Incoming long-winded wall-o-text that could have probably been 3 sentences. Idk this is what you get for 99% of what I post being just fuckin' links I guess lol sorry.

---

So I've done a bunch of testing between various instances since before the weekend (including some random ones I didn't mention) and gotten plenty enough feedback from all of you guys who helped. It definitely seems like Lemmy.zip is gonna be the new home for SquaredCircle. Everyone seems to be able to access it, everything is working smooth as silk, things are federating out in a timely manner. On top of that the admin provided links to check the instances federation which could be quite useful in the future if issues occur. The rate at which its picking up subscribers is also faster than we have had on kbin outside of maybe the first month or two (many of whom are likely not even active anymore) which seems like it's gonna help a lot with our growth too. Currently at 89 users in 5 days.

Fedia was in consideration but is a hard no as a bunch of instances you all use aren't even acknowledging its existence (when they should) and the ones I use that are seeing it seem to be federating at delays that would make having discussions or timely news posts completely impossible (6-12hish). I did test a couple other mbin instances but again, federation was lackluster at best.

That being said with the other instances I tried I didn't really find anything too impressive to want to say 'we can use this place as a backup'. (I am also loathe to use one of the other bigger lemmy instances as over the history of lemmy/kbin a lot of defederation has happened (and could continue at a higher rate given their size) and then people could get more easily cut off from the community and cause issues.)

Tying into that: Kbin. We now know Ernest isn't dead at least lol, so while the place may be (at the moment) in shambles the project does continue and the site appears to be safe, if sadly partially reliable. My intention was never going to include deleting this place cause my data hoarder ass doesn't know the meaning of the word 'delete' so tl;dr\~

https://lemmy.zip/c/squaredcircle will become our new home..

..but if it makes sense to all of you: https://kbin.social/m/SquaredCircle/ will become our backup.

Realistically we shouldn't need a backup with lemmy.zip from what I've seen. Bunch of us have been posting and commenting for days now (and as someone who has been using it in general for 6+ months off and on I've had little issues) but we're all already here anyway and if Ernest is working on things then it would be a shame to toss this place in case it does get better. Easier to use it as a backup we may not need than build up a second community from scratch to confuse more people.

---

So assuming that makes sense with everyone, we basically have two weeks left in the original time estimate left. It's up to you all (if you haven't moved over to the lemmy.zip community already) whether you wanna go all in (heh) now or wait out the 2 weeks. If anyone does wanna stay here for the next 2 weeks I'll keep posting stuff across both communities but by the 18th at the latest I'll be full time on the lemmy community and just keeping an eye here for spam now and then until we need it.

---

Also given federation is slow as shit I'm going to also link this onto the lemmy.zip community so any of you over there will know it's been posted instead of waiting 12-24 hours lmao.

“I really appreciate all the love. It means the world to me, and it’s going to be tough to say goodbye to all this.”

Source: https://www.patreon.com/posts/sammy-guevara-by-99806377

Heyman spoke to the New York Post ahead of his WWE HOF induction.

'cause lawyers and settlements take cash.

Sting & Darby Allin

• Sting was first asked about why wanted to come to AEW. He said that he saw an opportunity and liked the wrestlers involved, both male and female. The brand fit him, and felt like AEW was the best fit compared to his runs in WWE and TNA.
• When asked if he would be doing work for AEW in the future, Sting said that he and Tony Khan haven’t really worked anything out yet, but will likely have to talk about it in the future. He ruled out becoming a manager or a road agent/producer.
• He was asked about reflecting on splitting with Jim Hellwig (Ultimate Warrior) after their run as The Bladerunners in the UWF ended. Sting said that it was for the best as they were two “roided out” guys that were ready to kill each other. Sting said he stopped doing steroids by 1990.
• When asked about how hard it was to leave the ring following his match, Sting said that it couldn’t have gone any better. He put over how great it was for his two sons to come out wearing his surfer and wolfpac gear.
• Sting said he had just gotten out of a meeting with the Young Bucks where he said Sunday’s match was among the top 3 matches of his career, and it couldn’t have gone any better.
• He joked at one point everything went so well, maybe he could make it to Wembley Stadium again, but then said there was no chance of that happening.
• Regarding his health, Darby Allin said that he came to the presser in the middle of being stitched up, but said he feels fine. He also said he would be leaving to climb Mt. Everest on March 27.

Tony Khan

• He described Sunday’s show as a “perfect night”, that top to bottom this was one of the best shows AEW has ever done. Also said that the show was likely to be one of the best gates they’ve ever had, though did not put out specific numbers.
• Regarding Sting, Khan said that Sting is very giving, and not political. He never pushed to have an undefeated run but he felt very strongly about pushing him the way that he did.
• In regards to Saturday & Sunday pay-per-views, Khan said they were based on the NFL’s schedule, saying more shows were likely to take place on Saturday due to NFL games.
• Denise Salcedo asked a question about the status of the AEW Tag Team titles. Khan announced that the titles would be vacated and a tournament will start this month. Darby Allin is also set to face Jay White at AEW Big Business.
• Khan called Sting “one of the most unselfish people in pro wrestling.”
• While he is very optimistic on a Kenny Omega return, Khan said it wouldn’t be fair to create the expectation for him to appear at AEW’s upcoming events in Winnipeg.
• Khan sidestepped a question regarding Kyle O’Reilly’s status, instead putting over the momentum he had before becoming injured.
• Regarding Eddie Kingston, Khan said he was “absolutely planning” on having him at ROH Supercard of Honor.
• One person asked if contract negotiations were underway for AEW’s TV rights deal, and if other companies beyond Warner Bros. Discovery were interested. Khan responded by saying they are still under an exclusive agreement with WBD and they are very proud of what they are doing with TBS and TNT. He said that WBD’s current management group has embraced them more than ever before.
• Khan mentioned that Stephanie Vaquer was someone that he would love to have in AEW, and their working agreement with CMLL would allow women talent to come in.
• In regards to the rumors revolving around Ricky Starks, Khan said that Starks is definitely under contract.

Since PPV's have hard time limits and Sting got cut off.

Sting comments on his last match.

Posting as a new thread just for visibility cause lolfederation (ya know, loltna's slightly more annoying cousin).

So at this point I think it's clear we're moving unless if some kind of miracle happens (and while we had the intent originally of waiting until March 18th for any finality in the decision I'm not sure if we'll survive that long lol).

I've spent the last couple days testing several instances (both Lemmy and Mbin) and checking how fast, slow or inoperable their respective Federations seem to be and personally I'm leaning towards the final decision being either Lemmy.zip or Fedia.io as the frontrunners for both software types. I feel Lemmy.zip may be the best choice as (despite no content aside from myself and Jello making the odd thread) the community has already pulled almost 60 subscribers, and Lemmy has a bigger pop/longer existence meaning it might be around longer than mbin/kbin, but that's a community choice.

So - Community Task Time!:

When you have a minute today please visit the SQ community on both:

https://fedia.io/m/SquaredCircle https://lemmy.zip/c/squaredcircle

And I'd like you all to:

A) Make sure (from whatever instance you intend to keep using for your own personal account) that the community shows up for you. If 90% of you can't see one or the other, there's no point selecting it..

B) If they do, please comment on one of the existing posts (there's 1-2 on each community) just to make sure your comments go through and properly federating out. Just make a comment below confirming you did comment in either community so I can keep track when checking. If you already have commented or posted, you're good.

Steve McMichael, The Pugh Family and Valerie Coleman have won the 2023 Shad Gaspard/Jon Huber Award

> > > As a reminder. the award was established in 2020 after the deaths of Shad Gaspard and Jon Huber and honor those who go above and beyond for charity or serve as inspirations. This year the awards were chosen by Dave and John Pollock of Post Wrestling, as it was felt that voting on such an award wasn't in good taste. Lance Storm suggested involving an unaffiliated reporter to help choose. > > > > Steve McMichael has been battling ALS since 2021 and was recently elected to the NFL Hall of Fame. Despite briefly being hospitalized for MRSA, he remains determined to go to Canton to attend the induction ceremony. > > > > The Pugh family received the award due to the class and resiliency they showed after the death of Jamin Pugh (Jay Briscoe). Despite the driver of the other car being at fault for the accident, they publicly asked people to stop attacking them on social media and fundraised for her family. It had already been determined early last year that they would be one of the recipients of the award. > > > > Valerie Coleman is the widow of Superstar Billy Graham, who passed away in 2023. Despite his drug issues, health problems, and mood swings, she supported him and likely saved his life many times. > >

Zak Knight has signed with AEW

> > > Zak Knight, real name Zak Bevis, 32, signed here. He’s the older brother of Saraya and was the person portrayed in the movie about Saraya, “Fighting with My Family,” as well as the U.K. documentary of the same name that inspired Dwayne Johnson to do that movie. His wrestling name in the U.K was Zak Zodiac and Zak Knight. > >

AZM and Mina Shirakawa from Stardom will appear in AEW/ROH in early April, when they are in for NJPW Windy Riot in Chicago

> > > LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOO...this is me, this is my own quote lol. > >

Hello everyone, benevolent overlord #376465 here!

This wonderful little community of ours has grown a lot since it was started by AKittyCat and gloomchen back in June when Reddit chose to increase its decade-long process of going to hell at Mach 3.

That being said no one can predict the future. At the time kbin seemed like an amazing alternative to Lemmy. More features, better interface, improved functionality with Mastodon, etc etc. The reality now 8-9 months later is that kbin is falling drastically behind. I'm sure everyone has noticed the random 500 errors, the errors when upvoting and/or boosting, the occasional downtime, etc etc. Development seems to have stalled out. Ernest (kbin's dev) has had personal issues (which I won't rag on him for letting get in the way, real life comes before this dumb-ass Internet shit 10 times out of 10) but regardless, an absent dev (especially when there's only one) does not make for a good software experience.

But..this is not just my community: It's yours. So it's time for everyone's favourite activity: Sounding off in the comments!

---

As things stand we have two basic options:

A: Ride the wave, stay on kbin and deal with it cause life sucks while hoping Ernest comes back. B: Jump ship and move to another instance with whatever turbulence it could cause.

For A, well nothing changes. Things might get better? Things might get worse? Who knows, roll a die.

For B, we'd be starting fresh with (theoretically) fewer problems, but depending where we go would mean we could lose some features (like if we went to Lemmy, no more microblog and Mastodon integration).

I have set up a SQ backup community a day ago, located on Lemmy.zip (https://lemmy.zip/c/squaredcircle) as it's Federation is fairly wide open which should prevent issues (and from my own experience they don't have much if any issues error-wise like we do here) tho I am not opposed to other instances should people suggest em and they look better (though I love how the .zip community already has 31 subscribers for no reason besides existing lmao).

I'll make two comments below to keep the responses kinda-sorted, and this poll will remain up until approx. March 18th to give time for visibility.

Edit: Our current backup (and possible new home) which I linked above (and again, here) has been unlocked for posting given the heavy weekend we're coming to here, and with kbin's issues seemingly increasing today.