4th grade worksheets- main idea

So I started playing in 4th grade. I’ll be a sophomore in college next fall. When I started playing it became VERY popular in my small town and everyone called it BEAR. Now I see the technical name for it is nightingale and I’m curious what everyone around the community says regarding a small cup bird.

I first saw this show when I stayed over at my cousin's house in San Antonio, TX when I was still in elementary school or maybe in the sixth grade, so this was some time around 2015/2016, at the latest. My memory is very faint on this because this was so long ago, so please bear with me.
In any case, one weekend morning my little cousin had the TV on, tuned maybe to PBS or some other channel that played cartoons in the morning. I sat down with him, and the two of us watched an episode of a cartoon that featured three central characters: two boys and a girl, and being a kids' show and all, they were characters that were essentially human but were drawn with animalistic features, like in Arthur.
The plot of the show had the three kids using science and other deductive reasoning to solve mysteries that they came across. In this episode specifically, by my memory, the main character's little sister asked him for help to save a tree known as "Old Marley", which was dying. I don't remember how the episode concluded, as my mom and aunt came to get us so we could go run errands. I never saw the episode's conclusion nor another episode of the show ever again.
This could've been a new-ish TV show, but it could have been made earlier, possibly in the 2000s or possibly in the 1990s, judging by the style of the hand-drawn animation. If anyone has any leads or could help me out with this, I'd greatly appreciate it.

~LONG POST~
This might be a controversial post, but I feel like I need to get this off my chest. I'm not a mom and I'm trying to act like I know anything about parenting and I'm also not trying to act like I know the relationship between Melissa, Maddie, and Mackenzie. However, Melissa's parenting skills and choices from what I've seen are poor and potentially dangerous. Here are a few examples:
1.) Taking Maddie out of school to get her extra privates and rehearsal time. I used to be an education major and in one of classes my teacher talked about the importance of recess and lunch in a child's social development. For Melissa to be taking Maddie out of the social activities to further Maddie's dance education makes me so mad. Maddie needed that socialization with other children and furthermore needed that recess time and lunch time to be a child. No wonder the poor thing was so stressed, her mother (and teacher) never allowed her to be a kid. They made her entire life dance and when she didn't do well in dance, she felt like she never had anything else.
2.) Allowing so much pressure to be put on Maddie. Going off the first point, Melissa allowed Abby to constantly put pressure on Maddie. I do want to note that while producers were the ones making the decisions on who got a solo and who didn't, Abby has mentioned in interviews that she always fought for Maddie to have a solo. I'm sure the producers were fine with the idea of Maddie getting solos constantly since it caused drama. While it could be argued that Melissa didn't have much say in this, Melissa definitely wasn't helping the situation. She constantly told Maddie to "be a grown up" when she would have moments of distress and not comfort her at all. Again maybe it's producer manipulation, who knows but Melissa wasn't doing anything to stop the distress.
3.) Melissa allowing Maddie to have inappropriate relationships with grown women. Melissa is a stage mom I don't think anyone would argue with that, but I find it so disturbing that there isn't a line Melissa wouldn't cross. Melissa allowed her MINOR daughter to have extremely close relationships with older women that aren't blood related.
Let's start with Abby: Abby and Maddie were very close on the show, it was very clear that Maddie had a very dependent relationship with Abby and constantly needed her approval and would be afraid of making Abby upset. I'm sorry, but a child shouldn't be like that with any adult. A child shouldn't have constant anxiety about making a trusted adult upset and afraid said adult won't like her anymore. Furthermore, Melissa shouldn't of let Abby have such control and manipulation over Maddie. That scene in S3 when Abby is yelling at Maddie for joining the car protest disturbs me deeply. Or Abby talking about how Maddie "needs her", also disgusting. What's even more disgusting is Melissa allowing her MINOR children to have sleepovers with non-blood related adults and letting her MINOR children "snuggle" with them. Is she crazy? That is such a potentially dangerous situation to put a minor in. Speaking of weird situations, let's not forget who Maddie's first kiss was...a 50 year old woman. Gross just gross.
Speaking of disturbing adult relationships, we can't forget about Sia. Sia, much like Abby, has a weird obsession with Maddie, but I'd argue Sia's is worse. The way she talks about Maddie is a little too obsessive, calling her her "surrogate daughter", "dancing muse" and "never wanting to do anything without Maddie". She also loves to have sleepovers with Maddie and snuggles with her too, DISGUSTING!! And so dangerous!! At least with Abby she somewhat knew Abby beforehand, but Sia was a complete and utter stranger to the Zieglers. Sia also quarantined with the family as well, so more sleepovers!! Wonderful. And let's not forget the dangerous and harmful projects Sia would put Maddie in. For example, I don't care what people say, Elastic Hearts is a creepy music video. A little girl in a dirty leotard in cage with a grown man in a diaper(?) is creepy I don't care if that's me being too sensitive. We also can't forget the Music movie, you know the one Maddie didn't want to be in because she didn't want to make fun of autistic children, which is exactly what happened. (Side note this is not Maddie's fault whatsoever, this is all Sia's). Sia forced Maddie to play this character because remember Sia can't do anything without Maddie.
Maddie and inappropriate adult relationships is a whole separate post on its own and I highly recommend MackZBoss' video on the topic. But no matter what, Melissa shouldn't of allowed these situations to happen at all. It's creepy and disturbing and VERY dangerous. I'm not saying anything happened, but let's all remember that if it's creepy with a man, its creepy in general. Women can be predators too.
4.) Melissa educating her children. This point I debated talking about, but as we've all seen Maddie and Kenzie have had a couple of scandals in the past regarding racist/homophobic content. While it's not my place to say whether or not they have changed or forgive them, I do want to put some blame on Melissa for not educating her children, as many of content happened when the girls were still minors, especially Mackenzie. I don't want to harp on this point for too long, because it is very sensitive, but I've never said racist remarks nor made my face darker, because my parents taught me better. Again I'm not saying the Ziegler girls are racist or homophobic, but they were definitely ignorant as children and clearly weren't getting proper education.
5.) Melissa and Mackenzie. A lot of people believe Maddie is Melissa's favorite, which I don't fully agree with. I personally believe Melissa "favorited" Maddie on DM bc it was a dancing show, which was Maddie's main priority in life, not Kenzie's. I personally think if the show was a singing show, the roles would be reversed. However, this is not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to talking about Melissa being extremely relaxed and being a "cool mom" when it comes to the girls, more specifically Kenzie. The amount of videos of Kenzie as a teen vaping, possibly drinking, partying, and dating a racist is a little disturbing. Now, I'm not stupid. I was a teenager once, I know teenagers party, drink and vape, but a) they normally do it in secret and b) Kenzie was caught so many times and later admitted to it, but it seemed like Melissa didn't do anything about it because of how many times Kenzie got caught. Melissa clearly doesn't seem like the strictest parent and wouldn't surprise me if she knew about it and didn't care bc she was a "cool mom".
Let me know what you guys think, am I being too harsh on Melissa? Or am I just scraping the surface?

I was a damaged person. But I was on the mend.
I had a pretty traumatic break up with my childhood best friend, turned girlfriend. I had known her since we were 8 years old. We had been boyfriend and girlfriend since we were 13 and had been so for 9 years until my junior year of college when she cheated on me in a very cruel way. It came to light that she had cheated on me many times before as well.
I loved her so god damn much! I thought we were one of those stories where two souls were knitted together from eternity to eternity, or some hallmark card bullshit like that.
I was emotionally shattered and it took me a while until one day about 2 years later, I woke up and thought about her, but then realized that I hadn't thought about her at all the previous day. It was glorious and I knew then that I was on the mend. After that, my healing process sort of exponentially snowballed and I was back in the saddle as far as relationships went. I started going on dates and meeting up with women.
I was a software engineer working for a large corporation. Because I was good at my job, and because I didn't have a family, I was given the opportunity to move to Singapore and lead a project there for what would be a couple of years but turned out to be 7 years.
The great thing about Singapore is that they speak the "King's English" when they're not speaking "Singlish" (a patois of mostly English with funky grammar, but with Malay, Chinese, and Hindi thrown in). So I didn't have to learn a whole new language to fit in. I just had to learn how to translate Singlish to English, which wasn't too hard after a couple of months of trying. I even learned the lingo and it would amuse my coworkers a whole lot when I spoke Singlish. They thought it was hilarious.
I was a good looking guy (still am!!) but I really let myself go in my depression. I was a tall, muscular 210 pounds when I broke up with my ex, but I had ballooned up to over 300 pounds. I started a workout regimen and lost it all but the workout regimen became sort of an obsession. It was the one thing that grounded me. After I went to Singapore, one of my business perks was a gym membership at "Fitness First", a local gym franchise. I was down to my previous weight, but I had to practically camp out at the gym because the best thing about Singapore is the FOOD. The food is incredible! However, you WILL pack on the weight if you don't get your ass to the gym.
The meet cute
I was working out one day much later than normal due to some overtime on my project and I saw a girl on a treadmill. The treadmill was the one I usually use because it was in the back and kind of out of the way. The girl was stunning! The thing that stuck out to me was that she was had her hair in a pony tail through a ball cap, which is a look I find very attractive. I was a little nervous because, even though I was fairly confident about the way I look, I was definitely batting out of my league with this girl.
I went to her and chatted her up after she got off of the treadmill. She didn't look me in the eye and didn't really engage. I figured that I had acted like what is now known as a "gym creep" and I figured it was a "swing and a miss!" I apologized and said I wouldn't bother her anymore. I stuck out my hand and said "I'm OP, by the way. What's your name?"
She hesitated and looked at me for a bit and said "Lilly" (not her real name).
I remember this exactly because she later said that it was what intrigued her about me. At the time, she was an actress/model who had done some print/public billboard type ads, product demo booths at expos, and even a bit part in a local tv (Mediacorp) series. She had started to attract public attention because of these (mainly the TV show and the ads that were hanging all around town at that time) not just from men but from women too and it was super uncomfortable for her.
The fact that I had no idea who she was relaxed her and made her think that I was attracted to her for her and not because her face was everywhere at the time. After she told me about it, I did notice her face everywhere. But photoshop was a thing even back then, so I didn't recognize her from her ads and I really don't look at ads, tuning them out. I also didn't watch her TV show because it was in Mandarin Chinese and I don't speak or understand any Chinese, and I wasn't in a position where I was required to attend or arrange trade shows.
In the years prior to meeting me, Lilly had undergone a lot of plastic surgery (breast, eyelid, facial contouring, nose job, lipo, etc). She said it got to where she didn't recognize herself in the mirror and it disturbed and depressed her. She hadn't particularly wanted the surgery but she got the procedures done at the behest of her family who wanted her to bring in more money and the people in charge of her career development (don't know the term). It was all very expensive and she felt like she owed her family and the talent people who managed her.
Later, I found out that she hated the public recognition. Not just from men, but mostly from women who were really catty about her plastic surgery. The people in charge of her were pushing her to start singing but she didn't have a good voice and would need a bunch of training for that. She was depressed due to not recognizing herself in the mirror any more and didn't want to follow the career track that she had been on. They were pushing her to do more figure/body modeling which was why she was in the gym. She was SUPER uncomfortable with that and constantly hungry and pissed off.
She was afraid that she would do some more modeling and then get married off by her parents to some rich mainland Chinese man that she would be ambivalent about (she preferred Caucasian men) and she'd be forced to be a traditional pampered Chinese wife living in Beijing.(Doesn't sound that bad to me. Some of those Chinese businessmen live crazy luxurious lifestyles.
Since I was working a lot of overtime, I kept going to the gym later at night and we saw each other and I would wave and smile and she would smile and wave back. OK I was kinda hoping to meet her regularly. I spotted her on a couple of exercises and we began to chat with each other a bit. A couple of times I had to steady her because she was fainting from being hungry and working out at the same time. I used that as an excuse to take her out to a hawker center, which like a mall food court but with delicious local food (not chain restaurants). We chatted and got along really well. It became a regular thing until I confessed I had a crush on her. We started dating after that until it got to a point where she practically moved into my place.
She, of course, had her share of guys interested in her. She was on livejournal at the time (remember livejournal??) and she was doing that and posting pictures of herself for her career mostly, but I'm sure she did enjoy the attention. She had one guy from Belgium who was really after her. He actually bought her 800 thread count sheets, which is an oddly practical but vaguely inappropriate gift. He actually visited Singapore on business (he was a tech sales guy) and wanted to meet up with her in a public place, a hawker center. I still had trust issues from my previous "love of my life" betraying me. To this day, I cringe at my behavior at the time, but I laid down a clear boundary. She could absolutely go see and hang out with this guy if she wanted to, but if she did, she'd be doing it as a single available girl and we would be through. She said she saw my face "turn to stone" and it was clear that she would lose me if she went to meet up with that guy. That honestly gave her pause about our relationship and she really considered ending it at the time. I didn't know that until much later, though. Certainly, I'm glad that she didn't. She didn't go meet up with the guy. To this day, we call the incident "The Belgian Waffle". OK so I call it that, she thinks it's stupid.
Meeting her family
Eventually, Lilly asked if I could have dinner with her parents, saying that they wanted to meet me. I bought some gifts, basically Japanese cookies in really nice packaging, and then we met. I did the traditional thing and formally introduced myself and asked them about their family and history.
At the time, Lilly got some criticism from her extended family because I am a white guy. There was a certain stigma attached to local girls who liked white guys. They called those girls "SPGs" which stands for "Sarong Party Girls", a derogatory name for the prostitutes who would entertain British expats at after hours parties "back in the day".
Over the next few months, I won over her family mainly by eating their food and being accepting of their culture. I grew up in Texas, so pickled jalapenos were common in my house...like salt and pepper, we put them on everything. Later on, I was the kind of guy who put tabasco or sriracha on everything. So eating their spicy food was no problem for me. I remember us both going shopping at an open air market and seeing an older woman cutting up cili padi. I asked if I could try some. She looked at my pale face and then at Lilly and she said I could. I bit into one and chewed it up as the woman looked at me with an amused look on her face. She was waiting for me to jump up and down with fire shooting out of my mouth, I guess. I disappointed her, but she and Lilly were impressed. She later told her mother and she was impressed too. She wanted me to eat one for her as well. Oh well, trained monkey time I guess.
The real test came when I tried Durian for the first time. This is the same food that "defeated" Andrew Zimmern, the "Bizarre Foods" guy. I actually liked it. I had a D24 durian, which admittedly is like the "beginner version" of durians. There are like 16 different types. When you get past the smell and actually taste it, it doesn't smell that bad any more. It's very sweet and creamy. It's like the taste overwrites your disgust of the smell. I think that's what really impressed them to an extreme degree. They started calling me an "egg", because I was "white on the outside but yellow on the inside."
I would visit her grandmother with her. In true Chinese fashion, Lilly and her brother Johnny were raised by their paternal grandparents while their parents worked full time jobs, so her grandmother was like her mom. She was in an elder care facility at this point, though. She didn't like living there, but it was all they could afford. We would visit her every week and she'd be very happy. She didn't speak any English at all so she and Lilly would just chat speaking Hokkien Chinese while her grandmother would pet my hairy forearms like I was a dog. She was absolutely smitten with my hairy forearms.
Meeting my family
After a little over a year, I took her back to Texas to meet my family. It was quite the culture shock. Lilly was amazed by red barns and hay bales, black and white Holstein cows, things she saw in movies about the USA. She particularly was impressed by the cluster mailboxes lined up on country roads ("So cute, leh!") We actually had to stop the car and take pictures of her standing next to them, smiling goofily for the photo. I made sure to take her to the Texas hill country during spring, when the hills are covered with soft green grass and festooned with bluebonnets, sunflowers, indian paintbrushes, black eyed susans, daisies, etc. I had to practically hold her down to keep her from picking them. It's not illegal or anything, it's just frowned upon and tradition to leave them alone. OK, I let her pick some. Give me a break, I was in love with the girl.
Driving was also something that kind of boggled her mind. Texas is huge, and traveling from my parents' place to visit my brothers and their families was a seemingly endless trek. Driving from Houston to Austin, to Corpus Christi was crazy long, even with the stops to visit my relatives.
Lilly was practically agoraphobic at the big sky in Texas. She was used to being in a forest of tall concrete and steel buildings, with only strips of blue sky available at the top. In Texas that sky went from horizon to horizon. She was also amazed at the uncountable numbers of stars at night away from the city lights. She later told me it was like visiting Narnia or something.
In Texas, she got her share of looks from guys, especially in the bigger cities. I wasn't jealous. I've never been a jealous guy, although my experience with my ex "love of my life" really put my radar up, I still was proud that other guys were attracted to her. My attitude was "go ahead and eat your hearts out, she's with me!"
When she met my oldest brother, it was like a cultural thing with her, so she was very deferential and respectful. I knew that my oldest brother was attracted to her because he was stumbling and stuttering when he was speaking to her, looking at her but kind of avoiding looking at her. I wasn't too concerned because he was a married guy with 2 sons and not a scumbag, but it was still pretty amusing to see "Mr. Smooth-don't-let-em-know-you-want-em-kid" at a loss for words.
My parents met Lilly finally (she was super nervous but she did really well) and later my mom brought me aside and asked me if she should re-set her mother's diamond engagement ring. I thought about it a bit, and then told her "yes". My mom's eyes started sparkling with images of unborn grandchildren and she smiled bigger than I had ever seen her smile (kind of unsettling actually). My dad later brought me aside and basically told me I couldn't do any better and I would be a "god damn fool" if I let her get away from me. I agreed. My dad then told me something that remains with me to this day: "She will make your life sparkle, son." (she has).
Before our time in the US was up my mom gave me the ring and I asked Lilly to be my wife in a field of wildflowers, which had become her favorite place to be in Texas. She said yes. Looking back, that was one of the happiest days of my life. It was up there with losing my virginity to "the love of my life" (who turned out to be a duplicitous crazy person but at the time it was really special), my wedding day to Lilly, and the births of our children.
The Engagement
When we got back to Singapore we had to pretend we weren't engaged because I had to ask her parents for their daughter's hand in marriage. I spoke with them and explained how my prospects in my career were good. I told them that I loved their daughter and that my family also loved their daughter. We had to schedule a phone call between my parents and her parents.
I had clued my parents in as far as the traditions go. In Chinese culture, the groom pays for the wedding rather than the bride. The groom also has to give the bride's parents certain auspicious gifts. My parents luckily had done a tour of China a few years before and knew all of this beforehand, having befriended their local tour guide who was saving up money for his own wedding at the time. On the call, they agreed upon a pinjin, which is basically "betrothal money". We started to plan the Guo Da Li ceremony which would take place in 3 months time, and 3 months before the wedding.
Unfortunately life threw us a curve ball and Lilly's grandmother died. It was bittersweet because, while Lilly missed her, her grandmother had become very old and infirm to the point where her quality of life was pretty low. All wedding stuff was put on hiatus until the funeral was over plus 100 days for mourning.
After that, we were able to do the Guo Da Li ceremony. I gave my future in laws a red packet of money plus special cakes and 12 mandarin oranges and gold jewelry. It all went very well.
Wedding planning started in earnest. I got some money from my dad (who insisted) but the lion's share was out of my pocket. During this process I was able to meet some incredible people. The stand outs were Richard and Jimmy. Rich and Jimmy were tailors and dressmakers. They were a couple and they gave my fiancée a really good deal on a wedding dress and cocktail dress if she agreed to do some print modeling for their business. They also made me a tuxedo and a suit. I offered to model for them as well and we all had a good laugh at that prospect (OK they were doing most of the laughing - ego still hurts from that one, guys).
The venue we were using was Chijmes. It's the same one used in the move "Crazy Rich Asians". It was back when they had first started offering it up as a venue so it wasn't crazy expensive at the time. Plus, it was a smaller venue for weddings. Usually weddings are held in large hotel ballrooms and are huge affairs (this is what I was told). The families both invite everyone they've ever met to come: Neighbors, business contacts, everyone. They all bring red packets filled with cash. We opted for the "small" wedding.
The Bachelor Party
We had planned bachelobachelorette parties on the same night (separate venues). Lilly's MOH threw hers while Rich and Jimmy threw mine. My best man was my dad (because he's the best man that I know) and so cigars and brandy would have been disappointing to my work friends and my future brother in law and cousins. I don't think anyone was prepared for what happened.
We had the party at the sushi restaurant of a friend of Rich and Jimmy's. It was after hours. We had some incredible sashimi and rolls. I even tried fish sperm. Didn't like it. I asked Jimmy are you sure it's FISH, sperm?? He said of course he'd never do that to me. To be fair, it did taste and smell very fishy. I don't know how human sperm tastes like (or maybe I do now, I don't know).
After the sushi was done, it was time for the entertainment, and oh boy. Rich and Jimmy hired a trans entertainer who sang show tunes. The thing is, she had an incredible voice. She was obviously biologically male, but she really carried herself with a lot more femininity than I've seen from biological women. She sang and told jokes and roasted me pretty thoroughly. My dad was there and he thought it was funny as hell. My friends from work, especially the Aussies and Brits, thought it was great, my future BIL and most of my future cousins did too. Other cousins politely excused themselves and left. I think the free flowing booze and beer kept most people there, though.
After her thoroughly entertaining performance, it was time for the dancers. This is kind of where it went off the rails. Rich and Jimmy hired exotic dancers...but they were all male or trans. Now, to be fair, it wasn't like they didn't tell me about it beforehand. They did. Personally, I thought it would be hilarious to announce that the strippers were here and then have male dancers come out. I have a twisted sense of humor, I suppose. I certainly wasn't going to cheat on the most beautiful woman in the world mere weeks before our wedding, so prostitutes and female dancers were completely out of the question for me. They jokingly suggested male dancers it and we laughed. I thought about it a bit and I guess I'm "take-the-joke-too-far" guy so I encouraged it. Lilly knew about it and thought it was funny as well and wanted me to video tape it while it happened. ("Yeah right you just want to ogle the dancers" "Of course, lah!")
What I wasn't prepared for was the PLATOON of banana hammocks that marched out into the restaurant. Smooth greased up Asian chests everywhere! My dad was of course shocked at first and then looked at me and we started laughing and the ridiculousness of it. My dad stood up and clapped his hand on my shoulder and put a mock serious look on his face. The people immediately around me witnessed my dad telling me that he loved me and accepted my life style choice and that nothing I could say or do would ever change the fact that he and mom loved me and accepted me. Thanks, dad. I was laughing during the whole thing and my future BIL and work buddies who were around me were laughing as well. My dad excused himself and said he had to go find my mom and tell her the "bad news about her future grandchildren" and left ("Can adopt, lah! Can surrogate, meh!" Thanks for the support, guys). My future BIL laughed and said that since all of the available male dancers were at my party, there were none available to attend his sister's party, so she was "safe".
Among the highlights of the evening is that I discovered that a few of my co-workers and future cousins were in fact gay. I was told to stay out of the ladies' room no matter what. I wasn't planning on going in but thanks for the warning. I was proud that we all only vomited in the trash cans and not on the floor (what a waste of some damn good sushi....and fish sperm). Rich and Jimmy stayed next to each other all night. I even saw them holding hands and looking at each other lovingly. To my shame, I was under the common misconception that all gay men were very promiscuous and I kind of expected them to pair off with the dancers. What I saw that night was a very loving monogamous relationship.
The Wedding Day
The day of the wedding came a few days later and I had the good fortune of being the first one in my family to experience the fun and interesting experience of a groom going through a Chinese-style wedding. I say "Chinese-style" because while we did do a lot of the traditions from a Chinese wedding, we did say vows to God before a Christian minister. This was something she insisted on as her family had converted from Taoism to Christianity (but still kept the Taoist traditions and festivals).
First up was the gatecrash. I went over to the her family's apartment and the MOH and bridesmaids stood at the door refusing to let me in unless I gave them $9999.00. Nine is a significant symbol to them. It means "longevity" I think. So the whole idea is for me to haggle the price down by doing challenges and games. I had to do a handstand and walk with my hands. I had to answer trivia questions ("What is her nickname for you?" "Cranky old man" "What is your nickname for her?" "Baby"). BIL and I had to do "the worm". I haggled them down to $99 which I paid to them in a red packet. My BIL and wife chided me for not going lower but my dad was there and was in his 70s and couldn't do any feats of strength.
After I "secured" my bride, we did the traditional tea ceremony with her parents and my parents. Lilly was dressed in a traditional red silk qipao, tailor made by Rich and Jimmy. I gotta tell you people, the qipao really does it for me! Not gonna lie, it was like cupid gut punched me when I saw her dressed in it . My parents were pretty stoic throughout but my mom sympathy cried with Lilly's parents when she tearfully did the tea ceremony with her mother and father. We received red packets from each set of parents. I was told the red packet her parents gave us had most of the bride price we paid in it. Her mom gave her her grandmother's jeweled antique watch and my mom gave her a sapphire ring (sapphire is my birth stone). As we left her home to go to Chijmes, I told her "we're keeping that dress, understand me??" She laughed.
We got to Chijmes, did the photos and she walked down the aisle in a beautiful white dress with a small train behind it with sequins on it. My dad gave me the ring. He was my best man. He was my best man because he's the best man I know. After the wedding, she changed into a champagne colored strapless cocktail dress another Rich and Jimmy original. THREE wardrobe changes, people! THREE! All with different hair and make up and she did it super quick. I don't know what wizardry was invoked but we may be indebted to the hoary netherworld.
We honeymooned at the Fullerton Hotel. The old British colonial Post Office was converted to a luxury hotel in 2001. We stayed there for 3 days ordering overpriced room service ("Go to hawker center, lah! Much cheaper better food, meh!).
Emigration and Immigration
So a little bit before this time, a little event happened in New York. You might have heard about it. Anyway because some sexually repressed incels decided to murder thousands of people, USA's immigration was all jacked up. The INS went bye-bye. Then we had the BCIS for a brief moment, followed by the USCIS. I saw that my project was ending and my company helped me with her immigration. It was a pain, though. It seems like we had new forms to fill out every week while the old ones became obsolete. That's how I remember it, anyway. It was a pretty frustrating time and I almost had to leave her behind (it wouldn't have been permanent but it would be a long time). Luckily we were able to make it time.
For explanation purposes, we didn't get LEGALLY married in Singapore. We had the religious ceremony but no "government contracts" were involved. This is because, at that time at least, it was easier to bring over a fiancée than a wife, for some reason. So Lilly was a "90 Day Fiancée"!! We got married at the county courthouse when we finally were able to go to my new project. We didn't wait 90 days. We did in three (jet lag).
Unfortunately for her, we moved from Singapore, a 24 hour international class city, to a sleepy seaside town in the USA near a military base. Lots of fun was had with that. A total fish out of water story for another time (What is this "coin laundry"? Do you Americans have a place to wash your coins?).
My BIL got married to a beautiful girl and moved to Australia and opened a Bait and Tackle store in Surfer's Paradise on the east coast of Australia. He has 2 daughters. In 2012 he was caught cheating on his wife and lost everything. She moved back to Singapore with his kids, and he kind of struggled for a while. He got another bait and tackle store eventually and tries to see his daughters whenever he can. They don't have a good relationship.
Rich and Jimmy celebrated the decriminalization of homosexuality in Singapore in 2022, but they still can't get married. We still talk from time to time. Writing this, I find myself missing them. I had some really fun times because of them. I've never had better conversations in Singapore than with them while at Lilly's dress fittings (and my suit fittings).
We have been married for 21 years. She has never given up being a Singaporean citizen. She keeps her passport current. She's a "permanent resident" here in the USA. We have three kids, two boys and a girl. We are still married. She still wears her hair in a pony tail with a ball cap when she works out. She still wears that qipao on special occasions, which I try to achieve as often as possible. She's still my Baby and I'm still her Cranky Old Man.
Thanks for reading.

I am not sure what has happened in the recent meta, but most ranked games when I pick Samira tend to devolve into the enemy team going full crowd control with a Xayah or Kalista as a mobile adc who either have good peel or have good cc (Xayah). One-shot builds with Viego or Lillia have also become more common to either counter all the cc or to capitalize from good early-game performance.
As a Samira main who needs good sustain to be able to get lots of damage in with my ult while also diving into the enemy center, These two meta developments have become a nightmare.
The top-ranked builds are too squishy and too reliant on support to be able to perform properly. So I made my own build and it has so far hard carried matches with good opponents and incompetent supports. Basically my build trades early game burst with extremely good sustain in the late game.
The build is
gluttonous boots (First boot: Buy asap for lifesteal sustain)
The Collector (First item: Good for getting kills early and snowballing)
Immortal Shield Bow/ Quicksilver Sash ( 2nd item/ Final boot: Depends on game state: If winning go shield bow for lifesteal and shield, if losing and enemy has heavy cc go quicksilver)
Randuin's omen (3rd item: grants heal, anti crit and reduced enemy atk speed. pretty good for when your team is losing and if you need to survive the cracked atk speed of enemy adc)
Black cleaver (4th item: Yes I know ranged gets a reduction, but with the tank cc meta nowadays its better than building a damage item that will get heavily negated by the enemy god tier support or the broken tank items running around nowadays)
Sterak's Gage (last item: grants shield and anti cc when lifeline is triggered)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All these make sure Xayah or Kalista players cant burst you down as fast and wth Steraks and quicksilver sash you get shield and quick peel from enemy cc. With all the hp you are getting you will survive long enough to press ult on enemy center while preventing one shot builds from killing you
Surprisingly it does very good damage late game and can beat most fed adc's except for Kalista because she can just run away. In that case run away from her and make her chase with the hope she will get caught in your dash range or to lure her to your own support or whoever can keep her down long enough for you to unleash damage.
Because you have lots of hp, healing, shield, anti-cc and debuffs to enemy attack speed, you can live long enough even without support and never again will a Darius pull combo take away half your hp. Also with such high sustain even if enemy adc builds anti heal, you are not as reliant on life steal as opposed to the traditional bloodthirster builds so it is more difficult to counter you that way
Beyond that, just play safe and don't be dumb. This build wont save you from 5 ults. This is more of a fighter build than the regular adc build so being aggressive is a bit recommended, you are not a squishmellow and can take a few hits before you go down. Though I recommend playing as a adc until your team gets some good cc on enemy team which is our opportunity to be the aggressive fighter adrenaline junkie you want to be.
If there are any Samira mains here, pls rate my build or try it out. Im open to comments and would love to see what you guys have to say

Hi there, My partner (M36) and I (M33) and I have been thinking seriously about starting a family.
I'll admit that when I first started my research, I was very against surrogacy because I thought that it was selfish to pay for a DNA-matching child when there are so many children in need of adoption. However, after researching and reading about the adoption and foster systems in the US and listening to the opinions of adoptees specifically, now I'm not so sure.
The US adoption system seems very geared towards "facilitating" adoptions by any means necessary, often to the detriment of the child and their bio families. Fostering seems like a better route as it's main goal is reunification, but even that has a lot of potential for mistreatment of children and their bio-patents by the state.
Ive always wanted to be a parent. This is a selfish desire and I'm aware of this. However, to me being a parent means doing the best thing for the child always, regardless of my own feelings in the matter. So I'm struggling now with the idea of adopting/fostering at all so as not to be complicit in the trauma of a child and their bio parents.
My question for the adoptees:
Do you think adoption can ever be ethical? Should I only focus on surrogacy for ethical reasons? Or perhaps a mix of surrogacy + fostering? Any other routes I'm not considering?
I'm truly struggling with this to the point that I'm wondering if building a non-traditional family is even possible in any ethical way. I'm open to feedback from anyone, but I'm most interested in hearing from adoptees that experienced "the system" first hand.
This is a complicated topic and I'm sure there's not one right answer, but I'm trying to understand all sides before making any decision. Thank you!

Background: I'm 16 F from South Asia (upper middle class). I have the rest of my IGCSES next year (gave 2 this year). I'm really smart and can get top grades in all classes (when I study) but struggle with extreme procrastination issues. They're so bad its debilitating. I've done everything. Deleted all social media from my phone (ALL OF IT), deleted all distracting apps, blocked all websites that can distract me, locked my phone away. I made plans and lists and calendars and watched videos on how to combat procrastination but I still always always study on the last minute which leads to a lot of stress and panic attacks. I get distracted by everything. I genuinely think something is wrong with me
I just have absolutely no idea what career to pursue but everyone around me seems to be so sure 😭😭I feel like I don't have any passions and the things that do interest me would leave me broke... Ideas for potential careers change monthly for me. I've thought of being a biochemist, lawyer, engineer, writer, journalist, teacher, joining the police force, working on a ship, being a waiter and even joining the military just because I don't know (Anything except doctor because that's what my mother wants me to be)
Frankly I'm kind of unambitious despite knowing I have a lot of potential. I don't want to become wasted potential but for some reason I've never dreamt of being very successful. I just want a simple fulfilling life and MOVE OUT OF THIS SHIT HOLE OF A COUNTRY
Okay so for the things I do like: I love reading and am really good at writing. I especially love the idea of investigative journalism as I read a lot of non-fiction books. I really like research too. I love History and Maths a lot too. The law really interests me these days (maybe because I just finished Better Call Saul) especially the public defender side but also corporate law. I like objective solutions and dread long essays but If i have to I can write them really well. I will say I don't mind bio (except plant bio that shit is boring as hell) or chem, they can be interesting. I love cleaning and organising things a lot too. It feels calming for some reason.
Things I hate: FUCK MEMORISATION. I'm not bad at it but again because of my focus issues it is SO bad to get myself to do it so yeah unless something isn't interesting to me I will not be able to memorise it in time. Physics... Okay I don't hate it but I have to really watch videos to understand it. Sometimes it can be interesting. Maybe my teachers just aren't good enough. I'm bad at deadlines because I always start on the last day. But no deadlines means I'll never get it done. Public speaking... I'm pretty shy and I've never done it so I'm just scared of it. But I could do it. Maybe. I'm just bad at social skills and have like 2 friends.
As you can tell all my interests will basically leave me broke. What will i do with a journalism or history degree? End up broke. Even a Maths degree is useless. Teachers earn nothing. Maybe Law but I don't even know if i really like it. I suck at public speaking. I'm not saying I want a high paying job but it has to be enough to support me

Kaisa hai ye college, Maine Check Kia Abhi es Saal Cs ka pehla batch Nikalne wala hai....Kisi Ko Kuch idea hai...
Admission Jee Advance Ke basis par hota hai???

Part 1 — link Part 2 — link Part 3 — link Part 4 — link
The penultimate script! And the climax of the story. We'll conclude next time with the heartfelt dénouement. Only one editing phase left. I can't wait to be done with this series, haha.
Remember that this script has two speakers, the Heir and the Contact. The Contact will show up in the last script, but only briefly.
Feel free to record, monetize, and/or modify as long as you give credit.
And any sort of constructive critique or feedback is welcome!
Wordcount: 2000
Setting: The first half is spent with the listener laying in a ditch in the streets outside the summit. Then the Contact drags them to a nearby stable. Finally, the heir's public execution in an inappropriately well-appointed garden within the summit.
Summary: There you are, bleeding in a ditch. The heir is gone. Off on a fool's errand to save the King and Queen. The Republic has outplayed you all. But someone is getting closer. And they're cursing your name in a familiar voice. Maybe there is a chance to set things right. You did not come without contingencies.
(Listener's contact rushes from the summit through the streets, getting closer)
[Contact]
[Sarcastic] Sure. Just leave me behind. That's fine. Don't worry about your fellow agent or anything. The summit fucking implodes and you up and vanish. Fantastic timing. Just—
(Sees the listener) Oh shit!
(Rushes over) Hey. Hey! Can you hear me? Are you alive?
...
Heartbeat. You lucky bastard. Left bleeding in a gutter and you pull through. Eh. Mostly.
That's a lot of bloody bandages. I guess someone took pity on you. Didn't stick around though. Whoever it was, you owe them your miserable life. But I can't afford to be nice.
Come on, wake up! Don't pull this with me. I can see your eyes are open. I know you can hear me.
Rise and fucking shine!
...
Finally. Yep, yep, can we speed up the whole delirious act? We need to move. Soldiers are looking for us.
...
Uh, no. I don't know what happened to you. Mainly because you abandoned me. Remember that? But I'm generous: water, bridge, you get it. Want to repay me? Then get over your flesh wound, stand up, and get moving. It's just a scratch. If you can't handle that, I will bail on you.
...
An arrow? Fine. That would explain all the blood. But it doesn't matter. Last I checked you were a Dominion assassin. With that injury you could march ten miles through a blizzard. Barefoot. Try harder.
But this isn't about pain, is it? This is about morale. You're at rock bottom. Not to mention exhausted. But you had your little nap. Take your second wind and get on your feet.
Grab my hand. Up you go. There. Steady. I got your arm. Here, lean on my shoulder.
You should be thankful I came back for you.
...
Why?! I'm saving your life, and you ask why? Wow. Do you not trust me? Talk about ungrateful.
Didn't I tell you before? My job is to get us—both of us—out of here alive. 'Cause when shit like this happens, we can't survive on our own. We're a team, like it or not.
Come on, there's a stable up ahead. Saw a couple horses we can steal. Just one step at a time.
...
Those bandages, that wasn't you. Remember who it was? If someone knows where we are—
...
The royal heir?! You didn't kill them?!
...
You—ugh, no. You're right, it doesn't matter now. I didn't think the Republic could pull off a real coup. Nobody else did either, apparently. Doesn't make me feel less stupid.
There's some good news though. It's obvious we aren't to blame. When we get back home, our superiors probably won't have us killed. If we get home.
Wait... where's the heir then?
...
Ah... I get it. Found out our plan, huh? Considering the circumstances, you really are a lucky bastard. By all rights, you should have a lot more bloody holes. Looks like your unprofessional fondness for the target was returned.
Shame about the whole thing. The assassination plot, I mean. A job's a job. And aristocrats certainly don't deserve an exception. But this one was different. Your little royal might be the only noble I can believe is, you know, noble. 'Specially riding off to go die.
...
No, I didn't see anything. Don't think I need to. Soldiers have been searching for any loose nobles. But there aren't any around here. If I were putting down money, I'd say the Republic finished their collection.
...
I didn't say dead.
Actually, things calmed down after the initial attack. They're being all... "Republic-y" about the whole thing. Acting like they're doing the Kingdom a favor. I slipped away when their newly wed was blathering on and on about the "tragic necessity of their actions". Blegh.
All that to say, they got the King and Queen chained up. The execution won't be for a while. Not until they're good and ready. But they have the heir now. The Republic may be full of windbags, but this is an opportunity they won't waste. The royal family has about a day left to live.
(Arrive at a small stable with a couple horses)
Speaking of living, we're here. Our four-hoofed tickets to freedom.
Huh. Someone must have been in a hurry; they're saddled and ready. Doesn't bode well for their owner, but good for us. Let's go. I'll help you up.
...
Quit stalling. The Republic is still hunting us.
...
I'm sorry? Save who?
...
No! Absolutely fucking not! We are the ones who need to be saved. And we have our exit right here. You have no obligation to rescue the heir. Your job was the exact opposite. Did you forget?
...
I saved your life. You shouldn't throw it away over some bandages. Especially for someone who hates your guts now.
...
You know what? I gave you three chances. I'm not staying here to die. Listen to me. We don't need to make it all the way home. Our forces are stationed nearby. All we have to do is ride 'till we reach them and then—
—What?
...
Yes, Dominion troops are still in the area. You should know that. What does it matter?
...
The plan's already gone sideways. Calling them in won't do any good. Remember, they were supposed to be the backup coup in case the Kingdom figured out the plan. But the Republic struck first. I don't see how bloodshed helps us here.
...
Wait. Are you serious? You want our military to save the Kingdom.
This is... making a disturbing amount of sense. Let me talk through this.
I call in the cavalry to free the Kingdom from the Republic. That unifies Dominion and Kingdom against the Republic despite what our leaders think. The Dominion gets the war they want, and the Kingdom gets to make peace with one of their neighbors. And the powers will balance out...
Still sounds crazy. But it's better than the Republic controlling the Kingdom.
...
There's one problem: we can only ride so fast. If the royal family dies before we return, this will all be for nothing. Even worse, we'll have a war on two fronts.
...
You're staying? The blood on your chest is still wet. What are you going to do?
...
(Long sigh) Fine. Save the heir. I knew you were too sentimental for this job. We need you to go all-out. If this is what it takes, do it. Cut them to ribbons.
If I run this horse ragged, I'll be back before dawn. Hopefully, with a small army in tow. That's your timeline.
...
Good luck you lunatic. You better be alive when I get back, both of you. This better be love. If I did all just for you to die tragically, I swear I'll—
I'm going, I'm going!
Do your job this time!
(Contact rides off)
... ... ...
(The heir gives a speech to the Republic forces before their execution)
[Heir]
(Indignant) Very well. If my spouse says that these are my last words, I will heed the threat.
I know my voice will fall on deaf ears. A court of Republic sycophants and Kingdom traitors is hardly worthy to witness the death of a lineage. But they will serve their purpose. As will I. Willing or not.
But know this: the Kingdom will not bow to your tricks. My people will never surrender. Take the crown and they will rip it from your head. Take the throne and they will topple it. You may think you've won but rebellion will smolder under our ashes.
You posture yourselves as "liberators", yet you would kill me in front of my parents? Your cruelty betrays your fecklessness!
(The heir's spouse hits them)
...
(Deep breaths) What's the matter, my love? Was execution insufficient? You needed to strike me yourself. Are you so thin-skinned, even in triumph? I can't believe I married someone so pathetic.
...
Your words would sting if I had heart left to break. Let's finish this. I have nothing more to say to you all.
Mother, Father... I'm sorry.
...
You needn't be shy, executioner. My neck is there for the—
(The listener swoops in, subduing the heir's spouse and the executioner)
It... it's you. What are... Did you just stab my partner?
...
Not a complaint, just a question.
...
You didn't kill them, did you?
...
Good, a hostage will make this easier. However, we are surrounded by Republic soldiers. Did you have a scheme to survive the stalemate? An escape plan?
...
The Dominion?! I... that's right! The papers said a company of soldiers were stationed nearby. It slipped my mind. You called them to aid us?
...
How can I trust you? I will admit, you saved my life. But what's to say you aren't manipulating me again? I'm sick of being a pawn.
...
I see. The Republic hardly needs to be framed now. And coming to our aid will require your leaders to ally with us. That... I think that would work!
One moment.
(The heir addresses the crowd)
Agents of the Republic. The execution of my family will be indefinitely postponed. Before you seek to retaliate my... my guardian has my darling spouse at the point of a knife. Furthermore, you have fallen into our trap. The unified forces of the Kingdom and Dominion will soon arrive to liberate us.
I would advise you all to surrender now.
...
(Back to the listener)
What? It was only a slight exaggeration. A little fib to make this go more smoothly. See, they're cowering already. We've won. Now, keep your eye on the Republic's soon-to-be divorcée.
(Heir rushes over to their parents)
Mother, Father, are you alright? Please forgive me for returning. I know you'd prefer my escape, but I couldn't let you die. I was overwhelmed and felt like I had no one I could trust and—
...
Yes, I'm fine. Shaken, but fine. I am much better now that we are all safe. Thanks to my guardian here.
...
Correct, from the caravan. The one who escorted me home after my "escapade" in the capital.
...
F-fond of them?! I—ahem—I must have given the wrong impression if you recall them as "the one I'm fond of". We don't have time for teasing. We must secure ourselves for when the Dominion forces arrive.
...
How did I know? Oh... uh... well. It's a bit complicated.
(Deep breath) My guardian discovered a plot by the Dominion to kill me. It was to pit us against the Republic, but it turns out they did not need the help. The Dominion posted a reserve force nearby as a precautionary measure. Now they are being called to aid us instead. Is that sufficient?
...
Right, we'll speak afterwards. Please, take command. I'm quite spent. If you don't mind, I'll rest over here.
(The king and queen leave)
...
You have not yet assuaged all my fears of betrayal, still... thank you. I believe I treated you worse than I ought. But, to learn that you—above all others—betrayed me... and the idea of losing my parents... it was too much to bear.
...
Yes, above all others. You heard what the King and Queen said. There was a reason I was so open with you on the road. And why I lied to them about your plot.
My feelings are confused and stormy. But when all of this is over, I would speak with you. I may have shielded you for now, but there is much to discuss regarding the future of our three nations.
...
Good. Now... be honest. How unbecoming would it be if I kicked my traitorous spouse?
...
(Sigh) You are correct. Why must it be so hard to win with grace?
I will let justice take its course. Nothing left to do now but wait. Please, keep watch over me. I am too tired to sit patiently.

Hi everyone! I am new to posting on reddit but I just wanted to see if anyone has experienced having high or low cortisol issues, and what your symptoms are. I have an appointment with my gyno in one month, and hopefully get bloodwork or anything to check what could be happening....but I just wanted some insight before my appointment incase the bloodwork takes forever to get back, if my doctor doesn't hear me out etc. I am not trying to self diagnose but just get more insight. Anything or any information can help!
I can't tell what the main differences are like in symptoms between high/low cortisol....they look to be very similar and I have most symptoms from both of them. I do have a puffy moon face, hold water in my body, sweating and always heating up/never hardly cold, can't get a full nights sleep/always wake up, always angry/moody/irritable (I hateee this one lol), losing haihair thinning drastically, eyelash/eyebrow hair loss, pale looking/no glow or color, always bad memory/always confused and forgetting the smallest and simplest detail, swollen/droopy/slight red rash around both eyes, joint pain in knees/low back pain even laying in bed, feel reactions to eating mostly anything, always bloated, constipation....
Would these issues be more related to high, or low levels of cortisol? I definitely feel sluggish, tired, and just in general so worn out. Even the smallest tasks like showering/making a meal feel like a huge task to me now and have been for maybe 5-6 years.....and I just can't live my life this way any more especially to how normal and alive I used to feel :/ There's def something off, I just have no answer yet.
BTW I had candida in 2019 and was working with a very expensive holistic doctor on it, and I had to stop going because it was too much so I have no idea if that was fixed with the 20 supplements I had to take each day. So, there are definitely gut issues possibly still prevalent. I can only go with my new gyno that I will see in a month.

So, I'm building this setup all new from scratch after doing a fairly reasonable amount of research, so the final step is finding what people with actual experience building these setups have to say...
I plan on mainly watching 4K streams and totally legit backup copies of UHD 4K 5.1 HDR Dolby... whatever blu-ray discs, you get the idea, and those tend to be in h.265 format.
Should I be able to play "everything" in 4K@60HZ except HDR10+??
Should I be able to get all the audios?
This is the planned setup (I'm in Europe in case it helps):
TV: LG G4 Oled tv (https://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-oled77g4wua-oled-4k-tv). I think it supports everything except HDR10+
AVR: Denon X2800H (https://www.denon.com/en-us/product/av-receivers/avr-x2800h/300610-new.html) Again, I think it supports everything except HDR10+ (it has pass-through for it, but since my TV can't handle it...)
5.1 Setup: QAcoustics Q3050i Home theater system (https://www.qacoustics.com/products/3050i-5-1-plus-home-theater-system). In the future I may want to add 2 Atmos ceiling speakers, but not in a hurry.
Streaming Box: Nvidia Shield Pro (https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/shield/shield-tv-pro/). Again, I think this supports everything (at 60HZ) except HDR10+. This will be played with plex client or Kodi or jellyfin or a plugin that runs one of those into one of the others.
Blu-ray player: Dunno if I really need one, probably not for a while, but if I buy something, I'd be surprised if the limiting factor to play a UHD blu-ray disc would be the UHD blu-ray player...
Media Server: NAS with all the videos/music hosting a plex server that SHOULD NOT TRANSCODE EVER (because the Shield should play everything, right?). This will be a very low power machine so will not be able to transcode 4K video.
The idea is to plug the Shield to the AVR, then to the TV and never use the smart shit of the TV and always get the input from the AVR.
I need a Denon 2800 for the dual output because I'll build an "ambilight" system out of the second output (better than finding a splitter that allows encripted content to still work), so I'm aware I have unused channels (that might be used in the future for the Atmos speakers). And the 3800 is like 900€ more and I don't think I need it.
Any obvious holes here?
Thanks for checking!

Hey guys I just finished school and I have no idea what to do. So I am the type of person who likes to never come but also have somewhat of a presence. If there was a college that only has online sessions I would go to it. My grades I will give you a clue on how they are, I have two 60's, one 50s, one 70s, one 80s and one 90s. So my average is 70. This is leaving certificate results. I prefer smaller places aswell. In general I dont want to be forgotten about but I also dont want to come alot, in a smaller place. I also am considering colleges abroad. So pls give me any options. I will study anywhere abroad.

pictures in comments These things popped up about a week ago and I have no idea what they are to try and get rid of them. Theyre dark greyish in color but i cant really make out any other identifiers. They are mainly in the kitchen-they apparently love paper towels and they gather on the lid of my coffee grinder. I'm not sure if they're anywhere else in the house-theyve been crawling on me and my partner though. We live in a fully carpeted apartment with plants and the windows have been open since the weathers been nice if that means anything. Let me know if more pictures are needed-i tried my best but they're small so they're hard to get pictures of. TIA Also-our downstairs neighbor and tenants who previously lived in our unit have dogs, if that is relevant

Hello all,
I want to recruit some players for a slightly gritty adventure, using the Warlock! system.
To keep it short, the game is on the lighter side of grimdark, will be fairly lethal but not intentionally meat grindery. Have an emphasis on exploration and survival, and be heavily RP driven. Inspired by worlds like The Witcher and real world myths and tales. Expect a short campaign that could turn into a long one, if things line up nicely. I don't guard my world to closely and I enjoy shifting and building it with input from every player. Expect to be asked to contribute to creating a faction, or even race.
This game is for you if:
- You like a darker, grounded tone in your games.
- See character failings as a chance for interesting RP.
- Like history
- Enjoy rolling to create a character.
- Over the age of 20
- don't mind a bit of bookkeeping
- Enjoy worldbuilding of your own
If that sounds interesting to you: fill out this form https://forms.gle/XormD1Q5t1SHGmom6
In more detail.
On the system:
Warlock! is a D20 based game with lethal but fair combat. It uses a career and skill based character creation system like Warhammer fantasy. If you are familiar with DnD 5e and/or Warhammer, it will feel very familiar in its own ways.
It's main standout feature is that all combat tests result in someone getting hurt. The defender of an attack always has a chance to riposte a melee attack.
On the Adventures:
We'll run short adventures (~ 5 sessions each) in a narratively driven sandbox world(small sections of it). I tend towards running adventures where survival is an important aspect of gameplay. Expect at some point to be adventuring deep into forgotten forests, deserts, or icy tundra. Game run in Foundry VTT (moderately demanding on the system) and voice on Discord (mic and quiet places are a must).
I run adventures as condensed worlds or regions. These small pockets are full of stories, competing factions and moral dilemmas. I do my best to set intriguing hooks, but this style of play often requires that all characters have an intrinsic motivation to adventure and interact with the world.
The World:
Its a homebrew world that is classic European fantasy. Elves, Dwarves, goblins and witches. It takes heavy inspiration from worlds like The Witcher, Arthurian legend, and real-world myths and tales. I'm a bit of a history buff, so expect period accurate depictions of towns, cities, culture and technology. That being said, I dont take my world to seriously and I enjoy shifting and building it with input from every player. Expect to be asked to contribute to creating a faction, or even race. If you have an interesting idea for a backstory, you can help craft the world to make it real.

I've played a couple of games on Steam that don't have controller support and I've been using the Steam controller input, which works just fine. Only problem is, the RT button is very hit and miss. It does work, but for example when I'm chopping wood in a game like Subsistence, it will randomly stop (as if I had stopped pressing the trigger) whilst I'm still holding the button down. I've gone into Steam controller configuration and set "Full pull" and "Soft pull" to do the same thing (act as LMB), but it still randomly stops performing the action in-game when I'm holding it down. It seems to respond fine if I only do a soft press.
Is there any fix for this? It's really annoying as RT is one of the main buttons I use when playing games, so it's a bit of an inconvenience if it keeps stopping working. It's like it works on every other press.
My Ally is fully up to date as is Steam, so I have no idea what could be the issue here.

I was playing phasmaphobia with my friends while downloading baldursgate 3. I lagged a little bit, but never was really much of an issue. And so, I continues playing. Mid game, my internet access dies and I can no longer connect to my internet. It says it's connected, but nothing runs. Tried restarting my pc, uninstallijg my adapter and reinstalling it, restarting the adapter. Nothing changes. Yet, I can turn on my mobile hot spot and it can connect to it?
My brother has an Xbox and so do I but I don't play it much. Both were able to connect perfectly and run with my main wifi. Any ideas on what the issue is,

Has anyone ever really had this happen? I was in an online One-Shot recently with a player I personally know and their main group. Main DM was out, so another player was doing a One-Shot in the interim, wanted another player, so came in ala friend's rec.
The game was fine for the most part, but this guy in the group(not friend or interim DM) was constantly trying to dismiss other players actions/abilities and saying they shouldn't work due to XYZ, or trying to argue for bad things to happen other players. Usually something said like, "I feel like this or that should happen" in response to stuff players try to do and his suggestion it's always something that harms another players or makes them less effective. It felt like he was some kind of plant for the BBEG.
For example: An enemy cast a cone spell on two players in the area, but my PC was around the corner a few spaces and had cover. This guy argues that since the back wall was in the cone's range that the effects should be pushed along it to the full range and extend a little further which would be enough to conveniently hit me even though I wasn't in the area of affect by any means.
Other stuff is kind of minor, but he'd say stuff like "wouldn't it be windy out here? Would his shot have a penalty?" or "There's a rock here(a hand-sized rock drawn in the VTT map), wouldn't she trip over it?" and weird stuff like that. Trying to sort of co-DM some situational fiat. I just kept thinking to myself, "same team, my guy".
According to my friend they do this fairly frequently and the DMs usually says no to whatever it is like 95% of the time. I just don't get it and have never really seen it happen in any games I've played or seen. It never actually seemed malicious and he'd back off without a peep whenever a DM nixed the idea.

im 15, i am being framed of something i havent done or not even fully aware of. Because of a misunderstanding between a few people the issue has reached to police and court. i have been called to the juvenile court as well as to the police station. some people took my name as a cover-up and it is costing me and them big time. my phone and devices have been taken and my parents also are suffering because of me. all the people i knew since 4th grade heck even the person who i considered family and best friend didn’t take a chance to ask/call my parents or me to know the whole situation, they’ve listened to one side of the story and started passing it around. the feeling of betrayal and thoughts of “giving up” have repeatedly got a hold of me. having no-one to talk to or even ask for advice is just..what should i do?
just feeling lost.