Bust down rollie song

So Id like to start by saying I never want to get back with my ex but I'm not able to get rid of her from my mind. I left her because of alot of reasons that built up over the years and I finally could not take it.
Unfortunately I've noticed that whenever I'm in an anxiety driven situation or any incident happens, that night I tend to get nightmares about my ex in some form or the other. I call them nightmares instead of dreams because most of the time I'm anxious in the dream as well.
Tonight I woke up at 4am again where I had a nightmare. My ex who was blocked on every platform somehow got through and was calling me. I didn't pick up but got anxious. For some reason I called back (irl I've resisted the callback alot as I've got alot to say but I wanted to cut the connection completely) and luckily she didn't pick up. But after a minute she kept calling back again and again and when I picked up it was a video call where she was smiling and telling me nasty things and was for some reason giving me updates on how she moved on. The next minute she would switch to pleading to return and again go back to gloating how she doesn't need me.
Now I don't want to pay my own back and say I'm wonderful and so amazing that she would plead for me to come back but in reality she did alot for months when we broke up.
I even met her the day I broke up to give her closure but she zoned out alot that day and infact sexual harrased me alot. Few days later was valentine's day and I know alot of people will think it's really sad I broke up before that but I did for a reason. I couldn't fake it anymore. I was not able to smile, laugh and pretend anymore and I thought this would give her false hope for another month for me to again feel like things aren't working. A week later was her birthday and yes I was extremely guilty but again as I said, i couldn't fake it. Valentine's day and then throwing a celebration for her birthday (I did this every year and Is generally keep it special but this year I could not) seemed to just endorse a false Reality for a longer time. Things were miserable. I empathized and sympathize alot (not cause I'm better or anything but because of guilt) so i still locked her calls up after we broke up and didn't block her. But then things got nasty. In order to make herself feel better, I got really horrible messages, blame for things I never did, constant pleading and she even landed below my house multiple times and cried in the street which I had to handle in front of my entire community (my sister practices buddhism and it was a big day that for her, she had invited alot of people to our house to chant together and wanted my family and I to be there to support but due to this incident I was really rattled because my ex was down crying while everyone was in the house, my ex knew about this meeting because it was planned months in advance). As the messages got nasty I blocked her. First on WhatsApp, then on Facebook, then on Instagram (all 4 accounts of hers), then on Google meet, teams, i don't even know where all, as she kept finding me and messaging. Even on email. Her emails still come through in my spam and it's made me very anxious as I still land up checking the spam folder everyday in fear and clear it. It's become a bad habit. Randomly I'll get calls from odd numbers and it'll turn out to be her friends phone and she will talk and I cut the call. I even got video calls on Google meet from her 3rd and 4th email which I had to block.
It may sound brutal but I really tried to give closure to her on the day we broke up, I spent 5 hrs at house explaining everything and instead she zoned out that day and kept get distracted as if she doesn't care and kept sexual harrasing me. Pulling my shirt and unbuckling my pants which unfortunately as a guy I can't push her away i can only tell her several times to stop.
Now I'll be completely honest but I did not tell her every single thing as to why I broke up with her because the anxiety was so much. I was trying to break up since a while and finally did it. I'm extremely socially anxious and everything makes me very nervous when I'm unfamiliar. It's only my second relationship and first time I was serious, my first relationship only lasted 3 months and that was my therapist telling me to explore because I need to be out there. The reason I never said everything is because 1. I didn't want to hurt her ofcourse, it's nasty to hear someone you loved talk about things that can be looked at as flaws but in reality they were affecting me and it was really unhealthy for the both of us 2. I didn't know myself, I knew things are not right but it's only after the break up I've truly understood them 3. I was nervous as she kept saying she wants to suicide from the balcony and threatened me alot of I left that night 4. I genuinely am bad at confrontations, I cannot do it, the pressure makes me run away mostly or just let it be as is.
Over the course of the relationship I had become very dependent on her as socially she's the only person I met. Every weekend or weekday for 2.5 years. I suffered from depression and anxiety alot growing up and often found it hard to make friends. In college however things changed and for those years I was really open. As I did my master's in another country I became reserved again. Returning back home I lost touch with everyone and became a workaholic. For 6 years I worked say and night, had only 2 friends and stayed in my room mostly depressed. Work took me around the globe, I lived in LA for a year and then once covid hit I returned home where during the lockdown I decided " let's try to open up a bit more and meet someone, it's time ". I was very open from the get go that I'm horrible at socializing, I've got only few friends whom I hardly meet, I can be very quiet sometimes and enjoy my own company as well sometimes and I'm a terrible planner for "fun weekends". I know my flaws and I've accepted it. My ex on the other hand was very emotionally dependent on me. She would call me at a stop of a hat and panick and there were days where I've left calls in between to help her through her anxiety. She was younger than me by 3 years and was just going through the phases of career while I was going into a senior position and had seen these phases. I guided her alot on it and so family problems, work problems, random people bothering her, stress anything she would talk to me and I was ever ready to talk. No complaints as that's what partners do. However it became without any boundaries, she would often expect me to drop everything and tend to her. Days where I've got major deliveries to make, she would throw tantrums and in one instance I was supervising the biggest project of my life and she threw lots of tantrums as we worked weekends and 24 hrs round the clock. It was the biggest movie of the country at the time and the first big hit post covid. (i work in the film industry).
I mentioned my flaws earlier as those became her focus of complaint. My insecurities were her complaints about me and she even once broke up with me over "lack of friends and not being a man enough because I can't plan things for the weekend", no doubt she taught me how to have a good time, I had no idea which restaurant to book, what cuisine to pick, which area to book this weekend which is exciting, how to do more fun activities other than dinners and going to cafes etc and for the first I learnt what's a staycation cause of her. I guess she felt the burden was on her but then again anything I'd book she would cancel it anyways. I booked several restaurants that were good but she'd cancel it anyways and then ehen someone else would recommend the restaurant she'd agree to go. It's almost like I had no say in anything anyways so I put my hands up. My social anxiety 5 years was at an all time high and I couldn't even order food as I'd feel the waiter would judge me (which they often did) , I attended lots of therapy for these weird quirks of mine which to an average person seemed like no biggie but it genuinely made me nervous. I got over and thought by the time I met her I'd made good progress, I was able to pick up the phone and book things sometimes, I could order food, I was fine with video calls (I'm very conscious of how I look as I was bullied alot in school), I tried to participate in everything and I gave in all my efforts instead into understanding her and learning who she is first and putting my fears aside. However I feel she didn't do the same. For a long time i believed she understood exactly whats wrong with me and empathized and put it aside but i realised as the taunting went on and the gas lighting that she looked at them as flaws. She didn't bother to understand them or see them but instead gave me notes like a teacher and complained alot on how I'm not social. Infact on her birthday she kept messaging me she's alone so I felt guilty and called and instead she complained about all my insecurities and I had to take it quietly. She even said "I'll make sure the next person treats me like woman and is a real man" which really hurt me alot. I cried that night because of guilt and shame. Guilt because I wanted it work and it didn't and so I had to pull the plug and Shame because for first time in a long time I felt ashamed for who I am.
Today the anxiety driven situation was a social situation. I've come to the US for a family friends wedding and although I know people it's really making me nervous. Indian weddings last the entire week and this wedding has 250 people who have eyes on me constantly as I know few of them or my family knows them. Today was the first day and as usual I was lost, my sister on the other hand is extremely social and I used to depend on her. However a year ago she got drunk in a wedding again while we were out of town and told me "You're social life depends on me you loser" and then proceeded to abuse me alot for no reason while I was helping her as she puked. This wedding it makes me nervous and alone, I cling to my parents and the younger crowd stares at me alot pulling me to dance and I'm very awkward. Idk how to join in or have fun I'm very conscious and Idk any of the songs as I generally don't enjoy Hindi music (not cause of snobbishness but cause I don't get it, I'm more into exploring mellow music and Bollywood sounds all the same to me, also working in Hollywood and Bollywood I'm fed up of movies so I don't watch half of them).
I'm sorry for the long post, it's just that I'm awake and wondering why I got these nightmares, how to get rid of them, how to survive the next few days and what am I doing with my life. There were alot of pretty girls here today and all I could think of was "They are all too much fun for me, I'll bore them to death"

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Synopsis:
Juliette Contzen is a lazy, good-for-nothing princess. Overshadowed by her siblings, she's left with little to do but nap, read … and occasionally cut the falling raindrops with her sword. Spotted one day by an astonished adventurer, he insists on grading Juliette's swordsmanship, then promptly has a mental breakdown at the result.
Soon after, Juliette is given the news that her kingdom is on the brink of bankruptcy. At threat of being married off, the lazy princess vows to do whatever it takes to maintain her current lifestyle, and taking matters into her own hands, escapes in the middle of the night in order to restore her kingdom's finances.
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Copious Ohohohohos.
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Chapter 90: Death Of Death
The frozen chamber became a blur as I performed a beautiful, if involuntary roll in the air, before promptly finding myself engulfed in the familiar cushions which were Coppelia's arms.
It wasn't the softest of catches. But it wasn't the softest of landings, either. Because my arrival caused her–and me–to be driven right into the deep snow beneath us.
Poof!
A concerning sound greeted our combined impact … and yet that was little compared to the almighty noise of the Snow Dancer's embarrassing demise!
An echoing crescendo like no other filled my ears. And no wonder.
Falling before me had been a shower of sharpened hailstones, clattering viciously against the spot where she’d stood. The chamber groaned as the weight of so much frozen snow hurtled back down meant an eruption which blanketed the air in a veil thicker than any fog or steam.
Even so, one noise rose above the din like an ocean wave amidst a storm.
“Ahahahahaha … hahahahah … aahaahahahahah!~”
Coppelia's muffled laughter greeted me before my head even popped out of the snow.
The only joy was I couldn't see anything. And yet I could still all too easily imagine her slapping the snow in rabid amusement even as she lay buried in it.
“Ahahaha … hahahahaah … ahahahaha~”
I pursed my lips as the laughter washed over me.
Perhaps I should remain buried in the snow? At least then I wouldn't have to witness her expression as the fog cleared.
“Uff … hrrghh … ughhh ...”
I put the temptation aside as I slowly rose from the snow, using Starlight Grace as a guiding star as I dug myself out. Still, it clung to me like vines entangled around a branch as I released myself piecemeal, arms and torso first, followed lastly by my legs as I slowly extracted myself.
Finally, I pulled my foot out.
A bare foot.
Horrified, I crawled back into the hole and retrieved my boot. Then, after ensuring my footwear was back where it belonged, I shook my head to remove the white hat that'd formed atop my hair.
To … To think that I'd almost been sighted without my boot of authority!
My soles symbolised my power!
Without it, I'd be nothing but an extremely beautiful maiden!
Quietly thanking the mist which engulfed the chamber, I rose to my feet and assessed the state of the chamber. There was nothing to see other than a thick shroud of white. And so it fell to my expert foot poking technique to draw out any pertinent information.
All I felt were holes. Many, many holes.
“Hm hm hm hm hmm ♫.”
Yes, I was in a very good mood.
And why not?
I'd just sent a finely crafted hailstorm crashing down onto the Snow Dancer! And judging by the many pits I could feel with the tip of my boot, the A-rank sword saint had become an A-rank emmental!
“Ohohohoho! Behold! My ability to cut snow as I would my award winning clay busts! Foolish woman! No matter how many centuries you live, you can never hope to use the elements to defeat me!”
I filled the chamber with my mocking laughter, allowing it to echo throughout the mist. And rightfully so!
To think that my [Winter Snow Shovel] could so readily counterattack an ability with such a frightful name as [Gravity Reversal]! Why, this not only proved that naming conventions were utterly irrelevant, but that Starlight Grace proved the superior weapon!
An elven sword with a sapphire pommel? An impressive thing. But compared to the splendour of ruby, there was no contest! Not only was the gemstone I sported costlier on every market, but my sword was a thing of stories!
True, I may not remember any … but that hardly matters! Even an elven sword was pedestrian compared to Starlight Grace's long history! And as soon as I returned to the Royal Villa, I would inquire as to what they were … in order to add my own!
Ohohohoho!
Yes, my own place in my family's proud legacy was now secure.
With only a gardening technique, I had defeated a sword saint. Such a humiliating loss for her needed to be sung by minstrels the world over. Did it matter if I hadn't actually struck her with my blade? No, of course not. That only made my victory even more worthy of applause.
But just in case it did matter, well–
“Oooph … that was close!”
The Snow Dancer was willing to provide me another opportunity.
Instantly, all the mist was swept aside to the sound of a blade singing through the air.
In its place, I saw an elven woman standing upon the precipice of a thousand tiny craters in the floor.
“I mean, seriously,” said Ophelia, wiping a bead of non-existent sweat from her brows. “I thought I saw the light at the end of the tunnel there, and let me tell you, it was a lot whiter than I thought it'd be!”
I was outraged.
“Why are you still standing?!” I demanded. “I just magnificently sent your own attack back into you! How dare you still be conscious! It wasn't just beautiful, it was poetic! Do … Do you have no sense for theatre?!”
I pointed below me.
There, peeking out from the snow, was the top of Coppelia's fluffy golden hair. A pair of turquoise eyes clearly blinked at the sight of the Snow Dancer still very much on her feet.
“Even my future handmaiden was mocking your demise! How do you think she feels knowing that her laughter is now wasted?! The embarrassment is palpable!”
Ophelia shrugged, wiping a smattering of snow from her shoulders. The only harm to come to her.
“I'm good at dancing. Especially on snow.”
“You danced out of the way?”
“Name's the game. Granted, I never knew I was good at dancing out of the way of my own [Gravity Reversal], but it's good to know that's a thing I can do now. You know, the next time absolutely nobody is going to turn my own technique into an ice storm. How did you do that?”
I raised Starlight Grace.
“Through effort and countless hours dedicated to my craft,” I replied, incensed that she lacked the common decency to even feign being deceased. “And if you enjoyed the spectacle, then I'll be delighted to demonstrate it to you once again!”
The elven woman wore a look of academic curiosity on her face.
“Oh? With your ice technique ... or perhaps your wind one? Gotta admit, that one almost hit me. Good thing I'm also fast, huh? A variable speed skill. It's more like a spell. That's impressive. I'm guessing it's your signature ability?”
“Quite so. I favour it for the removal of insects without the harming of leaves.”
The Snow Dancer smiled.
Then, she adjusted her feet, adopting a ready posture while sheathing her blade once more.
“I like you. It's been a long time since anybody's stopped my attacks. It's great! It's even enough to make me forget the boredom. And I've been so, so bored.”
I raised an eyebrow.
Yes, my gardening techniques were somewhat becoming more akin to Clarise's wild experiments than ways to shoo away caterpillars these days. I wouldn't deny that. But a sword saint should also be able to cut faster than the eye could follow.
This is not the impression I had so far. Had her foes been so poor that they'd simply accepted their fates without so much as a look of indignation?
“I believe the quality of your opponents have been severely lacking,” I said, quite honestly.
She beamed.
“I think so, too.”
Fwishhh.
Brimming with joyful, murderous intent, a newly made circle of pure golden flames suddenly erupted around the Snow Dancer's figure. Snow melted around her in a blazing ring, and yet the newly billowing smoke failed to hide the smile keener than any blade.
This, I knew, was not [Gravity Reversal].
“I mean, I'm pretty sure the boredom's driven me insane. Actually insane. Do you know how long it's been since I've actually spoken this much with someone? Actually spoken, that is. And not whatever weird stuff I say when I'm speaking out loud. This is definitely the reason I'm still single.”
Suddenly, I felt my bangs rustling against my forehead as an unknown breeze swept through the chamber. It fell across the elven woman, lifting her own silver hair as though she were stood upon a clifftop.
“So, I'm feeling flashy! And since you've used your own signature ability, I'm going to do something special and use mine. I mean, I haven't done it for a while, so I hope you don't mind if I lose my footwork slightly. But well, I'm also not looking forward to being bored again, so maybe it's okay to miss just once.”
The Snow Dancer let out a short breath, her eyes closing.
When she opened them again, nothing could be seen of the blue irises.
Instead, they blazed with a golden light.
“Eh, who am I kidding,” said Ophelia, slowly drawing her sword, now glimmering with a light to match her eyes. “I never miss. After all ... mine is the sword to pierce the void, cutting a path through boundless infinity.”
The elven woman pushed back on her heel.
“Snow Helix Form, 10th Stance … [Yuleblade Dance].”
And then–she skipped.
In that moment, the very air between us shattered.
As if reality itself made way for her oncoming attack, everything between us cracked into a thousand fragments as viscerally as broken glass. The pieces floated with the grace of dandelion seeds, each shard a kaleidoscope of colour and dazzling light as hints of pure darkness appeared between the cracks.
As she skipped, she danced, the fragments of reality collected around her drawn sword as she spun. The shards gathered and coalesced around her blade, before trailing behind her as an exact mirror copy. And not just one.
They were endless.
I blinked.
In that moment, she had covered the distance between us. And I understood why Ophelia was more than a sword saint.
She was the Snow Dancer. And this was her ballroom.
Because as she approached, only the snow was undisturbed.
She glided upon it like a swan in a lake as behind her, countless copies of her sword trailing in her wake as she spun like a dancer with a ribbon.
Ophelia danced with footwork lighter than air.
And this time, there was no quelling with my scowl.
Innumerable swords twisted and ripped from reality followed her like deadly marionettes upon strings, each poised in an executing attack. Even if one blade was stopped, those that followed would continue unhindered. Her [Yuleblade Dance] was not a strike, but an ode to death as she elegantly skipped and twirled towards me.
Yes.
This was indeed a problem.
For her.
Because if the Snow Dancer wished to dance, then she needed an invitation.
My …. was what I was seeing true?
A mere titled commoner, lower than the lowest of nobility, daring to assume she could dance with me?
The … The sheer nerve! The cheek! The absolute disrespect!
I could put up with holes in the ceiling! Minotaurs robbing me! Rusty traps trying to murder me!
But for the Snow Dancer to not know dancing etiquette was an absolute travesty to common decency! Who did she bribe to attain her title?!
There was protocol! Heaps of it! More than could be written in any rulebook!
To do away with social convention with such callous disregard was an insult to my status and time! Inquiries needed to be made! Courtesies exchanged! Gifts rendered! Did she not realise how staggeringly popular I was?!
Why, the waiting list to dance with me stretched longer than the walls of the Royal Villa! During a soirée, the queue stretched so far that a sign denoting waiting time needed to be utilised!
No … were this a clash of swordsmanship, then I'd have no answer.
But if this was a dance, then I was peerless.
Because while snow was this woman's ballroom, this entire kingdom was my court. And upon it, I chose who to dance with.
As the sword saint neared and reality bent to her will, I refused to humour her request.
With Starlight Grace raised, I adopted a pose in readiness. The Snow Dancer smiled in response, skipping towards me as her silver sword stood poised to meet my heart.
And then–
I turned and stuck my leg out.
“...... Huh?”
The Snow Dancer blinked.
The next moment, all I saw of the elven woman was her bewildered expression as my foot caught her ankle.
Ohohohohhhohohoho!
Here it was! My ultimate ability! … Again!
[Princess Rejection]!!
Absolute refusal of all uninvited solicitations without first having adhered to correct social formalities!
Faced with instincts hardened through years of declining the ungracefulness of lesser nobility at our soirées, I turned as I would should a mere baroness seek to catch me unawares–before inconspicuously sending her toppling, publicly maintaining deniability while also leaving no doubt as to what I'd done!
But for the Snow Dancer, it wasn't the smooth marble floor of the Royal Villa which met her tumbling fall.
Instead–the sword saint flew uncontrollably forwards, crashing violently face first into a very large and very hard pillar.
As she met the ancient stonework to an eruption of snow, dust and rubble, a crack worthy of a wince sounded throughout the chamber.
Then came the swords waltzing in her wake.
They smashed into and through the pillar. A groan of broken masonry sounded as the elven-woman shaped indent in the pillar fully shattered and broke. Chunks of rubble collapsed atop the prone sword saint, burying her in a mound worthy of a tombstone.
A dollop of snow fell as the dust cleared. And after a long moment, all that could be spied within the mess of broken stone was a small bed of silver hair covered in a blanket of misery.
I peered, waiting for the movement.
The reprisal.
The obstinacy of an A-rank sword saint who escaped shattering hailstorms and blasts of wind as easily as a cat leaping from fence to fence.
Instead, all I received was a pitiful groan.
“...... Uuuuhhhhh …...”
I waited.
And then–
“Ohhohohohohohoho!”
I raised my hand to my lips.
Indeed, the soirée was a battleground of sabotage as nobility warred with a deftness of feet to put even the Snow Dancer to shame!
And I danced greater than them all!
“Aaahhahaahaahahhaahah!”
Off to the side, an extremely unhelpful clockwork doll stole my laughter.
At some point, she'd extracted herself from the snow and was now a white barrel, rolling to and fro as she occasionally slapped her palms down around her.
“Ahhahahahaha … ahahhahahah … ahhahaahhaahh ...”
I pursed my lips, considered waiting for her amusement to subside … then decided to continue laughing as well.
“Ohohohohohohoho!”
Why, if I intended to mock my fallen opponent regardless, then I may as well do so while my future handmaiden could join me in a derisive chorus!
“Behold, Coppelia! See how the inelegant fall to their own naïvety! The woman may be a sword saint, but in the end, she possessed the oafishness of countryside nobility! Against my fleet footwork, she had as much hope of victory as she did against the stars!”
“Ahahaha … I can … I can see that … ahahah … it was … it was … just as I expected … ahahahahha~”
I winced.
N-Naturally, her confidence in me was well placed!
Even so, I preferred that she endeavour to rush to my assistance whenever I was faced with mortal peril. Clearly, work was needed. While a handmaiden who knew not to take away from my limelight was a valuable asset, there was also ample opportunity to demonstrate unerring loyalty by wilfully throwing herself against foes.
But like all things, there was a queue to my time.
And so–to matters at hand.
“Come, Coppelia!” I said, turning from the bundle of silver hair as a fresh heap of snow landed on her groaning form. “Aquina's treasury awaits! Only a single door now seeks to stand between us and our rightfully owed taxes!”
Suddenly, Coppelia looked up from her freshly rolled bed of snow.
The smile she wore elevated upwards by several degrees. Her eyes glittered with the promise of revelry. And for me, that was more worrisome than any sword saint.
“Actually, I don't think the door's going to be a problem.”
I blinked.
Then, I turned fully around–only to witness the arched door to Aquina's vault parting, its great weight shovelling snow out of its path as easily as a dragon's tail.
Quack, quack. Quack, quack.
As it opened, a fluffy white duck waddled in through the gap.
A moment later, the vault fully revealed itself, and then I saw to whom its allegiance was sworn.
Because basking beneath streams of moonlight was the figure of someone I'd never seen before. A woman whose beautiful appearance elicited no recognition from me.
Still, I knew who she was without question.
After all, I was royalty.
And I could sense when another of my stature was present. Especially when she sat on a makeshift throne of snow and coins, possessed dazzling wings of mirror-like beauty, and wielded a fine crystal teacup in her hand.
The Winter Queen, it seems, had come to the Kingdom of Tirea.
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I remember when I was a kid, somewhere around 2008-2010, my mom gave me a High School Musical cover CD (I think she got it from a friend) because I was a fan of the movies. I believe I got it without its case in just an unlabeled white sleeve, but I might be misremembering. What I do remember is that the disc had an illustration of a basketball as its visual, and was otherwise completely unlabeled.
The CD was fairly short; I remember there only being like 6 tracks and maybe a few instrumentals? The tracks that were there were out of order, but all from the first movie, from what I remember. I remember at one point, I uploaded rips of the CD to Youtube with accompanying images drawn in MS Paint, but those videos were taken down for copyright and the channel they were uploaded to has long since been deleted.
I've already ruled out that it could be an official CD; it was definitely a studio recording so it couldn't be from any concert performances, and it had clearly-different voices from the original cast. I also can't find any Disney compilation CDs that would match the description. The one lead I was able to find was this album, covering songs from the second movie in a similar quality to what I remember. I can't find any evidence it was ever released as a physical CD, and all sites point to this as the only album released by "Future Hit Makers, ltd."

Well, I've never written fiction before so here we go!
Do you like metal? I do too! let's be friends! read my stuff!
Thanks, u/SpacePaladin15 for the universe
And u/VeryUnluckyDice for implanting a tumor into my brain, go read his story Playing by ear if you haven't already! Thanks to u/Bushbacon69 and u/pindasausmetballen for proofreading
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Memory transcription subject: Colton Anderson, human refugee
Date [standardized human time]: October 23, 2136
They took my guitar, can’t have shit on Venlil Prime.
My eyes focused on my guitar case, which should've been two things. First, it should've been closed. And second, It should’ve contained my guitar.
Instead, it only contained a tuner, a pack of strings, some picks, some random doodads, and about a liter too much air.
The guitar that It should've contained, My guitar, which used to be my dad’s guitar, was the one I learned to play on and it was the last thing I still had from Earth.
“Well done to me.” an annoyingly self-congratulatory drawl knocked me back to the present.
I looked up from my formerly populated guitar case to see an extermination officer standing In front of me looking quite proud of themself. They were clad in their classic uniform with a slight hint of grey fluff that stuck out from their uniform.
That's probably not regulation.
The exterminator had apparently lifted my guitar out of its protective case by the strings. And They now studied the black-and-white stratocaster with disinterest. clearly having no clue what it is or what it was or what it was for. not that it seemed to matter to them. The idiot is gonna break a string like that, also what the heck?
They turned the side of their head to me.
The exterminator spoke In what my translator interpreted as that classic ‘I am the law’ police officer voice,
“I am confiscating this weapon, Predator.”
I closed the lid on the lunchbox I was eating from and stood up slowly with my hands lowered down to my sides. I didn’t want to escalate this, I knew how easily it could based on some of the chatter around the shelter.
I have better things to do than get cremated. Like getting cremated but in 80 years time
“That” I paused.
“Is an instrument.” Then I pointed to the officer's paw which was tightly clenched around the metal strings of the guitar
“Never hold it like that”
“An instrument of violence no doubt” they spat, not literally but they might as well have with the amount of spit that they ejected.
A guitar isn't a weapon!
It doesn't even look like one?
How would you even use a guitar as a weapon?
And if you did, it wouldn't sound very good.
I took a small step toward the officer. Prompting him to aggressively yank my guitar back to keep it out of my reach. However, because the exterminator was still holding it by the strings that instead resulted in that all too familiar plink sound followed by a yelp of pain from the venlil who promptly dropped my guitar, Thankfully onto the grass, They looked at the long shallow cut across their paw, small beads of orange blood forming on its surface where the broken string whipped across bare flesh.
Ouch, I really don't like this guy but still… cuts like that suck.
I sighed and reached over to pick up my instrument, a bad move apparently because the exterminator pulled their flamethrower from its sling and pointed it at me.
“Leave now predator or for the safety of every venlil in Deep Lake I will not hesitate to burn you”
Never mind about guitars not being a weapon.
I now am quite able to think of several ways one could beat an exterminator over the head with a guitar.
I decided to not die today and back down.
_____
I wandered in no direction in particular so I could clear my mind and I turned the volume up on my headphones to drown out all the unhelpful thoughts I got when I was angry. I scrolled down the list of songs downloaded on my pad and picked an old song by the foo fighters.
Eventually, I came to an open plaza, where a venlil busker was playing some sort of… percussion instrument I didn’t recognize. It looked like a collection of around two dozen inverted glass bowls. Next to them, there was krakotl singing. Pulling off my headphones to listen I found the music was quite simple but fairly pleasant. The duo seemed to be drawing a crowd. Whatever they were playing must be quite popular, or impressive to these people.
I decided to sit around the corner to not scare them off. As I sat took the time to think with a clearer mind.
Okay, so now I've finally lost everything. The only thing I still had from Earth was my dad's old guitar. Of all the things that this shithead could've taken, they take the one thing I can't replace.
Okay, calm. It's not gone. It was confiscated. Which means they're taking it to the office. Which means I could get it back. Or they'll…burn it.
FUCK.
I have to get it back but just walking into an exterminator's office and yelling will probably only get me turned into a very angry pile of ashes.
Oh good. my abysmal sense of humor is back.
It's probably best if I wait a little, barging in immediately might be considered ‘predatory’ and with some luck more understanding exterminators might be on shift and I can talk to them like people.
Eventually, I decided to make my way home. I got up, pulled my navy blue hoodie in closer, and approached the busking duet. My presence parted the small crowd of people gathered to watch them. The people here apparently were not used to humans being around them, The krakotl saw me first and almost immediately started singing terribly off-key. It seems they noticed me and lost their focus. But who am I to judge? I can barely play if anyone is watching me. I tapped my pad to the receiver labeled ‘tips’ and chose to tip extra because I felt bad for interrupting their performance. I didn't say anything, that would likely make it worse.
when I turned around to leave, I was faced with the non-regulation fluff exterminator. Their flamethrowers raised and flanked on both sides by two more exterminators
“Predator! You’re coming with me”

Hello, all! I am here because I feel quite alone. The truth is, even though life has its ups and downs, I have a relatively stable and boring life. What I need is a friend. I just feel the longing to connect with someone.
I'd like to meet someone here who is mature and respectful and who would invest in creating a friendship with me gradually over time, as we get more comfortable with each other. I would like to find an interesting personality to learn more about their world, conflicts, and aspirations, to learn new stuff from them, and ultimately become a better person by being their friend.
I'd like to meet someone who is a thoughtful and easy-going person and who would be willing to commit to this friendship. I'd like to meet someone with whom I would feel trusted enough to hear their life story and be trusted by them as I listen to theirs—with no judgments—and accept our struggles as they are. Someone who has a lot to say but hasn't had the opportunity to do so. I would be there for you.
I'd like to meet someone willing to commit to this friendship with the intention of it lasting more than two days, ideally communicating daily and letting the friendship grow without pressure, at its own pace. A friend is all I need, nothing else.
A few words about myself: I'm a person in my twenties from a small corner of Europe. I am a reserved, introverted, and perhaps unnecessarily serious person. I live in my own world. I'm a hopeless romantic who sees the world through stained glass. I enjoy art, poetry, and movies. I love walking in nature, I love summer storms, sunsets, and the mountains.
I am a nineties person who likes everything created during that decade. I wish I were then right now. Currently, my favorite bands and artists are Electronic, The Cardigans, Talk Talk, etc. I would like to add new artists to the playlist of my favorite songs, so your suggestions would be more than welcome. I haven't seen a movie or a TV show in ages, but my favorite ones are The Young Pope, Scrubs, the Office etc. I also enjoy listening to podcasts, like Radiolab, 99% Invisible, Wiretap, Heavyweight, and others.
If the type of friendship I described resonates with you, feel free to send me a direct message with a brief introduction about yourself. I would be glad to engage in a conversation with you.

Before starting to meditate, it is absolutely necessary to relax your nerves. However, "relaxing" is quite a challenging task. The more you try to relax, the more stress you are subconsciously creating, making you more tense. This is because stress operates in synchrony with brain activity. As soon as the brain becomes more active, stress also increases, making it impossible to achieve true relaxation. That's why even when you trying singing or sleeping, it's still difficult to completely relax. All thanks to the strong buddy connection between your subconscious stress and your active brain.
The best time in the day to do meditation should be immediately after waking up after a good night's rest. Compared with any other time of the day, this early morning session should be the most comfortable of all sessions. Pay attention to whether you are shrugging shoulders when meditation, cause if you are, that is an indication that you did not sleep well the night before and there is already stress and tension when you started your practice. You may not even be aware of this kind of stress, as it may be chronic or a congenital condition. If this is the case, you need to gradually understand and manage your own conditions. When you start your meditation session, as you settle in, it's important to shake your shoulders and relax yourself. No sooner after some people sit and start their meditation session, they start to tilt and slant to one side, they start clinching their hands together, or pinching their fingers, and then start intensely chanting! If you're body has already started slanting and tilting, that means your spine is misaligned, and your stomach and intestines will also be all twisted. Can you imagine how you will feel if you tried to maintain sitting in this position for two hours? Therefore, you must take things slowly and learn to be aware of your own body condition.
To relax your nerves before starting your meditation session, you can softly recite some sacred verses, chant praises, repeat mantras, say a prayer, or sing a song. If you need to do it a few times to feel more relaxed, go for it! These practices can help you calm down and achieve tranquility, thereby naturally making your nerves relax.
Hopes this helps any beginners out there. Namaste 🙏

For those who missed it, Part 1 can be found here. Hope you all enjoy Part 2!
​
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean were still working as an insurance clerk and police officer when they competed at the 1980 Olympics. The pair, who expressed great admiration for 1980 Olympic bronze medalists Moiseeva/Minenkov, were able to finish in 5th. With a close 4th place finish at Worlds, Torvill/Dean decided to quit their day jobs and dedicate their lives to skating in the years leading up to the Olympics in Sarajevo.
Betty Callaway had already been making her mark as a coach before coaching Regoczy/Sallay to a World title. Her choreography was innovative for the time, with the pauses while changing music incorporated into the choreography of the dance rather than putting unnatural pauses throughout the program. Her work with Regoczy/Sallay made her the perfect backbone to Torvill/Dean’s sport-altering programs to come.
One thing to note about Torvill/Dean that many seem to overlook is that, while glimpses of their future innovation shone through on the ice in 1980 and 1981, their programs were not exactly eye-opening in terms of composition or choreography. When Torvill/Dean skated their way to a World title in 1981, their style was a cross between Regoczy/Sallay’s and Moiseeva/Minenkov’s in a lot of ways. Their movements were sharp but with a hint of gentleness. Their music changed throughout their routine, much alike the style of the Russians before them. But one thing that Torvill/Dean became immediately known for was their speed and coverage on the ice. They were able to race across the ice to a degree that was eye-catching and impressive. Their 1981 win was the first for Britain in 12 years.
Underneath Torvill/Dean, Natalia Bestemianova/Andrei Bukin, coached by Tatiana Tarasova, earned bronze with a similar style as the Soviets before them. Tarasova choreography featured repeated movements across the length of the ice, akin to older Moiseeva/Minenkov programs. Bestemianova/Bukin spent much of their 1981 program repeating movements that left Bestemianova draped across Bukin or lifted in the air, coupled with fast, repeating footwork. The fiercely dramatic skaters were set to stay in the sport for years to come.
Torvill/Dean’s idols Moiseeva/Minenkov, coached by Natalia Dubova for their final season, competed in their last 2 seasons in 1981 and 1982, earning a silver and bronze before retiring to start their family. It seems only fitting for Torvill/Dean’s greatest idols to see the product of their inspiration when Torvill/Dean changed ice dance forever in the 1982 season.
The 1982 season saw the introduction of the Original Set Pattern (OSP) dance (or at the very least, the first recorded instance of its competition), which boils down to a dance where the skaters and their coach would create a compulsory-like dance set to a specific kind of music. For the inaugural season, blues was the genre of choice. In their first of many innovative decisions, Torvill/Dean decided to skate to Summertime, which had the slowest allowed tempo, making it an incredibly difficult song to skate to. Of course, they accomplished this with flying colors, setting the standard for all OSPs to follow. But what was truly innovative was their FD of the same year.
In a year where Bestemianova/Bukin skated to several fast, dynamic pieces of music (and…a dramatic version of “What Is The Youth”?) and Moiseeva/Minenkov appeared to skate in a style more similar to the late 1970s than anything else with a medley of songs that included Bolero (no, really), the idea of a program being cohesive and featuring similar music was almost foreign. The closest program to come to any sort of cohesive idea was when Americans Judy Blumberg and Michael Seibert dressed in costumes inspired by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. But ultimately, their FD still featured several songs stitched together with no real similarity between them, other than all coming from the 1930s, which I suppose was a minor innovation in comparison to the other medalists.
When Torvill/Dean debuted their 1982 FD, it changed ice dance forever. Instead of using several pieces of music to meet the changing tempo requirements, Torvill/Dean chose a single song, the Overture for the musical “Mack and Mabel,” to fulfill the requirement, completely unheard of. To complement the music, Torvill/Dean decided to choreograph a routine with their coach Betty Callaway that called to mind dancing you’d find on the West End. The FD was universally beloved by judges, earning 8 6.0s in performance at Europeans and 5 6.0s at Worlds that year (out of the 7 judges). The FD completely changed the perception of what a program could do on the ice and inspired the rest of the field to up their ability to portray different types of dances on ice while just focusing on one type. It was a breakthrough moment in ice dance and one we take sorely for granted in an age where cohesive programs are the norm.
Torvill/Dean continued their dominance in 1983, taking the World title in an easy enough manner with their Rock n’ Roll OSP and FD based on an American musical named Barnum, a musical about a traveling circus troupe (I’m not making this up I swear). Torvill/Dean decided that their FD should include more difficult lifts to accurately call to mind the circus. Christopher Dean is often cited as the mastermind behind the choreography for the pair and his inspired view of what ice dance choreography could be is on full display for this one, as the idea of portraying a musical or ballet on ice had simply never been done before.
Bestemianova/Bukin meanwhile were performing choreography that featured quick turns and repetition, choreographed entirely by Tarasova. Their programs still featured numerous music switches but were less dramatic in tone switches as was normal prior to the previous year. Blumberg/Seibert, meanwhile, earned their first bronze medal by repeating their FD from the previous year.
The 1984 Olympics are known, by and large, as Torvill/Dean’s crowning moment in ice dance, a culmination of their previous 4 years changing the sport. As it should be. But on a grander scale, this was the first Olympics to feature all of the top four dancers skating to 1 song or idea each in the FD. Again, taken for granted now, but huge for the time and reinforced the idea that ice dance could survive and flourish while focusing more intently on conveying a theme and feeling than in just recreating the dance styles of several different types of music.
The most iconic ice dance routine, of course, is Torvill/Dean’s Bolero. But their OSP of the same year is equally as amazing, with Torvill/Dean and Callaway deciding that, instead of recreating the ballroom dance of the paso doble, they would instead recreate the origins of the dance itself: bull taming. Jayne acted as a cape to Chris’s matador, making it one of the most easily recognizable ice dance routines today. And then Bolero. In a time when FDs had to be a strict 4 minutes long, Torvill/Dean refused to cut a single moment of Bolero. And so they bent the rules, realizing that the timer would only start when their blades hit the ice. For the first 20 seconds or so of the program, Jayne and Chris knelt on the ice instead of skating, effectively getting the full music in. It was innovative, it was bonkers, it was an outright refusal to take no for an answer. And it was brilliant. Torvill/Dean earned straight 6.0s in performance en route to their Olympic title.
Of course, an Olympic ice dance competition would simply not be the same without controversy. Bestemianova/Bukin performed a polka/folk FD (with…costumes to match) to earn the silver medal but the FD had a mistake early. However, Bestemianova/Bukin’s technical prowess in the compulsories (for 2 were performed in competition now) and OSP allowed them to hang on.
The true controversy was for the bronze, when the Natalia Dubova-coached team of Marina Klimova/Sergei Ponomarenko surpassed Blumberg/Seibert for the bronze medal at the young ages of 17 and 23 respectively. Klimova/Ponomarenko were in 4th going into their free dance and floated across the ice to classical music to earn their first Olympic medal, a differing Soviet style on display with their longer edges and more balletic movements. But Blumberg/Seibert, skating to Scheherazade, were decidedly miffed. In a sport that was already earning a reputation for “waiting your turn,” they had waited and were instead supplanted by a young team making their debut due to an Italian judge deciding that their music was not appropriate for ice dance and forcing a tiebreaker after giving a low score in the free. Beating Klimova/Ponomarenko at Worlds the next month didn’t improve their mood.
It was also a judge statement, on wanting the balletic to counter the more theatrical nature of Torvill/Dean and Bestemianova/Bukin. Already the Soviets were working their political magic through Natalia Dubova. And truly, what better way to segue into the next 15 years of Soviet/Russian domination than that?

Hello!
I'm auditioning for The Little Mermaid in a youth (15-21) community theatre. I'm an 18-year-old contralto, pre-T FTM, looking specifically for songs for Ursula, although I'm considering other roles as well.
My typical range is D3-A4 for belting; I can comfortably get to C5 in my head voice, into the sixth octave if I really push. Mixed voice needs practice.
I need 30 to 60 seconds to show what I can do. Below are the songs I've considered and the gripes I have with them.

• "That's Rich" from Newsies (not varied enough)
• "The Witch" from Big Fish (too high)
• "I'm Breaking Down" from Falsettos (can't find a clip with appropriate lyrics... this is for church)

Any suggestions?

Hey y'all, this may be a wall of text but i encourage you to dive into these links. You will be glad you did. i just wanted to talk a little about the bew movement toward what i consider to be TRUE country music. Im not talking beer, trucks, and muddin' im talking about deeply heartfelt songwriting about love and regret and pain and fear and all of the things that made country music so great before the commercial sound took over.
I have a few artist suggestions. First and foremost is Tyler Childers. He has been enjoying mainstream success recently but still maintains the standards of songwriting that make him a standout. His voice can be heartbreaking or rally you up. His songs tackle addiction, hurt, and redemption, but also love and bliss.
Creeker: a song about the guy you see quietly drinking alone https://youtu.be/qoPfB2FH1YE
Lady may: a truly moving love song. https://youtu.be/tiwJadn-Nso
STURGILL FUCKIN SIMPSON this guy is a huge favorite of mine. His stuff is a bit more joyous than Childers. His lyrical content is very focused on his journey becomung the man he is today, lots of stuff about overcoming addiction and redemption, so as an addict in recovery i find so much bliss in his music. Bonus: he literally calls out DMT in a song. The guy trips.
You can have the crown/some days. The first one here is a fucking BANGER and really hits the hopelessness of being a songwriter. https://youtu.be/tNV16tz1NK0
Turtles all the way down: this song is about DMT and psychedelics but ends in "loves the only thing that changed my mind"
https://youtu.be/YvoVMtzof4U
SIERRA FERRELL This one is a fucking treasure who needs to be protected at all costs. Her voice has a timbre that would fit just as well a hundred years ago. Kinda like a more hoarse dolly parton.
Bells of every chapel: a wonderful ditty that has been stuck in my head for a week. This song harkens back to the early female country greats, june carter, dolly, etc. . https://youtu.be/JpjsJdl5Z_U
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW (honorable mention willie watson)
So, old crow is known for wagon wheel, but their back catalog is incredible. They were hugely influenced by the pecursors to country, folk, and blues, and draw heavily from traditional american music, like PRE bluegrass. Their album Carry Me Back is HANDS DOWN the greatest americana album to come out in decades if not ever. They effortlessly dance from bluegrass to folk to early ragtime stuff.
Steppin out: a truely old timey ragtimesque jug band jangle about cheating on your woman https://youtu.be/7TCarYf20hM
I hear them all: this should be a hymn in churches... th second verse contauns impressive book burning imagery, the last one is a great one about cming together in harmony. .
https://youtu.be/ug7IgB8MfWE
Willie watson: this man has a place deep in my soul. His voice makes me fucking cry. He was the heart of old crow then went solo. His stuff is mostly EARLY folk covers. https://youtu.be/3ngtKeRsjEE

Appreciate everyone that Helped last night yall fr cool af for that as I wasnt expecting anyone to and I appreciate and respect yalls time, still didnt find it but this is going to be my last try and then im just gonna dub it. Im going to post below the answers that are not it from the previous post.
Im gonna see if this narrows it down but I know for a fact that the chorus or atleast the bridge to the song is someone either singing either R&B style or atleast something slow, It may be a high pitch like how Roddy Ricch did "Late at night" or its a sample similar to how (Im blanking so hard on a good example my bad but) Jack Harlow with how he did first class chorus where its straight up him saying a few words going off the sample from the other song.
He could have been featured on the song and not actually his song.
Not it; Solo My Collection Too Comfortable Incredible Fly shit only Use me Girls go Crazy Break the rules Married to the Game Seven rings

Here is a list of games I have to trade with, but feel free to request anything specific your looking for. I'm looking to trade up to $90 worth of games for Horizon.
Beat Saber
Blade & Sorcery: Nomad
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
GOLF+
SUPERHOT VR
BONELAB
Vader Immortal: Episode I
Onward
Job Simulator
The Room VR: A Dark Matter
Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted
Resident Evil 4
The Thrill of the Fight
Walkabout Mini Golf
Pistol Whip
Eleven Table Tennis
GORN
Virtual Desktop
Vader Immortal
A Township Tale
Contractors
Zenith: The Last City
Moss
Demeo
Arizona Sunshine®
Real VR Fishing
Gun Club VR
Vader Immortal: Episode II
Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge
I Expect You To Die
Creed: Rise to Glory - Championship Edition™
Drunkn Bar Fight
Robo Recall: Unplugged
Red Matter
In Death: Unchained
Among Us VR
Into the Radius
Vacation Simulator
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution
Drop Dead: Dual Strike Edition
Space Pirate Trainer DX
STRIDE
Death Horizon: Reloaded
Medal of Honor™: Above and Beyond
Richie's Plank Experience
Warplanes: WW1 Fighters
NFL PRO ERA
Zero Caliber: Reloaded
Espire 1: VR Operative
After the Fall®
Green Hell VR
I Expect You To Die 2
Synth Riders
SKYBOX VR Video Player
The Climb 2
LES MILLS BODYCOMBAT
Kingspray Graffiti
Trover Saves the Universe
The Climb
Swarm
2MD: VR Football Unleashed ALL☆STAR
Waltz of the Wizard
Ironlights
A Fisherman's Tale
Elven Assassin
Until You Fall
Star Trek: Bridge Crew
Hand Physics Lab
OrbusVR: Reborn
Jurassic World Aftermath Collection
Sairento VR : Untethered
Nock: Bow + Arrow Soccer
Journey of the Gods
ForeVR Bowl
Wander
Puzzling Places
Lies Beneath
Breachers
Sniper Elite VR
Tetris® Effect: Connected
SWORDS of GARGANTUA
Smash Drums
Down the Rabbit Hole
Acron: Attack of the Squirrels!
Virtual Virtual Reality
Phantom: Covert Ops
Sports Scramble
Thief Simulator VR: Greenview Street
Audio Trip
Premium Bowling
National Geographic Explore VR
TOTALLY BASEBALL
Mondly: Practice Languages in VR
Please, Don't Touch Anything
Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs
Golf 5
Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister
Ragnarock
Racket Fury: Table Tennis VR
Deisim
Dance Central
Path of the Warrior
Ultrawings
Red Matter 2
Shadow Point
Accounting+
Warplanes: Battles over Pacific
Resist
Myst
Cook-Out
Pixel Ripped 1995
End Space
Tilt Brush
Crashland
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos
Marvel's Iron Man VR
Zombieland: Headshot Fever
Goliath: Playing with Reality
AFFECTED: The Manor - Complete Edition
Fruit Ninja
Ancient Dungeon
Larcenauts
Dreadhalls
SOLARIS OFFWORLD COMBAT
Unplugged: Air Guitar
Nature Treks VR
Tribe XR DJ in Mixed Reality
Star Wars™ Pinball VR
Ghost Giant
Chess Club
OhShape
Cooking Simulator VR
Cubism
Cosmodread
Dash Dash World
Pinball FX2 VR
The Exorcist: Legion VR
Time Stall
Raccoon Lagoon
Surgineer
Mini Motor Racing X
First Person Tennis - The Real Tennis Simulator
Cosmonious High
Dead and Buried II
The Last Clockwinder
AUDICA
Guided Tai Chi
Ultrawings 2
Vermillion - VR Painting
Ninja Legends
Guardians Frontline
Broken Edge
Garden of the Sea
BRINK Traveler
Moss: Book II
Yupitergrad
Skyworld: Kingdom Brawl
PowerBeatsVR
Song in the Smoke
Alvo
The Wizards
Prison Boss VR
The Light Brigade
Cave Digger
ForeVR Darts
Shave & Stuff
Gadgeteer
Doctor Who The Edge of Time
Death Lap
Floor Plan 2
Ocean Rift
Wands
Cities: VR
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
ForeVR Pool
Color Space
GRID Legends
Little Cities
Clash of Chefs VR
COMPOUND
TOKYO CHRONOS
Sweet Surrender
Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife
Carve Snowboarding
Knockout League
HouseFlipper VR

So after getting warmed up in SF6 i thought it was time for a bit of reflection and to share my journey so far.
Maybe if you are a veteran it might remind you of your own beginnings and you might munch a few member berries.
Maybe you are just starting out yourself and are interested in what you can expect over the next few weeks or months.
Maybe you don't care about stuff like that and don't like long ass posts and just scroll by. That's fine as well.
I got curios about fighting games about a year ago, tried MKX and DBFZ but while they were fun initially they didn't get me to stick around enough and did nothing to make me actually want to invest time in gitting gud.
So while the second closed beta was around i stumbled uppon SF6 videos and slowly they got me curious about the series. I played some SF Alpha and SF2 Turbo on my playstation back in the day but that was about two decades ago and i never payed any attention to the series and actually fighting games since.
So while i was trying to get into DBFZ (i love Dragon Ball) i was slowly realizing that it just wasn't for me. At this time i wanted to learn a fg properly and in DBFZ never got out of mashing. It was just too easy to do that and see cool shit happen and i watched some basic combo videos and was like: "Yeah fuck that, i'm not going to learn a 20 input sequence."
Also i realized that i prefer playing a more neutral and more fundamental based game. Street Fighter seemed to check these boxes so while SF5 was on sale i pulled the trigger. It definitely did check the boxes and some more! Don't know what it was but it felt so great.
Fast forward because this is allready going to be a long ass post: after bying a fightpad and realizing i wasn't any good on pad i bought myself an arcade stick and that was were shit got real for me.
It was tough to learn at first and as it turned out the process of getting okayish with it would take another 70 in game hours but it just felt so good that time flew by.
I actually hit my alltime low point when i was falling down from about 900 LP to ZERO. But with a little help from this sub i got back up on my feet, learned from all those Ls i took and made little improvements in my game day by day and made it into Super Bronze.
After lot's of practice i could do something i never could do in any fighting game before: i learned my first combo! backMP, stHP xx HK Tatsu. Yeah it's nothing too special, but i could do a combo! I remember landing it the first time in a match and being like "holy shit!".
What i still struggled with were DPs, those took a long time. But i deemed other stuff more important anyway. So i focused on playing the fundamental game and using that combo to dish out punishment where punishment was due (if i didn't fuck it up that is, which happened a lot).
Once i got the more important stuff down i started focusing on DPs more, and it's coming together now. I still have to work on consistency in combos and can't use them on reaction yet but i am getting the hang of it and it get's easier day by day.
I made it my SF5 goal to reach Silver before 6 came out.
Spoiler alert: didn't happen. But it's fine.
Somewhere along the point, everything became about that goal and it got into my head. Every L i took was just so much worse because it became a step back in reaching my goal. Took me a while to realize that i wasn't playing for fun anymore. I was playing because i "had to".
Slowly where i once was excited to play a match i now got anxious about every set i played, afraid of the mental damage losing would do to me.
Somewhere around this timeline we bought a switch and of course i had to get the 30th anniversary collection and playing that in the morning, getting my ass handed to me by the busted AI and enjoying the challenge of it, reminded me that i actually am playing for fun. And for a short while i found that spirit again but everytime my LPs started adding up and i was getting close to a rank up, my ego kept getting back in my way.
So last weekend i decided to call it a day, be done with SF5 and take a break from ranked untill 6 arrives, played the demo and enjoyed the hype up for the upcomming friday.
At the end i had played about 850 ranked matches with an overall W/L ratio of 42 % and 52 % in my last 100 hundred matches.
I didn't reach my goal. But i consider the last 5 months still a huge success: When i started this i didn't know where the journey would take me.
Would i get any good at this? Could i finally learn a combo? Would i ever be able to learn that friggin DP motion?
I learned a good chunk of that fundamental aspect of the game, learned to do some of that cool combo stuff, and while i am still a bloody scrub i am 10 times the player i was a couple of months ago.
I grew very pationate about Street Fighter, started enjoying practice and found the desire in myself to keep learning and improving as a player.
And most important of all: i was having and continue to have a blast playing Street Fighter, be it 3rd Strike on the switch or now finally SF6 on my pc.
If someone actually read through all of this: thank you! I really appreciate it. Feel free to share your journey and if you have some criticism or advice feel also free to share that.
Let me know if you'd like updates about my journey in SF6. Since there won't be 6 months to be summarized, i promise they will be shorter.

I'm doing a ranking of all Elliott songs and, when I got to the miss misery (early version) I felt like I had to justify it being below the original one, so I made a whole section talking about the differences in the lyrics.
After I did it, it felt extremely long and i didn't want to use that much space for one song, so I'm uploading it in a different post in case anyone cares.
This is my opinion on the lyrics of miss misery (early vs final version):
"Miss misery (early version)-I’m glad he changed the lyrics of this early version for the ones that ended up in the Good Will Hunting movie soundtrack. For me every change he made was a good decision and, since I’m already wasting an overwhelming amount of time in this, I might as well explain what my thoughts are on every little change.
Before continuing, I should clarify that I know he probably wasn’t thinking of every little detail in every line, because he said he doesn’t like to overthink them; but for the sake of the list, I'm going to justify my preferences.
“Send the poison rain down the drain to put bad thoughts in my head” instead of “the cold pain behind my eyes that shoots back through my head.” Here there are a couple of things I like more. Firstly, I like when he uses common imagery between different songs (in this case the usage of the word “poison”-used in “Angeles”, “from a poison well”, etc.). By doing this, I feel like he creates a world of his own within his songs. Apart from that, I like the internal rhyme that the new verse brings and the consistency of the lyric. By consistency I mean that, if he was just talking about alcohol as a method of evading reality, he lingers on that line and further emphasizes it with this new metaphor. (While the “cold pain” referred to the physical effects of alcohol, this “bad thoughts” are the thing he is trying to avoid, the misery that he will refer to in the chorus, so idk, it kinda ties everything together).
Ok, now into the chorus “some enchanted night, etc.”, vs “miss misery”. Some enchanted night is a pretty sentence and maybe I like the denial about it, but I think miss misery is a much more potent imagery. Also, it has the wordplay and makes for a great title.
The “tarot” vs “a man in the park” verse is the one I’m most glad he changed. For me, the “man in the park” reading the lines in his hand, is far dreamier than he going to someone so they can read him his tarot cards. It’s almost like this man is a mystic figure that we don’t know nothing about. Also, I like the vulnerability of saying “man, you’re mean”. Maybe it’s me, but I find the new lyrics less evident, like the early ones try harder to convey his denial about the loss of miss misery (that I guess can have many meanings, but I’m not getting there for this).
I’ma try to be more concise. I don’t mind “I can’t hold my liquor”, neither this phrase nor the one that replaced it seem that important to me. I might like “see there come the day” more than “see me the way that I am”, but I don’t like “waiting for you anyway” as a follow-up. Regarding the comedy, either “of errors” or “from the 70s”, I think the first is not only prettier as a phrase, but more fitting to the song. The last two verses I don’t really care that much about in neither version, tbh, so for me that’s a tie.
Apart from this analysis of the lyrics, I like the instrumentation more in the final version, even if the more subdued touch has its charm."

Alrighty, I'll describe my first time travel in japan, what went well, what didn't go well, my overall impression of Japan. We travelled trough quite a few cities, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible as I'm not much of writer. And we've visited quite a few places, so if you'd like more details, comment and I'll go more in-depth :).
A bit about the travelling party. Me(25M) and a work colleague(26M), Lithuanians(Europe) software engineers, reasonably fit and somewhat fluent in english, Omnivores(my colleague is allergic to cheese), our height is around ±185cm.

TL;DR

Cities/islands visited

Tokyo(Shinjuku) -> Osaka -> Nara -> Kyoto -> Onomichi Islands -> Matsuyama -> Hiroshima -> Miyajima -> Kumamoto -> Aso(region) -> Fukuoka -> Nagasaki -> Nagoya -> Takayama -> Magome -> Matsumoto - > Tokyo(Chuo) -> Tokyo(Shibuya) -> Tokyo(Teito) -> Hakone.

Expenses

I was slightly more conservative with my spending so my expenses are on the cheaper side, my colleague spent quite a bit more, especially on food and booze.
Total amount spent: slightly more than 3k euros in japan + 1.1k euros flights back and forth.
Daily food expenses: 30-40 eur or 5k-7k yen.
Average hotel stay: ~60euro
Food: - Breakfast - usually something from a convenience store. Chicken, power gels, chocolate, melon bread(my favourite), - Lunch - something from a convenience store or a restaurant - Dinner - restaurant usually a ramen place

Activities

Museums, castles, shrines, forests, mountains, walks around the city. We did a lot of walking, total around 400km of walking(at leasts that's what google fit shows)
Alright that's a brief summary, now for the more in-depth write up.

My key takeaways

• Japan is a very safe country, I felt safe everywhere, even in the shady parts of Tokyo.
• People are very polite, they'll go out of their way to help you, even if they don't speak english.
• People are very quiet, you won't hear people talking on the phone, or talking loudly in public transport.
• Be polite, if you don't understand or thing that this is not how it should be, don't be rude, just accept it and move on. You are an alien in their country, not the other way around. So please don't ever raise your voice, japanese people are not malicious, they'll try to help you, but they might not understand you.
• If you want to feel appreciated, learn at least the basics on japanese, it's not that hard, and it'll make your life easier. I did it through doulingo, reached unit 14 in a month and that was sufficient to have very simple conversation.

This is it for the TL;DR part. I'll go more in-depth for the rest of the post.

Planning for the trip

We started planning the trip, where we'll go, where we'll stay, what we'll do, expenses, trains, all that you can plan was started to be planned around a month prior to the trip. We created a word doc as our itinerary, that was around 60 pages long. From what I've read on this page about you can't plan everything. Well I believe we did, we might've even over planned :D.
So we booked the following hotels: - Tokyo - Apa Hotel Higashi Shinjuku Kabukicho Tower(04.25-04.26) - Osaka - APA Hotel Namba Kita Shinsaibashi Ekimae(04.26-04.30) - Onomichi island - TOMARIGI Hostel(04.30-05.01) - Matsuyama - Hotel Patio Dogo(05.01-05.02) - Hiroshima - Wholeearth Ryokan Hiroshima(05.02-05.04) - Kumamoto - Hotel Wing International Select Kumamoto(05.04-05.08) - Nagoya - Sotetsu Fresa Inn Nagoya Shinkansenguchi(05.08-05.10) - Magoame - Magomechaya(05.10-05.11) - Matsumoto - Hotel M Matsumoto(05.11-05.12) - Tokyo - APA Hotel Ginza Kyobashi Tokyo Station Yaesu South Gate(05.14-05.17)
Extra things we bought in advance: - Water proof bags - Hiking boots and socks - Bigger backpacks - JP Rail pass, we booked the trains in advance, but honestly that wasn't necessary even during golden week - Bandages for foot blisters, medicine(for headaches, motion sickness, diarrhoea). - Ubigi eSim internet(10GB was plenty for me throughout the trip) - Sun screen(did not use and got sunburned to a point where I was shinning red) - Portable battery

The trip

Day 1(04.25)

We arrived at the Haneda aiport, exchanged some cash to yen(was at a better course than locally), printed out our JR passes(IMPORTANT TO DO SO HERE, only major stations let you print it out) and went to the metro. We took the train to Shinjuku, and walked to our hotel to check-in. We were quite tired, bought some chicken from lawson and went to explore a few places, a few drinks in golden gai district and ramen in a nearby place. Eventually we ended up at rock bar mother. Really cool place, for each drink you can request 2 songs to be played. After that back to hotel, visit the top floor onsen and sleep

Day 2(04.26)

Got up early, travelled to osaka. Left our luggage in the hotel, we were too early for a check in. We went to see Osaka castle(quite beautiful), tried takoyaki there. More city exploring, then we went check-in. After that we went to see the Umeda Sky Building in the evening(we bought the ticket in advance) very beautiful, it was very clear and beautiful. Got back to the city, got some ramen, went to the hotel and sleep.

Day 3(04.27)

Went to USJ, bought tickets(basic, no express stuff) in advance. We went there 30minutes before opening, and there was already a huge line. We went to Nintendo first, the zone looked very nice, but ride it'd say was okay'ish for me. After that the dinosaur rides, minion land, grabbed chinese food for lunch, went to the harry potter zone, at this point the lines got quite long around 1h to 1h 30min of wait time. After that we went to see Water world where they were doing a play, was really awesome, I'd say a must see even if you don't understand Japanese, the acting is very good. After that we went to Osaka aquarium(no lines, thank god), it was beautiful, cute chonks and other sea creatures.

Day 4(04.28)

Trip to Kyoto from Osaka. We went early by metro, to see the bamboo forest(7:40'ish), beautiful, few people. Walked around the park then climbed the mount a fed the monkeys(50 yen for a bag of fruits or nuts), very cute, tried petting the hand of one, didn't go well got an aggressive show of teeth. After that we visited Ryoanji temple, went to nishi market, we we're running a bit late so we took a taxi to Kiyomizudera, we saw the geish district on our way to there, looked interesting. After the temple we went to a bar and got back to Osaka and then after a bowl of ramen to our hotel.

Day 5(04.29)

We went to Nara, took this hiking track saw the deer, bought some food, did the whole bow thing then fed them. One thing to keep in mind is to crumble the cookie and give it in small pieces, otherwise you'll run out of food to give quickly. They might be very "assertive" and try to take it from you, don't be afraid, just stick your empty arm out to get some distance and that's it . They're not gonna bite you. After that we went to see the Todaiji temple, it was beautiful, the buddha statue was huge. Got back to Osaka, got some ramen, went to the hotel, scheduled to send our luggage to our next hotel and went to sleep.

Day 6(04.30)

Got up early, went to Onomichi, rented some bikes and began our cycling journey through the islands. A lot of cool bridges, very beautiful nature. We cycled to north Omishima port, where we transfered to rabbit island pet and fed the rabbits, got back and cycled to our ryokan and straight to sleeping.

Day 7(05.01)

More cycling, more cool bridges, more beautiful nature. We arrived at Imabari, returned our bikes and took the train to Matsuyama. We ate some stree food, relaxed in the open hot springs for feet. Walked around and went to sleep. To be honest I'd say this was the favorite city of the whole trip for me. I liked the vibe, the people, the food, the nature, the onsen, the layout, the architecture. In general, beautiful city.

Day 8(05.02)

Early in the morning visited a public onsen nearby, then went to see the Matsuyama castle, it was beautiful, tried the orange juice there, it was really good, got back to our hotels, got some dango. Packed our stuff, got a taxi and went to the port and took the ferry to Hiroshima. Checked in the ryokan. Took a train to Hiroshima city center, visited the castle and then the nuclear museum. Get the english audio for best experience. It took me around 2hours to walk through everything, read it and take it in. It was very nerve racking, but I'd say a must see. After that we went out to eat some Okonomiyaki, it was delicious, then back to the ryokan and sleep.

Day 9(05.03)

Went to Miyajima island first by train then transfer by ferry. It was very beautiful, the mountain hike was also fun, the view on top was amazing. When we came down from the mountain there was a low tide, so we could go near the Itsukushima shrine. Got back to Hiroshima, went to the city center for a couple of beers, got back to Ryokan and went to sleep.

Day 10(05.04)

First day of the Golden week, wouldn't say that I've noticed anything different, maybe because we were travelling to the far south of Japan - Kumamoto. This is one of those cities that I also enjoyed more than the big common ones, it looked very nice, had a beautiful castle, was not crowded as Hiroshima, Osaka or Tokyo. We rented out bikes, cycled to Honmoji park(the place near Honmoji park is god damn maze, keep you google maps always open or you will get lost) found a place to eat, visited Lafcadio Hearn House and went to our hotel and then to sleep.

Day 11(05.05)

We rentend a car and went to Aso, highly recommend renting a car here, since the public transport is not that good. The drive was very nice, we went to see active volcano crater, luckily it was not erupting, so we were allowed to get close. Then we went around and climbed the other inactive mountain caps. Climbing that was one of the most fun hikes I've had. It was very windy, you could barely see past 5 meters anywhere, because of the fog. There was no smell of sulfur, so it was safe. We visited Mt. Nakadake, Mt. Takadake, overall the place looked like Mordor, the vibes, the weather everything. After that we visited Ayugaeno Falls, the ravines and everything was just majectic. After that we got back to Kumamoto, gave back the car and went somewhere to eat. Car rental cost around ~7k yen in total. So I'd say a good price. After eating, we went to our hotel and then to sleep.

Day 12(05.06)

We went to Fukuoka, by train, walked around the city, visited Tochoji temple, Fukuoka castle ruins, Ohori park and explored the huge ravine type shopping mall. Went to the science museum(big mistake, it's for kids...). After that we tried Ichiran ramen(originated in Fukuoka so we thought it be better). Was the same as everywhere else. It was rainy so we got back pretty early to our hotel and went to sleep.

Day 13(05.07)

We went to Nagasaki, by train, visited the atomic bomb museum, it was very interesting, just as good as the one in Hiroshima. We took a boat ride to see Gunkanjima, though we couldn't get on the island, because of the weather, it was still very interesting to see and hear the history of the island. Explored the Dutch district, walked around the shops, tried some whale meat. It was raining the whole day, so we also got back quite early and went to sleep.

Day 14(05.08)

We got up early and went got straight to the train station, and caught the train to Nagoya. The longest train ride by far. We arrived at Nagoya, checked in our hotel, went to the city center, visited the castle, it was very beautiful, then we wanted to explore the abandoned tunnel near Aichi. Apparently it was closed, we decided we're going to enter through the exit, like rascals, but apparently after we circled around there was a police officer that was guarding traffic through the bridge and wouldn't let us through. So our trip ended there. After comming back to Nagoya we visited the sky scrapper, it had interesting installations on the windows. We had our stay got back to hotel and went to sleep.

Day 15(05.09)

We went to Takayama, by train, one of the most scenic train rides so far. We strolled around the city center, visited the early morning market, bought some souvenirs, tried some white strawberries, mushroom tee and other local cuisine. Visited Takayama Showa Museum, which was 10/10. You could touch almost everything, the museum gave a great vibe, it was like you were in a house of a family that lived there. There was also an old nintendo with mario kart that you could play, put on a old yukata and take photos. Play pachinko(no money needed), watch an old-school movie. We visited a few sake tasting places, I've found a few flavours that I liked. After that back to Nagoya, eat ramen and sleep.

Day 16(05.10)

We sent out our luggage to Matsumoto, caught a train to Nagiso and then hiked the Nakasendo trail to Tsumago and then Magome where we checked in and stayed at the local ryokan. The hike was very nice and relaxing one of the easier hikes I've had, the places we saw we're quite old and beautiful. At ryokan we met people one American and one from Germany, they had a guitar so we chatted a bit, played the guitar and had a few beers. The dinner at ryokan was amazing, looked very traditional Japanese dinner. Was also very tasty, would definitely recommend this place. After that we went to sleep.

Day 17-19(05.11)

Got up early and took a bus to Nakatsugawa Eki-mae station where we travelled to Matsumoto. We left our bags and went to the RubyKaigi conference. Overall good conference, I've learned somethings, but most importantly I've had bit of time to rest and catch up on some sleep, since we weren't exploring new cities. So overall the following 3 days were wake up -> breakfast -> conference -> lunch -> conference -> drinks -> dinner -> sleep.

Day 20(05.14)

Slept in, had breakfast and travelled to Tokyo by train. Left our luggage at the hotel and moved on to explore the Chou region. Walked around the Ginza, Imperial palace, Yasukuni shrine and went to check in. After that it was getting dark, so travelled to Akihabara to experience the anime night life, was quite bright and interesting. Though the amount of requests to visit a maid cafe was too damn high. If your planning to buy a PS5, a new GPU or Nintendo switch, this could be the place, I saw PS5 with two controllers for 60k yen, with a 10% tax refund that is around 370 euros. After some exploration, got back to our hotel and went to sleep.

Day 21(05.15)

This was our Hakone day trip, we bought the 3 day pass for it, so we could use the train, bus, ropeway and boat. Was worth it, even for one day. We climbed Mt. Kintoki, thankfully the weather was great and we could see Fuji. The climb was very nice, the view was amazing, the weather was great, no bears to be seen. After climbing down, we played some golf that was near there. Travelled back to the station were we used the rope-way to get around the mountains, the view was just majestic, we saw the sulfur pits, the stench was, well strong to say the least, but overall enjoyed the experience. We didn't make it time to the boat, so we had to travel back by bus, which wasn't so bad, since the scenery was amazing.

Day 22(05.16)

Explored more Tokyo, so we went to Teito district, went to the Ueno zoo, National science museum. After that we went to Kaminarimon gate, Asakusa shrine and moved to Shibuya next. There we went to the Yoyogi park, Meiji Jingu shrine, paid our respects to Hachiko statue. The last activity was to visit TeamLabs Planets, which were amazing, one most interesting experiences, not gonna spoil any details, overall great experience, would do it again. As it was getting late we got back to Shibuya, walked around more, had a drink and went back to our hotel.

Day 23(05.17)

Last day in Japan was spent buying souvenirs, snacks and other stuff to bring back home. Packing our luggage, to accommodate for the extras, getting to Haneda airport and back to Lithuania.
I'm very happy I had the opportunity to go on such a trip, I enjoyed it a lot even though, I'm quite the couch potato so 3 weeks is a bit much for me, but nonetheless, wouldn't change a thing.