My verizon prepaid phone won't activate

First things first, I'm most likely AuDHD, or neurospicy as I've heard some people call it 🤣 So right off the bat I'm looking for someone who doesn't care about stuff like that 🙂
Because of my AuDHD I'm shy, very shy, and quiet. I like to chat online A LOT because I'm often uncomfortable speaking. So an online partner would be lovely 😅 We can chat all day, trade stories and hobbies, or play some games online if that's your thing. I'm not opposed to taking it beyond online eventually, if we enjoy eachothers company. But just online for now, okay?
Little more about me: I'm Caucasian, 6'2, 275lbs, I'm pretty strong, but a little chubby too. I like to call it the teddy bear body 😋 I'm currently dieting and try to keep active so I'm looking to lose a bit more weight, if I can keep away from the sweets 😅
I'm artistic, empathic, gentle, kind, intelligent, introverted, and LOVE spending time online with my partner. Seriously, if you're someone who doesn't like to chat online a lot, we probably won't get on very well 😅 I want to feel connected and have someone who wants that same feeling, to feel not so damn alone in this cold world. I want someone who can be there for me, and I promise I'll always be there for you 😊❤
Art and love are what give this life meaning. I have the art, now I just need the love 🥰🫂
I'm not one to sugar coat myself so I'll say right now that I live with family at the moment, I have some issues with intimacy, and I do a little adult writing for a particular subreddit when I'm in that mood 😅 If you don't like any of that, that's just fine. Good luck on your search for love ✌🙂
I have a few hard limits/preferences. No heavy drug use, no alcoholism, no smoking. (Weed is okay, especially if it's medical, I don't partake but I don't mind it.)
No religious zealotry, I don't mind religious people as long as they aren't obnoxious about it. Proselytism is a HARD pass for me.
I'm not comfortable with obesity. Thick, or chubby is totally all good with me, more than good 😏 But I've got my limits when it comes to weight.
And lastly, I'm only looking for partners within the US/Canada or mayyybe Europe, but the further apart our timezones are the more conflicted our schedules will be 😵
Scammers, sellers, and catfish keep moving, I'm not your mark. I'm here for love, and I'm not an idiot. I will be asking for photo verification at some point to make sure you are who you say you are, and I'll gladly provide the same thing in return.
Tell me your favorite color in your opening message, it's important to me that you read my whole post, so that let's me know you did 😋 anyway I look forward to meeting you. 🫂

Needing to vent. The past 3-4 years of my life have honestly been hell. I don't think I can keep going for much longer. My soon to be ex wife abandoned me and took our daughter and dog and moved out of state... I won't say which state due to privacy, but a far enough state that I need to fly there to visit my kid. And when I am there, all I feel like is a visitor... I don't feel like her father, I feel like someone who just visits her. My ex talks sh*t the entire time that I am there which is not easy. She'll say that our breakup is my fault and she'll talk about dating other men right in front of me. And before she left me, she was very abusive and manipulative towards me. She was even physically abusive a few times.I miss my daughter and my puppy so much. I BEG my ex to bring our daughter to visit but she refuses.
Work also blows. I'm working a job I used to love but I now despise . My anxiety gets so bad at work that it drives my IBS to level 1000 and I'm literally having to go to the bathroom every 20 minutes! I know other co workers are noticing and talking behind my back. I've tried applying to other places with zero luck. I can't not work, I NEED the money.
I can't afford a lawyer. STBXW drained our joint account. IDEK how I'm gonna make my truck payment that's due in two days. I'm rated, but not by much to make a difference in my financial situation. I also pay her car note, car insurance, cell phone, and health insurance on TOP of my mortgage and other bills I have at home. I also owed this year on federal taxes.
Can't afford therapy. I was regularly seeing a family therapist but it was costing $400 per session AFTER insurance! Who can afford that??? I tried going to mental health at VA hospital Aurora, Colorado but I was turned away, told to come back on Monday! Aurora is 1.5 hour drive from where I live. I also tried reaching out to my company's EAP (employee assistance program) but nobody from HR is answering my emails or phone calls. Only thing I've been able to do is visit my doctor and try different meds and none of them work so far and give me terrible side effects.
My mental health is so bad that it's impacting my physical health. I now have chest pains and I need an echocardiogram to see whats going on with my heart. Another medical bill that I can't afford.
I'm just so unhappy... I just want peace and happiness in my life. I've been through some very dark times in my life but this period is the darkest.

I am barely getting 6 mbps download. I have a Cox panorama modem. When I test the router to the internet on the orbi app I am getting 847 download. House is 3100 sq ft. 2 levels. Router is downstairs with modem. I have had the orbi system for over 5 years and it just seems to be getting worse. I have 172 devices and while I do have a lot of devices it seems that it is showing devices that aren’t currently connected and sometimes the devices are showing up twice. For example, my kids (who don’t live here) phones are showing up a couple of times. I have 35 active devices. Firmware is V2.7.4.24. Would upgrading to a newer orbi system be worthwhile? I am less worried about the expense. I need a fast reliable wifi for virtual meetings. Any suggestions? I have recently powered down, unplugged in correct order (modem, router, devices). Helped for a little bit (like maybe an hourish) but that’s it.

So throughout my posts and comments I have already shared a few of mine.
This particular one covers my headcanon on his pre-Hogwarts and summers during his first four years at Hogwarts: https://old.reddit.com/HPfanfiction/comments/13gfgtx/tom_riddle_discovers_his_love_for_reading/
Some other ones that I have:

• Lestrange and Avery were his best friends. Lestrange (the one that was contemporary to Tom's time in Hogwarts) was the closest thing he would ever call a friend. In fact he might have been his first and last true friend, while Avery was mostly what Pettigrew was to James and Sirius. Later in life, when the Death Eaters were formed, the trio wielded almost equal power within the organization. However Tom was the real charismatic leader, while Lestrange was the cautious voice of reason. Avery was pretty much the weak link. When Lestrange realized what direction Tom intended to take the organization in (and refused to listen to his advice) and furthermore saw his children, Rodolphus and Rabastan admiring more Tom's ways than his, he decided to turn informant for the Ministry. This lead to a lot of arrests and even deaths. Lestrange also tried to turn Avery to his side and kick Tom out of the organization, but Avery much more preferred Tom as he saw him as a real leader so he snitched on Lestrange. Upon finding out, Tom was heartbroken and that's the point he became extremely cynical and refused to allow anyone else to get too close to him. He captured Lestrange and brutally tortured him, ripping his tongue out in the process. Then he presented a nearly dead Lestrange to the Death Eaters and said the Aurors did this to him. He convinced his sons to kill him "to put him out of his misery" as a last mocking to his former best friend.
  
• Tom and Dumbledore had a similar relationship as Harry and Snape. Tom perceived Dumbledore as being unfair towards other houses and favoring Gryffindors and while, unlike Snape, Dumbledore never showed direct cruelty or meaness towards Tom, he always kept a close look on him and would often tax even the smallest mistakes he would catch Tom making.
  
• In his first two years Tom was really withdrawn, behaved mostly like at the orphanage. He spent of his time in the library and his classmates found him rather creepy. He was trying to figure out his ancestry but since there were no records of a Riddle family and Marvolo was not a notable man enough to be recorded anywhere, he was getting nowhere. He did however excel in his classes and occasionally helped Avery (who was sort of like Neville and he kind of felt pity for him) with his homework and Avery tried to form an awkward friendship with him. However when the Gryffindors decided to pull a prank on the Slytherin's new chaser, Lestrange by disillusioning a bunch of snakes and hiding them in his Quidditch uniform, Tom Riddle used his Parseltongue to control the snakes (kind of paralleling Harry's reveal in book 2) and chase away the Gryffindor bullies. It was then that he formed a close relationship with Lestrange, after the latter asked him if he was related to the Gaunts. Partially out of interest for the source of information that Lestrange could provide and partially because Lestrange was genuinely a likeable person, Tom developed a close friendship with him. It was also due to the information provided by Lestrange that he was able to track his ancestry to Slytherin.
  
• In the third year, due to unforeseen circumstances, the Qudditch game between Gryffindors vs Slytherins also got switched to the last one to parallel PoA. Tom Riddle, now becoming more outgoing, decides to help the Quidditch team to pull a prank on the Gryffindors. I haven't thought exactly what but likely something to do with hexing brooms. That's when he earns the respect of Nott, Rosier, and Mulciber which are older students in the team.
  
• I have detailed in the link above Tom Riddle's brush with death due to Dragonpox in the link above and how he came to name himself Voldemort as well as his rising interest in defying immortality so I won't bore you again with it. However the Dragonpox epidemics also affects professor Merrythought who is quite old. She has to take a sabbatical year to recover. In turn paralleling the events from OotP, the wife of the first muggleborn head of DMLE is hired as a supply teacher (she's also a Muggleborn). Due to the atrocities committed during WW2, she starts pushing an agenda of Muggle tolerance and using magic to help them. This annoys the purebloods of Slytherin and it is during this time that Tom discovers the Chamber of Secrets. He plans to use the Basilisk to terrify the new professor. After several attacks that fail to chase her out of school, he decides to finally kill her but he accidentally kills Myrtle. This scares Tom and makes him back out of his plan. Still since he already killed someone, may as well try his hand at creating a horcrux. However Myrtle's death does also manage to chase away the supply teacher from the school. This leaves several students without a DADA teacher before the OWLs. In an attempt to fill that demand, Tom starts a study group with his fellow Slytherins where he teaches them dark arts, and paralleling it to Dumbledore's Army, he calls it the Knights of Walpurgis since the study group is started on the night of the 30th of April, as Tom is a huge fan (as I detailed in the link above) of astronomy.
  
• However not all Ministry workers are satisfied with the closing of the Chamber of Secrets case and an over-zealous Auror lingering on, accidentally overhears Tom bragging to his gang about the Chamber of Secrets and how he plans to reopen it again next year. This prompts him to keep a close look on Tom and under the pretense that he thinks a student might have been involved in the murders of the Riddle family, he is reluctantly allowed to return to Hogwarts the next year because of a compelling argument he made to his bosses that he has suspicions a child might have been involved since the Trace got activated despite no known magical child living in Little Hangleton. And since Dumbledore conveniently left the school to get more actively involved in the war against Grindelwald, this Auror replaces him as a Transfigurations teacher. This annoys Tom to no end since he feels the new Transfigurations teacher is hounding him even worse than Dumbledore and he can't afford to reopen the Chamber of Secrets.
  
• Meanwhile Tom learns of a legend that the four founders once saved some goblins from a "sticky situation" and befriended them. At the Hogwarts inauguration, an envoy of goblins came and presented them with four gifts. For Gryffindor it was a sword that would make him as powerful as every enemy he defeated, for Ravenclaw a diadem that retained the wisdom and knowledge of all its wearers and transfer it to the current wearer, for Hufflepuff a cup which when filled with something it would never end (kind of fits the protections in Gringotts) and for Slytherin, who was blind and relying on snakes to guide him, a locket that would allow him to see as far as the soul of humans (hence the eyes within the locket that Harry sees when he opens it). Tom instantly becomes obsessed about possessing this items. Also realizing he has no chance of reopening the Chamber as long as the Auror is within Hogwarts, he will want to leave it as a legacy and thus creating other horcruxes. It is then when he realizes that if he made an object out of each of the founders' relics and the ring he stole from his uncle (which while he didn't know what it was sensed its immense magical power) and becomes fascinated by the idea of splitting his soul in seven. Hence his question for Slughorn.
  
• In the following year, he researches all the relics. He manages to find from Helena what happened to the diadem, learns that the locket stayed with the Gaunts and makes the connection with what Morfin said that his mother stole the locket, learns that the cup also stayed with the descendants of Hufflepuff which are now called the Smiths and learns how to get the sword. So he starts a plot to steal the sorting hat but when he manages, the hat is quick to read his mind and tells him that he'll never be able to make the sword his as Gryffindor left it to the Gryffindor house since he did not have any children and enchanted it so that it will forever remain to the worthy Gryffindors. This prompts Voldemort to drop his plan of making it a horcrux and decide he will in time find another powerful item to use it as a container for his seventh part of the soul.
  

That's it for now. If you have any other headcanons about the lesser known deeds of Tom Riddle, feel free to share. As for me, I have developed a biography for him a while ago, but seeing that I am too old to write fanfiction anymore, feel free to borrow also any of the ideas.

Hi guys so long story short I've been seeing this girl a about 2 months. She's talked about being exclusive but we haven't had to much of a serious covo about it. So she was baby sitting a friends kids while they where away and she had pics of them on facebook stories and stuff and she said she had them for fri and sat night.
She was texting me non stop last night and I told her I was at the gym so I sent her a message when I was done and I didnt hear from her which was strange for her.
She's the type that doesn't have her active status on and I noticed she had It turned on and she hadn't opened my messages. So I gave her a ring and before it rang out it hung up then the phone got turned off for an hour. I saw she tried called me back around 2:30am and I woke up to a few aggressive messages with her telling me to stop being an asshole and that she was sick and throwing up.
I simply said to her that all good but why hang up on me and ghost me all night? But yeah ok im the asshole. She replied that's it we are done here with a bunch of message's she deleted and basically said she wasn't online and was sick and enjoy your day. I haven't heard from her since.
I get the feeling when I rang her I interrupted her doing something or jumping on Chad's dick and it's like she went from off the charts interest level to friendzone with in a few hours and way to easy to say we are done here.
I haven't text her since but shes been stalking my socials still.So am I being a bitch here or should i be suss about this? Should send her off to the streets or give her a another shot?
I do know she's playing the field a bit here to as I saw messages from a guy and she said oh yeah I get guys messaging me sending me dick pics all the time and I just block them.

So my father took out a mobile phone contract with EE (or Orange back then) over 20 years ago with both him and my mother on the same contract but for separate phones. For the last 8 years or more he's been suffering with dementia and my mum was able to talk to EE and they gave her the go ahead to essentially be the one to manage the account and the permissions to speak for both of them.
About 5 years ago, my dad's was changed to a pay as you go sim card because he couldn't really figure out how to use a phone anymore and my mum remained on the contract. Her phone has been upgraded with no issues a few times. She has done all this without them ever questioning anything. Yesterday, we called to upgrade her again because the contract ended last month and her phone is failing but we were told there was absolutely nothing that can be done without my father speaking to them.
My father, at this point, is almost completely non-verbal and most definitely incapable of giving any kind of permission. EE informed us that we should get power of attorney and then get back to them and until then the contract cannot be changed, upgraded or terminated. My mother is now stuck with a barely functioning phone and obviously, part of the contract payment is still paying for a 2 year old phone that she soon won't be able to use.
It's worth noting that we know that not getting a power of attorney in place was foolish but my dad was in complete denial of his diagnosis and as a very proud (or stubborn) man, did not want to concede that he wasn't capable of dealing with the finances anymore and refused to partake in the process. By the time it was desperately needed, we were told he was no longer capable of agreeing to it from a legal standpoint.
We looked into applying for either my mother or me to be his deputy but I'm certainly not in a position to pay for the application and possible hearing and my mother is also stretched because of the costs she's incurring for his care.
Is there any way at all to get around the phone issue, even if it's just to terminate so my mum can take out one in her own name? I appreciate any advice anyone can give me - my mum is already suffering depression because of my dad's situation and this is making it worse.

Haven't bought a phone in a long time and now phones cost as much as a used cacomputer? I spent $1400 on building a gaming computer some years back, no way am i paying that much on a phone even if it's monthly. That's way too much. Why has society allowed this to happen?
I used to buy all my cell phones from ebay, but was considering going to a retailer since best buy seems to have manufacturer warranties (not sure what they cover) and T-Mobile (my carrier) doesn't cover much in their warranty plan https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/warranty-exchanges.
Anyone know how warranties work at best buy, tmobile, etc.? And what do you suggest?
I have both a samsung galaxy s8, and samsung galaxy A12. Both have mic issues that i can't seem to fix.
What are some good phone comparison websites, forums, etc.?
What's the best phones that works with T-Mobile that is below $200? And can you get a phone from retail without activation? Would putting your sim card in the phone satisfy their activation requirement?
Again, i haven't bought a phone myself in a very long time, so please tell me all advice you can, i have no clue what to do when it comes to phones. Thank you.

I (18F) just graduated from high school a few days ago. I study abroad in an IB school and it was so challenging that I'm surprised I graduated, though I won't get the results of my finals until July. I've spent the last two years having breakdowns and crying myself to sleep and BEGGING my parents to let me change schools because of how hard the curriculum was. It especially took a toll on me because I've always been considered a top student so going from that to barely passing was a huge slap.
It's also important to mention that my mom is my grandmother's scapegoat. Because of this, my grandmother actively shows her favouritism of my cousins. It doesn't help that they're both boys as well. Every single one of their achievements has gotten a huge celebration. She travelled to another city so she didn't miss either one of their HS graduation. I didn't even get a text from her.
A few months ago, when I got accepted into a top university for the field I wanted to study, nobody on my mom's side of the family called or texted me. I expected this from my cousins as they had no way of knowing but my mom announced it on the "adults only" family group chat so my aunt and grandmother don't have an excuse, especially since my cousins got a huge celebration when they got into mediocre universities.
Also, every summer, she wakes my sister and I up at 5am to make us cook for my cousins. Mind you, they're both adults (19 & 24) and know how to cook. She makes us to their laundry and everything too.
My cousin "Ali" (24M) texted me yesterday to congratulate me on graduating. It made me cry. We're not very close but the fact that he was the only one who remembered was a bittersweet feeling. He asked me where I planned to go to university and urged me to study in the same city as him.
Also, this treatment isn't remotely normal in her culture. I'm Turkish, my mom is half Turkish half French, with my grandmother being fully French. She actively believes the French are more "civilised" than Turkish people. My dad's side of the family (Turkish) called me during my ceremony to express how proud they were of me which honestly felt amazing.
I'm very hurt that not even my aunt called to congratulate me, especially since she has always voiced her concerns about my grandmother's treatment of my sister and I. I feel betrayed and abandoned, I'm honestly considering going no contact with that side besides Ali because I can't deal with this anymore. I'm so tired.

I'm writing this during one of those rare moments of clarity that I'm experiencing tonight. Sometimes, I can go weeks or months without feeling the way I do right now. I apologize for the repetitions. I edited the text several times, as I wanted to accurately capture all the sensations I experience when I am aware.
​
During these moments, I have a clear sense of what I want from my life and the direction I want to pursue. I can make concrete plans and genuinely believe that I can actively accomplish them, setting smaller goals along the way. I can also recognize the value of my relationships and feel grateful for what I have. I can feel real world and my real self. I am able to genuinely experience and express my emotions without suppressing myself and truly experience life. I feel like it's another person which comes out without any psychological blocks and clamps, without tension and anxiety, without constant thinking about something and trying to keep everything under control.
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I feel incredibly relaxed and utterly accepting of the current situation. I am capable of engaging in meaningful communication with others, understand them, listen to them, feel and hear what they say. I'm able to really analyze external data from the real world and deriving genuine enjoyment from the usual activities I partake in. It's as though all my senses and emotions were temporarily disabled. Like my true self was absent. It's as if I've awakened from an incredibly long dream, as if I hadn't truly been living before. It's almost like someone else was merely on autopilot, just gathering data, similar to what you see in the movie 'Click'. I become utterly frustrated and depressed during these instances when I realize that I've skipped and slept through chunks of my life, as if a robotic entity was in control instead of me. These episodes of clarity usually occur during the evening(In rare cases, this state can last throughout the entire day, starting from the morning), but only a few times a month at best.
​
In these moments, I consciously reassure myself that I'll make every effort to research how to maintain this state of mind. However, every time, I find myself slipping back into the abyss the very next day. I also experience brief awakenings throughout the day, lasting only for a short period (about several seconds or minutes) when my brain suddenly stops thinking and trying to keep everything under control. I promise myself to hold my attention and feel during these moments but every time my mind goes off. It's like an impossible effort to sustain this state of clarity. And every time I become more frustrated that I have disappeared. And these frustrations amplifies to the point when I just at the boiling point. Only when my mind and body(can't relax it too) can't hold constant pressure anymore I feel squeezed out then my mind gives up and this takes me to state of clarity and acceptance of me and a world. And then it accumulates the tension until the next moment when it can no longer hold to take a relief. It feels that I can't relax and live until I finish something but my mind always is seeking for things to finish, an endless cycle.
​
On most days, I feel like I'm just going through the motions, overwhelmed by the number of things I need to do. It's hard to focus on one task for too long because I worry I won't have enough time for everything else. I struggle to see the long-term benefits of short-term tasks, like exercising, working towards my educational goals, communicating, playing, eating or doing things for my loved ones. Sometimes, I question my relationships, the purpose of my life, and why I bother putting effort into anything. As a result, I often go through the day doing the bare minimum and I tend to make decisions or do things because I should.
​
I also experience random bouts of anxiety when I've been putting off tasks like cleaning the house or other chores that I've put off too long. I constantly feel a sense of tension and anxiety, fearing that I will forget something simple things like my name, my age, people that I should remember, a certain word or a date, skincare, eating, taking vitamins, or even calling my mother. It feels, that I need to keep everything under control and think about these thing non-stop in a loop not to forget wandering in my head. And I experience a deep disconnection from the real world. It's so bad that i can go on for months in a new apartment, and then, during moments of clarity, I suddenly realize, "Wow, where am I? Who am I? Who are these people around me? Is she my mother? What am I actually doing, and where have I been all this time?". I feel like I live 1-2 days in a month, others are just a huuge gap in consciousness and like not from my life.
​
Does anyone else experience something similar? It seems to me that this is partially similar to ADHD and the lack of stimulation that turns the brain off or some kind of anxiety disorder. I recently visited two psychotherapists, but they didn't see any issues or deviations in this regard. I have already read a lot of literature on mindfulness and tried meditation, deleting social media, diary, healthy diet, working out, sleep is decent 7-8 hours but so far, it hasn't been very effective just mild improvements. Lately, I don't experience any anxiety at all; rather, I feel disconnected from the world. Also I tried anxiety relief meds such as phenibut or xanax but not on a regular basis. So, it seems that it's not solely about anxiety in my case. I don't want to go through life without truly living it. I don't want to be trapped in a constant state of tension and anxiety, repetitive thinking and isolated from the world and reality. And then waking up in unfamiliar places in an unfamiliar body, surrounded by unfamiliar people and realizing that I haven't truly lived all this time. I want to experience emotions, both the good and the bad. I want to look and truly see, listen and genuinely hear. When I'm in moment of clarity I can't describe how much I enjoy the fact that I am truly living, feeling and experiencing life rather than merely existing.
I'm 24 and experience this from childhood or Elementary School I guess. And it seems that it gets worse with time. How can I move out from this loop and experience clarity at least more often? I'm open to any recommendations, advice, meds. Anything that can help not to skip my life.

Like, the most recent developements i managed to find were the reupload of the first episode due to it being taken down, and one of the voice actors saying that "Big things are happening fr" and to "Think bigger" than just the fourth episode.
The delay COULD be (most likely is) because of what was said in the description of TWF4 teaser (I had to go find it on the wiki 'cause the video's not up anymore):

UPDATE (yes, finally!): 2022 was one of the happiest years of my life, it is also the year I focused on TWF the least. I was done with 90% of the flashy stuff and only worked on the actual episode, Im done with being active on socials and i absolutely despise Martin Walls now. I finished about 94% of TWF 4, then it happened. Someone extremely dear to me had passed away early december, I stopped it all, and focused on helping my family on both monetary and emotional support. That comes first. I didn't go back to TWF till early 2023, I wasn't ready. 2022 was an opportunity to get my personal and emotional life back together and focus on my mental health and I wouldn't change a thing, so no I'm not sorry for making you all wait. I'm sadenned I couldn't deliver what I intended in time. What comes now? Things change, no more Martin Walls and weekly stuff and rants about TWF, I got much more to focus on now, but I will work on this until I deliver my series finale, I put blood sweat and tears in this project and I will FIGHT to see it finished. Now, TWF 4 wont come this week, or the week after that or any week you might imagine, one day a video will release titled "4", that's when you'll know, sorry I can't promise any more, over 15 minutes of footage ended up in the cutting floor and I intend to release all that as well, as a courtesy gift. For now, enjoy this little fragment we put together for TWF 4. Merch wise? I still gotta finish my contract deals with both Makeship and Crowdmade, so yes, I'm gonna focus on that too even if people say its another MW get rich quick scam, it helps funding this project and funding equipment for newer stuff and I assure you, it delivers. This episode is a GIANT step up from the last 3 both visually and story-wise some of the best voice work ive heard is in this. So, again, merch? Boozoo and Sha plushies will most likely come out between this month or february, we're already working on the commercial video for it too! Get ready banny lovers. And no, this has nothing to do with the progress of TWF 4 so dont get pissed, I can multitask! So much to say and yet so little time to say it. Thanks, Sorry, Not sorry, Love. Stay being great people and being the best version of yourselves. -M

which would explain why we aren't getting any news, and sadly confirms that TWF will be only one season :(
He also close his patreon (like, a year ago at this point), so, make of this what you will.
But maybe in a few months the 4th episode will be up, and we'll have the full series by late 2024/early 2025.
*Huffs a great dose of copium\*
Maybe in a few months...

1
I live in a suburb surrounded by forest. My house is in a row of other properties built next to a tree line. The neighborhood was always quiet. The sounds of crickets, birds, and sight of black bears were routine on most summer days.
The scenic area was something I was always grateful for. I lived completely alone since the death of my parents. An accidental fire took both of their lives. Once I collected my inheritance, I relocated to a much more peaceful region. I had always fantasized about moving there.
I tried to start a relationship with Samantha. I had gone to High School with her sixteen years before. She had gone on to become a respected Detective. My attempt at something long lasting with her failed. She was too career oriented. I was reeling from grief. Focusing on building something meaningful with her was a pipe dream.
Things around my community changed once the Murphy family went missing.
The first sign that something was off on that Wednesday was how their blinds had closed. Their silver Chevy Chrysler remained parked in the driveway.
A tennis instructor at the country club noticed the wife of that house did not show up for the program. He called their number to make sure everything was alright. When no one responded, he notified the authorities. Rumors abounded immediately among the home owners association about an alleged affair. The gossip only furthered when the married couple and their three kids were not found in the abode.
I watched from my balcony as the patrolmen roped the place off with caution tape. The domicile was a three story building with brick chimney’s and a few peaked roofs in the style of English towers. They were beige, light blue and crimson.
On the morning of the Murphy’s desertion of society, the architecture became a hollow image. It was one that was once filled with activity and life.
The law did what they could. Any success they may have had in the investigation was secret. A few months passed by and they removed the caution tape.
I followed the on-line police logs. The weather was pristine and clear the day they vanished. The fact that there were no witnesses to what direction they may have gone disturbed me.
I had heard how the man, Frank Murphy, had a bit of a temper and always had a bourbon in hand. I had heard mutual friends describe him as an alcoholic in denial of his servitude to liquor. He was an indignant individual who knew no true repercussions for his behavior. He always had bail money from a software company he founded and sold a long time ago.
I was never close to that family, but I peered out at their vacant house far more than I ever had. I was in need of an answer. What could have happened?
2
I called Samantha one evening as I sat on my bed, wondering how she would respond to my reaching out. We were never argumentative or on bad terms. I still worried about her reaction, and hoped it would not be a dismissive one.
I heard her say hello. Her voice still impressed me. I had almost forgotten how silky her tone was. I knew it could change to a much firmer pitch when she was interviewing a suspect.
“Hi, Sam. I’d like to know if you’d be free tomorrow for a cup of coffee. We can go to that place, The Bean Field, off Pond road. It’s been a while and I know you have a lot to tell me about what’s new in your life.”
There was a pause on the other end, and for a second a bout of anxiety hit me. I judged my own words as robotic, stilted, and sure to push her away. I reasoned she was summoning an excuse to get out of having to interact with me. How dare I presume she would even entertain the notion of having a meeting.
“That sounds great,” she said. “Tomorrow is my day off, luckily for you. I’m in the middle of an incident right now. It’s a five car pile-up about forty minutes from where you live. I’ve gotta run. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
When she hung up, I was triumphant. I looked at our old text conversations. I realized we had not been in communication with each other for over twelve months. Now was my opportunity to reconcile that gap of unintended avoidance. I knew it would be an undeserved opportunity.
3
I sat outside of the cafe the next morning at a black metal table. I had a view of rolling hills dotted with trees. A highway with multitudinous shrubberies sat on either side of it. I sipped a piccolo latte while waiting for her.
When she arrived and stepped out of her hatchback in the parking lot, her appearance floored me. She had not dressed up for our supposed date, but that did not make a difference. She had arrived from the gym and wore shorts and a top set. She donned a gray and green hoodie.
She sat across from me and reached for the menu.
“Can you go to the front and order me avocado toast?” Samantha asked. “I’ll also take a mocha with a few shots of espresso. Please.”
I did exactly that. When I returned with her items, she apologized for consuming her meal in less than two minutes.
“I hadn’t eaten since five PM yesterday,” she said between sips.
“I understand,” I said. “I doubt you ever have a consistent schedule anymore.”
“You’re right, but that’s why I have to enjoy my free time when I can.”
We settled into talking about what had happened since we last saw each other. I referenced my trying to learn another language (French) with the hopes of moving to Europe or Canada.
After fifteen minutes of small talk, I asked her about work, but I did so with caution. It started with me wondering about what the call she was on when we were on the phone was about.
“A drunk driver blew a stop sign and hit two other vehicles,” she said. “It was ugly. A few people died. We’ll see if the man in silk pajamas gives him the proper sentence or a traffic citation.”
“You know, I’m curious about what happened to the Murphy’s, if they’re hurt or not.”
“You and everyone else,” she said. “We’ve been getting so many witness accounts, and so far they’ve all been bogus. All I know is what I saw when I got there.”
“I didn’t know you were one of the responders,” I said.
“Yeah. Something about the place was off from the moment I walked in. I found heavy items in placed they should not have been in. The toolbox was not in the garage but on the second story. A disassembled snowblower lay scattered everywhere in pieces. The oven door was on their bed. Frank Murphy was not the strongest guy in the world, either. For him to cause the kind of property damage I saw doesn’t make a lot of sense. At the risk of sounding crazy, inexplicable things happened when I was there.”
“Like what?”
“I was under the impression that something was playing a trick on me. Electrical outlets sparked a few times out of nowhere. The ceiling fan would go from still to spinning when I looked up at it. Books would fall off of the shelves. A volume on black magic, of all things, almost hit the top of my head when I walked on by. Another book about fairies collapsed with it.”
“So the home intruder set up a bunch of weird diversions,” I said. “I’ve heard of that before. These killers or kidnappers want the victims to think there was more than one of them. It’s so their account’s disputed in court.”
I’ll tell you right now,” she said, “we didn’t find any outside DNA.”
“So it’s a case of family annihilation,” I said as I took a long swig of my beverage. “I don’t know if you can substantiate the facts, but a few people have said that Emily had a big life insurance policy. Frank knew about. He may have been using steroids and having an affair, and that could have contributed to-“
It occurred to me that she eyed me with suspicion, as though I was digging too deep. I could also tell she regretted letting information about the forensic results slip.
She stood up and stared at me with a flash of anger in her eyes.
“I thought you wanted to piece something back together with me,” she said. “I didn’t know you wanted to play armchair investigator like every true crime fan. You know, your parents were kind. I wish you’d follow their example. I’ll let you get the bill.”
She walked back to her vehicle and I knew it would be a while before we conversed again.
Later that night, I stared out my window at the Murphy home. I saw a star shoot across the sky, and it almost seemed ready to plummet into the side of their house.
4
The next evening, I took a walk around the suburb. I spotted a thin line of dried red fluid along a path which led into the woods.
I was attempting to get in some movement to get my mind off of the events of the day before. Negativity and self-deprecation were all-consuming. I felt the need for a long saunter to try and release some of the meandering and pessimistic energy I accrued.
When I saw the carmine ribbon along the dark soil, a sense of worry filled me. I was not that far removed from a cul-de-sac with palatial manors a block away. There was no way I could speculate on me being the first to see it.
Could it be a hint where they are? I thought.
The notion seemed absurd, a reach.
I had read in the local newspaper that there was an uptick in bobcat sightings due to recent wildfires. The animals relocated during prior summers. I reasoned it could have been a house pet which became a victim after it got snatched away into the overgrowth.
I followed it, and the uneven road of red stretched on past many bushes and over logs. A shrill chirping in the background became louder. I moved between two conifers with petrified wood and found myself in a part of the forest I had never been in.
There were so many branches that it blacked out the falling sun. Ahead of me was a clearing. A swarm of gnats and mosquitos descended upon it. The sea of insects soared together in chaotic unison as a wave among the sedges and lichen.
I looked towards the right of the meadow and saw a ramshackle tree house. I trailed the red line towards it. I peered in through one of the windows and saw a statue of a woman with wings. I knew she was not an angel. There was no halo, nor were her organs of flight feathery, but rather they were thin and bat-like.
I entered the place knowing the danger I was putting myself in. I had tracked mud in and was oblivious to the incriminating actions I partook in. I was trespassing and risking stumbling into whoever may have owned the land. My curiosity got the better of me and caused me to keep moving forward.
The room was sparse but decorated. The walls had carvings of men and women, also with wings. Their bodies held yogic-like positions as they reached out to one another mid-air.
A piece of parchment with a few words sat in the corner. I picked it up and read it:
‘Humans are the greatest living beings to play tricks on. Especially when they go through a time of drought and extreme cold.’
I sat it down where I found it, unsure of what to make of it.
I touched the central figure’s neck. The chiseling was not only cold, but below freezing, as though I had submerged my hand in a polar pool.
The noise of some kind of bird attempting to escape a confined space reverberated below me.
Something brushed against my leg. I looked down and saw an army of glow bugs float up between the cracks, and they circled around me. They were like dragon flies. At the time I had labeled them as such, but in reality their shapes were far too humanoid.
I walked back home. I went to bed and slept. I was still perturbed at the wine-colored avenue and cabin.
I awoke in the middle of the night after something tapped at my walls from the outside. I peered out and saw the Murphy home, and observed how the blinds over their casements were wide open. A hive of mites filled every inch of the interior.
5
I found the decomposing body of a chipmunk stuffed into the tailpipe of my vehicle the next day.
This horrified me, because the deliberation of the act was too evident to ignore. While I did have a surveillance camera on my porch, the coverage of my vehicle was non-existent. I calmed myself down by thinking it was likely a tempestuous child. I retrieved a pair of medical gloves and disposed of the creature before going on with the errand. The rotting body had a horrible smell. It was like an onion left out in humidity for days, and my stomach turned as I sealed it off in the garbage with the lid.
The next morning, I looked in my closet. Some of my favorite shirts had disintegrated. Holes and patches of destroyed fabric littered them. I found it odd, and even searched on-line for possible answers before I decided it had to be a moth infestation. I sprayed lavender. Information on a website statEd that was a cure-all, but the problem persisted. It bothered me that I had not seen a single aphid, but I pushed that concern away.
A few days afterward, when I had tossed my disheveled pieces of attire, the power in my house went out. This was not such an unusual occurrence during the heavy winter months. For it to occur in the summer was strange.
It was a rolling blackout. Once my house had electricity again, I noticed how someone moved items around.
Something turned my kitchen table on its side and stuffed into a part of the kitchen I would have never placed it in.
I grabbed a butcher knife and did a sweep of the premises, and I did not find anything. There were no footprints or signs of anything else tampered with. When I got to the second story, birds nested along the tree tops, and the repugnant odor of fish attacked me.
My allergies became insufferable over the next month. Nothing purchased over the counter which helped it.
6
I went to the beach on an overcast day. After roughly half a mile of walking, I saw an illustration someone had drawn in the sand with a stick. It was of a being with airfoils.
A light precipitation had fallen earlier. As I trailed along the former part of the sand, a glint in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I looked out at the water and saw what appeared to be a light blue outline of wings beneath the surface.
A phosphorescent wall of creatures surrounded me.
As the days march on, I know I am stalked by something I cannot rebel against, let alone have any agency or autonomy over. My pillowcases have shredded, the pipes in my basement have burst, and someone left me a gift at my front door. When I opened it, I saw mice scurry away. It was a book, and it was one about the history of fairies.
I picked it up and had to blow the dust off of it. Someone had stolen it from a musty subterranean chamber and brought it here.
I theorized that it was Samantha, passive aggressive with her disappointment in me. Yet I flip through its pages and find it all too familiar. I cannot help but wonder if this is a sign of something far more dangerous.

I live in a suburb surrounded by forest. My house is in a row of other properties built next to a tree line. The neighborhood was always quiet. The sounds of crickets, birds, and sight of black bears were routine on most summer days.
The scenic area was something I was always grateful for. I lived completely alone since the death of my parents. An accidental fire took both of their lives. Once I collected my inheritance, I relocated to a much more peaceful region. I had always fantasized about moving there.
I tried to start a relationship with Samantha. I had gone to High School with her sixteen years before. She had gone on to become a respected Detective. My attempt at something long lasting with her failed. She was too career oriented. I was reeling from grief. Focusing on building something meaningful with her was a pipe dream.
Things around my community changed once the Murphy family went missing.
The first sign that something was off on that Wednesday was how their blinds had closed. Their silver Chevy Chrysler remained parked in the driveway.
A tennis instructor at the country club noticed the wife of that house did not show up for the program. He called their number to make sure everything was alright. When no one responded, he notified the authorities. Rumors abounded immediately among the home owners association about an alleged affair. The gossip only furthered when the married couple and their three kids were not found in the abode.
I watched from my balcony as the patrolmen roped the place off with caution tape. The domicile was a three story building with brick chimney’s and a few peaked roofs in the style of English towers. They were beige, light blue and crimson.
On the morning of the Murphy’s desertion of society, the architecture became a hollow image. It was one that was once filled with activity and life.
The law did what they could. Any success they may have had in the investigation was secret. A few months passed by and they removed the caution tape.
I followed the on-line police logs. The weather was pristine and clear the day they vanished. The fact that there were no witnesses to what direction they may have gone disturbed me.
I had heard how the man, Frank Murphy, had a bit of a temper and always had a bourbon in hand. I had heard mutual friends describe him as an alcoholic in denial of his servitude to liquor. He was an indignant individual who knew no true repercussions for his behavior. He always had bail money from a software company he founded and sold a long time ago.
I was never close to that family, but I peered out at their vacant house far more than I ever had. I was in need of an answer. What could have happened?
*
I called Samantha one evening as I sat on my bed, wondering how she would respond to my reaching out. We were never argumentative or on bad terms. I still worried about her reaction, and hoped it would not be a dismissive one.
I heard her say hello. Her voice still impressed me. I had almost forgotten how silky her tone was. I knew it could change to a much firmer pitch when she was interviewing a suspect.
“Hi, Sam. I’d like to know if you’d be free tomorrow for a cup of coffee. We can go to that place, The Bean Field, off Pond road. It’s been a while and I know you have a lot to tell me about what’s new in your life.”
There was a pause on the other end, and for a second a bout of anxiety hit me. I judged my own words as robotic, stilted, and sure to push her away. I reasoned she was summoning an excuse to get out of having to interact with me. How dare I presume she would even entertain the notion of having a meeting.
“That sounds great,” she said. “Tomorrow is my day off, luckily for you. I’m in the middle of an incident right now. It’s a five car pile-up about forty minutes from where you live. I’ve gotta run. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
When she hung up, I was triumphant. I looked at our old text conversations. I realized we had not been in communication with each other for over twelve months. Now was my opportunity to reconcile that gap of unintended avoidance. I knew it would be an undeserved opportunity.
*
I sat outside of the cafe the next morning at a black metal table. I had a view of rolling hills dotted with trees. A highway with multitudinous shrubberies sat on either side of it. I sipped a piccolo latte while waiting for her.
When she arrived and stepped out of her hatchback in the parking lot, her appearance floored me. She had not dressed up for our supposed date, but that did not make a difference. She had arrived from the gym and wore shorts and a top set. She donned a gray and green hoodie.
She sat across from me and reached for the menu.
“Can you go to the front and order me avocado toast?” Samantha asked. “I’ll also take a mocha with a few shots of espresso. Please.”
I did exactly that. When I returned with her items, she apologized for consuming her meal in less than two minutes.
“I hadn’t eaten since five PM yesterday,” she said between sips.
“I understand,” I said. “I doubt you ever have a consistent schedule anymore.”
“You’re right, but that’s why I have to enjoy my free time when I can.”
We settled into talking about what had happened since we last saw each other. I referenced my trying to learn another language (French) with the hopes of moving to Europe or Canada.
After fifteen minutes of small talk, I asked her about work, but I did so with caution. It started with me wondering about what the call she was on when we were on the phone was about.
“A drunk driver blew a stop sign and hit two other vehicles,” she said. “It was ugly. A few people died. We’ll see if the man in silk pajamas gives him the proper sentence or a traffic citation.”
“You know, I’m curious about what happened to the Murphy’s, if they’re hurt or not.”
“You and everyone else,” she said. “We’ve been getting so many witness accounts, and so far they’ve all been bogus. All I know is what I saw when I got there.”
“I didn’t know you were one of the responders,” I said.
“Yeah. Something about the place was off from the moment I walked in. I found heavy items in placed they should not have been in. The toolbox was not in the garage but on the second story. A disassembled snowblower lay scattered everywhere in pieces. The oven door was on their bed. Frank Murphy was not the strongest guy in the world, either. For him to cause the kind of property damage I saw doesn’t make a lot of sense. At the risk of sounding crazy, inexplicable things happened when I was there.”
“Like what?”
“I was under the impression that something was playing a trick on me. Electrical outlets sparked a few times out of nowhere. The ceiling fan would go from still to spinning when I looked up at it. Books would fall off of the shelves. A volume on black magic, of all things, almost hit the top of my head when I walked on by. Another book about fairies collapsed with it.”
“So the home intruder set up a bunch of weird diversions,” I said. “I’ve heard of that before. These killers or kidnappers want the victims to think there was more than one of them. It’s so their account’s disputed in court.”
I’ll tell you right now,” she said, “we didn’t find any outside DNA.”
“So it’s a case of family annihilation,” I said as I took a long swig of my beverage. “I don’t know if you can substantiate the facts, but a few people have said that Emily had a big life insurance policy. Frank knew about. He may have been using steroids and having an affair, and that could have contributed to-“
It occurred to me that she eyed me with suspicion, as though I was digging too deep. I could also tell she regretted letting information about the forensic results slip.
She stood up and stared at me with a flash of anger in her eyes.
“I thought you wanted to piece something back together with me,” she said. “I didn’t know you wanted to play armchair investigator like every true crime fan. You know, your parents were kind. I wish you’d follow their example. I’ll let you get the bill.”
She walked back to her vehicle and I knew it would be a while before we conversed again.
Later that night, I stared out my window at the Murphy home. I saw a star shoot across the sky, and it almost seemed ready to plummet into the side of their house.
*
The next evening, I took a walk around the suburb. I spotted a thin line of dried red fluid along a path which led into the woods.
I was attempting to get in some movement to get my mind off of the events of the day before. Negativity and self-deprecation were all-consuming. I felt the need for a long saunter to try and release some of the meandering and pessimistic energy I accrued.
When I saw the carmine ribbon along the dark soil, a sense of worry filled me. I was not that far removed from a cul-de-sac with palatial manors a block away. There was no way I could speculate on me being the first to see it.
Could it be a hint where they are? I thought.
The notion seemed absurd, a reach.
I had read in the local newspaper that there was an uptick in bobcat sightings due to recent wildfires. The animals relocated during prior summers. I reasoned it could have been a house pet which became a victim after it got snatched away into the overgrowth.
I followed it, and the uneven road of red stretched on past many bushes and over logs. A shrill chirping in the background became louder. I moved between two conifers with petrified wood and found myself in a part of the forest I had never been in.
There were so many branches that it blacked out the falling sun. Ahead of me was a clearing. A swarm of gnats and mosquitos descended upon it. The sea of insects soared together in chaotic unison as a wave among the sedges and lichen.
I looked towards the right of the meadow and saw a ramshackle tree house. I trailed the red line towards it. I peered in through one of the windows and saw a statue of a woman with wings. I knew she was not an angel. There was no halo, nor were her organs of flight feathery, but rather they were thin and bat-like.
I entered the place knowing the danger I was putting myself in. I had tracked mud in and was oblivious to the incriminating actions I partook in. I was trespassing and risking stumbling into whoever may have owned the land. My curiosity got the better of me and caused me to keep moving forward.
The room was sparse but decorated. The walls had carvings of men and women, also with wings. Their bodies held yogic-like positions as they reached out to one another mid-air.
A piece of parchment with a few words sat in the corner. I picked it up and read it:
‘Humans are the greatest living beings to play tricks on. Especially when they go through a time of drought and extreme cold.’
I sat it down where I found it, unsure of what to make of it.
I touched the central figure’s neck. The chiseling was not only cold, but below freezing, as though I had submerged my hand in a polar pool.
The noise of some kind of bird attempting to escape a confined space reverberated below me.
Something brushed against my leg. I looked down and saw an army of glow bugs float up between the cracks, and they circled around me. They were like dragon flies. At the time I had labeled them as such, but in reality their shapes were far too humanoid.
I walked back home. I went to bed and slept. I was still perturbed at the wine-colored avenue and cabin.
I awoke in the middle of the night after something tapped at my walls from the outside. I peered out and saw the Murphy home, and observed how the blinds over their casements were wide open. A hive of mites filled every inch of the interior.
*
I found the decomposing body of a chipmunk stuffed into the tailpipe of my vehicle the next day.
This horrified me, because the deliberation of the act was too evident to ignore. While I did have a surveillance camera on my porch, the coverage of my vehicle was non-existent. I calmed myself down by thinking it was likely a tempestuous child. I retrieved a pair of medical gloves and disposed of the creature before going on with the errand. The rotting body had a horrible smell. It was like an onion left out in humidity for days, and my stomach turned as I sealed it off in the garbage with the lid.
The next morning, I looked in my closet. Some of my favorite shirts had disintegrated. Holes and patches of destroyed fabric littered them. I found it odd, and even searched on-line for possible answers before I decided it had to be a moth infestation. I sprayed lavender. Information on a website statEd that was a cure-all, but the problem persisted. It bothered me that I had not seen a single aphid, but I pushed that concern away.
A few days afterward, when I had tossed my disheveled pieces of attire, the power in my house went out. This was not such an unusual occurrence during the heavy winter months. For it to occur in the summer was strange.
It was a rolling blackout. Once my house had electricity again, I noticed how someone moved items around.
Something turned my kitchen table on its side and stuffed into a part of the kitchen I would have never placed it in.
I grabbed a butcher knife and did a sweep of the premises, and I did not find anything. There were no footprints or signs of anything else tampered with. When I got to the second story, birds nested along the tree tops, and the repugnant odor of fish attacked me.
My allergies became insufferable over the next month. Nothing purchased over the counter which helped it.
*
I went to the beach on an overcast day. After roughly half a mile of walking, I saw an illustration someone had drawn in the sand with a stick. It was of a being with airfoils.
A light precipitation had fallen earlier. As I trailed along the former part of the sand, a glint in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I looked out at the water and saw what appeared to be a light blue outline of wings beneath the surface.
A phosphorescent wall of creatures surrounded me.
As the days march on, I know I am stalked by something I cannot rebel against, let alone have any agency or autonomy over. My pillowcases have shredded, the pipes in my basement have burst, and someone left me a gift at my front door. When I opened it, I saw mice scurry away. It was a book, and it was one about the history of fairies.
I picked it up and had to blow the dust off of it. Someone had stolen it from a musty subterranean chamber and brought it here.
I theorized that it was Samantha, passive aggressive with her disappointment in me. Yet I flip through its pages and find it all too familiar. I cannot help but wonder if this is a sign of something far more dangerous.

So context- i think about two weeks back i stopped talking to this guy because his behavior was just disturbing and i didnt want to put up with him. He had many mental issues such as bpd, a bit of schizophrenia, depression, so on. Anyway he was a long distance bf so i basically stopped picking up his calls but things got to the point of him hacking and finding my id and parents phone numbers and calling around 30 times a day, non stop (my parents included). He texted me its over but still after weeks wont stop sending me snaps (i havent opened them amd im not blocking him there so i can see where he is incase he comes and kills me lol) he is also spamming my moms phone with sms using his shitty software bs.
ANYWAY my question is, has anyone dealt with a boyfriend with mental issues like this and how tf can i stop this man bc im gonna kill him if he doesnt stop. And ik hes just doing that so i hit him up which i wont fall for. (I posted this here because i think this is related with mental issues more than relationship advice)

[First]() [Prev]()
This took an unbearable amount of time, sorry, I was busy with tests and you know… school stuff, it's not looking good for my writing, I pretty much only have free time with my phone for only 2 hours a day except for weekends. As a compensation for the ridiculous amount of time this chapter took, it's going to be extra long, and have action parts again (kind of) and some gore, enjoy!
—-~----
"What was it again?"
"Schen- i mean Schon"
"Right, what got you here, near the edge and all? It's a nice edge, but still an edge"
"Desperate for work I guess, I assume you're the same?"
Schon… no, Schen… answered as he took a sip out of his drink, it isn't as bad as he thought it would be, it's sweet, and at least it isn't recycled water.
"Kind of, I just work here because… well… my skill set isn't impressive"
"A loader, no? All that work in the cargo bay?"
"Yeah, what does it feel like being an SC?"
"Being a security captain feels…"
Schen took a glance at his tag, hidden beneath his shirt and new uniform, a piece of memory and evidence of who he once was.
"...familiar"
"Oh yeah… aren't you an ex-mil?"
"I am"
"Why did you quit?"
"It's… it got a bit too mu it can ch for me, though i do miss my team, best few people i've ever worked with"
"Good terms?"
"Brothers, live by them, die by them, not literal on the latter of course, but it can happen, too bad we're disbanded now"
"Why?"
"Let's just say they don't wanna work without their favorite captain"
"Oh… Where are they now?"
"Living their best life with their family i hope, least there's nothing to threaten their lives there"
"Why don't you go back to yours?"
"Don't have one, too old to return back home and do nothing, and too old to find a mate, kinda missed my chance back then"
"And you're satisfied with just being an SC in a random cargo ship that visits edge territories?"
"It's still something, besides, i've got more than enough experience for it… hmm… lunch's over, good talk"
"Looks like it is, nice to know you… Schon?"
He nodded in confirmation, and went to pay for his lunch. It was decent, but he'd rather have it stale than having to actually pay, he can't believe he actually missed those stale rations. Perhaps because he was used to it, old habits and preferences are hard to shake off, they said. He went back to his post, just a little room filled with camera monitors with a teeny tiny armory next to it. Genuinely, it looked pathetic next to the military armory he was used to.
But the weapons were familiar, kind of, just lacking the usual stopping power and attachments of the ones he used to have. After the (unfortunate) disbanding of his team and his (honorable) discharge from the military as well as the new (rather stupid if you ask him) identity of Schon, he was desperate for work. It's his fault really, he should've been at home enjoying the rest of his life now that that Schen technically no longer exists.
But the soldier in him wanted to do something, so he did, and now here he is, a simple SC in a cargo ship, which took an unnecessary amount of effort, as apparently the union was still somewhat skittish about the video he broadcasted before he went on the temporary desertion, but now that he knows everything, it doesn't really matter. It isn't bad by any means, but it ain't the military, and the more he worked the more he wished for a pirate attack. He also just missed being together with his team, but alas, they have their own lives, so he had to let them go, though he does have their contact number saved on his personal datapad.
He turned on the only monitor inside his room that isn't used to look through a camera, and looked for anything interesting in the network. Interesting as in any news regarding the 'Goels' and their recent introduction, he had been keeping a close eye on it. He doesn't need to, it isn't his business anymore and if he tried to make it his business again he can expect agents on his tail, but since he was heavily involved anyway, he thought why not as well do it. And it was just fine so far, though he has no clue how the green one, Abel if his memory serves him, turned from a drone to… well… that.
He learned a bit about who humans are, and what humanity was like, before it went away and was 'replaced' by the Goels. And as far as he knows they're dead, like extinct dead, so obviously the appearance of the cheery human male that acted as the Goel ambassador shocked him. He still has no clue now, though his theory as to how essentially boils down to 'ancient civilization fuckery'. And as far as he can tell, there's no problem with that, yet, the discussions were relatively smooth if the news were to be trusted and the council seems to actually starting to trust the Goels, kind of.
He browsed through the tabs and websites, most of which he already read and glossed over.
Trade offer accepted between union and Goels
No surprise there, no man or woman in the council wanted to pass up such a deal.
Military showcase ends in awe, fear, and admirance
He saw the videos on that one, it was impressive.
Goel ambassador visits Caevit palace garden, Godfather was shook
He suppose having such an important guest roaming around your garden can be a bit complicated, so he understands.
Goel ambassador faints during a direct discussion with the council, paramedics clueless
Now that's interesting, and frankly worrying, he didn't get to see the full broadcast yesterday, actually he missed most of it, so he didn't get to see what happened.
"What happened to you?"
He mumbled as he read the article and looked at the pictures and videos of the accident. Unknown cause, immediately escorted, and the sudden silence from the Goels, and it has been for almost half a cycle now. Strange, he looked through the video again, watched how Abel behaved, and noted the many oddities present. He seemed just fine, just giving his presentation to the council as professional as one can be as an ambassador and then suddenly he just… dropped, he thought about exhaustion at first, but the longer he thinks about it the dumber it gets.
No way the current Abel is human, he was explicitly told by him that there are no humans left, so what is it?. He couldn't come up with anything, but kept it in mind as he looked for more info on the current situation. It wasn't long until he realized there's nothing else he can learn and turned off the computer. He looked at the time, and suddenly remembered something vital, alcohol break, he reached down under his desk and took out a bottle, the very same one that he took to the desert planet with him.
No shot glass no problem, he popped the cap off and drink straight from the bottle, not very classy but whatever. He hid it back under the desk and walked out of his office now that he actually remember something actually vital, his men. The security team more precisely, and he's the current captain, someone's had to check on them. He ran into one guard waiting around the cafeteria and greeted them.
"All good?"
"All good, no danger"
"Yet, keep an eye out, and if you can, help anyone in need, being a security isn't just about holding weapons and warding off pirates, you should know that by now"
"Yes sir, sorry"
"Sigh i've worked with trainees that are better than this"
He grumbled as he left to look for another man to inspect. His new subordinates are… a particular group. Some of them take the job seriously, some are a bit more relaxed but still vigilant, but most, like the one he just gave a mouthful to is God awful, improper stance, manners, no incentives, and utterly basic in weapon mastery. He has to cut them some slack, they're just basic security after all, not soldiers, but still. He ran into a more favorable one patrolling the hallway leading to the reactor, he actually knows this one's name, Koern, a Civean, and he couldn't be more glad he actually got a salute from him.
"Greetings, Captain Schon, is there any problem?"
"It's Sche- i mean… yes thank you, and no, there's no problem, just daily inspection"
"I see, how do I do?"
"As usual, very good, keep It up"
"Thank you sir… sir can i ask you something? I've been considering looking for you but now you're here…"
"Sure, i can spare some time"
"Can I request a leave from you sir?"
"I can if there are valid reasons"
"I've requested it to the captain, but all she said is that i should ask you first"
"I see, but what's the reason?"
"Family matter, I have a relative on a planet named Rosan IV, ever heard of it?"
"Isn't that the newly built colony planet?"
"It is, a much better built colony compared to the rest, new union projects and all that stuff, my cousin signed up for it, we've been communicating just fine so far, until a few days ago"
"What happened?"
"I don't know, he just went… silent, i thought okay, maybe he's busy or there's a problem with the communication there, so i just waited, but it has been too long now, usually he sends a message almost daily, now there's nothing"
"I don't think you need to ask for a leave in that case"
"Why?"
"Rosan IV is in the list of destination of this ship, station building material shipping, after this one we should be on the way there"
"Oh thank God, i knew i should've checked the list"
"Well… this is an edge operating ship, you know? In that case, all you'll need is a shore leave on any station there, short but should be enough for you to check in on your cousin"
"That's all i need sir, thank you"
"Of course, now continue your work, we'll be there before you know it"
"Yes sir"
Schen walked away with a little curiosity in his mind, Rosan IV huh? isn't that the planet that's been really silent? He remembered a conversation at the cafeteria, a few people were talking about it. Some talk about how stupid of a project it was, how it was no different than any other colony, a 'gold plated' lie if you will. But most were talking about how it became a 'ghost' of sorts, communications fell, ships that come and go there go missing, a few creepy tales here and there, it was almost a horror story.
He doubted it, such an ambitious project is bound to have some issues, there's a huge price for luxury, and that price is probably hitting right now. Which made him worried a little, a new colony is a gold mine for pirates and raiders, that was probably the price, pirate intervention. But if all goes well, it shouldn't be that bad, no way those ridiculous stories are real…. Maybe.
—-~----
Rana sat down on his padded seat, in his room, in his literal castle, thinking, not about anything in particular, but just thinking. And maybe glossing over his new arm again, to be in awe again, he still doesn't know how the movement is that smooth. Pearl white, shaped just like his other arm, even has the claws, and probably smoother in terms of movements than his actual arm despite being a prosthetic. It has been quite a while since his particular experience on that planet, and the prosthetic is still not showing any issue, any normal prosthetic would break down or need maintenance after this long of a time.
It's also… self repairing? He's not sure if he's hallucinating, but he's pretty sure the arm rebuilt itself after he accidentally bumped it into something hard. A small piece of the outer casing fell off, he didn't pay much attention to it, until it disappeared minutes after when he tried to look at it to see how bad it was. All in all, a new experience, awe inducing and a bit scary, would be really nice too, if it wasn't for-
"Rana"
"AAH! Oh… dad…"
-That, his father.
"It's time to-"
"Look at my arm and pry it open, i know"
"Good, let's-"
"But why?"
"Sigh Rana, we had this conversation before, you know the reasons"
"Well I don't want to care about it!"
"It's for our people…"
"No, it's for yourself! Come on dad! Don't you hear what they said? What did they offer? They gave us everything!"
"No one in this universe, organic or not, is stupid enough to give away vital information and material to someone else they just met, they must be hiding something"
"So they're lying, is that it?"
"Yes, i… we believe so"
"Okay, give me a reason why they're lying"
"That's what a dumb leader would do"
"Oh please, don't act like dad's not just another servant to the matriarch"
"She's your grandma"
"Doesn't change anything dad, and no, i don't like laying on a bed while people i don't know try to pry open my arm"
"Sigh does that mean you don't-"
"No"
"Fine… as you wish… but i hope you can understand"
"I already understand, and i don't like it"
"....."
Rana heard his room's door opening and then closing behind him, and sighed. Life hasn't been the same since he returned, his father has been a lot more serious, he can understand that, it makes sense. But he had been putting him into these weird 'inspections' ; they weren't inspections, they were straight up experiments, to try and pry open his new arm. That was how he discovered the last strange and fascinating thing about it, it can feel pain.
He remembered how everyone in the room froze when he screamed in pain, they were bewildered. It was only when he kicked the person inserting some sort of needle-like thing into the gaps of his prosthetic in the face that they knew what was happening. And yet, knowing what it does, his father still insists they do more of his experiments. It doesn't seem to matter how many anesthetics, painkillers and other treatments have been done, he can still feel the pain, it pops up from time to time, sometimes waking him from his sleep.
It was not something he wants to go through again, even if he's unconscious during the operation. At Least it isn't everyday he gets 'inspected' thanks to someone who dislikes the idea as much as he did. Rana heard his door open again, and smiled knowing who it was.
"Rana? Honey? There you are…"
"Hey mom…"
"Have you eaten yet?"
"Mom, a servant came here an hour ago, bringing the food, of course i did"
"Good, something to help you recover"
"Mom, I'm good, okay?"
"Nonsense…"
She gave him a pat and a scratch on the head, his favorite guilty pleasure. He always feels like he's still a child everytime she does it, and not a grown man, but it would be a total lie to say he doesn't like it.
"You need energy to recover from that"
She tapped his prosthetic.
"It's not like it's gonna grow back…"
"One can hope, it's terrible what happened to you"
"Well, it's okay now, they redeemed themselves"
"Hmph… no one's hurting my boy, no one, not even a sentient AI from a different era of the universe"
"Thanks mom… But i don't think you're fit enough to fight Cain"
"I'll beat him with my motherly aura, the thing he's missing, anyway, how's your arm, darling?"
"It's fine… still hurts sometimes"
"Sigh if only your father would listen, him and his ridiculous experiments, what's in that arm anyway?"
"Technology used by a race that defied time…"
"Doesn't justify him doing those things to you… he's been here, doesn't he?"
"He just left"
"Hmm…. You two had a talk?"
"He's just here to… you know what he does"
"Well glad to know he doesn't get through with it today, alright sweetie, just here to check up on you"
"Mom, i'm not a boy anymore"
"A boy you are not, you are a grown man, but my boy you are, and always will be, see you tomorrow honey"
"Stay safe"
"Always…"
Well that doesn't last long, Rana thought as his mother left the room, that's one of the issues they had since forever, she is always very busy. Because unlike father she's not the type to just sit behind a desk and give out orders, she's a lot more active, and caring at that. His father is the supreme general, sure, but Rana always looked up to her more, and her job as the health minister. She's always on a trip to visit hospitals all around the union and other things he doesn't know much about. And of course, unlike his father, that means she's not always home, shame.
Rana thought about it, and suddenly remembered his interaction with Lnaia that night when he first woke up to discover his arm missing. He never told it to her, but the reason she felt familiar is that both her and his mother have the same job, making sure of people's wellbeing. He thought maybe she would know, but maybe not everyone knows that the current Qrid health minister is married to the supreme general, it isn't exactly a super popular thing.
Sometimes Rana gets reminded of who his parents were everytime he looks at any news regarding the Goels, about Cain and Abel. Just how unironically similiar they are, to be so far apart in mindset and goals and yet so close to each other through love… well… atleast Cain and Abel did, he's not so sure about his parents, not anymore.
—-~----
Faen sat in his office, stressed out of his mind, everything has been a mess, Abel's incident at the councillor station, the countless interviews asking for his opinion, it was, somehow, getting a bit too much. Faen expected everything, but Abel passing out in the middle of a speech for no reason is not one of them, and for the Goels to go completely silent after, just what in the world is happening?. He doesn't like it, he doesn't like being out of control, out of the know, not knowing anything makes him uncomfortable, knowing that it can decide the fate of his kind made it near unbearable.
He founds himself scratching his own desk with his claws from all the stress, he stopped, and sighed as he brushed off the wood chips. Maybe he should he take his medications again, he opened a drawer on his desk and took out a small plastic container with labels on it, a medication for high blood pressure, he took one pill and set it back inside the drawer.
"Still on your meds, love?"
A voice came out of nowhere, it trigerred his instinct to reach for the concealed handgun next to him, but as he aimed towards whoever's in front of him, he realized it was a mistake.
"Yana…"
"Still as nimble as i remember, though you got a bit stiff on the arms there"
"I thought you already left…"
"Come on Faen, both you and i know i wouldn't leave without at least saying goodbye to you"
"Is that all you're here for?"
He said as he put the gun away, coming back to a more calm demeanor.
"Of course not, i'm here to check up on our son, and talk to you"
He raised his eyebrow a bit at that.
"Rare…"
"Not as rare as you making a call to me, we need to talk Faen"
"About?..."
"Sometimes i wonder if you take all the medicine i prescribed for you…of course about our son!"
"Sigh is this about-"
"Yes! What makes you think it's a good idea to probe our son like he's some sort of foreign creature?"
"I've taken every precaution, he's been given anesthetics and-"
"Oh i don't care, it's not about how bad of a pain he's experiencing, or how subdued it is so it's not dangerous, this is about him experiencing it in the first place! that's not supposed to happen!"
"Yana, please, we have the best doctors working on him"
"Well I don't believe you…"
"Why?"
"Because I'm the health minister and I need to see their license, and if I don't… i see them as unqualified as to even hold a needle, but i'm here not to hear you say what or… how you do this, we've been there, it doesn't matter… he's still our son and i disagree, what i want to know is why"
Faen massaged his forehead out of annoyance.
"Because-"
"You're scared…. I know"
"What?"
"You're scared of the Goels, of their ways"
"Anyone would"
"I know… and you're trying to do something about it…"
She sat down on the chair right in front of his desk, it was preserved for only other generals and the matriarch herself, incase of a private meeting, her sitting there is technically illegal.
"....But does that change anything? Change the fact that they offer help?"
"You can't trust anyone just like that, they're hiding something"
"And you can't just distrust them for the same reason, it goes both ways, even if they are, is that really a reason for you to dissect our son?"
"It's just his arm"
"So what? You're trying to take it off and leave him armless?"
"It's not the only prosthetic in the world"
"And yet the finest! You have to admit it, they are superior in many ways, they are thousands of years ahead of us, I have never seen such a sophisticated prosthetic before, you know me, this is my field, and that thing on him makes our best prosthetic look ancient!"
"But then what am I supposed to do? Do nothing? Sit there as those things do whatever they want to us? to the union?"
"No! you work with them… i heard what you two were fighting about, i was outside, about why the Goels have no reason to lie, and i agree with him"
"Then what?"
"Here's the thing Faen, there's a difference between being exploited, and working together… they're looking forward to working with you, giving the union their technology and helping it improve… you on the other hand… want to exploit them, learn what they can do and how they did it and then see if you can do it for yourself, i get the point, but why would you steal something that is given out for free?"
"Do I really have to say this again? It's because-"
"Pride… It's because of pride… looks like the old sentiment that caused the great war all those years ago are still here… shame, i thought we would be better as a species, turns out we never change, what a disappointment"
She uttered those last words with bitterness and a flat face, and left the room without another word, she didn't look back, or say goodbye as she is probably leaving, as if she doesn't care anymore. Faen was half stunned, half angry at what she said, that was just her assumption, he reasoned to himself. But now he can't stop thinking about it, as much as he tries to deny it, is that really him? Is that what she thinks of him? A disappointment?

I have to travel for more than 6 hours on bus the day after tomorrow. My phone won't entertain me for this long and I would need a good amount of battery once I reach the place as I'll be travelling through the night.
But I do have a Kindle, please suggest me a good book. I've only read two books in my life, and all the other I just left in the middle because of not getting interest in them.
The two books I liked were Steve jobs by Newton issacson, and Life's amazing secrets by Gaur Gopal Das.
Thanks ❤️

AT&t is largely requires an active SIM for phones to get updates. I don't think it's universal, pixels for instance get updates monthly directly from Google. The surface Duo gets updates without a SIM card and iphones obviously get annual iOS updates.
But most modern Android flagship phones that are AT&t branded will not get updated unless there's an active ATt SIM card. This is in contrast to T-Mobile and Verizon where you can get updates through Wi-Fi.
I think this creates potential security issues for customers. Many people these days sometimes use phones as Wi-Fi only devices, music players, portable gaming or emulation machines etc... Or people will use two phones for different use cases and have to swap sims. Some phones have desktop modes now and can be used for all sorts of contemporary computing even without the ability to connect to mobile towers.
Why would people with this use case -- and zero need for an active SIM card -- not get updates? You look on the internet there are dozens of people that find themselves on dated versions of their phones. Some people can't even find AT&t SIM cards because they're in a different region. They are stuck using day one software with no security patches and Android 10 instead of 13.
This could make them more vulnerable to security exploits and especially for people that aren't tech savvy they might not even realize all the risks. Let's make it so these people can update their devices without buying a SIM card and activating it. Should at least be an option.
Mobile handsets are not just phones, they are computers. We should be able to use them, safely with the latest security patches, even if we're using them as Wi-Fi only devices for whatever reason.

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Wall of text ahead:
Met her on our way out of there.
She actually started that convo by asking me what bus line I take back to the city. after my answer I didn't expect her to start asking me questions but she did and asked me what I going to major in. we talked about each others profession's interest and how we got them, and also talked about why we both choose this specific collage.
That collage is placed in a vegetated vally area, the kind of area where you take a hike, she asked me if I go on hikes, NEVER in my life a girl asked me if I go on hikes.
Another thing that she told me : "I chose to study here because I WANTED TO EXIT MY CONFORT ZONE"
My head is confused from these words man. the fuck that means?
problem was there were a lot of awkward silence between our word exchanges, though I didn't really picked the notion of whether she just wanted to talk because she is a "talkish" person. Or because I caught her eyes and she is actually hitting on me.
She looks nice and pretty, looks young yet mature somehow, She talks mature, No makeup, no prominent jewelry, the way I like it. she told me I look way younger then 28. I'm not a super handsome guy but I think that I'm good looking, that kind that won't be rejected a lot by woman.
Even though there was awkward silence , She kept asking me things and we kept talking.
After I got myself courage enough, I asked her this:
"Remember you said you wanted to exit you comfort zone?"
"ahha"
"Would you help me with that too?" (handed her my phone so she could write her number)
Took her a while to understand why I handed her my phone, but then she smiled and actually wrote it.
How do I proceed from here? I had TONs of opportunities to go on dates but each time I turn them off because this goddamn disorder. I fear that Inability to keep a conversation.
What the hell you talk about on dates? how you open up? She lives an hour away from me, where do we meet? How do I text her? Should I tell her that dates making me anxious?
If I will throw away this opportunity , I going to enter a new depression episode.

Hi everyone! Ever since my last publication on why I didn't like BOTW (link here: https://www.reddit.com/truezelda/comments/13ej8ai/i_didnt_like_botw_and_i_hope_totk_will_solve_the/) I have since received messages asking me what I thought about the sequel and whether or not it fixed the issues I had with BOTW.
For me BOTW was a 7/10 (good game with issues). I am now 50 hours in TOTK and I feel like it is a solid 8/10 (very good game with some issues). I would like to start with reviewing the flaws I perceived in BOTW and how TOTK has changed that. But first a little disclaimer. Obviously there will be a lot of spoilers ahead so don't read this post unless you have finished the main story. Besides, I don't know what may be your sensibility towards spoilers so I won't hide anything. Read this critic at your own risks.
In my point of view, BOTW had 4 main flaws: the lack of stories, the lack of diversity, the lack of challenges and an overpraised originality.
​
1) Stories in TOTK
In terms of stories this is where TOTK clearly shines above BOTW in my opinion. Personally I love the main story so far. Ganondorf has never been so epic and the master sword's obtaining may be the best iteration of the whole series. The only aspect where TOTK underperforms compared to BOTW is with the champion cut scenes after the boss fights. It was a mere copy-paste with no personality when BOTW was highlighting the relationship Link had with each champion and their own regrets.
In terms of side quests TOTK clearly blows BOTW away. The secondary characters react to their environment being destroyed or restored. They also have much more appropriate rewards. Saving Lurelin village actually gives you the eternal gratitude of its inhabitants (free salt baths, let's go!!) . When you save the Rito Village they actually put themselves back to work in order to rebuild what has been damaged. Even the Gerudos make an exception on their ancestral no-voe rule for the guy who saved them from destruction. Hell even the Hylians are now actively fighting monsters! And you unlock the great fairies with a whole quest instead of a bunch of rupees, etc.
So yes, if you are like me waiting for some interesting interactions with NPCs, I feel like TOTK fully remedied this problem.
​
2) Diversity in TOTK
BOTW had the weakest catalog of enemies. Even a game like Ocarina of Time which was released in1996 had roughly 2x more enemies. In this category I feel like TOTK improved on this issue but doesn't fully solve it. Yes, the enemies can craft vehicles just like Link. Yes there are flying creatures now, cave-dwelling creatures, mobile Goblin bases and Gleoks. But it still lacks some regional specific monsters. I was actually very happy to see the Gibdos in the desert as this is the kind of interesting and localized enemy I wanted to see. But unfortunately all the other enemies, including the new ones, are declined in difficulty/elemental patterns just as before.
The quests are only slightly more diverse than BOTW. Their real strength is not in their diversity but in the contexts that motivate them. Yes, most of TOTK's quests can basically be summed up as "go there and find this". But the motivations are numerous: some traveler(s) who didn't make it to the stable, some odd local story to investigate, a person who needs medical help, etc. Addison's quest is still unnecessarily repetitive and the Koroks are back to annoy us though.
In terms of shrines diversity it's the same formula as BOTW. It neither adds nor removes anything. However, to me TOTK's shrines feel overall more interesting than BOTW's but we'll talk about this in the next section.
Finally the bosses in TOTK have much more personality than in BOTW. Better even, you can refight them in the depths!
​
3) Challenges in TOTK
Overall TOTK feels harder than BOTW. Even with 20 hearts I still encounter some new declination of an enemy which destroys me in 2 or 3 hits. Also, now that they have removed the bomb runes my resources feel much more valuable and I clearly think twice before using a flower bomb or anything else on an enemy. Furthermore, the fuse power clearly incites you to build more powerful weapon to fight enemies which would have been considered as bullet sponges before.
In terms of dungeons and shrines there is a lot that I could say. I could actually write a full other post to talk about this. I will try to remain as concise and as on point as possible.
Let's start with the shrines. Overall I feel like the shrines in TOTK require more creativity and skills than in BOTW. Building contraptions help a lot in this regard, you have to be more observant of your surroundings. There are also more shrines where you are strip naked and have to find solutions to fight powerful enemies.
Some shrines however remain trivially easy but hey... It's a game meant for an incredibly broad audience. I can't even imagine for a new gamer or a kid how complex some shrines or quest hints may feel. Looking backward the riddles of TOTK require much more imagination and thoughts than most of the riddles of Zelda Ocarina of Time (yes I am criticizing my baby here). I remember being in a shrine with a spinning gear, two sliding platforms and two cylindric bars. My initial thought was to glue the cylindric bars together and stick them to the spinning gear so that it would push the sliding platforms all the way up. But instead I had jammed the whole mechanism, closed a door behind me and I was almost afraid I had soft locked myself. The solution was actually to stick one cylindric bar to the large sliding platform and the other one to the spinning gear. I remember when I was 6 years old, playing OoT and being stuck in Jabu Jabu's mouth because I didn't think about bringing a box and putting it on a button to keep it activated...
For the dungeons I also feel like there has been improvements. Accessing the dungeons are overall a much more epic journey with several quests to solve before. However, TOTK's dungeons themselves suffer the same flaws than BOTW's ones:

1. TOTK's dungeons are linear. Let's think about the way the old dungeons used to be designed. The old dungeons were usually solved by the players with a depth first search. You enter the dungeon and you have several paths you can follow. You start with one path, go as far as you can and find yourself stuck at some point. You backtrack and explore a second path where you may or may not find an object that will help you progress in the previous path. This object was usually a small key or a new tool for Link. In BOTW/TOTK there is almost no backtracking (besides the goron dungeon). There is an unordered sequence of paths that you can take with each path leading to straight to a part of the solution.
2. This point derives from the first one. Why would backtracking be even an interesting thing for a dungeon? Because it gives a feeling of solving an overall puzzle. The paths feel more intertwined, there are dependencies between the rooms. Solving the overall puzzle is what some players are looking for. It is what motivates them into solving all the intermediate puzzles. These players then feel rewarded by the boss fight.
3. Another flaw sticks the nail in the coffin of the new dungeons for me: as soon as I am starting to have fun the problem is over. This is true for almost every dungeon/shrine I encounter. Yes I had some "Eureka" moments which filled my brain with Dopamine and some narcissism (better be self-aware right?). But almost every time I had this "Eureka" moment the whole thing was over. My hypothesis is that because of the broad audience and the increase in the puzzle's creativity they don't want to take the risk frustrate the new players. But for a 25 years gamer of course it falls short.

​
4) Originality in TOTK
There isn't much to say here. TOTK is basically an improved formula of BOTW. Magnesis is now Ultra-Hand, Stasis is now more or less recall with more complex vectors, the bombs have been scraped off (they made the game trivially easy anyway) and the useless cryosis has disappeared. By the way, I heard a Youtuber saying that the attachment points displayed with a dotted lines were a genius idea. I mean come on... Has he played Kerbal Space Program?
With the depths TOTK seems to get some inspiration from the dark souls series. Maybe more specifically lost Izalith from DS1? At least for the goron part of the depths.
What Nintendo is clearly good at is keeping track of what systems major games have implemented and bring them to life in a coherent way into Zelda's universe.
​
To conclude, TOTK clearly shines with its new more sensible side quests and even its main quest as far as I am concerned. It improves the initial formula by bringing more creativity in the puzzles you solve and more value to the resources you gather. I am now motivated to explore the inhabited parts of the game because I know that there will be an interesting quest to do. However, it also misses some occasions to make this game a 9/10 (excellent game with minor issues). Namely, there could have been more localized enemies and there could have been more optional dungeons with more intertwined paths and longer sequences of puzzles. I feel like the Zonai tech was the occasion to bring back this mechanic of finding a new tool/blueprint of a tool that unlocks some problems of the other rooms (they more or less did it with the mirrors in the Gerudo temple). Finally, I didn't mention it in the points above but I find the fuse power to be a bit tedious to use. Despite these flaws I am enjoying TOTK much more than I did with BOTW.

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My mother's accounts have been compromised, started with her Facebook, and then her email. I think we were able to slow the damage, as I was able to help her create new, different passwords for the accounts she could still access that are tied to that email. However, the intruder activated 2fa on the accounts they got into, so she can no longer get into them to change anything even with account recovery. They almost got her phone account too, but we were able to secure it because we were actively working on this when the attempt to sign in from the intruder occurred.
That we know of, her email is the biggest compromise that occurred. But I know someone can do a lot of damage, both to her and to her contacts, just from having her full name and control of her email account.
Her email provider listed a 24/7 support number, but when we called, they were closed. So, not 24/7. She's going to call again in an hour or so when their system said they'll be open.
I have already given her the spiel about not reusing passwords, how to make secure passwords that she can remember, and we have secured what we can. I guess my question is, what else can I do to help her?
Not email related, but I do want to add: Facebook support is garbage. They have no means of articulating unique or nuanced situations; there is no customer support avenue, no emails, memos, chat, nothing. We recovered that account, saw the 2fa the intruder set up, followed the steps to prove her identity to get her back access, and by the time Facebook got back to her, the intruder had locked her out again and she had to start over. Hopefully her email provider is more help, but in case they aren't, what are her options?

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