Hey Everyone! The Obsidian Warrior’s journey continues at last. As always I recommend reading Crowson’s Intro post and Chapter 1 before this part of the story. Hope you enjoy what was made!
Completed Chapter 2s: Thearnt, Taland, Pascal, Harmony, Crowson
(Next Chapter 2: Asherah the Chef)
Crowson the Warrior, Chapter 2: Recommended Level 24
——————
(The Journey So Far…)
Crowson had served loyally under his father King Milo for all of his life.
But once his close comrade Theo was sentenced to be executed…
Crowson abandoned all loyalty he had to the Obsidians
And so, He fled their newly captured town of Westfirst…
and arrived in Fallholt to lay low for a while, before taking action on his one and only goal, Kill King Milo and end the Obsidians…
Crowson stands atop a ledge, overlooking the small town below. He sighs, “They won’t find me here. It was a mistake to slip the name of Beggar’s Hole to Maverick, he’s likely told Milo and… I hope Theo decided to lay low in another town like I did.”
He would proceed to walk down some stairs and into the town properly. He’d sit down on a bench, going through his thoughts, frustrated at not being able to keep his mind off King Milo… “I need a drink.” He stands up.
You’d head to the Fallholt Tavern

• Travel Banter: The Sacred Flame’s Forgiveness (Crowson and Thearnt) Crowson finds Thearnt praying about something, Thearnt reveals she was letting the gods know Crowson was on their side she tells him that he’s doing the right thing and the Flame will forgive him. Crowson questions her, asking if killing people, and continuing to do so is really what the flame stands for? Thearnt is stunned and silent. “I– I was trying to be nice…”
  
• Travel Banter: Wasting My Time (Crowson and Asherah) Asherah asks Crowson if they came all this way just to get him a drink, Crowson tells her “It’s nothing more than a waste of time, but that’s why I came here.” Asherah laughs and asks Crowson if he has anything better to do here. “Do You?” He fires back. “Then hold your tongue and let us be going.” Asherah just says “This whole conversation was a waste of time.”
  

Crowson is served a drink by the barkeeper, the only other people in the tavern are two men sitting far away from him. He quickly downs his drink and orders another that he downs just as fast.
After some time passes, Crowson is standing outside. “To the ruins we go Zach!” he hears someone just beside him. “Aye, Careful now.” Zach responds. Crowson watches as the two leave town to the north.
“Ruins…?” He wonders to himself, He gazes at the distant valleys and stone structures and against his own will at first, he decides to follow them.
Road to the Ruins of Fallholt, Danger Level 24
Fairly quickly, Crowson would find them and start listening. The same men from the bar, “Now what Rene?” Zach asks. Rene stays silent. “There has to be someone else on our force who can lend us a weapon…”
“Your force?” Crowson reveals himself to them. Rene is startled by him, “We’re the Fallholt Guard!” he shouts “It’s you...You aren’t going to– kill– us– are you?”
Crowson turns around, as if to make sure King Milo isn’t there, “No.” he says at last. Rene and Zach ask Crowson if he’s part of the Fallholt Guard too, He tells them that he isn’t. Rene asks Crowson if he would mind doing them a favor.
“We’ve dealt with our fair share of Stealing, Murder, and Trafficking around Fallholt, It’s… not a very safe town. Recently, something’s been especially off about these ruins over there. We don’t know what’s going on inside, and we need someone to take a look because we–”
He turns to Zach, as if he doesn’t want to say it himself “We lost our weapons. Stolen by some bandits.” Zach continues. “I know it’s a lot, could you help us?”
“...” Crowson frowns, “Where did these bandits go?” Rene points him in their direction
You’d mug the bandits and take Rene and Zach’s weapons back.
Crowson returns their weapons and tells him to get a move on. Rene apologizes for not being much help yet. Zach tells him not to worry, Crowson turns and walks in the direction of the Ruins of Fallholt.

• Travel Banter: Too Harsh on them (Crowson and Orlando) Orlando asks Crowson if he’s being too harsh on Rene and Zach. “They’re lucky I agreed to do this favor at all.” Orlando still tells him that he could be nicer to them still, They seem to be nice people after all. “I suppose so, But I thought you knew I’m not big on the idea of blindly obeying.” Crowson replies. Orlando asks “Is that what this is about?” Orlando tells him that as long as he’s there, he won’t let what happened with King Milo happen ever again.

The Three of them stop at the ruins door, Rene and Zach have no idea how to get it open. Crowson decides to use a bit of brute force, pushing and shoving against the door until it opens, revealing the dark ruins inside…
Ruins of Fallholt, Danger Level 25
As you make your way through the ruins, the screen would occasionally rumble.

• Travel Banter: Pitch Black Ruins (Crowson and Pascal) Pascal remarks about how dark the ruins are “Light conditions are not favorable.” Crowson replies. Pascal says “I hope you do well in the dark.” He then brings up something he thought he saw on the wall, strange scratch marks on the stone. Crowson doesn’t worry about it. He tells Pascal that most ruins in Zalaina have scratches like that. Nothing about the Ruins of Fallholt is particularly strange…
  
• Travel Banter: Lurking Mystery (Crowson and Taland) Taland says he hears the rumbling, and wonders what could be hiding here. Crowson and him would talk about different causes and theories for what could be going on, Slightly lightening the mood. Taland says he’ll do his best to fight from behind the “Sword wielder”, but there’s only one way to find out what could be lurking in here…
  

The source of the noise is uncovered deeper in the ruins. Crowson, Rene, and Zach encounter a Minotaur. A bull-like creature. It growls as it exits from the shadows. Rene and Zach draw their weapons and eagerly await a fight. Crowson takes out his sword and stares coldly at the Minotaur, speaking to it and the others, as it strikes.
BOSS: Minotaur
(Boost Dialogue: This is where I set things right.)
The Minotaur is defeated. Crowson puts his sword away, “That takes care of that…” Rene says, Zach nods “We owe you a lot...”
Crowson is about ready to go back into town, when he takes a look ahead, behind where Rene and Zach are standing. He walks forward and stares up at the wall, Painted on it, is the symbol of the Obsidian Crow.
“W– What is that doing here…”
“Crowson?” Rene tries to talk to him, but he can’t take his eyes off the crow.
“That bird… That damn bird…” Crowson turns around, his face partially obscured, he slowly draws his sword on Rene and Zach… They both take a step back.
“Who are you… Was all this to lead me here? Are you one of them?”
The “Challenge” screen would appear, allowing you to challenge Rene and Zach to a duel.
“Answer Me.”
Once the duel is over, Crowson stares at the ground and puts his sword away. Rene, gasping for air, tries to reason. “I swear to you! I don’t know anything about that symbol, or what it means. I’m not a crow!”
“....” Crowson thinks about what to say “I’m sorry.” His voice echoes.
Zach asks “What does the crow mean?”
“It means a someone was in these ruins. But why, Why here? Why in this place?”
“The Crows…?” Rene ponders
“I have to leave. Now.” Crowson says, as the three begin to walk out.

• Travel Banter: Crow Tattoo (Crowson and Oukirii) Oukirii asks what the crow symbol means “I know it’s about the Obsidians, but what’s with the crow?” Crowson explains to Oukirii that it’s the way they discretely mark Obsidian items. Each member has it tattooed on their body. Oukirii asks if that means Crowson has it too, he confirms that it’s on the back of his left shoulder.
  
• Travel Banter: Memories of King Milo (Crowson and Harmony) Harmony asks Crowson if he wants to sit down and talk about King Milo and the Obsidians. Crowson says it doesn’t matter, they have to keep moving forward. But Harmony persuades him into opening up a little. “Here, take my hands.” she offers. They’d talk about things Crowson remembers of Milo. But eventually Harmony decides to leave it alone for the best.
  

Rene and Zach stop Crowson at the entrance to Fallholt. “We just wanted to thank you for helping us out.” Rene says. “I’m sorry about– the crow.” Crowson tells them not to think about it. They ask Crowson where he will go next before he leaves, Crowson looks down and almost smiles when he says “To meet an old friend…”
(Ending Text)
A place meant to be a hiding spot for Crowson turned out to have already been tainted by the Obsidian Crow…
He knew he had to flee town immediately upon the risk of an Obsidian finding him here.
But he still asks himself, Why was the crow here? He’d been everywhere that Milo went and never once visited Fallholt.
And so, Crowson sets out once again. His quest for King Milo’s blood continues.
He leaves for Beggar’s Hole, wondering If any place is truly safe from the crows ravaging anymore...
——————
Crowson the Warrior: Chapter 2, End.

Long story short, I have memory issues, and have often thought that if I just had something recording all my conversations, I would actually be able to have meaningful interactions with other humans because I could review important information later. This would mostly just be for at home and hanging out with friends, and they would be aware of the recording device.
The kind of device I’m thinking of is like the wearable heart monitors they use to test for arrhythmias—the device is always “listening” to your heart, but only actually saves a file of your heart rhythm when you push a button. Usually it will take a snapshot of the 30 seconds before and after you push the button so you don’t have to worry about pushing the button with superhuman speed. This lets you record “events” (i.e., moments when you feel heart symptoms happening) without having to sift through literally 24 hours of data to find the moment you’re looking for.
So basically that, but instead of recording heartbeat, it’s recording conversations so I can actually remember wtf I said during important moments. I would ideally push the button when I realize I or someone else has said something important (like a phone number, the name of a product, grocery list items, friends’ major life events, etc.).
Ideally, I would be able to connect it to my phone or computer via Bluetooth or WiFi for easy file transfer, but that’s not a deal breaker. I would just use my phone, but I haven’t found an appropriate app, and also my battery wouldn’t last the day with that much use.
Any recommendations for some kind of recording device for this purpose? I’m open to any and all suggestions!
TIA for any insight!

I really don't know what to flair this as. My mom did weird things to us/made us eat weird things because she was a "health nut." For a time we had juice in our cereal instead of milk. It was disgusting. I'm sure I tried to eat it dry but I wasn't allowed. I have tons of sensory issues with food now. Go figure.
My mom would give me and my sisters enemas. I have one memory of it when I was four but I know it happened multiple times. I remember my sisters and I protesting but my mom wasn't afraid to use physical violence to control someone. The "rule" was that if you didn't go #2 at school, you get an enema that day. I wonder how many times my mom did that to me as a little four year old and older. To my sisters. They were older so they got the idea to lie and say they had gone that day at school. I got left behind in that regard. I wasn't smart enough to lie and I'm not sure how much of this happened when I was stuck at home and out of school.
I feel weird and totally detached thinking about it. It came up and I was like...that was...seriously fucked up. Who penetrates their kid over and over like that. A part of me is saying I was assaulted. Another part says that's invalidating to victims of sexual assault. Idk how to feel. When I was institutionalized a lady kept pulling me aside and asking me if I'd been rxped. I told her no. Because I haven't. But it made me realize how shut down I was by 7th grade. But how do you explain this? It's not rxpe. But it's the non consensual penetration of a child over and over. I'm not sure what physical violence was involved then. All I know is that when I fought back violence happened. I can only really remember things clearly after I was 6/7. I'm not sure how long it went on for. I'd ask my sisters but I'd rather not bring it up.
One part of me feels like this offensive to share. The other is alone and desperate for help. I've never spoken about this with anyone but my sisters. The last time it was brought up (idk when, long ago) they kind of laughed it off. Probably because they found ways to escape. Or it's to cope. Idk. I've never been able to laugh it off.
Is there a name for this kind of abuse? Ive heard of covert incest but idk if that fills that category. Idt there was anything sexual behind it but I could be wrong.

So I ordered a bulk of something I like to eat from dollar. I ordered 92 of them. First of all the shipping took an entire extra week to get to the store. Then I go to the store to pick it up and two different assistant managers refuse to give me my product and tell me to come back another day. After the second time I just called and cancelled.
I didn't factor in lazy assistant managers not feeling like doing their jobs and telling me to come back in later so they can pass the work off to someone else.
I use to work for dollar tree and remember having assistant managers. It's a want dollar tree. Not a need. I'm not going up there on my day off nearly two weeks after my I was supposed to get my package. Thank you for saving me $120.

I 17 m started dating 17 f since we were 14. We started dating 2021 of October, it’s been 2 years and a half and we’ve had our fair share of problems, but this problem we’ve had has been hurting me a lot. When we started dating she was already in a relationship with a guy since 2021 august, they broke up in 2022 March. She’s lied to me about their relationship and calling him a boy bestfriend and she got a hickey and told me it was a burnt mark from doing her hair. Fast forward we had a lot of arguments about her and him and shes used me to get over him. Used me bad. We were on and off but majority of the time, on.
I get that she’s done those terrible things but she has also has done a lot of good for me. It’s now been some time and she keeps saying “when we’re 20 you won’t be remembering a stupid silly mistake I made in grade 9-10” I don’t know whether to believe that or not. I recently told her “I am done stressing and arguing about the same problem, let’s flip the page.” It’s been like 2 weeks and I’ve been still hurting. A tiny voice in my head is telling me “I don’t deserve to be with someone who cheated on me” but than another voice is saying “im not gonna remember it when im older, don’t mess up something good for you”
Here’s the dilemma, she’s nothing like how she was when she was doing those things to me. We love eachother a lot. she’s a completely different person now. We both introduced eachother to our family’s and we’re set to have wedding done early ( family tradition on both sides of the family) What should I do?

I'm sorry for posting this but I haven't been able to talk about what's really happening the last 12 months because no one cares to listen to people like me. I just really need to write this down so it isn't just inside me forever, I'm not expecting any replies or help, I just want someone to know my story because i dont know when or how it will end. (also i wrote this at 11pm after not sleeping for 3 days, so theres a chance none of this makes sense)
I am 14, turning 15 in a few months.
I have been dealing with severe depression(?) for around 4 years now, but the issues started way before that. there is something seriously wrong with me, and i am not blaming anyone but myself. I'm diagnosed with adhd, severe social & general anxiety disorder, autism, and ptsd. I have an abundance of issues cleaning and taking care of myself which i am extremely embarrassed about.
I attempted to truly end my life first when i was 10 via od on a prescription. the second time i was 11, i tied a ribbon very tightly around my neck, and fell asleep crying from both sadness and relief. i remember waking up, and it was like my body automatically started desperately searching for anything sharp to get it off my neck. i had a red spot on the side for a while after that, i covered it with a fake tattoo so my mom wouldn't have to worry about my older brother as well as me.
I resorted to online learning for middle school after bullying and sexual harassment, plus issues with the school that lead to cps being called. skip forward to now, my only friends are online, and they make fun of me for being autistic, and say they forget im a real person regularly. I understand, i dont expect them to care that much about someone theyve never spoken to in person before, i just wish i could be someones first choice.
december last year i started smoking weed, and that made me forget about how much i wanted to die. unfortunately, that got me addicted immediately. i couldn't bare being sober, if i wasnt high off my mind i was sobbing and shaking. eventually my mom found out, and I (mostly) stopped. unfortunately, the inevitable happened. i started stealing liquor, drank almost a whole bottle of tequila by myself within ~6 days. mom found out about that too, and stopped buying alcohol as well as starting to lock up the medication in the house. this was the beginning of the end. i hate myself for what i did. my mom did everything right, i, however, did everything wrong. i started abusing gabapentin, which quickly lost its magic. i told myself i was never going to touch stimulants or amphetamines, but of course i did. I was desperate to feel something that i started abusing my adhd meds. i hate them, i cant eat or sleep on them, but they make me focus on something that isnt my thoughts.
I've done everything i wanted to do before i go. today was my friends 16th birthday, yesterday was mothers day, and a few days before that was my one year on HRT. (not getting into that right now lol) i didnt think id make it to 13, I truly dont know why I'm still here. I can't remember a day i havent wanted to just leave and be free from emotion and people. I'll probably delete this when i see it in the morning, but i desperately needed to get this off my chest. I had potential, I was smart and kind and bright, and then the people around me grew up, while i was still waiting for my turn.
Maybe if I was born into a different family i could've been a psychologist like ive always wanted to. In another lifetime.

just wanted to share my experience and get some advice or suggestions, open to any especially if someone has also experienced the same thing. Anxiety and stress is genetic throughout my family but just up til about recently I have experienced my first severe panic attack. About a week ago I was having fun feeling relaxed and decided to take a hit of a weed pen that my friend had gotten from a vape store. I usually never smoke weed nor like it because it has always given me an experience of panic and paranoia that i did not enjoy. I then decided to take a few hits and nothing happened and i did not feel it or any effects off of it so i took one more hit of it and after about 20-30 mins i had gotten up out of bed and this big sorta rush feeling came right over me and i instantly freaked out and could feel my heart beating out of my chest. i had to lay down with my face in a blanket just to feel somewhat okay. eventually it had whore off... next day i wake up completely fine then after a few hours i feel that terrible feeling again come up over me and it sorta felt like i was high again so i started freaking out and my heart began to race. I took some benadryl seemed to subside the horrible feelings. next day I woke up with symptoms of depersonalization/ derealization. this is what i would say i usually experience while "high" but this was actually the worst I have ever felt. I had to run outside and sit down, i started bawling and my heart felt like it was beating uncontrollably. I looked around and it felt like I was all alone stuck in a dream like I wasn't even real. Since then it has been a couple of days with my symptoms decreasing slowly. every now and then i feel scared and have the fear of the feeling coming back and my heart racing. I do wake up sometimes in the middle of the night with my heart racing with difficulty of breathing. I have mostly been taking benadryl and vitamin D to help. I am trying to stay away from medications. but What seems to be really worrying me is my lack of concentration and control. I always feel drowsy and can't seem to concentrate and have a hard time with remembering things. I think the cause of the anxiety and fear was the cannabis pen. i am just looking for ways to relax my mind, and i am always stuck on the thought if im forever going to feel like this. before this incident i have never experienced things like this before, im not sure if i am only having anxiety because of my experience with the weed or it had actually opened me up to anxiety if that makes sense. only worry now seems to be getting my concentration back and feeling like i am a real person again and enjoying things like how i used to, has anyone else who has smoked or has anxiety experienced this? im wondering if the depersonalization is just from the weed or the anxiety itself and if it will be long term or subside. slowly tho the days have been getting better with little to none mini panic attacks

All I can remember is a man saying to someone:
"Psychiatrist, not psychologist. You're gonna need some drugs!"
I am 35 and had seen this at LEAST ten years ago if not before then, plus I used to watch older generation movies so I really have no timeframe for this.
Not animated.
English language.
Definitely don't think it was a kids movie.
It's been bugging me for hours today!

So the pharmacy tech at my publix members my name and gets my prescription ready when she sees me walking up. She often compliments something about me. I see her once a month maybe and she still members my name. Part of me thinks she's just being nice and doing a good job. I think I'm reading into this because I have ADHD and am TERRIBLE with names so if I remembered someone's name with few interactions it's because I like them.
So if the consensus is I'm not reading into this is there any way for me to find out if she might like me without making future transactions uncomfortable for her?
Any help would be greatly appreciated even if it's just telling me I'm an idiot for thinking this haha.

Over the weekend a saw a post about someone replying to a guy who was shilling GME by saying it would never reach $50 or $100 again, can't remember. Well if he said $50, someone get their Saint Bernard nice and fed for this guy. Would love an update

Hey, so I've started getting quotes for hair and makeup and my first choice was someone who is pretty well known in Cape Town, South Africa for hair and makeup. We chatted at first and she sent the quote which was great (I told her we need to meet with the venue the weekend to confirm the date before I pay the deposit)
Anyways, the weekend I messaged her for bank details to pay the deposit- no reply. And Monday I sent her another message inquiring how long it would take to get done - no reply, none of it even opened.
Me I'm a bit impatient, like to me it seems unprofessional so I immediately want to ask other people for quotes.
Should I wait more or as it as unprofessional as it seems to me ??

So, this is the context. A little over a year ago, I planned a trip for the 2 of us to spend a week in the Netherlands and Germany.
One day during the week, we both tried edibles. This was the worst collective decision in our lives. I remember tripping about dying multiple times, becoming incredibly paranoid, and ended up being sedated and transported in an ambulance - it was absolutely horrible - while my wife had a "calming/sedative" version but she was also transported in the ambulance.
Weeks later, back in the states, we planned a trip for her to go somewhere "without me", since we've been together for 10+ years, she wanted a trip by herself. I was more than happy to help her plan, and ultimately schedule everything. She was going to a city to do a half-marathon event, and stay in the city.
I thought "Great! Sounds like something she needs, and I can do a little house work for the garden!"
Turns out, she ended up day drinking, and then hanging out at a bar until 12am the night before the run, texting occasionally about a barternder. I began panicking and texting/calling when I saw her little pin from her phone go from the bar to an undisclosed random location. She later texted it was the bartender's "new bar".
The following dauy after the run, she went to his house to "try some cocktails", while I texted and called, trying to figure out what was happening. She was out drinking with him and his friends untl ~3am. I remember because I was attempting to stay awake until I knew she was safe. But, I believed in her.
She didn't tell me she slept with this guy until 1 year later. "He was just so passionate!"
I thought it was an escalation that seemed steep, so I asked if she had texted anyone, or done anything else. She denied and then told me one day later she was texting pictures (and more I guess?) to a "friend" we had hung out with together, facetimed together, chatted about trips together, all the things.
We've been together for 10+ years, we're married, we have a house, we have 4 pets, I don't know what to do. I feel like I can't trust anything, and I feel trapped. I don't know what I did wrong or what to do next. I thought about suicide, because she can apparently just find someone new in <24 hours.
Anyways! I'm taking anti-depressants and going to therapy. I'm the cheerful/happy guy at work, I don't want that to be my end. At least for my dogs/cats. lol.
Am I crazy? There's probably more to do with my shitty friends, eating disorder, and abusive family growing up, but I feel like I'm grasping at straws.

Hello, I'm new to reddit, but decided to post this on a throwaway anyway just in case my boyfriend finds this post. I am neuro-divergent(diagnosed ADHD and I might have autism. I am seeing a doctor for that for a diagnosis) I feel like it has an effect on how I process this so I felt like I should mention it. I'm not really sure how to put this so I'm going to try and be as clear as I can, please excuse my grammar. English is my second language.
I(Female, almost 30) and my boyfriend(Male, a bit over 30) have been together for 2 years. He is the best, most understanding and most loving person I've ever met. He has shown me support in so many different ways and has helped accept myself as who I am.
The thing I have a problem with, is his ex. They broke up almost a year before he and I even me. She tried to remain in contact and he did his best to not have anything to do with her. It wasn't always possible, because they shared a friend group. I am now friends with his friends as well and I have met her, but I don't really know her. I do know that some people in the friend group don't really like her, because she seems very shallow and self-absorbed. Their relationship was long distance and they broke up because she cheated on him twice. The first time she cheated was with her "ex". She apparently never broke up with him after all and she was was just two timing them and lied to everyone in the friend group. The second time she found someone new closer to where she lives and after ignoring my boyfriend for a while she told him that she has someone else. The only reason he even took her back was because someone close to her had died and he felt obligated to help her. He doesn't have any feelings towards her anymore and I can see that. I am not jealous of them at all and even when she was still part of the friend group, I didn't feel threatened because of her. She did contact him this year apologizing for everything(before she was just denying that she ever cheated on him), saying that she never meant for any of it to happen and blahblahblah. He told her that he does not want anything to do with her. She tried to play the victim but no one really went along with it and she disappeared from the friend group.
My issue is the extremely strong anger I feel towards her. When I heard about it for the first time, I felt this massive ball of strong emotions and I wanted to call her every name in the book. I didn't contact her as I felt it wasn't my place to say anything and it was some time ago. I did draft a message that was never meant to be sent and I showed it to him. I did tell him about my feelings towards her and he did understand, though he said he doesn't really care about her or the situation anymore. I just sometimes feel like I can't let go of the anger and pain I feel. I know he was hurting back then and he had to go through it all alone, since he didn't feel like he could tell our friend group. It just hurts me and makes me want to cry sometimes if I happen to remember it. It even keeps me up at night sometimes(this isn't common though). I just hate her so much for what she did. Like, HOW could she do that to him???? How can I process these emotions?
I've always had a strong reaction to cheating in a relationship. It's a hard thing for me to handle even when it's in a movie or something. I feel like the feeling is even stronger now because of the fact that I care so much about him and I don't even want to think about him hurting. I don't even know how to bring this up with him even though I know I probably should. It just feels like it's too late to say anything about this. He told me about her over a year ago and I feel awkward bringing it up now.
Thank you for reading... Any help/support/anything is welcome. I just felt like I wanted to get this out and not hold it inside me anymore.

Remember: Don’t be sad bc sad backwards is das and das not good!
Hope you’re doing well!!
Someone always needs at least one person to talk to even if it’s just for a short time and I’d like to provide that support bc we don’t like seeing people down!
We can talk about anything you’re into or even things we have in common. Some things I’m into are:

• sports (basketball, soccefutbol, American football mainly)
  
• anime/manga/manhua/webtoons (always looking for recommendations!)
  
• video games
  
• Naps!
  

I also work in healthcare so if I do delay in replying, could be due to me having just passed out from being tired haha
Anyways, thanks for reading and have a good rest of your day :)

Already posted this is shrooms but thought I would post here as well. This is very important: I DO NOT CONDONE THE USE OF SUBSTANCES this is for educational purposes only
A little backstory, I’m 19M and have stuttered all my life. I’m not a very self conscious person but stuttering is my kryptonite. When I say I stutter I don’t mean I trip up on words hear and there I mean nearly every word I say can take me anywhere from a second to 30 seconds if I’m really having a bad block. A good portion of my life revolves around my stuttering. It dictates anything from my major in college to even the food I eat. It makes me feel less than human and is stopping me from being the person I want to be, at least that’s what it feels like. Through the years I have naively taken substances when I was far too young to both experiment and suppress the anxieties caused/formed by my stutter. Some of the substances were prescribed like Xanax and adderall while others I took to recreationally like MDMA, MDA, shrooms, LSD, alcohol, weed and some other more niche compounds. Most of there were done at wayyy to young of an age and I wouldn’t doubt it some of these causes lasting side effects even the LSD and shrooms which are physically safe. I stopped taking those drugs besides weed and alcohol until this year. (Sorry for the long backstory started rambling)
Fast forward to now me and three of my friends went on a climbing road trip with the first destination on our trip being Zion. We planned to take a 1/8 of GT each besides for my one friend who was going to take 2.5 since it was his first time. We took them on an empty stomach and started walking to our pre planned spot. They start hitting and fast, I have a decent bit of experience taking shrooms and have taken up to 5g with a good bit of experience of taking around 1/8 but these hit me like a train. We settle down in our spot when my friend who’s first time it was doing shrooms takes off with no shoes on in Zion national park without saying a word. It took us a while to realize because prior to taking off he was chilling in a dead tree near by and thought he needed some alone time. Anyways the three of us that are left start getting worried and we don’t know what to do. My one friend starts looping, saying “where’s __” over and over again but unfortunately repeating his name doesn’t summon him. At this point we are stopping balls and have no clue what to do but wait and hope he returns. I tried to calm him down saying he will be fine but honestly I wasn’t sure but at the time we couldn’t come up with a plan to find him (we did go looking for him but we were looping so hard there was no chance). This caused a lot of subtle anxiety for the first part of our trip with my one friend ever minute or so saying “where’s __” still. Our lost friend eventually appears out of the brush looking like a 6” 3’ hobbit it was quite a sight. I was scaring thinking he was off having a horrible trip or got hurt but the first thing he says is I quote “I know everything” to which I laughed and though to myself I have had that thought before this kid is tripping balls. Anyways we were all very relived but he tried to leave again saying he was feeling better away from the group which I get we probably weren’t giving off the best vide at that point but we didn’t want to stress over losing his again so I decided to tag along. This is where the stuttering backstory comes in, sorry again for the long post I wasn’t expecting to give a full trip report but here we are.
I was sitting with him on a tree nearby when we started taking about what he had just experienced/ is experiencing. It was very broken English but he was saying how we are all one and exclaimed how beautiful the whole experience had been and started asking me question about my trip and past trips. We somehow got to the topic of anxiety and the cause of it. When I started thinking about it I started to have very basic but meaningful realizations about my anxiety surrounding my stutter. I started speaking to my friend and rarely stuttering and even when I did, I didn’t care one bit, the anxiety I usually feel in the back of my throat wasn’t there and I could speak for the first time in my life. The whole we are all one mind set along with the heavy ego dissolution made me not care about if I stuttered or not it was beautiful. I felt like I could talk to anyone and not have the weight of my stutter glooming over me. I realized they are just people and their judgment (if they even are judging because the assumption that they are judging me is egotistical in a way since I am assuming they care about me enough to judge) shouldn’t effect the way I carry out my life and stop me from being happy. I also thought I am the one causing this anxiety for myself and all of this worry is for nothing since why be shameful about something I can’t change. I would always try to tell myself these things in my day to day life but I never really felt it. When I was tripping I was able to feel these thought and look at them in a new perspective I have never been able to in the past. No amount of alcohol, Xanax, MDMA or any other drug for that matter could have shown me that. During the trip I though I had cured my stutting even telling me friend I think I won’t be stuttering any more after this. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case but now I know it’s possible to reach that point, I feel I should have done a better job integrating my trip but there is still time and I plan to work on it. Maybe I say fuck it and pull a Paul stamets instead ha no jk. Anyways that’s a long story long sorry it was so drawn out and all over the place this wasn’t even the full trip but some of the more important bits. Hope you got something out of this but it was more of a vent because as one would image verbally telling a story to someone feels impossible with a stutter so it feels good get it out somehow.

As the title suggests, one of my favorite story tropes is that of secret identities. However, I find that whenever they appear, there's never enough content revolving them. Even more is that I'm obsessed with people finding out about the secret identity. Unfortunately, the stories I find don't seem to satisfy my need for this trope so here's a bit of what I'm looking for:

• The one who holds the secret identity is the main character OR a major side character. (can even be multiple people) I'm not a big fan of characters who hold a huge significance and have very little page time.
  
• They reveal their identity either willingly or unwillingly (the latter is my favorite but sometimes the former is more important) to trustworthy people. However, their identity is something they want to keep secret. I just really like feeling the thrill of the character(s) who learns of the identity.
  
• Their secret identity is one that holds a lot of power. Whether they're a superhero, a monarch, a god, a mage in a land without magic, a member of a secret organization, or anything that is beyond the norm.
  
• Following the previous point, they spend a decent amount of time among the normal population.
  
• Most importantly, I have a STRONG dislike for constant miscommunication for the sake of drama. If there's a little bit that is quickly cleared up, that's fine, but miscommunication that leads to conflict is perhaps my least favorite trope and when secret identities are involved, I tend to see this happen.
  

I do have a few examples of characters that fit most of these tropes, but unfortunately, I can't think of any books since most of these requirements are specific aspects I'm pulling from shows I've recently watched. The only book I can think of that kind of fits some of this is The Name of the Wind (my favorite book) but also I haven't read it in a while so I can't remember exactly everything it covers.
Character examples include: Barry Allen/The Flash - he kind of reveals his identity a little too often but the way a lot of those scenes are executed are done really well. Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars, and I'm specifically thinking of her appearance in season 7 of the Clone Wars. Myne from Ascendance of a Bookworm - she's a little careless but it doesn't get in her way. (and honestly a lot of isekai/portal fantasy main characters fit the secret identity trope) If you don't know some of these characters, that's fine. I just wanted to put them out there as examples regardless.
So anyway, TLDR: I need someone to suggest me a book with the secret identity trope that has these specific variables. Preferably something in sci fi or fantasy but I'm willing to give some other genres a shot. Just let me know what genre, and if the book doesn't have a certain point I've listed, let me know as well. I haven't read in a long time and I'm looking get back into reading again so I might as well start with one of my favorite tropes.

Just got pre-approved for a home in OC, California. $900k purchase price, 20% down. It's a new build townhome. The builder's preferred lender quoted us on the following and, given I am new to the process, not sure if this is "good" or "bad". Using the preferred lender gives us ~$25k in cost incentives (can be used towards closing, first year HOA prepayment, excess towards paying down loan) Hopefully someone can help a first time homebuyer!
30-year fixed:
Loan amount of $719.2k
Interest Rate 7.250%
7/1 ARM:
Loan amount: $719.2k
Interest rate: 6.875%
I haven't received origination costs, or other costs, but what other questions should I be asking? Any thoughts on the initial term? Thanks for any help!

Hey everyone, I just recently reinstalled and I feel pretty lost on various parts of the game, so I'm hoping you guys might be able to help answer some of my questions/guide me in the right direction. Just a bit of backstory for where my account is at currently before getting into some of my questions:

• Played when the game launched in the US and created a Deathblade character. Got this Deathblade to level 39, then "quit" due to irl stuff limiting my time to play.
• Reinstalled around the time Artist came out and created a new Artist character. Got this Artist to around the same level as my Deathblade before "quitting" again due to irl stuff limiting my time to play.
• Reinstalled once again a few days ago and I just got my Artist to level 50; my Deathblade is still sitting at level 39.

As you can see, although I'm a "returning" player, I never made it very far into the game, so many of the core concepts are still quite foreign to me. Also, I am strictly F2P, so please do take that into consideration for your responses. Thanks in advance :)
Since I have a bunch of questions across various parts of the game, I've broken them into hopefully more legible sections:

Story/Location/General

• I have made it to Arthetine with my Artist, what do I do now at level 50? Do I just keep continuing to do all the quests that appear around me? When do the various dungeons and fights I've seen so much about start for me?
• I didn't explore all of Anikka before coming to Arthetine (there is still a gray area on the map, Prisma Valley). Should I go back and unlock triports and whatnot before continuing? The quests themselves never took me there, so just not sure.
• Should I catch my Deathblade up to where my Artist is at before continuing to progress? I actually really like the combat of both characters and I'm not too sure which I want to "main" as a result. Do I need to pick 1 to main? Will it really gimp my ability to do content if I try to progress both characters as much as possible?
• Is PvP dead? I remember liking that a lot when I first started out, but recently when I've tried to queue up, matches couldn't be found. Not that there was an error or anything, just the timer would continue going for a long time.
• Does a character's level go beyond 50?

Gear

• General
  • Does gear degrade?
• Dismantling
  • As I've been leveling up, I would equip the highest item level gear in each slot and dismantle everything else, including gear at the same item level I have equipped. Should I continue doing this? It has left me with 1 of each item I have equipped - will I ever need say multiple weapons or armor pieces to swap out depending on the content I'm doing? It has also left me with a lot of useful and broken gear powders. What do I do with these?
• Stones
  • I have a bunch of stones in both my characters' inventories. What are these and what do I do with all these? Somehow, I also have an ability stone equipped on my Deathblade in addition to the other stones in my inventory, but I don't remember how or why I did that. The equipped one also seems to make my Deathblade's movement slower, what gives? Do they all give some sort of negative effect? Should I also try to equip a stone on my Artist? Is there a strategy for maximizing positive effects while reducing negative effects?
• Engravings
  • I have a bunch of engraving recipes and engraving recipe selection chests/pouches. What are these and what do I do with all these? I'm assuming they combine in some way to create the 2 empty engraving item slots when opening my character profile, but just wanted someone to hopefully walk me through these as well. Do these also have negative effects like stones? If so, is there a strategy for maximizing positive effects while reducing negative effects?
• Skill Rune Effects
  • I have some items like "Focus" and "Bleed" that I've got no clue what they do or what I should be doing with them. Is this another system that could/should be walked through for me?
• Bracelet
  • I don't have items/packs/chests or anything that seemingly would fit into the Bracelet item slot for either character. Where do bracelets come from? Is this another system that could/should be walked through for me?
• Honing/Upgrading
  • I have heard these terms thrown around before, but again, I just don't know what they entail. Am I at this point in the game yet?
• Item Level
  • My Artist's equipped item level is 230.83 and my Deathblade's is 182.50. I've seen people talking about item levels more than 1k greater than even what I've got combined between both characters lol. Am I on the right track here? Should I expect my equipped item level to shoot up soon?

Cards

• I get that equipping multiple cards of the same set grants different effects, but how does it work across the roster - can I equip the exact same cards on both my Deathblade and my Artist?
• When I use cards, it asks me to confirm and says I have x spots remaining in my card catalog, where x continually decrements each time. Is this something I should be worried about? Do I need to be strategic about which cards to add to the catalog as to optimize the amount of space it has available?
  • If not, I have some card packs, should I just use/consume those ASAP?
• Are book effects separate and in addition to effects granted from equipping cards of the same set?
• What are/how to do enhancements?

Stronghold/resource gathering

• I've seen various ores, wood, and other items to gather across the world as I've been leveling up - am I meant to be gathering these? I think it was a requirement for 1 of the earlier quests, but it's been so long I don't remember the point of it, and I don't think I've gathered anything outside of those quest(s). What is the point of gathering these resources?
• I don't get the Stronghold at all. I had to create/visit one with my Deathblade way back when, but I really don't recall what it's all about, what to do, etc. I don't believe I was required to create/visit one when I created my Artist. Is it shared across the roster? What is the point?

Chests/Auras/PowerPass

• I have a lot of different chests and whatnot in both characters' inventories, the universal storage, my mailbox, and wherever else things are sent to lol I don't even know. I have a wide variety of different things (rapport chests, battle item chests, card packs, etc.). In general, what is the strategy for these, what should I be using/consuming right away, what should I be saving?
• There are some other chests and items that I don't even know what they give me. I remember Crystalline Aura and Elgacia PowerPass off the top of my head, but when I can next login, I will be sure to edit this to ask what the others do as well.
  • As far as I'm aware, Elgacia PowerPass is the only thing I have with a time limit left to claim it. What does this do? What character should I claim it on, if any?

Am I missing anything else? I'm sure I will have more questions as well; these are really the biggest things that have been on my mind. If anything else does come up, I will be sure to edit this to clearly include those changes as well.
I know this is a lot already, thanks in advance for any help/guidance, I do very much appreciate it!

Throughout the show, peaches are referenced through the Peach Truck, Victor's love for them, and their until recently neverending nature. We even have Randall say to Bakta "You're a peach". It's clearly part of the origin story, because it's heavily emphasised.
But it's such a vague clue. I've been searching for early Tudor era due to the 1506 date, and my understanding that this all begins when John Cabot sets off for his voyage in Newfoundland in May of 1498.
But peach references for that era are few and far between, they were just a luxury fruit grown in gardens, primarily in France but also England and Italy. It was a perishable good, so it was rarely traded. And peaches would be rot on a voyage, and dried peaches would be very expensive as rations. If anything, they'd have brought peach pits for planting with them, but Newfoundland is far too cold for them to grow - though they may not know that and bring them anyway.
So I searched for more references on the show. And I realised something.
Fatima says "Take your peaches" to Victor twice.
Victor says "No more peaches" several times.
Remember, Fatima says something like, "This place is trying to tell us something, and only some of us are listening closely enough to hear it."
If you look at it, it kind of looks like someone is force feeding someone saying "take your peaches!" and the other begging "no more peaches".
I have been absolutely wracking my brains trying to figure out what it means. And a crazy coincidence made me stumble across a possible answer.
I was almost going to turn in for the night, when I visited this page after searching "peach" "1498"
https://pulcinellapasta.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/peaches-prunus-persica/
There, it mentions a Friar named Girolamo Savonarola, who I recognised from previous research. Primarily because I'm convinced that various condemned to death criminals are secretly headed to Newfoundland, swapped for someone willing to die for them at the last minute. John Cabot, was part of a secretive order called Brotherhood of St. John the Evangelist of Death, who gave alms to condemned criminals. This friar was supposedly burned for heresy in 1498 for making mad prophecies.
But I dismissed him, because I didn't think there'd be two priests on the island (I think Friar Carbonaris, who funded Cabot's voyage, must be there).
In any case, the article said that Girolamo believed that peaches were poisonous. So I searched:
"Girolamo Savonarola" "peach"
And this website came up:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_by_ordeal
I instantly clicked - because I am also of the belief that there is a witch trial with various tortures in the origin story too.
Now, the section on peaches and Girolamo Savonarola are completely different. He was in the "by fire" section and the word "peach" was in the "by poison" section. Here's what the peach section said:
The "penalty of the peach" was an ancient ordeal that involved peach pits or their extracts. The pits contain amygdalin, which is metabolized into cyanide.
I am now of the opinion that it is indeed this torture that is being referenced. Imagine if you will, that Cabot and his colonists brought peach pits, as many other colonists did in that era (Virginia was full of peach trees in Jamestown, and the Spanish brought them too). The peach pits wont grow (too cold). They stop planting them.
Later, in the witch trial, Girolamo Savonarola, the mad friar (I now no longer think Carbonaris is the evil priest) force feeds the Witch or someone she cares about, peach pits, knowing they are poisonous.
As a reminder to her in the current timeline, the evil entity/bogeyman feeds Victor only peaches, sending a whole truck full as a reminder to her of what she endured.