Here’s the apple interview:
Summary: she has a positive Pap in 2016, had a colposcopy, got it lasered & was good to go. After four years of not getting a Pap smear, she went in in September 2020 and had a positive pap and dysplasia was found. (Definition of dysplasia: abnormal cells with the potential of becoming cancerous.) she then had a TOTAL hysterectomy. Not a radical - why is this important, because in the even of chemo and cancer the doctor will do a radical. Total is when someone cries thrower periods are bad enough. Why else is this significant? She was a military spouse - in the event of cancer tricare will only approve of specific surgeries and a radical would be approved not a total bc tricare doesn’t want to pay for 2 surgeries. (Also I’m a military spouse and had endometrial cancer too) in 2020 she had 2 rounds of chemo.
1st gofund me appears in 2020. It’s “deleted now” and the girl who organized wants nothing to do with kenzi. But kenzi husband was in the navy and they claimed they couldn’t afford her cancer treatments and she’ll die if they can pay to get her chemo. She was covered under tricare then….
Navy article:
Remember her husband was in the navy. This is proof. Tricare covered every thing. He also medically retired a few years later so family gets to keep benefits. Like health insurance! I share bc once upon a. Time she used to brag that they had money bc hubby was a “veteran” then GoFundMes happened…
01/2021 Her grandma only ever made on post about kenzi cancer journey. She’s shared a lot about her brother in laws cancer battle though. Funny if kenzi was that sick and now cancer free after being terminal she would be praising Jesus. Found this interesting….
01/2021 Kenzi mom made GoFundMe 2. It made 14,000+ at this time. Her husband was also beginning the med board process of retiring medically from the navy at this time. Regardless she stated she needed this money bc tricare and tricare for life coverage lapse and she wasn’t covered or they needed the money for something else bc they had kids and incase she died.
2021 - kenzi was using her cancer to promote her mlm scam…
01/31/2022 article Summary: “After six surgeries Paquin became cancer free…but her journey is not not over yet!”
02/16/2022 article: Summary: about being diagnosed in 2016 with cancer and doing chemo. Then doing chemo again in 2022. She only lost her hair once and would justify after her initial chemo treatment she was on “chemo pills” please look up online how terminal cancer is cured by chemo pills? Now also look that there’s no cervical cancer pills… cancer stated to have only returned to her abdomen….
02/28/2022 article Summary: kenzi is blaming the pandemic for not going to her follow up appointments and now has terminal cancer. Article also states in 2019 she only had precancerous cells removed. She had: “A hysterectomy, six surgeries and three rounds of chemotherapy and radiation later” her cancer was located in cervix, lymph nodes, abdominal wall, and lung.
03/2022 one of the gofund me bre made for kenzi and raise 5000+ kenzi claimed at this time there was a lapse when tricare covered them bc her husband retired. So she wasn’t on tricare for life benefits at this time. That’s why she needed this money.
03/03/2022 article: Summary: she then added her her husband was “retired” from the navy after her cancer came back. It was in her abdomen and lung now.
03/22/2022o Kenzi posted on her local town page about trying her new diet product she’s selling…
08/05/2022 article Summary: Kenzi’s cancer journey time line plus screen shots of her daughter saying “i don’t want you to die mommy”
Article how kenzi is preparing to die since her cancer is “terminal”
To conclude: you know she posted a lot asking for money with terminal cancer and only wanted to share awareness. You would think with terminal cancer she would be praising Jesus (bc she’s a Christian white woman) and sharing her test image to ever lose faith bc now she’s cancer free? Where are the posts about never giving up unless….. it was all a lie that it came back after her initial treatment and hysterectomy. If she only ever had dysplasia and after chemo and her hysterectomy she no longer had cancer. ;) She she did have precancerous cells…. But lied about how severe her cancer.

I will try to keep it short but I'm not used to making posts here and English is not my first language, so I apologize for anything written weirdly. I'm sorry for how long it is, but I really need others' opinions.
My girlfriend is K, our common friend is T, and his girlfriend is H.
Almost a month ago, K and T went back to his place where their group was going to discuss the model and work on it for the presentation next day. We are in the same university so I know T and H and wee have been over to his place several times. We are rather the only couple T and H like to hang out with and so despite me being socially awkward, we became pretty good friends.
A few weeks ago, K was acting weird, like a little spaced out and lost in thought. Now she has suffered from PTSD because of several events, one of which happened a year ago, right before we met and started dating, so I try to make sure to ask her how she is feeling and be there for her, so it worried me. She had been doing much better but the flashes can come back at any time in some cases, hers used to be one of them too. So when I asked her about it, she told me that something had happened with her that is making her rethink a lot of things in her life. I just gave her the space she asked for until yesterday, when she told me what happened in the order of events.
When K and T were going to his place, there were many chart papers and stuff so the taxi's seat was full. They had to sit pretty close and she was dozing off but when she did, her head fell on his shoulder and he held her hand. When she was at T's place, she was pretty tired so she decided to rest before starting the project since they would have to stay up till late at night to finish it anyway. She went to one of the two bedrooms and laid down on the double bed and he came there and laid down beside her too. She was dozing off and he laid down beside her, close enough to fit on a single bed(her words), and she asked him "Why are you acting like this? What about H?" and he said "Oh yeah? Then what about your boyfriend?" She was pretty tired but she got up in a bit and left. Then they had pizza that they fed each other. They discussed the project with their group on a video call and then started working on it, during which he told her that he had a crush on her when our course started, and I already know that she did too, so she said the same. She then mentioned that she moved on pretty quick and then I came along. He mentioned that it was the same with him and H, but he feels closer to K than H and that he wishes that he was with K instead. She said that she feels closer to T than she does to me too, though she claims that she meant only as friends.
Now here are a few inconsistencies. At first, she said that on the bed, he tried to lean in and she said "What are you doing?" so he apologized and backed off, and when later that day, I asked her to tell me everything in proper details, she explained the aforementioned scenario.
The next few days, she asked him if he's ever going to tell H what happened and T denied and then said that he needs to put everything in the right way before doing so. Then yesterday, K told me about it. Apparently, what was on her mind all this time was that conversation. At first, she was thinking of "what if?" for a day or so, and then the rest of the time until yesterday, she was wondering why that thought ever crossed her mind. She felt guilty and wanted to wait for the exams to be over (which started right after the semester) so it doesn't affect my scores, but couldn't hold it back anymore and told me yesterday.
For fair reasons, I believe that she has not lied to me. We have had a very healthy year of dating. It is the most healthy relationship I have ever been in and all, but I am split. I deserve someone who instantly chooses me over some old crush, especially after everything we have been through. I have helped her through her PTSD, have fought her extremely toxic family for her, was there for her when she was suicidal, went out of my way almost everytime I could in general to make her feel secure, helped her develop a better self-image, and she has told me that this is the deepest and the best relationship she has ever had. But if a guy she had a crush on a year ago for a short while can make her question our relationship, should I really give her a second chance? One side of me says no, but the other believes that she would not do this again- one that I actually believe in. The only problem is that my judgement is pretty much clouded at this point.

Intro
We're working on a new MUD called Song of Avaria, using Evennia as a base code. Hopefully, the game will be opening for a public alpha six months from now: January 2024. This is the sixth in a series of showcases to display the features of our game. In order to properly exhibit the purpose of Song of Avaria, which doesn't quite fit into the existing molds, we're going to demonstrate gameplay by focusing on the story of a character: Emmaline.
Chapter 1: CHARACTER GENERATION
Chapter 2: ARRIVAL
Chapter 3: STORY
Chapter 4: THE POETS' GUILD
Chapter 5: LIVELIHOOD
Cool News! A professional web developer who focuses on accessibility took a very thorough look over our site and game, and gave us a great deal of feedback that was incredibly helpful in making the game more accessible to vision-impaired players. Color themes are configurable now; the default one shown here is called "high-contrast". If anyone prefers the old "muted" one, they can switch to it in the settings. We've also added more text-based indicators of things like general wellness and roundtime in the game prompt, or asterisks as delineators for different sections of text, and more quick individual checks on metrics such as encumbrance, armor value, stats, skills, et cetera. Turning Evennia's native screenreader option on (during account creation, or through settings) will now ensure that a visually-impaired person gets a more tailored and comfortable experience. We're looking forward to learning more about accessibility from players in the future, and always hoping to improve the experience for any player.
Chapter 6: COMBAT
In our last chapter, Emmaline was inducted into the Poets' Guild, which allowed her to take up a job as a Poet at Harmony Hall. Because of that, she's able to easily make her rent and even bought an oud to improve her stringed instrument skills. Here, she's sitting in the garden of the Poets' Guild and playing her oud. Instruments can be played with a variety of commands, from POUND to STRUM, and each type of instrument will tend to make their own set of noises if played well (or other noises if played badly).
Some instruments (large bells, for example) can make quite loud sounds that will resonate over a number of rooms, much like a shout does. This oud is comparatively quiet. And while an instrument may have its mechanical play command, this is mostly intended for flavor and explorative play rather than as a real roleplay tool -- because it's always much more fun to emote the full expression of your character's music! Of course, one should strive to stay within realistic parameters in terms of describing their playing in relation to their mechanical skill level.
At the bench in the garden, Emmaline plays her oud using the STRUM, PLAY, and TWANG commands. She then simply emotes playing a more complicated melody.
As we play the oud, we can see that Emmaline is relatively skilled at stringed instruments, as the sounds she is making are nice rather than jarring or discordant.
Djafira, the other newly inducted Poet whom we got to know over the last two posts, arrives and comes over to sit on the bench next to where Emmaline is playing. Because Emmaline does not trust the other woman, Djafira incurs roundtime by coming closer to the bench, which is Emmaline's own current vicinity. Roundtime is the convention we use to refer to the fact that some actions take time to complete, and thus you cannot execute another similarly time-consuming action until finished with the first. Djafira might be able to move close to Emmaline, but she cannot perform another action until her roundtime ends. This gives us the chance to move away quickly if we felt that Emmaline did not want to allow Djafira near her. But for now, we'll stay cautiously nearby and see what Djafira wants.
Djafira comes along. Her tells are shown in a brighter red, and she certainly seems to be acting off. She gifts Emmaline a pair of nice sandals by way of apology...
When someone gives you something, unless you trust them to a high degree, you will always have the chance to either ACCEPT or REFUSE the gift. Items can also be TOSSed, and if not caught in this instance (or dodged), they will just bonk off you and fall on the ground.
Since Djafira is trying to apologize for her past enmity, Emmaline accepts the gift. She is still a little suspicious though, because she can see Djafira's tells, and the other woman doesn't truly seem very apologetic. Djafira also asks Emmaline for a favor: she's feeling a bit under the weather, and needs Emmaline to go to a tavern called the Breaking Wave and recite a poem there. She passes over a piece of paper on which the poem is written.
Emmaline agrees to do this favor, puts on her new fancy shoes, and takes the paper.
As a side note: Many of the interactions you see from this point on are with automated NPCs that are operating off the logic in their own behavioral code. We have gone to some lengths to make these behaviors seem relatively organic, but only to the extent that this allows a player to suspend their disbelief in regards to the fact that NPCs are different from PCs. Our NPCs do not possess any real artificial intelligence -- not even to the degree of ChatGPT. They have certain behaviors, tendencies, phrases they might respond to, routines and home turf and activities they may habitually undertake, but they are still just traditional game NPCs. We are still at work adding in more behavior types for NPCs and refining their actions to be more sensible and characteristic.
Back in the story: By the time Emmaline is able to get around to the favor Djafira asked of her, it's late in the evening after sunset. Djafira provided some loose directions to the White City (which would be: "through the pillar-flanked gate north of the Plaza of the People"), but Emmaline soon finds that this particular neighborhood is a confusing maze of a place. Even the overheard ASCII map is intentionally not much help in some of the individual neighborhoods of Omrazir. It is purposefully not too easy to stumble off the main roads in the city, to keep new players from accidentally stepping into an area that may be dangerous.
When someone gives you something, unless you trust them to a high degree, you will always have the chance to either ACCEPT or REFUSE the gift. Items can also be TOSSed, and if not caught in this instance (or dodged), they will just bonk off you and fall on the ground.
Since Djafira is trying to apologize for her past enmity, Emmaline accepts the gift. She is still a little suspicious though, because she can see Djafira's tells, and the other woman doesn't truly seem very apologetic. Djafira also asks Emmaline for a favor: she's feeling a bit under the weather, and needs Emmaline to go to a tavern called the Breaking Wave and recite a poem there. She passes over a piece of paper on which the poem is written.
Emmaline agrees to do this favor, puts on her new fancy shoes, and takes the paper.
As a side note: Many of the interactions you see from this point on are with automated NPCs that are operating off the logic in their own behavioral code. We have gone to some lengths to make these behaviors seem relatively organic, but only to the extent that this allows a player to suspend their disbelief in regards to the fact that NPCs are different from PCs. Our NPCs do not possess any real artificial intelligence -- not even to the degree of ChatGPT. They have certain behaviors, tendencies, phrases they might respond to, routines and home turf and activities they may habitually undertake, but they are still just traditional game NPCs. We are still at work adding in more behavior types for NPCs and refining their actions to be more sensible and characteristic.
Back in the story: By the time Emmaline is able to get around to the favor Djafira asked of her, it's late in the evening after sunset. Djafira provided some loose directions to the White City (which would be: "through the pillar-flanked gate north of the Plaza of the People"), but Emmaline soon finds that this particular neighborhood is a confusing maze of a place. Even the overheard ASCII map is intentionally not much help in some of the individual neighborhoods of Omrazir. It is purposefully not too easy to stumble off the main roads in the city, to keep new players from accidentally stepping into an area that may be dangerous.
The overhead map does not show the exit into the White City, but once you go past, you can see the map of the White City neighborhood. (Note: I took this snip on an admin account, because I added this retroactively after the main events of the chapter! That is why you see room numbers. Please ignore.)
Finding a fallen stele, Emmaline stands on top of it for a better view of the area. She tries to get her bearings, but it's still difficult to tell exactly where she is. This part of the city legitimately seems decrepit and broken down...
Maybe it's not such a good idea to wear expensive clothes here? Just as Emmaline is having that thought, a random event occurs. Random events are coded events that happen in rooms when PCs are present. Most of the time, it would be something simple and harmless like an atmospheric room echo, but sometimes -- if the situation is right, and the PC seems otherwise unoccupied -- the random event will be more serious.
Emmaline goes to stand on the stele and look around thoughtfully. A \"somewhat lofty tough\" appears, looking furtively at her and subtly touching his knife...
This time, it's very serious. Emmaline is in the White City, a desperately poor and virtually lawless district of Omrazir. Part of the difficulty in navigation here is attributable to the fact that this area is not meant for the inexperienced and unfamiliar. A small gang of thugs is approaching Emmaline, attracted by her expensive fripperies and apparent vulnerability. Combat is initiated -- they are clearly attempting to mug her. This mugging is an automated random event generated by the interplay of conditions.
Somewhat confused, Emmaline takes her time awkwardly shufflng and then backs away as the thugs begin to close in. She does not depart quickly enough, and a physical altercation begins.
Distance from others in a fight can affect a variety of things, such as the accuracy and damage of certain attacks, or whether some aggressive abilities can be used at all. There are five ranges of distances from another PC. The first is immediate vicinity, which would be in direct contact with them. Then comes general vicinity, which would mean at the same "place" in the room as them. Next there's location, which would mean being in the same room as them, but not necessarily at the same place. Lastly, there is near line-of-sight (one room away) and distant line-of-sight (two rooms away).
Because these ranges can be quite important strategically, there are many ways to change the distance between yourself and an opponent. You can RETREAT or CHARGE in a direction, you can PUSH people or PULL them, you can TACKLE them, GRAPPLE, or DRAG them. You can move your own self from one place to another, or simply DISTANCE an opponent by moving away.
In the beginning, Emmaline attempts to avoid an altercation by quickly edging away from the incoming locals. However, it doesn't quite help -- they've set determined eyes on her nicer things, and she doesn't belong in this neighborhood.
When combat starts, there is a "Writing Break" that allows the PCs involved to type an emote and/or consider what their character would do in that situation. While immersive method acting is of course our favorite style of roleplay, the out-of-character panic that can often accompany in-character physical conflict can sometimes impact roleplay in a negative fashion. In order to avoid that, combat in Avaria is peppered with "Writing Breaks" every time that anything notable happens: such as the initiation of a fight, a strong blow being dealt, first blood, an attempt to flee, any involved combatant falling to the ground, and so on. Note also how the prompt has changed to display more information.
Holding her oud, Emmaline has the sudden idea to attempt to dissuade the muggers through music. Last chapter we explained the concept of "Grounding", where most people who are still "grounded" in accepted reality know about and accept some types of magic, and might be wary of witches and sorcery, but dismiss a great many other kinds of magic as a fabrication or just something totally unlikely to happen to them. Emmaline hasn't completely lost her grounding yet, as we can see when we check the MAGIC command -- so the idea to play music would still be a rather goofy one in her mind.
Using the REMEMBER command, we roleplay Emmaline having the idea to sing a calming tune. Sometimes in time-sensitive situations a player will not have the time to express the character's inner dialogue, but that is why we have writing breaks in combat, so that such expressions feel calmer and more doable. Checking the MAGIC command shows that Emmaline still doesn't quite believe in her own magical potential.
Regardless, this is what she tries to do -- she's desperate enough to try anything. Using her sonomancy ability to project a calming tone, Emmaline begins to sing and play her oud.
Emmaline starts to focus on using a calming tone. She still hasn't said anything with this tone, and she rationalizes it in her mind (using the THINK command) as just thinking maybe the thugs would prefer to hear music than mug someone.
In addition to using a calming tone for her song, Emmaline also makes sure to adopt a defensive stance. It's possible to change a character's stance in and out of a fight, and each stance has its own strengths. Using a defensive stance enables someone to do a better job of dodging and blocking.
We also check our TENDENCY here: most games, especially DIKU-based RPIs, have fights that progress in a more automatic fashion. If you prefer that style of gameplay, you can set your character's tendency to be one of a few choices: fight, flight, or freeze. The "measured" tendency seen here is the default: if you have not input a specific command and it is your turn to move, you will just wait. If you had selected, for example, "fight" as a tendency, you would automatically perform a fighting move based off coded tactics similar to the NPCs.
Taking a defensive stance with the STANCE command causes the next three attacks to miss. Unfortunately, Emmaline's song doesn't seem to be as effective as her stance is.
The muggers don't seem to be affected much by Emmaline's song. This is because her very low sonomancy skill, her voice stat, and her will dice roll didn't outweigh their (likely entirely grounded) magic resistance. Dice rolls happen behind the scenes relatively often, and while there is a configuration setting that can be toggled to show combat dice rolls, it is turned off for the sake of immersion in Emmaline's case. These rolls incorporate stats (such as Voice, Resonance, Will, etc) and skills (such as Vocals, Sonomancy, Gnosis, etc). Other factors moderate the dice rolls, like stances, a character's general state of health, range, positions, and so on. At least, thanks to Emmaline's stance, she is able to avoid a lot of damage from the muggers' reckless attacks.
It might be a good idea to flee, but it can be difficult to get away when your opponent is right next to you -- if they're aggressive, then they will have a very good chance of blocking your escape route. Looking at the COMBAT display will give you a good overall view of your general combat metrics, including who else is in your vicinity. These different metrics can all affect the outcome of a fight in various ways.
Checking COMBAT shows us Emmaline's combat situation: she is mostly doing alright, for now. Two people are attacking her, she is upright, near the exit to go back to the square. She does have a nick on her right hip, but it's not bad enough to really affect her state.
The prompt can also be configured to display many of these metrics. Shown here is the default combat prompt. When the fight was initiated, our regular prompt shifted to the combat version that shows stars and dashes as a small action bar. For visually impaired players this is not very helpful, so if someone has turned on the screenreader, the default prompt will give a health percentage readout and only show important alerts.
Anyway, Emmaline really wants to escape! So, she tries to push one of her opponents away. Actions performed during combat take roundtime. If you want to plan your next move, you can queue up a second move if you're already in combat.
Emmaline has a chance to make another move -- if your combat roundtime completes and you don't have another move queued up, you'll see this message. She tries to shove away one of the toughs, and he rushes straight back at her in a tackle.
SHOVE is one of the many commands useful for strategically changing positions in a fight. Emmaline manages to push the mugger away from her place in the room. She's standing as far from the stele as possible, hoping to go back out to the square -- but the mugger uses TACKLE to close the distance again very quickly! Bad timing.
Now, three muggers came out of the alleys surrounding Emmaline. So far, the third has just been watching, but now he breaks into the fight as well. A new person joining the fight will trigger a writing break, to allow players time to emote. Sometimes these writing breaks may feel like they last too long, while other times they may be too short for you to write the kind of emote you want.
We use WAIT to extend the writing break so that we can finish writing our emote, and then CONTINUE when we're done. Emmaline tries to sing some more, and again it's not effective, and then her calming attunement fades. She isn't strong enough this tme to shove away one of the goons. A stab connects with a solid whack against her kaftan.
You can input WAIT to extend the writing break (once per break per person), or CONTINUE to end the break and go on with the fight (if everyone has opted to continue). We wanted to write an emote during this break, considering that Emmaline has a nick on her hip from the knife of one of the muggers, and we didn't have enough time to act this out. Since all these opponents are NPCs, they will automatically follow the cues of the PCs in the fight and either try to wait or continue depending on the PC's input.
Although we have plenty of time to write what we'd like, it doesn't appear that the fight is going very well for Emmaline. She's not strong enough to shove away a goon, her calming tone has faded without any success, and one of the toughs tried to stab her right in the heart! Thankfully, her well-made kaftan helped to turn the blow into something less catastrophic. Raiment items can get in the way of attacks to covered body parts, and divert some of the damage to themselves. Different equipment types can divert more damage or stand up to damage better, depending on their material.
Maybe there's something else we can do...
Checking COMBAT MOVES provides a readout of the moves that Emmaline can execute at this time. Roundtimes for combat moves are relatively long compared to some games, so that players can use human strategical thinking to plan their next move and understand the flow of combat easily.
We can look to see what moves might be available to us in a fight, depending on the weapon we're wielding and the abilities we have, by checking COMBAT MOVES. It doesn't seem like Emmaline can do much right now beyond punching or kicking. But what if she wants to whack people with her oud? She can do that much at least. Any wielded object can be used to WHACK someone... but the reason that "whack" doesn't show up in her list of available combat moves is because she isn't actually wielding the oud, she is currently only holding it. Shifting her grip will take a moment - costing her a turn in combat, and causing a short delay before her next move (though we can still freely input the command, and have it executed when our combat roundtime completes).
Emmaline wields her oud. This allows her to whack with it (using the WHACK command), and also use it to parry (automatically, using a dice roll behind the scenes based on her stance and parry skill level).
When using an attack in a fight, such as PUNCH, KICK, or WHACK (or other attacks using weapons or abilities, like the SLASH and STAB used by the muggers) you can specify a particular body part of your opponent to aim for. You can also substitute the generic attack emote with a custom-written emote of your own.
Here, Emmaline tries to WHACK the TOUGH IN THE HEAD, while substituting a more flavorful emote for the generic one. She lands a decent blow! Unfortunately, she's surrounded. One minstrel using a musical instrument as a weapon can't honestly defend against three seasoned street bandits.
Having suffered a couple of unlucky hits, Emmaline drops to her knees. Even her kaftan has been ruined by the damage it has taken. Trauma is the metric that governs how injured a character has become. It can cause a character to collapse, like Emmaline has here. The "traumatized" alert will show up in the prompt after Emmaline is struck that hard, signifying that she's in very bad physical shape.
Emmaline is tiring against three opponents, and ends up falling with a heavily bleeding wound.
Sadly, Emmaline is not a strong enough fighter, and certainly not advanced enough in bardic magic, to put a stop to this altercation. She tries to get back up in order to flee, but immediately gets knocked down again. Being on the ground, she then tries to crawl away. But crawling takes a bit of time, and time is something she doesn't have enough of. The next strike not only knocks her out, but... she's dying.
Emmaline tries to get up and is knocked down again. She tries to crawl away but the next stab of a knife knocks her out... and, in the eyes of onlookers, kills her. It's not all that common for a blow to both knock someone out and kill them at the same time, but it's possible.
Bleeding as she is and in a hostile and unfamiliar environment, the most likely scenario is that Emmaline is going to die. A player with a character in this condition can still get a (dimmer) sense of what is happening in the room, and is free to write emotes or dreams... but an unconscious character still takes some time to be able to wake up. Some don't wake up at all.
The muggers take Emmaline's fancy clothes and any valuable possessions, leaving her penniless in her raggedy shift. We just got that oud! How disappointing. It's natural to feel a little bit of emotional crossover in immersive roleplaying situations like this, but it's also important for players to be capable of retaining perspective. We want to be clear about where we fall on the consent spectrum so that potential players can understand whether they might enjoy the game or they might not. Some loss is inevitable when there are in-character consequences for conflict and decisions. The game is mostly non-consent in terms of these kinds of consequences, but this also means there can be a lot of engaging story outcomes as a result. We don't want these to truly function as punishments to the player rather than to the character, though they might sometimes feel like setbacks. But it's helpful to keep in mind that every setback can be an opportunity for an inspiring narrative.
A dim sense of the world beyond her lack of consciousness shows the muggers backing off after taking Emmaline's valuables. If anyone spoke, we wouldn't be able to see what they were saying. But, we're able to send emotes in this state.
No matter the conflict, character death -- which is generally, though not always, the ending to a character's story -- must usually be consented to in order to happen. When a character "dies", if there is any chance at all that they might miraculously survive, the player will get the choice to either CLING to life or DIE, by entering those commands.
In this scenario, it might be realistic for Emmaline to die. But that would be an unsatisfying end to her story, and that's not what we want. The choice is in our hands, and we CLING to life.
The muggers have all departed. It's a hot night. Emmaline clings to life, using the CLING command.
Choosing to die moves characters on to the next world (to become a ghost, and go to the Otherland). Clinging to life allows the dying to continue living, but they will likely be handicapped in one way or another. It may be possible to eventually cure a handicap through stories involving magic or the supernatural, or the long-term efforts of an outstandingly skilled healer. But these consequences are generally impactful and lasting enough that should a character engage in risky behavior, repeatedly having near-death experiences and clinging to life, their story will involve the realistic outcome of their becoming a person who has somehow survived but is broken in many ways. Ultimately, this helps address the potential issue of long-term players becoming nearly invincible in the setting -- while simultaneously providing an opportunity for players who prefer to roleplay character stories comparable in length to a real lifetime, where a player may never see their characters actually die.
For those who do wish to roleplay through the meaningful death of a character, there are still a few different paths they can follow. The character can continue existing as a ghost, or as a distant memory in the Otherland, or they can pass on into the inaccessible final mystery of the afterlife. Reaching these stages of the afterlife can be accomplished by using the MOVE ON command, progressively bringing a spirit through each of these phases of existence until at the very end the character is deleted from the game database. Should one never wish their character to complete the process of moving on, however, they can continue to exist indefinitely in Avaria's Purgatory: the various realms of the Otherland, which can potentially be accessed, with great effort and skill, through the dreams of the living.
The purgatory states can soften the blow of losing a beloved character, and even provide some additional plot twists for both that character and their surviving friends and enemies. The end of a character's story may be a real tearjerker, but hopefully in a good way, not as a traumatic and wrenching blow to the gut. We don't want to brutalize the emotions of any player -- the intention is that playing a game should be an enjoyable experience, with closure in the ending and a feeling of contentment for a story well-played.
But what this ultimately means for Emmaline is that she cannot escape her altercation with the White City thugs scot-free. She is still in a very perilous situation. As we mentioned above, sometimes the injuries that have the ability to cause death can also create severe permanent handicaps in those who choose to live, which might manifest as stat debuffs, loss of limbs, persistent illnesses, and other such tangible physical consequences. Despite clinging to life, Emmaline is unable to return to consciousness immediately. She may very well simply bleed out again.
If we quit the game, she won't die while we're disconnected... but it's still a cliffhanger! Stay tuned for Chapter 7, where we'll showcase healing and further intrigue.

TL;DR - Here's a graph showing the ratio between Pokémon storage space and available Pokémon in Pokémon Go over time: https://imgur.com/a/viBBU4k - Since June last year, the ratio between storage space and available Pokémon has steadily been getting worse and has not been this bad since October 2021, even without counting the introduction of all the XXS and XXL Pokémon. - Never in the history of the game has it been as long as the current streak between two significant Pokémon storage space increases (on June 4th it has been a year) - When adding lucky and XXS/XXL Pokemon the ratio has never been worse: https://imgur.com/a/lc4WeGt
INTRODUCTION
Recently, I found myself with another Pokémon storage space problem that I feel I haven't had in a while and with the new season starting, I thought it would be good timing to see if me and the other people complaining about low storage space are just bad at maintenance or if there is a point to it.
Let's first make one thing clear: This analysis is obviously catered to living dex collectors. If you are not in that group, that is fine, but a comment like "just toss all the useless Pokémon, they are already in your Pokédex" does not help for us who have been hunting for living dexes in all our Pokémon games since getting Red version back in 1999 and find that the main appeal of the Pokémon franchise. To each their own play style.
THE DATA
To analyse the possible need for another storage space increase I decided to track the number of available Pokémon at the end of each month as logged on the timeline at pokemongo.fandom.com and offset that against the available Pokémon storage space at that time. A full table of all the data can be found in the table at the bottom of this post.I decided to include all available Pokémon, their regional forms, as well as event forms, shadow and purified forms as well as their shinies. I decided not to include gender differences to save some time and not to include movesets/lucky/XXS/XXL forms because they may overlap with the other categories.
RESULTS
The final column of the table at the bottom of this post shows the storage divided by the total number of Pokémon at the time and is the main analysis tool used to determine how pressing the need for a Pokémon storage space increase is. When put into a graph that looks like this over time: https://imgur.com/a/viBBU4k
CONCLUSION
- Since the last big storage increase of 500 spaces back on June 4th, 2022 (in a few days that will be one year ago), the ratio has steadily been going down. Not even the four months in which they added 50 spaces have been significant enough to bring the ratio up even a little. - With a full year since the last major storage increase, this has been the longest period in between major storage increases since the 11 month gap between december 2017 and november 2018. - With a storage/Pokémon ratio of 2,25, the current ratio is the lowest since the double 500 -storage increase that was done in novembedecember of 2021, before which it was at 2,18, not much lower than it is currently.
DISCUSSION
- For those collectors that keep 1 of every male and female form, a ratio of around 1,95 is the lowest it can go before they can not keep a living dex anymore. I think that should be avoided at all cost and the fact that in June 2020 it was already so close means they could barely keep any extras for PvP/raids/trade/nostalgia purposes. Of course, (almost) no one playing the game legitimately will actually have a complete dex, but nevertheless. - If i add a rough estimate of the number of lucky and shiny Pokémon, the graph would look like this: https://imgur.com/a/lc4WeGt - If the leaks about XXS/XXL being important for contests are right, I believe we very desperately need a big increase in storage space
Let me know your thoughts!
​

	regular + forms	shiny + forms	event	shiny event	shadow + purified	shiny shadow + purified	total	storage	storage/total
jul-16	145	0	0	0	0	0	145	1000	6,90
aug-16	145	0	0	0	0	0	145	1000	6,90
sep-16	145	0	0	0	0	0	145	1000	6,90
oct-16	145	0	0	0	0	0	145	1000	6,90
nov-16	146	0	0	0	0	0	146	1000	6,85
dec-16	154	0	2	0	0	0	156	1000	6,41
jan-17	154	0	2	0	0	0	156	1000	6,41
feb-17	263	0	4	0	0	0	267	1000	3,75
mar-17	263	2	4	0	0	0	269	1000	3,72
apr-17	263	2	4	0	0	0	269	1000	3,72
may-17	263	2	4	0	0	0	269	1000	3,72
jun-17	263	2	4	0	0	0	269	1000	3,72
jul-17	266	2	7	0	0	0	275	1000	3,64
aug-17	271	5	7	0	0	0	283	1000	3,53
sep-17	271	5	7	0	0	0	283	1000	3,53
oct-17	276	10	10	0	0	0	296	1000	3,38
nov-17	277	10	10	0	0	0	297	1000	3,37
dec-17	349	14	11	0	0	0	374	1500	4,01
jan-18	373	17	11	0	0	0	401	1500	3,74
feb-18	396	25	12	3	0	0	436	1500	3,44
mar-18	397	36	12	3	0	0	448	1500	3,35
apr-18	399	41	12	3	0	0	455	1500	3,30
mayi-18	400	54	12	3	0	0	469	1500	3,20
jun-18	412	61	12	3	0	0	488	1500	3,07
jul-18	422	68	18	6	0	0	514	1500	2,92
aug-18	424	86	18	6	0	0	534	1500	2,81
sep-18	425	97	18	6	0	0	546	1500	2,75
oct-18	459	110	20	11	0	0	600	1500	2,50
nov-18	480	139	20	11	0	0	650	2000	3,08
dec-18	496	147	20	14	0	0	677	2000	2,95
jan-19	513	160	20	14	0	0	707	2000	2,83
feb-19	520	181	28	22	0	0	751	2000	2,66
mar-19	523	195	28	22	0	0	768	2000	2,60
apr-19	527	210	28	24	0	0	789	2000	2,53
may-19	551	223	32	26	0	0	832	2000	2,40
jun-19	552	252	32	26	0	0	862	2000	2,32
jul-19	553	270	34	27	42	0	926	2500	2,70
aug-19	553	285	34	31	82	0	985	2500	2,54
sep-19	600	314	34	31	122	0	1101	2500	2,27
oct-19	603	323	38	35	172	0	1171	2500	2,13
nov-19	607	335	38	35	208	12	1235	3000	2,43
dec-19	611	348	42	39	226	22	1288	3000	2,33
jan-20	650	358	45	42	228	22	1345	3000	2,23
feb-20	657	372	54	47	260	32	1422	3000	2,11
mar-20	668	386	58	50	262	32	1456	3000	2,06
apr-20	669	397	62	54	262	32	1476	3000	2,03
may-20	670	411	66	58	262	32	1499	3000	2,00
jun-20	680	417	66	58	262	32	1515	3000	1,98
jul-20	687	435	70	62	306	50	1610	3500	2,17
aug-20	696	447	70	62	306	50	1631	3500	2,15
sep-20	696	455	70	62	306	50	1639	3500	2,14
oct-20	710	461	78	69	334	62	1714	3500	2,04
nov-20	712	470	78	70	334	62	1726	3500	2,03
dec-20	740	477	87	79	338	62	1783	4000	2,24
jan-21	743	483	87	79	338	62	1792	4000	2,23
feb-21	745	494	87	79	368	68	1841	4000	2,17
mar-21	752	503	87	79	372	68	1861	4000	2,15
apr-21	759	508	90	82	412	78	1929	4000	2,07
may-21	774	514	91	83	412	78	1952	4000	2,05
jun-21	776	517	99	83	418	78	1971	4500	2,28
jul-21	777	538	99	87	418	78	1997	4500	2,25
aug-21	784	546	99	87	418	78	2012	4500	2,24
sep-21	796	554	102	91	418	78	2039	4500	2,21
oct-21	809	556	105	94	418	78	2060	4500	2,18
nov-21	811	558	111	100	420	88	2088	5000	2,39
dec-21	814	568	115	104	420	88	2109	5500	2,61
jan-22	818	571	115	104	452	100	2160	5500	2,55
feb-22	835	591	115	104	456	100	2201	5600	2,54
mar-22	864	599	116	105	456	100	2240	5600	2,50
apr-22	870	606	119	108	476	110	2289	5600	2,45
may-22	873	614	121	110	478	112	2308	5600	2,43
jun-22	881	630	123	112	478	112	2336	6100	2,61
jul-22	895	642	127	116	508	130	2418	6100	2,52
aug-22	900	655	129	118	508	130	2440	6150	2,52
sep-22	906	672	133	122	510	130	2473	6150	2,49
oct-22	911	692	146	135	510	130	2524	6150	2,44
nov-22	915	698	151	140	532	140	2576	6150	2,39
dec-22	939	705	163	152	536	140	2635	6200	2,35
jan-23	940	712	163	152	536	140	2643	6200	2,35
feb-23	942	728	165	154	560	152	2701	6250	2,31
mar-23	945	731	165	154	586	162	2743	6250	2,28
apr-23	951	735	178	167	586	162	2779	6300	2,27
may-23	954	742	183	172	586	164	2801	6300	2,25

​

Hello. Long story about my unemployment journey.
Saw this sub last 2021, 3rd year college (province State U). Saw the opportunities in IT and career shifting milestones from engineering grads.
I started self studying 2 programming languages on my 4th year sa CE because i find it enjoyable. i learned some na rin sa programming subjects namin.
Gruaduted with latin honors. But my heart is set to shifting to IT right then. Since a review center for boards gave me free tuition that time (2022), I just gave in to start na rin, why not sabi ko. Im preparing for interviews and more studying sa coding that time. Super torn and utak and pagod.
Around September, nagkaleche leche sa bahay. Daming financial problems (we're upper lower class) na nagsurface, pati hard earned money ko na inipon from scholarships, nasimot. I was so down, di ako makapag review nang maayos (online review kasi so sa bahay lang ako and di siya conducive for learning kasi ang ingay and sabay pa mga chores na nakaka wala ng focus sa pag review) (tip: magreview elsewhere with a good set of roommates). I told my parents di ko kaya mag exam this year, and that maghahanap na ako work sa IT.
Siyempre I will try my chances sa notorious IT company here sa ph > accepting ng career shifters but swertihan sa projects. Around October tho, I got a quick response na they dont have a fit role for me there yet. And that I will have to wait. Devastated.
Luckily, found a startup AI company and I got a part time job. Role was not so technical but I appreciate the high compensation. Around January, my contract expired and nagbabakasakali na akong maka land ng SWE role elsewhere kaya I refused to renew my contract. Very big mistake of leaving a high paying job na wfh for an entry level career shifter without another job in line. Office is in Makati and Im in Bicol.
So I started studying again some languages (fundamentals pa lang, wala pa akong real prpjects and portfolio). Gusto ko kasi maayos yung grasp ko sa fundamentals muna and maybe wala akong structure kaya di ako maka start gumawa ng something. Around feb, I got accepted to a Web Dev training for a freelance agency in ph. Training will start in March but no pay and self paced. It was very promising. The founder is a redditor and I found the posting here in reddit too.
Around March, in the middle of my training (20 kami and may 5 lang na pipiliin for full time), naghost na kaming lahat ng agency. Discord and socials namin to connect and di naman nabigay samin lahat ng learning materials or exams. The founder and the team just stopped messaging there and ghosted us completely. Funny thing is andun pa kami sa server now.
In the middle of all this, nadiagnose ng isang rare cancer si papa. Si papa ang may work sa family now. naapektuhan work niya and yung naipon kong pera sa previous job kofor allowance sana if mahire sa manila, nagastos na for tests and hospital bills.
At this time nakakawalang gana na kasi I thought ito na yung pinapangarap kong wfh SWE job na may maganda culture and all. Turned into dust na lang bigla. Buti na lang I have a good circle of friends to uplift me when Im down.
Surprisingly,, around last week of March ">" contacted me for an assessment exam. I passed on the day of exam. Told me to wait for an interview. This time, instead of upskilling, naubos ng oras ko ang pag alaga kay papa sa hospital, gawain sa bahay, worrying. Hoping na lang na tumawag na yung >. Nagapply rin pala ako for CE jobs (around 50 applications) this time para di lang umasa sa isang company. but lahat ligwak kasi maybe of my previous job not in the same field. And the fact that Im not licensed yet.
April pa tho ako nainterview sa ">". Interview went super well naman. I was prepared kasi I practiced a lot sa glassdoor questions. Told me na they will contact me na lang after 2-3 weeks. So of course balik muna ako sa pagalaga kay papa and sa pag maintain ng chores and errands.
It's been 6 weeks na now, and wala pa ring final interview schedule though. Followed up during the 4th week kasi sabi sa ibang posts is kulitin daw, and the recruiter told me Im still in the process kaya I dont know how to feel.
Nakita ko rin na open and position dahil maraming job posts ng referrals sa FB. but may nakalagay sa taas na: preferrably Female. To not downplay myself, ang iniisip ko na lang is maybe okay naman ang interview and skills ko, but I'm male kasi kaya nasa pool lang nila.
Now, writing this, kasi baka mamiss ni papa ang second round ng chemo niya and may mga naniningil pa dito sa bahay sa mga utang ni mama na unrelated samin (her fault).
Asked mama regarding sa isang importante na resibo about sa isang padala but nagrarason lang siya about nawala and whatnot. I think pathological liar si mama. Ang dami niya kasi nauuto and namamanipulate. Nagbreakdown lang ako now kasi need ko yung resibo.
I avoided facebook na rin kasi nakaktrigger makita na pumapasa yung mga batchmates sa boards and mga inspiring journeys nila. inaavoid ko kasi nagsaspiral ako about what if tinuloy ko ang review despite everything, di nakakatulong sa mental health ko.
Now, start of June, I feel kind of hopeful na magkaroon ng himala. Nakkapagod rin kasi araw araw yung pagiiisip na wala akong trabaho despite my success sa college.
Sad lang na baka mamiss ni papa yung chemo dahil sakin dahil wala akong work and di ako maka contribute. Naubos na kasi emergency funds ko sa utang ni mama at yung mga hospital at house bills eh. Madami dami rin yun. I accumulated 70k for my allowance sa Manila. Di ko naman ineexpect na magkaka cancer si papa, mawawalan work si mama, di ako matanggap sa kahit anong work na inapplyan ko.
Really feeling so depressed now, almost wala na ako nafifeel. Sa sobrang daming bad news na sunod sunod, nakakamanhid rin. Nagtatry ako magwork out, watch shows, journal, meditate, pero minsan wala na rin epekto.
I felt like such a disappointment to myself. I dont know what went wrong. Maybe dapat di na lang ako nagpauto about career shifting opportunities and maybe di ko tinaasan expectations ko. Siguro I should have studied more and sacrificed my mental health despite house problems, baka sana natanggap na ako sa work. Maybe I didnt push myself enough gaya nung iba na nag cocode after work.
My friends are having their own 23 year old fresh grad crisis din now. Masyado ko na silang nabother about my father's sickness and ayaw ko na lang na every time imessage ko sila is puro ako rant about my life. Kaya siguro I just poured everything here.
Di ko alam. Maybe a bath will fix me kaso sinisipon at nilalamig pa ako now. Maybe an exercise. But right now ang pinaka plausible kong plan is to upskill again for the whole month of June. then apply around July. Like I dont have a choice anymore. Either this or I'll die trying. Need advice.
I dont know how to TLDR this, sorry. Thank you for reading, though. I hope you have a day you truly deserve. Wishing you abundant health and happiness this year, reader.
edit: thoughts about s/h, my bad

An exploration of how grief for Sirius informs Harry's characterisation in HBP. I wanted to talk about the shift in Harry's internal voice from Order of Phoenix to Half Blood Prince, and how his grief, guilt and immense self-loathing for his part in events around Sirius' death informs it. At the end of Order of Phoenix, Harry is a mess - of incoherent, unfocused grief, where he wishes he never wished more that he was anybody else:
"Harry, suffering like this proves you are still a man! This pain is part of being human— ”
"I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN!” Harry roared, and he seized one of the delicate silver instruments from the spindle-legged table beside him and flung it across the room
The scene at Dumbledore's office is rife with how much he blames himself for his godfather's death. These feelings manifest in his behaviour in different ways:

1. Refusing meals

When we are first introduced to Harry in HBP, we are told he has shut himself away in his room, filled with "chill emptiness" he associated with Dementors. He has also been refusing meals.
As far back as PS, the deprivation of food is associated with punishment in Harry's head - with Vernon punishing him with "no meals" as early as Chapter 2. Harry tends to not eat during times of intense stress (the lead up to First Task), or when he believes he is punishing himself. The time he believes he attacked Arthur as the snake, he hid himself in Buckbeak's room, refusing Mrs Weasley's call for food. He believed himself to be unworthy, and a contamination at the time - and only once he is assured by Ginny that he could not be possessed, he becomes hungry enough to grab a sandwich Mrs Weasley sent up to the room.
Similarly, the moment Harry steps into the Burrow in HBP, he feels "suddenly hungry", associating the Weasley home as an infusion of life over the emptiness he felt. Essentially, the first two weeks back at Dursleys, Harry was punishing himself for Sirius' death.

1. Connecting with Tonks, Buckbeak

Harry blames himself for Sirius' death so much that he avoids talking about him at all (he wolfs down his breakfast when Ron and Hermione bring him up) and suppresses his grief and rage surrounding the events of OOTP- unless he is sure that the person he is speaking to understands the weight of Sirius' loss. He brings up Sirius willingly only with Buckbeak ("missing him? But you're okay with Hagrid aren't you"), and Tonks ("I miss him too") - two people he was sure are grieving Sirius the way he was (Hermione says Tonks was struggling with survivor's guilt early in the book, and that is the only time Harry speaks up, supposedly finding a connection with another person who blames themselves for Sirius' death: "How does she work that one out?"). I mean he is wrong about what Tonks is truly upset about, but still.
But it is telling that he seeks to connect with her -"I miss him too" but he spends so much of the book externalising and avoiding his debilitating grief that he also cant stand to be around the new "gloomy" Tonks after some time.
He also hopes Remus would write to him - an expectation of a connection from an adult that is quite big for Harry to admit to himself. Remus seems to sense this, and he offers an explanation even though he has never written to Harry before: "I've been underground".
There is also a self-aware moment from Harry, whose hatred for Snape has intensified in the book: He admits to displacing some of his own self loathing and blame onto Snape as to make his own feelings about it easier ("Whatever Dumbledore had said ..(..) he clung to the notion because it felt good and also because he knew the one person who was not sorry Sirius Black was dead was walking beside him")

1. HBP textbook: A new father figure

He gets attached to the Half Blood Prince textbook and gets excited at the possibility that it might belong to his father - even as he knows that his father is a pureblood.
He defends the book to death until Sectumsempra - a book that becomes his guide and friend, a reflection of teenage Snape. The betrayal he feels with Sectumsempra is immense ("a beloved pet gone savage")
Essentially, he makes an old textbook his new friend/ father figure - and him wanting the book to have belonged to James (or any of the Marauders) is one more proof of it. ("It's hard - to know he won't write to me again" Harry admits to Dumbledore about Sirius' death).

1. Going to adults with his theories/suspicions
   In the previous book, Harry avoids going to adults at all unless he really had to or forced to. However, a result of events of OOTP, in HBP, Harry goes to every adult with all suspicions he has - and freely admits to his suspicions and what he does about this. This is a marked change in Harry - he tells Mr Weasley about following Malfoy and asks him to check the manor, he tells McGonagall that he thinks Malfoy is behind the Katie attack (he even admits to McGonagall that he followed Malfoy to Borgin and Burkes) and he even reiterates his suspicions to Dumbledore. Even though he embarrasses his own friends with his suspicions, he is not deterred from letting adults know what he considers a threat.
   
2. Advocacy for Stan Shunpike
   

Harry's anger and advocacy for Stan Shunpike, people Scrimgeour is throwing to Azkaban on false charges. He would have felt upset about it regardless, but Sirius' false imprisonment is a powerful factor in how he feels about these things. (He also notes Slughorn's cosseted existence with disdain: "it was hard to sympathise with Slughorn's cosseted existence when he remembered Sirius, living in cave and eating rats).

1. The Mundungus scene
   The most explicit show of Harry's feelings about Sirius' death comes in full force in the scene with Mundungus outside of Hog's Head. His grief manifests in precise, focused rage in this chilling scene:
   

Harry had pinned Mundungus against the wall of the pub by the throat. Holding him fast with one hand, he pulled out his wand.
Why do I call it a focused, precise rage? Mostly, because unlike the other times Harry is provoked with perceived disrespect to a dead parent, Harry has not forgotten his wand. (Cue the scene in OOTP that he is so angry he just beats up Malfoy with his fists). What Harry has done is not just grab him by the throat, he makes sure Mundungus (who is shorter than him) is nose to nose with him and then threatens him with a wand.
“You took that from Sirius’s house,” said Harry, who was almost nose to nose with Mundungus and was breathing in an unpleasant smell of old tobacco and spirits. “That had the Black family crest on it.”/ "What did you do, go back the night he died and strip the place?"
And he doesn't stop until Tonks magically throws him off Mundungus.
"Harry, you mustn’t!” shrieked Hermione, as Mundungus started to turn blue.
There was a bang, and Harry felt his hands fly off Mundungus’s throat. Gasping and spluttering, Mundungus seized his fallen case, then — CRACK — he Disapparated.
Harry swore at the top of his voice, spinning on the spot to see where Mundungus had gone.
A small tangent - It is not a coincidence that we see Harry's darker and more chilling traits in a book where he is heavily paralleled with Tom Riddle. The parallel is explicit in the scene where he uses his mother's death to guilt Slughorn into giving him the memory. But here is a tiny mention of how Tom Riddle reacts to perceived disrespect to an heirloom from his parent:
That’s right!” said Hepzibah, delighted, apparently, at the sight of Voldemort gazing at her locket, transfixed. “I had to pay an arm and a leg for it, but I couldn’t let it pass, not a real treasure like that, had to have it for my collection. Burke bought it, apparently, from a ragged-looking woman who seemed to have stolen it, but had no idea of its true value— ”
There was no mistaking it this time: Voldemort’s eyes flashed scarlet at the words, and Harry saw his knuckles whiten on the locket’s chain.
There is a parallel, not exactly a neat one - but still quite telling that Harry specifically notices how Voldemort's knuckles whiten around the locket, after Hepzibah pretty much talks about how Merope was essentially robbed. Harry understands, in so many ways than one.
As Ron points out in DH: "You really understand him" and Harry responds with "Bits of him."

An exploration of how grief for Sirius informs Harry's characterisation in HBP. I wanted to talk about the shift in Harry's internal voice from Order of Phoenix to Half Blood Prince, and how his grief, guilt and immense self-loathing for his part in events around Sirius' death informs it. At the end of Order of Phoenix, Harry is a mess - of incoherent, unfocused grief, where he wishes he never wished more that he was anybody else:
"Harry, suffering like this proves you are still a man! This pain is part of being human— ”
"I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN!” Harry roared, and he seized one of the delicate silver instruments from the spindle-legged table beside him and flung it across the room
The scene at Dumbledore's office is rife with how much he blames himself for his godfather's death. These feelings manifest in his behaviour in different ways:

1. Refusing meals

When we are first introduced to Harry in HBP, we are told he has shut himself away in his room, filled with "chill emptiness" he associated with Dementors. He has also been refusing meals.
As far back as PS, the deprivation of food is associated with punishment in Harry's head - with Vernon punishing him with "no meals" as early as Chapter 2. Harry tends to not eat during times of intense stress (the lead up to First Task), or when he believes he is punishing himself. The time he believes he attacked Arthur as the snake, he hid himself in Buckbeak's room, refusing Mrs Weasley's call for food. He believed himself to be unworthy, and a contamination at the time - and only once he is assured by Ginny that he could not be possessed, he becomes hungry enough to grab a sandwich Mrs Weasley sent up to the room.
Similarly, the moment Harry steps into the Burrow in HBP, he feels "suddenly hungry", associating the Weasley home as an infusion of life over the emptiness he felt. Essentially, the first two weeks back at Dursleys, Harry was punishing himself for Sirius' death.

1. Connecting with Tonks, Buckbeak

Harry blames himself for Sirius' death so much that he avoids talking about him at all (he wolfs down his breakfast when Ron and Hermione bring him up) and suppresses his grief and rage surrounding the events of OOTP- unless he is sure that the person he is speaking to understands the weight of Sirius' loss. He brings up Sirius willingly only with Buckbeak ("missing him? But you're okay with Hagrid aren't you"), and Tonks ("I miss him too") - two people he was sure are grieving Sirius the way he was (Hermione says Tonks was struggling with survivor's guilt early in the book, and that is the only time Harry speaks up, supposedly finding a connection with another person who blames themselves for Sirius' death: "How does she work that one out?"). I mean he is wrong about what Tonks is truly upset about, but still.
But it is telling that he seeks to connect with her -"I miss him too" but he spends so much of the book externalising and avoiding his debilitating grief that he also cant stand to be around the new "gloomy" Tonks after some time.
He also hopes Remus would write to him - an expectation of a connection from an adult that is quite big for Harry to admit to himself. Remus seems to sense this, and he offers an explanation even though he has never written to Harry before: "I've been underground".
There is also a self-aware moment from Harry, whose hatred for Snape has intensified in the book: He admits to displacing some of his own self loathing and blame onto Snape as to make his own feelings about it easier ("Whatever Dumbledore had said ..(..) he clung to the notion because it felt good and also because he knew the one person who was not sorry Sirius Black was dead was walking beside him")

1. HBP textbook: A new father figure

He gets attached to the Half Blood Prince textbook and gets excited at the possibility that it might belong to his father - even as he knows that his father is a pureblood.
He defends the book to death until Sectumsempra - a book that becomes his guide and friend, a reflection of teenage Snape. The betrayal he feels with Sectumsempra is immense ("a beloved pet gone savage")
Essentially, he makes an old textbook his new friend/ father figure - and him wanting the book to have belonged to James (or any of the Marauders) is one more proof of it. ("It's hard - to know he won't write to me again" Harry admits to Dumbledore about Sirius' death).

1. Going to adults with his theories/suspicions
   In the previous book, Harry avoids going to adults at all unless he really had to or forced to. However, a result of events of OOTP, in HBP, Harry goes to every adult with all suspicions he has - and freely admits to his suspicions and what he does about this. This is a marked change in Harry - he tells Mr Weasley about following Malfoy and asks him to check the manor, he tells McGonagall that he thinks Malfoy is behind the Katie attack (he even admits to McGonagall that he followed Malfoy to Borgin and Burkes) and he even reiterates his suspicions to Dumbledore. Even though he embarrasses his own friends with his suspicions, he is not deterred from letting adults know what he considers a threat.
   
2. Advocacy for Stan Shunpike
   

Harry's anger and advocacy for Stan Shunpike, people Scrimgeour is throwing to Azkaban on false charges. He would have felt upset about it regardless, but Sirius' false imprisonment is a powerful factor in how he feels about these things. (He also notes Slughorn's cosseted existence with disdain: "it was hard to sympathise with Slughorn's cosseted existence when he remembered Sirius, living in cave and eating rats).

1. The Mundungus scene
   The most explicit show of Harry's feelings about Sirius' death comes in full force in the scene with Mundungus outside of Hog's Head. His grief manifests in precise, focused rage in this chilling scene:
   

Harry had pinned Mundungus against the wall of the pub by the throat. Holding him fast with one hand, he pulled out his wand.
Why do I call it a focused, precise rage? Mostly, because unlike the other times Harry is provoked with perceived disrespect to a dead parent, Harry has not forgotten his wand. (Cue the scene in OOTP that he is so angry he just beats up Malfoy with his fists). What Harry has done is not just grab him by the throat, he makes sure Mundungus (who is shorter than him) is nose to nose with him and then threatens him with a wand.
“You took that from Sirius’s house,” said Harry, who was almost nose to nose with Mundungus and was breathing in an unpleasant smell of old tobacco and spirits. “That had the Black family crest on it.”/ "What did you do, go back the night he died and strip the place?"
And he doesn't stop until Tonks magically throws him off Mundungus.
"Harry, you mustn’t!” shrieked Hermione, as Mundungus started to turn blue.
There was a bang, and Harry felt his hands fly off Mundungus’s throat. Gasping and spluttering, Mundungus seized his fallen case, then — CRACK — he Disapparated.
Harry swore at the top of his voice, spinning on the spot to see where Mundungus had gone.
A small tangent - It is not a coincidence that we see Harry's darker and more chilling traits in a book where he is heavily paralleled with Tom Riddle. The parallel is explicit in the scene where he uses his mother's death to guilt Slughorn into giving him the memory. But here is a tiny mention of how Tom Riddle reacts to perceived disrespect to an heirloom from his parent:
That’s right!” said Hepzibah, delighted, apparently, at the sight of Voldemort gazing at her locket, transfixed. “I had to pay an arm and a leg for it, but I couldn’t let it pass, not a real treasure like that, had to have it for my collection. Burke bought it, apparently, from a ragged-looking woman who seemed to have stolen it, but had no idea of its true value— ”
There was no mistaking it this time: Voldemort’s eyes flashed scarlet at the words, and Harry saw his knuckles whiten on the locket’s chain.
There is a parallel, not exactly a neat one - but still quite telling that Harry specifically notices how Voldemort's knuckles whiten around the locket, after Hepzibah pretty much talks about how Merope was essentially robbed. Harry understands, in so many ways than one.
As Ron points out in DH: "You really understand him" and Harry responds with "Bits of him."

I never felt like I fitted in, always wanted to ‘escape’. I used to dream about packing my stuff and running away from early childhood till now. I had almost attempted that twice, when I was still in Bulgaria, and when I was 16, here in London. Eventually, I ended up taking my already packed stuff and left for university, but I will come back to that later.
My life in Bulgaria felt tough. I felt trapped in a small village, unable to do the things I longed for, such as swimming and travelling. It used to get extremely hot during the summer and I struggled a lot. Everyone in my family had a driving licence and we had a car, but they didn’t take me to the beach, which makes me upset to this day, but it is okay because later in life I had the opportunity of swimming twice a day and working with professionals in the field. God gave me these opportunities and I took them, I did it all myself. I forgive my family for being emotionally unavailable and not knowing better and I am conscious that I had a neglected childhood, and grew up in an environment with lots of conflict, selfishness, and manipulation. I am aware that no child has to do housework and shouldn’t be blamed for the unwillingness of working when all I should’ve done was play. Hence, I shouldn’t have felt guilty about it. I was doing my best and it was enough. I am enough. I don’t need to take others’ responsibilities even if they are people I care about like my parents, siblings, partner, etc. After all, I am only responsible for myself. For now.
There seem to be many reasons for me being the way I am right now, I am not happy with myself (I don't mean my looks), by myself. I used to be an introvert until I found the freedom of expression, away from my family. Now I am weird, I have ups and downs often, I am hyperactive, but lose my energy very quickly, and I am trying to balance things. I don’t know if I’m just depressed or affected by traumatic events, or both. It’s like I can’t find the peace, whenever I don’t do anything, I feel guilty, sad and start getting headaches. I feel like my heart is getting tightened with a rope, almost feel like I can’t breathe, but I am still alive. It is like torture. I get distracted with certain people - guys… I felt happy walking with my boyfriend by the beach during sunset. Well… my ex. I broke up with him because I no longer felt loved or appreciated. We became best friends in a short time and fell apart the same way. I know I shouldn’t depend on someone, and my happiness shouldn’t be determined by their actions, but it is very hard. I try to keep myself busy, try new things, read books, do sports, and hang out with friends, but somehow it just doesn't work. Nothing fills that gap forever. I talk to God sometimes, pray…

Jackie Jensen, "The Golden Boy", was a superstar athlete in the 1940s who seemed destined for greatness as the heir to Joe DiMaggio... only to be supplanted by a different golden boy, the great Mickey Mantle.
Jensen would eventually live up to the hype, but with the Red Sox -- but his career prematurely because, as baseball expanded to the west coast, his fear of flying made road games unbearable!
The Yankees between 1947 and 1964 were utterly dominant, winning 15 pennants and 10 World Series. And it wasn't just the major league team that was successful. The Yankees of this era were loaded up and down the system, from Rookie ball to their two Triple-A teams!
With such a loaded major league roster, the Yankees had many talented players stuck either on the end of the bench or in the minors who would eventually find an opportunity with other teams, including Bob Cerv, Vic Power, Gus Triandos, Lew Burdette, Jerry Lumpe, Bob Porterfield, and Bob Keegan, who would all be All-Stars with other teams. Clint Courtney would be the 1952 A.L. Rookie of the Year runner-up after the Yankees traded him to the Browns, and Bill Virdon was the 1955 N.L. Rookie of the Year with the Cardinals (and then Yankee manager from 1974 to 1975!).
But the most talented player who just couldn't find the playing time in New York was Jack Eugene Jensen, born March 9, 1927, in San Francisco. His parents divorced when he was 5, and he grew up poor, his mother working six days a week, 12 hours a day. Jensen said the family moved 16 times between kindergarten and eighth grade -- "every time the rent came due."
After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Jensen went to the University of California in 1946 on the G.I. Bill. There he became one of the most famous college players in the country, leading Cal to the Rose Bowl. In 1947, he was the starting fullback as well as the team's top defensive back, and in 1948, he rushed for 1,000 yards and was an All-American.
He also was a tremendous two-way baseball player, pitching and hitting for the Golden Bears in 1947 as the won the very first College World Series, beating a Yale team that had George H.W. Bush playing first base. In 1949, he was an All-American in baseball, too.
His blond hair, good looks, and athletic accomplishments earned him the nickname "The Golden Boy."
Halfway through his junior year, Jensen left Berkeley to turn pro. Jensen would later say he couldn't risk playing a career-ending injury playing for free while teams -- baseball and football -- were trying to sign him to big-money contracts.

"There was a money tree growing in my backyard. Why shouldn't I pluck off the dollars when I wanted to?"

Jensen considered a number of offers, including from the Yankees, before signing a three-year, $75,000 contract with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League. Jensen said he thought he'd face better competition in the Pacific Coast League, the top minor league of the era, than he would at the bottom of the Yankee farm system. He was right about it being more of a challenge -- he hit an unimpressive .261/.317/.394 in 510 plate appearances with the Oaks.
At the end of the year, the Oaks sold his contract (and that of Billy Martin, another Northern California kid) to the Yankees.
That same year, Jensen married his high school sweetheart, Zoe Ann Olsen, an Olympic diver. (By age 18, she had won 14 national diving championships and a silver medal in the 1948 Olympics.) "Together they looked like a Nordic god and goddess," Sports Illustrated reported. Nicknamed "the sweethearts of sports," they were the Dansby Swanson and Mallory Pugh of their era. More than 1,000 people attended their wedding.
Jensen would start the 1950 season not in the minors but in the Bronx. He joined the Yankees in a time of flux. They though they'd won the 1949 World Series, the Yankees knew they had to make some changes, with 35-year-old Joe DiMaggio nearing the end of his career. And their heir apparent was not Mickey Mantle -- at the time an 18-year-old shortstop playing in the Class C league, the equivalent of A-ball today -- but the 23-year-old Jensen.
But Jensen disappointed, hitting just .171/.247/.300 in 70 at-bats, and only starting in 13 games. Watching from the bench most of the season, Jensen would later lament the lost year of development, saying he'd have been better off playing every day in the Pacific Coast League.
The Yankees won the pennant for a second straight year, and in the World Series he once again was left on the bench. His only action was as a pinch runner in Game 3 as the Yankees swept the Phillies. That "Moonlight Graham" appearance would be his only taste of the post-season in an 11-year career.
The following year would be DiMaggio's last, and Mantle's first. Jensen began the year as the Yankees' starting left fielder and proved he belonged, hitting .296/.371/.509 through the end of July... and then, shockingly, was demoted to Triple-A and replaced with previously forgotten Yankee Bob Cerv.
I can see why they called up Cerv -- the University of Nebraska stand-out was tearing up Triple-A, leading the American Association in batting average (.349), home runs (26), triples (21), RBIs (101), and total bases (261) -- but why demote Jensen, who had a 140 OPS+ in the majors? Maybe the Yankees felt the brash 23-year-old needed to be taken down a peg. In any event, Cerv hit just .214/.333/.250 in August and was sent back to Triple-A, but Jensen also was left down there. He hit .263/.344/.469 and was recalled after the Triple-A season ended, only getting into three games (he went 3-for-9).
Mantle, too, had started the season with the Yankees, and after hitting .260/.341/.423 through the middle of July, was sent down to Triple-A. But he hit .361/.445/.651 in 166 at-bats, and unlike Jensen was back in the bigs by August 24. He would play pretty much every game the rest of the season, hitting .284/.370/.495 in 95 at-bats.
The torch had clearly been passed -- Jensen was no longer the heir apparent to DiMaggio. In the World Series that year, Mantle was the starting right fielder, and Jensen wasn't even on the post-season roster.
Jensen was so disappointed with how the Yankees had treated him in 1951 that he talked to the San Francisco 49ers about switching to pro football, but ultimately decided to stick with baseball.
Never shy about what he said to reporters, Jensen told The Sporting News on October 24, 1951:

"I felt so badly about the treatment that I received from the Yankees that, although I was in New York at the end of the season, I didn't feel like sticking around to even watch the club play in any of the World's Series games."
"I do not feel the Yankees were justified in sending me to the minor leagues. When I was shipped to Kansas City, I was doing as good a job as any Yankee outfielder and better than some of them. I was hitting .296, which was ten points better than Hank Bauer and 30 points better than Joe DiMaggio, Gene Woodling and Mickey Mantle. Yet Casey Stengel didn't give me the chance I felt I deserved."

Despite blasting his manager in the press, Jensen was still the property of the Yankees. That off-season, teams were circling, hoping to pry away the talented but disgruntled outfielder. There were newspaper reports of offers from the St. Louis Browns, the Detroit Tigers, the Philadelphia Athletics, the Washington Senators, the Cleveland Indians, and the Boston Red Sox -- with one rumor being Ted Williams to the Bronx in exchange for Jensen and several other players. (A Red Sox scout called the rumored deal "a lot of hogwash.")
Sportswriters spent the off-season speculating whether DiMaggio would retire, and if he did, whether Jensen or Mantle would take over as the center fielder, as there were still concerns that Mantle, who had hurt his knee in the 1951 World Series, wouldn't be fully recovered by the start of the season.
On Opening Day, April 16, 1952, it was Jackie Jensen in center and Mickey Mantle in right. Jensen went 0-for-5 with a GIDP; Mantle, 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base! Seven games into the season, Jensen was 2-for-17 (.118) and found himself on the bench. He'd never play for the Yankees again. On May 3, the Golden Boy was traded to the Washington Senators along with Spec Shea, Jerry Snyder, and Archie Wilson in exchange for Irv Noren and Tom Upton.
In two years with the Senators, Jensen hit an impressive .276/.359/.407 (112 OPS+), but the team was terrible, and Jensen wasn't happy. Still just 26 years old, he later said he had almost quit after the 1953 season... particularly after a harrowing flight to Japan for a series of exhibition games with a squad of All-Stars that included Yankees Yogi Berra, Eddie Lopat, and Billy Martin. That experience gave Jensen a lifelong fear of flying, a phobia that became so intense eventually he could only fly with the help of sleeping pills... and a hypnotist!
He might have quit if not for the trade on December 9, 1953, that sent him to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Mickey McDermott and outfielder Tom Umphlett. He was homesick, he hated flying, and he now had two little kids at home. Red Sox general manager Joe Cronin convinced Jensen to come to the Red Sox, telling him that Fenway Park was tailor made for his swing. Cronin was right: Jensen was a career .279/.369/.460 hitter, but .298/.400/.514 at Fenway.
It was in Boston that Jensen finally lived up to the hype, becoming a two-time All-Star and winning the A.L. MVP Award in 1958 and a Gold Glove in 1959. During his seven seasons in Boston, he hit .282/.374/.478 in 4,519 plate appearances. In his MVP season, Jensen hit .286/.396/.535 (148 OPS+) with 31 doubles, 35 home runs, and a league-leading 122 RBIs. During his peak with the Red Sox, 1954 to 1959, Jensen's average season was .285/.378/.490 (127 OPS+) with 28 doubles, 26 home runs, 111 RBIs, 14 stolen bases, and 3.6 bWAR. During those six seasons, no one in the American League -- not Mickey Mantle, not Ted Williams, not Al Kaline -- had more runs batted in than Jackie Jensen.
Of course, Mantle was the far better player -- even in Jensen's MVP season, Mantle had more runs, hits, home runs, walks, and a 188 OPS+ -- but Jensen's 127 OPS+ between 1954 and 1959 would have been an upgrade over the aging Hank Bauer's 110 OPS+ in right or the left field merry-go-round of Norm Siebern (113 OPS+), Irv Noren (107 OPS+), Enos Slaughter (103 OPS+), and previously forgotten Yankee Hector Lopez (101 OPS+). Casey Stengel would later say the Jensen trade was the worst one the Yankees had made while he was manager.
Despite his success, Jensen was sometimes booed by the Boston fans, just as they sometimes booed Ted Williams. There even was an article in Sport magazine, "What Do They Want From Jackie Jensen?", taking Red Sox fans to task for their unreasonably high demands from the Golden Boy. In 1956, in a game at Fenway Park against the Yankees, the hometown fans were razzing Jensen so much that teammates had to restrain him from going into the stands after a fan. Later that same game, Williams misplayed a wind-blown fly ball from Mantle, and the fans booed lustily. The very next play, Williams made a leaping catch at the scoreboard to rob Yogi Berra of a double. But Williams, still furious, spit into the crowd. He was later fined $5,000.
And Jackie was unhappy to be away from home. He and Zoe Ann had bought a house near Lake Tahoe, where they could both ski and golf year-round, as well as hit the casinos. They also had a home in Oakland, and a restaurant there, and each year Jensen hosted a pro-am golf tournament. But the marriage was struggling. Zoe Ann, once nationally known for her Olympic exploits, was frustrated to be a stay-at-home mom in the shadow of her famous husband, and Jackie became angry if she engaged in her favorite outdoor hobbies, suspecting there were men around.
Jensen's fear of flying also had become even more intense. Sometimes he was so drugged up that he had to be carried on and off the plane, fueling rumors that he was a drunk. Other times he took trains or even drove while his teammates flew.
Once again Jensen was talking about retirement, and in Spring Training 1957, the Red Sox allowed him to train with the San Francisco Seals, Boston's Triple-A team, rather than having to go to Florida. But he was still miserable. That year, he told Sports Illustrated:

“In baseball you get to the point where you don’t think you have a family. It just looks like I’m not built for this life like some ballplayers. You are always away from home and you’re lonesome, and as soon as I can, I intend to get out.”

The 32-year-old Jensen announced his retirement after the 1959 season, and he spent 1960 home with Zoe Ann and their children and running his restaurant. But he returned in 1961. After hitting just .130 in April, Jensen took a train from Detroit home to Reno, determined to quit once again. After a week away, he rejoined the team and had six hits in his next 10 at-bats. By the end of the season he was at .263/.350/.392, and this time he quit for good.
After leaving baseball, Jensen invested in real estate and a golf course, but lost most of his money. He then got a job working for a Lake Tahoe casino, was a national spokesman for Camel cigarettes, Wonder Bread, and Gillette, and even tried selling cars. Ironically, Jackie found himself on the road almost as much as he had been as a ballplayer. In 1963, he and Zoe Ann divorced, remarried, and then divorced again.
In 1967, Jensen became a TV sportscaster, married his producer Katharine Cortesi, and eventually teamed up with Keith Jackson calling college football games for ABC and a college baseball coach, first at the University of Nevada-Reno and then at the University of California, and he managed the Red Sox team in the New York Penn League in 1970. In 1977, Jackie and Katharine moved to Virginia and started a Christmas tree farm while he coached baseball at a military academy. About five years later, on July 14, 1982, he died of a heart attack at age 55.
You Don't Know Jack(ie):

• How good would Jackie Jensen have been as a Yankee? Maybe not great. He was a career .279/.369/.460 hitter, but just .238/.326/.398 at Yankee Stadium, which -- especially in that era -- was famously death on right-handed batters. Fenway Park was much more to his liking!
  
• Born in San Francisco in 1927, it's no surprise Jensen's favorite player as a kid was Joe DiMaggio, who made his debut with the San Francisco Seals when Jensen was a 5 years old. When Jensen made his major league debut, on April 18, 1950, DiMaggio went 3-for-6 with a triple in a 15-10 win over the Red Sox. Two weeks later, on May 3, Jensen made his first start, playing left field and batting second, and DiMaggio was in center and batting fourth.
  
• Jensen wore #36 at Cal. When he came up with the Yankees, he was first issued #40, then switched to #27, and finally to #25. (With the Senators, he wore #8, then #4; in Boston, he first wore #30 but primarily wore #4.) Currently, #40 is worn by Luis Severino. Other famous 40's include Chien-Ming Wang (2005-2009), Andy Hawkins (1989-1991), and Lindy McDaniel (1968-1973). #27 has been worn by Giancarlo Stanton since 2018; prior to him, it was worn by Austin Romine (2016-2017). It also was the number worn by Bob Wickman (1993-1996), Butch Wynegar (1982-1986), and Woodie Held (1954-1957). Gleyber Torres has worn #25 since 2018; it also was worn by Mark Teixeira (2009-2016), Jason Giambi (2002-2008), Joe Girardi (1996-1999), Jim Abbott (1993-1994), Tommy John (1979-1989), and Joe Pepitone (1962-1969).
  
• Jensen is one of six major leaguers to graduate from Oakland High School, but the only Yankee. Cal has sent 83 players to the majors, including twenty Yankees -- most notably, early 1990s pitcher Chuck Cary, 1930s infielder Lyn Lary, and 1990 A.L. ROY runner-up Kevin Maas.
  
• The Yankees during spring training in 1951 tinkered with the idea of using Jensen into a pitcher. Jensen had been a star pitcher at Cal, including pitching in the 1947 College World Series, and had pitched in a winter league that off-season. But he was bombed in a handful of spring training innings -- while crushing as a hitter -- and the Yankees decided to leave him in the outfield.
  
• College teammates said Jensen wasn't afraid of flying at Cal. His second wife Katharine said the phobia came from a near-miss experience on a flight early in his baseball career -- he looked out the window and saw another plane coming straight at him! The two planes managed to avoid each other, but he was never comfortable on a plane again.
  
• Billy Martin, who also had grown up in Northern California and was Jensen's teammate on both the Oakland Oaks and the Yankees, was merciless when it came to teasing Jensen about his fear of flying. In 1953, on a flight from Okinawa to Honshu to play a series of exhibition games in Japan, the plane ran into a bad storm and was bouncing pretty hard. Jensen, who wouldn't get on a plane without the help of tranquilizers, was blissfully sleeping through the turbulence. Martin found a lifejacket and put it on, then stood over Jensen and shouted "We're going down!"
  
• Arthur Ellen, a hypnotist that Jensen had used to try to cure his fear of flying, believed Jackie wasn't aerophobic at all. It was really a fear of losing his family. "Subconsciously, it developed as a good reason to leave the Red Sox and go home," the hypnotist said.
  
• Jensen is featured prominently in Norman Rockwell's famous 1957 painting, The Rookie. Jensen is the one seated on the bench tying his shoe in the middle of the painting. Standing behind him is Ted Williams, and sitting on the bench next to him is pitcher Frank Sullivan (#18). Wearing the catcher's mitt in the foreground is Sammy White, and the player with his hand over his mouth to the far right is Billy Goodman. Jensen, Sullivan, and White had gone to Rockwell's studio in Massachusetts to pose for the painting; the images of Williams and Goodman were based on photos. The shirtless player was one of Rockwell's assistants, and "the rookie" holding the suitcase was a local high school student!
  
• Boston sportswriters named Jensen the team's MVP in 1954, when he hit .276/.359/.472 with 25 home runs and 117 RBIs. I guess they were tired of giving the award to Ted Williams, who hit .345/.513/.635 that year, albeit in just 117 games as he had broken his collarbone in spring training. Williams didn't qualify for the batting title that year because he had only 386 at-bats... mostly due to his league-leading 136 walks. The rule was subsequently changed from at-bats to plate appearances.
  
• After Jensen was acquired by the Washington Senators, manager Bucky Harris -- who managed the Yankees when they won the 1947 World Series -- pulled him aside and told him he was the right fielder and he'd hit third. "No pep talk, no nothing, but he made it sound like I was the right fielder and third place hitter for a long time to come," Jensen later recalled. "It made me feel good." The 1950s Senators had a number of ex-Yankees and several of them told reporters that Harris was a much more low-key, hands-off manager than Casey Stengel, and Jensen agreed. "With Stengel it was always 'watch for that curve ball' or 'watch for that change up'," Jensen said. "Bucky leaves you on your own up there." But Jensen would later say Stengel was the smartest manager he'd ever had.
  
• Stengel obliquely mentioned Jensen in his famously long, rambling testimony before the Senate Anti-Trust and Monopoly Subcommittee on July 8, 1958. Asked about legislation that would exempt baseball from federal anti-trust laws, Stengel said about 7,000 words without really saying anything. The hearing was held the day after the All-Star Game -- the Stengel-managed A.L. All-Stars won, 4-3 -- and in the American League starting lineup were Jensen and two other ex-Yankees, Bob Cerv and Gus Triandos. Stengel was asked if the Yankees were going to continue to "monopolize" the World Series, and his confusing answer: "Well, I will tell you. I got a little concerned yesterday in the first three innings when I saw the three players I had gotten rid of [Jensen, Cerv, and Triandos] and I said when I lost nine what am I going to do? And when I had a couple of my players I thought so great of that did not do so good up to the sixth inning I was more confused but I finally had to go and call on a young man in Baltimore that we don't own and the Yankees don't own him and he is doing pretty well and I would actually have to to tell you that we are more the Greta Garbo-type now from success. We are being hated. I mean from the ownership and all we are being hated. Every sport that gets too great or one individual -- but if we made twenty-seven cents and it pays to have a winner at home why would you have a good winner in your park if you were an owner? That is the result of baseball. An owner gets most of the money at home, and it is up to him and his staff to do better or they ought to be discharged." After befuddling the committee with answers like that for 45 minutes, Stengel was excused and Mickey Mantle called upon. His opening statement: "My views are just about the same as Casey's."
  
• Casey Stengel later said Jensen plus Spec Shea, Jerry Snyder, and Archie Wilson to the Senators for Irv Noren and Tom Upton was the worst trade the Yankees made during his tenure. But in reality it was pretty much a wash for the Yankees. Jensen, in two seasons, would be worth 4.9 bWAR for the Senators before being traded. Shea, a right-handed pitcher who had been an All-Star with the Yankees as a rookie, pitched four years in Washington and was worth 2.9 bWAR. Snyder was a good-glove, no-hit infielder worth -0.1 bWAR in seven seasons with the Senators. (You must have a really good glove to last seven seasons with a 55 OPS+!) Wilson, at one point seen as a good prospect but now a 28-year-old minor league journeyman, only played 26 games in Washington before being traded. In exchange, the Yankees received the 27-year-old Irv Noren, an outfieldefirst baseman who played five years in New York and was an All-Star in 1954; he was worth 7.9 bWAR, making the trade essentially even by bWAR. (The other player the Yankees received, minor league infielder Tom Upton, never made it back to the bigs.) Prior to the 1957 season, Noren was traded to the Kansas City Athletics as part of a monster 13-player trade that included Clete Boyer, third baseman of the early 1960s dynasty!
  
• The two players Washington got from Boston for Jensen, Mickey McDermott and Tom Upton, were both future Yankees. McDermott was a left-handed pitcher whose father, Maurice McDermott, had played in the minors with Lou Gehrig. Mickey was just 25 years old at the time of the trade but had been in the majors for six seasons, going 48-34 with a 3.80 ERA (114 ERA+). In two years with the Senators, McDermott went 17-25 (but with a 3.58 ERA), then prior to the 1957 season was traded to the Yankees as part of a seven-player deal; he went 2-6 with a 4.24 ERA as a swingman, and closed out the Game 2 win in the 1956 World Series. After that one season in New York, he was part of the trade with the A's that brought back Clete Boyer.
  
• Umphlett, a 22-year-old infielder, was traded back to the Red Sox in 1955, and then the Red Sox traded him to the Yankees in 1962 for infielder Billy Gardner. He would spend 1962 and 1963 in Triple-A for the Yankees, then ended his career in the minors with the Minnesota Twins -- the team that had been the Senators until 1961.
  
• In 1956, the anthology television show Cavalcade of America had an episode called The Jackie Jensen Story. Jackie had a cameo as the adult version of himself, but the 30-minute episode was focused on Jackie's teenage years and the influence of his middle high school coach, a man named Ralph Kerchum who became a father figure. The coach was played by Ross Elliott, a Bronx native whose most memorable role might have been as the director in the Vitameatavegamin episode of I Love Lucy.
  
• Jensen's MVP in 1958 broke a string of four straight MVP awards for Yankees -- Yogi Berra in 1954 and 1955 followed by Mickey Mantle in 1956 and 1957. Nellie Fox of the White Sox won it in 1959, and then the Yankees won it four years in a row again -- Roger Maris in 1960 and 1961, Mantle in 1962, and Elston Howard in 1963. Then a long drought -- the next Yankee to win it would be Thurman Munson in 1976.
  
• Going by bWAR, Mantle should have won it a third straight year in 1958 -- his 8.7 bWAR led the league, followed by Frank Lary at 6.7 and Al Kaline at 6.5. Jensen's 4.9 was 10th that year. Of course, they didn't have bWAR back then!
  
• Jackie won a Gold Glove in 1959; it was just the third year of the award's existence, or he might have won more. "Right field in Boston is a bitch, the sun field, and few play it well," Ted Williams said. "Jackie Jensen was the best I saw at it." Jensen was renowned for his throwing arm -- he twice led the league in assists, and twice led the league in double plays as an outfielder. One Yankee scout said he had the best arm he'd seen since previously forgotten Yankee Bob Meusel, usually said to have the best cannon in baseball history until Roberto Clemente came along.
  
• Jensen was well known for his brashness, especially compared to Mantle's aw shucks attitude. Mantle, asked if he thought he could beat out Jensen to replace DiMaggio in center field, humbly replied that there were three positions in the outfield and he hoped to win any one of them. Jensen, on the other hand, vowed he'd "out-run, out-hit, and out-throw" Mantle, an arrogant answer that didn't go over well with teammates. Joe DiMaggio, asked what he thought of the duel for his old job, quipped that Mantle was "out-quoting" Jensen.
  
• When Mantle was asked what he thought about Jensen's quote, he replied: "I don't know what to make of that guy." Jensen would later say he was misquoted, but reports of his cockiness would follow him throughout his Yankee years. Later in life, Jensen said people mistook his shyness and anxiety for arrogance and rudeness.
  
• According to Sports Illustrated, Jensen is the only player to have played in the East-West football game, the Rose Bowl, the World Series, and the Major League All-Star Game. I'll take their word for it!
  
• As a freshman at Cal, the first time Jensen touched the ball -- on a punt return -- he ran it back for a 56-yard touchdown. Cal quarterback Charles Erb said they'd never seen anything like it. "He was all over the field, dodging and leaping over guys. The rest of us just stood there on the sidelines with our mouths open. Finally somebody said, 'Who in the hell is that guy?' "
  
• Jensen is one of two "forgotten" Yankees in the College Football Hall of Fame -- the other is 1960s catcher Jake Gibbs. (Other Yankees in the College Football Hall of Fame include John Elway, who was in the Yankee minor league system before joining the Denver Broncos, and Deion Sanders, who was on the Yankees in 1989 and 1990.) Jensen also is a member of the Cal Hall of Fame, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, and... ugh... the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.
  
• Despite his speed -- Jensen led the league in triples in 1956 and in stolen bases in 1954, and was in the top five in stolen bases in six seasons -- Jackie also was prone to grounding into double plays, leading the league in 1954, 1956, and 1957. His 32 GIDPs in 1954 was the major league record until Boston's Jim Rice hit into 36 in 1984, which is still the single-season record. Rice also had 35 in 1985. Jensen's 32 is tied for third with four others. The most by a Yankee? Dave Winfield with 30 in 1983, which is tied for 14th.
  
• Jensen lost most of his baseball earnings through a series of bad investments. His ex-wife, former Olympian Zoe Ann, later became a blackjack dealer in Reno to pay the bills.
  
• Jensen had four appearances on the popular show Home Run Derby, and set a record for most home runs in one match when he defeated Ernie Banks, 14-11, in Episode 24. The 25 combined home runs also was a record. He took on Mickey Mantle in Episode 3, with Mantle winning, 9-2, then defeated Rocky Colavito, 3-2, in Episode 25. He rematched against Mantle in Episode 26, with Mantle winning again, 13-10. Jensen set another record in that contest when he became the only player to hit four home runs in a row, and then a fifth home run in a row. That episode was supposed to be the season one finale, but it turned out to be the last episode of the series: The show's host and producer, Mark Scott, died of a heart attack at age 45, shortly after the last episode aired, and two months later the show's 64-year-old director Benjamin Stoloff also died. Rather than replacing them, the show was cancelled.
  
• Jensen's last game came against the Yankees, on October 1st, 1961, at Yankee Stadium. He appeared as a pinch hitter and popped out to shortstop Tony Kubek. In the 4th inning of that game, Roger Maris hit his 61st home run, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season record!
  
• Jackie and Zoe Ann had two sons, Jon and Jay, and a daughter, Jan. Jay's son, Tucker Jensen, was a pitcher in the Blue Jays farm system in 2011 and 2012.
  

In 1958, Jensen told Sports Illustrated that the biggest thrill of his career wasn't being an All-American or an All-Star, it wasn't winning an MVP or a World Series. "The biggest is having played in the same outfield with both DiMaggio and Williams."

Welcome to the Weekly Gratitudes Discussion! Please take note of the rules in the sidebar, read the wiki, and remember to stay civil and polite when commenting.
There is no requirement for the number of gratitudes you post per day, or the frequency of your posts but as this study from from Robert A. Emmons and Michael E. McCullough demonstrated, who asked participants to write down five gratitudes, hassles, or events over the past week for ten weeks, the participants who wrote down 5 gratitudes each day over a 10 week period were happier and physically healthier.
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Sorry for the rather “clickbaity” title I’m desperate for advice right now.
Monday night my parents invited their friends over and had an orgy. They were not quiet about it and I had a panic attack because of them, I was so disgusted and angry. I purposely made loud noises, jumping up and down (we live in a 2 story house) more than 10 times. I know they could hear it because I’ve gotten complaints in the past about being up late & being heard by walking in my room. But it continued. I put on headphones and ignored it till they left. (Around 11pm this happened)
I got drunk that night because of how upset I was. I avoided them the whole morning after and was not checked on once, apologized to nothing.
Tuesday night I could hear it again moaning and my mom masturbating (12 am) when I was in the kitchen making food. I was NOT quiet and their room is right next to the kitchen so there is no way they did not know. I drank again that night.
Wednesday she was supposed to take me to the dentist but she did not she didn’t wake me up for talk to me at all.
And now I’ve avoided them for four days, again not checked on once, apologized to nothing. My mom will usually send a message asking “if I’m dead” if I don’t come out of my room. Or she’ll send a message saying she got me food but nothing nothing at all. I feel absolutely disgusting thinking about them and I do not want to confront them in fear it will lead to another panic attack or worse conflict.
Them doing this has made me realize just how little they care and think that if they do the bare minimum ex: proving me with necessities and not beating me that Im perfectly fine.
And it’s not just people it’s animals too we’ve had a dog that recently passed (2022) because her whole life they’ve never brushed her teeth, leading to rotting. Only fed dry dog food / human scraps. Never taken her to the vet the only time they did was for her to be put down, & did not brush her hair leading to matting and constantly just shaving it off. They claimed she was a “wild dog / a free dog” she was not. The night before she was going to be put down they went to a party I got drunk that night aswell. I was crying that whole night and I couldn’t even go to see her get put down I couldn’t cry that morning either all the tears were gone I still feel guilty for that.
We had two Guinea pigs (only one now) the sister passing while I was away forced to stay at their friends house because yes again they had a party. While yes she could’ve died from young age I have a grudge and believe it was their fault possibly scaring her into death (loud music).
And now our bearded dragon died last week and I was not told about it AT ALL. I knew he was slowly dying but they did not bother to show me him before they did whatever with him. (I don’t know if they put him down or just dug a grave and buried him.)
They did not take either of these pets to the doctor when they were sick or showing signs. (They took the dog only because she had a large lump on her stomach.)
When I asked to take my Guinea pig who is still alive I was told I was being dramatic and she’s fine. (This was around 2022 she was depressed her sister died and was not drinking water.)
I was taken out of school in 2021 I was in 8th grade I believe and I have not been put back in school since, they’ve promised to do it when I turned 16 but I am 16 currently (turned in February) and I have heard NOTHING about it.
They’ve promised to let me see a therapist (around 2021-2022) and have done NOTHING about it.
I ask for medication and my mom gives me “herbal remedies” which maybe that works for some people but I’d rather eat fucking chemicals.
I am very certain I have ptsd and my brain physically blocks out memories (from other trauma) but mostly from them & it makes me so mad because I know that I will forget this even happened in a couple weeks (if there isn’t any major conflict ig).
I also think I am emotionally numb / bipolar (idrk about bpd but yea) I will cry and not less than 5 minutes later will be perfectly fine and done crying. Off topic (LMFAO) I’m just really here to vent / ask for advice bc I don’t fucking know what to do atp.
They constantly promise things then never do it claiming they forgot.
They leave me home alone almost every week, partying, hanging out with friends etc since I was maybe 11.
And I’m realizing they did the same thing to my brother, they kicked him out for smoking and stealing at 17. (They’re are other factors that I won’t talk about right now.) But they did the same thing to him leaving him alone or with my grandma all the time as a teenager / child. (I am not particularly close with my brother he only recent came back into my life 2019/2020 is maybe when)
And I’ve now turned to my grandma too and there isn’t much she can do, I can stay at her place but I’d have to talk to my parents in order to do so.
Any major fight I’ve had with my parents it always leads to power control , taking my phone / my internet etc or yelling and breaking things claiming in disrespectful, ungrateful, & “live a better childhood then they did” I do not want to cause conflict because for once in my life my life is peaceful, I’ve made online friends and now it’s ruined. I’ve dealt with my mental health myself because they won’t do anything I’ve turned to spiritual ways because I am not religious.
(This is not everything that has happened to me obviously just current events.)
I think my parents are neglectful, narcissists who should’ve never had children.
I am not some angel. I know my hatred for them is speaking but I cannot help it I know I hold a grudge but I’ve been told to “forgive them” when they have never apologized for one of these things ever. I just need any advice literally ever and not just something like “talk to them” pls LMFAOO.

Defending the Draft: 2023 Washington Commanders 8-8-1
Preface:
Hope.
This 2023 season will be the most interesting for the Commanders franchise in a long long time. We enter this season with more uncertainty than I have ever been a part of, however, the one thing the fan base is certain of... is the future is brighter. Dan Snyder purchased the franchise in 1999 and subsequently done nothing but run a blue blood franchise into the ground. This team has lacked direction for a long time and a large part of that was due to Dan Snyder's meddling in the day-to-day football operations of the team. Starting his ownership with signing washed up HOF veterans, to then overspending in free agency (Albert Haynesworth is arguably the worst free agent signing of all time), drug scandal with thetraining staff, the mishandling of the RG3 and Kirk Cousins situation, Not resigning Trent Williams, and lastly we've now reached tumultuous time where his off the field issues have hung a dark cloud over a once proud franchise. Although, lol, his most egregious mistake may be hiring Jim Zorn as head coach. It's egregious that his only punishment is a 6 billion dollar payout for his franchise. I hope the banks bury him and he faces the deserved legal actions. As of now there had been an agreement to sell the franchise to 76'rs and NJ Devils owner, Josh Harris.... and is 20ish members of his parliament. We await to hear news of the reviews from the NFL financial committee to close out the process. Last news I came across was he has cut down the number of minority owners to 20. It will be a pleasure when this agreement is finalized. He could be a terrible owner, but it would still be an upgrade from Synder. Harris, seemingly has been a hands off owner and properly allows the people he's hired to operate the team. This last sports season he's had both of his teams deep in the playoff hunt. This season will be interesting. A lot of questions all around: Sam Howell? Chase Young? Ron Rivera? Eric Bienemy? Josh Harris? I'm not sure of those answers, but I'm very excited to find them out.
Coaching:
HC- Ron Rivera OC- Eric Bieniemy DC- Jack Del Rio
Key Additions: Eric Bieniemy
Ole' Riverboat Ron Rivera is back and going into his 4th season with the Washington Commanders, hopefully his last. I believe Ron Rivera is a leader of men, but I highly question his actual coaching skills and team building. I've currently seen enough of this coaching regime and front office to safely say let's move on. There's been several things that I believed were firable offenses.... the Carson Wentz trade. Some rumors have said that this was a Snyder push. Not entirely positive, but Ron bragged that it was his call. Our team at that point was not a qb away from being really good, let alone a Carson Wentz level of qb. The next fireable offense was starting Wentz over Hienke when the playoffs were on the line. Wentz ended up being benched for Hienke, but it was too little too late. The next fireable offense was not realizing we were eliminated from the playoffs. Going into the last week of the season Ron planned on starting Hieneke. Pretty odd to not know you're out of the playoffs, let alone to test Sam Howell out for next season. Additionally, there's been some pretty questionable roster creation decisions. I absolutely hate the versatile secondary and offensive line philosophy. We currently have a patch work offensive line that has the means to fluctuate between average to below average. Not a single player on the line is top 5 at their respected position. Two years ago we had a top 10 o-line, but that had Brandon Sherff playing like a top 5 guard and Charles Leno having his best season. Our o-line took a significant step back this past season and now looks to be our biggest weakness. Ron has shown to trust his own board and has reached (according to the consensus big board) with every single pick so far. People mistake 2019 as one of his drafts ( Sweat, McLaurin, Holcomb), but he was hired at the end of the season. Take this with a grain of salt as it takes at least 3 years to properly review a draft. Rons 1st round picks have been the following: 2020 pick 2 Chase Young- the correct pick at the time, but hard to botch the 2nd overall pick, 2021 pick 19 Jamin Davis- hated the pick at the time, too early for a linebacker... let a lone a project. On tape he looked lost a lot and made up for it with his elite athleticism. He's shown progress, but nothing showing he's worthy of the pick. 2022 pick 16 Jahan Dotson- looks to be an absolute baller, had him ranked above Olave in the pre-draft process. Was a slight reach above the consensus board, but flashed high end ability. Davis has been the only mistake in the 1st round thus far. When I say mistake I don't necessarily mean player, but the roster building philosophy. Whether reaching on Phidarian Mathis in the 2nd round of 2022. Lol, he was older than Payne coming out of the draft, one year of good production, and was taken a round too early. In the next round Brian Robinson was taken and was really just a body. Haven't really seen anything elite with him so far and was a meh pick. John Bates in the 4th round was egregious. Now I have to give credit where it's due. Kam Curl was an absolute steal and can solidify himself as top 5 safety this season if he continues to play this well. Our other starting safety in Darrick Forest also had a lot of bright spots playing this past season.
Arguably, our best offseason move was signing Eric Bieniemy. I'm absolutely excited. Forget everything about him not calling the plays. Reports from OTA's shows his hands on approach and full control of the offense. One of my favorites things I've heard is he is using OTA's to see what the players can do and crafting the offense to their abilities. Time and time again (Scott Turner) you see coaches say this is the offense and not change anything to match the players strengths. We don't know for sure how the offense will look, but if it's anything close to the motion west coast offense the Chiefs have... boy lessssss gooooooo. Jack Del Rio has been up-and-down in his time in Washington. He's had two very slow starts with the defense to start year, however, they've finished strong and kept his job safe. This is really the no excuse year and everyone needs to show up amd show out.
Free Agency:
Key Departures:
Taylor Hieneke- signed with the Falcons
Cole Holcolm- signed with the Steelers
Bobby McCain- signed with the Giants
Carson Wentz- TBD
J.D. McKissic- TBD
Trai Turner TBD
Andrew Norwell- will be released when he passes a physical
Summary:
In my personal oppinion, the only player that hurt losing in free agency was Cole Holcolm. Linebacker is our one weak spot on defense, however, not resigning Holcolm shows Ron's belief in Jaymin Davis's progression. Cole was limited to 7 games last season and has yet to truly break out. Always played very solid and losing him downgraded the position. We've moved on from both starting guards from last year in Norwell and Turner (previously on the Panthers). Both players were liabilities last season and the guard position was easily upgradeable. Bonny McCain was a solid do it all for is player. Lined up at corner, safety, and nickel throughout the season. Hieneke was a big fan favorite, but was never the answer. We thank you for your service though. Carson Wentz, fuck you. Loved J.D. and his time here, suffered a major injury. Not sure if he gets picked up hy another team.
Key Additions:
Andrew Wiley- 3 years for 24 million, 12 guaranteed. Previously on the Chiefs
Nick Gates- 3 years for 16.5 million, 8 million guaranteed. Previously on the Giants
Jacoby Brissett- 1 year for 8 million, 7.5 million guaranteed. Previously on the Browns
Cody Barton- 1 year for 3.5 million, 3.5 million guaranteed. Previously on the Seahawks
Summary:
Simple. In free agency the Commanders did not overspend and tackled positions of need. None of the players signed are top 5 at their position, however, they could all possibly end up being upgrades to what we have. The most interesting is Andrew Wiley. He allowed 9 sacks (tied for 3rd most)... but man he put on the performance of his life in the superbowl. Another stat that favors him is pass block win-rate, which measure if a lineman can sustain a block for 2.5 seconds. Wylie ranked 9th in that stat last season. I translate that stat to mean can a lineman sustain a block against thr initial rush and counter move off the snap. After that 2.5 seconds the ball is thrown or the play breaks down. Another key factor to this signing is it kicks Samuel Cosmi inside to guard. Cosmi has shown flashes being a high end lineman and I expect him to be even better kicking to guard from right tackle. Guard was our weakest position on the line and Wylie signing helped to upgrade the RG position. Nick Gates is expected to he our starting center. He's coming off of a brutal leg injury that made him consider retirement. Has played guard and center and has some positional flexibility. Jacoby Brissett is the best backup qb in thr league. A solid signing if Howell doesn't pan out. Just a solid game manager that doesn't commit many turnovers. Cody Barton is another unproven guy. Last year was his first year with significant reps. Bobby Wagner leaving in FA and Jordyn Brooks injury made em the guy. He showed flashes of coverage abilities and had a lot of tackles. The tackles weren't necessarily a product of his abilities and more so of cleaning up on a bad run defense team. I've read some notes that he has trouble getting off of blocks. Honestly, haven't watched much on the guy, but reports were he played solid down the stretch.
The Draft:
Link to all RAS scores for our draft class
https://commanderswire.usatoday.com/lists/2023-nfl-draft-ras-scores-for-the-washington-commanders-7-player-class-emmanuel-forbes/
Round 1:16 Emmanuel Forbes 6'1" 174 lbs. Mississippi St
Stats: 58 targets, 31 catches allowed for 284 yards (23 yards a game), 3 tds allowed/ 6 ints, 9 forced incompletions, 2 dropped ints, 46 tackles.
PFF Grade: 87.2
If being a 160 pounds is your only knock then I think you're doing something alright. The word on the street is he is already up to 174 pounds. You wouldnt realize hes only 174 pounds by the way he plays the run. Hes not scared to hit and flies ro the ball. Although, he does struggle to get off of blocks. Emmanuel Forbes, per PFF, had the highest rating in man coverage last season, albeit the snap count was very miniscule. Emmanuel Forbes is a lanky corner than played a lot of zone coverage and is a very good scheme fit for what we do. I like the pick and I'm not upset about taking him over Gonzalez, who also had his own question marks. Forbes set a NCAA record with 6 pick sixes. A lot of those were the right place at the right time, but when you have that high of a number than you're doing something right.
PFF:
Forbes is one of the best ballhawks in this class. Over the course of his three-year career, he came down with 13 interceptions. That’s four more than the next closest Power Five cornerback since 2020. Forbes was unbelievably dominant in man coverage in 2022, giving up only three catches while also snagging three interceptions. He also only allowed a 20% completion rate in man, the lowest among FBS
PROS
Remarkably lanky frame. Limbs for days — ideal for a corner.Has bounce like a hooper. He can challenge any catch point necessary. Elite ability to locate the football. All six of his interceptions came in man coverage.
CONS
Still a stick. Not much mass on his frame. Has eyes that get him in trouble. Some freelance tendencies on tape.Can get bowled over in the run game. Mediocre tackler over the course of his career.
Round 2: 47 Jartavius "Quan" Martin 5'11". 194 lbs Illinois
Stats: 74 targets, 42 catches allowed, 611 yards allowed, 3 tds allowed, 3 ints, 15 forced incompletions, 2 dropped ints, 4 missed tackles, 64 tackles.
PFF Grade: 73.2
Quan is a beast. I thought he was the 2nd best nickel prospect in the draft and a better deep safety than Brian Branch. Martin absolute rockets around the field in the run game. He started his career at cornerback before transitioning into the safety/nickel position. Another elite athlete that is a perfect fit for our Buffalo Nickel defense.
PFF:
Martin came to Illinois and immediately started as a true freshman in 2018. He originally started off as an outside corner before becoming more of a slot corner recently. He had arguably his best year in 2022, as his 15 forced incompletions were tied for the sixth-most among Power-Five corners. Martin’s 91.0 run-defense grade also led all Power Five cornerbacks. While he played corner at Illinois, we project him more as a safety for the next level.
PROS:
Explosive flat-foot breaks. Tremendous burst. Forceful and reliable tackler - 7 misses on the last 129 attempts last two seasons.Fills like a mac truck in the run game. Wants to come downhill and play in the backfield.
CONS:
Pure man skills are work in progress. Overagressive and liability to bite on fakes. cons On the lighter side for an around the line of scrimmage player. Gets caught with his eyes in the backfield on run
Round 3: 97 Ricky Stromberg 6'3" 306 lbs Arkansas
Stats: 9 impact blocks, 11 qb hurries, 0 qb hits, 0 sacks allowed
PFF Grade: 82.4
Nasty. Another guard experience player that spent his last two years at the center position. Award winner of the Jacob's Blocking Trophy for the SEC'S most outstanding blocker award. This is a solid player that has started since he was freshman in the SEC. He's been battle tested since he was kid and has improved every year. He has some knocks about his play strength, but a NFL program should get em to where he needs to be.
PFF:
Stromberg was a three-star recruit in the 2019 class and started for the Razorbacks as a true freshman, mostly at right guard. He moved inside to center for his sophomore season and spent his final three college seasons there. Stromberg’s 82.4 overall grade and 83.7 run-blocking grade in 2022 both ranked fourth among all centers in college football, and his nine big-time blocks were tied for fifth among FBS centers. Not to mention, Stromberg had an incredible performance at the NFL combine.
PROS:
Does not want to let blocks go. Can see him straining his butt of to stay engaged on tape. Tons of experience against top competition. Four-year starter with 3,121 career snaps.
CONS:
Forward lean gets going on the move, making him liable to topple over. Has wide hands to initiate contact in pass protection before resetting. Leaves himself open for stronger rushers.Unimpressive musculature, which leaves questions about how he'll anchor against NFL strength.
Round 4: Braeden Daniels 6'4" 296 lbs Utah STATS:
0 sacks allowed, 1 qb hit allowed, 14 hurries allowed.
PFF GRADE: 72.2 at tackle, 2021 84.4 at guard.
Braeden Daniels is another tackle/guard hybrid, with starting experience across his college career. This guy is on the lighter side but that allows him to be an Explosive athlete. Very raw at the tackle position and will be a developmental guy. I'd like to give em a try as our swing tackle and see how he performs. He was one of the quickest offensive lineman I've seen off the tape and that athleticism will let him climb to the next level. Even on the lightweight side I'd hate to see this guy running at me on the second level.
PFF:
Daniels is an experienced veteran who commanded the Utes’ offensive line for the past few years. He originally started as a guard before switching over to tackle. His best season came in 2021, as he put up an 84.4 PFF grade. Given his time on the interior, Daniels is at his best when run blocking, and his run-blocking grade in 2021 was an elite 89.1. He still held his own as a pass protector, allowing only five sacks in his Utah career.
PROS
Explodes out of his stance. Arguably the quickest get off in the offensive line class. Linebackers don't want to see him climbing. Gets on them before they can even react. Drive in his lower half to still move the line of scrimmage despite being under 300 pounds.
CONS
Wild into contact. He approaches blocks with the adjustment ability of a freight train. consDoesn't bring his hands with him. Clean engagements are rare on tape. Very light by NFL standards (294 pounds at combine).
Round 5: 137 KJ Henry 6'4" 260 lbs Clemson
STATS:
51 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 1 FF, 6 pass deflections, 50 qb pressures, 31 qb hurries, 14 qb hits.
PFF GRADE: 83.1
Loved this pick. Henry was a 5 star recruit coming out of high-school and decided to attend Clemson University. With Clemson having deep lines it took him a couple of years to get on the field. The stats look odd when you only see 3.5 sacks, however, the 50 qb pressures is the key stat. Seems more like bad luck that the sack numbers weren't high. Clemson's whole d-line underperformed (Bresee, Murphey) and they should have picked up more sacks from Henry who was the best DE on that team last year. The team clearly liked him as we traded back up for him. He's not elite athlete, but he is an elite hands guy. Almost had that veteran presence in college. High motor and will immediately make an impact as a rotational de, a position that sorely needed an upgrade.
PFF:
On a team with Myles Murphy, you can easily make the case that KJ Henry was Clemson's best defensive end this year, as he posted better PFF grades than Murphy in every category and even generated 19 more pressures. The only problem is That Henry is 24 years old while Murphy is only 21. Therefore, Henry was expected to produce this well against younger competition. Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean that he can’t still improve. If Henry's play this season is any indication of his potential, he can still have a great NFL career as an edge defender.
PROS:
Heavy hands that are so well refined. Uses them independently to use combination moves.Utilizes hesitations and head fakes so well to catch linemen off-balance. Coaches rave about the type of teammate he is. He is the type of player you want in the locker room.
CONS:
First step that's unimposing for a rusher on the smaller side. Late bloomer. Wasn't even a starter until this past fall. One of the oldest prospects in the class. Already 24 years old.
Round 6: 193 Chris Rodriguez 6'0" 217 lbs Kentucky
STATS: 8 games played, 175 attempts, 904 rushing yards, 6 tds, 5.2 ypa, 5 catches, 41 rec yards.
PFF GRADE: 90.8
Chris Rodriguez is a PFF darling and was rated as the 7th best running back. This guy's is a pure one cut, run you over, power back. There's not much finesse to his game, but there's highlights of dragging guys 10-yards down the field. He does not posses break away speed, but he will get you 40 yards. He was suspended 4 games due to a dui and he may have been drafted higher on am abysmal Kentucky team. An extra 4 games of stats against SEC competition and no suspension may have jumped him into the 4th round. This was an Eric Bienemy guy and they brought him in because of that. Isiah Pacheco was another EB guy.
PFF:
Rodriguez is a powerful runner, but he lacks the burst and creativity to become anything more than a downhill grinder. He has the size and mentality to do the dirty work between the tackles, but it could be a challenge for him to get to and through the hole quickly in the NFL. He’s a physical blitz protector, so teams might envision a role for him as a second-half battering ram and third-down quarterback protector.
PROS:
Two-time team captain. Thick frame with ability to pick up tough yards. Makes tacklers feel his size at impact. Stays square getting through downhill cuts. Low success rate guaranteed for arm-tacklers. Stays on his feet through heavy angle strikes. Allows lead blockers to do their work. Steps up with force against incoming rushers.
CONS:
Below-average burst getting through line of scrimmage. Lacks finesse to navigate tight run lanes. Change of direction is heavy. One-speed running style is easy to track for linebackers. Pad level is a little tall as run-finisher. Inconsistent finding assignment versus blitz.
Round 7: 233 Andre Jones 6'4" 248 lbs Louisiana
STATS: 7 sacks, 5 qb hits, 20 hurries.
PFF GRADE: 77.2
Andre Jones was another hybrid de/lb player coming out last year. He possess 34 1/4" arms which is an elite number for his size. May move to LB, but I'm not sure that's the right move with a 4.71 40-yard dash. He doesn't have much a pass rush move set playing a hybrid role, but does use length to his advantage. A solid developmental pick.
PROS:
Shows a natural feel for setting up blockers and getting them off-balance. His hands are active and violent, and Jones quickly disengages with blockers and counters when his initial move stalls. Possesses accurate snap anticipation and timing to beat blockers off the edge. Offers some versatility, rushing from a two-and three-point stance with the playing speed to stand up in space.Flashes strength as a bull rusher and his energy doesn't plateau. Showed initial quickness and good flexibility to dip and bend. Jones has active hands and suddenness to his movements, demonstrating the ability to counter inside. Has fluid footwork to redirect, reverse momentum and close with a burst. Regularly first off the ball with good snap anticipation. He’s a high-effort pass rusher with an impressive combination of length and speed.
CONS:
Jones has to develop a counter move or two in the pass rush, and Jones needs to make better use of his hands. He lacks the speed of a chase and- tackle guy. He lacks twitch as a pass rusher and lacks the feet and flexibility to threaten around the edge. Jones also shows some stiffness when trying to bend the edge, often getting pushed past the pocket — he seems more comfortable countering back inside.
Draft Summary:
This was my favorite Ron Rivera/Martin Mayhew draft thus far. Going into the draft, offensive line, cornerback, and quarterback were our three biggest needs. Drafting in the middle of the round really took us out of the olineman race. The last one that interested me was Broderick Jones and he went off the board when the Steelers traded up. At that point in the draft it really left us with going cornerback. The Forbes pick was received negatively due to Christian Gonzalez being available. Both players will be viewed under the microscope throughout their careers. I'm fine with Forbes pick though. Another lanky cornerback who was an elite athlete. I did have Gonzalez rated higher going into the draft, but he slid for a reason. A lot of his tape shows him not necessarily being an elite cornerback, but being an elite athlete that plays corner. Forbes actually showed the athleticism, corner skills, and ballhawking ability. Some additional knocks against Gonazalez and his love of the game. Quan Martin was our biggest surprise pick of the draft. A lot of people had him going in the 3rd round, but I think the 2nd was a fine spot. Mayhew after the draft said he wish we were more aggressive at times, which I translated as not getting Brian Branch that went several picks before us. I think Quan was the backup option, but I like him as much as Branch. I think Quan will be a better deep safety and Bramch will be a better nickel. Liked Quan alot, but felt we should have gone o-line at this pick. Ocyrus Torrence would've been a sweet pick here. I think if that happened, the consensus view on our draft would shoot up. Quan will immediately via for playing time as our base defense is essentially a 4-2-5. Kendall Fuller was our only above average corner and now we turned our secondary into a strength. Ricky Stromberg and Braeden Daniels were our next two picks. I like Stromberg’s tape a lot and think by next he will be a solid starter at guard or center. Braeden Daniels will be a nice depth piece and if he's able to tame his play he could develop into a starter. Fun player to watch. KJ Henry was an awesome pick and can see him being a nice rotational piece. Good pick at an underrated area of need on our defense. RB wasn't a pressing need, but it's an underrated area of weakness. I think Brian Robinson is about as average of rb as you will see starting in the NFL. I wouldn't be surprised if Rodriguez slowly cut into Robinson's role over the next two years. Antonio Gibson has had some solid season, but has a severe fumbling problem. Andre Jones will be a depth piece that will need development moving forward.
Offseason summary:
The biggest question of our offseason was our owner, which now appears resolved. Our second biggest question... was who was our starting qb? Sam Howell. Ron preached all offseason that he was going with Howell and I'll be damned, he did. Brissett was good qb to bring in, not someone that would necessarily turn the offseason into a battle, but can be a starter if called upon. Really a true backup qb. I'm all in on the Sam Howell train. I love it for a multitude of reasons. One, he balls out and we have our qb of the future, two he plays well enough we give him another season and maybe Ron is out and we get a high draft pick, three he bombs and we fire Ron Rivera and go for Caleb Williams next season. If anything, it gives us a direction for our future. I'm ready for Ron to go and think he's only as good as his coordinators. I'm concerned that EB AND Howell turn the offense around Ron gets resigned and EB takes a head coaching role... then the offense regressed. Additionally, I don't want Ron to get credit for drafting Howell. It was 5th round pick, you and every team passed on him for 4 rounds. If Howell is that good... it's not because Ron was a genius and drafted him. Very similar to Seattle taking Russel. I am excited about EB being here and think he's the real deal. I will give Ron credit for allowing him to run his own offense as he sees fit. OTA's have shown that EB is pushing his guys hard and is trying to see what he can do with the offense. We really do have elite playmaker and I'm most excited to see what he can do with Antonio Gibson. I can see his role being that of Jerrick McKinnon, with more athleticism. Sam Howell has shown a lot of progress since his rookie season. Had issues with his foot work, but has shown vast improvements. We only have 1 preseason game and 1 NFL game of tape on him. I liked what he showed. When watching tape you could see him going through his progression, man absolutely saved the day wish his escapability- was under pressure the whole game, threw two beautiful deep passes, and won the game. He did throw one bad pick, but was under pressure and playing hero ball. He had one week of practice with the starters, now he has a whole offseason. Our defense should be a top 5 unit next season and we only got better. Chase Young should be fully healthy and he's the X-factor for the number one overall defense. He comes out plays to his full potential then he could be a mid teens sack guy. If we have that sort of production and Sam Howell plays well than we can compete for the decision. Big if though. Our secondary really lacked a 2nd option, Benjamin St Juyce has shown some flashes but didn't seeze the role last year. Now on paper he's the number and that's very solid. We return two top 6 defensive tackles and Montez Swear is one of the most underrated players in the league. He's yet to have a high sack season, but is very much that Jadaveon Ckowney type of player in the run game. Big question mark season for Jaymin Davis. We knew he needed development, but it's been slower than previously thought. Down the stretch he showed flashes that he was coming into his own and now is his year. He's one of the best athletes at linebacker in the league and his ceiling is very very high. Overall I predict we will go 10-7 and challenge for a wild card spot. That record can fluctuate each one, but I'm calling the improvement now. We went 8-8-1 with bottom 3 qb play. The defense got better, we hired a better offensive coordinator, Howell will at the minimum be slightly better than Hienke last season, we didn't lose any major pieces and had a solid all around draft. I'm truly excited to watch how our future plays out.

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Florida

A 54-year-old Black man died after Florida jail officials refused to give him medication that kept his body from rejecting his heart transplant.
Dexter Barry was arrested for misdemeanor assault in November 2022 after allegedly threatening to beat up a neighbor during an argument over wifi access. No actual physical fight occurred. According to body camera footage reviewed by The Tributary, Barry advised an officer at least seven times that he needed his medication to survive. He was booked into Duval County jail, run by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office.
The next day, Barry reiterated to a judge that he desperately needed his medication:

“I am on medication,” Barry told the judge. “I just had a heart transplant, and I haven’t taken my medicine all day since I have been locked up, and I take rejection medicines for my heart so my heart won’t reject it, and I’m almost two years out.”

Barry also told jail officials while in police custody; they made note of it, but never gave him the drugs.

The medical records, initially obtained by Jacksonville civil rights attorney Andrew Bonderud, show that Barry also told the jail’s healthcare providers about his medications. Barry only received his blood pressure medicine and a drug for cholesterol and his prostate, according to the medicine log.
Bonderud said he believes the jail not giving Barry his anti-rejection medicine “was entirely driven by profit and a profit motive.” Bonderud, who is representing Barry’s family, explained, “Generic cholesterol medication probably isn’t that expensive. But the heart transplant medicine is very expensive.”

Barry died at home three days after being released, having missed at least five doses of the anti-rejection medication.

Dr. Maya Guglin, an Indiana cardiologist on the board at the American College of Cardiology, said organ transplant recipients have to take anti-rejection medications because their bodies view the new organ as an invasion that must be fought off.
“If you just drop those medications, everyone is eventually going to reject that organ,” she said.
Even if medication is restarted, it will be too late, Guglin said.

South Carolina

A South Carolina man is suing the York County Sheriff’s Office after four deputies shot him nine times during a mental health emergency.
Trevor Mullinax was in his pickup truck on May 7, 2021, with a shotgun. His mother, Tammy Beason, was beside the truck talking to him. A family member called 911 to request a wellness check, reporting that Mullinax was suicidal.
Body camera footage shows the moment that deputies arrived on the scene, opening fire within seconds of leaving their vehicles.

“Prior to arriving at the Plaintiffs’ location, Sheriff’s deputies failed to plan, choosing instead to ride in like cowboys from a John Wayne movie, defaulting to using deadly force, immediately, without attempting to deescalate the situation, in complete disregard for State law/regulation, Sheriff’s policies, and/or County ordinances,” the lawsuit states.
According to court documents, the deputies fired almost 50 rounds at Mullinax, striking him approximately nine times, including in the head. The plaintiffs’ attorneys allege this happened despite Beason being in the line of fire and Mullinax having both his arms raised.

York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson has defended the deputies’ actions, claiming that Mullinax picked up the shotgun in his truck and the officers feared for their lives. Three of the deputies who shot Mullinax are still on duty.

“I tell all of my deputies that their goal is to serve the citizens of York County and then to go home safely to their families. Mr. Mullinax chose to put these men in danger by pulling a shotgun. These deputies responded appropriately to the threat as they were trained to do. Had Mr. Mullinax made different choices that day, deputies would not have been required to use force,” said Sheriff Kevin Tolson. “Our ultimate goal is to ensure the safety of the public and our deputies. Regardless of the outcome of this lawsuit, we want to reassure our residents that we will continue to provide high quality and professional law enforcement service.”

Mullinax survived numerous gunshot wounds, including three to his head. After shooting him, the department charged Mullinax with allegedly pointing a gun at them.

Plaintiff Mullinax, who somehow miraculously survived the horrific shooting, has maintained his innocence of the criminal charges brought by Sheriff’s deputies. Plaintiff Mullinax denies pointing, brandishing, or presenting a firearm in any threating manner at Sheriff’s deputies, and Plaintiff Beason, who was present and standing directly beside the vehicle in plain view of Plaintiff Mullinax, maintains Plaintiff Mullinax did not point, brandish, or present a firearm in any threating manner at Sheriff’s deputies.

Louisiana

The U.S. Justice Department filed a court statement accusing Louisiana officers of violating the civil rights of an autistic boy when deputies pinned him to the ground until he died.
Eric Parsa (referred to as E.P. in court documents), a “severely autistic” 16-year-old, was at a Louisiana laser tag event with his parents on January 19, 2020. As the family was leaving the venue, Parsa “began to experience a sudden sensory outburst” in the parking lot.

E.P. began to slap himself in the head, a behavior which is a common physical trait for many persons on the Severe Autistic Spectrum Disorder and is a readily observable manifestation of the person’s disability and anxiety.
Along with other repetitive motions, this repetitive head slapping is sometimes referred to as type of “stimming” and can be an attempt by the person with autism to calm themselves when confronted with frustration, anxiety and/or inability to communicate. It can also be used by the individual as a self-calming or self-soothing technique to try to avert or mitigate the severity of an outburst or as self-injurious behavior. It is a visible sign that the person may be experiencing or is about to experience an outburst.

During this outburst, Parsa began physically struggling with his dad. The manager of the laser tag venue called the police to report there was “a man with his autistic child…in a confrontation” in the parking lot.
Parsa then slapped the first officer to arrive on scene; he was taken to the ground and handcuffed. Deputies kept Parsa in a prone position on the ground, shackled, using their own body weight as a restraint.

The physical restraint of E.P. in JPSO custody began with a 6’3”, very large, over 300-pound deputy taking E.P. to the ground, striking him and then sitting on E.P.’s back, holding him face down, for approximately seven minutes. Eventually there were a total of seven JPSO deputies involved, sitting on, handcuffing, shackling, holding down, or standing by E.P. as he was restrained and held face down on his stomach against the hard surface of the parking lot. The final application of excessive force against E.P. involved a deputy using his forearm to place a choke/neck hold around E.P.’s head, shoulder and neck, as he lay in a prone position, with a deputy on his back, and other deputies holding down his arms and legs, while he was handcuffed and in leg shackles.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s deputies sat on Parsa for more than nine minutes, only releasing him after “his body had gone limp and he had urinated on himself.”

9 minutes and 6 seconds. This is how long this extremely dangerous, lifethreatening and forceful prone restraint, involving the use of the deputies’ body weight and holds, mechanical restraints, choke/neck hold, following a period of physical exertion, was applied to an unarmed, obese 16-year-old severely autistic child in the midst of a sensory outburst or meltdown.
During that 9 minutes and 6 seconds, there were several clear and distinct opportunities, when E.P. was secured, was calm, was not actively resisting, when the JPSO deputies failed to de-escalate, failed to appropriately reduce the use of force against E.P., and failed to intervene to prevent the use of excessive force by other deputies.
Once E.P. was handcuffed, they did not roll him onto his side. They did not sit him up or stand him up. They did not secure him in a vehicle. They did not continuously monitor him. Instead, they continued to hold him face down, on his belly, while applying unreasonable and excessive force, resulting in his death. It wasn’t until his body had gone limp and he had urinated on himself that the deputies rolled him into “recovery position.” By then it was too late

Parsa was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. His parents filed a lawsuit against the Sheriff’s office, arguing that the deputies violated Parsa’s First, Fourth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Last week, the DOJ filed a statement of interest agreeing with Parsa’s parents:

Here, the record is replete with facts showing that several Defendants knew about E.P.'s disability before or on arrival to the scene and that others learned of his disability during the encounter…Plaintiffs have also put forth evidence that the deputies, who knew they were responding to a call for assistance with a child experiencing a behavioral health crisis, used force inappropriately to respond to a child’s known disability-related behavior…
Critically, nothing in the briefing suggests that E.P. had a weapon, that officers ever reasonably suspected he had a weapon, or that there was a threat to human life… because abundant facts show that Defendants were on notice of E.P.’s disability, a reasonable jury could conclude that Defendants should have reasonably modified their procedures in restraining E.P.

Others

An 11-year-old Mississippi boy was shot in the chest by a police officer after he called 911 for help for a domestic disturbance.
The family of a Georgia woman who died after she fell out of a moving police car is suing the department.
Three former Mississippi police officers were indicted last week for repeatedly using stun guns on a 41-year-old man, causing his death.
An independent autopsy released by family last week ruled that a schizophrenic man “eaten alive” by bed bugs in an Atlanta jail cell was homicide by neglect.
The FBI is investigating the fatal shooting of a tribal member in Arizona by U.S. Border Patrol after the man called agents for assistance.

Speaker: "welcome back everyone glad to see you have returned today and glad to see new faces." "Now for those who are new here you will be able to download part 1 of the war between the Valtari and Humanity once we are done here." "Let us continue from where we left off."
As stated before first contact between the GU, The Valtari and The Human Republic happened on human territory. With the outcome of the Valtari engaging and destroying the human ship. Fortunately the vessel was able to alert the local forces in the Helios Nebula system. The GU with heavy casualty were forced to withdraw from the system while leaving The Republic on its own. The Nebula was home to a civilian world called Aldnoah with less than 10,000 ship at its disposal.
However, they did have the newest ships, space stations, orbital defense platforms and surface to space cannons.
Even out numbered 100 to 1 the Helios fleet wasn't going to go quietly into the dark. The plan? simple evacuate as many civilians as they can while they prepared for the Valtari assault. Helios command had received an incoming transmission from Republic command.
(Begin of transmission) "Helios command this is Republic headquarters we have received your distress signal and have dispatched the closest fleets to your location." "Estimated arrival of friendly forces in 3 days you must hold out for 3 days." (End of transmission)
Now to be told to hold out for 3 days would be insane even for our standards. And to be fair it wasn't that they weren't prepared for such a fight but they had a reason for such a request. This was their furthest colony they had and it was a very ambitious one at that. They weren't lacking in resources or space for expansion. The reason they made a colony so far out was simple to make first contact.
The humans even with their advancements they were still like children wanting to explore. They wanted to see what was out there and knowing that life existed out there they couldn't stop themselves. They made plans soon after and once it was settled a system was chosen. The system was chosen to be a civilian world as to show that they weren't a threat. Yet, that would backfire on that fateful day. With the civilians from Aldnoah rushing to evacuation centers and the fleet mobilizing to a defensive position the stage was set for a fight. And a fight they would have as no longer than 7 human hours after the transmission from command the Valtari had sent 20,000 ships.
For the past 25 years the Valtari had memorized the entirety of the GUs movement, deployments, tactics and their logistics so fighting them was not a worry. However, the humans not only being new to them but having strange designs for their ships had given pause to their advances. They didn't get to be in their position by being reckless and hot headed they needed information on this new enemy. That's why they delayed for 7 hours before sending in those 20,000 ships to Aldnoah.
Remember the Adjincord reported hundreds of thousands before being destroyed. Seeing only 20,000 warships the humans knew the enemy were probing for any weaknesses in their defenses. Unlike the GU who tried diplomacy in order to solve the problem humanity knew better. As soon as the Empires forces were in range of the defense grid they opened fire and as such they responded as well.
The 20,000 Valtari ships were mowed down like they were nothing. Now you are asking or thinking how if the entire GU arsenal could barely hold off the Valtari and this new species just wiped out 20,000 like nothing? Impossible right? Well you all would be mistaken and I don't fault you for it. Humanity their history revolves around them waging war near constant with one another and even in "peace" they still had conflicts. Those years before the Civil War The Republic had been developing many secret weapons to be used in such occasion and one was used that day. Warp cannons yes a stupid name but they had developed a weapon that after being fired the tungsten rounds would be warped from where they are to their destination.
However, from what little information the Republic had given us we can speculate that the rounds themselves don't warp. In fact we believe they wait a few moments after firing that they activate a warp drive either on their ships or stations. That didn't mean that the humans came out without a scratch. The remaining Valtari ships returned fire and as such before being destroyed had sent half the defense grid to their Graves.
They used this information to plan their next moves seeing as this new enemy is to be tested. Each Human grid comprised of 1,000 ships, several hundred defense platforms, and repair stations.
Aldnoah had a population of 50 billion lives and evacuating all of them would have been impossible with the available ships. By the end of the first day three defense grids were wiped out and only 60,000 Valtari forces destroyed. To the humans those numbers would have made a difference if it wasn't for the Valtari reinforcements. 250,000 Valtari ships arrived and began to encircle their enemies. They didn't want the Humans to make any escape attempts so they made sure to cut off all routes out of there.
Oddly one would wonder where were the GU while these events were unfolding. As stated earlier they retreated with heavy casualties and had jumped several systems to friendly space. That didn't mean they didn't know what was going on but on the contrary drones had been deployed to observe. What they observed was astounding they had just witnessed a force of 1,000 ships and several hundred defenses fought and destroyed a force 20x their size. Even if those defenses were wiped out in the end just doing that was unheard of up until that point in time.
The GU had began to amass its forces to conduct a surprise attack on the distracted Valtari forces. The GU believed that 100,000 ships would be sufficient in supporting this new species in defending its territory. However, as they received more information from the drone they realized they wouldn't be able to help in time.
The GU commander leading the task force witnessed 250,000 Valtari ships jump into the unknown system and began their blockade of it. With events going from bad to worse the commander requested an audience with GU high command for further instruction.
(Beginning of transmission from commander Zorvax to GU high command)
Zorvax: "GU Command this is commander Zorvax from task force spearhead we have disengaged with enemy forces and are awaiting reinforcements" "This is GU command I'm redirecting your incoming call to the counsel chamber they wish to speak to you."
(Momentary pause)
"Commander Zorvax this is counselor Jirax I'm reading your reports here and I'm having a hard time believing it mind explaining?"
Zorvax: "Sir the reports are correct we have engaged the enemy and have made first contact as well." "Sadly we detected the new ship destroyed and from what we're seeing their world here is being encircled as we speak." "Not only that counselor we have detected 250,000 more Valtari ships jumping into that system."
Jirax: "Commander how many ships do you have at your disposal at this moment?" Zorvax: "At this very moment sir we have taken heavy casualties and awaiting reinforcements." "We had planned on attacking the Valtari suppression fleet from their flank however, that has changed." "Those monsters now have 330,000 ships and we're to assume more are on their way."
Jirax: "And do you truly believe we should abandon these newcomers just because we're outnumbered?" "By all accounts this mishaps was an accident but that doesn't mean we are to abandon those fighting the Valtari alone." Zorvax knew the counselor was right but if he attempted to assist the new ones with their defenses now it would be a slaughter.
Zorvax: "counselor I'm sorry to say but while the Valtari are focused on the new ones we can regroup and formulate a counter offensive." For a moment both the commander and the counselor were just quiet. Jirax: "under normal circumstances you would be correct however, fortune smiles upon you today. A few cycles ago we had a fleet stationed two systems away from you for such an occasion." "That fleet comprises of 200,000 ships and will be on route to your position by the end of today." "They'll be put under your command and you're to assist in the defense of the new ones or in their evacuation."
Zorvax couldn't believe his luck even if they could defend them it wouldn't be enough but at the very least they had to do something. As he was finalizing the orders with the counselor his communications specialist interrupted them. Specialist: "Reporting Sir enemy forces have pushed further into the system and have begun the final stages of occupation."
Zorvax: "that's to be expected how many casualties from both sides?" Specialist: "Sir that's the thing from what I'm getting the Valtari have suffered heavy casualties and have held off their advances." Jirax: "how many did they lose specialist? If their forces are weakened enough we might have a chance in push them back." Specialist: "from 330,000 ships to 200,000 ships non of this should even be possible Sir." The specialist was in fact correct what species would be able to not only hold off the Valtari but make them pay for every ground they took. Jirax: "Commander Zorvax normally you’re to fully take responsibility for the situation you’ve brought upon the new ones.” “yet, it seems fortune truly smiles upon you as you have the opportunity to rectify it." "You’re to jump into the system with the additional ships and as soon as you engage the enemy make every attempt to contact the new ones and offer any assistance you can." "If they can hold out just one more day we can help them." "May the enlightened one see us through this."
Speaker: "well everyone once again that's it for today if you wish to download part 1 come to me after everyone has left. "If there's nothing else please have a pleasant evening."

I, 26 Female am currently pregnant with my second child, due anyway now. I suffered a miscarriage just before we got pregnant with this baby. It was recently the one year anniversary of the loss, it was a very hard week. Because of the trauma I went through I have been an absolute anxious mess basically this entire pregnancy worry over everything which leaves me with very little to give outside of taking care of my first born and trying to look after myself, I found myself spiralling into the anxiety most days which made it very difficult to do anything. From the trauma of the loss it brought up old memories from my childhood that I completely pushed into the back of my mind and locked the door on of being molested my my older brother when I was a little girl so that over the last year has been very difficult to deal with and has contributed to my anxiety and depression.
One the exact day of the one year anniversary my grandmother called me which I didn’t want to answer as I had been crying all morning but I answered anyway, it wasn’t long before she started having a go at me for not calling her enough for her liking.. prior to the loss I’d probably call her at least 2/3 times a week. But with my pregnancy sicknesses, exhaustion, being the sole carer for my son as my husband works very long hours to provide for us. Plus the trauma of the loss and then the SA I’ve been really going through it & struggling practically on my own.
I explained that I am very exhausted and not well most days and left it at that. And i stated that she doesn’t call me much either to which she said I don’t always answer my phone so she doesn’t call anymore, which I felt was pretty selfish as I have 2 year old to take care of and I’m not always able to answer the phone which I’ve been very honest about and have tried to give her specific times and days to call multiple times in the past.
I got visibly more distraught & said that today was not the day for this as it was the anniversary and that of course she wouldn’t have remembered and she rolled her eyes and exhaled at me so I hung up the phone. I took the next couple of days to focus on my grieving and also calming down from the conversation. Once I felt better I wrote her a very detailed message regarding what I had been going through and that it was nothing me just ignoring her or doing anything to her just that I was struggling and needed support which I didn’t feel like I had revived during this time. And again I asked for space and left it at that. After about a week I called my grandmother to talk. She completely acted like nothing happened and I hadn’t said anything or told her I was struggling. I wasn’t very surprised she decided to ignore the issue but I at least thought I’d get a “sorry your having a hard time atm” But I got nothing. And she just broke a boundary I set about not speaking about my brother to me. So I was even more hurt by these actions, basically carried out the phone call and left it at that. I didn’t really know where to go from there as I felt very let down. I decided a little distance would be best for me for a while.
While I was taking a step back a few events took place like Mother’s Day, my grandmothers birthday & also their wedding anniversary which I made an effort to reach out for all of them. Apparently this wasn’t good enough as a two days after their anniversary I got a message accusing me of ignoring them and cutting them out of my life. Which made me pretty upset as I wasn’t at all. I replied stating I didn’t know how to move on from being ignored when I was so vulnerable and honest with her and got ignored so I needed some space. To which I got berated about how I all I’ve done is say hurtful things to them&that I am ungrateful for everything they’ve ever done for me. Which I’ve never not told them I appreciate them my entire life so that was very hurtful to be ignored then not believed & misunderstood. She went on to blame me for the relationship with my brother not working which definitely triggered me as he was the one who besides the SA isn’t at all intrested in mine & my child’s life & has proven so many times. So I called her and tried to explain to her that I don’t just say stuff for the giggles I have a very good reason as to why I had to set that boundary which she didn’t want to heard and was just telling me to shut up and listen to her to which I got heated and yelled down the phone that he molested me and that she doesn’t know the whole story and she ignored me again ans kept yelling at me to listen to her and blaming me for family issue etc… so I hung up. Since then I again have not heard a single word from her even after I told her I was molested. I have a very little family due to many family break downs so myself and my grandparents really had what I thought was a good two way relationship but now I’m struggling alot with feeling let down by them more then once. I don’t know if I should just suck it up and reach out again or if if I should wait for an apology or something from her first…..

I posted this in a smaller sub but didn't get any discussion going and have some new information that could be related. I will call myself today to see if BBBYQ is transferrable back in to Fidelity from AST (at least for me). I wonder if this related to the chill list or global lock here https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/dtc-chills-a-big-conspiracy-or-just-fraud-30815 with excerpts further below.
A chill can prevent deposits or withdrawal of chilled securities. I read that as they can do things one way but not necessarily always both. The other thing that stood out to me is "only the company can direct its transfer agent to issue free trading shares" - Curious peoples thoughts on that. My thinking is if BBBYQ is to receive some dividend and it's on the chill list, is it possible to receive such a dividend outside of being held at the transfer agent AST without delays like some Dole shareholders saw?
​
Gensler tweets on May 25th https://twitter.com/GaryGenslestatus/1661760275370979328 about how a cow ended up burning down the whole town of Chicago ( u/scarebearz7). And of course this is happening near the time that u/realpulte who has been tweeting a lot about going after corruption, tweets a pic of Cohen on top of a cow /bull/ steer of all things (all credit to Plur / u/scarebearz7 ).
The same building Citadel is in appeared to have had a fire happen there within the past year (see further below for more smoke if there's actually a fire here so to speak). https://twitter.com/Chicago_Scannestatus/1622616443299811333
Gensler mentions a fire can happen in financial markets as well. Now recently the market maker Virtu has been served several lawsuits and u/taynethebetasequence did an excellent exploration of how this could be talked about somewhat cryptically but in plain site with Cohen tweeting at the Panthers. If you've been following, Vincent at Virtu, a market maker, isn't the only one involved with the Panthers.
https://www.nhl.com/panthers/info/douglas-cifu
Earlier in 2022 Virtu filed a FOA request to see just who the SEC was talking to that could lead to actions designed to benefit retail investors (what was later implemented in part). https://ir.virtu.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2022/Virtu-Financial-Announces-Commencement-of-Lawsuit-Against-the-Securities-and-Exchange-Commission-to-Compel-Compliance-with-Freedom-of-Information-Act-Request/default.aspx
Their ceo is still hitting back at the Sec in public as of April 18th of this year.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/virtu-ceo-slams-gensler-reforms-as-democratic-plan-to-curb-retail-trading-2ea1daf0
Not to mention his personal Twitter page. With the lawsuits that I've looked over not even addressing the apparent siphoning of funds from investors... It makes me wonder.
The security breach and trade secrets that were exposed by former Virtu employees and sued by Virtu - Well the SEC found Virtu at fault - https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-jones-05-01-2023/card/virtu-stock-falls-after-disclosure-of-potential-sec-enforcement-action-w8oxzdAvCUYsPpvvpSDn which is what the slew of lawsuits against Virtu for shareholders of their stock seem to be related to.
While everyone has focused much of their attention on one market maker Citadel, is Virtu a big piece of the equation as well? With the pieces that u/region-formal , u/life_relationship_77 and others have put out regarding share count being traded as if it was much higher than in actuality, it begs some questions.
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Other Citadel fire

Somehow that same building had a small fire before Citadel moved in as well. Just seems a bit odd to mention Citadel in the story and the timing. From 2019 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-28/fire-breaks-out-at-midtown-office-tower-slated-to-house-citadel
​
Secure storage facility where Citadel may have held documents? Or Virtu? Both?
From Feb last year in Chicago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8sw-l8aW80
​

Excerpts from chill and global lock webpage

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"DTC staff may discover (previously undetected) illegal free trading share issuances or other fraudulent activity that will persuade them to limit or suspend its services. In these instances, DTC may make referrals to appropriate regulators including the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. "
​
"When DTC eligibility is lost, issuers will often tell their stockholders, they have no idea what happened. Since only the company can direct its transfer agent to issue free trading shares, most often it knows exactly why DTC limited or suspended its services".
Only the transfer agent to issue shares? I suppose that would include dividends and new shares?
"A DTC Chill restricts DTC’s services, including limiting a DTC participant’s ability to deposit or withdraw chilled securities."
"DTC does not always disclose the reason for a chill or Global Lock, nor does it suggest how long it will be in effect."

Starting 1st Month 7114 AL (After the Landing)/Year 6 of the rule of King Artys VIII. Arryn

The Eyrie

Floorplan of the Eyrie and the mountain below
Various additional information, including the Eyrie residents
The Eyrie is a unique castle, built of white stone on top of the mountain Giant's Lance. It is quite small, especially compared to seats of other Great Houses, and considered impregnable due to its location. The castle consists of seven main towers, each with a different purpose.
Summons and Petitions Thread
Previous Eyrie Open RP Thread
Dragonstone Open RP Thread
The Vale Calendar

Meta

Teleportation is currently allowed in the Vale, so feel free to stop by - but make sure to come in properly:
To get to the Eyrie, one must pass first the older castle, Gates of the Moon, and then navigate along a narrow mountain path through the three Waycastles, Stone, Snow and Sky, before finally arriving to the castle of House Arryn.
The journey can be RP'd, or doesn't have to be, but the appropriate people must be tagged.
Gates of the Moon: GreaterBlueEvil & t3m3rair3
Waycastles:
Stone: [WAYNWOOD]
Snow: GreaterBlueEvil
Sky: [WINGED KNIGHTS]
Eyrie (Crescent Chamber in Warrior's Tower): GreaterBlueEvil & lagiacrus2012
Only 10 MaA can be allowed into GoTM, no MaA can be allowed into the Eyrie. This doesn't apply if specifically given exception.
Access to Moon Tower, Smith's Tower and Maiden Tower is restricted to those actually residing in these towers. The Mountain Below is generally not accessible to visitors.
Arryn household guards (wearing sky blue cloaks) and Winged Knights (wearing white cloaks with stripes in the colour corresponding with their rank, and winged helmets) man the castle and protect the residents.
Rookery use is possible, but requires Arryn permission.

Arryn PCs

King Artys VIII. Arryn (36)

The Eyrie
The monarch of the Vale, more comfortable on the throne as years go by. He had learned to rely on his advisors and his closest family in managing the affairs of the Kingdom, and once again found time for some more entertaining pursuits.

Crown Prince Aladore Arryn (16)

The Eyrie
The heir to the Kingdom. Quiet and pensive boy, Aladore prefers books to people, and does not enjoy the attention that comes with his prominent position.

Alisabeth Arryn (13)

The Eyrie
Young girl, first daughter of the King. Feels a little forgotten amongst her siblings, and often wonders whether she is invisible. Likes to paint.

Alysanne Arryn (10)

The Eyrie
Little girl, second daughter of the King. Cheerful and attention-seeking, and the favourite of her father. Collects crowns, or aspires to.

Oswell Arryn (6)

The Eyrie
Little boy, second son of the King. Named after Queen Myranda's father, he has a big legacy to live up to.

Ambrose Arryn (34)

The Eyrie
The King's younger brother, raised to follow and aid the eldest. Doing what he can for the Kingdom, taking up some of the duties of his brother and still hoping for a family of his own one day. Helping teach the Crown Prince.

Arwen Coldwater née Arryn (31)

Coldwater Burn
The only daughter of the late Queen Myranda, Arwen is a beautiful woman, stubborn and intelligent, ambitious, even ruthless if need be. Enjoying married life, Arwen is still most smitten with her husband, the charming Lord Criston Coldwater, and adores the pair's two children with all her heart.

Albar Arryn (21)

Heart's Home
Youngest of Myranda's children, Albar felt the loss of their mother the most. The boy focuses on playing his lute and taking care of his pet, a little red shoulder-bear called Scarlett. A squire to his cousin, the Lord Corbray, he is slowly learning how to be a knight, but his future plans include more dancing with bears than swordfighting.

Alyssa Arryn (54)

Tyrosh
Adventurous, rebellious and rainbow-haired, Alyssa lives in Tyrosh, having refused to return to Westeros to a life at court she hated and husband she felt no love for. Instead, she lives with her lover, Lucas Ruthermont, and the only thing she regrets is the time away from her elder children, Shiera and Friedrich.
Or perhaps at some point, a mysterious woman by the name of Nalyssa could be found in Westeros, for whatever occasion that might happen. She is, however, most definitely Not Alyssa.

Shiera Durrandon (34)

Borrowed character
Dragonstone
Daughter of Alyssa and Monfryd Durrandon. Adventurous and free like her mother, Shiera dreads growing old or having to act her age. Currently spending time on Dragonstone along with her best friend Meera Grandison. Shiera loves animals and bright colours and despises the very idea of marriage. The only relationship worth keeping is friendship... even if it feels like something more. She has a very grumpy cat named Barracuda and a brightly coloured parrot she taught to say "Help, I was turned into a bird!"

Alfrid Arryn (40)

The Eyrie
The only son of Osric Arryn, Alfrid is deeply religious, and strives to prove himself in the eyes of Gods and men, as a knight, and as man of the Seven. He had married lady Lorra Templeton, though still couldn't rid himself of thoughts of another... Which led to some rather curious consequences.
SCC'd by garintheadequate

Mylenda Arryn (10)

The Eyrie
Daughter of Alfrid Arryn and his wife Lorra. Little girl, talkative and bright.

Myrielle Arryn (10)

The Eyrie
Child of Alfrid Arryn and his lover, Cassandra Bracken. The girl was passed off as a trueborn daughter of Alfrid and his wife, as a twin to Mylenda. She is the gloomier of the twins, with a more negative attitude and a fear of animals.

Alicent Royce née Arryn (36)

Runestone
Married to her complicated love, Royland Royce, and fiercely protective of her young Royce sisters, Alicent is doing what she can to help Lady Ayla with rulership, and lady Eugenie with courtship - one appearing significantly more problematic than the other. Raising her little daughters Roslin and Rowena, she wishes that Royland would stay in Runestone with them, or at least accept her choices that led to the pair leading their lives apart.

Amallia Corbray née Arryn (34)

Heart's Home
Once wild and rebellious, Amallia seems to have settled down with her marriage to Lord Lyonel Corbray, content to protect and raise their two sons and little daughter. After the loss of her first child, she is ultimately grateful that her children are safe and healthy.

Aveline Grandison née Arryn (31)

Grandview
Beautiful and kind-hearted, Aveline might not be the brightest, but she does her utmost to bring light and cheer wherever she goes. Married to Beric Grandison, she couldn't be any happier - what more could she ever want for than having a loving husband and two wonderful children? A part of her little family is also her dog, Socks, named for a fondness of chewing people's clothes, and Periwinkle, the stubborn and finicky cat.

Garrick Arryn (70)

The Eyrie
Feeling the effects his advanced age is taking, not even his wife and children seem to make Garrick feel any better. His children were all grown now, soon to be married and gone from his life, and what then? He spends more time with his sister Cynthea, reminiscing of the old times and people long gone.

Septa Cynthea (34)

Oldtown?
The only child of Garrick from his first marriage, Cynthea the Younger was sent to the Starry Sept in Oldtown when she was ten, and had since taken her vows upon the Seven-Pointed Star as a Septa of the Faith.

Helena Prester née Arryn (28)

Feastfires
Eldest daughter of Garrick and his second wife, Helena is a confident young woman, stubborn and determined. Married to Triston Prester - a man she chose against the wishes of her family - she struggles between the girl she used to be, and the woman she is now, or at least that she feels she should be. The duties of a wife and a mother don't sit so well with her, even though she loves her two small children dearly.

Jeyne Arryn (27)

The Eyrie
Daughter of Garrick Arryn and Andrea Talon. Beautiful and curiously still unmarried.
Borrowed by banterisdrunk

Andrew Arryn (24)

White HarbouThe Paps?
Son of Garrick Arryn and Andrea Talon, doted on by both his parents. Squire to Ser Jayce Manderly, and perhaps visiting a certain island off the Vale's coast?

Cynthea Harroway née Arryn (69)

The Eyrie
The Dowager Lady of Harroway's Town is a kind, loving woman, who enjoys baking sweets and playing the harp. She cares dearly about her children and her grandchildren and various other kin, family always being the light of her life.

Waltyr Harroway (50)

Borrowed character
Winterfell
Waltyr travelled around the world only to find that what he desired most was home and family, which he found with the Princess Sylvia Stark. He couldn't be happier, married and with twin children.

Lucas Stark (Harroway) (15)

Winterfell
Waltyr and Sylvia's son, twin of Lily. Training with a sword, though he is still letting his blond locks grow long, and diligently shaving the few whiskers sprouting on his upper lip. It is getting harder to look like his twin sister (and best friend), but that doesn't stop him from trying.

Anastasia Manderly née Harroway (49)

Borrowed character
White Harbour
A beautiful woman in her youth, Anastasia finds it difficult to make peace with the fact that she is getting older, and her children are growing up so fast. She is content with her husband, Ser Jayce Manderly, and most of all wishes for more time with her family.

Alysia Harroway (31)

The Eyrie
The youngest child of Cynthea Arryn and Howland Harroway had never known her father, growing up in the Eyrie after her mother and siblings escaped from Lord Harroway's Town. She is raised as a noble lady of the Vale, serving as lady in waiting to the royal Princess Arwen Arryn.
SCC'd by dbone256

Meredyth Arryn (61)

Sunspear
The life of Meredyth Arryn was never short of dramatic twists and turns. After eloping with the love of her life who also happened to be the Crown Prince of Dorne, Meredyth gave birth in secret to his daughter. Forced to fake her death to escape the arrangements her family had planned for her, Meredyth watched over young Alarra under the guise of a mysterious Septa Marissa. When terrible news came about the death of Nymor, she had to suffer in silence. But when the time was right, Princess Meredyth Arryn re-emerged triumphantly from the shadows as she appeared at the court of Sunspear in the company of the heiress to Dorne, Alarra 'Silverdove' - or, as she is now known, Her Radiance Nymeria Nymeros Martell.

Sharra Arryn (49)

Starfall
The only legitimate child of Prince Benedict Arryn, Sharra keeps many secrets, involved in an elaborate life-long scheme by her aunt Alerie. Former regent to her daughter, the convenient rightful ruler of Dragonstone, Sharra spends much time with her close companion and secret lover, Alayne Hunter, in their new home in the far South of Westeros.

Rhea Targaryen (30)

Dragonstone
The Princess of Dragonstone took over her lands after the Vale's conquest. Presumed daughter of Sharra Arryn and Jaerys Targaryen, she rules the Island as her father's rightful heir. Married to her love, Nymos Dayne, who provides invaluable support as the young woman tries to balance the tasks of a ruler and a mother.

Jaenara Targaryen (10)

Dragonstone/Eyrie
Daughter of Rhea and Nymos, heiress to Dragonstone. Owner of a blue-and-silver dragon egg that used to belong to her mother, and to her grandfather before that. Bright and inquisitive little girl. Staying in the Eyrie to learn about life at the Arryn court.

Daenys Targaryen (8)

Dragonstone
Daughter of Rhea and Nymos. Owner of a violet-and-gold dragon egg.
Played by House Dayne of High Hermitage, ranger_from_th_north

Marq Arryn (55)

The Eyrie
A promising tourney knight in his youth, Marq's life was marked by misfortune and tragedy. He loves his wife and sons deeply, seeing them as his anchor in the storm of circumstances, but he still feels a crushing amount of guilt for the pain he caused, especially since his wife almost died giving birth to their second son. An excellent warrior - one of the best on the entire Continent - though he takes little pride or comfort in that skill, and rarely ever enters tournaments anymore.

Rupert Arryn (28)

The Eyrie
Marq's firstborn son, struggling to live up to the shining example of his sire and eager for his approval. Rupert had already proven himself capable in melees and jousts, and recently he was knighted and bestowed the right to bear the Valyrian sword Iridescence, and take his father's mantle as the famed Iridescent Knight.

Yoel Arryn (24)

The Eyrie
Second son of Marq Arryn and Ysilla Royce. Somewhat socially inept, but close with his elder brother.
Borrowed by thinkbrigger

Alannys Manderly née Arryn (54)

The Eyrie/White Harbour
Identical twin of Alerie, she was always the wilder, more adventurous of the sisters. Alannys was knighted at her wedding (by her husband, no less), and with Loras by her side she had gone through a multitude of adventures. She holds a resentment for her brother Marq for being respected for his prowess where she needs to hide. However, after her husband's death in the battle of Dragonstone, she had not quite been herself, her strong spirit nearly broken with the love of her life lost forever.

Alerie Waxley née Arryn (54)

The Eyrie
Identical twin of Alannys, Alerie is the more delicate of the sisters. Deaf, but sharp of mind, Alerie was able to find her niche, prospering in the shadows and manipulating events of the world without being seen behind the schemes. She is married to Willam Waxley, Keeper of the Gates of the Moon, and cares for their son, whom she considers the perfect little boy, though she worries he will grow apart from her as he grows older. In addition to manipulating the events of the world, she also found herself able to control animals to a certain degree, and works to gain more control of this ability.

Harold Arryn (40)

The Eyrie
Eldest son of Luceon Arryn and his second wife. Functioning alcoholic and once a child soldier, Harold is maybe a little disappointed he didn't die in any war. Married to lady Jowenna Egen, Harold might be starting to find a place for himself in the world with the help of his wife and children.

Alaric Arryn (38)

Longbow Hall
A knight in service to House Hunter, Alaric had forgone his royal title to marry a girl by the name of Sybell, a commonborn daughter of a merchant, whom he had loved dearly ever since he saved her from some bandits many years ago. Serving as a Marshal in Longbow Hall, he is determined to earn his place.

Matthos Arryn (33)

Eyrie
Formerly warded in the Stormlands, Matthos returned to the Eyrie to marry lady Alyssa Azure. He was not happy with the arranged match and the control the head of House Arryn exerts over his life, but he does genuinely care for his wife and their little daughters.

Argella Arryn (4)

Eyrie
Daughter of Matthos and Alyssa, little girl.

Aemma Arryn (1)

Daughter of Matthos and Alyssa, little girl.

Alester Arryn (32)

The Eyrie
Lonely, stubborn and somewhat spiteful towards his family. Married to Mya Finch, but in love with her brother, Ser Mychel.

Martyn Arryn (28)

Feastfires
The youngest of Luceon's many children, he is perhaps the only one to have truly loved and respected their father. Squire to a western knight, he is not quite sure where his home lays and where he would feel at peace.

Petyr Stone (38)

Dragonstone
Former squire to Prince Marq Arryn, who tried to remedy his older brother's misdeeds, now a promising warrior and a knight in his own right. Petyr serves as the Captain of Guards on Dragonstone.
SCC'd by klrpizza

Arielle Stone (35)

Eyrie?
Daughter of Prince Benedict Arryn and Gwen Storm. Sent to Strongsong to be raised and tutored by lady Ursula Belmore, along with her half-sister Deidre. Astonishingly beautiful and appropriately arrogant. Occasionally following around her aunt Alerie.
Played by House Toyne, principality_of_pan

Beric 'Blackmoon' Storm (33)

Grandview
Son of Prince Benedict Arryn and Gwen Storm. Benedict was unaware of his existence, as Gwynevere left him before he could learn she was pregnant. The boy lived in Braavos with his mother, terrified of her drunken excesses, before lady Lucinda Grandison saved him and took him with her.
SCC'd by ranger_from_th_north

Elyse Greywing (29)

Winterfell
Daughter of Benedict Arryn and Olivia Prester. Utterly disappointed by her mother, she and her brother Edrick had ran away from their family, and found refuge on Bear Isle in service to Queen Talia Stark. They followed Talia to Winterfell, only to be kept there for reasons they don't quite understand. What is even happening in her life these days, where is she heading?

Celene Featherfield (29)

Grandview
Daughter of Benedict Arryn and Margret Snow, a Woolfield bastard, though legitimised through the kindness of House Grandison. Celene stays in Grandview and learns from her aunt what it means to be a proper lady. Close friends with Edmund Prester, a person who shows her kindness not usually seen towards one of illegitimate birth.

Nathaniel Stone (26)

Dragonstone
Son of Benedict Arryn and Ella Ryston, along with his cousin Alec Stone sent to Gates of the Moon to be raised after his mother joined the Silent Sisters. Formerly squire to Ser Petyr Stone, whom he admires greatly, Nathan was recently knighted for his service.

Vorian Blackstone (26)

Gulltown
Son of Benedict Arryn and Cissy Blackstone. Staying in Gulltown with his mother.
Played by lagiacrus2012

Myranda Blackstone (24)

Gulltown
Daughter of Benedict Arryn and Cissy Blackstone. Somewhat rude and blunt, Myranda is taking after her mother in many ways.

Steffon Storm (18)

Grandview
Last of Benedict's bastards, son of the Stormlander lady Joy Redaxe. Staying in Grandview with his mother.

1. The X-Files

SUMMARY: Two FBI agents named Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigate strange unexplained phenomena that the rest of the FBI ignores, such as UFOs, secret government conspiracies, the paranormal, and other things that defy explanation. All the while secret agencies in the shadows try to cover up the truth.
RATING: 9/10, my favorite show of all time, the two characters are so great and memorable, and every episode has an intriguing mystery you won't imagine. It's one of the few shows that treat conspiracy theories and cryptic stuff in real life seriously, and the grounded realistic tone helps the mood and sets it apart from other similar shows.
​

1. Twin Peaks

SUMMARY: After the murder of high school student, Laura Palmer, an FBI agent named Dale Cooper is called to the small mountain town of Twin Peaks to investigate her death, but he soon finds out that the town and the mystery surrounding her death go much deeper than anyone could have thought.
RATING: 9/10, this is the show that changed television as a storytelling medium, and easily one of the weirdest TV shows you'll ever see (as common with David Lynch). This show mixes every genre you can imagine into one pot, and it all blends really well into a world that you can't help but be fascinated by, and every single character is so likable and memorable. Despite being pretty simply made, it really manages to convey a feeling of otherworldliness. The villain in this show is one of the most terrifying in TV history. Also, expect to be confused a lot.
If there's one thing I have a gripe about this show, it's that after the death of a certain character in season 2 (you'll know who I mean), the show really derails its plot for the remainder of the season. But in the final episode of season 2 and for season 3 (The Return), the show becomes amazing again. Oh, and the prequel movie "Fire Walk With Me" and the deleted scenes compilations movie "The Missing Pieces" is great too, check those out as well.
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1. Aqua Teen Hunger Force

SUMMARY: We follow the misadventures of a trio of sentient fast food items including the mean and foul-mouthed Master Shake, the straight-thinking and smart Frylock, the lovable but idiotic Meatwad, along with their fat grouchy neighbor Carl, getting into random weird situations in their bland and pathetic everyday lives.
RATING: 8/10, this is easily my favorite animated show, definitely one of the funniest, and it never gets boring to watch. In the middle of shows with fantastical larger-than-life ideas, it's fun to watch a show where every single character is a pathetic deadbeat idiot and lives a very bland life that just happens to have weird fever-dream stuff in it. It's a funny silly show to just turn off your brain to and enjoy.
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1. Project Blue Book

SUMMARY: Based on the real-life Project Blue Book, this show follows the cases of Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Captain Michael Quinn of the US Air Force as they investigate sightings of UFOs and aliens around the country.
RATING: 8/10, this is the next X-Files, except more UFO-focused. The characters here are all great, especially the two leads, they're both really likable and enjoyable and it's fun seeing the progress and growth of their friendship. The mystery of this show is also pretty intriguing despite being the usual UFO and government coverup mystery like X-Files. Still upset it got canceled on a cliffhanger, hopefully, it'll continue.
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1. Poirot

SUMMARY: A murder mystery show following a short Belgian gentleman named Hercule Poirot, solving some of the most heinous and complicated crimes with his little grey cells.
RATING: 9/10, one of my favorite murder mystery shows, a big part to the character of Poirot, who is so sweet and endearing but also very calculated, intelligent and filled with faith-based struggle on human condition. The side characters are great too, such as Poirot's best friend, Captain Hasting, Chief Inspector Japp, and Miss Lemon. This is a show that actually gets better with each season, and has one of the best and saddest endings to any TV show.

1. Father Brown

SUMMARY: A priest named Father Brown who lives in the village of Kembleford, solves gruesome murders with his close companions that the incompetent inspectors fail to solve with the intent of saving the sinners' souls.
RATING: 8/10, another of my favorite murder mystery shows, once again the characters are all really likeable here, with Father Brown being a kind understanding man who only wishes to help people, even those who committed murder or are discriminated in 1950s society. The cast are all very endearing, and it's always fun seeing their dynamic and seeing Father Brown help people, even in the most grizzly murder cases.
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1. The Chosen

SUMMARY: A modern serial adaptation of the story of Jesus, with a more grounded, historically accurate, and more relatable down-to-earth characters and interpretation of the story, being told from different perspectives of the people Jesus recruits.
RATING: 9/10, easily my favorite adaptation of the story of Jesus after "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977). I really like how this show attempts to be a lot more historically accurate and have a more realistic feel to it. The show also really succeeds in making the characters relatable and likeable, since in most adaptations you mostly just follow along with them without feeling to much about them, so it's nice this show gives every single character a more defined personality. Also, this is the only interpretation I've seen where Mary Magdelane is one of the disciples, so huge plus for that.
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1. The Twilight Zone

SUMMARY: An anthology series following different characters across different settings and time periods and situations where strange unexplainable events happen in mix of science fiction, horror, comedy, fantasy, superstition, and others.
RATING: 9/10, if you love shows where weird supernatural stuff happens, this is the show for you. Every single episode is different and really great, offering something different, it can be funny, weird, heartwarming, depressing, and even horrifying, you never know what you're gonna get. Despite every episode being 22 minutes and having a different character each time, the show manages to make every single character relatable, likeable, and sympathetic in a pretty short amount of time, and you really do get worried, feel sorry, or root for them. Definitely a must-see.
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1. Midnight Diner

SUMMARY: An anthology series about the owner of a small alleyway diner that opens from midnight to dawn as he meets and learns the life story of different people who different people who come into the diner as he cooks whatever food they request.
RATING: 9/10, it's a very nice slice-of-life show with a pleasant little setting, you get to watch the delicious-looking cooking while also learning and sympathizing with the different people who eat at the diner.
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1. Samurai Gourmet

SUMMARY: A recently retired man named Takeshi learns to appreciate life differnetly than he ever did before, especialy for food. He also develops a samurai alter ego in his mind that represents his inner warrior, who does what he wants or what he should do, an ideal self in a way.
RATING: 8/10, a feel-good show like Midnight Diner, the main character is just really heartwarming, and watching him experience life in a new way in a stage of life a lot of people consider to be the end is a really nice message. The show is also really funny, and the food looks great. Definitely worth checking out.
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1. Xavier: Renegade Angel SUMMARY: A weird, faun-like shaman guy named Xavier, who rambles the world in order to ponder deep questions and help others to reach spiritual enlightenment using deep philosophical ideas of life. Problem is, he doesn't actually understand any of the stuff he preaches, is a huge narcissist, looks for trouble and help people where there is no trouble, and ends up destroying everything in the end.

RATING: 9/10, easily one of the funniest shows I've ever seen, there's not one single scene or line of dialogue in this show that isn't funny or memorable. This is a very one of a kind show, and it's easily one of the weirdest shows you'll ever see in your life. The animation looks ugly and terrible, but it was done on purpose and it's part of the charm. The show somehow manages to be stupid yet genius at the same time, it's clear the writers of this show are very smart, and every single episode is stuffed with at least fifty jokes a minute, that it's possible to watch the same one-minute clip from the show, and discover a joke you didn't notice until your fifth viewing. It also has a lot of smart satire on spirituality and New Age spiritualism, and mocking the people who preach them through the character of Xavier. This show is only twenty episodes long and every episode is only eleven minutes long, and it's really worth checking out, clips and episodes are available on YouTube. Also the theme song, listen to the theme song.
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1. Columbo SUMMARY: A seemingly ditzy, slow and easily distracted police lieutenant named Columbo, gets into cases of near-perfect murders committed by people of very high-intelligence. But Columbo isn't as slow or distracted as he seems, and he always gets the killer to reveal themselves.

RATING: 9/10, easily one of my favourite and best detective murder mystery shows out there. But what makes this show different from every other murder mystery is that there is no mystery. Every episode follows the killer's story, not Columbo, from their background, their motivation, and how they committed the crime and cover it up. Columbo never seems like a competent officer or serious threat, which always leads to the killers underestimating him, and Columbo knows these guys are smart, and it's near impossible to prove the crime by the usual means most of the time. But Columbo is good at reading people, noticing little flaws in their innocent act, which allows him to tell something's off about someone. Because the crime is near-perfect, Columbo doesn't always gather one damning piece of evidence, rather he tricks the killer into revealing themselves by placing them with the main evidence and gets themselves to accidentally reveal themselves as the killer. It's a very unique, funny, and enjoyable show and worth checking out.
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1. Rome SUMMARY: The show follows two Roman soldiers named Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo and their intertwining lives of trouble with all the major events in ancient Rome, all the way from the rise and death of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, to the rise of Augustus.

RATING: 9/10, this show was essentially HBO's Game of Thrones before Game of Thrones actually came out. The show runs for two season, but is filled with every drama, action, and tragedy of ancient Rome you can imagine. The two (closest things to) protagonists, Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus are a very enjoyable duo, and you always root for them to be in a better situation despite both of them doing pretty terrible things. The drama involving the more major historical characters is also great, from Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Atia of the Julii, and Caesar's nephew, Octavian. All the characters in this show are as grey as can be, as Rome is a society where all sorts of terrible things are normal. The characters can go from decent to despicable and from hateable to being sort of admirable so many times, and you can shift a lot from liking a character to hating them and vice versa. The only disclaimer is this show has a lot of violent and sexual content, and I do mean a lot. Otherwise, go check it out, it'll be worth it.