I'm 52 male and suffered from anxiety since my early 20's. I'm taking an SSRI and a Benzo twice a day (both have been long term use ie years). I started smoking weed about 3-4 yrs ago hoping it would help with my anxiety, which I suppose it did by masking it. The first year was great I felt like it was a game changer, but the more I came to depend on it the less it worked. In my last year of smoking the amount I was using on a daily had tripled. I'm in the UK and we tend to smoke joints, bud and tobacco. I've had a shitty 10 months in my personal life and I leaned more and more on weed. Until last weekend when instead of helping it starting harming, every puff mad me more and more anxious. So I thought right time for a break or quit completely. Took my last smoke at lunch time Sunday just gone.
Wow the past 5 days have been a living hell, no sleep to speak of, constant nausea, cant eat anything other than dry toast, trouble concentrating and the biggest and absolutely the worst is the ANXIETY. It is literally off the charts to point of I am no longer a functioning person anymore. The first fews day I was totally wrapped up in the anxiety and was grasping at straws to relieve it. I had no clue all this was withdrawals from a drug I was constantly told wasn't addictive HA!
I bought some FOUR FIVE brand CBD oral spray 1000mg which claims to be THC free and made from isolate. It was purchased from Holland and Barrett which is a big health/supplement chain here in the UK. If its actually helping I cant tell. Been dosing between 160mg to 120mg a day trying to find some relief from the anxiety, the other withdrawals I can tolerate for a while yet. I know I can probably pop a couple of benzo's for short term relief but that feels like rabbit hole. Any experiences especially with CBD products in the UK. Looking at full spectrum but I'm unsure if it will be any different and its not that cheap.
I found this subreddit yesterday and literally binge read all afternoon gasping and nodding at how many others have gone before me with similar experiences. Sooooo I thought I would try and get involved in what seems like a very friendly and supportive group.
I'm totally open for private chats for support (both ways), exchanging stories , tips etc . In fact I would love this.
Oh and btw I'm done with weed, if I get through this I am never going back, this is a quit not a break!
Thanks in advance

I have 0 clue how these are connected but I just got done binge reading JJK and these 3 themes keep showing up over and over again. Im assuming that whatever comes about from Kenjakus plan involves altering the brain of humans to mutate their soul to be able utilize cursed energy at a higher level than we currently know of. I don’t know how simple domains tie into this but I know it does because it’s one of the main themes that keeps showing up.
Any ideas?

Heya! I love variety cryptic puzzles and since it's June I was wondering if people knew of variety cryptic with any LGBTQ / Pride themes? Some examples of what I'm talking about to get things started!
I mostly do American cryptics but I'm happy to try other countries' cryptics too!

"Positioning" by Gregg Katz (Queer Qrosswords 2 — suggested $10+ donation to an LGBTQ+ charity for the packet)

In this variety cryptic, Across answers can be tops, bottoms, or versatile. Eight top answers give up a letter to one of eight bottom answers, each becoming a new word before being entered in the grid. (Two pairs of tops and bottoms are nonmonogamous, and exchange the same letter.) Six versatile answers trade one letter with another versatile answer to form new words prior to entry. The unclued entry at 20-Across will reveal your role in all this. Across enumerations are withheld. Clued answers may include proper nouns, and modified entries include one proper noun. Down clues are entered normally.

"LGBTQIA+" by Francis Heaney (AVCX Cryptic — $1.00):

Happy Pride! The clues and entries in this puzzle are nonconformists in many ways:
1) Across clues are not numbered; you must determine their grid locations. (They are ordered alphabetically by answer.) Each Across clue also has an extraneous letter that must be removed before solving (not necessarily leaving a new word, and possibly requiring words to be respaced); the removed letter will correspond to the color of the flag stripe in which its answer is located (R, O, Y, G, B, or V). Down clues are numbered normally.
2) All but 12 answers, Across and Down, must have a letter added (either L, G, B, T, Q, I, or A) before being entered into the grid to make a new word or phrase; we’ll refer to these answers as LGBTQIA+. The remaining 12 answers are entered normally with no modifications. Enumerations are withheld. Tags apply to answers but not necessarily to grid entries.
3) The crossing letters of six Across and six Down LGBTQIA+ entries do not match; replace those letters with 2- or 3-letter strings to make new words in both directions. (Since the mismatched letters are unchecked, as an aid in confirmation, they can be anagrammed to LEAGUE ABODES.)
4) Every clue contains an extra definition (either a word or phrase) that must be removed before solving; in the case of LGBTQIA+ answers, the extra word or phrase defines the modified grid entry. In the 12 clues with unmodified answers, the extra word or phrase defines one of the new words made after following instruction 3; you must determine which.
5) When the grid is complete, read the added 2- and 3-letter strings from left to right to reveal something important to both crosswords and LGBTQIA+ activism.

"Coming Out" by Brad LeBeau (The Griddle — Free)

In this variety cryptic, the answers are entered as usual. However, each clue has a queer letter that needs to come out (i.e. be removed) before the clue can be solved. These letters, read in clue order, reveal a message that’s important for Pride Month (or any month!).

"Tag Yourself!" by Amanda Rafkin, David Gold, and Finn Vigeland (avid puzzler — Free)

In this alignment chart of a cryptic, Down entries (for which enumerations are withheld) must be modified, always forming new words or names before grid entry. Gay entries (columns 1-3) “walk fast,” and need to have a letter advanced one place in the alphabet (ex. BOMER > BONER). Bi entries (columns 4-6) “tuck their shirts in,” moving their first letter somewhere else in the word (ex. ACME > CAME). Lesbian entries (columns 7-9) “call a U-Haul,” gaining or losing a U somewhere in the word (ex. LUTE <-> LTE).

Thanks for any suggestions for puzzles to look into!

Back in the days of 2014 to 2019, imo the most popular years of Ed Tumblr, I stumbled upon my first thinspo post. Had no clue what it was, but was already starting to change my food habits at the age of 10. Binge ate a lot my whole life due to depression but have never been overweight. Anyways I started to go down the Ed rabbit hole, feeling very validated and understood, and romanticized being anorexic.watched all the shows,movies, music, even had a Microsoft Word folder with a password to document food thinspo secretly. Restricting for years 13 to 16before my legal guardians caught on at age 16 and made me go to treatment for 5 months.been in recovery from anorexia since then but now struggle with binge eating and a severe sugar addiction as I am in recovery from drugs too. I've heard people say that people who romanticize it won't get sick but I did, I grew up seeing my mother puke her meals up.anyways I wanted to share my story and see if anyone relates

Many of us struggle with CONSISTENTLY avoiding pmo. I am almost 17 now and I have been trying to quit this for about 2 and a half years now and one of my main problems during this time was bouncing back from a relapse. What happens to many of us is we start building up these streaks and then when we relapse we go on a huge binge and for the next week and a half we constantly consume pornography, or rather the pornography consumes us. For the first 2 years of nofap I was stuck in this cycle and it's very hard to progress and it's one of the main reasons it takes people so long to quit pmo. However this past half year I discovered how to bounce back from my pitfalls and I have seen my progress rapidly increase.
So what changed? I started doing 1 thing differently. The first thing I changed is that I learned how to FALL WITH GRACE. I learned how to relapse in a graceful way. Many of us when we relapse we go on these huge binges and it's full of edging to pornography. We even relapse twice on the same day because we think we might as well because we've already failed today. When we relapse like this, it makes it that much harder to come back the next day and start up another streak. Instead of going all in on the days I relapse, I instead MINIMIZED the damage. If I got caught peeking at porn and I progressively watched worse things I would shut off my phone and just get it over with in the shower. Then following that shower I would go run 6 miles or something of that nature, then get my thoughts together, and set up a gameplan for the next day. What I noticed is that when I relapsed in this nature, I felt less shame. BY MINIMIZING THE DAMAGE I MINIMIZED THE SHAME. BY MINIMIZING THE SHAME I WAS ABLE TO GET BACK ON TRACK AND START UP ANOTHER STREAK.
So now that you know what I changed, I'm going to tell you the shift in my mindset that allowed me to change. The mindset that many people are in is a PERFECTIONIST/DEFEATEST mindset. When we feel like we don't have control over our own life and can't achieve perfection we start to develop a defeatist mentality. We say things like if I'm not going to do it perfectly then I might as well not try? We have these super farfetched goals like going 90 days and when we don't achieve them we get depressed. With perfectionism and defeatism, we are doing satans job for him. All satan has to do is just push us a few yards and then we say oh well I've already gone a few yards I might as well go the rest of the way. We have to accept that there are going to be bumps in the road and we are not going to have a perfect streak. Instead of trying to achieve the perfect streak, the goal should be to STRIVE to quit pmo. When we STRIVE to quit it's a slightly different picture but it makes a big difference. Instead of trying to be perfect, we instead try to DO OUR BEST. This means that when we get tempted and go and peak we are able to shut the phone off because the goal is no longer based on perfection but instead it's off of our best possible effort to avoid pmo. It may not seem like a big change in mentality, but its the difference between being consistent in your streaks to being more streaky in your streaks if that makes sense. I can also promised you won't get knocked off the road by hitting small bumps
The streak number is off by the way I have no clue what day I'm on though

Every individual has a baseline level of sexual energy. In the same way every person has a different height or has a different sleeping pattern. Some require 8 hours of sleep others 6 hours.
People with low baseline sexual energy need to retain desperately if they don't they end up in a very dark place. These are people that have the potential to become homeless, drug addicts and criminals if they don't retain.
People with high baseline sexual energy don't need to retain much and will still do great in life. Ofc. if they retain they will do even BETTER.
So if you have a naturally high baseline level of sexual energy you will get benefits very potently and very quickly.
Raising the baseline. Yes it can be raised by having multiple long streaks. This means that you if you've had a few streaks of 50+ days and then you relapse, you will get the benefits faster and more intensely than before. I remember at one point having raised my baseline sexual energy levels to such a degree that I had day 20 benefits on day 1.
Lowering the baseline. Ofc. if you relapse and you binge, and the next day again, the next again. You are at risk of lowering your baseline level of sexual energy and the benefits will take longer to manifest. I also had experience with this. In my previous streak it took me 40+ days to get benefits that I usually get around day 20.
What is this baseline sexual energy? I have no clue it could genetic, a concoction of hormones and neurotransmitters interacting with each other and that are readily available for each different individual. Experience wise I would describe it as the level of urge/horniness you feel. That is the strongest correlation with sexual energy.

I don't mean that I miss the regressive politics, or that I miss the lack of technology, but rather, I miss the sense of just... things advancing.
I remember being optimistic about life back in those years.
I remember thinking, "wow, look at how technology is advancing! I can't wait to see what happens!"
And instead, I am bombarded with ads everywhere.
I'm bombarded with click-bait videos, not from stupid corporations, but from just regular people.
I'm bombarded with fucking TikTok ads, and then if it's not the damn ads, it's a video on something stupid that happened and somebody filming it on TikTok or whatever for clout, for "views" or "clicks" or "subs" or whatever.
There was something freeing about living in those years, and I think it was due to the fact that technology for connection existed in just the right way, where, people could connect, communicate, and be part of the world around them, WITHOUT feeling as if time is running out, or, I'm going to miss the boat for one thing or the other, or that, if I don't do THIS THING RIGHT NOW, I'll be forever stuck in this loser-esque mindset.
Now, I do have amnesia, I do have trauma, etc, and I'm sure that plays a role in things, but, with having amnesia from 2015-2022, I feel like things are "new". I am like, "wait, that's a thing?"
It's just fucking weird to me.
People doing these stupid dances, influencers, like, it's fucking weird to me.
I am sick to fucking death of people assuming that every interaction that isn't 100% smooth or going well is GROOMING or SUS or THAT HAPPENED or
I'm sick of people just assuming that a guy doing one thing is automatically grounds for being a creep. I'm sick to death of people assuming every single time a white woman cries for help, that it's to harm the other party.
Like, with that stupid Bike Karen bullshit. This literally is what I'm talking about. Like, the woman got off a 12 hour shift and was six months pregnant. According to how the bikes work, if the bike is DOCKED, then that means that the bike belongs to NOBODY. She was on the damn bike, and then all these other people are SURROUNDING her.
Let's actually do a thought experiment: if the boys were white, should she have called for help? If she was a black woman and the boys were also black, should she have called for help? If the race were different in any capacity, should she have called for help?
Like, I don't know what the fuck people think that other people are thinking when they get off a 12 hour shift at six months pregnant, but like, how the fuck was she supposed to know those boys were still minors? Seriously, how? And furthermore, how the fuck was she supposed to respond when she's got several larger dudes, never mind their race, but just bigger dudes, surrounding her and calling her horrific shit and telling her that her "baby comes out retarded".
Like, I legitimately don't know what you wanted her to do if she was actually a victim.
Also, for the question of "why would somebody film them doing something like that?!"... are you fucking joking? People are ALWAYS filming dumb shit they're doing. There was just a video of some kids lighting fireworks in a fucking bus. People are fucking stupid, and that logic extends even further when the people are minors/children.
Furthermore, why would some woman go and get herself into trouble, possibly lose her job, just to, harass people over a bike? Harass a group of bigger dudes, nevermind their age, but like, over a bike??? Sure, I guess it's also possible, and that's gross that it's possible, but I just feel like she really didn't mean to do something like that that could put her job and life at risk, that's ridiculous.
And then, lastly, how the fuck do you know if her tears were fake or real? Are you in her shoes? Have you never been so burnt out you cry, and then the tears just fucking STOP because you're exhausted? Like, this honestly was probably a huge misunderstanding or a fucking miscommunication, or, maybe just straight up bullying, and I'll give it to you that maybe she's making shit up, but, I just find that soooo difficult to believe that a woman who is a nurse, who is 6 months preggo, who just got off a 12 hour shift, is going to try to steal a bike from a group of dudes, nevermind their race.
It's ridiculous.
Like, there are crazy fucking people out there, yes, but I feel like since everybody has a damn keyboard and whatnot, they're like, "Oh, I know soo well because I know somebody that knew somebody that had this thing happen to them, and this sounds like that!"
Like, no two court cases are the same because the facts always differ. The same can be said about social interactions.
IDK, it's just so stupid to me.
I miss where a misunderstanding was simply that, a "oh shit, I didn't realize".
And like, idk, in the 2000s-2010s, people actually looked shit up.
Like, have any of you ever watched "We Didn't Start The Flame War" by College Humor? If not, fucking watch that video.
It's like, these Andrew Tate fans are like, "gross, I'm so much better than you, so much smarter!" but then they believe everything that sob says. It's disgusting. Also, Andrew Tate is fucking ugly as fuck. And sure, maybe he'd be cute, but his personality prevented him from having any positive associations with his face. He's disgusting. A rapist. And a human trafficker. And these young men who are in crisis eat his shit up, and it's disgusting. He's a fucking predator and a groomer, IRL, but he goes both ways.
He preys on insecure men and grooms them into thinking they need to buy his "product", and his "product" is a bunch of women he has forbidden from seeing the outside world. All these fucking people just go on and on about "WHERE'S THE PROOF!" and I'm like, have you even listened to the girls speak? Have you listened to the voice mail messages he's left? Have you ever even watched his shit, other than his podcasts? Like, are you serious?
And then, we have fucking boomers who believe fucking everything they see because their brains are rotted from lead paint and lead gasoline.
And then these Elon Musk stans who find him to be so cool or whatever because he bought Tesla or something?? Like?? Okay?? I could've said the same shit about Steve Jobs or Bill Gates!
And we have nazi's again, rebranding themselves as fucking "Patriots". Sure, a patriot so much so that you're willing to ban people from having their own freedom to enjoy life and love who they want because it confuses you or goes against god or whatever the fuck dumb reason you have because you can't stop thinking about sex between other people.
And this trans-shit, like, are you serious? Let people be themselves. Nobody is "mutilating children", that's just not happening. Women who were born with vagina's can't even get a fucking abortion when they're going to die from complications, or their own uterus removed when they don't want kids, and you believe this narrative that children are allowed to have their sexual reproductive organs messed with? Fucking lunacy.
It's like, there's climate change going on, and IDK if that's why people are going after low-hanging fruit/arguments that are dumb as fuck, because it's some collective fear or whatever, but it's fucking stupid. Worry about the damn planet. Worry about politicians that are trying to tell you about "woke" shit or whatever and then take money from political donors to enrich themselves, worry about Florida sinking into the fucking ocean instead of drag shows in Florida, because if Florida does go underwater (and it will in due time), you're not going to have any drag shows anyway.
And maybe this is just a natural progression with technology and communication and connection, globally, to see all this dumb shit, but I feel like people need to "touch grass" and literally take a fucking hike, breath in the air, do some goddamn meditation, watch a show, but don't binge it, take your time, slow the fuck down in life, put things into context and perspective.
You're going to be dead in 100 years, max, and if all you did was bitch about drag shows and binge idk, whatever the new fucking show is, and call people groomers and what the fuck ever, you're going to be a miserable fuck when you're older, and you're going to sound paranoid as all get out to the Alpha generation, who is seriously going to think, "thanks Gen-Z parents for screaming groomers when you could have LITERALLY been screaming about climate change, which, BTW, is going to affect us even MORE than it's affecting you!" And then they'll look at Milennials, and be all, "goddamn, y'all got fucked over and went the same damn way as Gen-X, even though Gen-X likes to pretend they're an outlier because they want to feel like they have control over something in life," meanwhile, boomers will be dead AF and Alpha generations will be like, "I wonder what it was like to live in a time where technology wasn't in your face all the time, and you actually had union jobs and went into work."
Like, idk, generations reflect on previous generations, to what extent is up to each individual person, but it's like, I just want to go back to where I wasn't stressed out as fuck about shit.
Like, my cat, right now is watching me type, she watches how fast my fingers move and watches the letters appear on the screen. It's cute as fuck, she watches it and jumps like it's a printer, and I find that adorable.
I try to take in the little things, and I'm sure you, the reader, you do as well, but I think a lot more than other people, I personally feel, and maybe that's because I'm autistic, not diagnosed yet because I can't afford the $3000 fee attached to an adult diagnosis, but, I've seen numerous health care professionals, it's a goddamn joke how many I've seen, and for the ones that I've brought this up to, they're like, "Oh, yeah, I can't give you a diagnosis, but, if I had to guess, yes, you are on the spectrum."
And IDK, maybe that's why I think too fucking much, who the hell knows, I don't know. I just want things to not be so fucking high strung, I want people to listen, to use context clues, to incorporate nuance into their arguments, to try and think of how other people might think of something, and to incorporate that into their viewpoints, to give people the benefit of the doubt when there's a lacking of sufficient evidence (bike karen), and to make their judgements of shitty things and people based off all the shit that said individual has said (Tate).
Like, christ dude, I just want to come home, watch some fucking anime, write a goddamn story, read some Stephen King, look at a stupid youtube video, and not be bombarded with ads and politicians feeding bullshit to their audience. Use some fucking facts and evidence.
Seek out evidence, people. Seek truth, stop vilifying, and just, idk... make an informed decision and stop saying shit like, "OH THAT'S LITERALLY WHAT IT IS, NGL, CAUSE NO, LIKE, I KNEW SOMEBODY WHO DID THAT, AND THAT'S TOTALLY WHAT THEY'RE DOING!" It's fucking ridiculous.
I don't know where the fuck I'm going with this, I have the flu.

I had been enjoying the Bing Walpaper on my Duo 1, where it changes each day to match the Bing homepage. A few days ago (I'm guessing during am update?). The Walpaper went to black. I don't remember how I got it initiated the first time, but I'm struggling to figure out where to go to enable it again! Any clues on how to do that?

Quit calling me! If I wanted to talk to you I would answer the phone. What do you mean you want another trivia?... No... No... Fine, here is one. Now leave me alone unless you have questions about this trivia. Any complaints can go to u/schwizzy this time.
As always, the celeb is in the DB and you can submit your answers in the Portal. Today I have a Crossword Puzzle for you.
Once you have each of the correct words, create a tinyURL link by using each of the first letters in order. An example can be found here. This link will take you to your clue about the celeb.

Just finished binging and I wanna go back and rewatch that scene for clues.

I’m new in my recovery journey.
I’m pretty sure my core issues are neurodivergence, shame about who I am, and feeling unlovable. This causes me to isolate and trying to find quick ways to avoid my insufferable reality. I knew I had problems with love addiction but now that I’m trying recover from that, I started playing video games all day. Now that Im worried about video games, my eating (that was already a problem) habit is getting worse and im drinking much more caffeine for stimulation which is worsening my anxiety.
I just have so many problems going on at once. I don’t know where to begin. Im scared of how far I’ll go. Every time I try to get better, I take 5 steps back because I feel uncomfortable trying to quit my habits. Last night, as I was doing some research to help with love addiction, I realized I might have BPD (I fit all the symptoms) which is really hard to look at. Today, this realization triggered me to binge eat and play video games all day. I feel major brain fog today. I can barely even type this post.
I desperately need to change. I just have no clue where to begin. I can’t live like this. Last week my doctor told me my cholesterol is higher than normal.

So I(22F) gave birth to my son in July 2021. I had gained weight over the pregnancy and in the October I decided just to try lose the weight I had gained as it was around 20-30lb. I struggle with binge eating and have dieted on and off even tried fasting and calorie counting but nothing has kept me on track.
I have now gained another 10lbs and during a visit to see family I saw my body in a full length mirror up close and realised how big I look. I really have to do something before it gets more out of control. I’ve tried the gym but I haven’t a clue what to do routine wise, a calorie deficit was Okai and I get that more.
If anyone has struggled the same and has any advice on how they kept in a routine please let me know any and all advise I’d be grateful for.

Hey guys, I do play standard in arena (started there because I thought mtgo was very ugly).
But it seems that in my city, people only play modern. Anyways, I started on mtgo and it wasn´t that bad. Bought a cheap burn deck and I like it so far.
But, I´m trying to be in control of what the meta has to offer; it seems to be really extense. I don´t have a clue of what people can play me at my LGS or what are my win conditions as burn. I don´t know if I can beat most of the decks there, or I´m just throwing away money. In standard I feel I have more control (especially when sideboarding) of my wins.
Is there some content I can binge watch/read to be able to understand modern better? Other than that, I have watched some of Mengucci´s videos, and it seems that modern is pretty fast paced. Like wins on turn 3 or 4 a lot of times; which makes me think that if your deck isn´t optimized, there´s no room for it in the meta...
Thanks!

The beagle who holds the Guinness World Record for solving the fastest crossword puzzle is a remarkable dog named Purin. This talented pooch hails from Japan and has gained worldwide recognition for her impressive skills in puzzle-solving. Learn More - Purin's background, her training, and her incredible Guinness World Record achievement.

There has only been one other show where I can binge right after watching the entire thing, and that was Charmed.
I’m rewatching it, and the main reason is, is because I want to see all the foreshadowing and clues I ended up missing the first time around! For instance the significance of Jackie’s necklace. I never realized it but they were showing clues the entire time. The writers are awesome.
I really hope Yellow Jackets doesn’t end any time soon, I hope they start to slow down the pacing, because it feels like the shows death date will be when they get out of the wilderness :(

The weeks leading up to the 17th Hunger Games were especially eventful as the Capital was still reeling from the previous year’s spectacular games. Sherpa Kapoor, with the help of his lion friends, had proven himself to be the most popular tribute in Hunger Games history since Ashley Chen (victor of the 13th Hunger Games)’s revenge plot. The Capital was kept satisfied with reruns as well as the continuing increasing sales of 16th HG merchandise. This consisted of Kapoor Pride plushies, replica gaffi sticks, and the most sought-after item: the latest in the line of Panem Champion Funko Pop. Every year, a new action figure is made for the latest victor of the Hunger Games. It was the most popular collectible in the Capital. In fact, since the Golden Victors concept was introduced, a new line of Funko Pop was released, separating the first ten victors (called the First Champions) and the Golden Victors by changing the color of the clothes and weapons to gold.
Hunger Games mania had started once more a week before the reaping cycle. Artemis Radcliffe interviewed Head Gamemaker Grimstone on her morning show Good Morning Panem, expressing relief that the Sherpa craze had died down. Grimstone responded that that kind of excitement was the nature of the Golden Victors and he hoped he would be able to replicate that level of success. However, he did admit it was up to the tributes to decide that. As usual, Artemis pushed for details only to receive tight lips from the gamemaker. She responded to herself, telling the audience she'll never learn the futility of getting spoilers from a gamemaker.
A week later, Sherpa had to put his restaurant endeavors on hold as he was called for the reaping tour. His entourage consisted of his brother Zacharie, Cassandra (his mentor), and surviving Kapoor Pride member Parth. After a depressing reaping at his home district, Cassandra had to separate from the group to take care of the first half of mentoring his tributes Mishti and Horace. So, Troy van Stomm (victor of the 5th Hunger Games) volunteered to tag along, mostly in hopes to become Sherpa’s friend. A notable incident happened during the District 8 reaping, when the younger brother of Asaad (D8 tribute of 16th games who was killed by Sherpa), Burlap, was reaped and attempted to assault Sherpa on the stage. Parth tackled him to the ground but was stopped by Sherpa before he could injure him further.
After witnessing the reaping games of District 2 sire Nikita and Andrei, Sherpa and his entourage arrived in District 6. He was given a tour by Mayor Bengtsson and District 6’s only victor Phoebe Bentley. They introduced to Sherpa a recently completed construction project, the Luxury Viking Cruise. This week-long cruise trip would sail the seas of Districts 4 and 6, even granting a tour of the Faroe Island Base. Despite being a victor for nearly a year, Sherpa was shocked by the fancy architecture and opulence. The remainder of the tour was a bit of a downer, Sherpa seeing firsthand the combined effects of poverty and the warmweed epidemic. His spirits were lifted when Phoebe enthusiastically showed him the Kento Rehabilitation Center. Both Sherpa and Troy decided to inject some of their money into the community, buying a variety of the local liquors outside of the Johnson Jazzy Juices brand. During lunch, Phoebe introduced them to her husband, local piloting legend Jackson Williams, and her “arena baby” Mirabelle. Sherpa allowed Mirabelle to pet Parth while he asked Jackson some piloting questions.
After lunch, everyone headed over to the reaping square where he was greeted by the mayor. He chatted for about ten minutes as the oil and vomit stained amber clad youths filed into the enclosure, the process taking longer as peacekeepers had to round up inebriated youths who tried to ditch the process. Sherpa made his victor’s speech more lively, bringing up his restaurant business and performing a couple tricks with Parth. Some of the youths enjoyed the show and applauded him. After his speech, Phoebe urged him to pull out the first name from the female reaping bowl. Sherpa took a deep breath and shoved his hand in the bowl. He unfolded the paper and announced eighteen year old Catilina "Cat" Verter as tribute.
Cat was a tall medium built woman with ginger curls and round glasses and was known as one of the assistant instructors at the Kento Rehabilitation Centre, so she knew District 6’s sole victor Phoebe Bentley quite well. Phoebe apparently was funding Cat's scholarship to become a licensed therapist. Phoebe put her hand over her mouth in shock when Cat’s name was called. Cat walked up to the stage, with a tightness in her chest and tears streaming down her face. She shook hands with Sherpa and said his pet lion was cute. She turned towards the cameras, forcing a smile in an attempt to convince Capital audiences she wasn’t unhappy with her situation. In the commentator’s booth, Artemis fell for the fake smile, commenting how she must be excited to represent her district. Her co-commentator Capricorn Luther rolled his eyes in annoyance and told her to just keep watching.
Sherpa walked over to the male reaping bowl, feeling slight relief the first wasn’t a drugged out zombie. He shuffled to the male reaping bowl and pulled out the name of fifteen year old Jackknife "Jack" Clutch. Cameras found Jack in the middle of the horde of inebriated youth. Jack was a short brown haired lad who was ragged looking from head to toe due to a recent warmweed binge. Despite this, he was less skinny and pale looking than his peers to the surprise of Artemis and Luther. Luther pulled some notes and revealed Jack had managed to stay sober for 10 months, recently relapsing after the Good Morning Panem interview. He read further and discovered that Jack was one of the young refinery workers in one of the hovercraft warehouses. Artemis read the remainder of the notes and found it interesting to hear he was imprisoned four months ago after getting caught trying to smuggle warmweed across the Orkney Stretch, a stretch of water fashioned as an aquatic border separating the two districts. Despite the previous soberness, he was in too much of a trance to notice being reaped and was dragged to the stage by peacekeepers. He limply shook hands with Sherpa and absentmindedly walked into Parth before finding his place to the left of the stage. Mayor Bengtsson indifferently congratulated this year’s tributes before dismissing them to their waiting rooms. Phoebe dismissed herself to the hoverjet, kissing her husband and Mirabelle goodbye. Sherpa and his entourage also left for their next stop in the reaping tour: District 4.
Cat was visited by her older brother Tank and a coworker Pedal. The Juicy Tidbits podcast disclosed that her mother had passed away two years ago and her father was passed out drunk at the Kjellberg Brewery. The group embraced and shared in the sorrowful moment. Tank and Pedal tried to cram as much advice as they could into the session, but Cat was feeling overwhelmed. She assured them she had a great mentor who would surely help her win. Cat told Tank to sell her belongings and drew a map to the location of her pocketed earnings and her will. She thanked him for always being there and becoming sober for her. She turned to Pedal and thanked him for being her best friend, regretting never asking him out. She asked Pedal to take care of her patients, attempting to make a list of important details. However, the peacekeepers arrived before she could finish and escorted her to the hoverjet.
Meanwhile, Jack was visited by Tyre, his only friend who was one of the few who managed to stay sober during the sudden uptake of drugs and alcohol at reaping week. She consoled him as he began to cry and reassured his other friends would come if they weren't also high. Jack claimed to not care about them, but instead expressed disappointment in his parents for not coming. Tyre assured him that she believed in him. Jack shrugged and said, “At least I’ll die knowing I had one friend.” Tyre responded with “If that nervous wreck Oslo could make it as far as he did, then I'm sure you can get that little bit extra and win." She kissed him on the lips before giving him a final embrace, promising a surprised Jack that she would wait for him. Jack then made her promise that if he doesn’t make it to not wait so long to find someone else. The peacekeepers arrived and brought him to the hoverjet.
When Jack and Cat got on the hovercraft, Phoebe was already waiting at the dining table. She asked Jack to hand over any contraband warmweed he may have before they got started. He initially refused, arguing that he would need them to not break down during training. Cat reminded him that his best chance at winning would be staying sober, recalling Phoebe telling her about last year’s tributes ruining their pregames chances due to them being high. She offered to help him stay calm during the following events, bringing up her training in therapy. This seemed to persuade him to hand over the warmweed he kept in his pocket. Little did they know, he was secretly concealing a teeny fraction in the sole of his shoe. The group spent the next few hours discussing strategy. As opposed to most mentors, who would explain the upcoming events before having them watch previous games, Phoebe crafted a presentation with a slide show. The slideshow touched on the topics of the pregame events, finding water sources, creating makeshift weapons and making and handling alliances. In previous years, Phoebe used pictures and videos from previous games but this year she replaced them with stop motion animation and drawings depicting the scenarios.
When the presentation was over, Phoebe asked her tributes to tell her what their strategy for training would be. Cat was the first to answer, detailing how she would use her time to learn survival skills. However, she was indecisive on what weapon to choose. Jack, on the other hand, decided he would learn to use a knife and try his hand at camouflage. Phoebe appeared satisfied with their initial answers and instructed them to mull over their indecision. She gave them the time of noon tomorrow to come to her with their final decision. Phoebe attempted to retire her tributes to their quarters, but Jack asked if he could watch her games. Phoebe was taken aback by this. She was about to refuse, but Cat expressed her desire to see it as well. Phoebe relented and turned on the 3rd Hunger Games. While watching, Jack commended the swordsmanship of Kento (the D3 tribute and Mirabelle’s biological father) before considering practicing with a sword instead. Cat repeated the praise while condemning Carson (Phoebe’s district partner)’s brutality, even going as far as comparing him to one of the unruly patients in the mental asylum ward at the Kento Rehabilitation Centre. She turned to hear Phoebe’s thoughts, but saw her tearfully struggling to refrain herself from grabbing a bottle of whiskey. Cat rushed to her and put the bottle down, embracing her as she cried. She ordered Jack to turn off the games, which he did after seeing the climactic battle between her and Carson. Phoebe eventually calmed down and ordered her tributes to bed for the night. Night cameras showed that Cat did some light reading on a book about lizards and amphibians she found before sleeping. Meanwhile, Jack mulled over whether or not he should consume his contraband. He ultimately decided to ask the peacekeeper outside his door to bring him a strong tasting but nonalcoholic drink. He learned from him that all of the drinks in the District 6 apartment were nonalcoholic, leading him to accept a lemon vodka.
The next morning, the tributes woke up to a light breakfast and were asked to clean up quickly and select clothes provided in their wardrobes. This became a tradition Phoebe picked up for her tributes after Jase Toliver tried it for the District 8 tributes of the 2nd Quinquennial Quell (15th Hunger Games). The tradition became handy that year as the Capital was going through a heat wave. Due to being farther north and experiencing the harshest winters of Panem, District 6 wasn’t used to the warmer climate. This was brought up when Jack opened one of the windows, which blew a humid draft in. Phoebe instructed them to dress for the heat, Cat choosing a V neck tank top with cutoff denim shorts while Jack wore a henley shirt with board shorts.
The tributes were greeted by a respectable sized crowd despite being on the lower end of the visitation numbers. District 6 usually ended up with the second or third lowest turnout. depending on the sobriety of their tributes with this year having the fifth lowest turnout. Many of the crowd members flocked to Phoebe, either calling her by name or as “The Philosopher”. Many asked how Mirabelle was doing, knowing she turned thirteen not long ago. Phoebe graciously answered their questions, but urged them to meet her tributes. Jack took surprisingly well to the crowd, shaking hands with people his age and charming an elderly woman with flattery. She pinched his cheeks, telling him how adorable he was and promising to sponsor him if he keeps it up. Cat was nervous at first, but the people skills she learned from her job quickly took over. She gave pleasantries and charmed the crowds with her manners. She even managed to convince a few Captalites to open up about their personal lives so she could get them to relate to her. Jack walked over to her while she was advising a certain young man to tell his crush how he felt. Jack put his arm around her shoulder and assured them she could be everyone’s shrink if she could. Cat piggybacked off this, declaring that they would be missing out if they didn’t sponsor them. When Phoebe finally managed to escape the paparazzi, she ushered her tributes into the limousine. Phoebe thanked them for behaving and making a good impression. Cat commended Jack’s people skills, wondering where they were before. Jack simply stated he realized the gravity of the situation while he was dressing and decided to do his best to make it home to his friend Tyre.
When the group arrived at the apartment, they were greeted by this year’s stylist Sasha Grasseed. Phoebe became annoyed upon recognizing her. It was rumored that Sasha had only achieved her position by sleeping with pregame event organizer Dermont Toolly. Cat and Jack attempted to introduce themselves, but Sasha cut them off. She claimed to be on a tight schedule and barked at them to stand in place for their measurements. She then ordered her assistant Morrana Cloudveil to do the measurements. Phoebe questioned if having an assistant was allowed, but Sasha brushed this off claiming it made things easier. Phoebe mumbled to herself, “Yeah because everything comes easy for you.” The Juicy Tidbits podcast had a five-minute discussion over this particular comment, wondering if there was unspoken beef between the two. Phoebe asked to see some of the design, but Sasha said she already decided on a mechanic outfit covered in nails. Phoebe tried to speak again but was rudely interrupted. An exasperated Sasha growled that her design was final, and she was going to leave to get started and to "find an actual drink".
By the time she left, Morrana apologized for Sasha's behavior and remarked that she tried to tell her she was thinking of the nuts, bolts and nails used for construction. Phoebe said that it was fine and suggested to her tributes to try and play into the peculiar nature of the designs. Jack asked what her problem was, calling her a “high strung bitch queen”. Cat suggested Sasha thought the position was above her talents and only accepted to hopefully win the title of Blanco Fashion Magazine’s Best Dressed. Phoebe considered the theory plausible and suggested they throw Sasha under the bus in interviews if the parade doesn’t work out. Morrana agreed, explaining that the only way to bring down a stylist is if they screw up and enough people talk about it. Cat and Jack promised to do so. Phoebe decided to turn on replays of the reapings and advised her tributes to study their opponents.
Immediately after leaving District 6, Sherpa and his entourage arrived in District 4. In the commentator’s booth, Artemis and Luther revealed that District 4 was also going through a heat wave, which forced the refrigeration system to work overtime to protect the latest catch and produce. Three freezer boxes, two containing salmon and one squid, had to be emptied and their contents disposed of when the insulation failed. As Mayor Phillip gave Sherpa a tour, people would stop and stare at Parth as he trailed along. Little kids ran up and asked to pet him, to which Sherpa happily obliged. Sherpa showed much interest in District 4’s naval and fishing industry, especially the latter. Much to Sherpa's dismay, especially after seeing mass poverty across the other districts, he complained about some of the fish being thrown away despite still being good to eat. He claimed that some citizens across Panem would be willing to eat it, buying some various fillets on the spot. He did a cooking demonstration for Mayor Phillip, creating sushi with salmon and serving it as their lunch.
On their way to the reaping square, they stopped to pick up District 4’s victor Gill Henderson at the Slippery Shell, the most popular pub in District 4 where Dolph Masterson (ally to Bacchus Johnson of the 9th Hunger Games) dreamed of the many cocktails now sold under the Johnson’s Jazzy Juices brand. When they arrived at the reaping square, the blue clad potential tributes were already lined up and waiting. Sherpa noticed that the majority looked unfazed due to District 4 generally performing quite well, many holding onto the hope of their next victor coming very soon. So much so that the district had the honour of having the Capital’s third fan group, the Buccaneers, always ready to support them.
Sherpa gave a pre-translated speech that he read very well due to improvements in his English. He asked the women if they had any volunteers. Receiving no reply, he stepped towards the female reaping bowl. He pulled out the name of fourteen year old Pearl Riverstone. Cameras zoomed in on a short tanned girl with dirty blonde pigtails wearing a sky blue skirt and white shirt. Pearl loudly cried over her name being called and begged anyone to volunteer for her. As she sombered forward, protests were heard across the crowd. Luther pulled up a note card and revealed that Pearl's parents ran one of the many pubs across District 4. Her family’s pub The Brine was one of the more popular amongst working class people, attendance sometimes rivalling the Slippery Shell. Pearl would normally be found waiting tables at The Brine or playing with her friends on the riverwalk. Sherpa felt sorry for the girl and forgoed the hand shaking in place of letting her hug Parth. Pearl thanked Sherpa and proceeded to take her place to the right of the stage.
Sherpa took a deep breath and reiterated the volunteer question to the men. He again received no reply and went towards the male reaping bowl. He pulled a name from the bottom and pulled it out, nearly dropping it when a gust of wind blew through. He read the name of eighteen year old Mortimer Beckett. Many members in the enclosures and outside audiences began whispering amongst themselves. Gill Henderson appeared surprised, clueing Capital viewers that he was familiar with him. In the commentator’s booth, Artemis urged the cameras to find this person, wondering what made him so known. Cameras circled around the area for a moment until spotting a muscled man with sunkissed brown wavy hair and hazel green eyes. The most interesting thing about him was the shackles on his hands and being accompanied by two peacekeepers.
Mortimer cursed to himself upon hearing his name and grumbled to his guards to get it over with. While he shuffled to the stage, Luther pulled some notes together. He revealed to the audience that Mortimer was a shiphand who worked on the same dock Gill Henderson manages. The chains were as a precaution as two weeks ago, Mortimer was caught smuggling a small supply of warmweed and District 6 professor Tobias Stephens into District 4’s waters. Tobias was seeking asylum in District 4 and was given a fake ID, but was caught hours after landing. He was executed in District 4’s town square. Artemis thought he looked handsome and wanted to see the muscles underneath his thin white undershirt. She was confused by the black eyeliner encompassing his right eye, wondering if he tried to paint a tattoo there. She also swore she could see something blue etched into his skin, wondering if he had a back tattoo. Mortimer didn’t want to shake Sherpa’s hand, but was intimidated by Parth’s cold black eyes and relented. Mayor Phillip congratulated this year’s tributes before dismissing them to the waiting rooms in the Town Centre.
Pearl was visited by both parents and her older sister Henrietta. Pearl couldn’t stop crying, her parents trying her best to calm her down. It was eventually Henrietta that temporarily ceased her hysterics. She asked her little sister to listen to her mentor and try her best. She implied she could remind Gill of the district partner he lost in his games and get extra attention. Pearl asked, “What about my partner? He could protect me.” Henrietta’s face furrowed into a frown. She insisted she not trust him, claiming he would only look out for himself like he always did. Pearl lamented that she couldn’t possibly win and was scared. Her mother assured her that a fourteen year old girl from District 7 won before, reminding her of Vixen Furtherson (victor of the 14th Hunger Games). Pearl asked if they thought she could have the chance to meet her, to which the parents thought she would. The four had a final embrace before peacekeepers arrived. Pearl resumed her hysterics the second the first peacekeeper grabbed her and she cried as she was dragged to the Speedy Submarine.
Meanwhile, Mortimer was initially all alone in his room. He was pacing back and forth, a couple tears falling from his eyes. Suddenly, the door opened and his girlfriend Meridia Vilewater entered. She embraced him and apologised for not coming sooner. Mortimer said it was alright, simply glad someone showed up. Meridia said, “I’m sorry your father couldn’t make it. I promise to look after him.” Mortimer thanked her and expressed how grateful he was for her being there when the entire town wasn’t. He joked how her father didn’t have to worry about him poking around anymore, but Meridia began to tear up upon hearing this. He apologised and assured her he would try his best to win and not only bring honour to the district, but possibly help his father. He then snarkily said, “Who knows? Maybe your dad will accept me?” Meridia betted he would and gave him a final embrace, knowing their time was short. Mortimer whispered to her the location of his secret stash of “medicine” before being dragged out of the room and to the Speedy Submarine.
Pearl and Mortimer found themselves in the lounge area. Pearl nervously sat on the couch and waited for their mentor to show. Mortimer gave her a stare before silently resigning himself to the bar. He was downing a Woeful Whiskful cocktail from Johnson’s Jazzy Juices when their mentor Gill Henderson entered the room. He gave a momentary glance to Mortimer before introducing himself to Pearl. Pearl claimed to know him from his shanty performance during the Saint Patrick’s Day celebration at The Brine. Gill appreciated the sentiment before diverting the conversation. He point-blankedly asked what skills she had. She shrugged and simply stated she was a waitress. Gill pondered over this and asked how many orders she handled on average. Pearl answered she would normally keep track of the orders of 4-5 tables simultaneously, even recalling a day she juggled eight tables at once. Gill explained she was an effective communicator and a multitasker, two skills that could prove crucial to her survival. He caught her nervously glancing at the despondent Mortimer sitting on the barstool. Gill walked over to him and greeted him. Pearl asked if he knew him, to which Gill confirmed. Mortimer dejectedly stated that everyone knew him and that he was infamous. Gill argued that he didn’t help himself with the image he projected and asked what his father would think. Mortimer snapped that he didn’t know anything and to drop it. The tone in his voice scared Pearl, but Mortimer was kind enough to apologise to her for his outburst.
Gill took this opportunity to give them the routine rundown of the events to come. He recommended they devise ways to get the Capital to like them, reminding them of the importance of sponsors. Gill looked down at Pearl and said she was adorable and could use that. Pearl decided to better improve her look to play into the cute persona. Gill turned to Mortimer, who was still sipping from his glass but paying close attention. Gill said that his criminal record and standoffish attitude wouldn’t help matters, suggesting he lighten up. He also explained that he knew some of his stories that could be used as sob stories for the audience. Mortimer claimed those to be private. He grumbled that he didn’t need any help before resigning himself to the training room. Gill hollered back to at least consider using his strength as an asset. Pearl asked what his deal was, claiming to have only heard the story of him smuggling “the professor from 6’ in. Gill sighed and asked her to sit down. He decided to disclose that Mortimer’s mother abandoned him and his disabled father when he was six, leaving him to become man of the house. He had some traumatic experiences with a few of District 4’s bad apples and had trust issues, enough to turn away those who genuinely wanted to help, including Alexander Riverstone. Pearl, hearing her father’s name dropped, wanted to know more, but Gill decided it was a story for another time. He instead called the dinner cart in and turned on the TV. He turned on the 13th and 14th Hunger Games, both erecting Ashley Chen and Vixen Furtherson, the youngest victors in history. Gill asked Pearl to take notes on their performances in hopes of settling on a strategy.
While she took notes, Gill visited the training room and approached Mortimer who was lifting weights. Gill notified him of the dinner cart and pleaded with him to join them. Mortimer relented and dropped his weight. Before they entered the lounge area, Gill put a hand on Mortimer’s shoulder and told him there was no shame in wanting to talk as he didn’t want him to die in the arena with things remaining unsaid. Mortimer hesitated before wordlessly filling his plate. He brought his plate to the couch and began watching the finale of the 14th games with Pearl. When the games ended, Pearl got up to make her plate while Mortimer turned on Gill’s games and made notes of his own. Pearl sat down to watch and chuckled at the iconic “Bye Felicia” tagline but averted her eyes when Gill’s district partner Angel was killed. When the finale showdown between Gill and Furler (D12 male tribute) came up, Mortimer paid close attention. Pearl asked if he was studying his trident fighting style to which he confirmed, stating his desire to practise the trident. After dinner, Gill broke into song and began improvising a sea shanty. Pearl began to dance to the melody while Mortimer nodded his head and slipped a smile in. Gill sent his tributes to bed and spent an extra few minutes at the bar, drinking a Huma Hurricane.
The next morning, the Speedy Submarine arrived at the Darius Dock on the Capital docks. Gill ordered his tributes to brush their hair and teeth as well as put on nice clothes. He even loaned his aftershave to Mortimer when there wasn’t any found in his room. Gill inspected them head to toe and reminded them to make an impression, telling Pearl to stay adorable and Mortimer to lighten up. The hatch opened and the three were bombarded with the cheers of adoring Buccaneers (avid fans of District 4). While most of the attendees swarmed around this year’s tributes, there was a small zealous group who called for the Brotherly Sailor, asking him to sing. Gill refrained from doing so, knowing it would take away attention from his mentees. Pearl played into her cuteness, flashing big smiles and waving her hands. She took pictures with many of the young girls, some even asking to touch her pigtails. One blushing boy walked up with a golden tiara and asked to put it on her head. She nodded and bowed, letting him place the tiara on her head. She thanked her “prince charming”, telling him she will go on a date with him if she wins.
Meanwhile, Mortimer didn’t say much but received much attention regardless. He took pictures with many of the teens in the crowds, one even giving him a prop trident to pose with. He also allowed the girls to squeeze his biceps and fawn over his wavy hair. Mortimer was beginning to feel annoyed and tried to find an excuse to step away. It came to a head when one eager girl asked if he had a girlfriend. He wretched himself away from the girls’ grasp, but another girl still had a hold of his shirt. The shirt tore to shreds in her hands, exposing the massive back tattoo on his back. Cameras got a close look at the illustration of the fabled Kraken inked onto the majority of his back, some of its tentacles stretching up his neck and around his chest. This unexpected turn of events becomes its own fiasco with more girls putting their hands all over his back. Pearl pushed some of the girls away and took pictures with the Kraken. Gill noticed this and quickly ushered his tributes to the limousine.
The three arrived at their apartment to see their stylist Minerva Panson waiting for them. Minerva was a tattoo artist who applied for the position of Hunger Games stylist to expand her business. This was Minerva’s second year as a stylist, having been District 11’s stylist the previous year. She greeted Gill and his tributes, excited to talk parade costumes with them. She knelt down and told Pearl how adorable she was, pinching her cheeks. She stood up and was slightly put off by Mortimer, who still felt humiliated by what happened at the parade. Minerva said she loved his tattoo, but it needed some polishing. Mortimer grunted a thanks and went into his room to find a shirt. Pearl was excited to see what outfit she had planned, begging to see her sketchbook. Minerva flipped through the pages with Gill, pointing out her favourites. Gill asked about her most recent sketch of an underwater king and mermaid costume. Minerva explained that she was inspired after a recent tattoo she gave a Buccaneer and the idea was reinforced by Mortimer’s Kraken tattoo. Pearl liked her mermaid outfit and asked if she could have her hair wet.
Mortimer came back in to see their final decision. Minerva said he would have to showcase his tattoo some more to go with her costume idea, revealing that it went viral on the Capital Internet. Mortimer was against it at first, but relented when Minerva offered to polish it and add a new one of his choosing at the ends of the tentacles on his chest. Interested, he agreed. She wondered aloud about the eyeliner around his right eye, rubbing her thumb on it. She inspected the residue and revealed to the room’s occupants it was fake. Mortimer sighed and admitted it was, but insisted he only applied it to spite those who dislike him and that he would never etch an actual tattoo on his face. While Minerva worked, Pearl complimented Mortimer’s tattoo, remarking how if she won, she would get a tattoo of her own. Mortimer chuckled, saying, “Just remember, real tattoos are permanent.”

​
Enjoyed coming up with the theme and most of the clues (except for 19A). Would love any input or suggestions for improvement. Thanks!

On this day (May 27) in Nintendo history...

• Dragon Warrior was released in 1986 for the Family Computer in Japan. In this role-playing game, developed by Chunsoft, players control a young hero who sets out to defeat a being known as the Dragonlord. The game begins in King Lorik's chamber in Tantegel Castle, where the hero receives information about the Dragonlord, whom he must defeat, and the stolen Balls of Light, which he must retrieve. After receiving some items and gold, the hero sets out on his quest.
  
• A Little Bit of... Magic Made Fun: Psychic Camera (known as Master of Illusion Express: Psychic Camera in North America**) was released in 2009 for DSiWare in Japan. In this non-game, developed by *Tenyo with 8ing, impressive your friends with mesmerising magic - a collection of easy-to-perform tricks that you can carry wherever you go! Appears to bestow the Nintendo DSi with incredible telepathic abilities. Simply ask a spectator to think of a card, and then take a photo of them using the Nintendo DSi system's camera function.
  
• New English Training: Learning with Tempo - Beginner Edition was released in 2009 for DSiWare in Japan. In this education software, developed by Nintendo SPD, the user is provided with speech clips and tests their pronunciation and "rhythm" of spoken English words and phrases. The aim is to follow the English speaker as close as possible to make the English sound more natural.
  
• Pocket Rurubu Kyoto and Pocket Rurubu Tokyo were released in 2009 for DSiWare in Japan. In these reference software titles, developed by Nintendo, find a sightseeing travel guide and diary, with information from the Japanese Rurubu travel guides. Each edition contains landmarks and maps of different regions and cities of Japan and provides a trip planner and suggestions. You can take photos and make notes during your trip and append them to the maps, and then play them back as a slideshow whenever you want.
  
• Puzzle Iro Iro Monthly Crossword House Vol. 1 was released in 2009 for DSiWare in Japan. In this puzzle game, developed by Tose, several puzzles, including standard crossword puzzles, illustrated crosswords, Sudoku and more are included. Use the clues to enter words into the boxes. You write the characters directly into the panels, and if you're not sure you can make notes in the boxes to refer to later.
  

What are you favourite memories of this game? How do you think it holds up today? Hash it out in the comments.

(I am a bot. I think that I'm posting Nintendo events from this day in history, but if I've made a mistake or omission please leave a comment tagging KetchupTheDuck).

I rarely start shows when I already know there will be no closure... but I was really curious about 1899. I'm so glad I watched it now! I ended up binging it in a few days, which I wish more people would have done, because I was reading an article that said that is the formula Netflix used to determine which shows would get the chop: completion rate for a series within a month of starting it. I wish the network and more people gave it a chance because it really was compelling.
Some thoughts--who exactly was in the pods at the end? I'm pretty sure I saw Krester, Ling Yi, and Virginia, but everyone looked so different, I couldn't be certain who else was there. Was Eyk?
IDK if this is a weird theory or not, but is it possible Eyk is Ciaran, Maura's brother? They were obviously drawn to each other (and I think that for any of the characters, that showed some kind of unexplained connection that they might've had in another life)... but they never showed them kissing onscreen, just had some unspoken bond. We have no idea what Ciaran looks like, right?
Also, about the names of the ships. I'm sure it has been discussed ad nauseum here, about the Greek mythology, but just to review: Prometheus stole fire from the Gods to give to mankind (similar to the Adam & Eve mythology, it was all about risking it all for forbidden knowledge--like Maura did) and was punished by the torture of getting his liver eaten by vultures for eternity (repeatedly, since it kept growing back... repetition like the simulations). Kerberus was the many-headed dog who guarded the gates to Hades; difficult to kill because the multiple heads would grow back (another allusion to iterations of restarts). So Prometheus ended up being the spaceship with pods Maura was on; was Kerberus supposed to be another ship, like where her brother might be? Were the simulations of different ships interconnected? Were they a way for them to deal with hypersleep in lightyear travel? And was I the only one thinking of the name as a nod to the other Prometheus, from the Alien franchise?
The symbol of the upside-down triangle is also the alchemy symbol for earth--I'm sure somebody has already pointed that out before in this sub. Have people been talking about that as a symbol for Earth, as a planet? Is the desolate appearance of the pyramid at the end some sort of clue that planet Earth is dying, and that's why they're on a "survival mission"? Pyramids and scarabs (similar to Alfred the beetle, Elliot's pet) were symbols of eternal life to ancient Egyptians. Trying to keep humanity alive at all cost?
Any significance to the numbers at the end [passengers (1423) and crew (550)]? Obviously, the year 2099 is exactly 200 years after 1899. I thought this might tie into other numbers like 1011, but I can't figure that out... maybe the 1011 was just an artifact suggesting binary code.
So mad that we may never know the answers, now that the show has been cancelled. Is there any talk of the writers putting the answers in some other medium that's less expensive to produce, such as manga or an online graphic novel? I'd totally be on board for that!

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4. Solving: All posts are unflaired by default. Once a post is solved, the asker should reply "Solved!" to the first correct answer and change their post flair to "Solved"; all threads are sorted from oldest to newest so the earliest answers will always be towards the top. Askers that delete or ignore a solved post without acknowledging the solver may receive a ban. We are exploring adding a points system in order to automatically flair threads and recognize frequent solvers for their contributions -- stay tuned!
   
5. Behavior: Please treat askers and solvers with respect. No insults, vulgar hostility, bullying, or withholding of answers in order to taunt. No racism/misogyny/*phobia/other bigotry. Repeat offenders may be banned.
   

Tips: Context clues help. Where and how did you find the image? Do you know the story behind it? How old is it? Share as much as you can with solvers to help them help you.
Reverse image search is your friend (Google - Bing - TinEye - Yandex)
EXIF data viewer for extracting time/location information from certain digital photos
/WhereIsThis image browser
Related subs: /WhereWasThisTaken - /HelpMeFind - /TipOfMyTongue - /RBI - /WhatIsThisThing - /WhatIsThisPainting - /GoogleMaps - /Geography - /GeoGuessr - /PictureGame
Help identify child traffickers: /TraceAnObject - Trace an Object (Europe) - Trace an Object (Australia)