Hair crimper for short hair

I have just discovered my partner of three years is a sex addict. He’s admitted everything (I think) and is understandably feeling a lot of guilt and shame around his actions. He spent three weeks in a rehab facility shortly after we met, but led me to believe this was about co-dependence recovery from his last relationship. He has also been seeing a councillor and having group therapy sessions once a week - apparently to work through his childhood trauma. I am trying to be pragmatic about the situation and see this addiction for what it truly is, instead of taking it personally. I can see he is suffering and know that he wants to change, but like any addiction I see that this road will be long and potentially futile. What chance does he have of actually being able to change, especially given the current therapy. I’m really searching for some insight (and perhaps a reality check) so I can better know how to protect myself, as well as being empathetic with what he’s struggling with.

Hi guys, my boyfriend theo has saved up most of his life for top surgery (mastectomy, and liposuction and fat redistribution to the hips ) and has been trying to get it for the past few years and he finally had his consultation appointment however when he got his email shortly after the surgery was even more expensive then we had originally planned out (almost 15,000!) He has quite a lot already, however he still needs to raise 5,300 in like 2 months. What are ways to do that? Would a go fund me be a good idea? I’m speaking on behalf of him here, this surgery at this point is life and death for him and he has been recently been struggling and I’m just worried. Can people leave suggestions, he said he appreciates any help!

I've been growing out a mullet for the past few months, my hair on top is naturally curly and I have no problem styling it etc. However the back of my hair isn't naturally curling and is just quite thick. Has anyone got a perm with already relatively curly hair??

Hey guys! My name is Angela and I am a senior majoring in psychology at Fordham University, New York. I am doing a thesis study on the effect of tonal language speaking on pitch discrimination ability, and I am looking for participants who speak certain languages (including English). I have been recruiting speakers from different online communities so here I am! In short, you will be asked to fill out some survey questions and then complete a computer program. The entire procedure should take about 30 mins (no longer than 45 mins) and you will be compensated for $5! This is an IRB approved study so everything runs according to procedures. Detailed information regarding the study can be found in the poster below. If you are interested, please scan the code below for a quick screening, and I will reach out to you in short!
https://preview.redd.it/wodxg51ejlqa1.png?width=1545&format=png&auto=webp&s=9e66c7b4ead5714b92e6248240dd1ab029a67352

So I recently bought a 14k gold small cross (it's not even 1.5 inches.) the cross itself it's like 1.25 inches tall. Measuring with the clasp it is 1.6 inches. It's just a tad short of 1 inch wide (it's like .9 inches wide) ... It weights 2 grams. I have a 3mm 10k gold 22 inch diamond cut rope chain. It weights approx 18 grams. Paid $1,000 for the chain. Paid $160 for the cross. I'm starting to think this cross is small for the chain. What size should I have gone with? Think I'm gonna sell it and buy something bigger and better. Meh lesson learned...

Hi Community,
Gaming accounts, especially with the recent Apocalypse, are following a product cycle. Our MSF accounts tend to accumulate a lot of resources that go unused as they turn obsolete. Eventually, players abandon the game and those accounts go perish on the shores of forgotten memories.
All game modes are also designed, by nature, for the strongest fattest baddest roster to win over the insignificant new comer. No new account can challenge an old account without investing large amounts to catch up with the meta, or without getting a bargain by using other unspoken ways.
But what if?
What if there was a way for those old accounts to dump their obsolete hard earned resources into the haul of newer accounts, and getting some premium currency for this goodwill?
Sure, they will still receive a marginal competitive advantage with their new premium currency, but they would also benefit the newer, younger community who is discovering the joy of the game. By receiving large amounts of resources -via a community fuelled resource converter- not only are we pumping up the player base, but we are allowing more players to catch up and enjoy endgame content, somehow patching the holes of these dying alliances constantly short of able recruits...
And perhaps maintain some sense of -sharing is caring- MSF gaming community...
​
Let us know in the comments why this wont work.

Hello! Details about me down below. oh I’m auditioning for my high school’s musical and they’re looking for a 2 minute performance that includes acting, singing, and dancing. The director said they’d prefer a cohesive performance that would mimic an actual performance, so I assume they’re looking for a monologue + a short extract of singing and dancing. However, I absolutely suck at dancing, or dancing while singing, so I have no idea what to pick or choose. I was originally going to do a few short lines + around a minute of singing, then do dancing separately.
Sex / age: female, 15 show / role sought: information not given by my school 💀 they evaluate you and give you whatever roles they like Vocal part: mezzo song ideas: something upbeat? is it easier to do simple choreography that way? one thing i’m stuck on is that the teachers prefer the acting / monologue part should be connected to the dancing and singing practice accompanist: school doesn’t provide accompanist, can have music played from our phones (and the audition is next tuesday 🥹)
thank you for your time 💀

Today I received a messenger chat from my fellow newly single friend.
It was a screenshot of a photo of his ex together with the guy she cheated on him with. Apparently, she and third party guy are facebook official na. And it broke my heart.
Friend (Let's call him A) got broken up last December, just a month after I got broken up with. So we were comforting each other, sending pick-me-up tiktok videos or activities we could do to distract ourselves. We even joined a Pulag hike tour group as a "final hurrah" moment from our past relationships.
Just to be clear, our relationship was purely platonic. No feelings whatsoever were developed. We were friends in college, and not once did we consider dating. Especially not now.
Now my last relationship just lasted a few months short of one year, and his for almost nine years. So while I am on my way to being 100% recovered, I would understand if he's not quite there yet.
Receiving that chat from him knowing he still stalks her, and seeing that... well, I can only imagine how much it hurts regardless of how much he says "oh well can't do anything about it haha". The fact that he had to take a screenshot and send it to a friend, I think, means it still bothers him.
So to anyone who's in the same boat as us, kapit lang tayo okay? It sucks, I know. I mourned for months. I feared it will never go away. But I'm starting to feel better now. And I assure you, you will too.

We’re going next week & it looks like low 60s during the day. I’ve only been to Disney when it’s been blazing hot (last April it was almost 100) so I’m not sure what to wear. Leggings, t-shirt and a sweatshirt? 61 feels too cold for shorts but it’s more humid there than where I’m from so maybe not?

Context: As the Siege of Terra nears its climax, the Vengeful Spirit lowers shields, presenting the Emperor with a way to end the war in one move. However, before he can go, the ultimate sacrifice must be made.

I near the top, the light around me. My lord and master moves. He steps down to me, and offers me his hand in support. That hand. That great and capable hand that has held the galaxy in its palm. I feel him close. To my surprise, he permits me to share the private working of his mind.
The signs I read there are clear.
‘Don’t be sad,’ I say.
This is more painful than he expected it to be. He is afraid he will never speak to me again, that there will be no more hours spent exchanging thoughts and words, configuring mankind’s best fate. His memories are Antarctic-bright: the day he first showed me the Throne, and told me what it did, the shining look of disbelief in my eyes; the evening when we both realised that I could moderate its functions too, that my mind, like his, had the capacity to engage with it and not instantly perish; the night when we concluded, through plain, logical deduction, that there might come a day when I would have to take his place; that, in almost every configuration of the future we could model, someone would have to do it.
I was not afraid. Not then, not now. I knew what that would mean. I brushed it off as a ‘thing that would have to happen if it came to it’. He hoped it never would, because he knew what it would mean too. And, for the longest time, it seemed unlikely. He had built a contingency to avoid it ever becoming compulsory. The contingency’s name was Magnus.
Now the time is here, I do not hesitate. I take the hand he offers to steady me, and I ascend the final steps to the Throne. I give him a nod and a little smile, and whisper to him, ‘Do not mourn,’ in a voice no one else can hear.
And then I prepare to take my seat.
There is nothing else to say. After centuries of conversation, in which we have dissected and shared everything, there is nothing left to say. Just a look from one friend to another, an unspoken understanding of everything that has passed between us, and the debts we owe each other. This act is my final, everlasting gift to mankind, to the future, to the plan painted on the wall.
But in his eyes, I can tell he knows that I am only really doing it for him. The greatest, most universal acts are always born from the personal.
I am old. I am tired.
I sit upon the Golden Throne.

...

‘I can feel his focus. And his pain,’ Vulkan murmurs. I can feel his cells dying, one by one, he thinks.
‘And his sadness,’ says Dorn quietly.
‘It’s not his sadness, brother,’ says Sanguinius. He glances at their father, silent at their side. ‘It’s yours, isn’t it?’
The Master of Mankind makes no reply. Is he overwhelmed with love for his old friend, with speechless admiration at the scale of the Regent’s sacrifice? He is only human, after all, and the sensation is coming from somewhere.
Valdor turns away, grim. Another last survival of the Long Yesterday has passed from the world, leaving precious few remaining. ‘We must begin,’ he says.
Vulkan shakes his head wearily. His resolve is granite-hard, for he understands more than any of them what this signifies.
‘The Sigillite–’ he begins.
+The Hero,+ a voice corrects him gently. Vulkan looks at his father, eyes narrowing at the radiance of his aspect. He nods.

Shortly afterwards, Malcador's acolytes arrive in the throne room - having sensed the death of their master - and are nearly overwhelmed with grief when...

There is a change in the air suddenly, a winnowing aura of calm that moves like a summer breeze from the Master of Mankind down the great length of the nave towards the Chosen. Everyone in the room feels its soothing aspect. He is alleviating the worst of their immediate suffering, for they will all need to be sharp and capable from this moment on. They must complete the tasks the Regent has left to them. They are the executors of his legacy. They contain the Sigillite’s last testament.
+The greatest sacrifice of our age,+ the voice tells them softly. +Our Sigillite is no more. Regard him now, as you fulfil his bequests, only as a hero. Your duties are not finished, and neither is his. What we do now, all of us, we do because he has made it possible. Remember him. Remember that. Use that memory to prevent even a moment’s falter.+
They nod. Some weep. They all bow.
Hiding his own grief, the King-of-Ages Risen turns to his sons and the captain-general.
‘Now we begin in earnest,’ He says.

The Malcador sections are easily my favorite part of the book and make up for all the faults of its faults. Honestly, this excerpt doesn't do this moment justice, but I'd probably have to post entire chapters to do that. So, I cut out a lot of character reactions in the lead up and aftermath of Malcador's death to just focus on the two most impacted by it - the Emperor and Malcador.

It says it will give shine, reduce frizz and lock in moisture but you can't use with any other styling product. So, I used an IGK mask before getting out of shower, rinsed then applied to damp hair (infections, made sure to cover root to tip) & used my Amika hair dryer on low heat & WOW, truly impressed!! It has done everything it claimed, but I'm wondering if it truly last thru multiple washes? 🤔 anyone used it before & seen these results even if only thru another wash?

I want to start by saying that after all of this, the person mainly involved in this story is someone whom I still have some degree of appreciation for due to how they helped me when I was unemployed for years of my life.
​
That being said, this is going to be a long one.
​
Back in 2018, I was hired by a company that was pretty much just starting up. The company does official repairs on Apple products and I was hired as a technician to help maintain the volume of repairs in control. Back then, there was only 1 technician working there and then there was the owner who was the person who called me and asked me to come in. I knew the owner from my previous job experience at another company that performed official Apple repairs. When I worked for this company, the owner would come in and bring devices in bulk for us to repair so he could resell them. That's how they remembered me and they found me on LinkedIn for the sole purpose of asking me to come in and help out at this new company they have started. The problem with this, initially, was the only other tech there was not informed of this or consulted. From what I learned, the other tech had been working there for a long time and, because there was no one to cover for him, they hadn't been able to take a vacation or some days off. It got to the point that the other tech forced his time off and vacation so the owner was probably forced in getting someone to cover for him. So I did.
​
It was hard to cover for someone when you do not know the nuances and procedures that needed to be followed in order to do things properly. The other tech was not there, and the owner had NO idea on how things were ran or what to do in specific situations, so my new coworker was forced to call me and just explain some things I needed to do to keep some form of order there. The days passed and my new coworker finally came back from his vacation, so things got better.
​
There is one key thing about this person though that I did not mention. I have worked with them before at the same job I met the owner! I worked with them for about a year because they were fired due to a sudden change in leadership at my previous job. They were fired due to being unable to attend a meeting with the new owner of that company. Yes... They were on vacation then too. Anyways.
​
As days passed at my new job, some issues with the location we were in began to boil up. The place that was rented for our business was shared with another company and the two owners butted heads with one another about some things. I was never clear on that, but it culminated in the owner of my company, now my boss, starting to scout out for a new place to be. During this process and the changes to come, I was asked not to come to work again and that they would be in contacted with me in a few weeks or a month to see whether I would return. The remaining tech helped a lot with the move and relocation of the business, new people were hired to help out and it eventually became a more proper repair shop. It took some time, but I was eventually called back to work there again.
​
It is now somewhere in 2019. The business is going fine. Obviously, the first tech at the company was the one in charge and taking care of the administrative side of things, working directly with my boss to manage the business. I was solely a tech and worked on fixing what needed to be fixed. A point came in which I mainly focused on fixing iOS devices (iPhones, iPads, Watches, etc) and the other two techs there (a third was hired) would do the computers. Of course, I would help out whenever the queue would get busy on the Mac side of things; though rarely came the time I would get help when my queue of iOS devices got high. Either way, that's how it was.
​
As time passed and we continued to work, I started to notice a change in the lead tech's behavior. They would space out more and go on break for a full hour, and even lock themselves in the bathroom to smoke marijuana (right inside of the business), and even began to yell more often and treat us all bad. The tech room would often reek of it, and that's just always a smell that I really disliked, but what could I do? An additional thing about my coworker's personality is that things had to be done their way and it was often pretty difficult to convince him otherwise. We had different ideas sometimes, and we often argued a lot about it. I started to speak with my boss directly more often and they agreed that how the lead tech was beginning to treat all of us was just not right and that they were aware of them being absent for such long periods of time. My boss was no longer very happy with how things were going with him, so new people were hired with the goal that the lead tech was going to be eventually fired. They also explained to me they never liked saying who was above anyone else, that we should not worry about job titles, that we work together as a team and that there is no one in charge. I, amongst my other coworkers, found this to be very odd, but we shrugged it off. This is more relevant further down the story.
​
The day they were fired was a chaotic one because it meant someone had to immediately assume all of the administrative responsibilities that they were in charge of. The person to do that was me, but I was never formally trained on how to do it and I was forced to rely solely on my previous experiences along with my intuition on how things worked. Not to mention, it was now early 2020 and we were in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, so special considerations and changes were needed to accommodate the changing work environment. Luckily, I had a pretty good understanding and knowledge on how the system we used for ticket, customer, and inventory tracking worked, so I was able to learn more from there. The new person that was hired during this transitional period is very important for later in the story, so keep in the mind! Anyways, I was swarmed with a list of new tasks and responsibilities, but I also got a pay raise, so I felt it was worth it at the time. I then started to work heavily on making sense of the system and logistically connect modules with each other to form procedures with the aim of reducing the time customers take during the initial check in. I built the company a PHP form so customer can directly enter their details into the system along with the ability for them to provide a signature to our terms & conditions without the need of the person at the front desk to do it for them manually. (Yes, we also had a receptionist by then). Other changes that helped us all out were made and all of them made things better one way or another.
​
More time passed, we continued to work and push the business forward. I was now working directly with my boss to handle the administrative side of the company. I was fully in charge of the system, making changes how I saw fit. I tried to explain to my boss why the changes needed to happen, but they never seemed to understand much on how everything worked, so they left it to me and my best judgement. It was during this time, after many meetings with them, that I started to see just how out of touch and unsynchronized with how our repair process worked. They didn't even know how to properly take care of a customer at the front, something that still holds true today! Albeit, not as bad as it was. Anyway. I began to pick up on these things and we started to argue about it; they would always do most of the talking and I would listen, but I would later reflect on what we talked and then I would give my opinion. A time came in which they decided to get someone else to take the helm on the administrative side of things because they were not seeing any "progress". I was still held highly and worked closely with whom they hired next to do said job.
​
To cut down a bit from the story, about 3 different people came in to do the admin side, all of which left because they saw quickly how it was to work with my boss. After the third person left, I had told them that this fourth person coming in would be the last time that I would invest in explaining how everything worked. After all, for each of those people, I had to sit one-on-one with them and basically onboard them on the processes and procedures that needed to be followed in order to keep our account in good standing and maintain our system with minimal errors. As you all may imagine, it is very tiring to have to do this process over and over again after you have your hopes up that this FINALLY may be the person to be able to properly work with my boss and maintained things how they needed to be maintained. But nope. They left as well.
​
I should have left right then and there, given my two weeks, and begun my search for a new job. You see, another major factor that had me rethinking things about this job was the very fact that, from the start, we all were paid with a 1099 (AKA Independent Contractors) and not with W2s. The duties and responsibilities we had at this job demanded for a W2, but since the company was fairly small and not well-established yet, we were always lenient on demanding this from our employer; however, we were always hopeful that the day would come this could be implemented. There was a very short period in which it was implemented, a whole two weeks! Then it was removed. It never was implemented again, but I stayed regardless now solely based on the fact that I considered my boss to still be a good, honest person who was just having a really tough time keeping things afloat and just doing what they could to help all of us out. (After all, they DID hire me when I was not working for years before, so I cannot be gracious enough to him about that). We still managed to work out through it, and my boss had brought someone from their own family to help out; that person lasted a month! And they left like everyone else.
​
It was around this time that the coworker mentioned from earlier (the one that was mostly hired to fire the one who smoked marijuana) was given the "helm" per say (even though my boss never liked to say it officially), so I began to butt heads with this coworker because they were under the impression that the situation at the workplace stemmed from my inability to be firm and take charge. Sure, I was not the most firm and demanding person, but how could I ever go against the wishes of my boss? The new coworker in charge began to speak more directly with my boss while I started to go back to being a technician and helping out with the queue. I was still consulted when they were going to make big changes, but no more than that. Even though I was fuming at the current changes that were being made, because I honestly thought I had done nothing wrong and people who were previously hired to do the admin job leaving because of my boss was a clear testament to that, I managed to collect myself and eventually work together with my coworker to both challenge our boss on his unproductive ideas. We started to work together, and instead of my coworker being fully in charge, we started to see it as we both were in charge. My coworker handled more of the workload distribution, and tech room management while I handled administrative tasks such as checking for errors in the system and fix discrepancies.
​
One thing I forgot to mention was that the system always had errors (as does any system in any company) but I kept those errors to a bare minimum, I'd say about 10% of it had errors that were not fixed; however, there was a time in which I was asked to no longer do that activity, so pretty much being forced to stop. When I did that, errors skyrocketed and it was just so bad that they had to put me back to do it.
​
To no one's surprise, my coworker eventually got really fed up with my boss. It got to the point that the few of us who worked there formed a WhatsApp group solely so we can talk amongst ourselves about how things were never going to improve and that this was all for nothing. We talked shit, you know, to vent our frustrations about the environment we worked in. Specially since about 70% of meetings we had with our boss, both 1-on-1 and as a team, would result in screaming and one of us walking out of the meeting angrily. It was just demoralizing and just plainly... sad. My boss also began to hire people without consulting us first, and expect us to train them so they can help out; something we did the first few times this happened, but we stopped nearing the end. My coworker eventually gave their two weeks' notice and my boss, well, they didn't react well. The notice was given to him on a Friday, and my coworker was fired that very Sunday. No notice, no extra time. Just plain gone along with an additional coworker. I later found out that the main motivation behind the firings was the sheer fact that they participated a lot in talking crap about my boss. I was just speechless and angrier than I have ever been.
​
The following Monday, I come in and I have a 1-on-1 meeting with my boss. We had sat together before and discussed some key changes that I needed for them to make in order to remain employed at their company. I had asked them to provide me with a proper W2, and another pay raise since it had been two years before my previous one. In the meeting we had that Monday, they pretty much told me that my pay raise was still "under review" and that a new person they had hired that very Monday was going to "supervise" me and that I had to work closely with them and my boss to move things along. I mentally checked out as I heard them talk and for the rest of the day, I focused my efforts in gathering all the files and documents I had for the company, make sure I didn't have extra copies of sensitive information such as payroll or client data (I kept track of all the things related to the company and did all of the hours for the employees). I copied it all to an external drive for my boss. The thing about that Monday, though, is that amidst this new drama that had come up, our boss had failed to pay us. Our pay always came on a Friday, bi-weekly, and they had not paid us when we were due that day... a recurring theme if I am to be honest. Our boss, more often that not, was always late on paying us when we were due; what I did on that Monday was told my boss that I urgently needed my full pay because I had payments coming up and I didn't have enough to cover them, so they agreed to take me to the bank directly themselves so I could deposit a check that had my full amount due written on it. (I do not drive.)
​
Once I made sure my payment was made in full and I copied all of the data relevant for my boss to continue their business, I quit. On the spot. I had called my mom earlier to come pick me up and wanted to wait for her to be outside so I didn't have to wait like an idiot after resigning like that. This is not the end of the story, though! You see, our company always had a "week in reserve" of pay for employees so the company could have some leverage to make sure employees do not take advantage of the company if they get fired or they decide to quit. (Things like taking assets of the company with them without permission), but they were always paid once my boss made sure that none of that was taking place. For my coworkers who were fired, they put their accounts and payments up to date in just a couple of days. With me, though, not so much. I had the misfortune of having experienced some recent damages to devices that were brought in for repair, two consecutive ones at that, and of course I assumed all responsibility for those damages and owned up to my mistakes when they happened. Not for it to be an excuse, but I was under a lot of pressure during that time due to all the things that were happening at the company and was not very careful with those repairs, but I digress. My bad. I took this into consideration before leaving though, and was well aware that the amount of the parts used to fix my mistakes would be deducted from my last week's pay, so I was fine with that.
​
What I was NOT fine with was that, almost half a year ago, there was another incident caused by me in which the volume flex cable of an iPhone XS was torn. A $6 part, mind you. The repair cost for this is, at the very most, $80, but my boss decided to handle it differently. They decided to purchase the device from the customer it belonged to for a whopping $250, which is the price the customer (a vendor, really) could sell the phone for. My boss thought it would be a good idea to pass down those $250 down to me and for my last week's pay to cover it when, again, they failed to listen to me that it could simply be repaired for much less. They just needed to take the phone to a different shop because that type of repair was not done at our store; and I told them I would cover the costs of that. In addition to all of this, they also decided that they would charge me an extra $50 for ordering duplicate tools that we already had at the store. Sure, it sucks extra tools were ordered when they are not immediately needed, but the fact stands the tools are there for company use. They are NOT broken or missing.
​
The day I quite was on March 6, 2023 and, so fairly recent. My boss now has some people there working for them and trying to hold everything together with that new person they hired on that fateful Monday to "supervise" me along with those two people they hired a few months back without consulting us (one of whom has no idea what to do, and constantly makes mistakes). The employee that works as a receptionist there is leaving soon as well.
​
But yeah, that's my story. My boss still owes me the money for my last week's pay and I am actively looking for a new, better job. Wish me luck, guys! Thank you for reading, I know this was a long post. Also, I would like to take a quick moment to say I have not actively participated in forums before (Including Reddit) so hopefully I didn't do anything wrong by writing this post. I just needed to put my thoughts in writing and for other people to understand my perspective on things.

This place was recommended in the Unofficial Waterloo USA Intern Guide, but it seems a bit sketch. Has anyone used this before? If not, do you know of any places to rent a car short term for a decent price in the bay?

[Plot, no gameplay]
...We resume where we'd ended before. Spooky, having faced Medows in its final match, surprised everyone by defeating Medows in spectacular fashion. The entire stadium was on the edge of their seats, watching the two reptilians exchange slashes of their claws and tails, most notably the Board Members in the Glass Seats. Spooky had a hostility that was unlike anything we'd seen in these Experiments thus far: totally outperforming its more formidable counterpart in its opponent, something that the statistics and betters weren't able to predict. It expressed a fierceness that... Even now, I'm wracked by chills witnessing such brutality. There was a message sent from that Tournament floor... And that was: Spooky will not be taken gently. I had so much... Pride, and unfettered joy, watching its spirit erupt from within, which extended even to the furthest bleachers, felt by every attendee.
It... Stirred a deep anguish in me. I knew what this all meant. I knew that, even though Spooky tried its best, and fought its heart out, that it would not receive first place. It... Was difficult to stop myself from trying to leave. I didn't want to have to face what came next. I looked up to the Glass Seats, chest heavy. There're some pattings of shoulders, they seem... Pleased?
Looking back down to Spooky, it's slithering around the stage... Always liked the fight, and the cheering. It looked so proud, as it raised its arms up, turning to each corner of the thrilled audience. They definitely got their money's worth out of this one. It turned to the final corner and locked eyes with me... God, I felt paralyzed... What am I going to do about this? I can't...
...It can't be the end for Spooky. Not here, not like this. My eyes still fixed, I feel my arms rise up to match its form, and a vehement roar forces its way out of me. I felt my eardrums vibrate; from my periphery I saw the heads around me lean away as their persons covered their ears; and Spooky opens his maw in kind, shrieking into the air back towards me. It must've heard me. I just... Hope it couldn't see too much of me in that moment. It shouldn't be worried about why my cheeks are dripping. It's never seen that before. It doesn't deserve to be distracted by that right now. It felt like forever, that moment; until it, inevitably, had to end.
Spooky breaks gaze to parade around the Arena again. I feel my throat coarse as my lungs fill up again, breaking me out of the trance, and redirect my eyes to the clear box which enclosed Richard and the other Collars. He's shaking hands with each of Them as They exit in file; I have no idea what they're smiling so much about. This prick, what foolery is he up to this time?
I see one of them has white hair; I remember him from when I was Commissioned: he's one of the Overseers, and he doesn't look as jolly as the rest. He stays at the threshold for a moment longer and I can see Richard speaking with him intently. The Overseer exits, but they do not shake hands. Richard shrugs his shoulders, and I see his shoulders hunch relaxed... His head quivers and he fixes his tie and collar while grabbing his fancy bottle and walks to the front of the box. He's looking at my corner and keeps motioning, pointing downward at the Arena. He puts a thumbs-up whilst taking a swig out of the bottle, before turning around awkwardly and taking one of the women in the room in his arms; the others follow him out, and the lights in the room dim themselves off.
Spooky goes to the Resting Area through the corridor leading out of the Arena. I'll see it in a little while- I have someone I need to speak to first. Where are you, Richa-
"Oh hey, buddy!" I hear from the entryway to my Section as people begin to shuffle out. He motions for me to come towards him, maintaining the action for nearly a minute while I shuffle along the line of bleachers and walk down the steps. I don't have the energy anymore to act excited. He puts his hand on my shoulder and leans on it. "Gotta have a drink with me, man- that was the best thing I'd ever seen! Hey, why you lookin' so pale, man? You see a ghost or something? C'mon, you gotta-"
I shrug him off of me, trying to get him to take this seriously. He quickly reacts. "Hey, no, man, listen..." Replacing his hand on my shoulder, leaning in close to my ear. His voice drops dynamically to a hush, and I feel his hot breath against the side of my face...
..."I got some good news for ya. Let's have a little drinky, bud."

Hi!
I know it varies a lot, wondering about having just a simple hair cut almost-like-just-shave-it-all. Curly hair, black man; uptown.
Thanks!