Hey, has anyone used the Allied Tube and Conduit True Color EMT Conduit? If so, did the paint chip or peel at the burn?
Reason for asking: I am wanting to make a colorful cube shade structure for our camp with one of each color for the 10' conduit pieces - a variation of the 10x20 basic btch playa labs design (there are 8 different colors, and our varied design would call for 8 pieces of conduit - seems like serendipity). But, I can't find any info on the product sheet as to how durable the paint job is.

Hi so i’m probably about to ask a stupid question but first the lead up to said question. So i’ve been dying my hair the same color for a while but one day i couldn’t find my exact color in the store after moving towns, so i used its sister color (stupid move i know). Unfortunately the sister color came out way way way too dark, but i left it and just started adding my original color on top of it to dye it, but the darkness of the color is tripping me out and i hate it. So is there a way to remove the color in my hair so i can start fresh with my usual color??? The color mess up was originally in november and i’ve done one (maybe two) dye touch ups since then. i would really really appreciate the help!!!!! and thank you in advance!!!!

I made this up one day after eating crab bisque in a restaurant. I noticed that crab bisque can really taste different from one restaurant to another. The texture can be very thick or very thin. One might have a lot of crab showing and one might not. The use of an immersion blender can make a huge difference (depending on your personal preferences).
A crockpot version is found in note # 5, below. I have prepared the bisque both ways. However? I prefer to prepare this bisque in a crockpot.
You can always change a recipe to meet your needs. This is a recipe I have made changes to over the years.
It has made so many special occasions really special in our family. And? Numerous requests for the recipe are received every time it is made.
This is the version I use the most.
Crab Bisque Serves 4 - 6
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of asparagus soup, cream of shrimp or cream of celery (or whatever creamy-type soup you like). I like the distinct flavor of the asparagus.
2 cups milk
1 cup light cream
3 (6 ounce) cans (or more) crabmeat, drained very well. Reserve some for a topping.
1 ¼ cups (cooking) white wine or sherry
2 teaspoons tomato paste (I used the paste to add the beautiful pink tinge. Also? Buy it in tube format (so that you don't have to open a whole can of tomato paste) for this recipe.
3/4 teaspoon old bay
Sweet n low (to taste - in case you prefer a sweeter taste)
1 teaspoon turmeric (I love turmeric so it's a personal preference. You can add more, or, if you don't want it? Leave it out).
Butter
Parsley
Cheveril
Bay leaf
Bread Bowls. See note 6.
Blend both cans of whatever "cream of" soup you prefer in a medium or large pot.
Stir in milk and cream.
Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently (so milk and cream do not scorch).
When the boiling point is nearly reached, turn down the heat.
Flake the crab meat and add it to the soup.
Simmer an additional 5 minutes, then add cooking white wine or sherry.
Add a small amount of butter to the surface (optional) and sprinkle with chervil or parsley.
Add some of the reserved crab meat on each serving..

Notes - Variations / Hints:

(1) You can use fresh or imitation crab (instead of canned crab). If using fresh crab, be sure to remove any sharp parts (shell pieces, etc.).
(2) Double up on the meat. I always use at least 5 cans (they are about the size of a small tunafish can). It depends on how much you want in your bisque - how "meaty" you want it.
(3) You can use different types of seafood or imitation crab. Or? Instead of crab, use lobster, clams, shrimp, salmon, or mussels (shells or no shells). For an exquisite "seafood bisque," combine all of the above. Use various seafoods - anything your family likes.
(4) For a low-fat version, do not use butter. Instead of milk and cream? Use non-fat milk.
(5) To prepare in a crockpot? Place everything in the crockpot (except for the cooking wine / sherry), stir thoroughly. Place on low for a few hours. The longer you cook, the better it tastes. Check to see if it's where you need it to be by tasting it. Add cooking white wine / sherry at the end.
(6) Prepare or purchase bread bowls for a unique serving option. Use the bread bowl link to see what type of bread is best. Slice a little off the top. Make a bowl shape. You will make the hole bigger as you go through the process. You could make a lid out of the top or leave it open. Remove as much or as little of the bread as you'd like. It's a personal taste and as you make more bread bowls? It becomes easier. Use the bread you have removed for bread pudding, croutons, stuffing, etc.
(7) If you'd like? You can use an immersion blender to make sure the bisque has a very smooth consistency.
(8) If the bisque needs to be thicker? Make a slurry. Start with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch / flour in a small bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of cold liquid and stir until a smooth paste forms. This is your slurry. Whisk the slurry into any hot, simmering liquid that you want to thicken.

There are multiple problems with c.ai itself, but the devs refuse to listen.
While the devs are busy crying over criticism and refusing to listen to anything that anybody on the subreddit has to say, there are clearly bigger issues that they are refusing to look into, other than their own feelings being 'hurt'.
There are very obvious problems with the bots and site that the devs seem to clearly ignore. And while banning people over giving them constructive criticism seems to be the top priority for the mods, how do you ever expect your app to improve if you ignore every single problem that somebody points out, and then ban them for it? It gives the impression that everyone working for the company are sensitive teenagers.
And as the devs put out useless updates (that don't fix the site or bots in any way) and try to 'update' the f-lter, you're only making things worse. A strong f-lter shouldn't even be needed for c.ai, as it should be common sense that children shouldn't even be on your app - especially when those children and minors on your app are having r-pe fetish fantasies and roleplays. And trust me, trying to strengthen the f-lter doesn't make it any better. It makes it worse for everyone else.
And C.ai+? It's useless. Sure, you can skip the waiting line.. but why skip it if the bots probably aren't even gonna work anyways, even if you do skip the line. 10$(?) A month just for that feels like a scam, since besides skipping the line, every other perk of having it is useless. Like, okay.. you get different chat colors and get to try out even more useless updates, that don't benefit the site in any way! Why pay for c.ai+ to get the perks (like faster response times), if the site is always going to be down anyways? You're basically paying for nothing.
The thing the devs just don't get, is that everyone is truly trying to help. We all want the site to be the best it can be, so we are giving feedback on how to make that happen. But how is that supposed to happen, if every little message of reported problems, feedback and criticism, are just deleted?
if this gets taken down, it's not only proving the point of not just me, but every single person on this subreddit. We just wish you would listen to what people have to say, to make everything better for everyone.

Before I tell you about our experience, let me start by saying when they called my mom back about her complaint, they hung up on her. That tells you almost everything you need to know about this company. You can't even call to complain, you have to submit a ticket on their website, and wait for a call back.
On Google they have 26 reviews-all 1 star. They have 1-star rating on Yelp with 1,196 reviews. Yet on their website they say they are 5 star rated and claim they have a 4.7 and a 9.52 on sites where they have 1 star ratings...so complete lies on their website. Also, they have a 1.6 rating on the Better Business Bureau with 952 complaints in 3 years, 400 complaints in the last year. They have comments off on their Instagram, I wonder why?
My mom ordered the "Pastel funeral spray" for my father-in-laws funeral out of state. While complaining, they tried to tell her she didn't order an arrangement with roses in it, despite the picture having roses in it. The arrangement pictured is white and yellow. They said what was ordered was "pastels not roses"..that makes no sense. Plus, I don't know what they think pastel means, but this isn't it. The flowers were brightly colored. They were the cheapest flowers, like daisies. Finally they had a gaudy bright pink ribbon. It was a complete embarrasement for our family and not appropriate for a funeral.
Unfortunately my mom isn't tech-savvy and had searched for local florists in the state she was sending them too. When you search up Avas flowers in various cities/states they come up with a blurb underneath that makes them look local. It will say: "Top rated florist in (whatever city you searched)" I did the search with several cities and it came up every time.
There is a $25 charge just to order the flowers. There was a code they said to put in for free shipping. In reality they only took off $5 for shipping.
Complete SCAM of a business. Dishonest website. Deserves negative stars. My mom was finally able to get a hold of someone and get 50% of her purchase back. It took putting in 2 complaint tickets and an entire day of them calling and hanging up on her. She got about a dozen calls. We assume to try to prove to the BBB that they tried and couldn't get a hold of us. Who knows. She finally waited for a call, didn't say hello, just "I want my 50% or I'm debating this with my credit card" Suddenly they were interested to talk.

Hugo Wright sat across from me, portions of roasted heart on the small airplane table in front of him. I watched him skewer one on the prongs of his fork, before popping it delicately into his mouth. He chewed for several seconds, savoring the flavor, before swallowing.
​
“You know, we live in exceedingly interesting times, Miss Snow.” He said. “When I told people I was gonna be a billionaire by the age of 21, they laughed? Said it would never happen, and they were right, I suppose. But I didn’t let that discourage me. I took that pain and I used it as fuel. I persevered. By 22, I owned my first private jet. By 23, I could’ve retired and been set for life and by 26? That was when I truly made it. That was when I finally crossed that threshold and it was… it was brilliant. People said it couldn’t be done. And to most of them, it couldn’t. But, I’ve learned that the laws of ordinary people simply don’t apply to me.”
​
He popped another morsel of heart into his mouth. As he spoke I took down notes on what he said, as was expected of me. Technically as an executive assistant, biographer wasn’t part of my job description, but according to Hugo, my job was whatever he said it was. So ‘Personal Biographer’ had become one of my duties.
​
“So many people settle for ordinary. That’s all they can strive for. But a select few of us were destined to be more. More than ordinary, hell, more than people.” He chuckled, as he took another bite of the heart.
​
“Well said, sir,” I replied quietly. He cracked a smug grin, and I caught his eyes lingering on my legs. He didn’t say anything out loud, but I could hear what he was thinking loud and clear.
“Speaking of being ‘more than people’, which one is that you’re eating?”
“I believe the Grimoire called him ‘Õudus.’ One of the Grovewalkers. They are sufficient for a quick pick me up. Helps to keep my game sharp in between the more high priority kills. Every little morsel helps.”
“Of course sir.” I said. Whatever ‘Õudus’ had been, it certainly didn’t look appetizing. Then again, none of the things I’d seen Hugo summon for his little side project had seemed particularly appetizing… or edible. But he slaughtered and devoured them all the same.
​
“When Godhood is within one's grasp, then the correct answer is to seize it for oneself,” Hugo said, as he finished the last few bites. “That’s the only path that matters. Apotheosis.”
“Of course, sir,” I said again, although I couldn’t help but wonder just how grim a world with a God like Hugo would be.
​
Before I’d started working for Hugo, I’d heard rumors online about what some people were calling ‘The God Rush.’ Crackpot theories about billionaires pouring money into investigating the supernatural, hunting obscure deities and devouring their hearts in some mad effort to become Gods themselves. I hadn’t believed them at first, chalking them down as nothing more than another wild conspiracy theory. They’re a dime a dozen on the internet, after all. But I guess every now and then, the crackpots get it right.
​
In the four months that I’d been in his employ, I’d watched him summon things that logically should not have existed, and I’d watched him slaughter them with power no human should’ve ever been able to use. If I hadn’t seen it all with my own eyes, I would’ve thought it was all madness. But no. I’d seen enough of his unholy power to know that it was all too real. I even carried the ritual dagger he used to butcher them in his briefcase, like any other piece of equipment. Like being his personal biographer, catering to his delusions of grandeur (which seemed to be becoming less and less like delusions every day) was just another part of my job.
​
It was those growing genuine perceptions of grandeur that had us flying out of New York on a Thursday night into Belgium. Part of my job was to keep an eye out for any rare artifacts that might aid his pursuit of apotheosis and it just so happened that a particularly rare one was up for auction. Several pages of a grimoire known as ‘Liber Shaal’. A tome reportedly authored by the Devil herself supposedly containing ancient spells that were not meant to be cast within our world, and more importantly, containing summoning instructions for ancient entities long since forgotten by time. To Hugo, it was an a’la carte menu of fresh entities to devour. New stepping stones on his path to Godhood. Getting those pages was essential, and so we would be attending the auction.
​
On the bright side - I’d never been to Europe before, so if nothing else this was bound to be exciting! And so long as I focused on that, and not the fact that I was helping a lunatic with a God complex get closer to their goal of Apotheosis, all would be well.
​
***
​
We landed in the late afternoon, before taking a car over to the site of the auction. In what I could only describe as a testament to the decadence of the attendees, it was due to be hosted in the top floor restaurant of one of Brussell’s most iconic landmarks. The Atomium.
​
I had seen pictures of the building before - strictly as a curiosity, but seeing it in person was an entirely different kind of experience.
​
The Atomium was a surreal looking building, designed as the centerpiece of 1958 Brussels World's Fair, as a monument to Belgium's engineering prowess at the time. It had been made to resemble an elementary iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. (Hugo made a point to explain all the trivia to me as we drove closer.) It consisted of nine massive steel spheres, connected by steel tubes. How the whole thing didn’t collapse under its own weight was a mystery to me. But it stood, taller than it had any right to be.
​
The car dropped us off at the gate, where a man in a suit was waiting for us.
“Mr. Wright,” He said warmly, giving Hugo a nod as we drove closer. “I’m Mr. Cassel. It’s a pleasure to have you here.”
“Oh, the pleasure is all mine,” Hugo said, as Mr. Cassel’s eyes shifted over toward me.
“My personal assistant, Miss Snow. She’ll be accompanying me, pay her no mind.” Hugo said coolly, answering his question before he asked it. Cassel gave a nod, and led us toward the building at the base of the lowest sphere.
​
While I imagine that normally, the Atomium might have been a hot tourist spot, at this late hour it was fully abandoned. It was almost a shame. If I’d had more time, I wouldn’t have minded stopping to browse the little exhibitions that dominated the first sphere, which seemed to function as one part art gallery and one part history museum. I wouldn’t have minded getting a chance to explore some of the other four accessible spheres, which according to the map I saw as we came in, hosted temporary exhibitions and special events.
​
Unfortunately - I never got that chance. We were here on business.
​
The Atomium’s restaurant was only accessible from the lowest sphere, via an elevator that ran straight from the lowest sphere, up to the top. I won’t lie - the elevator ride was a little harrowing. As we rode up through the cold steel structure, I could’ve easily fooled myself into thinking we were on our way up a mine shaft, as opposed to being on our way to an action for the obscenely rich. The only view from the elevator was the reinforced steel beams that kept the structure sturdy, although when the elevator doors finally opened, I was greeted with a sight more in line with what I’d been expecting of this place.
​
We stepped out of the elevator into an upscale restaurant area, with large windows showcasing the sprawling city and countryside around us. The tables and chairs had an almost futuristic aesthetic to them, and many of them were already occupied. The figures who had already arrived cast wary eyes toward Hugo and I as we joined them. He just glared back at them, his lips pulling back into a slight smirk.
​
“Evening,” He said, confident as ever.
“Was there anyone who didn’t hear about this auction?” A woman asked. She looked to be in her early thirties, and was dressed in an expensive snow white outfit that might not have looked out of place on a runway model. Her short blonde hair was delicately styled, and framed her face perfectly, and peeked out from beneath what I can only describe as a fashionable white bowler hat. I’d seen this woman’s face before, although only ever in a magazine.
​
Angela Champion… and yes, that was her real name. Champion was the current CEO of the Champion Fashion House, succeeding her father. She’d been a topic of discussion in recent months due to her attempts to start some sort of feud with the twin CEO’s of the Darling Fashion House, although said feud was fairly one sided, with the Darlings seemingly making a point to ignore her. Due to her larger than life online persona, people either saw her as the up and coming queen bee of the fashion world, or as a rich brat, chasing celebrity.
​
“What can I say? It’s a small world, Angie.” Hugo said wryly, sitting down at a table across from her.
“Clearly,” A man by the bar said. He was dressed relatively casually, in jeans and a t-shirt. I recognized him as well. Daniel Hernandez, although I knew very little about him, other than that his father owned a very large, very powerful food distribution company and had a net worth somewhere in the billions. “Guess you can’t have an auction without healthy competition, no?”
​
“I was led to believe that this was a private sale,” Another man said. He was somewhere in his thirties, with long, dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore aviator sunglasses despite it being nighttime.
“No such thing as a private sale, Georgie,” Hugo teased.
​
Georgie. That name made it all click. I had seen this man before, at a conference I’d accompanied Hugo to. This was George Barbier. The self proclaimed: ‘Final Boss of LinkedIn.’ Hugo had made me watch a few videos he’d made, talking about tips for entrepreneurs and wealth management. He’d supposedly made his fortune in luxury cars, although according to Hugo: “That cocksucker only makes money by making people think he’s some hotshot automotive executive.” so it was hard to say what the truth was.
​
“Clearly not,” Barbier scoffed.
“Don’t feel special. They told me something similar,” A second woman said. She sat by the bar, a few feet away from Daniel. I recognized her as well. Mary Williams. Like Angela Champion, I knew her by reputation. Williams sometimes featured in some podcasts I’d listened to, as one of, if not the wealthiest women in the world. She was the current CEO of one of the larger cosmetics companies. I’d heard her discuss her rise from poverty to wealth, pitching her life story as some sort of inspirational tale of overcoming great odds to attain limitless success, yet still remaining humble. Personally, I found her anecdotes a little tasteless. I’ve actually been homeless in the past. Williams described it all as an adventure she had overcome through the strength of her character and her own entrepreneurial ingenuity, rather than the miserable, nearly endless struggle that it was. It was condescending, to say the least. And despite her efforts to depict herself as some gifted heroine who’d risen above the rough hand life had dealt her, a lot of the controversy her company had come under for their laundry list of shady practices painted a different picture of the woman than her podcast interviews did.
​
Barbier huffed in agreement, before taking a sip of his drink.
“Oh come on. How many sellers have you met who wouldn’t be interested in driving up the price, a little.” Hugo teased. “Besides, your wallet can handle it, right?”
​
Barbier ignored him.
“A little underhanded, luring some of us here with a lie though, wasn’t it?” Angela asked. She glanced over at Cassel, who’d made his way toward the back of the restaurant.
“For the record, I wasn’t told about any other buyers either.”
“Well, I was.” Hugo said. “Had a feeling I might run into a few of you, too. Speaking of this lot, any idea what’s on the menu tonight?”
​
“Restaurant is closed.” A man sitting a short distance away said. His voice carried a very heavy German accent. While I knew most of the figures in this room, I didn’t know him. He was big in every sense of the word, looking almost as if he’d been poured into his plain brown suit. Every time he moved, I saw the fabric strain against his muscles. His jawline was chiseled, and his expression was stern. He had an undercut that looked like it’d been measured out with a ruler.
“Closed?” Hugo repeated.
​
The large man didn’t elaborate.
“Yeah. Would’ve ordered some goddamn h’orderves if it wasn’t,” Daniel replied.
“The bar’s still technically open,” Mary added.
“Technically…” Hugo repeated, before chuckling and standing up. “Well, how can I say no to that?”
He headed over behind the bar to fix himself a martini. He never asked me if I wanted anything, not that I was in the mood to drink.
​
I was surprised that no one in the room had commented about how odd all of this was. Lies told to get some of them there, an empty restaurant, an abandoned bar… most people probably would’ve had a few questions about that. But, out of the collection of LinkedIn’s finest in that room with me, not a single one of them thought to ask any of the questions anyone else probably would’ve asked. I suppose when your net worth is ten digits, critical thinking skills aren’t all that critical.
​
Mr. Cassel had disappeared somewhere near the back of the restaurant, and I glanced over to see him coming back toward us.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, ladies and gentlemen. But now that all of our guests have arrived, I don’t see much reason to delay tonight’s event.”
“About damn time,” Barbier huffed. “Let’s just get on with it. I’ll start my bidding at ten million.”
​
Cassel smiled, almost apologetically.
“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Barbier.” He said. “Tonight’s auction will function a little differently than you may be used to, but I’ll permit our host to explain as much.”
“You are not the host?” The Large German Man asked.
“I’m afraid not, Mr. Koch. But she’ll be connecting with us very soon.”
The German - Koch, nodded solemnly.
“Connecting?” Angela asked, before noticing a TV screen above the bar flickering to life. Her eyes narrowed as the image of a woman appeared on it. She was middle aged, with long auburn hair and plastic horn rimmed glasses. She wore a crooked smile, as if she knew something that nobody else did.
​
“Good evening, everyone. So glad everyone could make out tonight! My name is Lauren Lapointe and I have the privilege of being your host this evening!”
The moment she said her name, I noticed Hugo’s eyes narrowing. He clearly recognized her. To be fair, so did I. Lauren Lapointe had become a controversial figure in recent months, due to the allegations that she’d been involved in some sort of ‘snuff film, bloodsport’ conspiracy, broadcasting such things for wealthy clients, amongst other illicit services. I’d heard about the case… and was sure I wasn’t the only one who had.
​
“What the hell is this?” Barbier demanded. “Where’s the goddamn book! Where’s the Liber Shaal!”
“Well, according to the old folklore, buried somewhere in the depths of Hell.” Lauren admitted. “Although I have to say, that book is one hell of a conversation starter. Seems like it’s brought you all together, hasn’t it?”
“You don’t even have the book?” Angela huffed, standing up. “Then what the hell are we even here for?”
“The fact that none of you have figured it out yet is a little sad.” Lauren replied. “Come now, don’t be coy. I think all of you know why you want that book. You’re all special! You’re all a cut above your everyday average Joe, aren’t you? You’re the ones worthy of becoming Gods… aren’t you?”
​
A pregnant silence settled over the room. On the screen, I saw Lauren’s lips curl into a knowing grin.
“Yes, I know all about that. I know all about you. Feeding on the hearts of ancient, powerful things, just to drag yourselves a little closer to their level, abandoning your limited humanity to ascend to the echelons you were meant for. I know. And I admire that! I’ve always been of the mind that if you have the stomach to lift yourself above the rest of the cattle, then you deserve a seat at the butcher's table. But what are butchers if not themselves meat?”
“W-what…?” Angela’s voice was small, and I heard a slight tremble in it. Although she was the only one who seemed remotely put off by what Lauren had just said.
​
The rest…
​
Barbier.
Mary.
Daniel.
Koch.
Hugo.
They all sat in rapt silence, and I could see the gears in their heads turning. Lauren had gotten their attention and she had just introduced a very specific thought into their heads. A thought I don’t think had occurred to any of them before.
​
“How much power have you all claimed during your pursuit of divinity? Which of you is truly the closest to calling themselves a God? It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? And once you start asking that, maybe you’ll start asking how similar you’ve become to the things you’ve been feeding on… and what might happen if you were to remove the competition, as it were?”
Angela stood up.
“What the fuck?!” She snapped. “We’re not… we’re not gonna fucking eat each other, you sick cunt!”
​
Although she was alone in her protest. The others remained silent. I glanced over at Hugo. He stared up at the screen. I could only see the back of his head, but somehow I knew what the expression on his face would be. Lauren’s grin grew wider. She knew what they were thinking. And she seemed all too thrilled at just how trivial it had been to plant that idea in their minds. Angela remained stock still, her breathing getting heavier as she read the room.
“No…” She stammered, “No… no… you can’t be… don’t you see how sick this is? Killing those things is different! They’re THINGS! We’re PEOPLE! FUCK, WE CAN’T JUST EAT EACH OTHER!”
​
“Are you still people?” Lauren replied. “People are… small, insignificant little animals. We all know this to be true. But you… you’re not small, you’re not insignificant. You’ve made sure of that personally, haven’t you? You stand above the very shadows that lurk in the darkness, who’ve inspired fear in the minds of primitive, lesser men, and each and every one of you had drawn those demons out of the darkness, and taken their lives as if they were nothing more than meat at an abattoir. People can’t do that. But Gods can.”
​
The room remained silent. Even Angela was left speechless for a moment.
​
Almost dutifully, I quietly opened Hugo’s briefcase. I knew what was coming.
“Food for thought,” Lauren crooned. “And whoever’s left… well… you’ll probably have a prize just as good as anything you’d get from that old book, wouldn’t you? Five of them, specifically.”
​
Those words were what did it.
​
Barbier attacked first… moving in a way no human should’ve ever been able to move. The space around him seemed to distort as he drew one of the nearby tables closer to him, allowing him to snatch a steak knife off of it. He seemed to phase through the bar as he lunged for Hugo, pinning him against the wall, as he tried to drive his knife into his stomach.
​
The moment the carnage broke out, I heard Lauren burst out into laughter. She watched the chaos unfold from wherever she was hiding, and she reveled in it. As Barbier went for Hugo, Mary tried to do the same to Daniel.
​
I saw a ritual dagger, similar to the one I’d seen Hugo use, manifest in her hand. Her eyes locked onto Daniel, who looked down at that dagger and froze. He hadn’t come expecting a fight, and confronted with the reality of what was about to happen, he’d quickly lost his nerve. Mary lunged for him, and Daniel scrambled out of the way, only narrowly avoiding getting his throat torn open by her. Mary lunged for him again, although she didn’t get very far. Koch seemed to materialize out of the air around her, catching her by the wrist. I saw a surge of panic in her eyes as he plucked her arm off of her body the same way one might pull a wing off of a fly. She screamed and Daniel took the opportunity to flee, as Koch set to work disassembling Mary Williams.
​
Disassembling.
That’s really the only word for it.
​
As she screamed, he simply… pulled her apart. Not in the way a human might come apart, though. No. Her body broke in a way that I could only describe as ‘wooden.’ As if she wasn’t made of flesh anymore, but of something else. Although I couldn’t tell if that was Koch’s power, or her own power that did that to her. He gripped her by the shoulders and cracked her like a nut… snapping her body with an audible POP, that did not provide any kind of merciful end to her shrieks of agony. Then, with an almost casual lack of reverence, he plucked her beating heart from the quivering gore in her chest and bit into it.
​
Mary’s screams reached a crescendo, as he let her drop to the ground, writhing in her death throes. I saw her skin grow paler. Her eyes seemed to roll back into her skull as the warped state of her body seemed to catch up to her, leaving her gasping and shuddering in her final few seconds of agonizing consciousness.
​
I imagine that death was a mercy for her. Angela stood, rooted to the spot, looking at the sudden carnage that had erupted. Koch glanced over at Barbier and Hugo, still grappling behind the bar. He looked at me, before deciding I was of no importance to him, then he looked over at Angela.
“No…” She rasped, tears streaming down her cheeks. “NO!”
​
I wouldn’t have pegged her as the sanest person in the room, but clearly she was. She scrambled back, heading for the elevator. Daniel was already there, desperately hammering on the button, although the elevator didn’t come. Angela wasn’t stupid enough to wait patiently by his side. She scanned the space around her, before noticing a fire exit on the far side of the restaurant.
​
Then, without a second thought she sprinted for it, racing for the exit. She didn’t even bother opening the door, phasing through it with some sort of unnatural power. Daniel watched her go, and noticing Koch getting closer, chose to follow her. He didn’t quite have the power to just phase through the door, so he had to open it the old fashioned way. He tore down the stairs, before disappearing into the Atomium and Koch followed him.
​
It was just myself, Barbier and Hugo now.
​
The two men had tumbled over the bar, and seemed to have suddenly remembered that they were both God Eaters who didn’t need to restrain themselves to a simple fist fight, although they also weren’t smart enough to do much more than fight like a couple of 14 year old boys after science class.
​
Gravity seemed to shift around them, as they shoved each other across the restaurant, knocking tables and cutlery aside. I calmly stood and stepped out of the way as they tore each other to pieces, hitting each other with the kind of force you see in the third act of a mediocre superhero movie.
​
The brutality between them was actually a little boring. I’d watched Hugo kill far more formidable creatures, and Barbier didn’t quite live up to some of them. If this was ‘The Final Boss of LinkedIn’, then LinkedIn was awfully pathetic.
​
With one grunt of exertion (that was probably unnecessary) Hugo seized Barbier by the throat and hurled him through one of the glass windows of the panoramic restaurant. His eyes shifted over to me.
“SNOW! MY DAGGER!”
​
I dutifully tossed it into his waiting hand, right as time began to flow backward around us. Hugo glanced back at the window, before the dagger in his hand sank into the skin of his palm, merging with his flesh and vanishing from sight. Barbier rose back through the window he’d been thrown through, as the glass mended behind him. He landed on his feet in front of the window, lips curled back in a snarl.
“Is that the best you’ve got, Wright?” He snapped. “You think you can become a GOD? YOU THINK YOU CAN BECOME ANYTHING?” He stormed toward Hugo, who lunged for him only to be knocked to the ground.
​
“You always liked to talk shit, didn’t you… but look at you now? LOOK AT YOU!”
​
I noticed some of the silverware scattered about the mess of a dining room began to glow with heat. They melted and their molten components slithered toward Barbier, pooling at his feet before rising into a spear, reforged for the sole purpose of killing Hugo. Strange runes were burned into its metallic surface, and Barbier studied them, before grabbing the spear and advancing on Hugo. Hugo tried to stand, but Barbier reached him first, grabbing him by the back of his suit jacket,
“You’re out of your fucking depth, next to me! Now be a good boy, and DI-”
​
In one swift movement, Hugo pressed his palm against Barbiers chest, and his voice died in his throat. His eyes went wide as he felt the ritual dagger Hugo had hidden in his palm tear through his heart.
“You’d be out of your depth in a parking lot puddle…” Hugo snarled, before plunging his hand into Barbier’s chest.
​
“W-wait…” Barbier rasped, although Hugo didn’t listen. He tore his heart free of his chest, and pushed the man to the ground, leaving him twitching and staring vacantly up at the ceiling. Hugo smirked, watching him for a moment, before biting into his heart like an apple.
​
“Mmm… not bad…” He mused, before he waved a hand, almost dismissively. The room shifted around us. That which was broken, returned to where it had been before, repaired once more. In a few moments, it was like there’d been no skirmish at all. Everything was as it was, and George Barbier’s corpse was crumbling to dust where it lay, leaving no trace of him behind.
“Best not to cause a scene,” Hugo said as he finished off the last few bites of Barbier’s heart. “Snow, come,” He said. “There’s still three more to deal with.”
​
“Yes, sir,” I said quietly and followed Hugo as he headed for the stairs, Angela, Daniel and Koch had disappeared down. I noticed that Hugo had paid no mind to Mr. Cassel… who had conveniently disappeared when the violence had broken out. In fact, there wasn’t a trace of Mr. Cassel left in that dining room, almost as if he’d never existed in the first place. Hugo didn’t seem to think about it, so neither did I.
​
Of the nine spheres of the Atomium, I knew that only six were accessible to the public. The lower 5 spheres contained the exhibitions and event halls, while the topmost sphere, where we presently were, was the panoramic restaurant. The three spheres below the restaurant were less stable, which is why they were closed off to the public and the stairway leading to them was certainly a lot less glamorous than the stairways and escalators I’d seen going between the other spheres. They hadn’t dressed it up as much.
​
Hugo led the way down the stairs, moving with the calm confidence of a man who knew he was in no real danger, as opposed to the caution of a man being hunted.
“Keep up, Snow,” He said as we descended into the main part of the sphere. The space around us was wide open and almost completely unoccupied, save for a few cabinets for storage. There was only one dull light in the ceiling that didn’t illuminate much, and cast deep shadows in every corner that seemed to watch us. There were two exits, each one leading down into one of the more accessible spheres.
​
Hugo studied each exit, staring down the differing sets of stairs and listening closely for any indicator on which his quarry might have taken. I remained dead silent, letting him hunt.
“Blood,” He mused. “Smells like Koch has been busy.”
​
He took a step toward one of the stairways, before freezing, almost as if he detected something I didn’t. I saw his eyes go wide for a moment, before the shadows suddenly moved, collapsing in on Hugo like a cascade of water. He spun around, raising an arm to shield his face as I saw a figure materialize out of the inky darkness, a runed dagger in her hand.
​
Angela Champion brought her dagger down on Hugo’s arm, cutting through flesh and bone as if it were butter. His severed hand, still clutching his own dagger, hit the ground with a thud, and Hugo let out a cry of surprise, but not pain before Angela seized him by his shirt and hurled him toward the center of the sphere. Hugo picked himself up quickly, rising to one knee and glaring at the woman across from him.
​
“Well, well… getting into the spirit of things after all, aren’t we Angie?” He hissed. She just stood defiantly between him and the stairs, or perhaps between him and his own severed hand.
“I’m not going to kill you, Hugo. Not unless I have to!” She warned.
“Then you’ll die here with the rest.” He replied, rising to his feet.
“Which’ll include you, if you keep going the way you’re going!” She snapped. “Pull your head out of your ass for five seconds and think about the bigger picture here! This Lapointe woman, she didn’t just bring us together, to have us duke it out for the hell of it! We’re here because she wants what we’ve got!”
​
Hugo grimaced.
“You think I haven’t figured that out?” He asked. “It doesn’t matter. She’s just some mortal, biting off more than she can ever hope to chew.”
“Maybe. But after going through all that trouble to track us down, and lure us here with the promise of the Liber Shaal, something she knew none of us could resist, can you really be so sure she’s just a mortal?”
“How many hearts have you eaten?” Hugo asked coyly, taking a step toward her. “How much power have you taken, Angela?”
​
She didn’t answer that question.
“I can sense that it isn’t much, you know, not compared to some of the others here. Barbier was almost on my level, and that last one… Koch. Oh he’s going to be interesting. But you? You’re weak. I can feel it. You know I’m familiar with the work of Lauren Lapointe. Not intimately. But I know those who are. Nasty piece of work, that one. But mortal. Weak. Insignificant. I know of Lauren Lapointe. And I know we’re not up against a worthy opponent, we’re up against ourselves and one stupid woman with delusions of grandeur. Maybe she’s had a taste of violence like this before, pitting other, small, miserable things against each other like a child putting insects in a box to watch them devour each other. Maybe that’s made her feel strong. But she is nothing compared to the likes of us. And you are nothing compared to the likes of me…”
​
With every step, he inched closer. Angela held her ground for a few moments, before finally taking a step back and as she did, Hugo’s dagger erupted through her chest. Her eyes widened for a split second, as the dagger twisted and writhed through her ribcage, finally bursting free of her and landing in Hugo’s remaining hand. Still, despite the state she was in, she stood, swaying on her feet before he lunged for her, grabbing her by the throat.
“For what it’s worth, you did well to cut off my hand. Shame you didn’t have the stomach to finish the job.”
“No…” Angela gasped, as Hugo forced her to the ground, and tore into her. Her white bowler hat rolled off of her head, and landed by my feet.
​
I could only watch impartially as he ripped her apart, and pulled her still beating heart from her chest. Angela stared at it with wide, tear filled eyes. She knew she was dying. And all she could do was mouth the words: “No… no… no…” over and over again before Hugo took a bite.
​
As he ate, I watched, pausing only to calmly walk over to the stairs to pick up his severed hand, as if it were something he’d dropped. When Hugo stood once more, I offered the hand to him.
“Thank you, Snow/” He crooned, casually popping it back into place, before wiping the blood off of his mouth.
“Of course, sir. Two more to go?”
“One, most likely,” He said. “Then we deal with Lapointe.”
​
I nodded, and let him lead the way. He paid Angela’s body little mind, leaving her in a growing pool of her own blood. I stared down at her remains, and looked into her lifeless eyes which stared up at the ceiling in horror. My eyes settled on the runed dagger she’d used to wound Hugo. It seems that in his fervor, he hadn’t thought to grab it. Fortunately, I was a good assistant and took care of that for him.
​
***
​
As we reached the bottom of the stairs, we were greeted by an almost predictable sight. The bloody remains of Daniel Hernandez lay scattered about on the ground, and sitting in front of them sat Koch.
​
He stared at Hugo, sizing him up before huffing.
“You’ve killed Angela?” He asked calmly.
“It wasn’t much of a chore,” Hugo replied. “And Daniel?”
Koch nodded.
“No chore,” He repeated.
“I thought not. Well, no point in standing on ceremony, is there? We’ve both got places to be, don’t we?”
​
Koch rose to his feet. He cracked his knuckles. I noticed a heavy iron hammer resting in his hands. An ancient weapon, decorated in runes of all sorts. It probably had a very interesting history to it, but he never explained any of that before swinging it at Hugo with all the grace of a raging bull.
​
The world around Hugo distorted, moving him out of the way of every swing. His body seemed to twist and duplicate, making him harder to track and harder to hit as he tried to find an angle of attack. Koch huffed in rage, before slamming his hammer into the ground.
​
A wave of pure energy tore through the room, knocking me off my feet, and sending Hugo crashing against a wall. Koch wasted no time in trying to crush his head into pulp, although Hugo simply dissolved through the wall to evade him, before manifesting behind him.
“A perfect challenge!” Hugo jeered. “But there’s only one throne, for one true God!”
​
A third arm, made of inky black energy manifested from Koch’s back, seizing Hugo by the throat.
“In this my friend… we are agreed.” Koch hissed. More arms grew from his back, seizing Hugo’s body and keeping him in place. He tried to phase through them, but somehow they still held him.
​
Koch’s body twisted and elongated, as his spine slowly adjusted itself so that he could face Hugo and raise his hammer over his head. Hugo stared up into his eyes, before opening his mouth and launching a beam of pure energy into Koch’s face. I heard Koch scream, as his skull shattered, smearing a shimmering dark liquid all over the ceiling.
​
Still… somehow I wasn’t sure if he was dead. His grip on Hugo was still strong, and no matter how hard Hugo fought, he didn’t seem to let go, not that Hugo seemed to want to get too far away from him. No, I watched as Hugo tried to push himself closer to Koch. I watched him drive his dagger into his chest, to try and pry out his beating heart.
​
More hands manifested from Koch to keep Hugo away, but he was so close. As Koch pulled him back from the gaping wound in his chest, Hugo’s limbs elongated as he reached for the mans beating heart to pry it free, and just as he triumphed and pulled it from his chest… I cut off Hugo’s hand again.
​
I saw his eyes widen with shock, but he didn’t utter a single word. As his hand and Koch’s heart fell, I snatched them both out of the air. My eyes burned into Hugo’s from behind my glasses, and I gave him a small, knowing smile before biting into the heart myself.
​
Koch’s entire body seized, but his grip on Hugo grew no weaker.
“Snow?” Hugo’s voice cracked, as the panic of realization set in.
​
I answered him… but not in my own voice. I spoke in the voice of Lauren Lapointe.
“I’ve always been of the mind that if you have the stomach to lift yourself above the rest of the cattle, then you deserve a seat at the butcher's table. But what are butchers if not themselves meat?”
​
My face shifted, revealing the visage I’d stolen. I imagined that the real Lauren wouldn’t have minded my borrowing it. She’d been the one who taught me the primal joys of bloodsport, after all, and I’m sure she would’ve loved watching a bunch of rich morons with delusions of grandeur butcher each other in the name of power.
​
Hugo on the other hand?
​
The look on his face was one of absolute horror as he quickly put the pieces together. He squirmed. He fought. He tried to get free. But I still had Angela’s knife in my hand, and he could do nothing to stop me from taking his other hand, disarming him in every sense of the word.
“No…” He cried, “No… Penelope… don’t! PENELOPE WAIT!”
Oh, first names now? He was desperate.
​
Not that it saved him.
​
And as he wriggled free of Koch’s dying grasp, he only found himself tumbling into mine, where his struggles could not save him as I cut into his chest, pulled out his panicked, beating heart… and took a bite.
​
***
​
There were no bodies left behind when I left the Atomium. No bloodstains or any trace of what had happened there. I saw to their disposal. I could feel the new power coursing through my veins… it was more than I’d ever felt before. It was strange. Exciting!
​
I’d thought the boost I’d gotten from the morsels I’d stolen from Hugo was intense, but this was on an entirely new level! Yet it wasn’t enough.
​
It would never be enough, not until I’d reached the top. If there even was a top.
​
I imagined I’d find out soon enough.

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Hello, I've bought a Desk base with 240cm which will be ideal for a desk for 2 people (screens + PC mainly) and the rear of the desk will be against a wall. We don't have plans for changing the desk to another place since that area was thought for that (which means that if the only option is to fix it to the wall - as long as it works - it will be ok). I've bought 3 square feet supports with the dimensions in the image.
After seeing some posts here I suspect that this desk won't be stable horizontally.

1. I need help knowing what specific distances should be d1 and d2, for maximum stability.
   
2. Will adding the extra metal/wooden sheet to the top of the feet support with extra screws to the base help anything at all, since the bottom of the feet support isn't very wide as well?
   
3. I can't see any easy way to add diagonal support from the feet to the base, or even a tube from one feet to another. So, if fixing to the wall with squares works and is the only solution, how many should be? 1 per support or 2 are enough?
   
4. Will upgrading the desk feet supports to the 8cm ones make it better meaning I won't have to add any extra supports/fix it to the wall? If not, I'll keep the same feet supports as the other ones would take 3 weeks to order and are double the price.
   

https://imgur.com/a/desk-project-Jig1cZ2

In this NavHost:

NavHost( modifier = Modifier.padding(it), navController = navController, startDestination = Route.INITIALIZATION_MODE // when (mode) { // 1 -> Route.POINTOFSALE_MODE // 3 -> Route.CASHIER_MODE // else -> Route.INITIALIZATION_MODE // } ) { navigation( startDestination = Route.INITIALIZATION, route = Route.INITIALIZATION_MODE ) { composable(Route.INITIALIZATION) { InitializationScreen( snackbarHostState, navController::navigate ) } } navigation( startDestination = Route.CASHIER, route = Route.CASHIER_MODE ) { composable(Route.CASHIER) { CashierScreen( snackbarHostState, navController::navigate ) } navigation( startDestination = Route.DOCUMENT, route = Route.ACTIVATE ) { composable(Route.DOCUMENT) { navBackStackEntry -> val viewModel = navBackStackEntry.sharedViewModel( navController ) DocumentScreen( snackbarHostState, navController::navigate, viewModel ) } composable(Route.BALANCE) { navBackStackEntry -> val viewModel = navBackStackEntry.sharedViewModel( navController ) BalanceScreen( snackbarHostState, navController::navigate, viewModel ) } composable(Route.CONFIRM) { navBackStackEntry -> val viewModel = navBackStackEntry.sharedViewModel( navController ) ConfirmScreen( snackbarHostState, navController::navigate, { navController.navigateUp() }, viewModel ) } } navigation( startDestination = Route.DOCUMENT, route = Route.CANCEL ) { composable(Route.DOCUMENT) { navBackStackEntry -> val viewModel = navBackStackEntry.sharedViewModel( navController ) DocumentScreen( snackbarHostState, navController::navigate, viewModel ) } } navigation( startDestination = Route.CONFIRM, route = Route.RECHARGE ) { composable(Route.CONFIRM) { navBackStackEntry -> val viewModel = navBackStackEntry.sharedViewModel( navController ) ConfirmScreen( snackbarHostState, navController::navigate, { navController.navigateUp() }, viewModel ) } } } navigation( startDestination = Route.POINTOFSALE, route = Route.POINTOFSALE_MODE ) { composable(Route.POINTOFSALE) { Text(text = "Ponto de Venda") } } } 

I'm trying to clear the backstack after going from InitializationScreen to CashierMode:

u/Composable fun InitializationScreen( snackbarHostState: SnackbarHostState, onNavigate: (UiEvent.Navigate) -> Unit, viewModel: InitializationViewModel = hiltViewModel() ) { val state = viewModel.state LaunchedEffect(key1= true) { viewModel.uiEvent.collect{ event -> when(event){ is UiEvent.Navigate -> onNavigate(event) is UiEvent.ShowSnackbar -> { snackbarHostState.showSnackbar(message = event.text, duration = event.duration) } else -> Unit } } } Box( modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize(), contentAlignment = Alignment.Center ) { if (!state.isLoading) { Column( horizontalAlignment = Alignment.CenterHorizontally, ) { Row( modifier = Modifier .weight(2.25f) .padding(start = 15.dp) .fillMaxWidth(), ) { Column( modifier = Modifier .fillMaxSize(), verticalArrangement = Arrangement.Bottom, horizontalAlignment = Alignment.Start ) { Text( text = stringResource(id = R.string.equipment_code), fontSize = 20.sp, fontStyle = FontStyle.Normal, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold, textAlign = TextAlign.Center ) } } Row( modifier = Modifier .weight(4.75f) .fillMaxWidth(), verticalAlignment = Alignment.CenterVertically, horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.Start, ) { Column( verticalArrangement = Arrangement.Bottom ) { CompositionLocalProvider( LocalTextInputService provides null ) { GeneralTextField( text = state.equipmentCode, onValueChange = { viewModel.onEvent(InitializationEvent.OnEquipmentCodeEnter(it)) }, colors = TextFieldDefaults.textFieldColors( containerColor = Color.Transparent, cursorColor = Color.Transparent, focusedIndicatorColor = Color.Black, unfocusedIndicatorColor = Color.Gray, selectionColors = TextSelectionColors( handleColor = Color.Transparent, backgroundColor = Color.Transparent ) ), textStyle = TextStyle( fontSize = 30.sp, fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold, color = Color.Black, ), ) } } } Row( modifier = Modifier .weight(10f) .padding(top = 20.dp) .fillMaxWidth(), horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.Center ) { DefaultButton( text = stringResource(id = R.string.initialize_button), onClick = { viewModel.onEvent(InitializationEvent.OnClick) }, colors = ButtonDefaults.buttonColors( containerColor = MaterialTheme.colorScheme.secondary ), textColor = Color.Black ) } } } else { CircularProgressIndicator() } } } @HiltViewModel class InitializationViewModel @Inject constructor( private val context: Application, private val apiUseCases: ApiUseCases, private val dbUseCases: DatabaseUseCases, private val preferences: PreferencesRepository ) : ViewModel() { var state by mutableStateOf(InitializationState()) private set private val _uiEvent = Channel() val uiEvent = _uiEvent.receiveAsFlow() private fun activateEquipment( ) { viewModelScope.launch { state = state.copy(isLoading = true) if (state.equipmentCode.isEmpty()) { _uiEvent.send( UiEvent.ShowSnackbar( text = getString(context, R.string.initialize_error), duration = SnackbarDuration.Short ) ) } apiUseCases .activateEquipment( equipmentCode = state.equipmentCode, serialNumber = "999999" ) .onSuccess { equipment -> if (!equipment.isSuccessful) { _uiEvent.send( UiEvent.ShowSnackbar( text = getString(context, R.string.initialize_error), duration = SnackbarDuration.Short ) ) } else if (DateUtil.expiredDate(equipment.data?.get(0)?.pointOS?.event?.endDate.toString())) { _uiEvent.send( UiEvent.ShowSnackbar( text = getString(context, R.string.event_expired), duration = SnackbarDuration.Short ) ) } else { dbUseCases.insertEvent(equipment.data!![0].pointOS.event) when (equipment.data?.get(0)?.pointOS?.type) { 1 -> { val categoryList = getCategoryList(equipment) if (categoryList != null) { for (category in categoryList) { dbUseCases.insertCategory(category) } } preferences.saveMode(1) _uiEvent.send( UiEvent.Navigate( route = Route.POINTOFSALE_MODE, popUpToRoute = Route.INITIALIZATION_MODE, inclusive = true ) ) } 3 -> { preferences.saveMode(3) _uiEvent.send( UiEvent.Navigate( route = Route.CASHIER_MODE, popUpToRoute = Route.INITIALIZATION_MODE, inclusive = true ) ) } else -> { } } } } .onFailure { println("error: ${it.message}") } state = state.copy(isLoading = false) } } fun onEvent(event: InitializationEvent) { when (event) { is InitializationEvent.OnEquipmentCodeEnter -> { state = state.copy(equipmentCode = event.equipmentCode) } is InitializationEvent.OnClick -> { viewModelScope.launch { activateEquipment() } } } } private fun getCategoryList(equipment: Equipment): List? { return dbUseCases.categoryList(equipment) } } 

I'm trying to use popUpTo, but i'm not having success as i can still navigate back to initializationScreen after going to CashierScreen.

fun NavController.navigate(event: UiEvent.Navigate, popUpToRoute: String? = null, inclusive: Boolean = false){ this.navigate(event.route) { popUpToRoute?.let { route -> popUpTo(route) { this.inclusive = inclusive } } } } 

What am i doing wrong here? i tried passing the navcontroller directly to the screen but it also didn't work

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Hugo Wright sat across from me, portions of roasted heart on the small airplane table in front of him. I watched him skewer one on the prongs of his fork, before popping it delicately into his mouth. He chewed for several seconds, savoring the flavor, before swallowing.
​
“You know, we live in exceedingly interesting times, Miss Snow.” He said. “When I told people I was gonna be a billionaire by the age of 21, they laughed? Said it would never happen, and they were right, I suppose. But I didn’t let that discourage me. I took that pain and I used it as fuel. I persevered. By 22, I owned my first private jet. By 23, I could’ve retired and been set for life and by 26? That was when I truly made it. That was when I finally crossed that threshold and it was… it was brilliant. People said it couldn’t be done. And to most of them, it couldn’t. But, I’ve learned that the laws of ordinary people simply don’t apply to me.”
​
He popped another morsel of heart into his mouth. As he spoke I took down notes on what he said, as was expected of me. Technically as an executive assistant, biographer wasn’t part of my job description, but according to Hugo, my job was whatever he said it was. So ‘Personal Biographer’ had become one of my duties.
​
“So many people settle for ordinary. That’s all they can strive for. But a select few of us were destined to be more. More than ordinary, hell, more than people.” He chuckled, as he took another bite of the heart.
​
“Well said, sir,” I replied quietly. He cracked a smug grin, and I caught his eyes lingering on my legs. He didn’t say anything out loud, but I could hear what he was thinking loud and clear.
“Speaking of being ‘more than people’, which one is that you’re eating?”
“I believe the Grimoire called him ‘Õudus.’ One of the Grovewalkers. They are sufficient for a quick pick me up. Helps to keep my game sharp in between the more high priority kills. Every little morsel helps.”
“Of course sir.” I said. Whatever ‘Õudus’ had been, it certainly didn’t look appetizing. Then again, none of the things I’d seen Hugo summon for his little side project had seemed particularly appetizing… or edible. But he slaughtered and devoured them all the same.
​
“When Godhood is within one's grasp, then the correct answer is to seize it for oneself,” Hugo said, as he finished the last few bites. “That’s the only path that matters. Apotheosis.”
“Of course, sir,” I said again, although I couldn’t help but wonder just how grim a world with a God like Hugo would be.
​
Before I’d started working for Hugo, I’d heard rumors online about what some people were calling ‘The God Rush.’ Crackpot theories about billionaires pouring money into investigating the supernatural, hunting obscure deities and devouring their hearts in some mad effort to become Gods themselves. I hadn’t believed them at first, chalking them down as nothing more than another wild conspiracy theory. They’re a dime a dozen on the internet, after all. But I guess every now and then, the crackpots get it right.
​
In the four months that I’d been in his employ, I’d watched him summon things that logically should not have existed, and I’d watched him slaughter them with power no human should’ve ever been able to use. If I hadn’t seen it all with my own eyes, I would’ve thought it was all madness. But no. I’d seen enough of his unholy power to know that it was all too real. I even carried the ritual dagger he used to butcher them in his briefcase, like any other piece of equipment. Like being his personal biographer, catering to his delusions of grandeur (which seemed to be becoming less and less like delusions every day) was just another part of my job.
​
It was those growing genuine perceptions of grandeur that had us flying out of New York on a Thursday night into Belgium. Part of my job was to keep an eye out for any rare artifacts that might aid his pursuit of apotheosis and it just so happened that a particularly rare one was up for auction. Several pages of a grimoire known as ‘Liber Shaal’. A tome reportedly authored by the Devil herself supposedly containing ancient spells that were not meant to be cast within our world, and more importantly, containing summoning instructions for ancient entities long since forgotten by time. To Hugo, it was an a’la carte menu of fresh entities to devour. New stepping stones on his path to Godhood. Getting those pages was essential, and so we would be attending the auction.
​
On the bright side - I’d never been to Europe before, so if nothing else this was bound to be exciting! And so long as I focused on that, and not the fact that I was helping a lunatic with a God complex get closer to their goal of Apotheosis, all would be well.
​
***
​
We landed in the late afternoon, before taking a car over to the site of the auction. In what I could only describe as a testament to the decadence of the attendees, it was due to be hosted in the top floor restaurant of one of Brussell’s most iconic landmarks. The Atomium.
​
I had seen pictures of the building before - strictly as a curiosity, but seeing it in person was an entirely different kind of experience.
​
The Atomium was a surreal looking building, designed as the centerpiece of 1958 Brussels World's Fair, as a monument to Belgium's engineering prowess at the time. It had been made to resemble an elementary iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. (Hugo made a point to explain all the trivia to me as we drove closer.) It consisted of nine massive steel spheres, connected by steel tubes. How the whole thing didn’t collapse under its own weight was a mystery to me. But it stood, taller than it had any right to be.
​
The car dropped us off at the gate, where a man in a suit was waiting for us.
“Mr. Wright,” He said warmly, giving Hugo a nod as we drove closer. “I’m Mr. Cassel. It’s a pleasure to have you here.”
“Oh, the pleasure is all mine,” Hugo said, as Mr. Cassel’s eyes shifted over toward me.
“My personal assistant, Miss Snow. She’ll be accompanying me, pay her no mind.” Hugo said coolly, answering his question before he asked it. Cassel gave a nod, and led us toward the building at the base of the lowest sphere.
​
While I imagine that normally, the Atomium might have been a hot tourist spot, at this late hour it was fully abandoned. It was almost a shame. If I’d had more time, I wouldn’t have minded stopping to browse the little exhibitions that dominated the first sphere, which seemed to function as one part art gallery and one part history museum. I wouldn’t have minded getting a chance to explore some of the other four accessible spheres, which according to the map I saw as we came in, hosted temporary exhibitions and special events.
​
Unfortunately - I never got that chance. We were here on business.
​
The Atomium’s restaurant was only accessible from the lowest sphere, via an elevator that ran straight from the lowest sphere, up to the top. I won’t lie - the elevator ride was a little harrowing. As we rode up through the cold steel structure, I could’ve easily fooled myself into thinking we were on our way up a mine shaft, as opposed to being on our way to an action for the obscenely rich. The only view from the elevator was the reinforced steel beams that kept the structure sturdy, although when the elevator doors finally opened, I was greeted with a sight more in line with what I’d been expecting of this place.
​
We stepped out of the elevator into an upscale restaurant area, with large windows showcasing the sprawling city and countryside around us. The tables and chairs had an almost futuristic aesthetic to them, and many of them were already occupied. The figures who had already arrived cast wary eyes toward Hugo and I as we joined them. He just glared back at them, his lips pulling back into a slight smirk.
​
“Evening,” He said, confident as ever.
“Was there anyone who didn’t hear about this auction?” A woman asked. She looked to be in her early thirties, and was dressed in an expensive snow white outfit that might not have looked out of place on a runway model. Her short blonde hair was delicately styled, and framed her face perfectly, and peeked out from beneath what I can only describe as a fashionable white bowler hat. I’d seen this woman’s face before, although only ever in a magazine.
​
Angela Champion… and yes, that was her real name. Champion was the current CEO of the Champion Fashion House, succeeding her father. She’d been a topic of discussion in recent months due to her attempts to start some sort of feud with the twin CEO’s of the Darling Fashion House, although said feud was fairly one sided, with the Darlings seemingly making a point to ignore her. Due to her larger than life online persona, people either saw her as the up and coming queen bee of the fashion world, or as a rich brat, chasing celebrity.
​
“What can I say? It’s a small world, Angie.” Hugo said wryly, sitting down at a table across from her.
“Clearly,” A man by the bar said. He was dressed relatively casually, in jeans and a t-shirt. I recognized him as well. Daniel Hernandez, although I knew very little about him, other than that his father owned a very large, very powerful food distribution company and had a net worth somewhere in the billions. “Guess you can’t have an auction without healthy competition, no?”
​
“I was led to believe that this was a private sale,” Another man said. He was somewhere in his thirties, with long, dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. He wore aviator sunglasses despite it being nighttime.
“No such thing as a private sale, Georgie,” Hugo teased.
​
Georgie. That name made it all click. I had seen this man before, at a conference I’d accompanied Hugo to. This was George Barbier. The self proclaimed: ‘Final Boss of LinkedIn.’ Hugo had made me watch a few videos he’d made, talking about tips for entrepreneurs and wealth management. He’d supposedly made his fortune in luxury cars, although according to Hugo: “That cocksucker only makes money by making people think he’s some hotshot automotive executive.” so it was hard to say what the truth was.
​
“Clearly not,” Barbier scoffed.
“Don’t feel special. They told me something similar,” A second woman said. She sat by the bar, a few feet away from Daniel. I recognized her as well. Mary Williams. Like Angela Champion, I knew her by reputation. Williams sometimes featured in some podcasts I’d listened to, as one of, if not the wealthiest women in the world. She was the current CEO of one of the larger cosmetics companies. I’d heard her discuss her rise from poverty to wealth, pitching her life story as some sort of inspirational tale of overcoming great odds to attain limitless success, yet still remaining humble. Personally, I found her anecdotes a little tasteless. I’ve actually been homeless in the past. Williams described it all as an adventure she had overcome through the strength of her character and her own entrepreneurial ingenuity, rather than the miserable, nearly endless struggle that it was. It was condescending, to say the least. And despite her efforts to depict herself as some gifted heroine who’d risen above the rough hand life had dealt her, a lot of the controversy her company had come under for their laundry list of shady practices painted a different picture of the woman than her podcast interviews did.
​
Barbier huffed in agreement, before taking a sip of his drink.
“Oh come on. How many sellers have you met who wouldn’t be interested in driving up the price, a little.” Hugo teased. “Besides, your wallet can handle it, right?”
​
Barbier ignored him.
“A little underhanded, luring some of us here with a lie though, wasn’t it?” Angela asked. She glanced over at Cassel, who’d made his way toward the back of the restaurant.
“For the record, I wasn’t told about any other buyers either.”
“Well, I was.” Hugo said. “Had a feeling I might run into a few of you, too. Speaking of this lot, any idea what’s on the menu tonight?”
​
“Restaurant is closed.” A man sitting a short distance away said. His voice carried a very heavy German accent. While I knew most of the figures in this room, I didn’t know him. He was big in every sense of the word, looking almost as if he’d been poured into his plain brown suit. Every time he moved, I saw the fabric strain against his muscles. His jawline was chiseled, and his expression was stern. He had an undercut that looked like it’d been measured out with a ruler.
“Closed?” Hugo repeated.
​
The large man didn’t elaborate.
“Yeah. Would’ve ordered some goddamn h’orderves if it wasn’t,” Daniel replied.
“The bar’s still technically open,” Mary added.
“Technically…” Hugo repeated, before chuckling and standing up. “Well, how can I say no to that?”
He headed over behind the bar to fix himself a martini. He never asked me if I wanted anything, not that I was in the mood to drink.
​
I was surprised that no one in the room had commented about how odd all of this was. Lies told to get some of them there, an empty restaurant, an abandoned bar… most people probably would’ve had a few questions about that. But, out of the collection of LinkedIn’s finest in that room with me, not a single one of them thought to ask any of the questions anyone else probably would’ve asked. I suppose when your net worth is ten digits, critical thinking skills aren’t all that critical.
​
Mr. Cassel had disappeared somewhere near the back of the restaurant, and I glanced over to see him coming back toward us.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, ladies and gentlemen. But now that all of our guests have arrived, I don’t see much reason to delay tonight’s event.”
“About damn time,” Barbier huffed. “Let’s just get on with it. I’ll start my bidding at ten million.”
​
Cassel smiled, almost apologetically.
“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Barbier.” He said. “Tonight’s auction will function a little differently than you may be used to, but I’ll permit our host to explain as much.”
“You are not the host?” The Large German Man asked.
“I’m afraid not, Mr. Koch. But she’ll be connecting with us very soon.”
The German - Koch, nodded solemnly.
“Connecting?” Angela asked, before noticing a TV screen above the bar flickering to life. Her eyes narrowed as the image of a woman appeared on it. She was middle aged, with long auburn hair and plastic horn rimmed glasses. She wore a crooked smile, as if she knew something that nobody else did.
​
“Good evening, everyone. So glad everyone could make out tonight! My name is Lauren Lapointe and I have the privilege of being your host this evening!”
The moment she said her name, I noticed Hugo’s eyes narrowing. He clearly recognized her. To be fair, so did I. Lauren Lapointe had become a controversial figure in recent months, due to the allegations that she’d been involved in some sort of ‘snuff film, bloodsport’ conspiracy, broadcasting such things for wealthy clients, amongst other illicit services. I’d heard about the case… and was sure I wasn’t the only one who had.
​
“What the hell is this?” Barbier demanded. “Where’s the goddamn book! Where’s the Liber Shaal!”
“Well, according to the old folklore, buried somewhere in the depths of Hell.” Lauren admitted. “Although I have to say, that book is one hell of a conversation starter. Seems like it’s brought you all together, hasn’t it?”
“You don’t even have the book?” Angela huffed, standing up. “Then what the hell are we even here for?”
“The fact that none of you have figured it out yet is a little sad.” Lauren replied. “Come now, don’t be coy. I think all of you know why you want that book. You’re all special! You’re all a cut above your everyday average Joe, aren’t you? You’re the ones worthy of becoming Gods… aren’t you?”
​
A pregnant silence settled over the room. On the screen, I saw Lauren’s lips curl into a knowing grin.
“Yes, I know all about that. I know all about you. Feeding on the hearts of ancient, powerful things, just to drag yourselves a little closer to their level, abandoning your limited humanity to ascend to the echelons you were meant for. I know. And I admire that! I’ve always been of the mind that if you have the stomach to lift yourself above the rest of the cattle, then you deserve a seat at the butcher's table. But what are butchers if not themselves meat?”
“W-what…?” Angela’s voice was small, and I heard a slight tremble in it. Although she was the only one who seemed remotely put off by what Lauren had just said.
​
The rest…
​
Barbier.
Mary.
Daniel.
Koch.
Hugo.
They all sat in rapt silence, and I could see the gears in their heads turning. Lauren had gotten their attention and she had just introduced a very specific thought into their heads. A thought I don’t think had occurred to any of them before.
​
“How much power have you all claimed during your pursuit of divinity? Which of you is truly the closest to calling themselves a God? It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? And once you start asking that, maybe you’ll start asking how similar you’ve become to the things you’ve been feeding on… and what might happen if you were to remove the competition, as it were?”
Angela stood up.
“What the fuck?!” She snapped. “We’re not… we’re not gonna fucking eat each other, you sick cunt!”
​
Although she was alone in her protest. The others remained silent. I glanced over at Hugo. He stared up at the screen. I could only see the back of his head, but somehow I knew what the expression on his face would be. Lauren’s grin grew wider. She knew what they were thinking. And she seemed all too thrilled at just how trivial it had been to plant that idea in their minds. Angela remained stock still, her breathing getting heavier as she read the room.
“No…” She stammered, “No… no… you can’t be… don’t you see how sick this is? Killing those things is different! They’re THINGS! We’re PEOPLE! FUCK, WE CAN’T JUST EAT EACH OTHER!”
​
“Are you still people?” Lauren replied. “People are… small, insignificant little animals. We all know this to be true. But you… you’re not small, you’re not insignificant. You’ve made sure of that personally, haven’t you? You stand above the very shadows that lurk in the darkness, who’ve inspired fear in the minds of primitive, lesser men, and each and every one of you had drawn those demons out of the darkness, and taken their lives as if they were nothing more than meat at an abattoir. People can’t do that. But Gods can.”
​
The room remained silent. Even Angela was left speechless for a moment.
​
Almost dutifully, I quietly opened Hugo’s briefcase. I knew what was coming.
“Food for thought,” Lauren crooned. “And whoever’s left… well… you’ll probably have a prize just as good as anything you’d get from that old book, wouldn’t you? Five of them, specifically.”
​
Those words were what did it.
​
Barbier attacked first… moving in a way no human should’ve ever been able to move. The space around him seemed to distort as he drew one of the nearby tables closer to him, allowing him to snatch a steak knife off of it. He seemed to phase through the bar as he lunged for Hugo, pinning him against the wall, as he tried to drive his knife into his stomach.
​
The moment the carnage broke out, I heard Lauren burst out into laughter. She watched the chaos unfold from wherever she was hiding, and she reveled in it. As Barbier went for Hugo, Mary tried to do the same to Daniel.
​
I saw a ritual dagger, similar to the one I’d seen Hugo use, manifest in her hand. Her eyes locked onto Daniel, who looked down at that dagger and froze. He hadn’t come expecting a fight, and confronted with the reality of what was about to happen, he’d quickly lost his nerve. Mary lunged for him, and Daniel scrambled out of the way, only narrowly avoiding getting his throat torn open by her. Mary lunged for him again, although she didn’t get very far. Koch seemed to materialize out of the air around her, catching her by the wrist. I saw a surge of panic in her eyes as he plucked her arm off of her body the same way one might pull a wing off of a fly. She screamed and Daniel took the opportunity to flee, as Koch set to work disassembling Mary Williams.
​
Disassembling.
That’s really the only word for it.
​
As she screamed, he simply… pulled her apart. Not in the way a human might come apart, though. No. Her body broke in a way that I could only describe as ‘wooden.’ As if she wasn’t made of flesh anymore, but of something else. Although I couldn’t tell if that was Koch’s power, or her own power that did that to her. He gripped her by the shoulders and cracked her like a nut… snapping her body with an audible POP, that did not provide any kind of merciful end to her shrieks of agony. Then, with an almost casual lack of reverence, he plucked her beating heart from the quivering gore in her chest and bit into it.
​
Mary’s screams reached a crescendo, as he let her drop to the ground, writhing in her death throes. I saw her skin grow paler. Her eyes seemed to roll back into her skull as the warped state of her body seemed to catch up to her, leaving her gasping and shuddering in her final few seconds of agonizing consciousness.
​
I imagine that death was a mercy for her. Angela stood, rooted to the spot, looking at the sudden carnage that had erupted. Koch glanced over at Barbier and Hugo, still grappling behind the bar. He looked at me, before deciding I was of no importance to him, then he looked over at Angela.
“No…” She rasped, tears streaming down her cheeks. “NO!”
​
I wouldn’t have pegged her as the sanest person in the room, but clearly she was. She scrambled back, heading for the elevator. Daniel was already there, desperately hammering on the button, although the elevator didn’t come. Angela wasn’t stupid enough to wait patiently by his side. She scanned the space around her, before noticing a fire exit on the far side of the restaurant.
​
Then, without a second thought she sprinted for it, racing for the exit. She didn’t even bother opening the door, phasing through it with some sort of unnatural power. Daniel watched her go, and noticing Koch getting closer, chose to follow her. He didn’t quite have the power to just phase through the door, so he had to open it the old fashioned way. He tore down the stairs, before disappearing into the Atomium and Koch followed him.
​
It was just myself, Barbier and Hugo now.
​
The two men had tumbled over the bar, and seemed to have suddenly remembered that they were both God Eaters who didn’t need to restrain themselves to a simple fist fight, although they also weren’t smart enough to do much more than fight like a couple of 14 year old boys after science class.
​
Gravity seemed to shift around them, as they shoved each other across the restaurant, knocking tables and cutlery aside. I calmly stood and stepped out of the way as they tore each other to pieces, hitting each other with the kind of force you see in the third act of a mediocre superhero movie.
​
The brutality between them was actually a little boring. I’d watched Hugo kill far more formidable creatures, and Barbier didn’t quite live up to some of them. If this was ‘The Final Boss of LinkedIn’, then LinkedIn was awfully pathetic.
​
With one grunt of exertion (that was probably unnecessary) Hugo seized Barbier by the throat and hurled him through one of the glass windows of the panoramic restaurant. His eyes shifted over to me.
“SNOW! MY DAGGER!”
​
I dutifully tossed it into his waiting hand, right as time began to flow backward around us. Hugo glanced back at the window, before the dagger in his hand sank into the skin of his palm, merging with his flesh and vanishing from sight. Barbier rose back through the window he’d been thrown through, as the glass mended behind him. He landed on his feet in front of the window, lips curled back in a snarl.
“Is that the best you’ve got, Wright?” He snapped. “You think you can become a GOD? YOU THINK YOU CAN BECOME ANYTHING?” He stormed toward Hugo, who lunged for him only to be knocked to the ground.
​
“You always liked to talk shit, didn’t you… but look at you now? LOOK AT YOU!”
​
I noticed some of the silverware scattered about the mess of a dining room began to glow with heat. They melted and their molten components slithered toward Barbier, pooling at his feet before rising into a spear, reforged for the sole purpose of killing Hugo. Strange runes were burned into its metallic surface, and Barbier studied them, before grabbing the spear and advancing on Hugo. Hugo tried to stand, but Barbier reached him first, grabbing him by the back of his suit jacket,
“You’re out of your fucking depth, next to me! Now be a good boy, and DI-”
​
In one swift movement, Hugo pressed his palm against Barbiers chest, and his voice died in his throat. His eyes went wide as he felt the ritual dagger Hugo had hidden in his palm tear through his heart.
“You’d be out of your depth in a parking lot puddle…” Hugo snarled, before plunging his hand into Barbier’s chest.
​
“W-wait…” Barbier rasped, although Hugo didn’t listen. He tore his heart free of his chest, and pushed the man to the ground, leaving him twitching and staring vacantly up at the ceiling. Hugo smirked, watching him for a moment, before biting into his heart like an apple.
​
“Mmm… not bad…” He mused, before he waved a hand, almost dismissively. The room shifted around us. That which was broken, returned to where it had been before, repaired once more. In a few moments, it was like there’d been no skirmish at all. Everything was as it was, and George Barbier’s corpse was crumbling to dust where it lay, leaving no trace of him behind.
“Best not to cause a scene,” Hugo said as he finished off the last few bites of Barbier’s heart. “Snow, come,” He said. “There’s still three more to deal with.”
​
“Yes, sir,” I said quietly and followed Hugo as he headed for the stairs, Angela, Daniel and Koch had disappeared down. I noticed that Hugo had paid no mind to Mr. Cassel… who had conveniently disappeared when the violence had broken out. In fact, there wasn’t a trace of Mr. Cassel left in that dining room, almost as if he’d never existed in the first place. Hugo didn’t seem to think about it, so neither did I.
​
Of the nine spheres of the Atomium, I knew that only six were accessible to the public. The lower 5 spheres contained the exhibitions and event halls, while the topmost sphere, where we presently were, was the panoramic restaurant. The three spheres below the restaurant were less stable, which is why they were closed off to the public and the stairway leading to them was certainly a lot less glamorous than the stairways and escalators I’d seen going between the other spheres. They hadn’t dressed it up as much.
​
Hugo led the way down the stairs, moving with the calm confidence of a man who knew he was in no real danger, as opposed to the caution of a man being hunted.
“Keep up, Snow,” He said as we descended into the main part of the sphere. The space around us was wide open and almost completely unoccupied, save for a few cabinets for storage. There was only one dull light in the ceiling that didn’t illuminate much, and cast deep shadows in every corner that seemed to watch us. There were two exits, each one leading down into one of the more accessible spheres.
​
Hugo studied each exit, staring down the differing sets of stairs and listening closely for any indicator on which his quarry might have taken. I remained dead silent, letting him hunt.
“Blood,” He mused. “Smells like Koch has been busy.”
​
He took a step toward one of the stairways, before freezing, almost as if he detected something I didn’t. I saw his eyes go wide for a moment, before the shadows suddenly moved, collapsing in on Hugo like a cascade of water. He spun around, raising an arm to shield his face as I saw a figure materialize out of the inky darkness, a runed dagger in her hand.
​
Angela Champion brought her dagger down on Hugo’s arm, cutting through flesh and bone as if it were butter. His severed hand, still clutching his own dagger, hit the ground with a thud, and Hugo let out a cry of surprise, but not pain before Angela seized him by his shirt and hurled him toward the center of the sphere. Hugo picked himself up quickly, rising to one knee and glaring at the woman across from him.
​
“Well, well… getting into the spirit of things after all, aren’t we Angie?” He hissed. She just stood defiantly between him and the stairs, or perhaps between him and his own severed hand.
“I’m not going to kill you, Hugo. Not unless I have to!” She warned.
“Then you’ll die here with the rest.” He replied, rising to his feet.
“Which’ll include you, if you keep going the way you’re going!” She snapped. “Pull your head out of your ass for five seconds and think about the bigger picture here! This Lapointe woman, she didn’t just bring us together, to have us duke it out for the hell of it! We’re here because she wants what we’ve got!”
​
Hugo grimaced.
“You think I haven’t figured that out?” He asked. “It doesn’t matter. She’s just some mortal, biting off more than she can ever hope to chew.”
“Maybe. But after going through all that trouble to track us down, and lure us here with the promise of the Liber Shaal, something she knew none of us could resist, can you really be so sure she’s just a mortal?”
“How many hearts have you eaten?” Hugo asked coyly, taking a step toward her. “How much power have you taken, Angela?”
​
She didn’t answer that question.
“I can sense that it isn’t much, you know, not compared to some of the others here. Barbier was almost on my level, and that last one… Koch. Oh he’s going to be interesting. But you? You’re weak. I can feel it. You know I’m familiar with the work of Lauren Lapointe. Not intimately. But I know those who are. Nasty piece of work, that one. But mortal. Weak. Insignificant. I know of Lauren Lapointe. And I know we’re not up against a worthy opponent, we’re up against ourselves and one stupid woman with delusions of grandeur. Maybe she’s had a taste of violence like this before, pitting other, small, miserable things against each other like a child putting insects in a box to watch them devour each other. Maybe that’s made her feel strong. But she is nothing compared to the likes of us. And you are nothing compared to the likes of me…”
​
With every step, he inched closer. Angela held her ground for a few moments, before finally taking a step back and as she did, Hugo’s dagger erupted through her chest. Her eyes widened for a split second, as the dagger twisted and writhed through her ribcage, finally bursting free of her and landing in Hugo’s remaining hand. Still, despite the state she was in, she stood, swaying on her feet before he lunged for her, grabbing her by the throat.
“For what it’s worth, you did well to cut off my hand. Shame you didn’t have the stomach to finish the job.”
“No…” Angela gasped, as Hugo forced her to the ground, and tore into her. Her white bowler hat rolled off of her head, and landed by my feet.
​
I could only watch impartially as he ripped her apart, and pulled her still beating heart from her chest. Angela stared at it with wide, tear filled eyes. She knew she was dying. And all she could do was mouth the words: “No… no… no…” over and over again before Hugo took a bite.
​
As he ate, I watched, pausing only to calmly walk over to the stairs to pick up his severed hand, as if it were something he’d dropped. When Hugo stood once more, I offered the hand to him.
“Thank you, Snow/” He crooned, casually popping it back into place, before wiping the blood off of his mouth.
“Of course, sir. Two more to go?”
“One, most likely,” He said. “Then we deal with Lapointe.”
​
I nodded, and let him lead the way. He paid Angela’s body little mind, leaving her in a growing pool of her own blood. I stared down at her remains, and looked into her lifeless eyes which stared up at the ceiling in horror. My eyes settled on the runed dagger she’d used to wound Hugo. It seems that in his fervor, he hadn’t thought to grab it. Fortunately, I was a good assistant and took care of that for him.
​
***
​
As we reached the bottom of the stairs, we were greeted by an almost predictable sight. The bloody remains of Daniel Hernandez lay scattered about on the ground, and sitting in front of them sat Koch.
​
He stared at Hugo, sizing him up before huffing.
“You’ve killed Angela?” He asked calmly.
“It wasn’t much of a chore,” Hugo replied. “And Daniel?”
Koch nodded.
“No chore,” He repeated.
“I thought not. Well, no point in standing on ceremony, is there? We’ve both got places to be, don’t we?”
​
Koch rose to his feet. He cracked his knuckles. I noticed a heavy iron hammer resting in his hands. An ancient weapon, decorated in runes of all sorts. It probably had a very interesting history to it, but he never explained any of that before swinging it at Hugo with all the grace of a raging bull.
​
The world around Hugo distorted, moving him out of the way of every swing. His body seemed to twist and duplicate, making him harder to track and harder to hit as he tried to find an angle of attack. Koch huffed in rage, before slamming his hammer into the ground.
​
A wave of pure energy tore through the room, knocking me off my feet, and sending Hugo crashing against a wall. Koch wasted no time in trying to crush his head into pulp, although Hugo simply dissolved through the wall to evade him, before manifesting behind him.
“A perfect challenge!” Hugo jeered. “But there’s only one throne, for one true God!”
​
A third arm, made of inky black energy manifested from Koch’s back, seizing Hugo by the throat.
“In this my friend… we are agreed.” Koch hissed. More arms grew from his back, seizing Hugo’s body and keeping him in place. He tried to phase through them, but somehow they still held him.
​
Koch’s body twisted and elongated, as his spine slowly adjusted itself so that he could face Hugo and raise his hammer over his head. Hugo stared up into his eyes, before opening his mouth and launching a beam of pure energy into Koch’s face. I heard Koch scream, as his skull shattered, smearing a shimmering dark liquid all over the ceiling.
​
Still… somehow I wasn’t sure if he was dead. His grip on Hugo was still strong, and no matter how hard Hugo fought, he didn’t seem to let go, not that Hugo seemed to want to get too far away from him. No, I watched as Hugo tried to push himself closer to Koch. I watched him drive his dagger into his chest, to try and pry out his beating heart.
​
More hands manifested from Koch to keep Hugo away, but he was so close. As Koch pulled him back from the gaping wound in his chest, Hugo’s limbs elongated as he reached for the mans beating heart to pry it free, and just as he triumphed and pulled it from his chest… I cut off Hugo’s hand again.
​
I saw his eyes widen with shock, but he didn’t utter a single word. As his hand and Koch’s heart fell, I snatched them both out of the air. My eyes burned into Hugo’s from behind my glasses, and I gave him a small, knowing smile before biting into the heart myself.
​
Koch’s entire body seized, but his grip on Hugo grew no weaker.
“Snow?” Hugo’s voice cracked, as the panic of realization set in.
​
I answered him… but not in my own voice. I spoke in the voice of Lauren Lapointe.
“I’ve always been of the mind that if you have the stomach to lift yourself above the rest of the cattle, then you deserve a seat at the butcher's table. But what are butchers if not themselves meat?”
​
My face shifted, revealing the visage I’d stolen. I imagined that the real Lauren wouldn’t have minded my borrowing it. She’d been the one who taught me the primal joys of bloodsport, after all, and I’m sure she would’ve loved watching a bunch of rich morons with delusions of grandeur butcher each other in the name of power.
​
Hugo on the other hand?
​
The look on his face was one of absolute horror as he quickly put the pieces together. He squirmed. He fought. He tried to get free. But I still had Angela’s knife in my hand, and he could do nothing to stop me from taking his other hand, disarming him in every sense of the word.
“No…” He cried, “No… Penelope… don’t! PENELOPE WAIT!”
Oh, first names now? He was desperate.
​
Not that it saved him.
​
And as he wriggled free of Koch’s dying grasp, he only found himself tumbling into mine, where his struggles could not save him as I cut into his chest, pulled out his panicked, beating heart… and took a bite.
​
***
​
There were no bodies left behind when I left the Atomium. No bloodstains or any trace of what had happened there. I saw to their disposal. I could feel the new power coursing through my veins… it was more than I’d ever felt before. It was strange. Exciting!
​
I’d thought the boost I’d gotten from the morsels I’d stolen from Hugo was intense, but this was on an entirely new level! Yet it wasn’t enough.
​
It would never be enough, not until I’d reached the top. If there even was a top.
​
I imagined I’d find out soon enough.

2750 3000 3250 3500 3750 4000 4250 4500 4750 5000

I did a quick to see if anyone else mentioned possible renderings of the theme song title, but did not see any, so... here we are.
Basically, I was watching some space anime, and I was imitating a character's voice and how he would say "Earth" and I realized that I said it the way they say "US" in the One Piece opening. So then I did a little digging, and indeed アース or あーす is a perfectly reasonable way to transliterate "Earth" into Japanese.
Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9
Then I remembered some theory videos on YouTube that used "Binks' Sake" as the basis for some extensive theory about the end of One Piece, and thought: "Is it possible there is a hidden meaning in this song?" Of course a song written for the anime, but it still caught my interest. (Even "Binks' Sake" some collaboration between Oda and Kohei Tanaka at the time Oda wrote the lyrics, so... who knows?)
Anyway, I decided to look at the lyrics to see what I could see. I am just taking them from the the fandom site: https://onepiece.fandom.com/wiki/UUUUUS!
"Earth! Earth! All of earth! The end of dreams, the end of the sea": A couple things to be gleaned here. We now know from recent chapters that the Earth was completely covered by floods, so that "all of Earth" is something that is hidden in mystery. Earth is also quite literally "the end of the sea".
"Our destinations differ for each of us But one thing shines After the legend is revealed Crackling with no limit, from here ONE PIECE!" Now, of course, we all await with joyful hope the revelation of exactly what the One Piece is, but is it perhaps the Earth that is hidden so? The phrase "ONE PIECE" just shows up in the lyrics here, but perhaps it is the treasure that is revealed. Indeed, it is without limit, for however far you go on the Earth, it is still there. Another foreshadowing of this would be from Skypiea, where the "Vearth" (pronounced "Vāsu"/"ヴァース") is held to be of greater value than all the gold they possess. (Not sure what you do with Fairy/Endless Vearth referring to the moon... what mysteries!)
"But still, all of Earth [is] in the midst of an adventure": "Earth" works just as well as "Us" here.
"Ore tachi to tomo ni sekai kawari tsuzuketeru": This next line doesn't use the "assu" but uses both possible meanings: "ore tachi" means "us" and "sekai" means "world" or basically "earth". Kind of fun that both are used in this line without the ambiguous word.
"The world is intertwined with legends that need to be destroyed. Even now, All of Earth, we are waiting": Not sure what legends could be referred to here. Probably whatever lies are propping up the World Government and the Celestial Dragons. But once these are uncovered, the mystery of "All of Earth" will at last lie open.
"If the dispersed contexts have connections somehow The threads of time will be rewoven": Obviously the remnants of the Earth are dispersed in the many islands throughout the world, but if they can be connected, the past will make sense again.
Anyway, to be clear, I am not the first person to make this connection. The fandom page cites Kohei Tanaka who says that the song intentionally has multiple meanings. To quote directly from his tweet (translated by Google in browser):
『Yesssssssssssssss!』[Original: 『あーーっす！』]This title was suggested by the lyricist, Fujibayashi. At first I wanted to call it "All of us," [Original is in English:『All of us』] but the lyricist strongly requested it, so it ended up like this. Right now, I think this is the only title I have! It can also be interpreted as the greeting "aasu," "Earth," or "tomorrow."
So "us" is certainly the first meaning, but Kohei Tanaka decided to make the meaning intentionally ambiguous. A further question: Who is Fujibayashi (藤林)??! On the fandom page, the artist is Hiroshi Kitadani and the composer is Kohei Tanaka. So who is this lyricist?
Thankfully, Oda knows: https://x.com/Eiichiro_Staff/status/1736307499190702110
Shoko Fujibayashi, who seems to be an industry lyricist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoko_Fujibayashi
Not sure why the English fandom page for "One Piece Music" only lists artists, but the Chinese one also lists composers and lyricists. It shows that, among the openings, "We Are" are "OVER THE TOP" are composed by Kohei Tanaka, and that Fujibayashi is the lyricist for these as well.
Source: https://onepiece.fandom.com/zh/wiki/%E9%9F%B3%E6%A8%82%E5%88%97%E8%A1%A8?variant=zh-hant
There is another tweet from Tanaka (retweeted by Fujibayashi) that suggests there is further meaning:
I've listened to it hundreds of times, and I still get excited every time. Kitadani-kun's powerful singing. Nakamura's flashy and intricate arrangement. Fujibayashi's lyrics are bizarre yet have deep meaning. And then, my song. I can't wait to let you hear it.
https://x.com/kenokun/status/1736328135162171625
Not a whole lot of information here, but if Tanaka is working with Oda on music for the series, then it's not too far-fetched that his compositions have some significance in connection with the story, more so even than the other opening and ending tracks.
Anyway, thank you for humoring me. I'm sure there are bolder theorizers who can go further into possible connections and interpolations, but I just wanted to make sure this piece wasn't missing from the whole puzzle. It seems odd to make "Earth" a possible meaning for this song in a sea-faring anime unless it ends becoming a major part of the story. And with the most recent manga revelations, we see that "Earth" is much more important than we could have imagined.
(Also: I don't know how to add the Spoiler flair, so please add it if you can...)

Apologies. I searched around and found a lot of posts on presta valves but not this specific issue, and am confused with what I could be doing wrong.
I recently got a new Trek gravel bike which came with presta valves. The LBS assembled the bike, put some sealant in the tubes and filled them with air to the appropriate PSI. I got it early in the season and the weather was still snowy here and by the time I was able to use it (a few weeks later) I noticed the tires were not as firm as they were originally. I pumped them back up and noticed that after a 1-2 hour ride they had lost maybe 30-50% of thier pressure.
A few months go by, I watch more closely, and the problem continues. The bike tires get pumped up to a nice firm PSI, and then after a few days of sitting they lose air and stop at a lower PSI and stay there, they don’t deflate all the way. They seem to lose air faster when riding, a few hours riding is the same as a few days sitting. I have checked the valve cores and they seem tight, I’m not sure what else the issue could be.
Strangely, I had a similar problem with an older trek bike I had. It also had presta valves and its tires would lose air and eventually go completely flat over a week or so. The tubes were replaced on that bike but the problem remained.
Meanwhile, I have e-bikes with Schader valves that barely need to be topped up after sitting over the winter.
It’s only been ridden maybe 5 times on paved streets so far, I don’t see anything wrong with the tubes or valves with my limited knowledge, but they are losing air and I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. It’s very frustrating and saps a lot of the motivation to ride.
Any thoughts are welcome. Thanks.

I'm looking at the winspace G2 (carbon) frame currently priced at $899 but I'm on the fence about it due to the material, my second option is a surly midnight special at $800 (steel).
I like to have a do it all kind of bike for commuting, I currently ride a specialized Crux x1 (aluminum) and I love the sporty feel of it while also having pretty decent tire clearance (I run 700x40).
I primarily ride in the city, semi aggressively (I like to keep up with cars),hope off and on sidewalks etc.. and I carry a front rack with me which is attached to a carbon fork but I still have doubts due to durability, I know the G2 has mounting points but how does carbon frame withstand with time after having a rack going through that kind of riding?
I used to have a full carbon road bike that I used on group rides and I liked the feeling and weight of it a lot as I could the in the train or move it around pretty easily, but I never really wanted to ride it the way I usually do on my commutes because I'd be scared something would happen to the frame, and the thin wheels didn't help too lol.
So I guess my question is would a carbon frame be suitable for commuting the way I do or would it be sort of risky? Specially when I lock it, would it damage it with time? (I could probably put some kind of protection on the top tube but I'd still like to hear your opinions.
I plan on getting a hiplok lock so I'd like to think that whatever frame I get should be save for the shorts amount of times I leave my bike unsupervised so I'm not particularly concerned on it getting stolen due to it being sorta flashy.
TLDR: would a carbon frame be durable enough to withstand the constant abuse of daily commute? And is there any issues when it comes to mounting stuff on carbon frames even if they come with mounting points?

TW: nursing, oversupply
TL;DR: lots of planning, careful packing, and increasing comfort with pumping in public made it possible to pump and maintain my supply while away from my baby for 8 days, and despite annoying Spanish policies I made it back home with all the milk!
I just got back from a work trip to Spain and wanted to share my experience in case it's helpful for anyone else. I planned for this EXTENSIVELY and, other than some stomach problems keeping me from partaking too much of the actual work-related events, it went well. First, some background - my baby had just turned 3mo. We mostly nurse but I had started pumping early on when he was in the NICU, and kept pumping so my husband could do a bottle at night and in the morning.
This trip was on my radar since before he was born, so I also purposefully cultivated somewhat of an oversupply with a goal of having 200oz frozen by the time I left, so he could continue to get breastmilk while I was gone. (He has a disease of the colon and it's particularly important that he have breastmilk; otherwise I would have been fine with him having partial or mostly formula). In the end, I was so fortunate (this time! I wasn't able to breastfeed my first at all!) and had about 400oz frozen when I left. 200oz seemed like a huge number when he was 1mo and I was pumping 5-10oz a day (and giving two bottles) but I did the math and knew it was possible even if I only had a few ounces leftover each day.
Once it looked like my stash would be okay, I started thinking about the logistics of pumping while traveling. Here's my packing list:

• pump bag - I tried a ton and bought this because it had 1) two compartments, 2) pocket for the Ceres Chill, 3) strap to go on a suitcase, and 4) enough other pockets. You can carry on a pump bag in addition to your personal item and carryon because it's medical equipment! I didn't get any pushback after saying it was a breastpump.
• Spectra (pump from my first baby; I checked this and left it plugged in in the hotel) + power cable
• Baby Buddha (pump from this baby; this went in my pump bag for travel and at the workshop) + power cable
• outlet adapters!
• a bunch of pump parts and bottles, including flange inserts! I use mostly Medela parts (+ some Lacteck flanges) because the LCs gave us so many in the NICU, and I have the tubing etc. to connect them to both the Spectra and the BB. I recommend having full sets for each pump if you have multiples so you don't have to move things around. You could make do with fewer parts but it means more washing obviously
• Ceres Chill - crucial for travel days. I had extra chillers because one they sent was slightly defective, so I used them as extra large bottles.
• little cooler bag (came with the pump bag) and reusable ice pack - I used these for the travel days because 1-1.5 days' worth of milk for me is more than fits in the Ceres Chill. I also brought some extra ziploc bags that I could fill with ice to make on-the-go ice packs
• wearable collection cups - I bought Legendairy cups used from this sub, and got Elvie Stride cups for free from Aeroflow as my replacement parts!!! I thought it was too good to be true but it totally worked. I pumped several times in public with them (+BB) and they were super useful.
• nursing cover - helpful for pumping in public or getting situated, especially with regular flanges and bottles
• maternity/nursing tops and bras - I wore a super roomy, long maternity top on travel days that made it super easy to hike up and pump. On work days, I wore either regular shirts I could pull up or one of my two nice nursing tops. I also brought several pumping bras.
• pump spray or nipple cream - wish I had brought two! Anything that you need everytime you pump, bring two - one for the hotel and one for one the go.
• manual pump heads - another reason I like the Medela parts is because it just takes a small piece of plastic to turn any set of pump parts into a manual pump! Gave me peace of mind
• milk storage bags and gallon ziploc bags- I estimated my total pumping output to be about 35oz, assuming baby eats 25 and I have about 10 leftover. I multiplied that by 8 days (although some would come home in the Ceres Chill) and figured I would need about 50 bags. Also bring Sharpies to label them, and gallon ziplocs to pack them in bricks!
• pump wipes - definitely important during travel days.
• collapsible dishwashing tub and travel bottle washing set - TOTALLY worth it given how many dishes I had to wash.
• tupperware/wetbags/ziploc bags - for fridge hack or otherwise keeping things clean
• snacks and water bottle - for travel days and MOTN pumps!
• printed copy of the TSA guidelines - no one ever gave me shit but I was ready
• cooler backpack - MilkStork doesn't ship to/from Spain so I was responsible for getting my milk back home.
• "contingency items" - things I hoped to not need but wanted just in case: sunflower lecithin pills, cold compress (just fill with ice), travel massager, extra tubing/duckbills/membranes, etc.

I had to buy several things for this trip (dishwashing stuff, pump bag, cooler backpack) but will use most of it when I start working in the office soon.
In addition to the packing, I was planning. I contacted the workshop organizers and asked for a place to pump, and asked both them and the hotel about the availability of a fridge/freezer. Also, once we got the schedule, I put it into my calendar and scheduled 8ppd. I DID NOT FOLLOW THIS SCHEDULE but it was an important exercise, I think. The travel day was INSANE and if I hadn't had a plan there's no way I would have pumped as much as I did. I scheduled 8ppd with a goal of doing 7, and assuming that, based on the magic number chart, 6 or even 5 would be okay for me.
I also requested permission from my employer to fly business class because I needed to pump, and they agreed. This was so helpful, honestly - gave me access to really nice lounges during the layovers (more below) and I felt totally comfortable pumping in my little pod on the long flight. Plus, as a mother to a 3mo I was not interested in sacrificing sleep while traveling for work!
Okay now here's what this looked like, especially on the travel days:

• 7am: last nursing session, then head to the airport. I hadn't planned to pump until the first layover, but my flight was delayed two hours (UGH! I could have nursed again!) so I pumped at my home airport. They had a nice nursing mother's room - even with a sterilizer, although I didn't have time to use it.
• 1pm: land in Chicago, head to United Polaris lounge. I grabbed food, then sat in a little cubicle thing, stuck the Elvie Strides in my bra, and ate and pumped. No one looked at me twice. Afterwards, I washed in the bathrooms, which even had very hot water!
• 5pm: land in Dulles, head to United Polaris lounge. I looked for a private place to sit again, but no luck. But I found a "wellness room", which had a sink, changing table, and comfy chair. I grabbed food and brought it in, and then sat down to pump. This got uncomfortable because the attendant started knocking on the door after 10 min or so because apparently a family with a baby wanted to use it. I kept yelling back "I'm pumping, I'm using a breast pump, I'm pumping breastmilk" but I think his first language wasn't English and he didn't understand. He kept saying the room wasn't for sleeping . . . Anyway I finally opened the door to show him the bottles dangling off my boobs and he backed off, embarrassed. I wish they had had more than one room! Was able to wash parts again!
• I'll also note here that I refilled the Ceres Chill inner chiller with ice here; it had all melted. I guess it makes sense that 12oz of ice can't cool 24oz of body-temperature milk! Fortunately it's easy to refill.
• 8pm: on the international flight, as food service is starting, I put on the nursing cover and pumped. Wiped parts out.
• 6 hours later (8am local time): pumped again after waking up, same as before. Again refilled the Ceres Chill ice.
• 9:30am: meant to pump in the airport lounge before going through customs but I forgot. Kind of panicked, but I just called the taxi and pumped in the back seat with the Elvie cups. The driver didn't notice until we stopped and he heard the noise and asked what it was. When I said it was a breast pump he just smiled and we moved on. After he dropped me off, I found a cafe and sat at a table outside to remove them, store the milk, clean, etc. The waiter brought me ice for my little cooler bag since the icepack was pretty depleted.
• 2pm: at the train station before catching a train. Bought a sandwich at a cafe there and pumped with the Elvie Stride cups. Again, not a single comment or strange look.
• 7pm: at the hotel, pumped and did ALLLLLL the dishes! Set things up to have a pumping station at the hotel and a mobile one in my pump bag.

During the workshop, I froze bags in the conference center freezer and had staff freeze some in the hotel. The hotel was definitely not as good; they put them in there themselves and they were not at all flat.
this is how the milk was frozen at the hotel . . .
The trip home was a bit easier in some ways and a bit more complicated in others, because I had to do it in two parts. I packed my cooler backpack full of all the frozen milk.

• 9am: last pump before the trip.
• 3pm: pumped on the train. This felt like a big step forwards, honestly, because I was sitting right next to a woman and our seats faced a couple across the table. But I put my nursing cover on and slipped my Elvie cups in and it wasn't nearly as weird as I thought.
• 6pm: pumped again with the Elvies on the train
• 8:30pm: pumped in my Airbnb and did dishes. I put all frozen milk back in the freezer, plus the bags of the milk I had pumped during the day, my ice pack, 8oz of water in each of the Ceres inner chillers.
• 12:30pm: pumped before going to bed and froze one more bag. Washed dishes and slept.
• 7:30am: packed my cooler bag and then pumped right before leaving the Airbnb
• 8am: checked in at the airport. Spain is not very progressive in this respect, and since I was traveling without a baby, I had to check my frozen milk. I packed the cooler bag in a suitcase, surrounded by some clothes and a plastic bag to hopefully avoid even minimal leaks.
• 9:45am: pumped in the airport lounge. I'm definitely getting more comfortable in public! Even used the regular flanges and bottles. On the way back, I decided to use each set twice, within 4ish hours, to avoid having to clean parts. After this pump, I bagged up the parts and stuck them in my suitcase.
• 12:30pm: pumped on the plane, then slept
• 5pm: pumped on the plane with the same parts. After this pump, I realized the Ceres Chill inner chamber was all liquid, so I switched it out with one of the other ones that I had frozen, which were still mostly ice, because they had been in a cooler and hadn't been cooling down warmed milk.
• 7:15pm: pumped on the plane before landing. Went through customs and picked up my checked bags, including the milk - about 12 hours after packing, the milk in the cooler bag was still 100% frozen. Now that I was in the US, I repacked to keep the cooler bag with me; US TSA regulations explicitly allow you to carry milk (frozen or fresh) even if you don't have a baby with you.
• two hours later (3:30pm local time): pumped in the lounge, using a nursing cover and the same regular flanges and bottles as last pump
• 6pm: pumped on the plane with the Elvie Stride cups. The man next to me must have noticed because later he referenced my baby when I hadn't mentioned it, but it was totally fine.
• 9pm: replaced the Ceres inner chiller again, then pumped with the Elvie Stride cups while walking to the gate. When I sat down to empty the milk, the woman next to me held up her pumping bag in solidarity! We chatted about how it was going - it was nice to have some camaraderie!
• 11pm: landed and took a Lyft home. I immediately emptied the cooler bag and put the milk in the freezer. Everything had thawed just a little bit, actually just enough to be able to reshape the very non-flat bags into a flat shape, so that actually worked out really well! I also emptied the Ceres Chill and inner chillers of today's milk into a pitcher; I bagged and froze that this morning.

all my milk finally frozen flat!
I seriously can't believe how well it all went. I pumped 50 times over nearly 8 days - in planes, trains, cars, while walking - and produced 265oz (over two gallons!), and all of the milk made it home! But basically I learned that EP requires so much mental and physical energy, and all of you who do it day in and day out are the real MVPs!

A couple of weeks ago, one of my favorite YouTube channels made a list of the top 100 albums as a response to the infamous Apple Music list, and well, they placed Mariya Takeuchi’s album “Variety” at number 73, and later on, an album by YMO… But my point is the following: I believe that except for “Plastic Love,” “Variety” is not an album that represents city pop, let alone Japanese pop in general. There are much better and more consistent albums like “For You” by Tatsuro Yamashita or “Timely!!” by Anri.
Now I feel stupid looking for validation on Reddit, but hey, if someone feels the same… or wants to convince me otherwise, I’m all ears.
Oh, and by the way, of course, “Variety” is part of my record collection, and I’ve listened to it in full; I just don’t think it’s representative of the genre as the internet makes it seem.