Is kevin gates gay

My 4 players (monk cleric, barbarian, wizard, and artificer) just defended Bryn Shanders by going up against three giants at once (drufi + 2) and came out relatively unscathed and all townsfolk lived. I broke up the fight in two parts where they defended three townsfolk from the two winter wolves in town center and then moved to the gate after to defend the next three just as the gate broke down. I even included varient giant actions but to no avail.
For reference, they were level 5 for that combat but previously went up against a winter wolf and frost giant at level 4 and that was too easy for them. I'm concerned that my rolling is just that poor? Am I missing attacks too often and I shouldn't be that worried or am I really making combat too easy?
Combat is definitely my failing point as a DM as I prefer roleplay so I try to make combat varied, with monsters that have a purpose, and keep things interesting (but relevant) but my goodness do they just take things out easily. The only time they were threatened was when they faced a frost salamander.
Does anyone have advice or tips or anything of the like? I read a lot that chapter 2 can be hard for players but that just isn't the case for me, nor many other combats.

This ended up longer than anticipated, so appreciate everyone’s feedback!
TLDR: A long term relationship with two people that love and support each other, but feels imbalanced and led by one person. Would that person be crazy to leave in pursuit of something “more?”
I’m a long time lurker here and have read so many posts about challenges in long-term relationships, and it seems like the advice falls into two (highly simplified) categories:

1. It is very difficult to find a stable gay relationship, so work on it until it is beyond repair (barring abuse, infidelity, etc. of course).
2. Once you have that “feeling” that it is over, it probably is and staying is only prolonging the inevitable.

About Me: 33M. Born and raised in a large east coast city with a solidly middle class upbringing. I have a large group of friends and a long list of things that I am passionate about (friends, family, work, music, sports, etc.). I would describe myself as an extrovert and am very career and goal-oriented.
About Him: 29M. From a smaller town and raised in a different environment. Well educated, introverted and generally content with life.
We have been together for just over 5 years. We initially connected on several dating apps, and hit it off right away. We are each other’s first serious relationship, and our relationship also led to me coming out after being closeted my entire life.
The first two years were great as we experienced many “firsts” together, and generally settled into a loving relationship that seemed unobtainable for all those years that I was in the closet. Around that two year mark, though, I started to get that nagging feeling that we were settling down too quickly, and that I never got to experience life as an openly gay, single man (I know, I know…). There was also a major imbalance in our relationship in that my BF does not have a local group of friends or hobbies outside of our relationship. Everything that we did (and continue to do) revolved around my interests and my group of friends. This was also the depth of COVID, and we were spending basically 100% of our time together which led to a general “fatigue” in the relationship. We broke up around this time for these reasons.
Fast forward 6 months, and we both felt the pull to reconnect. I had explored life a single gay man and didn’t love what I saw, so with that experience I recognized that what I had with my BF was good and worth working on. We talked about the issues that led to us breaking up (primarily the imbalance and his dependence on the relationship) and agreed to get back together.
It’s been about two years since then, and while things have generally been good, I feel like I’m falling out of love again and struggle to see the long-term future for our relationship. Day-to-day, our relationship is fine. We live together in a home that I own, and he is a loving and supportive partner. It’s that long term that I struggle with…we really haven’t made any progress on the imbalance. I want to see him grow and find himself outside of the things we do together, but I think he lacks the motivation or desire to get outside of his comfort zone. Our social life still revolves 100% around my friends and interests. This comfort zone also applies to his career, as he works a stable but miserable job that I think is far beneath his talent and abilities. Anytime I bring these things up, he is defensive and accuses me of thinking that he is “less than” because he doesn’t have ambition or make a lot of money. I’m fortunate to have a high-paying career that I love, and wouldn’t care if he made $0 so long as he was happy and fulfilled.
With all of this being said, I just can’t shake that “gut feeling” of this just not being the right long term fit. There’s been no infidelity or massive arguments, just a general descent into feeling unfulfilled in the relationship. I feel like the life that “we” have built together is really just my life that he is along for the ride on.
We’ve been discussing our feelings a lot more lately, but haven’t really to come any resolutions or definitive reasons why we should or should not stay together. I think we should end things, but I also recognize how difficult it is to find a stable, committed relationship. I also see how staying together for that reason alone (fear of not finding someone else) is not good enough and would ultimately lead us back to this same place in the future. Ultimately, I think the sunk cost fallacy and difficulties of separating our lives are what is keeping us together.

Hi all,
For a Dutch movie about a gay relationship we are looking for some pictures of real people. In the scene the actor is scrolling on a dating app through his phone. On this app there are supposed to be some selfies, sixpack photos, holiday pictures etc. Of gay men. The typical photo’s you see on a dating app.
We are looking for people around 18-30 years old. It doesn’t matter where you are from!
If you would like to have your pictures in a short scene of a Dutch movie we would love to invite you to send your pictures to [email protected]. If we end up using your pictures we will send a contract which you have to sign, so we won’t use the pictures unsolicited. Feel free to ask for more information on our email.
Ps: It will be on Videoland, kind of a Dutch Netflix

Aight so rant time:
This was actually quite a while ago (abt. 2years) since then I've had no friends at all.
So, parents start to belittle and nag me every day cause I have no friends and that I am sitting home all day. Which yes I do get, but you dont have to insult me for this on the daily.
Fast forward a bit I try to go out my confort zone and actually talk to someone, a guy. Now we were not that big of a friends but he occaisonaly invited me to go on walks in the forest with him (There is absolutely nothing else to do in this tiny ass village). We went, I had fun.
Parents ask me where I was, I tell em I was with a friend. NOW, I definitely did not expect them to go "there you go son, you made it" cause they narcs but still it turned out worse.
They start calling me a homosexual (yes they are homophopic) and father tells me that I sucked his dick in the forest fucked him etc. Now, I did not succumb to these 5 year old like insults but it got into a long running joke to them and it would get more and more toxic each day untill I didnt bother to hang out with my then friend.
I hate having Nparents
TLDR: I got a friend cause parents making fun of me for being loner then when i hung out with him they shunned me and told me i was gay, sucked his dick other deragotory stuff.
Rant over

This ended up longer than anticipated, so appreciate everyone’s feedback!
TLDR: A long term relationship with two people that love and support each other, but feels imbalanced and led by one person. Would that person be crazy to leave in pursuit of something “more?”
I’m a long time lurker here and have read so many posts about challenges in long-term relationships, and it seems like the advice falls into two (highly simplified) categories:

1. It is very difficult to find a stable gay relationship, so work on it until it is beyond repair (barring abuse, infidelity, etc. of course).
2. Once you have that “feeling” that it is over, it probably is and staying is only prolonging the inevitable.

About Me: 33M. Born and raised in a large east coast city with a solidly middle class upbringing. I have a large group of friends and a long list of things that I am passionate about (friends, family, work, music, sports, etc.). I would describe myself as an extrovert and am very career and goal-oriented.
About Him: 29M. From a smaller town and raised in a different environment. Well educated, introverted and generally content with life.
We have been together for just over 5 years. We initially connected on several dating apps, and hit it off right away. We are each other’s first serious relationship, and our relationship also led to me coming out after being closeted my entire life.
The first two years were great as we experienced many “firsts” together, and generally settled into a loving relationship that seemed unobtainable for all those years that I was in the closet. Around that two year mark, I started to get that nagging feeling that we were settling down too quickly, and that I never got to experience life as an openly gay, single man (I know, I know…). There was also a major imbalance in our relationship in that my BF does not have a local group of friends or hobbies outside of our relationship. Everything that we did (and continue to do) revolved around my interests and my group of friends. This was also the depth of COVID, and we were spending basically 100% of our time together which led to a general “fatigue” in the relationship. We broke up around this time for these reasons.
Fast forward 6 months, and we both felt the pull to reconnect. I had explored life a single gay man and didn’t love what I saw, so with that experience I recognized that what I had with my BF was good and worth working on. We talked about the issues that led to us breaking up (primarily the imbalance and his dependence on the relationship) and agreed to get back together.
It’s been about two years since then, and while things have generally been good, I feel like I’m falling out of love again and struggle to see the long-term future for our relationship. Day-to-day, our relationship is fine. We live together in a home that I own, and he is a loving and supportive partner. It’s that long term that I struggle with…we really haven’t made any progress on the imbalance. I want to see him grow and find himself outside of the things we do together, but I think he lacks the motivation or desire to get outside of his comfort zone. Our social life still revolves 100% around my friends and interests. This comfort zone also applies to his career, as he works a stable but miserable job that I think is far beneath his talent and abilities. Anytime I bring these things up, he is defensive and accuses me of thinking that he is “less than” because he doesn’t have ambition or make a lot of money. I’m fortunate to have a high-paying career that I love, and wouldn’t care if he made $0 so long as he was happy and fulfilled.
With all of this being said, I just can’t shake that “gut feeling” of this just not being the right long term fit. There’s been no infidelity or massive arguments, just a general descent into feeling unfulfilled in the relationship. I feel like the life that “we” have built together is really just my life that he is along for the ride on.
We’ve been discussing our feelings a lot more lately, but haven’t really to come any resolutions or definitive reasons why we should or should not stay together. I think we should end things, but I also recognize how difficult it is to find a stable, committed relationship. I also see how staying together for that reason alone (fear of not finding someone else) is not good enough and would ultimately lead us back to this same place in the future. Ultimately, I think the sunk cost fallacy and difficulties of separating our lives are what is keeping us together.

Hi all,
For a Dutch movie about a gay relationship we are looking for some pictures of real people. In the scene the actor is scrolling on a dating app through his phone. On this app there are supposed to be some selfies, sixpack photos, holiday pictures etc. Of gay men. The typical photo’s you see on a dating app.
We are looking for people around 18-30 years old. It doesn’t matter where you are from!
If you would like to have your pictures in a short scene of a Dutch movie we would love to invite you to send your pictures to [email protected]. If we end up using your pictures we will send a contract which you have to sign, so we won’t use the pictures unsolicited. Feel free to ask for more information on our email.
Ps: It will be on Videoland, kind of a Dutch Netflix

Hi, hello. Welcome to my first post here. Make yourself comfortable while I give you an overview of what I’m all about.
Let’s start with my interests. My interests include movies, tv, music (mostly rap and my ‘nostalgia playlist’), bowling, mini golf, board/card/video games, football, hockey, baseball, and basketball (yes, I am big into Boston sports). I am also open to trying some new things too (for example those irl escape rooms).
When it comes to my personality, I am honest, humble, caring, kind, gentle, understanding, compassionate, chill/easygoing, and patient. I’m not funny myself, but I do know some good comedians/comedies.
My love languages are definitely words, gifts and touch (with gifts and touch being my top 2 to give). What can I say? I have a lot of love to give 😊
Now is when I describe myself. I’m white, 6’1-2”, with blue eyes, short to medium-ish long dirty blond hair and a bit overweight (wanting to work on being healthier). I am born AMAB (assigned male at birth just in case you didn’t know what AMAB meant), I don’t identify as my assigned gender, male, but as agender (basically I don’t feel I have a gender and understand other people do). I currently dress mainly masculine, but I do want to have a more androgynous wardrobe in the future. Lastly, I am omnisexual which means I’m attracted to all genders with a preference for feminine people.
I should also say I am anti-bigotry no matter who the target is whether it’s transphobia, homophobia, sinophobia or any other kind of racism. That is one of my dealbreakers. It goes without saying then that I’m a safe person for trans, gay, furries, gender-nonconforming, and poc.
Before I end this, besides the anti-bigotry point, I’m really just looking for people who share some, not a ton or all, of the same personality traits or interests. Preferably you are local to me. If you fit a good bit of those, interested, and are generally cool, send a dm. I’m also fine with an age gap of say 8 years give or take a couple is also cool to me.
Well, I think that’s about it for now. My dms are open so feel free to start a chat and if everything goes well maybe we can move to discord or ig or whatever (your choice if you’d like).

My friend's partner passed away last week from cancer. They were together since middle school and were both 39. They never broke up once. Never had any dramatic problems. Genuinely a great couple that knew the first day they met that they were made for each other.
His family was shit. Abusive. Kicked him out when he was 15 for being gay. He went no-contact when he was 18 and hadn't spoken to them once since then. They're now taking over funeral and burial plans, and the state is siding with them because they're family and he wasn't married. They're burying him somewhere he didn't want to be buried. In the family plot of the family that wanted nothing to do with him. They're having a religious service even though he was an atheist and didn't want religion to be a part of his funeral.
They never went through the legal process of verifying what he wanted to happen when he died. No one thought his family would show up or even care, much less take over funeral plans. They had plans to get married after his final round of chemo. They had saved up for years for their dream wedding. They had a date set and everything before his diagnosis. All of that money went into his treatment. He wasn't on his deathbed. He was moving around and happy. His death was a shock to everyone, including his doctors. It didn't make sense for him to die. Not when he was that well.
His family had nothing to do with him for 21 years. Why the fuck do they get to make the funeral plans? His family claims he reached out to them and told them he wanted the funeral they're planning, which is such bullshit. He never contacted them. He never would. The number they claimed that called them was his old phone number. A number he got rid of when he was 18 so they could never reach out to him. There is no way in hell he would have wanted any of this. He told everyone what he wanted if he died. We (his partner and friends) all heard it.
Now my friend is going to have to try to take this to court. Which might not go well because we live in a very conservative state. I'm pissed. Fucking pissed. Families don't always deserve this decision.

Hi, hello. Welcome to my first post here. Make yourself comfortable while I give you an overview of what I’m all about.
Let’s start with my interests. My interests include movies, tv, music (mostly rap and my ‘nostalgia playlist’), bowling, mini golf, board/card/video games, football, hockey, baseball, and basketball (yes, I am big into Boston sports). I am also open to trying some new things too (for example those irl escape rooms).
When it comes to my personality, I am honest, humble, caring, kind, gentle, understanding, compassionate, chill/easygoing, and patient. I’m not funny myself, but I do know some good comedians/comedies.
My love languages are definitely words, gifts and touch (with gifts and touch being my top 2 to give). What can I say? I have a lot of love to give 😊
Now is when I describe myself. I’m white, 6’1-2”, with blue eyes, short to medium-ish long dirty blond hair and a bit overweight (wanting to work on being healthier). I am born AMAB (assigned male at birth just in case you didn’t know what AMAB meant), I don’t identify as my assigned gender, male, but as agender (basically I don’t feel I have a gender and understand other people do). I currently dress mainly masculine, but I do want to have a more androgynous wardrobe in the future. Lastly, I am omnisexual which means I’m attracted to all genders with a preference to feminine people.
I should also say I am anti-bigotry no matter who the target is whether it’s transphobia, homophobia, sinophobia or any other kind of racism. That is one of my dealbreakers. It goes without saying then that I’m a safe person for trans, gay, furries, gender-nonconforming, and poc.
Before I end this, besides the anti-bigotry point, I’m really just looking for people who share some, not a ton or all, of the same personality traits or interests. Preferably you are local to me. If you fit a good bit of those, interested, and are generally cool, send a dm. I’m also fine with an age gap of say 8 years give or take a couple is also cool to me.
Well, I think that’s about it for now. My dms are open so feel free to start a chat and if everything goes well maybe we can move to discord or ig or whatever (your choice if you’d like).

The two reasons I believe this and this may be offensive to you and I accept that and understand is because 1. the gay women who use that "term" just want to feel special and 2. it means you're a resident of lesbos which they ain't, unless they are.

uuugghhh i (19, trans guy) haven't had sex in like. four fucking years n haven't had a relationship in nearly two years and im just so so so sexually and romantically frustrated. i have worked very hard on my self worth in that time in knowing that i don't need a boyfriend/partner and have found fulfillment from my friendships and my art and working on my future goals. in general, i am in a good place, i am a well rounded person. but now i rlly want someone to share it with :((
it's not even like i haven't been trying, it's just that i'm autistic so a standard gay baparty would probably make me have a meltdown. and using dating apps when u don't know how 2 drive and still live w ur parents sounds. rough lmao. every guy/person i meet irl who im rlly into is either:
•super taken already
•straight ?? somehow ??
•hung up on my dick/lack thereof :((
and as for the sexual side [minors PLS don't read further] it just fucking sucks the only sexual relationship i've ever had was when i was pre t and didn't know what i wanted and didn't know what a strap on was and i hated myself !! now im in a much better position to take charge of my pleasure and understand what i want...now where are the guys/ppl who will make out with me one day during a casual hang out and realize they want me so bad and they're also in love w me !!
idk, anyone in a position like me ? how do u deal with Da Yearning lmaoo

Gate is open! Free items on the beach to the left & right of the airport and in front of the plaza. Come shop, fish, gather fruit, whatever! Just don’t harvest or trample flowers please.
Dodo 03X36

"You think that money is the root of all evil? Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is the tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?"

Ayn Rand

Money is great! Do not let anybody tell you otherwise. Make your peace with it before you ever consider becoming a trader … allow yourself to be motivated by the prospect of acquiring more of it.
Money is freedom. Money is providing for your family, providing for your community should you want it. Money is time, time for you to spend with whom you love, doing the things you love, even if that means spending more time making more money.
If you think about whether you want to make money, then you need to give value for value. You need to provide a service, a product, an idea … put in simple words, you will need to help other people.
Should there be no one interested in your help, then you get no money. Should your service, product, idea … prove to be of no value, then soon enough you'll run out of people to help.
Should you try to sell illegal services, products, ideas, then soon enough the authorities who've been entrusted to protect the values you/your representatives voted to protect, will catch up on you and prevent you from keeping on violating those values. Yes, 'The Wolf of WallStreet' is great, 'The Peaky Blinders' are great, all these American gangster movies and series are great but have you ever wondered what is the time span these movies cover? What happened to their glamorized protagonists soon enough?
Bezo, Elon, Gates … These guys end up becoming arrogant pricks and no one should have all that power. Well. Do not forget that these guys have made their fortunes legally, by providing value for value … they helped a lot of people, it only turned out that these were really a LOT of people. Were these people ever forced to buy Teslas or use Amazon? Like they are forced to pay their taxes? Their employees … were they ever forced to keep on working for Tesla or Amazon? Money is freedom, freedom is money. Hasn't Elon just lost a truck load of money over the last year? More than you can even begin to imagine?
The free markets, although despised by a great deal of the population, are the greatest ever mechanism devised to allocate resources in harmony with our inherent and fundamental desire to be free human beings, to decide for ourselves, to work on our own craft, to want more or less … and to respect everybody else's equal freedom in the process.
Do you really despise Elon Musk? Then stop buying from him. Do you really despise Jeff Bezos? Then start walking to the mall to make your purchase. Should everybody else think like you, then I can tell you soon enough they will get stripped out of a great deal of their fortune if not all. Do you work for any of them and you feel you are not paid enough? Then quit, find another job, start your own business like they did.
We are nowadays standing roughly on 10000 years of recorded civilization. We've tried to motivate people to work, to produce, to exchange value and help each other by other means. Forced laboslavery? Thank God it failed. Government authority/police enforcement/government paternalism/ communism? Thank God all of these failed. Excessive taxes, excessive obstacles for the free practice of trade and private enterprise? Thank God these failed … It's just a shame that all of these took so many revolutions, blood, death and sacrifice to get overcomed and replaced for more liberal regimes.
You can't force people into producing sustainably, you can't squeeze people into paying taxes to starvation sustainably … What you can do is to stimulate them to produce by rewarding them to produce or to serve other people with products or services that other people value. How can you tell if other people value whatever you've got to sell? They'll barter, they'll pay for it. Those numbers you see in your bank account, those pieces of paper you hold in your wallet are just tokens for that value. Tokens for you to carry and exchange for things of value to you, instead of carrying goats, wheat or whatever with you. And guess what, should you be good at providing that value, then the market / other people will reward you even more for doing what you do. Conversely, should you either not produce or serve things of value, then soon enough the market will tell you that you need to produce something else. Should the market suffer intervention that will prevent you from being rewarded for providing value … then soon enough you will stop providing that value. Your good will can take you only so far.
Don't hate the player … and don't hate the game. It is designed to help you should you have a strong appetite for helping other people … or should you have a strong desire to simply help yourself … Does the difference really mean, as long as you help?
How about traders? Those vicious, malevolent, greedy creatures. Money won't lie. They have a very important role to play. They finance the companies with winning products and management. They provide liquidity and assume the risk which some entities don't want to … enabling these entities to focus on the risks they want to assume. They punish the companies which are not helping society or the economy with their products …
Or they fail to do any of the above and soon enough they are expelled from the markets … by the markets themselves.
Does it really matter what's behind their intentions? Does it really matter whether all they want is to make more money or just to help finance a good company?
Money speaks the truth over the long run. Money is freedom. Money is just a tool. Do not be the person who whines if you don't have or if the maleficent traders and entrepreneurs have 'too much' of it. Just go out there and help other people with your time, talent, idea, product, service … soon enough you'll have should you be playing in a free market environment or the closest possible.
Do not hate the player … and do not hate the game.
Cheers,
Ruben / Tenacious Tribe
​
https://www.tenacioustribe.com/money-and-why-you-should-love-it-out-loud

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
As alternate me drove south, the pop music station switched back to the news channel. Whatever was going to happen in Washington DC in the alternate reality, I was screwed. My heart began to race as I pondered the possibilities. Building smashing would be insane, a creature dump would be the worst thing to get caught up in, an EMP Bubble complete with gassing would be terrifying as hell too, but I guess it would be a quick way to go. The entire city exploding would most likely be quick as well. Either way, and no matter how quick death could be, I didn't want to die at all.
Hopefully a task force made up of various other alternate me's would come rescue me. That's of course probably just a dream in the reality I'm in. For sure there is a team of alternate me's rescuing other alternate me's in some area of the multiverse. It's possible, so it's happening in some set of realities. I hope they come here too.
At around 8 AM, my stomach was rumbling. Luckily, my alternate self got the memo. Unfortunately, her response was cruel.
"Hungry back there? You don't need to eat anyway. It's not going to matter."
I'd probably find something to eat somewhere anyway. Hopefully…
Nothing new came up in the news. It was just talk about the three giants who attacked the UK. Other than that, the news reporters talked about the crashing worldwide economy on account of the Northeast China and Japan EMP Bubbles, the refugees emerging from EMP bubbles and claiming to have seen giants spraying gas on cities and towns, world leaders' reactions to the attacks, and the fall of the CCP, Russia, North Korea, Iran, the UK, Japan, along with the slow torture of the US. The reporters speculated about what the giants may want.
"They're taking out thousands of people in an obviously coordinated way, but we still don't know what they want."
"They for sure want us to be scared, and we definitely are, but yeah, why are they killing certain people who have no proven connection to each other?"
"Maybe that's part of their point. Make us go insane at their uncertainty."
As I browsed the internet, I came across a discussion thread claiming the giants were good because they were destroying all the fascist and flawed democratic governments. The comments of course disagreed, saying killing people is not the answer. It won't end fascism. Curious, I scrolled down to the very bottom to read the least popular comments.
"Yeah.. these giants are transforming this world for the better. Hopefully when their attacks are finished we can rebuild where they helped us out and just be better to each other"
Right… they helped us out… sure.
"Why are people expecting democracy in the aftermath of this? We need stronger leaders who can see past hypocrisy"
Giving people rights means being weak?
And of course… the craziest one.
"These attacks came out of nowhere. How? You're telling me giant titanic beings just popped out of nowhere and nobody had any foreknowledge? The government will do absolutely anything to control their citizens. China has collapsed? North Korea too? Even Iran? Yeah this was coordinated."
Because everyone's psychic and somehow knew beings like these would pop out of nowhere and catch everybody off guard? Also the UK, Canada, and Japan were attacked too. Why would the US attack its own allies? And itself? Especially its own facilities? This must be one of those every elite is a demonic Illuminati puppet theorist.
Hilarious comments aside, it's scary how people can believe just about anything is planned by the government. Demonic giants from who knows where cannot be the fault of any government. But that aside, there was yet another rabbit hole I stumbled down. On an obscure part of Reddit, there was a group who called themselves the Children of Satan's Titans. At first, I thought it was satirical, but as I read their posts, it was clear they were being serious. They thought the giants were bringing on armageddon and that they were supposed to lead the world after all is said and done. They even came up with nicknames for the giants.
The one that attacked Manhattan was the Grim Baron The one that attacked first was the Mother of Destruction for being the first giant to attack The one that forced Justin Trudeau into hiding was Lacertosis The giant duo who first attacked Newmarket and Aurora, Ontario were called the Ignis Duo
…and the list went on. The cult had come up with latin-translation names for each confirmed giant so far. There were 45 confirmed giants.
The car came to a stop. I slid my phone into my pocket and anticipated the worst. The three got out of the car. My alternate self's two cronies opened the trunk and told me to get out and to follow my alternate self or I'd be hit with another dart. I climbed out of the trunk, stepping onto a parking lot. As my alternate self began to walk, I followed. Cars were driving up and down the road, people were walking on the sidewalks. It was pretty busy. That made it even more saddening, as I knew the city was about to be attacked by giants.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Don't talk," alternate me said.
My alternate self was such a psycho. But why? What led her to berating every other version of her? How many times has this whole sort of thing happened? It can't be the first time. If it is, then that's a good thing… She isn't very experienced in this… but I can't let optimism cloud my judgment, especially with the pit of dread in my stomach. I was probably going to suffer whether I survived or not.
I want out of this hostel shit.
The three told me to wait outside a Starbucks. As I stood outside, I checked Reuters for some updates on the attacks. Interestingly, there weren't any. Once the three walked back out, we continued walking.
Over the following ~two hours, the three took me on a tour of the city. However, it was more of a goodbye tour, with my alternate self making snarky comments at every tourist attraction. I'll just list the stuff she said and the places we went to.
When we stopped in front of the White House…
"See this magnificent building here? It's about to be swarmed by a mass of wild creatures. Hope the president makes it out alive."
When we walked by the Smithsonian National Museum…
"All the lovely stuff in there is going to be torn to pieces"
When we walked by the Washington Monument…
"Creatures are going to scale that thing looking for guts to eat"
When we walked by the Capitol Building…
"Creatures this time, and 100 times worse"
When we walked by the Supreme Court of the United States…
"Ever wanted to cut the court in half? Well here we are"
When we walked by the National Academy of Sciences…
"New stuff to put in science books. History books even. Imagine if you had a 21st Century history book and could know how the rest of this century unfolds for this timeline."
While her comments were presented as if they were light, they creeped me the hell out. She was joking about my likely death and reminding me of all the terrible things that were about to happen. What kept me most on edge was the uncertainty of when the creatures would be dumped. There being no updates about the attacks gave me a calm before the storm vibe too. I began to jump at the sight of dogs running by. The Ian and Billy behind me couldn't stop giggling each time.
At the end of the tour, my alternate self led me to what at first looked like the entrance to a subway train station. It was called Dupont Underground. Alternate me led me down some concrete stairs and stopped at a door. She turned to me while pulling her phone out.
"I'm going to show you something from a different reality," she said, with a sinister look in her eyes. "This timeline, but one month from now."
She tapped around for a minute, then she held her phone in front of my eyes. A video was playing. The camera operator walked down a deserted city road. Every car was stalled in the middle of the road with shattered windows and some had huge body dents. I saw the Dupont Underground sign and realized it was the street we were on. The camera operator took a right down the concrete steps. At the bottom was a body covered in blood and fleshy holes. The camera operator walked up to the body and zoomed in on its face. I recognized her. It couldn't be. But it probably was.
"This is you after having your guts sucked out by creatures," alternate me said.
My heart sank. An odd eeriness overtook me. That was me. Dead. My unmoving body laying on the ground. I was looking at my own corpse. I had never seen a dead alternate version of me before. That was about to be me. Technically it was an alternate version of me, but it mirrored what was going to happen to me. I shivered with dread.
"I… I'm…… I'm going to be eaten alive"
"Oh suck it up," alternate me said.
"Yeah," Ian added.
"Don't cry too much," Billy added.
"Don't cry?" I asked. "I was shown my fate you shit!"
"And there's no way to avoid it," alternate me said. "Now, we're taking you for another walk. This time, just a stroll."
"What is the point exactly?" I asked.
"Exercise," alternate me shrugged.
My alternate self took me on a long walk up north. She didn't say a word to me. Neither did Billy or Ian. I made sure to keep my mouth shut, anxious I'd be taken into a back alley and be injected with fire ants of all things. After an hour of walking, I became exhausted. My knees felt like they were going to snap, I was sweating all over, and my breaths were shallow. My stomach began to ache from not eating. I was still too anxious to talk. We went to a McDonald's, but alternate me told me I wasn't allowed to have anything. She had to have been taunting me.
We walked north for another exhaustive aching hour. I was thirsty as fuck. We stopped at a convenience store where alternate me gave me a water bottle. It wasn't something I expected, but I guess he did it just so I wouldn't faint from heat exhaustion. It made the following hour of walking refreshing, but my stomach was still numb. At least we were walking back though. But it dawned on me that it only meant my death was closer than ever. The pit of dread in my stomach deepened, distracting me from the numbness in my stomach. There was a hint of sadness behind every thought I had. I played a song in my head as I continued to follow behind my alternate self. The songs I heard in the Creature Dump Aftermath footage. Just me playing the memory I had of them back in my head calmed me down a bit. For the following hour after that, I anticipated the moment where my legs would just give out. The three psychos would have to understand, but they probably wouldn't… and so I just kept walking, hoping my legs wouldn't give out.
After four hours of walking, I could see the White House right up ahead. I needed a break. I thought it was over, but then we began circling the freaking Washington strip.
I thought I could give out in a place where there were no back alleyways or any place of the sort. I'd get quite a bit of attention. Maybe too much for my alternate self to handle even with two others. But I'd still be in the city… damnit. There was no way I could run either, being exhausted like hell.
Finally, after circling the Washington strip a tenth time, my alternate self told me I could sit down on a nearby park bench, but that I still couldn't eat. I took the offer and rested on the empty bench. Euphoria was all I felt for a good minute, then my adrenaline went back up.
She's letting me rest. Finally… Yes…. I'm going to die but this is worth it right now, even though it really isn't.
"Alright, now I'm going to show you something you're going to want to see," Billy said.
Oh god… another horrific video… I assume.
She held her phone in front of my eyes. It was a private Instagram live stream featuring two men who looked around my age.
"Hello, Nicole," said the one on the left. "This is your cousin, Sam."
"I'm your cousin Markus," said the one on the right.
They're my cousins? Oh, okay. What are they doing?
"We're in a room in the Niagara Falls Observatory," Sam said. "We aren't allowed to come out. We don't know why."
"We don't know who put us in here," Markus said. "Just two girls. One looked very similar to you… Your doppelganger I guess."
A boom echoed from somewhere off camera.
"What was that?" Markus asked.
Multiple booms began echoing from somewhere offscreen, getting louder and louder and louder. Sam and Markus both looked to their right. The booming stopped. A crashing noise echoed from above, followed by an avalanche-like rumble. Sam and Markus looked up, then the stream ended.
Billy navigated to a YouTube livestream of CTV news helicopter footage. A giant was looking around as missiles struck it. But a background detail caught my eye. The Falls.
What the fuck…? did she just show me a live stream of my cousins' deaths? What the hell…?
She skipped back a minute. The giant smashed the tower down, creating a plume of smoke.
Uhhhhh…
"I hope they treated you well," she said.
"Nicole?!" I shouted at my alternate self, who was standing a meter away from Billy. "That's too far!"
"It was my idea," Billy said with a huge smile on her face.
"You're a fucking psycho!" I shouted and stood up. "Were they from this timeline or my own?!"
Billy stood there with her hand on her hip, continuing to smirk. "I'm not telling you," she said. She turned around and walked away. Ian and my alternate self followed.
"Where are you going?" I shouted.
"Have fun," alternate me said as she walked away.
The three walked out of my sight. I stared on, once again wondering what the hell made them so psychotic. They're just evil versions of people. That's all I knew.
I checked the time. 6:35 PM. I sat down and teared up. I was about to be eaten by wild gut sucking creatures. A girl just executed my cousins.
I'm still trapped in this dark reality.
At least I won't have to deal with those three ever again… or anybody…
How painful is it going to be? I don't want to go out in pain… but it looks like that's going to happen.
There's no way I can get out of here before the creatures come. At least, I assume so. Wait… what if my alternate self gave me enough time to get out of DC, but wanted me to think she left me alone because the creatures would be here in a matter of minutes after he left? I was probably overthinking, but I'm not going to take that chance. I need to get out of here while I can.
I trekked in a random direction. South. I wasn't going anywhere near Dupont Underground. My heart sank at the thought of being there. But I wasn't going to stop without eating. I marched into a convenience store and bought anything I could, then I found a park bench and ate everything I had just bought. I was met with some acid reflux in my mouth due to my guts clenching at the idea I may be overthinking alternate me's possible plan, but other than that, I stomached it pretty well.
But as I was eating, I overheard a conversation a couple of people were having.
"So you think this is the end of the world?"
"Maybe. I wouldn't be surprised at this point."
A little kid began balling their eyes out.
"Mommy, he said the world is going to end!"
"The world isn't going to end… It's just going to be… changed. Different."
"Did you hear about the cluster attacks though? They're going for specific people for sure. I can't wait for this stuff to be figured out," an older voice said.
"Cluster attacks?"
"Yeah those giants hit over 6000 houses and apartment buildings all over the world around an hour ago," the older voice explained.
"Where did you hear that?"
"The news. It's crazy."
"I heard there was an attack in Pittsburgh, but not much information was given about it."
"I haven't heard anything about that attack."
None of them know… I hope they're driving out of the area right about now.
As I walked by a short orange building, an overbearing presence struck me.
"Oh no, oh god," I whispered to myself. "I hope that's all in my head."
The cars driving up the road in my direction slowed and people walking in my direction looked up. Some of them began pointing. Dread overtook me to the point I decided to stop walking. I froze. If the next creature dump was happening in seconds, I was screwed.
I kept walking, avoiding my curious urge to look where everyone was looking. Two people turned around and ran. The roaring of car motors began to get faster. I took a glance behind me. My heart stopped. Two giants stood some miles away, holding giant sack-like objects. The two giants tilt the sacks and thousands upon thousands of wild creatures fell out. As the creatures rained down, I turned my head back in the direction I was headed in and sprinted down the sidewalk.
Where do I go?
The river. Can the creatures swim? I'll take any chances.
I ran down the sidewalk, in the direction one of the rivers was in. The adrenaline was peaking. I couldn't think about anything other than survival. I ran through a small park, navigating the benches and people frozen in fear. I crossed the next street without looking at the traffic lights, I nearly tripped over chairs, I almost bumped into people running from my right. I ran that way for seven blocks straight, almost being hit by a car three times. I carefully navigated across a main street. As I crossed the street, air raid sirens began to blair from all directions. I found a one way road to my left and just sprinted for my life.
Hopefully the river is close.
At the end of the road was a parking lot. Nobody was there. I sprinted across it until I found a trail. Down the trail, I saw the river. Boats too. I ran along the trail and saw a spot away from the boats to jump into the water. A couple explosions shook the ground beneath me as I ran. I hopped over the fence and jumped into the water.
I swam until I got to the middle of the river. I glanced around. Everything seemed calm and normal in all directions until a loud bang hit my right ear. I looked to my right and saw a cloud of smoke rising from a triple arched bridge in the distance. People jumped off the bridge and landed in the river below. The air raid sirens continued to blair as fighter jets flew by in the distance. I just needed to stay in the river until the creature invasion blew over.
I looked to my right and saw two creatures crawl across the building beside the parking lot I ran through. Three creatures ran onto the pier. The adrenaline worsened.
Time to find out if these beasts can swim.
They ran around and jumped onto some of the boats. A painful scream echoed from one of them. A man was stumbling around with a creature attached to his head and stomach. He pulled on its tentacles, but they held their grasp. He nudged himself sideways into the water. Seconds later, the creature started squirming around in the water, with its tentacles flailing about. I shivered. It was a terrifying sight. The man floated on the surface, shaking his head and moving his arms as if he were a bird. Soon the creature stopped moving and just floated in one spot like a dingy.
I'm good. But how long will it be until the military clears them? I'll just have to wait.
Explosions, gunshots, and emergency sirens from every direction, along with the roar of fighter jets flying overhead, were all I could hear. I couldn't hear the waves washing up against my own ears, or the sound of my own voice. I decided to play those songs in my head again to pass the time. I played other songs in my head too, all while hoping some soldiers would see me, then rescue me.
After a good amount of time in the water, the sounds of explosions seemed to be concentrated on an area to the north. I could only speculate it was the government strip. I looked to my right again and noticed a dozen creatures were occupying the pier.
This wasn't getting better anytime in the next hour. Hopefully I'll be in the clear soon. Once I am, I need to make sure my alternate self cannot find me.
At one point, I woke up to me being pulled out of the water by some Marines. They put me on a boat and asked me some questions, then they gave me some water. After the rescue, they took me to a refugee camp somewhere in southern Virginia. I was given food, water, and my own little room with a bunk bed. I sat down on the bed, hoping I'd be safe from the creatures. I unzipped my pocket and pulled out my phone to read up on the creature dump in Washington DC. These were the top headlines on CNN, for those curious:
"WILD CREATURES OCCUPY DC METRO AREA"
"All branches of the US Armed Forces are responding to the attack on Washington - Yes, even the Space Force as the US speculates the giants are of extraterrestrial origin"
"Images from above: the White House, US Capitol moderately damaged by wild creatures"
"Five major politicians, 2 billionaires, and 1 celebrity confirmed dead in Washington DC after Creature Dump"
""Nuclear weapons aren't likely to be used, but they have not been ruled out""
"Pennsylvania, Virginia set up refugee camps for predicted mini-flood of refugees from EMP-striken, gassed parts of Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia"
"Global Recession: Why economists are torn on whether or not the economy will return to pre-attack levels"
"Refugees from Florida EMP Bubbles: "We went into town after the gassing and we saw people and animals on the ground, everywhere""
""We need FEMA" EMP Bubble refugees who are staying in their states criticize their state governments for not declaring an emergency"
"MILITARY: There's no way to protect any type of technology from an EMP Bubble"
A guy with brown hair who looked to be in his early 20s walked into the room. He introduced himself as my roommate. We talked about the attacks and their potential ramifications.
"I don't know what's next for the world," I said. "I'm scared."
"We're going to be at war for a while," he said. "Good vs bad. We need to ready ourselves for what's to come. Everything is different now."
"I mean, at this point, I'd just end it if I didn't feel like I had a chance to survive this new world," I said. "Especially being in the initial attacks… I thought about ending it a few times."
"So you're a coward?" He asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Why would you leave people behind to suffer?"
"I'm not the one making them suffer"
"Yes you are… by killing yourself… people want you around…"
"Dude… nobody owns me. Do you think I'm a slave or something? People shouldn't be relying on others for their happiness."
"You are so stupid"
"Are you that entitled? Do you feel you need to treat people like entertainment animals? People are individuals. They're not your Mom's nipples either."
"I just… can't with selfish people like you"
"Honestly, if you can't respect others' choices and call victims cowards, you're just like the monsters and their little gut eating creatures."
"I don't understand why you'd support selfish people," he said. "You're like my ex-girlfriend."
"Maybe if you respected her individualism more, accepted the fact that mental health issues exist, talked about and validated her issues, she wouldn't have done it."
"Oh, okay, so you're okay with what those Empire State Building jumpers did?"
"Yes," I said. "They acted on survival instincts. It was either get eaten or jump."
"A real person would fight!"
"Survival instincts don't exist to you, do they?"
"I'm not talking to you, man," he said, climbing up to his bunk.
He had me until the victim blaming. Anyway, I went back to reading the news and reminded myself I'm not responsible for other people. Sometime after that, I went to sleep. Sometime later, I woke up to the sound of gunshots and shouting. I looked out the window. Two of those hideous creatures crawled by. I closed the curtains. I checked the news, hoping there wasn't another creature dump nearby.
"A COUPLE DOZEN WILD CREATURES REPORTED OUTSIDE DC METRO AREA"
"US East Coast on high alert as wild creatures make it past military checkpoints around DC Metro Area"
"Security video from Philadelphia captures creature that came from DC Metro area"
""V-BASCBHOB-TJCPSZAMDLSA-IKPJJ-HBCHLL" The FBI is investigating the string of letters scratched into the Washington Monument by the creatures"
"OPINION: After a week of teasing, it's the US' turn to fall"
I want out of this painful chaotic dark reality. Maybe there's a slip nearby. It probably wouldn't take me back to my home reality, but anything would be better than this. I've been to dark realities, like one where there was a third world war in the 1960s followed by a fourth world war in the 2010s, in which technology was a bit more advanced, but Eastern Europe and the Eastern United States were irradiated. There was a darker reality where giants attacked multiple metropolitan areas around the world. EMPs were used, but they weren't EMP Bubbles. People were crying, hoping their friends were okay. It was more mysterious, with every initial attack happening within the darkened areas. It started in New Zealand, South Korea, and Japan. Then it spread west to the US in about a day.
Something heavy banged on the door. Shit… I opened the window, clawed the screen apart, and climbed out. I stepped onto the grass, then I sprinted away. I needed to find the gate. It was probably guarded, but I could find a way somehow. Not to sound too optimistic.
The gate was up ahead. There were three dead soldiers lying on the ground around it. After navigating my way through it, I sprinted across the street and into a dense forest.
Half an hour into running, my knees became weak again. I sat down up against a tree to catch my breath. I must've relaxed for a bit too long, as I essentially just blinked and the sun was shining and birds were chirping. I checked the time. 8:02 AM. I checked the news. There were no new updates.
Where do I go now?
There was no place for me to go that I knew of. Slips weren't extremely common. They weren't active 24/7 either. Until I found one, I had to deal with the possibility of being crushed, gassed, or eaten. I didn't expect my alternate self to find me. I was outside of the DC Metro area. To him, I could be anywhere.
Unless of course she tapped my phone… but she most likely would've shown up by now if he had. Knowing me, he probably would've gone to a reality where I famously snuck out of the refugee camp and my steps were publicly retraced, then he'd use that information to find me. Looks like I just need to walk in a direction that is almost one I'd go in but is not one I'd go in, in this situation. I chose to walk in the direction of the ocean.
As I walked, a bird flew right by me. I watched it fly away, then vanish out of thin air.
Yes!
I went over to the spot with a good adrenaline rush coming on. I pulled out my phone and pulled up Reuters. I refreshed the page. The headlines were still about the giants. I walked back and forth once a minute for some time, clamping the leaves to the ground in the process. The headlines were the same. I was desperate, but I dreaded my alternate self finding me. I layed on the dirty ground, letting the leaves brush against my hair. Every few minutes or so, I'd refresh the page and there would still be news about the giants. I wanted to be home, where everything is safe, peaceful, and quiet compared to this place. I didn't want to hear another boom or a certain growl again.
A number of minutes later, I checked the news again.
"Russia warns US over Black Sea drone flights"
"No path to peace: 5 key takeaways from Xi and Putin's talks in Moscow"
"Russian soldier accused of war crimes in absentia after audio files intercepted"
There was nothing about the giant attacks. The headlines were normal again! I slipped! But did I slip into the right reality? A safe one?
I Googled the attacks. Only movie scenes and recaps came up. I had to be home. I had to be far away from wherever my alternate self was. My heart dropped for a second as I realized one of those creatures was roaming around in what may be our reality… I'm sure it'll be taken care of. I hope it's taken care of soon though. It's going to eat a few people for sure, and I hope I'm not one of them.
I got distracted by the sound of an animal moving through the bush beside me. I brought my head up and saw the head of a tentacled creature. It sat still on the side of the bush. Its tentacles brush against the dirt. I laid my head back down. My heart began to speed up as the thing sat there. If it saw me, I would have no chance of living for another minute. The leaves served as a barrier between it and I. I couldn't see it when laying down and it couldn't see me at its height.
"Hey!" A man shouted from some distance further to my left. "Are you alright over there?"
The leaves ruffled. The man looked down in confusion, then he jumped. As he began to turn around, the creature climbed onto him. He fell to the ground as the creature's tentacles grabbed his arms and chest. He screamed. The scream was gut wrenching, but at least this was my ticket out. I got up and ran as fast as I could through the bushes and trees around me. Once I came across a road, I took a left and continued sprinting. My heart was pounding out of my chest. At one point, I came across a river. I stood still on the shoreline, hoping that thing wasn't about to jump out of the bushes. I turned around. Nothing.
I went to my Reddit account and found my previous update. I'm back. I'm going to dump this update here, then hopefully I'll find a good place to stay while running. If I go back home to my parents, I'm going to need a defense mechanism. My alternate self wanted me to be in that dark terrifying reality. She probably doesn't know I'm still alive.
Oh, and if you live in or around Richmond, Virginia… stay safe. The creature moves fast and, as you know, it eats your guts.
Now I hear three familiar voices. I need to run.

I have an update to the post I made yesterday about meeting Bill Gates. I live in Jacksonville Florida. I had worked for Russell B Newton Jr. for 21 years as a pilot, USCG Licensed Master Captain for his yachts and Estates Manager. He was one of the greatest men I have ever met, a WWII B-24 pilot and war hero. Please look at his obituary and read his accomplishments and you will notice in the "View Memory Board" tab I left some words and photo of his sailing yacht.
Below you will find a link just posted today of a YouTube video of his memorial service. As the family proceeds into the church at 3:24 you will see a man sitting alone in the third row (Reserved) next to the aisle. That is Bill Gates from MSFT. Watch for a while and you can see it is truly him. At 4:33 you will see as the family rows are filling up my friend's son shakes hands with Bill. This son, in his late 20s, is following his father into finance and he is also managing stocks. This is the person I spoke with about Rocket Lab USA that follows the information I stated yesterday. He is young and still learning, but connected.
The reception was at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville and this is where I met Bill Gates along with many other surprised people. I am not going into other details for privacy reasons. However, the responses I received from everyone provided some real insight to peoples' nature. Thank you to the supporters. Others wanted pictures so here you go. Please be respectful.
Russell B. Newton Obituary: https://www.jacksonville.com/obituaries/pfla0448497
YouTube video of church service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sykM5Ickn0

I'm heading to Japan in a couple days with a stop at O'hare. I'm flying Economy (W) and get a carry on, but my first flight is a United Express operated by Air Wisconsin. United's site says:
If you’re flying Air Wisconsin or CommutAir, you’re only allowed one personal item on the plane.
If I'm correct, then my carry on will be gate-checked, which I'm fine with. The question I can't seem to locate an answer to is, will my carry on then be subject to the checked baggage item restrictions? I'm carrying a few lithium batteries for my camera and a power pack of less than 100 watt hours - things which I wouldn't be able to check is my understanding. If anyone knows about this process, it would help greatly.