Hilarious way to say i love you

Hi, David here!
"Actions speak louder than words." This is especially true when it comes to creating attraction. Since talk is cheap, women have developed excellent BS detectors for evaluating a man based primarily on his body language, actions and behaviors.
The first thing you should communicate is a vibe of comfort and confidence. Nonverbal ques and how you say something can communicate much more than the actual words you that you say.
Comfort and confidence in an interaction implies prior success. A guy who acts nervous, rushes his words and is constantly afraid of "screwing up" an interaction is communicating that he thinks a girl is out of his league and that he suffers from a scarcity of similar options.
However, a guy who does not need the other person’s approval, is willing to walk away, or at the very least not chase a girl or act desperate / hungry, implies that he has options. A guy does not actually need to be in abundance or have many options to appear attractive. He must simply show and display the behaviors of someone who does. This primarily done by him not getting overly excited, trying to rush an interaction along before a girl changes her mind, showing a fear of loss, or trying too hard to impress.
When it seems to a person that you are trying to actively and intentionally impress them, they may think that you are overcompensating for something else. Imagine what the behaviors of a self-secure, confident, high value man who had tons of options and was living in abundance would look like. Would he actively be trying to impress a girl he liked? He would simply make his intrigue in the woman known and believe that as she naturally gets to know him in a conversation, that there is no reason that he is not good enough. He would not feel the need to actively try to sell himself.
You can’t logically convince someone to find you attractive via your words alone. The emotions/feelings of attraction are better elicited via attractive behaviors which are harder to fake. And when it is created through your words, these words must be deemed as being part of an honest conversation and not only being said for the sole purpose of making the other person like you. Otherwise the person may dismiss you as just telling them what you think they want to hear.
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BTW, I just finished putting together my dating advice eBook "How to Date Any Girl" version 4.0 and would LOVE to get some honest feedback from you!
I decided to give it away for free for the time being.
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The eBook is 27 pages long and gives you a practical step-by-step solution to meeting women (15+ years of knowledge put into it).
You can get the eBook by clicking here!
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This book is the result of going out and socializing with girls for over a decade. I have put in there all the fundamentals I have learned over that time so I would really appreciate all the feedback I could get!!
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What are your thoughts? Do you have any tips to add?
Let's discuss in the comments :)
Thanks for reading and have a GREAT day!
David Davidson

I’m looking for a poem that I heard on TikTok. I accidentally unsaved it, and would love to find it again. Its s by a woman. It’s a fairly long poem, so I’ll just share what I remember from the beginning:
‘One: your father talks like an ocean spilling words like a spilled drink.. covering.. everything. Your mother… doesn’t say anything.’
… can’t remember this part
‘You only hear about you mother’s premarital life from your father, he talks of how he tamed her, saved her.’
Something about how ‘Icarus could have just as well drowned as burned - and your mothers mouth is a saltwater darkness’
Later in the poem it’s about the daughter’s own struggles with trusting men:
‘leave before they realise you’re not worth staying for (and later in the poem: before they realise you’re not worth scaring for.’)
Hope someone knows it🤞

Im mostly talking about which lyrics you think are more brutal. I think Nanking is more detailed about the atrocities committed. I love both songs either way. And im not trying to debate which genocide was worse cause both were horrific and should never be forgotten.

hello fellow users, this is my not first post in Reddit and i actually posted this a few months ago but i used the wrong wordings (i was not mentally stable) so a lot of people attacked me (yes i did re-read what i wrote before and the wording was horrible). I'm okay now and definitely more mature than before, understood human morals and yk those deeper than my asshole shit?? Anyways, i wanna know if i overreacted, so storytime :
So a few months ago, I've realised that my classmates don't seem to like me. Never knew why, they are just a bunch of rude, inconsiderate bitches. Literally the most attention seeking people I've ever seen. They would sometimes do stuff out of their way just to get people's eyes on them. I am one of the outcasts in my class, I don't join the popular girl groups and in fact i hate getting attention bc it stresses me out (have social anxiety). The only good thing about me is that I get top grades in English and i guess that's what I'm only known for. That's also one possible reason why my classmates never liked me. It's also kind of weird since one of THOSE classmates get good grades and everyone liked her for it, kinda unfair to me (if you get what i mean). Nevertheless, I never gave a single shit and they also see me as an invisible person. I don't know but one if my girlfriends told me that i look cold so i guess that somehow scares the shit out of my classmates? but whatever, that's just the background info.
Let's get into some details about the main point of this post. In January, there was a dodgeball competition. At first i was hesitant in joining, 1) i am the definition of self-isolation from any public events bc it's kinda useless to me, 2) the biggest bitches in my class joined. However since my friends wanted me to join with them i reluctantly agreed. After trying it out privately with my friends, I had taken a liking in dodgeball. I am good at dodging, which is quite a surprise to myself. I just enjoyed the fun of it overall. I practised with my classmates and things were pretty good so far. We were having fun. Until. Me and my classmates had a friendly match tgt. We got into groups and it started off pretty well. However, not long later, I was the last one standing, which was something not expected bc i thought i would lose immediately. But finally, after a good 10 minutes, i did manage to win against the other team, which was something never expected. So yk, i thought a small "congratulations" to me was probably the least you can do after any sort of competition or like a "good job" to your teammates? What they did instead, they went onto the more popular teammates and comforted, praised them for their hard work as an outfielder. Side note, the popular classmates did almost nothing but got eliminated on the first minute. I know and knew it was childish and weird of them and myself for expecting a single word from them but i was kinda disappointed that no one even said anything to me before and after the matches.
I was like whatever and just let it go bc they didn't know me so well. UNTIL ONE DAY.
Again, one friendly match and started a new round. It went on good so far until i tripped. Let me tell you when i tried to stand up, i felt a sharp pain in my left knee, like a needle. My classmates just stood there, said absolutely nothing and continued the round when i stood up. IN MY OPINION, helping someone out when they fall down is the least you can fucking do. However that rlly made me wonder if i did something wrong in the process, including the fact that i fell down etc.
I did not have a mental breakdown until when one of friends (one of my friends who joined the competition with me) told me that someone made fun of me of always falling down (yes i did fall down multiple times cuz i have a specific way of dodging that is prone for me to fall down) and even said shit basically saying how I'm not qualified to be in the competition. That was completely over my line and cried in bed that night.
I did absolutely nothing to them and i didn't expect them to do this to me. They also did other shady and shitty shit but i cant type them out in one post.
Right now, i kinda got over it but i can never forgive them for what they did to me and especially to my friends. But i wanna know if im the A.H. here. Thank you ! ! (im extremely sorry for any typos 😭😭)
For those who are wondering how old i am, I'm 13.

I just wanted to start this by saying thank you to you all! It's hard to believe that I found this community I want to say eight years ago. I was working a shitty job and I didn't feel like I belonged there and people didn't make it easy there either. I want to say that I was the major problem. I know it's scary to see a large man who is so intensely quiet at times. I know it's scary seeing a man not act like anyone you know. Honestly I don't know how my mind works and I think that's what everyone else is thinking as well.
But it was there that I started googling as they say. I tried every search I could and all of them usually brought up the suicide hotline. That wasn't a comfort. But then I started trying focusing on that part of myself that I know does set me apart. I searched for something and anything for other homeschoolers who'd understand. I went through a lot of homeschool positive forums and such before I eventually landed here.
It was overwhelming. I had people I could talk to about this and they'd understand what it was like. While I wasn't as isolated or abused as many of the post on here show. My abuse was and will always be more mental. It was always shame, isolation and more shame and it was shame at normal things. And it was shame that hurt me from myself.
Many accounts and posts and years later and I've gotten better. It takes a lot of hard work to get here. But I'm feeling more myself and less how everyone else treated me. I'll always be weird though and that's a character strength at this point. But I'm sorry to you all for my many posts and trauma dumps and repeated trauma dumps. It was all to at least feel as if someone else was listen for once and often times that's all you really need to feel.
I've give advice here now for how I think recovery comes from something like this.

1. If your still being homeschooled, never stop asking to get out of it. I remember all the times that I tried pushing on my parents to send me to school. It wasn't very many attempts and I always thought they'd remember. But really their adult lives were and are overwheled by the adult world. Parents get to busy with things outside of the home. They won't remember. So push and keep asking to go to public school. Cause their not going to see consequences of this. For the more tricky parents, well I don't know what to tell you there, I'm sorry. Your just gonna have to be very manipulative with them if their the crazy who doesn't listen to their child.
   
2. If you done with homeschooling and your still living with them. Then please only focus on getting out first before you start the process of digesting all your life's experienced. This is important because your going to feel intense emotions and trying to process it all while your living with them won't make things easy for you.
   
3. Is to take the incredible supplement known as L-theanine as it acts like a mild anti depressant. This was just huge for the comfort it brought me and it's super safe to use. Just whatever you do don't mix it with medication that also effects your brain. It also sometimes doesn't make things better. It's a very low percent of population that gets a bad side effect. But I'm still going to recommend this little amino acid at wal mart just because it helped me were medications couldn't.
   
4. consume any and all media that shows realistic human social interactions. I wouldn't be who I am today without all the great fantastic characters I've seen and read about from manga to 90s television. Just don't fall down some dark hole and think it's all real. But it's going to take the imaginary to help you turn things into a reality.
   
5. Is to give yourself the grace of moving at your own speed. Both mentally and physically. It'll take you a while to do things and it's going to get embarrassing no matter what. But that speed limit you find for yourself is there for just as much safety as anyone driving on a concrete road. Let the ass holes pass you by. Cause their gonna make mistakes and your going to be the one who learns from them.
   
6. Is to limit or remove any and all distractions. We have nothing but screens in front of our eyes anymore and that doesn't do a world of good for our minds and attention spans. When you do this you free up some processing power for your brain. That's processing power that can help you with learning new things or dealing with your trauma.
   

Now that doesn't mean you should become a boring old slob. It just means picking your entertainment and time of day for it. Social media, electronics and all the other stuff wont be going anywhere anytime soon. Look away from it all and look at yourself, it'll all be there when you return. For now, just heal.

1. GET WEIRD!!!!! Now that may seem a little strange that your learning to be normal and act like a functioning member of the Earth. But really, everyone has some weird thing about them. Everyone has something unlikable about them. While it isn't your job to find that in them, I think it's important to be aware of that part of yourself.

This is going to sound weirder. But think about inventing an imaginary friend or imaginary coach or imaginary therapist. I don't know where I got this idea from. But the results for me personally has been day and night. While it isn't exactly something you should shout from the roof tops. It's something deeply wholesome, personal, fun, exciting, and above all else self loving as an experiment of self. You can't love tell you've learned to love yourself and if your not your own best friend then you'll never know how to measure your relationships. I hope it helps someone as much as it's helped me.

1. Find a good therapist. It takes a lot of tries tell you find someone that's right for you. But even going to a therapist you don't like can still give you helpful hints and perspectives. It's really worth trying. Cause your worth the effort.

I titled this with "Hard truths" for a reason. I've been getting in trouble at every job I've ever worked at. People don't think I care about them. People think I'm rude when I'm not trying to be. People get really depressed at how quiet I can get. They can never tell what I'm thinking. All my interests are boring to people and really hard to share in a social setting. Things like art, science, making things, building things and deep spiritual practice. I just don't see how I can share these really deep things with people. I'm really not trying to say people are shallow. It's just hard to not follow the things I love.
As much as I hate to self diagnose because of how unscientific it is. It's expensive to be tested. But I have all the hallmarks of being autistic. I can keep my own company, have very specific interests, and I'm just always off in my own little world and when I try to approach others I just can't find the words sometimes. I also most definitely also have a mood disorder of some kind. With everything I've found, I can hopefully fix it or learn to live with it.
One of the founding fathers of Rocketeering was a homeschooler and his name was Jack Parsons. (Kind of used the first link I found, sorry if it's not the best. He's worth reading about!) While we no next to nothing about his schooling or his experience with it and around it. It definitely left a mark on him. But he had a saying with his other weird and nerdy friends he mad in school, when he did eventually get out of homeschooling and it was this
Per Aspera Ad Astra - Through Hardship to the Stars
I want you to know that even though things are scary for the world right now that you are apart of something. That everyone is. That each and everyday brings us all closer and together. That there is always a tomorrow, no matter what anyone says. That you are living in the best time to be alive as we don't know what to expect next. We are all part of the future and best of all you get the chance to help build that future. No matter how small that lego block is. We'll eventually get a skyscraper!
I love and hope for you all. I think it's time I take my ideas and go bug some other subreddits and other social medias. Take care and love yourselves.

It is finally time to review what is in my opinion the greatest game of all time. I am going to attempt to explain the addiction, the dedication, the variety and paradoxically the repetition of this hack n slash rpg masterpiece.
First off let me take you back to when I was first introduced to the game. Way back in 2001. I was a 16 year old, obese sweaty lad.
My friend Hugh who lived down the road from me would frequently have multiple people round his house, where we could relax and party. One day sitting round there I saw Hugh playing this little beauty on his desktop. When I asked what it was, he raved about it. He called the addiction 'catching the Diablo bug.'
He was running a Barbarian and had managed to get his level to the mid 90s. Hugh never had the internet back then. So looking back, I have always been impressed with how far he got on his own, especially considering he happened to choose the barbarian. Which is one of the more slower characters to get going. The amount of time he put in must of been immense.
Eventually he got off the damn pc and I got to experience the game for myself. I chose the Necromancer. I was hooked instantly. What really got me was the character experience progression. I was so excited collecting enough experience to gain each level. Then choosing what new skill I wanted to add to my repetoire. At that time I had no idea about character builds and stupidly got every skill available.
Another thing that really hooked me was the hunt for loot. Everytime a boss group fell I would dilegently search through the loot hoping for an improved piece of equipment. Maybe a new helmet, or wand? My life had changed I knew I had to have this game for myself. I knew there was only so much that Hugh would put up with me visiting, when I was there obviously just to play the game rather than visit him.
But there was a problem. I did not own a pc. I had a Playstation 1 and my mum would not be able to afford the £600 to £700 needed to buy me one. I was devestated and tried to find a replacement for Diablo addiction. So like an ex junkie trying to satiate his need for heroin with methadone, I scoured my local HMV store for something similar, some sort of rpg. I settled on the 9th installment of a series I had never heard of. I purchased Final Fantasy IX. Now this actually turned out to be another of my favourite games ever. But at the time I was dissapointed that it did not scratch my Diablo itch.
After probably a year of nagging my mum she spoke to my Grandad and he agreed to buy me my own pc and Diablo II LOD. He also bought me Star Wars Galactic Battleground, that I had witnessed round another friends house. I finally got to play Diablo as much as I wanted. And boy did I play it. Non stop. For hours. For days. For weeks. For months. For years. Here in 2021 I still play this game.
Now let me explain one of the game's greatest features. The variety of character builds. There are seven main character types that you can choose from. Necromancer, Barabarian, Sorceress, Amazon, Paladin and with the Lord of Destruction expansion the Druid and the Assassin. But in each of these characters there are multiple different character builds you can make. For instance with the Necromancer you could choose to be a Summoner, focusing mostly on the summon tree, pumping all your skill points into raising the dead and calling golems to do your dirty work for you. But if you wanted a more hands on approach you could focus on the bone skills. Pumping your skills into bone spears and bone walls. Trapping your enemies then firing your projectile bones at them. Don't fancy bone? Why not go poison? Pump your points in poison dagger, poison explosion and nova. I used to have loads of fun running into multiplayer games online and hostiling lower level player characters and pumping them full of poison nova and watching them die. This is just four obvious examples of build for the necromancer. There are many more. With sub builds and hybrids.
I would say the Paladin is the most versatile character with over 20 different possible builds. Before I die I want to make every single one for every character. The way it changes your play style really gives the game almost endless possibilities.
But it is strange that I am praising variety as one of it's greatest features, when it is also one of it's greatest faults. The repetition. Not in characters, but in quests and acts. The game is split up into five acts, in varying environments, including wide open green plains, a vast baron desert, a luscious and deep jungle, the depths of hell itself and with the LOD expansion, a snowy mountainscape. Inside each of these acts there are six quests for you to complete, except act 4 which only has three. After completing all the acts and beating the final boss you have the option to play on a higher difficulty. Normal, Nightmare and Hell. In this greater difficulty you can go back through the game against harder enemies, continuing to level your character. Also the best items are not available in Normal and Nightmare. It is impossible for them to drop anywhere but the Hell difficulty.
This is not a bad system but it would been better to have 15 different acts of progressive difficulty instead of running the same 5 over and over. The damn repetition. You run certain bosses repeatedly hoping they drop that item you're waiting for. You repeatedly run bosses to gain experience. I must of killed the act three boss Mephisto over 200,000 times as he is one of the best places to hunt for magic items. This didn't bother me. It was exciting every time one of my targets dropped, hoping that this would be the one where something awesome would spawn. Some of the most sort after items are runes. Little stone pieces that can be put in socketed items in a certain order to create a rune word. Which are some of the best items in the game.
I remember grinding for months, trading all my finds for runes, slowly building them up until I could afford my target. The Enigma. A rune word armour that gives any character the sorceress exclusive skill of teleport. That was a game changer. I will never forget the day I got my first one. Something that seemed so impossible to obtain as the runes needed to create it have something like a one in a million chance of dropping. But all my hard work paid off and I got to tele my paladin around. Priceless gaming moment for me. The graphics look dark and gritty, absolutely perfect for the game's content.
I love the way the game looks and am not a fan of the more cartoony looking Diablo III. the enemies look awesome especially Diablo himself. The music matches the graphics with its haunting tones. Each area has a theme, some being very intense. Act 1 has a kind of minimalist feel to it with its quiet tinkling on acoustic guitar. Act 2 has a more Arabic feel to it and is my personal favourite. Each act's music is well suited to the landscape and it is very well done.
The game does have a storyline but it really isn't about that. With the amount of times you're going to be playing through the same acts and quests you'll be skipping all text boxes.
So I have tried to explain what makes this game the greatest of all time in my opinion but words can not really convey how I feel about it. It's like an old friend I still visit. I love you Diablo!
Gameplay 20%
Graphics 20%
Sfx 20%
Controls 20%
Replayability 20%
Overall 100%

I have spent HOURS trying to complete this advancement, including three hours where I decided the easiest way to get mushroom stew was to elytra around until I found a mushroom biome, and then spent hours more frustrated that I couldn’t quite complete it. I tried every food again, and still, 38/40 (saving the enchanted gapple for last as a treat)!
Raw mutton. Somehow, what I had missed… was raw mutton. I had to spend ages trying to find beetroot because in our world (multiplayer) we’d all basically discarded the beetroot we found as it’s useless, and replaced farms in nearby villages with more useful crops. The one I was missing was RAW. MUTTON. Turns out my fire aspect sword bit me in the ass.
Side note- people say to go into the game files to find Advancement progression, but I cannot for the life of me do it. Does it have to be done by my friend, the one who is running the multiplayer server? Or is it not possible on a server? Thank you :)
Anyhow I’m very happy that I have finally achieved it. Now onto some of the more… obnoxious advancements

Hey everyone,
I could really use some insight and advice on this.
I started dating very recently (few weeks ago) this amazing person. It was basically love at first sight and we spent so much time together, and we still do. My boyfriend is a wonderful person - he's caring, intelligent, and has a great sense of humor. However, he's also undeniably introverted, and sometimes that can make things a bit challenging for me to understand. From the outside, he might come off as cold or distant, especially when we are together and start doing his own things (we usually stay in his apartment because I'm moving out from mine), like playing games, or reading or other 'alone' things he does.
I know he's been living alone and being alone for quite a while before meeting me, he had just very few dates after the end of his only relationship. He also told me he's a bit en guarde with me because he's afraid I'll withdraw out of the blue/show my "true side" and end the relationship.
As someone who's more on the extroverted side but very insecure still, I find myself struggling to fully comprehend his need for solitude and quiet time. It's not that I don't respect his boundaries or understand the importance of recharge time; it's just sometimes difficult for me to understand why he's acting colder or why he does alone activities even we are together.
However, I know deep down that he cares about me a lot. He shows it in his own way - through small gestures, acts of service, and deep conversations when we're alone together. But I can't help but wonder if there's more I could be doing to support him and make him feel understood and appreciated.
So, fellow Redditors, I'm turning to you for advice. How can I better understand and support my introverted boyfriend? What are some ways I can bridge the gap between our different personality types and ensure that he feels loved and valued in our relationship? Any insights or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help!

Some of my notes on the instincts (kind long and rambly but could be helpful:
The instincts generally reflect our own personal prioritizes for having our needs met, but also manifests in how we try to mirror and channel those instincts in our relationships with others. Here’s a little bit about how being SX instinct first/second contrasts with being that instinct last in this regard. So we look after our own instinctual needs (as prioritized by our stacking) and we also extend the same priorities to others by default.
Dominant instinct is like a drug fix, we go after it and desire it so much that we develop a tolerance to it, become hard to please, addicted, constantly craving it. It starts out as a genuine/balanced need and we just take it too far (that’s how it ends up being our dominant, usually happens early in childhood, think way back).
Second instinct is more “natural”, something we do somewhat spontaneously, can be a “free/easy” space for us (depending on the relationship with the other two instincts), can sometimes antagonize the dominant or can work in synergy with it.
Last instinct is omitted from the “stacking”, and sometimes known as the blind spot. Definitely an area we are very close to literally blind in it. Blind to what it is, blind to how to take care of it, and blind within that domain in general.
We don’t see any of the instincts clearly, they’re all distorted, even the secondary – but given our priorities, the secondary instinct can be a place that we seem weirdly skilled and it’s often somewhat effortless. An example would be me, I went into a job for a specific technical skill and then was promoted as an HR person due to my social skills. No training or intention in that area, just happened naturally because I have a knack for understanding people and their potential.
SX FIRST/SECOND: offers and initiates SX with charged looks, sexual attraction gestures, erotic and emotional revelations, sexual provocations, opportunities to channel passions and chemistry, welcomes “fusion” in the form of opening/dissolving boundaries and expanding sense of self, can often take the first steps towards intimacy and push the envelope on boundaries. Readily allows themselves to be swept up in passions/impulses and invites others to do the same. Can also be overly provocative and always “on the hook/in heat” for SX stimulation. E.g. the codependency of SX comes in and they can be sensitive to your rejection or easily turned on and off (fickle, on and off, up and down, hot and cold, etc). Still, the idea is that they’re sensitive to your SX needs and look first for chemistry, attraction, charge, sexuality, repulsion, boundary-pushing, etc. in the relationships. Even if you aren’t in a sexual relationship they have an eye out for that and overemphasize SX. Can be prone to commodifying/objectifying their relationships and feelings towards others based on how many SX sparks fly in their company.
SX LAST - deprioritizes SX and can make others’ intimacy needs seem lost, unacknowledged. Can turn sexuality into something frigid/stiff/forced, forbidden, or shallowly physical and/or social (“friends with benefits”). Doesn’t naturally enjoy having mutual boundaries disturbed or expanded in real time and can seem overly inhibited. Lacks spontaneity when it comes to taking risks from an emotional or sexual standpoint. SX becomes an afterthought. All the energy is spent trying to focus on other instincts. E.g. if others are feeling comfortable/taken care of/boundary maintenance (SP) or involved/included/affiliated (SO) and SX boundary dissolution and sexual ecstatic peaks/intensities gets hung out to dry. This can lead to (at times) rather practical, mundane, efficient, boring, perfunctory, formal, lifeless relationships lacking much spark and charisma. And because SX is being repressed, it can come out in unhealthy and irresponsible ways.
SP FIRST/SECOND - naturally looks after your needs, asks if you are comfortable, produces physical sustenance and naturally provides practical help. Make strong caretakers and providers. (I stopped writing here, maybe others can fill this in, I'm not SP first or second but you get the idea. Often wants to engage others in more physical activities, like fitness, eating, exploring, going out. SP is often about "lifestyle" and SP-types can be classic "good life" people who wants to welcome you to enjoy their lifestyle with them, whatever that may be. They can really encourage you to indulge and enjoy life e.g. through food, drink, etc. An SP-first or second can have a "don't hold back" attitude that they extend towards others, like spending money shopping, food, making sure you're feeling good, looking good, etc. But it can be a bit shallow since it doesn't necessarily integrate SO and SX needs. Still, has a way of really looking at the basics of what you need and works in cooperation with you to have both of your SP needs addressed.
SP BLINDS - can make others feel neglected in SP, glosses over physical needs and forgets about practical needs and responsibilities. Has a childish quality about them, will tune out when SP responsibilities come up, will lose track of what you’re saying if it’s too focused on practicality, etc. Will often find it pretty boring and tedious to talk about stuff like finances, health, job, logistics, material needs, etc. Won’t naturally take into account your SP needs/state when trying to filter the experience, will sometimes lack some empathy e.g. if you’re sick they might dismiss you as being sick, or if you’re poor they might not realize how much worse off you are than they are, etc. This can lead to various forms of tactlessness because SP is such a central need that when it’s downplayed in importance, there’s this lack of understanding what really makes us tick and needs to be addressed.
SOC-FIRST/SECONDS - involves you in their life, welcomes you to concessions, events, causes, shares with you the latest news and brings you into their circle. SO is very much about larger groups, beyond one-to-one (where SX intimacy is dissipated and collective needs are met). It can be very relating/bonding/friendship-focused in the one-to-one sense but the topic of conversation quickly moves towards other people and broader affiliations. Usually a one-on-one relationship won’t be able to sustain if there isn’t a good bit of juice from SX. Therefore SOC-FIRSTS/SECONDS will often be skilled at connecting you, them, others, to a larger group. Often that’s where their relationships play out most vibrantly. Will invite you to the party, bring up something that’s going on in the community, ask about your friends, tell you about theirs, ask about your social groups, etc. You’ll quickly start to see that the energy is expanded beyond just you/them. And can also sometimes easily get into politics, since understanding the broader sphere becomes very important and central to the personality.
SOC-BLINDS: can be totally oblivious to larger groups like that and will downplay their importance. SOC blind can easily lump big groups of people together due to their blindness, will make generalizations about all social connections being a waste of time, etc (unless they can push SP or SX buttons). Can stereotype other people quite easily as faceless masses. Often won’t invite you along, won’t focus on broader inclusion, won’t be interested in coming along with you and others, just tends to draw a strong boundary, has limited energy or motivation to really participate in a community. Seemingly not as good relating to a group as a whole, doesn’t feel motivated or driven to talk to people, can easily remove themselves from group involvement and will often feel relieved. Can easily see SOC as a burden/waste of time. Too complicated, not enough independence/intimacy, just a general pain, obligation, etc. Also, can be quite tactless because there isn’t such a strong sensitivity of customs, traditions, manners, ethics, morals, politeness, adapting to others, can seem selfish, disinterested, and cold.

Producer: So, you have a video game for me?
Writer: Yes, sir, I do! It's a battle royale game called Fortnite.
Producer: Fork Knife? Is it a food-making game where you eat with a Fork and a Knife?
Writer: Well, No actually, sir, this is a shooter game where players are dropped onto an island where they must scavenge for weapons and resources inside people's homes while trying to be the last person standing.
Producer: Sounds a lot like that game PUBG.
Writer: Well, yes, it's Very similar to that.
Producer: So, Isn't that kind of a rip-off? Whats the point of making this game if its gonna be a Complete rip-off?
Writer: What if we give the player the ability to build stuff in the game?
Producer: Thats different enough. So how do we do the building in this Fork-knife game of yours?
Writer: Well, we add a building mechanic where players can gather materials and construct forts and other structures to defend themselves.
Producer: So, they can build in the middle of a fight?
Writer: They sure can!
Producer: Won't that make the combat complicated and kind of confusing?
Writer: Oh, definitely. Super confusing. And we're going to have this cartoony art style, so it's all bright and colorful.
Producer: Cartoony art style?
Writer: Yes, sir, we want to attract a younger audience, you know, kids and teenagers.
Producer: Really? And what about older players?
Writer: They'll probably play it too. Some might even play it so much while filming themselves sitting, eating, and drinking inside a room infront of a bunch of cameras to a bunch of digital people on some kind of streaming-platform out there. And some older players might even be so good that they can be placed inside a room with other players that are as good as them.
Producer: Okay, okay, But wait. Why would older players be interested in a game designed for kids?
Writer: Because it's free.
Producer: Oh, older people love free things.
Writer: And we’ll have these things called Emotes where players can dance and do fun gestures for no reason.
Producer: Why would they need that?
Writer: To taunt other players and express themselves, and making it easier for other players to get kills!
Producer: And we're sure kids will love this?
Writer: Oh, absolutely. They'll be flossing in no time.
Producer: What’s flossing?
Writer: It’s one of the dances that we’ll include in the game.
Producer: Ah, okay, and how will we make money?
Writer: Super easy, barely an inconvenience.
Producer: How come?
Writer: Microtransactions.
Producer: Microtransactions?
Writer*: Yeah, Microtransactions. Players can buy this thing called V-Bucks, which is our in-game currency, to get skins, emotes, and other cosmetic items.
Producer: So, none of these items give players a competitive advantage?
Writer: Nope, just cosmetics.
Producer: And people will spend real money on that?
Writer: Oh, they definitely will.
Producer: How are you so sure?
Writer: Because we’ll make it really cool and hard to resist. Plus, we'll create this thing called FOMO.
Producer: FOMO?
Writer: Fear of Missing Out. We’ll have limited-time items so players feel pressured to buy them before they're gone.
Producer: So, we’re going to exploit psychological weaknesses?
Writer: Oh, for sure.
Producer: Exploiting psychological weaknesses is tight! So, how will players get to the Island?
Writer: They’ll skydive from a flying bus.
Producer: A flying bus?
Writer: Yeah, we’ll call it the Battle Bus.
Producer: Why would a bus be flying?
Writer: Because it's fun.
Producer: But How does it fly tho?
Writer: Listen, sir, i'm gonna need you to get all the way off my back about why the Battle Bus can fly using a very big sketchy pop-able baloon but only moves one direction, okay.
Producer: Okay, let me get off of that thing.
Writer: Oh, and every few minutes, a storm will shrink the play area, forcing players into a smaller and smaller circle until one player remains.
Producer: Why would a storm do that?
Writer: To make the game faster and more intense.
Producer: But thats not--- never mind.
Writer: And we’ll have different game modes, including solo, duo, and squads, so players can team up with friends.
Producer: What if players don’t have friends?
Writer: Then they’ll be loners. Solo mode is perfect for that.
Producer: And how will we keep the game fresh?
Writer: We'll have seasonal updates with new themes, items, and challenges.
Producer: Seasonal updates?
Writer: Plus, we’ll add crossover events with popular franchises from all our child hoods we can think off.
Producer: Like what?
Writer: Well, i'm just gonna throw some names out there, just top of my head, *Marvel, Star Wars, DC, Avatar, Family Guy, TMNT, POTC, Rick and Morty, and a Whole bunch of other stuff.
Producer: So, we’re going to have superheroes and nerds fighting each other in a game where you can build forts and dance?
Writer: Exactly.
Producer: That sounds amazing!
Writer: Oh, it’s going to be super amazing.
Producer: And that's Fortnite. So, what do you think?
Writer: I think we’ll make billions.
Producer: We're gonna be rich!
Producer: Wow, wow, wow. Wow.
Producer: But wait, you forgot to say what’s the story behind this game?
Writer: Oh, right, well, the island is constantly changing and evolving. At first, there isn't much backstory, only younger and older players ACTIVELY hunting each other down and killing each other, but over time, we introduce a series of events and lore that shape the game's world.
Producer: Interesting. What kind of events and lore are we talking about?
Writer: Well, Each season, we add new story elements to the game. For example, there's this mysterious organization called "The Imagined Order" that's manipulating the island. Players uncover clues and secrets about them as the game progresses.
Producer: So, there are hidden stories and mysteries?
Writer: Exactly. One season, we had a massive meteor strike that changed the landscape. Another season, a giant iceberg crashed into the island, bringing new areas to explore. We also introduced a volcanic eruption that altered the terrain significantly.
Producer: Sounds like a lot of natural disasters.
Writer: Ye ye ye. But all these events tie into the overarching narrative. There's this powerful artifact called the Zero Point at the center of the island, and it's the source of all these changes.
Producer: What’s the Zero Point?
Writer: It's a mysterious energy source that can manipulate time and space. Different factions and characters try to control it, leading to conflicts and alliances.
Producer: Who are these characters?
Writer: We've introduced various characters over time, like Jonesy, who starts as a standard avatar but becomes central to the story. He’s sort of the player’s guide and gets involved in all the major events.
Producer: And these characters, they have backstories?
Writer: Yes, each character has their own backstory and motives. Some are heroes trying to save the island, others are villains seeking power. We add new characters regularly to keep things fresh and engaging.
Producer: How do players learn about all this?
Writer: Through in-game events, cutscenes, and quests. For instance, we might have a live event where something dramatic happens, like a giant robot fighting a monster. These events often change the map and advance the storyline.
Producer: Live events? How do those work?
Writer: At specific times, we host live events where players can participate or just watch something big unfold. These events are usually massive, with millions of players logging in to witness them.
Producer: That sounds like a logistical nightmare.
Writer: It can be, but it creates a shared experience that players love. It's a huge part of what keeps the community engaged.
Producer: So, the story is dynamic and ever-changing?
Writer: Exactly. We keep evolving the narrative with each season, adding new mysteries and plot twists. It's like an ongoing TV show where the players are part of the story.
Producer: And this keeps players coming back?
Writer: Absolutely. The evolving story and frequent updates make sure there's always something new to discover and experience.
Producer: Sounds like you’ve thought of everything.
Writer: We’ve tried to make it as immersive and engaging as possible. The story is just one part of what makes Fortnite a unique and exciting game.
Producer: Well, I’m sold. Let’s make this game!

I would like to apologize in advance I have autism so my typing pattern may come off as weird and hard to understand so please feel free to ask questions. Me and this guy, who I will call Sam for privacy reasons, went to high school together. We never really talked much in high school but I did have a small crush on him. I would be more considered a loser in hs and Sam was definitely more popular. After hs I left to live with my grandma in a different state and stopped talking to almost everyone from there.
Recently he found my insta, which I have set up in a way as to not be found with a simple search. I thought it was odd because a few days prior I had a dream about him and my friend told me I should dm him. We start to talk and it turns out we have a lot in common and the text start to get flirty.
A few days after we start talking one of his close friends DMs me to apologize for “bullying” me. I would like to note that I didn’t remember who this person was at first and definitely don’t remember being bullied by them. I thought it was weird but just accepted their apology because who not. Me and Sam recently went on a date and it went really well but I couldn’t help but notice that he kept bringing up his friend. Now I may be bad at noticing social cues but, I could tell that ever time he mentioned his name he kinda would stop to see if I would react.
Other than that the date went well and we are still talking and flirting with each other. Now here comes my concern, we have each other on Snapchat and I remember him posting a picture of him and this girl a few months before he dm’d me. He doesn’t have any sisters and was definitely known for sleeping around(which I’m not saying anything because who am I to judge) he always is texting me very sporadically and somehow always is busy at work.
He works for his dad, who owns a construction company. And I’ve been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but when ever we are supposed to hang out he always somehow gets called into work and doesn’t tell me he can’t hang out until it way past the time we set up. I would like to note that we like 2 hours away from each other. But any other day he is replying back super early and it’s usually before he goes to work.
Finally I’m supposed to go work at a church camp(no I’m not religious I’m doing it for my mom) and I told him that I would be kinda sad because we wouldn’t be able to talk as much. He then send me “don’t get me wrong I like you too but we are just getting started” which rubbed me the wrong way and I can’t figure out why.
So, am I just over thinking everything or do I have a reason to feel like I’m being 2 timed?

https://www.reddit.com/IsraelPalestine/comments/1bw8dp8/why_israel_cant_stop_the_war_from_an_israeli/
Let's look at another country who is still very new to the world scene: the United States. American settlers occupied land that had never been theirs, but then as OP pointed out, indigenous tribes were just on the land. They had no nations recognized by global powers of the day. They had no right to the land. So how can anyone say that Americans "took" the land or, worse, "stole" it? How can you steal something that has no owner?
Footnote: Sure, you had the Six Nations Confederacy, you had the Iroquois "Nation" and the other "Nations", but all of these only started calling themselves Nations after American settlers arrived and declared their intention to self-govern on land that Native Americans had never claimed as belonging to them.
Secondly, I'm getting tired in with the hand-wringing about children's deaths. A lot of these comments are from people who have never seen a child be shot and it sure sounds like virtue-signaling to me that they are wailing on about it. IDF soldiers are just shooting children in the center of their respective foreheads from very accurate sniper scopes with precision and deliberate intent. Then they are telling the world that they didn't mean to, or didn't want to, or they were attacked. I guess I understand how people are upset by this, but they are curiously not upset by the fact that these children, excuse me, these kids, were all terrorists. In America, we have baseball. In Gaza and the West Bank, they have Hamas.
In America, Native American children were shot, trampled to death, or boarded in schools and beaten, starved, or given no treatment for disease in challenging conditions. But guess what? This made room for new children, American children, who were able to increase in numbers faster than ever before because they lived in a new system with better infrastructure, economy, broad-reaching but granular governance that has things like checks and balances, accountability to the law, and equitable resources and availability of food, water, shelter and affordable healthcare. It's true that the Native American population is much reduced (the original numbers are greatly exaggerated, and I should state here that I am a smallpox truther), but their culture and languages have survived intact while they get to enjoy every access to the wonderful things the replacement culture offers, like cars, TV shows, variety of cuisines, sports, even rarer pastimes like hang-gliding or surfing.
Americans didn't want to slaughter Native Americans, but when we presented them with a better way of life and harmony, they attacked our wives and our children. They raided our crops, claiming that the land was not ours to farm . . . when no one had ever been farming there!
And then Americans were accused of wantonly shooting buffalos to deprive Native Americans of their primary food source, in an effort to force them into a farming and/or system of dependency. This is nonsense. American settlers went out of their way to enrichen and replenish buffalo meat for Native American populations all over the country in order to show their support for their populations. Native Americans were too lazy to take advantage of all the carcasses we provided them. ....And then they stole our guns, guns they had not invented, and used them against us. ....If we hadn't reduced their populations to manageable reservations, it's not a question of where we would be. It's a question of where they would be. It's a humanitarian effort to restrain Native Americans from themselves. Their systems sustained themselves for at least 20,000 years. We offered them a better one that was brand-new, and they didn't want it. Please tell me how that is logical.
There's a lot of talk about giving back land to Palestinians. I would caution against this. What if Americans gave back land to Native Americans? What would they do with it? What if they decide to self-govern in a way Americans don't find harmony with? What if it doesn't involve our metrics for what constitutes a civilized people? I would argue that Native Americans could never independently satisfy this criteria, just as the Palestinians never could for the Israelis. What you need to do is get rid of the idea of Palestine. They are violently defending a vision of a nation that is disqualified by the example of the nation of Israel. In other words, if the Palestinians can't self-govern in a way that satisfies the terms set by Israel, then they have proven themselves incapable of self-governance and statehood, because they only started talking about statehood upon Israel successfully establishing its own.
I disagree that millions of "innocent" Germans were killed in WWII. I can't believe anyone actually believes this. Just as in Palestine, every child over the age of 4 is completely accountable for the actions of Hamas, so were civilian Germans accountable for the actions of the Noisies during WWII. To be clear, there were zero Allied war crimes in Germany or in Japan or anywhere else because the Axis started it.
Same as with Native Americans. They pre-emptively invaded pristine land that was not theirs to occupy, and so when American settlers arrived and found people living there, they were obligated to remove them. The refusal of Native Americans to relocate to Northern Canada, which is the size of at least 20 Israels, continues to baffle me, and I know I'm not alone on this.
It's time that Americans celebrate their rescue of the land which was unlawfully occupied by Native American invaders who failed to honor it with an American way of life. If they failed to raise their kids according to the American principles embedded in the very soil of this great country, then the blood is not on the hands of American settlers for shooting them, but their parents'.
Also, do you realize how difficult it is to shoot a panicked child running this way and that way with their limbs flying in all directions trying to escape you? What are they so panicked about? A member of the IDF is pointing their rifle at them because they aren't stopping to listen to reason. Let's be honest. That child may have some good points but for the most part they are utterly corrupted. Do you really want that child to grow up in a culture that teaches them hate, teaches them disdain for a culture of sense and reason, of peace and mutually-beneficial economy? I know if I were that child, aged 4 or 5 or 6, but for an instant suddenly granted with the intelligence that I have today, I would immediately stop trying to flee for safety and approach the nearest gun-bearing IDF sniper, place their barrel in my mouth, and tearfully ask them them to pull the trigger.
This is what people don't understand about the American relationship with Israel. America may have its own inside agitators (who mostly come from abroad), it's true. But we are both embarked, hand in hand (our hands are filled with guns and knives and bombs and are slippery with blood, but still attached), on a mission of mercy.
I am open to a civilized debate on any of the above points. Please don't just scan my comment and reply with "Palestinians are actual people!" or "Children don't deserve to be murdered!"

I had surgery just under 2 weeks ago, my friend Jen knows exactly what surgery I had, the complications I had on top of it in great detail and she visited me a few days after as well and saw how much I was struggling physically and mentally. I’ve also kept her up to date on how things are going with me after that in our friend group.
A simple Google immediately says my initial recovery time is 6-8 weeks without complications, 3 months for a really full recovery. Jen is a doctor so she doesn’t even need to Google but if she’s unsure I’m sure can refresh herself on it before she decides how to approach me confidently on the situation.
Last week, just 1 week after my surgery, she asked if I can come out for coffee with her. I was extremely shocked she was doing this but also very disappointed in her. I was hoping she wouldn’t do this because of her history.
Jen is a doctor and as long as she first started training to be one until now being an experienced doctor has used it as a way to diminish any health issues her friends have, with a rolling eyes attitude to anything you say you have or think you have, treating you like a hysterical medical time waster and like everything you think you have is you exaggerating or wanting to be ill. She’s never wanted us to go to her for medical advice and we’ve always respected that, but as friends talking about being ill in general occasionally and medical things come up in personal conversations (I had to go to A&E last night etc), she herself talks about her own.
Once I mentioned I’d had a migraine at the weekend and she immediately interrupted me with disdain patronisingly saying a headache isn’t a migraine. I said I had to go A&E as I could barely walk or see. She shut up straight away but you’d think she’d stop doing things like that after getting responses like that everytime but she never does. Only when you’re in an undeniable active serious medical scenario she gives you grace and support. But when she has a simple cold she makes a huge deal about how she can’t come out, which is completely understandable but very different to her attitude to others being unwell.
She even tried to diminish the suspected illness I currently had before I was given a surgery date that I could use to prove to her it’s being taken seriously by MY doctor. During the surgery time and immediate days after in hospital she acted supportive answering questions, because there was no way she can diminish that, but then went back to acting like it’s nothing and brushing me off when I had a scary complication at home and tried to ask her if it needs following up tonight or not. It did need following up and needed antibiotics, if I’d gone by her reaction I’d have left it.
Jen never asked me again how I am, asked me to go for coffee 1 week post surgery, when I said I’m not anywhere near leaving the house stage she said nothing. She never asked how I am again since either and now less than 2 weeks post surgery she’s asking me to go out shopping and for lunch with her like my surgery never happened.
This time I’m really angry. I’ve always been the kind of person to not make others feel awkward or embarrassed and laughing off situations like this, especially with Jen’s attitude and comments towards me and others, I always underplay it for her instead of making her feel bad. I don’t want to escalate the situation or spend a lot of energy on it especially in my physical and mental state of recovery but I do want to reply to her briefly and succinctly putting her in her place for once. How shall I reply to her?
TL:DR - My doctor friend keeps asking me to come out and ignoring I’ve had surgery

... and feel like a complete idiot, it's easy to see after the fact how they got me.
Figured I should post here as a PSA, maybe there's a chance to out the scammer to the public a bit, but also give you folks a chance to chuckle at my expense.
I don't use twitter much, never was a fan of it, but recently RoaringKitty aka DeepFuckingValue of GameStop 2021 fame made some meme posts and the GME shares I was keeping as a souvenir from that event pumped in a big way. So I get on twitter to see what's up, and did not realise this comment, underneath a real post on the same page, was an impersonator. The fine print account name being TheRoafingKitty rather than TheRoaringKitty:
https://twitter.com/TheRoafingKitty/status/1790150385979789373
So I joined the discord, where it said new users must be verified to access the main channels, and gave several methods to verify by connecting a crypto wallet, OK, that's immediately a bit sus but not completely out of the ordinary for some financial channels, but hey I trust DFV, so it's all good. Was given a QR code to attach a crypto wallet, scanning that QR code from within the wallet put my wallet software into a loop where it requested signature access with a warning, I say no, it request again, over and over, making the wallet software unusable, but at the same time I DO trust Roaring Kitty, and haven't yet realised it was a fake post, so after clicking no about 20 times I finally click OK, and within a minute, the 0.99 ETH I had in that wallet was gone.
This is the first time I've ever fallen for any kind of scam, I'm usually extremely skeptical, but I guess I really just wanted it to be true, it wasn't as though it were offering free coins or whatever, just access to a discord channel where fake DFV would be doing an AMA later.
I don't hold any hope of getting the ETH back, and I'm assuming that I should make a new wallet and transfer everything out of the compromised one, even if they cant access the other coins, that ETH address is cooked, but I guess the real reason for posting this is that in all of this the thing I find most surprising is the absolute lack of support on either Twitter or Discord for dealing with this sort of thing.
Something like this should happen to one person, once, before the channel and twitter account is promptly shut down. Maybe I was that one person, but now after doing everything I could to contact and report the scammer on both platforms, the accounts are still active and I have got only automated responses, so I am not holding my breath. The Twitter account has been active since 2009, and the discord since Jan 2023.

Hello there,
I was wondering if I was the only one experiencing this situation and would like to know if anybody was able to rewire their brain
I’m born in 1996, meaning the tv has always been part of my life and my parents had enough means so that I had one in my room at an early age. A lot of my childhood was spent watching TV, playing video games and being in front of screens. Sadly, I wasn’t the kind of gamer that was stimulating their brain with gaming, I was doing it to avoid reality and was sometimes able to do it 10-12hrs a day. I feel like most of it was me staring aimlessly at a screen just to shut my brain off. These behaviours continued through my teenage years and my early adult years. I’ve worked hard on myself in the last year to break the pattern. I’m very proud of that but at the same time I feel like the damages are done. I’ve always been mentally a bit slower than the average. Not necessarily dumb but but being ADHD/slow made me look dumb. Also I feel immature for my age, like i didn’t properly lived the years when I was supposed to grow and mature. Now I’m often overwhelmed and anxious whenever I need to get out of my routine or my confort zone. Also, the way that my brain is wired is so anti-productive, when I receive new information and/or am questioned on it I start thinking about how I will be perceived if I say stupid shit instead of thinking about the answer.
I’m at a stage of my life where I want to step up, i want to absorb a lot of information and remember it. I want to feel in control and not at the mercy of a complicated question. I feel like i did a lot of progress but I would love to hear the testimonials of people that got out of this state and reached their full potential and quite frankly, to know if it’s possible.
Thank you to any of you that read everything.

Background
I [F] had a friend [Lisa] since childhood. We are now 31. Over the past few years, I had been experiencing a severe brain injury, chronic illness, and really unhealthy physical and emotional things from my parents. These things with my parents had happened since I was a child. It started as emotional then turned physical when my health took a turn in the past few years. Things got so bad that I had to move away to focus on my health and to heal - a very hard and scary decision after investing six years into trying to address the unhealthy behaviors with my family and having no income at the time. Things went no contact with my family after this. My parents are friends with Lisa's family because they are in the same circle as a lot of my extended family. Lisa had moved away when most of the unhealthy physical behaviors and illness started to happen in my life, but we kept in touch and had multiple chats about what was going on, including my health conditions and the unhealthy physical behaviours and the no contact situation I was in with my parents.
AITA?
This past year she came home and was getting married. I never received a save the date, but I had her over with her partner and made a beautiful brunch I put a lot of time and effort in to welcoming her home and celebrating her engagement. Her wedding naturally came up and I mentioned that I'm not sure I could attend if my parents will be there (b/c of PTSD from what happened and still trying to heal and the no contact situation). Lisa knew we were not communicating and that things were unhealthy but still invited my parents to her wedding without saying anything to me about it. When I brought up I may not be able to attend with them there, she got super defensive and her response was "Well that's your choice." aka - she didn't want to get involved with it or help me at all.
It ended up putting me in a very difficult position, one I don't feel she was open to talking about. Lisa and I were very close (like sisters) and so I wanted to attend in some way, but had been advised by multiple medical professionals to not go if my parents were there because of the unhealthy physical and emotional things that had happened with them. My counselor said to me why don't you ask if it's possible they don't attend? And so I considered standing up for myself and asking because I usually don't say anything about these kind of situations. Lisa's response was "That's not a fair question. You can come to watch me get ready before the ceremony. But I already sent out save the dates so they are coming." Keep in mind I didn't know save the dates went out because I never received one. She also said at one point "You can't avoid your parents for the rest of your life." and mentioned she wouldn't be having any bridesmaids / a wedding party.
After these responses, I decided to not attend her wedding. I would have been happy to attend in some way or another and make the 3.5 hour commute even with the disabilities I have that would have made it very difficult, but I just felt there was no compassion or sympathy/understanding which was really hard on my heart after I had talked to her so much over the years it all. I also stepped away from our friendship as it didn't feel healthy to me anymore and I could foresee similar situations happening in future. I understand she was in a hard position too, but I feel she could have handled it in a way that supported me as her friend more and in a way that had healthier communication and recognized the difficult place I was in too.
Later she reached out after her wedding to talk but again offered no accountability, no compassion, or sympathy for the situation I was in. I had tried to stay focused on a solution for the both of us and asked "Is it possible they don't come to future events or will they always be at your events? Because I'm not sure I can be there if they are there and I'm not sure how this friendship will work." She stated opinions in response "I would have been able to do that" but "A counselor should never tell you what to do." and "You need to stop avoiding conflict", and other opinions. She also mentioned that my parents offered to not go (which she never mentioned until after her wedding/this point) and told me I should have just waited essentially and that "I was going to ask you to be my maid of honor" which was weird given her initial comment of no wedding party.
Again, I don't feel this was a healthy approach to resolving the conflict. I also later found out she accepted a lot of money from my parents as a wedding gift and had been spending time at their place after I had stepped away from our friendship. I ended up ending the friendship at this point.

Yelena watched the doorway through which the young Ashfield scion had just left for a few moments more as she pondered over the meeting they’d just had.
*Precocious indeed,* she thought with a smile.
A smile that only grew as her gaze flitted over to her childhood friend’s… complicated expression.
It seemed young William’s decision had come as much a surprise to his instructor as it had come to Yelena herself.
“He said no,” Joana said after a few moments.
Yelena nodded slowly as she reclined into her friend’s surprisingly comfortable chair. Given what she knew of Griffith, the Queen had half expected the thing to be harder than mithril when she first sat down - but it was surprisingly plush.
“Not without good reason,” Yelena said as she shifted about.
“Good reason?” Joana scoffed. “You offered him your daughter’s hand.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “You offered *all* of your daughter’s hands.”
Yelena rolled her eyes at her friend’s tone. “And if he’d accepted I would have considered it a bargain.”
A minor scandal and the loss of a number of future marriage alliances was ultimately nothing compared to the ability to raid Kraken nests. And that was ignoring that a hypothetical means to slay kraken in deep water would undoubtedly have other applications.
Applications that would be incredibly useful in the months to come.
Though, perhaps, if young William’s plans came to fruition that coming storm could be delayed by a few years.
“…Are things truly that desperate?” Joana asked quietly.
“They’re not great,” Yelena admitted, massaging the bridge of her nose. “The Blackstones… I knew they’d resist the reforms, but to threaten open rebellion?”
She’d not expected that. Not even in her wildest dreams. Lindholm’s only human ducal house had ever been wilful, and their antipathy towards the Orcs who dwelled in the Sunlands was well documented, but surely even they could see why Yelena was doing what she was.
Regardless of what her critics said, her decision to end the slave trade in Lindholm was most assuredly not the result of ‘useless sentiment’.
Far from it.
Oh certainly, Yelena had no love for the institution of slavery, for reasons both moral and financial, but that wasn’t why she’d created the abolitionist movement.
With each passing year, the Homeland’s view of Lindholm grew ever more covetous. More and more the Sun Empress and Desert Khan’s rhetoric centred less on their ongoing deadlock with each other and more on the idea of ‘recovering wayward territories’.
Certainly, that could have been a reference to Old Growth as much as Lindholm, but Yelena doubted it.
Lindholm might have scared the Solites and Lunites into retreating by choosing to engage them over deep water, but ultimately those victories were borne of a lack of conviction on the part of her foes.
Had the two disparate fleets been willing to risk the permanent loss of a small portion of their mithril cores in order to achieve victory and push towards the mainland, they may well have been able to flip the allegiances of a number of Lindholmian houses.
Oh, certainly, the high elves and dark elves of Lindholm might have prided themselves on maintaining the strictures of equality that defined the Old Empire – but with either Solite or Lunite airships hovering over their family castles, she couldn’t help but wonder if some might reconsider their stances on their fellow elves.
No, while an invasion of Lindholm would certainly be costly, it was entirely within the realm of reason.
An invasion of the Old Growth however?
There was a reason the Wood Elves – as they named themselves – had managed to remain independent of both the other two, much larger, nations despite sharing land borders with both of them.
Their strange magics might have been muted and weak beyond the borders of their home, but within their territory they were nigh invincible.
No, if there was to be any ‘reclamation’ of any territory belonging to the old Aelven Imperium, it was likely to come from Lindholm.
To that end, the kingdom could ill afford to keep feeding people and iron into the meatgrinder that was the Sunlands. Could ill afford to keep orcs that might otherwise be valuable mages laboring in the fields under the eyes of watchful taskmasters.
Lindholm needed every mage-knight it could get – regardless of the color of their skin or the shape of their ears.
Yet after year and years of negotiations and attempts to shift public opinion on the matter, the North still remained willfully ignorant of that truth.
“Surely they know that even if they win, any kind of division between us will just see the Homeland sweep over them?” Joana said.
Yelena shrugged. “I have a feeling that Duchess Blackstone’s victories over both the Lunites and Solites has left her confident of repeating the fact should it come to that.”
Foolhardy, in her eyes, but no one had ever accused the Blackstones of being meek. Nor being incapable of backing up their sometimes insane claims. What other House could lay claim to an ancestry that had once beaten back the Old Imperium at the height of its power?
Where other human nobles had been sworn into the Old Imperium on their knees with their battered armies scattered to the winds, the Blackstones managed to resist long and hard enough that the Imperial Legions had been forced to come to the negotiating table.
Ultimately, the Blackstones had still been absorbed into the Empire, but they’d done so on their terms with their heads unbowed.
…Though it was somewhat ironic that nearly a thousand years on, it was now those same humans in the position of the old Imperial Legion while it was the free orcs who now utilized the same strategies as the old Blackstone tribes – right down to the Wyvern riders.
“I could imagine that,” Joana muttered.
“Is it strange that I think she might pull it off?” Yelena said – though only because she was sure that no one beyond her friend and silent guards was listening.
“Part of me wants to argue that, but… do you think it’s a human thing?”
Yelena thought about the Blackstones and the young man who’d just turned down a chance to be king one day.
“Perhaps,” she admitted.
Personally she thought it was because humans didn’t live as long – and there was more of them. When your life could be measured in but a single century, perhaps you were a bit more inclined towards taking risks that might make an elf balk?
…Risks like trying to take your first year team up against a third year team in the name of trying to avoid a war.
Or at least delay it.
“I still can’t believe he said no to your offer,” Joana said, something… complicated in her friend’s expression.
Yelena grinned at the sight, though she wrestled down the urge to ask a number of probing questions of her normally straight laced friend, who seemed to have a childish crush on a young man nearly ten years her junior – and her student beside.
Normally she’d be all over a scandal that delicious.
Alas, right now was work time. “I can. He gave me his reasons and they were solid.”
Well, solid enough. If you squinted a bit. And tried to think ‘human’.
Rather than all-but guarantee a war by having the Crown break off his betrothal, he intended to do it himself.
Loudly and publicly.
And if he won – and that was a big *if* – he’d all but destroy any kind of excuse the Blackstones might have to declare war in response. Indeed, by being ‘shamed’ in such a public manner they’d need to spend a few years at least regathering lost support.
After all, who would want to follow a house into a civil war just after their heir was publicly humiliated by a team of cadets two years her junior?
Academy fights weren’t just schoolyard squabbles. They were civil conflicts writ small. A microcosm of the constant jostling and jockeying of Lindholm’s houses.
In other words, they held weight.
If Willaim could beat his fiancée, Yelena knew she’d owe him more than she could ever truly repay. A few more years of preparation would turn an almost guaranteed defeat into something *much* more even.
Especially if she could scoop up who knows how many mithril cores that were otherwise just littering the ocean. Ninety percent of them would be of limited use immediately, but a few years would give her time to construct at least a few more airship hulls to house the devices.
All that was required was for William to win.
“Solid,” Joana scoffed. “His plan is to go up against a group of third years with a team of firsties.”
Yelena tried to keep the intensity she was feeling out of her tone as she leaned forward. “You don’t think he can do it?”
Joana opened her mouth before hesitating. “I… normally I’d say no. Talented as they are, the gap in experience is just too wide.”
“But…”
The dark elf rolled her silver eyes behind her glasses. “But, with William’s newest invention…” The woman paused. “Son of a bitch.”
For just a moment Yelena was treated to the rare sight of her friend laughing. “I can’t believe I thought he ‘just wanted to use it in a schoolyard fight’,” the Instructor said.
“Well, he sort of is, in a way.” Yelena shrugged. “It just so happens to be a very important schoolyard fight.”
Joana laughed. “I suppose it is.”
“Still, do you think he can win?”
Joana straightened up. “I genuinely don’t know. With his new invention he might be able to catch her off guard. If he can skew the numbers in his favor at the start, they might have a chance.”
Yelena frowned. Not exactly the ringing endorsement she wanted to hear, but that was part of why she valued Joana’s friendship.
Always had really, even when the girl had first come to court at the age of ten as a potential playmate for Yelena’s daughters and told her that her dress made her look like some kind of tropical bird.
Something Yelena realized upon closer inspection was true.
Ever since, the Queen had made a point of checking in with the girl from time to time, if only for the occasional shot of unvarnished truth.
It was a strange ‘friendship’ from the outside looking in, but one that got less so as time went by and the age gap became less stark.
“Well, let’s hope the human capacity for the nigh impossible isn’t relegated entirely to the Blackstones,” Yelena muttered.
Because if it wasn’t, the boy would either have to marry one of Yelena’s daughters or die.
She *could* *not* afford the knowledge in his head to reach the Blackstones. To that end, he’d either accept her offer – rolling the dice on the onset of war and all that might come with it – or he’d suffer an accident.
As much as it pained the royal sovereign’s heart to see such a bright and enterprising soul be snuffed out before its time.
Being forced to make such decisions was simply the price of wearing the crown.
“Still,” Joana said, and Yelena was grateful for the distraction as she looked up. “Will you actually leave him alone if he pulls this off?”
Yelena scoffed.
“Of course not. If anything I’ll up my offer.” She shrugged. “I’ll give him you, myself and half my court if it means getting my hands on what’s in his head.”
It was actually a little amusing how Joana flushed at her words, even as she shook her head.
“Yes, that sounds a lot more like you.”
Yelena nodded. Damn right it did.
Though as she did, a thought occurred to her. “Hey Joana?”
“Yes?”
“In your reports to me, didn’t you mention the Ashfield boy having some kind of nickname.”
The dark elf pondered the words for a moment before stiffening. “Hmm, he does actually. A rather apt one considering. Apt enough that I’m wondering if whatever he used to kill Al’Hundra is related.”
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense. What is it?”
Joana leaned back, her head craned upwards, as if seeking strength from above.
“Kraken Slayer.”
Yelena laughed. She couldn’t help it.
“Of course it is.”


“You killed Al’Hundra.”
William was still reeling a little from the conversation he’d just had, so he was actually a little caught off guard by a finger being shoved into his face the moment he stepped back into his teams quarters.
*Ah,* he thought. *I promised answers.*
Though it seemed that in his absence his team had managed to figure out some of those answers without him.
Glancing past Olzenya’s outstretched arm, he saw Marline shaking her head – as if to vehemently deny she’d told them anything.
She needn’t have bothered, her geass precluded it as an option. Hell, even once everyone found out it would preclude it as an option.
Which was for the best for the moment because now he wasn’t so much trying to hide what he’d done as *how* he’d done it. Admittedly, Marline didn’t know anything beyond the broadest details, but she knew enough to know that it was some kind of enchantment combined with alchemy.
Now it was possible the forces working against him – or rather simply to profit off him – had already figured that out and he’d hear the alchemy lab exploded any moment now, but he’d sooner put it off for as long as he could.
To that end, he turned to Olzenya – though not before politely lowering her pointing arm.
Something that, to her credit, the high elf allowed – actually looking a little embarrassed by her outburst and thus rudeness.
“Honestly, I was expecting something like that to come from Bonnlyn, not you,” he said to the slightly flushed high elf.
As he glanced over toward where the dwarf was sitting, she shrugged. “I realize I may not be the most classically polite individual around, but I’ve been a merchant long enough to recognize when someone’s got a trade secret they want to keep close to their chests.”
If anything, Olzenya flushed harder, as while she might not have been familiar with trade secrets, she was most definitely familiar with the notion of house spells that needed to be kept secret.
“I also thought ambushing him at the door was a little rude,” Verity murmured from the back of the room.
Olzenya coughed, before backing up. “Of course, I apologize for that William.”
More bemused than anything else, especially as the elf curtsied, he waved a hand dismissively. “It’s fine. Or, understandable, I guess.”
“Good,” Ozlenya smiled, glad for his acceptance… before she shouted again. “Because you lied to us.”
“I did?”
“He didn’t,” Marline said. “He said he had something to bet against Tala.”
Indeed he had, something he’d kept hidden under a sheet. After all, he’d not wanted his big surprise to be spoiled by the rumors of his coming beating him to the cafeteria.
And they would.
Rumors in the academy somehow managed to move at light speed.
“He implied it was gold,” Olzenya shot back.
“And you said Tala wouldn’t go for it, but you came with us anyway,” Bonnlyn said.
Indeed, he had implied it was gold. Or ‘something valuable enough to catch her interest’.
“To comfort him after she shot him down,” Olzenya said. “Instead I damn near tripped over my own feet in front of everyone when he pulled an honest to goddess mithril core out of his ass.”
William was actually a little thrown off – and amused – by the sudden display of crassness from the noble girl.
“But he didn’t lie.” It was actually a little surprising – and heartwarming – to hear Verity speaking so forcefully.
And that Olzenya didn’t immediately snap at her for doing so. The team really had come a long way in just a few months.
*Ah, the joys of shared suffering,* William thought as he watched the girls bicker amongst themselves.
“As I’m sure you’ve all guessed, I have indeed been less than open about a few things,” he said, silencing all of them – except Marline who’d yet to speak in the first place. “With that said, I’ve never once lied to you about my end goal.”
“Breaking off your betrothal,” Marline said finally.
“Breaking off my betrothal *without* starting a war,” he said. “If it were that easy, the Queen would have done it for me just now.”
“You met the Queen?” Olzenya sounded a little faint.
“I did.”
Oh, how he did.
“Oh ancestors, please don’t tell me you hit on the queen!?” This time Marline sounded a little faint.
And he actually felt a little offended. “What!? Why would you think that.”
“You’re doing the same thing you do when we talk about Instructor Griffith,” Bonnlyn said with studiously neutral voice. “Or Instructor Morline. Or Instructor Flen. Or some of the guards.”
“Or that one cafeteria lady,” Verity chimed in, a little red in the face.
“Or the-”
“I do not!” He’d finally had enough of these aspersion on his character.
Across the room, a number of sighs rang out, even from the elves.
“At least now I knew why he never checked me out,” Bonnlyn said. “He’s got mommy issues. And I’m not old enough to tickle them.”
“Still, the Queen?” Olzenya hissed.
“I mean, have you seen her?” Marline muttered back. “I mean, I don’t agree with him… but I get it.”
“I didn’t ‘perv’ on the Queen.” Some part of him died on using such childish language. “We had a meeting about my plans and… what occurred with Al’Hundra. Needless to say, the fact that I’m here means she’s agreed to go ahead with them and I’m also to keep quiet about anything I may or may not have had to do with any Kraken going missing. Or their cores.”
He deliberately left out the royal marriage offer.
Still, with those words the room went silent. After all, if the Queen had told him to say nothing, he was expected to say nothing. Just because the North in general didn’t have much respect for royal authority didn’t mean the rest of the kingdom did.
Quite the opposite.
“Well, if the Queen has commanded you to *remain* silent, I suppose there’s nothing to be done,” Olzenya muttered. “Though I would like answers some day.”
“Hell, I’d like to know why you brought Marline in on your plans,” Bonnlyn said, glancing at the Dark Elf. “You know, and not the rest of us.”
There was no missing the hint of hurt there – which he understood.
“I can promise you it was purely a matter of convenient circumstance,” he said. “And I can promise you, I didn’t confide in Marline for free.”
All the girls glanced up as the dark elf nodded slowly. “He’s not lying – though I can’t say anymore. Literally. It’s a price I paid willingly, but one I doubt any of you would be interested in.”
Almost as one, he could see the lightbulbs turn on in everyone’s brain simultaneously – except for Verity, who took a few seconds.
*‘Geass,’* thought none of them said it.
This time though, when the girls looked between him and Marline, there was a definite sense of wariness to it.
“Well, I suppose there’s nothing else to say then,” Bonnyln said. “I guess we should…”
“…Go to bed,” Olzenya nodded warily.
William grinned. “Good idea. Big day tomorrow and all that.”
That was an understatement, and he could tell everyone was thinking it as they made their way over to their rooms.
Still, it was true all the same.
They’d need their rest if they wanted to stand a chance tomorrow.
Indeed, they’d need every advantage they could get.
To that end, William could only hope he’d stacked the deck in their favor enough to matter.
…It took him a long time to get to sleep.
When he did awake, in the early hours of the morning, it was to the sound of an explosion.
*In the direction of the old alchemy labs if I’m not wrong,* he thought with a grim smile.
It seemed someone had decided to investigate his storage room even sooner than he’d anticipated.
Annoying, but it hardly mattered at this point in time.
All that really mattered was going back to sleep.
He had a big day ahead of him, after all.
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New here and looking for advice
Hey everyone!
I am brand new here and looking for advice for my 30 lbs cattle dog/chihuahua mutt. His name is Rookie. I have been afraid to ask generally these questions because of judgement toward our boy.
Rook is 3 years old and had his first bite incident last year. He has always played well with other dogs and goes to daycare/boarding regularly where he is in a “dog park” type situation. The first bite incident was last year when he was playing in a pack in my sister’s yard with 3 other dogs. Unfortunately he bit one of the adults in the yard going after her pant leg (which I assume he thought was a toy). It left a bruise but didn’t break skin. Regardless, we took this very seriously and did an 8 week reactive dog training course through Off Leash Dog training in Cincinnati. We don’t let him around the lady he bit or run in the dog park type environment outside of his own yard or our farm.
Training actually worked out very well for Rookie and he learned to listen when called, heal, place, sit, stay, and lay down all in command. This significantly helped with his confidence and reactivity to dogs on walks and improved his trust and listening in us.
Unfortunately we had a second bite incident yesterday. We have been staying with my sister due to severe storm damage to our home. That means Rook has been staying there with us, and he normally gets along great with her dogs. However, my sisters dog (shepard mix) can get territorial where she eats, and she grabbed Rookie by the nape of his neck in her own reactivity, which resulted in him biting her leaving a surficial wound.
This is bite #2, 1 year after bite #1. I am now very concerned. I love my dog and want to be able to protect him and everyone else while maintaining a good quality of life, which is why I’m thinking about muzzle training. This way he is protected and so are the dogs/humans he is around. I want him to gain confidence in situations with people and dogs he is anxious with without putting him in situations where he may nip. If he trusts you, like my husband and I, he is the sweetest boy and never shows any signs of biting or aggression, which is why I really think both of these incidents were anxiety driven.
I apologize for how lengthy this got, but I would love advice on muzzle training and if this is a good next step for Rookie. I have been looking at the vinyl basket muzzles like Trust Your Dog makes.
I will welcome all advice, and really appreciate it.
Thank you

So, after Last Resort we went back to OG season and lived another Big Bang event but we injected the characters and knowledge from the original timeline into the new one via the Time Machine addition to the rocket, and then Chapter 5 started, which either is an alternate C2S1 or some brand new thing.
Now, I’ve seen people theorize that Montague was this world Midas, but I don’t think so for a couple of reasons; alternate characters presented during OG were pretty close to their original counterparts, generally just filing roles that others had, but never being that different physically. Alternate Evie is almost the same, as is Katt the alternate Kitt(as meoscle says when playing with the skin: "So you're the kid of, uh, a different me? That's... cool. I like your mech!", which implies there’s an alternate Meowscle yet to be seen(he might just be the Beach variant if Poseidon’s loading screens are to be believed).
And that brings me to Midas, that all time fan-favorite dude… now, his case confuses me to no end because of a couple of points:
Since he’s in the underworld, which was apparently for a long time, and given Marigold’s dialogue about a long search that never considered the underworld, I though this was the Midas from this new timeline along with his crew from this new place, but then as i mention earlier, Meoscle confirms via dialog that he’s our Meoscle and not the alternate one. So that leaves me wondering, if this is our Midas, how come he’s in there since his desth back way before the Big Bang, and if it isn’t our Midas why doesn’t he seems to recognize that it’s not his crew? Surely, Midas would detect even the most subtle difference in them, as paranoid as he is.
My theory on that is that since he’s technically a God, the rule applied differently to him when when travelled back and his counscience merely fused with this Timeline Midas, thus explaining why he doesn’t seem fazed by the changes and even seems to have some knowledge of this new timeline, but also why he was already a prisoner by the time we all were transferred into the new time line.
Hope that makes sense, tried to keep it short(I failed a bit). What do you think C5 is ?

I’m 24F and have talked to a a lot guys throughout the last few years, usually from social media. Most of them just for a couple days where conversations didn’t go anywhere, but I have had really good banter with some of them and they have expressed genuine interest and said some pretty big words. Some of them I’ve talked to for longer periods of time like 1-3 months or so.
Several times things have come to the point of planning to meet up and stuff, but usually that is when things turn around? When they start making promises and say they really like me they suddenly just ghost?
I’ve heard tons of girls with similar experiences. I get that a lot of the times it’s love bombing and that the guys have a roaster and he might of gotten more interested in someone else. I don’t really mind or care about that, I have had roasters too and it’s not like I had super strong feelings for any of these guys, but I cannot understand the ghosting and empty promises. All kinds of guys have done this too, so not only “fuckboys” or super attractive guys.
What’s the point in leading someone on and building up tension and interest just to disappear like that? Why make promises you know you’re not intending to keep or express huge interest you don’t actually have? It just feels like an asshole move and always leaves me with an uneasy feeling.
I think ghosting is normal and totally acceptable if a conversation obviously isn’t going anywhere for example, but I cannot understand the switching up like that from one day to another with no care in the world. Just say what you want and feel, why lie and waste someone’s time?
So my question is why do some guys to this? Ghost when things seem like they’re actually going somewhere? Starting to lose hope in finding any guys in this generation that are honest about the things they say lol
Very curious to know why guys do this and would love some different takes on this🥵