It’s been four and a half months (136 days) since my husband got sick with the flu and ended up dying in front of me after ten days of hell trapped at home with our young child.
On Mother’s Day a couple days ago, his dog mauled a neighbor’s pet cat to death in front of my son. Fortunately they were incredibly gracious about it, but it still makes me sick. I can’t shake the feeling that whenever things get bad and it actually matters, I am powerless. I couldn’t stop this cat being killed, I couldn’t stop my husband dying from the flu.
This morning I inquire about my husband’s truck that’s been sitting in my driveway since his death. I realized then it was in his mother’s name. She said her son, my husband’s brother would help me get it fixed up and sell it, and I could keep the money, and he would do so for the boat in my driveway as well, which was in her husband’s, my dead father in law’s, name. My husband left me with nothing but debts-zero in his bank accounts and pockets, no insurance, secretly months behind on the household bills he was responsible for.
This brother, the one who said he was coming the night my husband died and never did, the one who didn’t meet our child until it accidentally happened this last thanksgiving, the one who didn’t even send a card let alone come when we got married, finally came two weekends ago, which I was surprised but hopeful about. I had a prior engagement for my son, so had to leave for an hour. When I came back home, he had left with the boat and told my mom he was coming back in two weeks to get the truck running.
I text him this morning to inquire about when he’ll be here this weekend. He informs me that he has to work and will come “at some point.” I ask about the money for the boat and he says he has given it to his mom, who hasn’t said a word about it to me though we’ve texted multiple times.
I don’t know what I’m doing writing this all out. I just feel so shit on. I’ve had to deal with so damn much to try and get through these last months. It has taken everything I have. My husband made it almost as hard as possible for me to deal with his death. He just didn’t care much about the future, his or anyone else’s. But I’ve fucking done it. And now this, his dog and his family, who should be supportive, just fucking me in the only way they can. And there’s nothing I can do about it. He’s a good Christian though, of course. God will protect him from anything negative impacting him through this. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe these hypocritical, shallow in-name-only, on-Facebook-only Christians are right; I should get into performative Christianity and only care about myself? I don’t think I could be so selfish though.
I guess I just needed to shout out into this network of people thrown into this jarring, disjointed alternate reality, navigating these lonely and terrifying waters, people that understand, to get a little bit of commiseration that could be a life jacket for a minute.

TL;DR at the bottom. This happened about 10 years ago. I lived in the garden unit of a three floor walk-up. The front door was a sliding door like you’d see in a walkout basement. The rent was dirt cheap and the neighborhood wasn’t the greatest. I lived with two roommates and we had one cat. The third floor neighbors had a dog they would leave unattended outside in the shared backyard. This was a big safety issue to me not only because we were right next to a dangerous neighborhood, but also because my roommates told me the apartment had been broken into a year or two prior.
When it first started, I think I may not have been paying much attention to the yard and if anyone or anything was in it when I’d notice the back door to the building being left open from inside our apartment, I’d just quickly lock it and go back inside. It was a big yard for a big city and the dog wasn’t loud at all or zooming around the entire time. (Our back door had a decent amount of space between it and the floor so it was pretty easy to tell if the building’s door was open or not.)
After a few times of this, I got a text from an unknown number. My neighbor must have gotten my number from our landlord. She said she noticed I’ve been closing the back door to the building and said she lets her dog out there. Could I please stop locking her dog out? I apologized and said I didn’t realize that and yes, no problem. Fast forward a little bit and it keeps happening, only now I realize the dog is being left out alone in the yard. I text her asking if she can stop leaving the back door open when she lets him out in the yard alone and she says sure, she can. After a few days, it’s clear she just said that to placate me, as it kept happening. I’m annoyed so I email the landlord and tell him what’s going on, asking if he can talk to my neighbor. He refuses. Apparently this is an issue between the two of us that we need to resolve ourselves. He wasn’t a great landlord, he was a little shady, so I wasn’t confident he’d help, but I had to try.
Then one day, I open my apartment’s back door to go to the laundry room and the dog is right outside of our door. I was not expecting this. He stays for only a moment before noticing my roommate’s cat and immediately darts inside our apartment and starts chasing it around. I scream and don’t know what to do. This must’ve scared the dog or he changed his mind and decided to stop chasing our cat and go outside in the yard instead. I’m livid at this point and determined to make it stop happening. This dog could’ve torn my roommate’s cat to pieces! He was a big dog.
Now, being a conflict avoidant person and in my early 20s, I dread having to go upstairs and talk to my neighbor, whom I’d never met in person, but I’m so mad, I muster up the courage to talk to her. I was still coming down from the adrenaline rush of the chase and my hear is pounding, I’m trying to stop myself from shaking. I go upstairs and knock on her back door. (Since we had our own separate entrance, we didn’t have access to her front door.) She has to hold her dog back by his collar to prevent him from getting out when he realizes the door is open.
The conversation is quick, maybe a minute or two. I tell her I’ve noticed the door is still being left open with the dog alone in the yard and can she please stop? Her dog had just bolted into our apartment and chased our cat around. I try adding that it’s not only dangerous to us, but her dog too cause he could get stolen to help bolster my argument. (The fences were too big for him to jump out and run away.) She says that’s why she leaves the door open, so she can hear him. She claims that she doesn’t want to have to walk down three flights of stairs to get her dog when he can just come up himself when called. She wants to enjoy her home how she wants to enjoy it.
I say I understand that, but it’s a shared building with other tenants that need to be considered and as the garden floor renters, we’re the most at risk in the event of a break-in. She’s irritated by this valid point and apologizes for her dog getting into our home and reluctantly says she’ll try to be better about it.
Another little while passes, nothing changes. Cue petty revenge! I start locking the building’s back door any time I notice it’s open. I don’t care if the dog’s out there. My neighbor is being lazy, irresponsible, and putting us in harm’s way for own selfish desire. She’s mad now too, obviously, and I get an email from my landlord a day or two later asking to stop locking her dog out. I respectfully tell him no, her dog endangered our cat and she needs to stop leaving him outside by himself. No response from my landlord. She then texts me asking if we can talk on the phone, I accept.
She calls me while I’m out at the bar after work with friends. I step outside to talk to her and the conversation starts off cordially, but quickly becomes heated. She says she’s not going to lock the door behind her dog and demands I stop locking him out, claiming I wasn’t woman enough to even talk to her about it beforehand. I remind her we spoke in person and she lied when she said she’d be more careful, this is the consequence of her actions, and I’m not going to stop. She says she’s going to get the landlord to make me, I say good luck with that, he refused to get involved when I reached out to him about her. The call ends.
A couple days later, I notice the back door is still being left open, only now her boyfriend is out in the yard with the dog. Great! I don’t mind if it’s open as long as someone is there. I would’ve been fine with that from the beginning. I remain vigilant about checking to see if the boyfriend is outside with the dog any time I notice the door is open. A few times in the beginning, he’s not always there with the dog, but he is shortly after they realize I’m not going to stop.
He seemed like an easygoing guy. I apologized to him the first time I saw him out there and he said he understood. He was always nice when I’d check to see if the dog was alone. The back door wasn’t left open without anyone there with the dog again after that and they moved out about six or nine months later when their lease expired. It would’ve been sweeter petty revenge if she were single because then she’d have had to stay downstairs with the dog herself instead of making her boyfriend do it. But I was satisfied in the end.
TL;DR - Neighbor wouldn’t stop leaving her dog alone outside in the shared backyard while leaving the back door open so I started locking her dog out and her boyfriend started staying outside in the yard with the dog with the door open.

I met him online when I was 13 and non-religious. We always had deep conversations. However I would begin ghosting him for months at a time because I felt guilty talking to a non mahram. During our times of not talking my deen became stronger, and his did too because at some point when we were 16 he messaged me asking what to do for laylatul qadr. We began talking again and he told me he was going to revert to Islam that summer. He was fasting (it was Ramadan), listening to Islamic lectures, attending Friday prayers etc. However, I felt like a hypocrite discussing Islam with a non mahram and randomly froze up and ghosted him once again. Some months after summer, he sent me a meme which implied God isn’t merciful and asked what I thought, suggesting he lost his iman now and never reverted. I also noticed on his social media he was talking to girls and drinking after getting cheated on. I replied to his message, apologising, saying we can’t go on like this and explained why the image was wrong. I then told him in vague terms to spend some time alone in reflection and to hold on to goodness. I was cold because I didn’t want to miss him. I waited a day but he never replied so I said goodbye and deleted my account. The whole situation was a mess bc it was haram.
It’s been years since we last spoke and I've improved myself to the point I feel ready for marriage now. I still miss our conversations, and if he was a non-Muslim with no interest in Islam, I would’ve forgotten him. But my situation is different because the fact he was so close to reverting to Islam makes me think it was a sign from Allah to redeem ourselves. But I wasn’t a good Muslim role model to him, and a Muslim's character is the best form of dawah. I want to make up for this, although I know ultimately Allah guides whoever He wills. We can only talk with the intention for marriage, and I don’t even want to consider him if he remains non-Muslim. We were each other's only confidantes, and I'm hoping that if I contact him in a halal way, he may turn back to Allah.
How do I approach him to give dawah again while keeping it halal?

I (41F) have been with my boyfriend (38M) for 3 years. I have one child from a previous relationship, and all three of us live together full-time. We have lived together for probably 2 years. He calls my child his stepdaughter. He calls himself my husband. He calls me his wife. His father calls my daughter his granddaughter. We talk about the future together, we are planning a joint retirement one day. We talk about getting married all the time (and he initiates some of these conversations and comments, it's not just coming from me only).
He is a good person, he gets along amazingly well with my daughter. We get along super well. We have similar values and perspectives, and we genuinely enjoy our time together. Neither of us has ever been married, if that matters.
In terms of our life together I feel like I've done quite a bit to show him that I'm committed. He is currently going to school to be a teacher, and since he's not working, I am handling 100% of the household bills while he does so. I also am paying for his school because he did not qualify for financial aid. I have no problem doing any of this, because I feel like it is an investment in our future. I don't even expect a thank you or anything like that. This is what you do for the other person in your life. We are a team and at this point in our lives it's my time to step it up so that we can prosper as a family.
However, he still has not proposed to me. We've spoken about a proposal several times, and all he can say is that it will happen at some point in the future. He talks all the time about how three years isn't that long, and I shouldn't pressure him. I definitely don't want to make him feel pressured, but I feel like I have done a ton on my end to show that I am committed, and a proposal on his end is what would show me that he is committed.
In other words, I feel like all of my actions have been "we are a married couple, we are a family" actions, and he continues to wait to make the one move that would push us in that direction. I don't need to be MARRIED right away. I'm okay waiting a few years for that. But I feel like a proposal should have come already.
I'm not sure what to do at this point. I find myself becoming increasingly impatient. I'm in my 40s, and acting as a wife to someone who still hasn't proposed after 3 years. I want that level of commitment because I feel like at this point...I deserve it. I don't want to be endlessly pulled along on if he has no intentions of proposing, because then I'm going to be starting over at 43 or 44 and I have to tell you I find it hugely unfair if that's what's going to happen.
Anyway, I guess I'm just asking for advice and for help shifting my perspective. Right now it's something that's bothering me on a daily basis. It either needs to improve, or I need to look at it a different way so that I don't have this daily angst.
By the way, he does have a ring already. He has his grandmother's ring and has told me he will use that when he does propose.
TLDR - After 3 years of living together as a family, my boyfriend has still not proposed even though he knows it's what I want for us, and I have done literally everything to show him that I am committed to him.

I got to only boys highschool rn and i won't lie i jerk off way too much especially there and my life is good and im healthy and i got looking body and cool friends and every going well for me but i got a problem which is im horny most of the time and i end up beating my meat in risky places not caring about getting caught sometimes as an example one time i was in class and i got so horny for no reason and i felt my cock getting bigger and harder so i asked the teacher if i could go to the toilet and he said yes and i ran to the toilet and as soon as i got there i took of my pants cuz i was worried that id cum over them and i started doing it and i heard someone in the the toilet seat next to me but there's a wall between us so we can see each other but i didn't care and i kept going and im pretty sure he heard me moaning but he didn't say anything and i really wanted him to join me but he didn't so i made sure that he knows what's going on so i kept moaning and repeating ( ah yes & fck & im so turned on ) and when i was about to cum i kept saying im about to cum and i did it and i got out of there to wash my hands and he kept looking at me as if he liked it or something but he didn't say or do anything and he kept checking me out and focus on my chest and cock and i left after that, do you think i should stop doing it in school or it's fine as long as i don't get caught by the teachers or the principal?

Hello friends of reddit. My husband (30M) and I (30F) have been married for 6 months and it is not going as expected. In the beginning, he made it clear that due to his religious beliefs that he did not to have sex before marriage. I agreed as I had horrible judgement in men and was not looking to get taken for another ride again.
Background on him: He comes from an extremely religious family (Baptist). Worked his own business with the family since he graduated high school. He has also lived with his parents and has never lived on his own other than a year in his parents other home before his accident (he fell 27ft and had to relearn to walk). No drinking no smoking, only spend time with family and outdoor activities. Background on me: While I come from an abusive traumatic family I am currently 5 years therapy strong working on myself as it is my responsibility not my partners. I went to college and lived on my own until covid lay offs and I had to move back home with my father, which wasnt ideal. I work full time and have my own business; I am very motivated.
As time progressed he changed his mind and we ended up sleeping together. I asked for us to move in together for a lil while before we got married. My parents (divorced) were not okay with that but I did not care. He told me that we would need to sit down and discuss the idea of moving in together with his parents. I said; "Why would we need to ask permission we are 30?" and he said that we would have to in order to save face. I said "I am not comfortable with discussing this with your family as it is not their business." He said we were not to move in together until we do. I told him if he forced me to meet with his parents then I was going to tell his mother that we have already had sex so there was no reason not to move in together. He never set up the meeting. We never moved in together. He is very close to his parents in my opinion to the point it is unhealthy. I watch as his dad undermines, belittles, and ignores his mother with a smile and charming laugh on his face until she is in complete submission. She admitted to me that while she was clipping coupons for the family, he was out spending all the money on machines / equipment that they did not need. She has cried to me in front of my husband about how she still needs to voice her opinion even though it is never listen to or goes the way she suggests. That was a red flag to me.
My now husband of mine and I started to plan out life together. He told me that he owns his own business and has 60 acres of property and wanted to build a life there. He promised me that we were going to work together and build a home that we can make a guest house and eventually build a bigger home. He wants it to be similar to a Lowcountry plantation. I was all for it, finally excited that I had someone I could create a life with that we both wanted and deserved.
That is when things turned. He started to move forward on building a home for us without a permit nor engineer drawings. Before he started, I told him that made me very uncomfortable and I need security to know this home is done correctly since he will be out of town a lot and I will be left alone in a town I know no one. That made him insulted and said this is how his father and family did their home and he just moved forward on building it himself. I begged, cried, and pleaded with him to please let's get the water and septic out there first and work on a budget of plans / permits to break ground. That I was not comfortable living that way, my father was a GC and taught me a lot of what needs to be done for a home to be an asset. He waved me off, told me that my father was just a carpenter. I cried for months over it and almost moved the wedding back a year. His father was behind the scenes telling him and motivating him to continue to do whatever he wanted to do regardless of how I felt. He finally heard me after I threaten to postpone the wedding and stopped construction and told me he would get a permit on the home and drawings before he did anything else.
The closer the wedding got, the difficult it became. I gave him my pay stubs, W2, and showed my assets to him up front. I showed all of my cards and asked to see his in return. He said he would and he never did. When I asked him more than once he would get annoyed with me. I started to get suspicious. I felt as if he was hiding something. So I did my own investigation. It turns out that his father and him own the property together in a way that if one passes the other gets it and he only owns 20% of the business he claimed was his. I was stunned. Everything he told me was half truths. I brought it to his attention many times and he acted like he told me already. I told him I knew the truth and he said it wasn't a big deal and I am making something out of it that it isnt. If his father had more respect for his wife and for women, I would not be this concerned. His father throws trash on the ground and ignores rules and regulations while having a problem with authority at his own home. Now everything he doesnt want at his house is being thrown over to my husband's property (which is his too and he has a right to do what he wants). Being in that type of chaotic environment along with the sense of having someone stomp on my boundaries for me would be extremely triggering and something that I will not be able to do. He is already throwing trash and leaving debris and junk all over the property. I communicated my feelings and got met with resentment, anger, and denial from my husband. He told me that it was not going to be that way. He also called me controlling bc instead of spending 25,000 on permits / our home, he spend it on a brand new truck (he has two other trucks). I was so upset and said how could he spend that much money on a toy when he hasn't even provided a home for our family. He was texting his dad about the truck behind my back and he was motivated to do whatever he wanted to do regardless of what I thought bc I am "controlling".
I told him from day one that I am a career woman, that I am not going to be solely responsible for the household and I am not his mother and I will not pick up after him. I expect things to be 50/50 in finances and in house work until we figure out what works best for us. He said he agreed and was very happy with that. I then told him in order for me to feel comfortable moving out to his 60 acres of land, that it would need to be solely in his name and he would need to get a permit and engineer drawings. He told me as soon as we were married that he would move forward with that.
With all these red flags, I continued to move forward with the wedding as he promised me the world. He kept dragging his feet on the home construction and it was failing to be completed before our wedding. His dad was telling him to take his time it is not that big of a deal. 4 months before our wedding, his family and him expected me to live in an unpermited non CO having shed like house, with no power, water, septic, nor appliances, an empty shell, no sheetrock (his father made his mother live like that). In complete distress I begged my father to do a lease to own with one of his rental properties for me so that my husband and I would have a place to live after we got married since the home was in no condition to live in. My father begrudgingly agreed and then told me to not Marry him. I did always. My family ended up ruining the wedding for me and causing our special day to not be as special.
Fast forward a few months when it was time for us to pay our lease to own payment. He was late every month, got angry at me for asking for his part of the money, I asked him to help with the chores and he would get annoyed with me, he has not mowed the grass once (my father and I have). I can count on my hand the times hes raked the yard and done dishes. He makes double the amount of money I made but I am writing the checks for the bills. I am just asking for his portion and he told me that I am treating him like a roommate not like a husband / wife. I asked him to explain and he couldn't. I finally got fed up and told me to give me 4 checks signed so when he is out of town for work and I need to pay the bills I can. He handed me the checks and they had him and HIS MOTHER on the account. Admitted, I lost my cool. I was overwhelmed with the amount of involvement his parents had in his assets and life. He has made me feel like he has lied to me. I told him as long as my boundaries are disrespected and I have no say in our home and our life that I do not want anything to do with their property. He would get mad and say it was his and id remind him, no it is not. It belongs to him and his father. He said it is his home and he is going to build it the way he wanted.
A few weeks after that argument he completely distant himself from me. He was out till 8pm every night for weeks and I kept asking him where he was. All he said was "working". A few weeks later, I finally go out to the property to see a full blown house. Behind my back he was working on that home putting roofing, plumbing, tile, siding, everything! He told me we were going to work on this together. I was so upset, everything is half ass done. He let me pick out nothing. I called him on it and he denied it. Come to find out him and his father had been working on it behind my back. While I was struggling to pay our bills he was using his money to continue on building on the home without drawings, permits, engineering, nothing. He couldn't give me money for our house hold bills, but he could spend thousands and thousands on something he promised me he was not going to do. Then he proceeded to tell me what "we" were going to give his father a $2,000.00 fish finder for a present. I told him is he out of his mind we can not afford that (mind you he gave me nothing for my birthday though he did bake me a cake and it was sweet). I said you are going to spend that much money on a gift and you didnt even get your wife anything for her birthday? he said "you got an engagement ring, that was expensive enough" I said "so bc you gave me an engagement ring, that means you do not have to purchase anything else for me as a gift?" he just waved me away. I said you never discussed this transaction with me and you are saying "we" are getting it. He said "well when I said 'we' I meant me and my mother."
I just stared at him. He considers WE as him and his parents. Finally got him into marriage counseling and it does not seem to be helping. He has missed 4 sessions already bc he chose work over me. He is pulling away from me completely, no affection, no sex (I did not know he had an issue brushing his teeth so now I cringe in fear of getting dumpster breath anytime we are intimate). This was NOT like this during our dating time.
I feel like I am drowning and I have made a HUGE mistake. Typing this out makes me feel guilty for telling the truth and maybe I am being controlling and overbearing like his parents are saying? This is why I am coming to you people of reddit.
I feel like I am in a polyamorous relationship. I feel like I have escaped the control of my family only to end up in a place where I am controlled by another man that I am not even MARRIED TO. I feel like I am a ship with two anchors that are my parents, when I got married I thought he was going to help captain my ship, not be another anchor on my vessel to weigh me down. All my friends have noticed that I have changed and I am not my normal self.
How can I get my husband self reflect on how he is treating me and be dedicated to me and not his parents?
Am I out of line? is this weird? Am I expecting too much?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post. I love my husband very much but I am stuck.

Hi Charlotte. I'm a big fan and I love watching your petty videos and I felt inspired to share
This is my friend's story and I was given permission to share it. Names have been changed for privacy
I have a friend we'll call Jane(25F) who broke up with her boyfriend of 5 years who we'll call John(29M) because he cheated on her
So two days ago, Jane messages me saying she suspects that John is cheating because she walked in the bathroom and saw him...helping himself while on his phone and she closed the door and walked away
This is now where I unintentionally became a personal advisor. I suggested that she confront him and she did and this is what happened
Turns out he was helping himself to "spicy photos" sent by his ex who we'll call Homewrecker(20F) as well as openly admitting to sleeping with her
Here's where Jane gets petty: Before Jane moved out, she locked ALL the windows, ALL the doors and took ALLLLL the keys. Every. Single. One...including the spare keys in John's car and left to go to her parents house. He kept texting her apologizing and asking her to be friends but all she does is delete his chats without reading the messages. I suggested to Jane say "If John comes past your parent's house, tell him that if he doesn't go away or your dad will his ass". Jane doesn't swear at all but when John DID pitch up, she told him to go eff himself
Another friend of Jane's told her that John couldn't get into his house so he slept in his car that night. The jacka$$ now has to pay to get a locksmith or smash a window to get in his house
When Jane told me what she did, I shouted WOAH, almost scared the hell out the lady I was driving with and almost choked on my sandwich.
This is a story that I know Her Majesty Queen Charlotte Dobre of Pettyville will love to read

TRIGGER WARNING! This post will go into topics relating to mental illness, mental health and other related topics, including autism, bipolar disorder and PTSD, along with other trauma based things, as somebody who (Likely?) has these too, im going to be as tasteful as i can be, infact this post is being made to hopefully make discussion about wheatley a bit more tasteful, as ive found that discussions about him can (as a neurodivergent person myself) feel a little bit ableist. and if you have these too and feel like you have your own pov, or if ive gotten anything wrong, please let me know, id love to hear your opinions (:
Howdy! I'm Alice, I've been a fan of portal 2 for as long as I can remember, it still is one of my favourite games of all time. and for the longest time i have always related myself to the character of Wheatley, it started since we were both British and had blue eyes lol, but i feel since I'm older, i feel like that connection goes deeper.
first off, as almost all neurodivergent people have experienced, bullying, in portal 2 Wheatley has dropped hints of him being bullied, as other cores saw him as too different, and getting lied to and mocked, for example other people telling him turning his light on and getting off your rail would kill him, I've experienced this type of bullying before, too, where people would tell me not to do a certain thing, which is completely harmless, probably to make me look stupid, now as somebody who experienced excessive bullying throughout my childhood, the negativity and badness rubbed off on me, to the point where i likely have ptsd from the bullying i had endured, for a long time, and still now, i get extremely paranoid amongst new freind, as im scared they will hurt me as others had before, or alternately, that my annoying nature will push them away, sound familiar?
now i want to go onto Wheatley's betrayal, and where i feel the most passionate to get my opinion out, when Wheatley betrays chell he says that she "bossed him around" which, obviously through the course of the game, never happened, i feel as if many people misinterpret this scene, as him revealing himself to be "evil" and while Wheatley has and will do very objectively bad things, mental illness or not (we will get there later), i see this less as a evil awakening and a ptsd induced mental breakdown, again as i have said, my past experiences with bulling, lying and misdirection, very commonly make me paranoid that the people closest to me have ulterior goals that I'm not aware of, I've been bossed around too, and i wouldn't be surprised if Wheatley's main trauma point is him being "bossed around".
The evidence for him being bossed around are mostly work related, which i find to be interesting as neurodivergent people do have it hard in the work space, at the beginning he is confined to a job that he doesn't like, forced into it, but with no way to quit, i feel as if a lot of neurodivergent people would relate to this, feeling bound by societal pressures to stay at the job they don't like, after his "murder" by glados, he seems to have gotten a new job, specifically to aid chell, but he makes a accident, hitting part of the elevator, where his boss then fires him on the spot, this is also something that slot of neurodivergent people can relate to, getting heavily punished for making an accident.
with that in mind i want to discuss why i don't think Wheatley himself was ever "evil" nor had "evil motivations", since the beginning of the game his only goal is to escape with chell, it only goes downhill when he accidentally wakes glados up, if Wheatley was actually evil im sure he would've purposefully talked about "hacking into the mainframe" from the start or something, which he only does later on as a final resort, even then the two of them didnt really know what to do except, defeat glados, then escape, hell, even when Wheatley gets in control he still talks about wanting to just escape, but then the mainframe get too in control of him, where he succumbs to its will.
The mainframe muddies things up, but in the context of this lets say it feeds the host bad thoughts, bad thoughts that put the host in a stable mindset to test sufficiently i think it is expanding Wheatley's paranoia and wanting to belong, with it expanding his paranoia to levels that make him want to get revenge on people who wronged him, taking it out on people who didn't even do anything to him, this is also another think neurodivergent people can relate on, as due to the bullying we feel as if we should become as bad as the bully, even if it is wrong.
thats it for me! i hope this can inspire some people to be a bit more thoughtful while discussing the character, and i hope if there's a portal 3 that Wheatley will return and hopefully be as cool of a character as ever (:

Ordinarily, these books would be my jam. I’m wondering if maybe I’m getting old or cynical though, because there are some things that I’m just not able to look past and they are really pulling me out of the books.
These are supposedly elite, royal, highly trained “people” but they act like high schoolers? Like they make inappropriate sex jokes about the Queen, refer to her as Queenie and just all around act like drunk frat boys.
The MC finds out she’s queen and in a lot of danger and spends most of her time flirting, drinking wine and making buddies when she should be getting ready for a literal fight to the death. She has like 4 days - if it were me, I’d be training like 12 hours a day.
Then people are literally murdering her and destroying the potential relationship between the descended and mortals and she’s more worried about “not killing them” than the fact that regardless of her feelings on mortals, these ones are bad. They are doing terrorism. The will continue to do more crimes and more murder and more violence - but she’s willing to overlook all of that because “mortals”?
Also she supposedly cares so much about her brother yet she actively encourages him to be dating a princess - which will almost certainly get him killed. But “young love”.
I find it ignorant, naive and just downright stupid. Like it’s one thing to have an innocent queen have to make hard choices between her ideals and what the world is really like, but she just won’t understand that the world is nuanced and having stances like her “no harm to mortals” while mortals are actively doing terrorism is just really irritating me.
Also she’s the freaking queen? Why does she not realize that sneaking over enemy lines to get medicine or breakfast or whatever is literally the WORST thing she could do. She has a literal general who can turn invisible- but noooooo she just HAS to take the risk herself…because? She wants to be important?
Rant over.
Still a decent book, but it’s maddening because it could have been great if it wasn’t for the weird frat boy dialogue and Diem’s weird savior complex and idiotic decision making.

I moved in yesterday and it was the biggest disaster i’ve ever dealt with on a move in day. my mom had to be my co-signed bc my credit is shit and she had been coordinating for a week with the leasing agent who showed me the apartment I was supposedly moving into. well, the things that she promised my mom didn’t happen. and yes it is partially my fault as well but let’s get to the point. when I first got there I was made to wait for over thirty minutes. no biggie I had nothing else to do. as we’re signing paperwork she is kind of snarky and a little rude. she had a maintenance man go check the apartment before I was given the keys (spoiler alert she didn’t even look at the apartment before I signed the apartment). he comes back and says the only repair needed is the fan above the stove is broken but will be repaired by the next day. whatever ok. she also tells me the flooring in my apartment has been upgraded and i’ll love it bc it looks so modern and nice. cool! and the she hands me my key fobs and sends me on my way.
I ask where I’m supposed to go and she points me in a general direction. I’m lost within two minutes but tell myself it’s no biggie and I can figure it out. the complex uses key fobs for everything. gates, door to get in the apartment, mailbox, etc. I can’t figure out the gate but finally do and make it up the stairs to my apartment.
when I walk into the apartment there’s small dead bugs literally everywhere on the floor. I start doing my checklist so I can turn it into the office and notice there’s a HUGE crack in the quartz countertop that looks to be filled in with caulk (terribly done btw), a huge stain on the dishwasher (that I later try to scrub and it doesn’t come off), and the fan in the bathroom doesn’t work. whatever, i’ll add it to the list of things needed repaired and turn it in. again no biggie I’ve had way worse apartments.
I have in unit laundry and when I went to check the washer it smelled SO BAD. so I decided to put laundry soap in and run a cycle on self clean. well, halfway through sweeping and mopping my apartment my washer leaks. so I call and ask if someone can come check it out.
someone does come and tells me when they were installing the new floors yesterday they did not hook the washer back up. not only is my new flooring soaked but he tore up the vinyl so badly that the water has soaked the flooring below it and now I’m worried about mold. I leave the apartment for a couple minutes to update my mom and come back to him leaving with a mop and bucket and him telling me the flooring would be fixed in the morning.
I go and check it out and it’s literally like he did not clean any of the water out from behind the washer and dryer before he mopped in front of it… so I call again and they say they will fix it with the flooring in the morning. bad on my part to come without a big towel I guess but I def should have.
now at this point I’m frustrated between everything not working and trying to set up wifi and being told i’ll need to spend $100 for a tech to come out when I was told that I could set this up by myself. not important but just adds to the frustration of the day!
she calls the girl who leased me the apartment and the girl just doesn’t say anything when my mom is asking why I wasn’t shown the apartment before signing and why the apartment has so many problems. the girl insists she did a walk through and knew all the problems the apartment had and was insistent that they would get fixed (spoiler she admitted she did not do a walk through after my mom asked her if she actually knew what was wrong with the apartment) and instead she receives an email a couple hours later that everything will be replaced. washedryer, flooring, dishwasher with huge stain, and countertop if the crack in it is still visible after they try to repair it.
I’m just frustrated. this was supposed to be a new beginning after having a shitty roommate. today I’m supposed to go into the office with a list of things the leasing agent promised to fix and have her sign it and I’m really just wondering if anyone thinks I need to do more regarding it all actually get fixed? I have no family besides my boyfriend who live in the same state as me. my mom literally lives five states away and so this falls onto me responsibility wise and it obviously needs fixed. advice please?

Hi, 1(24F) found a ton of old nudes on my boyfriend's (28M) phone. Before starting the actual story, I have to back track a bit. Back in March, he asked me to look for something on his phone and I accidentally came across a private photo vault app and immediately asked him what was on there. He got super flustered and told me he forgot about that app and didn't know what was on there, I teased him about it but we went on with our day. Later that day, I brought it up again and he said "you can open it if you want but idk the password to it." I said okay and typed in his iPhone password, and it unlocked it with just two photos in the vault of random text messages of his ex talking shit about him. In my head I really doubted that that was all that was originally in there but l let it go. Fast forward to yesterday. I came across this on accident while looking on his phone for a picture of us to send to myself before work. I was scrolling through his cameral roll and found nude pictures time stamped back in March, I felt my heart drop to my a**hole and I hate to say this but I went to his recently deleted and saw that he recently deleted a ton of nude photos, however those were dated back to years ago and before our relationship so I wasn't upset about those. were they gross? 100% but I know l don't have a right to be upset with those. I calmly woke him up and told him to take a few minutes to wake up before I talk to him, I then VERY calmly asked him why those pictures were on his phone. He took a long hard look and explained that those were pictures of his ex and he swears he doesn't know how and why it's time stamped in march and that maybe when he was uploading pictures to the new mac that he just got, it just accidentally transfer over but he genuinely does not know how it ended up there because those pictures were very old (he's a photographer and a model so he has a TON of pictures). I told him how that logically does not make sense and that if it transferred over then it would be time stamped the original date. He said " I'm sorry that you had to see but this is so annoyina cause idk how it got there" so i just went to work. He me during lunch and we briefly talked over it and I sai i want to trust his words so i will let it go this time but if this happens again then i wont be able to overlook it a second time, and told him that I just wanted to make my boundary clear. he got super offended and said that it's not fair for me to threaten him of ending our relationship when he didn't do anything wrong and that it was just an unfortunate event. When I got home we talked about it more and i asked him if it was possible that when i found his secret photo vault, he secretly went to delete pictures on there and it accidentally got transferred to his camera roll. He admitted that he did do into the photo vault before letting me open it because he was embarrassed of what was on there. So now I'm upset about the photos AND the fact that he basically lied about the photo vault. I bring up all the point from the beginning, telling him how I'm still upset and he said "Well if that's how you feel that's how you feel. I didn't do anything wrong you can't get mad at me for nude photos before you. I don't even know how it got there and you're sitting here threatening me that if this happens again you'll leave me when I didn't even put the pictures there. I don't even know HOW it got there. There's nude photos everywhere what if i accidentally save it. You're going to get mad at me for saving nude photos?" i said yes and that was my boundary and reiterated everything. how i wasn't mad at the photos I was upset at the timestamp AND that he lied. we took time to breathe and got back together and we talked it through. But l'm not over it and i keep thinking about it. I know l'm supposed to decipher what is and is not a dealbreaker for myself but im genuinely confused to where to go from here on out and how to feel about this situation. Where do I go from here and how do I get over this???
TLDR: I found nudes on my boyfriend’s phone that was time stamped a couple months ago. He admitted that it was a photo of his ex but does not know how it got there and why it’s time stamped in march. After talking through the situation, I asked him if could possibly be because when I found out he had a secret photo vault app on his phone, he quickly hid and tried to remove photos from here before letting me see and it accidentally transferred over. He admired that he did that, but does not see how this whole situation is his fault when the pictures are old and I cant be upset, and no one knows why the time stamped is wrong so he didn’t do any anything wrong abt that either. I’m still shaken up over this since, and now sure how to go on from here. How do I get over this

Hello, I (28M) am making this post because I need to get this crazy story off my chest. I met a girl on Tinder (22F) at the beginning of this year and I thought we really hit it off. She had recently broken up with a long term boyfriend and was actually couch surfing between different family and friends. I work a lot and I really liked her so I offered to let her stay at my apartment. I also asked her to be in a relationship with me. At first she declined, but on Valentines I managed to pull out all the stops and tried my best to be romantic. (took her out, giant teddy bear, candy all that) I asked again if she wanted to be in a relationship with me and she agreed and moved into my apartment. Everything was good for a couple of months, we really didn't argue and the sex was great.
Her birthday was in April and I asked what she wanted for her birthday. She said she wanted to go on a camping trip and invite a bunch of friends. I was good with that plan and made arrangements to be off from work and spent a couple of hundred dollars on the supplies needed for the trip. She invited a ton of people but the only ones that ended up coming were here best friend, her best friends boyfriend, her brothers, her mom, and two other friends that were neighbors of her best friend. They only showed up at the end of the trip but, I was happy somebody else came for her.
Her best friend also brought her toddler. I had said before we went on the trip that bringing the toddler was not a good idea considering the plan for the weekend was to get drunk and smoke the whole time and that probably wasn't the best place for a two year old. I got ignored and my concerns were dismissed.
Anyway, on 4/20 we all end renting canoes and kayaks from the outfitters at the campground to float down the river. Halfway through; one of my then girlfriends brothers gets sick from to much to drink and ends up falling in the river multiple times. The river is still really cold and we end up having to split up and she takes her brother to get a ride back to the campsite at the halfway point. Then I was stuck with her friends that I didn't really know; to get back to the campsite with the canoes. I had met these friends about a half dozen times and they had struck me as rude and irresponsible but I hadn't spent much time with them. The boyfriend actually had never spoken directly to me at this point even though we had met several times.
I had been told by my ex over and over again how the boyfriend was abusive and how terrible he was to her friend. I told her since I hadn't seen anything I didn't want to be involved. On the second half of the trip her best friend and her boyfriend get into an argument over something. To this day I have no idea what either of them were upset about. This argument keeps escalating but only to yelling and throwing stuff and essentially a temper tantrum on the part of the boyfriend. We get back to the campsite and reunite with my ex, and they keep arguing and yelling at each other. Keep in mind the girl has been carrying around a two year old for this entire ordeal.
Eventually the boyfriend is in his vehicle shouting obscenities' and my exes friend goes to his vehicle and what happens next is the only point of disagreement between myself and my ex. I say he hit her, my ex says he pushed her out of the way. Tomato, tomato, it was still most definitely physical assault of a dating partner and since she had the toddler it was also child abuse. My exes mom then intervenes and they separate, I go over to the girl to ask if she's is alright and she starts asking me to fight her boyfriend. Then the boyfriend threatens to shoot me!!!?????
Keep in mind this guy has never spoken to me directly. As a side note I have trained MMA for over five years at this point and it is well known that I can fight. Normally fighting/sparring is very fun for me but if this dude is actually upset and not wanting to wrestle around for fun then I was going to need him to sign a waiver before I administered the beat down. Besides the dude had a gun and had threatened to shoot me so I'm not just going to attack him?
I tried to tell my ex that we needed to leave but she refused and said that if I wanted to leave I was more than welcome but that she would be staying. I decide to stay, and the rest of the night essentially consisted of her best friend wandering around the campground crying hysterically and the boyfriend posted in his vehicle between us and the exit in some kind of sad attempt to be intimidating. At one point while my ex and her friend attempt to console the boyfriend they essentially left the child unsupervised with me and her friends neighbors.
Both of the neighbors were under 21 and definitely to intoxicated to supervise a toddler. To be honest no one there was sober enough to care for a two year old at that time. At one point I actually stopped the toddler from running into the fire while my ex and her friend made the boyfriend food. (which I bought by the way) Literally the guy assaulted his girl, threatened to shoot me, and put his child in danger and my girlfriends reaction was to make him a hamburger. I was thrown.
Towards the end of the night its starting to calm down and I was coming back from collecting firewood. The boyfriend had moved his vehicle closer to the campsite but was still not interacting with the rest of the group. When I get back my exes friend is blocking my chair so I grab another from my trunk and offer it to her so I can sit down next to my girlfriend. Apparently the boyfriend was offended by this and actually spoke to me directly for the first time by stating that I needed to pay attention to my girl and if I talked to his again he would shoot me.
I had no idea how to react; this is now the second time this dude has threatened my life with a firearm and both times with no reaction from anyone. I tell my ex again that we need to leave and I was once again dismissed. Keep in mind there is no signal at this campground; so we are completely cut off from the outside world. It was already late so everyone turned in for the night shortly after. The next morning we pack up the campsite to go home.
When we get back to my apartment, I confirm with my ex everything that happened. She did confirm that the boyfriend had threatened to shoot me twice. Like I said earlier; I say he hit his girl my ex says he pushed her out of the way. Whatever; same difference. She also confirmed she understood that because the toddler was there it made everything that happened an act of child abuse. My goal for the conversation was to get my ex to report what happened so I could sit in the background and just confirm what she was saying was true.
However, my ex just kept trying to say that this was normal behavior by her friends boyfriend and that she wasn't going to do anything. I tried to reiterate over and over that this was not "Normal" behavior and that by not reporting what happened we could be considered liable if something worse happened in the future. I am not a mandated reporter but, I clearly understood that if I was; what happened would have been a mandatory report.
My ex then blew up at me and accused me of being and asshole and trying to isolate her from her friend. This was the farthest thing from the truth; since when I was told the boyfriend was abusive, I told my ex since I hadn't seen anything I couldn't do anything but, if her friend had no where to go and wanted to leave she was more than welcome to crash in my spare room. I had to go to work to get ready for the upcoming week so I couldn't keep arguing with her and started getting ready to head out. I told her we would discuss it when I got back and left for work. While I was showering I did consider kicking her out for not taking what happened more seriously but, I decided against it because overall I still liked her at that point and I didn't want her not to have anywhere to go.
While I am at work I text her an apology because admittedly I was mean at the end when she wouldn't take what happened seriously. I told her I still didn't know exactly what I needed to do but that the boyfriends behavior was completely unacceptable. She texts me back that she was breaking up with me and going to stay with her brother. I was a little shocked by this as we had not had any disagreements up until this point and I pressed her to figure out why. At first she lied and tried to say it had nothing to do with the argument and was because she wasn't ready for a relationship. I moved past the fact we had already been in a relationship for two months, she had me in her phone as daddy, was living with me, and had started receiving mail at my apartment and just accepted that she wanted to leave.
When I got back to my apartment a couple of hours later she had already packed her stuff and left. I was sad but I have been through a lot of breakups with women I liked so this wasn't new to me. I started going through my apartment to make sure all my stuff was still there and her stuff was gone. I did reach out to here that night because I wanted her to come get the stuff she had left and at least give me the opportunity to speak my peace in person. At this point I still thought she left because she wasn't ready for a relationship and that she was at her brothers.
At the end of the night, I called her expecting her to be at her brothers, she answered and instead I found out she was at her friends? Yes the one with the boyfriend who had just threatened to shoot me, had assaulted her friend, and put his child in clear danger due to his emotional tantrum. This was the only time I truly snapped at her because I couldn't believe she would do something like that. Two things became clear to me 1.) She never cared about me and was just using me for a free place to stay and free food. Which honestly I wouldn't have cared about if she had just been honest about it. And 2.) She was no longer a witness to what had happened, she was an accessory as she was actively trying to deter me from reporting the behavior.
My understanding of the statues around child abuse is that any action taken in an attempt to conceal child abuse makes you an accessory to said child abuse. Because of all that the feelings I had for her immediately died. I decided to sleep on everything and the next day I wrote out everything that happened and emailed it myself to time stamp the report. I gave it to a coworker that I trusted just to confirm I wasn't crazy. She is a mandated reporter and her words to me were that I absolutely did need to report what happened and that if I didn't she would. So I got the number that I needed to call from my coworker and filed a police report at my local police station. A few days later CPS did pay them a visit and I received a lot of nasty texts accusing me of filing the report because she broke up with me and intentionally trying to get the child taken by child services.
She even tried to say she wanted to get back together later when she was "in a better headspace" I called bullshit because to me and everyone I have told this story to she broke up with me in order to avoid the confrontation and distract me from making the report. Her admission confirmed that her plan was to come back when I had forgotten about what had happened. I quickly told her coming back was not an option for her and that I was not interested in her anymore. AITAH?
Also an update that happened last week, some different friends of my ex reached out to me on FB. I had only met these friends once so I was suspicious as to why they reached out. They did invite me over and looking back I think they were just wanting to get the full scoop on what happened as my ex had told them virtually nothing and had been overly vague as to why we had broken up.
I told them the full story to the best of my ability and they confirmed that similar incidents had happened in the past with the couple and that they do not associate with my exes friends due to the boyfriends behavior. I also learned that apparently one of my exes brothers was on my side and thought his sister was a "fucking idiot."
My exes friends apologized to me and expressed their support and agreed I did the right thing. NGL finding that out did really validate me because it was clear to me my ex was trying to protect her friends abuser but I still didn't understand why. What I have tried to believe, in order to not have so much negative emotion towards my ex, is that in her mind she feels like if she is there with her friend she will be safe. Also if anybody asks the neighbors would be shit witnesses to what happened, they were both under 21, highly intoxicated, and while I'm not sure what they are on narcotics wise. I am 90% sure they get it from the boyfriend. I apologize if this was to long of a read but AITAH?

To preface this story; my boyfriend and I have been dating for 6 months, and he is utterly wonderful to me. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted and despite me struggling with trust and not believing I’m wanted, he’s shown me consistently since the day we met that he only has eyes for me. He has struggled with severe OCD all his life while I have severe ADHD and have recently also been diagnosed with OCD (specifically ROCD).
He is a very conventionally attractive man and gets a lot of female attention, which has always felt difficult but he turns it down without blinking an eye every time. I also get a fair amount of attention which I instantly shut down, but my boyfriend deeply struggles with RJ. I have a promiscuous past (despite actually a low body count) and he has found the idea that i’m not untouched extremely difficult. He also will admit his area of weakness is communicating his fears and worries, which culminated in one of his biggest OCD episodes ever.
In February he travelled to a different country for a week which was our first time being long distance even for a short period of time. He went to work at a gym event and was posting lots of content of himself in that environment, and received a number of suggestive messages in response from random girls. We hadn’t been able to talk much that week, he was severely jet lagged, and had had a large fight with a family member that day. The OCD thoughts that had been plaguing him for around a month beforehand came on very strongly, and he was suddenly convinced that I didn’t love him and was cheating on him (due to a few things he had misinterpreted but not spoken up about). In the peak of this, a girl sent him explicit pictures, and in a fit of rage he sent one back. He immediately blocked her before she even opened it and called me crying, which is very rare. He told me he had had this moment of clarity after where he realised how much he fucked up and had given into his OCD and that he never wanted anyone else and never wanted to hurt me.
I struggled with this information at first because trust is a very difficult thing for me, but I stayed calm and tried my hardest to think rationally. Logically, I really do get what went on for him that led to this, and I trust that he didn’t do it out of lust or any desire to cheat on me. It’s been eating him up inside ever since because a big part of his OCD is thinking he’s an awful person and having a massive conscience and he hates to see me hurt. The problem is, my OCD causes me to completely obsess over things like this and I can’t get it out of my head. I find myself secretly questioning everything even though I logically understand the reasons. I want to move past it so badly and it’s causing him so much anguish to see me hurt by his actions, even though I assure him I’m actually just being hurt by my OCD. I also know with almost 100% certainty he will never do anything like that again. Any mistakes he ever makes he only makes once, because he takes learning from them extremely seriously.
I suppose my question is, how can I get my feelings on board with what I know is logically true? I don’t want to create distance between us, and I certainly am not considering breaking up. I just don’t want to allow my thoughts to tarnish him.

I (34F) am currently in the process of divorce, which has been mentally exhausting but thanks to therapy and a lot of work on myself I’m reaching a peaceful agreement.
I’ve had recently reconnected with an old flame back from university days. I was clear from the start that I did not think it was a good time to explore anything beyond platonic, however he (34M) insisted that he had been waiting on his chance with me for over a decade and that he is ready to date me despite my divorce not yet being finalised. I was very cautious at first , accepting the odd coffee date here and there as I like to take things slow before becoming intimate, especially given the circumstances.
He, however, was very insisting, full of compliments, generous, chivalrous, talked about marriage and family, even children’s names. Within 1 month, he referred to me as his girlfriend. This caught me by surprise, but I just assume some people are more spontaneous and a serious conversation about “what are we” wasn’t needed. He told all his friends about me. Because he is an old friend, and actually one who warned me about a toxic ex of mine in the past, I felt he was very caring and safe , and eventually I let my guard down and decided to let him in. For my birthday, he got flowers, took me out for dinner, even got me a necklace and a little music box. I’ve asked him if he was falling in love with me and he said yes.
Then eventually I let myself be intimate with him. It’s been mind blowing every single time.
I work a 9-5 kind of job that involves travelling from time to time. He works in a busy hospitality environment, mainly nights. I did ask from the start if he did not consider this an incompatibility, which he reassured me it wouldn’t be and managed to fit each other in our busy schedules. He always insisted on paying too, despite me being the one who earned the most. He booked us on a trip to his home country with his family. Again, a little bit too fast for me , but I have no logical reason to refuse.
Then something happened. He told me about his schedule for the week in order to fit some time together. Because he had a training event that may involve dinner with colleagues the following day, I told him I would see him in 3 days instead. But he insisted that he would see me the next day. I told him it really was ok if he couldn’t meet up, but he was determined to meet me. So the next day, I told him ok, I’m finished with work, let me know how you’re getting on. He said he thought he was finishing within the following hour. As I needed to buy some stuff anyway I told him I would then see him in town. Comes to the meeting time and he texts “I am staying for dinner , can’t get out of it” to which I say: it’s ok, that’s why I suggested not to meet today but when we both have free time. And I went home. He texted me but I only saw it after I finished cooking my own dinner: “are you ignoring me ?” At this point , I found it a bit strange that after technically leaving me stranded he was asking if I was ignoring him. But of course I replied and made nothing out of it. However , I found it a bit rude that he didn’t even apologise for his sudden change of plans.
We met that Friday and it was great. Said he’s meeting me the next day , usual time (a few hours before he starts his shift) but he overslept and had to go to work. Again, not a problem. However the same thing happens the following day (Sunday) but this time I don’t hear from him until he’s been working a few hours already. “Guess what time I woke up”. I saw the message and put my phone on the side , as I had low battery and was out socialising with friends. Didn’t think this required an immediate response. Later on in the evening I come to a multitude of messages accusing me that I’ve changed my style of messaging and that something was off. I explained exactly what happened and that he had nothing to worry about. We agreed to meet up next day. We did. He brought up the “incident” again. I apologised , I expressed that I did not like being messed around with my schedule as I’m usually quite busy and there has been a few instances already and no apologies, we made up and went for dinner and after , to have a few drinks where he normally works. He made a point it was gross misconduct to drink at his work. Well, we get there , he necks two shots and informs me the date was over and he decided to jump in and help. No apologies. I left and told him I found this very rude. At this point my gut feeling is starting to tell me something’s off.
There’s a few more instances of me having to chase him to clarify whether or not to meet. I find this a bit exhausting to do. Not every time we agreed , we met as he was busy either sleeping or working. Or his phone died. Then when we have some time together , which is scarce , he is constantly on his phone replying to everyone , so I find this behaviour very confusing and ultimately, rude.
Last planned date , after checking with him several times , I got theatre tickets and paid deposit for dinner. He reassured me it was going to happen and that he was very excited. He doesn’t reply to my last messages for a solid 15h, so I ask him why is he treating me like this when he doesn’t like the same done to him ? The day before this, he messages me saying “little bit of a pickle but have to work tomorrow”. At this point , I’ve had enough with my time being wasted and not a single apology. So I texted him back that “I need a break from all this, sorry”. He just reacts with a thumbs up which is infuriating to say the least (we are talking 14 years of friendship) so I asked him : “is that it? Are you even sorry ? “ to which he says : “sorry for what, having to work? “ to which I reply: no it’s not even about tickets or rotas or plans , is about emotional neglect and lack of consideration. He says he’s not willing to discuss it as his out with his team and I said I agree is not the time and place. But he carried on texting me saying that he doesn’t think it will work out and that he needs someone smart and not someone who lives in la-la land. I firstly explain that I had already broken up with him earlier, so no need to turn the tables and that I know I am smart and why trying to belittle me? He continued lashing out that I am not smart , I am not brave, etc. and that he wins at all these qualities. I come to the conclusion that he’s the one scared of vulnerability and trying to compete against me, which is weird and childish.
Now the weight in my chest has lifted and I think I’ve dodged a bullet , however part of me wonders if I have been too harsh breaking up by text with someone who struggles with emotional intelligence and self regulation?
Many thanks in advance

Long post alert: I matched with someone on a dating app last month who is from another country but lives in mine currently for 3-4 years. He knows about my culture very well. We have a lot of things in common. His work is soccer related and I'm a huge fan of the sport. Both of us love gaming. Both of us have a lot of similar interests and are sapiosexuals. He lives in another city and comes to mine sometimes. We spoke for a month before I decided to visit him. I intuitively felt it was safe to stay with him and that he's a good man. This weekend, I went there and we had an amazing time. We both are shy people but together it felt like we knew each other for years. We couldn't keep our hands off each other the evening we met. Sx was great and he appreciated me the way I was, flaws and everything. We cuddled, kissed, talked about life, work, did and said silly things and what not. I could be myself with him. I felt extremely safe with him. The way he looked at me and smiled, especially when I was in his arms, was magical. I definitely saw something for me in his eyes. 50-51 hours felt like everything was perfect. On my last day there, we cuddled and watched a documentary before dinner that I had cooked for him (I hate cooking) and he liked it too. He can't eat spicy so I made it less spicy. We were having dinner and talking about the spicy things he doesn't like to eat in my country. One of them is my absolute favourite thing so I just said it depends where you eat it because I make it less spicy at home. Suddenly, he started getting annoyed, raised his voice and said things like I am not even trying to look through his perspective and when I tried to defend myself, he asked me to stop interrupting him all the time (could be because I was leaving and he was feeling something. I don't know). I controlled my tears as I was getting angry and finished my dinner silently. He ordered ice cream for us but after that I went completely silent. I picked up plates, cleaned up everything, packed my bags as I was leaving early next day and went in the balcony to calm myself down. I went to his room to get something I had left there and he asked 'everything okay honey?' and I just replied hmm and left. We didn't talk after that because he fell asleep while I was trying to calm down. None of us ate the ice cream. Later I went to his room, turned off his TV, hugged him and slept besides him. He held my hand and slept. Next morning he had to leave for work too so we were going to leave together. We didn't speak a word except when he asked if I'd have coffee. We didn't hug or kiss like we did on other mornings. When we left and went downstairs, his cab was there and then we hugged. He only asked me to let him know when I get in the bus. When I got in the bus, I messaged him 'In the bus. Thanks for everything'. He replied 'Take care 😘' I reminded him a few things like to eat the leftover dinner, use up things I had opened to make it, etc. And then I apologised for not talking to him that night and explained that I didn't want to hurt him because I'd have said terrible things if I had opened my mouth. He replied 'No problem *****' 'It was nice to see you' I replied same here. Then he said 'Take care of yourself ☺️☺️' after which I asked him if we'd meet again because the way we left things didn't feel right and also thanked him for making me the happiest I was in years. He just replied 'Let's see how things are going'. It is also important to mention that he's moving to another country soon in June or July (doesn't know where yet) but now he knows I can move too. I didn't reply after that because I didn't know what to say. No honey, baby or anything. I cried the entire way home. He just liked my cat's picture I uploaded on Instagram story after I reached home because he knew I was missing her. There hasn't been any communication after that (yesterday) although he had mentioned before that it's a busy week for him. I can't stop thinking about him, his face, his eyes, his smell and his smile. And another weird thing: he has these muscle jerks in his sleep and now I have them too somehow. My brother told me this.
Now that you know what is happening, I need something to fix our relationship. I really thought it could be a long-term thing for us because we were perfect together. I'm ready to move wherever he's going as my work is flexible. Things suddenly became weird after that dinner. I tried to communicate yesterday but after those replies, he felt disconnected. I want us to work but I want him to approach because I've done my part. I just know it wasn't just a hookup for us because none of us are into it. His birthday is this week and I wanted to send something handmade (which he really needs in his house) and write a letter to him. Is that a good idea? I'm relatively a baby witch and started 4 months ago. Is there a specific spell or something that would help me? At the moment, I only have some crystals, a small altar for aphrodite, coloured candles, bayleaves and some other spices. Any help and advice is appreciated.
Thank you for reading!

I 29F and my husband 38M have been married for 4 years (5 years together). We're not the best at communicating but we did discuss a lot of things before we got married. One of the things we agreed on was having kids in the next few years.
Three years ago my husband lost his 7M with his ex gf to a hit and run accident. Both he and his ex went through a tough time. I never had the right to show any sign of sadness because the first thing he told me and kept saying whenever I tried to just listen to him or comfort him was "You don't have any of your own. You can't possibly understand what I'm going through" "You won't get it" And when I say nothing and carry on with my day he says things like "I'm glad one of us still has a normal life" I literally never knew what to do. I tried my best to just be there for him whatever he wanted but I never knew what it is.
A few months later he started to say things like how he doesn't want to experience such a thing ever again. How he never thought the loss of a child could affect someone this way. But I didn't think much of it because I thought he was grieving. (I've been on birth control since we got together. He never uses protection but after what happened he would ask if I take the pills on time constantly)
10 months after his son's death I got pregnant. It was unexpected. Maybe I would have argued a little but since he wasn't emotionally prepared both of us decided on abortion.
A few weeks ago, I had a busy week at work and couldn't do much on the weekend. I didn't go out (I cooked but couldn't do the dishes) and just tried to get as much rest. He came back later that night with two pregnancy tests. He's been paranoid about me getting pregnant since.
Last week we had an argument where he expressed how the idea of me ending up pregnant again scares him and that he barely remembered how to breathe when we were waiting for the tests result. I told him that I have no problem to wait for a few years but I want kids and nothing can change that. He lashed out at me and how I'm just looking for a reason to leave him and that he never really said he wanted kids. We really talked about this before we even got married and that's not what he said then.
It's been a week now and we haven't talked since. I'm staying with a friend. I'm close with one of my SILs she have been texting me how it would be horrible of me to leave him while he's still dealing with the loss of his son. I didn't leave him for that. I need tome to think and they know nothing about how much our life changed this past two years. He used to be sweet and calm. He's no more affectionate with me. I'm always careful about what I say or do. I love him but I don't like the way he treats me now. All he does is yell and scream at me. Now he can't even talk without grabbing me by the arm or face. Not to the point where I can't bear it but it does hurt (When he wouldn't lower his voice the last argument we had I refused to look at him and tried to go to the bathroom. He grabbed my face a couple of times and forced me to. When I pushed past him he smacked me on the back of my head. it wasn't hard but it did hurt a little). I feel like his family is right I'm his wife and supposed to support him but I really don't know what to do anymore.
Has anyone else been in the same situation? How did you handle it??

I've been on a few trips with my bf that have been overnight to a few days long. He's also spent the night at my place. I've never seen him brush his teeth but I know he has a toothbrush and toothpaste. Besides that I didn't notice anything unusual about his hygiene until our past 2 out of town trips.
We went to visit his mom who lives a few hours away. We got there Friday evening after making the drive and then doing a few touristy things that afternoon. He didn't shower that night but I know he did before we left so I thought okay fine. Personally I'm big on not bringing outside filth to the inside. I don't wear shoes in my house and I change as soon as I get home. We had a long day Saturday, a lot of it outdoors. It was hot and I know we both sweat a fair amount. I showered that evening but again he didn't. Sunday while I was doing my hair and makeup he did finally take a shower.
We took another trip to visit my mom who lives a few hours away. Again we got there Friday and I showered that evening but he didn't. I know he did before we left so fine. Saturday we were out and about all day and I took a shower when we got back but again he didn't. Sunday and no shower still. We ate breakfast together, hung out a bit, and then left.
My mom lives in a small one bed one bath apartment so it was obvious anytime someone was using the bathroom. I knew she'd notice because she and my sister pay attention to that sorta stuff all the time. My mom asked me later what was up with him not showering the whole time we were there.
I'm not exactly sure how to bring it up to him because besides the mental turn off of not wanting him to bring the fifth of the day into the same bed I'm in, he actually doesn't smell. I'm saying this as someone who was repulsed by the various smells of my previous relationship. He somehow legitimately doesn't have bad breath or any detectable body odor. I've smelled him after work where he basically sweats all day so I know he can smell bad. He just doesn't seem to on non work days.
I wouldn't know how to bring it up or if it's worth bringing up because I can't even say that he smells and it's a turn off or whatever. I also can't say a whole lot because honestly I only brush my teeth in the morning. We don't live together so it's not like he smells awful and I'm nose blind. I also understand not wanting to shower every day. I literally didn't this past Sunday and Monday because I was just lazy. Granted I was home alone and not around anyone but I also don't wash my hair for awhile unless I have plans because I have oily root issues and everything I've read said washing it too often makes it worse.
So is this an issue?

Hi, all. I'm a new player and I just had one the most chaotic and best sequences of events I've ever had in gaming.
I'm a new player and I was generally avoiding boss fights untill recetly. Participated in a couple of Queen kills, and at some point decided to jump to the Earle fight around level 90.
Knowing nothing about the event, I assumed that it would be similar to the Queen one, so I took Rad-X, got into PA and jumped to one of the team members. Obviously, I ended up in a mine, so I took off the PA and went to a boss arena, dying on the jump down, because I thought Bird Bones will handle it (more on that later). The fight was around 15 mins, but went rather smooth (I use a commando build). We killed the boss, I saw a 3-star pickaxe pop-up on the left, but was immediately distracted by a notification "the mine is about to collapse". Everybody started to run around like headless chickens, looting stuff and trying to figure out where is the exit (we probably had lots of first-timers). One of the experienced players showed a "Follow Me" emote, so people just flocked to him/her. Run back was chaotic but fun, but when I went outside I realised that Rad-X is no longer working and I'm taking radiation like crazy. I took one, got into PA, got overweight debuff and slowly crawled to the direction of a silo nearby. When I left the nuke zone I took off the PA to get rid of the overweight debuff and immediately got jumped by a legendary Yao Guai. Normally, I can kill them in 10 bullets or so, but I couldn't jump around it to avoid attacks, so it mauled me in 3 hits.
After dying, I decided to check what hapenned to my mutations, because I thought I removed them accidentally (I used a bunch of Rad-Aways, thought maybe perk bugged out and I removed some of them in the chaos). That's when I learned that Rad-X suppresses mutations. While waiting for Rad-X to go away I went to scrip the pickaxe from Earle, and I noticed that I also got a Quad Railway Rifle at some point (+300% ammo / +50% VATs Accuracy / -25% AP cost), which is a huge upgrade for my build (I used a quest Fixer and a random Railway Rifle before).
I went to grab my lost loot and on my way there I've also found a full set of raider PA nearby. Upon entering it, some guy told me through the helmet radio to leave the armor alone and that he will find me if I steal it.
This game is absolutely amazing in terms of random experience sometimes. I got it from Prime, and my only prior knowledge of the game was that it was a huge meme when it was released and people were shitting on it all over the internet. Good to know that it turned out to be a solid experience. I'm level 100 now, but I still didn't have time to finish any of the main questlines, because I want to participate in all events and do daily challenges for the pass, since I joined late.

I was recently going through old photos on my phone and came across a screenshot from a music video I used to love and have been scouring the internet trying to remember the artist or song name and have gotten nowhere. I’m seeing I can’t attach the screenshot but it’s of a small dog with flames coming out of its eyes.
If I’m remembering correctly, the video starts out with a cook making a burger at a diner and the artist/DJ (possibly a former YouTuber turned DJ) eats the burger which was potentially laced with something and goes on what seems to be an acid trip of sorts. He wanders around the city while his surroundings include some cool CGI/animation and the video ends with him being in the line cook outfit serving the tainted burgers at the diner. The song was heavy on the bass/dubstep(?) style.
Does this ring a bell? I’d be endlessly grateful for any tips!
Edit to add: this was likely sometime between 2014-2015

About me: I am from CSE branch and graduating this year and got placed with a package around 10 LPA on campus.
If you are considering joining this college then I assume that your percentile is in the range 97-98. Now before I discuss about the college, let's first discuss what all of you want, if your percentile is around 97-98 then you are not getting good NIT and possibly a good IIT. That means your target is to become on par with IITians and NITians after 4 years when you complete your BTech. The reason why I am mentioning this is because it will help you decide whether you should join this college or not.
Now coming to the review itself:
Let's first discuss about placements since it's the most interesting part for all. Now, I won't consider the year 2024 and year 2022 to analyse this college's placement, since both these years were quite and exception. In 2022, anyone with room temperature IQ was decently placed on the other hand in 2024 due to recession, even top coders had difficulty getting placed. You must keep these two exceptional years in mind when analysing any college's placement.
The only reason why you might be considering this college is because you must have seen the average and median slightly better than some IIIT's and lower NIT's and that's only because of startups coming to hire on campus. Now the question arises, just because a random startup (which is not even an year old) is offering me 2-3 lakhs more should I take admission in this college?
If your answer is yes then prepare yourself to pay a HEAVY price for just a gain of 2-3 lakhs in CTC. Why? Have a look at some of the factors:
Job security: Worst in startups. Work culture: Some of my friends placed in these random startups have to work 12 hours daily with toxic work culture.
Only a few MNC's like Deloitte, BNY Mellon, Media net which takes around 20-30 students total are decent enough to work in. The rest have to adjust in these random companies that will suck your life out of your body.
Therefore please think carefully, simply choosing a college based on placement can be a fatal decision and that too for 2-3 lakhs.
Now coming to academics:
The dean of academics currently is Mr. $andeep $aini, he is one of the least liked faculty in our college, he wants to make this college a blend of IIIT Hyderabad and IIT Kanpur as he says, but in this process he is completely destroying students future by giving them very strict grading. For instance in my batch 30-40 percent students have less than 7 CGPA and not because they don't study but because of this brutal grading system in which even if you top the course you will not get an A grade, it's completely ridiculous at least for CSE. The people in the academic department are also full of idiots like Raj€€v Saxena, they will not make things clear in the beginning and will not reply to your mails but I guess thats a problem with every college.
The Director:
He is the worst part of the college period. You will never see him in the college, it feels like whether he even exist or not. He has zero leadership qualities and in these four years we hardly ever interacted with him. He has an inflated ego and thinks that he is starting a revolution by making new AI buildings for research which are not even utilised. You cannot contact him easily so don't expect that you can reach him if you have some serious problem. Dude is just enjoying his life going on Europe vacations.
Faculties:
Most of the faculty are contract based, this is the worst part. They just teach for one semester then leave the college and then some new faculty comes to teach you. Although their qualifications are fine (phD from IIT). Many old faculty have recently left college too, and they are just okayish.
Infrastructure:
Very poor infrastructure, there is no auditorium and my school had a better gym and sports facility than LNMIIT. There are 3 badminton court and 3 basketball court 2 volleyball court and a lawn tennis court. The new lecture hall have AC but the old ones doesn't have them.
Attendance: 75% criteria is there.
Canteen: There is are only 4 shops, one of them which is called the Amul parlour is very unhygienic I am surprised how people eat there.
Then there another shop which sells paratha and pakoda which is usually crowded and the guy working there feels like he is in intoxicated state. I am sure that dude doesn't even know what planet he is living on! You will have to wait half hour just to get 1 paratha.
The rest two shops sells packaged items like Lays and Kurkure. So if you are hungry then eating packaged food is your only option.
There are two shops which are closed for more than an year where there used to be a restaurant, but college administration is corrupt ($amar $ingh) removed it and now closed.
Student Life:
There is very limited life in campus, so to enjoy a little bit you will have to go to Jaipur city and this is where the worst part begins, the college is 10-15 km away from city and the road between the college and city is very poor so Uber or Ola generally doesn't accept your request and if they do, be ready to shell out 500 rupees out of your pocket and that's just one way. To solve this problem the college has bus which is always overcrowded!! You will have to arrive 1 hour before the departure just to get a seat! And the bus drivers is always angry with the college administration ($amar $ingh) these drivers are underpaid and overworked and many times you won't get a seat in bus so forget about going out of the college.
Hostel:
They are accomodating 3 students in a room with capacity of 2 students, the three beds are joined and the third student doesn't even get a study table and a study chair of their own.
Mess:
Food is above average, it's good on some occasions. Definitely manageable.
TPC:
This is the only reason why this college is still relevant, people have mixed opinions about manuj sir and ashish sir but I think that they are doing a decent job. But in case they left the college then I the college placement will turn upside down.
Fees: you will be paying around 30 Laks! and will not get any brand value, it's totally NOT worth it.
Brand name: This college has no brand name and no one knows it outside Jaipur, trust me college brand name matters a lot in the industry.
Final conclusion: If you want to be on par with IITians and NITians, there are several ways, take admission in any new nit or iiit and take any placement they give. Then opt for higher studies, you can go for MS or MBA, you can switch companies. DO NOT BE GREEDY FOR JUST EXTRA 2-3 LAKH PLACEMENT.
Final advice:
Think in long term not short term, think in decades not in years! That NIT or IIIT tag will remain with you for the rest of your life.

Part 14.3

Heracles VS Lernaean Hydra

Author Note: I was thinking about it and I really wish that GT9 used more draconic symbolism throughout the story when (or if) I revisit Team Crowley VS Rosencreutz I'll have symbolism of Aleister (TheBeast666), Aiwass (Codename: DRAGON) and Coronzon (The Dragon of the Abyss) all have symbology of them being Dragons preying on a God/Hero like CRC and the reversed conflict of Chaos VS Order you see in mythology, I also wanted to achieve something similar with Kakine Teitoku as he can represent the Fallen Angel and the Seraphim but for now I'll try adding draconian symbolism into Gunha VS CRC.
True Expert Christian Rosencreutz, with his golden rosy cross sword, clashed relentlessly against the indomitable force of the Strongest Gemstone, Sogiita Gunha. With each clash of their powers, the air crackled and compressed, and the pavement trembled beneath.
CRC, observed Sogiita with a mixture of intrigue and disdain. "You fight like the legendary Heracles," he remarked, his voice carrying over the din of battle. "But know this, I am the Lernaean Hydra, and no matter how many heads you sever, I shall always rise again!" Rosencreutz roared to slice the #7’s midsection.
Sogiita, his entire body wreathed in unknowable energy, met CRC's blade unyielding. "Bring it on, old man!" he retorted, his voice brimming with confidence. "I'll knock you down as many times as it takes! I won't stop till you come to your senses and remember your roots, like the roses you love so much, Rosencreutz!!"
Their clash intensified, that old man’s higher dimensional sword colliding with the raw power of that boy’s fists and kicks as they pushed each other to their limits with each sword swing, punch, kick and flash.
Sogiita unleashed a barrage of punches, each strike carrying the force of a meteor, while that silver young man countered: he wielded his sword in his right hand and released impacts followed by white light that was enough to previously take down all of The Bridge Builders Cabal.
As the battle raged on, the very fabric of reality seemed to warp and shift around them, bearing witness to the titanic struggle between two unparalleled forces.
The founder of Rosicrucianism who intimidated reality itself to obey his will and that Gemstone with an unstable personal reality that could change on a whim.
The atmosphere crackled with electrifying distortion.
Sogiita's fists tore through the air with the ferocity of meteors, their velocity enhanced by his ability to adapt and accelerate, surpassing even CRC's speed. As each blow was released, the friction with the surrounding air molecules ignited a scorching heat, intensifying the impact.
The rapid movement of molecules generated an escalating thermal energy, causing the air to seethe with increasing temperature. It was akin to a tempest of incandescent projectiles hurtling towards CRC, their speed surpassing the limits of human perception.
It was like a storm of brilliant fiery arrows was fired at Rosencreutz.
These blazing arrows of force were reminiscent of the elusive strikes employed by the Rose & Cross Leader, ignoring distance with deceptive agility.
With each thunderous punch, that bandana boy sought to overpower his adversary through sheer kinetic force, his unwavering resolve palpable in every motion.
But that wasn't enough for this superhuman.
CRC, wielding his cross sword with precision and skill, deflected each and every one Sogiita's flaming arrows with calculated strikes of his own. Each impact unleashed a burst of blinding white light, sending shockwaves rippling through the chaotic city.
"You think brute strength alone will defeat me?" the silver man taunted, his voice cutting through the chaos of battle. "You may be strong, but strength without strategy is nothing but raw power wasted."
Sogiita grinned, his confidence unshaken. "Strategies for cowards who can't handle a real fight," he retorted, his voice ringing with defiance. "I'll K.O. you with my fists and guts alone!!!!"
Rosencreutz's eyes narrowed as he parried another of Sogiita's punches. "Your arrogance will be your downfall," he warned, his tone tinged with certainty. "I may not match your overall speed, but I have something you lack: intellect and precision.”
Christian Rosencreutz then plunged his cross sword into the ground.
"This is what harmed Kamijou Touma," he declared, grinning and unleashing a torrent of lethal invisible attacks from his outstretched palms.
However, the #7 countered with a relentless barrage of flaming arrows from the thermal aftershock of his punches.
Each strike akin to a particle accelerator in its intensity and speed. That Gemstone was the particles being fired on the right and that True Expert was the particles fired on the left.
As the attacks clashed, the battlefield became a spectacle of raw power and precision.
“Roar!” CRC held his open palm to his mouth and blew gently on the tip of the middle finger.
That was all it took for a blaze easily outdoing a flamethrower to rush out. And this was not just any fire. It fed on the power of a ley line and stole vitality from space itself. This overwhelming mass of light and heat was wielded for no other purpose than to take lives. Anyone who tried to survive it using simple composite armor or special fibers would dry up and burn away in less than a second.
But that wouldn't kill another superhuman would it?
Of course not.
“Aaaaarghhhh!!!!” screamed the #7.
Some assaults bypassed the fray entirely, slipping through the chaos like elusive particles in a collider.
A smokescreen.
Those brilliant fireworks from hell weren't meant to take Sogiita’s life. They were meant to disrupt the Gemstone's senses and sight so he couldn't counter all of that old man’s deadly attacks.
Invisible strikes found their mark on that Gemstone, and the searing arrows of the arrows scorched Rosencreutz.
CRC was wounded but he rejected to make any whimpers. Instead with a sudden burst of velocity, the young silver man picked up his cross sword from the ground and launched a flurry of strikes, cutting at the #7’s body with pinpoint accuracy.
His arms, his head, his face, his stomach, his legs, his midsection, his back.
Each blow landed with devastating force, causing Sogiita to stagger back under the onslaught.
If that bandana boy hadn't had his defenses and general stats raised by the #5 he’d be cut to pieces.
The #7 fell on his back.
"There's a fire," Sogiita declared, his voice ringing out amidst the chaos of battle.
With each attempt to break his spirit, Sogiita's resolve only grew stronger, fueling the flames of his determination. "Every time someone tries to make me give up, it's like wind feeding my flames, making them burn even brighter just like my punches," he explained, his words carrying the weight of his unwavering determination.
He refused to stay down.
With a roar of defiance, Sogiita surged forward once more, his movements blurring with speed as he disappeared from view. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared behind Christian Rosencreutz, catching the magician off guard.
"Hey, old man," Sogiita taunted, his voice filled with confidence as he seized Rosencreutz from behind.
Christian Rosencreutz's eyes widened in surprise as he realized he had been outmaneuvered.
As Sogiita Gunha faced off against Christian Rosencreutz in their airborne duel, he felt the flames of determination burning within him, driving him forward with unstoppable force.
Before he could react, the boy lifted him effortlessly and slammed him onto the pavement below with a resounding thud.
"I'm not just a kick-boxer!!" Sogiita sang.
As the impact reverberated through the air, the young silver man let out a pained cry. The force of the collision compressed the surrounding air, heating it up until it crackled with energy. Christian Rosencreutz's head struck the ground with a velocity equivalent to mach 20, igniting his body in flames upon impact.
This move is called a suplex.
Struggling to regain his bearings, Rosencreutz muttered in a daze, "The House of the Holy Spirit...the seven walls..."
"You said it yourself, didn't you?" the gutsy boy retorted, cocky. "My power and my guts can break through your impenetrable walls. And I can spread those same guts to the world around me."
With a grimace, Christian Rosencreutz acknowledged the truth of the boy's words. "Your uncontrolled AIM field grants you the ability to imbue non-organic objects with the properties of your virus," he observed, his voice tinged with begrudging admiration. "Allowing them to bypass even the defenses of the seven-walled tomb.”
"A virus? Don't be so gutless, CRC," the #7 retorted, his voice filled with defiance. "This battleground ruled by wills is a two-way road between you and me."
Christian Rosencreutz raised an eyebrow at the boy's words. "Hey Gemstone, you could've killed me if I weren't a superhuman with an idealized body that accomplished The Great Work and crossed the Ungrund, what then short-stack?" he questioned while fitting an insult against his height.
Even without the seven-walled tomb or sheets of diamonds Rosencreutz was cartoonishly durable.
"Sorry, old man," Sogiita replied, his tone tinged with annoyance. "I might've gotten carried away, but I know it'll take more than that to kill you. No matter how many heads you regrow, like Hydra, I will not give up until I've completed all my labors."
"Mhm, so you do know your mythology," CRC remarked, a hint of amusement in his voice. "The Lernaean Hydra, or simply Hydra, is a serpentine lake monster in Greek and Roman mythology. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, known as an entrance to the Underworld. In the canonical myth, the monster is slain by Heracles as part of his Twelve Labors."
"Yeah, I know," Sogiita replied confidently. "I studied the tales of great gutsy heroes in school.”
"So, short-stack," Christian Rosencreutz began, his voice carrying a hint of scholarly interest. “Have you ever considered the parallels between our battle and ancient Near Eastern religions?”
Sogiita listened intently. "Are you saying you see yourself as a god of war or a hunter?" he inquired.
CRC chuckled softly. "In a sense, indeed. We are both assuming roles in this grand theater, are we not? I, the Hydra, and you, Heracles."
He continued, "Consider the Second Labor of Heracles. Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns, sent Heracles to slay the Hydra, which Hera had raised specifically to defeat him. Heracles approached the swamp near Lake Lerna, where the Hydra dwelled. To protect himself from the poisonous fumes, he covered his mouth and nose with a cloth and shot flaming arrows into the Hydra's lair, causing it to emerge and terrorize the surrounding villages."
CRC paused, drawing a comparison. “In our own clash, the flaming arrows that Heracles hurled at the Hydra find their echo in your lightning-fast fists, generating shockwaves that ignite the air with their speed and force. It's as though each strike of yours is akin to shooting a flaming arrow, much like Heracles did.”
“Huh? Are you suggesting we're caught in a time loop? That some enigmatic group, like the Bridge Builders Cabal, manipulated events to resurrect you, pitting us against each other in a timeless struggle? I've never met them, and I'm certainly no child of Zeus. Are you implying that our battle will be distorted into a Greek legend by a meddling time traveler?!” frantically asked the boy.
“No, no, you simpleton. This world contains synchronicities. In Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian mythology, the war and hunting god Ninurta was celebrated for his deeds. The Angim credited him with slaying eleven monsters during an expedition to the mountains, including a seven-headed serpent, possibly identical to the Mushmahhu, and Bashmu, whose constellation was later associated with the Hydra by the Greeks. In Babylonian contexts, the Hydra's constellation is also linked to Marduk's dragon, the Mushhushshu.”
“Uhhh….” That shounen boy was dumbfounded.
"Hhm, I suppose calling it a time loop isn't technically wrong," Christian Rosencreutz began, his tone measured. "I'll break it down from history class and reconstruct it through the lens of the occult. Historic recurrence, young Gemstone, is the phenomenon of events echoing throughout time. Whether it's the rise and fall of empires or the repetitive cycles within a single society, it's all part of this grand plan that was decided when Adam ate the forbidden fruit."
The #7 with his guard up but curious listened: "So, history just keeps repeating itself? Just a series of coincidences?"
Christian Rosencreutz shook his head sagely. "There is no such thing as coincidences. Take, for instance, the Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence, pondered upon by thinkers like Heinrich Heine and Friedrich Nietzsche. While it's said that 'history repeats itself,' it's not quite that simple. Rather, these recurrences stem from identifiable circumstances and chains of causality."
He continued, his voice carrying the weight of centuries of philosophical debate. "Consider the phenomenon of multiple independent discoveries in science or the reproducible findings in natural and social sciences. These recurrences, whether in the form of rigorous experimentation or comparative research, are vital to our understanding of the world."
Christian Rosencreutz paused, allowing the weight of his words to sink in. "G.W. Trompf, in his seminal work, The Idea of Historical Recurrence in Western Thought, illustrates the recurring patterns of political thought and behavior since ancient times. Through these patterns, history offers us invaluable lessons, often leading to a sense of resonance or déjà vu."
Their words reverberated like a challenge to destiny itself, a testament to their unyielding determination in the face of adversity.
That Gemstone didn't surrender his characteristic fervor. "History echoing through time, huh? It's like the universe itself is stuck on repeat, and we're just caught in the cycle. But you know what? If history's gonna keep looping, then let's break the pattern! Let's smash through those chains of causality and forge our own path. Who cares about déjà vu? We'll create something entirely new, something that'll shake the very foundations of this world and we’ll do it with guts!!!" He defied that silver monster.
But Rosencreutz wasn't finished. He pulled out his Crystal World Map.
The supposedly old man listened intently to that boy's impassioned response, his expression inscrutable behind his clairvoyant card. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke.
“Gemstone, you speak of breaking free from the chains of repetition, of forging a new destiny against the backdrop of eternal return. It is a noble aspiration, indeed. However, consider this: eternal return is not merely a philosophical concept or a whimsical notion of fate. It is the very fabric of existence, woven into the nature of time itself.” He pressed his finger on the Miniature Garden and a 3D holographic projection flew out—
“In ancient times, the Stoics grappled with the idea, seeing in it both a sense of cosmic order and a challenge to individual agency. Augustine and others recoiled from its implications, fearing it as a negation of free will and salvation. And yet, Nietzsche, in his brilliance, dared to confront the concept anew, exploring its depths in the crucible of human consciousness.”
Didn't Aleister Crowley say that he had to shatter every single phase in order to eliminate the concept of fate?
“I will shatter every last phase and put an end to all mysticism. It can be helped and we need not restrain our tears and bite our lip when faced with tragedy. I will bring back the pure world in which everyone can feel anger like normal and question it all like normal!!”
And didn't Coronzon appear to break down all the phases including the Pure World?
Partial destruction would be meaningless. If anything remains and an eternal distortion is born from that, then it will all happen again. I will eliminate the ten spheres, the twenty-two pathways, and the hidden eleventh symbol. Collisions between phases? Sparks and spray? You cannot save anyone if you only treat those symptoms. All of the fundamental clogs must be removed. All so we can pass the baton to whoever comes next.”
“Sparks and Sprays…” Rosencreutz muttered.
“Eh?” The #7 didn't quite hear him.
"Beside time stands fate, cruelty's steadfast herald. In the silent chambers of the soul, whispers the most profound wisdom. Humanity, in its folly, neglected to exalt life's splendor, its radiance, its grandeur. Truly, it is a rare gift to comprehend the forces that shape our existence.” That magician spoke in despair.
“From the moment man ate the fruit of knowledge, he guaranteed your species’ failure... Entrusting his future to the whims of fate, man clutches to a flickering hope. Yet, within the Miniature Garden lies the key to all revelation. Beyond the well-trodden path lies the ultimate terminus. It matters not who you are; Death is the sole certainty awaiting all.” he finished with scorn.
Shokuhou Misaki was currently linked to Sogiita Gunha so was overhearing the entire conversation.
“Are you okay, Leader?” asked Kamijou back at the hospital.
“Yeah…” she responded.
“Really?” Mikoto breathed a white sigh. “It wasn’t the shock of seeing their school destroyed. Nor was it the fear of having those rioters attack. …They’re afraid of their own power. And after learning how exactly to use that power to survive, they’re not sure they can just switch it off and return to their normal lives. So their gears have ground to a halt.” Tokiwadai Middle School was a prestigious esper development school.
The young ladies registered there were Level 3 at the lowest and Level 5 at the highest.
Almost all of the students had a power that surpassed that of a blade or handgun if used properly, but something had become twisted.
Yes.
“A lot of them weren’t really sure why they were training their powers.”
Shokuhou breathed a white breath, wrapped her own arms around herself, and rubbed her thighs together.
Why are you studying?
How many people could give a proper answer to that question? Because my parents told me to, because my teachers taught me to, because that’s how the world works. Those would be most people’s answers. Even the students with a clear vision of their future would only have something vague like “for the entrance exams” or “for my future”.
Only a small handful would have specific puzzle pieces in mind, such as “I need to learn how to use this equation so I can build a rocket”.
The young ladies of Tokiwadai Middle School were the same.
What if the very gears that humans have…their actions, reactions, inactions were all the result of some transcendental entity hovering above.
Like God or The Devil watching over humanity’s reality sphere and ordering around his system like everyone was a pre-programmed NPC that had specific events occur to them to get them to develop in the way that they did and determined their genetic bloodline that composed their psyche?
Is there truly a free will?
It was said that in order for you to break out of the system of society that the working class was stuck in you had to climb to the top where the corrupt elites resided.
Imagine Breaker negated sparks, Aleister Crowley could see through the veil thanks to Holy Guardian Angel Aiwass, Great Demon Coronzon could always see the cogs.
Christian Rosencreutz could view the entire world through his Miniature Garden.
The rest of humanity was at the mercy of their own destinies.
A Guardian Angel wouldn't arrive to save a parent’s child from fate every single time.
"Okay, nice poetry, can we get back to fighting already?" asked the #7 impatiently.
"Seems I got carried away," the old man conceded with a nod. "The synchronicities of this world, akin to the astral configurations in astrology, serve as an example of synchronicity, according to Jung. It describes circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack a causal connection, much like the parallel relationship between celestial and terrestrial phenomena. Synchronicity experiences entail subjective encounters where coincidences between events in one's mind and the external world may lack a clear causal link but still harbor an unknown connection.”
"Ah," Sogiita chimed in, recalling his philosophy class discussions. "We talked about synchronicity back then. Jung thought it was a good thing for the mind, but said it could get dicey in psychosis. He cooked up this theory as a kind of mental link between those meaningful coincidences, calling it a noncausal principle. This term came about in the late 1920s, and then he teamed up with physicist Wolfgang Pauli to dive deeper. Their work, The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche, dropped in 1952. They were big on this idea that these connections, even the ones that don't seem to have a cause, could still teach us a lot about how our minds and the world work."
“Mhm, you know more than you lead on, Gemstone.” pondered CRC.
“Oh this? My teachers say I'm not good at remembering speeches hahaha…” The #7 looked slightly nervous. “You know, analytical psychologists really push for folks to get what these experiences mean to boost their awareness instead of just feeding into superstitions. But funny thing is, when clients spill about their synchronicity experiences, they often feel like no one's really hearing them out, or getting where they're coming from. And hey, having a bunch of these meaningful coincidences flying around can sometimes ring the schizo bell. Delusions aren't healthy.”
Where was this conversation going?
"Delusion! Hah! That's a good one coming from you," CRC fired back.
"The real delusion is thinking humanity isn't worth a damn," Sogiita shot back, pulling out some info from Johansen and Osman. "Some scientists think coincidences are just random flukes, but counselors and psychoanalysts reckon there's more to it, like some deep-down stuff needing to come out.”
"Delusion! Hah! That's a good one coming from you," CRC fired back.
"The real delusion is thinking humanity isn't worth a darn," Sogiita shot back, pulling out some info from Johansen and Osman. "Some scientists think coincidences are just random flukes, but counselors and psychoanalysts reckon there's more to it, like some deep-down stuff needing to come out. Unconscious material to be expressed."
Rosencreutz interjected, his expression reflecting a mix of confusion and concern. "Aleister Crowley's actions have left a lasting scar on this world and this city," he began, his voice weighted with solemnity. “The vacuum-like dichotomy between magic and science created by the use of that colossal psychotronic weapon, has damaged this world's memory irreparably.”
Psychotronic weapon?
The Archetype Controller?
He paused, his gaze piercing as he continued, "Jung's exploration of synchronicity as evidence of the paranormal paved the way for further inquiry, notably by Koestler and the subsequent embrace of these ideas by the New Age movement.”
Sogiita shrugged, "Some folks say synchronicity is impossible to test or prove, so it gets labeled as pseudoscience. Jung even acknowledged that these synchronicity events are basically just coincidences, statistically speaking. But hey, who's to say what's really going on without some solid scientific studies, right?"
"Dubious as his experiments may have been," CRC interrupted, "Jung believed in a connection between synchronicity and the paranormal, drawing parallels to the uncertainty principle and works by parapsychologist Joseph B. Rhine.” CRC posed a thought-provoking question, "How are we to recognize acausal combinations of events, since it is obviously impossible to examine all chance happenings for their causality? The answer lies in the fact that acausal events are most readily expected where a causal connection appears inconceivable upon closer reflection. It's impossible, with our current resources, to explain ESP or meaningful coincidences as mere phenomena of energy. This challenges the very notion of cause and effect, as these events occur simultaneously rather than in a linear cause-and-effect manner. Hence, I have coined the term 'synchronicity' to describe this phenomenon, placing it on equal footing with causality as a principle of explanation."
Getting closer to that Gemstone, CRC emphasized, "Esper abilities cannot be fully understood with science alone. They defy traditional cause-and-effect explanations, instead representing a convergence of factors that create a quantum phenomenon affecting both the micro and macro. Why were there the naturally gifted and the naturally ungifted?”
Why did some students get praised for their abilities while others needed to work harder?
Others among them would have worked every hour of their free time and not progressed anywhere in this city’s leveling curriculum.
Why did this city present such an unfair and unpredictable status quo of potential?
Why did hard work barely matter in a city of empirical evidence to record any possible progress?
Sogiita Gunha wasn't a normal Level 5 but he wasn't always this powerful. He went through the curriculum same as everyone but if the outside conditions for his Gemstone ability to manifest didn't form in the exact way that it did, in such an acausal form then would he even be here to challenge Christian Rosencreutz right now?
Everything just happened to fall right into place.
All those puzzle pieces that would lead to this moment here and now.
Was it all just talent? God picking a fool as his champion?
The #7 leaned back, absorbing CRC's words with a thoughtful expression. "So, what you're saying is, there's this whole other layer to reality that we can't quite wrap our heads around," he summarized, nodding slowly. "I mean, it's like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands—slippery and elusive."
He chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Historic recurrence, synchronicities, all these things—they're like pieces of a puzzle scattered across this substantial reality. And sometimes, they just... click into place, right? It's like the universe has its own plan, and we're just along for the ride."
That bandana wearing boy's gaze drifted, lost in thought. "You know, CRC, it's funny," he remarked, a wry smile playing on his lips. "Here we are, with all our powers and potential, but at the end of the day, we're still grappling with the same questions as everyone else. Talent, destiny, divine intervention—maybe they're all just different sides of the same coin."
He shrugged, the weight of the philosophical musings settling over the broken city. "Who knows? Maybe God does have a sense of humor, after all.” that boy chuckled.
There was a deep silence between them.
Rosencreutz’ response was swift and resolute, his tone filled with certainty. "All this ‘universe has a plan’ banter is just a distraction from the inevitable," he declared, his eyes narrowing. "We can debate the nature of us being all-powerful yet struggling with mortal issues until the sun burns out, but it won't change the fact that our fate was sealed upon the knowledge Adam learned."
“To think so many trivialities have developed while this old man wasn’t watching. Heh heh. Then I should assume the thread of fate has again begun to weave its strange connections between myself and some unknown human.”
He rose forward, his movements purposeful. "It's time to put an end to this dance of platitudes," CRC continued, his voice cold and unwavering. "We'll settle this the only way that somewhat matters—through objective action in this grand play."
“Silence, preserved doll. Illusionists are meant to remain silent. That is all we magicians are: wielders of substanceless illusions. Opening your mouth serves only to break the illusion.”
With a flicker of resolve in his eyes, he locked gazes with the #7. "I am Hydra, Gemstone," he said, his voice carrying a hint of challenge. "Our battle ends now.” CRC opened both his palms and began shooting at their surroundings, the buildings, the pavement, the apartments, the rubble.
It probably wasn't random as it seemed to create a pattern.
“Huh are you getting senile old man?” asked the young Gemstone.
“What fun. I never imagined someone would bother diligently polishing their skills this far while knowing it is all essentially an illusion. Didn’t you ever feel silly going to the effort?”
Rosencreutz dropped to all fours, his rosy cross sword gripped tightly in his right hand.
He moved—
“Arrgh!” Sogiita yelled amidst the relentless and precise and precise strikes from that golden cross. “Old man?” he asked.
That magician didn't say anything.
That silver man’s movements became more beastly.
Faster.
Stronger.
Fiercer.
Something new was beginning to manifest.
With each strike of his higher dimensional blade that old man’s blows seemed infused with an otherworldly energy.
The wounds inflicted by his weapon burned with a venomous intensity, sending searing pain coursing through Sogiita's body.
That boy grimaced as the poison from that silver man’s strikes surged through his being, each wound feeling like it was ablaze with venomous fire.
"Damn... That burns…like a killer hornet’s sting," he muttered through clenched teeth, his voice strained with effort. Gritting, he fought to maintain his focus, despite the agony threatening to overwhelm him.
Was this another application of The Four Stages? Citrinitas? No, there was nothing yellow here, it was more like a dirty purple.
But it wasn't just the physical damage that posed a threat.
As the Rosy Cross leader leaped on all fours his movements took on an almost erratic quality, he was bouncing from one building to another with an animalistic agility.
With each jump, a shockwave rippled through the air, carrying with it a palpable sense of dread.
Something was spreading.
The air around them seemed to thicken with a toxic miasma. The #7 struggled to breathe, the noxious fumes clouding his senses.
Like a chaotic monster’s venomous poison breath.
The once-clear air now felt thick and suffocating.
Gasping for breath, the bandana boy struggled to maintain his focus amidst the swirling chaos.
His vision blurred, his movements sluggish as he fought against the oppressive atmosphere.
Blinded that heroic boy could only fire a flame arrow without his sight.
His fists striking out with all the strength he could muster. Igniting in that poisonous compressed air.
It seemed to be flammable like a dragon’s breath.
???
At the hospital, Shokuhou's voice carried a mix of surprise and relief. “He caused real damage.” she exclaimed.
Kamijou turned his attention to her, intrigued. “What happened?”
“It's hard to see clearly, but it looks like the #7 managed to rip off CRC's left arm,” she explained. “Though, I'd say it was more of a lucky shot. I can read he acted on pure instinct.”
Kamijou nodded, a hint of melancholy in his tone. “Yeah... the psychic link and all.”
Had the #7 Level 5 given up on the old man?
Back on the battlefield, Sogiita cursed under his breath. “Dammit... Sorry, old man,” he muttered. “I was aiming to hit your whole body to maximize the surface area, maybe break a few bones as a casualty. We can probably get your arm reattached at the hospital. Heaven Canceller has enough guts to even fix me.”
It was clear—he hadn't given up.
It was an accidental strike of his arm.
“As each ghastly head was severed from its serpentine form, dreadfully, two more writhed forth from the abyss.” a cryptic voice amidst the chaos spoke.
Wasn't it said that the Hydra’s lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid.
Lerna was reputed to be an entrance to the Underworld.
The abyss.
The Ungrund.
There is no limit to the depth of the Alcyonian Lake, and I know of nobody who by any contrivance has been able to reach the bottom of it since not even Nero, who had ropes made several stades long and fastened them together, tying lead to them, and omitting nothing that might help his experiment, was able to discover any limit to its depth. This, too, I heard. The water of the lake is, to all appearance, calm and quiet but, although it is such to look at, every swimmer who ventures to cross it is dragged down, sucked into the depths, and swept away.
The keeper of the gate to the Underworld that lay in the waters of Lerna was the Hydra.
The serpentine Lake Monster.
“Rosencreutz……?” The #7 muttered.
That magician chuckled ominously. "Indeed, young Heracles," he intoned, his voice echoing with a bizarre resonance. “The Lernaean Hydra's curse is upon you now.” as he said that he ripped off a bit of his arm that was cuterarised and it began bleeding.
Anna Sprengel’s blood was said to create unknown miracles when spilled.
Christian Rosencreutz’ blood was so virulent that even its scent was deadly.
As Sogiita Gunha glanced at his severed arm lying on the ground, a creeping sense of horror enveloped him. "All fate is a curse and that curse," he murmured, his words barely audible over the din of battle, "extends even to my severed limb.”
Christian Rosencreutz’ left arm grew back.
No.
Two new arms grew in its place.
The arm was fully functioning with no defects.
Although one of the arms appeared somewhat scaly and lanky like a serpent.
It had human anatomy but something was abnormal here.
He almost looked like a spider as he emerged from the poisonous fog as he remained on all fours.
“So short-stack. Are you ready to complete your final labor: Crossing the abyss!!!” He challenged that boy with his cross sword facing him.
"Boss, what's up? You look kinda stuck," Kamijou asked, his tone concerned.
Two students were sitting together in the waiting room at a hospital.
"—abyss, Hydra, curse, synchronicities, Historic recurrence." she replied, her words carrying a weight of unease.
"Huh? What? Can you give me the lowdown?" Kamijou prodded, his urgency evident.
"Can't quite wrap my head around it. But what I can tell you is that after CRC started talking about these esoteric concepts, he leveled up his power ability, managed to seriously hurt the #7 despite me cranking up all his stats for the win condition," the honey-blonde girl explained, frustration creeping into her voice.
"Can you beam all that stuff into my head, like a memory download? You're a psychological esper, right? My right hand won't mess with it, and we've done the telepathy thing before," Kamijou suggested.
"Memory download's not quite it, but I can send you a recording," she clarified.
"Got it," Kamijou muttered as he absorbed the info.
"You got any ideas to help the #7’s situation ability, Kamijou-san? We're kinda desperate here," she asked.
"I wish Index was still here, dammit.” he lamented, “But you know about magic, right?" he queried.
"Yeah, people converting their delusions into reality right?," she admitted.
"Well, magic's not just about delusions; it can be tied up to the whole world. Not sure if it's relevant, but based on Idol Theory, Rosencreutz might be pulling in 'energy’ from the Greek 'phase’ of Heracles for an edge," Kamijou theorized.
"Like a chessboard flip?" Shokuhou Misaki inquired, her brow furrowed with concern.
"No, more like... imagine you're playing checkers with a buddy, and you're totally crushing it because you're a checkers pro. Then suddenly, your buddy switches it up and challenges you to an arm wrestling match, and you lose because, well, arm wrestling isn't your forte," Kamijou Touma explained, trying to paint a vivid picture.
"So, by taking on the role of the Hydra from Greek myth, he's essentially forcing the #7 into the role of Heracles? But didn't Heracles defeat the Hydra?" Shokuhou sought clarification.
"Yeah, but..." Kamijou recalled the tale from the movies he'd seen. "Lichas gave Heracles a shirt soaked in the Hydra's poisonous blood from his arrows, which ends up killing him by tearing his flesh down to the bone," he elaborated.
"It was actually Nessus seeking vengeance and tricking Deianira into giving it to Heracles as a gift, delivered by Lichas without disclosing the tunic's lethal bloodstained secret from the Lernaean Hydra, but you're right," Shokuhou corrected gently. "So, Rosencreutz is harnessing the power of that legend to slowly poison the #7 to death?"
"Not literal. I mean the poison is real but his slashes do significant harm now so it's more like shifting the paradigm in his favor shifting his position.” The spiky-haired boy wasn't in the mood to explain Phases, “Earlier, he mentioned Sogiita spreading his 'virus' throughout the world. A virus isn't a poison in the traditional sense, but the Rosicrucians originally sought to create a universal cure for all illnesses. Now, CRC is spreading a literal poison, positioning himself as the ultimate predator and his opponents as prey rather than his savior role, the paradigm has been shifted." Kamijou concluded, his voice tinged with gravity.
“So he’s changed the environment to get the win condition? The #7’s durability doesn't matter in the face of the world being forced to go about a certain way because of Rosencreutz stage play?” The girl asked.
“Yeah…if things keep going this way…Sogiita will….goddamnit….” The spiky haired boy swore. “I can't let someone else die after all that's happened but I feel like if I go out there I really will kill him…” he muttered that last bit while clenching his right fist that began shaking uncontrollably.
The girl’s eyes seemed confused. “What did you say?” The honey blonde middle schooler asked.
“Nothing, just mumbling to myself.” he spat out.
That boy and girl could never come to the right conclusion on their own without the aid of former Magic God Othinus by their side.
“Did you think I had challenged you with no hope of succeeding, you cesspool? The magic born on earth is bound by the directions based on the earth’s magnetic field and by the density and composition of the air which is determined by air pressure which is in turn influenced by gravity. That is inevitable when you are focused on the cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west or on the basic elements of fire, water, wind, and earth. But what you will find upon leaving the atmosphere is an unknown. Coronzon, are you sure there will be no malfunction in the magic giving you control of Avatar Lola? And before, my power was bound by the puny speck named earth which failed to become a black hole or even a sun, but once we enter outer space, just how far do you think that power will be released? I do not mind at all that I will lose the support of Academy City.”
Well the boy was half right.
“Let us test it out, you cuspidor. On one side, we have you using the planet and bound to an avatar. On the other, we have me exposed and freed from the planet. Now, who will be the star of this show?”
Christian Rosencreutz did not shoot at his surroundings for no reason.
The battlefield transformed into Rosencreutz's canvas, resembling the legendary battleground of Lerna where Heracles once clashed with the Hydra.
Yes.
He didn't unleash his powers randomly; every action was deliberate.
In the magical side of Idol Theory, mimicking an object, event, or person allowed one to tap into a fraction of its power.
And that even applied to locations that essentially worked as stage plays.
Idol Theory was so absolute that even the basic cross held a portion of the son of God’s power.
As Above, So Below.
As Below, So Above.
Macro to micro.
Micro to macro.
And the macrocosm and the microcosm are always linked.

Hey everyone,
So basically, I'm doing an internship in London, and my co-intern Suzanne told me that the bakery/coffee she was working at was recruiting. It's a flexible job, I can just work whenever, mostly on Sundays. The guy, John, made me sign an Independent Contractor Agreement. At the very beginning, my co-intern Suzanne introduced me to the work, trained me, and I had given her my availability on WhatsApp, telling her which days in April I was not available (this was in early March). Then I started working, and I began messaging John, informing him of my unavailability in May. On April 28, I woke up to a message from John saying, "aren't you at the bakery?" and I told him that I had informed Suzanne, right at the beginning when she was training me, that I couldn't work on April 28. To which he replied, "but who pays you?" And I agree it was my mistake, to not warn him, especially since I started to be in contact with him by text. But just to be clear : I never saw John. He doesn't live in the UK. So my "boss" was Suzanne, who was also a student working part time here. I had no idea how the bakery worked, and it is very sketchy (people working without visa, without contract...no one knows who's working and when. It's chaotic)
So according to him, he only wants to pay me for one on the three days (He paid me 75 pounds instead of 215 pounds). I worked in April, but supposedly caused him to lose 150 pounds in turnover (the equivalent of what he should have earned on April 28). However, at 10 a.m. on April 28, I told him I could rush in to work and made myself available, feeling guilty, and he told me he had a solution and didn't need me, and secondly, no one can guarantee that we would have made 150 pounds in turnover. Even though I wasn't there on April 28, I had informed Suzanne from the start when I didn't understand how the bakery operated, and after that, I still worked for three days. Is it legal for him to do this? What can I do...?
Thank u for your help..