I am looking to buy an vacuum. Budget is 5-8k. As of now i'm considering Karcher WD-3 but i'm open to suggestions. If you have any prev experiences with Karcher wd-3, lmk here.
I also had a few doubts since this would be my first time buying and using a vacuum.
will the cables or wires of other appliances on the floor disturb the vacuum? I can lift them up and use the vacuum but some places are hard to reach.
do i need to change the bag inside every month or how does it work?
can i use it on a mess which is both wetanddry?
i live in an apartment so i also want to know if the noise is bearable?
Thank you!

I’m 24F, 5’6 and 150lb. Although I have 37% body fat so I look like a lot more. I’ve always been at this weight since 14 even with yo-yo dieting fluctuations. I was anorexic a few years ago and dropped down to 130, lowest I’ve ever been. Fixed my mental health issues, but I just can’t lose the weight in a healthy way.
My body comp analysis says years of restrictive eating has put my BMR at 1100. The recommended deficit for me to lose weight is 1300 calories a day. I just can’t so I’ve been trying to stick to 1500, tend to land at 1600 with a lot of difficulty.
I work out 6 days a week, 45 mins of cardio (spinning or run a 5k in 45), and do 45 mins of strength training. For my mental health, not calories. I don’t eat back calories to avoid going over limit.
I learned about nutrition. I love fruits and veg but was then still consuming too many carbs for my blood sugar so cut most apart from leafy greens + 1 banana a day. I try to eat clean keto. So now I eat 120g protein a day, 100g fat, 15g fibre, and under 40g carbs. I try to start my day with 30g of protein for fullness. I add fat for satiety. No matter what, I’m just fucking hungry every hour after eating. And the food noise takes over my life. I tried volume eating, but it made it worse, so I’ve been trying to adjust to smaller frequent meals.
I’ve been doing this for 2 months consistently, and no change. I’ve committed to continuing no matter how long it takes, it’s just affecting my mental health that nothing changes. I guess I might be recomping. Yes I’m tracking every calorie correctly, I eat 100 under to account for mistakes (+ some additional leftover from workout). I have just 20lbs to lose but I feel like my whole life has been a battle I’ve lost against it. Fad diets, crazy workout regimes, even the healthy way. I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I was my happiest at my skinniest because I just felt comfortable in my skin - but I care about my longevity and gut and I know such restrictive eating will harm that.
I just can’t see how I could eat less to get to my goal weight, let alone sustain it. 1500 is hard and miserable but I get through it with distractions and 0cal energy gels for my workouts. Eating less triggers bingeing for me. I just want something sustainable and healthy and don’t know what else to do. I feel like there’s something wrong with me.
TL;DR: I eat high protein, high fat, drink 2l of water, an electrolyte mix, yet I’m still hungry all the time. I don’t know what else I could possibly do to curb my appetite so I can go lower and lose weight. What am I missing? I’m desperate.

Hi, I am posting here seeking advice regarding building noise and my rights as a home owner.
After years of saving money my wife and I could finally buy an apartment. Everything was great, location, price, space etc… BUT, after settling and moving in we noticed that the amount of noise coming from the apartment upstairs is a lot! I can hear them walking, talking, they TV, and everything shakes! When their washing machine is running my whole apartment vibrates. It is driving us insane. I have checked and there is no insulation between floors.
I am quoting to get acoustic insulation for the ceiling but I am concerned it won’t fix the vibration.
I tried talk with the neighbors but they did not care, I guess because they live in the top apartment they have no problems with noise so they cant sympathize with our situation.
The building is from 2003, 3 storage, wooden frame and sub floor.
If I get inspected, could I get the building body corp to fix it? Does anyone have experienced something similar?
Thank you all in advance!

I'm prepared to be called crazy but I don't even know what to think of this situation, So I've been having a lot of extremely realistic nightmares of something being in my closet like to the point where I wake up in puddles of sweat. I'm not talking the average little bad dream but like SUPER realistic dreams and tonight it was especially creepy, I really don't wanna go all into details of it as it 5am as I'm typing this out, But we've also been noticing that pictures are falling down in our "shrine". Well usually I wake up and no big deal I go back to bed and I'm good the rest of the night, it just kept coming back worse and worse tonight. Now for the part that woke me up for the night. Me and my girlfriend keep our dog in our room at night, NO WAY for him to get out the way we have it set up, We have huge gates set up, bedroom doors closed the whole 9 yards, As I'm woke up from this, I tell her about it and i happen to hear my dog whining a lot, So i hop out of bed and realize my dog is not even in my room. I asked her "did you put the dog in the cage or something" to which she replies with no, Then I happen to realize he not only is no longer in my room but he also made it past our gates and nothing has been moved. (The gates make noise when touched and they were even still in place when I woke up) Now you have to know our dog to know how weird it would be for him to even attempt jumping the gates. We've had paranormal stuff happen in the apartment a few months back that was undoubtable because we watched it happen. but what the fuck man? Tell me I'm crazy. It don't sit right with me that he was not in our room when I 100% brought him in last night

Have a Dyson Omni Glide which I very rarely use, and just sits in the box gathering dust. My sister recently moved to Canada, and is looking for a vacuum for a small, hard floor only, one bed apartment (ideal for the omni). However, I’m based in Ireland, but will be travelling soon to Canada to visit.
Would I be able to bring the Omni over to Canada and use it there? Would like to give to her so she doesn’t have to spend a few hundred on a new vacuum, but can I safely charge the Omni in Canada? And can I maybe just use a 3 pin to 2 pin adapter to charge the vacuum? Or would buying a Canadian charger work instead?
Thanks in advance

I had quite the weird roommate experience. To preface, my situation wasn’t terrible, but did have a major impact on my mental health, academic performance, and socialization this past freshman year of college.
To start off, I met my roommate through a college bios page. What seemed great over the phone turned into a quick nightmare as soon as the end of august rolled around. The first day we were in a room together, you could feel the awkwardness and disconnect and it never went away, even at the end of the second semester. Basically my roommate became good friends with this girl down the hall, and started to treat me and the other girls roommate like garbage.
Long story short, I became friends with the other girls roommate who was in the same situation as me. There was a football game the one day and I was getting ready with my friend in my room, and my roommate was getting ready with my friend’s roommate in her room (2 doors apart). My friend went to grab something from her room and prompted me to get out in the hallway. Not even a foot out of the door, they are blowing us up in that room to some random chick. Mind you, they had NO reason to be talking about us. Their reasoning was that my friend and I came home late and made “too much noise while they were sleeping.” HELP ME NOW BC THEY WERENT EVEN SLEEPING, AS HER ROOMMATE WAS AT A PARTY THAT NIGHT AND I DIDNT EVEN SEE HER LMAO. As for my roommate, she was in her bed on her phone with the big light on. You weren’t sleeping. It was nearing 10pm on a Friday night.
I know this sounds ridiculous up to this point but it’s just hypocritical, because she would have her friend in my room or would be in my friend’s room all the time making noise. My roommate used to let her friend in early in the morning because we all had an early class together, and she would literally come and start socializing when i wasn’t even awake yet. Talk about disturbing someone’s sleep. Well anyway, this may have been wrong on my part as im being fully transparent here, but I muted her contact that day because my friend and I were about to go to the football game, and my roommate and her friend were going separately. I saw them in the lobby and glared at them when they smiled and waved because they had no clue ts I just heard them say. I partly muted her contact for the day so I didn’t have the urge to send her something nasty if Im gonna be honest. I had simply had enough of her.
Well come the next day, I’m laying in my bed feeling so alone. I wanted for the life of me to be able to be friends with my roommate, but after hearing what she said about me, it was pretty disheartening. I put a lot of work into our room. I was the only one who ever cleaned. I was the one to buy the fridge and microwave because she was out of state and I didn’t want her to have the hassle of transporting those things. I was just in a really bad headspace and missing home that I didn’t get out of bed that morning until late. Well, I start to hear fingers slamming the keypad. You don’t have to use the keypad unless you’re in a lock out situation. Here it comes…
This annihilation of a human being bursts into the room and goes, and I quote, Is there a reason you fing blocked me? (Because I wasn’t getting her calls as she was still muted). And I straight up said, yeah there actually is, I heard all the sht you said about me yesterday. The woman was too stunned to speak. But she spoke. “Still that isn’t a reason to not answer my calls. I’m not obligated to you. I swear if you touch any of my s**t, I’m gonna call the cops.”
Runs out and slams the door
Gave me no room to talk whatsoever. And what’s funny about the last part is that my roommate and her friend, while they were talking about us, did in fact touch my friends stuff as her closet was rummaged through, her shoes were messed with, her mirror was broken. Not to mention my stuff was starting to be out of place too. She was really just reflecting herself. She helped herself to all of my food, ate an ENTIRE box of chips my mom had gotten me to take to college. This chick was loaded with money too, there was no reason she was eating my food when I could barely get by.
There’s a lot of small things that happened after that. She apologized the same night but I never saw her the same after. What really burnt me was the fact I gave her a phone wallet for her student id and she never even put it on to this day. She had no reason to be locked out given the fact she wanted the wallet and never put it on. That’s entirely her fault. And up to that point, I’m honestly glad I had her contact muted. This was her karma.
Another comical karma story was when it was a Sunday or something, and I went to the library that day for 6 hours. That’s not terrible long for me for a weekend, but that day I was exhausted. I was heading back to my room when she texted me, “how much longer will you be out of the room?” because her boyfriend was there and she wanted time alone with him. He was also from out of state and would come see her. Mind you, at this point, they weren’t even in the room. They were at a sporting event. I’ve honestly had it up to this point because I would give them PLENTY of time alone all the time, whether they were on the phone together or in person. She never did the same for me, and my relationship is longer than hers.
I simply replied “well I just got back but I guess I can leave again” which was honestly kind of passive aggressive but like atp I was so fed up with her garbage. She had my location and purposely made it a big deal that I was going back to the room. I just grinded for 6 hours, and she never even told me her boyfriend was coming that day. On the way to the room she sprained her ankle and had to be taken to urgent care. Needless to say I got some sleep that day actually. But I walked into my room and her packages were thrown all over my desk, because my space was just hers i guess lmao.
Karma is real. Don’t be a terrible, inconsiderate roommate. Also here is a list of less explained occurrences that have happened throughout this unforgettable freshman year
-took multiple pictures of me while I slept
-she got so sick and coughed all over everything, blew nose loudly all night but complained when I got sick to my face
-bribed me with a stanley cup after threatening to call the cops on me for not answering her
-flooded our room with water from the bathroom when i wasn’t there and posted about it on her instagram story without even texting me about it (the water was mostly on my side and she tried blaming in on someone else)
-left old food in the fridge, the fridge that I bought (and im talking like months old food and drinks
-would call her bf for hours every day but not talk (he could just hear and see me and i wouldn’t even know he was on the phone)
-offered me to live with her next year and oddly enough backed out last second (we were on semi good terms at this point)
-would make me feel unwelcome in my own room
-would look at me weirdly if I came in during one of her day and night long phone calls with her bf
-would be loud asf while getting ready and then expected me to tip toe around her when I got ready
-posted a picture of me on her instagram complaining about having a roommate because she couldn’t cry over her chem grades with me in the room, when she never even left the room for me to do so when I experienced 2 deaths in the span of a few months
I’m sure communication on my end could have helped some, but it came to the point where it was pointless. I didn’t care for her at all. What burnt me is that she started being super nice to me the last two weeks of school which made it hard to just block her like i originally had planned. Would I look like a bad person for doing so, or is this completely validated with my experiences with her. I’ve never met someone so oddly unaware of themselves. It makes me cringe DEEPLY whenever I think about her and what I had to put up with. I also want to mention I did go to my RA and Res Director about this early on, so it’s not like I blatantly didn’t do anything about it.

Hello,
Pretty though/difficult topic for me unfortunately. I'd like to get your advices or tips.
So I moved from an previous appartement which I had enough because of neighbors noise to a new one.
I live in the new appartement since two weeks and I already had enough of it and I think I need to move again... I am convinced that I made another bad choice in my appartement chosing (thank that the fact that I had limited time to choose so thing were done very quickly and that piss me off)
Appartement is also noisy like the previous one with new different noise sources (it's like changing noise source to another one).
I live near a road that have a high traffic intensity, windows are not very well insulated of the noise. There is parking near windows as well so people slamming there cars doors are idiot.
Couple day was hot and I am scared for the summer season here in this apartment. I have AC but I have to keep in mind that turning on could be very expansive.
There was also an issue with the neighbors also because a 18y just literally knock on the wall because he is not happy...he is doing nothing at home.
I also think that I will spent more money for the rent and the other charges and the previous was already expansive as well. This get me anxious as my income is low.
I really feel mitigated about the new appartement. I told my parents about that but here are unhappy because I just moved, they also helped me in the moving.
I don't know what to do, I am lost, I am tired of this stupid appartement stuff that are expansive, not insulated well garbage, tired that you sometime need to act quickly...

A fanfiction of The Nature of Predators by SpacePaladin15 https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/u19xpa/the_nature_of_predators/
Previous Prologue Next
Memory Transcription Subject: Slanek, Venlil Space Corps
Date [standardized Earth time]: August 21, 2136
Walking into the lab, we were welcomed by a Pokemon that looked oddly familiar to me, a pink creature with predatory eyes and small wings that looked completely vestigial. It wasn’t until I saw the Human inspecting a large screen embedded in the wall that I recognised them. Lilith and Sara, who were among the first Terrans to have visited Venlil Prime. Lilith, whose species was the ‘Clefable’ if I remember correctly, gestured for the three of us to come further into the lab.
“Hello there, thank you for coming so soon after settling in! It seems a lot of Venlil are quite excited to do the Infinity Energy tests.”
I give a slightly nervous ear flick in response.
“I uh, really just wanted to get this over and done with.”
“Right, well in that case you’ll be glad to know that this takes no time at all. It’ll be over before you know it, and you’ll have your exchange partners beside you through the whole process.”
I look up at Marcel and Felix, who both give me further reassuring glances. Marcel seems a little nervous though, awkwardly standing just in front of the door and obviously having no idea what he should be doing. As the Clefable leads me over to a chair and gestures for me to take a seat, she passes over a piece of paper and a pen.
“This is the consent form, please read it out completely and carefully before writing your basic information and signature.”
Lilith then bounds away to converse with Sara, who is still looking at the large screen teeming with strange writing and graphs. As I read through the consent form, I only grow more worried.
‘Permanent Infinity Energy infusion.’
‘Monitored for remainder of Space Corps service.’
‘Possibility of previously unknown side effects.’
I look over to Marcel and Felix, beckoning them over with a wave of my tail. Marcel kneels down beside the chair, bringing the three of us to roughly eye level as Felix rests on his shoulder.
“Sorry, but can you two just… stay close? This seems a bit more intense than I was expecting.”
Felix nods furiously, followed by Marcel giving a small, closed mouth smile.
“Of course, we’ll be right here.”
“After this is over, we can all get some food from the cafeteria. A nice salad or something, alright?”
The Human’s suggestion sounds nice, and my tail sways in agreement. I sign the form after reading through it a second time, and Lilith soon comes over to collect it. As she does so, I see Sara walking over with some wires and wool clips. She places them on a nearby table before turning to finally address me.
“Hello Mr Slanek, sorry for the wait. It’s just, the data we’ve gathered so far from the other Venlil is beyond fascinating. It's an amazing opportunity to investigate how life not native to Earth reacts with Infinity Energy and uh… you probably don’t care, sorry.”
With a lightly red hue showing in her cheeks, she grabs the wires and clips, and gets started on attaching them to various points on my body. From my knees to my paws, snout, ears, stomach, chest, tail… almost everywhere, really. This all only makes my nerves grow even more.
“Now, just as a warning, this will probably hurt a bit. It’s only for a moment though, and it just means that everything is working.”
As Sara attaches the last clip to the wool on my back, she walks back over to large screen on the opposite wall, which I am surprised to find now displays a wireframe model of myself. I notice my paws are beginning to shake slightly, and I turn towards my exchange partners, hoping to find solace. Not so long ago, I would never have even fathomed the idea of looking to predators for comfort, but now…
I reach out a shaking paw towards them. After hesitating for a moment, a look of surprise coming over his face, Marcel reaches out and takes hold of it. Felix scurries down the Human’s arm and places his own small paw on top of mine as Marcel gives it a gentle squeeze.
Turning back to the rest of the lab, Sara is swiping her hand to rotate the wireframe model of my body, while Lilith is retrieving something from a large, formerly locked box nearby. She pulls out a small yellow crystal, and walks back over to me. Sara sidles up beside her partner, and double checks the wire clips one last time as the Clefable holds out the crystal to me.
“This is a revive, which will inject Infinity Energy directly into you. Make sure you hold onto it tight, ok?”
I take a deep breath, giving Marcel’s hand and Felix’s paw a gentle squeeze as I do so.
“Understood.”
I reach out with my other paw, and grab onto the revive. For a moment, nothing happens, but then the revive begins to glow. I shut my eyes tight against the blinding light, and tighten my grip on the crystal. A strange sensation, like waves of pressure, emanate from where the revive touches my paw. Through my arm, across my chest, up my neck and down my navel un-
“BRAKH!”
I cry out as pain suddenly engulfs my snout and legs. A loud beeping noise comes from the clips attached to them, which I silently pray means that everything is working as it should. It feels like my legs are trying to rip themselves apart at the knees, and I understand instantly why I’m sat down for this. My snout too lights up, as if on fire without the heat, forcing me to grit my teeth until my jaw starts hurting as well from the preassure alone. I tighten my grip on both the revive and my partners. I feel weight shifting, and Felix’s paw disappears. Not a moment later, something warm and fuzzy jumps up onto the chair beside me, reaching up to rest a paw on my shoulder.
“It’s alright, we’re right here.”
I go to wrap my tail around him, only to find something strange. My tail has gone numb. The mixture of sensations, from numbness to pain, continues for a little while. As the revive breaks down into grey dust, I can finally open my eyes and unclench my teeth. Steadily, the searing pain fades, leaving my tail numb and my snout and legs sore. I breathe deeply again, and I turn my attention to Felix and Marcel. I retrieve my paw from Marcel’s grip and Felix hops back down from the chair. The Human reaches over to lightly pat me on the back.
“There we go, all over now. You did great, Slanek.”
“Th-thanks.”
Lilith comes over and begins detaching the clips from my wool, while Sara is already tapping away at the screen, the wireframe model of my body now looking very different than it was before. The majority of it is now coloured a stark white, although notably my snout and legs are a dimmer shade of muted grey. The only splash of actual colour is in my tail, the entire limb a vivid purple, most intense at the tip. After inspecting it for a moment, Sara turns back around to address me.
“Thank you for coming, Mr Slanek. The full results of this test will be sent to your holopad shortly, but I’ll give you the most important information now.”
Sara taps the screen a few times, and labels written in Venscript appear as a key for the colours.
White – Mixed
Violet – Poison
Grey – Unknown
“Your results are consistent with what we’ve seen in all the other Venlil that have been tested so far. Most of your body contain a mixture of all Types of IE, similar to Humans. Different Venlil seem to have the Poison IE concentrate in different areas of the body, I’ve seen it in arms, abdomen, throat, wool and elsewhere. For you it’s in the tail, which so far seems fairly common. The grey zones are the most interesting, as they’re in the same areas for each and every Venlil; the snout and legs. Combine that with how this energy isn’t quite Normal but also not Typeless, not to mention it’s almost complete lack of reactivity to external or internal stimuli… it will certainly be an area of research I'll happily dive into soon.”
As Sara explains the results of the test, Marcel helps me to stand up again. At first, I’m a little unsteady as my legs still feel slightly odd, but leaning on his arm helps. The numb feeling in my tail slowly fades, and I experimentally shake it back and forth a few times. There is… Poison in it? It doesn’t feel any different, at least at the moment. After Lilith and Sara once again thank me for my cooperation, the three of us are ushered out of the lab, left standing together in the hallway as another mini herd files in after us. I turn to look up at my companions, a slight bloom making its way onto my face.
“Hey, uh, sorry for what happened in there. To predators it’s probably a show of weakness to need someone sticking nearby but-”
“Okay, we’re nipping that ‘weakness’ shit in the bud right now.”
Felix’s surprising angry voice catches me off guard, and for a second I’m worried that I said something to make him mad. I realise that, in a way, I had… but not for the reason I thought.
“Needing a friend ain’t weakness, Slanek. Just look at Marc and I!”
Marcel smiles at the Buizel, before turning his gaze back down at me. His predatory gaze seems stern, and yet somehow friendly, despite that being essentially oxymoronic.
“Slanek, if I’ve learned anything from my time in the military, it’s that ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ are meaningless words in isolation. People can only reach their full potential when they have others lifting them up, whether they be a Human or Pokemon. I doubt Venlil are any different.”
Something flashes through my mind, a memory that Marcel's words invoked. Of course. One of the first pieces of Terran media I saw after First Contact; 'The Power of Us'. Felix nods along excitedly, jumping down from the Human's shoulder to be a bit closer to my level.
“Never call yourself weak again, alright? Marcel and I were already growing stronger with just the two of us, but now we have a brand-new friend? The three of us together will be unstoppable!”
Marcel snickers slightly.
“Not really the angle I was going for, but sure. Anyway, that packet of chips wasn't nearly enough. Like I said earlier, let’s go grab something from the cafeteria, alright?”
Seemingly immediately forgetting the previous topic, Felix’s eyes light up and his tails whir into action.
“Oh! I hope they have Wacan berries!”
As Felix rapidly ascends back up onto Marcel’s shoulder, my own tail begins to sway back and forth again. The predators’ kind words lifted my spirits and cast aside the embarrassment I had felt, spurring me to happily step forwards and follow the Human’s lead towards the station’s cafeteria.
As we made our way through the halls, I paid more attention to the various pairs and trios we passed. The Venlil all ranged from bubbling with excitement, a spring in their step as they walked joyfully beside their partners, to barely containing their fear, shaking slightly as they stuck close to the walls and avoided looking at most of the more predatory looking Pokemon. I wasn’t at either extreme, though I was leaning towards the former. I strode beside Marcel with contentment, mentally thanking my past self for signing up for the program. I was nervous to meet them at first, but it took almost no time at all for me to recognise the friends I had already been speaking to over text for whole herds of paws at this point.
When we reached the cafeteria, the place was already alive with many Terrans and Venlil. Some sat just with their exchange partners, while others gathered into larger herds, with the countless conversations happening between them melding together with the clinking of cutlery. Even out here on this station, with by far the strangest creatures in the Universe, the sound of people enjoying each other’s company was oh so familiar.
The three of us collected our meals and decided just to sit by ourselves, eventually finding a spot near a rather short Venlil sitting with a large, purple serpentine Pokemon that was presumably their partner. As Marcel and I set our meals down on the table, Felix quickly grabs a pastry from Marcel’s tray.
“I call dibs on the Wacan muffin!”
Marcel has selected some sort of soup for himself, while I chose a simple bunt leaf salad, although my serving seemed to have some sort of fruit in it that I didn’t recognise. I prodded the yellow chunks around, trying to determine if I had gotten some underripe juicefruit or something, catching Marcel’s attention.
“That’s Shuca berry. Not really my thing, but it’s decently popular.”
“Oh, it’s an Earth fruit?”
“Yep, looks like the kitchen’s experimenting with mixing cuisines. This soup is… surprisingly spicy.”
Looking up at the Human, I find that his face has turned a slight reddish hue, the flush no doubt signifying that he was struggling. A quick peek at the contents of his meal provides an answer, making me whistle slightly in laughter.
“Ah, that would be firefruit. Fitting name, isn’t it?”
“Fuck, you can say that again.”
As I watch my Human partner gulp down his glass of water, I pick up a few bunt leaves along with a small chunk of the Shuca berry and pop them in my mouth. The yellow fruit goes well with the bunt leaves, providing a mild but nice sweetness with the slightest kick of spice. Though, obviously not nearly as much as Marcel’s firefruit. The Human soon excuses himself to refill his water, Felix throwing a teasing quip his way between bites of the muffin.
“Fire Type doesn’t suit you, Marc!”
While trying to stifle my laughter at my friend’s misfortune, a slightly alarmed, raspy voice coming from my right catches my attention.
“Ssssevik, are you alright?”
Turning to my right, I find the large serpent Pokemon sitting nearby looking at her Venlil partner with concern. He is holding a paw over his stomach and groaning slightly.
“Y-yeah Arbok, I’m fi-fi -hurk-”
He gives a horrible sound somewhere between a burp and a retch, grabbing the attention of a few other people around us.
“Wassss it the berriesss?”
“N-no it’s -hurk- I think is the Pois- -hurk-“
Thinking quickly, one of the nearby Humans passes the Venlil a plastic bag. He accepts it and tries to thank them, only for his attempt to be interrupted by more retching. Just as he seems to lose control of his meal completely, he cries out.
“Gastro Acid!”
Instead of the typically yellowy green, the Venlil expels a thick, deep purple fluid into the bag. After a single powerful heave, the Venlil looks back up, seemingly slightly dizzy. A moment later, a sizzling sound can be heard coming from the bag, the bottom of which soon breaks. The acidic substance spills onto the floor, having corroded through the plastic like it was nothing. For a while, nobody makes a sound, nor barely moves. Venlil, Human and Pokemon alike in our little section of the cafeteria are all staring at the poor little Venlil who in turn has his eyes glued onto the now useless plastic bag. As for the purple acid, it soon fizzles away into nothing, leaving the floor spotless with no evidence that it ever existed.
The sound of approaching footsteps makes me turn around with a slight jump, finding Marcel returning with a new glass of water. His eyes dart first to the silent crowd, then to the small Venlil, then finally to me and Felix.
“Uh, did I miss something?”
Previous Prologue Next
~~~~~~~

NoPokedex

Humans - Typeless
Gojid - Steel/Rock

• Sovlin: Metal Claw & Rollout

Venlil - Normal /Poison

• Kam: ??? & Poison Jab
• Slanek: ??? & ???

Arxur - Dragon/???

• Isif: Dragon Pulse & ???

Tilfish - Bug/Dark
Zurulian - ???/???
Farsul - ???/???
Kolshian - ???/???
Yotul - ???/???
Mazic - ???/???
Dossur - ???/???
Sivkit - ???/???
Krakotl - Flying/???
Harchen - ???/???
Duertan - Flying/???
Thafki - Wate???
Sulean - ???/???
Iftali - ???/???
Drezjin - Flying/???
Jaur - ???/???
Letian - ???/???
Leshee - ???/???
Yulpa - ???/???

A bit of backstory i lived in a 20 square meters apartment since high school because my parents house was too small to fit all 5 children and because im the eldest i had to move out first.I mean its not a big deal and i find a good job and rented this small apartment.After 2 years of hard work i get promoted to a new state and i earned 200000$ in the next 5 months so i was happy to finally be able to buy i house.I found a house in a nice neighborhood for a good price and it has 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms,kitchen and big garden in the fornt.
When I moved to the new neighborhood, I was filled with optimism and hope. The house was exactly what I was looking for - peaceful, with a beautiful garden and enough space for my favorite hobby, gardening. The first few weeks everything was wonderful. My neighbors seemed friendly, except for the neighbor next to me who will call Karen.
At first I didn't pay much attention to her unfriendly looks and comments. But over time, things started to deteriorate. Karen was clearly not happy with my presence and never missed an opportunity to show it. It started with complaints about the smallest things - noise from my lawnmower when I cut the lawn, my flowers that "disrupted the aesthetics" of the neighborhood, and other such ridiculous claims.
One day, while I was working in the garden, Karen came over and started yelling that I was disturbing the peace of the neighborhood. I tried to calm her down and explain that I was just doing my job, but she wouldn't listen. This was the first sign that she was not going to be easy to deal with.
Soon after, Karen began calling the police with false accusations. He claimed that I was in my house illegally and that I was probably a criminal. When the police came, I showed them my title deeds and explained the situation. They quickly realized that Karen was making false accusations and warned her to stop complaining.
But that didn't stop her. She started sending letters to the municipality, organizing neighborhood meetings to complain about me, and spreading rumors that I had a criminal record. All this became so unbearable that I decided to take more serious measures.
One night, after Karen called the police again with false accusations, my patience ran out. I waited until late in the evening when everything was quiet. Then I approached her house and saw that she was still awake, sitting in the living room watching TV.
I knocked on her door. Karen opened the door with a smile, expecting another neighbor to complain about me. But instead, she faced me. Before she could say anything, the rage and frustration that had been building up in me was unleashed and I hit her.
Karen fell to the ground, shocked and scared. I leaned over her and told her in a low but firm voice that it was high time she stopped trying to harm me. I made it clear to her that I would not tolerate her harassment any longer and that if it continued I would go to the authorities and file a formal harassment complaint.
After this incident, Karen changed her behavior. She no longer engaged with me and even avoided contact with me. I went about my life in peace and enjoyed my garden. Although I did not condone violence, I realized that sometimes people like Karen need to be put in their place to understand that they cannot act with impunity

I know my bf online and we have been dating online for 10 months. We are both Chinese but I have been studying in china but he went to abroad to study since high school. i.e. Canada. Everything goes well and we are like forsaken soulmates that have been forced to be apart for a long time. For the past 10 months we really get along very well and its my first love. But there are some problems recently arising.
First He had ONS experience although only once. I was raised in a region of china where everyone is conservative about sex. Many girls even think that they should leave their virgin to their husbands so the sex before marriage is prohibited. My family is also conservative. But I think I have an open mind genetically. In the past I think I can accept sex before marriage or casual sex but only when it really came to me I found that it’s not easy to change an opinion that you have been long exposed to. In china I think the society is experiencing the transformation of values after you know the fast development of economy in the past 30 years. So there is a mixture of the open and conservative opinions about sex and I always thought I will be in the open crowd. But actually I am a virgin. And it’s actually hard for me to accept he had sex experience. Although I know he study abroad and it’s more open abroad I still find it hard to accept all of this. I think it’s because the culture and for me rationally I am pro that he had sex because it’s normal. I am always sick of the old Chinese conservative opinions because I think it’s suppressing the nature. I know it’s normal in the western world. Can anyone come to comfort me about this and help me to accept this normal behavior in the western world. And I am also going to study in the U.S.
The first thing has damaged our relationship a little(or much). But recently the second problem came. He is one year before graduation and just finished his final tests 2 weeks ago. He said he got pressure to land an internship and is anxious sometimes. So he cut down on the frequency of texting to me. More of the time maybe he is playing video games. Because I found that he suddenly became less into our relationship I feel insecure. And 2 weeks later I now found myself also not madly in love. But instead I just feel more sober and calm when talking to him. I am fearful of this situation. I talk to him why he is like this and he said sorry to me and said he is anxious and said he will change. But I just think the feelings of our relationship has changed.
Can someone give me advice on how to cope with this situation?

Also, how would I go about it? Should I contact the building management or start by leaving a friendly letter in my neighbor’s mailbox? Unfortunately, my Japanese is not good enough to bring this up verbally and directly with the neighbor. Before coming at me with hostility, I would ask you to please read the post take the caveats listed at the end into consideration.
Every morning around 8:30, a kid living in the apartment above mine starts running. I know 8:30 isn’t super early which is the main reason why I’m uncertain about this but with my work schedule, by that time I have only gotten a few hours of sleep. I don’t know their situation, but this kid doesn’t go to school and keeps running for hours until my alarm goes off, after which I must get ready for work. This has been going on for weeks and I’m a wreck. It baffles me just how loud the noise is. I’ve tried to sleep through it but I don’t think most people, me included, would ever be able to. It sounds like a heavyset adult running on his heels only but with the gait of a fast ten year old from one room to another. Also, the thing is that just outside the building (no need to cross a road or anything) there’s a massive park that is safe, nice and have lots of kids playing, so I don’t get why the child can’t play there if it’s not cold or raining. Maybe special needs are involved but again, I’m not sure. Are negative consequences likely to follow if I do make the complaint?
As for the caveats:

• I’m not the grumpy neighbor that keeps bothering people – I understand people can’t live on eggshells and that children need to run and make noise to develop, but in the nights and mornings, isn’t this beyond the limit of noise that you should subject your neighbors to? Maybe not at 8:30 A.M.?
• I am concerned about my health and my life in general because like most people, I don’t really function when being sleep deprived for weeks and chronic sleep deprivation is pretty serious.
• I have signed a two-year contract for the apartment and have been living there for a few months and this started a few weeks ago, so I can’t just switch apartments.

City center apartments are frequently considered the greatest buy-to-lets, City center apartments are frequently considered the greatest buy-to-lets, but are they still a wise investment? Here, we’ll examine the benefits and drawbacks of this specific property type.

Why City Center Apartments (Can’t) Make Great Investments

Here are the primary factors that have contributed to new city center flats making excellent buy-to-let investments over time:
Are City Center Apartments Still The Best Btl Investments In 2023? 8

• City center apartments are frequently affordable. Apartments in metropolitan areas are frequently less expensive per square foot than comparable homes in suburban areas.
  
• Apartments in the city center frequently have high letting yields. Even though city apartments frequently have higher rentals than suburban homes, the yields can still be higher.
  
• Those that prefer to live in urban areas and have easy access to public transportation, as opposed to commuting, frequently have a high demand for city-center apartments. People frequently rent rather than buy in city centers since they may want to stay there for a while.
  
• In city centers, there are many different renting options. Apartments in the city center can be rented to professionals, roommates, and students. They can also be used as short-term rentals or serviced lodging.
  
• Renting in the city center is a simple buy-to-let venture to own and manage. These may qualify as “hands-free” investments. A managing agent is responsible for the building’s upkeep, common areas, and grounds. (There are typically service fees to pay.)
  
• Investing in a city-center apartment development offers a variety of options. Compared to houses on the resale market, new flats are much simpler to find and purchase. Another scalable investment possibility is new construction. You can purchase one, a few, or several brand-new apartments.
  
• Newly constructed flats in city centers are frequently seen in areas undergoing regeneration and renovation. These neighborhoods frequently receive investments, which can raise property values as the area develops.
  
• More space to build new structures in some city centers, such as old ones. The potential for price growth is good, and any newly available properties may be in high demand. As implied by the name, new-build apartments are brand-new. They are frequently highly well-liked by tenants because they contain the newest amenities and cutting-edge designs. Also, new homes require little to no care in the future, saving investors money on ongoing expenses.
  
• The most energy-efficient properties are typically newly constructed. They are also well-liked by renters due to their cheap operating expenses. The minimal energy efficiency standards for buy-to-let properties should be readily met by investors purchasing brand-new apartments, both now and in the future.
  

Residing Outside of Burbs and Small Towns

Many people who have always wanted to live in a big city eventually give in to its pull and discover themselves in a much more populated and concentrated location than they did in the suburbs.
Although many people prefer to relocate to a city, only some are suited to city living. It goes considerably quicker and significantly differs from life in a small town or the suburbs. Before leaving the suburbs for the big city lights, you must weigh the benefits and drawbacks of living in a major metropolis, as with any place.
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benefits of residing in a city
Although city life has drawbacks, it makes up for them with all it offers. Large cities are important cultural hubs with thriving music and art scenes, a vast range of cuisine, additional attractions like museums, sporting events like ball games and concerts, and a diverse population sharing the urban lifestyle.

The Benefits of Living in a City

1. Meeting New Faces. Everywhere you go, you will meet new people. Nevertheless, in a metropolis, where a variety of people come from all over the world, the experience is different. A city also has a larger population. Thus you will frequently run into new people. It can be energizing and enlightening to meet and converse with new people who have had very diverse life experiences from your own.
2. Activities/ Night Life. You probably know your town very well and have done about everything there is to do if you have lived there for ten or more years. Even if you live in a major city for ten years, you won’t be able to take advantage of everything it has to offer. In a big city, there is always something to do to keep individuals from growing bored with their diverse interests. Most cities provide exciting nightlife, various cuisines to sample, shows of all kinds, museums, landmarks, parks, festivals, sporting events, and more. There are many options in big cities to join the scene if you are a musician, visual artist, or performer.
3. Public Transportation. The public transportation system is a decent alternative to driving your own vehicle and navigating big cities’ traffic and parking issues. You can go where you need to go using trains, subways, buses, taxis, and ride-sharing vehicles in cities. You can avoid the hassle of driving by using one of the many relatively reasonable public transit options, such as the bus or train. In most big cities, it’s possible to live without a car.
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4. Big Events. Major cities host the largest events, including sporting competitions, concerts, festivals, and art openings. You don’t need to make the long commutes to and from the suburbs to attend a concert or a baseball game.
5. Share Experience. The fact that everyone in a large metropolis with millions of residents comes from varied backgrounds and experiences city life similarly can be incredibly reassuring. Large cities are friendlier than most people think, and if you frequent the same spots and engage in the same pursuits, you’ll rapidly meet new individuals who share your interests and likely move there for similar reasons to yours.
7. Free Activities. There are numerous free things to do when planned effectively, even if many activities are normally more expensive due to the greater overhead costs. You can spend the entire day keeping occupied for free by going to the park, window shopping, touring museums on free days, and taking in the sights downtown. Even though you won’t be spending any money, you will undoubtedly spend time at these breathtaking locations and maximize your urban experience.
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8. Higher Salary. Employers are typically prepared to pay extra despite the high cost of living in the city. This is why many suburban residents commute into the city for a better wage while still taking advantage of the low cost of living.
9. More Jobs Available. Companies dominate city towers, so going without a job is difficult. However, locating one that pays your high rent could be challenging. But a city with many businesses also has many job prospects. You’re likely to find one you adore. According to statistics, those who live in major cities have access to more job prospects than those who live in the suburbs or smaller towns.
10. Close to Restaurants. In cities, there is always a need for fine dining. Within a mile or two, you can find a cuisine you appreciate, from fast food franchises to fine dining restos.
Although the city’s dining cost is typically greater due to increased rent, many restaurants offer lunch and supper deals and have food vendors available. You’ll need to research to take advantage of the best bargains.

The Disadvantages of Living in a City

Those who frequently travel to or work in a big city are aware of how troublesome they may be. Large cities might be more challenging to navigate because of the increased population, traffic, and neighborhood density. The biggest drawbacks of living in a big metropolis are as follows:
1. High Cost of Living. When people consider moving to a city, the increased cost of living is usually the first drawback they consider. Ordinary living costs like rent and utilities tend to be higher in big cities, and you can have additional costs like parking permits and laundry that you wouldn’t have in the suburbs. Major cities also have higher prices for gasoline, alcohol, food, and tobacco items.
2. Noise. Major cities typically have higher noise levels than the suburbs. Cities produce greater noise due to increased traffic, more people, trains, and neighboring airports with noisy jets flying in and out. A neighborhood may become noisier and more crowded due to special events like concerts and sporting events.
3. Limited Space. Downsizing your living area is nearly always required when moving from the suburbs to the city. Most people reside in flats in big cities; in some places, the apartments might be smaller. Having an outdoor area like a patio or yard is also uncommon. Homes with decent-sized yards are available in big cities but are significantly more expensive than homes in the suburbs. If you want to live in a city, you must be okay with your neighbors being on the other side of your walls in an apartment complex.
4. Limited Parking Space. Parking in a big city is an enormous nuisance compared to the suburbs. In the suburbs, parking is permitted in driveways and on residential streets, and most companies offer parking lots for patrons to utilize. Parking is only sometimes guaranteed in large cities. Streets with free parking quickly fill up because certain residential streets only allow permit parking, which requires you to purchase a permit. Some apartments have a designated parking place, albeit they are uncommon. Also, it is uncommon for businesses to have parking lots, so you will probably have to pay to park somewhere on the street, possibly even a few streets from where you need to go.
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5. Higher Auto-Vehicle Insurance Premiums. Congested city life will increase your chance of accidents if you must have a car and live in a city. As a result, city residents will pay a greater insurance premium than those who live in the suburbs.
6. Increasing Crime Rates. You can bet on urban locations to be riskier than smaller communities, even if some cities have higher crime rates than others. Crime increases with population.

The Current Situation of City Center Apartments

The majority of people concur that the real estate market has altered recently. Thus, it’s crucial to take into account a few factors when determining if new city center flats are still wise investments:

1. The real estate sector, notably the market for apartments in cities, has been impacted by Covid. People’s preferences for where to live (and rent) and what kinds of properties have been impacted. Nowadays, more people are working remotely. Some workers no longer require access to an office. Hence, renting or buying a home in the city center or living there is no longer necessary.
   
2. Some business offices in the city center have scaled back on their floor space. Less demand for city center flats may result from fewer individuals working in urban areas. The practice of hybrid working, where people work partially from home and partially from the office, is becoming more widespread. The same goes for flexible working, which allows employees to choose how much time they spend in the office each week. Often, newly constructed flats in city centers are small and need more space for working from home. In the so-called “race for space,” some city dwellers emigrated to the suburbs and the countryside to find more space.
   

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1. People became aware of the value of outdoor space for health and well-being because of Covid. Outdoor space is uncommon in newly constructed residences in city centers. Many people need easy access to public parks and other outdoor areas.
   
2. Currently, some things could be improved regarding the direction of the economy. There may be less demand for housing in city centers if businesses that employ people there cut their workforces. In certain cities, proposals exist to develop thousands of additional brand-new apartments in the city center. Apartments in these places may be harder to lease due to high levels of new supply and low projected demand. It could imply that their worth has not increased as much as it would have (or they might even fall in value).
   
3. Due to economic worries, apartment developers in the city center might opt to cut back their plans. Supplies could decrease. Future shortages of this kind of real estate may occur.
   
4. Renters and builders compete. In some cities, build-to-rent, or BTR, is growing in acceptance. Large developers and financial entities fund and construct flats to be rented out rather than sold. Build-to-rent apartment buildings give private landlords in the city center additional competition in the rental market.
   
5. Co-living projects, where investors construct towers of studio apartments with shared facilities, are starting to pop up in several city centers. They may increase the level of competition for apartment rentals.
   
6. but are they still a wise investment? Here, we’ll examine the benefits and drawbacks of this specific property type.
   

Why City Center Apartments (Can’t) Make Great Investments

Here are the primary factors that have contributed to new city center flats making excellent buy-to-let investments over time:

To live in the Undead Burg is a daily test of one’s wit and their will. The brutish and dull fall to the cunning, and the weak intellectual tears their own mind asunder. For those who escape the Asylum, it is sometimes enough to make one consider voyaging back to their cell.
After all, only a few are Chosen.
In the lower levels of the Undead Burg, a cloak of rat skin fluttered behind a walking corpse as they hurriedly turned the corner of a short length of stone stairs, slamming the shield of a hollow soldier against the ground just as the claws and fangs of the first hound rose to meet it. In truth he lacked the strength to properly defend himself with the thing, to raise it with only one arm and withstand a blow with the same, but it didn’t matter here. The lower corner of the shield lay braced against the bottommost of a length of stone steps. This, with his shoulder pressed against the shield’s top, made progress against him nearly impossible for a foe so light as this.
If idiocy was to lose one’s common sense, then it couldn’t account for the stupidity of an undead hound. The corpse raised a spear over the shield and swung it downward in a pathetic arc, the wood slapping against the metal with hardly a noise to report. Seeing the motion, the dog leapt sideways out of some horribly trained reflex, and in this manner crashed into large pile of eternally burning corpses. It yelped as the heat caught it, spasmed as it searched for purchase amidst the mass of charred bones and melted flesh, and promptly died. The commotion brought with it the sound of distant footsteps, and soon another beast had run headlong into the shield. This one took two similar “attacks” of the spear to repeat its fellow’s mistake, and the one after it four.
To think he had once been terrified of these things, and discovered his tactic in panic.
Beside the steps was a well, and (after a moment to ensure no further dogs were coming), it was this against which the corpse laid his heavy shield. The next test between him and his goal would require agility, something ill-afforded with such heavy hardware. For this, he turned his attention to the well’s crank, and set thereafter to turning it. From the depths was raised a target shield tied in place of a bucket, and upon it a collection of bones, a severed hand, a ring, and a candlestick. The corpse laid the miscellaneous treasures aside, untying the shield and equipping it to his left arm.
The first two thieves were marked by buckets… or rather, the buckets were set in place to tell the thieves which doors were to be hid behind. As travelers came and went, the buckets would roll down the hill as they were knocked aside or blown by the wind or carried around by the dogs, and thus the thieves’ stations would move. When it was determined one had rolled too far down the decline of the alleyway, an annoyed thief would inevitably carry it to a more desired station, pretend it had always been there, and hide themselves behind the newly marked door. It was possible some band of thieves set this tradition in place long ago and retained the habit after they’d eventually gone hollow, but proving this thought today would be nearly beyond impossible. The reasoning didn’t matter to the corpse, of course, but the effect he used to his advantage.
The tops of the doors he adorned with knives from the Lady of Moss- blades up, such that the forceful opening of the door would spin the knives just right to sink their poisonous bile into the victims below. What additional wastes and acids the corpse had applied need not be mentioned by name, only that they shared their patron creature with the leather cloak on his back. With his work done, he now walked the side of the alley as any clueless traveler would have, and awaited the springing of the trap.
As always, the third and lowermost thief signaled the attack by kicking open their door. The two now behind the corpse followed, and shortly thereafter issued their raspy exhales of pain amidst the clatter of falling steel. The corpse charged. The leader hurriedly reached for their throwing knives but was swiftly force-fed the edge of the corpse’s shield, thusly to be brought to the ground. Here was the corpse’s blade drawn, its cracked and jagged tip turned down towards its latest prey.
When skinning rats, it is important that one carries a sharp blade. This both to pierce the thick hide, and to avoid unnecessary damage to the intestines, stomach, and other usable bits lying beneath. Replacing the rat with a hollow, the corpse preferred the tip of a broken straight sword to the edge of his usual dagger. The motions made indeed bore some crude similarity to his work when harvesting leather, but the abandon of care became only more evident with each forceful cut and flailingly resisted gouge. In the end, what remained could hardly be discerned from a spot of muck on the road, a hollow-faced madman above it.
Further down, beyond a second set of stone steps, was another favorite spot of ambush for the thieves. The mutts at the end of the alley had long since devoured whatever scraps had been used to position them, and so readily charged forth at the beckoning call of the corpse. They found at his feet the now separated legs of the corpse’s most recent kill, adorned in many fresh gouges and oozing with a pungent liquid. The source of this meal mattered not to them, and so they eagerly set to work engorging themselves on the new flesh. So single-minded were they, intent on ridding themselves of the insatiable undead hunger that plagued them, that neither one slowed as a white foam began to pour from their mouths. Their stomachs first bulged, then split apart and spilt what little they had for content as the acid worked its way through. Their legs gave way from beneath them, first the hind, then the front, and yet still they desperately swallowed more of the decaying flesh and embedded stomach-skin pouches that rapidly digested them in return. When at last the pair had at last lost such strength as to no longer reach the meals inches away from their first gasping, then whining maws, the corpse delivered their mercy. A swift kick, and what little remained of their necks gave freedom to their lifeless skulls. The thieves, meanwhile, bore no challenge the corpse had not already faced. Knives over the first few doors, the greeting of jaw and shield, the pillaging of another victim. Nothing unusual, and nothing of note.
With the capra demon gone, some “chosen” adventurer having long since vanquished it from realm, little now stood between the corpse and… her… save only one thing. The corpse took the last flight of stairs three at a time, ricocheting off the wall on the outside of its only turn and bounding towards his target.
There she was, out in the open as always. The corpse sprinted down the stairs and, after passing a blind corner, set his left foot forward and crouched to halt his considerable momentum. The ambusher behind him was easily parried as he brought his shield up and behind him, cracking something in their forearm or perhaps their wrist. Not bothering to waste time, the corpse’s broken blade was brought upwards through the ambusher’s jaw until it snapped the bit bone between their eyes. This done, the corpse wrenched his weapon up and sideways with a hollow “pop” as the neck gave leave of its skull. The body collapsed to the side, its head twisting unnaturally upwards and backwards as it freed itself of the blade. The corpse, unbothered, bore no interest in holding either aloft. Now he turned, inspected the last of the thieves, and after a moment returned his blade to its holder.
“You are Patient.”
This first time he’d uttered the phrase, the last word was merely an attribute. ‘Twas a description of the one hollow that could be shot with any arrow, afflicted with any pain, and would yet remain loyally in her position. To be fair, it wasn’t for great gift a choice, as the position of “live bait” was reserved only for whichever of the thieves had been deemed least desirable by the rest. What caused this, and whatever penalties lay for abandoning of the post, were matters the corpse could only assume. The important part was that it was her, the thief who had become “Patient” by name. At their first encounter the corpse had considered dispatching her like the rest, but had hesitated in piercing her skin. He still bore the scar about his neck that she had given him for his idleness, and she still wore the rat skin “grieves” he’d forcefully tied to her for a marker. As time passed, the two gradually traded more scars and more black fur hide between them- the corpse receiving the former, Patient gaining the latter. He had stripped her and tied a pelt about her chest which lay now beneath her leather armor, he’d fashioned a double-thick leather stock to protect her neck, and though he tied gloves to her at a point she’d taken great effort in cutting them off. All this he had done across many visits, through much pain, and at expense of his best materials. Todays gift had by far been the hardest to craft- a thrice layered leather helm affixed on one side with a jawbone to replace what he’d broken so long ago.
His approach was slow, and well-rehearsed. At about ten paces, Patient’s patience finally broke as she ran for him. Today she chose to hesitate upon reaching him, though he'd learned this was by chance of random choice than any form of compassion. The corpse waited for the attack, not daring to kick another outcast as he had once been in life. She tried first her more viscous pattern, a pair of vigorous strikes that slid across the corpse’s target shield rather than bouncing away. She completed the maneuver and immediately prepared for a more powerful, slamming attack, granting the corpse the opportunity he had been seeking.
As she brought her blade down, the corpse deftly batted her strong hand away and gripped her shield with his open hand. Having no further need for his own shield, he cast it now away and spun the patient thief ‘round. She made as if to leap upward and over the corpse, but the maneuver was one he’d long since learned to counter. He stepped back, spinning himself so as to bring her sideways and around and down into a prone position with his right elbow along her back and his left hand pinning her knife arm down.
His next task, before gifts could be given, was to ensure he received no further scars in return. Placing his knee at her back to free one of his hands, he drew from beneath his cloak a coil of red twine fashioned from the same rats he’d skinned for his gift… some of the same, at least. With great effort, the twine was managed around the thief until she could no longer terribly well resist, and her hood was pulled back from her head.
Seeing the sunken red skin, the glowing eyes, the bare teeth, it reminded the corpse of life in the Pit of Outcasts. It was there he’d met the kindest of the living, the most desperate of the poor, and occasionally even a soul or two willing to speak or come close to him. ‘Twas a place for the diseased, the undead, and those criminals deemed too vile to disgrace the hangman’s noose with their neck. It was there he’d learned to knit and to sew, skills gifted to him from an undead woman not terribly discernable from the one before him now. The main difference, at least for now, was the slack jaw broken in uncountable pieces during their first encounter.
Casting the memories aside, the corpse set to his work. The leather about the thief’s neck stilled her head a little, but precisely cutting the skin beneath her jaw to remove the old bone was still a difficult task. The end result was unsightly, and it involved more than a few excessive cuts from the patient’s constant struggling, but it was enough to work with. Removing the old bone took a great deal of time thanks to the many fragments hidden in odd bits and pockets of flesh, but sliding the new one into place and wrapping it in the old muscle proved as easily said as done. The most tiring part was retying the cuts back closed, as the thief regained and continually demonstrated a greater ability to bite and snap as the corpse made more and more progress. The last of these gaps closed, the corpse finally wrapped the rest of the leather helmet about the thief’s skull and tied the loose end to the other side of her new jaw with more twine. It wasn’t his best work, but it was the best he’d done on something still kicking around.
Patient’s hood was returned to its proper position, and the corpse took hold of a length of twine connected to a slipknot in the middle of her back. Midway up the last stretch of stairs he’d come down, the twine was pulled and the knot it held gave way, restoring the thief her freedom. Knowing better than to stick around, the corpse fled to the top of the stairs, standing on the bridge overlooking her station just beyond where she would pursue. He watched as she freed herself of the last of the twine, as she looked to him, and as she eventually returned to her post. He said then the same thing he always said to her, though still he knew not if she recognized it.
“I am Aldin Paltry, the Leper of Hangknell. I will return again.”
He watched a moment more, but was paid not a glance in return. Back through the alley he went, bound for the dragon’s bridge.

TW: Alcoholism, drug addiction, violence, suicidal ideation, sex abuse
This is going to be a LLLLLOOONNNNGGGGG one. This story goes back quite a way, but yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the ending to this story and I'm feeling it, still got some guilt about everything that happened, wondering what I could have done differently and I just want to vent it out and hope to get some closure from it.
This story started in 2010.
Characters in this story (names are fake, duh!):

• Me, Guy, 32M at the time, 45 now.
• My BFF Stephanie, 33F at the time.
• Stephen, 40M at the time, Stephanie's boyfriend.
• Maryse, 27F at the time.

Background and intro
I had known Stephanie for many years and we had the kind of friendship that made her BFs and my GFs uncomfortable to put it lightly. We had never crossed that boundary and I wouldn't consider us in the friendzone, we were just friend, but the kind of friend where she would sit on my lap with her arms around my neck or her head on my shoulder.
At the start of 2010, Stephanie met her then boyfriend, Stephen. He tolerated me and my friendship with Stephanie because I also had a gf back then. She liked Stephanie, wasn't at all jealous of my friendship with her, so he didn't deem me too suspicious. Then my gf and I broke up for reasons unimportant and all hell broke loose for Stephen. He became convinced that I would try and steal Stephanie from him. He insisted that Stephanie introduce me to her female friends or female friends of his. Thus began what I called the year of the 50 blind dates. It was probably closer to 20, but still I like saying the year of 50 blind dates. Most of them were unremarkable and never went beyond the first date. There are some fun stories in there if anyone wants to hear them eventually!
In July of that year, I had to switch gears because I had to focus up and study for a professional exam for a certification important to my career. This exam required close to 600-800 hours of study over a 3-4 month period. So I hunkered down, told Stephanie to stop the blind dates for now because I had to focus on that. She respected my wishes and, other a text here or there, we went low contact for the last two months before the exam.
Except for one fateful night in September. Her birthday was in September and she always threw these big bashes at her house. She would throw a big pool party that started around noon and would go on to the wee hours of the morning. I knew she would harass me to go to her party, so I made some quick math and figured I would lose more energy and time trying to dodge her calls, texts and most likely visits at my place than by just going to the party itself. So when she called me to ask, I just said: "Okay I'll go to your damn party, now git." I texted her I would get there in the evening probably around 8. She texted back "Great, can't wait. Now study, bitch!"
So I ultimately get there around 8PM. Basically everybody is already drunk off their gourd. Stephanie sees me, squeals in excitement and runs to me in her bikini and just jumps in the air and slams into me, wraps her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist and gives me a big hug. I hug her back and just keep walking back to the pool where she had started, carrying her with me. I just duck my head around hers and say hi to Stephen, who just glares at me.
She drops back down and I give her her gift. We chat for a few seconds and says "There's beer in the fridge and food in the dining room." I told her I'd be right back.
I go inside and grab a beer from the fridge. I head to the dining room and the table is against the wall with a buffet of sandwiches, tomato pizza, salads, etc. I grab a plate and start putting food on it. I was focused on the task because I was starving. I barely noticed, sitting at the end of the table one of the most stunning woman I have ever seen. I just see her in my peripheral vision and I do a quick double take, quick glance at her and back to the food. I do that a second time. And finally a third time. At that point she is just straight up staring at me and I can't help but chuckle and whisper under my breath "Subtle Guy, sub-tle".
Thankfully she starts laughing too, saving me some embarassment. I look at her and greet her. She says "Hi, I'm Maryse and I'm guessing you're Guy?" I just nod and we start talking. At that point, I just thought I have no shot with her, she's so far out of my league that I'm just gonna talk to her until she sees one of the "models" hanging out by the pool and ditches me for him.
So I'm not feeling like I'm playing for anything, so I'm just myself and not nervous, just talking to her as I would any friend. We chat and she laughs at all my jokes, she gets all my cultural references. She never gets up or ditches me. The plate of food I had made and the beer I had gotten are sitting on the table next to me untouched, I was too busy with the convo to think about food or beer anymore.
After what felt like only 20-30 minutes, Stephanie comes in and tells me, fake grumpy: "So that's where you disappeared to. I invite my best friend to a party and he spends the whole night talking to someone else." I laugh and go: "What do you mean the whole night? I haven't been here that long." She says "Dude, it's 2AM. You've been here for 6 hours..." My jaw dropped and I just said: "Wow, time flies when you're having fun." Maryse chimes in, with a big smile: "It sure does!" That made me happy as you can imagine.
Now I was a little stuck because where Stephanie lived, there's no night service for the bus and the subway had been closed for an hour or so. I figured I would cab it. So I turn to Maryse and tell her: "It was absolutely lovely to meet you and I enjoyed our conversation very much." She says that she did too. I continued with "At the moment, my schedule is incredibly hectic. I'm basically working full-time, studying full-time and sleeping part-time. So I don't have a lot of free time, but if she was interested, whatever little free time I had, I would love to call her or text her to keep on getting to know her."
I see Stephanie in the backgroudnd, looking like a proud mama at how smooth that came out, knowing I was always anything but smooth with women, as proven by the string of blind dates! Maryse has a big smile and we exchange numbers. I go to Stephanie to wish her a happy birthday again. While I'm talking to her, my phone buzzes with a text from Maryse: "Just checking!"
I asked Stephanie "What's the best cab company to call in this area?" Maryse chimes in: "Where do you live?" I tell her where I lived and she goes "It's on the way to where I live, I can give you a ride if you want." Stephanie raised an eyebrow in surprise. I learned later, she did it because it absolutely was not on the way to her place, like, at all. I say that I would love that as it would give us a chance to keep talking.
We get in her car, driving to my place. We talk, she asks me what I'm studying as I hadn't mentioned it earlier. I tell her all about the boring maths I had to study. Much too quickly, we get to my place. She parks in front of my building and we keep talking. At some point, I tell her: "Normally, this is where I would try to "trick" you into coming up to my place..." She interrupts me: "You wouldn't need to trick me. I'm willing and able!"
I tell her that "As tempting as that sounds, I know who I am and I know that if you come up and things proceed to where they're going, I'm not going to be able to study for the rest of the month. I have a kind of obsessive mind and when I find someone or something I like, I can push everything else to the side in favor of that. So to make sure I can still focus on my studying, I have to go up by myself."
She looks at me, a little disappointed but then says, half-jokingly: "We don't have to go up, there's a backseat right there!" We laugh and I give her a kiss and wish her a good night. I managed to stay strong and go back to my condo. Damn it, why did I have to stay strong!!!
My exam was at the beginning of november. During the month of october, we texted a bunch of times and talked on the phone. We went for coffee a couple of times and dinner once. She respected my boundaries and never pushed for more, which I appreciated but also hated at the same time, if that makes sense. The exam came and it was a monster of a Friday. I slept for basically 18 hours after the exam as the adrenalin dropped and my system crashed.
I texted her when I woke up at around 1PM. She was working at the clothing store Stephanie owned. She said "I'm off at 5PM, wanna meet me." I said: "Duh! Why do you think I'm texting? ;)" So I met her at the store downtown. I asked if she wanted to grab a drink, go for dinner, or what. She proposed going to her place and getting some take out. Stephanie who was closing the store at that moment, came up to us and said: "Hey, so what are we doing?" I said: "WE, that is Maryse and I, are going to her place and getting some takeout. Bye!" I'm sure you'll understand when I tell you that no food was ever ordered that night!
Thus followed a whirlwind month of November where any free time we had was spent together, and I wasn't going to complain!
The troubles
By the start of december, things were still going great with us. One saturday night, we were having dinner at a restaurant and I mention that this coming Friday is my office Christmas party, that it's employees only, so we wouln't see each other that night. She tells me: "Oh sure, that's fine! It'll give me a chance to go see some girlfriends I've been neglecting lately." I said "Great! BTW I also got us a reservation at [this great restaurant she had mentioned a few times] for next Saturday, so we could go there and I'll tell you all about my party and you can tell me all about her night with the girls!"
That was settled, I thought. I was wrong. On Thursday, we had spent the evening together at her place and I was about to leave to go back to my place. She tells me: "So are you coming to meet me at the store tomorrow or do I go to your place?" I reminded her: "Neither, tomorrow is my office Christmas party and we won't see each other tomorrow." She said: "Oh right, I forgot." I asked her if she had made plans with her friends like she had mentioned last saturday. She said that they were all busy tomorrow and weren't available.
She suggested "If your party is boring, maybe you could come meet me." I retorted that it wasn't going to be, knowing who was going to be there.
"Yeah but what if?"
"But it won't"
"But what IFFFFFF?" she kept insisting and I kept saying no. After what felt like 30 minutes of that (probably only 2-3 minutes in reality), I had enough and just said to end the argument: "Okay, if it's boring, I'll come. but it won't be." She said: "Cool" with a big smile on her face. I came to learn that that smile meant "Challenge accepted".
The following night, my colleague and I were pregaming in a conference room before leaving for the party proper and my phone buzzes. Maryse was wishing me a good party. I replied. She texted me again. I replied. She texted again, but I was in a conversation with a colleague so I didn't reply or even look at the phone. My phone buzzes again. Still talking, and didn't want to be rude to my colleague. Another buzz. I just kept talking. Phone buzzes differently, she was now calling because I hadn't answered her texts.
"Why aren't you replying to my texts?"
"Hey, sorry, was talking to my colleague Patrick."
"What? you don't want to talk to me?"
"I am talking to you now."
"Why didn't you reply to my texts?"
"Because it would have been rude to my colleague to pull my phone out while talking to him."
"But you're talking to me now."
"Because I thought something was wrong, maybe it was an emergency."
"I wanted to talk to you, that's all."
"Well, gotta go back to the party. Talk to you later."
She kept texting and if I didn't reply right away, she would call after two or three missed texts. After about 2 hours of this, I stopped answering the texts. When she called back, I asked her: "Aren't you supposed to be working?" which started another round of guilt-tripping of "why are you asking me this? you don't want to talk to me?" At that point I had had enough and wanted to enjoy my party. I remembered that the Blackberry (no shaming old tech!) I had had an annoying feature, but I was hoping to put it to good use at that moment.
Whenever the battery would get really low, like less than 1%, it would let out an ear-piercing BEEP for about 3 seconds, reminiding you to charge it and giving you a heart attack all at the same time. It would do that even when you were in silent mode. It had happened a few days earlier when I was with Maryse. I figured, if I press a button on the Blackberry, it would make a beep too that could be heard through the phone. So while I was talking to Maryse, I pressed my thumb on the space bar for a good 3 seconds and sputtered; "what... the .... what?" trying to put on a somewhat believable performance.
She asked what that noise was and I tell her that it was my blackberry letting me know I was low battery and it might shut off any second. I told her "Listen I'm gonna wish you a good night, I'm having a good time at my party so I'll see you tomorrow at 5PM to go spend our evening together. I hope you have a good....." and hung up mid-sentence. I promptly shut my phone off and went back to the party. I concede that I may be a bit of an AH for that move.
The party was great, I got drunk much quicker than I expected owing to the fact that I hadn't had a drink in over two months because Maryse didn't drink so I didn't either when we were together, and we were always together. At 1AM, I went home and passed out on my bed.
This is another place where I may have been an AH. I didn't turn my cell phone back on and I unplugged my home line too, because I wanted to sleep the deep sleep of the drunkard. I woke up at around 1:30 PM, not knowing it was already too late. In my mind, I was meeting Maryse at 5PM to go out on the town that night. Maryse had other ideas as you'll see.
So like I said, I woke up at 1:30PM and was sticky with alcohol sweat, so I went straight for the shower to get clean again. While in the shower, my stomach grumbled with hunger and I started daydreaming of bacon and eggs. That pushed me out of the shower right quick. I dried myself off quickly, tied the towel around my waist and went to the fridge. No bacon.... booo. Looked at the egg compartment... no eggs... booo again. Okay then, how about a cream cheese bagel. No cream cheese, damn it. Look in the pantry, no bagels.... god. I was starting to get angry. Okay, cereals then. I pick up the cereal box, that mofo was empty and I get mad: "who's the idiot who puts the empty box back in the pantry?" I remembered I live alone.
I close the fridge dejected and see the grocery list stuck on the fridge, taunting me with everything I wanted to eat for breakfast written on it. But I felt like if I went to the grocery store hungry as I Was, I'm just gonna pay 600$ and not get one single healthy thing to eat. I then remembered there's a restaurant next to the grocery store that serves breakfast until 3PM. I get excited! I get dressed quickly, grab my wallet and keys, put my boots on, my coat on, wrap my scarf, my tuque and my gloves and go to the restaurant. If you notice, I didn't mention my phone in there.
I get to the restaurant and confirm that they still have breakfast and get even more excited when she confirms it. I order the "heart attack", at least that's how I nicknamed it: 3 eggs, 3 servings of bacon, 2 sausages, and, I guess to give one peace of mind, fruit (or to be precise, one single solitary slice of orange). Now that the food is ordered and coming I figured I would check if I have any messages. I pat the pocket where my phone always is. No phone. uh-oh. I start clutching evert pocket, no luck.
I wonder if I should go back home after the meal before going to the grocery store and decide against it, it would be too long a detour. So I scarf my breakfast down, rush through the grocery store. I get home and set my bags down in front of the fridge. I go pick up my blackberry. I turn it back on. The little tape icon tells me there are messages on my voicemail, at that time there were no red dots with a number in it to tell you how many.
I connect to the voicemail while starting to put the groceries away. The little automated voice tells me "You have 25 new messages." I pull the phone away from my ear, look at it in disbelief as if saying: "are you f'ing kidding me?" So I press 1 to start playing the messages.
Remember: Maryse knew I was at a party with a dead phone, no chargers and I probably wouldn't get home until 1AM. From 6:30PM, when my phone died, to 11:34 PM, when she went to sleep she left me 9 messages. BTW I know she went to sleep at 11:34PM because she left me a message saying "it's 11:34PM and I'm going to bed. Thinking of you." The 9 messages were in the same vein. These are the salient details, but the messages were all much longer.
She woke up at 7:15 the following day, I'll let you guess how I know that tidbit of information! She left me 5 more messages like those from the day before: 7:15 woke up. 7:35 going to take a shower. 7:55 out of the shower. 8:25 getting ready to leave for work 8:50 walking out of the subway to go to the store.
She leaves me another message at 9 that was different. She sounded very excited as if she had had the best idea in the world: "Hey it's 9AM, I'm about to start my shift. I know we're only supposed to meet after my shift, but what if you came and met me for lunch so you could tell me all about your party." I just did my best Scooby-Doo "Ruh-Roh" and chuckled that I blew that, not thinking the calamity that was awaiting me.
Another couple of messages to talk logistics: "I could take my lunch at 12 or 12:30, let me know which you prefer." "I'm taking my lunch at 12:30"
A slightly worried message: "It's 11:15 and you stil have not said if you were coming or not, are you okay?"
The first bomb goes off and I knew I was in trouble then: "Where are you? We're supposed to meet for lunch and you still haven't given me any sign of life, you're not answering your home phone either, what happened?" Reminder: we were not supposed to meet for lunch, she suggested doing so a couple of hours earlier and I never agreed to anything. I guess she told her colleagues I would meet her for lunch and it was now fact and could perhaps make her look bad in front of her colleagues.
The second bomb drops: "It's almost noon now, WHERE ARE YOU? Stephanie says you're probably sleeping off your drunk, but I don't believe her. I'm sure you got yourself a slut and cheated on me. Didn't you? didn't you, you asshole." Stephanie knows me very well, but that wasn't enough for Maryse it seems.
Ensued four more messages from 12:30 to 1:15, where she starts sounding more and more drunk and accusatory, spewing more attacks like in the message above. At that point I already knew it was over, there was no coming back from that. I can understand having trust issues, but that was nuclear. I don't tolerate jealousy because of horrible experiences with a couple of jealous toxic exes.
A final message comes in, and it's a different voice, that of my best friend being more than a little angry: "Hey Guy, listen, Maryse tells me you had a Christmas party yesterday, so I'm guessing you're sleeping off your drunk, still. But call me when you get this. I put Maryse, who's f'ing drunk, in the backstore so she can dry off and "do inventory". She can't be on the sales floor obviously and I just don't feel safe sending her home in the state she's in. Call me to tell me how you want to handle this."
At that point I had finished putting away my groceries and had put my boots and my coat on and was making my way to the subway to go to the store. I call Stephanie and tell her I got the messages and I was coming. She was right, I was sleeping off my drunk and had just woke up (didn't feel the need to mention the breakfast and grocery store). I ask her if she knows what I'm gonna do when I get there. She says that she knows and understands. She knows my bad history.
When I get out of the subway, I call her again before getting to the store. I ask her how she wants me to do this. It's her store and I don't want to create drama in front of her customers. Does she want me to wait outside and she tells Maryse to meet me in the street or do I go in the store and she takes me to the backstore and I do it there? She says to come to the store.
I walk in the store and every saleswomen on the floor looks at me and gives me the biggest case of the stink-eye. They only have Maryse's side of the story, so they think I did all these horrible things. I see Stephanie in the middle of the store and I walk towards her. She shakes her head and points me towards the cash register. I look over there and see Julia, a salesperson that I've known for a couple of years and really like, who also happens to be the biggest gossip in the store. I understand what Stephanie is trying to do. She's gonna make me tell her my story in front of Julia so Julia can spread the "good news" to the other employees and rehabilitate my name possibly.
So I get to the register and say Hi to Julia. She barely acknoledges me. Steph joins me. She asks me:
"How are you?"
"I was better an hour ago, before I listened to those voicemails. I had gone to our office party last night, had a great night, got drunk off my ass, got home at around 2 and woke up around 2."
Julia asks "Maryse told us you were supposed to meet her for lunch."
"No we weren't. I have a reservation for tonight at XYZ restaurant. I was supposed to take the day to do errands, stuff around the condo and meet her here at closing time. She suggested that it could be fun if I came at lunchtime to meet her, but that was never the plan."
Julia asks again "But why didn't you answer your phone?"
"It ran out of battery last night during the party and when I got home, I was so drunk that I forgot to plug it back in. I only plugged it when I woke up at 2. That's when the messages came in."
Julia asks "She says she tried calling your home line and you didn't answer and your machine didn't kick in."
"Yeah, that one's my fault, I knew I wanted to sleep and telemarketers have a habit of calling me early saturday mornings so I didn't want to be awoken by a call for a rug cleaning service, so I unplugged it yesterday morning, knowing I would be drunk when I got home and forget and be angry if I was awakened by a telemarketer."
Julia gave me a hint of a smile, showing me she was starting to believe me. She asked me a few more questions and then she asked what I was gonna do. I told her that whatever I'll do, I would tell Maryse first.
I looked at Stephanie and said: "Can you open the back store so I can go see her?" So we went to the backstore. As we reached the door, it swung opened and out popped Maryse, looking absolutely terrifying, I actually jumped back when I saw her. Her usual perfect makeup was completely smeared, her mascara streaking down her cheeks from the crying. Her hair was disheveled. She was a mess. Apparently, she had had enough of waiting back there and was planning on leaving the store to go home and had put her coat and boots on.
When she saw me, she went into an unhinged rant about me being an asshole for cheating on her, me not being great in bed, me not treating her right, etc. I let her vent everything she had to say, I looked at Stephanie and apologized for creating such a scene in her store. I tell Maryse we should go outside and talk in private. She keeps on yelling, but when I grab her hand to lead her outside, she follows.
When we get outside, her anger had started to wane a little, or maybe just her energy. I was able to talk to her to explain everything, how I had gotten drunk, had overslept (alone) and woke up at 2PM. I reminded her that we were only supposed to meet at 5PM not for lunch. The anger was leaving her and a smile almost appeared on her face. Through all of this I was being very calm and patient with her, which she interpreted as me not being mad at her. I then said in a firmer tone: "However..." and let it hang for a second.
The beginning smile vanished. I continued: "When you accused me of cheating on you, that broke me. That triggered memories of toxic exes who would always accuse me of cheating, not trusting me when I would tell them where I was, snooping on me, stalking me. Because of those experiences, I have a zero tolerance policy for jealousy. I told her that if she was behaving like after only two months of dating, it didn't bode well for the future and I have to protect myself."
At that, the tears started again and she just turned and ran/waddled away. I told her to wait, but she didn't hear me. I turned towards the entrance of the store to see basically all the employees and customers milling around the door trying to catch the drama. I went back inside to talk to my best friend. The mood had definitely changed and no one was giving me the stink eye anymore, but I didn't really care. I was just sad that it had ended, but proud of myself for having stood up for myself.
So AITA for getting drunk and keeping my phone turned off?
There is a lot more to this story and if you want to learn what happened afterwards, then read on.
The immediate aftermath
So I went back inside the store and talked to Stephanie. I told her that I had a reserrvation for XX restaurant and if she wanted to go with Stephen, she could take it, I wasn't in the mood for a dinner. She said "I already have plans for tonight, but thanks for offering." Julia said she would go with me if I wanted, but I just said that I wasn't in the mood to go out. I just wanted to crash and eat a pizza and get into a food coma.
Stephanie said she didn't feel comfortable leaving me by myself and I should join them at her house. They were having friends over to play board games and it could at least distract me a little. I said why not. So brimming with enthusiasm, I went to play bored games. I left early as I wasn't in the mood. I was feeling a little better, but still a bit down. I thanked Stephanie for the invite and left. I got home and just passed out on the bed.
I woke up at around 7AM the next morning and I saw along the corners of the window the tell-tale signs of a snow-drift and got excited as it was the first snow of the season. I pushed the curtains aside and looked on to see a beautiful white carpet outside. It was early enough that very few cars had marred the whiteness. I was admiring it when I noticed that, against the red bricks of the building across the street, there was a pink blotch. As I focused, the blotch became human shaped and I cleared my eyes enough to realize that it was Maryse and she was raising her cell phone to her ear.
On cue, my phone rings. I pick it up. Still sounding drunk, she asks me if we can speak. I ask her to give me five minutes to get dressed and I'll meet her down there. She asks why she can't come up. I say that I'm not sure I want her in my apartment. She says that it's cold out. I say: "Good, then this will be quick."
I get dressed and meet her outside. I'm still bleary-eyed from having woken up 5 minutes ago, but I try to get my wits together. I tell her that we're going to walk to the subway. It 's a 10-minute walk normally, but with her drunkenness, it might take 15-20 minutes. That's how long she has to tell me what she wants to tell me.
She wants to apologize for accusing me of cheating on her. She says she knows I'm a great guy and... I may be the A-hole at this point too, but I start to drift off in my little bubble and start daydreaming about, if I go back to bed, would there still be some residual heat or would it be cold? I could take a hot shower and warm the bed that way. I could still hear her in the background making excuses, saying how she had been cheated on, but I wasn't really listening.
During the daydreaming I notice it got quite quiet. I look on my left and she's not there, I turn around she's a good 5-6 steps behind me looking angry and she says: "you're not listening" I just say: "when you're right, you're right." I tell her that I understand she's been hurt too in the past, and I hope she can work to resolve her issues, but I was done and I'm going back to bed. I was a bit harsh there, but I was tired and still down.
I walk past her and get maybe 10 paces past her when I hear a scream coming from her. I turn around and I see her messing with something inside her coat. She pulls out a chef's knife with like an 8-inch blade. That wakes me the fuck up. Byebye bleary eyes, hello wakefulness. better than a cup of coffee or a red bull I tell you!
So she's got the knife, she's screaming something that I can't quite understand. She gets quiet and then she charges at me with the knife. If I'm being honest I could have stayed where I was and she probably would have missed me anyways, but someone charges at me with a knife, I'm gonna nope out of there. I take a massive side step and once she gets to where I was and realizes that I'm no longer there, she turns her head towards me and says heyyyyy.
At that point, I have a moment of clarity and see what's gonna happen. She's drunk running one way and looking another, I know she's gonna trip. As I predicted, she stumbled over her feet and starts falling to the ground. I start praying to god and anybody who would listen: "Please don't let her cut herself. I don't want to have to explain this to the doctors, EMTs and nurses. I don't want her drunk ass deciding to take revenge on me by saying I did it."
Thankfully, she winds up in a sitting position on the sidewalk holding the knife up and it was clean. Thank god for small miracles. She starts crying and, other moment of clarity, I know she's gonna turn the knife on herself now. I jump towards her and I realize I was right, the knife starts moving towards her left wrist. I tackle her, grab her right wrist and twist it so she drops the knife. I pick the knife back up and put it in my pocket. She looks at me crying and says: "Why did you stop me?"
I pick her up and take her back to my building. In my building there was a couch in the lobby, so I take her there and I sit her down and plop myself next to her. I look at her and wonder out loud: "What am I gonna do with you? What can I do?"
She goes: "Just let me go, I'll be good." I tell her that's not going to happen. I realize I have three options and I give her the three options.
"So here's the choice I give you.
1- I pull out my phone, call 911 and tell them about the attempted murder back there and they send the police to arrest you. I don't want to do that because that could derail your life and not get you the help you need. Besides, they might not do anything anyway as it's your word against mine.
2= I pull out my phone, call 911 and tell them about the attempted suicide back there and that you need to be placed on a 72 hour hold. I could do that, but at the same time, again it's my word against yours, so maybe they don't believe me.
3- I'm gonna hazard a guess here. From what I've seen, you have alcohol problems. So I'm gonna guess you were in AA, had been sober for a while, I want to say 6 months, maybe less, when we met."
She confirms my guess.
"alright so option 3, I'm guessing you had a sponsor in AA." she nods "we call them up and tell them about your relapse and what happened this morning. Can they come get you and take care of you?"
She takes her phone out and picks a contact and calls. She hands me the phone. Someone answers and I explain the situation. They said they were coming right away. I give them my address, they get here 15 minutes later. Maryse had fallen asleep in the meantime, so I wake her up gently and help her to the car. Off she went.
I went back to my apartment and just crashed back to sleep.
A month later
Mid-january, my phone rings and I see Maryse's number on there. I send her to voice mail. Another call. Voicemail again. 5 minutes later, Private number calling. "Gee I wonder who that could be." Voicemail once more.
Afterwards, I didn't get any unidentified callers for a little over a week. One afternoon, I was at work and my phone rings and it's a number I do not recognize. I pick up.
"Hello."
"Hi, is this Guy?"
"Yes, to whom am I speaking?"
"This is Hannah, Maryse's sponsor. we spoke last month." I started fearing the worst.
"Yes, I remember. How can I help you?"
"Maryse tried to reach you last week and you rejected the calls. I think it could help Maryse if you listened to what she had to say. You're obviously not obligated to entertain her, but I think despite everything that happened, you still care about her or you would not have called me that morning."
"You are right, I do still care about Maryse. I'm just not sure how good it would be for her to meet me this soon after everything that happened. I understand wanting to work through the 9th step and making amends, but..." She interrupts me.
"So you know about the steps."
"Yes I have friends in the program. which is how I could guess that she was in the program too that morning."
"You know it's important."
"I know. I know. How about this: we meet in public at a cafe, you would have to be there. Not necessarily at the table with us, but nearby in case she needs help, in case meeting me causes her pain. Tell her I promise to be in a more receptive mood than I was that morning."
So we make an appointment for that saturday afternoon.
I get to the coffee shop. She's already there, and so is her sponsor. I realize happily that she's not wearing makeup. I say happily because that means she understands that this is not a date, but something serious. She's still stunningly beautiful, and I feel sad almost right away.
I grab a coffee and go join her at the table.
"Hey" I say,
"Hey. So this is gonna be uncomfortable, but thank you for agreeing to meet me and for coming, I appreciate it more than you know. I'm sure you heard I quit the store."
"I have, I'm sorry about that, I hope you didn't do it just because of me."
"No, I needed time to focus on myself for now."
She proceeds to tell me about how I wasn't far off with my guess. She had been sober 4 months when we met. Now she had 39 days. She tells me that in AA, if you are single, they recommend not dating anyone new for at least the first year of your sobriety as it can cause issues, similar to what happened with us. I was like her "drug" and as long as I was available, she could get her fix. But the moment I wasn't available all hell broke loose, and that is what led her back to drinking that day.
I told her I'm glad to see her back sober again this quickly and I hope she can get all the help she needs from it. I ask her if she wants to talk to me about her drinking.
She starts to share a story about how she started drinking at around 11 years old. When puberty hit her, she got into a deep depression because the sexual feelings she was starting to feel were triggering responses. As a child she had been abused by two of her uncles repeatedly and her parents never believed her. They accused her of trying to make herself interesting. That was until they caught one of those uncles red-handed.
They finally believed and took the necessary steps to protect their daughter. But they were poor and they couldn't afford therapy. So she never really got help for it. At 11, she started self medicating the depression with alcohol. When alcohol wasn't enough, she added drugs.
At that point, I was full on crying. She asked me if I wanted her to stop. I told her that she doesn't have to stop. That the tears are there because that was one more thing we had in common. I was also a survivor of sexual assault as a child. In my case, it wasn't a family member, it was only a stranger, so it only happened once. But I also self-medicated with alcohol at the onset of puberty, switching to drugs later on too. I was lucky to avoid the pitfalls of addiction, but I was still dealing with my demons, slowly making peace with them.
So there we were, sitting at a coffee shop, both crying and holding each other. I tell her that I think it's great she's getting help for her alcoholism and addicion, but was she doing anything to help with the underlying issue, the original trauma? She said no, she couldn't afford therapy. I tell her that I am a member of a survivors group and if she is interested, I could get her into a meeting and perhaps learn to heal that part of herself too.
She said that she could give it a try. I tell her I have to talk to the other members to know if I can bring someone new and I would let her know. If they said yes, we would go to her first meeting together, I would introduce her and then we would coordinate so that I never went to meetings where she was. I wanted to do that because I wanted her first few meetings to be about healing and I didn't want our own history to be intertwined or mixed in with that.
After that, we left both feeling content and, while not necesarily happy, at peace if you will. Later on, I contacted Stephanie who was one of the "pillars" of the support group (that's how we met) to ask her if it was okay for me to bring in a new member to the group. She said sure. She asked if it was anyone she knew. I told her she would have to meet her at the meeting if she decides to come.
We were having a meeting the following day. I called Maryse, told her the time and place, and she said she would be there. She came to the group meeting and was shocked to see Stephanie there but Stephanie kinda guessed that it was Maryse I was referring to.
I introduce her, we start sharing stories, talking about how we're feeling, etc. The meeting was good and Maryse liked the vibe. So for the first six months after that, I never saw Maryse and we planned which meeting we would be attending to ensure we didn't cross paths. She started feeling much better.
After maybe 2 and a half years, she finally felt ready and she started dating again. She met someone and she fell for him. They were together for about six months, she looked happy. Unfortunately after about six months, she caught him cheating on her. We tried supporting her, being good friends, cursing his name, doing all the things we could to make sure she didn't relapse. But on April 5th 2014, she ODed on heroin. She was hospitalized for 2 weeks after that.
Hannah took her in and she set up a room for Maryse. She was still in a fragile state, so a group of her friends and I started taking turns watching over Maryse, making sure there was always at least one person there with her to keep her company.
Despite our vigilance, on May 14th 2014, when Hannah was out running a quick errand, she was gone maybe 15 minutes tops, Maryse found a way to cut her wrists and she died. We found a note saying that "the OD was not an accident, and neither was that. Thanks for everything you did for me. I love you all, but I can't do this anymore."
It feels good to write that story (I'll just ignore the fat tears rolling down my face!). Thanks for reading this far and sorry for the long story, I just started writing and couldn't stop. I apologize if it was a bit of a bummer.

I immigrated to Canada in 2008 when I was 7 years old. I recently graduated from a university in Toronto and I’m a bit baffled at a few of the experiences I have had related to my race/culture by fellow Sri Lankans. I am Sinhalese, but I don’t support what the Sri Lankan government did to Tamil folk. I also don’t think it’s appropriate to justify the actions of the LTTE in any case. To me the Sinhala people and the Sinhala government are two different entities just as the Tamil people and the LTTE are different entities. Overall I think the British fucked us all over when they colonized us and left the country in shambles.
I have had a handful of negative experiences of the exact same kind by ONLY second generation Sri Lankan Tamil people my age (early 20s) who have never experienced the war, who have only ever visited Sri Lanka once or twice in their life, and are middle to upper middle class citizens. This time, a 2nd gen Tamil Sri Lankan girl who I thought I was friends with at work was talking behind my back to mutual friends about how my ancestors were oppressing hers and how they (my friends) should be careful about who they associate with. Basically telling them to ditch me bc of my supposed ancestors, who she has never talked to me about before. She has never experienced the war personally and was always nice to me to my face before this and after as well. I only recently was told and I was shocked but not surprised because this has happened before a few times. Once I have had another person I barely knew find out I am Sinhala and he started screaming at me and tried to kick me out of my own residence building. He was also second generation, never experienced the war and his connection to Sri Lanka seems to be the war stories his parents told him (and their experience is valid. I understand why they, his parents with firsthand experience, would be apprehensive). But we live in Canada. I want to move on, my family moved countries to move on, but the people in this country (with less ties back home) are more against me than back home I feel.
I dont know how to really stop it and deal with it other than just moving past it without addressing it ever again. None of these people care to actually learn of my opinion. They don’t care to learn of my families history (that includes both Tamil and Sinhala family members who were ripped apart by the war). It’s frustrating because it’s literally only second generation young people here that I experience this from. It’s not all 2nd gen people of course. I’m lucky to have some fantastic 2ng gen sinhala and tamil friends who have moved past it and just live life. But anytime I get into a situation like this, it’s the same kind of people with similar life experiences. And most occurred during my time in university. I understand that it takes generations to heal from war, but how can we better facilitate that healing when young people in my generation have such black and white views of it all?
Just feeling a bit lost and wanting to heal and connect with you guys. Especially other immigrants and 2nd gen + folks.

I worked really hard these past months at being mindful, keeping myself in check with non-reality based panic attacks, and reducing the number of antianxiety medication I took only to be sitting in bed, wide awake, while my husband gently sleeps next to me. All because a box fell in the kitchen from being precariously placed, and now every sound the old Victorian we live in has my anxiety raging like a lunatic. My husband and I were victims of a violent attempted break-in from our neighbor who stopped taking his medication last year(like violent ATTEMPTED break-in sounds weird but it's absolutely the closest descriptor I could muster). We moved like 2.5+ hours away no forwarding address kinda deal when he wasn't arrested and instead his parents paid for all the damages he did and then paid to have him move to a brand new apartment within a 5 minute walk in less than 7 days mind you. it's been 6 months and I still freak out when I hear strange noises at night. Even though this kid has no clue where we are! Like my brain is telling me "well it happened once so....."
So here I will sit playing a dopy phone game until 5 am and the sun comes up and then I go to work. Sigh.... It just feels like a horrid little cycle of never getting the rest I need always too tired to do anything. I just want to sleep.

I already have a audio interface (Scarlet Solo) and need a new mic. Mine is really old and from my first pc build ever. I was debating between these two, mainly for discord call gaming and perhaps some video voiceover stuff. Both will be with the xlr cable version, and I would probably need a pre amp for the MV7+.
It will be in my room, which doesn't have soundproofed foam or anything, but is pretty good. My door is closed most of the time so there isnt a lot of noise unless someone comes in or something. My current mic is a condenser, some audio technica one I bought in 2018/2019 for 100 bucks or less (CAD). I will say I don't like to be super close to my mic while using it. Maybe about a foot away on average.
I live in Canada so 280 for the Shure MV7+ is actually 369 + tax and shipping so if I get this option I want to be sure it is worth it.
Any suggestions/personal experiences you guys can share? Thanks.

Idk if anyone is even gonna see this but I have hit the biggest wall in my entire life and I'm actually so annoyed rn. I'm 17, 18 soon and I'm currently sitting my A-level/CAPE for sciences and communication studies (unit 1). I was fixated on going to medical school because I was thinking "Damn, sciences are so hard and I struggle with them especially cause I have such horrible memory, but I love learning all 3 of them and I like the challenge plus I'm passing" you get me? So I was saying I wouldn't wanna do all this, put in all this hard work (to me, its probably light work to someone else but idc bout them) to just stop at being a nurse, cause everyone is in my damn ears about being a nurse nurse nurse NO!!! I wanna go down a career path that'll be worth this hard work and I think that's fair. So I did some research and saw if there were any type of doctor that I was interested in and anesthesiology caught my attention and I was interested in It, so you know I continue to do deep research surrounding anesthesiology and those stuff to just know more about what's going on and I decide aight, imma do this!!!
So now I'm looking for schools cause I plan ahead, FAR ahead. And I see my 3 options....well 2, cause 1 of them is like half way across the country. So I check out my other two options right??? So option one is UWI faculty of medicine and I'm gonna admit that schools reputation is looking mad good which is good but it's so EXPENSIVE !!!! And i know medical school won't be cheap but oh my lord, so yeah I looked into school 2 and it's CSMSJ but they're weird, I tried calling and got nothing, emailing and got nothing and the aren't frequent with their posting on social media (to give options) so I was skeptical and my mom was too so I was telling my bf about how the school is weird and he looked into and said it seems they aren't so authentic cause their reviews are AI generated so I was REALLY bummed out.
So my home country is kinda wack with how the do things, so I'd have to go overseas to further my education anyway. So I was thinking...again, why not find a school in Canada that has a M.D program, offers residency in anesthesia and so on so forth. And I was then again researching, but schools this time with a distance limit. My boyfriend lives in Winniepeg so I'd have to stay close to there cause I'd be staying with him and his family if this was gonna work right??? But oh my goodness the amount of heartbreak I went through during this process is actually unfathomable. So there's 17 and 7 don't accept international students for medicine SPECIFICALLY and ig I can understand why-ish (btw one of these schools was University of Manitoba), and the others like University of Toronto and that one in Quebec is too far but they do accept international students, and today I found out about another one; University of Calgary and I thought they accepted international studies for medicine but then I'm seeing that they don't and now I'm a bit confused about that so I just set it aside for now.
Mhm...so going back to my home country, I'd probably have to go to UWI cause its literally the only option now, idc if its expensive but ik who will. My parents, they had not a single penny of college funds saved up for this moment, they make very poor financial situations and now the bank accounts are running dry, so I have to think about that too. I really do not know what to do cause sure I could go there but how wouldi complete my residency? Maybe they'd (a canadian med school) accept me then cause I'd actually have some qualifications [UWI offers a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery program (M.B.B.S) and its 5 years full time and I think they have a pre med too that's Bachelor of Basic Medical Sciences (BBMedSci) and its for 3 years full time]. I would look into other schools in other regions but idk anyone from the US (family member I mean probably would have to ask mom or smtg) and I have my grandma in the UK so ig I could think of there too.
I just want someone, anyone, whether with experience or not I just wanna know what to do because all I do and know is sciences, I did some business and Information Technology too but those aren't at A-level, so I would prefer to do a occupation which requires sciences. My bf was telling me maybe I just have to switch career paths bc this is a veeerryy long process that will require money that I don't even have, I'll admit I got a bit upset with him because he's basically telling me to give up now, I mean whatever I haven't actually started but I was prepared and I was ready and now it's all these different problems popping one after the other and maybe I should listen to him and just do something else apart from obtaining generational debt. Idk and I just wanna get this figured out before it eats me alive !!! Please help, what should I do???

Not sure this is the correct sub but figured I’d ask here since I’m sure someone has gone through something similar.
We live in an apartment building. Our daughter sleeps in her own room in a crib. This room however is directly below another bedroom upstairs, and the sound of the floor creaking in the equivalent to a fire alarm going off. Our upstairs neighbor works nights and tends to make a lot of noise from 8 pm to 3 am. It wakes up my daughter pretty frequently and in the last 8 or 9 days it’s been every single night.
You can’t really tell someone not to walk in their apartment, I get that and to avoid conflicts I won’t even bother. Is there anything we can do in her room? Acoustic panels? Anything?
Im not expecting the landlord to offer anything in the way of a solution bc the building is old.
Any help is appreciated.

so i (15, mtf) have been really worried abt how my transition will end up going. i'm closeted to everyone except a group of supportive friends (to whom i owe the world) and i'm thinking of coming out to my parents within the next month or two.
i really have two concerns when it comes to my transition, one of which obviously being family reaction. idk my mom said that she'd love a trans child but wouldn't let them get hormones (i'd love a child with cancer, but i'd never get them chemo) but my dad has made fun of the "tr---ies" before so... (he does very much believe in "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" though, so there is hope in that regard)
but my main concern is probably passing (which i'll probably never be able to do bc my face is already not only masc, but ugly masc). i don't want to have ffs, it's just something i have to do to fix my condition, but i'm worried it might leave my face disfigured in some way, even though if i get a competent surgeon i'll probably be fine (my wallet won't be though!). boymoding sounds like dysphoria hell and i'll probably have to do that from whenever i get hrt to at least 3-5 years after that when i can afford ffs. presenting as a boy, even a feminine one, might genuinely make me want to off myself. being a visible trans woman sounds like hell, i don't want to be a crude approximation of my own being i just want to be myself, and also being killed with rocks for taking a piss doesn't seem very nice. it doesn't sound like too much to ask for but i must've pissed off some god in a past life or smth because i've been cursed with this.
i have a strong brow ridge with very masc forehead projection, a square jaw, and a big nose and those are genuinely killing me inside. i know ffs could definitely fix a lot of those issues but at least 60k for that in a place where insurance or universal healthcare doesn't cover it (i live in alberta, canada) is so much money that i'll never have to a point where it feels hopeless. alberta just banned hrt and puberty blockers for those under the age of 16 (and the conservatives, who will probably be in power next year, want to ban transition to anyone below the age of 18), and the only pediatric gender clinic in the province is open for six hours a month with a three year waiting list. i don't want to wait at the very least another year watching everything in my body degenerate into a disgusting male form but i can't do anything else so i guess i'll just rot in self-loathing until then.
i just wished i hadn't spent my whole life until abt six months ago repressing this. i knew that i was supposed to be a girl since i was 10 at the latest. my earliest memory is me wanting to just wake up as a girl. if i just accepted it back in 2019, before my dad got radicalized, before everyone cared so much about trans people, i'd be on hrt by now or at least blockers. why did my entire life hinge on the stupid decision of a terrified 10 year old? who deserves that?
i just wish i could be cis, afab or amab i don't care, it doesn't matter. everything would be so much easier. no surgery, no hate, no dysphoria, why can't i just be in the right body. seeing ppl online being proud of their transness is so confusing to me, why would you be happy about being this way, it's a birth defect. seeing passing trans ppl makes me feel worse somehow. it shouldn't, if anything it means that it's probably possible for me too, but i just feel like they were born wrong right.
tl;dr: teenage trans girl in a hopeless situation wallowing in dysphoria, even though she's incredibly privileged in just having the possibility to pause her male puberty before it completely and utterly irreparably ruins her.
sorry i just need to get this out of my system, even if it just bounces off some wall of noise
i think im gonna cry myself to sleep to Romantic Vivisection now