Printable 9th grade story problems

Hi, (I live in the UK)
I have been invited to my first interview! I need to plan a 20 minute reading lesson for year 3. I have chosen a crocodile poem as poetry is easier than starting a new text/story in 20 minutes. Only problem is that I can’t think of any tasks that are that short. Maybe annotate it?
The LO I’m thinking is to look at words to capture the interest of the reader (not worded like that) but I don’t know.
It feels like such a short amount of time. Even 30 minutes would be much better.
Thanks in advance for any help!

Squick warning: descriptions of particularly unpleasasnt smells and sights.
I've seen tales of hotel FD employees having to deal with cops who drop people off at the property, saying, "hey, this person needs a room," but before the hotel can collect payment and deposit, the cops just drive off, leaving the guest stranded and the front desk staff agitated with a new loiterer who decides to cause problems for said staff.
Today, we shall talk about one of these stories, at my old workplace, a motel of about three dozen rooms. The lobby / FD itself is in a suite about the size of a kitchen, like many other motels.
It's a Saturday night shift (22:00-6:00) like any other, and I'm just checking in the last of the arrivals. Someone had called to rent a room - I took name, phone number, and credit card details to hold the room for them.
I see that the cops have arrived and are escorting a man to the front desk to get him a room. Unfortunately, I'm also checking in a guest who already had a reservation, and before I can ask anything to the cop like whether he has a reservation or the funds to rent a room, she's already left as I finish handing the keys to the guest who actually has a booking. Wow, good job officer, so what was your contigency plan if he couldn't afford the room?
So the guy walks in, we'll just alias him as Kevin Kleinbottle. Kevin is a repeat guest to our property who seems to be in his 60s or 70s, having rented a few times here in the past...but hoo boy he has seen far better days. He's wearing some pretty tattered pajamas and smells like he hasn't showered or used the toilet in days. The poor guy also sounds like he's down on his luck, and I also noticed, since he got escorted here by the cops, what happened to the vehicle he would drive to come here?
Well at any rate, I break the news to him, that unfortunately we are sold out. This isn't me pretending to be sold out so I could avoid having to have a hard talk with him, we were genuinely sold out. And given his state, at least if I rented him a room he would be able to shower and get himself clean again.
He's, unsurprisingly, distraught about this. I tell him he could try the other motel around the corner, and he walks off.
Then the next day, he returns, once again aided by a cop who doesn't seem interested in seeing the business transaction through before leaving the property. At least this time the repungent odor is mostly gone and he's better-dressed, in a shirt, light jacket, and sweatpants, but still looks pretty unwell. And this time we had a room available to sell. Unfortunately, his card declines for the room payment and deposit.
He tells me to call the cops again so that they can try to get him somewhere else. The front desk phone is too far to reach to him, so I use my cellphone on speaker instead - of course, making sure it remains in my grip. The cops tell him that they can't assist him again because they are working on some high-profile case so every officer has their hands full.
In the meantime, he has me get a chair since he's getting tired and fears he might stumble over - I grab one of the plastic chairs from the back office.
I'm eager to get him off the property so that I can go back to my work and avoid drawing complaints from paying guests that happen upon his presence in the lobby, and he seems just as eager considering he can't afford a room and can't get anywhere by himself tonight. He decides to just have me call an ambulance instead, citing health problems. I do see that he has a wristband that states "FALL RISK", so I wouldn't be surprised if he was acquainted with the local hospital.
Which he was, upon the arrival of the ambulance and paramedics. They help him to his feet and escort him off.
And that was the last I saw of him - I hope he's doing better these days.

Maybe it's a teenage rage bait, or because of my period, but I'm really not feeling well rn.
I've had this habit for a long time, but it has gotten worse in my preteens, when I started developing an ED (First Anorexia Nervosa and now Bulimia). I've had big fluctuations in my weight for the past 3 years ( to severely underweight to having around 20 pounds of overweight). I don't like to show it or say it, but I'm really depressed. I've being diagnosed with GAD (I'm not sure if that's the exact diagnose, but I've definitely been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder) and that really hasn't help at all.
I've always gotten good grades, being top of my class, tried to be polite, tried to be helpful, responsabile, kind, caring... Cuz I know that that's somehow easier than solving my real problems.
I know my family ( I'm not including friends because I don't have like a friend close enough to trust) are fed up of my situation, and I dont want them to hate me.
Every time I make a mistake, I can't help but to say sorry, even if they're stupid. Like forgetting picking up my clothes, not helping to set up the table, not being/being hungry, talking when I shouldn't, distracting people, saying jokes when I shouldn't, etc.
I'm not a saint, I don't always obey, I lie, steel food, shout, scream, cry a lot and responding badly.
Imy burnt out. Everyone is. And I don't want my own family to hate me.
I want to be healthy. I want to love myself. I want to be happy. I want people to like me. Not because I'm family but because I'm me.

Okay, so here goes. I’m a 25 year old guy from the east coast and I’m out of luck on dating. I thought I’d give this a try. If you’re looking for a close connection give my post a read and let me know what you think.
About me: I’m around 5’8, broad shouldered, grey/green eyes, and dimples you can barely see through my beard. I’m a huge nerd and I’ll proudly admit that. I love Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, DND, anything fantasy/sci fi. I am a gamer but I usually prefer story games like The Last of Us or Assassins Creed, though I can play multiplayer games with my friends sometimes so if you’d like a player two I’m totally down. I’m in college for Cyber Security Technology and it takes up most my time. But when I’m not in school I’m gaming, writing, singing, and playing with my dog.
Who I’m looking for: I don’t have a huge list of specifications. I just want someone who is emotionally available and looking to make a real connection. Someone who I can rely on and who can rely on me through good times and bad. I just want a genuine and kind person. Looks aren’t a problem to me tbh so don’t let your own opinion of yourself stop you from reaching out. I think everyone is beautiful in their own way, so give it a shot. Bonus points if you’re clingy, and even more bonus points if you like to sit on call with me.
That’s about it, just hoping to find the one for me. If anyone out there reads this and wants to give it a chance I’d be more than happy to get back to you. Just send me a DM and we can chat. Looking forward to hearing from you.

(Names have been changed. If it matters, everyone involved is in their 40s.)
My wife Debbie has a friend, Patty, whom she's known for many years and lives in Washington DC (we live in Minnesota). Patty and her husband just had her first baby last year (her husband has kids from a previous marriage) and apparently she's been having a hard time. My wife talks with Patty often and I always know it's her because these phone calls pretty much consist of my wife listening to Patty complain about her life for 45+ minutes each call. Nothing against Patty as from what my wife's told me Patty's situation and marriage doesn't seem very great; my impression is her husband is, at the very least, disrespectful toward her. Here's some of the snippets of what my wife's told me:

• The first story I heard was when Patty and her husband went on a cruise for their honeymoon. In addition to the two of them, he paid for his two daughters and his ex-wife to join them. I guess he told Patty that with his ex-wife there as well she'd be able to look after his daughters.
  
• Since she's had the baby she had to quit her job and is feeling very isolated and alone. She doesn't drive and my impression is that her husband hasn't been supportive of her getting out of the house. I also don't think pulls his weight in keeping up the household.
  
• Patty and her son are going to visit her home country (same country my wife's from) in a few days, which I'm sure will make her feel better. While she's in her country, her husband's flying to France with one of his daughters and his ex-wife. Though I'm not sure if she's paying her own way this time.
  

My wife visited Patty and her husband in DC this last Christmas break; I stayed home since my wife and I are planning to visit her country together (hopefully this summer!) so I need to save my PTO. My wife suggested that Patty visit us to sometime to get out of her house.
Here's where I may be the asshole. Apparently, Patty's husband told her she can't come to visit us because he hasn't met me; he told her he needs to make sure I'm a "good guy" before he lets her visit. So my wife asked if I'd be willing to fly out to DC sometime after our trip to her country to meet them so he could meet me and give Patty his blessing to visit. I told my wife no, I'm not going to fly to DC just so this fucking guy, who gallivants around the world with his ex-wife, can fucking audit me. My wife said it wouldn't just to meet him; we could make a vacation of it. That much is true, and normally I'd have no problem spending a day or half a day meeting up with her friends while we're on a vacation, but the thought of meeting Patty's husband just so he can judge me is insulting.
Am I the Asshole for refusing to travel to meet Patty's husband? Apparently if I don't meet him Patty won't be allowed to visit us, so should I swallow my pride and meet Patty's husband so he can determine if I'm worthy or not?

Well, Clefable's votes were unsurprising. The vast majority of voters voted for Gen 6 OU, where Clefable first achieved Peak Clefable - although there were some people noting that it was arguably even more dominant in pre-home Gen 8 OU, where the limited metagame was incredibly kind to it. Clefable has joined Landorus-T in the Forever OU Gang...although, we thought Tyranitar and Garchomp belonged there too, and look how that went.
​
Moving along, though, we move to Ninetales, the elegant fire fox, which in most cases is a superior browser to Chrome. Aside its design, in most of its early history it was a fairly unremarkable Fire-type special attacker in a universe with many, many, many of those. In Generation 5, however, things began to change for it...
​
So let's get to it. The metagames in question:
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Gen 1 UU: You'd think that Ninetales is solidly outclassed by Moltres in a tier that includes Moltres, with no abilities existing to help Ninetales along, and it seems that for a while, this was considered to be the case. However, the current VR tells a different story, with Moltres having fallen off an absolute cliff to the point where it's now tiered in NU, while Ninetales sits much more comfortably as a lead. The reason? Articuno. In Generation 1, Fire doesn't resist Ice, so Moltres (and Charizard)'s weakness to Ice makes their matchups with Articuno awful - and Moltres is the same speed as Articuno, too, making it even worse. Ninetales is faster than Articuno, threatens it with powerful Fire Blasts that have a solid chance to Burn and cripple physical attackers like Dragonite, and can use Body Slam to fish for paralysis on switch-ins. Dodrio moving up also helps, as it CANNOT switch into Ninetales at all. It's got a solid place in the lead metagame due to its truly bad matchup, Tentacruel, being a way too valuable mon to use as a lead (especially when Kadabra exists) and, even though it still has flaws, it really has enough going for it for the VR to place Ninetales in B- rank.
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Gen 2 NU: I don't know why Game Freak decided to look at Ninetales and thought 'this thing needs to be nerfed', bringing its Special Attack down from 100 to 80, but they did, and Ninetales is forever cursing the day this happened, dropping it into GSC NU. However, it's a decent mon there. Its high special bulk lets it take on Xatu, Magmar, and Weezing very well while threatening Weezing especially back with Flamethrower (preferred over Fire Blast due to Ninetales's more defensive role), and access to Sunny Day allows it to gain some power back despite the nerf. It also gets Roar to take advantage of Pineco's Spikes, and its defensive profile with limited coverage gives it solid case as a RestTalker. There's just one problem - one of the best Pokemon in the tier is Water-type Octillery, and Dewgong is a solid threat too. Ninetales can't make any real progress against Octillery, and being so hard countered by one of NU's best mons is tough for it. Still, the VR places Ninetales in B+ rank, a very respectable showing.
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Gen 3 UU: And due to the addition of the new great Status-inducing Will-o-Wisp, Ninetales got moved back up to UU in ADV!! Where it's...kind of terrible. Unfortunately for Ninetales, in the most recent tier shift, Arcanine entered the tier. Arcanine completely outclasses Ninetales in almost every way, and has the great ability Intimidate, AND higher Special Attack! There is, quite honestly, literally no reason to use Ninetales in the current Gen 3 UU, unless you REALLY want a Fire-type Will-o-Wisp user. The current VR places Ninetales in C- rank, barely above completely useless. Gen 3 UU will be excluded from the poll.
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Gen 4 NU: They decided to throw Ninetales a bit of a bone this generation, giving it access to an actual coverage move in Energy Ball and a powerful setup move in Nasty Plot. What's more, its ability in Flash Fire allows it to switch into expected Fire-type attacks from mons like Charizard and threaten them back with boosted moves - and DPP NU is a tier with a number of strong Fire-types! It can also effectively run Choice Specs, or Hypnosis to nail pokemon on the switch. That said, it's stuck using the mediocre Hidden Power Rock to hit opposing Fire-types, and other Flash Fire mons like Houndoom can exploit it quite well. Bulky Waters that don't take too much from Energy Ball, too, can deal with it, especially Mantine. Overall, it's solid, if not amazing, with the VR placing Ninetales in B rank.
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Gen 5 OU: It's time for Ninetales's big moment in the sun (ha ha.). As the only non-legendary in Generation 5 with the ability Drought, Ninetales is absolutely essential on Sun teams. That sounds great, yes, but...First off, Sun's big tools against Rain and Sand used to be its powerful Grass-type Chlorophyll mons, specifically Venusaur. That's banned, now, and while Rain and Sand were able to get along without their Swift Swim and Sand Rush, Sun was absolutely crippled. As Ninetales is useless on non-Sun teams, its ability to work is shaky at best, and its weakness to Stealth Rock makes it even harder to use. Unfortunately for Ninetales, its big moment of the sun was before the weather speed abilities ban, and it's just not good enough anymore. The VR places Ninetales in C rank. As unfortunate as it is, I have to exclude Ninetales's sole OU placement from the VR.
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Gen 6 PU: And to add insult to injury, Ninetales no longer has exclusive access to Drought, with Torkoal being considered a better Sun setter in most cases, forcing it to lower tiers. These lower tiers have Drought banned, forcing it to the inferior Flash Fire. Gen 6 saw Ninetales fall all the way down to PU, where it's, as is often the case for Ninetales, okay if nothing flashy. Its Nasty Plot and Fire Blast are as strong as ever, which in the era of power creep and Mega Evolution, lands it in a solid niche in a low, low tier. It's still decent (although earlier on in the gen it was considered the premier fire type of ORAS PU), with its ability to force out some mons, however there are just faster mons in lower tiers now, meaning there is plenty that revenges it, like Floatzel, Ursaring, and Simipour. That said, however, Ninetales can absolutely demolish Quagsire with its interesting coverage option in Energy Ball, allowing it to setup break stall without getting walled by Quagsire - a very powerful niche! While Ninetales might struggle against fast frail Water-types, against slower bulkier mons, Ninetales is very much in its element! The VR currently places Ninetales in B rank.
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Gen 7 RU: In a nice turn of events, Ninetales is able to end up in a tier where it doesn't have to compete with Torkoal, but Sun is legal. Nasty Plot and Choice Specs remain solid options with its high power, and having the ability to actually use Solar Beam means that Water-types are no longer a huge issue for it, especially slow bulky ones. The addition of Z-crystals is a major positive for a setup mon like Ninetales, as +2 Inferno Overdrive in Sun will obliterate most things that aren't Snorlax or enemy Flash Fire users. What's more, Virizion and Metagross are two of the best mons in the metagame, and Ninetales loves that - even if Salazzle gives it a bit of pause. While it still has its issues of being a bit frail, and being weak to Stealth Rocks, and letting in certain walls like Goodra and Snorlax pretty easily, it's still a very good mon for aggressive or balanced teams when it can come in. The VR places Ninetales in A rank.
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Gen 8 ZU: Unfortunately, Ninetales is dropped from the the Drought-legal tiers again, and forced back into its inferior ability. It still has some solid play here, with its ability as a Nasty Plot sweeper being especially threatening in such a low power tier, but it has competition in fellow Gen 1 fire type Rapidash, whose physical ability and Play Rough access to threaten Dragon-types like Altaria gives it purchase. It's still decent enough, but it's a bit of a matchup fish (in part because people tend to prepare more for Rapidash, sometimes ending up with teams that are weak to Ninetales, as they are very different counterplay despite both being faster Fire Types.). The VR currently places Ninetales in B- rank.
View Poll

I’m eager to read ahead in the story but don’t really feel like reading the events of season 1 again (I understand there’s probably differences between show and books)
I’m looking for advice on where to start reading,Can I start at book 2? Does book 1 end at the same point as season 1? I have a lot of credits saved on audible so if I have to buy book 1 just to read the last few chapters that isn’t a problem
And if I can skip the events of season 1 in the books I’d appreciate if someone could break down the most important differences
Thanks for any advice
Edit: Thanks all, I had no idea they changed up the characters so much, I’ll wait a few weeks for the story to fade a bit more in my memory and then start with book 1

i think this is my first time writing long-ass paragraph post on reddit, so yeah here's my story
i was raised muslim in a country that is full of muslims ofc. one day my parents forced me to enroll to a islamic junior boarding school but i have no friends there and they are even bullying me for my life choices after graduation. after graduating from junior high school, i decided to consult a psychiatrist and i got diagnosed having bipolar disorder.
i moved to a public high school at 11th grade and make some two close friends. BUT AGAIN, i posted an instagram story of a celebrity taking off her hijab, my close friend INSULTS ME AND CALLING ME NAMES AND SHOWING HER TRUE COLORS FOR BEING RACIST!!!! WHAT KIND OF PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS GLORYFYING BIGOTRY!!! the sad thing is even my teacher who is muslim won't defending me and badmouths me in front of my mom when my mom got called to a school conselor because of my content uploaded in social media!!
religious pressures make me wanna kill myself!!! i wanna move to another country but financial things preventing me from doing that ughh. pls what should i do?? i have cut all contact but their words haunted me sm!!

As If It Were Kismet: Prologue
Matt tore through the brush, blind in the dark. He didn’t care where he was going. He only knew he needed to be elsewhere. Far from here.
Behind him a creature howled that shocked his mind. It’s form was cruel and dangerous, though female. Nothing like the young woman she had once been. Nothing but a girl, a small and slight female.
It’s guttural growls and howls only grew closer as Matt tried to pick between seeing where he was going and getting away. The few times he looked he caught sight of the creature behind him. Hopping through the air with a speed that told him he was being toyed with. As if he were a mouse being played with by a cat.
But the reflex in him to run kept him going. His adrenaline going as hard as it could. The tightness and burning in his core tensing and locking up as his legs felt like there were being burned from within while taking on more of a heaviness.
His lungs were starting to betray him as he tried to gulp big breaths of air but only rapid and shallow breaths were all that he could manage. His brain was starting to burn….and then he was falling.
Falling down the side of a hill he saw the creature dart in a spring towards him, imperceivably fast almost. Catching him in mid air it seemed.
Managing to wrap its body around him and cushion his impact against the ground as they rolled. His mind barely took in what was happening during the roll. Only starting to understand what was happening once they were still.
The creature's triple D-cup breasts were unmistakably pressed hard against his back as he laid facing up at the night sky.
For a few seconds the world stilled and the needle light pain hitting the center of his brain took over for the cooking heat his brain had felt. His whole body felt heavy and reluctant to move.
Even if he could have really moved, a dull ache came over his limbs making them feel stilled and trapped as if by immeasurable amounts of sand that had engulfed him.
Slowly the arms holding him started to move. Moving so the creature's hands could start exploring him. Causing Matt to unstoppably let out a pathetic moan that made him go cold inside as hands lifted up his shirt and started to touch his exposed stomach and then his chest.
He would have whimpered so pathetically had he not still been in the depths of terror.
As its hands felt and groped his pecs he tried to situp as if to get away. For his efforts, his reward was a hand around his throat and a collection snarls and growls against his ear. A beastly, guttural voice spat words at him while somehow holding a feminine tone.
“Don’t move….I don’t know if I can calm down…”
Her words were not helped by her moans in his ear and the subsequent kissing of his ear. The flesh of his ear going between her lips as she moaned and seemed to pant. Releasing it and licking the side of his face with a moist warmth. He could feel its spittle, viscous and coating his flesh where the tongue touched. He could smell something in his saliva. Something that subtly entranced him.
Matt went stock still with fear and the confusion of mixed arousal. He barely perceived her right hand traveling lower on his body. A surprised moan and shudder echoed in the night from Matt’s lips as she took ahold of him. Her hand above his pants but still….stimulating him.
A light squeezing and almost probing of her digits kept him aroused and confused within her grasp. Resigning himself to the strange fate, Matt looked up at the stars as his mind tried not to shatter under the strange maelstrom of events and sensation that had started mere minutes ago.
His mind was only more confused as a slight figure, feminine in build, how it seemed to thunk the ground audibly as she landed on her feet out nowhere. Her knees barely bending under the pressure of the landing. Yet dirt was kicked up anyways and some of it onto Matt. Feeling it pepper his shirt and pants as it fell.
The figure, lit only faintly by moonlight, roared some dark tone Matt could only perceive as a demon as her eyes went bright with a crimson light. A light in the darkness that should not have been. “Let him go you bitch.” Was its words following the roar. Spittle escaping its mouth with faint droplets hit Matt's face.
The creature holding him by his throat and crotch seemed to tighten the grasp of both hands as it roared back. “HE IS MINE!”
The figure paused with a moment's hesitation. He was also her quarry. She had felt his fear without him knowing. His confused arousal. His fear. His terror.
And now he laid at the center of a struggle between two monsters. Unsure of who he wanted to win.
As If It Was Kismet Ch. 1
Matthew Berkshire hadn’t seen his mom in two years. Not that he had seen her much over the last six years.
A messy divorce between messy people and mom’s chaotic want for a life in Alaska had been one of the most…upsetting times in life. Setting him up for so much of what had defined his life thus far but then that had really started two years before he ever turned.
His ear buds were basic and simple. A part of cheap five pack, common for his life as he was known to lose little things. Small things. They had a mix of metal and hard rock playing in them. Some classics, some alternative. Whatever made him feel something, anything. Even if it was hate. Anger. Rage. It was better than feeling numb. Not belonging.
The escalator down to his lone bag to go with his lone carry on showed his mom waiting for him. His had a type, that’s for damn sure. Not that it helped him in the genetics department as he was stuck at 5’9” to go along with his mother’s five foot even as his dad stood six foot. Forever leaving him to feel small, to pale, under his dad’s shadow. Did he ever stand a chance?
The guy next to her with the unkempt former seventies porn stache was “Dave.” He’d met him twice when his mother came and visited him in Florida. To his credit the guy didn’t look annoyed. Kind of concerned kind of which made Matthew want to break his frozen look but he was well practiced. Having removed any note of sadness from his face through much…tribulation.
His mother’s look on her face betrayed a hint of worry as the bruises on his face lightly showed up close. Saying his name was his like a distant echo that belonged to someone else.
Dave cut in and pulled out his right headphone. “What the hell bud, they knock you hard enough to hurt hearing? Your mom’s asking how you are doing.”
Matthew pulled out the other bud and grunted an empty “sorry.”
“You still have bruises after two week? What did they do to you?” His mom’s voice was full of worry. Something he hadn’t heard in….too long. Too long to make him feel anything. To ever make him believe there was any sincerity to her words. To not think her voice and mannerisms were an act. An act by someone who…wasn’t really there.
“It’s only fair. I took a nose. Fractured a couple orbital bones. Left one with having to get his jaw wired shut. And one will never walk right again for what I did to his knee cap.” Matthew said it all with a bored and disinterested tone. Perhaps well rehearsed.
“My man, handing out ass kickings, not bothering to take names.” Dave was quick to be the typical man’s man about it. Matthew wasn’t quite done yet. Lifting up his shirt to expose the right side near his kidney. Revealing a nasty scar from a six inch blade. “Luckily they gave me this first so they could rule it all in self-defense. The fuck didn’t get it in more than inch before I ruined his knee cap and then I took the nose of one of the fucks holding me.” Now he chose to smile keeping the well practiced dead look in his eyes.
No retorts. No questions. Just horrified looks on their faces. As he liked. As he preferred. They could hate him. They could be disgusted by him. But by God they would fear him.
“Well the doc did a good job sewing you up.” Dave commented uncomfortably. “Dissolving sutures. Ain’t they grand.” He smiled again and let it abruptly fall off his face and started walking to the carousel for the baggage claim.
Waiting and making small talk with Dave as his mother stood in silence. He was not the little boy she abandoned. The little boy she left with an angry man. While never hitting him. Left him in constant fear till he turned twelve and just didn’t care anymore. Something snapped. Broke. And he didn’t care if he died. Didn’t care if he stole. Didn’t even care if he killed. He just knew not to get caught. Something left over from his grandfather’s wisdom which came to make more and more sense with each passing year of life since that thing inside him broke.
Finally his bag came around and Dave went to try first to grab it but Dave practically leapt ahead of him. “Is that your grandfather’s rucksack bag?” his mother asked in a perplexed voice.
“Figured it’s been around since Viet Nam. So it’d serve me better than any of the worthless stuff they called luggage.” Dave commented after Matthew’s words. “Well hell yeah I still got mine from Desert Storm. You know the first one.” Dave laughed and Matthew eyed him oddly. Be it in the south or whether it was Alaska, country boys are country boys he guessed.
The car ride to the two people’s house, as Matthew thought of them. Was uneventful and full of vistas he imagined metropolitan types wetting themselves over. At most they meant isolation to him. Furtherness from the world as there were no mountains in Florida. And what mountains he had last seen in another state had been when he was eight. Another life, to Matthew it felt like. A life alien to him.
As If It Was Kismet Ch 2
Dave and his mom’s place was some two story type tucked into a tree line far up an elevated point. It was by no means the highest point in the mountain but it certainly felt up there.
Rocks were where the driveway should have been Matthew thought. Grabbing his backpack and rucksack from Dave’s jeep was no hard thing for him. Matthew was in formidable shape for someone his age, maybe even five years older. He had gotten a mix of fairly big shoulders and arms along with the chest to go for it when compared to most kids his age. A side effect of working out at least twice a day. First thing in the morning, some time in the evening, and the school’s gym when had had a good semester in school before he had to leave Florida.
Dave tried to come up and help him but Matthew walked past him towards the house. His mom was not sure what to make of his demeanor. Matthew was not the sweet kind boy he had once been. But she had been gone from his life essentially for a long time.
Ushering him into the house she cracked some joke he did not hear. He was too busy looking about and seeing a mix of old outdated decorating mixed with the strange and odd flair of his mother. Color contrasting against drab and dated. Like brightly painting over an old home that was falling apart he thought.
“Your room is this way Mattie.” His mom brightly intoned.
Without expressing any interest he followed his mother. Still faced and nonplussed. Just going along with the current. Pushed and pulled with its roll like a piece of driftwood.
The room was simple. A single small bed. A set of rubber weights with a curl bar and barbells. “Your dad said you were into weight lifting so we got you a bunch of stuff. Dave says it looks like his department’s gym almost. The woman’s smile felt very alien to him.
“Thank you. I appreciate it. I’ve got most of my stuff from home.” Matthew starting unpacking his rucksack and pulled out cables of repetitive and mixed colors. A single plastic barbell handle. The ruck sack could be filled with water bottles for added weight during pushups he figured. Remembering a Michael Keaton movie he watched with his dad post-Batman movies where he played a convicted killer using plastic bags filled with water for weights.
Matthew caught movement outside his lone fairly large window that could let him step out onto the roof of the house given its layout.
He saw a number of people running together through what he guessed was the backyard of the property, not that it had any fences to mark boundaries
They wore clothes that looked similar yet different from each other at the same time.”Oh those are the Johnston’s. Really nice bunch of people. Been on the mountain for a long time Dave tells me.”
Matthew looked at the group of people running and noticed the lack of resemblance. “They are related?” Matthew quizzically asked. Seeing a black and possibly a hispanic person amongst the bland looking white people.
“Oh well they are all adopted but for one or two of them…besides the parents of course. The family has a long tradition of taking in orphans they say. Real nice of them to do that don’t you think.”
Matthew looked at his mother and the hosier accent made no sense to him as he arched his left eye brow. Her and his dad were both from Florida. Born and raised. Sure her parents were from New York city but…
Matthew shook his lightly without turning to look at his mother as his vision was grabbed by one of the runners in particular. A girl of moderate height. Soft brunette. A plain beauty he figured with a slim build….and lack of remarkable breasts and rear to make any note of but….girls in general were his type at his age.
She was pretty enough. He couldn’t deny that but he found himself transfixed by her visage.
But the way she turned and looked at him, especially at that distance felt very disconcerting to him. Even if she was smiling like…she was a taste of a bright shiny day. Somehow.
Matthew’s mom noticed the exchange and smiled to herself with closed lips. “Oh that’s Vicky. She’s your age I think. Very sweet girl, who does the charity functions. You know bake sales, blood drives, car washes and the like. I think you should get to know her. Might be good for you.”
A truck horn sounded a couple of beeps in rather succession. “Oh that must be Mack, he said he might come by later this evening but he seems early.”
Matthew’s mother turned and left his room. Leaving Matthew to exchange a few looks with the alluring Vicky as she turned her head away from him to talk to the others in her group and look back at him.
Still Matthew’s left eyebrow was arched. In a way that reminded him of Spock from Star Trek that he and his grandpa used to watch on some streaming service or another.
As he heard ambient chatter elsewhere outside the house he figured to check it out as the alluring sight of Vicky would be around he figured. It was dull to stare at artwork. He was a boy who preferred jet skis and the like. Something he could ride and enjoy immensely. Even if at times it got him stabbed.
As If It Was Kismet Ch 3
Matthew sauntered out of the house and down the rockway that stood in for a driveway.
A few new people had come over from what he could first surmise of the situation. As he got closer it was obvious they were indigenous people. A couple of grown men…and a girl?
She was mousey. Maybe five foot. Hiding behind glasses and a big camo jacket that was far too big for her. It looked made for a grown man and the backwards trucker hat on her head kept her long black a beautiful mess of sorts.
She was cute in a way. A little androgynous but she had a cute energy to her. She reminded him of the more tomboyish Puerto Rican girls he had gotten into back in Florida. Given the deer corpses in the back of the truck….probably more dangerous to play with given the men in her family.
Small chatter passed between the adults when the girl noticed but turned away, trying to hide the tiny hint of a smile.
“Oh Mattie, this is Mack. He works with Dave at the sheriff’s department and John, he’s with fish and wildlife.” Matthew nodded at his mom’s words with some blankness as he looked at the deer the in the back of the pickup truck.
“Gale tells us you hunted with your dad some in Florida and Georgia.” Mack offered with a light hearted laugh camouflaged by his big simple and cheery but husky way he spoke.
Looking in the back of the truck he spoke. “We used lever action thirty-thirties and Mosin Nagants in seven-six-two-fifty-four-rimmed.” Mack and John whistled in an exaggerated fashion. Leaving Matthew to wonder if they were mocking him.
Mack spoke. “Well we just used thirty-odd-six in a custom gussied Garand.” That caught Matthew’s attention. “You have a Garand…” Matthew finally demonstrated interest in anything. “My dad has an SVT-40 and a Hakim 8mm but he always wanted a Garand but was too cheap to buy one.”
Gale, his mother, chimed in loudly. “Oh his Dad loved his guns but was such an odd duck about how he bought or why he bought them. Never made sense to me how he wasn’t a collector but he didn’t get the latest and greatest.” Gale laughed uncomfortably. At least it seemed that way to Matthew.
Matthew pointed to the girl with an underhanded pointing hand. “And who is this? A cute little mute mouse or does she have a name?” Dave and the other men laughed.
Mack again spoke. “Well you people call her Rebecca, she’s my adopted daughter.” Matthew was taken aback by what he heard. “You people?”
Rebecca kindly spoke with a soft but almost melodic voice as she struggled to maintain eye contact. “White people or rather not members of our tribe. It’s just easier to appease the colonizer kind of thing. Borrowed from when the Jesuit missionaries chased us up here.”
Mack stepped in. “It’s just easier to have white people names than have them try to say our tribal names. And we don’t want them shortening or Anglicising our names kind of thing.” Rebecca stepped back into the conversation cutting off her adopted father. “It’s an insult to our history basically.”
Matthew cocked his head sideways raising his eyebrows shortly before letting them drop. “Well as soon as I’m eighteen I’m out of here and back to Florida so I’m a sort of involuntary colonizer of sorts. So I won’t be taking any of your land from you. The Seminoles on the other hand are still shit out of luck.”
Rebecca’s smile caused Matthew to reflexively smile. Mack made the moment more awkward. “See Becca, I told you someone off the reservation would like you some. You just have to be creative.” Mack laughed in a chiding manner…Matthew presumed. He sensed that he was the butt of some kind of cultural joke. Like marrying a white guy was some sort of insult or mark of shame. That kind of thing.
Rebecca turning away from him was not something he had been expecting. Her then getting in the truck in a huff left the group in a silence for a moment.
Dave spoke to break the awkward silence. “Well just bring the truck to work on Monday and leave it for me to grab up.” Mack acknowledged Dave and they started to get off as Rebecca looked at Matthew for another instance. Matthew couldn’t look away for some reason as the two seemed to lock eyes for an instance.
Till Vicky and family seemed to come jogging down the road. While Matthew’s eyes diverted from Rebecca’s. Hers did not till she realized he was looking elsewhere. And her vision found Vicky and what had been a hint of smile on her face turned glum and disappointed.
Matthew did not look away from the vision of Vicky but instead of a starry eyed fool looking longingly. It was a baffled look. Well baffled for him, with his eyes drawn narrow and night with a focus.
There was something about her…he couldn’t quite put a name too. The way she appeared to him. One second brunette. The next second blonde or blonde like. As if the color appeared in her air and disappeared in fractions of seconds. Much the same way her body almost seemed to…shift…very subtly…smoothly. A nicer bum. Larger breasts. And then back to a simple and plain form. Feminine no doubt. Attractive. But not so…remarkable.
As If It Was Kismet Ch 4
The next two days passed without incident. Nothing of any real substance or challenge to note.
Matthew got settled somewhat and started working out almost immediately. Exploring around the woods but Dave told him not to go far. Especially without a hunting rifle. Dave had left a simple semi-auto Winchester out for him. His bear gun as Dave referred to it with its four round magazine. But Matt figured till he got some practice with the rifle to leave it alone. He made a hiking stick like his grandpa taught him and treated it over a low fire. He would take some electrical tape for the end his hand would grip around. Plenty enough to ward off anything smaller than a bear he figured.
The ride to school was a pain in the neck but simple enough. Dave would let him use a clunker pickup truck he had laying around. It wasn’t pretty but it would get him to and from. Even if it was from the eighties and still backfired on occasion. But for now Dave and his mom took him on their way to the sheriff’s department.
It wasn’t much of a school. It wanted to be modern but its fifties original construction was very obvious. It serviced the pipeline families and familys’ of fisherman who worked the seasons in between their time at the pipeline.
Matt was to report to the principal for some reason Dave and his mom wouldn’t share. Which annoyed him but he figured it was to read him the law of land. Small towns with their big views of the outside world and like.
Dressed in jeans, a grey sweatshirt under a light jacket with steel toed boots set him more apart then he expected. His buzzed head didn’t help matters. Already he was feeling like a stranger in a strange land but he was quite strange after all. And he liked it that way. Normal people were so pathetically disappointing to him.
A secretary or assistant or some such led him to the principal’s office. Where it reeked of real wood that was old and fabric and upholstery that needed to be updated for the last twenty years, Matt figured.
“This is Matthew Berkshire, Principal Andrews.” The man was turned with his back to the door and he was quick to wave her off as he turned her around.
He was an older man. Fat and large. Tall with a body built like he had once been fit and a demeanour of annoyed and irate already as he fixed Matt with a scowl and look of disgust. Another worthless government whore. Matt thought to himself. His father and his grandfather had bestowed unto him a natural disrespect for government workers and the figures that wore unjustified authority as a shield but pretended the weight of the state was not at their back ready to crush all who resisted. Little figures of valor pretending to be mighty and alone but acting with the tyranny of the state and all the backing.
“Mr. Berkshire, please sit down.” His tone wasn’t unusually hostile, just gruff. As if he had better things to do.
Matt complied and took a seat in the chair while maintaining a friendly facade. Not everyone was an enemy. And not everyone needed to be an enemy. Even if anybody could be any enemy. There was no reason to make enemies you didn’t have to. Another of his grandfather’s bastardised wisdoms.
“Well I looked over you file and you have quite the history Mr. Berkshire.” Matt resisted qiuping back a joke. Instead he waited for Principal Andrews to continue as he remained nonplussed and looking as if he felt no need to respond. A simple head tilt with dead eyes looking back at the principle as if he was not even there would suffice.
Matt’s reaction or lack of a reaction rather made Principal Andrews only narrow his eyes with examination. He was not used to a kid not responding to him. Especially with his gruff and hard act going on.
“Well by all accounts you moved here after some problems at your last school. A fight broke out and you did some real harm to your fellow students it appears.” Of course, he would take the side of the perpetrators. School administrators always did. Especially when they weren’t white. Just a fact of the times. Cowardice and pathetic mediocrity was the way they leaned, like good government workers sucking the dick of Big Daddy government. Worthless whores.
Matt chose to reply. “Oh you mean the criminals that stabbed me. Got arrested at the hospital and then pled to felonies. Yeah Florida, with the American counties are good like that.” Principal Andrews went real still. No shame. No fear. No penitence. He didn’t like that.
“Well be it as it may Mr. Berkshire we don’t tolerate that kind of behaviour here…” Matt cut him off responding with a deadpan tone. “You mean self-defense meant to save one’s own life while the cowardly and pathetic school workers look on with zero interest but to keep their money rolling in and will allow known gang members with records of violent acts and crimes that should have them expelled many times over, where in certain Democrat counties such cowardice and idiocy empowered a couple school shooters?”
Principal Andrews looked at the Matt with a note of disgust. “Look here Mr. Berkshire, your beliefs matter not one bit here. This isn’t Florida. We don’t like our way of life being disrupted by outside agitators who have problems with authority.”
Matt did his best not to roll his eyes and let the older fat man drone own as he dead-stared him. Lifeless and without emotion.
The man came to a finish and Matt spoke up without having listened to him or paid him any attention. “Great now that’s taken care of. Can I please get to class and finish my sentence of two years at your wonderful school?”
Principal Andrews huffed and snorted before calling in Vicky. Vicky stood in the corner after entering with a quiet and seamless presence. Matt felt disturbed and tried not betray his feelings as the young Vicky was perceived and not perceived to be moving.
Principal Andrews made the introductions and Matt nodded back. She was to be his chaperone for the day. They had the same classes and she was to show him the ropes so to speak. The ins and outs of the school. The locations of their classes.
He recognized her. It was hard not to. The way her appearance seemed to shift fluidly almost. The petite and skinny brunette ever so lightly had a big bust and blonde hair with curves added when she seemed to shift before his eyes. Like watching a film but each frame had a different person.
Matt didn’t say anything about it. Even if he did he would only be acknowledging his crazed state, if he had one. If.
Unlike an obedient puppy dog he got up in a slow and awkward fashion and followed behind her as his oddly disproportionate frame allowed. Causing her a note of concern for some reason. As if she was seeing something she shouldn’t have been….Or he was just weird. And Matt could admit to himself he was just weird. Part of his charm, he would jest about it at times. Not that he had many people to jest to now.
As If It Were Kismet Ch. 5
Following Vicky into the hall off to their first class was simple. She exchanged small talk and he slightly smiled as if to obviously suggest he was just being polite.
Inside his head, Matt was trying to figure out if he was having a psychotic break. The way Vicky looked kept changing and he looked at the other people around him and they stayed the same.
He was searching his mind as they were walking. And thus he wasn’t paying attention to where he was looking and so fell to his face forward over his feet seemingly out of nowhere.
A series of laughs erupted as it sunk in that he was obviously tripped. Like in prison this was a challenge to his superiority. If he let this pass he would be mocked and sneered at by this same group of boys. He wouldn’t walk to them like he was going to do nothing like a little bitch.
In a rage he turned and punched the stomach of the first face he saw. Some typical blonde haired wannabe jock. He knew from experience not to aim for the ribs. Instead he needed to aim for where he thought the belly button was.
Yells and screams blindly echoed around him as his after the punch he followed up his elbow of the opposite arm slamming into the face of the jock. Harder than a fist, the elbow struck the jock’s jaw and seemingly dropped him against a locker. Just in time to catch an errant and soft punch to the nose that sure enough hurt but did little to slow him down as his dad had taught him to fight through the pain. Blood and scars happened. They were a natural consequence of life to a man.
Taking the punch and falling further into his red state Matt headbutted the punch thrower before another guy arm bared his throat from behind. Which he managed to get his grip on the arm over a letterman jacked and jerk the unprepared boy to the side with him still latched on.
A few feet away from the lockers Matt knew his only chance was to jump and push off the lockers and knock the boy to the ground and so he did. He heard a thunk of the boy’s skull bouncing off the ground and he turned to pull out of the grapple.
The beatings he had taken from his father, the grapples, being choked unconscious. Had prepared him for fighting little bitches who didn’t know what a fight was. It wasn’t gay porn with rabbit punch fists flying.
Blood was running down his face and the pain started to hit him as the threats had been eliminated. Only then did he remember to breathe. Taking breathes as Vicky came up to him with tissues and took a hold of his nose.
“Owww owww owww what the fuck my nose could be broken.” He said to Vicky as she pulled his head up and back.
“It’s ok Carl. It’s done.” Matt tried to look to see who Vicky was talking to. It was a boy taller than his 5’9” by more than a small margin. The boy eyed him bored and annoyed before speaking. “What happened here?” An unoriginal line but one Matt couldn’t be a smart aleck about. “Well you see there was an outbreak of tripping and we all tripped over my dick. It happens.” Matt was about to laugh when Vicky seemed to pull up while still gripping his nose causing Matt no small amount of pain which he audibly evidenced.
Vicky spoke in a tone he wasn’t expecting. As if she was accustomed to issuing orders. “Keep Iris away from the hall till we sanitize the site. We have blood from at least three people contaminating the site. And have Jake bring me a spare jacket and shirt for this moron.”
Carl seemed to acknowledge her orders and seemed to blink away. Maybe the punch hit harder than he expected. He had no time to wonder as Vick took her hand away from his and pushed him against the lockers. With ease he had not been expecting from her form and stature.
Before he could respond Vicky licked his blood covered chin and then his lips and spoke to him. “Focus on me you little blood bag.” Her tone had an annoyed yet feminine sneer.
“Look into my eyes. Look at me. You belong to me. You are just another food source in a collection of food sources.” Her eyes were a beautiful hazel Matt thought. Almost green. Pretty like jewels in some old treasure collections. The eyes he could get lost in before kissing her. Finally Vicky was just a slight and petite brunette and he thought she was beautiful.
She would make a hell of a girlfriend. Some cute thing he could see laying on the beach in Florida on their sides laughing and smiling before trading light kisses while hands wandered innocently. Before his mind could drift further he felt her lips on his. It took him a second to mentally grasp the kiss but his arms were around her back as her hands were at his sides. His eyes reflexively closed as he saw hers close.
It was ineffable to Matt. Beyond words, what was happening. The kiss, the moments beforehand. The way his brain tickled with electricity and gentle warmth. He had never had a kiss like this and he had traded more than a few kisses with at least a few girls.
The kiss was like a warm bath with his consciousness slipping beneath the surface. Their lips only parted to try new angles and approaches as Matt struggled to take in breath. It was a moment he could have stayed trapped in for….he didn’t know. But a curt throat clearing by another girl pulled them out of the moment.
The girl was taller than Vicky. Blonde. With slight curves. Vicky addressed her bewildered and gobsmacked, and perhaps a bit embarrassed. “Tina?”

What the actual firetruck. I scored a 95 throughout high school, scored a full 80 in the MAT137 problem sets and another 80 in the MAT224 final, but my final UOFT MAT244 grade is IPR?? First the questions on the final were exactly like what is done in class and the practice test. Second the marking, they really held the midterm so late that the makeup marks were only posted a week after the final. I really don't understand why they can't just post my mark (40, assuming I got 100% on the final)

This is long so thanks to all who reads this. My boyfriend and I have been together for 10 years and we have had a ton of ups and downs. As I mentioned he is a school counselor, he has even had inappropriate relations with another teacher at one of the schools he worked at and that was a whole thing. So I’m very insecure bc he has a history of texting and flirting with other girls. So this school year he’s at a new school settling into his role. He’s a young handsome man and he tells me all the time how he can’t get students out of his office, and for some time I could understand bc it’s rare for black students to see a young black counselor especially having a similar disadvantaged upbringing as them. So here is where my problem started. All these girls would come to him and cry about their relationship issues (something I didn’t do in high school) and say they think their pregnant etc and all these teenage sob stories. So a pregnant student invited him to her baby shower and he was dead set on going because he supported her a lot and we had a VERY LONG conversation about OPTICS and how we never want things ever look a certain way. When I told a family member we were going to said students baby shower I was given the response “why? That’s weird.” So there’s the optics. So fast forward, I’m going through his phone and he texted a female student at 5:30 AM (we were at the gym together I was doing RDLs in front of him) “happy birthday 🎈🎊”. At 5:30??!! He said that the previous day she kept reminding him and her mom has cancer and he feels bad so that’s just when he remembered. So then the student texts later “wya with my chipotle” and he responds “driving back”. He said that he buys students lunch on their birthdays. I continue going through the phone and I see multiple students numbers saved male and female but I’m more concerned about the females asking “can you call me down 5th period”. For example.
Now I do not think he is a groomer bc these messages are largely about graduation dates and deadlines and he does not communicate with students after school hours BUT after we already had the conversation about optics and I’ve already voiced my insecurities he’s continued to show he has blurred boundaries. I don’t plan to stick around when the accusations come rolling in. When I confronted him I felt gaslit and when I said I was going to post the screenshot to social media he almost got physical because I’m putting his character and job in jeopardy but I believe other people would agree with me that his behavior is weird. TLDR

Hi everyone,
I'm in a bit of a situation and could really use some advice. My father is a high school government teacher and recently became the headmaster. The previous headmaster had some shady practices, and now my father is caught in the middle of it.
Here's the story: A student at the school was preparing for a competitive exam and rarely attended classes. Instead, he used the school as a dummy, paying extra money to the previous headmaster to mark him as present on the attendance register even when he was absent.
When my father took over as headmaster, he was unaware of this arrangement and continued to mark the student present, following the previous headmaster's orders.
Fast forward to now, the student passed the exam and needs a Transfer Certificate (TC) to move to a new school. My father initially refused to give the TC because the student was not a regular attendee. However, the student and his parents went to the district head office, and the authorities instructed my father to issue the TC, so he complied.
The problem arose when the district authority head reviewed the attendance records and discovered that the student was frequently marked present despite not attending school. Now, the authority head is demanding that my father pay a fine of 70,000 rupees or face legal action.
We're not sure what to do. Any advice on how to handle this situation would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

GPT-4o is an omni model. It accepts any combination of text, audio, and image as input and generates any combination of text, audio, and image as outputs.
There's 100s of applications it will enable. I'll cover a few of them below.

1. Language Learning

Duolingo Stock fell by $65 in the last 5 days. That should tell you the entire story.
Duolingo Stock
For context, Duolingo is a language-learning app. Now GPT-4o can easily translate terms in other languages by just pointing it to the ChatGPT's Camera.
This is massive if you want to travel globally as a nomad. You don't have to know a language now. You can just translate on the fly in any random country.
The accuracy won't be 100% but it would be close enough. And the AI keeps improving.

2. Solving School Problems For Students

I wish I had this in school. Learning could've been more efficient and faster.
Most students fear asking questions because they feel it might be dumb. Now you can ask ChatGPT any dumb question.
It even solves math problems for the Salman Khan's (founder of Khan Academy, not the actor) Kid.

3. Bed Time Stories For Kids

Since ChatGPT can talk now with a humourous and sultry voice, you can use it to tell stories to kids. It can be used in the voice of their parents or grandparents.
You can even use a Soft Toy that does the talking to the kid. Earlier, there used to be toys that did that but it only spoke the same sentence. Now it can do back and forth.
You can make special toys that teach kids letters and alphabets. Target it to 2-3 year olds.
Hat tip to Whyme-__- for the Bed Time idea.

4. Be My Eyes For The Blind

Best damn use-case for the blind. Now using a Phone is a bit too much for this but when smart glasses come, every blind person will have a walking companion.
The future is great for the blind.

5. Be My Friend

Too many people are lonely nowadays thanks to technology. It can be a boon for some but a con for others.
You can build a specialized app that gets you an AI Friend since you can talk to it now and it can talk back, it will be great.
I am 100% sure Therapy AI will be much better now with Audio/Video integration. In future, we will have fully featured Robots like Tesla's Optimus and Figure that will have such functionalities built-in.
I bet this comes in <2 years judging by the pace at which AI and Robotics are accelerating.

6. Comic Books

Now that text can be easily created with ChatGPT, why not create Comic Books easily.
Its a huge creative exercise for comic creators. Webtoons have exploded in popularity and many KDramas are made out of them like Death's Game and Marry My Husband.
This will increase the creativity exponentially.

7. Font Creations

Fonts are expensive. Like really expensive.
Funnily enough ChatGPT can create fonts easily now. Take the most popular fonts, tweak them a bit, and create entire new sets of fonts.
Look at the creations explode on Creative Market. Font directories like Typewolf can now create their own fonts easily as they already have distribution.
Open AI GPT-4o Text to Font

8. Brand Placements

It solved for Brand Placements too.
You can put your brand in places you never imagined without using too much effort.
Open AI GPT-4o Brand Placement

9. Poster Creation for Movies or TV Series

Posters are hard to get right but as you know there are only finite variations.
Open AI GPT-4o Movie Posters
You can fine-tune it on popular movie posters and solve Poster Creation once and for all.
Open AI GPT-4o Poster Creation
What use-cases can you come up with? Give me your best ones.

For a little backstory, there was this guy I’ve known since 7th grade, we were friends (I liked him throughout this time) throughout 7th grade to 9th grade, we had a small thing between 8-9th grade and then we eventually stopped talking, in 10th grade I moved schools and he also moved to that school at the same time, I’d always see him at school staring at me and glancing, looking away when I’d look over at him, we never spoke to each other only just looked at each other, eventually he added me by search on Snapchat and I added him back and asked why he added me, he said “sorry I was high and ___ asked about you” I ended the conversation basically after that and unadded him, we continued to go on always glancing and staring at each other ect, talking on social media very briefly but again I’d end the conversations very quickly, eventfully I realised I kinda did still like him so I added him on Snapchat one day, we started talking again and fell into chatting just like we used to, I eventually admitted to him that I used to like him and he also admitted that he did too but he thought I didn’t so he didn’t say anything (?? Just say something bro) anyway the conversation went on and I finally admitted that I still had feelings for him, he also admitted that he never really stopped liking me and he realised when he saw me at our new school that he liked me still and couldn’t stop looking at me, we continued to talk constantly, we’d hang out out of school together, alone also with his friends and my friends ect, we sit together on the way to school on the bus in the morning, but I don’t speak to him at school cause his friends are too intimidating lmao, he wants me to but I’m just a bit shy honestly, when we hangout in public he’s very touchy and affectionate, always wants to hold me or touch me in someway. And then one night we were together he said “I know this might seem crazy but I think I’m in love with you” I was shocked when he said that, and ever since he just keeps saying it, I told him that he shouldn’t say it so early, so he said he’d stop so instead he just says “I really really really (ect) like you” every single day too, he’ll tell me every single day that he likes me so much (sometimes even slips up and says love) tells me how much I mean to him, when I’m upset or stressed about anything he’s always there for me and makes sure to tell me again how much I mean to him and that he loves me and that he’s always here for me, whenever we’re together he’ll go on and on about how much he likes me and how happy I make him ect, it’s so constant and it’s so much and it does make me happy to a point cause I do really like him, but it also makes me uneasy with the thought maybe he doesn’t and he’s just love bombing me, he also wants to date and I said I wasn’t ready so he said “take as long as you need, days, weeks, months but please don’t make me wait another three years“

Hey everyone, I’m looking for advice on what I can do to help my daughter. Just for reference we live in Missouri and she is currently in 3rd grade. Long story short she has always been different from my older kids and more challenging. We’ve been involved with first steps for speech/OT, she “failed” her kindergarten assessment, and she was selectively mute for all of kindergarten/early assessments. Covid started during her kindergarten year so they dropped the ball on what should have been her first IEP evaluation. She has been evaluated three times and denied an IEP three times since we finally were able to get an assessment in first grade. After our first iep assessment (first grade) was a huge fail we had a private evaluation at UMSL (second grade) and were able to get an ADHD diagnosis finally. They also re-tested her IQ and it came back at 79. The school district has tested her IQ twice and it’s also come back around 80. I have been told repeatedly she cannot have a learning disability because her IQ is low and she does not qualify for an iep because there isn’t a discrepancy with her academic scores. She is in a math “tutoring” program and a social/play therapy program the school has but that’s all they have for her. The reading program has been put off on the teachers due to “lack of resources”. Her teacher does what she can and my daughter is making improvements but it’s just not enough. She is still about a grade level behind and gets C/D grades. Her processing speed is so low and I just want her to have access to more help. We have an advocate that we are working with now but I just feel like there is more I could be doing instead of waiting.
We have tried tutoring multiple times and she refuses to participate in it. She’s been medicated for about a year now and has been retested since starting her medication. I’m just tired of the school telling me nothing is wrong and she’s going to be a low achieving student.
I do suspect she is possibly autistic, however, UMSL refused to fully evaluate her for ASD because unmedicated ADHD can present as autism when it isn’t. UMSL has since lost their funding to evaluate kids from our area. Additionally, my daughter does not fully participate in assessments, she won’t talk or engage beyond what is minimally required. She hates school and says she doesn’t want to work harder (outside of school hours) than she already is. I would love to send her to a private school for kids with difficulties like her but the one school we have that is close is 30 minutes away and her dad disagrees with sending her there.

Hey everyone, I’m looking for advice on what I can do to help my daughter. Just for reference we live in St. Charles county Missouri and she is currently in 3rd grade. Long story short she has always been different from my older kids and more challenging. We’ve been involved with first steps for speech/OT, she “failed” her kindergarten assessment, and she was selectively mute for all of kindergarten/early assessments. Covid started during her kindergarten year so they dropped the ball on what should have been her first IEP evaluation. She has been evaluated three times and denied an IEP three times since we finally were able to get an assessment in first grade. After our first iep assessment (first grade) was a huge fail we had a private evaluation at UMSL (second grade) and were able to get an ADHD diagnosis finally. They also re-tested her IQ and it came back at 79. The school district has tested her IQ twice and it’s also come back around 80. I have been told repeatedly she cannot have a learning disability because her IQ is low and she does not qualify for an iep because there isn’t a discrepancy with her academic scores. She is in a math “tutoring” program and a social/play therapy program the school has but that’s all they have for her. The reading program has been put off on the teachers due to “lack of resources”. Her teacher does what she can and my daughter is making improvements but it’s just not enough. She is still about a grade level behind and gets C/D grades. Her processing speed is so low and I just want her to have access to more help. We have an advocate that we are working with now but I just feel like there is more I could be doing instead of waiting.
We have tried tutoring multiple times and she refuses to participate in it. She’s been medicated for about a year now and has been retested since starting her medication. I’m just tired of the school telling me nothing is wrong and she’s going to be a low achieving student.
I do suspect she is possibly autistic, however, UMSL refused to fully evaluate her for ASD because unmedicated adhd can present as autism when it isn’t. UMSL has since lost their funding to evaluate kids from our area. Additionally, my daughter does not fully participate in assessments, she won’t talk or engage beyond what is minimally required. She hates school and says she doesn’t want to work harder (outside of school hours) than she already is. I would love to send her to a private school for kids with difficulties like her but the one school we have that is close is 30 minutes away and her dad disagrees with sending her there.

I’m f 23 and I’m reviewing my life. I do every few months and always decide to stay with my mum. Because I need her emotional support, money, and I love her a lot, or perhaps better worded: have a personality that can be described as Co-dependent.
My mum tries to alienate everyone from me including my grandma, aunt, dad and brother by always talking shit about them every time I bring them up. Even when I was younger she’d ask me “do you like dad or mum more?” And treat me badly if I said I like my dad more.
She was always jealous of my brother and I hanging out together so as long as she’s awake or in the house we don’t speak to each other or she gets very angry and always butts into the conversation to ask what we are doing, and tries to monitor what we talk about a the time.
She constantly encourages us to be paranoid since we were young, telling us everyone is “watching us because we are acting stupid”, that people “hate us because we are stupid”. She treats unintelligent people like garbage or less than human. It’s the only thing that matters to her. She always says “I don’t understand how you kids have social anxiety!” In such a cheerful way and pretends not to remember anything she did to us. She loves to humiliate us. Shouting in public about our insecurities. Saying to me”if you think you’re fat I’ll call you fatty”, and addressing me “fatty” and when I get annoyed she just says “it’s just a joke… you know I love you dearly”. She always finds a way to feel powerful from our insecurities, playing the heartbroken mum.
She buys us gifts and is kind for a few weeks. Lovebombing us. Then she turns around whenever we get too uncomfortable, and threatens to leave. She says she regrets ever loving us and that buying us the gifts were a mistake and “she was just her trying her best.” Because she’s fully aware and feels guilty of her own behaviour whilst never admitting to it.
She made my brother sleep in a bin when he was 4 years old saying she will “dump us in the rubbish where we belong and put us in orphanages” because we couldn’t finish our food at a dinner in front of her friends. When I was 6 my uncle purchased me a set of crayons and she forced me to hand them out to the class once each. she hit me so much until I submitted and agreed to her conditions. It took a lot of whacks because I loved the crayons :/.
She would put me in situations where I became a bad person and she would just be a bystande victim. She would bawl crocodile tears saying “she only did this because I’m a bad mother”, and that statement was the most true thing that ever left her mouth . For example, when I was around 12 she said I was “on her laptop for too long” when I had a group project due the next day. So she kept the laptop on lock saying I’m not allowed to access it. The next day my teacher had a massive go at me, saying I had a responsibility for the group project and made my group fail. I told her the truth when she asked why I couldn’t complete my work. She called my mum immediately to ask if it was true. Then the most unexpected thing happened and I could hear my mum crying through the phone saying it never happened: that I’m a liar. The teacher never looked at me the same way again. She was one of my favourite teachers. I went home and asked my mum why she did it and she got very angry, saying I “never asked her to use the laptop”. She would always pretends to be unaware of her actions, feigning ignorance as her greatest weapon.
My brother tells me after each time I try to accuse my mum for her past behaviours, my mum would talk to him afterwards. Saying how “no one will ever believe a word she says. It’s so pitiful to see her try”. She would laugh and scoff at me saying I’m a failure etc, and that’s why no one will believe. He tells me I need to leave or my life will be painful, suffocating, and controlled.
I’ll never be able to have a partner. She rejects all my friends. She would kick them out of the house even when I had friends over on play dates when I was 8 years old, and she would tell me how all my friends were bad children. She starts getting angry when I call my bestie and grabs my phone to turn it off when I’m on a call even now. She starts saying I need to do all these chores and should be grateful for her etc, and that if I were a good person I wouldn’t call my best friend.
She controls me with money. With how much I can earn, how much I can spend. She gets incredibly angry when I save and has always discouraged it. Because saving means power to leave her. She’s confiscated or taken my money many times. She demands rent from me whenever I earn to stop me from saving. She says she’ll kick me out whenever she realises I’m making too many friends or becoming closer to other family members.
She’s always controlled my dad, brother, and myself with threats of abandonment. Even when I was little she would tell me she’d leave me and never return because im a bad child and I don’t deserve her. She’d disappear on” holidays” without telling us.
All the while she says she wants me to be her little girl forever and that she’ll never let me go. She said this to me many times throughout my childhood, and the last time was three months ago.
If I talk about my problems she tries to shut me up with her sob stories from her childhood -that turned out never happened when I asked my grandma.
I’ll never escape. :/

TW for sexual assault
My wife and I were high school sweethearts. The first year of dating was extremely rough. Both because we were immature teenagers, and because of HEAVY trauma we were each bringing into the relationship.
We both did some pretty awful things, that would never happen again today. We are practically different people. The main "big" thing the happened on my wife's side, was cheating. Getting into the relationship, she was a bit promiscuous and engaged in other dangerous behavior, primarily because she was molested, damn near her whole childhood. And the poor coping didn't stop once we started dating. There was a period of time where we couldn't see each other AT ALL due to COVID as well as my homophobic parents. She did not handle this well, obviously. She ended up cheating with a mutual friend of ours. Part of what sparked that mutual friend specifically being the AP, is that they were both molested as kids and were experiencing a sort of trauma bond. It started as an emotional affair, and escalated to the point where she had the AP in her bed, tried to cuddle, but then kicked the AP out in disgust of herself after the first cuddle attempt. No sexual contact. Of course, a BP can never TRULY know. But I have my reasons to believe this is the series of events. Including talking to the AP myself. Anyway, DDay and the subsequent couple weeks, were the most painful of my life. By far. And I've been though some shit. But we loved each other and chose to reconcile.
And we did! Years later, we even got married. We have such a healthy marriage, I feel so lucky. There is a lot of trust between us. I literally don't worry about her cheating again. Once I woke up in a sweat, dreaming about her cheating. But then I went back to sleep because reality hit me, and I was like "wait she would literally never do that (again)," and I went back to sleep. The key to this level of recovery was definitely her starting to heal from her trauma and not let it drive her actions. Besides the topic of trust, it's just an amazing relationship. Theres so much affection and support. We'd do anything for each other, and we show it all the time. The sex has also gotten better as we go deeper into the relationship. Sex is a very emotionally intertwined thing for us. For me, the improvement of our sex life has been directly related to our bond strengthening.
The point I'm trying to make, is that we're recovered. We are in a genuinely happy marriage, and the trust has been built PAST where it was before it was broken. I feel almost like we're an ideal story of reconciliation. Almost!
The problem I'm facing is that it still hurts. I don't worry that it'll happen again. But what HAS happened, hurts like hell. I was abandoned by my parents as a baby, and lots of experiences past that in life has severely damaged me and likely are the reason I developed BPD. The abandonment of feeling betrayed by my now wife, similarly sticks to me. I feel like it's a mark on me I will never wash off. When I look at my wife now, I don't even see the same person that hurt me back then. But the hurt still happened. It just hurts my heart. I don't know how to cope with how I've developed, because of all the abandonment and betrayal in my life. I have such an intense fear of abandonment, and it comes out in horrible ways. Basically if you just do a little research about BPD, that's just what my life is. It's incredibly painful, and it sucks that my wife who is NOW the best version of herself, contributed to me being damaged in this way.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that cheating fucking sucks. Because you can rebuild the trust, rebuild the relationship, but you can't undo what is done. That's the part I'm struggling with.

I (18F) want to end my life. I’m currently set to graduate in June but I feel as though I want to end my life because of school. I am failing almost all of my classes, ones which I’m good at. I’ve been diagnosed with MDD and ADHD this year, and am currently in therapy. I have missed a bunch of school due to my MDD and other health issues that I don’t want to get into. My teachers KNOW this. It’s been communicated yet I’m still given no break. I complete all my work, just mostly through online as it’s hard for me to go to school. My therapist has even advised me to not go as it poses a major risk to my mental health. I have no friends at school as there’s been rumors about me being a sl*t. That’s obviously not true. I want to pull these grades up and attend but the physical pain of going makes it very difficult to get out of bed at 5am for school. I know if I don’t graduate I wouldn’t be able to deal with the guilt of failing. And I know I would be trapped and feel absolutely hopeless. I guess what I’m looking for is advice, someone to tell me it’ll be okay. To add on, my family life isn’t good, I’m the “problem child” to my mom and it severely affects my life. Thank you for listening.