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Source: Courtesy VH1 / Black Ink Crew
The rookies are letting the Black Ink Crew OGs know they are no pushovers and want all the smoke.
The Search Continues For A New Black Ink Location
Puma and Teddy have this knockoff Real World situation for the rookies as they try to determine who will join the OGs in the new shop.
But there is still one slight problem. They have not locked down a new location to work out of. The episode opens up with Puma and Quani checking out a potential spot, but according to Quani, it’s a real fixer-upper and honestly not worth any of Puma’s time or money, and he agrees.
Quani is also BIG MAD that her husband is neglecting her, putting most of his time into keeping the Black Ink tradition going, and not spending time with her. Puma also agrees with that and promises to do better.
Later in the episode, he takes Quani to do a couple’s awkward photo shoot, and they have a blast. Puma solves one potential problem with his wife for now but still has to find a new shop.
Nychelle Decides To Go Back Home
It looks like Nychelle is over her time being wasted by Alex, plus Teddy and Puma. Linking up with Draya, she tells her that she is completely over Alex and will head back home to Houston to focus on her shop and son. Nychelle feels she has been missing out on bags by wasting her time in NYC and feels enough is enough with this situation.
We truly hope this is not the last we see of Nychelle for obvious reasons.
The Rookies Have Issues With Krystal & Alex’s Behavior
Following the madness at the mansion caused by Krystal over Rok, the rookies discuss what happened that night, and they all genuinely feel Krystal and Alex are doing too much.
Teddy stops by the mansion, and they express how they feel to him, and he assures him that’s not what the new Black Ink brand is all about. He also invites them to his 40th birthday party and warns them not to bring drama to his celebration.
We also learn that Puma did keep his promise to Jahnova, who won the opportunity to tattoo one of her potential boss’s famous clients. Teddy reveals to Jahnova that the client is Rowdy Rebel, and she delivers a tattoo that the rapper approves of.
Made Rich also makes it known he does not like that Alex treats him like a little brother because he feels he is better than Alex. He plans to check Alex and the OGs for their behavior at Teddy’s party despite their boss telling them not to bring drama.
Santana & Miracle’s Fling Crashes & Burns
One thing these Black Ink stars never seem to learn is that you shouldn’t sh*t where you eat, but unfortunately, their hard-headedness is a constant source of our entertainment.
Santana and Miracle immediately hit off then they got into the mansion. But, there is always a dirty mack in these situations, and that’s where Mr. Polyamours, aka Ink Dreamy, steps in. He tells Santana that he thinks Miracle has a girlfriend already.
Armed with her new info, Miracle checks Santana’s phone and finds a number saved with kissy face emojis next to it. Santana presses Miracle while at dinner, and she claims she is not wasting Miracle’s time; she doesn’t have a girlfriend, and the name in her phone with the emojis is her mother.
Miracle doesn’t believe her and decides to check out from the date.
Welp.
Made Rich Flames Alex & The OGs
While at his birthday party, the rookies, mainly Made Rich decides to do a talent show. Made Rich drop a slide presentation of drawings that disrespect Alex, Krystal, Rock, and Nychelle during his act.
Alex is not feeling and snatches the drawings off the stage while Krystal rips them up angrily. Alex then confronts Made Rich and tells him he needs to respect him, and the rest of the OGs, and the two have to be separated.
Santana also had time for Ink Dreamy for being a c*** blocker.
You can peep reactions to the latest of Black Ink Crew in the gallery below.
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Photo: Courtesy VH1 / Black Ink Crew
1. Make it make sense
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Source: MANDEL NGAN / Getty / Mark Zuckerberg / Elon Musk
I don’t think anyone had this possible PPV event on their digital bingo cards.
Twitter’s incompetent owner, Elon Musk, and Meta’s chief, Mark Zuckerberg, have been virtually jabbing each other for months. Now it seems the two tech giants could square off in a cage match, and we’re not talking virtually either.
This all stemmed from Twitter users and Musk responding to a report about Instagram’s “Twitter-like” platform, Threads.
“I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options,” Musk cheekily tweeted.
In response to Musk’s tweet, a user warned the Tesla chief that Zuckerberg is trained in Ju Jitsu, with Musk responding, “I’m up for a cage match if he is, lol.”
Musk might have been joking with his comment, but apparently, Zuckerberg is not, and he let the Phony Stark know he wants all the smoke by responding via his Instagram Stories, “Send me the location.”
Musk continued to egg on the situation by tweeting out a possible venue for the match, the “Vegas Octagon,” of course, and letting off a fire emoji when someone suggested that UFC’s Joe Rogan could be a referee.
He also claims he has a great move called “the walrus,” whatever the hell that means.
Tale of The Tape
Elon Musk, on paper, is the bigger person, but he also admits he “almost never” goes to the gym, and the only exercise he gets is “picking up my kids and throwing them in the air.”
It’s an entirely different story for Zuckerberg. Per ESPN, he won a no-gi white belt in the 149-pound division at a Silicon Valley tournament and placed second in a gi category on the same day.
The Zuck has also trained BJJ for about a year under Dave Camarillo who has also mentored former UFC titleholders like Cain Velasquez, Jon Fitch, and Josh Koscheck.
Camarillo had high praise for the Meta CEO, telling ESPN:
“He’s amazing. He is an extremely hard worker, as everybody knows. But a lot of people have a business, and they’re successful, and they have that side of their life, and rarely do they dip into the physical side, especially with something like jiu-jitsu and MMA, and have the same amount of success or even go past Day 1 or Month 1.”
Twitter, of course, has thoughts about this possible fight between the tech titans. You can see them in the gallery below.
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Photo: MANDEL NGAN / Getty
1. LOL, accurate
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Source: Courtesy VH1 / Black Ink Crew
The Real World, oops, we Black Ink Crew is pushing on, and the shenanigans in the rookie’s mansion are already happening.
Teddy Kinda Capes For Spyder
Last week, Ceaser loyalist Spyder and Puma got at each other after Teddy made the dumb decision to invite him to the event at Cookies, on this week’s episode of Black Ink Crew, Teddy and Puma linked up to discuss the dispute where we saw Spyder tell Puma to suck his private parts after Puma pointed out that his presence at the event was unnecessary.
Despite Spyder saying the most egregious thing you can speak to another man Teddy is more disappointed in Puma for engaging in the back and forth with Spyder.
Hilariously, the professional couch sitter wants Puma to step in and be a boss because losing his cool in public like that could ruin future opportunities for the brand.
Whatever you say, Teddy.
Nychelle Is Officially Done With Alex
While Puma takes the rookies out for their next competition, the OGs decided to show up at the mansion to see how their future coworkers are living for now.
During a drinking game between Draya, Nychelle, Alex, and former Black Ink Crew Chicago cast member Prince, we learn that Draya used a strap-on on a guy she was dating. We are sure Phor, her former coworker at 9 MAG, who is now a full-on pornstar, would appreciate knowing that.
Rok also eventually shows up after Alex sends him the address.
Anyway, we (specifically Beanz) here at Hip-Hop Wired did not care for Alex, aka the “Vagina Slayer,” getting close to Nychelle, so it brought us great joy to see her finally kick him to the curb.
Nychelle finally calls out Alex for wasting her time, calling him out for doing a terrible job communicating with her, which Alex admits to.
Alex cops pleas by telling Nychell that he just got out of a three-year relationship with Donna that messed up, and Nychelle doesn’t care and tells him that she is no longer interested.
She also tells him that she is sorry for what Donna did to him, but that is not an excuse for his behavior. To rub more salt in the wound, she tells Daya that Alex isn’t really slaying vaginas.
Damn.
Krystal Does The Most
The rookies eventually show up after a successful event that saw AMH take first place, meaning she can now stay in the master bedroom. Made Rich, who is extremely cocky, is BIG MAD that he lost and now has to vacate the room he first got.
Jahnova took home second place, earning the right to tattoo one of Puma’s famous friends.
Anyway, after rookies got over seeing the OGs enjoying their space, Krystal, who Nychelle invited, shows up, and that’s when things go off the rails.
Rok is upstairs with Liza. The two are still cordial after hanging out on a previous episode. Krystal is tight when she sees Rok with Liza, revealing that they are still hooking up.
Rok admits to hooking up with Krystal twice since they called off their engagement during his confessional. Krystal decides to flip and gets into it with AMH and Liza, who feel she is doing too much.
Krystal goes off with security stepping in before she can put her hands on any of them, and the episode ends.
You can see more reactions to the episode in the gallery below.
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Photo: Courtesy VH1 / Black Ink Crew
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Source: JOSEPH PREZIOSO / Getty / Oceangate Expeditions
News of an OceanGate Expeditions submersible containing some prominent passengers going missing during an underwater expedition tour to survey the Titanic took over timelines over the weekend. Some recent developments around the company and the makeshift sub’s design have Twitter reacting.
If you didn’t hear about the story, OceanGate’s Titanic tourism submarine with five people onboard has gone missing. Per the New York Times, among those missing are the submarine’s pilot, British billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, one of Pakistan’s wealthiest men, Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Sulaiman Dawood, 19.
According to recent reports, time is critical as a search is underway to find the sub that went missing around the Titanic wreckage site in the North Atlantic on Sunday, with experts saying there is enough oxygen to last the crew until Wednesday.
As the story continues to own headlines, a CBS News story on OceanGate’s missing Titan story has gone viral after it showed how makeshift the sub is.
If you signed onto Twitter, you might see that Xbox Controller is trending, and it has nothing to do with the video game company dropping a new Xbox Design Lab custom controller. It’s the fact a cheap knockoff controller controls the $1 million makeshift submersible.
Twitter Is Flabbergasted
As you can imagine, Twitter is reacting to the news. One user sharing a clip from the story wrote in a tweet, “Y’all please watch this. It’s a CBS story that aired a while back about that submarine that is now missing. The creators of that missing submarine are DEEPLY unserious.”
“N****s really went into the deepest depths of the ocean in a DIY submarine controlled by an Xbox controller the size of a coat closet. If that isn’t natural selection idk bro,” another Twitter user wrote.
Bruh.
We hope the missing submarine is found and everyone onboard is alive and well.
You can peep more reactions to these recent developments in the gallery below.
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Photo: JOSEPH PREZIOSO / Getty
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Source: Courtesy VH1 / Black Ink Crew / Puma
Last week on Black Ink Crew, Puma, and Teddy narrowed their search for new tattoo artists to eight. This week the new bosses of the Black Ink brand moved their recruits into a big a** mansion, and one of the OGs is still big mad.
Black Ink Crew, Meets The Real World & Big Brother
To find new artists to help usher in the new era of Black Ink, Puma, and Teddy decide to take some cues from the Real World and Big Brother and move the seven lucky tattoo artists plus one piercer into a mansion that Puma’s friend, Daymond John helped him secure.
Puma and Teddy make it abundantly clear that not all of them will make it to the new shop.
This is a different way than they are used to when selecting artists, but Puma and Teddy feel it was the right decision. Puma has an event lined up for the recruits at Cookies in New York City. Unfortunately, not all of the artists will be selected to participate. One of them, Made Rich, is BIG MAD that he was not chosen but eventually comes to grips that he will not be participating in the first event.
Meanwhile, Teddy links up with Alex and Spyda because he feels it would be an excellent idea for the original Black Ink artists to be in the building to help out, but he has no idea that his plan will backfire epically.
Spyda & Puma Clash
The event goes well, with the recruits making a great impression on their potential bosses, but the positive vibes quickly disappear when Sypder and Alex show up.
Puma feels Spyder’s chance to be a part of the new Black Ink is gone after he initially said no to the idea of Black Ink moving out of the hood and proudly showed his allegiance to Ceaser.
Spyda loses his cool when he senses that Puma doesn’t want him to be at the event, and Puma asks Teddy why Spyder is at the event if they don’t need his help.
The loud tattoo artist engages in a one-sided shouting match with Puma before Teddy tells him to follow him outside before things get physical.
As he leaves, he can hear Puma saying the new artists at the event tattoo better than him, and Spyder loses it, calling him a fake boss and telling him to suck his, you know what.
Viewers had plenty of thoughts about the episode. You can see the reactions in the gallery below.
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Photo: Courtesy VH1 / Black Ink Crew
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Source: Activision / Call of Duty / Nickmercs
FaZe Clan member Nickmercs learned swiftly that spewing anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric will cost you.
Spotted on PC Gamer, Nickmercs got his Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone skin pulled by Activision after he posted a headass anti-LGBTQ+ tweet.
In response to a tweet from CharlieIntel, a Call of Duty-focused website, which speculated that that was why Nickmerc’s skin was suddenly missing because of his comments, the Call of Duty Twitter account did confirm his skin is no longer available.
“Due to recent events, we have removed the ‘NICKMERCS Operator’ bundle from the Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone store,” the tweet begins.
The tweet in question from the FaZe Clan member, who has 6.7 million followers on Twitch and 2 million on Twitter, was a reply to a tweet from eSports broadcaster Chris Puckett highlighting a clash between anti and pro-LGBTQ+ demonstrators at a school that was voting to decide if it should recognize June as Pride Month.
“They should leave little children alone. That’s the real issue,” Nickmercs said in his problematic tweet.
Outrage quickly followed after Nickmerc’s tweet, with Puckett himself responding, “Who is this ‘they’ and what terrible act is everyone afraid of?” he inquired. “I think/hope the goal of most of ‘them’ is to reduce child suicides. This is done through acceptance and removing the stigma of feeling/being different.”
Per the website, Nickmercs said he would not delete the tweet or apologize in a stream, claiming he does not resent the LGBTQ+ community.
Riiiiggghhht.
Bigots Are Big Mad
As expected, Actvision’s decision garnered plenty of reactions from gamers. You got the usual suspects who claim they will now be boycotting the company and popular video for taking the right stance.
Welp, it looks like they will have to stay mad because Nickmercs skin is no longer available, and there are no signs it is coming back.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
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Photo: Activision / Call of Duty
1. LOL, you won’t be missed on the COD battlefield
2. Another hater
3. Another loser who claims to be an ally
6. Y’all know what he meant
7. The lack of comprehension
9. Are y’all okay?
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Source: Courtesy VH1 / Black Ink Crew
Puma and Teddy continue carrying the Black Ink torch without Ceaser and have narrowed the search for their new artists. The old artists are busy fraternizing with each other, and that could lead to some issues.
And Then There Were Eight
Last week, Puma and Teddy held a “mixer” to meet a gang of potential artists they could bring into the Black Ink brand when they move into their new shop.
This week’s episode opens up with Puma and Teddy going over their potential new artists, and after some discussions, the Black Ink OGs settle on eight of those artists to fill the booths at the new location they have not gotten yet.
Even after locking in the eight artists, there is still some doubt about the mission, and Puma links up with FUBU founder and successful entrepreneur and Shark Tank creator Daymond John. He preaches to Puma that Black Ink is more than just tattoos; it’s a brand, a much bigger movement. John also says that Puma and Teddy must continue to have a firm hold on the Black tattoo culture.
After talking with John, Puma realizes what he must do and decides to book a nice mansion to house the eight artists, where they will put to the tests to see if they are worthy of repping the Black Ink brand. If not, they will be sent home swiftly.
Finding new artists won’t be the only issue. There is still that lingering of Teddy’s criminal record hanging over his head, which he learns will take about 6-8 months to get rid of, which could impact him putting his name down on the new shop’s lease.
Nychelle Is Not Here For Alex’s Games
No longer dealing with Big Mama and becoming a proud amateur porn star, aka OnlyFans creator, Alex has sites on arguably the best-looking Black Ink Crew NYC cast member, Nychelle.
For plot lines sake, we are tolerating this, and Alex, for whatever reason, is playing games with Nychelle, and she is not here for it. Nychelle is all about her business and wants to be successful for herself and her son, and Alex seems to be playing games.
Nychelle is confused because Alex did many things, like come to Houston to see and spend time with her, but his recent behavior at the mixer says otherwise regarding his intentions with her.
Alex is fresh out of his three-year relationship with Donna and is not ready to get into another relationship, and basically wants his cake and ice cream when it comes to Nychelle, but he doesn’t want a relationship.
After a sushi date, Nychelle and Alex further prove they are not on the same page. Alex is not here for Nychelle’s “jealousy,” and Nychelle is not feeling the games Alex is playing.
Alex’s feelings change when he sees Nychelle interacting with other men during a speed dating event he put together for Rok. He tells his coworker he likes her a lot, and the two leave together.
You can see more reactions to the episode in the gallery below.
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Photo: Courtesy VH1 / Black Ink Crew
1. He’s too close
2. Still feel this way a week later
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Source: SOPA Images / Getty / Instagram
With Twitter still on a path to self-destruction thanks to Elon Musk, Instagram is looking to offer people a substitute.
The Verge reports Instagram is working on its own text-based social media component that aims to be a direct competitor to Twitter, according to Social and Influencer Marketing teacher Lia Haberman. Via her ICYMI Substack newsletter, she shared a screenshot of a marketing slide detailing the new app.
According to the slide, the new app has no name and is just “Instagram’s new text-based app for conversations.” Haberman reports it is codenamed P92 and Barcelona.
Users can sign in using their current Instagram username and password, and their bio, IG handle, followers, and verification status will transfer over.
Per The Verge:
In the app, you’ll see a feed, and you can make text posts up to 500 characters long with attached links, photos, and videos.
The app looks pretty much like if you mixed Instagram and Twitter together, based on two screenshots included in the leaked marketing slide. And Meta will apparently have some good moderation controls from the start, “equipping you with settings to control who can reply to you and mention your account,” the slide says. Any accounts you’ve blocked on Instagram will apparently carry over.
Per the slide, the new Instagram App will feature some form of decentralization, noting, “Soon, our app will be compatible with certain other apps like Mastodon.”
Instagram Suffered A Serious Service Outage
No one asked for this new app, but okay. But it would also be nice if Meta made sure Instagram works appropriately. On Sunday, the popular photo-sharing app turned TikTok clone was down “for a couple of hours,” according to The Verge.
Timelines did not refresh, and users were receiving error messages when refreshing them. If you hit Instagram via the website, it only loads a blank page.
“Earlier today, a technical issue caused some people to have trouble accessing Instagram. We resolved the issue as quickly as possible for everyone who was impacted, and we’re sorry for any disruption this has caused,” Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold told The Verge in an email following the service outage.
Like any time Instagram is down, social media (Twitter) has plenty of jokes because nothing is serious on that app.
You can see the jokes in the gallery below.
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Photo: SOPA Images / Getty
2. Howling
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Source: WWD / Getty / Gabrielle Union
Here we go, another unnecessary debate about something a celebrity said concerning their household.
Gabrielle Union isn’t shy about sharing anything regarding her marriage. We all remember when she admitted to being a munch revealing her husband, 41-year-old former NBA player Dwyane Wade enjoys his butt being eaten.
As you can imagine, that caused an uproar at the time, and now Union is once again the center of social media discourse, this time it has nothing to do with what goes down in the couple’s bedroom, but instead, it’s all about how they manage their finances.
During an interview with Bloomberg Originals, the 50-year-old actress opened up about splitting everything “50/50” with her husband.
“It’s weird to say I’m head of household because, in this household, we split everything 50/50,” Union said. “But in the other households that each of us have to support, there’s always this gorilla on your back that is like, ‘You better work! You better work! You want to sleep in? Somebody might not eat.’ And it’s hard. It’s hard to let that go, so I’m working on that.”
Union shares a daughter with Wade, 4-year-old Kaavia, whom the couple welcomed via a surrogate, as well as being a stepmother to his other three children from previous relationships. Zaire, 21, and Zaya, 15, whom he shares with his ex-wife Siovaughn Funches and son Xavier, 9, with Aja Metoyer.
The actress says supporting her family motivates her to keep working hard.
“I have more responsibilities for my money,” she said. “I get nervous. Like, ‘Oh god, that movie didn’t open. Well, what does that mean? Am I going to have enough to hold everybody up?’… I’m trying to find peace in the journey, not using my anxiety and scarcity mindset to be my engine, which is hard.”
Twitter Had Plenty To Say About Gabrielle Union Splitting Everything 50/50
To be expected, Twitter had plenty of thoughts on the matter and couldn’t believe she was going half on things while being married to a former professional basketball player, who is part owner of an NBA franchise and has other lucrative business deals.
“Gabrielle Union said she go 50/50 with a man who is a part owner of an NBA team. the lights are on but ain’t nobody home,” one Twitter user wrote.
“1. I’m not splitting anything with a man who got 3 kids + a bonus child. 2. I’m not splitting anything with a man who made a bonus child that I gotta look at as a constant reminder. 3. Why does millionaire Gabrielle Union sound like she living paycheck-to-paycheck w/ a husband?” another tweet read.
MSNBC anchor Symone D Sanders Townsend defended Union, saying, “The responsibilities Gabrielle Union refers to is being THE financially successful person in your family. So many folks of her age & younger are the 1st to achieve “real money” – that can be a burden. If you don’t understand ok but let’s not pretend she was saying something else.”
Add this debate to the long list of things Twitter will waste its time on. You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
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Photo: WWD / Getty
2. No chill
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Source: Nintendo / The Legend of Zelda Tears of The Kingdom
Is the Game of The Year competition already over? Many critics and gamers believe so with the arrival of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Today is a big day for Nintendo. Reviews have officially dropped for Tears of The Kingdom, and it is no surprise that it keeps the same energy as Breath of The Wild and then some.
Right now, on OpenCritic, the game is sitting at a mighty 97 rating based on 62 critic reviews, earning the title of the “best-reviewed game on the website. On Metacritic, a 96. Tom Marks of IGN gave Tears of The Kingdom a perfect score, writing in his review, “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is an unfathomable follow-up, expanding a world that already felt full beyond expectation and raising the bar ever higher into the clouds.”
“An excellent sequel and one of the best Zelda games ever made. A follow-up that builds upon and refines the achievements of the original while adding many new and equally innovative ideas of its own,” GameCentral said in its review, where they also gave the game a perfect score.
“Tears of the Kingdom is a triumph of open-ended game design that pays homage to the best parts of the Zelda franchise’s own storied history–and sometimes exceeds them,” Steven Watts wrote in his review for GameSpot.
Is The Game of The Year Debate Already Over?
The ridiculously high reviews for the game have gamers and critics saying Tears of The Kingdom is a lock for Game of The Year honors. That is a safe bet because Breath of The Wild was met with similar praise when it hit the Nintendo Switch in 2017.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom arrives on Nintendo Switch consoles on May 12. You can see more reactions about the GOTY lock in the gallery below.
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Photo: Nintendo / The Legend of Zelda Tears of The Kingdom
1. Welp, that settles it.