Cute things to say to your fiance

“Would you sacrifice yourself to save your entire species?” Carl talked through the intercom in the reactor room as he fiddled with more and more wires. He was looking for a very special wire and a very special place to stick it in. The quiet thunks on the other side of the door quieted down. They had been trying to breach the door for over an hour, and really, it hadn’t done much else but annoy everyone involved. If the aliens on the other side of the door had any humor, Carl would have told them that shoving a cactus in their rectums would have been a better use of everyone’s time.
“Of course I would.” The intercom spat out an answer from the not so professional ‘professional negotiator’. Their offers for Carl to open the door had been promises of great wealth, safety, and accommodations. To be clear, Carl did believe the xeno’s offers, its kind were notorious for being devilishly anal about following the letter AND spirit of agreements. If Carl opened the door, he would most likely receive the benefits and live the rest of his life in comfort.
“Would you sacrifice yourself to save a planet of your people?” Carl had walked over, ripped open, and looked through another set of wires as he spoke to the negotiator. He was glad that the room blocked not only the sight of the ugly bastards, but their stench. Before the war, he’d been on one of their stations. Genetic tampering had been rampant in their culture for millenia, and it meant that their appearance had been turned into a fashion of sorts, though a slowly shifting one. It was too bad that they had apparently taken some very, very strange ideals this time around. Abstraction was the name of the game for them, and Picasso would have been proud of what these aliens had made themselves into. Colors, shapes, and even the smell of their bodies were up for fuckery.
“Of course, would you not?” The alien sounded exasperated, and after the roundabouts Carl had spent the first hour talking to them about, it was no surprise. He was pretty sure that he’d spent at least twenty minutes talking about clowns and cocaine. Carl knew that there were only a few more panels where his prize would be waiting inside of. The ‘red wire’ was randomized in every ship. It was crucial, it was very important to the functioning of the reactor, and by extension, the orbital station. Gravity manipulation wasn’t easy. It wasn’t supposed to be easily found by any normal engineer. Its existence was kept down-low and close to heart. People spilled their hearts out over drinks.
“I’d like to think I would, though you never know until the moment arises. How about a continent? Save a few hundred million for your life?” Another panel down, and no wire to be found. A small notion of doubt had entered Carl’s mind by this point, it was pretty unlikely to not have found THE wire yet. Ten panels down, two to go. He spent a small moment playing eeny meeny miny moe between his two choices. The song said ‘right’. His gut told him to break the rule of the song, however, and he started taking the left one apart.
“If I had to.” And there it was. Carl could see that he had been right about the xenos. Little by little, Carl had started to see why this war had begun in the first place, and why these pricks would eventually lose it all. They had none of that go get em attitude to offset their bulging egos. They expected everyone they met to work off of a calculated list of pros and cons. Everything action should be explainable by numbers, logic, and personal gain. Though even they had a small sense of collective good, not much, but a little.
“How about a city, let's say. . . 5 million people?” Carl just wanted to know how the negotiator’s personal scale weighed life. He felt like he was getting real close to the creature’s balance point. He also knew that the negotiator was grasping at straws to get the ‘illogical and unpredictable’ human to open the door for the xenos. If the negotiator was a human, they’d be ordering every type of explosive to blast the door before Carl could finish cooking up his plan. Carl took all the joy he could from the situation. He honestly felt like Bugs Bunny in the moment, the other side was simply so, so fucking dense to his plans. They’d probably hold a wrench for him if he just quickly opened the door and told them to. Fucking xenos.
“Hmmm, I would.” Carl had found the special wire that he’d been searching for. It wasn’t red, but it was as thick as his forearms. He carefully inserted a wire of his own into a joint on the wire, making very sure that it was attached properly. He wanted the following moments to have some theatrical value. Something to really talk about in whatever afterlife there was or wasn’t.
The intercom started buzzing for a moment, but he quickly screamed at the top of his lungs into the transmitter to shut the xeno up before it could start talking again.
Carl had his own monologue to get through while he dragged the massive wire across the room.
“You people work with variables and numbers so much more than we do, you’ve certainly realized that by now. You’ve had to really sweeten the deal you originally offered me and STILL nothing. We must be a very interesting debate subject in your universities. A statistical curiosity that befuddles the known models and expected values.”
“And you really fucked up when you thought we were almost like you. You saw our math, you saw our logical arguments, and you thought us to be mirrors of you. The problem with that is that we sent the people most like you to talk to you. Not a good decision for either of us. Good thing for us is that even our people who most resemble you are still human. They told you to fuck off real fast when you gave them a spreadsheet of expected taxes, exports, and laws. You started the war because we gave you more shit than your asses could handle.”
“AND THEN you tried to handle the war like it was a particularly ornery business meeting. You still are. I have been holed up with the MAIN REACTOR CORE for more than an hour. I have been insulting you, playing dumb, playing smart, and talking about SACRIFICING YOURSELF for most of that time. Why, most humans would have BLOWN UP with rage after all the shit I’ve been pulling. The situation would have gone CRITICAL if you had any sense.”
“It’s like you want this all to come CRASHING DOWN.”
“But hey, don’t worry about that, would you sacrifice yourself out of a personal vendetta against a single individual? No lives saved, nothing particularly impressive gained, really just an all in all stupid thing to do. Would you?” Carl was holding the door open switch in one hand, and the special switch in another. For him the scene would end in what he expected to be a very bright light. But there was a bit of foreplay to be had before going all in.
“No, of course not, that would not be good for anybody.” The slamming on the door started again, it was impressively fast, but still useless. Carl pressed the switch as far as he dared before he felt it teeter on the very, very edge of activation. He smiled and thought of the last good steak he’d had, some months ago now.
“On the contrary my friend, why if you only add spite, revenge, and everything sweet to your little calculations, you’d know that it would be very good indeed.” Carl pressed the door open switch and watched as four shapes crashed through and fell on the floor. A fifth one peeked through the doorway. Carl waved at him with the fun switch.
“My favourite explosives are flashbangs.” Carl twitched his thumb just the tiniest bit, and the reactor started to laugh in response. The reactor’s laugh was very quickly getting louder, so Carl had to yell at the very top of his lungs to get the last part across to the negotiator.
“ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY HAVE A LOT OF BANG IN THEM!!!”
The reactor thought this comment was especially funny, and broke down in laughter.
The light was red.
This one was very fun to write, I am not good with writing serious stuff, but I think I do a good job with using expressive language and shitting out references.
I hope you enjoyed reading!

From my Fetlife. Prepare for cringefest. Tell me your thoughts about my cringe.
Hello, everyone. I'd like to introduce myself to you.
Ever since I turned 20, I've been dreaming of becoming another woman's housewife (or, as I like to say, a "wifey"), but I've never exactly known how to make it become a reality. I've always been an extremely submissive person and life hasn't treated me very well both for being like that and for trying not to be like that. I score extremely highly in agreeableness and I take great pleasure in serving those I care for. Specifically and preferably, a woman I love and who also loves me. Today, I'm looking for a romantic, ordinary and 100% monogamous relationship with a woman, but one that includes the element of dominance and submission and the possibility of me being her full-time housewife. While she works, I take care of the house. When she comes home, I take care of her. Always very lovingly and completely given to her body and soul as well as to the household's domestic duties. In practice, I want to be the woman in the relationship. I want to go far beyond the basics such as cooking and cleaning: I want to be responsible for doing her nails, her make-up and giving her massages whenever she wants them. I want to learn to cook everything she likes to eat. Maybe even learn gardening to take care of her plants. Perhaps the origin of this is an innate need of mine to be necessary and useful to someone and I guess that is how it is.
Inevitably, I believe this relationship would also include elements of platonic worship. The reason for this is that I have always harboured an adoration for the female figure, the female energy, the female essence and the female appearance. None of this is sexual. In fact, I feel that this element of platonic worship is so strong that I would even feel uncomfortable seeing my dominating partner naked because it would make me feel the same dirty lust for her that I'd feel for porn actresses when I'd watch their movies and I feel that this would be disrespectful to her and to what her image represents to me. This adoration for the female figure is also one of the reasons for my gender transition, which began in September of 2023. I admire the feminine image so much that I want to make it a part of me. I don't like being a man, looking like a man, being treated like a man, behaving like a man and, God fobid, dealing with masculine gender roles. I have an enormous need to feminize my gender expression because that's what makes me happy.
For reasons that are far beyond my control and that may sound cheesy, I always end up seeing women whom I find beautiful to be superior to me. Not in a bad way, but simply in a kind of hierarchy where I'm below them. So, for some reason, I feel fulfilled imagining myself serving them in a completely devoted way. In a way, I can sum myself up as a human Golden Retriever in terms of loyalty, perhaps to pathological levels. Such a level of unexplored and repressed loyalty that I can easily imagine myself getting so deeply involved with the right woman and creating an emotional bond so indestructible that I would go as far as burying a body with her without giving it a second thought. It's as if there were a hurricane inside me waiting for the ideal conditions to form and destroy everything in its path to reach its goal. My goal is domestic servitude within a romantic relationship and this storm inside me will only grow larger and larger over time. I don't see much value in ordinary work as in working for a company. I only see meaning and purpose in domestic work in a relationship for and with a woman I love with great obedience, dedication, submission and gratitude. I don't see myself as a leader, but as someone to be led.
I come from a place where I suffered a lot of verbal abuse directed at my appearance for being too thin and I see that the world today is full of evil people with an evil intent who get off at doing evil things and also of people who omit themselves when they observe evil being done and end up becoming accomplices by omission. All of this makes me really want to put myself in a kind of safe space with someone trustworthy where I don't have to be constantly watching over my shoulder in order to check whether there already are vultures circling me from above waiting for the ideal moment to pounce. I look like an easy victim for predators and I've always attracted them without any difficulty, unfortunately. I am soft and highly sought by them. I want to be able, if only for a few hours, to let my guard down completely knowing that I'm not in danger and that I'm with someone well-intending who, at worst, doesn't wish me harm and, at best, actively cares about my well-being. In other words, a relationship like any other. I very much want and like the idea of giving myself body and soul to a woman who has consideration for me, for whom I have value and who is in charge of the relationship (FLR). As I said, I want to put myself in a situation of total vulnerability in a controlled and safe environment with a person I can trust and who means well. I want to put myself below them in every situation and always put them before myself unconditionally. I want to live under domestic servitude, as well as having a romantic, ordinary, monogamous relationship like any other. If there's no love, there's no point. I can't explain exactly what I feel, but I see this dynamic as the most honest way I can express love to my owner, mistress and friend. This is the rawest and most sincere manifestation of my personality. And please don't get me wrong: I'm not here trying to "cure" myself through BDSM or draw attention to myself by talking about my problems that nobody cares about. I'm just putting all this into context and explaining objective reality as it is, that's all.
I have no idea how I'm going to fulfill this dream and where I'm going to find this woman. I see a lot of profiles here of dommes who are only in it for fetishistic reasons and to make money and that makes me a little sad. But I understand, since a relationship can end up being a very big responsibility and many women don't want this kind of burden in their lives. Not to mention that the temptation of financial gain must be too great for them not to take advantage of. And in an economy like this, I think it will be considerably difficult to find a woman who will want to keep someone at home without generating income just taking care of the household chores. The odds don't seem to be in my favor and the entire setting seems less than ideal.
I feel disgusted by and abhor any fetish scenario that involves the element of being a housewife, maid and the like, especially if it includes elements of humiliation for carrying out such activity. I understand that for some it can be pleasurable, but for me it's despicable. I can't associate being a housewife with something humiliating and if that's your intention with me, don't get in touch. As for sexual activity in general in a relationship, I don't have much to say. Hormone replacement therapy completely obliterated my libido and I see no purpose in any activity that promotes my sexual pleasure. To all intents and purposes, I've become somewhat asexual. I'd accept being penetrated by my domme if she wanted to, since I'd put her wishes before my own, but I feel it's hardly something I'd ask for. I'm much more interested in the emotional side of the relationship than the sexual.
Still on the subject of sexuality, I feel that the word "virgin" isn't accurate enough to describe myself. This word is used to refer to people who have never had sex, which is my case, but I've also never had any other intimate experience with a woman. It's not that I've never had sex, I've never even hugged a woman in bed. I've barely experienced any degree of intimacy with a woman before. I suppose this complete lack of sexual experience will be viewed in a very bad light by the women I seek, but I don't think there's much I can do about it. I have no interest in having these first experiences with, for example, a prostitute because I'm looking for a real emotional connection in a legitimate relationship. I'm a romantic and I have no choice but to wait.
I can't imagine a life in which I allow this dream not to come true. It can't not happen. If it doesn't, I'll have an extremely bitter deathbed full of regrets.
When it comes to the woman I'm looking for, I only have three demands: don't be a drug user (cigarretes included), be a gentle domme and unconditionally monogamous.
My gratitude for you will be eternal and my debt to you unpayable.
I hope the woman I'm looking for is out there waiting to be found.
kool4kats hi, what ya think?

Basically she stole his parking spot, and when she got out of the car, he called her fat and said she was built like a man. She was slightly overweight but just looked like she was strong and like she lifted. She didn’t hear but I just felt like punching him after he said that.
I felt so disgusted. We were supposed to go out to lunch but I lost my appetite completely and just felt the hatred I have for most men rise from within again. Do anything they don’t like or anything slightly annoying and your appearance is the first thing they come at. I’m not saying she was right for stealing his parking but did he have to go at her appearance? No, he really didn’t.
I feel really angry and sad because it reminded me of all the times people have commented on my appearance and treated me like shit based solely on my looks.

Hoyi there :3. I am on a grand quest to find love, on the hunt for the most important role in my life to be filled and to fill that for someone else, and that is to be partners (Aka future Spouses, Aka Love for eternity. That whole thing)
Couple ground rules. These are NON NEGOTIABLE AT ALL NOT NEGOTIABLE

1. Never EVER want human kids. Dont have them with you now and never want them please. Please be 100% child free not NEGOTIABLE.
   
2. MALE between 19-23. NO ABSOLUTELY NO one older or younger. Hard rule. Very HARD rule.
   
3. East coast prefered. HEAVILY prefered! Bonus points if you are in the tristate area but east coast is alright
   

Ok now that we got the hard boring ugly rules out the way, lets say the fun stuff. Umm Im a girl thats very short, very very short, I have curly brown hair, I have brown eyes. I have freckles. I am whiteeee skin color. I am an absolute DOG of a girl. I want to love love love you all the time and be with you all the time. Im such a golden retriever as they say, and I want you to be the same. I am looking for my absolute darling of a soulmate, my man for eternity. Thats what I hunt for. :>
What I like (hobbies wise get your head out of the gutter mf!!!)

1. I LOVE ANIMALS ANIMALS ARE MY LIFE
2. I love houseplants a ton
3. I love nature in general and the woods
4. I play some video games
5. I am into anime and other medias, not social media though, most is cancer!

Qualifications to be my boy for eternity: (breathe its not hard I swear)
1 Be extremely affectionate. Please please PLEASE expect and want to be the cutest most affectionate most adorable guy on the planet with me, because thats what I will do with you. Please please love all the cute stuff and dont shy back
2 Please be under 6 foot tall. I know it sounds shallow but Im really short guys please ;-;
3 Please be on the skinnier side. Im small!!!! AHHHH
5 please be serious. I swear. Do not bother me if you want to fool around. In addition respond with a small description of yourself. You dont need to write a ton but dont just say 'hey 😏' either because nope. Just hard pass
6 Love animals. Simple as that
Ok thats all I can think of. Can't wait to hopefully finally meet you my dear. Please. Let's just love each other forever.
(Did you notice number 4 is missing? 🤭 :P)

I made a thread about pet peeves, but how about your favorite things about what people say or do, how the dj’s preform, or how the festival is set up?
I love how free I feel at festivals especially when I get a little loose. It’s like time doesn’t exist and you’re in a world you belong.
I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts

As a maintenance man, I’ve definitely seen my fair share of oddities in peoples homes. However, the story I’m about to tell you is definitely one that is new to me.
So as I stated before I work in maintenance. Commercial and residential. Been doing it almost 10 years now. Everyday is something new and that’s why I love this job. Helping people. Seeing their smiles whenever something that was broke is fixed and they are able to go about life normally again. It really makes my heart swell.
The incident in question happened on a day that started out like any other day. I got to work, went into my office, started some coffee and began checking over my workload for the day.
My first work order for the day was in a unit that had a new resident in it. I have yet to meet the young lady in question so as procedure states I gave her a call to let her know I would be stopping by today to take care of the issue she submitted. She had a clogged sink, which, in the years of doing this I know isn’t going to be a long job so best to knock it out early.
When she answered her phone she sounded out of breath. “Hello?” “Good morning Ms. [redacted]. My name is Jimmy the maintenance tech here at [redacted] I was wondering if I could come by and take a look at your sink for you this morning?” There was a long pause. So long I had to see if she was still there.
“Ms. [redacted]?” “Yes! ….I mean yes. You can come by this morning. Umm… yes. That’s fine.” “GREAT!” I respond. “I will be up in about 30 minutes. See you soon!”
I hung up and finished the coffee I had poured while on the phone with her and began gathering any tools I may need for the job.
About 40 minutes later I was standing on her porch and knocking on her door. “Ms.[redacted]? It’s Jimmy with maintenance.” A loud clatter could be heard from the other side of the door before a petite young lady snatched the door open looking very distraught.
“Is everything ok? I can come back later if you..” “No no. You can come in now” she cut me off. “It’s the kitchen sink, right here.” Pointing just passed the threshold into the kitchen. I nod and make my way in closing the door behind me.
I’ll save you the boredom of the explanation of how I fixed the leak but regardless, it was fixed. The odd thing was that she stood there in the doorway to the kitchen the entire time. Not necessarily watching me but seemingly blocking me from the rest of the house.
Although I thought she was acting odd it is not in my job description to be a psychiatrist to people. I fix their sinks, not their heads. I gave her a clean bill of health for her sink and said my goodbyes.
Two days later I get another service request from the same unit. If there is anyone out there familiar with RealPage you know that there is the section that the resident can fill in what the issue is. This one simply said “Other- see comments.” Under the comments says “Please help.”
I make my way back up to her unit to investigate the problem. I was not ready for what was waiting on me on the other side of the door.
A rush to the door and a breathless, petite woman stands in front of me.
Good morning Ms. [redacted]. What seems to be the issue. She takes a deep breath, “I have another clog.” “Oh no. Where is it? Let me take a look so I can go grab my…” Before I knew it she had snatched me inside by my shirt and slammed the door behind us. “You have been extremely nice and so willing to help since I’ve been here.” Even though I had only been here once. “You seem like a really great and trustworthy guy.” “Thank you.” I say trying to hide the shock and uneasy feeling I felt creeping up my gut.
“I have something very important I need your help with. Follow me.” With that she started back towards the steps and beckoned me to follow her. Once at the top of the steps I could see into the bathroom and could see this was going to be much bigger than even I was ready for.

I'm not sure if I phrased the question right, but to be honest, I'm not sure if I get whatever the fuck happens to these people.
Incels often repeat something that is common on the internet, which is the idea that usually men are never complimented at all, especially by women. This seems to suit the narrative of "women only go after cHaDs", but where the fuck does it stem from?
Does it have to do with the fact that most incels are chronically online loners who never interact with anyone, so they never get the chance to get complimented? I mean, look around you. You don't need to be a Greek god for a woman to compliment you. Most guys in happy relationships are average. Hell, most people are average.
People get complimented by their partners, by their crushes, by their friends, by their family, and sometimes even by strangers, all the time. Of course, women are more culturally inclined to compliment each other (which is very healthy in my opinion), but to say guys never get complimented is insane. If you're minimally well presented, there will always be someone who thinks you're cute. I was a very awkward teenager, and I know that from experience.

So hear me out on this - multiple selectable weapon arts.
This idea came our because I was thinking about how the bosses always have some crazy moveset, and we're just limited to 3 attacks total, 2 of which are usually basic moves. It's also inspired by the God of War games.
Basically, there'll be weapon arts that you can pick up around the game, like Ashes of War in Elden Ring, but they'll be much more varied. Things like the Waterfowl Dance or Rivers of Blood unique AoW but as a weapon art you can just pick up in the world.
Now, these weapon arts can be applied to any weapon in the game, including most boss weapons. And you will be able to equip multiple at once, limited to 2. But it's dependent on the weapon. See, every weapon still has a unique weapon art - some basic, some more powerful. You can then apply any weapon art to your weapon in addition to the unique weapon art.
The logistics of it would be that you have a standard R1 attack, a heavy R2 attack, and a button you hold such as L1/L2 that will put you into a stance, at which point you can press R1 or R2 for one of the weapon arts, DS3 style. Here's the variation though - not all weapons will have a unique weapon art, and some won't even have a heavy attack, and a very rare few will be lacking both. Yeah, some weapons will only have a standard attack and that's it, but that opens the door to equip multiple weapon arts of your choosing. If there's no unique weapon art or its missing a heavy attack, you can rebind them to be your own weapon art of choice, allowing to have 2 or, for the very rare weapons, 3 selectable weapon arts at once.
Here's the caveat - the weapon arts have their own stats that allow compatibility with weapons. What I mean is that weapon arts will be upgradeable using their own unique material, and not all weapon arts will work with all weapons. So for instance, a weapon art that would be some quick slash move for a knife wouldn't be compatible with a greatsword. However, it would extend to things like katana-like moves being compatible with some greatswords. The limitation is that some weapon arts will work better and more effectively with certain types of weapons depending on their stats. So you could by all means put say Waterfowl Dance on a big axe, but it won't do as much damage and won't be as effective as putting it on a longsword. See what I mean? But this is why the weapon arts are upgradeable. You can upgrade the weapon art to work better with weapons that aren't as compatible.
Add this on to a smaller, less complicated idea of adding gems that can be applied to weapons. You can apply gems to weapons to increase/decrease certain stats, kind of like DS3 but similar to GOW. But some would also effect compatibility with weapon arts.
All of this I think would add huge build variety for a Soulslike. And you won't have the feeling of being a one trick pony, only being able to perform one special move and thats it. What do you guys think??

Lately, many guys have been asking about matchmakers, so I am going to write a series of articles focusing on matchmakers - what they do and what to look for.
A Personal Process
The matchmaking process is an incredibly personal. A person who knows you introduces you to another person they know.
That part of it is simple and easy to understand. It was one of the primary ways people met. Often the matchmaker was an aunt or the wife of a minister or rabbi or maybe the school marm or post mistress in the American West. Usually, it was a woman who knew a lot of people in the community.
Of course, matchmakers still play an important role in most of the world, although it is not nearly as common in the US or Europe as it was even fifty years ago. This largely is a result of a general rise in the age of marriage and an explosion in the movement of people, because you need to really know two people before you match them. Sadly, today in the West nobody knows anyone, so matchmaking is not as common.
Professional Matchmakers
In fact, professional matchmakers were largely restricted to immigrant communities until about twenty years ago. In big American cities there were still a few women making a living as Italian, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Polish, or Jewish matchmakers, but often these were very small businesses.
Something changed and I don't really know what but the industry grew out of those issues. It seems to have revived first in New York City with millionaire matchmakers charging exorbitant rates to match very wealthy men with beautiful younger women.
The problem was that these matchmakers usually did not know the men or the women, so they created a process based on traditional methods mixed with modern social science research. The process its self is important.
The Process
The matchmaking process is still very personal, but often feels more like a job interview. You work directly with a matchmaker for weeks. They ask an array of very personal questions in an attempt to determine exactly what they right type of woman for you is.
It is very detailed. Here is the form that AFA requires its matchmaking clients to fill out. Other services go into even more detail and some require sessions with a psychologist. For a lot of guys this is a turn-off because it feels too invasive.
Then the matchmaker selects the women for you to meet based on this research. Some of the matchmakers will not even tell you anything about the woman you are paying hundreds and possibly thousands of dollars to meet. Others allow a lot more input including looking at photos.
I understand the concerns about photos. Men are incredibly visual. They often look at a photo and "Fall in Love!" This gums up the meeting process, but if you get a guy in front of a woman - maybe a woman who is not his idea of drop dead gorgeous there might be enough real chemistry to spark a relationship.
Next the matchmaker selects the first date. Usually, the international matchmakers provide the drive, translator, and have already chosen the restaurant. They try very hard to make these first dates perfect.
Then the next day the client is de-briefed by the matchmaker. What happens next depends on this debriefing. Sometimes there is a second date with the woman and other times moving on to a different woman. Sometimes they have the unpleasant task of telling the man - who is the paying customer - that the woman is not interested in him. Then they will discuss what the man can do to improve his form and begin looking for the next match.
This process might continue for a set number of dates or time. It all depends. Generally, matchmakers have a pretty high success rate, especially for financially successful men with a really poor dating track record.
And one of the best thing about all matchmakers is that they are really trying very, very hard. They want to see you succeed. Even the worst want you to succeed as another notch on their broom, but the best will coach you, encourage you, educate with you, cry with you, and celebrate with you.
Factors To Consider When Selecting a Matchmaker

1. General Personality: You are going to spend a ton of time with the matchmaker and their staff. Do you like how they carry themselves and what you can tell of their ethics? What is their background and education? If you do not match well with them the process will be difficult.
2. Aggressiveness: Some matchmakers are VERY pushy. That is a regular issue for men. Be sure you like and respect your matchmaker before you spend any money, and that you are willing to listen to their advice. Otherwise you are simply wasting your time and money.
3. Transparency: How much do they charge and when do they tell you the price? Some matchmakers are notorious for not telling men their price until they know a ton about them and can therefore squeeze them for the maximum amount. This is one of the worse industry practices.
4. Price: The price of high end matchmaking can be more than $500k. That is at the very top of the US and European market. In international matchmaking there is at least one company that advertises a $100k package, although I bet they rarely sell them. In international matchmaking I would say the price usually runs from $5k for a simple package of a few dates in one city to about $20k for scores of dates in a variety of countries over a period of months. SHOP AROUND! Compare price and services.
5. Size Database: How many women do they actually have in their database? This is another issue full of lack of transparency. Often these agencies have very limited catalogs but can reach out to other matchmakers for a trade. This creates a slow complicated process. The more women they have in their database the simpler the process is and the higher chance of success.
6. Location: Where are the women located? This is usually self-evident but since the war in Ukraine it is more important than ever.
7. The Matchmaking Process: Ask them to explain EXACTLY what their process is? Who is involved and how are the women vetted? Ask if you will get to see the women's profiles and photos. I would be careful about ruling out a well regarded service over this issue, but you should know before you start.
8. Reviews: Read the reviews and try to talk to people who actually used them.
9. Beauty: No, not the matchmakers beauty - your potential matches beauty. If you are at least partially driven by beauty mention it and listen to the reaction. Every matchmaker wishes men were not so visual, but you can judge a lot by what they say about this question both good and bad.
10. Settling: A matchmaker should not start out expecting you to settle. You might need to work on yourself and maybe be more open to possibilities, but not to settling. You want a matchmaker who is as devoted to finding you the perfect match as your mom.

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Hello everyone,
This story may be slightly long and I apologise for that but I'll try give as much detail as possible in the hope of getting an answer, whilst also trying to ensure I don't reveal my identity to anyone who may be watching.
I have a brother who is physically disabled. This is apparent when you see him walk and when you talk to him. His speech is slightly distorted. We're visibly not white English (this matters as I believe the situation may have also been racially motivated).
He doesn't usually go out by himself - he's usually with friends or with myself and my other brother, but he decided he wanted to explore Manchester (we're from Yorkshire) by himself to escape his comfort zone. I also kind of slightly pressured him into it as I want him to be able to do things for himself as he's not very confident without someone he knows around him due to being self conscious. So I feel like shit that the following happened.
A couple weeks ago after staying the night there with a friend of his he went out to the city centre himself. He was walking around and actually starting to enjoy himself (near the Arndale centre) when he noticed this (what he describes as) huge guy talking to two kids who are just following him about - the guy and one of the kids have cameras.
Brother walks off just looking about and going into shops etc.
As he's leaving the Arndale, big man and the wonder twins pop out of nowhere, walk up to him and start asking him questions about politics and similar things. At no point does he antagonise, swear at or do anything to them other than be pleasant. And yes, these are his words, but I know him very well, he isn't the type to be rude to anyone (even if they deserve it).
The guy and kid with the camera are filming and he must've given an answer they didn't like because after he says he doesn't know much about stuff involving politics but says he'd vote for so and so, the other kid (not the camera) says something like, "well you would say that wouldn't you, your lot all do it". Brother asks what "his lot" are, and that same kid mimics the way he speaks whilst repeating the question back to him, before the big guy laughs and does the same before asking where he was born.
Now as I've said, brother's voice is distorted sounding but all of us were born in the UK and speak perfect English. So he tries to walk away and kid with camera joins in and follows him asking why he's running and if he's smart enough to answer before turning to big man and going, "I think he's fucking rtardd". Big man laughs and says something like he assumed that was the case from the way he spoke.
This upsets my brother and he tries to push away big man's camera which is in his face. At this point they're all surrounding him screaming and he's scared. After getting shoved, kid without camera shoves him before big guy kicks him hard in the upper leg area and shoves him to the ground before they all walked away laughing.
He ended up with a slightly cut hand and a bruised forearm but no permanent physical damage. He is however very depressed about it as he did nothing to provoke these people.
Does anyone know how this can happen in the middle of the day and no one does anything about it? The police didn't even arrest the guy or even seemed to be looking for him.
Also has anyone had any encounters with this guy and his little gang before? How can he get away with literally recording a crime? Any other info that might be useful in getting this guy arrested or otherwise held to account? He made my brother feel unsafe, didn't let him walk away and then attacked him when he made the very smallest action to protect himself.
Thank you :-)

As a maintenance man, I’ve definitely seen my fair share of oddities in peoples homes. However, the story I’m about to tell you is definitely one that is new to me.
So as I stated before I work in maintenance. Commercial and residential. Been doing it almost 10 years now. Everyday is something new and that’s why I love this job. Helping people. Seeing their smiles whenever something that was broke is fixed and they are able to go about life normally again. It really makes my heart swell.
The incident in question happened on a day that started out like any other day. I got to work, went into my office, started some coffee and began checking over my workload for the day.
My first work order for the day was in a unit that had a new resident in it. I have yet to meet the young lady in question so as procedure states I gave her a call to let her know I would be stopping by today to take care of the issue she submitted. She had a clogged sink, which, in the years of doing this I know isn’t going to be a long job so best to knock it out early.
When she answered her phone she sounded out of breath. “Hello?” “Good morning Ms. [redacted]. My name is Jimmy the maintenance tech here at [redacted] I was wondering if I could come by and take a look at your sink for you this morning?” There was a long pause. So long I had to see if she was still there.
“Ms. [redacted]?” “Yes! ….I mean yes. You can come by this morning. Umm… yes. That’s fine.” “GREAT!” I respond. “I will be up in about 30 minutes. See you soon!”
I hung up and finished the coffee I had poured while on the phone with her and began gathering any tools I may need for the job.
About 40 minutes later I was standing on her porch and knocking on her door. “Ms.[redacted]? It’s Jimmy with maintenance.” A loud clatter could be heard from the other side of the door before a petite young lady snatched the door open looking very distraught.
“Is everything ok? I can come back later if you..” “No no. You can come in now” she cut me off. “It’s the kitchen sink, right here.” Pointing just passed the threshold into the kitchen. I nod and make my way in closing the door behind me.
I’ll save you the boredom of the explanation of how I fixed the leak but regardless, it was fixed. The odd thing was that she stood there in the doorway to the kitchen the entire time. Not necessarily watching me but seemingly blocking me from the rest of the house.
Although I thought she was acting odd it is not in my job description to be a psychiatrist to people. I fix their sinks, not their heads. I gave her a clean bill of health for her sink and said my goodbyes.
Two days later I get another service request from the same unit. If there is anyone out there familiar with RealPage you know that there is the section that the resident can fill in what the issue is. This one simply said “Other- see comments.” Under the comments says “Please help.”
I make my way back up to her unit to investigate the problem. I was not ready for what was waiting on me on the other side of the door.
A rush to the door and a breathless, petite woman stands in front of me.
Good morning Ms. [redacted]. What seems to be the issue. She takes a deep breath, “I have another clog.” “Oh no. Where is it? Let me take a look so I can go grab my…” Before I knew it she had snatched me inside by my shirt and slammed the door behind us. “You have been extremely nice and so willing to help since I’ve been here.” Even though I had only been here once. “You seem like a really great and trustworthy guy.” “Thank you.” I say trying to hide the shock and uneasy feeling I felt creeping up my gut.
“I have something very important I need your help with. Follow me.” With that she started back towards the steps and beckoned me to follow her. Once at the top of the steps I could see into the bathroom and could see this was going to be much bigger than even I was ready for.

When I text or say things it’s no responses. I sent a cute meme about these friend in their 90s who would text daily to check on each other. I told her that would be us someday. I talked to her about being a bridesmaid in my wedding. Just things like this and she doesn’t say anything or respond. Does it mean she’s not really into being friend with me?

It was just anxiety lmao. Apparently I just psych myself out of not being able to read books. And I space out and get time blindness because I'm too busy being consumed by anxious thoughts. (also bc spacing out can just be boredom too) I also space out just because I'm psyching myself into doing it idk how but I do. Plus other stuff
I also thought I might have autism but it was just OCD.
The emotional dysregulation was CPTSD and Borderline personality disorder.
I have genuinely held the label of ADHD as a part of my identity for so many years that this came as a shock. I also did not anticipate OCD at all.
I honestly doubted the psychiatrist when they told me all this after the psychological assessment, but after listening to their explanation it makes sense.
Just posting this here to let yall know that sometimes what manifests as one thing on the outside can actually have different root causes. I'm not saying that you don't have ADHD, and it's already hard with psychiatrists not believing you or taking you seriously. Use your better judgment; if a psychiatrist seems trustworthy, is taking all your concerns into account, and has reasonable explanations and evidence for what they diagnose you as, then chances are they might be right.

So last month had a long lost ex contact me, was the one I loved more then anyone, wanted marry her and all, but more less I wasn’t good enough maybe, who knows.. but she broke my heart bad.. But it’s just crazy the same day my dog died who I was very close too, he was with me for many years 16 years… I took him to vet at 2:30 and then to be cremated..l got home, crying my eyes out and she texted me.. saying hello is this still.. she had no clue this, and let me know her number different and wanted know if I was with someone, and how much she missed me.. so course was a lot take in, lost my little furry best friend.. why have be that day! I wouldn’t have talked to her I would have ignored but I was so emotional I just said yes and told her what just happen, she knew I was close him and was actually nice… and well she talked to me for the week how much she loved me and wish she married me, and how sad she been, horrible relationships she had.. and yes she is very successful and she thanked me how I helped her by always giving her encouragement past and things I did.. Well guess what…yup she is exactly same, she now has no time talk to me and is like I love you but I can’t be with you I can only be friends with you, but I don’t want you with anyone and it’s your fault you always push me away when I try keep us friends.. so I can see why she is not married yet, yes she is very beautiful, and very successful, has guys chasing her all time
I am so mad at myself for replying to her text… why did it have be that day I lost my dog, could been day before or day after I would have been stronger… so now I have pain of missing my furry friend, and a selfish girl who only mostly likely contacted me because her man left her and she can’t not be texting someone.. 5 years I haven’t seen her, heard her name, I was 100% over her, I moved on so strong.. I got played again emotionally…..when she told me how much she missed me and wanted make I right…I thought she grew up and matured… ugh wish I was in a relationship when she texted she would have either answered that text or I could have said I am with my girlfriend/wife…
So I know now people don’t changed..

TLDR: Im scared to make the jump of ending things. I love him but I don’t think I’m in love with him anymore. Im scared it’s the wrong decision. Im scared to start over. Im worried financially. Im worried about our pets.
If you can do math I’m sure you can see that my boyfriend and I started dating pretty young, if anything I’d say he is my first love. I thought he was my true love. Backstory: We moved in together after about 7mo of dating (with roommates) then a few months later just the two of us. Things were great, we were working on our careers and got two dogs. It felt like we had a little family and happy life. Fast forward three years: we go on a trip with his family. His dad flips his shit on us about finances in an airport but is primarily yelling at me because my partner was being submissive and not questioning or trying to discuss this with his dad. His dad also brought our relationship into his yelling, saying things like I don’t make my BF happy, he doesn’t support our relationship. It was really shocking and “random” for me to see this display. It honestly sent me into a depression to be broken down like that publicly, with no warning, by my boyfriend’s dad and him not even sticking up for me or our relationship. My bf telling me the entire trip home and at home that that’s how his dad is, that he’s sorry, and he doesn’t know why his dad said those things. That he’s happy with me. Three months later I catch him texting other girls talking about meeting up. I already had a girls trip planned coming up and told him I needed time to sort through all of this given that I feel like I was dealt blow after blow. I came back from the trip and we talked about it more, I asked numerous times if there’s something I’m not doing right or if I do truly make him unhappy. He denies, says that he doesn’t know why he reached out to other women and that it was a stupid mistake that will never happen again. Of course for awhile I was on edge and wary but I loved him and wanted to make this work. A few more months later I was trying to find a tattoo artist he follows and showed me on instagram. But instead I found him following a lot of explicit female pages. I told him that this made me uncomfortable especially given our recent issues and set a boundary to not continue following/looking at these women. For the past year I feel as though things have been good and my trust is back for him. Here’s the but: 1) I don’t feel like I enjoy his conversation anymore or it’s gotten less. I feel like I have to initiate every conversation, find things to talk about. 2) I feel like I almost have to mom him or be his parent. Having to help him file his taxes, figure out his car insurance, his doctors appointments, cleaning etc. 3) He’s not romantic. We’ve had numerous conversations about how I want to surprise occasionally, I want him to do something romantic for me. I’ve quite literally almost begged him to. He always says he’ll try harder and he’s sorry. I know everyone has different love languages giving and receiving but I feel as though we’ve both communicated ours and it’s feeling one sided. Some anniversaries or valentines we took it easy and just did a cute dinner together. Some I planned trips for us. One year I did a surprise beach trip. For our 5yr anniversary I did a spa resort since neither of us had gone and well it’s our big 5 year anniversary! I don’t want to degrade him and say he’s never done anything for me but I just don’t feel like we’re on the same level. We just got back from a week long trip to the PNW we’ve been wanting to do for years. He didn’t put any effort into planning so I made the entire itinerary including finding where to eat at during the trip. I feel like this trip really snapped for me. Our 6yr anniversary is next month and I almost want to just not bother and see what he does, if anything. I know I shouldn’t expect things but I thought he was going to propose during our 5yr anniversary because he occasionally would ask what kind of wedding rings I liked. When he didn’t, I thought maybe he was waiting for a romantic trip like the PNW since we always talk about where we would and wouldn’t want to be proposed at. He didn’t. I know it sound silly to expect a ring when I’m sitting here questioning staying with him. Because I’m usually a logically person and clearly a planner and mentally made a pros and cons list.. and the reasons I kept coming back to for not leaving him is 1) we have long history together 2) I love him and I don’t want to hurt him 3) the stress of having to decide moving out and furniture 4) we have two dogs together 5) financially 6) I’m scared to start over.

This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and can also be found on my blog. Navola will be released on July 9, 2024.
Paolo Bacigalupi is an author that hit big while I was in a reading hiatus. I missed the boat, but I’ve been meaning to circle back around and try his stuff. And while I don’t read quite as many big, fat fantasies as I used to, I still have a soft spot for them. So when I saw he was releasing an intricate historical fantasy with plenty of backstabbing and politics, I thought Navola was a great opportunity to give his work a try.
Navola takes place in a heavily Italian-inspired fantasy world and follows the son of a powerful banking family as he struggles to live up to the cunning intelligence of his father and grandfather. It’s a slow build, following the lead from childhood into adolescence and early adulthood, and though the dragon eye on the cover is more than just window dressing, the story leans much more to the historical fantasy than to the magical. This is without a doubt a book for fans of politics and scheming.
As perhaps should be unsurprising, Navola starts laying the groundwork for the political plots very quickly, but it takes a long time for the lead or the reader to really grasp the shape of things. The lead is long on empathy and short on ambition, and though he tries to be a dutiful son, none of the political maneuvering really comes naturally. And so we see his adolescence—the lessons, the friendships, the horniness, the doubts about his chosen path, all of it. And while it may not be clear exactly where the story is going during that time, it’s clear enough that it is indeed going somewhere, and the quality of the prose is high enough that reading never feels like a chore, even when the plot is opaque.
And when the big seeds of plotting come due, they do so in a rush of blood and thunder that makes the book almost impossible to put down. There are times where the reader may see twists coming before the naive narrator does, but not so early that it spoils the tension or prevents those big moments from being utterly engrossing.
For readers in search of sympathetic characters, there aren’t many. The lead’s empathy makes him one of the likeliest, but his adolescence shows off as much or more self-centeredness as you’d expect from a teenager, and the world is desperate to shape him into a manipulator who trusts no one and loves no one outside his own family. Make no mistake, this is a book written for those seeking a tale that’s short on goodness and trust and long on manipulation and violence. It gets dark—there’s backstabbing, torture, sexual violence—but it’s certainly entertaining always waiting to see which twist is happening next.
Navola also isn’t an end to the story. In many ways, this is a book focused on shaping the main character to be what he needs to be for the rest of the series. A lot happens from a plot perspective, but it’s not a book that ends on a hero having accomplished his primary goal. There are significant character and plot arcs that more than justify Navola being its own book and not a mere piece of another book, but it’s absolutely designed as a series-starter.
So should you read this book? Well, it depends on what you’re after. Thematically, it has plenty to say on how the hunger for power and wealth creates a world of violence and mistrust, but those aren’t exactly observations you can’t find explored just as well elsewhere. Really, this depends on what kind of fantasy you enjoy. If you’re a fan of dark, gritty political fantasy and don’t mind buckling up for a slow-building series of doorstoppers, step right up. That’s what Bacigalupi is going for, and his writing quality is on full display. But if that isn’t your style, this probably isn’t a book that’s going to change your mind. It does an excellent job of being what it wants to be, but it’s not out to transform a subgenre. Perhaps there’s a shift with the sequels–it certainly wouldn’t be the first series that started playing firmly within the existing expectations and branched out as the series progressed–but Navola as a novel is one for the fans of darkness and intrigue.
Recommended if you like: historical fantasy, schemes and politics, books with no clear heroes.
Can I use it for Bingo? It’s hard mode for Disability, and it’s also very obviously meant to be First in a Series, plus it’s Published in 2024, contains Dreams, Reference Materials, and a segment Under the Surface.
Overall rating: 17 of Tar Vol’s 20. Five stars on Goodreads.

• Author's Note: So! With Book #1 finishing at Issue #61 we now go into Book #2. The situation is changed for our protagonist and he's had it... decently rough, but always had people behind him for help. Wonder how his new position will affect him and his choices? We'll have to wait and see. Enjoy this little snippet to start us off with to the next leg of his journey! Also you can check character art of the Beast World characters or others on my Ko-Fi page! If you enjoy my art, I just opened comissions as well so hit me up if you want to get a piece!

Michael stepped through the dark woods at a slightly above leisure pace. The first rays of the dawn's light haven't yet penetrated the ironclad cover of the forest's canopy. Its thickness held together the shroud of darkness below, only small shreds of it peaking through rarely. Although he knew he walked a familiar path, the reduced visibility made the walk nearly alien, with a stumble here and a trip there, an uncertainty started to seep into Michael's chest even if he didn't know it.
'Alright. It is going to take a bit to get there, but I'll be making it in time. So... daeman. Based on what I know they are just basically pink demons. Ok, ok, ok... I've done this until now on a dime... I just... phew... just gotta do my character research. Yeah... just like theater. Literally it is just theatrics. So... what's a demon? Well if years of playing dnd thought me anything is that they are either feral, unhinged and nuts OR eerily calm, imposing, calculated and scheeming. I did both of those and a demon that can do both is even worse. Just gotta switch between those when it makes sense. Mhmm... so personality wise... basically gotta switch between one of those pointy eared muscle covered hounds and a chihuahua that can actually bite, not just bark.'
While the nervous human revised his 'role', he'd already start to adjust his body language. As if by instinct he'd lift his shoulders and roll them back, his spine popping as he straightened, shoulders relaxing and dropping at ease after that. This move would straighten his posture entirely and push out his ribcage and chest, something his mother drilled into his head over the years as being a confident, yet relaxed posture when done right. He'd straighten his head's posture, from the neck, which nearly made him look like it was positioned up from a downward perspective, requiring him to literally look down upon someone with his eyes. His hands were curled up nearing to fists, yet hung relaxed, as if to show an eager readiness for violence. As a last touch up instead of stepping quietly as he got used to over the years, he'd let his steps announce his presence, as one who's afraid of nothing would.
After traveling a bit over half of the treck towards the river and where the Rock Backs would be situated, there would be a clear sight of lights up ahead in the distance, clearly from torches. Michael would gaze at them with a bit of confusion, but regardless he kept on walking closer and openly. Slowly, three figures would be more visible, one of them turned showing as to either be themselves striped or have brown stripes painted on their back.
Only half a second of hesitation would pass as the human took in a deep breath and he then shouted out. "Ay! You three. You're with the Rock Backs, correct?" He'd say while showing quite the enthusiastic face despite his true feelings of nervousness.
As he had guessed, indeed the trio seemed to be Tuskir and the stripes confirmed their alegiance as expected. The figures turned to face him properly as he shouted in his approach. Once he got a bit closer, one of them that was a bit more upfront huffed a not so pleased snort at him.
"Aye. We were sent ahead to guide ya to our encampment, Daeman." He replied with a clear displeasure to his tone.
Another one of them stood silent as he just glared at Michael, while the third let out a guttural squeal and spat on the ground. "Well? What ya waitin' fer, hellspawn? Pick up the pace and keep yer paws where we can see 'em. Just cause ya struck a deal with Bruyza, it don't mean we gotta like ya."
"Dawww. Isn't this nice? We already seem to be getting along and on the same page. I've a feeling we'll be sharing stories soon while braidin' one another's hair, eh? You'd look good with twin tails." Michael said smirking while looking at the third Tuskir who haf a wilder mane and carried himself in a heavier looking armor than the other two.
The human continued his walk with the trio, but something didn't sit right with him. While they walked, two of the three had put out and discarded their torches. As they walked forward wordlessly, those same two boar men would also position themself to the sides and back of Michael, doing so nearly seemlessly, but not enough for the human not to notice.
While they advanced, Michael would peek at them with the corners of his eyes while also glancing forward at the only one who still had a light source. 'This doesn't feel right. I know for certain we were to meet at the same place as before... am I being paranoid? Alright... think. If they were afraid I'd not show up they'd wait until the time was up and then came to us... there's no reason for them to think I need escorts since I'm supposed to be a big scary strong thing. Eeeeh... why are these shmucks here then?"
Michael started taking into consideration multiple reasons that could be possible for his unexpected escort to be present, but none of them made sense. With his uneasiness building up, he'd sling his backpack off and hold it, quickly getting the attention of the two at the back.
"What do you think yer doin', hellspawn?" One of them asked while putting a hand on an axe hung by his belt.
"Hm? Oh, cut down on that paranoia. Makes you seem pathetic. This meat form I had to take to be here has needs. One of them happens to be water. If you've ever heard of somethin' like that, or... what? Do you milk rocks up in the mountains to sustain yourselves?" Michael would reply with a chuckle as he taunted his escort while starting to rustle objects in his backpack with his hand.
"You... hnngh-..." The Rock Back grunted and huffed as he muttered between clenched teeth.
Taking advantage of this momentary distraction, Michael would feel about and find one of his tiny Woh flask potions and he'd use his fingers to tuck it into the band of his bracer at the wrist, before grasping a hold of a small water skin and pulling it out. 'Heh. Well, I might not be a good slight of hand at pocker, but I didn't learn to hide pieces of paper in my sleeves for nothing. Stressful, but thanks to that I passed chemistry in highschool.' He'd think while smirking at the one of the escort he just antagonized, giving him a double eyebrow wiggle lift up as he took a sip of his water.
"You really like talkin' daeman, or you just like the sound o' your voice?" The armored one asked, who also happened to be the one with the torch at the front. He walked with his back turned at the human, not even trying to gaze back as he spoke.
"Eh. I find conversing with you meat sacks at least a bit intriguing. It is fun to hear what thoughts run through those narrow minds of yours. Why are you asking? Interested in actually entertaining me in conversation?" Michael would reply as he packed his waterskin once more and put his backpack back on.
"Thought ta meself it'd be crazy to converse with somethin' like ya, but then I realized, what da hell, when am I ta get another chance like this?" The Tuskir continued while slowing his pace, as if to let Michael approach to make their talk easier to get into.
The human naturally inched closer bit by bit as he simply walked, his smirk still on his expression. He'd keep vigilent of the two in the back while moving up in the small formation. "Indeed. Perhaps I'll be able to satisfy some of your curio-"
Before he could finish his sentence, the armored tuskir in front of him stopped dead in his tracks, turning with a decently large vial of liquid and herbs in his other hand and he'd splash Michael right in the face. Surprised by the sudden violent spill of liquid against his face, the human would close his eyes and bring his hands to his face to quickly wipe away the liquid. While blinded in this manner, his guard would be shattered as a brutal force would then slam into his right side, making Michael buckle as he got sent rolling in the opposite direction.
"HAHAHA! GOT 'IM GOOD, DIDN' I?!" exclaimed one of the two Tuskir from the back, who was armed with a club, right after he just bashed up the human.
Michael took a half second to realize he just got attacked, with the hand that had the vial hidden against its wrist pushup to his eyes to wipe them, he'd push himself up on the other wobbly like. He was afraid to try and open his eyes, unknowing what he got splashed with so instead he bit on the cork of his poison vial, opened it and stashed it in his cheek, as he dripped the solution on his tongue while wiping his eyes. "I- I can't see-..." he groaned loudly while trying to get his footing.
"Yeah. You got 'im good." The armored tuskir said while tossing the vial aside. "Better prepare yourself fer a sudden departure daeman. We'll make sure ta send ya back to the firey pit ya came from. Hope ya liked a lil' taste o' holy water. Keep ya well on your way back." He'd say while taking a handaxe off of his own belt.
"Hah ha ha... Sadly fer ya, not all o' us are keen on makin' deals with hell filth. Bruyza ain' gonn' be happy with ya missin' but is expected of daemen to be shifty scum, so yer missin' presence will be easy ta explain when we're all... surprised yer missin', he he he... ." The tuskir who Michael antagonized said while snorting and cackling, unsheathing his handaxe at the ready.
The three began closing in on Michael, their gate relaxed as they taunted him, their confidence in having the upperhand letting them ooze with a gloating energy. Michael instead had finally gathered himself, head tilted back as he held onto his face, having just finished the last few drips of the Woh vial.
"I can't see... how you furred fucks didn't think that'd just piss me off." He'd say as his trembling voice would change to one more confident. As he spoke he lowered his head at a way lower angle, pulling his hand down in the same motion to reveal a pair of bloodshot eyes, as well as a bloody dripping nose and a wide toothy grin, stained by his own crimson. The shadows on his face would make it seem like he bared his teeth from ear to ear, the expression of the pin point focused eyes, quickly darting to focus on each of the three attackers. Now, that put a stop to their enclosing movement, and this simple shift had changed their confident gloating to a dread filled uncertainty.

why is it that every time you call a doctor, vet, pharmacy, or insurance place, they always have the automated robot voice that talks soooo slow tell you all about their new office hours, phone procedures, and how the menu options have changed before you even hear the menu options? holy shit. i hate calling my pharmacy when i have to for certain meds, i always get the cvs ai that REALLY wants me to tell it in a few words what i need. if i dont say things like, “refill a prescription,” “order status” or “talk to the pharmacist” then we start the whole process all over again. need to call insurance? good luck. more automated voices! this time you have to tell the robot what your problem is in as few words as possible, clear enunciation, no background noise, and as simple as you can get it while also being as descriptive as possible. when you finally get on the phone with a real human person, finish what you called thirty minutes ago for, they hit you with Miss Automaton again, asking you to fill out a survey to rate how the employee did. and yes, in case you were wondering, the survey questions are spoken as slowly as possible, with the scoring criteria explained as thoroughly as possible after each question. its just irritating how difficult it can be to schedule an appointment, or change the time of one, or even call your insurance company to get the five lovely numbers needed for the pharmacy that they never put on the card. i practically have to plan my week around all the calls i have to make nowadays, or maybe im just going insane. regardless, i dont make enough money to be worrying about that. yippee!

As the title says. As it is, you've got a theoretically unlimited number of support weapons or backpacks, and these are limited by the relatively long cooldown present on each one. I think this makes them inherently less interesting than if there was a limited number of them, but you could call them down much quicker. Let me break down why I think it'd be more interesting.
Benefit 1: Build Diversity. Let's say you and your friends are going into a mission where three of you are all taking the Autocannon because it's really good. At present, it's technically possible to have only one person take it, and then call one in for each additional player... but not only is it boring to wait a full 8+ minutes for a support weapon, but it's also severely kneecapping your effectiveness. Now let's say that you could only call down a total of 3 Autocannons per mission, but it's only on a 60 second cooldown. Theoretically, it's possible to now have one person be the designated support weapon supplier. This frees up a previously almost-mandatory slot for support weapons to allow others in a coordinated group to take other stratagems, potentially even some of the lesser-used support stratagems like smoke or EMS strikes. This also means...
Benefit 2: Less Dead Time. If you get into a hairy situation and you die, you drop your support weapon. Everyone's been there. If you die before your support weapon is off cooldown, sometimes it can be frustrating having to sit around and wait for it to come off cooldown because the slackers on your ship are taking their sweet time loading a new hellpod. Now, this might just seem like a straight buff, but keep in mind...
Benefit 3: Better Risk/Reward Strategy. Sure, you can call down a replacement weapon if you can't get to your first one - but that's now two out of your three uses. Sometimes, it might be worth it to burn an extra Autocannon drop in order to secure the site where you died (like, for example, if it's at a defense objective). Other times, you may actually be more willing to try and retrieve your previously dropped weapon, either because you know for sure that either you'll need to use another of your limited budget for weapons, or because you've already ran out and getting it back means the difference between having a support weapon and not having one. Going back to the first example, this also has some risk/reward to it; sure, one person can now easily supply an entire fireteam with support weapons... but that's their entire stockpile used up at the start of the mission, which can be a big risk.
Final notes: I don't think this should necessarily apply to every backpack/support weapon, the chief example being EATs. If you had limited EAT call-ins, I think that'd make them a lot less unique than they currently are. Same potentially goes for things like the supply pack.

the garden of sanctuary was supposedly made by the harpy empress Sheta
but how?
is it something she just asked the system for? or is it something she actually had made by hiring a bunch of builders and enchanters that the system then made into a skill like Erins portal door? or is it a building she enhanced with her skills that the system then merged into one thing? how does the system pick what structures to skill...ify?
who made the pavilion of secrets and how do you make a building with an effect that specific?
also as an aside kind of f-ed up the system can convert objects to skills without informed consent. what if you wanted to leave it to somebody? by making things skills the system calls dibs on bequeathing rights. sure you can reject a level up but how do you even know what your agreeing to based on just the skill name?
and if any building enhanced by skills can be made into a inheritable skill if Erin died tomorrow could somebody inherent the entire wondering inn Erin skills included or just the door?
maybe that's Eirns next big capstone skill. the entire inn gets converted into a skill she can rearrange at will. up side is automatic upgrades as she levels as skills get stronger with levels but downside she gets little to no say in who inherent the wandering inn next.

I am a floater who has only been working in daycare for about 5 months and I also don't have my ECE yet. My degree is in Youth Ministry (in ministry there is a difference between youth and children, youth=teens), but I have many years of experience working with kids in settings other than daycare. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I am disciplining a child and another teacher walks into the situation and sees me, for example: with a crying child, pulling a child away from another kid, speaking firmly with a child, etc., and they don't know the context, and even when I tell them the context, they play good cop and make me the bad guy in the child's eyes. I always feel like they are judging me.
Here are some examples: A child is climbing on something and the situation has become unsafe. The child won't come down on his own after being asked nicely. I remove him but he keeps running back to climb again, trying to push past me, and has started crying. Another teacher steps in who has witnessed the whole thing and starts rubbing his back and telling him he is not in trouble in a soft voice after he completely ignored my soft polite voice, then my more firm voice when I asked him to walk away after he was removed from the play structure.
A two year old cannot keep her hands off of her older brother and keeps hitting, grabbing, and pulling him. After being asked to stop by me and her brother, I pull her off of him but she keeps repeating the behaviour. Finally I pick her up and she is crying and saying she won't apologize to her brother. The other teacher walks in and I tell her what happened and she pinches the kid's cheeks and says "leave your brother alone" in the same tone as like "you silly goose" or something and then she takes her from my arms and the child is laughing.
I've already spoken about a particular child who doesn't seem to like any of his teachers apart from one. He is a very difficult child and often hits, pushes, screams at, grabs toys from, etc., other children and treats most of his teachers pretty much the same way and will even bite us. Whenever one of us is trying to discipline him, he will scream at, hit, throw toys at, and/or bite us, then run to his favourite teacher who will pick him up and comfort him and after she's told what he did, she will either do nothing or just say to him "uh oh, not nice" in a "whoopsie!" kind of tone. When I got bit the other day she didn't do a thing and she was right there.
A kid was repeatedly throwing sand in the sandbox. The lead teacher would remove any kid from the sandbox after doing this once, so after a few times, I removed this child and he ran away. I have a great relationship with this kid and I just wanted to explain to him that if he wants to stay in the sandbox, he can't throw sand. I was playfully chasing him around outside like "I'm gonna getcha!" and he was laughing and then I said that I wanted to talk to him so I plopped him on my lap for a second. He wasn't even resisting or anything and kept getting distracted and saying funny things when I was trying to talk to him. Another teacher from very afar just saw me remove him from the sandbox, run after him, and plop him on my lap and immediately started barking my name and then asked what the child had done. Being in the middle of everything, I just gave her a quick answer and then my next free moment she rudely told me to go home. It was around the time I'm usually dismissed, but she had said that my coworker and I could go at the same time, but then when I tried to clean up a few things on my way out to make HER job easier, she rudely repeated for me to go home while she stood and chatted with my otjer coworker who was also supposed to be leaving. A simple misunderstanding where I was heavily judged and treated rudely without even an attempt at hearing my side of things.
A child has been biting, hitting and pushing the other kids all day and has just had a recent bite incident and is crying after being removed from the other kids. Another teacher asks why she is crying and I say "she has bitten three times today and has just bitten (baby)". The other teacher says "3 bites in the span of...what?" and then tells the biter to go seek comfort from her older sister. Does it matter how recent the other 2 bites were? I don't understand.
I don't resort to physically removing a child unless they are going to get hurt or they are hurting other children. For the sand one, I was following what the lead teacher was doing. I only chased the child and put him on my lap not because throwing sand was such a serious offense, but because "I'm gonna getcha" is like a little game with this kid, and I wouldn't put a kid on my lap who didn't want to be there but he was laughing and was clearly okay with it to the point he couldn't even pay attention to what I was saying because he was talking to me too much.
I feel like my coworkers don't trust me and they undermine me. There are kids who don't even view me as their teacher and will tell me they don't have to listen to me because I'm not their teacher when I am.
Any advice? I hate pulling out my firm voice and always speak softly and politely first. I still say please when I'm firm. I never yell. I hate having to touch a child as a form of discipline (pulling them away from a situation). Am I the problem? Are these just misunderstandings? Thoughts?

Well, it looks like things are right in the edge of working out! At the end of last May I was in the worst mental, and emotional health of my life. My physical health was soon to follow the downward spiral.
Thanks to this subreddit and a couple choice others, I’ve been able to use Demonolatry to dig my way out. I just had my second interview for an IT position at a RAD company (Hail Bune!) less than a week after passing my A+ Certification Exams (Hail Paimon!) and I’ve been able to make it all possible with near daily walking meditations (Hail Barbatos!)!
For those who have difficulty with ritual and are looking for something more intuitive, I highly suggest doing your invocation and/or evocation work during morning or evening walks.
Things REALLY kicked off when I added lightweight Mugdar or “Indian clubs” to the walks. They feel like I can wield a lot more “power” and channel them into my banishments and rituals. All while walking around my neighborhood and getting some shoulder exercise and mobility in. Moving the body send to really get the magical and occult juices flowing.
All of this is in thanks to my team. They’ve been lining things up and helping me get to where I can grab hold of the strings of fate again.
Hail Barbatos, the one who’s always got my back when it comes to the physical and the grounding. Almost feeling “strong” again.
Hail Bune, who always guides me to the path that is of the most beneficial and in line with my goals. They always know what I need.
Hail King Paimon, who has allowed me to push my mental capacity past what is considered “normal” or even reasonable. I’ve been able to use that type of intellect magic for years, but with him it’s been much less destructive.
Now I just wait until Friday to see if my plan to switch careers at 39 years old in under a year comes to fruition. If my team has anything to say about it, this job is in the bag!!!