Nfl contract restructure explained

NFL front offices don't rank players 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc anymore like the big boards you see in the media—vertical draft boards. They don't just go down a list and pick the next player on their board. Doing that would be complete idiocy. You'd have teams like us or the Chiefs drafting QBs when we already have one, or Carolina or Houston picking Bijan Robinson, seeing as how—when you ignore positional value like these commenters want to do—he's the best or 2nd best player in the draft. All of you know for a fact that neither of those things are going to happen.

Front offices use horizontal draft boards.

They put players in tiers. The top tier might be "potential Hall of Famer." The next tier might be "potential All-Pro," then "potential pro bowler," etc, down to "core special teamer" and beyond.
When their pick comes up, they look at the top tier with players available, and pick a player from that tier. If the team has a bigger need at a specific position, they're more likely to pick that position if one is available in that tier, because every player in that tier is considered to be of equal value. They'll take high-value positions like EDGE, IDL, or WR over low-value ones like OBLB, S, or RB when all else is equal.
This is also where trades up and down come in. If our pick at 10 comes up, and there are still six players available in the highest tier left, you're comfortable trading down six spots because you're still guaranteed to get a player from that tier. If you're at 30, and see a "potential pro bowler" sliding down the draft beyond the tier you have him in, you may try to trade up to grab the last player in that pro bowl tier before the drop-off to the next.
Stop pretending that positional value and team needs aren't factored in the draft. Howie considers needs a year ahead because he has job security. Last year we picked a 2023 need because it was unlikely we'd bring back both Hargrave and Cox, and then traded our second 1st for an immediate need. Then our 2nd rounder went to a player to eventually replace Kelce because his contract was coming up and it wasn't guaranteed he'd be back. The year before, we picked an immediate need in Smith, and a player to replace Brooks because trench players have higher positional value to Howie. Before that, he picked an immediate need in Reagor, and before that an upcoming need in Dillard to replace Peters the next year. They didn't work out, but they were still needs.
It's flat out silly to think that the 1,2,3 vertical board ranking concept of BPA just coincidentally lines up with a need for us every single year. Stop listening to GM politician-speak, and look at what they actually do instead.
So many people seem to have this dumbed-down idea of how BPA works and present it like gospel when they don't even understand how it works in reality.
Rant over.

This is the first time I face such a situation and I am not sure what steps to take. I interviewed this company 6 months ago and received a call with a verbal offer for a paid internship. I asked for some time to consider it after the contract is ready for me to read, but I was told that an answer is needed immediately and the terms of the contract will be the same as discussed previously. I decided to accept it and expressed my excitement for this news. I inquired about the start date but was told that it is unknown yet and that they must complete the background check and collect some signatures before sharing the formal offer by email. My primary mode of contact was whatsapp and I was sending gentle reminders every now an then. They thanked me for my patience and after 2 months, I was told to expect the contract by the end of the week. However, it wasn’t ready and the recruiter told me he is no longer part of that company and directed me to someone else from hr who will continue to update me. The Hr lady was very slow to respond, I spoke to her on the phone 2 times and she told me she will “prepare everything and contact me soon”. She also informed me that the procedures at the company are very slow and to expect a delay. At this point, I had rejected job offers from 3 companies and had a gap in my resume. Suddenly, she was getting slower and slower in responding to my messages. Until she scheduled a call to let me know that my internship was “put on hold” and the position is no longer available. I am devastated. I blame myself for not insisting that the offer be made on email instead of phone call or WhatsApp. When she called me I only told her I was very sad and explained what happened during the months of me waiting for this job. I didn’t even get a reason for the decision. I contacted the ex-employee who I had been contacting previously for advice and he told me he was at a loss for words because he too was assured that my offer will be materialized eventually. I’m not sure what to do now. This company is supposed to be very respectable and “first level”, I didn’t anticipate such a thing from them. Is there something I can say or do or do I accept my fate and move on.

This is probably a well known thing that I’m just behind on but holy shit. Here is some context to explain, I start a career mode with Tottenham and I decided I wanted a experience/good LB until Sessegnon gets a bit higher rated. I saw Guerreiro was out of his contract so I decided to pick him up for $20m which I think is a bargain for a 82 rated player at 28 years old. Anyway when I signed I was doing the development plan on him and after looking at his stats I was thinking he would be a wayyy better CM. So out of curiosity with what his rating would be I was shocked to find out that when I converted him, he turned into a 88 rated player worth 90mil. I had to change the team up to play with this. I switched Bentancur to LB.
So yea, maybe for some of you this information is useless but if your looking for a quality CM or a bit of bread I highly recommend buying Guerreiro for your career mode

Before I had MG I would sometimes get a weak/shaky feeling after strenuous exercise or muscle use. I know other “normal” people have this experience too but as you all probably know, with MG such feelings can come on without any muscle activity at all. I am now trying to distinguish between the muscle weakness and shakiness I experience after exercise which may be normal and that which is caused by MG which warrants additional Mestinon/Pyridostigmine.
As I think about this aspect, I also wonder why MG causes this weak muscle feeling when – as I understand it – the muscle itself is not overworked but just lacking the nerve signal to contract. If anyone on this forum can explain this I would appreciate it. Its not just a curiosity but hopefully something that will help me manage my MG, physical activities and medicine better.

Coming to reddit with this because I don't know where else to take it. I've always had a weird relationship with my father. He was the definition of an authoritarian parent. My entire life, my parents have always given covert messages that a woman's role is to have a family. I was never raised with the expectation I would be a doctor, scientist, etc. It was a "girls are just bad at math" type household. While they've been supportive of what I've done, I've always felt like it came with stipulations.
I graduated from grad school in 2020 in a field that was in high demand, and moved across the country in Dec of that year for a 6 figure job. I bought my own house at 29, without help from my parents. My dad did help me pack the containers. I've lived here over 2 years and i can count on 2 fingers the amount of times he's been here (one of those, he did buy/install a hot water here). After the job that moved me here, I took another that resulted in a 40k salary raise, and I remember when I excitedly told my dad about my offer, instead of seeming proud he just seemed...peeved? Like somehow a 30 year old didn't deserve that, even though I have a graduate degree in my very specific field, and had worked really hard not just to get in but get through school and pass my boards.
I've had a rough time in my new city--Developing a social circle in your early 30s in a city where there aren't many transplants, while working a job that is high travel during COVID has not made it especially easy. I've dated a couple guys, but it's never turned into a lifelong match situation. I got laid off in November, spent the holidays unemployed in my basement applying to jobs, and just started a new job a few weeks ago. New job is really really great, and again, this geography is my territory. I don't want to stay in this city forever, or this state, but this is not the time to sell my house (side note: Even if i wanted to right now, REAL difficult to get your house ready to sell when you're one person with no help and you drained your savings to survive while laid off), and financially and emotionally I'm pretty spent right now.
In January, my dad announced (while I was calling him to tell him about a plumbing issue), that I was quote "getting conceited at my last job". Not implying the 100+ person layoff I lost my job in was my fault, but that the universe/god let it knock me down. I wasn't conceited, I was confident, which you had to be to be okay at my job. Men with my same personality wouldn't have been called conceited. In any event, what he said really hurt me and I cried after the plumber left.
I just contracted COVID again, and i'm alone. Today my dad sent me a text that I should "move back to that part of the country because I'm losing time with them" and that i just "pigeon holed myself with my new job" (I've tried to explain my job field to my parents, and they don't get it. There are also no openings near them. I would known more than most, because I spent all day every day looking at job openings and trends all winter. I also wouldn't be able to do my type of role without access to a major airport, which they don't have) and quote "there's more to life than high salaries" (This job ended up being a raise over the job I was laid off from, and he knows that, and again, he doesn't seem happy for me.)
My parents live in a remote, very pretty small town where my dad has his own business. Two of my 3 siblings work for him, and live there. The median home price there is 650k. The median home price in the city I live in is 230k. If you make 150k and are a single person, where do you think the salary goes further? Additionally, because the city they live in is small and isolated, there aren't a lot of early career professionals there, so finding friends and dating isn't much easier, either. I don't even know where my dad thinks I would live/what I would do if i were to move to their city.
I'm sitting here filled with rage. Please help me find the appropriate words to text back?
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TL;DR: Dad thinks i don't deserve to make the salary i do or have the jobs i've had, and called me conceited, AND believes in order to be happy in life and do life right the only way is to move across the country to be un or underemployed. Really hurt and upset.

Dear Reddit community,
I am seeking advice on a difficult situation I am facing with my current employer, a school where I have been teaching for several years. The school has asked me to write a letter stating that I will not be returning to work next year due to the birth of my child in June. The contract would start in August, and my baby would only be six weeks old at the time.
I have been trying to start a family for the past two years, and the school has been informed of this. During this time, I have frequently expressed my desire to transition into an administrative role so that I can maintain a part of the community. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the school has made positions for other people and found ways to maintain certain members of the staff when they were unable to return to their previous position in the classroom, the school has not found a way to make this work for me.
Even though I was recently informed that the school is expanding, I do not see any opportunity or space for me at the school after the conclusion of this year, unless something has changed that administration has not made me aware of.
The school is aware of my plans and desires for next year, yet it doesn't seem like they have made an effort to find a way to keep me, aside from using me as a classroom teacher. Unfortunately, this leaves me with no reasonable choice but to consider other options. They do not offer any maternity leave benefits other than those required by the state and do not offer childcare for children under 2 years old. It was also explained to me that I could not bring my child to work with me, even though others have done so in the recent past.
I am seeking advice on how best to handle this situation, particularly regarding whether or not I should send them written notice of my plans for next year.
Thank you!

It seems like the alternate reality created by Rumpel through the ogre for a day contract has this entire history created alongside it, which Rumpel himself seems to have experienced, judging by his comment when Shrek arrives: "Have I been waiting for you!", Despite the universe only being a few hours old, the delivery and interactions he has with Shrek when explaining the contract sound personal. "The King and Queen signed their kingdom over to me." It is as if he is recounting events he personally witnessed, rather than explaining the effects objectively. There is also the fact that Rumpel enslaved ogres in the reality's past and knows his witches on first name basis despite the universe, again, being hours old.
Did the contract send the original Rumpelstiltskin into the reality with Shrek, and he gained memories of a false past that played out in that reality?
Or, was the Rumpelstiltskin of that reality created alongside the new timeline, had lived it's 'past', and only knew who Shrek was due to him remembering all the deals he makes across all realities?

Dear Reddit community,
I am seeking advice on a difficult situation I am facing with my current employer, a school where I have been teaching for several years. The school has asked me to write a letter stating that I will not be returning to work next year due to the birth of my child in June. The contract would start in August, and my baby would only be six weeks old at the time.
I have been trying to start a family for the past two years, and the school has been informed of this. During this time, I have frequently expressed my desire to transition into an administrative role so that I can maintain a part of the community. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the school has made positions for other people and found ways to maintain certain members of the staff when they were unable to return to their previous position in the classroom, the school has not found a way to make this work for me.
Even though I was recently informed that the school is expanding, I do not see any opportunity or space for me at the school after the conclusion of this year, unless something has changed that administration has not made me aware of.
The school is aware of my plans and desires for next year, yet it doesn't seem like they have made an effort to find a way to keep me, aside from using me as a classroom teacher. Unfortunately, this leaves me with no reasonable choice but to consider other options. They do not offer any maternity leave benefits other than those required by the state and do not offer childcare for children under 2 years old. It was also explained to me that I could not bring my child to work with me, even though others have done so in the recent past.
I am seeking advice on how best to handle this situation, particularly regarding whether or not I should send them written notice of my plans for next year.
Thank you!

Seeing the rumors of how Kenny might sign with WWE when his contract runs out, I decided to make this little series! This is just for fun, don't flame me.
In the Main Event of Money in the Bank, it’s Finn Balor v. Cody Rhodes © for the WWE Championship. Cody has been through hell throughout the past few weeks, going through hoop after hoop for the chance of facing Finn. He’s banged up, injured, and despite all that, and a little bit of help from a cowbell, Cody wins. After the match, Judgement Day stomps out Cody, to raucous boos. As they stand over Cody, the lights suddenly begin to go out, bit by bit, and a piano is heard over the speakers. Then,
“I HEAR THE BATTLE CRY!”
Kenny Omega is seen on the top of the ramp, clad in a suit, and sunglasses, as the audience goes wild. The Judgement Day, and especially Cody are shocked by his presence.
Michael Cole puts it, “The Champion of the Wrestling Universe has finally arrived in WWE!”
The show signs off.
2 DAYS LATER…
Kenny Omega opens Raw with a promo, saying he’s been gone for 17 years, and when he left WWE, the then-head trainer in the then-Developmental, Deep South Wrestling, said he’d be better off being a shoe salesman than a Professional Wrestler. But he set out to prove himself to become the best professional wrestler in the world, and 17 years later, Kenny Omega conquered everywhere else, except the WWE. He goes on, remarking the reason Michael Cole called him the ‘Champion of the Wrestling Universe’ is because it’s true. Everywhere he's gone, championship gold has followed. And he wants to prove his worth by beating Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship.
Cody comes out to meet Kenny, and shakes his hand. Cody tells him, that he is honored that Kenny would come to WWE, and if it were up to him, he’d be happy to give him the championship opportunity. But now that Kenny is in the WWE, he has to start at the back at the line, like everyone else. He tells him to come back in 2-3 months, when he’s got more of a resume built up.
“A-TOWN…… DOWN!!” Out comes Austin Theory. Austin Theory makes the point that Kenny is a nobody in the U.S.A., while Theory is an international superstar, known around the world, and still has a rematch for the title, and if anyone deserves a title shot, it’s him.
Finn Balor comes out with Judgement Day, saying that he supersedes everyone, considering Cody cheated to win in their Title Match, Theory hasn’t done a damn thing to prove that he’s been championship material, and Kenny, while Finn respects him, just got here. Finn wants to hold World championship gold again, since the Universal Championship isn’t around anymore. But for that to happen, Cody needs to give Finn the title match at SummerSlam.
Karl Anderson is out next, with Luke Gallows. Karl has said that despite his numerous Tag Team championship reigns, it’s high time he starts challenging for the Title-ski. He remarks that while Cody and him weren’t in the Bullet Club at the same time, he knows he’ll make the right decision.
AJ Styles makes his return, saying it’s time that he gets back in the world title picture, since he hasn’t won world title gold since 2018. He shows respect to Karl, Finn, and Cody, disparages Theory, and doesn’t even acknowledge Kenny.
Cody says that he hears everyone, and there’s only one way to settle this: A Gauntlet match for the main event of Raw, Featuring AJ Styles, Austin Theory, Karl Anderson, Finn Balor, Kenny Omega, and a mystery opponent.
Main event time, ~60 Minute Gauntlet match, Kenny Omega is out first, and he takes out Theory first, and then Karl, and when AJ comes out, instead of shaking his hand, he slaps him, and they have a ~15 minute match, where Kenny is victorious. Then comes Finn, who shakes his hand, and they have a ~20 minute match, where Kenny once again, emerges victorious.
Then, the final entrant comes out…
…And Roman Reigns’ music hits. Roman saunters out to the ring, for the first time since WrestleMania. And once he gets into the ring, he spears Omega, and wins. Reigns is the #1 contender, and will go on to face Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam. Kenny receives a standing ovation from the Audience for his performance, despite his loss.
The next week, Kenny Omega is interviewed on MizTV, talking about how he went the distance with some of WWE’s top Stars, and he lost to the biggest dog in the yard. Kenny says, it’s not about winning or losing. It’s about making the biggest impression.
Theory comes out, saying, Kenny Omega robbed him of his spotlight, wanting a match with the so-called “Champion of the Wrestling Universe” at SummerSlam. Kenny accepts.
At SummerSlam, Kenny Omega faces off against Austin Theory, in a match that was too close to Call, but Kenny won with an Omega Beam (V-Trigger) and a One-Winged Angel.
After SummerSlam, Kenny Omega is drafted to Smackdown, where he begins to feud with the Judgement Day. JD McDonough, the honorary member of the Judgement Day, begins to get into Finn’s ear about how Kenny usurped his club, his legacy. As such, Finn begins to attack Kenny over the next few weeks, after his rather short matches. This leads to a match at Crown Jewel in October, where Kenny needs to find a partner for the tag team match. On RAW, Kenny goes to AJ Styles’ dressing room, saying he needs help against the Judgement Day. AJ calls him a no-good, rotten Snake, and shuts the door on him. After a week of attempting to find a partner, Johnny Gargano, who’s been having troubles with JD McDonough himself, decides to team with Kenny. At Crown Jewel, the team of Gargano and Omega win with a Superkick/Omega Beam combo. That Friday, Gargano and Omega challenge for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships, against JD McDonough & Dominik Mysterio, and the Alpha Academy ©. Omega and Gargano win the tag belts, and this makes JD seethe. After winning the titles, AJ appears next to Gargano, telling Johnny to be careful, because he doesn’t know what Kenny is capable of.
Survivor Series hits, and Omega and Gargano are in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series match, teaming with the Brawling Brutes, against Karrion Kross, Austin Theory, Alpha Academy, and NXT’s Grayson Waller. Waller is the first one out, after Kenny nails him with an Omega Beam. Butch is next, Eliminated by Karrion by submission, who is followed out by Holland. Chad Gable is Eliminated by Johnny Gargano, after One Final Beat, and he submits Theory with the Gargan-No Escape. Sheamus eliminates Otis with a Brogue Kick, and Sheamus is quickly eliminated after passing out to the Kross Jacket. Kenny gets disqualified for accidentally hitting the referee, leaving Kross and Johnny as the only team members left. After a hard hitting match, Johnny eventually puts Kross down after a Superkick, and One Final Beat. Johnny Gargano is the Sole Survivor. After the match, Kenny and Johnny embrace.
Backstage, at the post-victory photoshoot, Ciampa goes up to Johnny, looking at the Smackdown Tag Team Championship, saying, now that Johnny’s a champion with one of the best talents in the world, and he isn’t, that he thinks he’s better than him. Johnny refutes that claim, and when Kenny tries to step in, Ciampa tells him to shut up. Ciampa warns Johnny to watch out for the company he keeps.
December rolls around, and Battleground is coming up, which means one thing: WARGAMES! LA Knight, who lost at Survivor Series, wanting another Championship match after losing his Money in the Bank cash-in, begins to get under Cody’s skin, when he pretends to be him during his entrance, wears gear that has Brandi and Cody’s kid on it, with Knight’s face where Cody’s would be, goes into his house, meeting his Wife, Brandi, and his Baby girl and having the police called on him, but the tipping point is when Cody has a match with Damian Priest, and suddenly, Dusty Rhodes’ old music hits, and out comes LA Knight, dressed in the polka dots that dusty wore. Cody snaps and beats the hell LA Knight, getting himself disqualified. Finn tries to get Cody to stop, but Cody shoves him, leading to The Judgement Day and JD McDonough beating him down, which brings out The OC to help out, but the numbers are too great. Omega and Gargano come from Smackdown come in to finally even the odds, laying out the opposition with a Superkick, One Winged Angel, One Final Beat, and a Superkick/Omega Beam Combo. Suddenly, Omega is attacked by a cameraman, who takes off his hat and mask to reveal it’s Ciampa. Gargano sees this, and him and Ciampa come to blows. The heels powder out, whilst the Babyfaces stand tall in the ring. Suddenly, Triple H’s music hits, as he stands at the top of the Ramp. The Game only says one word:
“WARGAMES!”
The stage is set for a 12-Man WarGames Match at Battleground.
The Friday before Battleground, AJ Styles goes up against JD McDonough, for the WarGames advantage. Kenny Omega accompanies AJ to the ring, to AJ’s chagrin. After the ref is knocked down, Ciampa comes out from the crowd and knocks AJ down with a Kendo stick. Kenny takes the Kendo Stick from Ciampa, and AJ sees him with it. AJ shoves Kenny, who tries to explain what happened. AJ suddenly gets rolled up by JD, and loses. Team Knight have the advantage in WarGames. After the match, Kenny is abandoned in the ring by AJ, who doesn’t accept his handshake.
At Battleground, before Wargames starts, Kenny asks AJ if he can put the past aside for just one night. He knows that they’ve had their differences with the Bullet Club, but this is for Cody. AJ says that he’ll see. Gargano and JD start the match, followed by Ciampa, followed by Gallows, etc. When it comes time for AJ to enter, he turns around, looking at Kenny. AJ attacks Kenny in the Shark Cage, laying him out and turning heel. AJ abandons the match, with Kenny being escorted to the back. Once Cody enters the match, Kenny is given a 5 minute time limit, before WarGames begins without him. With 1:15 left on the clock, Kenny Omega comes back out to officially begin WarGames. Both Teams face off, and eventually come to a great big fight. The numbers game prove too great, and eventually Team Rhodes is beat down and downtrodden. However, due to a dispute between Dominik and JD, Dominik attacks his own teammate, and leaves the cage, leading Team Knight to surrender.
On the last SmackDown of the year, Gargano and Omega defend the tag titles against Madcap Moss and Von Wagner. The team is interviewed after the match, where Kenny Omega announces himself as the first man to declare his intentions to enter the Royal Rumble match.
To be continued...

Throwaway account jic. Worked for a company for 7 years. Started out Entry level and rose through the ranks fairly quickly for someone my age. The entire time my boss, Suzy, was the one who selected me for the promotions, giving me great opportunities and eventually doubling my salary. Good relationship with Suzy, she and I had a lot in common, no problems. She was known to play favorites, and we certainly weren’t best friends or anything, but it was fair to say she did not hate me.
Got to a point where I was happy with my job, but there was another promotion available. I didn’t want it, but was told by someone close to Suzy that if I didn’t take it Suzy may not pick me if the position came around again later and I was interested. I took the promotion. It was horrible. Suzy provided no training despite multiple requests, but when she was present as a supervisor, she criticized my work. Ended up in multiple situations where I felt unsafe or harassed by employees I now supervised, however nothing was done, my mental health was in horrible shape.
I heard multiple comments about how terrible Suzy thought I was, what an awful job she thought I did, but nothing directly from her. The last straw was last year when I got my performance review from Suzy. It was not good, and was 100% based on gossip from other people or half stories from other people and had NOTHING to do with my job performance. Once we discussed, she changed my review to a positive one because I was able to explain the situations or inform her she didn’t have all the info. I started looking for another job at this time.
Fast forward a few months, the company restructured some things, promoted Suzy, then put some assistants in place under her (who were promoted from within, so all known people, they knew my work, work ethic, etc) which meant my supervisor was then one of those assistants, who we will call John. A few weeks after being assigned to John, I finally got and accepted a new job offer. I notified John, who was super supportive. I asked John, with the new structure, if I should tell Suzy or if reporting to him was correct and he would tell her. He responded that he would and he did.
Heard from others Suzy was pissed, but I never heard from her. Literally ever again. I left the company over an month later and she never said a word. I feel like I’m in the right as I notified my supervisor, John, who advised me he’d let her know. I don’t think it’s a shocker that I didn’t want to communicate with her if I didn’t have to, but if Suzy was still my boss, I wouldn’t notify the person above her. I didn’t see a reason to go above John. Old coworkers say that I owed Suzy a conversation because she gave me so many opportunities and is the reason I got as far as I did. AITA here? ETA: paragraphs

50 Cent: What are you up to, my man? The entirety of the Grand Theft Auto fanbase is waiting on tenterhooks. We surely cannot be too far away from the long-awaited reveal of GTA VI. Honestly, every time I get a Twitter notification from Rockstar Games, my heart skips a beat and now, 50 Cent is playing with our emotions.
Last week, 50 Cent dropped what appeared to be a major GTA VI teaser. He posted a Vice City logo, captioning it, “I will explain this later. GreenLightGang, this s**t bigger than POWER, trust me. BOOM.” Dr Dre starred in GTA Online’s ‘The Contract’ DLC so many have speculated that 50 Cent could be lending his likeness to a GTA VI character. Well now, the plot thickens because the rapper has dropped yet another tease - deleting it swiftly after. Very suspicious.
Take a look at this mod which allows you to play as The Boys’ Homelander in GTA V.
As spotted by Reddit user worldlovespain, after posting a second reference to GTA, 50 Cent deleted both posts from his social media accounts. The second tease featured a photo of a Vice City neon sign from shopping site AliExpress. Due to the deletion of both posts, many are assuming that the rapper may have broken an NDA he had with Rockstar Games.
As previously mentioned, 50 Cent could be teasing a GTA VI collaboration but what’s perhaps more likely is that he’s working on a GTA-inspired show, focusing on Vice City by the looks of it. In the original tease, 50 Cent included the TV emoji. He also said, ‘This s**t bigger than POWER.” Well Power is a crime drama series that aired from 2014 to 2020 that, you guessed it, starred 50 Cent. The rapper also helped create the series.
Big budget game adaptations are all the rage right now. You need look no further than HBO’s The Last of Us. I’m surprised GTA is yet to get the adaptation treatment given the immense love for the franchise. For now, take all of this with a pinch of salt until anything is confirmed but 50 cent is undoubtedly up to something.

according to this, Lamar Jackson is willing to forgo guaranteed money on the back end of any contract:

One major roadblock in negotiations was reportedly Jackson’s desire to receive a fully-guaranteed contract, but this is no longer the case according to ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio. While the 2019 MVP still wants a significant amount fully guaranteed, he is seemingly now more open to one or more non-guaranteed years on the back end of any prospective deal.

The Ravens can still match any offer, so I think that ACME's analysis still holds - the Jets still have fewer options than the Pack does. However, it isn't clear how this change in Jackson's position affects the dynamic.
Arguably, it doesn't because the Ravens can still match any offer. And why would the Ravens be willing to settle for any less than what GB wants?

Part 13: What you don't know can hurt you (Part 1) (Part 12)
[A/N This one gets kinda dark in the second half so... yeah this is your warning.]
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"How did you cook this meat to make it so…" Atxika was struggling to find the right words to describe what she was tasting. "It's rich, tender, flavorful, slightly sweet, and… something else."
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"Buttery." Mik replied with pride clear in his voice. "I used a lot of butter and garlic when I seared it, then a lot more when I broiled it. The garlic makes it slightly sweet, but it's the butter that really kicks it up a notch."
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"Is it real butter? Where'd yah even get it?" Sarah's question came through muffled as she was still savoring a particularly juicy bite of steak.
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"You aren't gonna believe this..." Mik's grin grew a bit coy and he hoped she would get the reference without completing it.
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"Do I even want to know what butter is?" Tens asked while watching some of the oil drip from the bite at the end of his fork.
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"It's another dairy product, but this is a synthesized version of it. Also perfect copy though." The Martian clarified before taking another bite.
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As soon as Mik said that, both Tens and Atxika shot each other questioning glances. The grand buffet they were treated to the night before had been incredibly delicious, with Atxika having found a new love for cheese and ice cream. However, no amount of lactase and digestive enhancers could completely offset the amount of dairy she had consumed. Though Atxika didn't want to discuss the details, it was obvious her digestive system wasn't adapted to that kind of food. Despite the aftermath later on in the evening, the delicacies had all been so good she couldn’t refuse the invitation for an afternoon tour and dinner on Mik's ship, assuming she could safely consume the food.. The slightly modified diner table the four were all seated remained quiet for an awkward second as the oddly paired couple hesitated to continue eating.
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"Don't worry, it doesn't have lactose or anything like that in it." Mik commented after seeing the look they were giving each other. "And y'all ate so much cheese and ice cream at the buffet that it would give an avid milk enthusiast stomach problems."
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"I was about to say," Tens’s voice had a building laugh, "if this is anything like the dairy from yesterday, my future would include me gripping onto a toilet for dear life."
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"Speaking of future activities." Atxika quickly changed the subject while using the side of her fork, rather than her knife, to cut another bite out of the incredibly tender meat. "After seeing this vessel of yours, I am quite curious as to your plans for your new one."
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"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure." The expression on the bearded man's face implied he had lots of ideas, but hadn't finished thinking through any of them.
​
"Not gonna let yahr da borrow it, are yah?" Sarah chimed in with a note of genuine concern in her voice.
​
"Nah, fuck that guy. He and I had a pretty big falling out after I got out of the hospital." Mik's smile had all but disappeared at the mention of his dad. "Asshole thought me getting hurt would make me join his bullshit crusade."
​
"Ah." Sarah suddenly regretted her question. "I… uh…"
​
"Don't worry about it." Mik let his smile come back, though it seemed to be hiding something. "We'll talk about that later. But right now, I wanna talk about giant spaceships! Speaking of, how do you use your quite impressive vessel, Admiral?"
​
"Didn't Mia or Tarki explain all that during your tour?" Sarah blurted out while Atxika was still savoring the bite steak she had just put in her mouth.
​
"Well, they didn't give me a tour." Mik admitted while shooting Tens a nod. "Homeboy gave me one when we were high as shit a few days ago." Suddenly his demeanor completely changed as he quickly looked back and forth between Tens and Atxika. "I didn't just rat you out to the Misses, did I?"
​
"Ha!" Tens blurted out while Atxika covered her mouth as she giggled slightly. "She's the Admiral! She's got cameras everywhere."
​
"I neither professionally care, nor personally care, if Tens gets intoxicated on his personal time." The Qui’ztar added after quickly swallowing the bite she had been savoring. Her tone even seemed to imply she would be participating if she were in a position to do so. "I trust that he is a mature enough adult to act responsibly, despite how young he is."
​
There was a moment of pause where both Mik and Sarah's expressions became befuddled by the way Atxika referred to Tens as 'young'. To someone that didn't know the difference between Human and Qui’ztar aging, it would have been easy to assume that all four people seated together were roughly the same age. Though Mik had come to learn he was a few years younger than Tens, it would have been fair to assume the Martian was the oldest person in the room. Sarah, who was the same age as Mik but lacked the same obvious facial scars and wrinkles, didn't even have the same youthful demeanor and appearance as Tens. For Atxika, her rather sharp and toned features made her appear just as young and spry as her significant other. Hearing Atxika refer to Tens as in that way was not something either of them expected.
​
"Young as in years since birth." Seeing the looks she was getting, Atxika tried to explain the best she could with her limited understanding of biology. "Your species ages much faster than mine, especially during the prime of your life. I turned 57 this year but I won't start losing my strength for another decade or two. And I could easily live another 70 years if I stay in good health."
​
"And since I'm 34, I'd be lucky to live another 70 years." Tens jokingly added.
​
"You fuckin’ better." Atxika's voice sounded harsh for a second as reached over and pulled Tens into a side hug and kissed the top of his head lovingly.
​
"Daaaw!" Sarah cooed at the affectionate display before turning back to Mik. "But wait, yah seriously didn't see all the shite this ship has on it? It's like a full on colony station, just covered in guns."
​
"I mean, we saw it." Mik shrugged and gave her a blank look. "And it gave me a bunch of ideas to work from. I wanted to ask for some practical, personal advice from someone who runs a ship like the one I'm getting."
​
"Well, if you want my personal advice." Atxika spoke in a way that implied she would enjoy sharing that information as she slowly peeled herself from Tens. "The first thing you need to do is establish your mission. If you don't know what you want to use a ship like that for, it'll just become a useless money pit. For example, The Hammer’s mission is to act as a mobile fortress and base of operations for my Matriarch's fleet. He was specifically built with features in mind to accommodate that mission."
​
"Yeah, all that sounds pretty important." Sarah commented before squinting slightly and staring at Mik. "What kinda features did yah ask that robot guy to build yah, huh?
​
"Right now, it's just the spine, hull, and basic backbone infrastructure." Mik innocently replied. "It'll have the automated production facilities to build it up however I want later though."
​
"Did you have anything specific in mind?" Atxika's question carried a curious amusement.
​
"I think it would be really cool to have it be an extension of ChaosU." Mik leaned back in his chair and began stroking his beard. "Here’s what I was thinking. It'll have a bigger habitation and amenities section than The Hammer, but that'll also include a bunch of classroom facilities. More science stuff and places set up for students to do experiments safely. And, of course, a huge ass forest running through the whole thing. "
​
"But how would you generate revenues to pay for overheard?" Atxika quickly followed up. However, judging by Miks sudden change in expression, he hadn't considered the Admiral’s pointed question. "You have to take into account expenses such as crew costs, maintenance, upkeep, expenditures, and anything else that can come up. A ship like that can be self-sustaining, but not without careful planning and consideration."
​
"Yeah Mik, tell us how yah gonna pay for it wll?" Sarah chided with a mocking tone.
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"I hadn't really thought about that." He replied while resuming stroking his beard.
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"Oi, tell me this then. What vidja game yah get this hairbrained idea from?" The ginger poked him on the shoulder while he turned his head to shoot her a glare.
​
"TV show, actually." Mik couldn't help but let a smile peek through. "The one I tried to get you to watch with me for a while."
​
"Anime? Of course, you fuckin’ dweeb!" The ginger’s overly dramatic reaction and insult that didn't properly translate caused Tens to instinctively start chuckling.
​
"I have to admit." Tens's voice became slightly excited as he thought about the potential. "Having a school in space, where you could actually go and see the stuff you're learning about, would be way better than anything I've ever heard of."
​
"That idea certainly does have some interesting possibilities." Atxika commented while her mind ran through the logistics of that mission profile. "It would certainly be possible to run an operation like that, assuming profit was not an objective. It may even become profitable, depending on how much you charge the students, of course."
​
"I mean, I'd want it to be free." Mik said to the shock and confusion of everyone else at the table. "Like how ChaosU is free."
​
"Oh, so kinda 'free', but not really." Sarah rebutted while using air quotes when she said 'free'.
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"What do you mean by 'free' in this context?" Tens asked the question that both he and Atxika were thinking, but Sarah already knew.
​
"It mostly gets paid for by tax revenues and donations." Tens half clarified. "Everyone pays for the education of the next generation because they had their education paid for by the previous one."
​
"Except if yah aren't a MarsGov citizen." Sarah explained with a tone that implied personal experience in the matter. "Then yah gotta pay out the arse just to get there. Sure, tuition is free. But yah still gotta pay for room and board and all that other shite. That'll cost yah an arm and a leg."
​
"I mean, there are loan forgiveness and work-study programs." Mik half defended his university. "But I was thinking something a bit more galactic scale."
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"Oh?" Atxika's voice suddenly became far more interested in all this.
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"Wait, like an intentionally interspecies school?" Tens was almost bouncing in excitement over the idea. "There's only a handful of those, and they're all incredibly prestigious."
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"Oh, that's a thing already?" Mik almost sounded disappointed at the easily predictable revelation that he wasn't the first to want to put such an idea into practice.
​
"Yes, I graduated from such an institution." Atxika sat up a bit straighter in her chair to give this explanation the proper respect it deserved. "I was at the top of my class at the Grand Military Academy of Mui'Luiotl University. Though the university existed for several hundred years before my species' Ascension, we ultimately opened our enrollment to more and more species over time. It now operates as a fully interspecies institution, which is primarily funded by various GCC members, and accepts applications from the entire GCC. It took a few centuries to make all the proper accommodations for the less abled, but it was worth the costs."
​
"Wait, like disability accommodations?" Sarah's tone implied that the question was touching on something personal.
​
"We- we don't like to phrase it like that when it comes to other species." Tens interjected and used the word 'we' to imply the Nishnabe, but not necessarily the Qui’ztar. "A Kyim'ayik isn't disabled just because they struggle to move on Shkegpewen or can't physically speak our language. It's almost twice the gravity they evolved under and they have a different anatomy. However, some of the accommodations can be similar. But on Shkegpewen, for example, there are separate, more thorough, accommodations we make for people who are genuinely disabled."
​
"What do yah mean by that?" Though Sarah was slightly suspicious at the implications, the tone of Tens’s voice seemed to denote genuine compassion.
​
"It depends on the person and their individual needs. But, like with my cousin Kyet, you remember him, right Atx?" Tens briefly turned to Atxika who responded with a nod and pleasant smile.
​
"Oh, sweet young man. Very compassionate with animals." She added in a considerate but slightly off tone. "Just a bit…"
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"He's 40 now but he still very much has the mind of a child. Like an 6 year old child. But he loves animals. So we found a way for him to really feel like he's part of society while working with animals." As Tens spoke, it almost looked like Sarah was holding back tears. "He works for the Wildlife Conservation Council and puts in more hours than almost anyone else there because it's what he truly loves doing. They just make sure he isn't around animals that can hurt him, or that he could accidentally hurt. And because he works so much, he has more money than he knows what to do with."
​
"I love it." Mik replied while Sarah was still speechless. "Sadly, I don't think we have anything on Earth, or even Mars, that's quite like that."
​
"I'm glad yah can fess up that yah ain't perfect over there." Sarah quickly caught her snarky comment and continued in a much more considered wah. "But yeah, both our governments should really do more for the less-abled. Outta everyone, they deserve government assistance the most."
​
"To be fair, it isn't really our government doing anything, it's just people." Tens tried to clarify, however this only brought on confused expressions. "The government doesn't really treat him differently from anyone else. There's no special status or anything like that. People just do what they can to help people like him be happy and contribute to the Whole. Like I've said before, there's also something to do, even if it isn't absolutely essential."
​
"See, we have a vaguely similar concept, but I think there's one big difference." Mik's tone had suddenly become very academic as he carefully tried to change the topic away from something he knew Sarah was sensitive about. "We don't do things because they necessarily make us happy, or contribute to society and the universe around us. We do things simply because they generate wealth."
​
"Well, there's nothing wrong with generating wealth." Atxika interjected a bit too defensively. "My fleet does operate on a for-profit basis for the GCC Military Command. We generate enough revenue to both sustain the fleet and bring home wealth for our Matriarchy to help reduce the taxes required to fund our internal programs."
​
"Wait, how does that work?" Fearing that she may let something too personal slip, Sarah was glad to keep this new line of discussion going.
​
"It's part of the system related to the bounty Mikhail received." Atxika replied while gesturing toward Mik and then continued to cut up the last few bites of her steak to make it last longer. "My fleet's cut of that bounty could entirely fund the next few dozen deployments. However, we are using the funds to both improve the fleet and invest in our Matriarchy and people's quality of life. There are a massive variety of situations similar to that where a government, the GCC themselves, have problems that require solving. But they are either unable or unwilling to do so themselves. Either a government specifically will make a request and pay for a particular mission, or funds are provided from the GCC itself."
​
"So, yall just go around killing eldritch space monsters and get paid for it?" Mik's eyes had grown wide as he began thinking about living out more video game fantasies in real life.
​
"Kinda, but not really." Tens clarified for Atxika as she took a bite to avoid the question and be forced to make herself sound less cool. "Like, we do fight the occasional pirate and slavers. This last deployment we even ran a small campaign against some Chigagorians. But there's way more training, classes, and waiting for something to happen than actual fighting."
​
"Ah, just like any other military." Sarah laughed as she thought about all the hurrying up and waiting she had done over the past 4 years.
​
"And that is why our accommodation section has grown in the way that it has." From her many years as the Admiral of The Hammer, Atxika had hundreds of stories she could tell about the ways bored soldiers found entertainment. "By providing safe and controlled facilities for my crew to… relieve stress and boredom, it keeps them at their peak performance for when they're needed."
​
"Trying to keep the number of arrests in port down?" Though Mik's joke caused everyone to laugh, Atxika’s chuckle was especially hardy.
​
"Barely!" Mik and Sarah's translators picked up through the Admiral's laughter. "Doesn't matter what you do or what port it is, someone always manages to get themselves in trouble with local law enforcement. Every. Single. Time."
​
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
"Well, no sir. I don't think something like that would be possible." Sarah was shocked to hear her commanding officer try to continue a mission that had already clearly failed. "All of the information regardless of whatever drive system was used is beyond secure. I couldn't get access to it even if I tried."
​
"I don't think you understand the position you are in, Agent." The stern expression of the face being displayed on the screen implied the man considered that response to be insubordination. "Your mission objectives were clear and you are required to fulfill them per your contract."
​
"Sir, with all do respect, I am fully aware of the fact I am currently on an alien warship, surrounded by one of the most impressive military forces in the galaxy, and speaking on an unsecured line." Sarah hoped the General would be wise enough to recognize what she was trying to tell him.
​
"I was guaranteed that this line was secured by-" The General was suddenly taken aback by the direct tone Sarah had taken with him before she cut him off.
​
"For diplomatic purposes, sir." Sarah clarified. "They probably won't consider an intelligence operation to be covered under that diplomatic privilege."
​
"UHI is demanding results and that is not up for debate, Agent." The now more aggressive tone coming from the man on screen suddenly reminded Sarah of what Gabriel had mentioned to her. "That technology could disrupt the entire shipping industry and you either need to get your hands on it or make sure that MarsGov doesn't. Your contract is dependent on it. If we do not get the results we expect, you can consider it, and your position, terminated."
​
And with that, the face on the screen disappeared and Sarah was left alone with her thoughts. Though she had initially signed up for the Central Intelligence Division as a way to pay for college, things got far more complicated after a car accident killed her father and crippled her mother. Her father was the breadwinner for her family and his job as a manager at the local shipwrights helped pay the cost of treatment and accommodations for her mentally disabled brother. Now that she was the sole provider for both her mother and brother, the potential loss of income and benefits would make their life far more difficult than it already was. After a moment of staring at the black screen, Sarah leaned forward, rested her elbows on the desk, placed her head into her hands, and began to cry.
​
"I'm sorry for interrupting, Miss McAfree, but there is something I feel I am ethically bound to inform you of." The synthesized voice of The Hammer’s controlling AI called out to Sarah in a way that was as comforting as hand being gently placed on her shoulder.
​
"The fu-?" The woman replied in shock to the dimly light, empty room. "So yah were listenin'?"
​
"Oh, of course." Tylon replied while the lights in the roof shifted slightly and the holographic projection of the AI's dragon-like form appeared on the other side of the desk Sarah was seated at. "That was, quite obviously, not a diplomatic call. At this point, Military Command is… concerned about your government. Or, more specifically, certain small parts of your government which seem to have no accountability."
​
"So what?" Sarah asked while staring at the holograph, eyes still wet with tears.
​
"We are concerned, I am concerned, for the safety of you and your family." Tylon's simple statement caused Sarah's expression to become much more suspicious. "As part of the first contact team, defined by the first contact protocols for this particular event, you are guaranteed certain diplomatic protections. Protections which also extend to your direct family."
​
"Ok, but why are yah tellin' me this? It's not like I'm in physical danger, just financial." Sarah tried to clarify as she couldn't understand why Tylon was interrupting her with this.
​
"Are you sure about that?" The holographic dragon's face showed an expression of concern.
​
"What the fuck are gettin' at? Been listenin' to Mik too much are yah?" Sarah knew her government wasn't great, and it had a lot of areas it needed to improve on, but she couldn’t understand where any of this was coming from. "I don't care what that commie says, things aren't that bad. The dole is shit but-"
​
The hologram raised one of its claw hands to cut Sarah off as it was obvious by the look on its face that Sarah wasn't getting what he was saying. In Sarah’s personal experiences while growing up in what she considered to be upper-middle class, working-family household, life on Earth really wasn't that bad. There may have been a lot of people who survived universal basic income, but there really weren't any homeless people or anyone starving. Even on her family vacations to other countries, everyone seemed to have a decent minimum quality of life. If she lost her income and benefits from working for CID her family wouldn't starve, even if she had to stay home and take care of them both herself. Even though it would mean all of her dreams of one day becoming a space station administrator would be dead, neither she nor they would be.
​
"What I am about to share with you I have only shared with a very limited number of people who absolutely need to know." As Tylon started to speak, the screen in front of Sarah came to life and began displaying an UN-E Eyes-Only-Classification marked file. "I am not concerned about the minimum quality of life on your planet. I am solely concerned with the means by which your government enforces its control over its citizens."
​
"What the fuck is thi-" Sarah cut herself off as the shock of she was reading completely blindsided her. She knew her government did bad things, but not this. "This has to be fake."
​
"I am so sorry." Tylon’s holographic eyes showed the same pain that Sarah felt in her heart. "But now I hope you understand where the concern comes from and why we are having this discussion."
​
"Why didn't Gabriel do anything about this?" Sarah's voice had become completely despondent as she scrolled down and realized she wasn't the only person they had done this to.
​
On the screen in front of her was a CID report concerning the success of manipulating the circumstances surrounding UN-E citizens attending ChaosU. Everything from car accidents like the one her parents had been in to outright kidnapping and direct extortion. Anyone who had signed up for government aid to attend the prestigious and open Martian university was considered a target of these manipulations. If Tylon could find this information in its completely unredacted state, then surely both Gabriel and President River knew about it too. Though Old Man River's showing a relaxed attitude towards these forced spies now made sense, the lack of response from Gabriel did not.
​
"He is currently occupied in his meeting with Maser." Tylon began to explain in a tone which reflected Sarah's barely hidden rage. "But he explained it to me like this. His options were either to rain fire and brimstone as judgment down upon the sinners, and most likely cause untold suffering to innocent people in the process, or to work behind the scenes to do what he could to reduce the harm."
​
"My da is dead. My ma will never walk again." The tears were once again streaming down Sarah's face as she slowly began to break down. "I'll fuckin' kill the bastards with mah bare hands!"
​
"No." Tylon's voice came through in a way through said he truly understood her rage. "That would be too easy on them. What we will do is much worse."

DISCLAIMER: I really enjoy Egg Inc. I have nothing against Auxbrain wanting to make money and I have spent money on the game happily. I don't want this post to be moaning or whiny, rather just put down some totally neutral and unverified ideas I have about the next update and how it could be an attempt at rebalancing the game towards monetisation, especially for early game players.
DISCLAIMER II: This is all speculation. I haven't played the update so maybe in a years time someone will come across this post and laugh at me but I feel that my predictions are at the very least logical. More on that at the end.
​
"Possibly 4 contracts a week" + "more rewards from contracts"
Ok, so these two statements hit me and most people as very generous. Which was suspicious to me. I want to tackle "more rewards from contracts." Like most people, I took this to mean "more rewards per contract". But I think the far more likely reality is that this means "more rewards from the contract system". As in, four new contracts combined give slightly more rewards than the one or two contracts we now get in the equivalent time span- meaning contracts on average are worth less.
And the idea of spreading rewards across multiple contracts would be a genius way to drain player's golden eggs quicker. Individual contracts rely on two of the main systems of GE spending - artifacts and boosts. If players want the same rewards as previously, they now need four times the artifacts and four times the boosts. Late game players with GE farming loadouts and multiple legendary artifacts might be spared, but I suspect that everyone else will be cracking open the piggy a bit more often if they want to maintain their earlier levels of progress.
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"Grades"
This one is fairly obvious, and like the twitter account explained, the grades pretty much only divide very early game players. No more leeching, and the soul mirror is about to become useless to early game players. No more multiplied-by-millions boost to victory down there. And no more Discord soliciting for completely new players. It seems that the second a player reaches AAA grade leeching will be completely viable, but we'll have to wait and see if that's really the case.
​
And you might think I'm being needlessly cynical. But I want to remind everyone that Auxbrain is a company, that Egg Inc only exists to make Auxbrain money, and that it would not make sense for them to release an update that balances the game against monetisation, which is what the update looks like if you take "four contracts a week" and "more rewards" at face value. Once more, I enjoy this game and I don't think any of these new mechanics will "ruin the game" so long as they are used as subtle ways to get more money out of people who are willing to spend.

First - Previous - (Soon to be Released)
Memory transcription subject: Kilet, Venlil Aeronautics Mechanic
Date [standardized human time]: August 28, 2136. 01:00
Miles never returned from his meeting, leaving me to ponder what Rivis had said for the remainder of the ‘night’ as Miles would say. I scrounged through my memories to try to find any memories of Rivis openly being so.. like ‘that’. However, I couldn’t remember a single time that stuck out. He was always so quiet, so reserved. While never openly cuddly and friendly, I always thought he was just a bit more antisocial than others. My own thoughts turned to myself. I hardly did anything with others, so maybe I was in the same boat as Rivis. Still, I never put it together that the humans might be as afraid of us as we are of them. My thoughts were interrupted by the ‘ping’ of my pad beside me. Glancing down, I spied a message left by Miles. Reaching down I plucked the pad into my eager claws, reading what my human had to say.
“Hey, Kilet, sorry for just vanishing like that. Those command meetings can take HOURS, but I’m free now, it’s probably pretty late for you huh? Don’t worry about replying if you’re tired, I just wanted to shoot you an ‘up’ that I was all good.”
The translation program clearly didn’t know what to put in Venscript for ‘Up’ and ended up just directly translating it. Or so I thought, but still, it was a nice sentiment he thought to let me know where he was and that he was back.
He even thought about my rest, what a nice human! Too bad I don’t give a speh about my own rest!
A series of playful squeaks radiated out of me from my own self-awareness. My claws were akin to lightning on the Venscript keys, typing up a reply faster than I could even think about it.
“No worries! Yeah it’s pretty ‘late’ over here, I think you’d call it ‘one in the morning?’ How’s my human sounding? Better each ‘day’ right?!” A small amount of pride swelled in my chest at my use of human terminology. Not that it was difficult to ‘google’ the most basic terms for humans.
Still, Kilet, you’re doing your best to make him feel welcome and comfortable.
“Haha! Yeah little buddy, I'm kinda surprised you’re grasping the concepts so quick, but don’t think I'm gonna let you forget your own terms, you gotta get your rest claws in or else you’ll be cranky and sour all paw!”
My tail happily glided through the air as I saw Miles making an equal attempt to use our own words too. Something as simple as trying to be accommodating in stuff as basic as talking really goes a long way. The fact he was trying to make me as comfortable as I was trying to make him really tells me a lot about his emotional maturity.
Sheesh, Kilet, what are you a psychologist?
Stifling a laugh to myself at the premise of me being some top-notch mind doctor, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the pleasant feeling radiating through my body. Even if I was talking about things I knew nothing about. At least I know it makes me happy.
“Ehhh, I’ll take being a cranky ball of fur later if it means we can keep talking now. Besides, I wanna ask you some things.” My thoughts drifted from my emotional state to some of the recommendations Rivis gave me.
“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn ya, but go ahead, ask away.”
“Soooo, I was curious, what is human art like?” We had artists here on Venlil Prime, but the schools were extra, and it took a long time to be trained as a professional artist. Of all the articles I kept reading about humans it constantly talked about how they lack emotional understanding.
My eyes trained on the chat box in front of me, eagerly waiting to see what he had to say. This question alone could prove or dispute those claims. If humans understood the beauty of abstract creation, there might be hope for them in the Federation.. That is, if this war is avoided.
“That’s a loaded question, buddy.. Art for us is often defined in generations, or eras. If I had to narrow it down to its most general description, humanities’ understanding of art is as different as varied as we humans are. Picture this, two humans stare up at the night sky, one sees emptiness, and the other sees hope. It’s the same premise really. The greatest works of human painters often leave the audience to decipher its own meaning. Like, look up ‘The Persistence of Memory’ by Salvador Dali. It’s considered one of the most famous works of art, so I'm pretty sure it was in the info dump.”
The cogs of my mind churned as I processed the information.. Humanity seemed to have a good grasp on the individuality of art, though maybe in a more liberal way that we did. My claws got to work. I began typing up the name of this painting. Immediately I was met by the image of several clocks, all of them melting as if they were liquid amid an empty seemingly hot desert. I stared at the painting for some time, but couldn’t imagine what the painter meant by it..
“It just looks like a bunch of melting clocks.. I don’t really understand how this could be so revolutionary, Miles.” Figuring that the meaning is being lost in translation from one species to another. I decided to type up a second message.
“Do you know what it means?” Almost immediately my human began to make a response. My eyes glued to the screen for any information he might give me about the workings of a human mind.
“At large, Kilet, it doesn’t mean anything, some paintings like this are left up to interpretation. The art is finding out what it means to YOU. I'm certain Dali had a personal message of what the meaning in the painting was supposed to be, but he kept that to himself, preferring to see what everyone else saw. I can only tell you what it means to me, and to me, the melting clocks along with the title of the piece symbolize how memories are not stable, they are not like time; which is absolute. Memories with time will melt into barely recognizable events. Events that will eventually fade into obscurity, like grains of sand in the desert we see here. The piece is titled ‘The Persistence of Memory’ and I believe it does an excellent job at showcasing the effects of time on a metaphorical example of memories.”
As I finished reading Miles’ response my maw gaped open in awe, I never even thought of such a conclusion to the painting. Yet, Miles and every other human who saw this painting each had their own equally detailed, equally unique take on the meaning of it.
I guess those articles are a load of speh, I’d like to see the look on the muzzles of our art colleges at some of the works of human art!
“How does a human become an artist like this?! It must take countless cycles of schooling, formal education, tutors, and philosophical classes to even come close to imagining such complex meanings in abstract paintings!”
“Not really.. Most humans just… Think. Sure, there’s art schools to develop techniques to create visually appealing art, but if an art teacher is worth anything they won’t teach you how to think. Some art is all about the ending result, a very clear cut meaning, other pieces it’s all about the creative method. Our modern art is more about things like that. I can barely even understand half of the meanings behind it since half the time it looks like nothing. For example, another piece of work called “A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat, take a look.”
My mind was enthralled by the human soldier's grasp of emotional understanding through art, I could hardly even process a response as I found my claws pulling up the new painting he mentioned.. It wasn’t too detailed, but looked like it was made with a bunch of tiny dots rather than strokes of paint.
By the stars that must have taken an endless amount of paws to make! The sheer patience these humans have with something like art, if they were as bloodthirsty as the articles or Federation says, could they have evolved such a complex understanding of things that don’t benefit them in hunting?
Before I could type a response, I saw Miles already making a reply. Like an eager student attending a lecture, I sat and waited for him to explain some profound meaning behind this piece as well, my tail wagging happily behind me.
“So, this one is another really famous piece, I assume you have it pulled up since you haven’t typed up something yet. This piece was supposed to be a part of a movement in how humans viewed art as a whole. I don’t know the specifics of it, just that it used a technique the artist called “Pointillism’ and it was supposed to change how light was painted. He used tiny dots of paint to create the illusion of light in his works, which is where the name comes from. Sounds pretty straight forward right? The artist had a clear and explained point behind his painting. Unfortunately for him though, when you show art off to other humans, some won’t accept your meaning. We’ll look at something and make our own rational, like me for example. Look at what the painting is. It’s a Sunday afternoon, basically it’s our rest paw at middle claw. Everyone is just enjoying the river, nature, and relaxing. Yet, when you know the way the piece was made, with thousands of tiny individual dots it’s far more work than just using paint strokes with a brush. This gives me the message ‘rest is something to be cherished, for it cannot truly be appreciated unless one has worked tirelessly for it’.
I could feel my ears flatten against my head. Revelation on revelation about humanity kept pouring in, yet the conclusion I consistently was met with was that humanity was just like us. Maybe they were better in some ways. The fact that humans didn’t have to go to prestigious schools to be dubbed artists and could come up with things like this.. It did nothing short of amaze me. If half the venlil on this planet spent even a few paws truly digging through the information given in the data dump, they’d realize half the speh about humanity wasn’t true.
There is no way bloodcrazed hyper murderers are capable of things like this..
“Miles.. I don’t know what to say, in so many ways your kind’s appreciation for beauty matches or exceeds my own. I'm not an artist or philosopher, but I like to think I can appreciate things for what they are worth. There are so many articles out there talking about humanity being emotionless or manipulative, but there’s no way any of that could be true!”
“That’s… not entirely correct either, little buddy, humans are highly emotional creatures. We exist on spectrums, some humans are straight up dumb as a box of rocks. Their deepest thought is what time they should go to bed. While some humans find or sometimes create brand new fundamental elements. Or delve into the nature of human existentialism. Some create ideas that revolutionize our culture as a whole. We have our share of bad apples of the bunch. I read something about how a stampede can happen with most the Federation species when their stress levels go beyond something they can handle.. Humans are similar. We have a Fight or Flight reflex. Some humans break down, collapse and have panic attacks. Other humans, well, they do terrible things after they break. We’re a species of extremes, Kilet. I can’t pretend everything you’ve heard is lies, but we’re no worse than any other species.”
Life isn’t as black and white as the Federation likes to say.. I think I’m starting to understand why Rivis hates the rules of the exchange program so much. I know some answers won’t be pretty, but that doesn’t mean they deserve to be censored.
One final question piqued my curiosity, I worded it in my head a few times over. Making sure that the censors of the app wouldn’t block it no matter what Miles said..
“So.. Miles, you sound like you’re an artist, or study this kind of stuff. How do you know so much about it? Do all humans know this much?”
“Heh, I can’t claim to be omniscient, Kilet. Truth be told I’m doing a mix of looking it up and remembering essays I wrote in eighth grade art class. Most human children have to take a mandatory art class so we all get somewhat of a grasp on how to appreciate that sort of stuff.”
Mandatory art class?.. Only a few could afford an education in the arts here, and it was all optional. To top it off, all human children get this education? That explains.. A few things.
“So, you're saying all humans are instructed in the arts? Free of charge in your public schools?”
“At the most basic levels. We tend to all agree children need creative outlets to express themselves and avoid trouble. Like I said, we humans value our individuality. Fostering that creative itch in a child helps them grow into their own person later.”
All of Miles’ explanations made perfect sense, at least after he went over them in a way I could understand. My curiosity demanded that I ask about the darker aspects of human creativity.. It wasn’t likely to be pleasant, but I had to stop myself. Already knowing that our A.I overlord would censor anything I could ask. So instead, I thought about another thing Rivis told me to ask. Almost immediately I settled on a topic a bit more.. Spiritual in nature.
“I’d like to ask you so much more, Miles, but I don’t think the program will let you explain some of the questions I have. If you don’t mind me changing the subject.. I’m curious about human religion, what sort of things do you all believe in?” My ears flicked absentmindedly as I bombarded the human with yet another ‘heavy hitter’ of a question. I knew this one might be a little too personal, but Rivis’ words echoed in my head once more.
You can’t be wrong, Kilet.
“Dang, Kilet, you’re really laying them on strong today? Religion is a deeply personal question. A lot of humans won’t talk about their faith, but given you’re a different species and I'm an open book, I’ll let you know a little bit about myself. I'm personally Deistic. Deism is the belief of a superior power, but not in a traditional sense, we favor scientific observation rather than spiritual revelations. It’s like believing in something, but not having the whole picture. Then you got other more historical religions like Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and hundreds of others. I’m not a theology major so I don’t think I could give you a decent understanding of all the major religions, but essentially Islam, and Christianity promote being kind, a good person, an honorable person, and a loving person as the tenants to live life by. Their reward is eternal bliss in the afterlife. I really couldn’t say anything about Hinduism since I don’t know anything about it, and Buddhism is the belief that our spirits reincarnate each time we die, what we reincarnate into depends how well we lived our previous life. The goal of Buddihsm is to achieve enlightenment and leave the cycle of reincarnation. Beyond that I don’t know much.”
Their religion encourages them to act in a peaceful and loving manner, and promises reward for doing so. Miles said humanity is a species about extremes.. It’s like their ancient religions recognized their selfish and violent tendencies and they believed that whoever made them would want them to love rather than fight. They knew that being purely self-serving was wrong… By the Stars they may live with the urges of a predator, but their ENTIRE history is an evolution of rising above primal instinct!
“That sounds beautiful, Miles.. I had no idea that predators even thought like that.. The Federation teaches us that predators care only about the hunt, their next victim, but humans seem to have risen above all that, creating a society that idolizes peace, but accepts their nature. It’s overwhelming, I can hardly understand all of this. So many fundamental truths we were taught just… thrown out the window!”
My mind slowly churned through the ideals, the religion, the art, the understanding of humanity, what little I could grasp or understand. There was so much I had to be missing, but even the fact that I knew this little about humanity still amazed me. Like having a bag on for your entire life and being told you’re blind, only for it to be yanked off without warning.
“It is, there’s so much about humanity you need to see, Kilet, but not just you, every venlil, every species. We have so much to show you about ourselves, of course there will be hiccups, bad apples, but the majority of us want to coexist. We’re tired of being alone. Tell me, Kilet, do you believe in God?”
My mind turned back to myself for the time being.. I began to ponder my own beliefs, My tail stopping mid motion as I gave it more thought that I had previously before.
Did I believe in anything?.. I.. Don’t know..
“I don’t know, I don’t think so.. We have the Flow, The Stars, and a few other beliefs. The spirits of our ancestors join the endless stars, eternally looking down at us. I can’t say any of our beliefs ever appealed to me. I just.. Never saw much of a point to any of it. The Gods don’t protect us from the arxur, they don’t stop the [Topic Redacted].... Speh, Guess I can’t talk about that. Well you get the point, Miles.”
“Faith is a difficult thing to, well, believe in, Kilet. That's why it’s called faith. I won’t sit here and preach to you about how you should believe in something, because that’s ultimately a deeply personal matter for you to iron out, but if you ever wanted help, or just someone to talk to. I'm just a text away.”
My head swam with the thoughts of all my mundane, boring paws, reading the news, the latest arxur attack, the latest missing venlil report, the latest predator sighting…
How many venlil prayed to the gods for all of it to end? To see their loved ones set free from the cattle farms? How many times are those prayers answered?
My tail lightly bapped against the cushions of the couch. My mind working through the crises of faith in a galaxy that didn’t seem to care about xenocide. I couldn’t just put my belief in something that hadn’t done anything for me. Something intangible, the races of the galaxy decided our fates, not some predestined plan as far as I was concerned.
“Thanks, Miles.. I’ll keep that in mind. Sorry if I came on too strong today, it’s just, there are so many questions I want to ask you, I want to understand you before I meet you.. I know our first meeting won’t go smoothly. I’m going to have to fight my instincts, but I want you to know I'm genuinely trying.”
A dozen paws ago, if you told me I would be talking to a predator civilly, not only that but understanding them, relating to them, feeling their sentience and emotions.. I would have told you to go brehk yourself. Yet, here I was.. In the back of my mind I knew his appearance would evoke fear, maybe even terror in me. Maybe I'd run, or I'd faint, but.. I don’t want to.
I want to understand you Miles.. Your people, I.. I just might need time.. Please, give me that time..
“Hey, Little Buddy, don’t worry about it. I know you’re trying, I know what to expect. We aren’t going to be the first of our kinds to meet, we aren’t going to be the last. So long as you’re willing to try, I’m willing to meet you a thousand times over. Your instincts won’t hurt me in the slightest.”
Rivis was right.. These humans are stretching themselves so thin to just accommodate us. No matter what any news article says. That’s a sign of genuine kindness, care, and compassion. I hope I’m worthy of it.. Gods, Stars, Ancestors, if you’re listening, I could use a little strength..
____________________
Memory transcription subject: Zoey Amara, Human Psychologist
Date [standardized human time]: August 28, 2136.
I idly spun my pen, twirling it between my fingers as I read the latest reply from Rivis, the venlil described himself as dark furred, and a workaholic and not much else, pretty atypical from what I’ve read about them. As soon as we started talking he just bombarded me with questions about humanity, art, philosophy, individualism, beliefs, history. His appetite for our culture seemed insatiable, but as we continued talking it became more like a real conversation rather than me explaining all of human history in a summarized essay.
“Zoey, What do you think of The Federation, and Exterminators? I’m curious to know your opinion since you’ll likely have to deal with them at some point in the future.”
Always to the point, he almost never spoke about himself, never liked to add things or make too much small talk. I guess a lack of social skills amongst career oriented beings is shared even across lightyears..
“Well, I mean, I haven’t gotten too much exposure to them. They’re your culture. I don’t really agree with The Federation lumping all of humanity into the ‘homicidal maniac’ group, and I don’t think I'd look particularly good doused in fire, besides, Katniss already did that.”
A soft giggle escaped my lips at the obvious reference Rivis was gonna miss. A little bait for him to take. Let's see if the venlil bites.
Mmmm. Probably not the best analogy, Zoey, kinda proving their point.
“Katniss? Is this a human media reference? I saw no mention of it in the data dump, can you explain?”
Hook. Line. And Sinker!
“Of course! I didn’t expect you’d see it anyways. It’s a popular twenty-first century human movie about… Tyranny and freedom. Not something we’d share right off the bat, but it’s a good watch, I have a feeling you’d handle it well.”
A small sense of surprise came over me as Rivis’ reply came almost immediately after I had posted my own..
“Why’s that?”
“Well.. You seem a lot more accepting of human culture than other venlil, according to the rumors. I have a feeling you have a much more open mind and empathy for humans, like you understand where we are coming from. Was I wrong?”
His reply didn’t come nearly as quick this time, his dots starting and stopping over and over again. Probably from multiple erased responses. Finally, he settled on something.
“No, you’re correct. I don't see the point in making assumptions, Zoey. I'm not willing to judge you until I see everything there is to see about you and the rest of humanity, plus if your kind can help us against the arxur, I'm sure the rest of the galaxy will sleep easier knowing we stand a decent chance against them.”
“That’s the most words I've gotten out of you yet, Rivis! Look at you opening up! I know for a fact most of humanity won’t tolerate the blatant disregard for life the arxur seem to have. If only the rest of the Federation could see that too, but I suppose taking the cautious road is probably for the best for now. Not to change the subject, but I think you’ll be happy to hear I might be able to swing a visit to Venlil Prime! The UN offered me a contract to help any humans in the embassy suffering from psychological issues. Being away from home so long surrounded by people terrified of you puts a toll on us. Besides, I might be able to do some decent good over there if any venlil needs to talk about their stressful experiences. I don’t expect many at first though.”
“That’s great to hear! I’m sure you’ll love life in the Capital, though it’ll likely be dull by human standards. I’d have to agree with your sentiment though. Not many venlil would trust a human with mental needs. When do you depart for Venlil Prime?”
I craned my neck over to squint at the calendar hanging on my wall. I had to reach over and put my glasses on to even have a chance of reading the small text. Finding the date my nimble fingers began to type up a response. Silently taking a mental note of the sudden change of Rivis’ responses..
“September second, that’s about. Let me see… Five of your paws, I’ll be staying at the government complex so don’t worry about anything! I’ll be working over there but get plenty of days off. So I’ll make sure to come and visit!”
“I’d like that a lot, Zoey, I think I know several places in the Capital you’d enjoy. I can’t say how much you’ll enjoy our food though. We didn’t exactly have human dietary needs in mind when making it. If you get hungry, don’t worry I won’t get squeamish if you need to partake in any Earth food in my presence.”
“Well, that’s awfully considerate of you, Rivis, I'm not a vegetarian, but I also don’t plan to try anything too out of the ordinary in public. So no worries on that front! Besides, I’m going to a new planet! Why wouldn’t I want to try all the food it has to offer? There’s plenty of tasty vegan dishes on Earth. It’s probably a safe bet to assume you guys have mastered decent food yourselves”
My mind wandered for a moment as I thought about my upcoming trip to Venlil Prime, everything I'd need, everything I'd want. As my mind wandered, my eyes drifted to the time..
Shit.. It’s getting late. Sorry Rivis, I'm gonna have to cut this one short.
Not giving the fluffy herbivore a chance to reply, I began typing away. “Hey sorry, I just looked at the time and It’s getting pretty late over here. Sorry to up and leave, but I still need to pack everything for the trip. I’ll talk to you some more tomorrow!”
Hitting send, I turned my phone off, not giving myself the impulsive desire to respond to a notification I’m sure he’d send any moment. With a heavy sigh I crawled into bed, staring up at my ceiling. Making sure to make a mental note to start packing first thing in the morning.
This is gonna be interesting, I just have to remember not to pet the fluffers to death.
_______________
First - Previous - (Soon to be Released)
Aaaaand we have Chapter 5 under wraps, a deep discussion between Miles and Kilet, and a small glimpse into Rivis and Zoey’s relationship. As always I'd like to thank the various fanfics that inspired me. Another round of massive thanks to everyone reading, y'all are the real ones who keep this story going! A giant thanks as always to Space Paladin for Nature of Predators, and as always. The final thanks is reserved for my lovely proofreader(s) of this chapter!
End of the Line
Foundations of Humanity
Nature of a Giant
Lost and Found
Proofreader(s):
NovaLux
“A silly little man”

I’ve been looking at a lot of the discourse around Lamar and whether we should go for him, and I find it really intriguing. Honestly, I’m on the “get a star QB, figure it out later” train, especially since they’re not easy to draft at all, but I understand where people come from in terms of his recent injury history and the cost, along with his hit on the salary cap.
The only thing I take exception to in some responses is the insinuation that he doesn’t deserve a guaranteed contract. If you ask me, everyone deserves a guaranteed contract in the NFL, and the fact that they aren’t is a big stain on the legitimacy of the institution in terms of how they take care of their players, especially in comparison to the NBA that makes less revenue but guarantees contracts to most of its players, including the highest rookies. It’s crazy to me that teams can structure moments in their contract to drop players with minimal payment while desirable players who want to go to free agency have to deal with at least 2 years on the franchise tag (which should also be taken out, contracts would have improved a long time ago if there wasn’t that competition-killing mechanism).
In general, I get the vibe that people act as if it’s gonna set a bad precedent if Lamar gets his contract fully guaranteed, but really who is it bad to? It’s not the fans who aren’t getting money, it’s certainly not the players. It’s the owners, who don’t want to have to pay players in the case they simply become undesirable, while being able to keep players at below their market cost. That’s why they’re obviously colluding to make sure no one pays what Lamar is looking for.
In some sense, then; I’m hoping we sign him, because if for nothing else I want that precedent to be set, and it has to start with stars. For the abuse that these players put their body through year-round, they at least deserve the satisfaction of knowing their salary is guaranteed even if they get hurt doing their job.

"Fragile Ego, Fragile Body, Weak Mind, Weak Spirit"
In Part One, Part Two, and Part Three, we've built a timeline and tracked the story of an old man who came back to professional wrestling. Disgruntled and broken, he had abandoned the business to which he’d given himself for fifteen years. They were a tumultuous fifteen years, but within that time he reached the height of the industry. He held the attention of every single person who was a wrestling fan and even many of whom weren’t fans at all. To get to such heights, he plumbed the depths of cruelty and villainy in character, going places many of his peers wouldn’t dare touch. He attacked the sobriety of recovering alcoholics and substance abusers. He preyed upon the anxiety and insecurity of those with mental health issues. He lied, he gas-lit, and he betrayed on the way to the top. Even for someone as vile as himself, however, it simultaneously became all too much and not enough. At the mountaintop, sick of himself and everything around him, he walked away.

“I was never gonna get healthy physically, mentally, spiritually or emotionally, staying in the same place that got me sick in the first place.”

Who could fault him? But then he came back seven years later to, as some have called it, “Wrestling Paradise”. In that Paradise, as he turned uphill, he crossed the path of a Snake slithering deceitfully among the weeds. The Snake bit him and at first, it seemed only a surface wound that would easily heal in time. That Snake’s venom, however, was slow-acting and allowed the bite to be all but forgotten as the Snake slithered out of sight and out of mind. Then one day, he’s finally back upon that mountain top, having gone a different route than before – a longer and more winding route, but seemingly nobler and more sustainable. Many of our faithful heroes weren’t buying it. They knew him before and have studied his ways, knowing he could quickly revert back to the evil and destruction he was for so long. He brushes away their suspicion to assure both us and himself: he’s a new man. He feels at peace with himself and he is bathing in the adulation of his friends, his fans, and his peers… until suddenly on that mountain top, the Snake leaps out and reminds him of the venom coursing through his veins.
September 4, 2022 – MJF returns to All Elite Wrestling and steals Punk's ovation in Chicago.
The final words of the PPV broadcast:

What does this mean for AEW?

Shortly before midnight, a live stream goes up on YouTube for the post-event media scrum.
The stream has a longer delay than usual before the presser begins. Bloodied, battered, sweat-soaked hair in his eyes, draped in a towel… CM Punk looks like pure hell as he sits down to take – and to ask – questions from a group of wrestling reporters.
The mic goes to Nick Hausman first:

“Hi! Nick Hausman here from Wrestling Inc–”

Punk cuts him off:

“--I’ll start, Nick. Show of hands. Who here fancies themselves a journalist? You a journalist Nick?”

Nick:

“... I try my best.”

Punk:

“You still do improv?”

Nick:

“Not for a little bit..”

Punk:

“When you did improv, who’d you do improv with?”

Nick curiously uses a shoot name:

“I did it with Scott Colton.”

Punk:

“Okay, so you fancy yourself a journalist. Would you say you’re friends with Scott Colton?”

Nick:

“Uh… no. I haven’t talked to Scott in some time.”

Punk:

“So you’re not friends with him?”

Nick:

“No… Scott and I do not see eye to eye.”

Punk, to the whole room:

“Oh wow… Well that makes two of us. My point is, if you fancy yourself a journalist, even if it’s for the silly world of professional wrestling, and you have journalistic integrity… people who report things, mostly that are bullshit and slanderous lies against myself… you should probably disclose who you’re friends with.”

Punk, directly to Hausman, somewhat quietly:

“You blew my spot… If you’re not friends with him, I apologize.”

Nick:

“I’m not friends with him…”

Punk, ignoring him, continues on:

“I haven’t had anything to do with Scott Colton for almost a decade. Probably wanted nothing to do with him even longer than that. It’s fucking unfortunate that I have to come up here and speak on this when I’m on my time and this is a fucking business. Why I’m a grown-ass adult man and I decide not to be friends with somebody is nobody else’s fucking business. But my friends, if I fall backwards, will catch me. Scott Colton, I felt, never would have.
My problem was I wanted to bring a guy with me to the top that did not want to see me at the top, okay? You can call it jealousy, you can call it envy, whatever the fuck it is. My relationship with Scott Colton ended long before I paid all of his bills. I have every receipt. I have every invoice. I have every email. I have an email where he says ‘I agree to go our separate ways, I will get my own lawyer and you do not have to pay anymore.’
That’s an email that I have and the only reason the public did not see it is because when I finally had to counter-sue him, through discovery we discovered he shared a bank account with his mother. That’s a fact. As soon as we discovered that fact and we subpoenaed old Marsha, he sent the email ‘Oh, can we please drop all this?’ Now, it’s 2022. I haven’t been friends with this guy since at least 2014, late-2013.

CM Punk and Colt Cabana weren’t even faced with the famously divisive legal bills until 2015 when WWE’s doctor filed a defamation lawsuit against them. Colt didn’t file suit against Punk over legal fees until 2018. The timeline here is very fuzzy and totally unreliable. The line about Colt's mother sticks out like a sore thumb, but if you've read previous installments, wrestlers' relationships with their mothers have been referenced before and most notably in recent promos.
Punk continues:

The fact that I have to sit up here because we have irresponsible people who call themselves EVPs and couldn’t fucking manage a Target and they spread lies and bullshit and put into the media that I got somebody fired when I have fuck all to do with him, want nothing to do with him, do not care where he works, where he doesn’t work, where he eats, where he sleeps… the fact that I have to get up and do this in 2022 is fucking embarrassing. If y’all are at fault, fuck you. If not, I apologize. What did I ever do in this world to deserve an empty-headed fucking dumbfuck like ‘Hangman’ Adam Page to go out on national television and fucking go into business for himself? For what? What did I ever do? Dave [Meltzer]?… I didn’t do a goddamn thing.

At this point, Punk calls on a guy in the front row and asks his name. The guy is wearing a Pittsburgh Penguins shirt.
Punk:

“Fuck the Pittsburgh Penguins.”

Tony Khan interjects, referring to an article where he had briefly discussed the rumors about Colt Cabana’s “sidelining” in weeks prior:

“I made it very clear in Forbes and I just wanna make it clear again–”

Punk cuts off Tony Khan, the company owner, his boss:

“It’s not his position to make it very fucking clear! There’s people who call themselves EVPs that should have fuckking known better. This shit was none of their business. I understand sticking up for your fucking friends, I fucking get it. I stuck up for that guy more than anybody. Okay? I paid his bills until I didn’t and it was my decision not to.”

TK:

“Yeah but I shouldn’t have no-commented when Nick first said it, it’s my fault, I should’ve taken it head-on”

Punk:

“I appreciate that, but I’m trying to run a fucking business. And when somebody who hasn’t done a damn thing in this business [Hangman Page] jeopardizes the first million dollar house that this company has ever drawn off of my back and goes on national television and does that, it’s a disgrace to this industry, it’s a disgrace to this company. Now we’re far beyond apologies. I gave him a fucking chance, it did not get handled, and you saw what I had to do, which is very regrettable, lowering myself to his fucking level. But that’s where we’re at right now. And I will still walk up and down this hallway and say ‘If you have a fucking problem with me, take it up with me. Let’s fucking go’.”

Nick Hausman finally gets to ask his question to Punk, and it’s regarding the return of MJF.
Tony Khan is the one who answers:

“If I may… I am the one who asked him back because MJF’s a big star in this company and this is one of the biggest events. A year ago, CM Punk debuted here and I thought it was right for the fans. I felt that, for the fans, one of the best things we could do is bring MJF back.”

After rolling his eyes and stuffing a muffin in his mouth, Punk jumps in:

“It’s because he wants me to work with pricks. Constantly.”

TK brushes it off:

“...Nevertherless… Two of the top wrestlers in the world. It’s a big match down the line.”

At this point, Tony Khan looks like he’s about to vomit.
Punk:

“Oh, sorry, I keep fucking bringing this up… When it came down he was going to sue, I asked to talk to him. He denied… When I offered him money, it wasn’t enough [Punk is banging on the table for emphasis]. He went ahead with the lawsuit and sued. It’s his fucking funeral. He shares a bank account with his mother, that tells you all you need to know about what his character is.”

Nick Hausman:

“Well… You were always very nice to me.”

Punk:

“I appreciate that. I’m sorry I’m a little bit snippy. I’m hurt, I’m old, I’m fucking tired and I work with fucking children.”

TK:

“I regret not answering your question the first time you asked it…”

Punk:

“We’re all learning here, Tony. It’s okay.”

Punk goes on to plug Mindy’s Bakery in Chicago, the supplier of his muffins.
The scrum moves onto its next question, this time for Tony.

“You saw the reaction to MJF when he came out at the end of the night. He was cheered over Punk… the hometown guy… Do you have any worries about MJF… becoming this sort of anti-authority figure?”

Tony Khan gives some boilerplate word salad about how it’s great to have two compelling and charismatic figures, while Punk makes snarky faces and continues chomping on his muffins.
Punk doesn’t want to talk about MJF. He goes back into his rant:

“I’ll tell you why I’m upset about it. If you’re an EVP, you don’t try to middle your top babyface, try to get your niche audience on the internet to hate him for some made-up, bullshit rumor. Really pisses me off. Stepping on your own dick… Trying to make money, sell tickets, fill arenas, and these stupid guys think they’re in Reseda.”

Next question regards how “modern talent can take advice from some of the older guys” to “help grow as a company”. Tony lets Punk give the answer.

“We have a locker room full of pretty brilliant minds… When I came back, when I cut my promo my second week here, I thought it was pretty decent. I kinda blur the lines a little bit, ya know, ‘What’s he doing? Crazy Phil, going into business for himself’, when really I was just defending myself. Mix that in with attacking Moxley, calling Kingston the second best Kingston – which is a pretty great line – but our locker room for all the brilliance and wisdom it has, isn’t worth shit when you have an empty-headed dumbfuck, who hasn’t done anything in this business, do public interviews and say ‘I don’t really take advice.’ Who the fuck do you think you are? I’m on a team with Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, and Sammy Sosa, and I don’t need to work on my swing? … Fucking go fuck yourself… Grow up.

Bonds, McGuire, and Sosa are most famous for hitting insane amounts of home runs in the late 1990s and early 2000s, breaking numerous historic records, rejuvenating interest in MLB, and most notably, using banned PEDs which would ultimately ostracize them from the baseball community and block them from enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
A question comes up for Punk from an old friend in the press pool: What’s his message for MJF?
The notion of having to speak directly to MJF seems to sap all of the energy from Punk. All of the piss and vinegar leaves him. He’s quiet now and reserved now… almost sheepish. It’s like he’s speaking to the mirror once again.
Punk:

“Do I have to answer this… I guess… I don’t know. I’m tired of wrestling these pricks. I’m tired of wrestling with these kids who think they know everything… But I’m not the boss… He won number one contender. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Max is supremely talented, but this goes for him and every other individual in the locker room that doesn’t wanna be here. The grass is not greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you water it. Max likes to shit where he eats instead of watering the grass. So we’ll have to see how that goes.”

Next question:

“A year ago we were in this room. It was after Adam Cole, after Brian Danielson… You said it had the feeling of ‘Bash at the Beach’ [1996]...

Punk, sarcastically:

“Oh boy… Did I say that?...”

Reporter continues:

“A year later… What's your honest assessment of the last year, personally and professionally?”

Punk:

“Look, I know it sounds like a pretty ridiculous statement, but in five years, I think you’ll see the impact of it. There’s a chance I’m wrong. We’ve got an uphill battle in a lot of respects… There’s just so much drama and turmoil going on. I like to believe in the place I work. We do have a very, very strong roster and we have a lot of brilliant minds backstage. If young talent is willing to actually listen and receive advice… There’s always gonna be people who think they should be the top guy and wanna be pushed. I get that. That was me… I always wanted more.”

Meltzer asks about Punk’s foot injury from a few months before. You’ll remember, he wanted to soak in the adulation of the crowd the next show after Double or Nothing where he won the belt, and he got hurt doing a reckless stage dive.

“...This is the worst injury I’ve ever had… This was really hard for me. I really wanted to have this great Summer and do good for Tony. I wanted to sell tickets and draw money, help with ratings. And it all came crashing down… I missed Forbidden Door in the United Center… I have pride in my work and I really wanted to carry the title through the summer and just help grow the business, so it was mentally devastating.”

The final question concerns the significance of the victory over Jon Moxley. Both the reporter and Tony Khan make note of the fact that it is Moxley’s first clean pin defeat in three years.
Punk:

“Oh man. Well I guess people are REALLY mad at me then, huh?... We came from the same place. Felt a lot of the same things… Guys could’ve helped us out a little bit more, passed the torch… I’m here to elevate everybody. And I’m not saying I elevated Moxley, but maybe I did. Because I think that’s what all of our jobs are: to reach back and get everybody to that level. We have different philosophies about pro wrestling, but it’s all pro wrestling. When done right, it’s magic.”

The scrum session for Punk officially comes to an end, but Punk pauses things and calls out Bryan Alvarez:

“Alvarez… I saw that video man. You were so incredulous that I went into business for myself.”

Alvarez explains how he said he only pointed out some were pro-Punk and some were anti-Punk about the whole thing [his worked shoot challenge to Hangman].
Punk dives deeper:

“...I’ve eaten shit on this subject for a very, very long time. I am very sad today that I had to get up here and say his name. He doesn’t fucking deserve it. But facts are facts. Name two people that have made the most money off CM Punk. [He looks at Tony Khan] I don’t think you’re there yet. The first one is Vince McMahan. The second one is Scott Colton. I hope you all have a good night. Please be more responsible with the news you get from certain people and just remember, we’re human beings.”

Punk packs up his muffins and his drinks, gives his dog Larry a shout out, and runs down the Pittsburgh Penguins. He gives Tony Khan one of his sodas.

“Contrary to popular belief, I am a very nice guy.”

Punk walks off the podium after nearly 25 minutes.
The rest of the scrum is often overlooked, but on closer examination, it’s no less interesting, and seems to be developing a common theme.
Next up come the reigning tag team champions, Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee. Midway through their match against The Acclaimed, the audience in Chicago was nuclear hot for the challengers. Sensing this, Swerve In Our Glory began working heel en route to a successful defense of their titles.
One of the first questions concerns “problems” between the pair that have flared up in recent weeks, with the two not always on the same page and Swerve eliminating Lee in a battle royal.
Swerve:

We didn’t really have problems. We had a dip in the road and we fixed that. You know what fixes everything? Winning. I can get violent and ravenous in that ring when I have to… If I have to push the envelope and bring Keith Lee to that level to defend these titles… So many people were against us having them in the first place… I’m always like that. Super King Petty. I read all of y’all. I read everybody in here. I literally listen to all your podcasts. First thing y’all said when we won the titles… No congratulations, nothing about Keith Lee almost losing his life fighting COVID, nothing about where I come from and both of us being let go… When we finally climbed the mountaintop, there was so much ridicule and bullshit against us about how we don’t deserve this. [You said] these opportunities should have gone… everywhere else… I’m not gonna apologize. I’m gonna gloat.”

The next reporter asks Tony Khan if he gave consideration to calling an audible on the match due to how over The Acclaimed were, changing the finish on the fly. He’s skittish to answer, so the question is rerouted to the talent.
Swerve, on how people felt The Acclaimed should’ve won:

“I couldn’t care less.”

Tony starts putting over how great of a match they just had, then puts over how great The Acclaimed are. He begins hinting that it makes sense to possibly have a rematch at Grand Slam in just over two weeks.
Swerve is beside himself:

“Wow. Why? Why??... How much more we gotta keep proving??”

Keith Lee starts trying to rationalize how it makes sense but Swerve is pissed.
Tony Khan:

“People are asking... Look, I think it would be one of the best thing we could do at Grand Slam–”

Swerve cuts off Tony, even putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him, and Tony gives him a hell of a look.

“Tony… Tony… This is just another tag team they all want the belts on instead of us!”

Keith Lee:

“I find it interesting in our losses, we had to go down the ladder, but you wanna do this rematch… But I’m not gonna speak to that.”

TK:

“I’ll take some time to think about it, but I just think it’d be a great match for the fans.”

Swerve:

“...It is what it is, but miss me with it altogether… listen man. That’s what you wanna do… I mean, you pay the bills man so you do what you gotta do… But don’t be surprised if somebody gets hurt. Are we done? Are we done?”

Keith Lee, nervously laughing:

“I’m not a part of that statement.”

This portion of the scrum ends abruptly.
Next up is Toni Storm, who has secured the AEW Interim Women’s world championship. Brief chatter about how the women in the locker room all feel devoted to helping each other and elevating each other as a whole, before a reporter asks:
“We’re in a situation now where we just saw Jon Moxley come off a run where he was an interim world champion, and he made his thoughts very clear about how he felt about the word ‘Interim’. How do you feel about that?”
Toni Storm:

“Yeah. It’s not ideal. Thunder Rosa says she’s injured… Okay. So when she says she’s not injured, she can come back and lose to me, and that’ll be the end of that.”

Tony Khan, laughing nervously:

“Well, that’s a… That’s a statement…”

A few questions allow the new champ to put over the depth of the locker room and how AEW has been very good to her after her career was in limbo. Then it circles back around to Thunder Rosa:

“We had formed kind of a friendship… But I want her to know that I’m not just going to sit in her corner and cheer for her and be her little friend… I didn’t come here to make friends. I’ll be cool. I’ll be civil. But when she comes back, I’m gonna whip her ass.”

Toni Storm’s portion wraps up.
At this point, the new trios champions – Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson, and Matt Jackson – should be arriving at the podium. Someone to the side alerts Tony Khan that it will be Chris Jericho coming up next instead. Tony looks surprised. He starts reading and responding to messages on his phone. A reporter randomly asks Tony about the contract tampering allegations, but he declines to comment on it. He stalls for about five minutes before Jericho gets to the podium.
After commenting on what a pleasure it was to finally wrestle against Brian Danielson and call a match on the fly (“there’s very few people in the world you can do that with”), Jericho takes a question from Nick Hausman:

“I asked Tony about this earlier this week… There was a mandatory backstage talent meeting that Tony confirmed happened. Reportedly you spoke at that meeting, Chris. Wondering if you could tell us what you said to the roster and what kind of advice you’re giving to talent… and to management… right now at this point in AEW?”

Jericho:

“The specifics don’t need to be discussed… and that was one of the things that was addressed: don’t leak shit that’s supposed to be private among us. My message is always to remind people how special AEW is and don’t take that for granted… I always want to remind guys, please don’t ruin or potentially ruin this amazing world that we’ve created.”

TK:

“We don’t want guys going into business for themselves… or girls…”

Jericho:

“We don’t. Where I came from, working for twenty years, with Vince… That would never happen [Note: it happened all the time…] and I’m trying to let people know we’re getting to the point where these things are unacceptable. We will start doing things that Tony would do in the NFL or at Fulham. We are a pro sports, multi-million dollar company with a huge contract, with another huge television contract coming up soon. A lot of guys don’t have that experience and don’t realize how special this is. So that’s what I try to do whenever I have them, and Tony has them… Now it’s just a little more frequent, just to remind everyone: stay on course… both guys and girls.”

Meltzer asks Jericho about having to constantly reinvent himself. Jericho says he’s not big on nostalgia, but tapping into the past and bringing up history always helps tell a compelling story:

“... We’re building a whole story around it. It fits in with the whole Heel-Jericho delusion: ‘I’ve found the fountain of youth! I’m better than ever! I’m the best wrestler in the world!’ I can say that stuff as a heel. It’s so funny: when I lose a match, it’s a great match. When I win? ‘Oh, 51-year-old Jericho is burying the young guys!’ So I can kinda use that. That intrigues me… That little kernel of truth, that I always like as a heel, that I can over blow to the point where people are like, ‘Shut the fuck up already, man!’... So let’s use that to our advantage, hide behind it…”

Tony Khan then recounts a story about how he had first seen Chris Jericho in person at an ECW show in 1996 in Chicago, the same show from which a photo was shown on Dynamite the week earlier when Jericho was the young Lionheart. He recounts how when Jericho left ECW, they chanted “You Sold Out!” He also mentions a sign he had at the ECW event that night: “Shane [Douglas] ♥️’s Shawn [Michaels]”, alluding to the famous grudge between those two men.
The story between Douglas and Michaels is notorious and quite relevant here.
“The Franchise” had originally been in WWE in 1990, where he made a name for himself filling in for the injured Michaels as Marty Janetty’s tag partner in The Rockers. Caring for his ailing father, Douglas stepped away from wrestling full-time but intermittently appeared for WCW, then ECW, where he finally became a top guy. When he returned to WWE in 1995, HBK and the rest of the Kliq had assumed nearly full control of backstage politics and were tyrannical in the locker room. Michaels invited Shane Douglas into the fold. Considering them childish, he declined. The rest of his tenure in WWE would be smothered after rejecting Michaels and The Kliq. HBK vowed never to do the job against him, and even faked an injury to avoid dropping the Intercontinental title to him. Douglas left the company the following year after Vince was infuriated that Douglas would not wrestle at Madison Square Garden, despite a doctor explicitly telling him that if he worked through his back injury it would risk paralysis.
The scrum moves on, and eventually Denise Salcedo asks Jericho about MJF’s return.
Jericho:

“I said to him, ‘When you come back, you’re going to be a babyface…’ and he said, ‘I don’t wanna be a babyface, I don’t know what I’m gonna do.' ...It’s easier to make people hate you than it is to make them like you. But once they start really hating you, that’s when they start really liking you. He’s almost at that point. That’s my prediction: he’s gonna be one of our top babyfaces, whether or not he wants to be, very, very soon… A game changer.”

At this point, the Jericho portion wraps up, and as he stands to leave he says something to Tony Khan, in a whisper, but very much able to be picked up on a live mic. What he said was either, “We gotta talk after” or “We called the cops”, but follow-ups to the local police department revealed no call was made so it is very likely the former. What’s indisputable is that he said “Some shit happened” directly in front of the cameras and the microphones. TK says to Jericho, “I’ll meet you in my office afterwards.” There is zero sense of urgency around anything as Jericho leaves thanking the press pool and Tony sits down to field his final questions.
A few “no comments” are issued to questions regarding WWE's alleged contract tampering as well as a proposed super-show with WWE. Tony Khan says he has good feelings toward WWE but they’re not exactly reciprocated, and from there he doesn’t comment any further.
A reporter asks:

“Leading up to All Out, there were unfortunately some reports that the AEW locker room and talent were facing some adversity… In comparison to a sports team, a big win usually pushes them over that threshold of challenges they were facing. With the overall success of tonight, do you think that will help the locker room overcome those roadblocks?”

Instead of taking this softball as it was pitched, TK leans into the premise:

“I think there’s still a lot of wrestlers in professional wrestling who don’t get along… now more than ever, those things are apparent. But I also think that the industry has thrived on creative tension for a long time. Yeah, you might say, what if it doesn’t manifest in a match right away? In the late 90s and early 2000s, which was the business, the interest, and the general peak of pro wrestling in many ways… There was certainly a big group of pro wrestlers who didn’t like each other. A lot of times they weren’t even in the same companies and they would rip each other, and it wasn’t gonna produce a match… But that is what we produce, is wrestling matches…
There’s a lot of matches between people who don’t get along and it’s not always an easy road to get people in the ring. But when you can get people in the ring to settle their differences, it’s really exciting. And there’s a lot of people… some people even here have gone out and blatantly slammed me in public. I have a pretty calm demeanor… I’m willing to put up with a lot of abuse… but there’s only so much knocking me and slamming me I can put up with. On the other hand, I will do what’s right for business when I have to…”

Brandon Thurston asks him about the business aspect of the weekend, and Tony admits it was challenging with a lot of direct competition, some of it seemingly targeted directly to hit the AEW bottom line. Then, Tony’s general tone shifts he legit cuts a promo:

“I have to face the competition out there. When I compare myself to Jim Crockett promotions… This weekend, I think, I got a taste of the same medicine Jim Crockett promotions took. But I have a lot more fucking money than Jim Crockett did. I’m not gonna sit back and take this fucking shit.”

Probably the most uncharacteristic thing I have ever heard Tony Khan say.
The next question centers on the start of the scrum:

“You see without a doubt your biggest star, your biggest mainstream attraction… He goes off the rails a bit toward your EVPs and another of your big young stars. You, as the leader of the ship, how do you diffuse the situation?”

Tony Khan:

“That is a dicey situation. It is contentious and frankly challenging. But, I have to do what’s best for the sake of the company. Everybody you’re talking about are great wrestlers with big reputations… Some of them have been around from the beginning of the company. Some have been around for about a year now… The fact is, these are people that drive revenue, and they help create jobs for everyone. I’m not gonna comment on what you heard here tonight, but like I said earlier this week… It’s no secret that a lot of professional wrestlers don’t like each other. Now it’s probably more out in the open than it’s been in a while. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing for the pro wrestling business given the product that we produce: matches.”

The next reporter asks about the ongoing role of The Elite within the company and Tony puts them over as invaluable assets in putting together and organizing the shows, as well as mentoring younger talent and helping to grow revenue streams.
Before Tony wraps up the scrum, he singles out a young man in the press pool to ask a question. The young man asks about CM Punk’s dog, Larry, who had ran out in front of the crowd earlier.

“... Well… Larry is a live wire… he got a taste of the live crowd… I thought he had a good time. When he arrived, he seemed like he was in good spirits.”

Tony then leaves the podium.
In the coming hours, news would steadily emerge from backstage. As the story goes, the EVPs of All Elite Wrestling went to CM Punk’s locker room accompanied by Megha Parekh, AEW’s Chief Legal Officer and Director of Human Resources, along with Christopher Daniels, Fallen Angel and Manager of Talent Relations.
While in the locker room, CM Punk punched Matt Jackson, a chair hit Nick Jackson in the eye, and Ace Steel bit Kenny Omega on the arm. Larry the Dog was in peril also, later seen being carried by Megha away from the area. Brandon Cutler, Pat Buck, and Michael Nakazawa were all present. At some point Chris Jericho made his way to Punk to tell him he was a cancer to the locker room and detrimental to the company as a whole, only to be told in turn that it was none of Jericho’s business and he should leave. Aside from Megha, all parties present (aside from Jericho who arrived late) were immediately placed on paid administrative leave, pending investigation.
News dropped quickly that Punk would be out for six-to-eight months regardless of anything else due to his torn triceps suffered that night in the main event.
Aside from the injury, none of this has been 100% confirmed. None of these details exist on any official record. All accounts are, at best, third-hand information. The facts of the story changed wildly from the first 48 hours to the first two weeks, with absurd initial claims such as the Young Bucks (super)kicking down the door to Punk’s locker and Larry losing teeth in the maelstrom. To this day, no one other than those present know with any degree of certainty what happened inside that room.
But what happened outside that room was a remarkable shattering of perception about CM Punk, the Elite, but most importantly, AEW itself. In the immediate aftermath, massive fans such as myself couldn’t help but feel as if something was taken away from us. In the months since, so much has been made of getting AEW back to the old days, regaining that old feeling that made us fall in love at the beginning. We want to go back to what Jericho called the “amazing world” created by everyone at AEW, but none more so than by the Elite.
How could CM Punk so grossly and directly attack the founders and shapers of this company which, up to then, was widely hailed as the only place a wrestler would want to be? I thought back to the very last thing said to AEW cameras by Cody Rhodes, a founder whose absence loomed large that night in Chicago. A lot of people don’t realize his final words in AEW weren’t those uttered by a ladder, inside a ring where he famously claimed credit for construction of the Forbidden Door. No, it was in the bowels of the arena after his unification match with Sammy Guevara, over eight months before All Out… There, he talked about how proud he was of everything he had helped to build. Fighting back tears, he talked about how he would never feel more at home than he does in an AEW ring. “It’s Paradise, right?”
… Paradise.
Paradise… Paradise… Paradise Lost… The Fall of Man… Snake in the Garden…
Oh, enough already! I’m grasping at straws to find some connection that can't exist. How would a guy whose contract expired at the end of 2021 be even remotely connected to stuff throughout the next year and culminated on 9/4/22?
Huh... 9… 4… 2+2… 944?
What was it that I noticed back in Part Two?

June 27, 2011: Punk delivers his landmark Pipebomb promo in WWE.
He would ultimately leave WWE and professional wrestling altogether 944 days later.
On January 1, 2019: All Elite Wrestling is founded.
944 days later, tickets for Rampage: The First Dance sell out within minutes.

Okay. But still, what does any of that really have to do with The Elite, in particular Cody? Hell, if anything Cody might be more inclined to side with Punk than the Elite. His history with Punk went back all the way to 2007 and they worked shows together for the next seven years. Both guys left WWE with similar frustrations. Cody would certainly know what it’s like dealing with the Bucks… From Cody’s last match in WWE to the creation of AEW, he was tied at the hip with Nick & Matt Jackson. As soon as he hit the indies, he linked up with them and many other AEW stalwarts in Reseda, California. You can learn a lot about people in…
Huh. That’s interesting.
May 16, 2016: Cody’s last match in WWE.
December 16, 2018: Cody’s last match before signing with AEW.
... 944 days.
Well, that’s actually pretty wild. These guys must have a really firm grasp on the history of their careers to line up Easter eggs like that. But really, that’s all they are: Easter eggs. The Elite and Punk are all famous trolls, so they may have been hoping some obsessive fool like myself would catch on and get pulled into the rabbit hole.
The trail stops at All Out, though. We can’t go into the future and see what happens 944 days from that media scrum, and the paths of most people involved in Brawl Out seem so divergent it’d be impossible to predict with any sort of accuracy. Punk is sidelined indefinitely, perhaps permanently. Kenny and the Bucks are back in action but their contract situations have started bubbling up in dirtsheets, so we can assume Hangman won’t be far behind in those rumors.
Meanwhile over in WWE, Cody Rhodes is sitting pretty. He’s getting massive cheers the AEW fanbase refused him toward the end, when his vision lost alignment with ours. Each passing day he climbs toward a mountain top of his own. In less than two weeks from now he will go to WrestleMania and try to overcome the most impenetrable obstacle in that company: the Bloodline.
If Cody succeeds at WrestleMania, his personal story would have a crowning achievement nearly every wrestler in history would envy. The fact that he bet on himself so many times and always won is remarkable. He’ll look even better considering the stains and scars imposed on “Paradise” after his departure. Maybe he could’ve helped avoid the embarrassment of All Out, but we’ll never know and that’s not for him to dwell upon. His primary focus should be on the Tribal Chief and stopping that historic reign in its tracks at...
​
​
... 944 days.
​
PART FIVE WILL EXAMINE THE FALLOUT FROM BRAWL OUT, THE CORONATION OF MJF, RIPPLE EFFECTS ACROSS PROMOTIONS, AND SPECULATE ON THE FUTURE…
I AM TAKING A DEEP, DEEP DIVE INTO ELITE LORE... SO IT’S GONNA TAKE A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF WORK AND MIGHT NOT BE HERE QUICKLY, BUT I THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME THIS FAR AND I HOPE YOU’LL STAY ONBOARD FOR THE END OF THE RIDE!

I tested positive for HSV-2 about a week ago, and I can’t figure out how to deal with my sexuality going forward. I'm gonna be very explicit in explaining this because that's just how I am and this issue especially is one that I can't censor myself on. If you don't care about the details, just read the TL;DR's and my question at the end. I've bolded them.
Background: I contracted the virus during the last week of February through unprotected anal sex with someone who believed he was STD-free as he’d been recently tested and had no other sexual partners since then. I got extremely sick a few days later from what I now know was my initial outbreak. I ended up taking an entire week off from work and went to the ER for help because the pain was so bad that I was almost passing out every time I had a bowel movement and I was losing my ability to eat.
The hospital did not test me for herpes, even though I had what I now know were active lesions on my butt. They did test me for a bunch of other things though, including HIV, so I at least had that fear put to bed. I was prescribed antibiotics for my proctitis and sent home. I went to my local Planned Parenthood over a week later when I was feeling better and convinced them to test me for herpes after an initial examination of the marks on my butt, and 4 days later I had a positive result for HSV-2 on my blood test (negative for everything else though, thankfully). They gave me a prescription for Valacyclovir 500 mg to help with outbreaks, and I've been taking it every day since. I'm really hoping to not suffer any significant side effects since I'm already on like 6 other medications for various things.
I let all my recent sexual partners know about my diagnosis, as well as some other guys who had expressed interest in fucking me, even though I hadn’t had sex with anyone else since I became sick and I generally get tested after having sex with a new guy before having sex with anyone else anyway. I actually went to PP to get tested just a few days after having sex, but they said it was too early. The nausea and dizziness and fever and pain started the next day. Unfortunately, I'm not able to inform the guy who gave it to me because he's out of my life and his phone was shut off for not paying his bill. I learned sometime after we first had sex that he apparently doesn't use condoms very often if at all, which is why he has children by multiple women. But hopefully he uses the condoms I gave him, I guess.
TL;DR: Had sex. Got sick. Got tested. Herpes sucks. Don't trust men. Use condoms.
Current Issue: I turned 30 last December and kind of had a sexual awakening. I decided I was tired of turning down guys who want to fuck me or at least not being as intimate as I might want to be with guys I like just because I have a boyfriend. Basically, I decided to be more open about the fact that I'm a huge slut.
My boyfriend and I have sort of always been in an open relationship for the 6 years we've been together. However, me having sex with other guys had always been awkward when it had come up, so we decided to talk about it and make that part of our relationship more official. The rules are pretty simple: Any guys who fuck me either need to wear a condom or provide proof of recent negative STD tests, and I need to tell my boyfriend when I have sex with them. I think I might be polyamorous, so I've been actively trying to meet guys and feel out whether I just want to have a bunch of casual sex friends or maybe something more.
My boyfriend is supportive of all of this, as he thinks I'm hot and wants me to feel hot but doesn't feel like fucking me most of the time (plus he likes to be my wingman). Everything was going really great until I broke the proof-or-condom rule for the guy who gave me herpes. In hindsight, the rule really should have just been condom-or-condom because I am terrible at asserting myself, which is why I keep getting sexually assaulted, but I was already having an ongoing sexual relationship with a guy who showed me that he gets tested regularly and wanted to fuck me without condoms.
So now I'm a slut with anal herpes. I still want to have sex, but I think it would be unethical for me to continue to have anal sex, even with condoms, since I would be knowingly prioritizing my sexual pleasure over someone else’s health. Plus, anal sex has always been complicated for me because I have IBS and a lot of anxiety about cleanliness, so this added complication feels like the final nail in the coffin. I would have too much concern about the possibility of infecting someone else to be able to enjoy the sex, not to mention the possibility of future painful outbreaks. And even if I didn't feel this way, anal sex with my boyfriend is definitely gone as an option, as he's terrified of anything that might impact his fertility.
Most people would probably just find other ways to have sex, but unfortunately I'm transgender and I'm planning to have my genitals removed soon and eventually my breasts as well. And I don't really have any other erogenous zones. My butt was my biggest one. So that basically just leaves me with sucking dick as my only option for sex, and no way for me to receive sexual pleasure in turn. And while I do like sucking dick, I feel weird about the prospect of being a one-sided pleasure provider.
Really this just feels like a huge step backwards in life for me. I went through a period of several years of being uncomfortable with anal sex, and it's only recently that I've become more comfortable with it again. It's still been a struggle, but I was working really hard to enjoy it more and explore what I like rather than just providing pleasure for others. I was committed to practicing anal sex for sexual pleasure, and trying to learn how to have an anal orgasm, and now that's all over. Which in some ways is kind of a relief to my anxiety, but mostly it just sucks.
Also it’s easier to say “I just won’t have sex anymore” than it is in practice, especially when there are a bunch of men in my life who want to fuck me. Because a lot of them don't seem to understand my concerns. It seems to me that the reason most men aren't super bothered by me telling them I have herpes is that they don't understand how herpes spreads. Most of the guys I've told immediately said "you just need to use condoms now" or "you just need to take medication for that". They don't seem to understand that the meds only reduce the risk of transmission by 50% and condoms only by 65% (side note: it's annoying that bottoms are more likely to contract HSV-2 from sex than tops, but condoms work better at preventing transmission when the top is the one who has HSV-2). They also don't seem to understand that touching my butt - where the lesions form - can spread the virus even if they don't put their dick inside me. For instance, I think I already spread it to one of my fingers, which became infected sometime during my outbreak and still hasn't fully healed.
So it's not enough for me to just tell a guy "I have anal herpes." I have to give a whole fucking presentation to make sure they understand what that means. Also, my ass is literally the reason most men approach me in the first place, so it feels really shitty to have to respond like "thanks, but you can never touch it!" And if my most recent sexual encounter on Monday night is any indication, trying to move past that is just gonna be a disappointment for everyone involved.
TL;DR: I'm a slut. Anal sex is out. I have no alternative. Guys don't get it. Herpes still sucks.
FEELINGS: You know, I started writing this post to ask for advice, but I don't even know what I'm trying to ask for anymore. I don't want anyone to try to convince me that it's okay for me to continue having sex, because for me, it's not. I don't expect anyone to fully understand the nuances of my relationship to my body and sexuality, because nobody can fully understand anyone else. So, maybe I'm just venting.
I know that I'm very early in the process of living with herpes, but I'm just really upset that I have to deal with this new forever issue for my body on top of everything else. I was finally starting to appreciate some aspects of my body and now a big one is ruined. And I can only blame myself for it because I've learned that most clinics don't test for herpes along with other STDs unless you have symptoms, so I can't blame the guy for not knowing he had it. Unless of course he had symptoms at some point and ignored it, I guess, or if he actually knew he had it and just straight up lied to me, but I'll never know that because he's out of my life.
Either way, it was my responsibility to myself to make him wear a condom, and I completely froze up in the moment and put my own safety aside to make some guy I'd just met happy and avoid an imagined issue. And then I continued to let him fuck me without using condoms because in my mind I was already exposed to anything he had and protecting myself didn't matter anymore, which was fucking stupid. I knew that I didn't feel safe, but I was trying so hard not to make negative assumptions about the guy that I willingly ignored all the red flags. Like the strong possibility that a homeless alcoholic man might not have his life together enough to make knowing his STD status for certain a priority!
I was working really hard to practice being more assertive to protect myself after I got raped in January, and I fucked it up. I broke the rules, I knowingly put myself at risk repeatedly, and now I'm suffering the consequences. What makes it suck even more is how fucked up my relationship to that guy ended up being. Finding out that he gave me herpes a week after we kicked him out of our lives for smoking crack makes everything that came before so much worse. I feel like a fucking idiot for letting this man not only drain us of money, time, and emotional energy for weeks, but also permanently alter the course of my life. It would be so much simpler if the guy who raped me was the one who infected me, but nope, he apparently tested negative for herpes a week ago. I had an easier time contacting the guy who raped me to let him know I have herpes than I did trying to inform the guy who infected me that he has it.
Also, on top of all of that, I had something I felt good about starting with this one guy I met recently, and between me getting sick and spending all my free time trying to take care of an alcoholic, we haven't been able to see each other for a month. And now I don't know for sure if he even wants to continue seeing me. I don't want to deal with him rejecting me, or all the other rejection I might face going forward. I guess I could just retreat into the safety of "I have a boyfriend!" and avoid physical intimacy with other men for the rest of my life, but I crave physical intimacy so much that I get depressed without it, and I can't have much of it with my boyfriend anymore either.
Oh, and I also feel bad for all the men who can't fuck me now. Especially the guy I had an ongoing sexual relationship with. It's like we all had this good thing going where everyone gets to fuck me, and now one guy ruined it for everyone else. Except of course it's really me who ruined it for everyone else by not having that one guy wear a condom. And now I'm faced with the reality that I've been risking this kind of thing already by not having all the guys whose dicks I suck wear condoms, too. So really, I'm just a fucking idiot, and I should count myself lucky that I didn't get oral herpes instead, or both.
TL;DR: I'm angry at myself. I'm afraid of rejection. I crave physical intimacy. I feel guilty.
I figured out what my question is: How can I reconcile the fact that I am a slut with the reality that I can no longer have sex? How can I adjust to the loss of so much physical intimacy when sharing physical intimacy is a core part of who I am? How can I learn to accept living a celibate life that I wouldn't have chosen if not for this disease?

Hello, potential Madden Zone league members!
We are a SIM rules Madden league that is currently looking for users to fill a few of our teams!
We use NeonSportz to track league info.
We are currently in the Week 17 of Season 2. We have been an ongoing league since Madden 15 and are looking for dedicated users who are able to stay active in chat, schedule games proactively, and PLAY scheduled games. As a user in our league you will be expected to mimic real life team management, and call games like real NFL coaches do, and that essentially means you cannot run 3 cheese plays over, and over in a game.
We use Discord for communication, and advance every 48 hours. Advance is generally @ 10pm EST, but we try to make sure all games can be played so at times we will accommodate those games by extending advance by an hour or two. We encourage users to stream their games using Twitch so that others in the league can watch the action, and be more involved when they aren’t playing, however it is only in the playoffs that streaming is required (so long as it doesn’t completely cripple your internet!).
This is a league that we intend to carry into Madden 24 and beyond so our goal is to find long term users who add value to the league.
Be sure to send a DM to join our Discord if you're interested and we can answer all questions.
Open Teams: Raiders (7-8)
Raiders: https://neonsportz.com/leagues/MZ23/teams/LV -Picks are intact with no major players on expiring contracts.

Hello, potential Madden Zone league members!
We are a SIM rules Madden league that is currently looking for users to fill a few of our teams!
We use NeonSportz to track league info.
We are currently in the Week 17 of Season 2. We have been an ongoing league since Madden 15 and are looking for dedicated users who are able to stay active in chat, schedule games proactively, and PLAY scheduled games. As a user in our league you will be expected to mimic real life team management, and call games like real NFL coaches do, and that essentially means you cannot run 3 cheese plays over, and over in a game.
We use Discord for communication, and advance every 48 hours. Advance is generally @ 10pm EST, but we try to make sure all games can be played so at times we will accommodate those games by extending advance by an hour or two. We encourage users to stream their games using Twitch so that others in the league can watch the action, and be more involved when they aren’t playing, however it is only in the playoffs that streaming is required (so long as it doesn’t completely cripple your internet!).
This is a league that we intend to carry into Madden 24 and beyond so our goal is to find long term users who add value to the league.
Be sure to send a DM to join our Discord if you're interested and we can answer all questions.
Open Teams: Raiders (7-8)
Raiders: https://neonsportz.com/leagues/MZ23/teams/LV -Picks are intact with no major players on expiring contracts.

50 Cent: What are you up to, my man? The entirety of the Grand Theft Auto fanbase is waiting on tenterhooks. We surely cannot be too far away from the long-awaited reveal of GTA VI. Honestly, every time I get a Twitter notification from Rockstar Games, my heart skips a beat and now, 50 Cent is playing with our emotions.
Last week, 50 Cent dropped what appeared to be a major GTA VI teaser. He posted a Vice City logo, captioning it, “I will explain this later. GreenLightGang, this s**t bigger than POWER, trust me. BOOM.” Dr Dre starred in GTA Online’s ‘The Contract’ DLC so many have speculated that 50 Cent could be lending his likeness to a GTA VI character. Well now, the plot thickens because the rapper has dropped yet another tease - deleting it swiftly after. Very suspicious.
Take a look at this mod which allows you to play as The Boys’ Homelander in GTA V.
As spotted by Reddit user worldlovespain, after posting a second reference to GTA, 50 Cent deleted both posts from his social media accounts. The second tease featured a photo of a Vice City neon sign from shopping site AliExpress. Due to the deletion of both posts, many are assuming that the rapper may have broken an NDA he had with Rockstar Games.
As previously mentioned, 50 Cent could be teasing a GTA VI collaboration but what’s perhaps more likely is that he’s working on a GTA-inspired show, focusing on Vice City by the looks of it. In the original tease, 50 Cent included the TV emoji. He also said, ‘This s**t bigger than POWER.” Well Power is a crime drama series that aired from 2014 to 2020 that, you guessed it, starred 50 Cent. The rapper also helped create the series.
Big budget game adaptations are all the rage right now. You need look no further than HBO’s The Last of Us. I’m surprised GTA is yet to get the adaptation treatment given the immense love for the franchise. For now, take all of this with a pinch of salt until anything is confirmed but 50 cent is undoubtedly up to something.

With Mercedes so far away from race-winning, let alone title-contending, form and Lewis Hamilton not having a 2024 Formula 1 contract yet, ‘Hamilton mood watch’ would be a popular pastime even without him being as – relatively – outspoken about the team’s efforts as he has been lately.
He’s also not even been the team’s top performer. Yes, he led George Russell home in Bahrain, but it’s 2-0 to Russell in the qualifying battle (the Saturday gap nearly four tenths of a second in Saudi Arabia last weekend) and Russell finished ahead on race day in Jeddah too.
Sunday was still better for Hamilton in Saudi Arabia than Friday and Saturday. Only eighth in qualifying, and off the pace on hard tyres in the first stint, when he was overtaken by both Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, he benefited from being able to clear his pitstop under the safety car and then being on mediums for the second stint when most others were on hards. That allowed a move on Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari to secure fifth place.
It was enough for Hamilton to declare he was “generally happy” and that there were “lots of positives to take” from the Jeddah weekend. He was pleasantly surprised to beat both Ferraris in the race too, though Ferrari’s take on this was that it was just the vagaries of race circumstances such as safety car timing for its strategy and then it faring badly on hards, rather than a sign that it was now behind Mercedes overall.
But even amid his relatively content end to the weekend, there was a strong hint that Hamilton’s not going to be Mercedes’ main hope until something changes with the car.
There was a degree to which Hamilton said the disparity between him and Russell was just down to set-up choices, and Hamilton certainly did seem to go awry on that front relative to his team-mate.
But both Hamilton and team boss Toto Wolff spoke of there still being a fundamental issue with the 2023 Mercedes that’s going to limit what Hamilton in particular can do with it until a major change is made.
“We’re a long way down on downforce for one, we have to pick up the rear end on downforce particularly,” said Hamilton when asked what needed to happen for him to get more confidence in the W14.
“The more rear we gain, the more stable the rear becomes, the more confident we’ll be to be able to attack.
“But I think in general this car, even if we change that, there’s a specific thing with something on the car.
“It’s a position I’ve not had in previous years’ cars. For me, it’s the thing that is making me uncomfortable so I’ve just got to work hard with the team to make sure that’s changed.”
Russell clearly got the car into a better working window in Saudi Arabia than Hamilton did.
I got the impression that Lewis just went in a set-up direction that wasn’t vastly different to Russell’s but was different enough that it just seemed to not be right.
He didn’t have confidence in the car all weekend. Russell did a better job, he probably didn’t manufacture in his own problems whereas it sounds like Hamilton did a little bit with the way that he wanted to try to adjust the car’s set-up.

But overall it’s just broadly where Mercedes is at the moment: the best case scenario is if something happens to the faster cars it might be able to steal a podium.
Asked by The Race if the Mercedes was more manageable in race conditions than when on an all-or-nothing qualifying lap, Hamilton agreed that heavy fuel and the more measured demands of race pace tamed the car to a degree.
“It’s on a massive knife-edge when you’re above 95% but when you’re in the race stint, it’s much more controllable, more predictable,” he said.
We’re still very early in the 2023 F1 season and only have small sample sets to judge relative performance on. The set-up success Russell had relative to Hamilton may have been specific to the asphalt demands of the Jeddah streets, for example.
But Hamilton’s recent talk of feeling ‘disconnected’ from the car and complaints that his feedback last year wasn’t heeded support a feeling that there’s a particular gap between what he wants for his driving style and preferences and how the W14 behaves, an added layer of personal discomfort beyond the car’s overall pace deficit. And a fundamental one too, not something that a set-up tweak or a different circuit will erase.
That was inferred in the way Wolff summarised Hamilton’s feelings about his 2023 car as well, his description carrying a clear hint that this is not just a bad car but a bad car that specifically does not suit what Hamilton needs.
“I think we have a fundamental issue that he’s not happy with and is linked to the way he feels the rear end of the car,” said Wolff.
“And that’s not something that can be cured quickly.
“But the drivers are the most important sensors in the car and if they tell us that’s what they feel, we need to consider that.”
On The Race F1 Podcast last week, Mark Hughes explained how Hamilton’s apparent complaints had steered Mercedes in the right direction with its previous-generation cars.
“Sometimes what the numbers say doesn’t tally with what the driver is trying to tell you and the driver will be overruled because the simulation says another thing and the engineers are working from numbers. But sometimes the reality’s not quite like that.
“Hamilton’s always asked for a car with which he can take corner approaches very, very aggressively, with very late braking, geometrical lines but very aggressive input and a rear that will keep up with it.
“When Mercedes had the diva car of 2017 (above), Hamilton was saying he would prefer a different aero balance. And over the next few years, he gradually convinced the team to keep moving it in the direction that he wanted it and from 2017 to 2020 it got better each year.
“If Mercedes looks back on it, it might actually see that there is a correlation between what Hamilton’s been asking for and performance, because the car did generally get better between 2017 and 2020 as it moved in the direction he was asking for.
“Having his input placed higher up the order of priorities is probably one of the lessons to learn.”
Source: https://the-race.com/formula-1/hamilton-wont-be-mercedes-lead-driver-until-f1-car-changes/