I’m experiencing severe gender dysphoria, I’ve lost the Will to eat, I can’t remember basic things and names and people. Everything feels so distant. Is there any advice? Mental health services are shit here and I can’t rely on my family right now.

First of all, I've gotta eat crow, I thought we'd have a month around .500, instead we end the month basically at .500, it was not good. So lets see how we can pick it back up as we hit the 3rd month:
Cards (25-32): So if you said this to me a month ago I thought it would be another easy series, but they've gone from one of the worst team in the NL to a team that got hot and keep trending upwards, its out first divisional series since we swept the Reds, and our 2nd series against the Cards, a 2-1 win is good momentum after the 2 game winning streak
A's (12-46): they've had the worst first 55 games in MLB history, they've won just 2 series. On paper this should be easy, realistically? "Steelering" comes to mind, we cannot afford to lose a series here I feel
Mets (29-27, current #2 WC): We end the home stretch with a tricky series against the Mets, we get to welcome Marte and Vogey back to the Burgh, and man its going to be tough, Alonso, Lindor, Marte, and that's just 4 big named hitters, then you see they have Verlander and Scherzer and you can expect at least one of them to pitch. If Keller has to go in a duel against either of them it could be a hot ticket to watch, just 1 win here would be handy, but don't be surprised if we get swept with their strength
@Cubs, and then home to them (24-31): Last in the division and had a bad May just like us, the question is as we hit the 3rd week of the month is who will be the team that bounced back better? Its not a make or break series, as we play them a week later, but it would be nice to get some games, if we have 6 games against them, getting 3 would be nice
@Brewers (29-26): Ah....Yes they've lost a few more recently, so yes they're on a small slump, but damn in between the two Cub series' we have to face the Brewers? Who were hot at the start of the season. The question for them is just like us: was April a fluke? This series could set up who is really going for the division this year, and being we don't play the Reds until August, it could be a vital match up. (we also start out home series against the Brewers on the last day of the month)
@Marlins (29-27, #2WC): Stallings isn't their starting catcher. he's posting a -0.4, did we do the right thing trading him? Still not sure, but when one of our key players during the start of the rebuild isn't even in this hot lineup then its tough. These guys are showing how a rebuild works and either we take games and put ourselves back into the WC talk, or we learn how a rebuild works
Padres (25-30): Ok what happened to this team? 10-16 in May and they have a tough schedule in June, so ending it against us and the Nats might be good for them, that's if they perform in the whole month, and we have to be the same, its hard to forecast what we need in this series, but the general consensus is we need to be playing .500 ball this month and if we get to here with a winning record then is it a bonus? Not to mention this series will be one of our last home series before the ASG and the break, so if momentum is rolling, we gotta keep it up

Felt like sharing because this dream was fun:
I was at the Oscar’s presenting an award where Michael Keaton was a nominee. I read off someone else’s name and he was so disappointed like when he lost for best actor. I felt terrible.
Later, I was asked to present another award where he was a nominee and he lost again.
Suddenly, stars began falling from the sky and got embedded in a piece of wood. I decided to eat some and it tasted like the most delicious lemon flavored rock candy I ever had.
I snapped awake and, being that it was still 3am, fell back asleep quickly.
Right when I fall asleep, Michael Keaton is at the award podium and proclaims to the crowd with his arms out wide,
“This is a dream of good fortune!”

I spend all of my daylight hours scared and alone in this musty old cellar.
It’s woeful, and I bet it smelled this bad even before everything around here turned to crap. Great. My second sentence and I’ve already resorted to swearing. When I decided I’d start this diary (five minutes ago when I got a tiny sliver of signal) I thought it would be my poetic and deeply-moving goodbye to the world. Maybe I’d write about love and loss, or maybe the splendour of nature. Then, when all is done and dusted, I’d have left something to be remembered by. As well as my corpse, of course.
This was a bad idea.
*
Okay, I’m an idiot. There’s nothing else I can do down here. I’ve rooted through every cardboard box a hundred times, organised and reorganised my supplies, I’ve even built a fort. So, I’m back. Hello. Again. God, this diary is going badly.
But there’s just enough light coming through the boards I nailed over the cellar’s tiny window to type by. So I may as well type. Stops me staring up at the window just waiting for a shadow to pass by.
Maybe I'll just write and not hit Submit. Right, where to start? Well, my name is – actually, I think I’m going to refer to myself as ‘X’. That sounds mysterious. If you’re reading this and want to know my real name, I still carry my purse. My railcard is in there and, if you really want to know who I am, go find me and fish it out. I won’t bite...
So, my name is X. I live in a little English village in the middle of nowhere. Before all this happened, I had a mum, a dad, a sister and there was a boy I liked, his name was Jonah.
*
I couldn’t think of anything else to write so I waited until I came back from my rounds. That’s the stupid name I have for when I go outside at night scrounging for stuff. Drinks are the hardest. I only trust bottles or cans, or did, and I was running out of places to search for them. But I guess that doesn’t matter now.
My leg is doing alright actually; didn’t hold me up at all. I saw Jonah too. He’s looked better, I have to say. It’s strange because this is only the second time I’ve seen him since we came here. Maybe his ears were burning.
Anyway, I found some tinned pineapple in a creepy old caravan I hadn’t searched yet. Had to bust the door open with Old Trusty – which I thought might attract some unwanted attention – but it was fine. I’m actually eating the pineapple right now, tastes good. I also found a radio in there. I already have three down here, but none of them work. Not that the caravan radio works either, all you get is static. It’s just nice to collect something. You know, to have a hobby.
*
I can tell the sun is rising. I managed to sleep for a couple of hours, but I woke up after a bad dream. I know some people can remember their dreams, but I never do. I wake up and grasp at them, but I never manage a hold before they fade away. It’s like trying to pinch the corner of a wisp of smoke; the harder you try, the quicker it fades to nothing. I’m just left with a sensation, a kind of imprint which sums up the most intense part of the dream.
And a cold sweat. That’s new.
*
I’ve been through the box of photo albums I found at the back of the cellar again. I’ve looked through them a few times now, but I always notice something new.
There’s a photo of this little girl playing with a pretend guitar. I can tell it’s pretend because it doesn’t have strings, only brightly-coloured plastic dials. Kind of like My First Guitar Hero or something. The girl has dark hair and she looks a tiny bit like my sister did a million years ago. I don’t have a picture of my sister. I suppose I could go and get one from my old house, but it’s right in the middle of the village. I’m lucky I wasn’t torn to shreds the last time I went back. So, what I’ve done is put this girl’s photo in my back pocket as a substitute.
I guess I should probably write something about my real sister now. But I don’t think that’s a good idea just yet.
*
Daylight is starting to fade and I’m getting ready to go out on my rounds. I always take my satchel with me, packed with useful objects. I have Old Trusty (a crowbar) which sticks out of the top for easy access, a small toolbox, a pair of heavy-duty gloves (there’s a good story about how I got those, I might write that one down later) and a hammer. I carry a penknife I found down here in my pocket, my purse and phone, and a torch in my hand.
I don’t like to use the torch because its battery is running out and there’s always the chance it might attract them. I probably shouldn’t have used it last night when I got back. Maybe I’m starting to enjoy this writing malarkey? I need to be careful with luxuries.
*
Okay, that could have gone better.
Picture the scene: I’m using Old Trusty to try and lever a kitchen window open, when one of them just walks right through the garden hedge. Seriously, straight through it. It’s not the mightiest of hedges but, still, it just appeared like it was walking through one of those Japanese paper walls. My satchel was on the ground, but I legged it anyway. I’m not stupid. I know I can go back for it tomorrow. I felt strangely naked without it on the way back here though.
Like I said before, I need to be careful with the torch so I think I’ll try and get some sleep now.
*
I slept pretty well last night; no nightmares or cold sweats. Maybe a midnight chase was just what I needed to blow away the cobwebs.
I actually woke up wondering about you. If you’re reading this, who are you? If you’re like me, living through this village nightmare, how have you managed to go this long without being killed or whatever? Maybe you’re Army or some such. Maybe you’re just some kid who’s played so many videogames that surviving all of this was already second nature to you. Or maybe you’re like me; living on borrowed time and searching for a good place to die. Maybe Future Me was brave enough to tap Submit on my diary and you're currently reading this on your phone or computer.
Here’s an idea. Maybe you can carry on this diary from wherever I left it at. God, I really hope this isn’t my last entry, although I suppose any entry might be. If you do carry the diary forwards, and I'm a corpse, maybe it will become cursed. Spooky.
*
I’ve been preparing for my next excursion.
If I know I’m going somewhere I’ll likely run into an ugly, I like to take extra precautions. And I want my satchel back. It was a present from my dad, and I know it cost him a lot of money.
So, I’m taking a pair of shears from the shelf of old tools down here. That way, if I lose Old Trusty, I’ll have a backup weapon.
If you are local, I wonder how you like to kill them? Pretty morbid question I know, but everyone around here seems to have their preferred method. The last villager I saw alive carried a pair of mini cricket bats and seemed to have bludgeoning down to an art form. He never saw me though, I was watching from a grove of trees as he killed his way along the main road near the village.
That was before I decided to stay inside during the daylight hours. We can at least see a little bit at night; ambient light and everything. They can’t though. I’ve seen them, they bump into things. It’s pretty funny to be honest. If they hear a noise, they walk in the direction of the sound, never trying to avoid any object in their path. They either bash said object out of the way, or, like that hedge, blunder right through it. Obviously bigger things stop them dead (ha!) though. If that happens, they sort of shuffle backwards and then try again a few times. Eventually – and I’ve seen this too – they just give up and stand there, waiting for something else to attract their attention.
That’s not how it works in the daytime though.
*
I think it’s about an hour before the sun sets so it’s nearly time to head out. I’m going to change my bandage. One minute.
Okay, it didn’t look that bad really. The original scratch wasn’t too deep and now the wound seems to be doing that scabbing thing I remember from normal injuries. It just doesn’t smell very good. A bit like when you walk past a bin that needs emptying.
Anyway, I’ve applied more antiseptic and redressed it. Time to go.
*
That was fun. I’m glad I had those shears with me.
I got my satchel back you’ll be happy to know. And I got inside that house I’d been trying to break into as well. More through necessity than choice in the end, but I’m pleased I did. I found more batteries! That means I can justify writing at night a bit more. In fact, the people who used to live there (I think the husband owned the local garage) were pretty well kitted out. There were a lot of tins in their cupboards, and they’d even left a shotgun. It wasn’t loaded though.
Not that I need a shotgun. I didn’t tell you this before, but I have my grandpa’s old service revolver. He always told me and my sister that it was decommissioned, but my dad apparently knew otherwise. I keep it tucked into the back of my jeans at all times. It had three bullets, one of them is gone, so only two left.
I’ll only be needing the one of course.
*
Morning. I’m feeling pretty low today. I think concentrating on getting my satchel back took my mind off things, but now I feel pretty deflated.
Surely that’s understandable? The village I knew and loved has been replaced with this sodding hell. I miss my family, my friends, TV and hot dinners and Instagram. Before all of this I was a pretty positive person. Sure, I had a bit of trouble getting up in the morning, but, once I was up, that was it. I’d meet the day’s challenges head on, try to enjoy myself as much as I could. Not today though.
Maybe if I write about Jonah I’ll cheer up. Not Jonah as he is now of course, Jonah when he was all smooth-skinned, curly-haired and bright-eyed. Now he’s like the anti-Jonah or something. His face looks like it lost a fight with an angry lobster. No, wait, I’m supposed to be writing about Jonah version one here.
He’s one of those people that I can’t remember meeting. My family has always lived around here and so there are lots of people who have just always been, if you get me. I always thought we would drunkenly get it together at a party – that’s what I’d usually do if there was a boy I liked. Classy.
*
I’ve perked up a bit. Out of sheer frustration I went upstairs (naughty, I know) and looked out of a window. Sure, I saw an ugly, wandering aimlessly as they always do, but I saw that the trees are starting to turn too. That means it’s nearly autumn, and I love autumn!
My sister and I always used to go out and kick leaves at each other in the autumn. I don’t know if it was because of her low centre of gravity, but my sister was amazing at it. She could somehow whip up a blazing whirlwind of golden-yellow and fire-red, surrounding us both in a leaf storm that I couldn’t help but flail my arms madly at. Then we’d both fall backwards into the leaves laughing, me wondering how on earth what had happened was possible. She was that good.
God, I let her down in the end.
*
I think I’ll stay away from the house with the shotgun tonight. It usually takes a day or two for a group of uglies to disperse once they’re all riled up. I could use the rest of that tinned food I suppose, but I’ve got plenty to be getting on with for now.
Instead, I think I’ll swing by another farmhouse I was scoping out before I decided to turn nocturnal. I never met the people who used to live there, but I remember Mum telling me they liked their privacy. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me visiting now though.
Also, there’s a woodland between here and there and I might be able to find some leaves to kick about a bit. I think that would make me feel close to my sister again.
I’ll check back in later.
*
I’m still alive, but only just.
I made it through the woods just fine (only the odd leaf on the forest floor at the moment though, sadly), the trouble started at the farmhouse. I couldn’t get in – the doors and windows were barricaded – so I tried one of the outbuildings. Locked. It had a cat flap though.
My first instinct was to leave it, but then I wondered if there might be something useful inside. Lord knows what thinking about it now. I lifted the cat flap with one hand and shone the torch beam through with my other. That’s when an ugly dived at my pinkies. Luckily, it misjudged its leap and got a mouthful of plastic cat flap instead. As for me, I fell backwards onto my bum.
Next, the damn thing started bashing on the door from the inside. I don’t think it could ever have got out, but the noise attracted more uglies from out of nowhere. I only just managed to outmanoeuvre them and hightail it back into the woods.
That’s not the worst of it though. On the way back my leg started to hurt. A lot.
*
I woke up this morning and I’m walking with a limp. It’s funny, Dad had a limp when he and Mum died. He was nailing planks of wood across our windows and doors because there was no signal (as per bloody usual) and we thought that what was happening here was probably happening everywhere. It's only recently that I realised this was an isolated, local outbreak. Anyway, Dad dropped the hammer onto his toe, he always was useless at DIY. I think it was only a couple of hours after that when he and Mum were taken.
It was like a wave of death. No, not like, that’s exactly what it was. A hoard of uglies swept through the village, probably originating from the secret research facility in the woods we're not supposed to know about. My sister and I wouldn’t have had a prayer if Mum and Dad hadn’t charged down the first few that got into our house. They gave us just enough time to escape, to run away and leave them to die. My sister was screaming all the way and I had to drag her like she was four again.
She wouldn’t speak to me for a few days after that. I didn’t blame her, I hated myself too. But I would have hated myself even more if I hadn’t done what I did next. On my own, I snuck back into our house with the crowbar I found here. Then I dispatched my parents. I can’t bring myself to type it any other way. It wasn’t like in the movies, I didn’t pound their skulls into mush whilst sobbing, ‘Why?’ over and over again. I just found them, or what was left of them, forced the crowbar through each of their eye sockets, and came straight back here.
Then came the crying.
*
I haven’t told you about the heavy-duty gloves yet, have I?
After I got back from our old house, my sister started speaking to me again. A shared, day-long cry will do that for sisters. Once we felt up to it, we decided to explore the parts of the farmhouse we hadn’t searched yet. All the bedrooms were empty, only a few belongings flung about the place (I suspect the previous tenants left in a hurry). The problem came when we investigated the attic. Once we’d opened the ceiling panel in the upstairs hallway, once we’d pulled the compact staircase down, I went up. My sister stood at the top of the hatchway shining the torch beam over my shoulder. And that’s when it touched me. Terrified, I fell to my left, screaming as the thing came crashing down on top of me. I was yelling things like, ‘Shoot it!’ and, ‘Run!’ but my sister was just laughing her head off. I soon realised that my attacker was in fact a shop-window mannequin.
I think the people who previously lived here must have been arty (or into some seriously freaky stuff) because the mannequin was dressed in scarves, bandannas, ties, watches – loads of things. The rest of the attic was pretty empty but at least we got the mannequin’s gloves.
*
I’m not feeling good at the moment. I’ve got a sore throat and I’ve coughed up blood a couple of times. My leg pain is getting worse too.
I don’t think I’ll go out tonight. I have enough tins left and one of them is a Full English In A Can. Sounds pretty disgusting, but intriguing at the same time. I’ve been saving it for near the end. A sort of consolation prize.
*
There are two mattresses down here. Obviously one is mine, and the other one was my sister’s. After she died, I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. I don’t have a photo of her, only Guitar Girl’s. Her bed is the only thing of hers I have left. And she didn’t even sleep in it that many times.
*
The tinned Full English was vile! You’ve got to laugh though, what else can you do?
*
I’m crying as I write this. Tears of sorrow, shame and regret.
It happened as we were searching a cottage just off of the main road. We’d used Old Trusty to get inside, and I’d rushed straight into the kitchen to find the food. We’d run out more than a day before and I was famished. My sister followed me into the kitchen, a wide grin on her pretty little face because I was sitting there with an open can of beans. Then one of them came at her from behind. I must have walked right past it on my stupid way to the cupboards. It bit into her neck and blood gushed over the tiles in a torrent. As she yelled out in agony, I leapt up and implanted the crowbar right into the thing’s skull. It crumpled to the floor, but the damage was done.
‘Don’t let me lose myself.’ That was the last thing my sister whispered to me before she passed out. Her wound was much more severe than mine is, and much closer to the brain. That seems to make it quicker. I took grandpa’s revolver from behind my back and blew her brains out.
I buried her in the back garden.
*
After my sister died I went kind of crazy. I took Old Trusty out across the fields and pulverised every ugly I could find. I don’t even remember it that well, it was just, find, kill, find, kill…
We’d only been going out in daylight before then but, in my anger, I carried on through the nights. That’s how I learned about their inability to evade in darkness. Eventually, though, one got me. I found three munching on a dead cow and ran straight at them. Took out the first two easily enough, but the third managed to scratch my leg with a bloody fingernail just before I clobbered it into oblivion. Once I realised its nail had broken the skin, it was like a switch had been flicked inside me. That’s it, I’m dead too. I lost my bloodlust and came back here.
*
If none of this had happened, I think my sister would have eventually gone into medicine. I was doing okay at College but she was top of her class at school. And she had a really kind nature too. She’d never squish any bugs that got trapped in our house; she’d get a glass, scoop the little critter up and seal it inside with a book. Then she’d take it outside and release it, even if it was a wasp.
*
I’ve decided that here’s not the place. I'll hit Submit and then I’m going to do it in those woods I wrote about; consider this diary as my Note. I’ll be able to find a nice spot to sit and look at the trees, some place that's calm and peaceful. I’m going to leave the picture of Guitar Girl in this cellar, she belongs in this house. The tree leaves will remind me of my sister more than any photo ever could anyway.
I guess all that’s left to say is thank you for listening.
I know it’s possible that no one will ever read this, but that’s not really the point is it?
Love,
X

Hello all.
I recently lost a loved one and it’s led to such conflicted feelings. I’ve scheduled an appointment with my therapist to help me sort through this but I feel like I can’t breathe when I think about it.
Basically, I got out of a serious relationship with someone Ill call “A”, shortly after I met another person named “B”. B was amazing, he was so full of life, a ton of fun and made me really happy in general. B and I’d relationship fizzled out and I returned to A. But whenever A and I were fighting, B was always there to console me and listen. A and I ended up ending things permanently and B and I continued to catch up and spend more time together. Last time I saw B, it was right before his birthday in April. He was telling me about how stressed he was with things and how nervous he was about turning 30 and all these things. I just listened to him and let him vent. We ate dinner and then parted ways. It was normal stuff. His birthday rolled around 5 days later, he text me and that was that. Anyways, i text him a few days later and never heard back from him. A couple of weeks passed and I text him again asking how he was doing, never heard anything. This was all so strange because he usually always calls or texts. I figured he ghosted so I left him alone. A few days ago, he crossed my mind again. I decided to look at his social media and he hadn’t posted since April. Then I looked at his tagged photos and realized there were a ton of tagged photos of him. And then through more investigating I saw, he passed away in a motorcycle accident. I was so annoyed with him because I thought he had ghosted. Come to find out that wasn’t the case at all. Anyways, he crosses my mind so much. And I feel so sad by this. I think I just needed to write it out. Thank you.

Main hub thread with the full 131 rankings
Louisiana Tech’s got an incredibly rich football history that I couldn’t believe while researching them. These are just a few of the players they’ve had in the last 30 years, not even 40. NFL Hall of Fame OL Willie Roaf (1989-92). WR Troy Edwards (1995-98) won the Biletnikoff Award in 1998. QB Tim Rattay (1997-99) finished his career with the 2nd most passing yards in NCAA history, in just 3 years. P Ryan Allen (2010-12) won the Ray Guy Award twice (2011, 2012). RB Kenneth Dixon (2012-15) broke the NCAA record for career TDs with 87. DE Jaylon Ferguson set the NCAA record for career sacks with 45. They even had LB IK Enemkpali (2009-13), who revitalized Geno Smith’s NFL career by punching him in the New York Jets locker room. And before the cutoff of this series, NFL Hall of Famers QB Terry Bradshaw and DL Fred Dean played for them.

Best Seasons and Highlights

1. 2012: 34. Louisiana Tech: 9-3 (12.042) 2. 1997: 26. Louisiana Tech: 9-2 (9.545) 3. 1999: 27. Louisiana Tech: 8-3 (9.149) 4. 2014: 39. Louisiana Tech: 9-5 (7.613) 5. 2019: 37. Louisiana Tech: 10-3 (6.188) 6. 1990: 35. Louisiana Tech: 8-3-1 (4.552) 7. 1991: 34. Louisiana Tech: 8-1-2 (4.549) 8. 2015: 48. Louisiana Tech: 9-4 (4.066) 9. 2016: 50. Louisiana Tech: 9-5 (0.236) 10. 1989: 44. Louisiana Tech: 5-4-1 (-1.569) 11. 2005: 47. Louisiana Tech: 7-4 (-2.989) 12. 2011: 53. Louisiana Tech: 8-5 (-3.475) 13. 2001: 59. Louisiana Tech: 7-5 (-7.855) 14. 2018: 68. Louisiana Tech: 8-5 (-8.212) 15. 2008: 62. Louisiana Tech: 8-5 (-9.691) 16. 2017: 66. Louisiana Tech: 7-6 (-9.923) 17. 1996: 57. Louisiana Tech: 6-5 (-12.911) 18. 2004: 65. Louisiana Tech: 6-6 (-13.772) 19. 1998: 63. Louisiana Tech: 6-6 (-14.167) 20. 1992: 64. Louisiana Tech: 5-6 (-15.760) 21. 2020: 89. Louisiana Tech: 5-5 (-17.370) 22. 2003: 79. Louisiana Tech: 5-7 (-20.759) 23. 2010: 80. Louisiana Tech: 5-7 (-22.310) 24. 2009: 91. Louisiana Tech: 4-8 (-26.877) 25. 1995: 76. Louisiana Tech: 5-6 (-28.345) 26. 2007: 90. Louisiana Tech: 5-7 (-29.165) 27. 2002: 89. Louisiana Tech: 4-8 (-32.400) 28. 2021: 109. Louisiana Tech: 3-9 (-38.713) 29. 2022: 118. Louisiana Tech: 3-9 (-41.486) 30. 2013: 102. Louisiana Tech: 4-8 (-41.915) 31. 2000: 99. Louisiana Tech: 3-9 (-44.020) 32. 1994: 95. Louisiana Tech: 3-8 (-44.390) 33. 1993: 103. Louisiana Tech: 2-9 (-52.842) 34. 2006: 114. Louisiana Tech: 3-10 (-55.710) Overall Score: 9632 (85th)

206-196-4 record
2 conference titles 7-3-1 bowl record
3 consensus All-Americans
33 NFL players drafted

Out of 34 seasons played, 17 have been winning records, with 3 more .500 seasons. Not only that, they’ve won at least 4 games in 28 seasons, so 82% of the time they’re guaranteed at least a 4-8 record. That is remarkable consistency, especially for a team that’s never finished in the Top 25. LT’s always been “good” and never “great”, save for perhaps a few years in the late 90’s when they had an offensive explosion. Their 3 consensus All-Americans are Willie Roaf (1992), Troy Edwards (1998), and Ryan Allen (2012).

Top 5 Seasons

Worst Season: 2006 (3-10 overall, 1-7 WAC)
QBed by Zac Champion, the 2006 Bulldogs were anything but. Despite winning 3 games, they ranked as the 6th worst team in football, averaging just 18.6 PPG while giving up an NCAA-worst 41.7 PPG. They were feeling generous, providing most teams with their biggest margin of victory of the season. LT lost 7 games by 30+ points, and finished with a 23-50 L to 3-8 New Mexico State. The offense did have a few really good games. A 48-35 win over Utah State prevented LT from being last place in the WAC, thanks to 4 TD from Champion. WR Jonathan Holland caught 35 passes for 503 yards and 3 TD, and was drated in the 7th round of the 2007 NFL Draft.
5. 2019 (10-3 overall, 6-2 Conference USA)
In the opener against Texas, LT lost 14-45, but may have actually had the more talented defensive backfield than the Longhorns, who insisted on calling themselves “DBU”. CB Amik Robertson and S L’Jarius Sneed were both drafted in the 4th round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and combined for 8 INTs in 2019. DB Michael Sam added 3 more. After the loss, LT went on an 8 game winning streak to get to 8-1, although only 1 of those teams they beat finished with a winning record; Southern Miss at 7-6. After dropping a game to Marshall, they played 7-3 UAB for a spot in the C-USA title game, but down to their backup QB, LT could only manage 14 points in a 14-20 loss. A win over UTSA finished off the regular season at 9-3. In the bowl, despite a win, Louisiana Tech was not the focus of headlines, it was the ineptitude of Manny Diaz’s Miami (FL) offense, which completed just 15/34 passes for 227 yards and 2 INT in a 14-0 loss. The game was 7-0 up until the final 1:30, when LT QB J’Mar Smith ran in an 8 yard dagger. This was the first time EVER a G5 team shut out a P5 team in a bowl game. Smith finished a solid career, earning 1st Team All-CUSA with 2977 passing yards 18 TD 5 INT with 264 rushing yards and 4 TD. Amik Robertson was named a 1st Team All-American by FWAA.
4. 2014 (9-5 overall, 7-1 Conference USA)
This is what we call an up and down season. Armed with an unknown, but in hindsight stacked, offense and a feisty defense, LT would flip flop between big win and head-scratching loss throughout the year. Just a 2-3 start included a win over eventual 9-4 UL Lafayette, and losses to #4 Oklahoma and #5 Auburn, but also a 27-30 loss to FCS Northwestern State. They were fine in the C-USA, DESTROYING 7-6 UTEP 55-3, 8-5 Western Kentucky 59-10, and 8-5 Rice 76-31. The Rice win clinched a spot in the C-USA championship game, where LT posed a unique threat to 11-1 Marshall. Marshall had just lost to Western Kentucky, who LT beat by nearly 50 points earlier in the year. Up 23-16 at the start of the 4th, Louisiana Tech saw their defenses fall to a really good Marshall offense, who won the game 26-23 and won the C-USA title. The season ended on a high with a 35-18 win over Illinois in the bowl. Senior QB Cody Sokol finally got his chance to start after spending the previous 3 years at community college and Iowa, throwing for 3436 yards 30 TD 13 INT. His offensive weapons turned out to be LOADED. RB Kenneth Dixon had 1684 yards and 28 TD from scrimmage, and would break the NCAA record for career TDs with 87. WR Trent Taylor would lead the nation in receiving yards 2 years later with 1803, and WR Carlos Henderson would lead the NCAA in receiving TDs that same year, going for 1535 yards and 19 TD. Both were drafted in the 2017 NFL Draft.
3. 1999 (8-3 overall, Independent)
Gone were All-American WR Troy Edwards and coach Gary Crowton, but QB Tim Rattay still remained after throwing for 4943 yards and 46 TD to just 13 INT a year prior. What was the plan? Throw the ball, throw the ball again, and then throw the ball some more. Going full air raid, they averaged 52 passes a game compared to just 23 rushing attempts per game. After an expected 1-2 start, they headed to #18 Alabama to go to 1-3, except Rattay had other plans. Down 22-28, Rattay led LT to the Alabama 20 with just 1 minute left to play. Except, on the very next play he was sacked and went out with an injury. Fast forward a few plays later, backup QB Brian Stallworth was on for 4th and 23(!), lobbing up a pass for the 6’4 Sean Cangelosi who came down with the TD 28-28, with just 3 seconds to go! It wasn’t even over yet, as kicker Kevin Pond had missed 2 extra points in the same game, but nailed this one to win it 29-28. Alabama would go on to win the SEC title, while LT won 8 of their last 9 games to finish 8-3. Rattay finished 10th in Heisman voting, throwing for 3922 yards 35 TD and 12 INT, leaving as the NCAA’s 2nd all-time leading passer. WRs Delwyn Daigre, Sean Cangelosi, James Jordan, and RB John Simon had 1000+, 900+, 800+, and 700+ receiving yards, respectively. LT would go on to join the WAC and win the conference title just 2 years later in 2001.
2. 1997 (9-2 overall, Independent)
Tim Rattay took over the reigns at QB in 1997, and quickly found his favorite target in WR Troy Edwards. Rattay led the nation in passing yards, throwing for 3881 yards 34 TD 10 INT, while Edwards had almost 50% of the team’s receiving yards, catching 102 passes for 1707 yards and 13 TD, also ranking 3rd on the team in rushing with 190 yards and 3 TD on just 15 carries! Louisiana Tech had a 41-34 win over Cal, and 26-20 win AT Alabama, with the only losses coming to SEC runner-up Auburn and 13-17 to Arkansas. This was a young, but dangerous Bulldog team. Edwards would win the Biletnikoff the next year, having arguably the best season by a WR in college football history with 140 catches for 1996 yards and 27(!!!) TD in just 12 games. Not to mention, he also had 227 rushing yards and 3 TD on just 21 carries. Oh, and a punt return TD as well. That’s 2223 yards from scrimmage and 30 TD by a WR, who was also 4th in the nation in punt return average with 18.1.
1. 2012 (9-3 overall, 4-2 WAC)
This was during the swan song of the WAC, 2012, when everyone popped off to have their best years ever. Utah State and San Jose State’s best years were both 2012 as well, and both finished above LT. While those Rattay-Edwards teams had some great offenses, 2012’s was in another stratosphere, and might be the best offense you’ve never heard of. The 2012 Louisiana Tech team averaged 51.5 PPG, most in the nation. Yes, you heard that right, 51.5 PPG. That’s the 3rd highest since 2000, which is the furthest back CFB Reference’s team offense data goes. After a 5-0 start, they played against Johnny Manziel and Texas A&M in a game you might remember, where LT nearly came back from down 23-46 to lose just 57-59 after a failed 2 point conversion. Manziel had 576 total yards and 6 TD while LT QB Colby Cameron had 475 and 5. After a 9-1 start, the defense let them down against fellow WAC contenders Utah State and San Jose State, losing 41-48 and 43-52. The defense ended up being 6th worst in the nation, giving up 38.5 PPG.
QB Colby Cameron won WAC Offensive POTY, completing 69% of passes for 4147 yards and 31 TD to just 5 INT. RB Kenneth Dixon won WAC Freshman POTY, rushing for 1194 yards and 27 TD on 6.0 YPC. RB Ray Holley was a capable backup with 1064 yards and 8 TD from scrimmage, earning 2nd Team All-WAC. WR Quinton Patton was Cameron’s favorite WR, going for 1392 yards and 13 TD. The best player though, was punter Ryan Allen, who was a consensus All-American and won his 2nd Ray Guy Award, averaging 48 yards per punt, not that they were punting often though.

5th Quarter

Where does the 2012 offense rank among the best offenses in college football history in your opinion? Was it better than the Rattay-Edwards offenses? Why didn’t Rattay and Edwards work in the NFL? What do you remember about the Louisiana Tech teams listed above? And what does the future look like for a Louisiana Tech team that’s been facing stiff in-state competition from UL Lafayette and Tulane in recent years?
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I spend all of my daylight hours scared and alone in this musty old cellar.
It’s woeful, and I bet it smelled this bad even before everything around here turned to crap. Great. My second sentence and I’ve already resorted to swearing. When I decided I’d start this diary (five minutes ago when I got a tiny sliver of signal) I thought it would be my poetic and deeply-moving goodbye to the world. Maybe I’d write about love and loss, or maybe the splendour of nature. Then, when all is done and dusted, I’d have left something to be remembered by. As well as my corpse, of course.
This was a bad idea.
*
Okay, I’m an idiot. There’s nothing else I can do down here. I’ve rooted through every cardboard box a hundred times, organised and reorganised my supplies, I’ve even built a fort. So, I’m back. Hello. Again. God, this diary is going badly.
But there’s just enough light coming through the boards I nailed over the cellar’s tiny window to type by. So I may as well type. Stops me staring up at the window just waiting for a shadow to pass by.
Maybe I'll just write and not hit Submit. Right, where to start? Well, my name is – actually, I think I’m going to refer to myself as ‘X’. That sounds mysterious. If you’re reading this and want to know my real name, I still carry my purse. My railcard is in there and, if you really want to know who I am, go find me and fish it out. I won’t bite...
So, my name is X. I live in a little English village in the middle of nowhere. Before all this happened, I had a mum, a dad, a sister and there was a boy I liked, his name was Jonah.
*
I couldn’t think of anything else to write so I waited until I came back from my rounds. That’s the stupid name I have for when I go outside at night scrounging for stuff. Drinks are the hardest. I only trust bottles or cans, or did, and I was running out of places to search for them. But I guess that doesn’t matter now.
My leg is doing alright actually; didn’t hold me up at all. I saw Jonah too. He’s looked better, I have to say. It’s strange because this is only the second time I’ve seen him since we came here. Maybe his ears were burning.
Anyway, I found some tinned pineapple in a creepy old caravan I hadn’t searched yet. Had to bust the door open with Old Trusty – which I thought might attract some unwanted attention – but it was fine. I’m actually eating the pineapple right now, tastes good. I also found a radio in there. I already have three down here, but none of them work. Not that the caravan radio works either, all you get is static. It’s just nice to collect something. You know, to have a hobby.
*
I can tell the sun is rising. I managed to sleep for a couple of hours, but I woke up after a bad dream. I know some people can remember their dreams, but I never do. I wake up and grasp at them, but I never manage a hold before they fade away. It’s like trying to pinch the corner of a wisp of smoke; the harder you try, the quicker it fades to nothing. I’m just left with a sensation, a kind of imprint which sums up the most intense part of the dream.
And a cold sweat. That’s new.
*
I’ve been through the box of photo albums I found at the back of the cellar again. I’ve looked through them a few times now, but I always notice something new.
There’s a photo of this little girl playing with a pretend guitar. I can tell it’s pretend because it doesn’t have strings, only brightly-coloured plastic dials. Kind of like My First Guitar Hero or something. The girl has dark hair and she looks a tiny bit like my sister did a million years ago. I don’t have a picture of my sister. I suppose I could go and get one from my old house, but it’s right in the middle of the village. I’m lucky I wasn’t torn to shreds the last time I went back. So, what I’ve done is put this girl’s photo in my back pocket as a substitute.
I guess I should probably write something about my real sister now. But I don’t think that’s a good idea just yet.
*
Daylight is starting to fade and I’m getting ready to go out on my rounds. I always take my satchel with me, packed with useful objects. I have Old Trusty (a crowbar) which sticks out of the top for easy access, a small toolbox, a pair of heavy-duty gloves (there’s a good story about how I got those, I might write that one down later) and a hammer. I carry a penknife I found down here in my pocket, my purse and phone, and a torch in my hand.
I don’t like to use the torch because its battery is running out and there’s always the chance it might attract them. I probably shouldn’t have used it last night when I got back. Maybe I’m starting to enjoy this writing malarkey? I need to be careful with luxuries.
*
Okay, that could have gone better.
Picture the scene: I’m using Old Trusty to try and lever a kitchen window open, when one of them just walks right through the garden hedge. Seriously, straight through it. It’s not the mightiest of hedges but, still, it just appeared like it was walking through one of those Japanese paper walls. My satchel was on the ground, but I legged it anyway. I’m not stupid. I know I can go back for it tomorrow. I felt strangely naked without it on the way back here though.
Like I said before, I need to be careful with the torch so I think I’ll try and get some sleep now.
*
I slept pretty well last night; no nightmares or cold sweats. Maybe a midnight chase was just what I needed to blow away the cobwebs.
I actually woke up wondering about you. If you’re reading this, who are you? If you’re like me, living through this village nightmare, how have you managed to go this long without being killed or whatever? Maybe you’re Army or some such. Maybe you’re just some kid who’s played so many videogames that surviving all of this was already second nature to you. Or maybe you’re like me; living on borrowed time and searching for a good place to die. Maybe Future Me was brave enough to tap Submit on my diary and you're currently reading this on your phone or computer.
Here’s an idea. Maybe you can carry on this diary from wherever I left it at. God, I really hope this isn’t my last entry, although I suppose any entry might be. If you do carry the diary forwards, and I'm a corpse, maybe it will become cursed. Spooky.
*
I’ve been preparing for my next excursion.
If I know I’m going somewhere I’ll likely run into an ugly, I like to take extra precautions. And I want my satchel back. It was a present from my dad, and I know it cost him a lot of money.
So, I’m taking a pair of shears from the shelf of old tools down here. That way, if I lose Old Trusty, I’ll have a backup weapon.
If you are local, I wonder how you like to kill them? Pretty morbid question I know, but everyone around here seems to have their preferred method. The last villager I saw alive carried a pair of mini cricket bats and seemed to have bludgeoning down to an art form. He never saw me though, I was watching from a grove of trees as he killed his way along the main road near the village.
That was before I decided to stay inside during the daylight hours. We can at least see a little bit at night; ambient light and everything. They can’t though. I’ve seen them, they bump into things. It’s pretty funny to be honest. If they hear a noise, they walk in the direction of the sound, never trying to avoid any object in their path. They either bash said object out of the way, or, like that hedge, blunder right through it. Obviously bigger things stop them dead (ha!) though. If that happens, they sort of shuffle backwards and then try again a few times. Eventually – and I’ve seen this too – they just give up and stand there, waiting for something else to attract their attention.
That’s not how it works in the daytime though.
*
I think it’s about an hour before the sun sets so it’s nearly time to head out. I’m going to change my bandage. One minute.
Okay, it didn’t look that bad really. The original scratch wasn’t too deep and now the wound seems to be doing that scabbing thing I remember from normal injuries. It just doesn’t smell very good. A bit like when you walk past a bin that needs emptying.
Anyway, I’ve applied more antiseptic and redressed it. Time to go.
*
That was fun. I’m glad I had those shears with me.
I got my satchel back you’ll be happy to know. And I got inside that house I’d been trying to break into as well. More through necessity than choice in the end, but I’m pleased I did. I found more batteries! That means I can justify writing at night a bit more. In fact, the people who used to live there (I think the husband owned the local garage) were pretty well kitted out. There were a lot of tins in their cupboards, and they’d even left a shotgun. It wasn’t loaded though.
Not that I need a shotgun. I didn’t tell you this before, but I have my grandpa’s old service revolver. He always told me and my sister that it was decommissioned, but my dad apparently knew otherwise. I keep it tucked into the back of my jeans at all times. It had three bullets, one of them is gone, so only two left.
I’ll only be needing the one of course.
*
Morning. I’m feeling pretty low today. I think concentrating on getting my satchel back took my mind off things, but now I feel pretty deflated.
Surely that’s understandable? The village I knew and loved has been replaced with this sodding hell. I miss my family, my friends, TV and hot dinners and Instagram. Before all of this I was a pretty positive person. Sure, I had a bit of trouble getting up in the morning, but, once I was up, that was it. I’d meet the day’s challenges head on, try to enjoy myself as much as I could. Not today though.
Maybe if I write about Jonah I’ll cheer up. Not Jonah as he is now of course, Jonah when he was all smooth-skinned, curly-haired and bright-eyed. Now he’s like the anti-Jonah or something. His face looks like it lost a fight with an angry lobster. No, wait, I’m supposed to be writing about Jonah version one here.
He’s one of those people that I can’t remember meeting. My family has always lived around here and so there are lots of people who have just always been, if you get me. I always thought we would drunkenly get it together at a party – that’s what I’d usually do if there was a boy I liked. Classy.
*
I’ve perked up a bit. Out of sheer frustration I went upstairs (naughty, I know) and looked out of a window. Sure, I saw an ugly, wandering aimlessly as they always do, but I saw that the trees are starting to turn too. That means it’s nearly autumn, and I love autumn!
My sister and I always used to go out and kick leaves at each other in the autumn. I don’t know if it was because of her low centre of gravity, but my sister was amazing at it. She could somehow whip up a blazing whirlwind of golden-yellow and fire-red, surrounding us both in a leaf storm that I couldn’t help but flail my arms madly at. Then we’d both fall backwards into the leaves laughing, me wondering how on earth what had happened was possible. She was that good.
God, I let her down in the end.
*
I think I’ll stay away from the house with the shotgun tonight. It usually takes a day or two for a group of uglies to disperse once they’re all riled up. I could use the rest of that tinned food I suppose, but I’ve got plenty to be getting on with for now.
Instead, I think I’ll swing by another farmhouse I was scoping out before I decided to turn nocturnal. I never met the people who used to live there, but I remember Mum telling me they liked their privacy. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me visiting now though.
Also, there’s a woodland between here and there and I might be able to find some leaves to kick about a bit. I think that would make me feel close to my sister again.
I’ll check back in later.
*
I’m still alive, but only just.
I made it through the woods just fine (only the odd leaf on the forest floor at the moment though, sadly), the trouble started at the farmhouse. I couldn’t get in – the doors and windows were barricaded – so I tried one of the outbuildings. Locked. It had a cat flap though.
My first instinct was to leave it, but then I wondered if there might be something useful inside. Lord knows what thinking about it now. I lifted the cat flap with one hand and shone the torch beam through with my other. That’s when an ugly dived at my pinkies. Luckily, it misjudged its leap and got a mouthful of plastic cat flap instead. As for me, I fell backwards onto my bum.
Next, the damn thing started bashing on the door from the inside. I don’t think it could ever have got out, but the noise attracted more uglies from out of nowhere. I only just managed to outmanoeuvre them and hightail it back into the woods.
That’s not the worst of it though. On the way back my leg started to hurt. A lot.
*
I woke up this morning and I’m walking with a limp. It’s funny, Dad had a limp when he and Mum died. He was nailing planks of wood across our windows and doors because there was no signal (as per bloody usual) and we thought that what was happening here was probably happening everywhere. It's only recently that I realised this was an isolated, local outbreak. Anyway, Dad dropped the hammer onto his toe, he always was useless at DIY. I think it was only a couple of hours after that when he and Mum were taken.
It was like a wave of death. No, not like, that’s exactly what it was. A hoard of uglies swept through the village, probably originating from the secret research facility in the woods we're not supposed to know about. My sister and I wouldn’t have had a prayer if Mum and Dad hadn’t charged down the first few that got into our house. They gave us just enough time to escape, to run away and leave them to die. My sister was screaming all the way and I had to drag her like she was four again.
She wouldn’t speak to me for a few days after that. I didn’t blame her, I hated myself too. But I would have hated myself even more if I hadn’t done what I did next. On my own, I snuck back into our house with the crowbar I found here. Then I dispatched my parents. I can’t bring myself to type it any other way. It wasn’t like in the movies, I didn’t pound their skulls into mush whilst sobbing, ‘Why?’ over and over again. I just found them, or what was left of them, forced the crowbar through each of their eye sockets, and came straight back here.
Then came the crying.
*
I haven’t told you about the heavy-duty gloves yet, have I?
After I got back from our old house, my sister started speaking to me again. A shared, day-long cry will do that for sisters. Once we felt up to it, we decided to explore the parts of the farmhouse we hadn’t searched yet. All the bedrooms were empty, only a few belongings flung about the place (I suspect the previous tenants left in a hurry). The problem came when we investigated the attic. Once we’d opened the ceiling panel in the upstairs hallway, once we’d pulled the compact staircase down, I went up. My sister stood at the top of the hatchway shining the torch beam over my shoulder. And that’s when it touched me. Terrified, I fell to my left, screaming as the thing came crashing down on top of me. I was yelling things like, ‘Shoot it!’ and, ‘Run!’ but my sister was just laughing her head off. I soon realised that my attacker was in fact a shop-window mannequin.
I think the people who previously lived here must have been arty (or into some seriously freaky stuff) because the mannequin was dressed in scarves, bandannas, ties, watches – loads of things. The rest of the attic was pretty empty but at least we got the mannequin’s gloves.
*
I’m not feeling good at the moment. I’ve got a sore throat and I’ve coughed up blood a couple of times. My leg pain is getting worse too.
I don’t think I’ll go out tonight. I have enough tins left and one of them is a Full English In A Can. Sounds pretty disgusting, but intriguing at the same time. I’ve been saving it for near the end. A sort of consolation prize.
*
There are two mattresses down here. Obviously one is mine, and the other one was my sister’s. After she died, I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. I don’t have a photo of her, only Guitar Girl’s. Her bed is the only thing of hers I have left. And she didn’t even sleep in it that many times.
*
The tinned Full English was vile! You’ve got to laugh though, what else can you do?
*
I’m crying as I write this. Tears of sorrow, shame and regret.
It happened as we were searching a cottage just off of the main road. We’d used Old Trusty to get inside, and I’d rushed straight into the kitchen to find the food. We’d run out more than a day before and I was famished. My sister followed me into the kitchen, a wide grin on her pretty little face because I was sitting there with an open can of beans. Then one of them came at her from behind. I must have walked right past it on my stupid way to the cupboards. It bit into her neck and blood gushed over the tiles in a torrent. As she yelled out in agony, I leapt up and implanted the crowbar right into the thing’s skull. It crumpled to the floor, but the damage was done.
‘Don’t let me lose myself.’ That was the last thing my sister whispered to me before she passed out. Her wound was much more severe than mine is, and much closer to the brain. That seems to make it quicker. I took grandpa’s revolver from behind my back and blew her brains out.
I buried her in the back garden.
*
After my sister died I went kind of crazy. I took Old Trusty out across the fields and pulverised every ugly I could find. I don’t even remember it that well, it was just, find, kill, find, kill…
We’d only been going out in daylight before then but, in my anger, I carried on through the nights. That’s how I learned about their inability to evade in darkness. Eventually, though, one got me. I found three munching on a dead cow and ran straight at them. Took out the first two easily enough, but the third managed to scratch my leg with a bloody fingernail just before I clobbered it into oblivion. Once I realised its nail had broken the skin, it was like a switch had been flicked inside me. That’s it, I’m dead too. I lost my bloodlust and came back here.
*
If none of this had happened, I think my sister would have eventually gone into medicine. I was doing okay at College but she was top of her class at school. And she had a really kind nature too. She’d never squish any bugs that got trapped in our house; she’d get a glass, scoop the little critter up and seal it inside with a book. Then she’d take it outside and release it, even if it was a wasp.
*
I’ve decided that here’s not the place. I'll hit Submit and then I’m going to do it in those woods I wrote about; consider this diary as my Note. I’ll be able to find a nice spot to sit and look at the trees, some place that's calm and peaceful. I’m going to leave the picture of Guitar Girl in this cellar, she belongs in this house. The tree leaves will remind me of my sister more than any photo ever could anyway.
I guess all that’s left to say is thank you for listening.
I know it’s possible that no one will ever read this, but that’s not really the point is it?
Love,
X

Unforgiven 2006 (Raw)
Date: 17/9/06
Location: Air Canada Center, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Intercontinental Championship:
Shelton Benjamin (c) vs Jeff Hardy
(Jeff Hardy returns to the WWE after being away for 3 years the night after SummerSlam and immediately sets his sight on the Intercontinental Championship. Shelton Benjamin says that Hardy is going to wish he never came back after he embarrasses him at Unforgiven. Jeff Hardy wins the championship in his first big match back in the company to end Shelton’s 10 month reign as champion.)
Kane vs Umaga w/Armando Estrada
(An angry Kane wants revenge on Umaga for costing him the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam. The Big Red Monster challenges The Samoan Bulldozer to a match at Unforgiven, promising to unleash vengeance. Armando Estrada accepts on Umaga’s behalf and promises that he’ll destroy Kane to remain undefeated. Umaga wins thanks to a distraction from Estrada.)
WWE World Tag Team Championship:
Carlito & Chris Masters (c) vs The Highlanders vs Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs D-Generation X
Women’s Championship:
Lita (c) vs Trish Stratus
(Trish Stratus announces that she’s retiring at Unforgiven but wants to bow out in style in her hometown of Toronto so she calls out Lita and challenges her to one final battle. Lita accepts the challenge and says that it’ll be a privilege to beat Trish in her last match while embarrassing her in front of her own people. Trish Stratus forces Lita to submit to The Sharpshooter and wins the Women’s Championship for the last time, bowing out in style the way she dreamed. Trish receives a standing ovation from the Toronto crowd as she heads to the back.)
Ric Flair vs Randy Orton
(The Legend Killer continues attacking his former mentor after SummerSlam even despite winning because that old man just refuses to stay down when he should for his own good. An angry Flair challenges Orton to another match here, Orton accepts.)
Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match for the WWE Championship:
Edge (c) vs John Cena
(With Rob Van Dam being out of the picture, John Cena challenges Edge to put the WWE Championshipon the line against him. Cena says apart from Edge’s cowardly act at New Year’s Revolution, him and Edge are even in a one on one capacity with The Rated R Superstar winning at WrestleMania and Cena winning at Backlash. Edge says that he’ll accept as long as it’s all on his terms meaning he gets to pick when it happens and also gets to pick the stipulation which Cena says is fine. Edge says it’s going to be at Unforgiven in his hometown of Toronto. The match? A match he made famous… Tables, Ladders and Chairs! Cena vows to shut Edge up and regain top spot on Raw, even if it means beating Edge in his type of environment. During the match, Lita interferes but she receives an FU from John Cena. Edge meanwhile sneaks up the ladder but Cena climbs up and gets to him on time, delivers an FU to Edge through two tables and retrieves the WWE Championship! Unforgiven draws to a close with John Cena back on top.)
Notes:
(Trish Stratus vacates the Women’s Championship the night after Unforgiven and thanks the fans who give her an unbelievable ovation with Thank You Trish chants.)
(John Cena beats Edge in a rematch on the Raw after Unforgiven in a Steel Cage match despite Edge recruiting Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch because DX even the numbers.)
(Edge hosts The Cutting Edge and forms an alliance with Randy Orton. Rated-RKO is born!)
(Sabu returns and wins the ECW Championship against The Sandman.)
No Mercy 2006 (SmackDown)
Date: 8/10/06
Location: RBC Center, Raleigh, North Carolina
Cruiserweight Championship:
Gregory Helms (c) vs Super Crazy
WWE Tag Team Championship:
Paul London & Brian Kendrick (c) vs The Pitbulls
Submission Match for the United States Championship:
Chris Benoit (c) vs William Regal
I Quit Match:
Rey Mysterio vs Chavo Guerrero
(Rey Mysterio demands answers and wants to know why on earth has Chavo Guerrero turned his back on him. Chavo says it’s really an easy thing to explain. He says that Rey was leeching off Eddie’s name when it should’ve been him and it makes him feel sick to his stomach. Chavo says he’s better than Rey and Eddie was too. Rey says all he did was honour his friend and win the title his late friend also earned before passing away and all Chavo is doing is spitting in the face of people like Eddie by taking his dedication of being World Champion away from him. Chavo challenges Rey to a match at No Mercy to prove he’s better than him. Rey accepts and the stakes are upped when Teddy Long announces it’ll be an I Quit Match. During the match, Chavo injures Rey’s knee and does so much damage with a steel chair to the point Rey has no choice but to say I Quit.)
The Undertaker vs Mr.Kennedy
(Mr.Kennedy wants to make a name for himself so he calls out The Undertaker although gets ignored by The Deadman. Kennedy takes matters into his own hands and attacks The Undertaker on an episode of SmackDown during a match against Finlay and finally draws his attention. Kennedy says The Undertaker no longer ignoring him is what he wants and demands a match at No Mercy. The Undertaker accepts and tells Kennedy he’s tried him so now he’ll make him famous and also tells him that he’s just dug an unnecessary grave for himself. The Undertaker is about to win until a debuting MVP provides a distraction to the referee. This allows Kennedy to smash Taker over the head with a chair before pinning him to escape with the victory.)
World Heavyweight Championship:
Booker T (c) w/Sharmell vs Bobby Lashley vs Batista
(Batista and Bobby Lashley face in a SummerSlam rematch on SmackDown but this time to determine the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Booker T interferes, attacks both men and causes a no contest thinking it’ll mean he doesn’t have to face either man. Teddy Long however has news for Booker T and tells him his tactics have backfired because at No Mercy, he’ll be facing both men! Booker T is furious but Teddy Long tells him it’s his no one’s fault but his own. Booker T accuses Teddy of abusing power but says he’ll retain because he’s the best on SmackDown, Bobby Lashley says this is the opportunity he’s wanted and promises to take the chance with both hands. Batista says he never lost the World Heavyweight Championship and promises that it’s only a matter of time before he’s once again the top dog on SmackDown. Finlay interferes during the match and smashes Bobby Lashley over the head with his Shillelagh. This allows Booker T to capitalise and pin Lashley to retain his World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Batista delivers a Batista Bomb to the World Champion and signals this is far from over as No Mercy draws to a close.)
Cyber Sunday 2006 (Raw)
Date: 5/11/06
Location: U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Cryme Tyme vs Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch
Carlito vs Chris Masters
(Chris Masters turns on Carlito after they lose their tag team title rematch against DX. This turns Carlito face in the process. Carlito says what Masters done wasn’t cool but what will be cool is him kicking his ass and beating him right in the middle of the ring. Masters says Carlito was the weak link of the group who he protected for months.)
Two-out-of-Three Falls Match for the Intercontinental Championship:
Jeff Hardy (c) vs Shelton Benjamin (2-0)
Vacant Women’s Championship:
Mickie James vs Lita
WWE World Tag Team Championship:
D-Generation X (c) vs Rated-RKO (By Disqualification)
(Edge and Randy Orton after forming an alliance immediately set their sights on the World Tag Team Championship . Edge says DX are nothing but a disease who are the reason he isn’t the WWE Champion meanwhile Randy Orton says Shawn Michaels is a legend he’s yet to take care of and he’s never forgotten about or gotten over Triple H turning his back on him when they were in Evolution together. DX say Edge and Orton are without doubt two of the biggest cry baby bitches in the whole company and will take nothing but pride punching their teeth down their throats at Cyber Sunday. DX are about to win after Triple H Pedigrees Randy Orton but Edge smashes The Game over the head with a chair which causes a disqualification. Edge and Orton attack DX with chairs and leave them in a bloody mess.)
Loser Leaves Raw Match:
Kane vs Umaga w/Armando Estrada
(Umaga wins clean to close out the feud and send Kane to SmackDown.)
Falls Count Anywhere Match for the WWE Championship:
John Cena (c) vs Rob Van Dam
(Rob Van Dam returns from suspension and asks John Cena for his one on one rematch. Cena says not only is he a fighting champion but he also has a point to prove seeing as Van Dam beat him at One Night Stand and their match at Vengeance didn’t have a clear winner so he accepts. Van Dam offers Cena to up the stakes further by making their match a Falls Count Anywhere Match and Cena accepts. John Cena retains after delivering an FU to Van Dam through 2 tables and redeems his loss from ECW One Night Stand. Both men shake hands after the match to close out the feud.)
Notes:
(Rey Mysterio goes away to have knee surgery and is out for the foreseeable.)
(The ECW Roster cause chaos during a match between The Undertaker and MVP on SmackDown, destroy both men and others on the roster and do the same on Raw during a match between Edge and Shawn Michaels, making their message clear.)
Survivor Series 2006
Date: 26/11/06
Location: Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
United States Championship:
Chris Benoit (c) vs Chavo Guerrero
(After beating Rey Mysterio, Chavo Guerrero says he’s restored pride and dignity back into the Guerrero name. Chavo is interrupted by Chris Benoit, a man Chavo thinks will be on his side. Benoit however tells Chavo that if he thinks he’s on his side after what he did to Rey Mysterio then he’s sorely mistaken. He tells Chavo what he did to Rey was disgusting, not what Eddie would want and Chavo is doing nothing but living in Eddie’s shadow. This enrages Chavo to the point he attacks Benoit and demands a match for the United States Championship so he can take something from him too like he did Rey Mysterio when he cost him the World Heavyweight Championship. Benoit retains after Chavo submits to The Crossface.)
Intercontinental Championship:
Jeff Hardy (c) vs Shelton Benjamin vs Johnny Nitro w/Melina vs Carlito
Title vs Career Match for the Women’s Championship:
Lita (c) vs Mickie James
(Lita says Trish Stratus retiring is hilarious and jokingly says if she loses to Mickie James at Survivor Series, she’ll retire. Mickie then dares Lita to actually put her career on the line against her at Survivor Series. Lita says she’s that confident seeing as she’s beating Mickie twice already that she accepts. Mickie James finally beats Lita to win the Women’s Championship and ends Lita’s career. Lita leaves to a chorus of boos and gets taunted by the crowd with goodbye chants. Cryme Tyme do NOT sl*t shame her.)
Cruiserweight Championship:
Gregory Helms (c) vs Jimmy Wang Yang
World Heavyweight Championship:
Booker T (c) w/Sharmell vs Batista
(Batista says that he can’t stand Booker T and wants to face him one on one at Survivor Series. Booker T says no and has nothing to prove but Teddy Long grants Batista his wish after making a case that Batista hasn’t had his one on one rematch for the title he never lost. Booker T is furious and Batista tells him his days as World Heavyweight Champion are numbered since he’s never lost a singles match for a title. Booker T tries heel tactics and Sharmell tries to help too but their tactics backfire, Batista is prepared and counters, delivers a Batista Bomb and pins Booker T to win the World Heavyweight Championship.)
Survivor Series Tag Team Match:
Team SmackDown (The Undertaker, Kane, Bobby Lashley, Mr.Kennedy & MVP) vs Team ECW (Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, CM Punk & The Big Show) vs Team Raw (John Cena, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton & Edge)
(Paul Heyman says that ECW invaded Raw and SmackDown because he wants to establish the fact that ECW is well and truly back and can hang in the big leagues, even if it means causing a war. Teams are filled with men who can’t stand each other and this night is all about if they can get along and win for their brand. There’s plenty of chaos and fighting amongst the teams since Cena & DX hate Orton & Edge, Taker & Kane hate MVP & Kennedy, Sabu hates Dreamer. The match comes down to Rob Van Dam and Edge. Van Dam has the upper hand until Randy Orton RKO’s him and his partner Edge capitalises to win this match for Team Raw in a very fun and chaotic affair.)
(Sole Survivor: Edge)
December to Dismember 2006 (ECW)
Date: 3/12/06
Location: James Brown Arena, Augusta, Georgia
Extreme Rules Match:
Balls Mahoney vs Elijah Burke
Hardcore Holly vs The Great Khali w/Daivari
Extreme Rules Match:
The Hardy Boyz vs MNM w/Melina
Justin Credible vs Marcus Cor Von
Stevie Richards vs Test
Elimination Chamber Match for the ECW Championship:
Sabu (c) vs The Big Show vs The Sandman vs Tommy Dreamer vs CM Punk vs Rob Van Dam
Note:
(The Big Show leaves the company after this event to rest up seeing as he’s burned out from all the travelling.)
Armageddon 2006 (SmackDown)
Date: 17/12/06
Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Ladder Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship:
Paul London & Brian Kendrick (c) vs MNM vs Finlay & William Regal vs The Hardy Boyz
(Poor Joey Mercury still gets his nose broke here.)
Cruiserweight Championship:
Gregory Helms (c) vs Jimmy Wang Yang
Bobby Lashley vs Finlay w/Little Bastard
(Bobby Lashley wants revenge on Finlay for costing him the World Heavyweight Championship at No Mercy for Theodore Long announces that they’ll face off at Armageddon. Lashley wins here and is then traded to Monday Night Raw.)
United States Championship:
Chris Benoit (c) vs Chavo Guerrero w/Vickie Guerrero
(After losing at Survivor Series, Chavo Guerrero continues to attack Chris Benoit since he can’t accept what Benoit said about him living in Eddie’s shadow. Chavo gets Vickie Guerrero involved and Vickie says to Benoit that perhaps what he’s saying is true but Chavo’s heart is in the right place. Vickie comes to her senses and slaps Chavo which helps Chris Benoit retain as he locks in The Crossface and Chavo taps.)
Kane vs MVP
No Holds Barred Match:
The Undertaker vs Mr.Kennedy
(Mr. Kennedy continues attacking The Undertaker and claims beating him wasn’t enough, he wants to finish him. Kennedy claims Taker is nothing but smoke and mirrors nowadays, has reached a point someone needs to put him down and that man is MRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR… GONG! Taker Chokeslam’s Kennedy and tells him they’ll face off at Armageddon in a No Holds Barred Match! Taker also tells Kennedy his fate will be sealed for good at Armageddon and he’s going to put an end to this for good. The Undertaker wins in a brutal affair.)
World Heavyweight Championship:
Batista (c) vs Booker T w/Sharmell
(Booker T invokes his rematch clause and promises to win back the World Heavyweight Championship. Batista says he’s just getting started when it comes to being back on top of the food chain on SmackDown and promises just like at Survivor Series, he’ll kick Booker T’s ass to end 2006 on a high. Batista retains the title even despite Sharmell’s best attempts yet again to help Booker T win the title back.)
And that’s part 43 over and done with! 2006 is officially in the history books with 2007 just around the corner. I’ll be back tomorrow for part 44 where we’ll see Triple H injure his quad again, an iconic Royal Rumble match and the biggest threat to The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak in years. Stay safe and stay tuned!

I spend all of my daylight hours scared and alone in this musty old cellar.
It’s woeful, and I bet it smelled this bad even before everything around here turned to crap. Great. My second sentence and I’ve already resorted to swearing. When I decided I’d start this diary (five minutes ago when I got a tiny sliver of signal) I thought it would be my poetic and deeply-moving goodbye to the world. Maybe I’d write about love and loss, or maybe the splendour of nature. Then, when all is done and dusted, I’d have left something to be remembered by. As well as my corpse, of course.
This was a bad idea.
*
Okay, I’m an idiot. There’s nothing else I can do down here. I’ve rooted through every cardboard box a hundred times, organised and reorganised my supplies, I’ve even built a fort. So, I’m back. Hello. Again. God, this diary is going badly.
But there’s just enough light coming through the boards I nailed over the cellar’s tiny window to type by. So I may as well type. Stops me staring up at the window just waiting for a shadow to pass by.
Maybe I'll just write and not hit Submit. Right, where to start? Well, my name is – actually, I think I’m going to refer to myself as ‘X’. That sounds mysterious. If you’re reading this and want to know my real name, I still carry my purse. My railcard is in there and, if you really want to know who I am, go find me and fish it out. I won’t bite...
So, my name is X. I live in a little English village in the middle of nowhere. Before all this happened, I had a mum, a dad, a sister and there was a boy I liked, his name was Jonah.
*
I couldn’t think of anything else to write so I waited until I came back from my rounds. That’s the stupid name I have for when I go outside at night scrounging for stuff. Drinks are the hardest. I only trust bottles or cans, or did, and I was running out of places to search for them. But I guess that doesn’t matter now.
My leg is doing alright actually; didn’t hold me up at all. I saw Jonah too. He’s looked better, I have to say. It’s strange because this is only the second time I’ve seen him since we came here. Maybe his ears were burning.
Anyway, I found some tinned pineapple in a creepy old caravan I hadn’t searched yet. Had to bust the door open with Old Trusty – which I thought might attract some unwanted attention – but it was fine. I’m actually eating the pineapple right now, tastes good. I also found a radio in there. I already have three down here, but none of them work. Not that the caravan radio works either, all you get is static. It’s just nice to collect something. You know, to have a hobby.
*
I can tell the sun is rising. I managed to sleep for a couple of hours, but I woke up after a bad dream. I know some people can remember their dreams, but I never do. I wake up and grasp at them, but I never manage a hold before they fade away. It’s like trying to pinch the corner of a wisp of smoke; the harder you try, the quicker it fades to nothing. I’m just left with a sensation, a kind of imprint which sums up the most intense part of the dream.
And a cold sweat. That’s new.
*
I’ve been through the box of photo albums I found at the back of the cellar again. I’ve looked through them a few times now, but I always notice something new.
There’s a photo of this little girl playing with a pretend guitar. I can tell it’s pretend because it doesn’t have strings, only brightly-coloured plastic dials. Kind of like My First Guitar Hero or something. The girl has dark hair and she looks a tiny bit like my sister did a million years ago. I don’t have a picture of my sister. I suppose I could go and get one from my old house, but it’s right in the middle of the village. I’m lucky I wasn’t torn to shreds the last time I went back. So, what I’ve done is put this girl’s photo in my back pocket as a substitute.
I guess I should probably write something about my real sister now. But I don’t think that’s a good idea just yet.
*
Daylight is starting to fade and I’m getting ready to go out on my rounds. I always take my satchel with me, packed with useful objects. I have Old Trusty (a crowbar) which sticks out of the top for easy access, a small toolbox, a pair of heavy-duty gloves (there’s a good story about how I got those, I might write that one down later) and a hammer. I carry a penknife I found down here in my pocket, my purse and phone, and a torch in my hand.
I don’t like to use the torch because its battery is running out and there’s always the chance it might attract them. I probably shouldn’t have used it last night when I got back. Maybe I’m starting to enjoy this writing malarkey? I need to be careful with luxuries.
*
Okay, that could have gone better.
Picture the scene: I’m using Old Trusty to try and lever a kitchen window open, when one of them just walks right through the garden hedge. Seriously, straight through it. It’s not the mightiest of hedges but, still, it just appeared like it was walking through one of those Japanese paper walls. My satchel was on the ground, but I legged it anyway. I’m not stupid. I know I can go back for it tomorrow. I felt strangely naked without it on the way back here though.
Like I said before, I need to be careful with the torch so I think I’ll try and get some sleep now.
*
I slept pretty well last night; no nightmares or cold sweats. Maybe a midnight chase was just what I needed to blow away the cobwebs.
I actually woke up wondering about you. If you’re reading this, who are you? If you’re like me, living through this village nightmare, how have you managed to go this long without being killed or whatever? Maybe you’re Army or some such. Maybe you’re just some kid who’s played so many videogames that surviving all of this was already second nature to you. Or maybe you’re like me; living on borrowed time and searching for a good place to die. Maybe Future Me was brave enough to tap Submit on my diary and you're currently reading this on your phone or computer.
Here’s an idea. Maybe you can carry on this diary from wherever I left it at. God, I really hope this isn’t my last entry, although I suppose any entry might be. If you do carry the diary forwards, and I'm a corpse, maybe it will become cursed. Spooky.
*
I’ve been preparing for my next excursion.
If I know I’m going somewhere I’ll likely run into an ugly, I like to take extra precautions. And I want my satchel back. It was a present from my dad, and I know it cost him a lot of money.
So, I’m taking a pair of shears from the shelf of old tools down here. That way, if I lose Old Trusty, I’ll have a backup weapon.
If you are local, I wonder how you like to kill them? Pretty morbid question I know, but everyone around here seems to have their preferred method. The last villager I saw alive carried a pair of mini cricket bats and seemed to have bludgeoning down to an art form. He never saw me though, I was watching from a grove of trees as he killed his way along the main road near the village.
That was before I decided to stay inside during the daylight hours. We can at least see a little bit at night; ambient light and everything. They can’t though. I’ve seen them, they bump into things. It’s pretty funny to be honest. If they hear a noise, they walk in the direction of the sound, never trying to avoid any object in their path. They either bash said object out of the way, or, like that hedge, blunder right through it. Obviously bigger things stop them dead (ha!) though. If that happens, they sort of shuffle backwards and then try again a few times. Eventually – and I’ve seen this too – they just give up and stand there, waiting for something else to attract their attention.
That’s not how it works in the daytime though.
*
I think it’s about an hour before the sun sets so it’s nearly time to head out. I’m going to change my bandage. One minute.
Okay, it didn’t look that bad really. The original scratch wasn’t too deep and now the wound seems to be doing that scabbing thing I remember from normal injuries. It just doesn’t smell very good. A bit like when you walk past a bin that needs emptying.
Anyway, I’ve applied more antiseptic and redressed it. Time to go.
*
That was fun. I’m glad I had those shears with me.
I got my satchel back you’ll be happy to know. And I got inside that house I’d been trying to break into as well. More through necessity than choice in the end, but I’m pleased I did. I found more batteries! That means I can justify writing at night a bit more. In fact, the people who used to live there (I think the husband owned the local garage) were pretty well kitted out. There were a lot of tins in their cupboards, and they’d even left a shotgun. It wasn’t loaded though.
Not that I need a shotgun. I didn’t tell you this before, but I have my grandpa’s old service revolver. He always told me and my sister that it was decommissioned, but my dad apparently knew otherwise. I keep it tucked into the back of my jeans at all times. It had three bullets, one of them is gone, so only two left.
I’ll only be needing the one of course.
*
Morning. I’m feeling pretty low today. I think concentrating on getting my satchel back took my mind off things, but now I feel pretty deflated.
Surely that’s understandable? The village I knew and loved has been replaced with this sodding hell. I miss my family, my friends, TV and hot dinners and Instagram. Before all of this I was a pretty positive person. Sure, I had a bit of trouble getting up in the morning, but, once I was up, that was it. I’d meet the day’s challenges head on, try to enjoy myself as much as I could. Not today though.
Maybe if I write about Jonah I’ll cheer up. Not Jonah as he is now of course, Jonah when he was all smooth-skinned, curly-haired and bright-eyed. Now he’s like the anti-Jonah or something. His face looks like it lost a fight with an angry lobster. No, wait, I’m supposed to be writing about Jonah version one here.
He’s one of those people that I can’t remember meeting. My family has always lived around here and so there are lots of people who have just always been, if you get me. I always thought we would drunkenly get it together at a party – that’s what I’d usually do if there was a boy I liked. Classy.
*
I’ve perked up a bit. Out of sheer frustration I went upstairs (naughty, I know) and looked out of a window. Sure, I saw an ugly, wandering aimlessly as they always do, but I saw that the trees are starting to turn too. That means it’s nearly autumn, and I love autumn!
My sister and I always used to go out and kick leaves at each other in the autumn. I don’t know if it was because of her low centre of gravity, but my sister was amazing at it. She could somehow whip up a blazing whirlwind of golden-yellow and fire-red, surrounding us both in a leaf storm that I couldn’t help but flail my arms madly at. Then we’d both fall backwards into the leaves laughing, me wondering how on earth what had happened was possible. She was that good.
God, I let her down in the end.
*
I think I’ll stay away from the house with the shotgun tonight. It usually takes a day or two for a group of uglies to disperse once they’re all riled up. I could use the rest of that tinned food I suppose, but I’ve got plenty to be getting on with for now.
Instead, I think I’ll swing by another farmhouse I was scoping out before I decided to turn nocturnal. I never met the people who used to live there, but I remember Mum telling me they liked their privacy. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me visiting now though.
Also, there’s a woodland between here and there and I might be able to find some leaves to kick about a bit. I think that would make me feel close to my sister again.
I’ll check back in later.
*
I’m still alive, but only just.
I made it through the woods just fine (only the odd leaf on the forest floor at the moment though, sadly), the trouble started at the farmhouse. I couldn’t get in – the doors and windows were barricaded – so I tried one of the outbuildings. Locked. It had a cat flap though.
My first instinct was to leave it, but then I wondered if there might be something useful inside. Lord knows what thinking about it now. I lifted the cat flap with one hand and shone the torch beam through with my other. That’s when an ugly dived at my pinkies. Luckily, it misjudged its leap and got a mouthful of plastic cat flap instead. As for me, I fell backwards onto my bum.
Next, the damn thing started bashing on the door from the inside. I don’t think it could ever have got out, but the noise attracted more uglies from out of nowhere. I only just managed to outmanoeuvre them and hightail it back into the woods.
That’s not the worst of it though. On the way back my leg started to hurt. A lot.
*
I woke up this morning and I’m walking with a limp. It’s funny, Dad had a limp when he and Mum died. He was nailing planks of wood across our windows and doors because there was no signal (as per bloody usual) and we thought that what was happening here was probably happening everywhere. It's only recently that I realised this was an isolated, local outbreak. Anyway, Dad dropped the hammer onto his toe, he always was useless at DIY. I think it was only a couple of hours after that when he and Mum were taken.
It was like a wave of death. No, not like, that’s exactly what it was. A hoard of uglies swept through the village, probably originating from the secret research facility in the woods we're not supposed to know about. My sister and I wouldn’t have had a prayer if Mum and Dad hadn’t charged down the first few that got into our house. They gave us just enough time to escape, to run away and leave them to die. My sister was screaming all the way and I had to drag her like she was four again.
She wouldn’t speak to me for a few days after that. I didn’t blame her, I hated myself too. But I would have hated myself even more if I hadn’t done what I did next. On my own, I snuck back into our house with the crowbar I found here. Then I dispatched my parents. I can’t bring myself to type it any other way. It wasn’t like in the movies, I didn’t pound their skulls into mush whilst sobbing, ‘Why?’ over and over again. I just found them, or what was left of them, forced the crowbar through each of their eye sockets, and came straight back here.
Then came the crying.
*
I haven’t told you about the heavy-duty gloves yet, have I?
After I got back from our old house, my sister started speaking to me again. A shared, day-long cry will do that for sisters. Once we felt up to it, we decided to explore the parts of the farmhouse we hadn’t searched yet. All the bedrooms were empty, only a few belongings flung about the place (I suspect the previous tenants left in a hurry). The problem came when we investigated the attic. Once we’d opened the ceiling panel in the upstairs hallway, once we’d pulled the compact staircase down, I went up. My sister stood at the top of the hatchway shining the torch beam over my shoulder. And that’s when it touched me. Terrified, I fell to my left, screaming as the thing came crashing down on top of me. I was yelling things like, ‘Shoot it!’ and, ‘Run!’ but my sister was just laughing her head off. I soon realised that my attacker was in fact a shop-window mannequin.
I think the people who previously lived here must have been arty (or into some seriously freaky stuff) because the mannequin was dressed in scarves, bandannas, ties, watches – loads of things. The rest of the attic was pretty empty but at least we got the mannequin’s gloves.
*
I’m not feeling good at the moment. I’ve got a sore throat and I’ve coughed up blood a couple of times. My leg pain is getting worse too.
I don’t think I’ll go out tonight. I have enough tins left and one of them is a Full English In A Can. Sounds pretty disgusting, but intriguing at the same time. I’ve been saving it for near the end. A sort of consolation prize.
*
There are two mattresses down here. Obviously one is mine, and the other one was my sister’s. After she died, I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. I don’t have a photo of her, only Guitar Girl’s. Her bed is the only thing of hers I have left. And she didn’t even sleep in it that many times.
*
The tinned Full English was vile! You’ve got to laugh though, what else can you do?
*
I’m crying as I write this. Tears of sorrow, shame and regret.
It happened as we were searching a cottage just off of the main road. We’d used Old Trusty to get inside, and I’d rushed straight into the kitchen to find the food. We’d run out more than a day before and I was famished. My sister followed me into the kitchen, a wide grin on her pretty little face because I was sitting there with an open can of beans. Then one of them came at her from behind. I must have walked right past it on my stupid way to the cupboards. It bit into her neck and blood gushed over the tiles in a torrent. As she yelled out in agony, I leapt up and implanted the crowbar right into the thing’s skull. It crumpled to the floor, but the damage was done.
‘Don’t let me lose myself.’ That was the last thing my sister whispered to me before she passed out. Her wound was much more severe than mine is, and much closer to the brain. That seems to make it quicker. I took grandpa’s revolver from behind my back and blew her brains out.
I buried her in the back garden.
*
After my sister died I went kind of crazy. I took Old Trusty out across the fields and pulverised every ugly I could find. I don’t even remember it that well, it was just, find, kill, find, kill…
We’d only been going out in daylight before then but, in my anger, I carried on through the nights. That’s how I learned about their inability to evade in darkness. Eventually, though, one got me. I found three munching on a dead cow and ran straight at them. Took out the first two easily enough, but the third managed to scratch my leg with a bloody fingernail just before I clobbered it into oblivion. Once I realised its nail had broken the skin, it was like a switch had been flicked inside me. That’s it, I’m dead too. I lost my bloodlust and came back here.
*
If none of this had happened, I think my sister would have eventually gone into medicine. I was doing okay at College but she was top of her class at school. And she had a really kind nature too. She’d never squish any bugs that got trapped in our house; she’d get a glass, scoop the little critter up and seal it inside with a book. Then she’d take it outside and release it, even if it was a wasp.
*
I’ve decided that here’s not the place. I'll hit Submit and then I’m going to do it in those woods I wrote about; consider this diary as my Note. I’ll be able to find a nice spot to sit and look at the trees, some place that's calm and peaceful. I’m going to leave the picture of Guitar Girl in this cellar, she belongs in this house. The tree leaves will remind me of my sister more than any photo ever could anyway.
I guess all that’s left to say is thank you for listening.
I know it’s possible that no one will ever read this, but that’s not really the point is it?
Love,
X

Order, Order!
We turn now to a vote SB226, in the name of the Scottish National Party. The question is that this Parliament approves the Miners' Strike (Pardons) (Scotland) Bill.
Members are reminded to vote FoAgainst/Abstain. Attempts to stylise a vote may result in it not being counted. Where there is mix-up with an alternative voting style, this shall also be accepted.

Miners’ Strike (Pardons) (Scotland) Act

An Act of the Scottish Parliament to pardon certain individuals convicted of certain offences committed during the 1984-85 miners' strike.
Section 1: Definitions and Interpretations
(1) In section 2, “qualifying individual” means an individual, including a deceased individual, who—

(a) was a miner,
(b) was, at the time of the commission of the offence, a member of the same household as a miner, or
(c) was, at the time of the commission of the offence—

(i) a parent of a miner,
(ii) a child of a miner, or
(iii) a sibling of a miner.

(2) The offences referred to in section 2 are—

(a) breach of the peace,
(b) an offence under section 3 of the Bail etc. (Scotland) Act 1980 (breach of bail conditions),
(c) an offence under section 41(1)(a) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 (obstructing police etc.),
(d) theft.

(3) Section 2 does not—

(a) affect any conviction or sentence,
(b) give rise to any right, entitlement or liability, or
(c) affect the Royal prerogative of mercy.

(4) In this Act—

(a) “conviction” includes any finding in criminal proceedings that a person has committed an offence or done the act or made the omission charged (including a finding linked with mental disorder or in respect of which an admonition or absolute discharge is made), and “convicted” is to be construed accordingly,
(b) “household” means a group of people living together as a family or other unit (whether or not related) in a private dwelling, who—

(i) have the dwelling as their only or main residence, and
(ii) share living accommodation and cooking facilities,

(c) “miner” means an individual who at any time during the period beginning with 12 March 1984 and ending with 3 March 1985 was employed in any part of Great Britain—

(i) by the National Coal Board established under section 1 of the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, or
(ii) by a person holding a licence granted under section 36(2)(a) of that Act,

(d) “miners’ strike” means the national concerted stoppage of work by miners led by the National Union of Mineworkers,
(e) “sibling of a miner” means an individual who has at least one parent in common with a miner.

Section 2: Pardons for certain individuals convicted of certain offences committed during miners’ strike
(1) A qualifying individual who has been convicted of an offence listed in subsection 1.2 is pardoned for the offence if the conduct constituting the offence—

(a) occurred during the period beginning with 12 March 1984 and ending with 3 March 1985, and
(b) in relation to—

(i) an offence listed in subsection 1.2(a) to (c), meets condition A or condition B, or
(ii) the offence of theft, meets condition C.

(2) Condition A is that the conduct—

(a) occurred while the individual was engaged or participating in—

(i) activity (whether or not organised) supporting or opposing the miners’ strike, or
(ii) activity ancillary to such activity (for example, assembling before or after or travelling to or from such activity), and

(b) did not occur for a reason unrelated to the miners’ strike (for example, a disagreement about a personal matter).

(3) Condition B is that the conduct—

(a) occurred in response to conduct that meets condition A, and
(b) did not occur for a reason unrelated to the miners’ strike.

(4) Condition C is that the conduct occurred because of economic hardship arising from participation (whether by the individual or another person) in the miners’ strike.
Section 3: Commencement
(1) This Act comes into force on the day after Royal Assent.
Section 4: Short title
(2) The short title of this act is the Miners’ Strike (Pardons) (Scotland) Act.
This bill was submitted by the Rt Hon. NewAccountMcGee PC MP MSP MS, Leader of the Scottish National Party, MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, on behalf of the Scottish National Party.
This bill was based on the Miners’ Strike (Pardons) (Scotland) Act 2022.

Opening Speech

Oifigear-riaghlaidh,
The Miners’ Strike of 1984/85 is a year-long stain on Scotland, and Britain’s, history. Not only did many miners have their pits closed and jobs lost, they also lost out on redundancy payments and pension contributions. Removing the stigma of a criminal record is one way we can help Scotland’s mining communities, which need much, much more help from the Government. I commend this bill to the Parliament.
Link to Stage 1 Debate
Link to Stage 3 Debate
Voting on this bill will end at the close of business on the 4th of June at 10pm BST.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Script Directory
Context: You were burned at the stake in your time, accused of witchcraft, when all you were truly guilty of was being in love with a man that betrayed you for another. It's been over a hundred years of isolation, being strung up as a scarecrow, forced to relive your betrayal over and over. The locals used to say you'd come back when the last straw was reached. A strange man has reanimated you, insisting he wants to help you find the man that betrayed you. There might just be a few roadblocks in the way.
Setting: The interstate
Tags: [MFM4A][Enemies to Friends?][Supernatural Researcher Speaker][Eldritch Witch Speaker][Three Speakers][Reanimated Witch Listener][Guest Appearances][Lore Drops][Horror][Witchcraft][Action/Drama][Mild Angst][Making a Deal][CW: Physical/Emotional Abuse]
Usage: You may tweak or record this script. Gender swapping is totally fine! Please credit me if you use this script in any of your projects. If you would like to use this script for a paywalled recording please DM me first. Thank you :3
[N] = Nivek, the scientist helping you
[C] = Cy. She scary.
[E] = Enzo Agosti. He big mad (and big Dad)
[Scene opens upon a decimated highway]
[SFX: A whirlwind of dark magic]
[You’re staring into the eyes of Death, who is apparently a five-foot-tall goth girl with a synthesizer for a scythe. The hapless researcher tugs on your arm]
[N] “Crow, we need to leave! Right now! Right this very instant!”
[You’re frozen. The feeling of cold, unyielding darkness is upon you]
[...]
[N] “CROW, WE CAN’T FIGHT HER!”
[...You know that]
[...PAUSE!!!]
[Cy stops, twirling her fingers as lost souls spiral around her]
[C] “...Really? You want to bargain? You know that never works, right?”
[Pause!]
[N] “P-Please! I know you’re not heartless, Cy-!”
[Pause…]
[C] “That’s a bold assumption.”
[N] “Crow is a Witch of this plane… Unlike your kind, we draw magic from suffering, and the only way to heal is by confronting the source of our pain!”
[...?]
[C] “Yeah, what do you mean by ‘our’?”
[Pause]
[The man sighs, casting his eyes away]
[N] “... I was, once, under a similar curse. I managed to find my peace, and I want to make sure others suffering are allowed the same… Crow has been suffering for over a hundred years, and the ‘Scarecrow’ you speak of for over fifty… Please…”
[...]
[To your shock, Cy lowers herself to the ground. The swarm of souls fades, replaced instead by an especially ornery black cat]
[C, to the cat] “Alain?”
[The cat surveys you, hanging around her neck like a lanky, furry scarf. Somehow, his gaze is worse]
[Pause…]
[C] “...He seems to think you’re being genuine.”
[N] “I assure you, I am… Christ that is a scary cat. Please, can we just go in peace?”
[Pause]
[C] “If you’re after who I think you’re after, you’re both dead.”
[Pause?!]
[N] “What?! How could you possibly-?!”
[C] “Let me put it this way… This dimension’s cybersecurity is ass. I know a lot more than Enzo is willing to tell me, which is why I’m pissed, out here, and ready to do what needs to be done. Your sister’s name is Chrysalis, right? Or Chrys?”
[...]
[SFX: Crows cawing angrily]
[N] “...Is that her name, Crow?”
[Pause]
[C] “Fucking birds, most opinionated… Stow it, all of you!”
[SFX: The crows stowing it]
[...]
[The child is a demon, you’re sure of it]
[She fishes around in her bag and pulls out what looks like a cigarette, lighting it. Even from a distance, you can hear the one she calls ‘Enzo’ screaming through the thing she flicked out of her ear]
[SFX: A cigarette being lit]
[E] “YOUNG LADY, YOU HAD BETTER NOT BE SMOKING-! I can still hear what you’re doing on this end of the line!!”
[Pause]
[N] “...When you say what needs to be done…?”
[C] “You want the short of it? Everfall is gone, the next Crusade is being called for, and the world, fuck, your whole reality is in danger of being consumed by something the former Quandry director called ‘The End’. It’s a continent-sized entity that devours dimensions to start them anew, like it or not, and you assholes being out here killing Oathkeepers and diverting resources is making that a lot more likely. Understand?”
[...]
[N] “Y-Yes, ma’am. Sorry, ma’am… Jesus, how are you so imposing for someone so small and cute?”
[C] “I get it from my Mom. Call me cute again and you will find out.”
[N, sheepishly] “Yes ma’am.”
[Pause]
[C] “Can I assume you two aren’t going to stop until you take out Chrys?”
[Pause.]
[N] “No.”
[C] “Ugh… You can’t kill her. She became like big, tall and simpy… Lothaire. Ascendant or some crap. You need a lot more than what you have to put her down.”
[She shoots you a look… You think]
[C] “And that includes Devil wishes.”
[Pause…]
[N] “A lot more like… you, perhaps?”
[Pause?!]
[To your shock, the tiny terror laughs… you think]
[C] “You humans do love to bargain with Devils, don’t you? Alright, do tell. Why would I join up with you two when I have to go deal with Scarecrow in backwoods-ass Cornville?”
[N] “Because I think you sympathize more than you let on. I think you want to help Scarecrow, not kill them.”
[You twist around to look at the researcher, side-eyeing him to Hell and back]
[Pause!!]
[C] “...Appealing to my ‘humanity’, huh? Or Xen empathy? Bold strat, bold strat…”
[She ponders for a moment but you can see she isn’t buying it. Thus, you make your own suggestion]
[Pause!]
[N] “Crow!”
[C] “...Offering to be extra firepower in the fight against The End. Hm… Practical. I like that. But what’s to stop you from hurting other people if you have a tantrum?”
[Pause.]
[C] “Me?”
[N] “You.”
[E, distantly] “CY!!”
[C] “Hmm… You know I still have to deal with Scarecrow, right?”
[Pause.]
[N, uncertain] “I… suppose we could help with that, to show that we want to join your little effort to save the world.”
[Pause]
[E, desperate] “Cy, for god's sake, you’re fourteen! You don’t need to take on the weight of this whole war by yourself!”
[Pause…]
[Cy kneels down and picks up the shiny little talking earpiece. For a moment, she almost seems remorseful]
[C] “...Don’t look for me. And don’t worry about me. This is why I’m here.”
[E, almost in tears] “You’re just a kid! Don’t do this, I’m tired of burying kids like you that think they can save the world on their own!”
[Pause]
[SFX: The communicator being crushed]
[...]
[C] “...Sorry, Mr. Agosti… but I’m tired of burying adults who think the same thing…”
[Pause…]
[N] “...Your Dad?”
[Cy exhales and throws the dust away]
[Pause]
[C] “...I don’t know. Are you two in, then? With the understanding that I’ll help you beat your sister into hamburger meat so long as you help the cause.”
[Pause.]
[N] “Yes.”
[C] “And you understand that you’re both hamburger meat if you cross me?”
[Pause.]
[N] “Yes.”
[You sincerely hope she’ll tell you what hamburger meat is at some point]
[C] “Alright. Come on, then.”
[With that, she turns and floats back towards the tank. You and Nivek side-eye each other, fully aware that you’re both being dogwalked by a child]
[...Pause]
[N] “No, I don’t think I’ll recover from this either… but it’s our best bet. If anyone will know how to kill an Ascendant Vampire… it’d be her.”
[Pause]
[Cy climbs in the ‘tank’, stops, and looks back at the two of you]
[C] “Get in, losers, we’re going shopping.”
[Nivek exchanges a glance with you and you with him. At least you get to ride in a tank]
[SFX: The tank hatch slamming shut and the beast in question lumbers off on its merry way]
[To be continued]
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: The relationship between Cy and Enzo is giving me life.
Second note: Cy would do the Death Wolf whistle from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish but she actually cannot whistle. Expect a beatboxing Death.
Third note: I NEED to write Cy interacting with Lothaire at some point, the meme capability is endless.

--- Table of Contents ---
Spring 4985, 20 Buromoth
The armor Smith Nangran gave them fit much better than the pieces lent to them for the trip. Shon still hated it, but he hated it a lot less. Practice, he told himself, trying to picture Master Veon-Zih's face as he did so, you can accomplish anything with practice... Except Master Veon-Zih didn't wear armor.
"I thought we were going to learn plate, or at least half-plate..." Rerves whispered to his fellows as they adjusted their new armor, working the straps so they weren't too tight or too loose.
His whisper wasn't quiet enough, however, because Master Daunas laughed from where he stood beside Nangran, and the smith huffed. "So you want to try plate, do you, boy?" The Weapon Master asked a little too innocently.
Rerves looked up hopefully, "Is that an option, ser?" Shon swallowed nervously.
"Sure! Let's give it a try..." Master Daunas grinned, the look definitely sinister in Shon's opinion. "Got some plate for the big one, Nan?" He asked Nangran, who rolled his eyes before moving deeper into the forge to retrieve a set of battered but sparkling platemail.
Rerves rushed to remove his new, specially fitted, leather armor, while Thom looked on in envy. Shon half expected Thom to request his own set of the fully encasing metal, but the shy boy stayed quiet and instead settled with helping his friend strip off the leather and strap on the clanking plate. Rerves beamed but could barely lift his arms to don the helm.
"There you go, boy! Halfway to a Paladin already." Master Daunas called out as he turned Rerves by the shoulders and marched him, waddling under the metal's weight, out of the smithy. Shon followed silently, taking note of the guards looking down from the wall and some Squires elbowing each other and snickering in the courtyard.
The four weeks of watch rotation had started, giving the new boys time to catch up before the oldest Squires 'graduated' on the spring equinox. It was four weeks in which they trained from before dawn to after dusk in the basics and foundations, while the others had mostly free time outside of their six-hour watch. Which meant the new boys had an audience of off-duty seniors.
"Now all you need is a sword!" Master Daunas was saying to Rerves as he left the over-encumbered Squire in one of the sparring rings. He strode to the weapons rack and grabbed a sword and shield before returning and presenting them to the boy. Rerves grabbed the sword, but as he took the shield, his arm collapsed, the metal of his vambrace clanging loudly against his chausses. He was still trying to heft the shield into position when Master Daunas drew his own sword, "Now let's test it out, shall we?"
Rerves dropped the shield, gaping at the Weapon Master, "But... but," he scrambled for an excuse and settled on the live steel in his hand, "You don't have any armor, ser, what if..."
Master Daunas never stopped smiling, but his voice was finally serious, "Boy, if you can land a hit on me in that, then you deserve to graduate with the others this year." and he swung.
Rerves didn't really dodge; he pulled back and fell on his backside, scrambling on his butt and trying to roll over to push himself back up but barely able to move. Master Daunas hit him with the flat of the blade in the side with a resounding gong-like ring hard enough to help push Rerves over so he could struggle to his hands and knees. "Get up boy, if you're on the ground in a fight this early, you've already lost."
Shon watched in horror as the Weapon Master continued to hammer down on Rerves with the flat of his blade. The Squire did manage to get to his feet and retrieve his sword and shield eventually but he still couldn't lift them, flailing them weakly at the Weaponmaster's legs. Master Daunas dodged easily, even yawning lazily before he flicked his sword and disarmed the poor Squire again.
"Call match!" one of the Squires shouted from the sidelines, the small crowd of them all shaking their heads at the display.
Master Daunas laughed, but Rerves took the advice and called "Match, match!" as loud as he could before dropping to his knees, heaving in heavy breaths from just a few minutes of trying to move in the full armor.
"Match it is then," Master Daunas conceded, saluting the Squire with his sword before gesturing for the others, "Help your brother out of that boys. He did his best."
Shon and Thom rushed forward to help Rerves, but they weren't alone. The other Squires came forward, one with a water skin he presented to Rerves after the helm was removed, "You did better than Zihler did last year," another of them said with a comforting pat on the shoulder after Shon removed the breastplate.
"Huh?" Rerves let out a tired questioning grunt, and another Squire pulled him to his feet so they could get the legs off.
"There's one every year," one of the eldest said sagely, picking up the discarded armor and slinging it easily over his shoulder.
"Yeah, it was Jawsh in our year," another explained.
Master Daunas strode forward and clapped Rerves on the shoulder, giving him a little shake, "You'll be ready for plate eventually, boy, but not until your third or even final year. Grow stronger in leather, then banded mail, then half-plate. Everyone starts at the bottom and works their way up."
Rerves smiled weakly but had regained some of his confidence apparently because he managed to say, "You could have just told me that, ser..." which made Master Daunas laugh out loud again.
He didn't even bother to answer the Squire, just turned around and went back into the smithy, shouting at Nangran, "I told you it would be the big one this year! You owe me ten copper Nan!"
***
For the entire first week, the new Squires were instructed in the basic drills of their assigned sword types. It meant they couldn't truly work together -each sword having different techniques- but it also gave them a chance to get to know some of the older Squires who helped them early on. The year ahead of them had five Squires, one of the largest years in recent history. Kefir and Baradin both used one-handed longswords and shields and worked with Rerves. Uther and Rehlien both used large two-handed greatswords and helped Thom. Zihler was the only one who specialized in the bastard sword and worked with Shon. He wasn't left-handed, but Shon did all the exercises with both hands anyway, letting Zihler help him with the right first, then switching to using his left after he was confident he had them down.
During their second week, they were given their first sword forms. Like the kata Shon had been studying under Master Veon-Zih, the sword forms were meant to represent actual maneuvers to be performed in combat, and he took to them with even greater gusto than he had the simple drills.
"He's like a dancer..." Kefir whispered to Zihler as they watched Shon work through the form, without complaining, for what must have been the twentieth time that day.
Zihler nodded but also huffed, "I bet he flinches the first time we spar, though."
"I don't know..." Kefir muttered, then louder explained, "He's the one who bloodied Selv on the raid. Rerves said he trained under some old man fighter before he came here."
"We'll see," Baradin interjected, joining his fellows, "Master Daunas is on his way. He wants us to get out the sparring swords."
Zihler gave his brother Squire a lazy salute. Baradin was the unofficial leader of their year. It had chafed at first, and Zihler was still the most prone to defy him on occasion -usually when it didn't matter much- but over the course of their first year even he had stepped in line to Baradin's passive ability to take command. The three waved down Uther and Rehlien, who jogged over.
As Baradin had said, Master Daunas arrived a moment later with the resident Cleric close behind. "Fall in, Squires!" he bellowed to the practicing three, and Shon, Thom, and Rerves all quickly obeyed, standing side by side at stiff attention. "It's officially week three and time to start sparring," he informed them, gesturing for the senior Squires to move forward and exchange the real swords for wooden ones. He looked each of the three over carefully, then nodded to himself and said, "Thom and Rerves, face off."
Zihler noticed Shon's shoulders slump ever so slightly as he stepped away from the other two, who turned towards each other. They were obviously nervous. "Those are wooden swords, but this is a real fight. They will still hurt like a bit-" the Cleric cleared his throat, interrupting the Weaponmasters' use of profanity. Master Daunas coughed but continued, "Despite that, I don't want you to hold back, you fight like you train, and if you go easy on each other, you will go easy on a real opponent. You are not civilians, and neither is your opponent. This isn't a game. The fight won't end until one of you takes a killing or disabling blow. Every adult here, minus myself and Smith Nangran, is capable of healing any wounds you might give or receive. So again, no holding back. If I call 'hold,' that means to freeze, stop moving, hold your position. Now lay on!"
Rerves and Thom both swallowed down their fear and moved slowly, unsure what their first strike should be. As expected, the two did hold back, both from nervousness at not knowing what to do and honestly not wanting to hurt each other. Daunas sighed, but Zihler understood. It had taken him months before he could really hit his friends. And he was one of the faster ones to manage it. And even then, only really when they were in armor.
The two newbies eventually sped up but were still pulling their hits. They both flinched with each strike, many of which were going to leave decent bruises, but Master Daunas wouldn't call an end until one of them landed a killing or disabling blow hard enough to count. On the other side of the sparring ring, Zihler saw Shon narrow his eyes as he tapped his boot with his sword.
"Match!" Master Daunas called after a loud smack pulled Zihler's attention back to the sparring pair.
Thom dropped his sword, cradling his hand. Rerves rushed forward, "I'm sorry, are you okay?" he had apparently caught Thom on the knuckles unintentionally.
"Both of you are aiming for your opponent's weapon instead of his body. You only hit their sword to parry or deflect. Hitting their weapon won't end a fight." Master Daunas instructed, "Practice boys, it's the only real way to learn, I can talk until my face turns blue, but you won't know until you make and take a few hits. Shon, you're up, Rerves, get ready."
Shon stepped into the ring, and something changed. Zihler couldn't describe it, but Rerves obviously felt something because he met his friend's blue eyes and swallowed. "Lay on!" Master Daunas shouted, and Rerves immediately raised his shield.
Just in time too, because Shon came in like a hurricane. He held his sword one-handed, but it still rang off Rerves' shield like a hammer. Rerves tried to counter as his form dictated, but Shon twisted his sword, taking it in both hands and sliding it along Rerves' blade before pivoting it up and swinging hard with a sickening 'thwak' against Rerves' shoulder. The larger boy immediately dropped his sword and reached for the wound with his shield arm while Master Daunas shouted, "Match!" and Shon stepped back.
He didn't apologize or rush forward as Rerves had done for Thom. The five senior Squires all stared at him, but Shon just bowed to Rerves while the Cleric came forward to check his arm.
"Well, I'll be damned," Master Daunas said with a wide smile, "It's about time someone listens to reason, but can you take as good as you give, boy?" Shon just arched a silent black eyebrow at the Weaponmaster, who laughed and took Thom's two-handed sword from him, handing it to Zihler, "Don't hold back, because this one certainly won't." he instructed the senior.
Zihler saluted the Weaponmaster and stepped into the sparring ring as Shon brought his sword to the ready position. As Zihler met Shon's eyes, his throat turned dry, forcing him to swallow as Rerves had done. His full year of more experience wasn't enough to prepare him for Shon's stare. The boy's icy eyes seemed to bore right through him. He wasn't at all nervous or scared. He didn't even seem determined or angry. Just cold. Like he could take Zihler's head and not lose a wink of sleep over it.
"Lay on!"
Zihler braced himself for an attack, but Shon didn't rush in as he had for Rerves. He maintained his guard and his stare until the senior Squire advanced. Inching forward, Zihler looked for the opening he knew had to be there. Shon didn't have enough experience yet to truly compete with the older Squire and when he swung, he swung hard. Master Daunas would accept nothing less.
Shon managed a parry, but both swords shook with the force of the hit. He didn't flinch and countered just as hard, telegraphing his attack and taking a breath too long, giving Zihler an opening. Shon was going to take the senior in the neck just as Zihler had imagined, and what was worse, he still hadn't blinked or changed his expression.
Zihler aimed for Shon's ribs, expecting the boy to redirect his sword and block the same way he had for Rerves. He didn't, and Zihlers wooden blade smacked him at full force in the side. If his ribs didn't crack, they were at least bruised, and Zihler felt himself flinch on Shon's behalf as the younger boy couldn't help but fold over the attack. Shon's swing lost some of its momentum, but he didn't stop, continuing to follow through, towards Zihlers neck, until "Match!"
Shon's sword stopped after barely tapping Zihler, showing that he hadn't lost control of the weapon and still had enough sense to pull the strike once the match was over. Would he really have hit the Squire full force if Master Daunas hadn't stopped them? Zihler felt himself sweating and had to swallow again. Shon finally blinked and stepped back, reaching for his ribs and flinching in pain as he gripped them.
The Cleric rushed forward, already speaking a prayer, and Zihler muttered a quiet, "Sorry..." as Shon flinched again at the healer's touch.
Shon furrowed his brow, then asked, "Why?" making Zihler blink in confusion, "We weren't supposed to hold back." Shon explained.
"Yeah, but..." Zihler started,
"You could've blocked that. It's the same technique you used in your first match," Master Daunas instructed Shon sternly.
Shon looked down at his sword, then back up at the Weapon Master. His eyes darted momentarily to Zihler before he muttered, "If I'd been faster, I could have ended it before he put too much force behind it..."
"You took the hit on purpose?!" Zihler shouted in disbelief.
Shon just shrugged, his ribs healed enough that it would only hurt a little to move, "I wasn't fast enough."
"Next time, block," Master Daunas chastised the younger boy, "Even if the blow had lost half its strength, you would've been injured." Shon hesitated, and Zihler noticed him clenching his fist at his side before he nodded in answer.
The bell for lunch sounded its twelve long rings, filling the courtyard as Master Daunas waved the boys towards the weapons rack, signaling an end to the practice. Zihler’s fellows joined him as he handed the practice weapon back to Thom. He didn't speak until the three newbies moved far enough away not to hear, "That was scary..."
"He really went all out, didn't he?" Kefir asked. Zihler could only nod.
"Cold-blooded," Rehlien commented.
"You have no idea," Zihler confirmed, "Even the seniors hold back more than he did."
The five turned toward the fortress and lunch, Baradin saying, "He could've though, did you see how easily he stopped his swing?"
"I felt it," Zihler mumbled, rubbing his neck. But he'd also seen clearly that Shon wouldn't have had the match not been called.
"I couldn't do that..." Uther mumbled, more to himself than the others, his shoulders slumping.
The other four immediately shifted their attention to their fellow. The poor boy had struggled through every stage of their combat training. Baradin patted him on the back, trying to sound soothing, "It’s only been a year. You have plenty of time."
Uther sighed heavily, "That was his first match, and he's already better than I am..." none of the others had an answer for that.
***
"I can't do this..."
Shon looked up from his book to furrow his brow at the older Squire. Uther looked as dejected as ever, staring unseeing at his own books spread out on the table in front of him. They showed drawings of fighting forms being performed step by step with explanations detailing each one's use.
"Uther..." Kefir whispered, reaching out to rub his friend's back, "You can..."
"I can't!" Uther slammed his book shut, and every Squire at the table jumped in surprise, "I don't want to. I hate this. I hate all of this." he crossed his arms over the table and dropped his head into them.
Shon tried to go back to his book. It was none of his business. He hardly knew the boy, and even if he did, what would he say? What could any of them say? And yet he listened as the others tried to comfort the frustrated Squire. "You're the best at our theology and law lessons, though, Uther. We can help you with the rest. We still have time."
"I don't want to fight..." Uther spoke into his arms, "I never did... I just thought... I thought that if I tried hard enough, I would learn..."
"You will."
"I don't want to." he was barely audible now, even in the absolute silence of the library.
At the end of the table, two boys a year older than Uther exchanged looks and silent nods before they stood and came to kneel beside him, "You don't have to." one of them said. Shon looked up again.
The other rubbed the Uther's back gently, "There was a boy a year older than us, his name was Karlin, he had a hard time too..."
Uther turned his head just enough to look through his arms at the Squire, "He gave up?"
"He went to train as a Cleric instead." the first said, "We got a letter from him last year, he's really happy, Uther. Maybe..." he hesitated, and his friend picked up for him,
"We would never encourage you to quit. If you want to stay, we'll help you. Everyone here will." he gestured to the table at large and then to the rest of the fortress beyond the library door. Uther lifted his head, and Shon nodded when he met the older boy's eyes. Though what he could do, he still didn't know.
The senior Squire continued, "But if you really don't want to, we will support you in that too."
Uther looked around at all of them, then whispered, "It's not too late?"
"It's never too late," the Paladin on duty chimed in without looking up. Perhaps not wanting to interject too much into the Squires' group effort to comfort their own.
"You've only been here a year, and Karlin already showed it's possible to transfer. If that's really what you want."
"I... I think I'll go pray..." Uther finally managed to choke out. The two boys stood and helped him to his feet but let him walk to the door on his own. Shon went back to his book.
He'd wanted this so badly it had hurt. He couldn't imagine being in Uther's position... But he also felt a strange sort of pride in his fellow Squires. They had stood up to help their fellow without hesitation, even now that he left, they weren't judging him for his voiced doubts. And even Uther himself. Shon had to imagine that it took a lot of strength to admit to the others that he might give up, that this path wasn't for him.
The next day Uther left Hamerfoss.
***
Along with the fundamentals of their swords, the new Squires were caught up in lessons on kingdom law. As Paladins, it would be their responsibility to enforce the law in each of the ten provinces, each with their own nuances. However, kingdom-wide laws always superseded province laws, so the new Squires were expected to know as much of that as possible before they started with the others.
Today they were learning about magic regulation...
"You should've all learned the basic theory of arcane magic before reaching maturity..." the Paladin giving their lecture began, waiting for their nods before continuing, "So you know that, theoretically, anyone can practice arcane magic. With enough study and funding. The kingdom has granted the Mages Guild a leading voice in the laws surrounding the use of arcane magic, and the power to enforce them with the assistance of the local Temple representatives."
The classroom was made to hold twenty five Squires and so felt particularly large and empty with only the three of them seated in the front row taking silent notes as the instructor spoke. He explained how the teleport system of gates worked within the Guild. That transport could be purchased to instantly travel between Guild towers, but that permission had to be granted from the destination if crossing province lines; otherwise, travelers would be trapped in the Guild and heavily fined, even imprisoned in some cases. He touched briefly on the cost cap of certain magical items, such as bags of holding and weather-resistant cloaks, to prevent price gouging. And handed out a list of outlawed magic items they would be required to memorize in their own time for a test at the end of this training period. It mostly consisted of anything that could cause outright harm, rare and valuable spell components for powerful spells, or items that aided in stealth that could be used for thievery. Though with the proper licensure, some experienced allies of the Temples were permitted to use many of them.
"Arcane magic has the potential to be very dangerous, and as such, all practicing Mages are required to be trained and registered as members of the Guild. Only Archmages, the highest Mage rank, are permitted to conduct research outside the Guild and take apprentices at their leisure. Which brings us to Sorcerers..."
Shon looked up from his notes. Their teacher was writing on the board again. At the top, he scrawled 'Sorcerers' then drew two lines down from the word to 'Clearance' and 'Sealing.' "When a Sorcerer awakens, they are required to..." he started, but Thom and Rerves both quickly raised their hands.
"What's a Sorcerer?" Rerves asked after the instructor nodded his way. Thom put down his hand, having had the same question.
The instructor looked at Shon and asked, "Do you know what a Sorcerer is?" when Shon shook his head, the man looked disapproving, "Then why didn't you ask?"
"They did..." Shon muttered down to his notebook. The teacher sighed and Shon glared at his notes. He would've asked if Thom and Rerves hadn't... assuming the answer wasn't made clear as the lesson continued.
Rather than further chastise him, the teacher moved on to answer the question, "A Sorcerer is someone who possesses natural arcane magic. They are born with power over one of the five elements. The power usually manifests around puberty, and when it does, the Sorcerer in question is taken to the Mages Guild. There they are either trained to control it -taking many years of study- or the power is sealed." He turned his back on the boys to continue writing on the board. Under 'Clearance', he wrote 'training' and 'testing', and under 'Sealing', he wrote 'tattoo' and 'item.'
"A Sorcerer with a clearance is the same in practice as a Mage who is registered with the Guild. Most Sorcerers, however, have their power sealed, preventing its use,"
"Why?" Thom asked, then quickly clapped his hand over his mouth, embarrassed for interrupting.
The instructor didn't seem to mind the interruption so much as the question itself. His eyes went wide in his disbelief as he looked down at the boys, "It is incredibly dangerous. Earth Sorcerers have been known to cause small earthquakes; Water and Air Sorcerers can drown or steal the air right from the lungs; Ice Sorcerers can freeze an entire room; and Fire Sorcerers... well, they are the most destructive. And all of that can be unintentional. Their magic is driven by their emotions, and if they can't control it, they are a danger to themselves and everyone around them. This is also why they are usually sealed with a tattoo..." he tapped the word on the board, "The sealing tattoo blocks their ability to use any kind of magic. It locks their energy, and thus their magic, in their body, preventing its manipulation. It is also given to any Mages, Druids, Clerics, and even Paladins that break the law and endanger the kingdom."
Rerves opened his mouth but then remembered to raise his hand, waiting for permission before he asked, "But don't Clerics and Paladins lose their God's blessing and their magic if they use it for evil?"
The teacher sighed again, though sadly this time, "Only Saint Giorgos reveres law itself as holy, and not every God holds the same standards for evil."
"Horsa..." Rerves growled under his breath, and the instructor nodded solemnly in agreement, his eyes flashing angrily at the mention of Hengist's brother and nemesis.
"Spells that are acceptable in Horsa-controlled provinces are not always permitted in Hengist's lands and vis versa. The Temples prefer to transfer those caught performing illegal acts with magic to a province where it is permitted, but occasionally, even a Cleric or Paladin can be tattooed to prevent further spell use. In some provinces, and you will learn more about this later, they even tattoo non-magic users who commit violent crimes. To prevent them from ever learning dangerous magic in the future."
Shon stared at the word scrawled in his notebook. Sealing tattoos worked by sealing the person's energy in their body, their ki... would it prevent Monk abilities too? The bell ending the lesson interrupted his thoughts, and Shon looked up to the teacher with the others, waiting for official dismissal before they would close their notebooks, "You should have that list of contraband memorized by the end of the week," the instructor reminded them as he began to erase the board, "Dismissed."
***
A rabbit made of fire hopped its way around the open cage. She sat on the floor, focusing on it, forcing it to keep the shape she willed while she stroked the cat's crimson-scaled head. The cat rested its entire front half in her lap, its lower legs splayed out on the ground, limp, too weak to move. She fought back tears as it tried to lift one great paw to bat at the bunny. She let the cat hit it, even made the flame rabbit fall down, pinned under the red claws. Not all of her treasures could touch her fire, but this one could, so she would do this for it at least. It purred in triumph at catching the flaming bunny but closed its eyes a moment later, letting out a ragged breath.
It was dying. They all died eventually, but it didn't stop the pain. She sniffed, trying to keep the tears from falling as she let the fire go. Snuffed out like her treasure.
"Come on, Red... it’s time to go..." Ran whispered into the cage.
She shook her head, stroking the large cat's side. Its breathing had slowed even further, "Not yet," she choked, then sniffed again.
Brom rested a hand on Ran's shoulder, "Give her a little longer."
"The Archmage..."
"He can wait," Brom whispered.
Her tears finally started to fall, streaming silently down her cheeks and over her scales, the same shade as this treasure, the first treasure she'd ever pet. It had lived longer than the others, somehow, and was one of the few she was capable of touching for more than a few moments. "Why?" she asked the journeymen, not really expecting an answer she could accept.
They squatted down outside the cage together, and Ran answered, "Their bodies can't handle the magic. They're animals with dragon power. We're trying Red, but we haven't figured out how to stop it yet..."
"Am I going to die too?" she asked. The cat's breathing slowed further, her tears dripping onto its head and sizzling as they landed.
"No, Goldy, no... You're different... you're..." Brom struggled to find an explanation.
"A Sorcerer Red," Ran provided, "And a really powerful one."
Her treasure breathed its last, letting the air out slowly until it was unmoving in her lap. She cried silently. Curling around the large cat that was too heavy for her to lift, she cried into its neck, holding it close.
Brom crawled into the cage, but he didn't touch her, "Come on, Goldy, maybe the next generation..." he braved grabbing her arm, flinching at the heat of her skin and pulling her out of the cage as silent tears continued to fall. She tried to control herself but couldn't and fell to her knees as soon as she was out. Brom pulled quickly away, shaking his burned fingers. "Oh, Goldy... please don't..."
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop crying while also keeping her power pulled in, so she wouldn't catch any of the scattered straw or her caretakers' robes on fire. Her eyes flew open when a thick heavy blanket wrapped around her, and strong arms held it tight to her.
"I've got you, Red... It's okay to cry..." she could feel the antifire spell on the blanket press into her skin, but past that was Ran's arms, and a moment later, a second set, Brom's, wrapped her in a tight embrace. It was the only way they could hug her, and she was grateful enough that she let herself go, her shoulders bobbing as she sobbed and wailed for the loss of her treasure... and for herself.
--- Table of Contents ---
Thanks for making it this far, you are the real MVP

Not to alarm any of you, but I (22M) feel like I’m losing touch of reality. For the past three years, I’ve been through multiple existential conflicts. Losing my sense of identity. Am I really ugly or am I good looking? Am I a piece of shit or a decent human being? I have no personality. By 2020, I began feeling like a blank check. I carry a name but lacking some value. There’s no depth to me so I just try to mimic traits and motivations from characters that I see from TV and stories. Along with constantly daydreaming about being somebody of prestige, charisma and bad-assery. Which I in fact, have been doing ever since I was 15. I just never realized it until now! However, it seemed to be working because people liked me. More people than usual. Seriously, I believed that I was a total badass lol. That is until, I REALLY fucked up many quality relationships. I became toxic and beat myself into suicidal ideation. I learned to mostly forgive myself though and told myself that I’m never going to be that guy again!
So now, here I am, completely lost! The persona that you see of this taciturn and brooding man. It’s a defensive mechanism. On the inside, I simply just don’t know who I am, and if I did, I wouldn’t know how to express it. I couldn't list my personality traits if I tried. However, what I do know is…

I naturally have a strong sense of empathy and an inclination to assist others who are in bad situations. Which is why I want to go into the clinical psychology field.
My sense of humor is used as a crutch due to my lack of attractive or interpersonal qualities. It’s my only method of connecting with people and its very surface-level. Which sucks even worse because I've been taking myself out of my comfort zone much more recently.
Lastly, I have many hobbies and interests but, what the hell can you learn about me about that shit?

That’s it!! No wonder most of my friendships are surface level. I wish that I was confident and live in the moment! But what is there to be confident about?? I have no achievements to my name. Hell, I can’t even go back to university because my advisor screwed me over. All of these just feeds into my fear of being forgotten as well. My uni is always screwing me over, I've never had an official GF, I'm unequipped at growing my friendships and with all of my dedication and knowledge, my health is still not where I want it to be. All of my friends are doing better than me and even though I'm proud, I feel as if I'm not doing enough. If I can’t even remember who I am or leave positive impacts out there, then what am I living for? I Therapy sounds necessary but it's SO DAMN EXPENSIVE!! It doesn't make any sense smh.

I wish I found this subreddit sooner so I could expand my research prior visiting Japan. I only found this subreddit after I returned from the trip so after reflecting upon the trip I will write my mistakes that I made and things that I have learned so I can perhaps help other first time travellers going to Japan. It will be also useful for me in the future. PS: forgive my grammar, English is not my first language. Also a late report + numerous trip fumbles ahead so please be kind xDD
Me (30M) and my gf (25F) went on a trip to Japan April 24 - May 11, 2023. This was our first time travelling to Japan and our first time travelling in a different country by ourselves in general. We both had no experience travelling without family/experienced travellers with us so it was a bit stressful but we still had fun in general.
What we learned:

Get a very good shoes for extensive walking/hiking. I cannot stress this enough. Man, I returned with bunch of callouses on my toes+heels and blisters on my pinky toes that turned into some sort of stage 2 pressure sore. It was not fun walking with pain that I feel bad for unable to keep up with my gf. I had to sit many times to give first aid and end up buying some products for my feet. Was still able to complete all itineraries but it could have been prevented. No more Sketchers for me.
1 month prior to flight, my vegetarian gf attempted to become omnivore for the trip. She was sick for a couple of weeks for eating meat but she braved through it because she did not want to miss out on food while in Japan. She adapted in the end although she had nauseous from eating meat at times. In the end, there were actually numerous vegetarian options for her that she did not have to adapt in the first place.
We needed more time to prepare for the trip. Our trip was kind of spontaneous and we booked the flight ticket around late March so we have to pay hefty amount of money more. The itinerary was too much than we could have accounted for. We should have given ourselves free time in between destinations and not clump them like there is no tomorrow.
Check the weather forecast. Preparing for the itinerary while considering the weather can be very difficult as the weather in Japan fluctuates very easily. Good thing we group our itineraries that can be done indoors vs outdoors so would switch up the plan depending on the weather. I also did not know cherry blossom forecast was a thing. I visited places expecting some cherry blossoms and they turned out to be green when we get there. This is a good thing to consider while visiting during spring season.
Be flexible for the trip. Our trip was supposed to be Osaka -> Kyoto -> Nagoya -> Kawaguchiko -> Tokyo. Then we switched up Tokyo and Kawaguchiko due to price increasing during the Golden Week. We visited within the Golden week period (we did not know this event was a thing) and we realized the price of hotels skyrocket within this period. I wanted to experience some high end ryokans in Kawaguchiko with a view of Mount Fuji but then the price was like 3-4 times the price during the Golden week, hence, we switched up the places. We saved money for lodging because of that.
Popular restaurants + Tourist trap places can have long lines. If you have tighter schedule like we did, I highly suggest making reservations or come earlier to get into the lines. Even a lot of restaurants that open at 11am, I saw a line already around 9:30am. I did not have time for that that we end up visiting not so pupular places and yet still experience delicious food. Tourist trap places tend to be overrated and expensive. It is a good thing that we went to try other places. Our restaurant policy if there are more locals eating vs tourists eating, it is good and most likely cheap. Some restaurants also do not appear on google maps due to not adapting to the English language so you can usually find hidden gems here and there.
I think it is better to check in a hotel with breakfast services as most restaurants open around 11am. We had hotel with breakfast service and some have dont. We end up buying food at combini and also got lucky with Denny's near our first hotel as it opens at 6am.
Note for type of train traveling within your station. I only realized this during the middle of our trip. There is Local, Rapid, Express. Local stops station to station, rapid seemed to skip some stations, and express seemed to only stop at key stations. It is good that the stations have English translations and even the train pre recorded voice also had English parts.
Check exchange rate before withdrawing money from ATMs. The currency exchange fluctuates but it is not a huge difference. It is still good to win as much money in the exchange to have more cash in hand. The money I lost due to the exchange were minuscule at first but they accumulate since I did not check exchange rate until I returned.
I should not have been afraid to ask for help. I had this impression that Japanese people don't like to be bothered and they seemed resourceful themselves to not bother themselves asking. At least I learned this the second day of the trip. Hotel receptionists are good resource to ask.

What saved us the trip:

Being an anime fan/hololive fan helped me with the language. I watched so many animes that it surprisingly helped improve my vocabulary and I was able to understand people speaking in Japanese. Although I cannot read their language(thank god google image translate), I was able to hold conversation even though I speak like a toddlekindergartener. It is almost funny that some anime characters speak unnatural that I even used their kind of speech at times. I am ever so proud when some people told me "Nihonggo Jouzu"-d 4 times during this trip. Some people take that as an offense but I was so delighted when I received that.
Booking online for reservation. We avoided spending more for this trip since we did not go to theme parks and focused on temple visiting as we preferred. We only had few reservations to do without much competition.
Renting wifi device. I was about to use roaming but it was too expensive for a 17 day trip. Thank goodness for renting. Things would have been a disaster without my internet. Everyone should get their internet access as their priority.
Get a power bank device. Since I use my phone all the time, the device dies easily. There are charging stations around but if you want to keep moving, bring your own and charge them while you walk. I had my 20000mah power bank and it is more than enough for charging 2 phones, 1 tablet, 1 wifi device for the day. I just charge the power bank while I sleep.
Getting a Suica pass. This is self explanatory. I almost got into the hype of getting a JR pass too but I thought it was too expensive for me. I did not need a JR pass. With the help of google maps and Suica pass, I was able to go to my destination. I am amazed they put the price of the transport that I was able to choose which method of transport should I be getting. No taxis for me in this trip since I heard they tend to be expensive.
Buying unlimited day pass also saved us some money for transport during the trip. It is a good practise to calculate your itinerary beforehand before deciding whether an unlimited day pass is a good option. There were days we did not buy unlimited pass.
Putting Akihabara near end of trip than early. I would have ran out of money to spend for other places if I went there first.

Brief trip report:

Day 0 (April 25) - Arrive to Osaka after Layover from Narita around 8pm. Checked in the hotel and ate combini food before turning in for the night.
Day 1 - Osaka Castle (entered with an entrance fee) -> Izakaya Toyo (watched the episode on netflix and decided to visit) -> Sumiyoshi Taisha -> Nagai Park (it was at this part I realized about the Golden Week as we saw construction of stalls as preparation) -> Team Labs Botanical. The botanical experience was underwhelming for me. I was only impressed with the blue lights on the foliage.
Day 2 - Yoshino. This is the part where I wished I knew about the Cherry blossom forecast. I checked google to see where in Japan has best place for cherry blossom and it recommended Yoshino. The cherry blossom was already over but the place was still very nice and visited some temples there. I will definitely come back for the actual cherry blossom viewing. At least the Blue Symphony train was a cool method of transport to Yoshino. Then spent the rest of the day/evening at Tsutenkaku.
Day 3 - Shittenoji Temple (they were building stalls for the festival? got few good pictures due to stalls within sights) -> went to Kobe and tried their Kobe beef from a golden cow plate restaurant in Kobe -> cable car to Nunobike Herb Garden -> hang around BE KOBE sign -> Dotonbori for the rest of the evening (VERY CROWDED).
Day 4 - Nara. Rented bike there and went to various places. Nara Deer Park -> Sage Ike pond -> Kasuga Taisha shrine. Feeding deers everywhere. -> Todaiji temple (entrance fee) -> Kofukuji temple -> Higashimuku Shopping Street -> returned bike then train back to Osaka-> going first time trying bath house in Solaniwa.
Day 5 - Checked out hotel. Used Kyo Train Garaku to Kyoto. Used a coinlocker since check in starts at 3pm. -> Jonangu Shrine (entrance fee for garden) -> Fushimi Inari Taisha. Attempted to climb up but my poor feet were screaming. We turned back after reaching the second station before Mount Inari. -> Gion for the evening before checking in to the hotel.
Day 6 - Arashiyama Bamboo Forest (I was underwhelmed by this place as it was small. Make sure to come early as it gets crowded later on) -> Nearby Temples (Nonomiya, Mikami, Jojakkoji, Nisonin) -> Tenryuji Temple (entrance fee but most impressive garden I have visited this trip) -> Tenryuji Shigetsu to experience their vegan cuisine -> Sagano Romantic Train to Kameoka -> train back to shop around Arashiyama -> Kinkakuji Temple -> Nishiki Market for the rest of evening.
Day 7 - Kiyomizu-dera (entrance fee) -> Sannenzaka (they have Starbucks in tatami there, also my gf visited "My Only Fragrance" shop and made her own perfume there). -> Yasaka Shrine (there were numerous food stalls everywhere I think this is how they celebrate Golden Week and I ate good) -> Heian Temple (entrance to garden). They also had numerous food stalls and a concert stage and I ate good -> Kodaiji Temple (entrance fee but they had a nice light show there during the evening).
Day 8 - Nijo Castle (Expensive entrance fee compared to other entrances. Imo, there are other better places that should be more worth the fee compared to this place). -> Kyoto Imperial Palace (free entrance) -> Rokusonno Shrine -> Higashi Honganji Temple (free entrance. More stall constructions) -> Gion for the rest of evening.
Day 9 - Check out Hotel. Used Hinotori express train to Nagoya. Always wanted to try capsule hotel and checked in to 9 hours hotel. -> Visited Nagoya Castle (entrance fee but I was disappointed we could not enter the castle itself compared to Osaka Castle). There were also numerous food stalls inside and I ate good. -> Visited their Malls -> Slept at the capsule hotel. To be honest, I slept really well compared to other hotels we have booked. It was surprisingly comfortable despite the random fire alarm that woke me up during that night.
Day 10 - Checked out Hotel. Used Shinkansen to Tokyo. Checked in at the next hotel. -> Teamlab Planets (way better than Teamlab Botanicals) -> Dinner at Gonpachi (Kill Bill reference). The movie was old and it is the theme of the restaurant. Their food was mid though. It is just a nice ambiance where noise seemed to be welcome here.
Day 11 - Suga Jinja (Your Name reference). Still surprised there are still visitors there due to that movie. Did some cringe Your Name photos. -> Meiji Jingu -> Explored Harajuku (visited Aoyama flower market tea house) -> Shibuya Crossing (ate good food there). Visited Tower Records + Don Quijote + Miyashita Park. Wanted to do Shibuya Sky but they sold out their tickets. End up getting lost among the crowds for the rest of evening.
Day 12 - Nezu Shrine -> Sensoji Temple (It was raining too hard that day so we decided to come back another time. -> Shopping at Asakusa ROX + tried their conveyor belt sushi -> Akihabara (spent quite a lot of money here for anime merch). Anime store hopping + visited maid cafe for the first time.
Day 13 - Sensoji Temple (better weather) -> Ate at Happy Pancake (I find it overrated but I still enjoyed their pancakes) -> Visited a big Muji store in Ginza -> Akihabara part 2 (more anime merch).
Day 14 - Check out hotel. Left all check in baggages in a coin locker for 3 days prior heading to Kawaguchiko. Used bus from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko station. Took shuttle bus to hotel. Check in at ryokan with a bath house + footbath on their rooftop with nice view of Mt. Fuji. Walked around the lake + view of Mount Fuji. Found myself a waifu Kawaguchiko-san seemed to be the mascot of the town since I see the character on various tourist spots. Had myself a mini scavenger hunt to find all of her cut outs around the town and I found them all!
Day 15 - Shopping for souvenirs around. -> Took the boat going around the lake with nice view. Took car cable up to have a better view of Mount Fuji. Walked up more higher to have better vantage point. Proposed to my GF, now I have a fiancée.
Day 16 - Check out Hotel. Bus back to Shinjuku. One more stop at Akihabara for merch. Retrieved coin locker baggages. Train to Narita Airport then flight back to Canada.

EDIT: post formatting

Buyer opened a case and left 1 star rating because they thought package was lost (can't blame them) . The package was actually delivered and they really appreciate the item so they asked me how to change their review. It seems like the edit part is not visible. Do they have to wait until the case is closed?

“... the site of Verled Tamthaed, for example, contains a high concentration of equine remains estimated to have been slaughtered at a relatively young age, suggesting the importance of keeping lactation present within the horses for milk products, and thus the importance of milk and horseflesh to the diet of the northern Neam, both settled and semi-nomadic.¹⁵ Elsewhere, remains of older (aged 6-10 years) horses are found buried alongside human remains, suggesting spiritual importance, economic status, or both.¹⁶ Though these horses could not be used for mounted riding, there was clearly some sort of status reserved for horse-rearing due to its importance to their diet in the early Neam period, and these may lead into the development of the ubiquitous cashels and fortified enclosures found…”
Of the days of old, it is known that like the Neam of all the rivers, the river Tam held many a warring kinship engaged in perpetual kinstrife, born out of feuds and of simple minded struggle against one another, witnessed from above by the gods. In keeping with the will of the gods, the warriors made attempt after attempt on their neighbours under day, and those of the other kinships had done the same on them, and this had been this way for generations untold save for when a kinship felt it necessary to send all their men to conquer and take entire a great erhaehedden, spoken of most highly for the size of their gatherings by lords and men alike, and whose deeds and names were known to all in those days.
But though the mother and fathers of the rivers approved and let it continue feeling it natural, this strife pained the lady Tam, and thus she endeavoured to bring her power to the people on her river, and recruited the trickster spirits to bring her favour to the world below. Taking her favour, the spirits descended by night sky and found a newborn child, and imbued him with their spirits, and he was called Rhaelod. When he was young his kinship, the Tamesae, had been rising in renown, but a great strife with the neighbouring kinship known as the Tameterae had forced back and forth raiding, and the result was disaster, for even in those days the Tameterae had built wonderfully tall enclosures and palisades for their herds of horses and for their own protection, and these were built tall so as to be closer to the gods, and they enjoyed their benefits.
The Tamesae, deprived of their menfolk following their failed raids on the mighty palisades of the enclosure of the Tameterae soon thereafter feared the advances of the kinships surrounding them and their slave-take, and they had cried out in fear of being destroyed in their entirety, reduced to slaves. Perhaps, the womenfolk had asked, the Tamesae should hang their heads low to the mighty Tameterae in seeking the joining of their kinships, lest they should become slaves?
And yet, brave Rhaelod had rebuked his elders, and set out in mid-night time to the Tameterae seeking not surrender but an equal deal by himself, for the spirits had imbued him with cleverness even in his young age. In those days after the failed raids when they had defeated all before them, the Tameterae did not need fear the Tamesae by day for their warriors had been taken slaves, and were thus bound by their honour not to disobey. They had set the former Tamesae to watch over their horses whilst the Tameterae made mirth knowing they were invincible to an attack, such was the strength of their high palisades and of their arms when prepared for attack which they could see coming from many miles away.
Though the palisades were tall, clever Rhaelod knew that the mirthmaking of the Tameterae, powerful as they were in arms, had left them distracted and weak even to a child such as he. He thusly snuck over the powerful walls of the horse-enclosure as they celebrated and approached with his head down as Tamesae, imitating the movements of the slaves, and passed by undetected and unnoticed in the eyes of the Tameterae, who continued their mirth. When the Tamesae saw him, they despaired and thought that yet another of their own had been slave taken, and that their kinship had been taken in entire, and they prayed to the sky, and they cried.
And yet, smiling Rhaelod merely walked past them, for he had not been taken a slave as they had and was not therefore bound by the honour that dictated their slavehood. He took the reins of horses and led them away from the enclosures and away from the fields, towards the river crossing as the menfolk of the Tamesae stared at him, and not knowing they were shocked that he would dash his honour so young. They challenged him, and blocked his path, and tried to tell the Tameterae though the act broke their hearts.
And yet, did smooth Rhaelod tell them, ‘Peace, kindred! I be no slave! Your masters have told you to watch for men come to take their horses or their kindred? I am no man but a child! And I take not their horses, but merely borrow. And I come not to take their kindred, but to trade! Upon my honour, by nightfall you shall see them returned to the pens!” And the menfolk were stunned and feared for the boy, but kept silent. They let him outside whilst the Tameterae were distracted, and he returned to the great gate with horses in tow.
But even one brave such as he felt fear, and thus pious Rhaelod made prayer to the gods. And he felt the touch of the mothers, and the approval of the judges, and the valiance of the war goddess, and the glory of his fathers, each admiring his courage, and though they knew not the blessing of the lady Tam they each independently decided he was worthy in any case, and they heard the lady Tam give her blessing again, and though they then realized what she had done, they allowed it. And he went to the gate of the mirthful Tameterae and cried aloud: ‘O mighty lord, that I may trade what is yours for what is mine! Though I only bring some of the herd, I wish my kindred free of bondage!’
The laughing Tameterae saw this lone child, and perceived he was giving what was left of the Tamesae horse-herd for little but small sentiment that they could soon retake with ease with the Tamesae weak even if they returned a few men. And they took the horses at the gate, and gave him back free of bondage five of the menfolk enslaved, and threw them out of the enclosures while entrusting the horses to the remainder of the enslaved Tamesae, unnoticing in their mirth that they had been tricked. And the lord of the Tameterae mocked the free Tamsae, and demanded what remained of the Tamsae herd.
And thus, valiant Rhaelod returned with several of his own, and the next day returned to the Tameterae and repeated his trick. Once again, the Tamterae met him at the gate and allowed five men free of bondage, and demanded more of what was left for more of the Tamsae, laughing as they went. But on the third return in daylight, he returned with horses but also with all the fine food the Tamsae had remaining and declared he wanted to dine with the Tamterae and make mirth. And the lord of the Tameterae accepted him through the gate, and they made mirth together though he was little more than a boy, and he found the friendship of the lord and his children.
In the hour when next crafty Rhaelod made his appearance he did not seek to take the horses of the Tamterae herd, but insteaed brought with him ten horses of the Tamesae’s own herd, and they let him in openly. But he had carefully hidden the warriors he had freed behind the horses, and they rushed into the open gate of the Tameterae enclosure in full weapon holding whilst the Tamterae were nowhere near ready, and he said aloud: ‘For these ten horses, my kin are mine own and a wife there also. Thus shall the Tamesae and the Tameterae be joined in sight of the gods, and in peace, for our feud shall be resolved by this word and the word of the lady Tam.’
The Tameterae were shocked, and found that they had been trading their own horses before in their distraction, and lost the favour of the gods despite their proximity. Perceiving that the clever boy had tricked them and kept his honour despite, they decided he indeed held the approval of the Lady Tam, and the Tameterae relented and freed the Tamesae, and gave brilliant Rhaelod his kin, and his betrothal.
Thusly did smiling Rhaelod return to his kinship with his kin following, singing his praises and that of his lovely wife, and there was peace for a time, and their descendants grew to become lords of all the river Tam. We, the Tamneam, claim descent from the union of the Tamesae and Tameterrae. Not all erhaehedden are now valued simply for their size, but also for their trickery and guile. Such, then, is the account and the fate of the erhaehedden of bold Rhaeod, and the end of the kinstrife.

An early account of the founding of the Tamneam

This is probably going to sound fucked up and I totally get that. I'm honestly just feeling incredibly overwhelmed with someone in my house constantly and having to "entertain" even more so than I already do (mom of 3).
So my SIL (husband's sister) had a pretty intensive surgery 3 months ago and is currently in a medical rehab facility. Her husband, our BIL (43) is alliterate. I do NOT say that to pass judgement on him in any way. But due to this, he has never been able to hold a job. He can't read well. He can write his name and very few words. He basically has the mentality and attention span of a 14yo teenager. My SIL was the one working and providing. With her out of a job and in rehab, they had no money, lost their rental and BIL needed somewhere to go. We immediately opened our doors to him. He is a very good guy. He simply.. is like a child. So is my SIL, if I'm being honest. So there's no weirdness between them. Anyways, I'm rambling.
We opened our doors to him, of course. We bunked our boys together and gave him a room. I work overnights, my husband works day shift. I've found that whenever I go in to the living room to watch TV and relax, my BIL follows me and wants to be entertained somehow. He doesn't know how to entertain himself, honestly. He does the same thing when the boys are home from school/work. But if they are busy, he's right up my ass looking for entertainment. I either have to lock myself in my bedroom (where I honestly hate being) or the bathroom just to get some space because even if I go to my car, he comes outside and tries talking to me. And in so touched out at this point from not having a single second to myself that I'm tipping on the edge of a blow up. I do NOT know how to tell him this. I don't want to hurt his feelings. I don't know how to approach it without doing so either. So I asked my husband to speak to him about it (he's better with him) because I need alone time. I should be able to watch TV in my living room to decompress by myself without being talked to or expected to entertain (Bil has a TV in his room). My husband thinks it's a dick move, because BIL is slower than most ("like a mentally disabled child") and says he doesn't feel comfortable talking to him about it at all. AITA?

Period: 1185.51 days

	Submissions	Comments
Total	998	46187
Rate (per day)	0.84	38.95
Unique Redditors	417	5087
Combined Score	132595	380655

Top Submitters' Top Submissions

2631 points, 24 submissions: DMananK
1. Story Behind the Cover of Hard Disk Vol. 1 by Raftaar (186 points, 12 comments)
2. Top DHH Albums of 2022 (167 points, 61 comments)
3. Dissecting the Super Sonic bar from Seedhe Maut’s 101 (164 points, 23 comments)
4. Top DHH EPs of 2022 (163 points, 33 comments)
5. Cool Detail in F16 from Raftaar’s Hard Drive Vol. 1 (157 points, 14 comments)
6. Dissecting the Virat Kohli bar from Prabh Deep’s Taqat (142 points, 21 comments)
7. 101 by Seedhe Maut (139 points, 12 comments)
8. Tabia by Prabh Deep (127 points, 39 comments)
9. Tadipaar by MC Stan (127 points, 26 comments)
10. Prabh Deep - Bhram (99 points, 69 comments)
2536 points, 13 submissions: GantaiREAPER
1. Found this Haryanvi drill on ig and it sounds so dope. (Song: Bagheera Artist: VAMP (ig- @isthisvamp)) (358 points, 41 comments)
2. Seedhe Maut x Young Stunners dropping this year (350 points, 30 comments)
3. Young Stunners at the Wireless Festival truly representing DHH internationally (322 points, 43 comments)
4. Seedhe Maut performed an unreleased track at chandigarh (255 points, 28 comments)
5. Talha Anjum's Worth the Wait EP's Cover Art is a picture from 2015. This man is the definition of perseverance. (209 points, 20 comments)
6. Spot the rappers (190 points, 89 comments)
7. Deep Kalsi collabing with Umer Anjum and Panther on his next track (184 points, 36 comments)
8. Seedhe Maut performed yet another unreleased track named "Sun Toh" at Chandigarh (162 points, 31 comments)
9. Paradox performed an unreleased track at his latest concert (128 points, 30 comments)
10. Is Umair the biggest producer as of now in DHH? (122 points, 30 comments)
2182 points, 1 submission: TempestAmit
1. Bajrang dal cancelled mc stan's Indore show (2182 points, 597 comments)
2128 points, 16 submissions: JNJ1105
1. Krsna - Time Will Tell (336 points, 305 comments)
2. Beef Squashed .......The Positivity We Need ! (238 points, 28 comments)
3. Kr$na - No Cap (175 points, 128 comments)
4. Guneghar - Divine Prod by (HIT - BOY) (161 points, 54 comments)
5. Brodha V Kr$na - Forever (152 points, 144 comments)
6. KR$NA - OG (152 points, 94 comments)
7. Kr$na - I Guess (146 points, 209 comments)
8. Divine - Gunehgar (134 points, 114 comments)
9. Krsna- Fall Off(Extended) (107 points, 84 comments)
10. Takiya Kalaam - EP By Yashraj (103 points, 17 comments)
1964 points, 16 submissions: tangrikebab
1. Prabh announced the tracklist and features for Bhram Deluxe! (227 points, 32 comments)
2. Prabh Deep has left Azadi Records. (203 points, 105 comments)
3. Divine defends Indian Hip Hop after Drake's alleged sarcastic story (189 points, 130 comments)
4. This is for all the "critcs", especially for Hustle. Y'all are boxing up what rap as a concept is, and trust me, the opinions that I've seen on this sub about a lot of performances, would discredit SO many artists from being in hip hop. (167 points, 44 comments)
5. Thoughts? (163 points, 82 comments)
6. Drop your favourite quotables from Talha Anjum's Open Letter (134 points, 142 comments)
7. Stats enthusiasts in this sub - is this a record? Curious to know! (122 points, 23 comments)
8. Prabh Deep's story. Do you think it's about the poor numbers that Bhram got? He absolutely deserves much more, just hoping he doesn't get discouraged - it's been a long time. (110 points, 54 comments)
9. Bhram Deluxe Release Date Announced: 02.03.2023 (91 points, 18 comments)
10. This sub is about to overtake JCole in sometime. Insane. (87 points, 12 comments)
1839 points, 17 submissions: Interesting-Force347
1. Awaam vs Carriappa is coming. One of the most ironic twists in the tale for DHH. Can't wait to see him put KLS #2 and well above lil bunty and M4(K). (179 points, 162 comments)
2. Isko bhut zorr se beef chahiye (158 points, 37 comments)
3. YS performing Afsanay Live(From TY 's Insta) (155 points, 18 comments)
4. Seedhe Maut on Launch of Coke Studio Bharat. There maybe better pics (141 points, 20 comments)
5. Rooh ko Shanti mil gyi logon ko? (122 points, 11 comments)
6. Would this type of vibe suit Krsna Or any rapper? I didn't like it at first but it kind of isn't that bad. [Credit: Remix By - Decade Ft. Krsnaupdates] (122 points, 47 comments)
7. Kr$na bhaiya finally using twitter for the right purposes other than being a creeps for girls. (116 points, 11 comments)
8. Be ready, now that DHH is getting popular, both the left and right extremists will be involving DHH into their agenda. (115 points, 86 comments)
9. Talha Anjum is going to drop his album. (110 points, 30 comments)
10. Social media par mohabbat hi krte rahoge ya collab bhi aayega? (93 points, 16 comments)
1771 points, 1 submission: HarpyRox
1. Straight talk ! Even HoneySingh was surprised (1771 points, 134 comments)
1699 points, 11 submissions: ___sohammmm
1. Haath Varti - Kshmr X Mc Stan Out this Friday (352 points, 76 comments)
2. Thoughts ?? (279 points, 66 comments)
3. KR$NA - Kaha Tak Music Video Time Will Tell EP (218 points, 56 comments)
4. HONEY 3.0 Date Announced!!!! (172 points, 72 comments)
5. Thoughts ??? (143 points, 61 comments)
6. DIVINE Mumbai Show Entry (114 points, 10 comments)
7. Encore Abj taking shots on rolling stone India (111 points, 36 comments)
8. Thoughts? (90 points, 24 comments)
9. Ammy Virk X Divine - 27th April (75 points, 14 comments)
10. Ab 17 X Panther Prod by. Sezonthebeat coming on 02.03.2023 (73 points, 7 comments)
1683 points, 11 submissions: Puneet_7164
1. Dino is talking shots on whom ? (383 points, 53 comments)
2. Opinion on Biggest Indian Hip-Hop artist and some artist rankings !!! (309 points, 117 comments)
3. Seems like Badshah Bhai read our comments ;) (191 points, 19 comments)
4. Difficult to Digest (145 points, 53 comments)
5. King's latest tweet ! Was Travis's performance really underwhelming..Because i also saw a lot of stories people saying that. (142 points, 27 comments)
6. Legends - "New Life" Album 2023 snippet (95 points, 24 comments)
7. Why Munawar Faruqui is desperately trying to get included/involved in DHH. It is really annoying to me seeing him doing "Zabardasti ka" hiP-hOp except comedy. What do you guys think ? (95 points, 63 comments)
8. KSHMR Album's another track (93 points, 12 comments)
9. Honey Singh has definitely misused some artists good intent including Raftaar, Badshah and many more. Another one added in the list👇 (86 points, 38 comments)
10. Final Artist added to Wireless Festival Lineup !!! (73 points, 19 comments)
1668 points, 20 submissions: Ok-Tonight-8723
1. Shah rule spiting bars infront of KRSONE (143 points, 8 comments)
2. Live reaction of Machayenge 4 (118 points, 9 comments)
3. RIP MC Todfod (107 points, 24 comments)
4. Khale ke ladke ko bura lag gaya tha...i guess. (103 points, 26 comments)
5. Mai to minor bhi nahi hu. (98 points, 109 comments)
6. Divine miles ahead of everybody (90 points, 25 comments)
7. Fall off love performance (89 points, 11 comments)
8. Rohan Carriapa Supremacy (78 points, 9 comments)
9. Raftaar on his way to Russia and Ukraine border with his diplomacy skill (77 points, 17 comments)
10. Show love to the creator (76 points, 19 comments)
1530 points, 9 submissions: stg_676
1. Happy for him to achieve this in such short span of time!!! (403 points, 49 comments)
2. Your take? (307 points, 56 comments)
3. Someone in this sub said ki koi nahi gaya tha panther ke Kota live mein. (176 points, 40 comments)
4. W?? (176 points, 42 comments)
5. Upcoming Song from Yungsta's album (129 points, 21 comments)
6. seedhe maut coke song to drop tomorrow. Woohoo!!!!! (110 points, 15 comments)
7. Your opinions?? (98 points, 55 comments)
8. Song from Yungsta's upcoming album (67 points, 3 comments)
9. Would you guys attend my concert?? (64 points, 57 comments)
1362 points, 9 submissions: lolxdmekaisemaanlu
1. STAN doing Netflix show-JAMTA₹A promo (326 points, 50 comments)
2. youngest Indian to feature on Billboard (258 points, 47 comments)
3. twitter pe trending ⛷️ (173 points, 34 comments)
4. FUCK- (126 points, 79 comments)
5. stan gained 300k+ followers in just 4 days 😶 (126 points, 39 comments)
6. thoughts? (117 points, 58 comments)
7. KSHMR × MC ST∆N ?! (96 points, 32 comments)
8. Stan crossed a mill on Spotify. (76 points, 12 comments)
9. Top Albums Debut "Global" (64 points, 17 comments)
1352 points, 1 submission: dollarsign1time
1. I’m KR$NA and I’ve kept it a hundred all my life. AMA. (1352 points, 349 comments)
1302 points, 6 submissions: SaintedTainted
1. Mc Stan Officially the winner of biggboss 16! W dhh! (812 points, 387 comments)
2. KR$NA - No Cap (Live) (160 points, 10 comments)
3. SAMAY RAINA - KOHINOOR (Parody) (88 points, 32 comments)
4. RAJA KUMARI - ON FT. KR$NA (87 points, 65 comments)
5. Seedhe Maut x Sez on the Beat - 'Anaadi' (Music Video) (80 points, 38 comments)
6. Shah Rule - United by Drip (75 points, 3 comments)
1225 points, 4 submissions: Amu_1310
1. Raftaar on Instagram: "Woke up, heard Cole and did this." (547 points, 46 comments)
2. Raftaar's tweet from 2016. This was 2 years before Emiway dissed him. (294 points, 27 comments)
3. Raftaar on Facebook. 2013. (240 points, 14 comments)
4. Super Mario- Hanumankind. (144 points, 14 comments)
1164 points, 7 submissions: Puzzleheaded-Act-10
1. Two Tone extended version coming soon ft. Talhah Yunus (293 points, 27 comments)
2. Chorni - Divine ft. Sidhu Moosewala (Dropping Soon) (232 points, 21 comments)
3. Still going on! Reply from Rohan. (215 points, 66 comments)
4. Something good cooking (158 points, 20 comments)
5. Two Tone Extended Version coming tonight (117 points, 14 comments)
6. Next Album track. (78 points, 22 comments)
7. Isn't the price on the higher side. What do you guys think? (71 points, 78 comments)
1114 points, 5 submissions: thanosbutthicc
1. MC Stan new song snippet from ig live‼️ (671 points, 128 comments)
2. Raftaar new drop date and time announced! (179 points, 49 comments)
3. Ye NBD kya hai yaar? No big deal? (103 points, 43 comments)
4. What do y’all think this means? Via Seedhe maut ig story (88 points, 54 comments)
5. Shlovij- Arjun Vishad (73 points, 22 comments)
1097 points, 6 submissions: 9ighteye
1. ig_story: here's how QK demands votes for hustle (280 points, 181 comments)
2. damn (229 points, 26 comments)
3. azooz keeps improving damn (176 points, 21 comments)
4. Let's go Nayaab (146 points, 32 comments)
5. violens of violence was a track by necro (140 points, 23 comments)
6. why? (126 points, 33 comments)
1075 points, 5 submissions: adolf-dumblewhore
1. Iconic photos of Desi hip-hop. (455 points, 124 comments)
2. Talha Anjum - Open Letter (299 points, 291 comments)
3. Black or White? (135 points, 109 comments)
4. Indianhiphopheads now has 69k members 😝 (96 points, 62 comments)
5. Artist Introduction - Ahmer (90 points, 32 comments)
1063 points, 7 submissions: Cyranizzyyy
1. Kshmr x Raftaar - Unreleased track (253 points, 61 comments)
2. Update on KSHMR'S DHH Album (220 points, 22 comments)
3. KSHMR talking about the tracks with MCstan and Kr$na (185 points, 18 comments)
4. Kardo comment ! (152 points, 55 comments)
5. Joyner Lucas - Devil's Work 2( S/O to SIDHU MOOSE WALA ) (120 points, 22 comments)
6. KSHMR's upcoming hip-hop album will be released in the beginning of 2023 . Also he will be teasing some tracks on his show on 10th Dec in Mumbai (68 points, 4 comments)
7. Kshmr x Hanumankind x Yashraj (65 points, 1 comment)
948 points, 5 submissions: CaterpillarFinal2451
1. TB to when Bala brought Rishu on the mic 🤝🏾🔥🔥. Wushang Live scenes 🤑 (357 points, 25 comments)
2. PHO Music is the next wave of insane female artists in the scene. Her Live performances are really worth attending (243 points, 42 comments)
3. Scenes from foooosieee gang gig 🤑Bala and Bhappa killed it 🤝🔥🫡 (147 points, 24 comments)
4. MEEN is a straight up banger album and gonna go as a DHH all time classic. (133 points, 22 comments)
5. Snippet of E.M.F vs Siyahi (Spitdope - 18.03.2023) (68 points, 19 comments)
937 points, 8 submissions: RandomRandomrhymes
1. Mumbai se Karachi (Credits : EminemChacha) (225 points, 18 comments)
2. I checked, she is right. But what the reason is behind Bella not getting in the Spotify playlists? (191 points, 36 comments)
3. Post links of rare videos of rappers freestyling/rapping ? (128 points, 12 comments)
4. Uncle's Monthly Abhi main Zinda hun update : October (95 points, 12 comments)
5. Divine and Young Stunners will perform on the same show! (91 points, 20 comments)
6. Yunus is a beast : Performing Besabar + Aazma Le verse on Ye Duniya's beat live (82 points, 11 comments)
7. Predicting what will happen next in Emiway Bantai vs Krsna (64 points, 41 comments)
8. Before saying Krsna gave shots again first, Emiway never stopped, he starts his shows with dollar burning and KR Loda sign. (61 points, 38 comments)

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Top Submissions

Bajrang dal cancelled mc stan's Indore show by TempestAmit (2182 points, 597 comments)
Straight talk ! Even HoneySingh was surprised by HarpyRox (1771 points, 134 comments)
I’m KR$NA and I’ve kept it a hundred all my life. AMA. by dollarsign1time (1352 points, 349 comments)
Mc Stan Officially the winner of biggboss 16! W dhh! by SaintedTainted (812 points, 387 comments)
Drake pays tribute to Sidhu Moose Wala by wearing his T-shirt at OVO Fest by Individual_Rub406 (696 points, 103 comments)
emiway bantai, badshah, raftaar and more. by No_Towel5111 (690 points, 80 comments)
MC Stan new song snippet from ig live‼️ by thanosbutthicc (671 points, 128 comments)
I'm just speechless broo by GreenCucumber1677 (659 points, 148 comments)
Hot take : MC Stan’s ground level impact is the same as once Honey Singh used to have. by Rayyanmir (568 points, 185 comments)
Raftaar on Instagram: "Woke up, heard Cole and did this." by Amu_1310 (547 points, 46 comments)

Top Comments

618 points: dollarsign1time's comment in Thank you KR$NA, Thank you Talha Anjum
564 points: dollarsign1time's comment in I’m KR$NA and I’ve kept it a hundred all my life. AMA.
508 points: dollarsign1time's comment in I’m KR$NA and I’ve kept it a hundred all my life. AMA.
502 points: dollarsign1time's comment in I’m KR$NA and I’ve kept it a hundred all my life. AMA.
320 points: adolf-dumblewhore's comment in Bajrang dal cancelled mc stan's Indore show
302 points: dollarsign1time's comment in I’m KR$NA and I’ve kept it a hundred all my life. AMA.
274 points: Trick-Bodybuilder487's comment in stan performed for Sania Mirza farewell
264 points: sir_charge_'s comment in Straight talk ! Even HoneySingh was surprised
263 points: TempestAmit's comment in Bajrang dal cancelled mc stan's Indore show
257 points: ken_kaneki07's comment in Haan emiway bhai maan liya ki aap jeet gye...ab bas kar jao plzz 🙂🙏

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