Hey folks -
I know I said I was done posting FV content, but as much as I was intending to step away, theorizing about stuff helps order my mind so I am back to posting. My retirement lasted all of a week 😂😂
I want to explore some of the concepts and inspirations of the Fractalverse from Marathon.
For those who don't know, Marathon is a video game series from Bungie (yes, that Bungie)... The series is often regarded as a spiritual predecessor of Bungie's Halo series.
Significantly for us, it is one of Chris' favorite games of all time, and a lot of the content from Marathon is used as inspiration in the Eragon/Fractalverse series.
https://twitter.com/paolini/status/1661742366028623874
Man, I hope the new #Marathon game is good. The original three were a huge, huge influence on me. Some of the best sci-fi writing out there.
One

If it's a game that doesn't use a mouse, like the old Marathon games, then I use 8426 (with 7 &9 for strafing) for movement and left-hand keys like space, command, option, etc. for shooting, swapping weapons, activating, etc.

Two

Hey, big Marathon fan, which is how I found your work. Been listening to your Leela cover a lot while writing.

Three

Marathon series, Halo, Mass Effect, and the Myst series (although those might be counted as fantasy).

Four

Myst (and sequels), the Marathon trilogy, Escape Velocity, Mass Effect 1-3, Halo 1-4, Skyrim, Oblivion, Portal 1&2, and more.

Five

Since no one guessed it, the sketch I posted earlier was from the end-screen of Marathon Infinity, last game in an awesome trilogy.

Six

@TheDragonUniver Ha! I beat the Vidmaster challenges in the old Marathon games, in the Total Carnage setting no less!

Seven!

@ndemordaunt Awesome. Glad to hear it. I've been playing Halo since it was called Marathon. 🙂 Hope you enjoy my future books!

Alright, I think I've proven my point. Let's get started.
First things first, let's talk about the Jjaro:

The Jjaro were an extremely advanced species--or an extremely advanced individual--which vanished from the Milky Way galaxy... The Jjaro possessed high-quality cyborg technology, such as that used to create the S'pht, as well as a star-destroying weapon known as the trih xeem, the ability to move entire planets by warping space around them as was used by the S'pht'Kr, some sort of time manipulation technology, and various ways of dealing with the W'rkncacnter

Sound familiar? Let's take it line by line with a few tangents along the way.

The Jjaro were an extremely advanced species--or an extremely advanced individual--which vanished from the Milky Way galaxy...

Hmm. Extremely advanced species. Who mysteriously Vanished. Check.

The Jjaro possessed high-quality cyborg technology, such as that used to create the S'pht

We'll get into this a bit later, but there is evidence that the Old Ones created/manipulated the Wraunai. Specifically from the Terminology section:

WRANAUI: sentient, space-faring race originating from the planet Pelagius... Some evidence indicates they may have been genetically modified by the Old Ones at some point in their distant past (Appendix III, TSIASOS).

Not a perfect fit, but lines up well enough. This next bit is extremely curious though -

The Jjaro possessed high-quality cyborg technology, such as that used to create the S'pht, as well as a star-destroying weapon known as the trih xeem

A star-destroying weapon. We haven't seen anything like that before... Or have we?
I've speculated on this in one of my previous posts; I think the "star-destroying weapon" is the black ball in this picture, which was some early concept art for TSIASOS.
You see the Black Ball heading for the sun? Check this out -
Compare it to the picture of the Trih Xeem.
Black ball with a trailing cloud, heading right for the sun? It's a perfect match with the concept art.
This is also significant for the World of Eragon, because:
MURTAGH SPOILERS BELOW
The visions from Azlagur all have him "rise" from the ground to "eat the sun"
Which is SUPER significant, because of the implications of the Marathon Infinity backstory:

In Marathon Infinity, a W'rkncacnter is imprisoned in the sun of planet Lh'owon. It is theorized by some that the W'rkncacnter's powerfully chaotic nature may be responsible for the jumps between realities seen in the game. When the Pfhor use a trih xeem device to send the star into early nova, the creature is released, to the horror and destruction of the Pfhor.

We will touch back on the reality jumping in a bit, but for now I want to focus on the "sun imprisonment" theme.
A cosmic-level baddie imprisoned in the sun. THAT is the endgame for Azlagur. Either he is a planetary-level villain, who will "rise" due to the Trih Xeem and Eat the Sun, releasing the equivalent W'rkncacnter, or he IS the equivalent W'rkncacnter, and will rise when the Trih Xeem is released. It all fits in with the concept art above.
And from this, we can deduce the overarching concepts of Angela's storyline.

Q: Will we get Angela lore? I feel like she could have killed Galbatorix and just didn't feel like it.
A: For those who don't know Angela is based on my sister Angela, because she breaks the fourth wall to a degree she has. Not only does she have plot armor, she knows she's in a story and can break the story itself. So, yes, she could have killed Galbatorix, but that would have made for a very bad story. That said, I do have an entire book planned around Angela, and it's very high on my list of books to write because it takes place before some of these other big stories I want to write. And that's also the difficult thing. I have my big storylines, and then I have a couple of one off side books I want to write, and it's just a question of time, energy and effort.

Given her appearance in TSIASOS, we can interpret that Angela is a "cosmic"-level character, who can cross time and space.
So... what's actually going on behind the scenes? We know she's been in/around Nal Gorgoth, and Tronjheim. She's definitely affiliated with the Draumar, and Tenga in some fashion. So... what's the actual story going on?
Let's take a look at the story of Marathon infinity:

Marathon Infinity begins as the Pfhor destroy Lh'owon using a Jjaro-derived doomsday weapon known as the Trih Xeem or "early nova". Unfortunately, the weapon also releases a powerful chaotic being: The W’rkncacnter, which threatens to destroy the entire galaxy. Because of the W’rkncacnter's chaos or by means of some Jjaro tech of his own, the player is transported back and forward in time, finding himself jumping between timelines and fighting for various sides in a desperate attempt to prevent the chaotic being's release.

So the weapon releases a powerful cosmic-level entity, which threatens to destroy the galaxy. And as a result, the "player" jumps around in time, jumping between timelines and fighting for various sides to prevent the being's release.
Sound familiar?
Jumping around in time and between timelines - that's what she's doing with the portals, the non-standard torque gates.
There are a ton of parallels with Angela and time (such as the references to her being a time lord), so for lack of better information, the most informed guess we can make is that she is trying to prevent the rise of Azlagur himself, or the creature freed by the death of the sun from Az "eating" the sun.
For lack of a better answer, Angela IS the player character from Marathon Infinity.
Alrighty, I could make several posts about the above, but for the sake of space and time, let's get back to the original passage.

the ability to move entire planets by warping space around them

Move planets by warping the space around them eh? That sounds familiar:

Then she was soaring through a nebula, and for a moment, she beheld a patch of twisted space. She could see it was twisted by the way it warped the surrounding gas. And from the patch, she felt a warped sensation, a feeling of utter wrongness, and it terrified her, for she knew its meaning. Chaos. Evil. Hunger.

Warping space around a planet. And Chaos... Sure sounds like the W’rkncacnter.
The last piece here also parallels with what we know about the series:

some sort of time manipulation technology,

Time manipulation - We know, based on various clues left throughout the series, that the Old Ones had the ability to manipulate time. Chris indicates as much here:

Right now no matter what way you swing it, we have issues in terms of time.

Correct.

Moving along, let's keep pulling the Jjaro thread together. The paragraph on Technology reads:

Jjaro technology is incredibly advanced and they have made many discoveries about the secrets of the universe. One of their ships, the Manus Celer Dei, was able to survive the closure of the universe, they uplifted the S'pht, defeated the W'rkncacnter, had mastered time control, had a station capable of compressing the mass and energy of a supernova into a black hole millennia beyond reckoning after it was decommissioned and abandoned, and a few of their artefacts were able to create a cyborg who could also survive the closure of the universe and escape it all together.

A station capable of compressing the mass and energy of a supernova into a black hole. And then it was decommissioned and abandoned.
Sound familiar, anyone?
The Great Beacons. That's what they are. The energy of a supernova in the form of a black hole, which were then decommissioned and abandoned.
We know the Great Beacons are no longer functioning. And it sure sounds like the description of a black hole (both in spacetime format, as a "whirlpool", and also visually)

and a few of their artefacts were able to create a cyborg who could also survive the closure of the universe and escape it all together.

Seeker? I'm not sure, but it sure has a lot of durability.
Alright, we're getting up there in word-count so I want to cut this short.
The last piece I want to talk about here are the parallels betwen the Wranaui and S'pht. It's not a perfect match, but there are a lot of overlaps between the two races.
First, the Wranaui:

WRANAUI: sentient, space-faring race originating from the planet Pelagius. Highly complex life cycle, with an equally complicated, hierarchical social structure dominated by Arms and a ruling form. Wranaui are naturally an ocean-based species, but through extensive use of artificial bodies, have adapted themselves to nearly every possible environment. Aggressive and expansionist, they have little regard for individual rights or safety, given their reliance on replacement bodies. Their scent-based language is exceedingly difficult for humans to translate. Even without technological augmentation, Wranaui are biologically immortal; their genetic-base bodies are always able to revert to an immature form in order to renew their flesh and stave off senescence. Some evidence indicates they may have been genetically modified by the Old Ones at some point in their distant past.

So, to summarize:

• Grew up in water
  
• Advanced scientifically due to the discovery of Vanished technology
  
• Complex hierarchical social structures.
  
• Forms & Use of artificial bodies.
  
• Genetically modified by the Vanished/Old Ones.
  

Let's compare that with the S'phet:

The S'pht were brought to Lh'owon by the Jjarro and Pthia as servants. The S'pht terraformed the planet from a barren desert into "marsh and sea, rivers and forests." When the Jjaro left Lh'owon after the death of "Pthia," the S'pht were released from their servitude, split into eleven clans, and leadership of the race was given to the S'pht royals.[6]

Genetically modified. Check.

The Pfhor forced them out of their typical forms, (as seen used by the S'pht'Kr) and into the strange garb of the Compilers and the armor of the Cyborgs.

Usage of "Forms". Check

After Pthia's death, Yrro scattered the S'pht across Lh'owon, separated them into eleven clans

Hierarchical society with different clans (Arms). Check.
The main two differences here are the usage of smell as a language, and the grew up in water.
Other than that, there are a TON of parallels.
Well, we're getting up there in word count and I've just started to ponder and fully understand the connections between the two series.
A few other random connections I noticed (I will add as time goes on):
Nmarhl and Narhl)
L'phet and S'pht
Alright, we are getting up there in word count, so I think that's it from me now. There are a lot more Eragon-specific relationships I've left out of here; I'll cover these in another post over on that subreddit.
Curious to see if anyone else has found other connections - Let me know what you think in the comments!

I read somewhere that good writing is about choices, and characters that feel real. I think that is part of why we have latched on to this sometimes ludicrous decades old spin-off of a continuation. We love it because it is broken in awesome ways.
Regardless of how you’d handle Tuvix, whether you’d delete Janeway and Paris mutating and mating, or if you think it is surreal that the Rock, Sarah Silberman, and Jason Alexander there(would Obama have become president without Seven of Nine?), or if the end feels sudden, it all feels like choices were made.
The show is sometimes infuriating and others it is soothing, but it didn’t all try to be the same as other shows, or even itself. Harry never got promoted, but he did grow. The Native American myths were made up as part of a scam, but the well meaning actors and crew presented that nonsense with the utmost respect.
It tried and failed repeatedly, but isn’t that more relatable than the captain who didn’t ever come up short? Occasionally Star Trek reminds us that a captain has to get creative(cheat) to avoid a no-win scenario. Picard got dark and never really came back and Sisko declared that he could learn to live with a guilty conscience.
And Janeway didn’t hesitate to say one of the best lines in all of television: Delete the wife.
Thank you all, even the lurkers, for coming here and joining me to appreciate this muddled masterpiece.

I'm a very average DHH fan, who neither understands hip hop culture, nor knows how to have opinions based on technicality. But as I listen to new and great artists, I keep getting amazed by the versatility of the different artists.
But outside of just enjoying the music and liking the sound of what I hear, I've recently started spending time understanding what the lyrics mean. For someone who's not a native speaker of Urdu or Punjabi, 2 artists have given me a very hard time - Sidhu Moosewala and Sunny Khan Durrani.
Sidhu's songs are so popular, that it sort of became mainstream, and I didn't care much. But as I keep listening to all his tracks, and trying to understand what it means, Woah. I'm amazed. It is crazy. There's so much depth to what he writes.
SKD had La Haasil. We all cried listening to the lyrics. Slightly easier to understand as it was close to Hindi. But man, I listened to his other not so popular albums. I don't understand half of it, but they are so deep. I'm trying to search on google, ask chatgpt what it all means.
Is it just me who doesn't get the real meaning of these songs in DHH, or is it common for others too? Having mostly listened to bollywood all my life, the lyrics have always been fairly simple to understand. Why don't we get some interpretation/meaning of the songs for dumb people like me. It takes too much time to really go through each line of each song, understanding what it means.

Hi! I’m working on a project with a few buddies of mine that’s more or less your typical fantasy tabletop game.
We’re past the idea stage of the project, and have the base system we want the game to be written down, and a good buddy of mine has begun posting some concept doodles over on his Twitter.
We’re looking to expand our team with people from pretty much all fields interested in developing a tabletop game as we get ready to launch a Kickstarter campaign.

For Programmers & 3D Modelers Interested in the Project:

We’re looking for people who can make some test footage of an app/website we can use in the Kickstarter campaign - particularly, we want to show off these aspects:
-A 3D CharacteMiniature creator adapting the style of our team’s artist, going for a more Anime/Dragon Quest inspired aesthetic, and using some of the character options that will be available in the game
-A customizable battle map you can display your miniatures and tokens on as the Gamemaster runs the encounter, showing off some the actions you can take in combat

For Writers and Game Devs Interested in the Project:

As I said above, we have an outline with all the rules, character options, and features we want to include in a document that’s about 69 pages(give or take) but it’s more of a skeleton as it currently stands, and we’d like to bring more people in to get feedback and expand on some of the base ideas we have.
In particular, we need:
-Writers with a grasp on history & religion to expand on the cultures and pantheons we have and help write lore and history for them
-Tabletop/RPG game devs to give feedback, and give their thoughts on what they like, what they don’t like, and possibly help in some areas that could use more work

For Artist & Animators Interested in the Project:

Our team Artist is going to be working on an animation to use for our Kickstarter Campaign while also making concept art for the game itself. We’re looking for people who can replicate his style, and either do more line work, shade or ‘digitally ink’ his pieces for a more classic RPG manual aesthetic in the concepts, storyboard, or do a sequence of animation for the trailer.
He’s a bit of a newbie when it comes to animation, so even just giving your input on pointers or tips and tricks you like to use would also be very helpful.

For Sound Designers and Voice Actors Interested in the Project:

We’re looking for people who can make some music along with the planned animation, make some sound effects for any potential programmers that join our team to use in the test footage, and VO’s to lend their voices for characters in the project’s animation.
If you want more details or have any questions, feel free to comment below or shoot me a DM. I’ll answer to the best of my ability when I receive your message.

Hi, so I am currently on Chapter 8 and section 5 on K&R. I just had a question regarding the following code:
1 #define NULL 0
2 #define EOF (-1)
3 #define BUFSIZ 1024
4 #define OPEN_MAX 20 /* max #files open at once */
5 typedef struct _iobuf {
6 int cnt; /* characters left */
7 char *ptr; /* next character position */
8 char *base; /* location of buffer */
9 int flag; /* mode of file access */
10 int fd; /* file descriptor */
11 } FILE;
12 extern FILE _iob[OPEN_MAX];
13 #define stdin (&_iob[0])
14 #define stdout (&_iob[1])
15 #define stderr (&_iob[2])
16 enum _flags {
17 _READ = 01, /* file open for reading */
18 _WRITE = 02, /* file open for writing */
19 _UNBUF = 04, /* file is unbuffered */
20 _EOF = 010, /* EOF has occurred on this file */
21 _ERR = 020 /* error occurred on this file */
22 };
23 int _fillbuf(FILE *);
24 int _flushbuf(int, FILE *);
25 #define feof(p) ((p)->flag & _EOF) != 0)
26 #define ferror(p) ((p)->flag & _ERR) != 0)
27 #define fileno(p) ((p)->fd)
28 #define getc(p) (--(p)->cnt >= 0 \
29 ? (unsigned char) *(p)->ptr++ : _fillbuf(p))
30 #define putc(x,p) (--(p)->cnt >= 0 \
31 ? *(p)->ptr++ = (x) : _flushbuf((x),p))
32 #define getchar() getc(stdin)
33 #define putcher(x) putc((x), stdout)
Okay, on line 9, we declare the flag variable for _iobuf, but then don't assign it to anything the entire code. Then on lines 25 and 26 we and it with two of the flags that we defined in our enum.
The thing is, wouldn't that turn the EOF flag off? Because flag is not set to anything, so wouldn't that mean that it doesn't have a value associated to it, and thus would just be zero? That's what I thought would happen anyway.

This series, Murder in Mahim, is based on and adapted from a book by Jerry Pinto with the same name. It was shortlisted for the Crossword Book Award for fiction in 2017. This series follows journalist Peter's investigation of a murder in the bustling city of Mumbai and the subsequent unraveling of dark secrets hidden within its crowded streets. When Sunil, his own son, is named as a suspect in the case, things get more serious. As he digs deeper into the case, he discovers that the city he thought he knew so well is full of surprises and dangers hidden in every corner.
The strongest point of the series would be its leading cast and its varied characters. Be it the highly regarded Vijay Raaz, Ashustoh Rana, and especially Ashitosh Gaikwad as his character Name UNIT, what a fantastic performance he has given. His voice modulation and facial expressions reminded me of Nawazuddin Siddiqui. When he came on the screen, I was extra attentive; he is my favorite character, and on the other hand, the story and the subplots between Firduas Rabbani and her partner were cliched but somewhat interesting too; the dialogues between Ashutosh Rana and his son Sunil Ferenandez regarding the topic of LGBTQ were very nicely written. I wish those scenes had been explored more deeply to add more depth to other characters as well.
What could've been better? Definitely, the story development and its writing. I think they wanted to create some deep emotional drama, but sadly, instead, it turned out to be a slow and sometimes uninteresting drama with unnecessary distractions and low effort cliffhangers. For example, pranks are used as cliffhangers and unnecessary distractions just to confuse and drag the story further, and on the other side, the supporting cast's characterization was not the problem, but their performance was a big letdown, which in turn kept me disconnected from multiple key scenes. As far as the background music is concerned, even that did not have much of an impact. I understand that the main aspect of this series is mostly to focus on crime drama with a message to convey, and I think that's the reason why the cinematography was just so bland. If you look at Kohrra, a similar style and genre series, it had some exceptionally well-done cinematography, which sometimes took the mood of the scenes to the next level.
Can you binge-watch this series?
There is a long wait before things start to get interesting. For instance, I thought things were finally getting serious in the fourth episode, but the next episode itself falls flat again. It's not until the last few episodes that things start to get interesting, but as it is a slow burner, even if you skip a few of the scenes, watch it for the quality performances by Vijay Raaz, Ashustoh Rana, Shivani Raghuvamshi, and especially the phenomenally talented Ashitosh Gaikwad. I really wish him good luck and look forward to seeing him in more movies and series very soon.
For a better understanding of how each episode turned out, I have made a line chart and rated the series episode-wise. Here it is.
This week's recommendation is Kohrra. This Indian TV series, which is set in Punjab, follows the story of two police officers, Balbir Singh and Amarpal Garundi, who are tasked with investigating the murder of an NRI bridegroom, Paul Dhillon. The investigation quickly uncovers a web of deceit, secrets, and family drama. Paul's family and friends all have their own motives for wanting him dead, and the officers must sift through the lies and half-truths to get to the truth. This is one of those slow-burners, along with the thrilling story where the characters grow on you and morally make you think about and analyze the society we live in, which makes this thriller series a must watch.
For now, have a great weekend and keep bingeing. I'll see you in the next video with another review. Ah peace.

I posted about this awhile back and did not get much response but I am gaslighting myself and need people who have gone through this or similar to help me be objective.
I will Try to keep this brief but it's a lot.
-long history of stricturing Crohn's of terminal ileum diagnosed in 2006. First resection Sept 2018, Last resection in April 2022. Surgeon told me he found Crohn's high up in small bowel, could not remove safely, hoped new biologic (Stelara) would take care of it.
-6 month delay in starting Stelara due to GI F up (forgot to send preauthorization)
-July 2022 began having severe upper gastric pain (under ribs and belly button) after even the smallest amount of food, followed by severe nausea and often vomiting. Within half hour multiple liquid BM's undigested food and insane amount of fluid. Began to eat less and less, moved to soft diet, and finally to complete liquids in August 2023
-July 2023-Oct 2023- Weight loss of 20 lbs over 3 month period. Many ER visits needed for rehydration and IV anti emetics and pain meds as could not keep down any oral meds. GI did colonoscopy but only found microscopic Crohn's in anastomosis site (he only took 2 biopsies from that area and nowhere else). CT's done in hospital showed thickening of wall of ascending colon, and collapsed bowel, free fluid in peritoneum. GI dismissed as "not reliable". Fecal Cal slightly elevated. Constant low grade anemia. After 4th ER visit in Oct 2023 they did a high res Ultrasound and I was admitted by surgery department. However, as I was urgent but not emergent, there were no beds available. Was given choice of staying in ER and receiving IV steroids, or going home and following up with GI. Chose home and was given Entocort. Entocort slowed down bowel from 30-50 bm's a day to ten. Did not help pain, nausea, vomiting, lack of ability to eat. After several desperate emails where I begged for help, said I wanted to die-GI ordered urgent MRI, would not change meds or give prednisone without "proof".
-November 2023-Began to experience fatigue like never before. Could hardly keep eyes open. This would be followed by severe upper gastric pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea that went on for days, followed by constipation for 1-2 days and severe bloating, only on the left side of belly which would be rock hard and hot to the touch. Then the diarrhea cycle woud begin again. Always pure liquid, sometimes black, always tons of mucous.
-Went to Mexico to visit my parents for the holidays where I usually feel better but still could not eat. Injecting myself with IM Gravol (anti emetic) just to keep fluids down. I lived off of chicken broth with rice. Saw GI in private hospital. Ordered full workup. Blood found in stool. 3 D CT ordered (could not find a vein for IV after 5 nurses, two doctors, and a radiologist with a vein finder so only had oral contrast) showed inflammation in small bowel, thickening of the ascending colon wall 11 mm, and inflammation of ileum. He wanted to send me to special IBD hospital in Mexico City for MRI but it would have cost 2500$ so I decided to wait till I got home to Canada where it would be free. Treated me with antibiotics for IBS (only available in Mexico and Germany) Zero improvement. I lived off of electrolyte drinks.
-Jan 29th 2024 returned to hospital because I could not keep any oral meds in (pills would be in toilet) also pain was 9/10, high fever, vomiting. Admitted again, but no beds. Left AMA with another prescription for Entocort.
-Feb 12 2024- High fever followed by two days of 40 plus liquid BM's, some of them bloody, all of them black. Husband insisted back to ER where I was admitted immediately. Cortisol levels 11 (close to adrenal failure) very low potassium. Doc said if we'd waited I likely would have died from heart event. Spent 8 + weeks in hospital having every kind of test imaginable. NOTHING showed on MRI, inflammation on CT, lower scope clear, upper endoscopy showed inflammation in esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. Negative for H Pylori, negative for celiac. Started on 150 mg of hydrocortisone for low cortisol to rescue my organs. MRI of brain showed small tumour on pituitary. Endocrinologist did ACTH test and was unhappy, kept me on 40 mg of hydrocortisone IV. PICC line insertion went awry when they Discovered I had complete stenosis of veins and needed port catheter surgically implanted. Was on TPN for 5 weeks. Needed pain meds and anti emetics every 4 hours or severe vomiting and diarrhea would ensue. 30-50 liquid bm's continued (they made me write down everything I ingested and every time I had a BM. They tested me for everything. No blood, NO CDiff, no parasites, no infection. High fever 104.5 plus delirium and CRP shot up to 50. Continued Anemia, blood work all over the place, even with TPN I needed potassium and sodium boluses 3 times a day.
-Requested pill endoscopy, GI said no Crohn's, no need for test. Suggested psych evaluation for a fucking eating disorder. Endocrinologist disagreed, said starvation and whatever disease process was causing symptoms was causing my cortisol issue. Psych diagnosed medical PTSD and generalized anxiety disorder (no shit) but NO eating disorder. Fired GI and hired IBD specialist from another city. Re ran all tests, CT showed huge diverticulum on duodenum otherwise clear. Was going to be moved to a ward from a private room. Had a panic attack because I could not share a bathroom and was not about to use a commode. Asked to be discharged after nearly 9 weeks. They were so overcrowded and basically did not know what else to do to help me, so they let me go even though I was still on TPN and NPO. Got a 5 minute instruction on how to insert a butterfly catheter for pain meds, and let go.
-Present-3 weeks later, still on liquid diet, (Boost drinks, blended oatmeal, yoghurt and soup) still on sub q and IM meds. Finally got new IBD doc to order capsule endoscopy and is treating me for SIBO (never been tested) plus set me up with nutritionist and psychologist for support. MRI repeated- totally clear.
I FEEL CRAZY. This is the sickest I have ever felt. It's been almost a year since I chewed food. The pain under my ribs just to the left of my belly button is now constant, whether I eat or not, pain meds barely take the edge off. Sometimes it's so intense I can hardly breathe. I keep passing out on the toilet. I projectile vomit daily, even using Gravol and Pantoprozole, the bile acid is awful. I've been doing tons of research and have learned that GDC and Jejunal Crohn's are extremely hard to diagnose. I have every single symptom and fit the criteria. Does this sound familiar to anyone????

I need to write out my story, for myself. I know I'm going to be preaching to the choir here.
I've wanted kids all my life. Then 2020 happened and I questioned it for a year plus. Early 2021 we went to a midwife to do a pre-conception check up to help with the decision (if we couldn't have kids, why try? Decision made for me). I got a blood work up, hubs got an SA and everything looked great. Early 2022 we decided we'd start trying in July. We took some months off that year, and by March 2023 it had been 5/6 cycles (I nearing 36 at the time) so off to a different midwife I went. ("Early bird catches the sperm!" I overconfidently told her, feeling like I didn't reeeaaally need to be there.) She referred me to a fertility clinic. We met with them June of 2023, diagnosed unexplained infertility and did 2.5 IUIs (one got cancelled) between Aug-Oct. Nothing. We did discover I had a thin endometrium at 5mm naturally (I could have told anyone that.) He had had at least one more SA in that timeframe, still looking good. So, December we were pretty sure we wanted to do IVF in 2024, just had to get the monies in a row. May 2024 has been the month chosen for at least 2 months now.
Probably in THIS sub is where I first heard about DNA fragmentation...NOT the fertility doc...! I asked hubs to set that apt up in Feb or March of 2024. He dragged his feet til late April. We just got the results back. 39%. 39%!!! I'm so pissed off. If ANY of the doctor's I've seen (at least 6) had mentioned this in the last 3.5 YEARS, we may have been pregnant long ago. Or known to skip IUI (and the associated thousands out of pocket, time, emotions...I'm preaching to the choir...) and gone to IVF. I'm also a little pissed at hubby because he dragged his feet a bit in scheduling this apt, potentially messing up this May timeline. But, I won't tell him cuz it won't change the past.
I'm supposed to start BC around 5/20. He's got an INITIAL apt with an RU on 5/23. My baseline is supposed to be around 5/29 and shots starting 5/31. If this all gets pushed back, we can't do ER in July or August because I've planned my ENTIRE SUMMER around this start date, and nothing works until September. In August, one of our money offers expires - I'm hoping they'll extend it. This fuckers so much up. And, it just feels like time keeps on slipping. I'm very close to 37 now, and he's 43.
I'm hooooping our RE will just say we can do Zymot, TESE, or the hydro-something acid thing, and keep this same plan. IDK why she wouldn't...ER is second week of June so hopefully that'd be enough time to figure out anything else he can do on his end with the RU. He's been taking supplements for years. He's been avoiding alcohol since mid-Jan except one 10 day binger earlier this month that really pissed me off (he's in therapy.)
I ugly cried tonight. This is only my second cry about this whole thing in almost 2 years. Hubs was there for me and super sweet. That made me feel confident that if/when we try IVF he'll be there for me. I don't normally need or want to cry so he's really only seen me like that one other time I think, both baby related. I feel like I've done everything right in my life. I eat healthy, I don't drink alcohol, I volunteer, I'm a good therapist, I'm a kind person, I go out of my way to offer my time to my friends...I just wish someone would have told me about DNA frag years ago.
The silver lining is we figured this out BEFORE we started IVF and didn't waste a round. I hope my story helps someone save some time and emotions in the future <3

I (25F) only been at my current job since February but I’m ready to leave, it appeared to be a good opportunity but there are a few issues and I’m basically just a glorified cleaner. My line manager is aware I’m not completely happy and the business owner called me recently to discuss this, I was transparent with him and let him know I had been invited to an interview elsewhere this week and will be attending (I actually have 3 interviews lined up and a guaranteed job offer at a friends business if they don’t work out) but I’m a people pleaser and I’m really struggling with writing a resignation, I don’t know why I’m finding it so difficult as I have resigned from my two previous jobs (I had been at my previous jobs for years and felt comfortable and supported in my decision so maybe that’s why they were easier to do). Please any tips or advice welcome.
TLDR- anxious about writing/handing in my resignation any advice welcome.

I've recently committed to writing daily, or almost daily, and I've noticed some improvements. But I still have some weakness when it comes to dialogue, pacing, and characterization.
Most advice I've heard is along the lines of "just write X thing", but I would like a more scientific approach if possible. For example if you want to learn art you dont just "draw" randomly. One day you might research shadows, another day, maybe foreshortening. But with writing, a lot of the advice can seem a bit nebulous and hard to pin down effectively. I think this is partly due to the already subjective nature of the medium.
So yeah, if anyone knows of a site or book that has writing prompts that are designed to help you improve at specific writing elements, please share.

Thank you for creating this group, and having so many helpful tips at the top.
I need to write out my story, for myself. I know I'm going to be preaching to the choir here.
I've wanted kids all my life. Then 2020 happened and I questioned it for a year plus. Early 2021 we went to a midwife to do a pre-conception check up to help with the decision (if we couldn't have kids, why try? Decision made for me). I got a blood work up, hubs got an SA and everything looked great. Early 2022 we decided we'd start trying in July. We took some months off that year, and by March 2023 it had been 5/6 cycles (I was 35 at the time) so off to a different midwife I went. ("Early bird catches the sperm!" I overconfidently told her, feeling like I didn't reeeaaally need to be there.) She referred me to a fertility clinic. We met with them June of 2023, diagnosed unexplained infertility and did 2.5 IUIs (one got cancelled) between Aug-Oct. Nothing. He had had at least one more SA in that timeframe, still looking good. So, December we were pretty sure we wanted to do IVF in 2024, just had to get the monies in a row. May 2024 has been the month chosen for at least 2 months now.
Probably in the IVF sub is where I first heard about DNA fragmentation (NOT the fertility doc). I asked hubs to set that apt up in Feb or March of 2024. He dragged his feet til late April. We just got the results back. 39%. 39%!!! I'm so pissed off. If ANY of the doctor's I've seen (at least 6) had mentioned this in the last 3.5 YEARS, we may have been pregnant long ago. Or known to skip IUI (and the associated thousands out of pocket, time, emotions...I'm preaching to the choir...) and gone to IVF. I'm also a little pissed at hubby because he dragged his feet, potentially messing up this May timeline. But, I won't tell him cuz it won't change the past.
I'm supposed to start BC around 5/20. He's got an INITIAL apt with an RU on 5/23. My baseline is supposed to be around 5/29 and shots starting 5/31. If this all gets pushed back, we can't do ER in July or August because I've planned my ENTIRE SUMMER around this start date, and nothing works until September. In August, one of our money offers expires - I'm hoping they'll extend it. This fuckers so much up. And, it just feels like time keeps on slipping. I'm very close to 37 now, and he's 43.
I'm hooooping our RE will just say we can do Zymot, TESE, or the hydro-something acid thing, and keep this same plan. IDK why she wouldn't...ER is second week of June so hopefully that'd be enough time to figure out anything else he can do on his end with the RU. He's been taking supplements for years. He's been avoiding alcohol since mid-Jan except one 10 day binger earlier this month that really pissed me off (he's in therapy.)
I feel like I've done everything right in my life. I eat healthy, I don't drink alcohol, I volunteer, I'm a good therapist, I'm a kind person, I go out of my way to offer my time to my friends...I just wish someone would have told me about DNA frag years ago.
I'm glad this group exists for the future. And, I'm REALLY glad we tested it before we started IVF - silver lining.

I've been working for months to try to unravel the complicated history of my ancestry, but I was wondering if anyone could point me in a better direction.
From what I've found so far, it looks like my great-grandfather was born in a Rusyn village that's in present-day Ukraine. From what I can tell, everything about him seems to line up that of Rusyn people: he was a coal miner, his last name is a Hungarian-ized (later American-ized) version of a Rusyn last name, he was Greek Orthodox, he settled in PA, etc.
But... my great-grandmother is a whole different story. The area she was born in changes on literally every document I've been able to find, and since the majority of my grandmother's siblings have passed away and my grandmother wasn't raised with her parents for very long, I'm having a really hard time putting the pieces together. I know boarders changed constantly in Europe due to the wars, but how do I begin to unravel that? Her maiden name is Polish but she was allegedly born in Czechoslovakia (some docs say Krompachy, some "Kossive," some say she was born in Austria, some say "Slovakland," and some say Dubrava without a country name). But her sister wrote that she was born in "Brgesko, Czechoslovakia" which isn't a place from what I can tell-- the only thing that comes up is Brzesko, Poland. This is, notably, the one that seems to be the most accurate however, since "Kossive" and Krompachy came out of no where.
Additionally, if she was in fact Polish, why wouldn't she just write that on the census documents? Her ethnicity was written as Slovak, Hungarian, and "Slavish" and she wrote her native language as "Slavish" many times, but that doesn't make sense to me. If she was from Poland, why wouldn't she just write Polish? And if she wasn't Polish and she was Slovak, why wouldn't she just write that instead of "Slavish?" I think it's possible she might've been Rusyn as well, so that may explain the "Slavish" thing, but it's extremely difficult to discern that because I literally cannot figure out where she was actually born.
So, I guess my question is, how do I untangle this? What is the most straight-forward way (short of a DNA test 'cause I don't have the money nor the trust in these companies to do that) of being as certain as I can about their ethnicities? I want to be able to talk about where my family came from-- especially since this is important to my grandmother and I want to be able to give her an answer-- but I don't want to claim to be something I'm not.
And as an aside, I'm aware that a lot of these areas were part of the Empire and switched hands between Austria and Hungary often, but my main issue is trying to figure out where my great-grandma was actually born because there's so many inconsistencies there that I don't even know where to start. Additionally, I have tried to look into my great-grandmother's parents since she came to the US with them, but it's just brick wall after brick wall and people who've been doing this for a lot longer than I have can't breakthrough it.

It is a man, old and scraggy. He wears a jacket that lays over the red plaid button shirt and blue jeans. He wears an old baseball cap and a pair of glasses. He yelled something to Dad, holding his hands up like he was pleading, although we couldn’t hear it over the truck engine. They talked, but we couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“Hey, what are they saying”, I asked, while petting Matt’s hair, calming him. The old man then put his hands down and came close to Dad in a cautious way. They seem to start having some kind of conversation.
“I don’t really know, hopefully, something good”, Mom answered. They talked for a little while, with daylight beginning to disappear, giving us a sense of dread, and making me more worried about what weird creature was going to show up. Eventually, the old man turned and pointed toward what I think is the northeast. They then shook hands and walked back to their respective vehicles. “What’s going on”, Mom asked as Dad got into the truck.
“Well, our new friend here invited us to dinner at his farm”, Dad replied.
“Does he have supplies?”
“Well, he says has supplies for us to make the journey.”
“Should we even trust him? We just met h-”
“Relax, he’s just an old man, living alone at his farm, feeding his cows. What could go wrong”, Dad countered. The old man then entered the truck that was running and drove slowly, expecting us to follow him.
“Alrighty then, but we have to be cautious”, Mom said, with her suspicions of the old man. We then followed the old truck along the dark, frozen road. It just feels like something is going to show up along the road, but nothing happened. Matt did eventually stop crying, but he is still upset about the Joe escape thing.
“Where are we going”, Matt lamented, with the prior series of events in mind.
“I guess somebody is offering us dinner”, I answered.
“Why can’t we just go home?”
“It’s only going to be a stop, like a hotel. After that, we go to our new home, I guess”, I said, taking another look at Matt and cradling to comfort him. “It’s going to be okay.” I stared out into the darkness. I looked to the sky from the window and I faintly saw something in the clear, dark sky, lit up by the waning moon. They were brilliant, green auroras that defy the bright moon, dancing across the sky like ribbons in the wind. The truck eventually took a right-hand turn into another road, with us following suit. I can see a bright, orange light emerging from a patch of tree. When we passed by, it seemed it was a house, at a farm, burning in a massive flame.
“I guess those people aren’t so, uh, lucky”, Dad said, taking a quick look at it before looking at the road. Passing by, we went on and continued to follow the old man’s truck. We passed onto another intersection until he turned into a driveway to what I believe to be his farm. Going into the driveway, I can see an old house, along with a dilapidated farm further away, barely visible by the headlights. The old man parked by the house, where there were a few other trucks there. We parked alongside the truck and we got out into the cold, near-silent night.
“Welcome to sanctuary, where all are welcome”, the old man bellowed. This is the first time I’ve heard his voice. Matt was the last to get out of the truck, slowly and clumsily climbing out of the truck.
“What’s your name”, my Mom politely asked the old man.
“Oh, I guess your husband didn’t tell ya. My name is Steven, but you can call me Steve”, the old man said, with some crackling in his voice. “I am very proud to host a dinner for you and your family”, he continued. “What’s your name, ma’am?”
“Oh, my name is Janice”, Mom replied, quite pleased at his politeness.
“Hello, Janice, and what are their names”, Steven asked, pointing to me and Matt.
“That’s my daughter Kate and my son Matt”, Dad said to Mom.
“Oh, what wonderful names for a couple of beautiful children you have”, Steve grinned. “Come, it is dangerous out here.” We followed him to the house, which looked like it had seen better days. He entered through the double-set door, the first a solid door and a screen door behind. Entering the house, it smelled like what you’d expect, old man. Looking onto the floor is made of glossy wood and walls with cracks, likely caused by the earthquake. It is dark in there, lit by candlelight from many candles, yet it’s fairly warm here. I don’t know why we went into the house, but Dad was right, Steve is just a lonely, old man. Matter of fact, there seems to be nothing wrong here, other than the cracks in the walls. “Sorry, the power went out. Had to resort to the candles. I knew my wife would come in handy”, Steve explained as he took his coat off. “Oh, supper will be ready right away. Had to use the fireplace to cook. Also, can you take your boots off?” We took our boots and set them aside. We went into what seemed to be a living room, with dusty old-style furniture.
“So, where do we sit”, Mom asked.
“Oh, well, follow me”, Steve commanded, leading us to the dining room, with a long, wooden table and six wooden chairs, along with their corresponding old-fashioned plates, glasses and cutlery, lit up in the candlelight. We noticed that everything on the table was covered in a thin veil of dust. “My apologies, the recent shocks dropped a bit of dust on the table”, he explained as he noticed us looking at the plates and moved into another room nearby. “Take your seats if you like.” We all settled onto the chairs, and blew off our plates of the dust settled there.
“When will we eat”, Matt impatiently said.
“Once Steve comes out with the food”, Mom answered. Matt sat there with a tired look on his face. Dad seemed to be in a better mood than before and it looked like he wanted to start a conversation.
“Hey, should we talk about something”, Dad asked. I then see Steve with a bowl and a silver plate.
“Here we go, may not be much, but at least it’ll fulfil the soul”, Steve said, smiling when he served us mashed potatoes and meatloaf. “So, shall we pray?” That came unexpectedly, as we are not too religious, but we were in his house and gave us shelter and food.
“Sure, we can do that”, Mom said and we all bowed our heads and put our hands together. Steve cleared his throat
“Thank you, Lord, for this good food to feed the soul in these hard times. I shall pray, in the name of the Lord and Jesus Christ, that these hard times shall be over, so we can get on with our lives. Amen.” We raised our heads and grabbed whatever food there was onto our plates. “Oh, there’s no gravy, so we have to deal with bare potaters and meatloaf.”
“Oh, not to worry. Thank you for the food”, Dad thanked Steve. We began to eat the food once we got it sorted.
“So, what brings you here”, Steve asked.
“Well, there is an evacuation order in effect for this area, so we had to go to Regina”, Dad explained, with Steve taking in every word. “So, we came from Strasbourg, we tried going south towards Regina, but we hit an obstacle in the way and we had to take another route, leading us here.”
“And we encountered a few odd things along the way”, Mom added.
“Huh, interesting. What do you guys think is going on”, Steve inquired.
“By the things we saw, we have no idea. Dinosaurs, devil dogs, hell pigs, the whole deal. I shouldn’t forget the earthquake. They told us a pipeline leak caused by the earthquake”, Dad clarified to Steve.
“Hmm… is that so”, Steve wondered. “Wonder what I think is happening? The Rapture is happening. Do you know how the Bible tells us of the end times? Good people sent to be with God and his kingdom, the rest here to suffer the Hell unleashed by Satan.” By this point, he was beginning to rant, but we couldn't stop it as we all began to feel tired and powerless. “So, the Devil will send his demons in the form of these illusions so that they can torment the sinners. It is happening, it is-” Steve manically continued as I drew towards blackness and his voice becoming less coherent. My vision is now all black.
I saw those same lights, but more rapidly than before. I then emerged onto the same clear sky, but something felt different. I can smell something in the air. I can smell what seems to be chemicals in the air. Looking down, I was terrified. Dark, grey rock in the shape of ropes and folds, similar to those I saw of lava flows on a volcano in pictures. This went on as far as the eye could see. I can see no tree this time, just the cooled lava everywhere. I then walked, feeling every bump and crag. I thought I walked forever until I heard a rumbling sound and woke up.
I am in total darkness. It is cold and it smells like cow manure. I tried to move my hand, but it seemed to be bonded behind my back by a rope. I tried to move my feet, but they were also bound by rope to the legs I tried to speak, only to realise my mouth was agape by a cloth in my mouth. I heard shuffling nearby but I could not see. It was then shone in light when Steve entered the door, holding a candle, revealing all of us in the same situation. I then can see what we are in. We are in that same wooden dilapidated barn we saw earlier and seems to be more damaged than the house, wood creaking can be heard.
“These sedatives are more effective than I thought. Maybe I should use them more often”, Steve smoothly explained, like he’s some kind of agent and began pacing. “Wonder why you are here? Well, I wondered the same thing to myself, why didn’t God take me to his heaven? When I first heard of the government telling us of those evacuation plans, I thought it was that, a leaking pipe. I began to notice things I couldn’t believe myself, at least at first. Earthquakes, weird creatures showing up, people disappearing, the whole spiel. I connected the dots. The Rapture is happening, for sure, but why me? Why was I the one left here on this Earth”, Steve calmly ranted, pacing around the barn, but it seemed to sound crazier and angrier the more he paced. “I thought I had lost my way. I’ve been unfaithful to God and his son. But, I realised that God always has a plan and he left me on this Earth to serve a purpose. I wondered what my purpose was until I had a moment.” He then stopped in place and calmed down. He turned to look at Mom with accusing yet crazed eyes.
“I’m supposed to keep the sinners here in line, to earn a place in God’s kingdom, or suffer in Hell. I know you are a sweet woman, Janice, but your treachery with Satan is over and I am going to do what’s right.” Mom then looked at all of us, with assuring eyes like that of an innocent yet caring mother we all know knew. I began crying and trying to speak through the cloth, but I was helpless to watch by. “Forgive me, Father, for what I am going to do.” He then pulled a knife from his pocket and plunged it into Mom’s neck with no mercy. I looked away once he did that, trembling, with tears pouring out and my vision glazed and I fell limp. I could see my brother tearing up, but he did not look away. I can hear Dad behind me, with his screams of agony and anger covered by the cloth. It felt like I was in slow motion, taking in every moment.
I then heard the chair, screeching as Steve dragged the chair containing Mom’s lifeless body towards the door, leaving behind a trail of blood. I couldn’t bear to see my mother like this. I shut my eyes very hard and hoped it would go away. The door then shut, leaving us alone with a candle, fearing what would come next. I stared at the candle, seeing it dance in the flames like a woman dancing in the darkness. Is this how it’ll end, I thought. End up dying to this sick man? My Mom was killed in front of me. I sobbed with that thought, then I began to think about the inevitable death of me. I hope there’s something after I die. Maybe I’ll see Mom again.
It was silent for a while, nearly no sound other than our moans. Dad seems to be fidgeting at the back of his chair, rocking it slowly. Looking past him, I shuddered at the glistening pool of blood, where Mom was last alive, could be my fate. I then see Dad release his arms from the back of the chair and remove the cloth from his mouth. He silently stood up and bent down to untie his legs from the chair legs. He then went to me and removed my cloth.
“H-h-how did you do that”, I silently wept, fearing that Steve would show up at the door and kill us all.
“My binding is loose. The old man probably took a liking to me”, Dad whispered. “I should remove your binds.” He untied them, releasing me, doing the same for Matt. “Now, we need to be quiet.” We then walked, quietly, along the painfully creaking wood in the near dark, following the blood trail, glistening in the candlelight. We cringed and dreaded each sound we made and watched the door in case it began to creak open. A few silent steps later, we made it to the door and we slowly opened it so as not to make any noise. What was revealed to us is nothing new, other than the blood trail continuing in the snow directing towards the back of the barn. “Okay, Kate, Matt, you guys run to the truck.”
“What about you”, I sobbed.
“Don’t worry about me”, Dad responded, giving me his keys and forcing them into my hand. “If I’m not back in a few minutes, leave. Don’t look back, take care of your brother, okay? I love you, no matter what happens.” He then kissed me on the head and ran to follow the blood trail. We quickly walked towards the black truck, stranded there for maybe hours. Getting closer, freedom is getting closer. When we got to a fair distance to the truck, I heard footsteps behind me and, the next thing I knew, I was knocked over to the ground into the hard snow on my face. A hand turned me over to give me a glimpse of a crazed Steve, his eyes wilder than before.
“Oh, yes, trying to escape”, he bragged. I looked at him, frozen in fear, like a deer in headlights and he caressed my face with his bloodied blade. “You do have a pretty face, but I’m afraid you are just one of Satan's creations, made to pull me to lust.” He then raised his knife in the air when a familiar side emerged, out of the blue.
Joe came and bit him in the arm that was holding the knife. Steve screamed in agony the moment he realised what happened. He shook Joe off and stood up to stand his ground. I stood up as Joe hissed and walked around the crazed being he wounded, not in fear but in aggressiveness. “Is this one of your pets, demon”, Steve screamed as Joe came in for another attack, but Steve countered that with a slash to the snout. Joe then ran away, whining, into the darkness. This sequence of events gave me the chance to enter the truck on the driver’s side. I had some trouble starting it, besides this is my first time driving a truck.
Steve menacelily walked towards the when Dad came barreling and tackled him to the ground. Dad was on top when he went limp. I finally put the keys in the engine turned it on and backed out, with memory serving me the instructions on such a vehicle. Steve pushed Dad’s body and stood up, but by that time, we left the farm.
“Turn back, we have to get Dad”, Matt cried, but I was very emotional, accepting what happened. I felt that, without my parents, I feel… useless.
“Dad’s dead”, I screamed at Matt and he began gagging uncontrollably in tears. I began to feel sorry for him. “Sorry, I, I don’t know.”
“It’s okay”, Matt sniffled. “I guess Mom and Dad are dead anyways.” It was silence for a few more minutes, tears welling in our eyes.
“Hey, our parents are in a better place”, I said, trying to make the situation positive.
“But we are stuck here, without them? Don’t we deserve to go to a better place?”
“Don’t say that”, I huffed and I paused for a bit. “I know we are in the, uh, right place now. Let me tell you something, once we get to Regina, I will take care of you, no matter what life throws at us.”
“What about Joe”, Matt asked.
“He’ll be fine. He probably found his girlfriend already.”
“Hey, don’t you have a boyfriend?”
“I, uh, I don’t have one. That I know of”, I spoke, bringing me back to Sam, remembering that she’s the only friend that I ever knew, and I left her. Without her, I felt alone, no one would ever relate. I began to tear up. “I don’t have any friends. I am alone,” I sobbed.
“What do you mean? I’m your brother!” I looked at Matt, and smiled, happy that he acknowledged that we were in this together.
“Thank you”, I thanked him. I slowly stopped on the road, just to hug Matt hard, crying my eyes out. We then heard what sounded like an elephant in front of us. We looked up to see a walking snow-covered brown fur wall with four pillar-like legs in front of us. Its curved tusks gleaned in the light and the eyes reflected in the light. The furry trunk waved around like a searching snake from a tree. We both knew what it was.
“Hey, look at that, a woolly mammoth”, Matt said, excitement running through him. At this point, we weren’t surprised.
“Yep, that is a woolly mammoth”, I added. The mammoth turned to us on the road, seemingly confused about where it was. It looked at our truck and seemed to growl, like an elephant. We are starting to realise this thing is becoming aggressive.
“Uh, should we move”, Matt asked. I remembered hearing something about standing your ground in case of an encounter with an elephant. I hoped it would work for a bigger, furrier version of one.
“No, we have to stand our ground.”
“But, it’ll attack u-”
“Trust me!” I then honked my horn and it backed up. It then rushed, then stopped, a mock charge. Eventually, it moved out of the road, disappearing into the darkness. We sighed in relief.
“That was close”, Matt sighed. I then continued to drive in the night, headlights leading the way. The road is bumpy, as noticed by every ditch and peak we hit, but surprisingly, Matt was fast asleep. I began to get comfortable driving and used to the road by that point. It was silent for a while until we hit a smaller intersection. That is when the truck shut down, completely and stopped. I tried the gas many times but with no effect. There is no light, nothing. It is near-darkness here, shone only by the moonlight.
“Shit”, I yelled, desperate to turn the truck on without much success. Matt woke up, confused.
“What happened”, he yawned.
“The truck turned itself off. I can’t get it back on”, I fretted and at that moment, Matt was just as panicked as I am.
“Why?”
“I-I don’t know. One moment, we were driving, another it just-”, I quavered, when I heard something rustle in the distance. We stood still, hoping whatever it was didn’t find us. I looked around, hoping to see something in the moonlight. I then see a long, walking animal. It looked like some sort of alligator at first, except for a dinosaur-like head. Once I strained my eyes to the darkness, my fear levels rose as I could see it walk on its hind limbs, with its forelimbs dangling nearly touching the ground.
It was wandering around on the road when I heard a near-crocodilian growl at Matt’s side of the truck. Another of those creatures appeared, seemingly looking into the window like a hungry bear, giving us a chance to see its scaly head. Its exposed alligator teeth gleaned in the light like knives, but more terrifying was the eye. Its serpentine pupil shone brilliantly in the light like eyes in the dark. It then ducked down, gave a hiss, and moved towards the other one. A few more showed up and formed a group.
“What should we do”, Matt asked. “Should we stay?” I looked around, hoping for another way to escape them without them noticing. I further strained my eyes and mentally mapped out the area. There is a cemetery on my right-hand side, a grain bin storage yard on my left and a series of trailers on the other side of the highway, which is ahead of us, from the storage area. There, I see a series of white, storage buildings, something we can go to and wait it out inside.
“Okay, so slowly open the door”, I instructed Matt. The click of the doors opening cringed us. We looked at the group, but there was no response from them. We then, as slowly as we could, opened the door and stepped out. Still no response. Matt then quietly ran to the other side, towards me. “Okay, we are going into the storage yard and go to the other entrance”, I said, pointing to the other right-hand corner. I wanted to get as far away from these things as possible before making a safe crossing. “Then, we cross the highway on the other side, run into the buildings and stay there for the night. Are you ready?”
“I guess”, he whispered, looking at me in fearful doubt.
“We are going to do this”, I whispered back. We then silently ran over, having to rely on our night-adapted eyes, to the corner, walking past the bins. We made it and nothing behind us so far. “We’re good so far.” We then crossed the road and noticed nothing. We noticed a tanker truck, leaking some sort of fluid across the road. I easily recognized it as fuel, based on its distinctive, sickly smell. I wouldn’t be worried about it if it weren’t for a collapsed light pole that is somehow still flickering with electricity near the area where the fuel would be flowing. We quickly avoided the fluid when I froze to see the group of the walking alligators, running towards us. “Run!” Matt tried to run, but one of those things appeared and clamped its jaws at the back of his neck. He yelped in pain and it took him down to the ground. “Matt”, I yelled, helplessly watching as the creature tore into him.
Matt reached out his arm before the others came to him, then a flash of fire came. At this point, I knew what happened, but I couldn’t even think before it exploded. It blew me towards the building, far away. I was knocked out for a few seconds before I regained consciousness, groaning in pain on the ice. I noticed something especially painful just below my chest. I reached towards the area with my hand. I pressed on it, more painful than ever and raised my hand, only to see blood, brightened by the fire. I realised I was wounded, maybe by shrapnel made by the explosion.
I looked toward where the truck was and all I saw was a blaze. Those things weren’t there, at least. I also noticed something else, too, there’s no Matt. I tried to look around for something, some sort of sign of my brother within the fire, but I saw none. I then wept, realising I had failed. I have failed to keep him safe. I have failed to give him a better life. I failed him as a sister. I could’ve done better. The thoughts poured in as tears glazed my eyes. At that moment, I failed to look around me.
I noticed a dark thing beside the blaze. I thought it was Matt, preparing to greet him back, even though I knew he couldn’t survive the explosion. The image became clearer and clearer as I noticed it was one of the walking crocs that, glazed by the fire, was coming towards me.
“Just kill me”, I screamed, preparing to painfully die to meet my maker. The creature was about to attack me when something large, silent as the wind, came charging and clamped down its massive jaws, filled with conical teeth on the hapless creature and raised it. The crocodile struggled before going limp with a crunch within its strong jaws. The big, dark and scaly monster that it is towered over me and is as long as a bus, possibly longer. Its large legs are a contradiction to its small arms that hide beneath its scarred, bulky body.
It turned to look at me with an oddly bird-like expression, revealing in the firelight numerous scars from battles I could never know and looked at me with its beady bird-like eyes, breathing out wisps from its nostrils like a dragon in the cool air. I recognized it as a creature I know too well, a T. Rex. I breathed heavily and sickly, looking at the thing, nearly expecting me to drop the body and go after me. Instead, it simply walked away, carrying its bloody prize with it, and steadily retreated into the darkness.
I then lay down in agonizing exhaustion on my back, thinking of the next step of action like I'm on a suicide mission I would never come back from. I looked in the direction of the graveyard and had one thought. I guess I am dying. a graveyard will do. I struggled to stand up, noticing my blood-soaked clothes and felt a broken left leg. I grasped my wound, limping step by step and enduring the sharp pain while shaking in the cold. Every step I took, I remembered all the memories, good or bad, that I had with my parents. My brother. My friends. My family. I eventually reached the cemetery and slouched at a tree.
“Guess I’m joining you, guys”, I said, speaking to the snow-covered gravestones, only to hear something. A familiar sound of chirping emerged and, lit by the blaze, it was a sight I can hope for. “Joe, what are you doing here”, I depressingly cheered as Joe went to me and curled up in my lap as if he were a cat. I noticed the new-found scar he had on his little snout, but I paid no mind as I petted him. “I guess you came back. Thank you so much for what you did”, I thanked him, not expecting such a loyal creature would be with me, comforting me, to the end, like what my mother used to do when I was a newborn. I heard another noise, this time a deep rumble.
I thought it was another earthquake coming, but it got louder the closer it got to me, becoming more animalistic only felt small vibrations I barely felt. Joe stayed put, oddly enough, as T. Rex, different from the first one, came. It walked towards us until it stopped short of us. It began to produce a low-pitched, bird-like purring, attracting Joe. I realised something, that this T. Rex is Joe’s parent. He joined the rest like him, whom they showed up and all chirped around.
The grown Rex then brought its snout closer to me, not to kill me, but to look at me. It did not reveal its teeth and was still purring. I put my hand out and its nose came close to it. It rubbed it against my hand and started to pet its cold, scaly skin as it breathed through its nose and put it on my chest. I rested my head on it before it pulled away. It gave out a hiss, but I knew it wasn’t that of a threat, but more of a thank you for bringing its small, sometimes immature, child home.
That gave me relief, as it felt like I at least did something for once. They walked away, along with Joe, towards the darkness amongst the gravestones in the cemetery. I glimpsed one last desperate look at Joe before walking beside his parent. I looked up at the sky and I could see all the stars, twinkling, and the dancing green auroras. I began to feel limp and felt the cold embrace of death coming over me, tears pouring out of my eyes. The sky then grew brighter and brighter, the stars faded into the light and I could see my family welcoming me to a new home. It then slowly went black, darker than a cave.
You would think this is the end of me. It wasn’t, or else I wouldn’t be writing this right now. I eventually woke up in a hospital in Regina. I was told I was rescued by a team that transported me while I was in a coma. The doctors said I was very lucky to be alive, as the shrapnel narrowly avoided my vital organs. After that, I was adopted into a new family, but I was only with them for a couple of years before finding a new job and moving out.
As for Sam, I don’t know what happened to her. I would like to think she is safe, somewhere else. As for my family, I think of them all the time. I was in a depressive period right after that. Eventually, over the years, I accepted that they were gone and went to a better place. For Joe, I would like to think he is all grown up, like his parents, and becoming the king of the jungle. I hope we meet again.
As for the evacuated area, it wasn’t some pipeline rupture that caused an evaluation, but an anomaly, with the exact reason not known. There are excuses for the claims of weird stuff going on in there, from disease to chemicals, to eventually a previously unknown geological event, but I saw through it all.
You may ask how, it's because I've been there. Take it or leave it, this is the story I have. As the decade came by, cover-ups were made to hide it, even walls were put around it. Since the incident, the exclusion zone grew from a mere 80 kilometers in diameter to 460 kilometers in diameter, emptying entire cities of the likes of Regina and Saskatoon. I had to move to North Battleford, by the recommendation from the same government covering it up, making me think that time will tell before the floodgates of truth open.
The anomaly didn’t have a name initially, however, over the years, everyone agreed on one name in particular: The Saskatchewan Anomaly.

I'm reposting this as it was edited by AI to be a bit more grammatically correct and "editorial" sounding, and came out completely wrong, my apologies - my writing generally sucks. The below content is important to me, so I'm looking for serious reflection, debate if anyone is interested. Thanks.
There's obviously been some discord with the new Mini line-up pitting Mini loyal purists against the fresher minded Mini lovers who prefer the new styling. We're all entitled to our opinions and that's okay, I'm not here to convince anyone of one trend or styling over the other. But we should be looking at the reasons of why Mini has made these style/business choices. I feel that some of these reasons are largely being ignored by some fans, being accepted as "the new trend, accept it", versus the 'straight-to-market', market cap gaining, cutting costs to get there, loss of prestige, quality of materials, and loyalty be damned - as I and others see it.
I obviously sit on the side of mostly disliking this new generation not because of their style choices (while ugly) but their decision to sacrifice quality in order to gain market cap, and their decision to partner with Great Wall Motors and produce an awful end-product out of China that mostly mimics the likes of the South East Asian market.
The Asian market isn't so much the problem, it's the en mass production of said materials, "recycled", "faux", and low quality plastics that are being used in their vehicles. A lot of people have said "this is the trend" and where all mass marketed cars are heading. But I think Mini's decision to partner with Great Wall Motors and produce the car out of China has a huge impact on their intention to go straight-to-market, cost cutting, streamlined parts, and therefore (in my opinion) loss of quality, and diminished/minimalist styling and impact on general design.
For example, I've said this in other places, but Great Wall Motor's 2023 Ora EV is a near clone of the Mini Cooper EV of which is made out of the same factory as the Ora. This partnership started in late 2017, early 2018 and didn't just happen yesterday. If you see the URL's below of the Ora you can see that they're pretty much clones, the round headlines, "unique" colorful interior, faux leather, low quality plastics, and minimalist approach.
Sorry for the length of this, but I'd love a friendly discussion about the above because it seems to be that BMW/Mini along with GWM are really just trying to gain as many customers as they can while doing it from a straight-to-market, cost-cutting designs, while largely impacting the former prestige and "luxury" feel our beloved Minis once had. What do you think?
2023 GWM Ora Exterior
2023 GWM Ora Interior

Let me know if this is okay. I re-read the rules and it seems so.

The 2024 Fantasy/Sci-Fi Authors Summit is this week. 25 speakers over 5 days!

Join for FREE at https://fsfasummit.com/register-page
Day 1 line up:
Janet Forbes, co-founder of World Anvil behind the scenes look and feature highlights Janice Hardy talks the power of POV in shaping narrative. Savannah Gilbo discusses using your genre to unlock the secrets of story structure. Megan Haskell talks creating an author mission statement to help write, publish it, and market your books. C.R. Rowenson talks magic systems. Jill Lublin discusses maximizing media impact.
There are many more the rest of the week but I'm only posting once.
Use this link to register and watch for free (this is not an affiliate link): https://fsfasummit.com/register-page

I just got fired from a major corporation. I’ve been a pharmacy technician since October 2021. I’m near Charlotte, NC. USA
I can fill in more details as needed. I feel like so much has happened during my time with this company, I’m not even really sure which parts of the story are relevant.
But to start, I was at a store that didn’t have a store manager for 6 months and I was having issues getting hours, support, literally any paperwork being done because my pharmacy manager (pharmacist in charge, RXM) did not like me. We were understaffed, there was a ton of drama. I had spoken to the district manager (DM) about my issues several times and finally after a technician lashed out and threw some filling totes and some bagged prescriptions at me and another technician, I called him after work and told him I no longer felt safe and wouldn’t be returning to work until he handled the situation.
I help out at other stores all the time and one of the stores I help out offered me to transfer. Additionally, right after I left pretty much everyone quit, I was not the only person with issues at that store. After that situation, since I was already starting the process of transferring, instead of waiting two more weeks I immediately went to the new store. During this time I had started the process for ADA accommodations through HR and with my doctor.
The week I started at the new store, I sat down with the pharmacy tech manager (RXOM) and the store manager (SM). This probably should have been my first red flag, but the SM basically asked something along the lines of why he should let me transfer because it sounds like I had a lot of problems at the old store. So upon starting at this specific store, I disclosed issues I have socially due to my disability and stated that I needed clear communication because I do not pick up on hints or subtleties and that I needed clear feedback when I have made a mistake or in a situation where I upset someone. I also disclosed that I would need additional assistance in tense situations with customers and coworkers. I explained there was a lot of drama and pettiness at my old pharmacy and that I inadvertently caused a lot of issues because I was oblivious to it. The SM basically decided that it didn’t sound like an issue to be clear and concise and kind of guide me through situations that come up. He assured me I could talk to him anytime. I was repeatedly ignored when I requested aid in those situations. And then if the outcome was less than satisfactory, I was punished. The tech manager became my support needs liaison, but the store and assistant manager refused to accommodate me. The tech manager actually got a lot of crap for trying to help me. I have a disability that can affect the way I am perceived by other people and speaking to people about it usually helps clear up any problems. I was not given an opportunity to do this. I thought I was protecting myself my disclosing my needs and weaknesses.
So at this store a few things happened with different people all at once and the store became short staffed. I started helping out a lot, staying late when I could, picking up shifts even though I had to find extra childcare. The pharmacy manager quit a few weeks after I got there, a few technicians quit or drastically reduced their hours, a couple people went on leave. So the ESM (assistant store manager) started helping out in the pharmacy more, mostly with filling prescriptions. I was warned before she started helping out that she was really prickly and if I had any issues that I could talk to the RXOM. There were a few things that came up and he told me that I wasn’t misconstruing things, to just ignore her.
And then came a day where we had a ton of call outs, my RXOM wasn’t in that day and the SM had left. It was Christmas eve weekend. So the pharmacy was gonna be closed the next day. So we were extremely short staffed, extremely busy and the phones were insane. The ESM started out the day basically complaining to us about how nothing was done, it was a mess, etc etc. I wouldn’t even call it passive aggressive. She was outright threatening and saying she would definitely be telling the RXM and SM about how incompetent we were, how out of hand everything was.
There was an incident with a customer, he was yelling at me because I went to lunch before helping him and instead of letting me handle it, the ESM jumped in without really even getting a handle on what was happening. I got written up for the way I spoke to the patient and how I handled the situation with the ESM because I had stepped over to the floater pharmacist and when asked I explained the situation. She told the story as me mumbling under my breath and complaining and carrying on. The rest of the day was pretty much the same, her carrying on about how useless we were and at one point she said it was a mess and that we (the techs) would be staying after to clean it up. I was slightly irritated that she told me I had to rather than asking, especially because the mess was from the days previous, from other techs, etc. It just had been a hectic few days, with short staff. I knew how she was though so I just decided I would stay. Right before we closed, she told me she wanted to speak to me. I had assumed she was going to give us a game plan for how to clean up quickly so we could go. I went over to her after we closed and she started to tear into me for disrespecting her and then noticed I wasn’t making eye contact. It had been a long day and I was feeling really overwhelmed. She made a big deal about it and I told her I couldn’t make eye contact with her because I have a disability but assured her I was listening to her. She went back and forth with me a few times basically trying to force me to look her in the eyes or I was disrespecting her. She ended up saying that she couldn’t speak to me if I wasn’t going to look her in the eyes when she spoke to me. I took this as a dismissal, so part of my write up was for insubordination because I left and refused to have a conversation with her. I reported the incident to HR, briefly spoke with them and thought that was the end of it.
Well shortly after, she started being extremely short with me, very dramatically avoidant like when I walked in the pharmacy would say things like “that’s my cue to leave”. If she asked for help out loud, if I tried to help her she would tell me she didn’t want my help and she would get someone else. I tried not to let it bother me but it definitely stressed me out over time. The few times I did help her, she would throw whatever she was working on down and storm from the pharmacy muttering that she would tell SM about whatever, usually swearing. I asked the other managers what I was doing wrong and was never given any answers. Or guidance. I brought it up a few times and was always brushed off. That never really ended.
An important detail is that the schedule was consistently put out on Wednesdays, usually evenings and our week started on Thursdays. Our weeks run Thursdays-Wednesdays.
There were a few other small issues, I had talked to the managers about issues with scheduling and basically just got constantly brushed off. I had agreed to a general schedule of opens and mids and every other Sunday when I transferred and they weren’t able to accommodate it anymore, they started scheduling me all over the place, closes, several weekends in a row. This made childcare difficult especially with short notice because daycare has set hours. When I got my first warning about tardiness, I brought this up and was accused of blaming everyone else for my tardiness and told to have some accountability.
By this point, I dreaded going to work when the SM or ESM was there. I would get so anxious, I would be physically sick, throwing up, gastro issues, migraines. I was constantly in a state of overstimulation. Again, I asked for help and got blown off.
So in February there was an incident that led up to me requesting short term leave. My son had a minor medical issue that I took him to the doctor for, she made an appointment for the following Thursday at an eye doctor at 8:15am. I told my RXOM I couldn’t work Thursday, he ended up scheduling me to close. 12-9. I called out around 9am after getting to my son’s appointment and learning he had to do some tests for underlying issues including being dilated. He’s 3 so I needed to be with him because he was really disoriented. We finished around 4pm and my RXOM had texted me several times for updates telling me other people called out and they really needed me. I told him that my son needed me and he basically begged me to come in for a few hours to close. I finally relented and got there around 5-6 and stayed until close. No one said anything to me, so I didn’t think anything of it. A few weeks go by and on February 19, I was called into the office for a meeting with the SM and RXOM and received a write up for being 5 hours late that day. If I would have just left it as a call out, there would be no disciplinary action because I had not used any yet for the year. This was incredibly frustrating and the way it was presented was really overwhelming. I told them I was getting overwhelmed and would like to step out, the SM continued to talk down to me. I was getting increasingly agitated, my stims were getting faster and I started to rock back and forth, beginning to have an autistic meltdown. The SM told me I needed to calm down, tried to get me to speak to him while I was shutting down and just kept scolding me, I honestly don’t even know what he was saying by this point. I told the RXOM I needed to step out and I walked out of the office next door to the break room to turn on the sink and I just completely shut down, I crawled under the counter in the break room and had a complete shutdown/meltdown. My muscles locked up, I was crying and rocking back and forth and covering my ears and had my arms over my eyes, all stimulation was bothering me. The RXOM came to check on me and saw me having a meltdown and that I was unable to communicate so he pulled my file and called my emergency contact and basically just told him I was melting down and I was under the sink and needed to be picked up.
My partner came to get me, we left my car, I went home and calmed down and then called my company’s HR and put a request in for short term medical leave. My doctor had been urging me to do this for over 6 months. I texted my RXOM and SM asking what I should do next and heard nothing so I reported to work on 2/20. Upon arriving, the guest pharmacist notified me we had a call out. After everyone arrived, I asked who the call out was and the ESM, pharmacist and other techs didn’t know. The SM was not there. The RXOM wasn’t answering my texts. An hour into my shift, the RXOM told me that they were told my leave was approved and I wouldn’t be there. I asked what to do and got nothing in response.
During my lunch break on 2/20/24, I received a call on my personal phone from HR outlining my short term leave and giving me instruction on paperwork. They verified leave was supposed to start 2/19 and I explained no one answered me so I reported to work. She told me she would have to change my leave to go into effect starting 2/21.
Fast forward, my leave ends 5/8/24, and I had not heard anything beyond communication with HR about it ending. I text my RXM and tell him I am returning to work and ask what my next steps are. He replies late evening and tells me to reach out to SM and I tell him I will in the morning. The next morning, I receive a text with my name written in and highlighted, I’m not scheduled for the first few days (Thursday-Sunday) and I’m scheduled Monday-Wednesday. So I go in for my scheduled shift on 5/13/24. During my leave, my RXOM and a bunch of technicians quit. We gained a full time staff pharmacist and a couple technicians. I get there at 10:00 and I work until 12:00 (so for two hours) and I’m called into the office with the SM and RXM and told the SM told me that I received a final written warning for insubordination and tardiness so they decided to terminate my employment due to my continued insubordination and job abandonment and because a member of management complained about my attitude. He went on to say that he contacted HR and reported that I had an “episode” and walked away from him when he was trying to communicate with me and resolve a conflict which was the insubordination and then after my “episode” I went home instead of finishing my shift. Despite putting my leave in the day it happened, because the date of leave was changed, the day I left early wasn’t covered under FMLA.
So far, I have submitted a request to the EEOC, but their first available appointment was 11/4/24. I was not in a state to call lawyers today, but I filled out a couple online forms for Employment Discrimination lawyers that had online contact forms. Immediately after being terminated, I went to my car and logged into the employee portal and downloaded all of my available paystubs and the documented disciplinary action sheets. There wasn’t one for termination, I asked my SM how I would obtain that information and he told me to contact HR. I have some screenshots from text message communication mostly asking the RXOM for help with conflicts, but the SM would really only talk to me in the office.
I’m looking for advice on what to do next. I am feeling pretty overwhelmed. Obviously, I am going to work on my resume and start applying to jobs, but beyond that I’m not really sure what to do next. Any advice is appreciated. Even if it’s to tell me that I’m in the wrong. If you read my novel, thank you. <3
TLDR; I have autism and I was bullied into having a meltdown and then fired after returning from short term medical leave for going home early. I feel like they were looking for reasons to fire me as retaliation for reporting the ESM to HR.

TW: mentions of suicide, self harm, brief mentions of physical, mental and child abuse along with a few other things that might trigger people.
I, (13-15 female) have a small group of friends. (All around 13-15, mainly female) But there has been some major drama in our friend group and I need advice on what to do.
I've had this friend who we'll call Sam. Sam and I have know each other since we were around 6 yrs old. We met in YeaPrimary 2. (For all the people not from the UK, that would be 1st grade)
We have known each other from then all the way until now. But this is when the drama starts.
For context, My group of friends has 4 people in it. (Including me) and one of these friends, who I'll call Rich, wanted to meet sam. But since Rich lives at least 4 hours away from us, I decided to set up an online game for us to play and for Sam and Rich to get to know each other and ask each other questions.
Sometime into the game I get a private message from Sam.
That's when Sam told me she had a crush on Rich. (We were less then 10 minutes into the game aka less then 10 minutes knowing each other) And she asked if she should tell him. I was (mostly) happy for my friend as she hasnt dated for a few years and told her to shoot her shot. And turns out, Rich liked Sam back. So they started dating.
BTW, Sam had just ghosted someone she dated online and did role-plays with, a few days before this happened. (Keep this in mind)
So some background, our entire group of friends play online role-playing games (In a private server) since we all like being able to make role-plays and storylines, except Sam. (She can be really picky)
This is how Sam and Rich basically went on dates. They also invited me to join them sometimes so they had someone else to play the "extra characters" in their role-plays. Their role-plays mostly consisted of guy x guy, mafia bosses and the typical cringe gacha storylines from 2018. I hated the 'maifa guy buys a slave' type tropes they did but I did it with them anyway because Sam always ended up getting mad and ignoring me if I said no or suggested something different.
This whole role-playing thing went on for a few months. That's when I saw Sam online with Mike. (Mike is the name of the person Sam dated online before Rich, I was friends with Mike and still was at the time despite their break up) I decided to join them and see what they were doing on a server together. (Sam had told me and Rich several times that she hated Mike and she always said he was a "alpha bad boy wannbe")
Once I joined I looked in the chat I saw a bunch of messages like Kisses softly (From Mike) and "You're sexy~" (From Sam) I was extremely confused and decided to ask Sam about this later when she wasn't on the server. She said something along the lines of "I was joking around, I never actually broke up with Mike 🤣".
So I was extremely confused and asked Rich if he knew about this.
That's where it all went to shit afterwards. (Don't worry, it gets worse)
To give a short rundown since this post is already long, Sam was cheating on Mike with Rich while also cheating on Rich with Mike as they both though that Sam dated them and had blocked the other person. When Rich 1st confronted her she said they were in a polyamous relationship. (They were not) This kept happening until eventually Mike blocked everyone (Except me) and really didn't talk to any of us. (Or so I thought.)
I always thought that Rich and Sam shouldn't be dating but I stayed out of it because Sam is the only friend I can really talk to and hang out with, without feeling anxious.
Then I found out that Sam was cheating on Rich AGAIN with a girl from her class called Jaime. Then she cheated AGAIN with a girl from my class who I'll call Autumn.
So not only did Sam cheat on Rich with 3 different people. She did it SEVERAL TIMES WITH THOSE PEOPLE.
I eventually distanced myself from the group as a whole. (I also was in hospital which helped me to ignore all of the drama as I was recovering from surgery)
That's when I found a message in the group chat. (The group chat had me, Sam, Jaime and one of Sam's friends in it as well) The message said "Imagine if Rich knew about you dating me and Autumn 🤣💀" from Jaime.
I told Rich literally everything including screenshots and evidence I had. He didn't believe me until he asked Sam which to that she laughed about it and told him that her adhd made her do bad things. Rich then went into a major depressive episode and he wouldn't respond at all to anyone.
Rich even cut himself and attempted suicide. (He has home issues and several mental illnesses, which Sam knew of) Thankfully he survived.
But here's the thing, Sam and Rich GOT BACK TOGETHER AFTER WHAT HAPPENED.
I was absolutely fucking horrified by this as it seemed to be a severely toxic and maybe even abusive relationship (Psychologically) since Rich had Bipolar and Sam used to blame him for acting weird and blamed him for her cheating.
Here's where I think I became the asshole.
I made a throwaway account and took screenshots of everything and sent them to Jaime, Autumn, Rich, our group of friends and basically everyone who knew of the drama. Which included most of the school. (And even random people from other school that knew some of the gossip)
Then it got revealed that Sam had ONLINE SEX WITH MIKE AND RICH WHILE SAM WAS DATING BOTH OF THEM AND AFTER MIKE SUPPOSEDLY BLOCKED HER!!
And then it turns out that Sam, who is bisexual, called Richs gay BFF( I'll call him Matt) a gay bastard and the F-slur. TWICE.
Ans then it turns out, after Sam had cheated on Rich the first or second time, Rich started DATING MATT AND THEY ONLY BROKE UP BECAUSE RICH FELT GUILTY.
Then Sam and Rich got into a massive fight which lead to Rich attempting suicide again. Sam said, and i quote, "womp womp🙄" when told about Richs second sucide attempt and also then Rich told her that his cat had died.
They then broke up and he blocked her on everything.
I felt horrible. I felt like I shouldn't of told everyone what Sam did and I shouldn't of put myself into their relationship..
I felt really depressed and guilty and I thought (and still do) that it was all my fault..
I honestly think I'm the asshole and I shouldn't of done anything considering I don't have any dating experience at all and I don't have any of the disorders Sam or Rich has...
But I've always been told to get a second opinion on everything so I wanted to ask Reddit. (Not the most logical way to do it but I'm desperate af)
So Reddit, AITAH?
I'm sorry if the spelling or wording is off, I'm writing this at 3:13 am and I have school at 8:30. But I am desperate to hear someone else's opinion on this as I feel i am going insane. I'll try and answer any questions as best as I can.
(Ps. Sam has dyslexia and supposedly has adhd as well which she uses as an excuse for why she cheated and blamed Rich. She also used the excuse that her home life is terrible. Which it is. Rich has autism, adhd, bipolar, lack of awareness and is physically and metally abused by his parents. And before I forget, my mother was walking home from work one night and saw Sam HITTING her MOTHER with a stick and laughing about it)
I will honestly appreciate ANY help or opinion given on my situation..

Just a rant - sorry. We booked a hotel for the total solar eclipse way ahead of time (December 17th). The hotel called me a month before the eclipse (outside of booking.com communication channels) and requested that I approve a date change (because they just realized they are overbooked). Obviously to a date outside the eclipse. I declined. They send me an email through the booking.com system with a one-click "please confirm if you’d like to cancel this booking" link, followed immediately with a "YOUR ROOM RESERVATION HAS BEEN CANCELLED".
I called the hotel to complain and they told me to contact booking.com - the hotel claimed it's the mistake of booking.com because they advertised a wrong rate.
So I contacted booking.com - and I was not prepared for how terrible their customer support is.
It took me hours on the phone, multiple managers and superviors, emails and call backs to finally reach someone who was "allowed" to make a decision on the case. I was told on the phone that I can book a new hotel of the same class, and booking.com will refund the difference in price. Just a month out from the solar eclipse, any other hotel was obviously way more expensive now - over $300 more expensive to be exact. This was communicated to booking.com multiple times. And this was acknoledge by booking.com multiple times on the phone.
Because of the messy experience over the few days with their customer support, I requested the resolution in writing. I was told I will receive an email confirmation and we ended the call. Again, I was not prepared for how terrible their customer support is. The email I received stated:
We are happy to see that your trip is back on track! We can work on a refund for the price difference of your stay, up to a maximum of 25 EUR.
I called them again, for the 20th time (not exaggurating) - and I still feel bad for the poor representative that day. It ended up being a 3 hour call of "No call backs. No more bullshitting. Get whomever you need on the phone to sort this shit out now." ... which actually worked, which is the saddest part of the story. I don't want to be rough and rude to people to arrive at a resolution. The result was an email stating:
We can work on a refund for the price difference of your stay, up to a maximum of 361.69 USD. All you need to do is send us the invoice for your alternative accommodation.
So I did. 4 weeks ago, just a week after the eclipse, I forwarded the $333.50 invoce via a response to the email I received from booking.com, which had a custom support sender address linked to my account, booking reference in the subject, everything. I gave them a May 1st due date to process the refund. And waited. To no avail. No response. No refund.
So I called them. And again I was unprepared for how shitty they are.
Call 1: They (pretended to?) be unable to hear me and hung up.
Call 2: Friendly, to the point, understood the issue, claimed they never received anything, gave me a new email address to send documents to. I did, they acknoledged that my email was received, I asked for a one-liner in response to confirm in writing that the email was received. "absolutely, give me just a minute" was followed by 30 minutes of silence and the call got disconnected. No email was received.
Call 3: They (pretended to?) be unable to understand what my issue was, claimed they have to get in contact with the refunds department, I was placed on hold music mid sentence, and the call was disconnected 20 minutes later.
Call 4: Friendly, request for a supervisor was declined because she wanted to try and help me first, took a bit more time to make them understand the issue, but in the end she said she will be able to send me an email confirmation and asked if she can put me on hold - I declined, because I was hung up on two times tonight while being on hold. So I listened to her typing for 20 minutes. She told me that she sent the email to me and wanted to disconnect the call. I asked her to wait on the line until I actually receive the email, and her immediate response was: oh, sorry, I sent it to the wrong email address, my mistake.
She corrected her mistake(?) and I received the email saying "We received your latest email regarding the documents for the refund."
...and how was your evening?
You only learn how good a company is if things go wrong. The way booking.com handled issues tells me that I will never book anything through them ever again. Be warned.

(SKIP TO QUESTIONS IF YOU WANT)
So I'm a second year CS student in college, and I'm trying to figure out what my best route is professionally, both short term and long. I'm currently on the tail end of a gap year, as my last semester did not go well and I needed to take some time to get myself together in a number of ways before giving it another shot. I've been working a few low-wage jobs and doing a bit of volunteering in this down time to make a bit of money and keep myself busy, but now I'm seriously considering what would be the best series of events or accomplishments to land the good-paying job I'm after in the field in a few years time.
I picked CS as my major because out of all my interests and things I'd dabbled in in grade school (art, music, photography, video editing, writing, etc.), this seemed like the best choice for a future career. For a bit more background information, it's worth noting I never did any paid work as a teenager, and that up through the end of high school, I was mostly just used to following the straight line school laid out for me and rarely trying new things (that I could put on a resume anytime) beyond that on my on time.
Now here I am three years later, and really kicking myself in the rear over that. I could have been working from the time I was 16, or even 13 (depending on the store), and doing stuff and learning skills outside of school to groom myself for future financial success from an early age. Now I'm in my early twenties, with few marketable skills, and years of lost time to make up for.
But alas, it's not too late! I just one want to make sure that whatever my next move is is the right one. One of the reasons I resisted getting a minimum wage job for so long was because I felt like they were a road to nowhere, when in reality, had I started years earlier, I could be well above that by now. Well, it's never too late to do the right thing or change course, and that's what I want your help trying to figure out now. Any advice is greatly appreciated, and at the moment, I really don't have anyone else knowledgeable on the subject to turn to.
(SKIP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANNA READ THE BACKGROUND STUFF)
What I'm wondering is...
-How much does having that relevant bachelor's degree matter compared to not having it? From what I've seen, it seems like that alone opens up a world of possibilities.
-"One to two years as a _ required™" (to be able to apply for this job)-Those words haunt my nightmares. I've seen them, you've seen them, and the problem is obvious. When 80%+ of entry level jobs have that cursed stipulation, how are you supposed to get that one to two years anywhere? Well, you tell me. Someone has to have cracked it.
-What certifications can help my case? Or which would be most worth the effort? A Plus is the main one I've heard of, but what impact could having one for something like computer basics or Microsoft Office make?
-What do employers care about the most? Certifications? Past experience? A degree?
-What difference could a masters/grad school make? While I haven't applied myself much so far in college, I'm working hard to change that. And when I go back, I'm hoping to get into the honors program, and after that and a successful graduation-maybe, just maybe, by some miracle-punch a ticket to MIT (yeah, laugh it up). Now, if I did somehow pull that off, what doors could that open to me?
-Best programming language to know, and the best place to learn it (and prove I can use it too)? If I can't walk the walk, I'm not gonna get anywhere. I've had friends who have been proficient in things like Python, HTML, or Java since high school. If I wanna buckle down and go nuts with CodeAcademy or CompTIA or something, where would my time best be spent?

Yes, I know, I’m posting on Reddit right now myself. But even on a heavy Reddit day I still don’t think I even log an hour on the app.
Just today, my husband made nearly 50 comments on different threads over six hours. And it’s not in clumps, either; it’s a comment every 5-12 minutes, give or take. It might not sound like a lot, but he writes books. Some comments might be 2-3 lines, but a majority of them end up being several paragraphs.
Six hours today, ladies. He was on Reddit for SIX HOURS. He goes to “work” (self employed), sits on Reddit for the majority of his day, then comes home. Then once home he takes at least two long bathroom breaks where he sneaks in another 4-5 comments. And he does this EVERY SINGLE DAY.
He doesn’t know that I know his account name. He has no idea that I can see exactly how non-productive he is. I know he wouldn’t post near that much if he knew I was watching.
And here’s the kicker. I wouldn’t give two shits about the excess of time he spends on Reddit if he actually completed tasks that desperately need attention in and out of our home! We bought a new kitchen sink and faucet SEVEN YEARS AGO. At one point he told us if we could keep the sink free of dishes for a month, he would replace the sink while I was in Paris. For a month we kept the sink free of dishes. I went to Paris in 2018. Guess what? We still have an old, shitty, leaky sink that has completely rotted the cabinets underneath.
We had a tree fall 3-4 years ago. He sawed off the branches, but the trunk STILL lies in the grass. A second tree has fallen since then. Yep, a 25 foot trunk still lays in our yard.
Both of our bathtubs got cracks in the fiberglass. We obviously can’t use them. It’s been 4 years. We have one tiny shower for 6 people. I could go on and on.
And if I try to do any of the work or try to hire anyone to do the work, he gets PISSED at me and tells me I make him feel like a failure.
Well buddy, then get the FUCK off of Reddit and take care of some basic home care!!!!!!
Thanks for letting me vent, ladies. I’m really struggling to find good reasons to stay with him……