Seriously tho... isn't it a cult?
Just saw a post about someone child-free stating they are happy... and the comments...
I have too many parents and pregnant people in my life to state my cut-throat opinions, so I thought about coming here and venting.
Arguments:

1. You're gonna change your mind! Stop saying that! That's so much pressure to put on someone. You feel like there is something wrong with you for feeling this way. We congratulate pregnant women, congratulate me too Susan!!!
   
2. You're never going to know what unconditionnal love is! If by unconditionnal love you mean not having the choice to love someone because you gave birth to them and are stuck pretending you love everything they are... yes. I'm never going to know. But personnally, to me, loving my husband is my unconditionnal love. I CHOSE him. He was and is the most reliable, funny, gentle person I've met. Other than cheating and changing personnality from day to night, I'm going to stick by his side for the rest of our lives no matter what. That's unconditionnal love to me.
   
3. Our choices are equal... BUT my life is so much better than yours! No it isn't!!! I can't say this to not hurt your feelings but your life sucks and you know it! You're always complaining, you never sleep, for fucks sakes, your perfect day wouldn't even be with your "unconditional loving" children! I have a step-son, and when he's here, my life is not mine anymore. I do foods he "semi" enjoy, I do activities for him, I clean after him, I put him in bed and tell him a story, I have a full routine of things that I HATE! All of that for what? The validation of someone saying "I love you"? Idgaf.
   
4. It's better this way, since you wouldn't be a good parent cause you don't want kids Excuse me?? I would be the doppest parent a kid could ever want. My life would revolve around them and I am fun, and loving. Which id exactly why I do not want them! Kids aren't always fun. I much prefer spending my time and energy in my mariage.
   
5. Sleep is overrated, and being the main character in your own life too! No it isn't. Sleep is so important and doesn't only have effects on your mood, but also your health. I love sleeping, and even working at 7 am is too much for me sometimes. I love naps and I love sleeping until noon. You just can't do that with a child, unless you're negligent. You also cannot do what you want when you want. Groceries after 7 pm? Nope. Little one in bed. Walking? Also no. Going out? No no and no. You cannot do much of the things you want when kids are around, they are the main character of your own life! Want a dog? Too bad your kid is allergic, or don't like them, or the dog has too much energy.
   
6. You won't have anyone when you're old. Well that is just plain selfish. You're a selfish person who had kids for selfish reasons and that's why you aren't able to love them the way they should.
   

Let's be honest: having kids is a sacrifice, and is not worth it for most people on earth, but they do have them anyways because of all of society's pressure to live the "true" meaning of life!
The true meaning of life you ask? To live a life that makes you wake-up every morning and not have regrets. To be content, and excited about the future. To do what you enjoy the most. It's as simple as that, to me.
P. S. I know I've talked a lot about mariage and my husband, but please keep in mind this is my life. Just replace the word husband with dog/cat/family membefriend/yourself and it's just as admirable.

I would love to see others with similar experiences share their takes on what I'm about to lay out here. I apologize in advance if this is too much to read or not cohesive enough, it's really hard to structure my thoughts around this topic. It took years of therapy and self-reflection to put the pieces of this narrative together and I'm still missing loads, so please bear with me if you decide to read further.
So my first relationship was very traumatic for me. We were 17 when we first got together, I'd already had sexual experiences but had never fallen in love at that point. I was his first. I didn't know what I saw in him, but it felt exciting to me when we first got together, because he would shower me with attention, love and positive affirmations (love bombing was not part of my vocabulary back then). It was the perfect way for me to start a relationship because we skipped the confusing stage of getting to know each other and seeing if there's something there. It was almost like he just decided one day that I'm his girlfriend. And I was more than okay with that, after all, it meant I didn't have to go through the awkward 'what are we' chat. He promised me everything right away and that felt like the only comfortable option.
He was my first love and had many issues, definitely had some narcissistic traits. Throughout the relationship, which lasted a little over 3 years, he cheated on me (I took him back after) and was getting increasingly emotionally abusive up until the point where I couldn't eat for a month at the end of the relationship because of the anxiety he gave me. He would make up the most insignificant lies just because he enjoyed deceiving people. For instance, he once told me that he ran into my friend, and looked so satisfied with himself after 5 minutes of making up this entire story of how he had a nice chat with her and telling me that it was all a lie. It's almost like he this got him off. He would gaslight, threw objects in my proximity on several occasions, would physically stop me from leaving mid argument by grabbing me and not letting me go. All HUGE red flags, I know. But at that point, I was so desperate for him to love me that none of this mattered. Every time I would see him it felt like I was on an all-time high, but when he left I always felt extremely uneasy, like I never knew if this was going to be the last time I saw him.
Over the 3 years we were together, I grew more and more anxious that he would leave me, up until the last month of our relationship, during which I couldn't eat because he practically stopped texting me but still wouldn't come out and break up with me. It ended when he broke up with me over text, which obviously hurt like hell. It took me years to get over this guy, but now I can say that I truly see him for what he is. I'm not constantly angry at him anymore, but I can't say that I've forgiven him completely. And that's because this relationship has left some really deep wounds that affect me to this day, so I can't forgive him for the way he treated me. That being said, I have truly moved on from him as my love interest and feel like I grew enough as a person to let go of all the built up resentment I had against him. I just don't feel much of anything anymore whenever I think about him and our relationship.
I am now 25, the relationship ended 5 years ago and for the longest time I couldn't even explain it to myself what I saw in him. After years of therapy, I've come to realize that I was so desperate for his love because deep down I knew I could never get it from him. We never really opened up to each other, and some part of me always knew he would never love and accept me unconditionally. I can say for certain that I am much smarter than him, way more ambitious and dedicated, he had absolutely no emotional intelligence and there was no way for us to truly connect. But maybe that's what attracted me to him. Being with him was like being on an emotional roller coaster and I got addicted to it.
With time, I realized that I have probably developed an anxious attachment style due to my mom being very manipulative and emotionally unpredictable (this is just a theory and of course other factors came into play, I don't want this to sound like I'm blaming my mom for everything). I also began seeing a pattern: the two guys I dated after my ex both fell 'in love' with me after a couple weeks of knowing me. They would promise me the world, plan our future together, tell me how special I am, and I ate all that shit up. I was so scared of feeling rejected during the traditional 'dating stages' where neither of you know the other's intentions that this felt like the only safe environment for me to allow myself to feel something towards the other person.
The first guy lasted about a year, after which I suddenly realized how suffocating his deep obsession with me was . I had to end the relationship (which I did in a very respectful way), but he refused to accept my choice for months. When I finally got free, it took me a while before I caught feelings for someone again.
About a year ago, the second guy came into my life. He had the same 'all of nothing' approach to relationships, and I got so swept up in his promises I was basically euphoric for the first month of us dating. He then ended it very abruptly without really explaining what happened. Similarly to my first ex, he suddenly got very cold, and I was agonizing over this for weeks before he finally ended it officially. It almost felt like the universe saw that I didn't learn my lesson the first time around and slapped me in the face with this guy to wake me up.
After that breakup, I experienced the toughest depression of my life. I was suicidal, in physical pain for over a month and just felt an incredible amount of emotional pain. The silver lining is that this depression finally pushed me to visit a psychiatrist, which is when I was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder 2. it's been a year of intense self work and growing, and I truly feel like I've gotten better. But whenever I think about my love life, my past seems to taunt any hope for the better future.
This is not to say that I haven't made any improvements. I've noticed that I am now much less attracted to toxicity, and try my best to shift attention towards myself and what I'm feeling when I first start dating someone. I try to take things slow, without assuming the other person's intentions right away. Whenever I get anxious because someone I went on 2 dates with doesn't text me, I ask myself 'Do you even like him enough to want him to text you, or is this just you reliving your past anxieties?'. Whenever I start imagining a relationship with someone I barely know, I tell myself 'Stop. Deep down you know that you can't even say for sure if you like them yet, so you just want this affection as proof that you are not getting abandoned this time.' I try to be honest about what I want when asked, but I'm not actively pursuing a relationship. Next time I fall in love I want it to be because I truly see and choose the other person for who they are; not because I'm mistaking my anxiety and craving for affection for real feelings.
I guess, the question is, will I ever truly get there, or am I lying to myself? I feel like I'm on the right path learning to take things slow and make sure there's actual emotional connection before I decide that I need a guy's approval and attention. But I'm not sure I will ever learn how to trust and not feel abandoned every time I don't get a text back right away. No matter how much I try to work through these feelings, there are days when they come back and make me feel so uncomfortable that I can't concentrate on anything else. I'm longing for someone who is willing to understand me, give me time, truly see me and be loyal. But I feel like my past and inability to fully let go of it will always get in the way. Maybe I'm just not putting in enough work, but it's really hard for me to see the good in people and be excited about someone new in my life if I don't know exactly what's going on in their head. I'm too scared of getting hurt, and every little rejection (as small as not getting a text after a casual date, or saying something in a tone that makes me feel 'unwanted') echoes in my mind and my body. can physically feel the pain that I felt no-stop for months during my first relationship, and I want to avoid it at all costs.
​
Anyways, I've written enough an don't know if all of this was really necessary to the story, but I would love to hear your guys's thoughts on this. Would feel really good to know that someone can relate :)

Alright. I've just finished Solar ash, 100%, getting all achievements apart from "Glutton for punishment" because I don't feel like getting it. I think we can all agree that there were many unanswered questions in the game. "Were the remnants the other Voidrunners, or other parts of Rei?", "What exactly is Echo", "How did they make the gameplay feel so incredibly good?". Personally, I love questions. Because I love theorizing. Trying to find a cohesive set of rules that explains everything. And I don't think that I can explain everything quite yet, but I have some theories that I want to share with you.
This is what I theorize the full story to be: Before the game starts, the Ultravoid is going around, eating planets. Most of the people on the planets that it consumes die, naturally. Every once in a while, people survive, and go on to explore the ultravoid. Living life. Having a blast. Writing journals that we can read. Before the Voidrunners (and more impotantly, the Starseed) get there, everything seems mostly fine and stable in the Ultravoid. Gravity is weird, and that makes it hard to fly ships there, but for the most part, people can live happy, fulfilling lives in the Ultravoid. Eating mushrooms (that eventually develop into a sentient species of interconnected fungi), exploring new planet fragments. Surviving in vaults full of gold. Whatever. Then, Rei's planet becomes the Ultravoid's next target, and Pyat and Tufte discover Voidtech. Now, in other parts of the galaxy, Voidtech is banned for being somewhat unstable with the fabric of space and time and whatnot, but Tufte is a genius and Pyat is a fanatic, so they go ahead studying it, and developing super advanced technology with it. Like warp tech, and laser swords and cool stuff like that. And it's awesome. Then, they hear about the Ultravoid, and decide to try to design a device that can do something about it. They invent the Starseed. Designed to use the reality-bending properties of Voidtech to evaporate the Ultravoid, saving the planet. The leaders of their planet do nothing, so they form the Voidrunners to plant the Starseed, calibrate it, and activate it. Unfortunately, Pyat is insane, and decides to super-overload the Starseed so that it'll do reality-warping stuff even more wacky than evaporating a black hole. Tufte notices this at the last minute, and locks the Starseed, making it require a manual override in order to be used so that, hopefully, she or Cyd can fix the settings before they fire it. Unfortunately, gravity around the ultravoid is super wacky. They're able to plant the Starseed in place, but the Voidrunners get separated, and for one reason or another, they can't find their ways back to the rendezvous point of the starseed. luckily, all of them are able to successfully plant their starseed conduits in suitable locations to calibrate the thing. But it's too late. The planet is going to get destroyed no matter what they do. "Don't worry though" Pyat says. "The starseed can reverse time. We can go back to before this all started and try again!". So Rei manually overrides the Starseed, and, unfortunately for everyone involved, it does indeed reverse time. Including everyone's memories of what happened, and so every loop, the same thing happens. Rei overrides the starseed, and resets everything, and nobody is the wiser. But... Things aren't always the same. Over progressively more and more loops, it seems there's some sort of degradation or corruption that's happening. In Lyris' journal, we can see her writing the same thing each loop, but it keeps degrading. The core idea is there, but it's slowly getting distorted. Unfotunately for the members of the Voidrunners, their reality-altering voidtech equipment causes this distortion to have an... unsavory effect on them. Turning them into shadows of their former selves. Transforming them into hideous monsters. Remnants. But it's not just them that get distorted. No. The various creatures that came too close to the voidtech also got distorted in this way. The animals. Maybe even some of the people. Creating the little enemies that we see everywhere, and the anomalous goo that splatters the walls. And these distorted remnants start sending out anomalous signals, jamming the Starseed Conduits ability to communicate with the Starseed itself. In loops after this point, where remnants and anomalies are prevalent, Rei finds herself needing to go to these other surrounding regions to clear the anomalies, so she can activate the starseed, unknowingly killing her friends each and every time she does so. Now, you may be wondering why, if Voidtech + Time loop distortion = Remnant monster, then why isn't Rei a remnant monster like all of her friends? Well, Rei is a special case. Because she is in the source of the time loop each time it resets. She is in the Starseed. You see, the starseed can only alter reality within a range of itself. The closer you are to it, the better it can alter your reality. The further you are from it, the less influence it has. So when time is reset, it resets the ultravoid, and Rei's planet almost perfectly. Almost perfectly. But over years and years of loops, that almost builds up. Causing distortions and anomalies. But Rei is in the starseed. She isn't reset almost perfectly. She's reset as damn near perfectly as you can get. But now we're left with a few questions. The questions of those that can recall events between loops. Mainly, Echo, and the Umbra Elders. First of all, we know that Echo is real for the simple fact that the Umbra Elders know about her. And also that the final boss wouldn't really make sense if she was some kind of hallucination or something. But what is Echo exactly? And why do the Umbra Elders remember Ahrric making the pilgrimage time and time again? And where is echo? Where does the boss fight at the end of the game even take place? Well, we know a few things. Echo is somehow related to Rei. She may be an explicit part of Rei, separated from her somehow by the Starseed. She may be some kind of copy of Rei that the Starseed somehow made, that is a fundamental part of the Starseed, and can therefore exist between loops. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure what Echo is. I think she's an unintentional addition to the Starseed though. And where is that place where Echo is? I think it's a distorted reflection of the area surrounding the starseed. In the final battle, where we play as echo, we wake up in the same place that Rei wakes up in in the beginning of the game. But it's not the same place. It's distorted. When we get out of the ruins, we can see that the ground is made of blood. Exactly the same as where Echo is after every boss fight. This is the same place. A distorted reflection of reality that the Starseed somehow created. Why did the starseed create this place? I'm not entirely sure. But I think that this place exists outside of the loop somehow. That whatever is in this strange realm can maintain memories between loops. Echo is in this place, therefore echo remembers things between loops. And I think that the Mycelium network of the Umbra Elders has found a way into this place as well. Given that the umbra elders at the Luminous peak and the Eternal Garden are connected, it's not a stretch to assume that the Mycelium network extends practically everywhere in the Ultravoid, including below the impact site of the Starseed, where the device's operating end would be. I think that the Mycelium network, after the impact of the starseed, was somehow able to interface with the device, gaining access to this place that exists outside of the loop, and by connecting themselves to this place, they are able to maintain their memories between loops. This is also why the mycelium network would know about Echo. So then, why does Rae go into this place beyond the loop each time she kills one of the Remnants? Well, this is why I think the Remnants are Rei's Voidrunner companions. Assuming that this is true, then it's very likely that when the Voidrunners themselves become distorted, that their equipment; their voidtech; did not. Meaning they have suits, boosters, skates, weapons, and general gear somewhere in all of that goop. I posit that if you're a large goop monster with many nerves and eyes and stuff, that if you had a bunch of highly powerful technology embedded in you somewhere, then that would be a very very sore spot for you. A spot that would really hurt if someone kicked it a couple times. What I'm implying is that the place where you strike the final blow on each of the Remnants is actually voidtech embedded in their flesh. And when Rei stabs it, this activates the Voidtech's emergency warp protocol, Warping the monster and Rei back to the nearest Starseed conduit. But, of course, the gear is damaged. The warp doesn't work entirely right, and instead of going instantly to the conduit, Rei takes a bit of a detour to that place outside of the loop where Echo is, before warping her back to the conduit. This explains why, after every boss fight, Rei always wakes up back at the conduit. It also explains why the Remnant's corpse appears at the conduit as well. Even when it doesn't make sense (like when you're fighting a giant-eye'd sider monster on an entirely different planetoid). This warp proves to be fatal for a giant creature such as a remnant, because it was only designed for Rei-sized people to teleport, and the voidtech is going way beyond its limits, and also it's kinda broken. So now we have the question of why, in the true ending, Rei becomes a remnant? It seems like she becomes aware of all of the loops at once, given her intense grief and apology. Perhaps this is the distortion of the starseed that she was previously shielded to catching up with her. Transforming her, like all of her fellow voidrunners, into a Remnant. But unlike her fellow Voidrunners, this happens inside the starseed. Right next to the core. While the starseed is breaking. And in all of that weirdness, Rei gets impaled with bits of the shattering starseed, and gets warped to that strange realm outside of time. Echo, now free of the confining effects of the Starseed, is now able to confront Rei in this monstrous form, freeing her from the distorting voidtech of the Starseed fragments. Rei and Echo unite, and (given that she's a piece of the Starseed), this releases a great deal of void energy. Enough for the two to warp back to the Ultravoid, merged into a single entity.
Oh wow. What a wall of text. I'm both impressed with and horrified by myself. Now, Some of this I feel fairly confident with, like the Remnants being the Voidrunners, and their voidtech being under the weak spots resulting in the warp back to the conduit. But other parts, I'm not so sure about. I really don't know what's going on with Echo and her Realm. This is simply my best guess so far. I haven't played Hyper Light Drifter, or Hyper Light Breaker (because it hasn't come out yet), but I know that they're in the same universe as Solar Ash, meaning the same rules apply. If Voidtech exists in Hyper Light Drifter, then if there's an entity similar to Echo in that game, that can give us valuable insight into how Rei's echo functions, and why the story of Solar Ash played out like it did. But at this point, I simply don't know. If anyone has any other fun details or theories to add, please do so. And if anyone has any info from Hyper Light Drifter that you think can help tie the lore of Solar ash together, please let me know. I want to solve these mysteries. I want to know the rules and lore of the Hyper Light Universe. So let me know what you think! Do you think I'm insane? (Probably. I probably am) :)

Season 1- Short sharp 10 episodes Initial interactions can't bring deep conversations New place so observations about the new are relevant and noteworthy and can be said quickly Contained episodes that reference themselves as there is no past for the viewers yet Tip of the iceberg
Season 2- New problems require new people, which require new introductions, which can be lengthy More conversations as the new has faded and people are getting to know each other Tight story becomes less the focus and its more about being people interacting with each other and what each would say when they got to know each other a little bit better over time Getting to know people takes time Middle section of the iceberg where emotions surface and are being dealt with but the root cause and bottom of the iceberg are still a layer deeper in the base
Season 3- Longer still as the base layer of the iceberg has all the whys down there, and there are a lot of moments that go into making us who we are Each episode leads to the next without a conclusion for the moment It builds the tension over a season rather than in each episode The effects of time together changes the way we speak to each other and quips are accents on longer conversations that have been coming for a long time

LEGO Brawls

Genre: Action-Platformer
Players: 1-8 Competitive (Local / Online)
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Review:
LEGO Brawls is a multiplayer-focused arena-based Action-Platformer released on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2022. In this game, up to eight players compete in fairly small enclosed spaces to try to take out opponents and maintain control over the space within a time limit.
I have heard some people compare this game to the Super Smash Bros. franchise. This is not a particularly accurate comparison, or if it is comparable it is only in the most vague, remote fashion. Firstly, none of the characters in this game play differently, they are all just skins over the exact same gameplay. Additionally, that gameplay is fairly simple and straightforward - you have a jump, a melee attack, a drop-down attack, and you can store up to two expendable power-ups that give you some sort of brief upgrade, weapon, or assist. That’s it.
There’s not much nuance here, no deep strategy that I can see. This game really boils down to “mash the attack button and hope you do more damage than the enemy” or, if you find an item box, hope you get an item good enough to turn the tide of battle.
Unfortunately, when you make contact with the enemy, your hits are not at all satisfying, being silent and seemingly ineffectual save for at times pushing the enemy back a bit. This is backed by a mostly-forgettable soundtrack, although you do have a few memorable tunes in arenas borrowed from other franchises, such as the Jurassic Park/World franchise. This combines with 3D visuals that are decent but not especially noteworthy or interesting in any way.
Look, I’ll just cut to the chase here - LEGO Brawls should be a free-to-play game. Its combat is dull and unengaging, there’s little strategy to be found here, and there’s nothing in the presentation to really pull you in and make you want to keep playing. I give this game credit for having a lot of customizable cosmetics to unlock, but I can’t imagine why I would want to unlock them when I have zero interest in ever playing this game again after finishing this review.
tl;dr – LEGO Brawls is a multiplayer-focused arena-based Action-Platformer that some people will tell you is like Super Smash Bros. Do not listen to them. Not only is this a dull, shallow, pointless game that lacks the fun of Super Smash Bros., but its gameplay does not feel especially close to Super Smash Bros. either. What it does feel like is a waste of time and a waste of $20. Do not buy it.

Grade: D+

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Working from home with a light schedule and would like to find some new, fun people to keep me company. I really love talking to people online--I always have. It's not that I don't like getting out and socializing--it's that I don't want to deal with the people I don't want to meet or talk to. That's where you come in! We can chat about anything and see if we click, nothing to lose!
A bit about more about me:
* I find humor in everything. I make fun of everything. I take very little seriously.
* I love the outdoors, especially in the cold. Hiking, camping, skiing. I am pretty much impervious to the cold. Summer brings camping, hiking, the beach, and copious amounts of 100 SPF!
* I cook, love to work out, stay active, sports, and good coffee.
* Intelligent, professional, college educated.
* VERY laid back—if you don’t want to talk at any point, that's perfectly ok. This should be fun and carefree.
So hit me up, lets talk about anything you like. You won't regret it...probably...
I have discord and telegram--we can start on messenger if you're more comfortable there, but would prefer to move to one of those apps.
I'd really hope to hear from you!

She slipped up today when she was bragging about getting three interviews in a week (she's employed but hates her job), she mentioned how it's amazing that when she's done a year in Tesco (a supermarket) last year how many retail stores jump at the chance to hire her.
She forgot that I have twenty years in retail experience and can't even get one interview with any retail store.
I've had a dozen people independently view my CV and it's as good as it's going to get so I don't see that being my issue.
But I've been unemployed now for six months and not even a whisper of a job, two interviews in six months.
Fwiw I say I am still employed at my old company on my CV so I don't have to explain a six month gap. If it ever got questioned I'd just lie and say I forgot to update my CV when I sent it out.
I feel that after six months I've given up looking. It's absolutely killing my mental health to apply for the same jobs over and over as there just aren't that many I can get to and getting nothing back.
I even offered to do some volunteering in places but didn't hear back.
I can see a life on benefits going ahead despite this being the only time I've been on benefits in my life but at 40 years old and only experience in retail, I don't see myself getting anywhere and if it keeps up like this, I genuinely could die from malnutrition as benefits simply aren't enough to live on.
That's scary to me as it'd take so little to get me back on track. Even eight hours a week would earn me enough money to eat daily but nothing comes.
Rant over.

FL, USA. I recently applied to an HVAC company where I used to work for 2 years. The general manager and owner of the company had no problem with me working there, plus I have good experience and did well before. But to complete my hiring process I had to speak with a guy who will be my supervisor (Nick) and he really dislikes me.
It’s important to mention that this company mostly has employees from Ukraine and Russia and in Slavic culture, it's very common for newbies to get bullied, just because they are new or not confident or shy.
Nick always makes racist and sexual jokes about employees. Sometimes he says N-word to employees from the middle east or something offensive in the Russian language that they don't understand.
I don't know the real reason why Nick dislikes me and chose me as a victim. Maybe because I'm skinny, maybe because I'm not as confident, or because sometimes I stand up for myself and respond to his inappropriate jokes.
Here are a few examples of what was before.
Example 1: I and another coworker did a ductwork in new construction house. Nick comes to inspect. He didn’t say anything to my coworker because they are buddies but was very picky toward me. I had to spend extra few hours to redo something that was already done correctly (just because he said so)
Example 2: Once I came to the shop 10 minutes late (like many other employees, no one gets exactly in time). He got only me by my neck and verbally wrote me up.
Example 3: I have issues in my marriage and am separated from my wife. He always mentions this and makes fun of me, like it's his business.
So after 4 years, I'm coming back to the company and here he is, a fucking douche the same as before. A little child who enjoys making fun of others. On my first day at the office he shakes everyone's hand but on purpose skips me, to show disrespect. He told one of my friends “look, your husband here”, only because we hang out often.
When Nick learned that I am coming back to do ductwork, he said to my friend in the office that he won't approve me. Why? Because, like he said I have issues in my marriage, problems with my wife, and so on.
I did an interview with him and he was a jerk, probably on purpose to scare me off. I decided that working in that kind of environment will be a nightmare and told him I changed my mind.
I know I can’t do anything about it but is this behavior ok? I talked with GM about it but he, unfortunately, can't do anything.
Should I talk to the owner? Should I do something or just forget and look for another job? I feel like I want to make a big deal about it. Because too many people suffer from him. Too many people quit because of him. The only reason why he's there is because he knows a lot about HVAC. Maybe he sees competition in me.... I don't know. But sad I lost a great paying job because of this moron.

Working from home with a light schedule and would like to find some new, fun people to keep me company. I really love talking to people online--I always have. It's not that I don't like getting out and socializing--it's that I don't want to deal with the people I don't want to meet or talk to. That's where you come in! We can chat about anything and see if we click, nothing to lose!
A bit about more about me:
* I find humor in everything. I make fun of everything. I take very little seriously.
* I love the outdoors, especially in the cold. Hiking, camping, skiing. I am pretty much impervious to the cold. Summer brings camping, hiking, the beach, and copious amounts of 100 SPF!
* I cook, love to work out, stay active, sports, and good coffee.
* Intelligent, professional, college educated.
* VERY laid back—if you don’t want to talk at any point, that's perfectly ok. This should be fun and carefree.
So hit me up, lets talk about anything you like. You won't regret it...probably...
I have discord and telegram--we can start on messenger if you're more comfortable there, but would prefer to move to one of those apps.
I'd really hope to hear from you!

Today is looking like it is going to be a rough day for the general markets. There is a significant amount of bearish momentum at the moment, which will impact people’s ability to actively trade and navigate in the short term. Realistically, I believe that lots of people will have a difficult time as a result of this momentum, but there will be many opportunities to day trade and scalp.
Max pain is right at $390 today, so it would not surprise me if we stay around this area for the majority of the day, with a lack of general momentum and volume as people are confused at the moment. We are still edging closer to extreme fear in the fear and greed index. If the market conditions continue this way in the short term, it will provide us all with a great opportunity to go long, so scale into your positions slowly and be safe with any positions.
For the majority of traders, I would recommend you look into selling highly OTM 0-DTE CSPs today. Volatility is at a relative high, while equities are a little bit cheaper. As always, this won’t be a significant amount of realized gains, nor create any life-changing money, but will provide us all with an amazing opportunity to realize some gains with relative ease and extremely low stress. Look for organizations that are severely undervalued at this moment, with a sizable amount of premium that you will be able to capitalize on.
Full Report, Recap, and Watchlists

Hey there! Let's do this thing. I'm a 37 year old photographer, artist, musician, overall creative type who wants to make a new friend. Maybe it's you!
About Me:

• I'm a 37 year old latino male, born and raised in the Washington DC area.
• I love art and it's a big part of my personality. My first love was portrait art as a kid, I started playing guitar at 15, later I got into photography and I LOVE to cook also.
• Because I'm old I can sometimes say some off colored things. If you're the woke type, we may not get along. But I'm also not an asshole so if something I say offends you, please tell me. It's not impossible for me to have friends with different or opposing views. I don't mind being challenged. This old dog can learn new tricks.
• I'm a big fan of horror movies, stand up comedy , the paranormal, vinyl records, Joe Rogan, Kill Tony, and Tiger Belly podcasts. That gives you an idea who you're dealing with.
• I'm a tiny bit of a stoner. I don't smoke everyday, but I hit the weed vape a few times after a long day of work and take edibles maybe twice a week.
• I was in a 7 year relationship that turned into an engagement and we broke things off a couple months back. Currently single and am doing a lot of self work to become a better person. My ex and I are still friends and we have a good friendship. No hard feelings there.
• While I currently live in the DC area I'm kind of in limbo. After my breakup I have been considering moving(don't know where yet) but am currently waiting out on a lease.
• I work for myself and have ultimate control of my schedule, which is nice. We can talk all the time, if we get along. I have a lot of spare time currently.
• I'm a city boy and didn't learn to drive until about 2 years ago, but haven't driven since. That sentence alone really confuses people but I just took public transportation everywhere. I've lived in NYC for several years as well so it wasn't an issue. I'm working on getting back in the saddle now that I'm considering a move.
• In my everyday life I strive to be a good person. I don't always succeed, but I always try. The phrase I hear often from my female friends are "You're a good dude." It's not followed by "Too bad you're ugly" in case you're wondering. But they think it, I'm sure. ;) I'm only kidding, in case you can't tell. I'm ugly to some, beautiful to others. You decide.

What I'm looking for:
Pretty open ended here, honestly. Just looking for someone friendly to talk to about anything. I'm good at keeping a conversation going but I expect you to hold your own. I can't stand people who send one word answers and don't give me much to work with. I'm a very verbose person when I type. In person, not so much, but I can fool people into thinking I'm an extrovert sometimes.
So feel free to reach out and tell me a little about yourself. Hope to hear from you!

So I'm one of those people who just doesn't like water. I've invested in some of those little flavour pod-type things that are plant based in order to try to drink more. So far, so good and I'm actually able to enjoy drinking water. The only problem I have now is that instead of drinking less than 1 litre a day, I'm drinking or trying to drink around 2L. How long does it take to adjust to an increase in water intake? And how do I stop needing to pee so frequently?

I'm growing increasingly hopeless. Filters, blockers, dumb phones, I always find a way to keep surfing, whether at work, home, or university. Allen Carr didn't help, therapy didn't help, neither did my parents. Are there any truly irredeemable lost causes when it comes to Internet addiction? Mine has just entered middle school age. If I had done anything with my life other than surfing alongside the bare minimum I need to do in order to not starve and keep my parents happy, I'd have gone places by now. Instead, I'm doomed to keep treading water forever, to remain a consumer of other people's thoughts, other people's little dopamine hits that keep me from lashing out in withdrawal. Is there any reason to keep living like this when Internet addiction has utterly broken you, rendering you a burden on your family and society? Forever destined to consume, to bury the dreams of making yourself the human being you want to be.

Thanks to u/BlueFishcakes for the SSB universe.
[First] [Previous] [Next]
Chapter 8 - The Silvern Glow
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- 17th of April 2024,08:45, Haninge District, Sweden -
Adam once again found himself sitting behind a tree just like moments prior, but he dared not peek his head past the tree this time. He was at a bit of a loss to what he should do next, he’d been lucky enough that they thus far hadn’t heard him dashing from tree to tree, as silently as he could mind you.
But from the sounds of things they were still just chatting about around his car, or their own, he couldn’t really tell. Anyway it was clear that they parked near his car and by that, uncomfortably close to Adam holding a highly illegal weapon. And while he had somehow forgotten earlier to take out the magazine, which was a huge security risk on his part and he felt very dumb once he had realized it. That was the only thing he had going for him currently. And since he still had some shots in the gun, if they were to see him and reasonably so try to shoot him. Adam at least had four shoots to defend himself with.
But still he didn’t want a confrontation with three or more 7 plus foot orc amazons in close quarters. So really the only choice Adam had was to try and get far enough into the little forest until he had cleared it and reached the other side which was a small beach, a very rocky beach but still a beach.
From there, he’d be more free to follow the coast until he felt he was far enough away and could enter the forest once again, considerably further away from the marines. With that said he could also just wait a little, they’d only been standing there just talking for a minute or so, in their indecipherable literally alien language, all the while Adam was sweating bullets hoping they wouldn’t see him. Not that it felt like mere minutes to Adam, to him it felt like hours.
One thing suddenly crossed Adams mind, why? Not only why come here right this moment, but more importantly. Why park so close to his car? Starting to think more his brain started setting off alarm bells. There were really only two reasons behind the why he asked himself, one being that they’re hoping the owner of the vehicle is a male they can harass, or they parked so close so they could do a quick search of it, not that they could do a very thorough search so long Adam held the keys but that was irrelevant.
As seconds went by and seconds became minutes, Adam started to believe it was the considerably worse option at play, that they weren’t just that close to his car to peer through it in case of anything illegal being inside. No, most likely they were waiting at his car, until he’d come back and they could harass him.
Realizing that he was still holding a very illegal rifle Adam decided to try and continue with his plan of putting away his rifle somewhere in the woods before they got bored and began looking for him instead of just loitering around his car. Slowly coming up into a crouching position from where he was sitting behind a tree. Adam began slowly walking away from the marines standing around his car and towards the coast. Finishing his slow walk with a thumping heart he finally came to the rocky beach.
Going down a slight hill from the woods his feet finally hit the sand, and he felt that he could finally calm down a little. Not that he had really ventured far from the marines. This patch of forest in particular was fairly thin and was more so a small detour people in the summer would occasionally take to reach some of the less well known beaches on Gålö. However that was fairly irrelevant now as the marines likely had no reason to venture into the forest, since they clearly didn’t even know where he was.
Sure they obviously knew of somebody's presence but beyond that Adam doubted they knew anything more. Continuing on from this beach in particular Adam continued walking along the coast for a couple minutes, luckily a couple calm minutes. He couldn’t even hear the marines' annoyingly loud chatter from earlier, meaning he had to be close to the end of the little coastline.
Deciding that he was now, most likely far enough away for anyone to find it, assuming Adam takes it back home before summer time when thousands normally come to these beaches. He walked up the small hill leading from the beach and up into the small forest once again.
Walking around a little bit, still trying to remain fairly quiet and stealthy, something Special forces training had luckily taught him. Adam found just what he needed, He found a hole large enough beneath a tree to stick his rifle in. Which would no doubt get his rifle dirty, but seeing as he couldn’t really disassemble his rifle and bring it back to the car as of now because of a couple marines he was left with one choice. And that was to leave it hidden, hope no one spots it, which to be fair most likely what would happen but still. Adam disliked having to go with a shit plan, now for a third time. However in his current position a bad plan was better than no plan.
So Adam began putting his pretty shit plan into action. Taking the magazine out Adam put the magazine in question on the ground and quickly, barrel first began stuffing the rifle into the hole beneath the tree. Once he was done with that he squeezed the magazine in there and then followed by that he draped the blanket he still somehow had on his shoulder even after dashing in between trees like a madman.
Standing back up from his kneeling position while he was hiding his rifle, Adam inspected his work. And while it wasn’t perfect you really wouldn’t think about it unless you were actively staring at it. One thing that did make him worry a little though was that the hole was under a tree.
A tree that could fall, however, thinking about it for more than a couple seconds Adam realized that said tree had probably been standing like that for a while and he wasn’t planning on letting it sit there for more than a day or two anyway. Meaning he was once again needlessly paranoid about nothing serious.
Deciding this was good enough Adam now began to think of what his next move should be. He couldn’t really wander back to his car, because frankly they were likely standing there, if not around his own car then around theirs which was no doubt parked very close by.
Leaving him pretty much stuck between the small forest and the beach. And standing by his now hidden rifle wouldn’t be particularly smart, he quickly realized. But since the weather was actually pretty nice even this early in the morning, with the sun shining down with what Adam would guess was about 10+ celsius, which considering the time of year and how early it was, this was actually pretty warm.
So with nothing better to do while waiting for the marines who would no doubt harass him, due to breaking the law or for literally no reason at all. Adam headed back towards the beach. However he didn’t want to be too close to his own crime scene so he headed back to the beach he first came to. Which while a little close to the planet's new found oppressors lingering around his vehicle, was still likely safe from them coming any closer to it.
So without his rifle, Adam now marched down the small hill leading into the forest and began the slow walk along the coast for the second time within only a couple minutes. Staring out at the ocean while walking Adam found a new sense of hope seemingly out of nowhere. Whether it was because the area and particularly the nature was stunning or that this was one of the first times in literal years he had gone out into nature, well this wasn’t really “out in nature” but more so a glorified patch of woods but still. Gålö was rather untouched by, well anything besides a couple villas and some farm animals dotted around the half-island.
In anycase staring out into the ocean and at the other islands in the distance. Adam made a realization, that this is what he was fighting for. And that he hadn’t just begun fighting to fill some empty place in his life and heart. That he was fighting, even if currently it was just him shooting at shil’ nobles. To protect his little home, and by extension the entire planet, from being ruined by the imperium.
The more he began thinking about why, he realized something which was both infuriating and a bit saddening. That if humanity as a collective were to fail in throwing the shil’s out of earth's orbit, in whatever way possible. What he was currently staring at, what he had grown up with. Everything he had near and dear to his heart.
Would be defiled,destroyed or made into a mockery of what it once was. Even just by the shil’s presence somewhere, wherever they plant those ugly buildings down, like they had done in central Salem and Haninge.
It’s like they’re spitting and mocking whatever structure stood there prior to their arrival. And why would they stop at structures? Likely, within a couple generations a considerable part of human history,society and culture would, as mentioned, be defiled, destroyed or twisted into something completely different.
Adam realized they’d likely even make up some story of how humans were stuck in the dark ages or something and that we we’re on the cusp of dying out to smallpox or dysentery before the oh-so heroic imperium came down and saved the entire planet.
Adam began slowing down as he looked forward again and saw his destination. Stopping his thoughts for but a moment as he came to the beach he began walking towards one of the large rocks strewn about on the small beach.
As he sat down on the flattest rock around, he continued staring out into the beautiful ocean before him and the pretty large islands in front of him he could never name despite coming here several times. And he realized another thing, that he really needed to get out more. He had spent just about the entire last year either sitting in his mancave, going to work or alternatively, sitting in his man cave drinking cheap alcohol on occasion.
This also reminded him of his dream, that he still had mind you. Of moving out into the middle of nowhere, somewhere incredibly rural. However with the invasion he didn’t even bother thinking about it for a while, sure he had savings from his time in the military and special forces, enough to actually buy a small house somewhere, especially in one of the cheaper regions like Värmland.
But he didn’t even know if Hemnet was still up because he hadn’t bothered checking, and even if the website was still usable. The imperium would probably somehow be involved in him buying a house. So as much as Adam felt like he needed to get away from civilization, especially away from the imperium he really couldn’t do it for now. However his only older brother, François, had done just that after their arrival. he mainly got away with it because the seller wanted it sold immediately and practically gave it to him for free.
However, Adam knew he still needed a job and with his only professions being in the military and construction/carpentry his options were extremely limited. Since the military was now entirely non-existent and the carpentry industry had almost died off completely. Only a few carpentry businesses survived, in particular ones that quickly specialized in making shil-sized human furniture so nobles could buy some considerably over-priced exotic earth goods.
Luckily for Adam he knew a guy, his friend and for the last year coworker, Dragan, who had begun working at that company only a couple months prior to the invasion. And when Adam had completely gone out of a job and had been forced to crash at his parents place, he had helped Adam get a job at the aforementioned company that nowadays only makes, as mentioned, shil-sized human furniture. That's also why Adam even moved to Jordbro in the first place. Since the company in question was located in the Jordbro industrial zone just behind what used to be the coca-cola factory.
Letting his brain go into yet another rabbit hole as he was sitting on the rock that was getting more and more uncomfortable the longer he sat on it. Adams' brain stopped in its tracks as he heard something he absolutely was not prepared for. Footsteps, heavy footsteps, he heard several of them emanating from the forest that was behind him, which could realistically, only mean one thing.
The marines got bored and assumed their target for sexual harassment was on the otherside of the small patch of forest, which in this case, he unfortunately was. As the footsteps got louder and louder Adams' heart began beating aggressively again. Slowly turning around Adam at first saw nothing.
But then, to his horror, he saw what, or rather who was making the noise. And then he saw them at the beginning of the forest clearing, three marines all staring at him through helmets he didn’t really recognize as normal marine helmets.
Temporarily focused on the fact that he didn’t recognize the helmets, nor the insignia on their breasts. Snapping out of trying to identify their insignias, Adam tried to focus instead on what the fuck to do next, and how to lower his steadily increasing heart rate.
He at once realized the predicament he was in….
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- 17th of April 2024,15:43, Berlin District, Germany -
After the pretty short drive from her new workplace into the city of “Beerlyn” Vistiin was had now parked her also, recently acquired vehicle in front of her supervisor, Theun’s apartment near the center of the city. And Vistiin had never seen a building so tall! It was clearly made of traditional shil’vati thermocast but the building was seven stories tall. That they’d even allowed the apartment complex to be constructed was a mystery. Likely some architect saw how tall human buildings got and wanted to see if she could emulate it, however why the authorities allowed the building to be so tall was beyond her.
Continuing on from inspecting the building and what maniac built it, Vistiin opened the door of her car and stepped out into surprisingly chilly weather. Even though she obviously experienced the same coldness when she was getting into her car in the first place. How humans walked around in just shirts with no secondary layer like a jacket, without being affected was still baffling to her even after the hours of research she did today into humans.
And now she even had to wait in this sad weather! Likely caused by the clouds darkening from her observation. And said clouds were currently hiding Vistiin from the terran sun she immediately missed more than she knew she even could.
However, since she’d called Theun in advance and asked if they could talk in private to discuss some things that were rather pertinent to her current mission, that hopefully meant Theun wouldn't keep her out here in the cold.
As Vistiin stood and cursed the terran weather under her breath, she could see Theun arrived personally, which was a shock since nobles rarely if ever did something like open a door to even other nobles, much less a commoner like Vistiin herself. Walking towards the door eager to get out of the cold Vistiin was greeted by her sponsor. Who was as she remembered from when she first met her, kind of short, very classy and fairly lacking in morals. Not that Vistiin was a model shil either, especially concerning her frequent lack of morals, but still Vistiin liked to think she was a slightly better person than Theun.
As Vistiin and Theun made it to the door leading into the modern apartment complex at the same time, Theun opened the door. “Nice to meet you again Vistiin!” Theun said politely while extending her fist. Vistiin reciprocated the gesture and responded. “Yes hello Mrs Syras, I don't mean to forgo my manners especially in front of a noble such as yourself, but can we move inside? it's awfully cold out here.”
“Don’t worry about that around me Vistiin, also you can call by my first name, we’ll be seeing each other a lot until you’re done after all” Theun responded while backing away from the door to let Vistiin in. “Ah ok good to know, just a bit surprising is all” “Most nobles I've worked with prior, especially ones from big houses as yourself tend to be… not so friendly” Vistiin said back as she entered the apartment building. Even just the lobby of this place screamed old money and nobility. The building even had its own concierge, with a cute little human guy standing behind the desk.
Quickly peeling her eyes off the blonde man before he noticed, Vistiin and Theun began walking to the elevators on the other side of the lobby. She had just yesterday learnt what an “elevator” was, so Vistiin was at least partially prepared for the tight metal box humans use to get up and down floors. And the elevators in hers and presumably Theuns apartment building were considerably larger as well to account for the shil tendency to hate small spaces, so how humans could stand going in these on a daily basis was beyond her.
As they got to the door and Theun clicked on a button quickly opening the duo stepped inside and Theun spoke. “I get it, we nobles aren’t the most welcoming, but beyond that was it that you wanted to talk about?” “Already done or something? This early into your work?, I know your efficient but still”
“No no nothing like that, it's just a couple things I want to go over and what not” “Shouldn’t take to much of your time” With Vistiin’s response out Theun simply grunted in acknowledgement and the rest of the way up to Theuns apartment was in a slightly uncomfortable silence.
As the elevator came to a stop and the door opened once again, freeing Vistiin from that tight metal cube. Vistiin was surprised to only see a small hallway with only a single door at the end.
“Do you own the entire floor or something?” Vistiin said as she looked over at Theun who was taking a card out of her jacket, presumably to open her apartment.
“Of course I do!” “This apartment is small enough, if I were to live in one of the normal suites my friends and relatives would never let me live that down” she said as she opened the door.
Theun quickly walked in after she opened the door and Vistiin quickly followed. “And I'm fairly certain this is just about luxurious and expensive enough to have them not make a comment about it.”
“Well you sure a noble when those are your primary concerns…” Vistiin said with a chuckle. As both of them discarded their outside clothes and wandered into the very spacious living room Vistiin realized two things, first how incredibly far up they were and secondly how big this place was for an apartment. “This place is massive Theun, this must have cost a fortune!” Vistiin said as she was looking about the place.
“Well it's probably the cheapest bit of real estate i've ever bought, but that doesn’t say much” “Earth isn’t really expensive.. Yet anyway, from the people i've talked to they predict the prices can increase by as much as 50,000% in a year when they finally open earth up just based on interest from the rest of the imperium.”
“Hm… makes sense I guess, although I presume that doesn’t account for when humans will be compatible with us, you can probably triple that then” Vistiin said as she sat down on the large couch that could easily fit fifteen shil’s. Which in her mind was a little excessive but nobles only buy the best and biggest of anything she mused.
“I know you said it shouldn’t take long but, want a drink?” Theun said, interrupting Vistiins thought process. “Wasn’t planning on drinking but sure” To Vistiins response Theun went to the kitchen and didn’t spend long there quickly coming back with two very fancy looking drinks Vistiin couldn’t identify, not that Vistiin really cared so long it wouldn’t make her puke.
“So you don’t have any employees?” “Sorry for prying on your life but i'm just used to guards and what not flanking the noble im working with” Vistiin said as she accepted the drink Theun had just brought.
“No I do have lots of employees obviously, the Syras house probably has thousands in total, however this apartment doesn’t really have the space so it's hard to have them running around all the time here and so for now I have them on call until I buy an actual house in the area.”
“Ah ok… but beyond that let's get to the reason i'm here shall we?” Vistiin said while taking a sip of her drink, which clearly had red grain in it. “Of course Vistiin, now what is already of such importance?”
“Well, there's a couple things, but one thing at a time.” “From my research it will be nigh impossible to get a male who would be willing to participate within the next couple of years.”
Vistiin started while looking at the drink in her hand.
“But I have a solution, one that would require you pulling some strings” She continued while looking at Theun instead of her drink.
“I mean, I'm here to make sure you succeed and that the empresses money hasn’t been wasted, so I'll listen” Theun responded before she also began sipping on her drink. “Great because the only way I think we could reliably get a male would be if we convinced captured insurgents, however before you say anything obviously they won’t agree to it” “Immediately anyway…” Vistiin continued.
“Hmm, you’re sure that's the only way? Not that I'm particularly opposed, it just sounds like it could get complicated, insurgents probably don't make great fathers either at that.” Theun asked. “Great question, how we fix our problem here is that we give them an offer of either, becoming participants in our project where we will then pair them with a shil woman, how we source women for this project is another question albeit one that should be easier to solve.” With a pause to sip on her drink, Vistiin continued “Anyway or they get the choice of just facing their fate serving prison time on some mining world over side of the known universe”
“And while humans, especially insurgents may hate the imperium for now” “If one of them gets the choice of lifelong manual labour on a planet full of roaches or, they just have to be part of this little project, I believe they’ll wisen up real fast, and the ones that don’t would probably make horrible fathers anyway” “Natural selection if you will” Vistiin finished off as she began drinking her liquor again while letting Theun take Vistiins little plan for getting males into the project.
After a couple seconds of thinking Theun responded. “While it may be a bit of a hassle to pull said strings without anyone else really knowing what's going on, sounds doable.” “Could work to rehabilitate some insurgents as well actually”
“So now that we’ve got that out of the way, the other concern I have is that due to my contract for this job being limited in time to two years.” “That I have to, for us to see results before that date, get positive results of a pregnancy between a human shil coupling before like five earth months?
“Mind you it's not impossible we see a pregnancy very early on but the time it takes for results to show is still a slight paranoia of mine” Vistiin continued now instead looking at her almost empty glass of some alcohol mix she couldn’t really identify.
“Look, don’t worry Vistiin, your contract is pretty flexible” Theun said, staring out at the city through one of the tall windows. “This entire project is extremely special and you’re one of few candidates with the perfect mixture of low morals, and the right skillset so if you’re almost complete by the two year point we can negotiate the contract”
“Well that's a relief then, I knew you were a reasonable woman” Vistiin responded to Theun, now with a big concern of her shoulders.
“Well Theun, I know you’re a busy woman and it was kind enough of you to make space to talk with me pretty out of the blue so I won’t take any of your time, I've already been here for like thirty minutes so.”
“Don’t worry, I'm pretty invested in that this goes right so anything I can help you with to make it happen I'll do.” Theun said as the both of them were starting to stand up. “Also Vistiin, if you need to talk about anything relating to the project, you call or text me and we talk in person here where what we say can’t be recorded” “I really don’t want to risk anything leaking out okay?”
“Understood that from the beginning Ma’am hence why I even asked to talk.” Vistiin responded with a slight chuckle as she started to move towards the entrance to Theuns apartment. “Well it's good to know you’re as intelligent as I was led to believe” Theun said as Vistiin started to put on her outdoor clothing.
“Well it was a good talk, but i'm starving so I better go, see you later Theun” Vistiin said as she waved goodbye to Theun who responded “And i'm rather busy today, still I’ll see you later” Theun said back just before the automatic door closed.
Now with a plan to get males for the project and a weight lifted off her tired shoulders, Vistiin could relax more a little. However, now she was actually really hungry after doing nothing but research for the past nine hours so Vistiin began walking back to her car so she could have the rest of the day off….
[Next]

My wife and I decided to get Castle Panic, both for the purpose of us playing together and for bringing around at game nights with my friends (who are decently experienced board gamers). We gave it a shot with 2 players last night and it was fun but definitely too easy with the standard rules, and my wife leans more towards a beginner.
It also felt very... calculated? There wasn't really much strategic decision making, it was just figuring out what combination of cards is the most effective, which makes me concerned the game might feel a bit samey after a few plays.
Turns out after doing a little looking around, difficulty is a pretty common complaint since the game seems to be more geared towards beginners/kids. A lot of people recommended getting The Wizard's Tower expansion at the very least. I was even looking at the Big Box just to have the full collection, but the $100 price point is a bit steep.
What do you guys think? Do the expansions make a big enough difference? Would the expansions add enough depth for a group of experienced players? Or would I be better off just finding a more appropriately challenging co-op game?

I (21m) have always been close to my "step" sister (21f). We were best friends in school even before our parents started dating when we were 7. I also grew up without my dad so my "step" dad had also been like my dad before our parents were together and even now he is 100% my dad.
I only started talking to my bio father when i was 15 and its never been a father son relationship. The first time i met him i was 17. That was also the first time i met my half sister (19f now). My relationship with bio father and half sister isnt very close but talk on occasion. My half sister is still very much a stranger to me since we dont spend much time together.
Me and my sis (step) recently got matching tattoos. Its just a rose with each others names writen in cursive on the stem. There just cute little tattoos on the side of our wrists, nothing big. Me and my sister posted the tattoos to instagram and my half sister ended up seeing it. Shes now upset and huffy over not being included and so is my bio father that i didnt include her.
I tried to be polite about it but they kept pushing so i told them the truth, they are basiclly strangers to me that i see occasionally. We are not family, at best you are people i want to get to know but still will never be as close to me as my sister and dad are to me and at worse your just a sperm doner and sperm doners daughter. I feel i was a bit harsh there but i was sick of their shit and feeling entitled to a close relationship to the point i should get a matching tattoo with a person i bearly know. AITA?

Is this VN really popular how one of the most acclaimed VNs in history should be or is it a middle ground between that thing that is very appreciated by those who read but no so many people read?
I know that quality unfortunately doesn't always mean popularity but at the same time i see a lot of people in the VN fanbase that have already read Muramasa and it's out of question saying that it isn't popular. But man that are so few fanarts, discussions, videos and etc about Muramasa, and i know that it only got translanted in 2021 but even in lees than 2 years i see so many people talking about it and i just can't help but feel a little confused. (And the translation came in 2021 but the thing itself is from 2009)
Maybe that kind of thing isn't that strange and i'm just not so familiar with VNs outside Type Moon's (that introduced me to VNs and is an absolute behemoth in popularity)
(And if you doesn't already, yeah read Muramasa that's some really good stuff)

I was working as a nurse in 12hrs shift for intensive care patients that needed care for the rest of their lives but they lived at home instead of a hospital. Five of patients rented a flat and we nurses where 2:5, nurse to patients working there. My coworker (and former friend) S. had a small and very old mini Yorkshire terrier and she had the allowance to bring him to work with her. He was already around 15, blind on one eye, almost blind on the other eye, missing all his teeth and his tongue was sticking out. He peed standing up his front legs. Awesome dude. His name of was Devil. Usually he spent the 12hrs in his chair sleeping or cuddling up with the patients that wished for it.
It was a regular occasion that the priests (and what they're all called at the churches) were visiting the patients of christian faith, if they'd like to. Neither S. nor I knew that back then.
We had a patient, Miss P., which regularly got these visits.
So one day as S. and me shared the day shift.. the doorball rang, and we opened the door.
There stood these people. One pastor ( or priest, whatever, idk tbh how they are called) and two nuns.
So picture me and my friend standing completely puzzled at the door, looking at these christian sect leaders and wondering what's happening. Before we could say anything we heard devil come running up from behind.
He bashed from the very back of the flat right in front of us in no time. Remember all his health issues and his age.
He stood there hard as a rock and about the size of a rock. Ferociously barking at these people, buzzing his body around by the powerful soundwaves.
They were totally thrown off and you could see the discomfort in their eyes..
That's the moment my mouth verbalized my thoughts without my permission:
"ohhh don't mind him! He's actually really sweet and nice. He's Devil and I guess he can sense his enemies, haha"
OH, I would have totally fck up if I would have shared the shift with certain other nurses. I guess the christians didn't even get my bad joke as we are Germans and i bet they thought they just didn't understand it right.
Hope this gave someone a little smile or thinking "lol" :D
Love for all of you sisters <3

Hi guys, I am feeling lost on the social security system in Germany and I need some help. I have the luck to have had always pretty good scholarships to keep studying, and this is my first contact with bureaucratic serious problems. I feel really stupid and lost like a little child, so please be kind.
I am a 28 year old, Spanish (EU), and I moved to Germany first with a couple different forms of Erasmus+ (2021), and then decided to stay to do a PhD and I got a scholarship for three years last November. When I first moved here as an Erasmus I immediately got inscribed as resident, since this was all part of my life-long dream to reach the position I am at, and also under the recommendation of the Erasmus International Office.
However, from 2021-2022 I was still insured in Spain, but because I am over 26 I only had periods of 3 months of paid social security abroad in Europe per year. These periods could get extended because I was still a student, which is what I have been doing, and coming back to Spain when they run out (though I understand that I am never "not insured", I still always have insurance in Spain, I would just need to pay up front and it would be a pain in the lower back).
BUT. Late October last year: I decided to do a check up with a doctor. I am pretty healthy and fairly young, so I simply hadn't needed it before. When I went to make an appointment however, they refused to see me, to which I was really confused at: I have my social security in Spain, my provisional replacement for an European Insurance card (not the card because they don't give them for 3 months periods), and my EU ID. And yes, this was a public doctor. Finally, after pushing the person at the desk of the doctors office a lot (and some racist comments on her part) they explained to me that I need to validate my EU social security in Germany with one of their health insurances. This doesn't make any sense to me, what would happen if I was traveling and I really needed a doctor? I am European still. We have universal health care, right?
November comes by: one of those periods of 3 months social security has ended again at the same time as I get green light for receiving my PhD scholarship. Since this scholarship would pay for part of my social security if I moved it to Germany social security, and my prospects here are better I decided to apply for an AOK social security account. This was absolute hell, every time I went, they asked for a different document, they had to do numerous calls to colleagues because it's like they never seen this case before (: An EU student, older than 26, with a scholarship and not a job, who wants to change countries? they also don't know what to do with the provisional replacement for an European Insurance card).
One of the people on the office told me I need to pay for every month I was already registered as living in Germany, and that my replacements for EU card are no good (so they just lie to all Erasmus students? and why would I pay retrospectively to AOK? I would do that with a cheap private insurance company if that was the case), other person just told me to keep what I was doing and forget about it(?), other to get to a private insurance instead (??? Also this doesn't provide me any benefit). Finally they give me list of documents I need to send directly to the headquarters, but at this point I was back in Spain for Christmas. So I finally sent everything they asked for in January.
Also, for protecting myself, I asked for another provisional replacement card European social security period Jan-March, since I would be living here full time now.
What's the situation now: I called two weeks ago since they haven't sent me any response. They said that everything looked good, and that they were sending me the approval any day now, not longer than two weeks. Have in mind that I haven't been able to go to the doctor for anything in all this last months, even if I was in my right. Till today (two weeks after) there is still no response, so I called this morning again and lady tells me I have to give up on my Spanish Social security to even be able to be inscribed in the German. This just sounds wrong to me, and I told her. She looks it up again, then said "ah, actually not" and then asked me to send some more documents from where I lived before and extracts of my bank account to see how much scholarship is. Why do they need that? The insurance is not based on the amount my scholarship makes since it's not taxed or anything because it is pretty low to begin with (and I sent that info already anyway!), and I don't see how where I lived in Spain impacts anything. It feels like they don't want to deal with validating the provisional replacement for an European Insurance card and they just send me on more and more quests till that runs out.
Please help, I just want to be insured correctly and keep going with my life. I don't even need to go to the doctor anymore. Has anyone have experience with this? I can't be the only one. Should I go to another insurance company? What do I do?
To Sum up: EU PHD Student, older than 26, and previously insured with substitute European insurance certificates wants to get insured in Germany.

Sorry this is long but maybe it'll help since it explains exactly what we want!
We just came back from our very first AI--Club Med in Punta Cana. It was absolute heaven. Incredible service, fresh, fantastic food (especially at the buffet--we were shocked), great kids club (we have a 6 y/o). So now we want to do it again somewhere else--which is turning out to be tough because we were so spoiled by CM. We're divers and leaning toward Club Med in Cancun but need to get more info on dive sites there before we commit. My research is telling me that dive sites further south, between Playa del Carmen and Tulum are better plus being down there we'd also be close to cenotes--we'd like to try diving there too. So I've literally looked at 50+ hotels, and read reviews on Travel Advisor and blogs to try and narrow things down. I'm overwhelmed!
We're focusing on Riviera Maya because like DR it's a short direct flight for our child (and who wouldn't prefer that anyway).
Our Budget is around $6K for an AI and we want to go Feb 16-23, 2024.
Other important things are:

• Very good food (we're not fooled by quantity, we want quality). My husband and I really got into the CM buffet because it was so exceptional and the variety made feeding a picky child very easy. But he and I like sit-down a la carte dining so a property with a mix of the two would be nice.
• Kids club with good organized care that takes the children outside (not only sitting inside with video games and movies)
• A little privacy between adult/child sleeping areas (a curtain, half wall, or screen would be fine). We had a great setup at CM with a bedroom for my husband and I and a small sitting room with daybeds that our daughter slept in with a curtain divider between us. (As a side note, I'm *really* surprised how few hotels have that. All the resorts I'm looking at are for families. We don't want to pay for a second bedroom so I'm only seeing "suites" that are one big room with a pullout couch right next to the adult's bed. Our kid goes to sleep before we do and we like to read for a while with a light on without disturbing her. This seems like a tiny thing but it's another way our expectations were raised by CM!)
• Access to an adults only pool. This isn't necessary but is nice to have a quieter place to relax while our daughter is in kids club
• Ease of finding beach/pool chairs. We didn't have a problem with this at CM but reviews for almost every hotel cite having to reserve chairs super early in the AM as a huge issue.

Grand Velas Riviera Maya is mentioned everywhere as the place to go for great food but that's way out of our price range.
The two places that are at the top of my list are Paradisus Playa del Carmen and Iberostar Quetzal/Tucan or one of the others.
Open to other suggestions!
Also, for those who have done this a lot--how much should you expect to pay per night for an AI with excellent food? Paradisus is right in our price range but for every 20 people on Trip Advisor who say they had amazing meals, there are 2 that said it was the worst food they'd ever had, and 3 saying it was "fine for an AI". IDK if that means things there are actually a mixed bag or people have different tastes/standards than we do (or people like to complain about nothing, as some do in reviews)
Same goes for less expensive places. Iberostars look very reasonably priced and are at the lower end of our budget--should I assume they have just average food?

I feel absolutely ridiculous posting this. I’ve never ever been left to feel so insecure in a relationship. I started dating my bf around 10 months ago, but we’ve known eachother longer. When the relationship started everything seemed great, we were hanging out together daily, we rarely went on dates, but I was around his friends and we spent a lot of time together. The downfall started a few months in at a baseball game, and I glanced over to him glued to his phone (as he usually was) to see him zooming in on a girls ass… whatever right? I later do a little digging and see his insta following is just entirely full of half naked models, but I realize he’s a man who was recently single, and mention to him that it makes me feel a little insecure, and I’d appreciate him not looking at other naked girls right next to me. He got immediately defensive and switched to saying how, “I was about to delete my Instagram anyway” and I just left it. This conversation came back in loops a few times and I asked if he would just unfollow the girls, I didn’t care about him deleting his profile, he then “deactivated” his profile, which I quickly learned he was still frequently active on, but said he was using it to talk to family… I would also have to beg him for any physical intimacy, which he would rarely give me but he had no issues locking himself in the bathroom to watch porn and then lying about it when it would hookup to his Bluetooth in his car immediately after.
Now down to the real details. This man constantly had his Snapchat blowing up with random girls with heart and fire emojis, etc. and whenever getting a message from one he would quickly turn his phone away from me. Although it bothered me, I left it alone and never asked him about it for months, however we are both military and I was preparing to leave to move to Europe, so I figured if I was going to get cheated on, I’d rather just know before PSCing and asked him. At first he acted like he didn’t know what I was talking about, after much pestering he admitted some were girls he used to talk to that were asking him to hang out and all he said to them was, “ I have a girlfriend, stop texting me”. I didn’t feel right about that, soI told him if he could show me one message proving that, I’d drop it. Which he couldn’t and then, deleted Snapchat. Not suspicious at all smh. So using the detective skills every women is born with, I found one of the girls on his Facebook, and (very respectfully) reached out to her. I found out we were both talking to him at the same time before him and I officially seeing eachother, and he had lied to her several weeks prior when she asked him if he had a girlfriend. When I asked if they’d still been flirting with eachother, she said no due to her having a boyfriend. Could be true? I don’t know. But I confronted my boyfriend about it, and his excuse which he remains strong on, is that “they didn’t matter so I need to tell them my personal life”. Personally, I am a very very forgiving person, I understand things happen, and people make mistakes, my only rule which I told him from the beginning was not to lie to me. I absolutely hate lying and I believe if you don’t have trust you have no relationship foundation.
So basically here’s where we’re at now. I’m assuming he was just keeping these girls around for whenever we broke up or something, due to him telling me, he, “didn’t know how much he cared about me until I left for Europe”, and I’m fairly certain he was flirting with some of these girls. I don’t think he was physically cheating on me, as we were usually on the same schedules, or together. But I think there was definitely emotional cheating, which some may not believe it’s a thing, but if you’ve been there, you know. I’m just having an issue getting closure with this, we’re still “dating” but I know it doesn’t feel right, I gave him so much of my time and was so committed to him and you can’t get those feelings back. Although I have no “real” evidence of him “cheating”, it’s just this gut feeling that won’t go away. So any advice to give myself closure or how to get him to just communicate would be so appreciated. Thanks.