The gas giant loomed large in the viewport, ballooning as the ship coasted toward it, the colorful blue hues of its swirling bands reflecting the glow of the system’s star.
Darren could make out the bright, scarred surface of an ice moon drifting lazily past, framed against the rivers of flowing hydrogen and helium. Silhouetted against the Jupiter-mass object was their destination – Halfpoint Station.
Having come from Earth, which was still a backwater when compared to many of the Imperium’s more developed worlds, the sheer size and grandeur of the structure took his breath away.
It was hard to gauge its true scale in the vacuum of space where there was no atmospheric haze, and there were no landmarks for reference, the unfiltered light creating harsh shadows. As they drew nearer, however, he was able to pick out some of the massive fuel tankers that swarmed its ports like clouds of gnats.
Those vessels put anything created by Humanity to shame – their purpose being to dip into the upper atmosphere of the gas giant, harvesting its resources to fuel the ships that made their berth here.
Calling it enormous was an understatement. It must have been nine miles tall, the main hull of the station forming a long, relatively thin vertical shaft. Surrounding that shaft were half a dozen rotating rings, each one connected to the central column by spokes, the pinpoints of innumerable windows glinting as they slowly turned.
At its apex was a dome of immense proportions, sitting proudly atop the structure, the crystalline material that made up its transparent hull glittering in the starlight. Inside, he could make out glimpses of regal skyscrapers and patches of parkland – an entire city encapsulated in a habitat that had a breathtaking view of the planet.
Darren pursed his lips as he looked down at the device on his wrist, the tiny display showing the familiar text of an article he must have read at least a dozen times by this point.
Halfpoint Station was situated on the outskirts of the Imperium’s sphere of influence, a region of space known only as the Periphery. This put it soundly outside of Purp jurisdiction, but the place still saw a lot of traffic, as the station was right in the middle of a relatively well-traveled shipping route between the three big powers.
While it had started its life as little more than a place to fuel up and get resupplied, being located outside any of the major spheres of influence had its benefits, and the station had garnered a bit of a reputation for its more permissive policies. Now, it was said to be populated by hired guns, smugglers, gamblers, and anyone else who might appreciate discretion.
The Human frowned as he looked out the window once more and tried to reconcile the gleaming edifice before him with the dark reputation the article in his hands presented.
He didn’t have long to dwell on it before the pilot’s crackly voice came through a hidden intercom in the cabin, informing the passengers that they were commencing docking procedures.
The woman spoke in accented Shil. What that accent was, Darren had no clue, but he knew it wasn’t the same one spoken by his professors – linguistic or mechanical.
He glanced around at his fellow travelers, seeing a few species that he didn’t recognize, along with the more familiar Shil’vati. The aliens were easily identifiable by the purple hue of their skin, their sharp tusks, and their seven-foot height.
Several of them returned his gaze, some curious, some covetous.
Males were rare in the Imperium.
Hell, males were rare, period.
By the standards of most races out in the galaxy, Humanity were the strange ones for having an equal number of men and women. Even six years into the occupation, most were still struggling to adapt to the new paradigm brought on by that reality.
Darren was no exception.
Still, he managed to ignore the stares, turning his attention to the smart display on his wrist, bringing up his itinerary. He was headed to Hab-Ring Five, and the only information that he’d been given beyond that were some coordinates to who-knew-where.
He sighed, wishing – not for the first time – that he might have a fellow first timer to converse with.
Unfortunately, that was a pipe dream.
The lack of other Humans on his ship wasn’t surprising. The Imperium had only recently relaxed enough to begin authorizing travel visas allowing Humans to leave Earth, and his kind were still a rarity on the Galactic stage.
As to why he was out here out in the ass end of space?
He’d been offered a job.
He was an engineer by trade, at least according to his degree, and he specialized in the combination of alien and Human technology. It might seem like an oddly specific skillset, but it was one that was in high demand, as just about every industry on Earth was trying to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Imperium’s literal space-age technology.
It was complicated work, but he was quite good at it, if he said so himself – and his professors seemed to agree. His gift had catapulted him through university and had apparently landed him a very lucrative offer to take up a position on Halfpoint.
How they’d heard of him, he wasn’t too sure. Nor did he truthfully know exactly what the job entailed. Apparently, he was to be briefed on-location.
Regardless, off-world work was a rare opportunity for any Human, let alone one fresh out of school, and visiting an alien space station was a lot more interesting than backpacking around Europe for a year.
Whatever happened, it was going to be an adventure.
The ship matched velocity with one of the rotating rings, the structure at least half a mile tall in its own right, covered in tiny windows that made it look like a whole city block had been condensed down into the shape of a donut.
Now that he was a little closer, Darren could see that the station was actually far from pristine. Its hull was pocked with haphazard repairs, the newer sections shining brighter than their older counterparts, its armored panels pitted with little craters from space debris and micro-meteorite impacts.
The ship lined up with a docking port, and an umbilical walkway began to extrude from the ring, reaching out towards them. It looked like the jib of a crane, covered over with a flexible material that bore a suspicious resemblance to a grey tarp.
Surely it wasn’t actually a tarp? No, it had to be some kind of alien supertech – too advanced for him to recognize at a glance.
Right?
His thoughts did little to reassure him as the umbilical connected to the shuttle’s airlock with a tangible thud.
Shaking his head, he retrieved his travel bag, then made his way down the aisle to join the queue of passengers who were waiting to disembark. More of them crammed in behind him, and he tried to ignore their uncomfortable proximity.
He hadn’t actually spent a lot of time around aliens during his schooling. One of his professors had been a Shil, but she had been professional to a fault and had always kept a healthy distance from her students.
Of course, she had still managed to be rather intimidating despite that, her head seeming to scrape the ceiling every time she stepped into the classroom. However, Darren was rapidly discovering that being surrounded by women who stood head and shoulders above him was a different experience altogether.
It was nothing to get worked up over, though. He just needed to-
The Shil standing behind him pressed close – uncomfortably close – Darren swearing that there was room enough in the aisle for her to keep her distance. Suddenly, he felt a sharp twinge in his rear.
Had she just...pinched him? No, it had to have been a mistake.
He turned to glance over his shoulder, looking up at the towering Purp. “Sorry, Ma’am, I must have bumped into you.”
Her sly smile faded as she furrowed her brow in confusion. Before she had time to formulate a reply, the intercom above the exit beeped.
“Oh, looks like we’re moving again!” Darren chimed as he began to follow the queue. “Sorry!”
He followed the procession of towering women into the passenger ship’s airlock. Both of the pressurized doors were open, and before him stretched the umbilical. The worryingly thin material that protected them from the deadly vacuum of space was wrapped taut around a metal frame, and the walkway beneath his feet was made up of a simple grate.
After a short walk, they emerged into a cavernous dock area, so large that it was more like standing in some kind of indoor stadium than anything that could be compared to a space station. There were stacks of shipping containers and unidentifiable machinery everywhere he looked.
It was a challenge not to stop and examine the equipment, each new sight piquing his interest, each strange device begging to be investigated. As he followed the other passengers to the far end of the room – his head on a swivel – he almost bumped into one of the containers. To his surprise, it was floating a foot off the ground, suspended on an anti-gravity cushion.
It was funny – no matter how many times he saw it, it never stopped being surreal to see something just…float.
As he stooped to look beneath it, an irritated dockworker leaned out from behind it to yell at whoever was in her way. She stopped when she saw him, raising a skeptical eyebrow. She was a Rakiri, if Darren remembered correctly. She resembled a towering werewolf, a pair of cat-like eyes peering out from beneath her black fur, her facial features strangely leonine. She was clad in dirty, yellow coveralls that hung loosely from her broad shoulders, exposing the ragged tank top that she wore beneath it. Tufts of her dark coat poked out around the faded garment, giving her a surprisingly fluffy appearance.
“You lost, boy?” she asked as she shooed him out of her path. “Stay behind the yellow warning markings unless you want to get that cute butt smushed,” she added with a nod toward the deck. She continued to push her heavy container, moving it effortlessly on its gravity cushion.
More dock workers were assembling to stare at him, perhaps having never seen a Human before. Or perhaps it was because he was male? It was hard to tell. Either way, a small crowd of yellow-clad women saw him off, a couple of them hooting at him and waving. Not sure if this was some kind of alien greeting, he shyly waved back, eliciting laughter from them after a moment of surprise.
One started to make her way over to him before a menacing growl from her superior made her freeze in place sheepishly. Darren took that as his cue to move on – he didn’t want to get anyone else in trouble by being in the way.
He arrived at a security gate, and after being asked to show his visa, he was subjected to a very thorough – and in his opinion unnecessary – pat-down. Once he was cleared, he emerged into the station proper. He stepped out of the way of the women behind him, then set his travel bag down on the metal deck, taking in the alien sights and sounds for a moment.
Far from being a sterile, clinical environment, he found himself in a bustling bazaar worthy of any city back on Earth. It scarcely felt like he was standing inside a station at all, what passed for the ceiling so high above his head that he could barely make out the crisscrossing support beams and maintenance catwalks.
It was styled like a cramped street, too small for cars, almost like the city center of some old European town had been reimagined in an industrial style. Civilian quarters that resembled apartment blocks rose up towards the ceiling, connecting to it in some places, likely leading up to higher levels of the station.
In every nook and cranny – anywhere there was room – the denizens of the hab-ring had set up little stalls where they were hawking their wares to the tourists who had just boarded. Colorful awnings fluttered in the artificial breeze from the air recyclers, and insulated cables that had been patched from the station’s systems trailed along walls and floors, powering streetside food stands and colorful neon signs.
Speaking of the denizens, they came in all shapes and sizes. Darren had never seen so many varieties of alien in one place before. He could make out a few Shil and Rakiri, but most were unknown to him, the varied hues of their skin and clothes creating a bustling sea of color.
He checked the device on his wrist again, pulling up the coordinates that his new employer had forwarded to him. This was indeed Hab-Ring Five, and he’d been given what passed for an address in this strange environment. Hefting his bag once more, he made his way into the throng, having to dodge and weave between the towering aliens. Many of them barely seemed to register his presence, probably due to his comparatively small stature, though some seemed to stop and stare in confusion.
Well, I suppose Humans are pretty new on the galactic scene, he thought to himself.
The scents of strange, alien food assailed him as he navigated the cramped streets, a few of the criers singling him out. They had sharp instincts, he’d give them that. It seemed the locals could smell a tourist at thirty paces.
Maybe it was all the staring he was doing?
Eventually, he arrived at his destination, glancing up from his display to see a dingy bar. It was open to the street, built into an overhang at the base of one of the many buildings, little more than a long counter with a few stools. Above it was a blinking neon sign in a script that he couldn’t read. As he made his way inside and struggled up onto one of the tall stools, the small handful of patrons who were sitting off to his left paused their conversation to examine him.
They were Nighkru, their goat-like horns and the bruise-purple hue of their skin giving them away. Their silver eyes were striking, almost seeming to glow in the dim light of the bar, as reflective as those of a cat. Their clothing was all tight leather and straps, their skin strategically exposed in places to show off their stunning bioluminescent tattoos, the swirling patterns trailing down slender limbs and across toned midriffs.
He kept his gaze aimed forward, knowing that their kind didn’t think much of the Imperium to which he now belonged.
…Then again, that was true for pretty much every race that wasn’t a part of the massive interstellar empire. Say what you would about the Purps, but they knew how to make an impression.
The bartender walked over to him, leaning on the counter as she looked him up and down skeptically. It was another Rakiri like the dockworkers, her feline nose twitching as she took in his scent.
“You lost, or do you want something to drink?” she asked.
“No thank you, I’m waiting for someone,” he replied sheepishly as he lowered his eyes to his device again.
He was right on time, but as he looked around, there was no sign of his contact. He was supposed to meet them here, right?
The Rakiri shrugged her furry shoulders, then left him to his own devices, moving over to the small group of Nighkru.
Perhaps one of them was his contact?
He certainly hoped not. While he didn’t have anything against a person enjoying themselves with a good drink after hours, it wasn’t a good way to make a positive first impression on a prospective employee.
Fortunately for him, the surprise on one of the trio’s grey skinned faces when she happened to blearily peer in his direction dashed that possibility. Just a trio of young women out for a drink.
Unfortunately for him, after a few hastily whispered words to her friends, the group made their way over to him.
“Don’t see many males round these parts,” one of them said, her faux leather getup creaking as she planted her hands on the bar to his left. Another leaned on the counter to his right, the third posting up behind him.
“A Human, too,” the woman to his right added with a sly chuckle. “Now, what’s a Human doing all alone out on the Periphery?”
“I didn’t think the Purps were letting their pets off the leash.” the one behind him snickered.
“I don’t know,” the first said with an exaggerated shrug. “Maybe he snuck out in search of a real woman? I think we’ve all heard how Humans can be.”
That set the three of them laughing.
All the while, Darren wasn’t sure where to look, turning his head left and right as he struggled to pick a Nighkru. He settled on the woman to his left, having to lift his head to meet her gaze, those reflective eyes shining like a pair of silver coins.
“I...uh...was actually supposed to be meeting someone here.” he stammered, a little of his anxiety bleeding through.
The Nighkru gave him a warm smile that wasn’t reflected in her eyes, leaning a little closer. He tried to pull away reflexively but found another Nighkru waiting for him, something rather soft pressing against his back.
“Well, I don’t see anyone else in here but me and my friends,” one of them said as she tutted dramatically. “Maybe they stood you up?”
“Poor form, that,” the one behind him whispered into his ear. He lurched in his seat, surprised by her proximity. “Leaving a pretty young thing like you hanging.”
The first one nodded, as if that was a piece of sagely wisdom. “I know – how about my friends and I give you a personal tour of the station to make up for it?” she asked, reaching out to brush a piece of errant fluff from his collar. “We’ll even carry your luggage for you – we’re nice like that.”
She signaled to one of her compatriots with a curt nod, who then plucked his travel bag off the deck.
“Oh, that’s really not-”
He tried to stand, but he was cut off as two of the women placed their hands on his shoulders, pushing him back down into his seat. Their touch was gentle, but firm, letting him know that he wasn't going anywhere.
Darren looked to the Rakiri bartender for help, feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the turn of events, but she was staying out of it. She was feigning disinterest, cleaning a glass with a rag that didn’t look clean enough for the job.
It was clear that he wouldn’t be getting any help from her.
Was this really going to be his first experience on the station – kidnapped by a gang of alien grifters?
Just as he was getting ready to – likely ineffectually – start swinging like his life depended on it, he heard a voice ring out in a language he didn’t recognize.
The Nighkru turned their heads as one, and he followed their gaze, seeing another of their kind step in from the street. Her skin had the same twilight hue, her silvery hair pulled back into a long ponytail that trailed behind her as she strode towards them. She wore a jet-black body suit that left little to the imagination, so tight that it might have been sewn onto her, the garment open at the front to expose a chiseled midriff and the beginnings of her cleavage. Her eyes were mesmerizing, his gaze drawn to the glowing tattoos that served to accentuate them.
Oddly, unlike the trio surrounding him, she had no horns.
The stranger walked with purpose, her heels clicking on the deck, her hair swishing behind her as she came to a stop to stare down the three other women. They were already backing off, the Nighkru who had taken his bag setting it back down gingerly beside his seat. Did they know this person? They seemed so wary of her.
“Maybe we’ll see you around,” one of them whispered, her hand lingering on his shoulder for a moment before she followed her friends out into the street.
Once they were finally out of sight, Darren breathed a sigh of relief and turned to thank the newcomer. Before he could utter so much as a word, she beat him to the punch.
“You shouldn’t wander around Halfpoint alone,” she said, skipping the preamble. Her voice had a melodic tone, one that was almost musical to Darren’s ears. She planted her hands on her hips, scrutinizing him with a skeptical expression. “You’re just asking for trouble.”
“I’m just...waiting for someone,” he replied. “Thank you, by the way. I’m-”
“Do you have a weapon on you?” she asked, cutting him off. “A handgun under that jacket? Defense spray? A pocket knife?”
“What? No,” he replied, his brow furrowing. “Why would I have a gun?”
Even with a few inches of titanium-alloy plating between everyone aboard and a messy death by explosive decompression, using a firearm on the station seemed risky.
She snorted derisively, almost as though she couldn’t believe his reply.
“For your sake, I hope that whoever you’re waiting for is smarter than you are,” she said with a roll of her silver eyes. “This isn’t Earth, boy. There are no Shil Marines around to babysit you. Next time you want to play tourist, go somewhere closer to home.”
With a flick of her long hair, she turned about, vanishing into the crowd once more to leave him sitting at the bar in confusion.
Darren felt another hand on his shoulder and turned to see an Edixi wearing grease-stained overalls standing behind him. The tool belt that hung loosely about her hips let him know that she was a mechanic before she’d even had time to open her mouth.
Her kind were evolved for an aquatic environment, and although they were fully amphibious, they retained many of their ancient features. Their bodies were smooth and streamlined, with lean, lightly-muscled frames that made them look like Olympic swimmers. Her eyes were a striking ocean-green, and her azure skin was patterned with faded tiger stripes, darkening as it neared her extremities.
“You’re the new engineer, right?” she chirped excitedly.
“Darren Fogle, pleased to meet you,” he confirmed as he extended a hand. She took it, shaking it eagerly, and he noted that her fingers were webbed.
He was a little surprised by how smooth her skin was. Given the sharklike appearance of the Edixi – and her vocation – he’d expected it to be rough and scaly. Maybe cold and slimy, too. By contrast, it was warm and soft, her small scales smooth like a snake’s rather than sharp like those of a fish.
Odd.
“Oh, it is. It very much is. The boss told me to fetch you,” she said before turning back towards the street. “Don’t get lost, you hear? There are some rough types around these parts.”
Yes, she could say that again. He stooped to pick up his bag, then hurried after her, trying not to lose sight of her in the crowd. He also belatedly realized that she hadn’t told him her own name.
Was that an Edixi thing or was she just in a hurry?
The mechanic led him through the streets, which seemed to be arranged in a kind of grid pattern, always flanked by the towering hab-blocks. It was as challenging as ever to navigate when so many of the station’s inhabitants stood a head taller than him. It made him feel like a bug that was trying to avoid being stepped on.
He could only assume he’d get used to it. His guide seemed to have no problem getting around, and she was a few inches shorter than him.
Their destination was some kind of service elevator – a large platform that seemed designed to carry heavy cargo up from the docks, wide enough that a couple of trucks could have parked on it side by side. There were still a few cargo containers stacked off to one side that hadn’t been unloaded yet.
He watched as the woman hit a touch panel beside the double doors, and they began to slide shut, the platform lurching as Darren felt it start to rise. There was no grinding of machinery, no vibrations, only a sensation of getting heavier. It was obviously gravity-manipulation tech. It wasn’t too surprising – the Shil seemed to use it for just about everything, so it wasn’t too strange that the rest of the universe did as well.
Convergent technological development, he could almost imagine his Shil instructor saying as they started to descend. Good tech is good tech.
The hab-ring’s many levels flashed by one by one, until finally, the elevator slid to a smooth stop. Darren followed the happily humming mechanic out into a garage, his eyes lighting up as he took in his new surroundings.
Were those… mecha?
The bay’s walls were lined with bulky harnesses that were obviously designed to hold the machines in place, a few of the berths already occupied by half-disassembled vehicles.
They were!
“Real life mecha,” he mumbled.
As a mechanic, he wasn’t ignorant of the genre. After all, what kind of engineer didn’t hold a soft spot for giant stompy robots? Of course, as an engineer, he also held an inherent disdain for anyone that actually thought said machines were even remotely practical outside of the realm of fiction.
The Square Cube Law was a harsh mistress.
The long and short of it was that if you doubled a machine's height while keeping it the same shape, you ended up with four times the muscle power moving eight times the mass. As a result, instead of having the same relative agility as the original, the double-sized machine actually had only half.
That was why ants could lift so much relative to their weight. If you scaled one up, you’d end up with a much less impressive power to weight ration.
And, the problem only got worse the bigger you went. Giant robots would be slow, cumbersome, and they would inevitably suffer from exploding ankles if they tried to move too fast. They’d also sink in just about any terrain that was even slightly porous.
All in all, mecha were a cool concept with absolutely zero real world applications.
Which was why he was so stunned to see some in real life. Sure, the Shil military liked to use exos, but they were really just power armor by any other name with thrusters attached. Besides, the only reason those things could skip around like they did was because they had anti-grav generators…
His thoughts trailed off as an idea occurred to him. He jogged over to the nearest machine, peering up at the twenty-foot humanoid monstrosity. Its legs had been detached, leaving only a bulky torso covered in half-stripped sensory equipment, lenses and scanners visible where their protective covers had been removed. The cockpit was open, revealing the pilot’s seat, along with the surrounding neural interface cables that hung loose like the entrails of some mechanical beast. Its weapon attachments were empty, but it was nonetheless an awe-inspiring sight.
Sure enough, there were two oversized humps on the back. One was clearly for the thing’s fusion engine – and the other must have held the anti-grav generator.
“Darren?” the mechanic asked, having only just realized that he wasn’t behind her. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Y-yeah,” he said, jogging for a few paces to catch up. “That’s a mecha!”
The blue-hued alien nodded slowly. “Yes?”
“A mecha,” he reiterated.
Which prompted another slow nod. “You’ve never seen a gladiator mech before?”
“No.”
“Didn’t they tell you what job you’d be doing?” the mechanic asked, cocking her head in a rather adorable manner.
“No?” This time it was his turn to cock his head.
Several emotions seemed to fly across the alien’s face. He saw surprise, confusion, and dismay before she finally settled on irritation.
“Typical,” she grunted. “Just… follow me.”
AN: https://youtu.be/a3Xp1WhRQ9Q

I(25) love my parents. Until they drink. As a kid my sisters and I were left at home while my parents went to the bar at least twice weekly. Made me feel second best to a glass of beer. I was extremely angry as a teenager and now that I live in another town on my own I’ve made alot of progress to fix that. I’ve worked hard not to jump to anger like I used to and moving has been the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. But every time I visit I fall back into who I was. Now my older sister is becoming my father.
My dad (57) got his 4th dui when I was in high school and I learned to drive by taking him to the prerelease center to do breathalyzer tests daily. He didn’t go to jail thanks to his lawyer and stopped drinking for over a year. It was the proudest I’d ever been of my dad, he fucked up and almost ruined us but quit and fixed himself. But he’s back to drinking now and it’s heartbreaking.
My mom (56) drinks a lot too, although she is better than my dad at not getting plastered every time they go out she still drinks a lot and I’m sure she drives drunk despite everything. If I ask them to slow down or plan a way home they never do. It always falls onto me to figure it out.
The spark that’s making me write this my grandpas funeral. My dad is dealing with it by taking it out on us and drinking. He’s making rude comments to me when I try to stand up for myself or my mom. I got to the point where I left my grandpas memorial party, got my bags and checked into a hotel. Texted them I was staying at a hotel and he said “good” back. I am at the end of my rope. I don’t know what to do.
I love my parents until they drink. I need to set boundaries I know that but I don’t know how. What do I say? Should I wait considering my dad is grieving? Do I cut them off until they get it together?

I do. My therapist might ask me to explain what it is I miss, or think I miss.
I miss the possibility of us having a happy marriage and a happy family. I miss the moments that I did feel loved by him and knew that it was real. I miss when my head wasn’t filled with so many thoughts of him being an evil person. I miss seeing the good in him.
I miss hearing him laugh. I miss seeing him smile. I miss kissing him. I miss cuddling up with him. I miss anticipating for him to come home and then giving him a hug that’s too long for him. I miss him being goofy and silly with me.
I miss my best friend. I miss my husband. And he’s not my husband anymore and it makes me sad. It makes me sad how out of the blue sometimes when I’m getting ready I feel I’ve forgotten something and realize it’s my rings I’m thinking about. That I don’t have anymore.
I wish he would’ve at least tried to fix it. I don’t know what to do with myself anymore. I don’t want to replace him. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want anyone else. So I’ve just been working on me. But it gets so lonely. Things just feel hopeless and meaningless.
He took me for granted and didn’t appreciate me. He tries to make up other excuses or reasons, but ultimately that is what the truth was. I wasn’t too controlling, I was basically a pushover for him. I didn’t try to make him be something he wasn’t other than that I wanted him to drink less and not do drugs. I didn’t want him to change anything else. I did like him for who he was. He didn’t think I did. But I absolutely did and I loved him for who he was.
The problem is that I also resented him for the hurt and pain he caused me and that wasn’t going to just go away like he wanted it to. And I tried to ask him for what I needed to help me with that and he wouldn’t give it to me. He just kept doing things to make me feel more sad and neglected.
And I should recognize that he chose to behave that way and didn’t value me like he should have. I should recognize that I deserve better than that. I can say that I do and truly believe it, but it doesn’t change the fact that I still just want him. I just wanted him to be better to me. It’s all I really wanted. Was for him to pay more attention to me, make me feel more loved, make me feel special and safe.
Either he couldn’t or wouldn’t do that for me… I don’t know. I just know that nothing I’ve done has helped me so far to turn these feelings off. No matter which way I try to look at it… ultimately I am still sad that I loved someone so much and it was so easy for them to just walk away.
Part of me thinks he feels this pain too. Another part of me thinks he doesn’t at all and I’m just delusional. But how could he really not feel this too? I couldn’t understand that.

Introduction

I have been using Samsung Galaxy devices for 11 years, with my first Android/Samsung Galaxy device being the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (got the Galaxy Nexus in January of 2012) and with me currently daily driving the S22 Ultra (since May 2022).
I have been using iPhones for more than 12 years, with my first iPhone being the iPhone 4 (got the iPhone 4 in December of 2010) and with me currently daily driving the iPhone 14 Pro Max (since September 2022) and the iPhone SE (2020) as a secondary iPhone for iOS development (since March 2022).
Here is my daily driver history:
Android:

• Samsung Galaxy Nexus (bought in January 2012, traded the phone in October 2013)
• Samsung Galaxy Note3 (bought in October 2013, traded the phone in October 2014)
• Samsung Galaxy Note4 (bought in October 2014, traded the phone in September 2015)
• Samsung Galaxy Note5 (bought in September 2015, sold to my cousin's son (16M) in August 2016)
• Samsung Galaxy Note7 (bought in August 2016, recalled in October 2016)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (bought in October 2016, sold to my cousin's husband (40M) in April 2017 after he broke his iPhone 6 Plus)
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (bought in April 2017, sold to my cousin's son in Vietnam (29M) in April 2018)
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (bought in April 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (40M) in March 2019, with him giving me his S7 Edge)
• Samsung Galaxy S10+ (bought in March 2019, gave to my sister (21F) in March 2020 via mail, making the A50 as her secondary phone)
• Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra (bought in March 2020, traded the phone in February 2021)
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (bought in February 2021, gave to my sister (21F) in May 2022 via mail due to her cracking her S10+ with the front suffering some cracks, got the S10+ back)
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (bought in May 2022, still using it now)

Primary iPhone:

• iPhone 4 (bought in December 2010, sold to Vietnam's used market in October 2011)
• iPhone 4S (bought in October 2011, traded the phone in September 2012)
• iPhone 5 (bought in September 2012 right after moving to the US, sold to my cousin (53F) in September 2013)
• iPhone 5S (bought in September 2013, sold to my cousin (39F) in September 2014)
• iPhone 6 (bought in September 2014, sold the phone on eBay in September 2015)
• iPhone 6S (bought in September 2015, sold to my cousin's daughter (17F) in October 2016)
• iPhone 7 Plus (bought in September 2016, sold the phone on eBay in November 2017)
• iPhone X (bought in November 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (55M) in September 2018)
• iPhone XS Max (bought in September 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (55M) in October 2019 with him giving me his iPhone X to help use that towards my iPhone 11 Pro Max)
• iPhone 11 Pro Max (bought in October 2019, sold to my cousin (53F) in November 2020 with her giving me her iPhone 7 Plus to use as a spare device)
• iPhone 12 Pro Max (bought in November 2020, device started breaking down, so I traded the phone in December 2021, initially planned to keep it for longer)
• iPhone 13 Pro Max (bought in December 2021, sold to my cousin (53F) in September 2022 after complaints that her iPhone 11 Pro Max is breaking down, with her giving me her iPhone 11 Pro Max)
• iPhone 14 Pro Max (bought in September 2022, still using it now)

Secondary iPhone (mostly for iOS app development, listening to music, not including any iPhone/smartphones I bought on eBay for a collection):

• iPhone 5 (September 2015-November 2017): my cousin's husband (55M) upgraded from an iPhone 6 to a Galaxy S6 Edge+ and decided to give his iPhone 6 to my cousin (53F) due to him preferring Android over iOS (he kept the S6 Edge+ until May 2020 when he bought the S20+ and then he gave his S6 Edge+ to me in May 2020 via mail, but between 2017-2020, this acted as his 2nd phone as he was daily driving the iPhone X/XS Max mentioned above)
• iPhone 6S (November 2017-November 2020): my cousin's daughter (17F) upgraded from the 6S to the 7 Plus, along with both her parents (55M, 53F) not only due to the family switching from T-mobile to Verizon but also due to her cracking my old iPhone 6S, which caused her parents not only to replace the screen but also the battery)
• iPhone 7 Plus (November 2020-March 2022): my cousin (53F) received my iPhone 11 Pro Max, but since the iPhone 6S fell off my bike mount a month before, it cracked, and since the battery is so horrendous on the 6S, my cousin (53F) decided to give me her iPhone 7 Plus and I decided to take the 6S to the Apple Store in Cambridge MA to recycle it
• iPhone SE (2020) (since March 2022): Even though my cousin, and later I took very good care of the iPhone 7 Plus, the phone started breaking down on several fronts: the silent switch, charging port pins, and even battery started to die hard, and plus, since the phone is getting unsupported, I started deciding on the iPhone SE. After finding out the iPhone SE 3 was $429 and finding out I could get a prepaid iPhone SE 2 on AT&T for $150 ($50 plan+$15 activation fee but I cancelled auto pay immediately after buying the phone), I got the brand-new SE 2 instead. Nowadays, the battery started to fall apart (even though the battery is currently at 93% capacity) and even though this phone is not in a beta, there are a lot of bugs even on 16.3.1 (I am thinking of updating to 16.4 tonight)

Things my Samsung Galaxy does better than my iPhone

There are many things that Samsung Galaxy phones and other Android phones do better than iPhones, including the fact that on Android:

• notifications are not cluttered in the lock-screen unlike on iOS
• Android is more customisable than iOS and Android is an open-source mobile operating system
• Many new features such as reverse wireless charging, in screen fingerprints, foldable phones, 5G, triple camera setup, phablet size phones,
• there is a real back button on Android
• No need to use iTunes; you could just transfer music and photos/videos between your computer and phone without the hassle of iTunes
• Some Samsung Galaxy phones (S1-S20 excluding the S6/Note5) have microSD and older Samsung Galaxy phones have removable batteries
• Some Samsung Galaxy phones in certain markets have dual sim support, but since e-SIM was introduced, first with the Pixel 2, and later with the iPhone XS, dual sim is less of an advantage
• There are a lot of options, including the M/J series for budget conscious buyers, the A series for the average folk in many countries, the S/Note series for power-users, business users for extra productivity (mostly the Note series) and phone enthusiasts (like me), and the Z series for certain business users for extra productivity and for Flexers
• On my Samsung Galaxy devices, I could share the Wi-Fi password to other phones using the QR code; on iPhones, I could only share the Wi-Fi connection with other iPhones
• Samsung Galaxy devices support split screen view and pop up view, but these two features are restricted to the iPad, and iPhones only support picture in picture video

However, there are many lesser-known things that my Samsung Galaxy phones do better than my iPhones (based on my experience over the past 11 years), and some might be controversial:

• iPhone batteries start to massively degrade after a new iPhone and iOS version comes out

Even though the iPhone batteries are mostly very good during the first year of usage and have extremely good standby compared to Android phones due to software optimisation, by around July 2016, my iPhone 6S's battery is starting to fail, and I did need to rely on battery packs for my iPhones to survive as the iPhone 6S's battery would go from 100-0 after 4-6 hours of heavy use. My cousins did replace the iPhone 6S battery in October of 2017, but by October 2020 (please note according to battery health, IIRC, the 6S stands at 85%), on iOS 14, the iPhone 6S would drain from 90 to 35 in as little as 10 minutes and sometimes, during cold weather, the iPhone 6S's battery (on iOS 14) would die at 30%. Turns out this is not only an issue on my 6S as I bought a 6S on eBay in 2021 for my smartphone collection and that phone (with 80% capacity) also behaved the same, draining from 80 to 25 in around 10 minutes. The iPhones before the 6S also had a poor battery life after a year in my experience, and even though the iPhone 7 Plus, X, XS Max, and 11 Pro Max's battery holds better than the 6S due to the batteries being bigger, the batteries still started to become bad after 1-2 years.
My iPhone 12 Pro Max (I got rid of it in December of 2021 after it accidentally fell out from my nightstand drawer and the back cracked a month before) started seeing its battery fail sometime in September 2021, when the 13 Pro Max came out. Say I leave the house at 10:00 and were to return home at 19:00. By 17:00, with medium usage + hotspot, the iPhone's battery would have depleted to around 20 percent. Plus, my iPhones typically consume more battery if devices are connected to hotspot than my Samsung Galaxies are.
Also, I did receive the Galaxy S7 Edge (2019), Samsung Galaxy S9+ (earlier this month as my cousin's husband upgraded to the S23+), and the Samsung Galaxy S10+ (last year), and given that I would sell these phones on the second hand market, I would test the phones for a week or two to see the phone's condition before assessing it and selling it on the second hand market. What I found is that even though the S10+ cracked and therefore, I donated it rather than sold it, all three phones seem to have solid battery, considering their ages. The S7 Edge with its 3600 mAh battery under heavy use after 3 years would go about for 6-8 hours before needing a recharge, and my S9+ would go about for around 5-6 hours as well before hitting down to 20% of battery (that is after 5 years and given the fact my cousin's husband is a power user), and even though the S10 cracked, it would go for 8-10 hours under heavy usage before draining to around 20%. I also got back my Note5 from 2015 once my cousin's son upgraded to my cousin (50M)'s S8 Active in 2019 once my cousin upgraded to the Note10+, and even on that phone, the battery is still very good considering its age and its 3000 mAh size, doing around 4-6 hours going down from 100-20.

• My Samsung devices have proven more reliable as a whole than many of my iPhones

Even though all the 4 Samsung Galaxy S phones I have repossessed were slightly slow compared to when they were first purchased, all of them, apart from the front cracks on the S10+, are still highly reliable, and according to my usage as well as from the 4 people who have used my phones, they have commented that the phones I gave to them gave them minimal issues and they JUST WORK. Fun fact: during my ownership, I have never experienced any major problems with any of my Samsung phones.
Fun fact, my cousin (28M) switched from the iPhone 7 Plus to the Samsung Galaxy S10+ in March of 2019 and is now currently using a Galaxy S23 Ultra. From his 4-year long experience using just the Galaxy S10+ (he bought the ceramic colour with 512GB of storage and currently his father is using the S10+), even though he is a power user with him customising the phone with themes, being a heavy user, and having cracked his S10+ last year, the phone was still extremely reliable, working fully as intended, apart from the battery, which has been shortened to 6 hours of heavy usage before dying.
My iPhones however, were not so bright. Even though pre-2015 iPhones are mostly reliable during my time using it, since the 6S, there have been some phones which have showed issues here and there, sometimes within the first year of ownership. As for the iPhone 6S, it is basically only the battery, which has been extremely bad after a year and the fact it would sometimes shut off at 30% during cold weather.
Starting with the iPhone 7 Plus however, and there started to be a lot of problems. Even though my iPhone 7 Plus didn't show any problems during my ownership, even though my cousin took good care of the 7 Plus, when I got her 7 Plus in November of 2020 (she got the phone brand new at Verizon in November 2017), the silent switch started to wear down and get stuck, meaning it is hard to turn on silent switch, the charging port pins started to wear, making it very hard to charge the phone or connect the phone to the computer, and the battery started to struggle real hard.
Starting with the iPhone XS Max and there started to be real struggles. Even though I didn't see any problems with either the iPhone XS Max and 11 Pro Max during my ownership and took good care of these two phones, when these two phones got passed to their second owners, problems started to arise. For the XS Max, in May of 2020, it got bricked, and it wouldn't turn on even if he plugged it in the charging cable or through iTunes, and my cousin's husband had to bring it to service, and that got him to purchase an S20+ given he prefers Android over iOS, and after fixing the XS Max, he gave it to his daughter (17F), who is his only child. For the 11 Pro Max however, the phone's battery drained fast and my cousin always had to rely on the charger, and plus, there are issues of connecting Bluetooth devices as well as with calls and volume whilst connected to Bluetooth devices, and my cousin always complained about these issues and even though I did attempt to fix, the issues didn't get resolved (I am tech savvy by the way, so I could get through a lot of issues, such as reset my bricked iPad using iTunes, etc.).
And now onto my iPad Pro 9.7. I bought the iPad in June of 2016, and even though I used it mostly for watching YouTube videos, Udemy and edX courses, the iPad started having a bricking issue in November of 2017. What happened was that I was charging and overnight, the iPad just shut itself off and never powered on again. I tried connecting it to iTunes and even though iTunes could recognise the device, whenever I reset it, errors keep on popping up and it is impossible to reset. I tried bringing it to the Apple Store, but they couldn't reset it either and they suggested that I replace the iPad Pro 9.7 with an iPad Mini 4 for $300. Then, I started taking matters into my own hands and finally resetted the iPad Pro successfully after multiple attempts in January of 2018. Four months later (in May 2018), the iPad bricked again, and I had to do the same process, and it took until August of 2018 after at least 5-10 tries for it to work again. And then in August 2020, whilst charging overnight, the iPad turned off and I thought it was toast. Turned out it was, as after countless times diagnosing the issues on iTunes, the iPad would keep on bricking after multiple reset attempts and after more than 2 years. Then, there was a miracle. In November of 2022, I finally got my iPad working again and I felt like I was very lucky, because I thought that the iPad was bricked forever and wouldn't go back on, ever.
Then, finally, it is my iPhone 12 Pro Max. I bought the phone on 20 November 2020, and by mid-September 2021, things started to go south for this phone. The top speaker started to fail and even though I cleaned it, the speaker was so muffled that I could barely hear anything from the top speaker. I brought it to the Apple Store and they said it is a digitiser issue and they couldn't even clean it for me, and around that same time, the touchscreen started to act up. With a lot of ghost touches, it started to become very hard to use the iPhone (and keep in mind, I have never replaced the screen since I never cracked the front screen). In October 2021, the phone started to have lose cellular signal when I enter the MBTA train and still didn't recognise cellular signal for minutes after I exited the MBTA and was at least a mile from that station on my bike, but luckily, resetting network settings did fix the issue with the cellular signal however. By the time the phone accidentally fell to the ground and the back did suffer some cracks in November, I started to give up on the iPhone 12 Pro Max and in December, I upgraded to the 13 Pro Max.
Even though my Galaxy Buds and my cousin (28M)'s Galaxy Buds did not show any issues (he bought the Galaxy Buds in March 2019 and after heavy usage, it still held up very well and he even gave it to his father), all 4 of my AirPods, even the AirPods Pro 2, have shown issues here and there. My first AirPods (January 2017-July 2018) basically stopped working, and hence, I bought another pair of AirPods in July 2018 and used it until February 2022, when I dropped it in the toilet. Even though I was using the 2nd pair of AirPods half the time (July 2018-January 2020, December 2020-April 2021, November 2021-February 2022), by late 2021, the AirPods started showing major problems. First off, the battery drains so fast even indoors that it only lasted about an hour. Then, once I am outside, the right side would disconnect after only 5 minutes of usage and the left side would keep soldering on. Once it fell to the toilet, it was game over (however, I still kept the AirPods, it is just in the nightstand sitting there, and I did clean it as well). I bought the AirPods 2 in February 2022, and after 2 months, at least once every week or two, the right side would discharge, even in the case (the case is clean by the way), until it went out of battery. I tried resetting the case and putting the case to charge again, but to no avail, and it took several reset attempts for it to return to normal. The same exact scenario happened to the AirPods Pro 2, which I got in October as my cousin wanted to gift me the AirPods Pro 2, in exchange for my AirPods 2. Except that sometimes, my iPhone 14 Pro Max couldn't even connect to the AirPods Pro 2 or even recognise it.

• Hotspot doesn't always work on my iPhones, but always does on my Galaxy

I currently have two phone plans: my main Verizon phone plan with my iPhone 14 Pro Max and my secondary MetroPCS phone plan with my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. I do carry a third phone with me (without a phone plan), which is the iPhone SE 2020. Due to me not having a phone plan on my iPhone SE 2020, I do have to rely on hotspot when I am outside. For my iPhone SE 2020, I primarily use it for music streaming and to test my mobile applications, whilst my two other phones are used for more intense purposes, with me spending the most time on my Samsung.
For my iPhone 14 Pro Max and previous iPhones (iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro Max, etc), personal hotspot is very buggy. My Samsung connects just fine to the iPhone hotspot, but my iPhones don't. To preserve the battery, after several minutes, the iPhone SE would get disconnected from the iPhone 14 Pro Max hotspot (which is acceptable), but it gets worse. Even if I am currently streaming Apple Music on my iPhone SE with the screen on as well, the iPhone would disconnect from the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and it is very hard to connect it to hotspot. Sometimes, the iPhone SE would say 'Unable to join network' and others, it said 'Personal Hotspot Failure', which would force me to restart both the iPhone SE and 14 Pro Max. Now the Remote Hotspot Failure started happening since I got the 11 Pro Max in 2019, and at the time, my 16:9 phone was the iPhone 6S, and even then, there were hotspot failure problems. I restarted the 11 Pro Max, but the hotspot failure would return after a week or two. Even after resetting network settings in 2021 right before my 13 Pro Max because my iPhone 12 Pro Max would lose cellular connectivity even after I exited the MBTA tunnel and I am outside a mile from the MBTA station, once I got my 13 Pro Max, the remote hotspot failure still appears. My Samsung Galaxy over the years connects to the iPhone hotspot without any issues, and would stay connected even if I am not using the phone until I basically turn off hotspot on my iPhone.
Now due to the fact connecting my iPhone SE to the iPhone hotspot is so bad, I would typically use the Samsung hotspot as a backup (keep in mind my iPhone plan gives unlimited hotspot whilst Metro only gives 5 GB). Both iPhones connect to the Samsung hotspot flawlessly, without any issues.

• On my Samsung Galaxy phones, I can disable Wi-Fi using the Quick Settings (swipe down) menu, but for iPhones, it is less consistent

Sometimes, I don't want my main iPhone 14 Pro Max to connect to the Samsung hotspot due to it having its own data. I would turn off Wi-Fi on the control centre and after 5-10 minutes, it would reconnect the Wi-Fi, therefore wasting hotspot data on my Samsung metroPCS plan and making me mildly angry. iPhone does say turning off until tomorrow but in reality, Wi-Fi is turned on after 5-10 minutes. For Samsung, I turn off Wi-Fi on the quick settings until I turn it back on or I flick on airplane mode, which seems more intuitive in my case. However, when I am at home without any hotspot devices, whenever I use quick settings for iPhone, nearby Wi-Fi does disconnect until tomorrow

• Connecting to Bluetooth devices is better on my Samsung Galaxy phones than my iPhones

Pretend I have two Bluetooth devices (AirPods Pro, JBL Clip 4), and I wanted to connect to the JBL speaker. On the Samsung, if I accidentally clicked on the AirPods Pro, I could click JBL Clip 4 immediately and within 5 seconds, I would be connected to the JBL Clip 4 speaker. For the iPhone however, things are not so bright, as if I were to accidentally click the AirPods Pro, I had to wait 15 seconds for Apple to search for the AirPods Pro, and then once it says it couldn't find the AirPods Pro because I left my AirPods Pro at home, that is when I could click on JBL Clip 4 and connect it. That turns a 5 second process into something like a 15-20 second process.

• Apple Pay sometimes doesn't work on my iPhone

On several occasions since 2021, my iPhones would sometimes not pay using Apple Pay and would fail to pay. Sometimes, the iPhone couldn't even detect a reader even though the reader does work. Once I use Samsung Pay on my Samsung Galaxy devices as a backup, the payment did go through and it finally worked.
Yesterday, I was at the MBTA station, and I was attempting to pay for the Monthly pass. Ironically, even though the reader did work, the iPhone 14 Pro Max kept on saying 'Hold near Reader', and even though I held it near the mobile payment reader for 10-15 seconds, it still didn't do anything. Fed up, after the second time, I repaid the MBTA ticket and used my S22 Ultra and the payment did go through. However, at the restaurant around 1 hour later, even though I didn't restart the iPhone, Apple Pay finally worked again as I was able to pay my meal using Apple Pay.

• Automatic updates are better on my Galaxies than my iPhones

My Samsung automatic updates are set overnight, and even with airplane mode turned on during the night, my Samsungs are always up to date without ever having to go to the settings app to update the firmware to Android 13. As for iPhone, they did schedule automatic updates between 4-5 am, but in reality, automatic updates keep failing even with Wi-Fi turned on overnight. If I wanted to update my iPhones, I would typically have to manually update via settings

• Wi-Fi is far better on my Samsung Galaxy/Android phones than my iPhones, iPads, or Macs

I attended university between 2018 and 2022, and in late 2021, at university (I majored in CS by the way), my iPhones, iPads, and Macs would often struggle with Wi-Fi. My iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 7 Plus (as of November 2021) would sometimes even outright refuse to connect to Wi-Fi and same goes with the MacBook 15' Core i9 (2019) (I have since upgraded to the M1 MBP 16 since the logic board on the MBP 2019 failed in November 2021), and if connected, at some parts of the university, they are extremely slow, and sometimes, borderline unusable. My S21 Ultra however, at the same place, worked far better and was able to load websites. Even my Windows laptop was able to load websites as well as my Galaxy A51 (I brought an A51 one day to MIT to see if the Wi-Fi issues only occurred on Apple products).
Fun fact: the Galaxy S21 Ultra was the first phone to offer Wi-Fi 6E and not even the iPhone 14 Pro Max supports this feature
Then in July 2022, during a flight from Dallas back to Boston, my iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone SE 2 would fail to connect to JetBlue's Wi-Fi network several times and if connected, the Wi-Fi was painfully slow and near unusable whilst my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra connected to JetBlue's Wi-Fi network just fine and worked as expected, with websites loading reasonably quick, just like at my university with the S21 Ultra.

• USB C lasts longer than lightning connector

Finally, one thing Samsung and Android OEMs do better than Apple is the fact that many Android devices, including Samsung Galaxy devices, come with USB-C which is the future compared to Apple's ancient lightning connector (frankly, Apple now uses USB-C on most of their iPads except for the entry level iPad 9). It allows for faster charging and transfer speeds and USB-C is basically superior to lightning, which is a relic from a bygone era. Plus, USB-C seems to last longer. Whilst my lightning connectors generally worn out between 6-18 months before having inconsistent connections or connectivity issues, my USB-C connectors would keep soldering on for at least 5 years before breaking down like the lightning connectors.
TL;DR: Even though there are many benefits to owning an iPhone over an Android device, based on my user experience, after over 11 years of using various Samsung Galaxy phones, two Samsung Galaxy Tabs, and one Galaxy Bud and after over 12 years of using various iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and AirPods, I could safely assure that there are a lot of benefits to using Samsung and Android products over iPhones, namely due to the fact that notifications, customisation, features, options, Wi-Fi, multitasking, batteries, hotspot, Bluetooth, mobile payment, etc., are better on Samsung and Android products than on iPhones, based on my user experience.

Some about me: I am 6’ and 7”. I have blue eyes, dirty blonde hair, and of german/polish descent. I have a stable career. I own my house and car, and invest my money.
Things I am into: science, math, chemistry, astronomy, physics, information technology, web design, programming, home renovation, gardening, self sufficiency, friends and enjoying various company and places.
What I am looking for: preferably a girl between 18-30. Blue or green eyes, petite or slightly curvy, any hair color. And if she has a intelligence, even better! Looking for somebody to encourage and love me. In return I would do the same while providing whatever is needed.
If your interested, send me a DM with some information about yourself and a picture. If I like what I see, I’ll get back to you with a picture of myself.
Then we can see where it goes! :)

Some about me: I am 6’ and 7”. I have blue eyes, dirty blonde hair, and of german/polish descent. I have a stable career. I own my house and car, and invest my money.
Things I am into: science, math, chemistry, astronomy, physics, information technology, web design, programming, home renovation, gardening, self sufficiency, friends and enjoying various company and places.
What I am looking for: preferably a girl between 18-30. Blue or green eyes, petite or slightly curvy, any hair color. And if she has a intelligence, even better! Looking for somebody to encourage and love me. In return I would do the same while providing whatever is needed.
If your interested, send me a DM with some information about yourself and a picture. If I like what I see, I’ll get back to you with a picture of myself.
Then we can see where it goes! :)

1508

The Knights Hospitaller lead a series of raids against the Ottomans in a mix of galliots and frigates. They were focused on the Aegean territories and more importantly, the shipping therein. There was also a small force under the command of Andrew Barton who struck out at the coast of Morocco, but the great distance needed to sail out and back as well as the small force limited its effectiveness to gather wealth. The Greek and Ionian coastlines are targeted with great effectiveness by the larger Knights fleet, and the Ottomans had not yet prepared a defense force. However, eventually an Ottoman response force was able to defeat and repulse the pirates off the Thracian coast. The Knights also struck out at shipping that looking to end up in Muslim port, and that meant that multiple times they attacked often Italian merchant shipping as well. While they did not enslave the sailors like they often did for Muslim ships, they were still happy to often take its cargo. This would help the Hospitallers return with fat pockets.
Knights Hospitaller gain ƒ335,221 in revenue

March-May 1509

Barbarossa Blues

In the reaction of both the general Italian Wars and in particular the Barbarossa Brother's despoiling of Elba fleets across the Mediterranean Sea had gathered in activity. First, the Spaniards continued their general annual activity throughout the Mediterranean, one of the few naval forces constantly projecting power throughout the Sea. They had already gathered in January, and moved to assist the French and Papal fleet that was gathering in Lazio to remove the Muslim pirates from the Tyrrhenian Sea and follow up with an attack on the haven of Tripoli. Meanwhile, the Barbarossa Brothers had prepared three fleets to strike deep into the Western Mediterranean. The first Muslim fleet was lead by Oruc Reis, attempting to raid the Tyrrhenian Sea directly into the Spanish and French-Papal fleet. However, the latter fleet was having significant logistical and organizational issues as the complicated structure and disparate forces took its toll. The Spanish had prepared earlier than anyone else though, and were able to quickly respond to Oruc's thievery after only a few successful raids. Greatly outnumbered, Oruc was forced to eventually retreat back to Djerba after losing his galleass in a battle against a large group of frigates. Oruc had originally wanted to fall back to another secret base, but there were major issues in its creation and the fear of a retaliation force greatly superior to his own forced his deeper retreat. Additionally, the Papal-French fleet was well aware of the Barbarossa's base on the island of Gorgona. As they torched the base, the second and third fleets struck out to Algeria to take port and attack Spanish shipping on the other side of the Mediterranean. However, the third fleet was caught by Spanish patrols in the region to begin with, and forced to return and rendezvous with Oruc's remnants in Djerba. Only the second fleet was able to make it to the Zayyanids and strike. A force of Egyptian ships and soldiers also make their way into the pirate bases of Tripoli and Djerba, hoping to eventually strike out as well.
At this point, the final fleet to attack Tripoli had set off. The fleet itself was massive, combining the substantial Genovese fleet with the Papal-French force and the Spanish who sailed separately, along side them. Many of the galleys were full of marines and well-paid veterans of the Italian Wars which had just recently died down. The Barbarossa fleets in the area with the Egyptians attempted to slow down the attackers and capture or sink stragglers, but the opposing force was much too massive and concentrated to allow them to make any decisive action. Oruc himself was forced to flee Tripoli days before the Christian fleet arrived, knowing to stay was a death trap. The Christian fleet dropped multiple forces off in different coastal locations both near and far from the haven itself, while preparing a main landing force. Galleys and galliots used ship-based artillery to damage the lacking defenses of Tripoli itself, greatly damaging fortifications at the cost of a fair few ships. The main landing goes smoothly, and the converging attack quickly leads to the fortress and town of Tripoli being brutally sacked. Though Jacopo V of House Appiani, ostensibly the organizer of the reprisal raid for Elba, tried to limit the barbarity of his allies and soldiers it was to no avail. The army taking it was much, much larger than the location could supply or its population was and communication between all the different soldiers and camps made organization downright anarchic at times. As the fires of the first week of looting crackle in the night sky, the Spanish then bid their farewells claiming that they have achieved their goal of helping destroy Tripoli. While the Genovese and the Papal-French fleet remain, the Spanish sail off to Djerba where one of the other major pirate havens remain. While limited to just the Spanish, a similar story is heard there as the Spaniards lay siege. Once again artillery strikes and numerical superiority lend itself to a bloody, but successful series of assaults. Back in Tripoli, Jacopo hoped to find many of his subjects who had been captured and put in chains by the Muslim pirates. By the grace of god, he found his relative Beatrice d'Appiano d'Aragona who had been kept as a prized prisoner. Many of the other captured slaves had been solved off by the time of the return attack, and the razing of Tripoli had killed off many of those who had remained. The lack of supplies and dangerous weather forced the Papal-French and Genovese fleets to return to Italy and Naples to regain supplies, do small repairs, and plan for the future.

Aegean Escapade

The Christians had not gathered the only large fleet in the Mediterranean. The Ottomans had deployed their massive fleet in full force, having been recently rebuilt in one of the only arsenals around. Alongside the deployment of their fleet Sultan Bayezid had called upon an army of tens of thousands to serve as marines, besiegers, and soldiers for hire. The first prize Bayezid had set his eyes on was the Genovese colony of Chios, a relatively small but economically important island. The island was the only location suitable for the growth of mastic), worth its weight in gold. Many involved on Chios itself had their entire lives based around the growth and trade of the good, and Bayezid was happy to threaten the security of such a lifestyle. In this, he had gained the loyalty of the Governor of Chios on behalf of Genoa. Lacking any response from the Christian world, Genoa herself included, that secured a hope of victory and security in the wake of the Ottoman fleet Bayezid found good news when the fortress and town of Chios had surrendered the moment Ottoman troops landed. There were a number of other fortifications established on the island, and many of them either through zealotry or a lack of trust in the word of the Muslim fought to the end. This meant Chios had not been fully secured or conquered until the second week of April. With Tripoli about to be set to siege at that time, the Ottoman fleet then prepared the attack on the true prized jewel Bayezid sought - Rhodes.
The island fortress of the Knights Hospitaller was one of the most formidable defensive structures anywhere. The Knights Hospitaller had maintained a constant schedule of improvements and additions to the fortress, in recent particularly in ways to counter the development of siege artillery from both land and sea. The Knights had a constant cheap labor source - the slaves that their income was also dependent on - and in turn developed their own teams of masons and engineers. Its harbor was protected by a massive iron chain and a recent improvement had doubled the length of the dry ditch. Tenailles were created along both the inner and outside rings of internal ditches, meant to dramatically limit the ability of attacking forces to utilize numerical superiority. They had also established their own artillery force to be used defensively, and the battlements necessary to compliment them. The Ottomans vast strength on both sea and land outside of the fortress, however, meant that they were able to easily land massive groups of men who encamped on the island. The Ottomans offer a no strings attached surrender offer, which is immediately refused by the Knights. The Ottomans return with the digging of their own defensive ditches and earthworks to compliment the siege artillery brought to bear. They had also brought with them one of the largest collections of sappers ever seen in history, meant to undermine the massive fortifications with specifically targeted locations to essentially create weak spots where there otherwise is perfect balance. The back and forth nature of the attacker and defender on Rhodes had meant that the Ottomans were repulsed with relative ease only twenty-nine years ago. Their commander, Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha, aimed to return with their own new developments to challenge the bastion.
This experience lead Ahmed Pasha to adopt a more cautious policy regarding the siege. Hoping to utilize the highly trained and numerous sapping companies accompanying his army, he limits the artillery usage at both land and sea and is careful regarding the use of assaults. The Ottoman artillery is focused on the Hill of St. Stephen where they have the best angle against the Posts of Germany, Spain, and Auvergne. Each Post was a unique "tongue", or in this case an ethno-linguistic group of significant standing within the brotherhood of the Knights Hospitaller. They were each therein their own fortress, often with their own secondary or even tertiary walls, from the shared primary exterior. It was here that progress would be made up until the month of May, when events elsewhere would come close to Rhodes. The Spain Post has a large breach caused by the clever use of land mines on a specific location continuously, something impossible for the defenders to repair mid-siege. Post Germany also has significant wear and tear from effective cannonfire, but Ahmed Pasha is hesitant on its usefulness. Post Auvergne has struggled significantly, with Knights defensive cannoneers wrecking havoc on portions of the Ottoman siege camp. The Ottomans had also set up smaller groups against Posts England and Provence, where the Knights defenders have been able to retaliate in great effect. The Ottoman fleet in many ways serves as a mobile wagon train, shipping in massive logistical efforts to keep the island army supplied and in high spirit.

June-December 1509

The Battle of Rhodes

The Genovese had every intent on attacking the Ottomans and assisting the Knights in defense of both Rhodes and Chios. They needed support, however, to hope to meet the strength of the Empire. Pope Martin VI had lent the Papal fleet, and the French theirs, to save the Knights as well. The Knights fleet still existed in harbor as well, capable of sallying out to assist the Christian fleet in a potential battle. It was then decided that a recovery force would be deployed, in the aim of defeating the Ottoman force in full. There were already troubles brewing as they set off, however, as they soon found themselves entirely dependent on the good will of Venetian ports beyond Naples. They could not make the careful but effective long sail to the non-Venetian Aegean ports, Chios and Rhodes, for the Turks controlled access now. This would continue to be a thorn in the side of the Christians.
In the middle of June, the Christian fleet sprawled itself out against the Ottoman fleet who prepared a defensive position alongside the coast of Rhodes on their left flank. The Christian fleet held a very small advantage numerically in galleys and frigates, and an equal share of galliots, but they were greatly outnumbered in the important supply and transport bergantins. The Ottomans may have a smaller force of galleys, but they had a much superior collection of war galleys, forged in the Ottoman arsenal. They also included a sizable amount of carracks and two galleasses. Both sides have brought on their decks large collections of professional soldiers meant to support the marines in boarding actions.
The two sides go into formation in different styles. Additionally, the Etesian Winds were lighter than normal and at the back of the Christian fleet, giving them some help on the attack. The Genovese and their allies go into a straight line, organized loosely by ranking local commander. The Ottomans oppose them in a Y formation, with the outstretched branches intending to be able to envelop small gaps and prevent retreats while the rear line reinforces. Shortly thereafter, under the scorching sun, cannonfire rings out as the lines approach the first melee. While the artillery in use is still under much need of development and improvements, the Ottoman cannons are able to destroy a large portion of the Genovese bergantins upon approach. This would carry into the initial clash as the Ottoman left and center flanks were able to push into the now V-shaped formation of the Christian fleet within the top half of their Y fleet. The right flank, itself approaching the beach of Rhodes, was nonetheless repulsed by the Knights own fleet. As the melee develops and initial casualties start to escalate, the initial results turn on their head. The Ottomans put extra pressure on their right flank to stem the initial loss and in turn was able to push deep into the Christian fleet, taking a number of the Christian galliots. This came with a loss of support in the center and left, where the Christians had pushed the Ottomans to the point that their right flank was at risk of being cut off. This devolved quickly into a stalemate itself, both sides locked in very bloody combat. This changes when a force of Italian venturieri, commanded to do so by a Perugian Baglioni, landed on the beaches of Rhodes that had been untended by Ottoman defenses focused on the citadel of Rhodes. They were able to outflank the Ottoman ships, as the battle at sea acted in many ways as an extension of the land beside it. This maneuver was able to put pressure on the Ottomans once more, though the smaller size of the Christian fleet was now making itself felt to Andrea Doria and the other admirals. Even though the beach landing had so far been a success, morale within the Christian fleet was not strong against the Turkish tide. This showed itself as the battle waged on and on, where the Christians continued to slowly and painfully gain an advantage. The issue came when a particularly effective deployment of the Ottoman galleasses with a handful of carracks in the center of the Y formation straightened out much of the initial battle line. Both sides at this point had called upon all of their reinforcements, and the Christian fleet was now noticeably smaller though both were much smaller than they had started. The center push could, if not remedied immediately, threaten to potentially cut the Christian fleet in half. Simultaneously, the Ottoman siege camp at Rhodes had gathered a raiding party that had defeated and captured the landed Italian venturieri. The Christian admirals were able to manage an organized fight that consolidated their forces without losing en masse, and they enacted heavy damage to their enemies. Their soldiers, however, eventually cried out for release and were forced to give the day up. The Christian fleet was once again wholly dependent on the Venetian ports of the region and what they could, and wanted to, provide. This allowed the Ottomans to hound them until they were out of the Aegean. There was no attempt to return, with much of the cohesion lost and the Ottomans in an even stronger position.
The siege of Rhodes raged on in the back as well. The brothers Knights had impressively prepared a new set of earthworks had been built in the location of the earlier land mine breach in Post Spain. News was worse elsewhere though, as Post Germany and Post Auvergne have recently had multiple portions crumble against sustained Ottoman bombardment. Ahmed Pasha then ordered the first set of assaults in the siege on those two Posts. Post Auvergne ends up being a bloody affair for the Ottomans, as thousands of Azabs die in the breaches by small groups of Hospitallers. While there were also thousands dead in Post Germany, there the Ottomans had been able to hold a position within the walls. The Hospitallers were forced to give up the first spot within the primary walls.
This situation worsens for the Knights as a strong corps of Janissaries then move into Post Germany, where they kill a force of defending brothers and then make another breach with mines on the second set of walls. Assaults are also held on Post England and Post Auvergne, with the first assault establishing a beachhead before being repulsed by a follow up attack. Post Auvergne shares the same fate, the second time the Ottomans have failed to take it. Post Spain is assaulted, and with the Knights only having earthworks remaining, are easily pushed back. The Ottomans now hold the entirety of Post Spain and Post Germany, but all other Post have either held or are untouched. Morale within the Knights in terms of the strength of their beloved citadel is unbothered. Their morale in terms of the belief that their storehouses will remain full and the Ottoman fleet dispersed by the monarchs of Christendom are not as strong. Ahmed Pasha has successfully taken portions of the citadel, something not yet achieved. Victory is not entirely at hand yet though, and the siege has eaten a terrible cost to the Empire. A cost that would become all the more painful when news hits from Konstantiniyye...

Earthshakes in Konstantiniyye

While philosophers immediately began to ponder the meaning of the earthquake in the capital, the reality was the city was horrendously damaged. A few thousand immediately died in the quake, with the neighborhoods of Galata, Buyukcekmece, and Izmit suffering hundreds of destroyed homes and mosques. Portions of the Wall of Constantinople collapsed and the brand new Bayezid II Mosque had its dome completely destroyed and foundations damaged. Only the Hagia Sophia remained mostly intact. The Sultan's own sickness included, the future certainly does not bode well for calm and serenity for the Osmanoglu. Expectations are for the all the issues of 1509 to be resolved quickly and without fail, lest the patience of some wear thin.
TL;DR

• Majority of Barbarossa fleets destroyed or forced to retreat
  
• Tripoli razed, heavy casualties to Christian forces, Oruc Reis flees
  
• Djerba also falls to the Spanish, Hizir Reis raids from Algeria
  
• Christian fleet primarily lead by the Genovese engage the Ottoman fleet
  
• Ottoman combined fleet and army had taken Chios and set siege to Rhodes
  
• Ottoman fleet wins with heavy loss of ships and men
  
• The citadels of Rhodes are under severe threat with the Ottomans near the interior, but has not fallen yet
  
• Konstantiniyye has been hit by a major earthquake, massive loss of human life and urban development as well as defenses. A certain bridge has been a casualty too
  

Introduction

I have been using Samsung Galaxy devices for 11 years, with my first Android/Samsung Galaxy device being the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (got the Galaxy Nexus in January of 2012) and with me currently daily driving the S22 Ultra (since May 2022).
I have been using iPhones for more than 12 years, with my first iPhone being the iPhone 4 (got the iPhone 4 in December of 2010) and with me currently daily driving the iPhone 14 Pro Max (since September 2022) and the iPhone SE (2020) as a secondary iPhone for iOS development (since March 2022).
Here is my daily driver history:
Android:

• Samsung Galaxy Nexus (bought in January 2012, traded the phone in October 2013)
• Samsung Galaxy Note3 (bought in October 2013, traded the phone in October 2014)
• Samsung Galaxy Note4 (bought in October 2014, traded the phone in September 2015)
• Samsung Galaxy Note5 (bought in September 2015, sold to my cousin's son (16M) in August 2016)
• Samsung Galaxy Note7 (bought in August 2016, recalled in October 2016)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (bought in October 2016, sold to my cousin's husband (40M) in April 2017 after he broke his iPhone 6 Plus)
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (bought in April 2017, sold to my cousin's son in Vietnam (29M) in April 2018)
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (bought in April 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (40M) in March 2019, with him giving me his S7 Edge)
• Samsung Galaxy S10+ (bought in March 2019, gave to my sister (21F) in March 2020 via mail, making the A50 as her secondary phone)
• Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra (bought in March 2020, traded the phone in February 2021)
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (bought in February 2021, gave to my sister (21F) in May 2022 via mail due to her cracking her S10+ with the front suffering some cracks, got the S10+ back)
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (bought in May 2022, still using it now)

Primary iPhone:

• iPhone 4 (bought in December 2010, sold to Vietnam's used market in October 2011)
• iPhone 4S (bought in October 2011, traded the phone in September 2012)
• iPhone 5 (bought in September 2012 right after moving to the US, sold to my cousin (53F) in September 2013)
• iPhone 5S (bought in September 2013, sold to my cousin (39F) in September 2014)
• iPhone 6 (bought in September 2014, sold the phone on eBay in September 2015)
• iPhone 6S (bought in September 2015, sold to my cousin's daughter (17F) in October 2016)
• iPhone 7 Plus (bought in September 2016, sold the phone on eBay in November 2017)
• iPhone X (bought in November 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (55M) in September 2018)
• iPhone XS Max (bought in September 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (55M) in October 2019 with him giving me his iPhone X to help use that towards my iPhone 11 Pro Max)
• iPhone 11 Pro Max (bought in October 2019, sold to my cousin (53F) in November 2020 with her giving me her iPhone 7 Plus to use as a spare device)
• iPhone 12 Pro Max (bought in November 2020, device started breaking down, so I traded the phone in December 2021, initially planned to keep it for longer)
• iPhone 13 Pro Max (bought in December 2021, sold to my cousin (53F) in September 2022 after complaints that her iPhone 11 Pro Max is breaking down, with her giving me her iPhone 11 Pro Max)
• iPhone 14 Pro Max (bought in September 2022, still using it now)

Secondary iPhone (mostly for iOS app development, listening to music, not including any iPhone/smartphones I bought on eBay for a collection):

• iPhone 5 (September 2015-November 2017): my cousin's husband (55M) upgraded from an iPhone 6 to a Galaxy S6 Edge+ and decided to give his iPhone 6 to my cousin (53F) due to him preferring Android over iOS (he kept the S6 Edge+ until May 2020 when he bought the S20+ and then he gave his S6 Edge+ to me in May 2020 via mail, but between 2017-2020, this acted as his 2nd phone as he was daily driving the iPhone X/XS Max mentioned above)
• iPhone 6S (November 2017-November 2020): my cousin's daughter (17F) upgraded from the 6S to the 7 Plus, along with both her parents (55M, 53F) not only due to the family switching from T-mobile to Verizon but also due to her cracking my old iPhone 6S, which caused her parents not only to replace the screen but also the battery)
• iPhone 7 Plus (November 2020-March 2022): my cousin (53F) received my iPhone 11 Pro Max, but since the iPhone 6S fell off my bike mount a month before, it cracked, and since the battery is so horrendous on the 6S, my cousin (53F) decided to give me her iPhone 7 Plus and I decided to take the 6S to the Apple Store in Cambridge MA to recycle it
• iPhone SE (2020) (since March 2022): Even though my cousin, and later I took very good care of the iPhone 7 Plus, the phone started breaking down on several fronts: the silent switch, charging port pins, and even battery started to die hard, and plus, since the phone is getting unsupported, I started deciding on the iPhone SE. After finding out the iPhone SE 3 was $429 and finding out I could get a prepaid iPhone SE 2 on AT&T for $150 ($50 plan+$15 activation fee but I cancelled auto pay immediately after buying the phone), I got the brand-new SE 2 instead. Nowadays, the battery started to fall apart (even though the battery is currently at 93% capacity) and even though this phone is not in a beta, there are a lot of bugs even on 16.3.1 (I am thinking of updating to 16.4 tonight)

Things my Samsung Galaxy does better than my iPhone

There are many things that Samsung Galaxy phones and other Android phones do better than iPhones, including the fact that on Android:

• notifications are not cluttered in the lock-screen unlike on iOS
• Android is more customisable than iOS and Android is an open-source mobile operating system
• Many new features such as reverse wireless charging, in screen fingerprints, foldable phones, 5G, triple camera setup, phablet size phones,
• there is a real back button on Android
• No need to use iTunes; you could just transfer music and photos/videos between your computer and phone without the hassle of iTunes
• Some Samsung Galaxy phones (S1-S20 excluding the S6/Note5) have microSD and older Samsung Galaxy phones have removable batteries
• Some Samsung Galaxy phones in certain markets have dual sim support, but since e-SIM was introduced, first with the Pixel 2, and later with the iPhone XS, dual sim is less of an advantage
• There are a lot of options, including the M/J series for budget conscious buyers, the A series for the average folk in many countries, the S/Note series for power-users, business users for extra productivity (mostly the Note series) and phone enthusiasts (like me), and the Z series for certain business users for extra productivity and for Flexers
• On my Samsung Galaxy devices, I could share the Wi-Fi password to other phones using the QR code; on iPhones, I could only share the Wi-Fi connection with other iPhones
• Samsung Galaxy devices support split screen view and pop up view, but these two features are restricted to the iPad, and iPhones only support picture in picture video

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However, there are many lesser-known things that my Samsung Galaxy phones do better than my iPhones (based on my experience over the past 11 years), and some might be controversial:
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• iPhone batteries start to massively degrade after a new iPhone and iOS version comes out

Even though the iPhone batteries are mostly very good during the first year of usage and have extremely good standby compared to Android phones due to software optimisation, by around July 2016, my iPhone 6S's battery is starting to fail, and I did need to rely on battery packs for my iPhones to survive as the iPhone 6S's battery would go from 100-0 after 4-6 hours of heavy use. My cousins did replace the iPhone 6S battery in October of 2017, but by October 2020 (please note according to battery health, IIRC, the 6S stands at 85%), on iOS 14, the iPhone 6S would drain from 90 to 35 in as little as 10 minutes and sometimes, during cold weather, the iPhone 6S's battery (on iOS 14) would die at 30%. Turns out this is not only an issue on my 6S as I bought a 6S on eBay in 2021 for my smartphone collection and that phone (with 80% capacity) also behaved the same, draining from 80 to 25 in around 10 minutes. The iPhones before the 6S also had a poor battery life after a year in my experience, and even though the iPhone 7 Plus, X, XS Max, and 11 Pro Max's battery holds better than the 6S due to the batteries being bigger, the batteries still started to become bad after 1-2 years.
My iPhone 12 Pro Max (I got rid of it in December of 2021 after it accidentally fell out from my nightstand drawer and the back cracked a month before) started seeing its battery fail sometime in September 2021, when the 13 Pro Max came out. Say I leave the house at 10:00 and were to return home at 19:00. By 17:00, with medium usage + hotspot, the iPhone's battery would have depleted to around 20 percent. Plus, my iPhones typically consume more battery if devices are connected to hotspot than my Samsung Galaxies are.
Also, I did receive the Galaxy S7 Edge (2019), Samsung Galaxy S9+ (earlier this month as my cousin's husband upgraded to the S23+), and the Samsung Galaxy S10+ (last year), and given that I would sell these phones on the second hand market, I would test the phones for a week or two to see the phone's condition before assessing it and selling it on the second hand market. What I found is that even though the S10+ cracked and therefore, I donated it rather than sold it, all three phones seem to have solid battery, considering their ages. The S7 Edge with its 3600 mAh battery under heavy use after 3 years would go about for 6-8 hours before needing a recharge, and my S9+ would go about for around 5-6 hours as well before hitting down to 20% of battery (that is after 5 years and given the fact my cousin's husband is a power user), and even though the S10 cracked, it would go for 8-10 hours under heavy usage before draining to around 20%. I also got back my Note5 from 2015 once my cousin's son upgraded to my cousin (50M)'s S8 Active in 2019 once my cousin upgraded to the Note10+, and even on that phone, the battery is still very good considering its age and its 3000 mAh size, doing around 4-6 hours going down from 100-20.
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• My Samsung devices have proven more reliable as a whole than many of my iPhones

Even though all the 4 Samsung Galaxy S phones I have repossessed were slightly slow compared to when they were first purchased, all of them, apart from the front cracks on the S10+, are still highly reliable, and according to my usage as well as from the 4 people who have used my phones, they have commented that the phones I gave to them gave them minimal issues and they JUST WORK. Fun fact: during my ownership, I have never experienced any major problems with any of my Samsung phones.
Fun fact, my cousin (28M) switched from the iPhone 7 Plus to the Samsung Galaxy S10+ in March of 2019 and is now currently using a Galaxy S23 Ultra. From his 4-year long experience using just the Galaxy S10+ (he bought the ceramic colour with 512GB of storage and currently his father is using the S10+), even though he is a power user with him customising the phone with themes, being a heavy user, and having cracked his S10+ last year, the phone was still extremely reliable, working fully as intended, apart from the battery, which has been shortened to 6 hours of heavy usage before dying.
My iPhones however, were not so bright. Even though pre-2015 iPhones are mostly reliable during my time using it, since the 6S, there have been some phones which have showed issues here and there, sometimes within the first year of ownership. As for the iPhone 6S, it is basically only the battery, which has been extremely bad after a year and the fact it would sometimes shut off at 30% during cold weather.
Starting with the iPhone 7 Plus however, and there started to be a lot of problems. Even though my iPhone 7 Plus didn't show any problems during my ownership, even though my cousin took good care of the 7 Plus, when I got her 7 Plus in November of 2020 (she got the phone brand new at Verizon in November 2017), the silent switch started to wear down and get stuck, meaning it is hard to turn on silent switch, the charging port pins started to wear, making it very hard to charge the phone or connect the phone to the computer, and the battery started to struggle real hard.
Starting with the iPhone XS Max and there started to be real struggles. Even though I didn't see any problems with either the iPhone XS Max and 11 Pro Max during my ownership and took good care of these two phones, when these two phones got passed to their second owners, problems started to arise. For the XS Max, in May of 2020, it got bricked, and it wouldn't turn on even if he plugged it in the charging cable or through iTunes, and my cousin's husband had to bring it to service, and that got him to purchase an S20+ given he prefers Android over iOS, and after fixing the XS Max, he gave it to his daughter (17F), who is his only child. For the 11 Pro Max however, the phone's battery drained fast and my cousin always had to rely on the charger, and plus, there are issues of connecting Bluetooth devices as well as with calls and volume whilst connected to Bluetooth devices, and my cousin always complained about these issues and even though I did attempt to fix, the issues didn't get resolved (I am tech savvy by the way, so I could get through a lot of issues, such as reset my bricked iPad using iTunes, etc.).
And now onto my iPad Pro 9.7. I bought the iPad in June of 2016, and even though I used it mostly for watching YouTube videos, Udemy and edX courses, the iPad started having a bricking issue in November of 2017. What happened was that I was charging and overnight, the iPad just shut itself off and never powered on again. I tried connecting it to iTunes and even though iTunes could recognise the device, whenever I reset it, errors keep on popping up and it is impossible to reset. I tried bringing it to the Apple Store, but they couldn't reset it either and they suggested that I replace the iPad Pro 9.7 with an iPad Mini 4 for $300. Then, I started taking matters into my own hands and finally resetted the iPad Pro successfully after multiple attempts in January of 2018. Four months later (in May 2018), the iPad bricked again, and I had to do the same process, and it took until August of 2018 after at least 5-10 tries for it to work again. And then in August 2020, whilst charging overnight, the iPad turned off and I thought it was toast. Turned out it was, as after countless times diagnosing the issues on iTunes, the iPad would keep on bricking after multiple reset attempts and after more than 2 years. Then, there was a miracle. In November of 2022, I finally got my iPad working again and I felt like I was very lucky, because I thought that the iPad was bricked forever and wouldn't go back on, ever.
Then, finally, it is my iPhone 12 Pro Max. I bought the phone on 20 November 2020, and by mid-September 2021, things started to go south for this phone. The top speaker started to fail and even though I cleaned it, the speaker was so muffled that I could barely hear anything from the top speaker. I brought it to the Apple Store and they said it is a digitiser issue and they couldn't even clean it for me, and around that same time, the touchscreen started to act up. With a lot of ghost touches, it started to become very hard to use the iPhone (and keep in mind, I have never replaced the screen since I never cracked the front screen). In October 2021, the phone started to have lose cellular signal when I enter the MBTA train and still didn't recognise cellular signal for minutes after I exited the MBTA and was at least a mile from that station on my bike, but luckily, resetting network settings did fix the issue with the cellular signal however. By the time the phone accidentally fell to the ground and the back did suffer some cracks in November, I started to give up on the iPhone 12 Pro Max and in December, I upgraded to the 13 Pro Max.
Even though my Galaxy Buds and my cousin (28M)'s Galaxy Buds did not show any issues (he bought the Galaxy Buds in March 2019 and after heavy usage, it still held up very well and he even gave it to his father), all 4 of my AirPods, even the AirPods Pro 2, have shown issues here and there. My first AirPods (January 2017-July 2018) basically stopped working, and hence, I bought another pair of AirPods in July 2018 and used it until February 2022, when I dropped it in the toilet. Even though I was using the 2nd pair of AirPods half the time (July 2018-January 2020, December 2020-April 2021, November 2021-February 2022), by late 2021, the AirPods started showing major problems. First off, the battery drains so fast even indoors that it only lasted about an hour. Then, once I am outside, the right side would disconnect after only 5 minutes of usage and the left side would keep soldering on. Once it fell to the toilet, it was game over (however, I still kept the AirPods, it is just in the nightstand sitting there, and I did clean it as well). I bought the AirPods 2 in February 2022, and after 2 months, at least once every week or two, the right side would discharge, even in the case (the case is clean by the way), until it went out of battery. I tried resetting the case and putting the case to charge again, but to no avail, and it took several reset attempts for it to return to normal. The same exact scenario happened to the AirPods Pro 2, which I got in October as my cousin wanted to gift me the AirPods Pro 2, in exchange for my AirPods 2. Except that sometimes, my iPhone 14 Pro Max couldn't even connect to the AirPods Pro 2 or even recognise it.
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• Hotspot doesn't always work on my iPhones, but always does on my Galaxy

I currently have two phone plans: my main Verizon phone plan with my iPhone 14 Pro Max and my secondary MetroPCS phone plan with my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. I do carry a third phone with me (without a phone plan), which is the iPhone SE 2020. Due to me not having a phone plan on my iPhone SE 2020, I do have to rely on hotspot when I am outside. For my iPhone SE 2020, I primarily use it for music streaming and to test my mobile applications, whilst my two other phones are used for more intense purposes, with me spending the most time on my Samsung.
For my iPhone 14 Pro Max and previous iPhones (iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro Max, etc), personal hotspot is very buggy. My Samsung connects just fine to the iPhone hotspot, but my iPhones don't. To preserve the battery, after several minutes, the iPhone SE would get disconnected from the iPhone 14 Pro Max hotspot (which is acceptable), but it gets worse. Even if I am currently streaming Apple Music on my iPhone SE with the screen on as well, the iPhone would disconnect from the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and it is very hard to connect it to hotspot. Sometimes, the iPhone SE would say 'Unable to join network' and others, it said 'Personal Hotspot Failure', which would force me to restart both the iPhone SE and 14 Pro Max. Now the Remote Hotspot Failure started happening since I got the 11 Pro Max in 2019, and at the time, my 16:9 phone was the iPhone 6S, and even then, there were hotspot failure problems. I restarted the 11 Pro Max, but the hotspot failure would return after a week or two. Even after resetting network settings in 2021 right before my 13 Pro Max because my iPhone 12 Pro Max would lose cellular connectivity even after I exited the MBTA tunnel and I am outside a mile from the MBTA station, once I got my 13 Pro Max, the remote hotspot failure still appears. My Samsung Galaxy over the years connects to the iPhone hotspot without any issues, and would stay connected even if I am not using the phone until I basically turn off hotspot on my iPhone.
Now due to the fact connecting my iPhone SE to the iPhone hotspot is so bad, I would typically use the Samsung hotspot as a backup (keep in mind my iPhone plan gives unlimited hotspot whilst Metro only gives 5 GB). Both iPhones connect to the Samsung hotspot flawlessly, without any issues.
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• On my Samsung Galaxy phones, I can disable Wi-Fi using the Quick Settings (swipe down) menu, but for iPhones, it is less consistent

Sometimes, I don't want my main iPhone 14 Pro Max to connect to the Samsung hotspot due to it having its own data. I would turn off Wi-Fi on the control centre and after 5-10 minutes, it would reconnect the Wi-Fi, therefore wasting hotspot data on my Samsung metroPCS plan and making me mildly angry. iPhone does say turning off until tomorrow but in reality, Wi-Fi is turned on after 5-10 minutes. For Samsung, I turn off Wi-Fi on the quick settings until I turn it back on or I flick on airplane mode, which seems more intuitive in my case. However, when I am at home without any hotspot devices, whenever I use quick settings for iPhone, nearby Wi-Fi does disconnect until tomorrow
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• Connecting to Bluetooth devices is better on my Samsung Galaxy phones than my iPhones

Pretend I have two Bluetooth devices (AirPods Pro, JBL Clip 4), and I wanted to connect to the JBL speaker. On the Samsung, if I accidentally clicked on the AirPods Pro, I could click JBL Clip 4 immediately and within 5 seconds, I would be connected to the JBL Clip 4 speaker. For the iPhone however, things are not so bright, as if I were to accidentally click the AirPods Pro, I had to wait 15 seconds for Apple to search for the AirPods Pro, and then once it says it couldn't find the AirPods Pro because I left my AirPods Pro at home, that is when I could click on JBL Clip 4 and connect it. That turns a 5 second process into something like a 15-20 second process.
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• Apple Pay sometimes doesn't work on my iPhone

On several occasions since 2021, my iPhones would sometimes not pay using Apple Pay and would fail to pay. Sometimes, the iPhone couldn't even detect a reader even though the reader does work. Once I use Samsung Pay on my Samsung Galaxy devices as a backup, the payment did go through and it finally worked.
Yesterday, I was at the MBTA station, and I was attempting to pay for the Monthly pass. Ironically, even though the reader did work, the iPhone 14 Pro Max kept on saying 'Hold near Reader', and even though I held it near the mobile payment reader for 10-15 seconds, it still didn't do anything. Fed up, after the second time, I repaid the MBTA ticket and used my S22 Ultra and the payment did go through. However, at the restaurant around 1 hour later, even though I didn't restart the iPhone, Apple Pay finally worked again as I was able to pay my meal using Apple Pay.
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• Automatic updates are better on my Galaxies than my iPhones

My Samsung automatic updates are set overnight, and even with airplane mode turned on during the night, my Samsungs are always up to date without ever having to go to the settings app to update the firmware to Android 13. As for iPhone, they did schedule automatic updates between 4-5 am, but in reality, automatic updates keep failing even with Wi-Fi turned on overnight. If I wanted to update my iPhones, I would typically have to manually update via settings
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• Wi-Fi is far better on my Samsung Galaxy/Android phones than my iPhones, iPads, or Macs

I attended university between 2018 and 2022, and in late 2021, at university (I majored in CS by the way), my iPhones, iPads, and Macs would often struggle with Wi-Fi. My iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 7 Plus (as of November 2021) would sometimes even outright refuse to connect to Wi-Fi and same goes with the MacBook 15' Core i9 (2019) (I have since upgraded to the M1 MBP 16 since the logic board on the MBP 2019 failed in November 2021), and if connected, at some parts of the university, they are extremely slow, and sometimes, borderline unusable. My S21 Ultra however, at the same place, worked far better and was able to load websites. Even my Windows laptop was able to load websites as well as my Galaxy A51 (I brought an A51 one day to MIT to see if the Wi-Fi issues only occurred on Apple products).
Fun fact: the Galaxy S21 Ultra was the first phone to offer Wi-Fi 6E and not even the iPhone 14 Pro Max supports this feature
Then in July 2022, during a flight from Dallas back to Boston, my iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone SE 2 would fail to connect to JetBlue's Wi-Fi network several times and if connected, the Wi-Fi was painfully slow and near unusable whilst my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra connected to JetBlue's Wi-Fi network just fine and worked as expected, with websites loading reasonably quick, just like at my university with the S21 Ultra.
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• USB C lasts longer than lightning connector

Finally, one thing Samsung and Android OEMs do better than Apple is the fact that many Android devices, including Samsung Galaxy devices, come with USB-C which is the future compared to Apple's ancient lightning connector (frankly, Apple now uses USB-C on most of their iPads except for the entry level iPad 9). It allows for faster charging and transfer speeds and USB-C is basically superior to lightning, which is a relic from a bygone era. Plus, USB-C seems to last longer. Whilst my lightning connectors generally worn out between 6-18 months before having inconsistent connections or connectivity issues, my USB-C connectors would keep soldering on for at least 5 years before breaking down like the lightning connectors.
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TL;DR: Even though there are many benefits to owning an iPhone over an Android device, based on my user experience, after over 11 years of using various Samsung Galaxy phones, two Samsung Galaxy Tabs, and one Galaxy Bud and after over 12 years of using various iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and AirPods, I could safely assure that there are a lot of benefits to using Samsung and Android products over iPhones, namely due to the fact that notifications, customisation, features, options, Wi-Fi, multitasking, batteries, hotspot, Bluetooth, mobile payment, etc., are better on Samsung and Android products than on iPhones, based on my user experience.

I feel like every day I have a different reason to hate PoGo. I don't pay money for any of this, as I'm often reminded, I play for free, but I still feel like there are parts of the game that could be better. Yet Niantic constantly and consistently seems to do everything in their power to destroy any love I have for the game.
And I do love Pokémon. I have faithfully bought and played each mainline generation of Pokémon from blue to gold and all the way up to sword and scarlet, I've been a Pokémon fan for the nearly 3 decades it's existed. I have Pokémon coliseum, Pokémon snap, Pokémon trading cards, Pokémon plushies, and I've seen several of the movies. I've invested a lot of my time and money in the series over the years. I was so excited for Pokémon Go in 2016, I downloaded it that first week and have been playing ever since.
And ever since it's just been getting worse, and now I feel I play more out of some sense of obligation and fomo than actual desire or enjoyment.
The only times the game has gotten better are when fan outcry and/or directives from powers above Niantic forced change. I remember when I used to have to search for websites online that showed me where Pokémon were, because I couldn't find certain mons near me. Finally Niantic added their "radar" function to "fix" the problem. When the pandemic first started and lockdowns were being announced around the world, Niantic wanted you to still go out and walk and catch Pokémon as normal, until they were forced to admit defeat and make changes. Changes they wanted to revert as soon as possible, except that fan outcry made them keep some, like the increased radius.
But throughout that time, I've had a bunch of issues, that just don't get resolved. For example:

• I used to love battling. But the lag I get is ridiculous. Why is it that on a 5g phone, standing within line of sight from a 5g cell tower, I get lag when battling? Why is it that I lag when I am at home on my own Wi-Fi, where my internet is supposed to be a reasonably fast fiber optic connection that regularly lets me play MMORPGs and stream YouTube at the same time with no issues? What kind of lag am I talking about? I'm talking about how when my opponent and I have charge attacks ready at the same time, my opponent's attack always goes first, and sometimes it goes first and second, maybe even third. Yes, I have had situations where I'm mashing the button, and PoGo decides that my opponent can get 2 or 3 charge attacks off before I can do 1. If that's not lag, then what kind of special techniques do I need to learn to do this mystical art? This and other lag related issues have made me quit Pokémon battles altogether. Whether I have the best team or not doesn't matter, it's just about whether the game will let me win or not, and usually it's not.
  
• Do you like unskippable cut scenes or pop-ups? Yeah, me neither. But when an egg is hatching, well, by gum, anything and everything you're doing has to stop, right that second. You absolutely cannot pause or skip that, whether it's because you're trying to catch a mon during the last minute of your lunch break, or because it's community day and you haven't gotten a shiny yet, or because you just don't feel like it at that moment. Whatever you care about doing is irrelevant, you MUST watch this Pidgey hatch, and you can't do anything else. Why? Because $%&* you that's why.
  
• I used to enjoy getting research tasks. Catch 3 of this Pokémon, spin so many stops, etc. But now, when I spin a stop and get a task, you know what it always is? "Scan this stop/gym". Before you say it, yes I have turned every AR thing off in settings. The game doesn't care. I must scan every stop. I've complained before, and the only response is to turn it off in settings. But it already is, so #@*& me right?
  

I could go on, but I'll stop with those examples. Now, on April 6th, or whatever day, Niantic is going to jack up the price for remote raid passes. The same raid passes that the game regular glitches me out of (I've posted here about that before), and that I rely on to raid because the PoGo community is small and scattered around here. The passes are going to be nerfed as well, so even if I buy them, I'll be limited in how many times I can use them. Hurray.
I already don't see why I should reward Niantic's shoddy product and consistent hate of their community with my money. So it's time I go ahead and stop giving them my time as well. I may come back, as the core mechanics of catching and trading Pokémon are just something I like. But for now, I'm tired of being upset every time I open the app. I'm tired of waiting for next way Niantic will tell me and every other player that they hate us and want us to quit their game so they can continue on their glorious quest to run their company into the ground (how are all those other games doing? Is Harry Potter a big hit yet?) You win this time, I'm leaving.
Tl;dr: Niantic feels like an abusive partner and I'm getting out of this relationship

Been a while since I've touched the Spotify playlist, but I've been keeping track! I just haven't been sure if I should change my approach since we now have the official vendor's playlist. But I've been doing my own thing for a while now and I thought, maybe it's best I just continue as I have.Here's all the songs I've kept track of since my last list that are finally going into my spotify playlist (well, if Spotify allows) and then in the Daily Post queue-
Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now- McFadden & Whitehead
Always home- OMG ft will jay
And on and on- janet jackson (not on spotify)
A power in letting go- vargas & lagola
Beautiful- carole king
Better- brian mcknight
Big time- angel Olsen
Burning gold- christina perri
Can we talk- tevin campbell
Changing- bay ledges
Detour- maren morris
Ditto- Newjeans
Don't know much- linda ronstadt
Fly Like An Eagle- Seal
Fearless- Taylor swift
Fighting gravity by new kids on the block
Funkytown- lipps inc
Gemini dream- the moody blues
Go it alone- joe jonas
I believe- Ziggy alberts
I love you- martina mcbride
If I Could Build My Whole World Around You- Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
I’ll Never Not Love You- michael buble
I miss you- klymaxx
Impulsive- Wilson Phillips
Just Around The Corner- JD McPherson
Late night talking- Harry styles
Lead me- ceelo green
Lean on me- club nouveu
Let it Be- The Mamas
Lighthouse home- the mcclymonts (not on spotify)
Little dreams- Mandy moore
Loving you is sweeter than ever- four tops
Loving you is sweeter than ever- phill collins
My life - jaki graham (not on spotify)
Over yet- hayley williams
Saved my life - andy grammer & R3H4B
Soul shadows- the crusaders and bill withers
Roll the Dice- tim mcgraw and faith hill
Southern nights- glen Campbell
Some kind of way- sitting on Stacy
Sway- fitz and the tantrums
The tide is high- julian Marley & antaeus
’Til You Can’t- Cody Johnson
Truthfully- the Moving Stills
Unstoppable- james blunt
What do we do now?- Spencer Crandall
Where Did You Go- Jax Jones ft. MNEK
You can't hurry love- the supremes
You're my everything- the temptations
Your favorite song- katrina stone
Your love has lifted me higher- rita coolidge
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Discovered ghost songs that are going into my list but cannot be added to spotify, unfortunately
Pretty good so far- livy jeanne (unsearchable)
Home is in your heart- claire wright (unsearchable)
I will be your home- maggie eckford (unsearchable)

All right well, since you guys have been so kind with my previous post here about alcohol and I realized there are a lot of cool people in this subreddit, I figured I could ask another question.
I apologize if this is too much selfish-info or a self-centered vibe, but perhaps somebody else in here who is similar to myself will be able to use this post and the replies to improve their lives.
I am going to give a quick run-down of the main 10 points that describe myself in way that I find different or at least troubling to myself personally. I just want to see what you guys think and if you can relate to a point or multiple points. Mainly because I don't know what to think of my own self concept.. Maybe you have the same features in your personality or do not but know how to change them/improve them.
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1. I do not find other people very interesting. With that being said, I don't despise others or view them as lesser beings. They just don't naturally interest me with their lives and goals
2. I have trouble connecting with others. This applies to both friendships and relationships with the opposite sex. I often don't feel a strong attachment, sometimes I do, but it is rare
3. I view the world in a pessimistic fashion, but I view most of my habits or endeavors positively. Meaning I do believe in myself deep down
4. I don't understand personally why other people are so invested into careers, relationships, sports, music, or materialism. It is not that it offends me, but it confuses me
5. I want to impact the world in a meaningful way. I want to live until I die doing something that somehow helps the realm of man. It doesn't matter if it's super broad and powerful or if it's smaller-based and focused on a few individuals. I just want to do some good
6. I don't see why I am different than others, but I can sense it, due to how others treat me. Usually, I have been treated negatively at first hand account due to my perception. I am pretty tall, good looking, can dress decently, and I don't aim to appear cocky, but most people tend to not really react positively to myself at first sight. Maybe it is my projection, so I am trying to work on that
7. I love animals, nature, and things that don't involve people.. I don't know how to explain it. But basically, anything relating to God/nature I just find more peace in it. I don't care for designer brands, nice cars, nice homes, cool achievements, celebrity status.. I care about a nice view, lots of animals, and preserving a forest
8. I feel as if the world in general is moving in the wrong direction. I know wrong is subjective, but wrong to me means degeneracy. I witness the appeal towards cockiness, materialism, hatred towards others, and division. It annoys me, but I know I can't change it alone
9. I am meticulous about being particular about certain things. I have to have a set schedule for the day, I have to have my clothes arranged a certain way, I have to eat a small amount of food for each meal because I decided it is right for me etc.
10. I genuinely love people, animals, and the earth deep down. I sense the love but I can't feel it. I don't feel much warmth at all in my being. I sense a feeling of detachment and avoidant behavior. A sense of running away and hiding rather than acceptance and change. It's hard to explain, but his point may be totally related to past emotional trauma

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Overall, again, I am sorry if this is some sob story or self-description post, but I do feel like others could relate and I just want to hear some thoughts from this community. Thank you guys

Union Plants and Animals--Up to date as of 3/31/2023
(Homeworlds of Origin and such)
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General Creatures (Found on many worlds)
Aeroplankton: Tiny life forms that are small enough to drift through the air on tiny sails and wings, they are generally autotrophic though some carnivorous and detritivorous species have been observed. They are found across a great multitude of long colonised planets and are believed to be a side effect of interstellar travel as the airborne microbes of a thousand worlds.
Cloud Drifter: A huge winged creature similar in appearance to ancient pterodactyls, they soar the heat currents and eddies in the sky consuming aeroplankton. Their jaws able to expand to expose large feather structures that filter the tiny airborne creatures from the sky. While they are native to Malistorn they can be found across multiple worlds, the result of stowaways and invasive colonization. They are relatively intelligent animals.
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Abyss
Dejaarn: A large predatory creature native to the Slaaveth homeworld of Abyss and living in the deepest depths of the world's ocean. They are massive, easily 20-30 meters in length and have an appearance similar to that of a monstrous eel and have corrosive bile that they will spit if threatened. In the water, diluted, this bile causes extreme irritation and sometimes death, in the open air its effects are magnified and it acts as an extreme oxidiser.
Drek: Small creatures that are only one step above shimmer specks, or plankton, on the food chain. They are small creatures similar to zooplankton on Earth but larger. Though they are generally not considered a food source to the slaaveth themselves, a popular saying on the planet would be “That a mouthful of drek.” Native to the Slaaveth homeworld of Abyss.
Grooum: A large squid like creature native to Abyss. Despite their ferocious appearance, they are in fact filter feeders with long gill-like structures that trail at the end of their eight long arms. They have an intelligence about par to that of Earthly Dolphins and are widely known to be playful, curious creatures. They have colorful fins and three equally spaced eyes, black and pupiless.
Shimmer Specks: The colloquial slang for plankton on the slaaveth home planet of Abyss. They are generally similar to many other forms of plankton, small creatures that harness the power of sunlight to produce their own food and are in turn consumed by higher orders of life.
Skimmer Beasts: Similar in function to Earthly whales in function if not form, they are large and generally placid creatures that spend their days skimming the surface of the ocean for plankton and small creatures similar to krill called Drek in the oceans of Abyss.
Slurrge: Similar in function to a cleaner wrasse these little creatures are native to Abyss and were largely domesticated like human dogs. They are generally used to help clean detritus from underwater living spaces and can survive out of water for limited periods of time as they do possess protolungs. They are commonly treated as valued pets and treated quite well, though to be called a slurrge implies that the one in question is a dirty sludge slurper.
Vleshtrine Hunter: A large deep sea predator native to the Slaaveth homeworld of Abyss. It is large and slightly shark-like in appearance and behavior. While they are universally feared on Abyss, they are uncommon.
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Bright Moon
Jinkk: A very small mammal native to Bright Moon, while looking like a tiny bear-esk creature, it is more similar in behavior and temperament to a mouse.
Vreeinth: A small predator native to Bright Moon that is very similar to a snake. It has no legs and slithers along the ground using its powerful sense of smell to locate prey.
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Dreyvan II
Aeroplankton: Tiny life forms that are small enough to drift through the air on tiny sails and wings, they are generally autotrophic though some carnivorous and detritivorous species have been observed. They are found across a great multitude of long colonised planets and are believed to be a side effect of interstellar travel as the airborne microbes of a thousand worlds.
Dreyvan Vileglider: A type of flying arthropod native to the world of Dreyvan II. They are large and possess wings similar to that of a huge moth except they have the body structure more akin to a scorpion complete with a stinger tail.
Grinskal: A type of predatory lizard that looks like a cross between a crocodile and a wolf, though covered in drab grayish feathers. Native to Dreyvan II.
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Drivil
Jrarg: A near relative of the Xeiro’filk, long believed by the ancient Xeiro’filk to be the spirits of long dead ancestors, they are a protected species across most of the planet. Though there are a few more impoverished nations that used them as an illegal food source from time to time. The practice was akin to cannibalism in most parts of the world and the taboo of it rendered most who participated in the practice shunned and ostracized.
Krekats: Large furred animals similar in function to deer. They are different in the fact they have six legs and hard skull caps instead of horns. Native to the Xeiro’filk homeworld of Drivil.
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Earth
Cat: That old rival of humanity, Cats have made their mark on the stars and have many new and old breeds that may be known across the width of the Union. While many are pets and small, there do exist larger varieties of genetically manipulated cat strains that can be used for more defensive or offensive ends.
Cicadas: An easy to grow and popular food staple for the Swanith, this Earthly insect has been genetically engineered for maximum nutrition and flavor and is commonly served as rations or dipped in sudo chocolate.
Cow: While not too dissimilar from the cow that was widely available on Earth for thousands of years, this variety is a bit hardier and capable of eating a wide variety of vegetation and in some cases even meat proteins. There are carnivorous species of cows that exist on certain worlds.
Dog: Mankind's love for taming ferocious predators began with this creature. Long before Humanity had even civilized, before they had even discovered metal, they captured their ancient predators and bent them to their will. Humanity's love for taming the wild and free is greatly known among the other species of the galaxy. They often colonise planets seething with horrific predators and covered in noxious plants, before taming the predators and making the plants edible. There are dogs for almost every conceivable need, from hunting and tracking to construction and even medical work.
Rat: A small scavenger rodent species native to Earth, they are incredibly prolific and follow everywhere Humans go. Even the most sterile of science bases will have specially bred rats for both comfort and testing. Humans' bond with this small animal borders on the symbiotic, as Human colonies without these small critters tend to devolve into stinking cesspools as the buildup of hyper colonized bacterial growths take over their landfills and waste disposal grounds.
Roaches: Evolved and still just as survivable as their Earthly namesake. These small insects are found across the width and breadth of the Union in many forms. Some are lanky and others burrow, but they all share a distinctly similar body structure.
Weaver(Spider): The common name for the small eight legged arachnid variant from Earth. Wherever Humans can be found, these small arthropods are generally not far behind. They seem to be capable of surviving in a vast array of climates and even aboard sterile space stations and military complexes.
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Endless Windswept
Ha’vaup: About the size of a small dog, these creatures originally evolved on the world of Endless Windswept and they share the same biological silicate bone structure as the Gre’vahn. This makes them very durable and quite strong for their size, this combined with the fact that they are carnivorous hunters similar to Earthly cats makes them both decent pets as well as good for clearing out pest infestations. This usefulness has seen them spread across the Union and they can be found both domesticated and feral in many core system cities. They move with a distinct bounding gait similar to that of an Earthly kangaroo.
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Fresholm
Groint: A relatively large insect native to Fresholm, they are somewhat intelligent and make decent pets forming attachments to their owners over the years they are owned.
Pinchflies: A small insect native to Fresholm, they are known for their painful pinches and are very territorial.
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Goldbard
Aurgh Birds: Native to the planet of Goldbard, these near avians are warm blooded and don't have true feathers, instead having chitinous structures that are similar in function though more hair-like. They are insectivores and generally liked by farmers as they feed on pests and other nuisance insects that may harm crops. They are so named for the noise they make, which has been described as the sound of a large human male in pain.
Frubbeatles: The adult stage of Liverspotters, native to the agricultural planet of Goldbard. They are large, about six centimeters in length with bright orange shells and eight stubby legs they use to grip onto surfaces. They have bright iridescent wings and are able to fly for short distances during mating season.
Liverspotters: The common name for the larval stage of Frubbeatles, they generally live inside of the fruits of Frubble trees. They are commonly regarded as a nuisance pest and are subjected to numerous pesticides and such. Though this seems to be less effective than it should be, the larvae seem to be able to quickly adapt to combat new types of insecticides.
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Gradient
Julips: A small flying creature from the planet Gradient that seems to have easily adapted to the dark and dank places of urban sprawl as well as hitching rides to many other large scale civilised systems. They are small, about the size of a bat and of a similar function. They seem capable of adapting to many different climates and are capable of eating a wide variety of carbon based insect life. They are generally pale brown or grey in coloration and are similar to ancient winged reptiles from Earth's past.
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Hardnock
Feral Merls: A type of lunged fish-like creature native to the Ocean world of Hardnock in the Morris System, these creatures are about the size of a large dog and omnivore. They are quite similar in behavior to Earthly Hogs.
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Ho’the’rell
Frax'nt: A small fuzzy mammal native to Ho'the'rell. It acts as a type of scavenger, picking apart the detritus that litters the frozen wastes and breaking it down. They are similar in behavior to vultures in the fact that they tend to gorge themselves then go into a stupor for great lengths of time.
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Jureillo
Drawsherk: A large predator native to the swamps of Jureillo, it has an appearance similar to that of a bear mixed with a giant lizard. They are quite ferocious when provoked but tend to stay away from inhabited areas.
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Malistorn
Cloud Drifter: A huge winged creature similar in appearance to ancient pterodactyls, they soar the heat currents and eddies in the sky consuming aeroplankton. Their jaws able to expand to expose large feather structures that filter the tiny airborne creatures from the sky. While they are native to Malistorn they can be found across multiple worlds, the result of stowaways and invasive colonization. They are relatively intelligent animals.
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Neirvauhl
Ranx: A domesticated animal native to Neirvauhl, while not providing milk like human cattle, it is instead used to produce highly nutritious fertilizer that is then used to grow fungus crops. It is one of the few herbivores native to the planet and thrives in harsh environments. It was not uncommon for Nerivith knights to ride them into combat as they are capable of carrying massive amounts of weight, they are closer to horses than cows in structure. Their skin is a deep red in coloration and covered in fine black hairs with a mane of thicker hair around their necks and along the backs of their legs.
Shrij: a fuzzy creature not unlike a large blueish rat with a fuzzy wide tail, they are sometimes kept as pets by Nerivith and are quite intelligent on par with dogs. It's not uncommon for Nerivith to teach them simple tricks and the like.
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New Ramph
Himplit: A cattle animal native to the agricultural world of New Ramph and is commonly used in a similar manner to Earthly pigs. It is a short and squat animal with a long snout that it used to root around in the thick mud of its swampy home planet, it possesses thick scute like armour plates and six legs with webbed feet.
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Nowhere
Drumble: A small, almost rabbit-like creature native to Nowhere. It is a small burrowing mammal that is commonly eaten by the native noppins of the planet. They have sharp hearing and small eyes as they are mostly nocturnal creatures and spend the majority of the hot days burrowing underground like a mole.
Lorgranx: A breed of Ranx that has been specifically adapted to the hot and arid climate of Nowhere to the point that it has become a distinct subspecies. They are generally a bit taller and leaner with a large belly that they use as both fat and water storage, kind of like a reverse Camel.
Noppin: An indigenous lizard from Nowhere about 2.5 meters in length on average and weighing 40 kilograms. They are quite docile towards people in the wild and are considered the Wolves of Nowhere. After many generations of training and breeding, several different breeds have arisen, some more lively and quick, others slow but powerful. They have a generally higher level of intelligence for a cold blooded animal and have been known to form strong bonds of loyalty with their owners. While they do give live birth, their young are able to consume meat almost right away.
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Paradise
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Sabith
Grassstrider: A medium sized insect native to Sabith, it is known for its ability to jump great distances and is generally liked due to its slightly spicy taste and crispy texture. Usually eaten candied.
Millibugs: Sometimes call Mealbugs by spacers they are a type of insect native to Sabith, generally well liked by Swanith, their ease of preservation and high nutrient content make them an ideal ration supply for Swanith travelers and colonists alike. They are similar in appearance to a cricket crossed with a millipede, and are tan in coloration.
Pale Finch: A species of near avians from the planet Sabith, they are tangentially related to the Swanith themselves in that they share a common ancestor but are not intelligent like their sapient cousins. They are small and a bit more birdlike in shape but still possess small graspers on their wingtips like the Swanith.
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Scorch
Finge: A type of egg laying reptile native to the planet Scorch, while the reptile has a hard time surviving outside the desert environment of Scorch itself, their eggs are considered incredibly tasty as they are both savory and fatty. Distinctive for the colorful fringes that they have along their backs.
Truze’felids: A type of small creature native to the planet of Scorch. They are small near mammalian carnivores that lay hard shelled eggs and eat other small critters. They can often be found in large numbers in and around skorp hives as they are partially domesticated similar to Earthly cats.
Znots: Small critters similar in size and function to Earthly rats. They possess protofeathers and have six small scaled legs with wide claws that they use to burrow. They can be found in most places that the Skorp inhabit as they are native to the planet Scorch.
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Unionborne (Created by Union scientists or technology)
Cyberhound: A cybernetically or bionically enhanced dog, sometimes used by military or law enforcement, most often in the employ of bounty hunters and void wardens.
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Voidborne (Space faring creatures)
Celestipods: Small critters capable of withstanding incredible stress and damage. They are commonly found on drifting ice floes and embedded in primordial comets. They are small eight legged creatures that can range in size from microscopic to the size of a small dog. They are almost impossible to kill and can metabolize almost any imaginable kind of organic compounds. They seem to have a taste for void mussels, often being found grazing on fields of the strange shelled creatures.
Fleshtroid: A large mass of flesh inhabiting a hollowed out asteroid, they are uncommon and usually only found in systems with yellow stars and inhabitable planets. They are in effect Mutalid probes that were left in place to report to their dark masters. While they are generally hostile when approached, it is not unheard of them to be quite curious as they are in fact intelligent.
Glimmer Drorn: A type of creature that is mostly gaseous with a very thin membrane that gives them a roughly spherical shape, they float around and absorb sunlight and interstellar gas to survive. Butterfly-like behavior.
Metalgea: A curious type of interstellar plant form, these microscopic plants have a hard ferrosilicate shell and a low internal temperature. They seem to be able to survive in the near vacuum of space on large asteroids and comets. They can be found near the icy poles of moons and dwarf planets. They seem to spread by releasing small spores that can drift inanimate for thousands or potentially even hundreds of thousands of years till they reach conditions suitable for life. This process has been drastically sped up by the invention of FTL. Ships can unknowingly pick up these spores and transfer them tens of thousands of times faster to new territory. Though they are incredibly hardy, they cannot withstand temperatures in excess of negative fifty degrees making contamination of living spaces almost entirely impossible.
Ravenoids: Huge fleshy tentacled monstrosities that seem to inhabit many of the large moons in the vicinity of Abyss, they come in a number of unique varieties but all seem to share a common genetic template. The leading theories are that they are remnants of previous mutalid incursions.
Void Mussels: Wherever metalgea can be found, void mussels are sure to be there too. The two void creatures seeming to share a strange sudo-symbiotic bond. The mussels consume the metalgea and in turn excrete nutrients that are in turn consumed again by the metalgea. The void mussels seem to be capable of extracting minerals from the surrounding environment that the metalgea cannot.
Void Wisps: Ethereal and ghostly in appearance, these creatures are made of energy and tend to congregate near sources of ions. This means that the ion drives of large ships can attract these mysterious creatures into the ship's wake where they frolic and play behind them. It is unknown whether or not they are intelligent as they have never been successfully captured or otherwise closely studied. They were first documented by the famous UNSS Lief Erikson and then later covered in more detail by the legendary naturist Druth Felman himself. They have an almost ray-like appearance.
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Vool
Gweawa: A type of livestock native to the planet Vool. They are large and gray skinned with many characteristics similar to that of amphibians. Though they don't lay eggs and instead give birth to small tadpoles that then metamorph into their final form after a short growing period. They are treated in a manner similar to hogs and eaten in the same way.
Shimmerscales: A type of small fish-like creature native to the homeworld of the razah’vool. They are a favorite food of the razah’vooll and generally eaten raw in a manner similar to sushi on top of slices of Gragno, a vegetable native to the same world.
Webblings: Small amphibious creatures originally native to the planet Vool. They are small and have toad-like dry skin(without the bumps) and have six legs with webbed feet. They have no claws or teeth but are quite fast and hunt insects and other very small critters. They seem to have a fondness for Earthly cockroaches which can be found all across the Union.
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Vreefall
Brawhm: A type of medium sized herbivore that was hunted in the prehistoric days by ancient Vinarfel. Now it has become domesticated and is generally larger and more docile than its ancient counterparts. It has a meat with a texture similar to that of buffalo but a taste closer to that of Earthly salmon.
Pudgilow: A type of cattle animal revered for its fatty meat, it is raised across many worlds of the Union and originates from the Vinarfel homeworld of Vreefall. Humans tend to like it and compare it to a mix between bacon and beef. The animals themselves are large and pudgy, looking not too dissimilar to small hippos with a small layer of armour on their heads and backs as well as venomous bristles on their shoulders. They are opportunistic omnivores that will happily eat any meat they come across.
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