ear up to it but hears nothing, he tries to knock quietly but gets no reply. When he peeps in, he finds the room empty with Claire’s window fairly open. Just as he looks out of it, he faintly hears Seth exclaiming in excitement, “Alright, to Hot Buns City it is!” followed by a giddy, “Yeah!” from Claire as the two of them enter Seth’s cheap, orange, and red-striped muscle car before driving off.
The siblings headed downtown to Hot Buns City; a pretty popular, 24-hour burger joint and hang out amongst other people their age. They sat outside to eat, laughing, talking, and enjoying the fairly peaceful night with each other for once.
"So Jason NEVER noticed his pants were split?" Claire laughed.
"Nope, not helping that he didn't even bother to put on underwear that day," Seth replied, chuckling.
“So Michael's looking hotter than ever, does he ask about me?” Claire asked seductively, twiddling the straw of her milkshake.
“Shouldn’t you know? He’s giving you private kickboxing lessons.” Seth pointed out, mouth full of burger.
“Well he WAS.” she corrected with annoyance in her voice, “And it’s getting harder to do that thanks to dad. I was BARELY even able to get 20 minutes of training today.”
“Yeah well, dad’s been keeping me way too busy in the ring lately. Even in my downtime, I can't so much as pick up a pencil without hearing one of his lectures, “The only form of art you should be focused on is MARTIAL arts.” he mocked his father.
“Seth, sooner or later, you have to stand up to dad,” Claire said.
He scoffs, “Like you’re any better?”
“At least I’m not the one he’s pushing super hard.” she snarked back.
Seth sighed, “I just don’t get why dad can’t drop his 1940s-era sexist attitude and just make YOU his successor.”
“Yeah… Well, the thing is… I wanna be a fighter, but I don't think I wanna be a FIGHTER fighter.” Claire said struggling a bit with her wording.
“What do you mean?”
“I feel like I could do more than just fight in cages, I wanna make a difference, like a service, you know?”
“You mean like join the army?”
“Not exactly, I’m thinking of joining the force,” she revealed.
Seth only responds with a skeptical, “Hmm, well good luck with that.”
Causing Claire to get defensive. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I'm just curious as to HOW you’ll even get that far with dad breathing down your neck.” Seth clarified.
“It's ok, I got it all planned out,” she reassured with a sly grin. “I figured once I save enough money, I’ll just tell dad I applied for college and they accepted me and just take it from there.”
“Uh-huh,” Seth said, still unconvinced. “Well meanwhile, I’m still waiting to hear from that publisher?”
“Wait, if you can’t find time to draw, how are you able to make full comics?” Claire questioned.
“During my night shifts, when I'm pretending to work,” Seth answered blandly.
“Oh.” Claire grunted, “You know what? I don’t wanna talk about dad anymore, let’s talk about something else.”
“Yeah, let’s talk about not inviting me to one of your secret outings.”
They turn to see Dominic standing over them with a playful smile.
“We thought you were asleep,” Claire gets up to sit with her brother to let their elder cousin sit opposite them.
“Nah, just been looking forward to spending quality time with my two little cousins.”
“How did you get here so fast?” Seth asked.
“I borrowed Uncle Clarence's Volvo,” Dominic replied nonchalantly.
“Are you crazy?” Claire gasps. “Dad's gonna flip! He won't let anyone touch his Volvo!”
“Hmph, look who’s talking, trainee.” This left her at a loss for words and a lot of blushing. “Relax, it'll be back in the garage before he knows it,” he assured.
“Not that he’d care,” Seth thought to himself.
Dominic continued. “But while we’re on the subject Claire, I’d like a follow-up on those training sessions of yours, picked out a style yet?”
“Style?” Claire asked.
“Fighting style.” Dominic specified.
“Oh, Kickboxing.”
“Level?”
“Four.”
“Ahh, impressive. Such a shame Uncle C won’t let you fight, I’m interested to see where this goes.”
“Tell me about it!” Claire exclaimed. “But if you think that’s impressive, just wait till I join the force. It’s always been a big dream of mine; but not to be just any regular cop, but one of those action movie hero-type cops, ya know?”
Dominic just nodded, playing along to his littlest cousin's wide-eyed naivety. Seth just rolled his eyes. “I think she might be taking this a little too seriously.”
“Say what you want Seth, at least she’s going for what she wants. Which reminds me, when are you gonna man up and tell Uncle C you don’t wanna be a fighter?” Dominic asked.
“You think I haven’t?” Dad’s not exactly a good listener.” Seth said.
“Yeah, he’s more of a yell-at-your-face-first, ask-questions never kinda psycho,” Claire added.
“Hey now, isn’t that a little harsh? “I know he can be strict, but I think you two should cut him a little bit of slack,” Dominic told them, “I mean I wouldn't be going anywhere right now if he didn't take me in.”
“Easy for you to say, you’re like the son he’s always wanted,” Seth lamented, “I’m just hoping with you here, he’ll pay less attention to me for once.”
“C’mon Seth, you know that won’t happen. As his real son, he’ll just keep putting this on you unless you finally put your foot down for once.”
Seth just looked down. “I dunno about that Dominic.”
“Just give him time, he’ll learn to respect your choices… eventually. But, you know, ya gotta admit little cous, martial arts could actually do you some good cuz confidence has never been your strong point.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Seth moaned dismissively.
“Right?” Claire teased, “Seth always was namby-pamby.”
“Am not...” Seth mumbled when suddenly-
“Heeeey babe.”
They’re interrupted by a trio of douchey-looking guys who all looked to be in their 20s walking up to their table (more specifically Claire’s side).
“Watcha doin hanging out with these homos?” The leader of the trio got in between the two siblings and shoved Seth out of his seat so he could sit next to Claire.
“You SHOULD be hanging with me in my Ferrari enjoying a good looong ride if ya know what I mean,” he said putting his arm around her. If the leud invitation didn’t spell “slimeball” written all over it, his hungry, grey eyes and sly smirk certainly did. This encouraged a round of cackling by his two equally slimy friends.
“What!? Eww!” Claire desperately tried to break free from his hold until Dominic threw a ketchup bottle at him and sat up from his seat to get in his face.
“Hey, dickhead, leave her alone!”
“What’d you say to me tranny!?” The punk tries to make his way over to the streaky-haired man until Seth gets in between them.
“Look man, we don’t want any trouble okay? Can’t you just go flirt with some other girl?” he suggested trying to keep the peace. The lead douche gave an over-the-shoulder glance at his goons.
“Am I mishearing things boys, or is this little runt giving ME orders?” Seth began to back away as the lead douche slowly approaches with his goons surrounding him like hyenas. “You talking to me, little boy?” he bullied the shorter, younger man with a hard shove.
“Hey, stop it, man. You’re not that cool…” Seth tried in vain to be stern, but non-violent.
The lead douche only responds with an even harder shove followed by a loud, venomous, “What? Speak up, little man!”
“Aww look, I think he’s bout to cry.” one of the goons instigated.
“Gonna cry little pussy?” Lead douche mocked, getting in his face this time. Dominic and Claire decide to offer Seth some encouragement.
“Hey Seth, are you really gonna take that?”
“Yeah, man up dammit!”
In the midst of all the pressure placed on him, Seth impulsively punches lead douche in the face which strikes a reaction from his goons as they gang up on the meek fighter.
“H-hey, get off me punks!”
“Put this little runt in his place boys!” lead douche orders his goons while holding his face in pain.
Dominic and Claire sprung up and rushed to his aid, but lead douche grabs Claire and proceeds to drag her away. “And you are coming with me, bitch.”
Without warning, Claire strikes him in the gut and body slams him. Meanwhile, Dominic starts fighting one of the goons as Seth fought the other; this turns their peaceful night into a full-on, bloody, intense brawl. Seth fought with the teachings forced on him by his father, though due to his lack of confidence and disdain for conflict, he was still clearly struggling as his opponent (who wasn’t even any taller than Seth was) takes control and knocks him to the ground.
The goon was about to pounce when Claire grabs him by his dreadlocks, slings him to the ground, holds him down, and spits right in his face. The largest goon of the group grabs Dominic and throws him onto his uncle’s Volvo, then their leader jumps on the hood up over him, but Dominic kicks him in the groin and throws him off.
The big goon rushes to punch him only for his fist to go through the window a split second after the seasoned fighter dodges in time. As the brawl went on, the severity of it became so big, that the people who were previously eating outside all scattered with some going inside the restaurant to watch the fight from there and others taking out their cellphones to record it.
Dominic noticed a bystander trying to call 911. “Shit… Hey, forget these guys! C’mon, let’s go!” he told his cousins.
They all stopped what they were doing and headed for the cars. As Claire got in the Volvo with Dominic, Seth got in his own car and tried to start it up, only to learn that his car battery died…Again. And to top it all off, lead douche shatters the driver's side window trying to pull Seth out with him. “Oh, you ain’t leaving so soon, little girl!”
Dominic sees this, gets out of the damaged Volvo, grabs him, and bashes his face into the backseat window of Seth’s Muscle car rendering him unconscious.
“C’mon, the Volvo still works!” he says as he helps Seth out of his car.
They all got in the Volvo and drove off before the cops could even arrive, but back at home, things weren't any easier. After learning that the fight was uploaded and now trending on mainstreams.com, it was even any wonder if their hearing was still intact from all the yelling Clarence was doing.
“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU KIDS THINKING!?”
“DAD WE’RE NOT KIDS! WOULD YOU JUST LISTEN TO US FOR ONCE!?” Claire tried to out-scream her father.
“This boy just got outta jail and you almost got 'em put back in! And not only that, got my precious Volvo damaged in the process, all because you two don’t wanna follow orders!”
“Dad, did you not hear what we said!?” Seth intervenes. “Three guys picked a fight with us and one of them almost kidnapped Claire!”
“Yeah!” Claire chimed in. “And FYI, he would have if I didn’t know how to fight back. Still don’t think girls can be fighters, dad?”
“ENOUGH OF THAT!” Clarence roared, “Now none of this would’ve happened at all if you didn’t sneak out, especially you boy!” He pointed to his son, “You got training AND work, what are you thinkin goin to a burger joint?”
“C’mon, dad! I just wanted ONE night to be normal. You almost never let me go anywhere or eat what I want.”
“You’re a fighter! You’re supposed to be staying focused and watching your calories-”
“But I don’t wanna be a fighter! That’s what YOU want! I…I keep trying to tell you that.” Seth interrupted, his voice cracking at the end.
Clearance stared down at his son in disapproval before saying, “Well then, what the fuck else are you gonna do, Huh? You barely act like a man." He crosses his arms, "So maybe I should just let you make your coloring books all day, is that what ya wanna do, huh?”
"They're not coloring books! Look, comics may not be very manly to you, but it’s what I really like doing okay? I even…” When hesitation sets in, he glances at his sister and cousin with the latter motioning to him to continue. Seth turned back to his father. “I even contacted this publisher.”
“And?” His father pressed him.
“And… Well, I haven’t really heard back from them yet, but… In the meantime, I’ve even thought of applying at this comic book store-”
“No, no… Stop.” Clarence puts a hand up. "Now you listen to me boy, you are a Dukes and you have a responsibility to represent that name. And the fact that you’d much rather make childish drawings all day tells me that I'm just busting my ass trying to toughen you up for nothing. Ya know how bad that makes me look? You don’t have a clue what I go through trying to turn you into a man. You know what? I’m not even gonna get into this in front of your cousin, cuz I don’t wanna hear another word about comic books or fighting from you two entitled brats ever again.”
“But dad-”
“I MEAN IT! And while you’re at it, both of you will pay for every damage done to my Volvo. So Seth, get used to working overtime, Claire, I don’t care how the fuck you do it-”
“Actually, Uncle Clarence,” Dominic spoke up, walking over to him. “Claire and Seth had nothing to do with the Volvo, it’s my fault.”
“What?”
“I know, I know, I shouldn’t have taken it without asking and I'll pay for the damages, I promise.”
“Dominic, don’t. You ain't gotta take the fall for your cousins’ reckless actions.”
“But they really didn’t-”
“Don’t worry about them, just focus on yourself and your training and go get some rest…” Clarence reassured his nephew and turned back to his son. “And I’ll see YOU at the gym tomorrow, bright and early,” he warned while walking out of the living room.
Dom walks over to his sulking cousins. “Look, guys, I’m sorry I got you into trouble. And you don’t have to pay for the Volvo, I’ll take care of that myself.”
“Well, that’s one less thing to worry about, not that it makes it better.” Seth sighed, heading to his room. “See you tomorrow Dom.”
“Good night Dom.” Claire gets up too and hugs her big cousin before heading off to bed herself.
Dominic goes into his own room and lies on his bed contemplating what to do. Finding a job was already out of the question, It’d be difficult to land one even if it’s part-time. Not just because of his felony record, but on such short notice like this, it would also interfere with his uncle’s plans already put in place for him. After all, if he’s this strict on his own son, then Dominic could only anticipate the vigorous training he’ll endure too.
All he knew was that he needed to make some easy money fast so that his two cousins wouldn’t have to catch hell from their father over HIS actions. And after spending a little over an hour failing to find other ways around it, he reluctantly comes to the conclusion that the only way to get quick, easy money he doesn't have is by doing the only thing he knows how to do.
To Be Continued…

It seems like so much of society thinks we’re just making this all up or it’s not that bad or it’s just anxiety. I know there are many types of long covid, my specific symptom is a permanent burning sensation in my head, it started when I got sick and hasn’t gone away even for a second for 15 months. Obviously a never ending headache is absolute torture, but what I find most depressing is this “headache” has made me unable to use computers or play games. This is a big issue for me because I’ve been a gamer all my life, it’s not just my hobby, it has been part of my identity, it’s who I am. But I can’t play games on my PC or on any console since this “headache” started, if I try then my head will inflame super bad within minutes and I start having stroke-like symptoms like speech issues, dizziness, balance issues, severe burning in my head, and it’ll last hours or days even. Now of course this isn’t the only issue I have or the only issue this “headache” causes, it gets bad and I miss work and can’t hold a job, it’s ruined me financially, I’ve been through 3 jobs just in the last 12 months and I’m very close to being fired again from my current job, it makes doing literally anything very difficult due to the constant pain. But still what gets me the most is the inability to play games. I guess what I’m getting at is, why would I do this to myself? Why would I make this up? Why would I decide to not do the thing I love most in this world and ruin my entire life over the last 15 months? This is what I don’t get, how our families, friends, society, and doctors just think we’re full of shit? Especially with how many of us there are, there’s no way it could be a coincidence that so many people are complaining about medical problems after covid. I just wish there was much more awareness for this, it breaks my heart seeing how so many of us are treated by even loved ones. Our governments and healthcare systems are failing us.

And boy, do I feel great!
The game may be imperfect, but it's a masterpiece.
I wound up being level 136 at the end, and it was getting a little easy, so I stopped using summons. It was honestly way more fun holding boss aggro for whole fights. (and I had picked up a good handful of those levels just for Malenia, who I beat at 127...). My one-trick strength build got pretty old, while so many boss weapons and spells looked amazing and I didn't re-spec to take them.
I want to do another play-through of the game. I'm going to run StDex/Fai, sit a little low on levels, and go no-summons.
The game is so huge and so open that I'll have no problem looking up fun items/spells in each area. I just don't have the time as a working adult to discover everything in this game on its own. It's my very unoriginal, we've-all-heard-it-a-hundred-times criticism - the "Souls-like" nature of discovering the world through items and NPC interactions doesn't really work for how big the game is. I didn't think that would be true until I was like... eighty or a hundred hours in, lol.
And you know what? It was still freaking awesome. I'm so glad I saw my friends playing it. I never would have tried a From Software game if I hadn't. I want to get a miniature of the Tree Sentinel and maybe also Morgott for my bookshelf. And I'm not even the type of guy to get miniatures.
...I do wish the ending cinema I picked was longer and explained itself in more detail...
I loved helping people kill bosses, even though I didn't accept help for bosses themselves (though a friend did escort me through an optional dungeon once). In fact, helping people kill bosses was so much fun for me that I might just wait til the DLC drops to do my next run-through of the game when everyone is on the hype train. I'll be fresh, have taken a break, and I'll have no trouble farming rune arcs after every battle before moving on.
I'm not as big on goth and horror, so I'm probably skipping on most of their titles. But you know what I just picked up? Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. I know what I'll be playing between now and the DLC :D
But Elden Ring. Just, wow. What an amazing game. What an amazing experience.
A big Thank You to everyone who worked hard at From Software, and to everyone in the community who made this so much fun for me to play. ❤️

I am new to Dragon Age. I am intrigued by the story and I like how many dialogue choices we have. But I just can't stand the combat. I don't like strategic gameplay and micromanagement. Should I just give up? Or is there a way to go through the story while bypassing the combat, or at least a mod that changes the mechanics? Thanks.
And is combat in Inquisition also this tedious or is there a more casual-friendly option/setting?

TL;DR - Fuck this test.
For those of you who are interested in getting licensed in Canada, you are required to take the NDEB virtual osce exam. Today was the first time they’ve rolled out this computerized test as in the past it’s been a written exam. This was my overall experience with this exam.
Registration: the virtual osce is only offered 3x a year, in March, June and I believe November. To register, I needed to mail in (NOT electronically submit) notarized photocopies of ID and a signed form. I applied late for the exam (I think end of January) and the only locations left were Boston and Michigan.
Studying: lol
Day of the test: The exam was held in a hotel conference room. The check-in time for the exam was at 8am. I arrived around 7:50. Once we checked in and showed ID, they brought us to a room with tables and laptops set up. The exam didn’t start till 9am so we all sat there for about 45 mins doing nothing. I finished the first part with about an hour left and left the room at 11ish. They told me the 2nd part would start at 2pm. I went back to my hotel and napped an returned at 1:15 (the online schedule said the exam would be at 1:30 so I didn’t want to chance it). When I arrived they stated that the server went down and there were still people completing the first part. Eventually they were let out at 1:40 to get food but i heard many of them never got to finish their exam before it crashed on them. I think policy states that they can ask to void their scores and get a refund but it means they need to take it again. We returned at 2:40 and were told the 2nd part would be moved to paper as servers were still down and we would get a PDF of the questions on the laptops. This meant constantly clicking back and forth between clinic photos/X-rays/charts and the actual question unlike the first part where everything was seen on a single screen. Shortly after starting, a band started practicing above us and security didn’t stop them for about an hour. Earplugs did not help. I finished with about an hour left and my will to continue gone.
Question format: The NDEB is really different to the INBDE in terms of question format. Half the exam has MC questions that allow you to choose multiple options but if you get a single answer wrong then you get the whole question wrong. Basically if the question has 2 correct answers, each is worth 0.5 and any incorrect answer is worth -1 so if you chose multiple wrong answers you'd get a cumulation of negative points. They had many questions which used pictures of typodont models and cast pour-ups and asked to identify potential errors with crown preps or RPD designs. The way the photos were taken though, you could not get an accurate 3D view and it was hard to distinguish what were voids vs. nodes or how the margin looked for the crown preps. I can give more info about the content and question-style if anyone wants.
Overall a really terrible debut of this computerized test and I caution anyone wanting to take it to maybe wait a while for them to fix these issues.

The rapid clacking away on the keyboard filled the back of the van as the backlight shone on the young man’s face, his newest blog post about the ‘100 Year “Conflict”’ between the African Union and the United States of Expanded America filling the screen.
Their fierce arguments in the Neo-League of Allied Nations were the things of legend, as despite the uncompromising regulation of, ‘No Creative Abilities’, which included limiters, as they could be disguised, people swore that the Hall shook.
​
Sparing a few moments to refocus on the background radio, he shook his head at the protests and threats between New Russia and the Renewed French Republic regarding the Alliance of Free Nations.
​

​
His train of thought was rudely interrupted, but he pressed on.
​
Clickclackclickclackclickclack.
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<Hey.>
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Clickclackclickclackclickclackclickclackclickclackclickclack.
​

​
“What?”
​

​
“When I’m finished with this post, that’s when. And not a word less.”
​

​
Clickclackclickcla-.
​
He sighed and lifted his finger off the ‘y’ key, the trail of ‘y’s being automatically deleted by his Bio-Pal, or By, for short. Getting off his 3/4th king-sized bed as the screen and keyboard retracted into the ceiling and wall, he grabbed his beige ‘off-duty’ hat hanging next to his cameo reporting hat.
​
“Alright, By, where and for what are we going to today?”
​

​
“… Seriously. Bloomington, Indiana, for lunch or breakfast, depending on the menu; then Washington D.C for work, we have that assignment that’s due tomorrow. You know, May 21, 2020?”
​
Sliding the door open, he slid out from its hollow inside a folded red and black tri-motorcyle. As it turned on and unfolded from his hands touching the metal door handles, it revealed the floating two-seater, allowing him to enter. Grabbing the wheel while pressing two buttons, the roof covering rose and the EM Tesla Riders activated, one in the front and two in the back, gradually elevating them.
Simultaneously, Craig closed, locked, and shielded the 20-foot white van with a Spark of electricity that traveled from inside the ‘cycle and made contact with the van, another sent back as confirmation. As the GPS chose the quickest route out of New York City, he admired the skyscrapers.
​
“I still can’t get over the skyscrapers here… How ma-?”
​

​
“Yawn burgers with a side of snores, By. Just get us outta here. How long and which restaurant?”
​
<24 minutes and might I suggest Uptown Cafe?>
​
“Show me.’
​
The website was projected on the windshield in two tabs, one for the breakfast menu and the other for making reservations.
​
‘… Looks delish and easy on the budget. Reservation for 10:30, if you please, and get me the Malted Belgian Waffle with granola and hazelnut-flavored coffee.”
​
When they reached New York’s outer limits a few seconds later, By took them on a preapproved route to Kirkwood Ave., where they landed in an empty parking spot that quickly held the vehicle. Getting out, he went to the Cafe that was a minute away.
​
“Craig Williams.”
​
“Please follow me.”
​
Taking him to a table to the right of the bar, another waiter quickly came and gave him water, coffee, and milk. As she left, he glanced at the gold-covered bar dividing the room while sipping at the now-prepared coffee, grinning at the strange way his slightly tanned face was warped.
​

​
“Will ya lay off it, please? As I’ll remind you, it’s only because my mom’s ancestors escaped to America from those A.U jerks just 'cause they weren’t from the same tribe, while my dad was almost electrocuted, burned out, and genocided by the Nazis! Anyway, who are we meeting in Washington?”
​

​
“Right, right… Can’t believe I was one of the few that discovered who they really are… Remind me how I found and was able to remember them, again?”
​

​
“Only after an incessant mind- and body-draining interrogation that lasted for almost half an hour after I finished. I’m still surprised that they keep me in the loop about what they-, alright, alright, she keeps me in the loop. Anyway…”
​
His breakfast came with some coffee and after a few words of thanks, he began eating as By went through the facts of one J. Trakler.
​
Got into science in an R.F.R Elementary school after Io’s Rylu University said they were closer than ever to discovering the secret to F.T.L travel. In a specialized Middle School, he helped the Ney Collective on Neptune forcefully increase their crops growth and hardiness, while also kick-starting the research into the Saturnians’ recently implemented standard insertion process through the Saturnian Watch Program.
Coincidentally, he also started a life-long friendship with their CEO, who’s now the current Head of National Security in New Russia and the first Altered in a high position of power there. Craig, slow down.
In an elite High School in New Russia, he went to Neo France on Uranus on a student-swap with the now-Prime Minister of France, where they also struck up a life-long friendship during the ‘Port lay-over and the back-and-forth vi-com.
He’s now the Elite Omni-Scientist of the Middle East Scientific Alliance, or MESA for short. Williams? Please.
Their goal is-. LISTEN UP, YOU GLUTTONOUS HUMAN!!>
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“GRR! By, this is one of the most delicious pancakes I’ve ever eaten, let me enjoy it! Anyway, this guy is the E.O.S of the MESA, and you were about to tell me their goal.”
​
<… So you were listening. You’ve gotten better at that. Anyway, their stated goal has been to help Rylu University with their goal of F.T.L travel, using Einstein’s, Tesla’s, and -ugh- Edison ‘The Amature’s, notes and prototypes.>
​
“What’s the trio’s history, again? Never mind, don’t tell me. So, how did this MESA come to pass, again? It was because of World War 2 and the Neo-Battlefield, right?”
​

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“Isn’t that because everyone else is more focused on space and the so-called ‘bigger picture’?”
​
What MESA is also doing is giving the A.F.N resources to prevent an invasion from either France or New Russia, which certain parties from both sides are attempting to drum up.>
​
“Hmm… So, we have the Alliance of Free Nations and MESA on the one hand, the USEA and the AU on the other, and the Reformed French Republic and New Russia in the middle of all this, with one guy linking almost all of them together… Does this sound familiar to you?”
​

​
“It’s just a thought, By. Just a thought. Brunch is over; find me the fastest way to Capital Hill.”
​

​
Leaving a 45 Bolt tip then Sparking his payment at the front desk, he went back to his Tri while trying to not facepalm at the snarking Bio-Pal. Getting in while turning it on, he was quickly on his way.
As they landed in front of the Capital building, the man of the hour was briskly stepping down the steps, his Altered bodyguards bio-electrically holding everyone back and keeping a close, slitted eye on Craig as he dismounted the ‘cycle and made his way up the stairs.
​
“Mr. Trackler? Mr. Wi-.”
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“Williams, ‘The Revealer’. Too many people here, so let me treat you to a drink.”
​
He stepped to the train track that ran in the middle of the street as a six-person pod was Sparked to his location, his bodyguards escorting Graig inside of it after quickly and almost unnoticeably searching him.
​
Before they knew it, they were seated in, The Electric Watering Hole, a bar just outside the city. Taking a sip of their drinks, they got comfortable.
​
“So, what does your current client, “The Scourge of Washington”, want with me now? The conspiracy theory about how I’m, ‘the Antichrist’, of Christian fame? Because, just to be clear, I’m not Jewish, European, or even Middle Eastern in any way, shape, or form.”
​
“No, no, sir. Although you are part French on your father’s side.”
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“Which isn’t European.”
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“… Right. Sir, I’m here to ask you about, ‘The Phoen-’.”
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“Ah, yes, ‘T.P.P’. Don’t ask me about the acronym, wasn’t my idea. What do you want to know about it? Why we haven’t cracked Faster Than Light travel yet, or how I got things closer than ever with-?”
​
“Forgive me for interrupting, Sir, but what I was wondering was why focus on F.T.L, to begin with? With the upgraded GPS targeting program by Tesla Corp, everything, including organs, can be delivered practically into people’s and doctor’s hands.
Which reminds me that this is the hundred-and-twentieth year since the second anniversary of, ‘The Upheaval Years’, when the energy, vehicle, and medicinal industries disappeared, grocery stores vanished, and dozens of other fields went extinct with the inventions and discovery of Bio-Pal, E.T.F, and the Earth’s A.E.F, respectively. Thoughts?”
​
“To the idiots who are still trying to get, “Emotional Damage Money”: Why don’t you go back in time to stop mining and oil companies, teleportation operators, and maybe even timekeeping and metallic wire companies from-?!”
​
“Sir?”
​
“Forgive me, I get… passionate.
Anyway, I’m sure you’ve heard of the accidents on the gas planets where people had to be euthanized after the teleportation negatively reacted with their atmospheres and how I solved the situation. Don’t worry, I won’t go into the science.”
​
“Thank you. So, you’re trying to solve F.T.L because of health and technological considerations, right?”
​
“Right. There’s also the possibility of someone discovering another element that might have negative reactions to our electricity, and thus it would be safer and easier to use faster than light travel.”
​
“True, true. Where did-?”
​
Trackler’s By alerted him to an upcoming meeting, after which he shook William’s hand, paid for the barely drunk drinks and untouched appetizers with a Spark, and left. Taking the food and his drink, Craig went outside as the pod was turning to it’s left, further away from the city. Hailing another pod, he goes back to his cycle, gets in, and flies home.
​
Putting away the food and drink, he lays on his bed and starts typing the report for the, ‘Magnetic Broom’, getting to the point where he seamlessly transitioned into a review for the restaurant when they entered, then seamlessly transitioned back out when they were seated. He first sent the review to local and nation-wide Edisons, waited till he got paid, deleted the review, then sent the article to the ‘M.B’.
​
Going to the half-sized fridge in the middle of the van, he retrieved his drink and sipped it while leaning on the van door.
​
“How does 384 Bolts for a restaurant review a week sound?”
​

​
While he puts away his drink, “Isn’t that where-? Trackler’s being attacked. Safely ‘Port me there, By.”
​
<One time. You accidentally do it one time…>
​
He shows up behind cover, rather dizzy, as three guys and a lady are attempting to overload Trackler’s Bio-Energy, his bodyguards and the rest of the people in the conference room serving as unwilling Amplifiers.
​

​
“I’ll-ugh- f-f-figure it o-hurk, gulp!- out as I go! Isn’t t-that-urk!- how t-the bra-uuhhh- b-b-brain works best under-?!”
​
At that instant, a sense of clarity came over him, allowing him to roll away from the copper planters and deliver a powerful shock to the nigh-attacking person through their ankle, leaving behind a black hand print and one very dead woman.
​

​
Dodging more electric blows from the mysterious group’s lookout, he diverted the worse of the current and absorbed the rest while blocking and dodging, building up a brutal counterattack. When they unwittingly attracted a floating lightbulb to their right hand, Graig quickly unleashed the counterattack directly at it, exploding and melting it while leaving a lightning pattern on their scorched arm.
This also lead to a boost in the group’s attack, temporarily overloading and blinding them, both of which their Bys’ tried to circumvent and suppress. At that exact moment, the police arrived and took them down simultaneously.
​

​
A single nod, and he was gone, leaving no trace of his existence except a puzzled Trackler.
​
Back in the front of the van, he was kneeling over the toilet, vomiting while his Bio-Electricity was out of control, sending bolts all over the place. After he finished, he weakly crawled to his bed and partially got in.
​
“Ugh, that’s… No… Even worse.”
​

​
“T-thanks…”
​
He was out like a light.

I know this has been asked many times over in the past; I'd like to know what you've dived into.
In my case, I developed an interest in anything aerospace since I was 5. Which eventually became a headlong dive into it once I was in middle school. I'd see certain things and it's captivate my interest. Such as a phenomenon like wing condensation or other aerodynamic phenomenon's. Like transonic shockwaves forming over the wing of an airliner at cruising altitude. The more awe I'd see, the more I'd seek more of it. I was obsessed with the complex to the degree I'd cultivate a mind to imagine circumstances. The longer I thought, researched and witnessed, the more what I could picture in my mind was realistic. Getting better with time essentially. Problem was mechanically I wasn't naïve; socially speaking I was a complete fool.
This mental fixation was a kind of deviated attention. Because I was socially insecure as should be obvious. If I was socially assimilated, I'd probably have never have developed this type of mind. I'd loosely refer to it as a photographic memory. It was more so like a CGI within my head. Emotionally this served as a stimulating behavior, something I could do when I was feeling low. Because work life in America is rather harsh, I'd always search for jobs around it. They'd sort of balance out the social drama with something I appreciated. Problem was, this mental fixation and obsession only served to make me more peculiar. Which translates to being socially unacceptable. It was a detrimental feed back loop in a sense. One thing is for certain, aerospace is a very ego oriented environment and I'd had no ties or connections to it.
It's like my interest, which started young, became a blind aim in hopes of becoming something overtime. Mainly to break free of the rather problematic environment I was born into. Because of my social insecurity, which also translates to a lack of assertiveness and poor communication, I was always walked on. I survived it. 3 years after I gave up hope in aerospace which had me in a very deep pit of despair. It was then and only then I became social. I mean going from work to home with nothing between to suddenly being around many people. Getting a motorcycle and meshing in as well as I could. Eventually it led to a personal breakthrough, I had my first kiss at 27. Slowly as I became social and bridged gaps between reality and my insecurities. Those insecurity and conclusive self-beliefs I'd had in the past caused my emotions to be rather unstable. Which didn't work well with the competitive environment of aerospace. But once I disproved my thoughts that I couldn't be social, I realized why my past was so destructive.
It was like finally taking control of my soul in a sense, my emotions and self were no longer projected onto things, nor were my aims in life. Problem was people got use to my mask/façade, and once I realized it was all nonsense, I became unapologetically prideful and happy. Till that eventually led to the loss of my freshly found social life; people liked my shy naïve self more than the person I became when I didn't care what they thought. There's a lot more detail to that story, which my mind replays daily. The curse of it was, my emotional interests were in aerospace's complexity, once social I was able to numb it and immerse myself into a social group which essentially hypnotized me. Once that broke my emotional desire was in understanding psychology. Which, in the digital age is both complex but frighteningly simple. Because I realized I escaped with what I use to see as a curse but eventually became a blessing. My incessant desire to learn complex things then turned towards human social behavior and dynamics. Because it was quite interesting to think my prior pain and suffering was one of the many keys that allowed me to be social. Not to forget I became social in a town rather than a city; very different perceptually speaking.
If I had learned anything, be careful how you use the word Asperger's or ASD to describe yourself. Looking back I see it as nothing more than a parasite to my unconscious. I say unconscious because it started before I could develop a proper state of self-awareness; which could only happen the moment I became social. I was placed in special education classes from kindergarten to 11th grade which was a kind of involuntary social estrangement/arrested development. Which is why being social for the first time was like finally finding my missing piece. I suppose I knew this consciously to a degree but it placed me on the lower strata of school hierarchies, to which my mind grew the obsession with aerospace even further. Essentially exacerbating the issues I'd had, not treating it. Then to only have a word to ascribe all my mental confusions which very few had any insight into; least of all therapists. Aerospace acted like a personal shield given it pretty much became an externalization of myself. Once social it was like I was finally a character in a show, till I eventually became their villain.
The only thing that really united me to them that year was my hidden pain but also, my confusion. I adapted to hiding it while expressing honest happiness while social. They did the same but; they didn't have the 27 years of isolation to hide or pretend didn't exist. They had other things to hide which I discovered the moment social judgment and ridicule was seen through the lens of self-projection. Also why it was easier to call me the villain given I don't forgive so easily. Luckily over the years I'd cultivated a habit of writing and critical thinking. It dawned on me; emotions are a sign of corrupted psychological, well, logic. Like the emotion I felt when people prodded my interest in aviation of which I was doing everything to run from. An unintentional linguistic bullet became felt; revealing to me now my emotional fixation of aerospace was narcissistic in nature.