Item: Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter (10327)
Lego Price: $180 w/tax
Shipping: 19x12x6",UPS Ground, 5 lbs 60304 to 93455, Insured = $30
Raffle Total/Spots: $210 (21 spots at $10 each)
Price justification: Lego.com
Call spots: Y
Spot limit per person: N
Duration of spot limit: N/A
Location(Country): USA
Will ship international: N
Timestamp pic: https://imgur.com/a/82knljW
Description: chop chop
Payment required w/in 10 minutes of raffle filling. 5 for drama.
Payments should have NO COMMENTS. Comments will result in a permanent ban.
PM me for PP

Cash App Info: Provided once raffle is 50% full
​
Tip BlobAndHisBoy
Number of vacant slots: 21
Number of unpaid users: 0
Number of unpaid slots: 0
This slot list is created and updated by The EDC Raffle Tool by BlobAndHisBoy.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

Idk what to do with myself now that it has stabilized and isn’t being halted every 5-6 minutes. I guess I should just ignore the ticker now, but like…. I WANT MORE DRAMA!!!!

• our clan's name: Evil
• Your system(s): We have players on all platforms (playstation, Xbox and PC)
• Where are most of your clan members located (country/time zones): We are a mixed group US EST, MST, PST, we also regularly play with players from the UK and Canada as well.
• When do you usually play (include times and time zone): Most of us play after about 4-5:00PM MST on weekdays as we have day jobs, however on weekends we are usually a lot more active.
• Tell us more about your clan (ex: how many members, requirements to join if any, focus on PvE/PvP/both, why should people join your clan, how do you communicate/organize events): We are a smaller group around 6-7 active players at the moment as we've lost a couple of members to attrition, we are interested in players with any level of skill . We are ideally looking to bring in as many as we can prior to the release of the Final Shape. We have a solid group of players that regularly play through and enjoy endgame content, however we also love teaching raids, dungeons, and everything else! Most of our members don't primarily play PVP and much prefer PVE, however we will do bannetrials, etc. if there are good rewards and/or someone needs help with something. A few things that we do require below:
  • Some level of maturity. We don't have any age requirements, my Son and Daughter both play and are 16 and 18 respectively, my son has been playing with me since he was 7 , however if you do join we do ask that you maintain some level of decency and maturity while playing with the group. We are mostly adults with day jobs and lives our own and play destiny as a means of relaxing and having fun. None of us want or will tolerate drama of any kind. We do use profanity occasionally, so be advised if that is something that you are not comfortable with. We do not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia or bigotry of any kind and any of these will result in an immediate and permanent ban.
  • In order to be invited, you MUST be active in our discord. This does not mean that you have to make a required amount of posts or anything, however you MUST have a mic. and be willing to join in the occasional raid, dungeon, seasonal activity, etc. and be willing to communicate via mic. Don't be socially anxious, we're all really nice and as "normal" as they come, promise! We also love helping and teaching newer players.
  • As stated above, we understand completely that family and life obligations will always come first. We only ask that if you will be absent for an extended period of time, just communicate with an admin and/or the main chat and let everyone know you'll be back.
• What is the best way to contact your clan (reply in the thread, website, Twitter, etc.)?: If interested in joining, please reply to the comment here, or send me a DM and I will send you an invite! We would love to have you for the Final Shape and beyond!

Peace,
Manawar

Episode Description

Simba leaves Kiara in charge of the Pride Lands while he, Nala, and Zazu go to Kilio Valley to attend a funeral for an old elephant friend named Amanifu who has just died. Upon learning this from Mzingo, Janja decides to take advantage of Kiara's inexperience and comes up with a plan to take over the Pride Lands. Meanwhile, Simba is nervous about performing his eulogy in front of the elephants, including Aminifu's daughter, Ma Tembo.
Song: "Duties of the King" sung by Simba and Zazu

Pros
-First off, I like the sibling dynamic in this episode, as somebody with a similarly aged older brother. Kion and Kiara's relationship has resonated with me, the way they have off days and arguments, but, obviously love each other and make it out strong in the end. I, for one, do not hate Kiara in The Lion Guard, and Kion gives her the same attitude she gives him in early episodes. I like watching their relationship go through ups and downs throughout Season 1.
-I know the opening scene, where Kiara and Kion are fighting over a tree to sharpen their claws is quite intense, because they would've probably gotten into a scuffle if Simba hadn't showed up when he did, but, that is siblings for you sometimes. I feel like anyone who's got siblings of your own can relate, at least a little bit, to that scene.
-I like the plotline of Kiara and Kion's sibling rivalry stemming from their roles in leadership. Kiara is clearly a reflection of her father, when he was a cub, which is interesting and so, she thinks that being the Future Queen is really swell and makes her the alpha, and Kion (who is no better than her) thinks that being Leader of the Lion Guard makes him more important than her. I like this mechanic in this episode. It makes me want to know if Scar felt the same way about Mufasa. I mean, Kion was obviously not resentful of Kiara, unlike Scar, but I wonder if a similar thing happened with the two brothers except, in this case, it drove Scar to insanity and wanting to murder Mufasa.
-Now let's talk about Kiara being left in charge of the Pride Lands (I mean, I do think the main conflict of the episode was Simba's fault, but we'll get to that later). So, I like the fact that Kiara is nervous about ruling the Pride Lands, even for a brief period of time. I like this because for one thing, she's still only a cub at this time, so, she's entitled to be nervous and anxious about being responsible for an entire kingdom. There's a lot of responsibility being placed on her at such a young age, but, she still remained likable, in my opinion. I do like how, in The Lion Guard, she takes her responsibility as Future Queen very seriously. I know this is unpopular to say, but, I headcanon that, as she's grown up into an older cub, she's realised that being queen won't prevent her from being herself, a concern she had at the beginning of TLK 2.
-I do empathise with Kiara, and Kion, because they are both being put into a huge responsibility of looking after the entire kingdom on their own, while all the adults are away from Pride Rock. This is still really early on in Season 1, so Kion is inexperienced as Leader of the Lion Guard, and Kiara only just started her training with Simba, in the pilot episode. I do feel bad at the fact that they have to figure everything without their parents around and I respect them for managing to work out their differences by the end of the episode.
-I really feel bad for Kiara because she gets a lot of crap from people in the TLG community, moreso than Kion does. I feel really sorry for her because people say they hate her for her attitude and that they think she's a self-righteous bitch at the start of the series, but, I don't. Even as a kid, I knew that a lot of Kiara's behaviour in this episode was down to the stress of being left in charge of whole kingdom for a few days without her parents around, while still being a cub at this point. I do really like her and it really upsets when I see people hating on her. I don't think Kiara really means to be controlling in this episode, she's just trying to do right by her father while he's gone.
-I like the fact that Kiara is really hesitant and nervous to have a huge weight on her shoulders, a role she was previously really excited to fulfil in the pilot episode. When Simba asks this of her, she's understanding feeling a lot of pressure to make him proud. I like the fact that Simba admits to her that he was also nervous about becoming king the first time. I like this because we only saw the side of him that was cocky, overconfident and optimistic about becoming king. I like the fact that she was nervous and that he decides to be upfront about it.
-Kiara still remained a likable character to me throughout this episode. I like how she starts out as nervous and how her confidence is slowly building up nicely during the episode. But, she never came off as mean-spirited, to me. Also, it becomes clear that the reason her responsibility goes to her head is because of Tiifu and Zuri's influence on her and the Lion Guard's inexperience and, in this case, plot-convenient incompetence.
-Beshte, "I'm sure she'll be a nice queen." Well, I'm glad at least one of you believes in her. I can't tell you guys how much I love Beshte, always the sweetest soul out of the group.
-Ono, "Thank you for the opportunity, my queen. And you.... err..... my Kion." That line was funnier than it had any right to be.
-Speaking of which, I thought seeing Ono in Zazu's position, temporarily for Kiara was interesting and I think was a great use of his character, outside of being a Member of the Lion Guard. I personally would've been down for more scenes like this. I think a cool send off for Ono would've been to have him be the Royal Advisor to Queen Kiara and King Kovu, in the future. I wish Ono had stayed in the Pride Lands in the series finale and had become Zazu's apprentice or something.
-Bunga, "Your majesty." {bows at Kiara}. Kiara, "Bunga, that's really not necessary." I found that whole interaction surprisingly funny. Also, strong feeling that Bunga has a huge crush on his best friend's sister at this point, and Kiara views him as her friend, nothing more.
-Kiara's plan about the Bees and the Eelands fiasco was actually very smart, and even when I saw this as a kid, I knew that she had a better idea than Kion. Her idea about moving the eelands away from bees' nests is smarter because bees obviously sting when angered. So, Kion was too proud to admit Kiara had the better idea.
-One of the funniest parts of the whole episode for me was Kion saying, "I say we move the bees". Then, the scene cuts to Kion, Beshte, Fuli and Ono running away from a swarm of bees, in terror. I obviously don't want them hurt, but, I just had to laugh because it was so predictable.
-Bunga, "What are you guys running for? Bees taste even better when they're mad!" Accurate behaviour from a honey badger. They can raid beehives without being stung due to their very thick hide and their stink sap.
-When the Lion Guard arrived back at Pride Rock covered in bee stings, if I were Kiara, I'd be laughing in Kion's face at that moment, like "Ha, ha, you were wrong. Only an idiot would decide to move a swarm of bees to a new place." But, in fairness, Kiara was right to be mad at him, in that moment, for his little screw up.
-"It wasn't a total disaster," Kion, while talking to Kiara. Kiara, looks at Fuli and Ono scratching themselves, "Really? It looks pretty total to me." I mean, she does have a point there. In this situation, Kion had everything to gain from taking her advice.
-However, I do like the fact this episode shows that Kiara and Kion are not perfect leaders yet, they're still fairly young and are only just finding their feet, so it's natural for them to have some minor slip ups, that they learn from, like every kid does.
-"Admit it. I was right about the bees and you were wrong." Kion, just admit it and save yourself the embarrassment. Kiara was not being rude to him whatsoever. She was speaking nothing but facts.
-When Kiara talks to Mzingo at Pride Rock, I like the fact that the latter is clearly higher up in the frame because he's the one dominating the conversation and is also the one who manipulates Kiara. I think it's a nice touch where he creepily approaches and blackmails her.
-*laughs "Janja wants peace?" I like the fact that Kiara is clearly sceptical and she's obviously suspicious of Janja's true intentions. I like this because it doesn't make Kiara out to be seriously wayyy too gullible and silly. The fact that was she was suspicious feels more in-line with TLK 2 and makes her decision to believe Janja, partially Kion's fault. Manipulation is also a very powerful tool, especially to done on a semi-young child, like Kiara.
-I like the fact that Mufasa appears to Kion, unprompted in this episode, for the first time in the series. I love this because it feels like Mufasa saw the argument that had just gone down and was like, "Right I need to put an end to this sibling drama before it gets out of hand. I need to make Kion see the error of his ways."
-I actually love the fact that Kiara is, at least partially willing, to give Outlanders a chance for peace. It feels like a nice bit of foreshadowing for her character arc in TLK 2, where she was able to give the Outsider lions a chance to fit in.
-Kion angrily to Tiifu and Zuri, "Ugh! Some advisors you two are!" That was more hilarious than it had any right to be. Because, let's be honest, they were pretty obnoxious in this episode.
-"Get away from the Queen!!!!" I actually love the moment where Kion comes bursting in like a superhero, to his sister's aid. I also love the fact that he calls Kiara his queen, at this point, because he clearly listened to Mufasa's advice, and also because he had felt somewhat responsible for her almost being killed by Janja.
-"Oh we can fight all right!!!" So badass. I personally would've loved to see Kiara fight alongside the Lion Guard. I think it would've been cool to see her help to fight off Janja's clan. I wanted to see what she could do.
-"Six on six..... Forget it!!!!" Yeah, you better run, Janja, you don't stand a chance against all six of these heroic friends. And one of them is a bloody hippo.
-I love Kion and Kiara's closeness at the end of the episode where they make up for their uncivil, squabbling at the start. Kion finally rightfully admits that he should've taken Kiara's advice about the bees and the elands, and Kiara admits that Kion was right about Janja being nothing but trouble.
-Kion, "And I should've listened to you about the bees." Ono, "Oh, sure {rolls his eyes}. Now he admits it." Oh, Ono, you knew all along, but, we love you.
-Kiara and Kion when Simba and Nala arrive home, are really sweet. I love the fact that Kiara wants to be honest about what happened, "Ruling the Pride Lands? It went..." I absolutely love the moment where Kion decides to cover for her and admits that she'll be a great queen, this is an incredibly sweet brother and sister moment. That moment feels like a precursor to the episode "Baboons" and even later "The Trail to Udugu."
-I love the moral of this episode about "being supportive of your loved ones efforts to help, especially when they are wrong," because it applies to both Kiara and Kion in two different situations. Kion was obviously wrong to go against Kiara's advice to move the elands, but, Kiara learned that she should've been more sensitive about that whole situation. But, Kion also learned that if hadn't been so dismissive of her acting queen for a few days and given her his utmost support when she was clearly nervous about ruling the Pride Lands. If Kion and Kiara been more sensitive to each other, then, they would've been able to be in charge of the Pride Lands together instead of arguing. Also, this episode shares another moral, "Communication is key to understanding each other and a successful team." Kiara learns this after Kion saves her and she realises she was wrong about Janja, and Kion learns this when the Lion Guard get stung by bees, and even later when he realises that he was partly to blame for Kiara going into the Outlands, and that if he had been upfront with her instead of outright yelling at her and running out on her, she wouldn't have needed to be rescued. These are two important lessons for kids going through school together, or with siblings and friends.
-Also, Janja is genuinely dangerous and scary in this episode. He traps Kiara in the Outlands to use her as a bargaining chip for Simba or else he and his would eat her. They would've gotten away with it if Kion didn't jump in at the last second. Janja threatened the freaking princess of the Pride Lands! Reason number #50 why he should never be allowed enter the Pride Lands, no matter if he is starving or not, because he clearly cannot be trusted to follow the rules.
-And now I'm finally going to talk about the B-plot of the episode. It wasn't as good the A-plot, in my opinion. I did love the worldbuilding aspect of this episode where we learn that different animals in the Pride Lands have their own customs and traditions that need to be respected. I like the idea of Simba upholding a tradition and it was interesting that he was never trained for it because obviously Mufasa died before he could complete his training.
-I like the idea of Simba, Nala and Zazu going to an elephant funeral. Elephants actually have "funerals" in real life. In real life, if a member of their herd dies, the elephants will crowd around them ceremoniously to pay tribute and they'll collect twigs and branches to cover the fallen elephant to pay tribute, out of respect for them. I love the way its portrayed as a ceremonial funeral in The Lion Guard and that Simba is upholding a tradition. I love the way he has to say it in Elephantese because the idea of the elephants' having a language barrier is a cool worldbuilding element.
-Aminifu is a cool worldbuilding character too who, we're told, played a big part in the Pride Lands' revival and bringing the circle of life into balance. I like to headcanon we was a childhood friend of Mufasa and Scar, and the rest of the Royal Family, and how he go on to be a good friend to Simba, Nala and the rest of Simba's pride. I like to think Aminifu was responsible for all the animals in the kingdom, similar to the Lion Guard, and how his daughter fills that role in Season 2.
-The Elephant Funeral scene looks cool because of how emotional and how heart-wrenching it looks from afar. I like the addition of all the elephants mourning in the background. It was a little dark this early on the series. One elephant hugs Aminifu and looks like their going to cry, another elephant and her calf are crying, while hugging each other.
-I like how you can see shades of Mufasa's death through Simba's voice in this episode, such as, "And now Aminifu has completely his part of the circle of life," and "Well, time for the tribute." I like this because I like to think Simba is obviously nervous about performing a eulogy in front of elephants, but, probably also a bit upset and mourning over his own father's death. I mean, in fairness, he never to give his father a proper send off when he died, so, this probably hit even harder for him.
-I like how this is Zazu's first main character moment in the series and how much of a hard worker and a loyal he is to Simba and Nala, his whole motivation is just to help Simba learn Elephantese properly so he can impress Ma Tembo's herd, during the tribute.
-Nala is such a sweetheart and a loving partner to Simba. I love her because she's pretty much exactly how she was in the original film. She's his loving and supportive wife, and I love the way he gives him moral support when he gets nervous. I love her snarky jab at her husband early on the episode too, by the way, "Worried about Kiara? Or are you worried about your tribute?"
-The song "Duties of the King" was decent enough, I suppose. I mean, it's not my favourite song in the series and I wouldn't be reaching for it. But, I don't hate it. I like the more cutesy, "miscellaneous" animals shown in the background, like the chimpanzees and the porcupines. Plus, it's nice to know that Simba doesn't just sit on his ass all day and that he does important jobs, like he assigns gazelles to their grazing grounds and songbirds to their trees. I love that he presides over aardvark wedding rites and then we saw Muhanga and Muhangus kissing behind some grass. So, I wonder if Simba did in fact, preside over their wedding before this episode. Overall, I like the cute scenes of this song and I like the fact that Simba actually has important stuff to do. I can see why kids would dance around to this song because it's very bouncy and energetic. The beat is fine, but, I don't like Rob Lowe's singing voice as Simba. I think they should've used Cam Clarke all along for The Lion Guard, who actually voices Mwoga the vulture. I don't mind the beat, but, I don't think Simba and Zazu are the best singers, at least in this series, that is. I'll give it a 5/10 because there are worse songs than it.
-Ma Tembo is such a sweetheart in this episode and I love her. She doesn't have a major role in the series as of yet, but, it's still clear in this episode that she has a great relationship with Simba and the Royal Family. I'm glad she had a bigger part in Season 2. I also love her voice actress, Lynette DuPree (R.I.P) and I think she's one of the best in the series. I love how she makes her sound genuinely sad during the procession and then a little bittersweet during the "poop" scene. Also, shout out to the moment where she wraps her trunk around Simba.
-Also, call me childish if you want to, but I actually love it when Simba actually says that Aminifu had "poop on him". I mean, it just gets me because that's not something you'd say at a funeral and the fact that the elephants took it really well and actually laughed hysterically is genuinely hilarious. Like, even his daughter admitted that he had always had faeces on him. It was funny because of how much Simba feels like he screwed up, but, then, the elephants had a really good sense of humour about it.
-Also, this episode makes me wish that at least someone went to the Elephant Graveyard during this series. Maybe Aminifu's funeral could've been there and Simba and Nala would've had to go the place where they almost got killed as cubs or maybe even Kion and the Lion Guard would have to go there. It's such a missed opportunity. Or if Janja went there then maybe he could've learn that Scar betrayed his ancestors long before the events of The Lion Guard. But, speaking of the Elephant Graveyard, I bet Ma Tembo's herd are going to wait for Aminifu to decompose and then carry his remains to the Graveyard because that's something that elephants do if a member of their herd dies outside of their designated area. I like to think that that's what happened after this episode. I just wish they had the funeral in the Elephant Graveyard and we got to see Simba and Nala go there as adults, but, I'm not going to fault this episode for not going in this direction.
-Zazu, "I'm not sure Sire, but, I think you just said he had.... {quietly} poop on him...." Try not to judge me too harshly, but, I just find poop jokes hilarious for some reason, as an adult.
Cons
-First off, I don't like how Kion and Kiara were both dumbed down for the sake of plot-convenience for much of this episode. I get that they're still kids, but, Kion's plans to move the bees instead of the elands was the most stupid idea I've seen in the series. The literally just had an episode where Kion calls out his best friend, Bunga, for making bad decisions and now it's Kion who made a really dumb decision. I mean, that should be bee rescue 101, don't try to move a swarm of bees, they do not like, and the fact that Kiara spells it out for them before this scene, "....if the elands step on the beehives, they'll get stung.... there could be chaos." She's speaking nothing but facts. Kion should've realised that they shouldn't have tried to aggravate the bees. I don't like the fact that he acts cocky and dismissive towards Kiara, when she was so obviously right. However, Kiara was dumb to go into the Outlands alone to see Janja. I mean, I admire her willingness to give strangers a chance for peace, but the fact that she had her suspicions about him and she already knew what he was like, in accordance to the pilot episode, wouldn't she see reason to bring Tiifu and Zuri along for backup.
-I don't like how this episode seems to indicate that Simba favours his daughter over his son. Between the pilot episode and this episode, it seems like he sees Kion as a just a Child Soldier and doesn't actually love him equally. I know it's obviously not through, but, I don't like how he gives off an impression that he has favourites. Parents don't have favourites, unless you're an evil lioness named Zira and you give your youngest son everything, but then treat your eldest son like dirt. But, Simba isn't like that. I don't like how he says "I have faith in you," in such a way that gives off Parental Favouritism vibes. I'm really glad he doesn't have this in any of the later episodes.
-I hate the way the writers tried to do the Kion/Scar and Kiara/Mufasa parallels in this episode. I just don't like it being used as a plot device. The series makes a point to say that Kion is nothing like Scar and how he would never take his anger out on his family and friends. I don't mind Kiara being like her grandfather because he was a great king in his day, but, I don't like how the writers made Kion and Kiara have a similar relationship that led to Mufasa's fall. Also, one thing I loathed early on in the series is the fanart of Kion brutally murdering Kiara in rage, just like Scar murdered Mufasa. I just hate it so much because it would happen since Kiara and Kion have a caring relationship, where they do bicker like siblings tend to do, but, they would never turn on each other.
-I don't like the part where Kiara and Kion were outright malicious towards each other. All the lion cubs in this episode were quite mean-spirited at times. Kion and Kiara for obviously constantly fighting and being horrible instead of admitting to being wrong in certain situations, like the bees and the elands and the Janja situation. Kion is too cocky and overconfident about the bees, for my liking, and Kiara allows Tiifu and Zuri's influence to get her head and ends up believing she's always right. Kion only adds fuel to the fire by yelling at Kiara and then callously running out her instead of being upfront with her about Janja's true intentions. I get that siblings don't always see eye-to-eye on things, but, I don't like Kion and Kiara constantly being scumbags to each other and not giving things a second thought until the end. Mufasa had to be the one to put an end to the "sibling drama".
-Tiifu and Zuri were the worst of all, in my opinion, and I think all of you guys will agree. They were pretty annoying and obnoxious in this episode. They were very disrespectful and condescending towards Kion just because he's not a queen, and they caused Kiara to be disrespectful right back. Kiara doesn't strike me as disrespectful without these two around. I'm glad she actually stands up to them in later episodes rather than being influenced by them. Zuri is my least favourite of the two of them, she comes off as super mean-spirited and bitchy, and Tiifu comes off as domineering and rude. I don't like the way they talk down and belittle Kion and how they throw shade at anyone who believes Kiara is wrong. They act like stereotypical Mean Girls, but, the annoying kind. Plus, they weren't very good friends to Kiara for letting her go into the Outlands alone without a second thought about the fact that it might be dangerous. That doesn't sound like Tiifu. Remember how in the pilot, she was deeply concerned when Kiara was trapped by the gazelles. But, here, the stakes are much higher, and she's up against a much bigger threat and Tiifu and Zuri don't seem to give a damn. I'm glad Kion called them out on this behaviour before leaving. What I wouldn't give for Tiifu and Zuri to be captured by Janja instead, not to get eaten, but just so they can see how dangerous it is. It's episodes like this that make me wonder are they her actual best friends or are they just using her to hang out with the Royal Family. Kiara deserves better than these self-entitled bitches, in my opinion.
-I feel like Kiara should've been the main focus of this episode instead of Kion. I know this only S1 Ep4, but, I still think this should've been a Kiara focused episode, rather than a brothesister episode. I would've been interested to see Kiara take centre stage and the Lion Guard take a back seat. Then, we could've seen more of Kiara's apprehension about becoming Queen and her trying to make all the decisions without Simba around to guide her, and most importantly, see her trying to decide what sort of Queen she wants to be. I would've loved if Kion tried to be supportive of her and tries to help her watch over the entire kingdom, instead of saying "Screw you Kiara, go get herself killed if you want to and my friends hate you." I would've liked to see that explored and maybe have them be a little bit annoyed at each other, but without making them really malicious. Also, have Tiifu and Zuri be in their annoying phase and for Kiara to realise that her "so-called" friends are not being very good friends to her, and have her ditch those bitches at the end of the episode. Then, have Kiara and Kion make some big decision together that really develops their relationship, in the future.
-I don't like how Simba is portrayed for much of this episode. I know, he was mourning the loss of an old friend, but I really don't like angry Simba moments in this series. I don't like the fact that all Zazu was doing was trying to help him practice his eulogy and Simba gets frustrated and roars in his face. I hate it when he throws tantrums, as a full-grown adult lion. I hate the idea of Simba regressing more into his evil uncle as of this series. I know he's not, but, I hate it when acts like it. Zazu, bless him, was just trying to help and Simba took out his rage on him. I do not like it when Zazu has to be the butt of all the jokes. I don't like Simba being a headstrong asshole in The Lion Guard.
-I also don't want to point fingers, but, if Simba hadn't left his semi-young daughter to rule over an entire kingdom for a few days, none of the conflict would've happened if he left Kion and Kiara with a responsible adult, like Rafiki or Basi or someone, just to keep an eye on things. I wouldn't leave kids their age home alone for even a day or more than an afternoon. If they had an adult in Pride Rock with them, the arguing wouldn't have spiralled out of control the way that it did. Also, this makes no sense with Simba's character in TLK 2. This is the same guy who sheltered his daughter the whole time she was growing up and wouldn't even let her explore more than 2ft from Pride Rock or even leave Pride Rock, at another point in the film. In this episode, she's still a cub and he's okay with leaving her to look after an entire kingdom for days on end! Yes, he did show hesitation, but that was after he and Nala had already left the Pride Lands. This episode fails to show just how okay he was with leaving his preteen daughter in charge of the kingdom for a few days with no adult supervision. Also, this episode and the series fails to explain how he regressed back into his over-protective state of mind in the second half of TLK 2.
-A minor complaint I have. This is a very minor nitpick. But, the distance between Kilio Valley and the Pride Lands that was established in this episode is very confusing. This episode implies that the elephants live approximately a two or three day walk from the Pride Lands, enough for Simba to outside of the kingdom, when in other episodes it's actually a part of the Pride Lands, just barely on the outskirts of the kingdom. I also don't get why the writers made it seem like Simba, Nala and Zazu took like a day or less to arrive at the elephants' funeral. There's no indication that they were travelling at night or that they ever slept. However, I understand, the writers just wanted to show some of journey and then transition to the day of the funeral, so I won't fault it to harshly. However, I do wish that the distance between Kilio Valley and the Pride Lands was consistent. This episode makes it seem like that whenever Kion and his friends have to help the elephants, it would take them a whole day to arrive on the scene. But, that's just a small criticism I had with this episode.
Overall
So, overall, I did always thoroughly enjoy this episode. Even as a kid, I could not stand the fact that Kiara got a lot of hate in the Lion Guard Fandom and that loads of people blamed her, just her, for a lot of the drama in this episode. Kion and Kiara shared 50% of the blame each and I think that Kiara is overhated. Anyways, I did like Kion and Kiara interacting like real siblings and slowly learning how to work together, it felt a little bit like a prequel to "Baboons" and "The Trail to Udugu", in that way. I like the lesson about learning to communicate well and to listen to one another and that they were both in the right and wrong, at different points. I liked the loving sibling dynamic at the end and the friendship with all the Lion Guard. I like the sense of family between Simba, Nala, Kiara and Kion at the end. Janja poses as a genuinely threat to Kiara. I think the humour was pretty solid as well and the educational value. I liked the worldbuilding aspect and the elephants' relationship with the lions. Aminifu is a cool headcanon character. The only parts I didn't like were, Tiifu and Zuri were unbearably annoying in this episode and weren't very good friends to Kiara. I don't like them being stereotypical Middle School girls. I hate their disrespect and belittling towards Kion and their toxic influence on Kiara. I didn't like Kiara and Kion's maliciousness at the start or the fact that the writers tried to draw Mufasa/Scar parallels. I don't like angry Simba at all in this series. I hate the fact that he gives off Parental Favouritism vibes in this episode. I don't like the fact that Kion and Kiara were hit with the idiot stick in this episode. Simba and Tiifu and Zuri are kind of at fault for all the drama in this episode. The song was just decent, not the best not the worst. Overall, I'll give this episode a 6.5/10, it's not perfect, but I think it deserves more love in the fandom and I think there are way worse episodes than it.

I don't think Marvel Rivals will kill OW2, in the same way how OW2 release didn't kill Paladins. No game really kills the other aside from itself. However Paladins did experience a massive drop in players as those flooded to OW2; a much more polished game. And so I wonder if the same will happen to OW2 once Marvel Snap becomes official.
Thus far from alpha testing, it just seems to be a more polished game than that of OW2. 6 vs 6 is there, destructable terrain to play around, and it's also free. One worry everyone has is that a studio behind it is know for mobile gaming, so there might be microtransaction milking in the future, however I don't see it much differently from current Blizzard and the recent Hashimoto skin line drama (another legendary tier that's essentially a reskin). If Marvel Snap does succeed, it may pull more players away from OW2. Resulting in higher queues and less profit for the Blizzard, and in turn less updates.
But what are your thoughts?

I apologize this will be a long post:
Well everyone let me just say my Mother is a text book narcissist. Diagnosed. I held on to our relationship because of my younger brothers. I wanted my family to be happy. I lied to myself and held on to the good I saw; even though I know it’s all an act and manipulation for control and her own fucked up toxic validation. I made excuses because she herself had an incredibly fucked up childhood. She also has been diagnosed and takes medication.
The amount of physical pain, abuse and mental anguish my Mother has caused my family is unreal. The pathological lying is unremarkable. She will have a melt down the second you unveil her scheme or correct her. Her MO is she is always “dying” or “sick”. Constantly seeking attention and validation. She is a master at jamming wedges in between people as well as making everyone look like the “bad guy”.
She is a queen at manipulating. Recently she finally was flagged by the State as a drug seeker. She doctor shops to get pills and had many prescriptions for pain pills. The 30 years prior she was a raging alcoholic. Ever since they cut her pills she has began to spiral. Worse than I have ever seen. I knew something was coming.
My Father just died, on my birthday, a few weeks ago. Of course she was no where to be seen and completely unhelpful. The one day she came, when my Father was actively dying, and said in her best actress “oh poor me” voice. “Oh I also had some MRIs this week. Been going to my Doctor and said to him to do everything he can. I don’t want my daughter to have to lose both her parents”. She has Fibromyalgia. She kept talking about her sickness and doctors while my Dad lay there. Actually dying.
Lastly, my Brother and Father hadn’t talked in 6 years. He and I also are not on good terms so of course I tried to go through her. I kept begging her to bring my brother to see my Father. Begged her to have him call me so I could put the phone on speaker. I wanted so desperately for my Brother to talk to him. My Brother wanted to talk to the doctor before coming to visit. He did not believe my Mother that my Dad was actually dying. Understandable, she is a liar.
I gave the hospital his number and asked to have him added as someone the doctor can speak with. All of us were added to a healthcare proxy file. I gave the doctor his number and asked him to call my Brother. The doctor went and spoke with my Father and my Father said “No” when asked if the doctor could call. It was out of my hands and devastated me. It broke in to many pieces. I wanted my Brother there. My Mother refused to bring him (he is disabled and cannot drive).
The day before my Father passed I texted my Mother and she knew my brother was added and I gave the doctor his number. The morning my Father died I again asked her to bring my brother she replied “Your Dad said no, so”. The day after my Father died I received the most horrible texts from my brother. My Mother lied and said that I never told her he had permission to call or see my Dad. She never told my brother he could call or even tried to get him to go in person.
This was my snapping point. Of all the abuse and times she made everything about her. The fights at holidays or special events. The drama and the lies this is by far the absolute worst thing she could ever have done. My father is now dead and my brother will never have closure. She would rather this so she can play the hero to my brother and the victim because me her “horrible daughter” has treated her “badly”.
I know she is a raging narcissist. I know how she is and what she does everytime. Always makes things about her but when my Father was dying?! After he died?! I knew the time would come when I couldn’t take it any more but this. THIS?!
I finally told her off. I finally called her everything she is. I know it doesn’t matter because a narcissist is never wrong and she will lie to everyone until the day she dies. Unlike my Father I will not be there. May she die alone and miserable. May her karma bring her nothing but suffering.
I never thought she could break my heart enough to the point that I finally feel nothing. The years I spent crying so hard and all the trauma she has burned into my soul. I can’t take it any more. I am truly heartbroken.
I fucking hate her. Finally. I feel nothing any more. The small ounces of hope. The love for the woman I want her to be. I can no longer deny and make excuses. I am done and I am not going back.
Thank you for listening if you made it this far.
I’m just so unbelievably sad.

50s(m) and 40s(f). Been together for 6 yrs. Sex used to be great. She wanted it as much as I did. She "showed" her desire for me all the time. Sex was always good. I am healthy and have no problem performing. Morning wood? No problems. I train 4 days a week and stay in shape. 2.5 years ago, she in her 40s had ovarian cancer. Had everything removed. Beat cancer, went thru whole 9 yards with chemo etc. She isnt allowed to have any hormone therapy because it can cause cancer to reoccur. With all this being said , sex now is basically no existent. She has no desire at all for sex. I get it and understand why. Her hormones are gone. She has no sex drive, ZERO. It's actually weird coming from where we used to be(sex life) before her cancer. She is literally a totally different person now. I am the kind of guy that enjoys feeling wanted when it comes to sex and without that factored in, I find it hard to want sex with someone or intiate it with someone who could basically careless if she does it ever again. To some men, they would enjoy a woman saying "hey come get it when you want it". I'm not that way, I like it to be mutual. She always tells me if I want it, just ask. I find sex to be very routine this way and tbh, it is not gratifying at all to have sex like this where 1 partner isnt really involved so to speak. She always used to enjoy orgasming, I could tell I turned her on by the way she reacted to me and looked forward to it(cumming), now there is 100% no drive to want an orgasm much less actually having one. In 2.5 yrs she has orgasmed once with me when it used to be at least once everytime we did it. Sex is only about me now. She now also literally has no sex appeal, she doesn't do sexy things anymore at all. So now we basically go months with out doing it. We will have sex 1 time in a couple of months or longer if i let it and that's after I have to ask for it a few times. Then it seems like a task, she does it out of whatever word you want to use, just to help me get it out of my system. I mean I can do this with my hand tbh lol. I find myself thinking about other men whose women desire them and I think about sex with someone else. I don't want to cheat and don't want that drama but I want someone who will desire me and have good healthy sex. It sucks, I deal with it, it sucks. When I go to the gym I see all of these potential willing women and it messes with my head. This sucks. Just doesn't seem fair relationship wise.

I, 26F have a 6 m/o son with my ex, 31M, of 1 month. I know what you may be thinking, and yes, you read it right. Before my son, I was a hopeless romantic and I accepted love in all the wrong places. When I broke up with my ex and soon after found out I was pregnant, I learned my lesson about having relations and being too trusting of people I barely know. I have been single and focusing on taking care of my son ever since. A little background on the history of my ex and I:
We met on social media last year and he texted me first with a line that I’ve never heard from anyone, it made me laugh, so I thought I would give him a chance. He said all the right things to me, and lied about so much (for example, he lied about having a twin sister and she’s the same age as me) and I fell for it. We ended up meeting in person, he told me he loved me after a week or so of being together (major red flag that I ignored) and that was the very night I conceived my son. Shortly afterwards, I found out he was cheating on me and he stole money from me. Then about a month later, I found out I was pregnant and when I told him he was excited at first.
We kept a line of communication, but he made most of my pregnancy stressful. He denied my child and told people that I was pregnant when we met, we only had sex once (we didn’t but IF WE DID, the dummy doesn’t realize it only takes one time to get pregnant), and that we were never in a relationship. In the same breath he was trying to cheat on his several girlfriends with me, but I wasn’t having it. I would also notify him of appointments to check on the baby and he would say he’ll come and ended up being a no show. I tried to keep him updated on the baby and he would say I didn’t. He had me involved in so much drama and I eventually found out he had two other women pregnant at the same time as me (he denies getting one of those two pregnant but I know he’s lying). It was just too much. Eventually we went no contact and shortly after, he went to jail. He stayed for the better half of the pregnancy and for about the first month him being incarcerated, we got back in contact with each other again and he tried to make me do favors for him that I wasn’t comfortable doing because it would start drama or I just wasn’t obligated to do and this became a huge problem for him since I was not doing what he wanted. It turned into an argument and he told me not contact him again, so I told him he wouldn’t hear from me again and blocked him. For months he had strangers texting me on his behalf asking me to contact him because he felt remorseful. I blocked those numbers as well because I didn’t want to stress anymore during the rest of my pregnancy than I already have. Long story short, we were in contact on and off and he eventually was released from jail. He didn’t attend the birth of the baby because I didn’t want him there. I wanted to have a peaceful labor and delivery.
After my son’s birth, he was asking to see him but I didn’t want him anywhere near us. My mom made me change my mind by telling me that I should let him see the baby because I don’t want to give him the chance to say that I never let my son see him if he were to ask in the future why he couldn’t come around him. To this day, he has not physically seen my son since he was born and has only helped once with him financially. He’s only seen him via FaceTime and after a month of my son being born, he went back to jail for violating his probation. Ever since, we have been on and off with communication. He always tries to get back in a relationship with me, even when I have told him no several times (and he knows why but expects me to get over him treating me like shit when I was pregnant), flirts with me and calls me “bae” even after I would tell him to stop. We still fight from time to time and he always goes out of his way to disrespect me. So now I don’t answer when he calls unless the baby is awake and he says things to me like “when I call, you need to answer” and “don’t let anyone keep you away from me”. I don’t want to talk to him unless it’s about our son, I’ve made this clear to him several times and he blatantly dismisses it and gets angry because he can’t get any control over me. He doesn’t respect me or my wishes and I don’t want to deal with it any longer, but I don’t want to deny my son of his father. I feel like he thinks he has some kind of sense of ownership over me because I have his child and it doesn’t sit well with me at all.
Would I be the asshole if I stopped contacting him because he makes me feel uncomfortable?

With Anthony joining the black jackets in the lounge, he felt like he had fully proven himself after his meltdown to get eliminated in Season 11 and Van was happy for Anthony as he had worked his ass off all season and said the final 6 was a strong ass 6 and it was going to be tough to beat anyone in black jackets but he wasn't letting up now. Nick said somehow despite their being less drama that this had been tougher than all stars as he felt the pressure of being a favourite and Paula said she didn't actually expect to this well having been gone from Hells Kitchen for 16 years but was very proud to show she could still work a line after so many years away. Chef Ramsay welcomed back his black jackets and said to show how proud he was of them all getting this far, he reunited them with their families to give them a boost for the next service and said the reward for the next challenge would be spending time with their family with Nick saying this was the exact boost he needed to kick on in the competition. Ramsay said the next challenge was one of his favourites as it was time for the fusion challenge and Nikki said this was the challenge she was looking forward to as she had become a great fusion chef since season 19 and Paula said she could still remember getting a fusion dish on the menu in Season 5 so it was time to relieve her glory days of Hells Kitchen Season 5.
It was King of the Hill with the chefs taking a seat in the chair until a better dish beat them and was being judged by Chef Curtis Stone who said he was very excited for some amazing fusion. First up was Nick with his fusion of Indian and Spanish which he said wouldn't be his ideal fusion as he presented his cod which Stone said was a strong effort, the only issue being there wasn't enough Indian spice in there but it was a good dish as Nick sat in the chair. Next up was Paula with the fusion of Mexican and Japanese which Paula said would not be her first choice and her pork ended up being a bit muddled with flavours as well as having underseasoned daikon and Nick remained in the chair. Anthony was up next with a fusion of France and Thai, and unfortunately his hanger steak was overcooked as well as Stone describing it as a Thai dish with some asparagus lumped in there to make it French as Nick remained in the chair. Kanae was up next with a fusion of Thai and Spanish, and her salmon was praised as being almost perfect and the dish of the day so far as Kanae took a place in the chair to dethrone Nick and Kanae claimed the reign of Queen Kanae was beginning. Van was next with Chinese and Mexican and he also had a superb effort with his snapper with Stone saying the levels had gone up but said Kanae's dish just had the edge! Nikki was up last with French and Indian, and her duck was cooked perfectly as well as combining both cuisines superbly to give Nikki the throne and the victory!
Nikki said to not only get the 2nd black jacket but win the 1st black jacket challenge showed she was here for business this time round and she got to enjoy a lunch and day out with her family while it was ice delivery day for the other 5 black jackets and Anthony said he still thinks about when he overloaded Hells Kitchen with ice. The Chefs had no dinner service tonight so came back the next day refreshed and Chef Ramsay said there was a big challenge coming up in tonights dinner service as the chefs would be facing off against another team of all stars! Out came the first all star who was Season 21 winner Alex Belew and Alex was pumped to take on a team of new all stars and Anthony knew what was up, it was gonna be winners returning. Out came Season 19 winner Kori, Season 17 winner Michelle, Season 18 winner Ariel, Season 20 winner Trenton and Season 12 winner Scott Commings, and Van said this was serious game time tonight as if the all stars could beat a team of winners, it showed Chef Ramsay they had the best black jacket squad of all time. It was noted by Nick that when Scott and Trenton came out, Scott shook everyones hand but Trenton said he'd rather not as it was a competition and Nick said that gave him even more motivation to win tonight and maybe he might be finally able to beat Michelle in a season. Chef Ramsay said both teams could add 2 appetizers and 2 entrees to tonights menu and the black jackets added a tortellini and a tuna tartare appetizer as well as a NY strip and pork entree. The returning winners were less cohesive in picking a menu as Michelle and Trenton disgareed on the entrees and Ariel said it didn't matter what went on the menu as long as they all agreed as they got a shrimp pasta, a squid salad as well as a veal and fillet entree.
The returning winners had Ariel and Kori on appetizers and Kori did admit to being a little nervous to come back as she didn't want to tank on her return on Hells Kitchen but her and Ariel's first risottos and pastas came out perfect and with Michelle serving perfect scallops, Kori said it was just like riding a bike. Ariel continued to have a great service but Kori ended up 2 minutes behind on pasta somehow, and Ariel expected a bit better from Kori than struggling on such a simple dish but Kori did finally complete the ticket as the winners finished appetizers in quick fashion. Scott was happy to be on the garnish station and was extremely vocal as usual with Michelle on fish, and Alex and Trenton on the meat station getting the first 6 top out despite Trenton complaining that Scott doesn't need to count down every 10 seconds as they know what they're doing. Michelle had a strong service on fish but ended up ignoring Alex and Trenton's cry to wait as their steaks and lamb weren't ready to serve her snapper. Alex and Trenton did catch up eventually as the winners continued to serve nice entrees going into the last few tables. Despite claiming he was the prince,of steak, Trenton served an overcooked NY Strip and then served a rare strip on the refire and Alex didn't know how Trenton managed to mess up twice on his own dish. With Alex's help, Trenton got organized and the returning winners completed a strong service with Scott noting that was the easiest service he's had in Hells Kitchen.
Nick and Kanae were on appetizers for the black jackets and Kanae was confident of beating the winners as half of them are probably in their 60s by now and her and Nick worked very well together to serve delicious risottos and carbonara. Anthony on fish ended up dragging on lobster as he hadn't dropped it early enough and Ramsay said we should never wait for lobster as Anthony bounced back to finish the ticket. Nick and Kanae continued to have great services as the black jackets finished appetizers ahead of the winners and Van on garnish was pumped to have his best service yet to lead his team to victory. Nikki and Paula on meat served perfect fillets and duck, and the black jackets finished the first half of entrees in great fashion with Anthony serving nice salmon. Van though started dragging on mashed potato and was unresponsive to Chef Ramsay on a time on mashed potato as Van finally caught up with Paula and Nikki. Nikki continued to have a great service but Paula got behind a minute on lamb and was struggling to stay organized as she had 1 duck ready and 1 not before she finally caught up again, and Ramsay said the bounce backs had been strong all night and to keep it up. Anthony though on a late ticket, realized the skin had fallen off his salmon and had to refire and him and Van's timing went completely off as Anthony served raw salmon and Van mushy cauliflower! Anthony and Van did fight back and the black jackets completed a relatively good service.
Chef Ramsay announced that while 92% of the diners in the red kitchen were happy, the winners had 98% satisfied so the returning winners won and Nick said he still can't beat Michelle. The black jackets had to come up with 2 for elimination and both Kanae and Nick said Van was the first nomination for his issues on garnish but Van said he was by himself and everyone on garnish gets in the weeds at least once and was nominating Anthony and Paula as there was 2 on meat and still issues. Paula said it wasn't her best service but Anthony was the main issue and the team did finally decide on Van and Anthony as the 2 nominees. Despite Anthony pleading for one more chance after his first bad service, Ramsay eliminated ANTHONY for losing control of his station but told him to keep his jacket for being a force all season and said he was happy he invited him back. Van was relieved to survive after his first bad service but tomorrow he was coming back with a vengeance and Nikki said she'd had a couple of great days and was gonna keep it up for the rest of the season to win the whole thing.
Vote HERE for the next 2 chefs to be eliminated!
https://strawpoll.com/GeZAOELbbnV
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lZdCZ5yphKY-xzgCoYI23gLu5dxegS4eB5BC-Slk9ac/edit#gid=0

I am visually impaired and use a feeding tube because I have trouble swallowing and can't throw up, and because of that my family thinks I am too disabled for freedom and independence and will even forcebly wash me even though I can do it myself and treat me like a child. I want to lave later tonight, I don't care where if not too far where I need to fly, but I have a few minutes to chat and plan, it's 6:32 AM as I am posting this and want to leave later tonight and bound with someone and gain independence. I like movies, books, games, space, cats, ghosts, witches, faries, mermaids, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter and medical dramas. Please DM me ifyou are in or near my state, thanks!

Boas!
Isto não é uma pergunta nem dúvida, é só mesmo uma partilha de uma situação que achei no mínimo caricata. Estou neste momento num contrato de 6 meses numa empresa, e fui informada agora de que não me vão renovar o contrato no final (termina em julho) porque procuravam "alguém que fosse mais extrovertido e social".
Não estou a gozar. Foi esse o único "motivo".
Trabalho em gestão de redes sociais e sempre fiz exatamente o trabalho que me competia - gerir as redes sociais da empresa. Não foi uma questão sequer de não querer aparecer em vídeos (que eu teria à vontade para fazer, mas na área desta empresa teriam de ser sempre especialistas a falar para a câmara, não poderia ser eu).
Literalmente despediram-me porque no escritório estão constantemente envolvidos em dramas e a falar mal de todos os colegas e malta que trabalha na empresa, e eu não participava nessas conversas. 🤷
Entretanto, desde o início do contrato estive sempre em modo presencial na empresa, e agora disseram que até ao fim do contrato posso passar para full remote. O que significa que literalmente só me obrigavam a ir para a empresa para ter conversas que não interessam ao menino Jesus.
Não sei se ria ou se chore.
P.S: também fiz questão de dizer que não interagia com ninguém porque não sentiam que fossem conversas produtivas ou que fossem boas pessoas.

The story of Eiyuden is OK for me, it's tempered because of the E10+ rating and was only kind of good when Kenan betrayed us (but then it ended up being anticlimactic). During the whole story, it felt like nothing was at stakes (we could freely go around occupied towns, Seign despite being a traitor could walk around Ardinale like it was nothing. Meanwhile, in Suikoden III, we had Chris Lightfellow changing her appearance because it would not make sense if she could walk freely around the Grasslands after burning the Karaya Village to the ground. In Suikoden V, the Prince, Lyon, Sialeeds had to disguise himself from time to time, otherwise the enemy would recognise him).
So here's how I would change some of the story:

1. Make Lian less annoying
2. Put more interactions with the Watch. Maybe do 1 small mission (which also functions as a kind of tutorial) before meeting Seign. In this mission we should see more bonding between the members.
3. After discovering the Primal Lens, maybe do 1 more mission with Seign that can further strengthen the friendship between Nowa and Seign. Maybe bringing the Primal Lens to the Dux in Ardinale, and then we start seeing that he's an unsettling character (like when we first met Marscal and Gizel in Stormfist)
4. After the six months jump, do a mission where Nowa saves Garr's life or smthg (maybe Garr being held hostage by Hurstwine or something so that he can take the blame for the purported attacks on Galdean border), so that it makes sense that he then becomes the captain of the Watch.
5. In Kyshiri, start by having a feast between Nowa and the villagers and Aunt Martha to see how nice people they are. And then when the attack came, burn the village to the ground, have some villagers being slaughtered and Aunt Martha killed. We need to see more rage from Nowa, and maybe Nowa crying after. Seign rescuing the villagers so that none of them died is really out of place here, it's better to have more drama and make us feel bad that these good people were slaughtered. This also gives us more tension with Leene, we don't really know where she is (instead of Aunt Martha saying she is on adventure), and we can have cutscenes of Nowa worrying and Mio and Lian trying to console him.
6. Eltisweiss war: explain how the Galdeans suddenly appeared out of the mountains and occupied Werne.
7. Sneaking into Werne: have Nowa meet Seign to have a dramatic cutscene, and then Hildi seeing them and sounding the alarm. Maybe one of the members of the Watch can stay to hold the enemies and be arrested to add more drama.
8. I didn't really get how there's suddenly an abandoned castle connected to the abandoned mines. Maybe when we sneaked there and saw Kogen etc, we could have more scenes exploring how they found the castle, how they have been living there, etc.
9. Siege of Eltisweiss: Perrielle being let go is not so outlandish, but it really removes the tension and it felt like nothing was at stakes. It would be better if she was under house arrest in her manor, and later we have to rescue her.
10. I don't like how we can freely walk around Eltisweiss to play Beigoma with Reid and Dr. Corque. Also didn't Seign destroy the gate in the war, but suddenly the gate was left intact?
11. Seign's defection was too fast, the infiltration to the laboratory should have been before the defection. It will make more sense that way. Also it may be a good Pahn moment to have one of them (maybe Hildi) not defecting immediately, but only later after some convincing. Also Seign's defection should have led him to being forced to fight his father in battle, that would have been really interesting + Teo moment.
12. The chimaeras in the laboratory could have been made of the corpses of the people of Grum County being deformed by the Primal Lens, so not just those adept in lens magic. That could also explain the Dux's war: to get human sacrifices. This will really raise the stakes of losing, and makes Perrielle's confrontational approach more questionable: she indirectly brought her people's demise by being so oppositional to the Dux. This can also be used to explain Valmaurice's betrayal: the Dux promised him League lands that can be resettled by dragonewts.
13. Invasion of Hishahn: explain how the imperial army can cross mountains without logistic problems.
14. The attack on Yarnaan was kind of random also, why?
15. I will end here because it's getting too long, but I would certainly not make things anticlimatic right after we were in such a desperate situation after Athrabalt. I also wonder how those sharks could bring those ships through the mountains to reach the great seas...

It's such a shame that the story could have been amazing, but it has been tempered to have a more lighthearted feeling + be more accessible for more people. I guess we'll see if this decision is more justified from a financial perspective.

Long story incoming.
My grandmother passed away 3 months ago after a 6 year fight with dementia. It was hard seeing her change from the loving, caring matriarch of the family to a shell, who couldn't recognise anyone. I regard her death as a blessing, with the last 3 years of her life bound to a chair with no quality of life in a nursing home.
Nan wasn't wealthy, she owned her home, had a very small savings account, and I would estimate her estate was worth around $450'000 australian dollars when she passed.
I had no expectations of any inheritance, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind.
My mum and her only sibling were executors
My mother stated she would be contesting her brother for lost time to care (periodic showering and feeding in the nursing home) to the tune of about $10k, and her brother was fine with that arrangement. When I heard about this, I had some reservations, but as I didn't know the full details I decided it wasn't my business.
The will was meant to be read last week but the solicitor asked why the other benefiting members were not present.... it turns out that my Nan's estate was to be split evenly in eights (12.5% shares) between my uncle, his wife and kids, and my mum, dad and me and my brother.
My Dad called me in the days following the attempted reading and very vaguely told me the details, and then asking me to sign a deed of family arrangement to annul the will to make 50% go to mum alone, surrendering the portion bequeathed to me.
I'm 27, married, 3 kids, just over $1 million in mortgage... 40k would be a huge surprise and welcome final gift from Nan.
My brother and I got together to go to mum+dads house that day and put our thoughts strait. My brother was not happy because mum was trying to take money from her own children, I wasn't happy because mum was trying to change the last word of my nan.
Ultimately, the discussion was a disaster, my mother stated she deserved our portion as she had cared for nan and we didn't, missed out on work to take Nan to appointments and that she deserved to be comfortable and eliminate the remainder of ther mortgage with the inheritance. Being called selfish and greedy by my own mum will stick with me for a long time.
I texted later that I will stand firm and not agree to any abolition of the will. I fully expect my mum to commence court action from this point.
There's a lot of behind the scenes drama, including my parents not liking my wife, and then by extension, my kids, grudges held for decade old issues and general alcohol induced mental instability on my mums side...
Tldr: I refused to surrender an inheritance to my mum and now she's one war path.

Linking a post at the bottom explaining what happened the other night a bit. Some backstory:
Friend has 3 kids with one woman; she is 4 states away and they had gone through a legal battle when the oldest was 6. Friends new wife has gotten worse as years have gone by; my wife witnessed the oldest kid ask for sanitary pads and the woman give her one. “I’ll need more later” “no you’ll waste them”. I’ve seen the woman lock my friend and 2/3 kids outside overnight and make them sleep in the car. There’s so much more she’s done.
The girl has cried for attention; she got in with the wrong boy last year and caused a big scene with her family, told lies about who it was and got CPS involved for a home visit. CPS has been to the house several Times in the last year, mostly due to her making complaints at school. They make sure house is ok & they leave; the girl was court ordered therapy for 2 months last year and that’s it.
After the events in my linked post transpired, her dad bought the other two kids cellphones & not the oldest. He’s told her she starts a lot of this “drama”.
Where I’m at is wanting to contact CPS myself, and inform them that yes the child has complained and home visits have showed it’s “ok” but that there’s more at play here. Am I overreacting? Do I need to stay out?
Linked post: https://www.reddit.com/TwoHotTakes/s/6AC2rtSXKF

It's 3 am and I'm spending yet another sleepless night on the couch after a huge blow-up with DH, for whom I can't do anything right
Spent the morning of Mother's Day as an anxious wreck trying to convince myself to go see my mom even though it meant dealing with my estranged siblings and feeling the emptiness of my dad's recent passing. Finally worked up the energy to leave, then came home later and noticed SS6 (who we have 50/50 EOW) had done some schoolwork with DH. I guess my first mistake was coming home; my second mistake was telling DH that I noticed some schoolwork was done and that he is a great dad (relevant later)
Fast forward to today and not gonna lie, I was feeling pretty bummed out about having had to play fake happy family with mine on Sunday, in addition to getting absolutely nothing from DH in terms of even a word of appreciation for the endless laundry, cleaning, cooking, and other general mom-ing that I do to keep "our family" afloat. I expressed my disappointment about not even getting a thank you... I wasn't expecting a breakfast in bed, flowers, or gift from him/SS... I didn't think the bar could get any lower but boy was I wrong
DH goes OFF, telling me not to EVER ask him for a thank you and that he doesn't need to hear me tell him that he's a great dad. This is coming from the man who never had a positive/active father figure and has stated in the past that he feels like he doesn't do enough as a dad... I thought letting your partner know they're doing a great job was a good thing, especially considering he's "just winging it" and unsure of himself?
The icing on the cake was attempting to go to the gym for an hour of solo de-stress time, only for DH to text me before I even finish the 10 minute drive that we are done, I have until the end of the month to find a new place to live (my name not being on the mortgage has been a point of tension for 2 years and I have expressed how this makes me feel like my living situation is insecure/unstable for this exact reason, despite me paying the equivalency of 50% of the monthly payments), and he wants the rings back. I then got a notification from the bank that he transferred out half of our joint savings. Obviously I ripped back home and after 2 hours of pointless bickering that lead us nowhere he says he shouldn't have said that and I don't actually have to leave. But fuck it, I took the rings off after he went to bed because the money is still missing
I am on a 6 week stress leave from my job as a teacher due to grief and horrible working conditions, going to countless doctor and psychologist appointments because of this, coming to terms with losing my dad at 26, and still trying to finish my master's degree in the next month. He has exploded on me in public and at home (both without and in front of SS), screamed in my face to the point of spitting on me, put his hands on me once... The list goes on and on. SS is a great kid and there's zero drama with BM, but I dream of the day I pull the pin, pack a U-Haul while he's at work, block him everywhere, and sell the rings

My husband and I have been together for 20 years. We are both in our early 40s and have two young children.
He cheated on me several times in our relationship, very early on emotionally with two different women and more recently he cheated physically for two years and three years emotionally with her before that. He was close to leaving, had a new place ready (which is now money down the drain) told his parents, told everyone close to us. I urged him to stay and give our marriage one last shot, to see if anything was salvageable. He ended up agreeing.
This was 6 months that ago. We have been in marriage counselling since. I don't know what we expected to happen with his feelings for this other woman, I guess if I'm being honest I thought overtime he would lose feelings for her and maybe he thought he could simply live without her but each month he has slip ups whether it's stalking her socials, contacting her family members or just contacting her.
He still has feelings for her, still is very much in love with her.
Last week, I think she had enough of being stuck in this drama and so she blocked him on everything. He now has no way of being in contact with her.
Could this be the wake up call he needed to move on and commit to the decision he made 6 months ago? Or are we prolonging the inevitable

Ive been dating her for about 6 months.
Gotta straight out say it, I'm the grade A douchebag in this situation, so let's get this out of the way. We met on hinge, I wasn't attracted to her in the slightest, let's be real, appearance wise I'm way above her league. but I've been on hinge for two years without even a second date at the time, I just want a gf so bad so I went out with her.
After 2 months or so she ask me to go exclusive with her, during that entire two months Ive gotten zero matches, like I sent out all the likes everyday and zero matches. I didn't know what to say so I was like, ok you are my exclusive gf now. She dreamed about me taking her to her favorite park, bought her her favorite dessert, and asking her to be her official boyfriend, and wouldn't' let the dream go. Well, I feel bad for her so I did exactly just that, the way she smiled almost made me convinced that I actually like her. But umm I still have hinge on my tablet (hidden at home) rn, but can't cheat when there's no matches. You can bad name me in the comments or whatever. But this is the context.
So, obviously she deserves someone who's actually attracted to her and can make her happy for the rest of her life. I'm not that guy, my preferences aside, I don't want children like ever they are disgusting, but she wants children and gets baby fever all the time. She's religious, I think religion is just crazy people preaching about a fictional character and it makes no sense. She wants to get married before 30, I don't feel like marrying anytime soon. She wants to move to the other side of the country, I want stay here. She's a cat person, I like dogs. My asian parents would never accept me dating a black girl so I've been hiding her from them and social media. And my friends keep teasing me nonstop about dating an ugly girl. This is a dead end relationship, I don't do short term relationships so I cannot remain in a relationship that I know is not gonna work long term.
But, she's super into me, and is extremely dependent on me. She's working two jobs and studying, and is nearly broke, can hardly make ends meet. She cry herself to bed like every week, and always vent to me about how she feel so inadequate, other girls look so pretty in their summer dresses with nice skin and skinny body makes her so jealous, her parents abusing her and bodyshame her (tbh her parents kinda have a point), not having a single friend, both her ex cheated on her and SAed her, she's so worried that she will fail out of school, working both jobs is so physically and mentally draining, and all that. She attempted suicide 5 months before meeting me, so there's that too.
On top of that, she told me over and over, that meeting me is the absolute best thing that has ever happened to her in her entire life. That I'm 100% her type, I'm the k-drama male lead in the k-drama that is her life, end quote. That since I agree to be her bf, she's been feeling motivated in life for the first time. That I'm the only person in her life that she can talk to, because she has no friends and her parents despite her. That I am 100% the man of her dreams, and everyday she feel so blessed having me in her life. If I don't text her every hour she gets anxious and starts to panic, she can only sleep when I do a video call and put the camera towards me the entire night so she knows that I'm "beside" her as she sleep.
Well, when being told all that, I can't exactly just break up with her. I just....feel so bad? I've been brainstorming nonstop for the past month on how exactly I can break up with her while keeping the devastation to her at a minimum. I would feel guilty for life if she just offed herself after I break up with her. She has no friends, and her parents despite her, so I can't text anyone to take care of her after I break up with her. We go to the same school too and she knows my workplace, so I'll 100% bump into her multiple times post break up.
Bro someone plz help me out, im trapped.

Six years together. 2024 has been quite a year so far. My boyfriend has been out of work for almost 5 months, which is yearly occurrence since his main source of income is from doing gig work with a local transportation company. He has been applying to jobs with an out of date resume, he hasn't had that much luck in finding work. When I suggested taking on a temporary job at a grocery store or cafe to stay afloat until his main job starts up again, he became extremely upset and said that those jobs were beneath him.
In these past 5 months he has been playing video games, smoking weed in my bathroom, randomly leaving at all hours to hang out with his friends. He doesn't help with any chores, out of fear for my safety I purchased him a new phone when he broke his, paid for two months worth of phone bills, purchase work boots, and allowed him to shake me down for cash to buy weed.
Even though he tries to gaslight me but saying that this is first year that he hasn't been without work, it hasn't been. Every year since he quit his job during covid(2020)and moved into my apt. he has had periods of no work and very little to no money. He just games and smokes those months away. He berates me for not cooking or cleaning when I was working two jobs and he was working none. When he finally did get a new job thanks to his dad helping him, he refused to contribute financially even though he saw how physically and mentally exhausted I was from working 6 days a week. He said I didn't deserve help. He treats me terribly whenever I help him out. He has forced me to pay his taxes, give him one of my stimulus bills, buy him food. He becomes irate if things aren't exactly how he wants it. He loves to make plans only to cancel at the last minute and then gaslight me about it. He would refuse to go out with me to events but then drop everything to go hang out with his friends.
I always told him that if he can't contribute financially due to not having enough or having work, it's fine but he should contribute by doinf household chores. He refuses.
I think what is going on is that my mind is trying to protect me by compartmentalizing and lessen the gravity of the situation and of what occurred this past weekend. I see the signs of being in an abusive relationship but I don't fully believe that I am in one because it doesn't fit what we all have been told are the signs of an abusive relationship.
In February he pushed some storage bins into me, one of which broke and cut me in my back because I told his parents that he hadn't been working for the past two months.
This past weekend which we were walking through a soon to be closed mall, I had been recording the beautiful 80's/90's architecture when he said wait, I instinctively turned around and he was scratching himself. I laughed a little bit and turned back and continued walking. Since I had my phone in my hand he thought I had recorded him, he rushed down the hallway angrily asking me if I recorded him and to give him my phone. I said I didn't and kept walking,I was wearing a hoodie and he grabbed my hood and pulled, angrily telling me to give him my phone, I told him to let go that he was hurting me. I tried to keep on walking but he was still holding onto and pulling my hood. He then proceeds to try to grab the phone out of my hands. You know when someone tries to grab something out of your hands and both of you start grappling over the item, that's what happened. My phone is brand new and did not have a case yet and I was worried he would smash it into the ground. I know my personal safety is more important than a phone but I couldn't let go even if I wanted to, he had grabbed onto me and was in the process of pushing me into the wall when a guy rounded the corner.
He didn't step in nor call the police as far as I know. I took the opportunity to get away from my boyfriend as quickly as I could.
I ran to the train station, he kept on yelling at me "Are you really going to act like this", I didn't answer. My neck and throat burned from where his was pulling back on my hoodie. I started to cry. There was a lady who seemed to notice that something was going on and nodded her head in approval when she saw me rushing past to get into the station.
When he finally did catch up to me and when he texted and called me afterwards, he kept on blaming me for what happened. He said that I shouldn't have walked away from him when he grabbed onto my hood and that I should have told him that I was playing around and pretending to record him( which is what I said to placate him). When I said that he shouldn't have grabbed my hoodie and pulled he retorted with the so now it's my fault, as if I made him pull my hoodie and react like that.
I wanted to go home but I didn't have my keys on me, so I went down to a nearby marina and watched the boats for awhile.
I ultimately ended up at his parents house. I did not tell them what happened. In the past he would become enraged when he found out that I had told his sisters or mom about what was really going on, and would forbade me to either go to a family function or to say anything. His dad then proceeded to have a conversation about selling his house and giving us the proceeds to buy a house but we should have two kids. His parents have been pressuring me have a child with him even though we aren't married. I want to get married and have a small church wedding but according to my boyfriend I don't deserve a wedding. He also shared with us the importance that both people in a relationship need to contribute financially and pay bills, I told him he should tell that to his son, not me. It would be insanity to have a child with a man like him. I know that he will not change who he is if a child came along.
My friends are aware of the general situation (not of this latest incident), some of my family is aware of the general situation( I don't want them to worry and I don't want to bring unnecessary drama into their lives). His family is aware, one of his older sister's told me to call her for help when I wanted to end things with him and she would come over but when I actually did reach out to her, she said that I was an adult and would need to handle things on my own. I think she feigned concerned in order to get information to gossip with the rest of their family.
I am scared of him. Scared of how he would react if I stand firm in him needing to leave. Scared that he will harm my friends, family, himself and me. He has threaten suicide before. He has threaten to harm my pet. He has threaten to steal my mom's ashes. I have asked him to leave before and either he refuses or he simply ignores me.Him leaving is not that simple. He has nothing to lose yet at the same time everything to lose. He doesn't want to go back to his parents house because they will make him find a full time job and then won't let him do what he wants, he would have less freedom( couldn't smoke weed)...and those are his words not mine. He has never agreed to a break or even a temporary visit because he would "come back madder". He knows if he does leave, I will try to end things with him.
He comes across as a calm, chill guy when he is around my friends and family because he is high all or most of the time. That calm, chill guy is not who he really is. He is angry, volatile, and cruel. Yes, he has his moments of kindness(or niceness) and sweetness. Is it "nice" to have someone around to talk with, yes. Who seemingly care about when you will be back home, yes. but do those niceties outweigh everything else that has happened.
There is so much more that I could add to this post, but I am exhausted and I have blocked several incidents out. He constantly tries to gaslights me. He lied about his background and education. He has gotten physical several other times as well as verbally/emotionally. He has engaged in several sexting relationships, most notably with his ex Christy and his "friend" Lore. When I expressed how hurtful his cheating was he stated that is who he is, that he's the kind guy but since he didn't sleep with them, it's fine, it's not cheating. These girls also do not see anything wrong with what they have done.
I do not have any immediate family ie siblings or parents. Therefore, I cannot go and stay with family until he leaves or have a family member accompany me while he moves out. I do have extended family in the area but life has taught me that there is no guarantee that they will help you even if you desperately need it. It's the American way to find your own way out of problems and pull yourself up by your bootstraps ( I say this sarcastically).
The apt. is in my name and I'm pretty sure there is a clause in it that states that if there are domestic disturbances I would have to move out. As stated above I don't have anywhere else to go, so he must leave.
Sometimes I think that this is my lot in life and that I should just accept it. I find myself questioning if what happened on Saturday really is abuse or if it was just a misunderstanding that got a little bit out of hand. Sometimes I just don't know anymore.

So for the sake of this post I would like to remain anonymous but there’s a lot to this situation but I am posting to hopefully get unbiased feedback so I 21f and my fiancé also 21m got together a little under three years ago and when we got together life was amazing he was the perfect guy I followed the three month rule and we had a tough situation unfortunately before we had gotten together his mom was ill and needed a caregiver I didn’t want to be involved (bc healthcare you never treat family) so I tried my best to avoid it but in the end they needed a caregiver and I am a stay at home mom so when they had no other option I moved in with them and took ok that role of his moms caregiver and took on some household chores because his father wouldn’t clean up after dinner and to take care of her I had to clean up the kitchen to make her meals. Everything went ok it was a pretty toxic environment his dad was narcissistic and controlling and wanted us to clean up his house along w the camper we stayed in living there and maintain the whole property or pay 800$ in extra rent on top of the 450 we paid already (keep in mind to take care of his mom and do housekeeping I only got paid 200$ a month to take care of her full time so he could work full time so at least 40-45 hour weeks) so this starts affecting my daughter negatively she was scared to be in the house bc of how his dad treated us so we left and it blew up we cut contact with his dad after some more petty drama after his mom passed a few months after she passed we found out we were having a baby and I have hg which is all the time morning sickness I couldn’t drink water without getting sick in and out of the hospital just for iv fluids and I couldn’t keep up with the house work and it ended up being I couldn’t depend on him at all to take care of my kid or the house bc he worked a 40 hour week so we keep dealing with this problem and he is a good guy he doesn’t cheat or hit me we’re financially ok but it’s gotten worse since time has gone on I had the baby and he slept untill I was 8cm dialted no epidural I tried waking him up for support and he picked a fight with me I stayed awake the first three days i had the baby total of 6 hours of sleep the first 72 hours of the babies life meanwhile he got plenty of sleep I’m so tired and I have so much cleaning to do bc of him not keeping up even neglecting animals I just there hasn’t been a spark and it got rly dark for me and someone from my past came back in and made me feel heard emotionally and I haven’t had that in forever in this relationship I’m in now and I cheated in a weak moment I know I’m shitty for it and nothing will make it right but i couldn’t say no when it felt so good to finally be desired by someone and so now to save my relationship the person my close friend who did get me through a lot I have to ghost and he revealed he loves me and will wait for me . I know I’ve been all over the place this is sooooo detailed I barely cover all the hurt and disappointment i go through but being ignored in labor and while I’m crying bc he needs sleep he’ll fall asleep all the time without even realizing it and fight me and be angry and take it out on the kids when he wakes up in the middle of of sleeping I just feel like he’s turning into his dad and how toxic he was I just I’m so lost here and need help to be honest hopefully someone will listen to my nonsense I’ll update or give me context if asked thanks if you got this far