Hi! I'm Ivy, several of you may have run into me on recent TLPs. I'm someone who can't pull or run around much in indoor zones.
I would very much like to play a monk on Teek. I've tried everything else out and while rogue nearly works, constantly keeping at the back of the boss can sometimes set off my vertigo, and they can't solo their way out of a wet paper bag. Monks are slow to solo, but at least they can do it, or FD if the jumjum hits the clockwork whirlygig.
I have several issues that can make gameplay difficult. Namely the big one is that lots of indoor movement gives me a splitting headache and vertigo- couple that with the social stress and focus demand on pulling mentally exhausts me within 10-15 minutes, it has made monk a 'no-go' class for me for many years.
People have exhaustively tried to help me improve settings and hardware to reduce flicker which as helped, but unfortunately does not actually stop the problem. Thank you though!
I am perfectly willing to very slowly solo my way up to get into raiding, but it would be better if I could find some understanding folks to group with too!
So!;
I'd really like to punch things! Monks are premier DPS and you could make the argument that they're more useful punching mobs in camp than leaving to pull.
I'm just looking to make friends who don't really give a damn about monks being good at pulling and wouldn't say no to some extra melee DPS.
Just message me character names or discord names directly if you like.
My schedule is up in the air at the moment as I am between jobs and also looking into uni, though my general timezone is daytime in England, with time to play most evenings.
Thanks!

Okay so let’s add context. I’m 15F and my cousin 15F have grown up together our ENTIRE life. My cousin we’ll call her Lay has always been like a sister to me, I love her with my whole heart truly. I take her on vacations, Disney,Universal,Different states blah blah. Now you need to keep this in mind, my cousin has not gone to school since 2nd grade I believe. Now me I went to school up until 8th grade when I had dropped out due to depression. I’ve always been very social. I have a lot of friends and my cousin grew up with some of them.
now, when I was in fifth grade A new girl moved to my block we’ll call her samantha. me and Samantha didn’t get along at first, but we got along recently back in August and we became very close and she’s been my very close friend for a little bit and of course I introduced her to my cousin and I introduce all my friends to my cousin, my cousin and samantha were never Close at first until recently when I had found out they had a group chat without me and it was with another one of my friends, which I had originally found weird but never confronted her on it because I felt stupid.
I should also mention she lives in a different state so my cousin no longer lives out here, now my cousins family is a little poor so they didn’t have a car for a while and I would usually have to pick her up if I wanted to see her, now she has a car and she had recently come out here because I had missed her and she planned on staying in my house
while staying in my house, we went to go watch the sunset with my mother and I got a FaceTime call from my friend we’ll call him, Angel. angel reminded me of some plans we had for the following Saturday that I just completely forgot about and I had told him I guess a week prior that my cousin will be out here, now that’s not an important detail now, but it will be later.
so we follow through with the plans and we go to the mall with my cousin, Angel, my other friend and angels friend. all is well at first but then we sit down to eat, and Samantha had texted my cousin saying I was banned from her house and of course I was very confused so I had texted her asking why and she said I was making snarky remarks about her and somebody told her that, which I’d like to clear up I would never do because I love Samantha and she’s a sweet girl to me.
eventually, she had told me somebody sitting at that table had told her that, but she would not tell me who, so of course I look at everybody, Angel, and his friend do not even talk to Samantha and my friend and Samantha don’t talk due to past drama the only person there who talks to Samantha is my own cousin, but I had told Samantha that, and all she had said was “why would she tell me anything she’s your cousin”
eventually, I was also fed up with the drama, so Samantha invited me to her house to clear this up now mind you I had no idea what was said who said it and what even was happening. But I did go to her house and she had mentioned my cousin a lot more than usual so I asked her if it was her and she still said, why would it be her she’s your cousin.
now me and my cousin and my friend go back to my house, and if I did not mention, my cousin had made plans with my said friend, Samantha, without me while staying at my house. I have included lay in everything I do no matter if she knows the person or not.
now, my cousin had told me she was only going over there for the day but I was still upset because she’s going without me even though me and Samantha made up when I went to her house. It was still disrespectful and I could tell Samantha did not want me over still.
The next day, me and my cousin and my friend wake up, and I had noticed my cousin packing a bag and I asked her why is she packing a bag and she had responded with she’s staying at Samantha‘s house and she’ll be back tomorrow.
and then she abruptly left me and my friend found this very weird, but I let it slide, and I had not said anything. to get over me being sad me my mom, my dad and my friend all went out to a big mall in a different city and I had posted that me and my friend were going to the mall and Samantha had posted some thing a little bit later, saying she hoped we got jumped while my cousin was at her house.
even though no names were named, it was pretty obvious it was about us, and I was upset because I thought me and Samantha were fine.
now fast forward to the next day and I had asked my cousin if she is coming back to my house because I had wanted to bake but she said she had plans at 6 o’clock to hang out with Samantha and my other friend who we’ll call mark.
now this was my breaking point all the pity invites I had gotten in the making plans without me, really got to me and definitely clouded my judgment, but I still don’t think I want as far as she did.
first, she had come to my house to get a receipt to return something and then she had come back to collect her clothes to do laundry. then I found out she had post poned said plans because she didn’t want to drive anymore.
she then proceeded to come to my house a third time to collect the rest of her stuff, but she was agitated and mad and left my house. She then proceeded to text me saying how I was treating her differently and how she didn’t feel welcomed, but I have not treated her any way I was trying to be nice still.
she is now staying in a different home, and I told her to just stay there because I didn’t want to see her anymore after she had hurt my feelings .
at the time of this post, me and Samantha, no longer talk and my cousin has texted me. This has been a couple days since this happened. but my cousin still won’t see my side of the story and has played victim nonetheless.
I should also mention the same day she left my house I had confronted her, and then she had called me yelling at me, screaming at my mother, and other things I shouldn’t even repeat.
now when she was at my house she was talking about going to a different state where all my family lives and now I’m planning a flight there by myself and she seems upset by it but I don’t feel bad
So reddit AITAH?

after a lot of thinking and ruminating i've decided it would be best for my now former SO and i to part ways. i am not much of a friend to anybody here nor am i a big name so i'm really just posting this more for myself, please do not feel like you have to reply or say anything... we were together for a little over 9 months. i still like them as a fan but there were just too many factors at play, most of them my fault, i'm too high maintenance and too insecure, always feeling jealous and anxious.. and i have also felt like they were changing in ways that made us more incompatible. i don't know how to explain it any more clearly without giving away who it is, so i apologize. i still respect them and wish them the best. and i am sorry to have wasted so much of their time. even though i know this is probably better for both of us i still feel weird and uneasy about it, but i guess that's just how breaking up goes. it is still tough for me to see people online being hateful or weird towards them. i hope they can stay strong, they have lots of friends so i hope there is a good support system in place for them... thank you for the good times and the fun, i will always be thankful for you pulling me out of a dark place. and i'm sorry for being so stupid

I took the Behind The Wheel test today at San Jose DMV and I think it’d be a good idea to share my experience step by step for those who’s still concerned about the test.
I arrived at the DMV around 20 minutes earlier than my appointment. It was around 3pm, but my local DMV got packed with people, I couldn’t find a parking spot so I had to spend like 15 minutes or so driving in circles to find a spot. It was chaotic. An advice I would definitely give to someone who’s going to the test soon is to park somewhere near DMV (a park or a shop) and walk there to get your paper done then walk back to get the car if you know your DMV is busy. It wouldn’t take much effort to do so and you wouldn’t have to be stressed out before the test worrying about parking lots.
At the receptionist I was asked to confirm my appointment (by name and/or phone number only, my DMV didn’t provide me with a confirmation code so I just showed up and told them my name). Then you will hand them your paper (in my case it was driver’s permit, the yellow slip and that was it). I brought my ID too just in case, but they didn’t ask for that. They would hand you your papers back with a grading paper for your examiner to grade all in a packet. I was instructed to place that packet on my dashboard and drive to the driveway where I’d meet up with my examiner.
After doing as instructed, I pulled up to the drive way and meet my examiner. The examiner was kind, he first asked for my name and my date of birth. Then after the passenger (who drive me to the DMV) leave the car, I was asked basic questions on how to run the car: the horn first, then signal control, windshield control, emergency light, emergency brake, defrost, hand signals. After that, I was told to turn on the car (IMPORTANT: NOT THE ENGINE) to check if my signal lights both in the front and the back were working properly. Then the examiner went into the passenger seat and the drive test began.
It was easier than I expected. I was told to drive out of DMV and enter the neighborhood first. The first part of the route was full of stop signs (it’s really important to check if it was 4 stop signs or 2 stop signs), I came to a complete stop and count 1,2 seconds before continue driving. Please act like you always check the surroundings! Every time the examiner gave out an instruction, I always responded: “Okay”, “Uhm hm”, “Got it”, etc. I don’t really know if it would help but it’s nice to communicate and let the examiner knows that you heard them right, it’s also less awkward because the atmosphere inside the car is real SILENCED if you ask. The rest of the route was downtown streets, my town’s downtown streets is pretty narrow and has a couple of one-way streets so I made sure to not speed up too fast and always look in the right direction of traffic when crossing or turning. I had to change lanes for 3 or 4 times, remember CHECKING MIRRORS AND BLIND SPOTS, SIGNALING, SPEEDING UP TO PASS, TURNING OFF SINGAL. I forgot to turn off my signal after changing, it was not a big mistake but it would be nice to avoid that. My test didn’t have the pull over and back up part, I guess it was because my test was right at rush hours and it was hard to find a spot that was good enough for back up. After around 15 minutes or so of driving (I really didn’t notice how long it took since I was too focused on how to drive right), we came back to DMV and I was told to park in any reserved spot. The examiner immediately told me I passed the test or not. I did pass and he also gave some recommendations on improving the driving skills.
Then I bring the papers that he gave back to me to the receptionist or whatever we’d call it (the same spot where I confirmed my appointment). At this point, if you’re really dissatisfied with your mug shot on the permit like I did, you can ask to retake the picture. Keep in mind that they would bring their manager over to talk to you. They would ask for a reason, so if you decide to do this prepare a good reason beforehand. I chose to say my appearance changed a lot (it was my falsies lashes to be honest) and I couldn’t recognize myself so I wanted a new pic. The manger was nice enough to say yes to my request and I was sent to the line for picture. This part took a LONG time, longer the my actual drive test. After forever, I went to see the receptionist once again and they gave me my Interim license, which was only a printed paper with your license ID on it if you ask me. And I didn’t have to pay for anything, which was a surprise cause I expected to pay. After all that, I was good to go.
I know this is getting so long but to sum it up, I think I would give some advices: 1. Arrive early and park elsewhere if DMV is busy. 2. Be nice to the examiner, DO NOT talk a lot to them, DO be responsive and respectful. 3. Prepare a reason if you want to retake the mug shot.
Note: You can use your interim license to purchase insurance or something like that, I did ask the receptionist so this is real.
In the end, just be confident and drive like you know what’s going on. Ima be real, if someone ever tell you the test is really hard, don’t trust them: DMV wants you to pass and they are not going to test what’s outside of the norm. I hope this is helpful and also I wish you a successful drive test!!!!!!!

Here is the original post. Rather innocuous, it details a video Nerd City had made regarding the recent SSSniperwolf drama.
The OP OP started this chain of events by asking about the lore behind Nerd City, and why there is some animosity towards his channel.

Commentor 1: "I'm a bit out of the loop on Nerd City, what exactly did he do?"
Commentor 2: "All I'm familiar with is he got really into NFTs. He made a whole video talking about this huge NFT scam and how these guys were manipulating gullible people into buying low quality worthless crap, and then he ended it with, "And that's why you should all buy my NFT's, which are actually good because I'm definitely not scamming you."

Little did we know, this comment here had started a ticking time bomb. As if a Humvee driving through the deserts of the Arabian peninsula, unaware of what lurks beneath the sand, Nerd City stumbles upon this landmine of a comment 36 days later, and chaos ensues.

Nerd City: "Do you struggle with nuance in every subject, it's all just binary to you? What about genders, I bet you understand this spectrum, no?"

Completely incredulous to the fact that someone would reply to a pot 35 days stale, commentor 2 shares this embarrassing ordeal with youtubedrama. Now, everyone, grab your popcorn.
Some people can't even believe the entire ordeal is real

Link the post. Please. If this is real, genuinely sad to see. If you're reading this define Marxism genuinely wanna know what you're gonna say lmao
Its him. Doctor Downvote is an alias of his according to a Youtuber wiki. Link is here. Probably best not to poke the bear.
Oh, never. I'm more an observer type. But if he replied to a post that old, there's a non-zero chance he's searching for posts about himself specifically.

To say the bear had been poked would be an understatement. It seemed as if this bear had been stabbed. As if his name had been repeated three times in the dark, in front of a mirror, Nerd City is summoned to this comment section where he begins arguing with a subreddit of individuals seemingly genetically predisposed to suffer from a disliking of Nerd City.
While managing to call the entirety of the subreddit's inhabitants coordinating liars while simultaneously rejecting the claim that he is actively looking for content about him to complain about, Nerd City enters the playing field with this comment.

searched for a tweet about GoT I made and found this club of coordinating liars. I treat people how they treat me. If you’re respectful, I’m respectful back.

Some can't even believe what's happening and even concerned, and others are quite entertained

It genuinely is unhealthy behavior to respond to so many Reddit comments that are this old. Like, it suggests a deep seated issue when you lash out so aggressively at criticism like this. It lowkey makes me worried for your mental health if you’re this upset that ppl in a community disagree with you on something. I’d hate to see what happens if someone irl disagrees with you
Damn I just lost respect for you
Imagine being the guy who systematically destroyed Paul’s nft scam, and then just making your own. Gotta edge out the market, eh?

What kind of weird type of masochism is this? Too kinky for me bro
OP and friends speculate that Nerd City's erratic behavior may be due to unfortunate circumstances in his life.

I kinda don’t want people to argue with him, he might be going through a rough spot and I don’t want to poke the bear more than I already have. Now if he comes to this post and bitches, that’s just his fault, it’s fair game.
Yeah I can’t imagine this person is doing too hot in the other areas of their life if this is how they’re spending their time. Happy fulfilled people don’t do that. At least I’ve been told lol. Edit: oh I just realized that’s actually nerd city and not just some guy. I’d say my point stands even more in that case, I don’t know much about nerd city but no big YouTuber would be doing this shit if they weren’t like actively losing their mind.
He’s got a hot wife who helps him clown on instagram girls, you’d think he’d be living the dream life.
Does she come braless to give him sandwiches (not asked for) with chips as he gets a double kill bot lane tho?

The Bear responds to these accusations not with denial, but with a valiant effort to stand up for himself.

That’s true, but can’t I also defend myself against a mob of fibbers and jerks? I always punched back, this is normal for me when I’m active online.

OP responds by proposing an unheard of solution

Have you considered logging off?

One user speculates that Nerd City might delete his account following these recent events, to which he replies:

I’m not saying anything I would need to hide or delete. I’m on main and reading Reddit notifs while simmering at about 3/10 Annoyed. I’m not happy to read lies, and clapping back when people lie has become underrated IMO
Insane behavior is thinking you can lie in a public forum with other cowardly people tittering word salad exaggerations and not be held accountable. These threads are big enough now that I’ll keep coming and kicking your asses like my enemies until one of your mods starts censoring me.

In what appears to be one of the only comments featuring meaningful insight, there is to nobody's surprise no response from Nerd City

You put all your eggs in a hollow basket. You wanted the profits that came with branding/merchandising without any of the products for consumers; which sucks cause you clearly are someone who cares about their art and presentation with your upload frequency and quality of content. Sucks that it came at the cost of your sanity and creativity. You spent a year on some discount pop-art fit for 3.5g bags, on a quick bag that was late to the party.

When one commentor asks why Nerd City is in the comment section, he promptly responds with an answer.

I’m letting the liars know I found their little liar’s club. Holding it accountable, one might say\

One lone person attempts to stand up for Nerd City, upon which he immediately expresses gratitude

Why do people give nerd so much flack for the nft stuff, on the tbh podcast he seemed really genuine about the whole thing and said that it wasn’t a scam or anything they even had coffezila one an episode which would seem really stupid if nerd was actually scamming people
Thank you. Finally, a single brave person stands up and spits some facts.

The rest of the comment section legitimately just consists of back and forth discourse between Nerd City and other commentors that is basically just identical to what has already been displayed.
Potential flairs !!
If you're reading this define Marxism
He’s got a hot wife who helps him clown on instagram girls
Does she come braless to give him sandwiches (not asked for) with chips as he gets a double kill bot lane tho?
can’t I also defend myself against a mob of fibbers and jerks?\
I’ll keep coming and kicking your asses like my enemies until one of your mods starts censoring me.
I’m letting the liars know I found their little liar’s club
Having a zyn induced meltdown

Hi folks,
IDEA 1 - Demo of The Day
I've come up with an idea to both reward games that made long strides and also to help their game be seen more even if it's a tiny bit. What I'm thinking is pinning/stickying a demo to the top, and keeping it there for 24 hours. The rules I have in mind are:

• The demo has to be qualified for a Steam Fest which requires you to have a playable demo and accepted by Steam. Meaning Steam Next Fest, because Steam will actually check your demo and approve if it's at a player-ready state. We can't be the judge in this matter anyway, and leaving this decision to a universally accepted 3rd party platform seems like the best idea.
• Alternatively, if your demo wasn't at a Next Fest, but you've applied and got in, you can provide proof (both of ownership and that your demo is accepted for the Next Fest) and get your chance to appear on top.
• Alternatively, if you have a game demo that's done well at one of Steam's other fests (such as Endless Replayability going on right now), your application will be approved. There are lots of tools to track the historical performance data of demos on Steam, which would allow us to detect bad actors.
• I think each entry should only get one or two appearances a year because I'm seeing a lot of new games every week and if we allow even two entries it could turn into a mess. Plus, this would make you ensure you make the best out of this unpaid opportunity and only apply when you trust your demo full-heartedly.
• Applicants will use a similar or identical format that's seen in Indie Sunday over at games
• Title: Game Name - Company (or individual) Name - Short description (for example: "classic turn based RPG" or "platformer inspired by Metroidvanias")
• Flair: Indie Sunday
• Body: Any links to trailers/footage, a description of the game, plans for release (platform, target date, etc), any additional information you'd like to add.
• You won't get to decide which day you appear on the front because this idea should also help grow this community and gain us visibility as well. If we pick randomly or based on first come first serve, then this subreddit wouldn't gain much out of it.

Note: This is an unpaid effort, no sponsorship deals or anything similar won't ever happen here. If this gets an overwhelmingly positive reception, I'll fine-tune the details, and of course all ears for your suggestions.
IDEA 2 - Demo of The Day
This would be more similar to how IGN First functions. I was one of the core members of IGN First when it first launched. The idea back when we launched it was to dedicate a whole month to a specific game, all with exclusive never-seen-before type of content. Now, we can't do exclusive content here, because first, that would go against the idea of this sub helping you promote your indie game. If your game is a promising one, then exclusive news and content is a powerful weapon you have for media coverage. However, if you're selected we can ask for 5 pieces of content that'll be updated daily form Monday to Friday. However, if we go this route, only the best of the best demos would get a pass here.
Note: This is an unpaid effort, no sponsorship deals or anything similar won't ever happen here. If this gets an overwhelmingly positive reception, I'll fine-tune the details, and of course all ears for your suggestions.

So my family member was just diagnosed with Parkinson’s but still is getting further testing done. She has a tremor or twitching with her foot that is uncontrollable and has a gait, shuffling walk and difficulty picking up feet. My question is could a diagnosis be wrong or could something else be causing it. It seems the diagnosis was just based on those two things so that’s why I’m curious about how a diagnosis is generally confirmed. I also know that she is currently on a lot of medication for anti depressants and just want to be sure that it isn’t caused by any she’s currently taking if there’s that possibility. Also some other things I’ve noticed is she is very forgetful, getting names mixed up, or can’t think of something and that has made me think that she could have other things going on as well. Just looking for any comments on anyone who knows about this initial diagnosis and or any good places for me to learn more information on it as well. I just want to be able able to advocate for her and the more knowledge I can get on this will help me to be able to do that. Thankyou 💙

HIIIII!!! I 21F overthink alot and I was wondering if anyone who is Japanese or have been to japan could look at my virgo moon overthinking and see if I was being delulu or if I fell victim to host club culture. This all took place in a Japanese bar. B-31m Bartender (European) T-20m Waiter boy in question (Japanese) K-ME (Wasian)

• first when we got there the first time. He gave me drink recommendations.
• Second gave me a phone charger bank without me asking cause he noticed I needed one.
• Was the one to set up my birthday stuff, and also asked me my name and when said it in Japanese went “really? That’s cute”
• Fourth , he kept checking on me and then gave me another recommendation without me asking. And made the drink himself and gave it to me.
• Fifth, he kept coming to talk to me about his time working at usj and then took our picture.
• Sixth, he took a shot with me and taught me how to say cheers in the “young adult way”
• Seventh, when I was given birthday stuff he was the one to come up to me and tell me to sit. I look over and he is standing behind me with both his arms fully up and going crazy.
• he also gave me water immediately after our shot together
• Eighth, he then ran to me when he thought we were leaving even though it was sooooo busy.
• Ninth, he ran to the elevator to say goodbye to us. The elevator is outside the bar and he left his post to come say bye.
• Next day
• When I enter he immediately smiles and goes “K!!” And then brushes his hair back so it’s pushed back
• Then I sit at the bar , not the tables and he finds every reason to come up to me and try to talk to me. (His post is the tables not the bar)
• He gets a coaster from right next to me when he could’ve just gone to the other side of the bar to get it or somewhere else

- He gives me a recommendation again and leans super close and I’m like suaisisisisi

• Friend noticed he kept trying to get into my line of sight and talk to me
• I was sitting near the close area of the servers and everytime he came over to check the orders he would glance at me and see me and try to talk to me
• He told me his favorite drink and tried super hard to talk in English
• He told me when he was getting off and wanted to take a shot with me

- got me water without me asking cause he remembered I didn’t like the shot

• He said goodbye when he was leaving to just me
• when he talked to us he only talked and looked at me
• He coughed and I went you ok? In Japanese and he looked over and smiled and went yes yes don’t worry
• He gave just me his instagram and immediately after work liked my story
• When talking about the servers to B he would come over and try to join the convo.

-We asked B ages of everyone and even though it was busy T came over and suddenly asked us ages. He asked friend one and went ok ok.. skipped my next friend and went “K ???” And I went Oh “21” he was so excited and said “03”??? And I said yes and he was admit that we should be friends because we were the same age. (My other friends were all 03 as well)
-Asked us what we did and kept wanting to see my pictures of me in my kimono.

• He kept coming over to the bar and asking B about us.

The kicker is that B told us once T was getting ready to leave, “Do with this information what you will, but T has a girlfriend…”

• I Mmmm a Virgo moon so I overthink a lot lol and this is when I realized I would fall victim and have no money at all if host clubs were available to me

So I follow the radios usually because they offer decent loot, and I get to give family's some peace I feel. Eventually got to this place, barricaded neighborhood similar to sanctuary, full of supermutants. Kill them nothing special. Find the source of the broadcast in a guy basement. I listen on last time before turning it off. And start rummaging around, and their is a computer I read throught the logs.
When the bombs fell a man named Wayne who built giddy up butter cup toys ( found logs of him when I looted that building) got an early warning reading his bosses computer and dipped before the building went into lock down ( which is why I remembered, business guys starving to death) went to the nearby Malden middle school to pick up his kids and went home. Left the radio on for Bonnie's his wife. Who didn't come home.
I had previously come across her in medtech? Some hospital. Bonnie's was a doctor and her corpse is in a massive catscan room where she also left a tape. She talks about how hard it gotten, so many sick people and running low on supplies. But she hoped her family is okay. She obviously never made it home.
Could be a forth part, not sure, since David Wayne youngest son left a holotape saying they had to leave their home since bandits came back ( because an idiot saw a bunch of dudes in mad max leather gimos suits with guns, recognized one, and told them where they live). Wayne and his boys escape( possibly) while the few other left in there neighborhood were killed by raiders.

Many people are calling for Ned's head lately.
I don't think he's been perfect. He has a positive reputation around the league at least as a person and businessperson. That doesn't mean he's a good scout.
I think it's important to separate hirings into categories one would attribute to the owner, the coach, or the general manager, even though it is reportedly a collaborative process and Paulson has to sign off on everything. It is also essential to note that different coaches have different systems, styles, strategies, and tactics. Players identified as having the skills, disposition, mentality, etc. for particular purposes under a particular coach may not work as well in different circumstances. For example, I'll suggest that having a slow right centerback isn't as much of a problem with a right fullback who can track back, central midfielders who can help cover, and an offense that defends higher, doesn't turn the ball over so often, and is effective in attack. Also, given the relatively sudden and unexpected departures of Porter and Wilkinson, and the transition periods between coaches and scouting/technical staff, it's important to note that there were times when there weren't people in particular roles and the styles, tactics, strategies, philosophies, etc. weren't clear or changed.
While I have no proof and Ned has expressed his enthusiasm for and confidence in Neville, I very much feel like Phil is Paulson's guy. It was said that he had a rapport with Paulson. I don't expect Ned to say anything publicly that isn't supportive. Maybe he actually believed Neville was the best candidate and maybe he still believes he's a good coach.
Using Wikipedia, I documented which players signed with the club or had their contracts extended while Ned was in different roles.
When he was promoted to Technical Director, he was specifically credited with scouting specific players. He's also credited with finalizing the deal with Evander in late 2022, after GW was fired but before he was officially GM. The rumor is that the deal was going to fall apart before Ned took over negotiations. I've italicized those players that Ned might have been involved in scouting, recruiting, signing, or extending who are still on the team. I've also indicated when I think it's pretty clear when a player was brought in by a coach because of some past association. I may be wrong about some and may have missed some. I know there is incomplete information but I only tried so hard. There are also situations where the player was technically signed to an extension in one year but it was effectively for the next season. The distinction between preseason and summer transfer window signings isn't always obvious. Also, many of these players were scouted for some time before a decision was made to sign them and an opportunity presented itself. For example, Wilkinson talked about wanting Lucas Melano for some time. I think Porter was big on him too. We had our eyes on Yimmi Chara for a long time too. Considering that, I'm not inclined to credit Ned with 2017 signings at all, and don't think he had much to do with the renewal or financial decisions until 2023.
Director of Scouting and Recruitment - November 2016
2017 Season
Signings

• Andres Flores - Gio
• Modou Jadama

Extensions/Renewals

• Jeff Attinella
• Kendall McIntosh
• Zark Valentin - Porter
• Dairon Asprilla
• Jack Barmby
• Bill Tuiloma

2018 Season
Signings

• Julio Cascante
• Foster Langsdorf
• Eryk Williamson
• Jorge Villafaña - Returned. Originally signed as a Porter player.
• Steve Clark
• Andy Polo - Ned is credited with scouting him. GW took credit for his extension.
• Cristhian Paredes - Ned is credited with scouting him.
• Samuel Armenteros
• Tomás Conechny

Extensions/Renewals

• Zerek Valentin
• Jeremy Ebobisse
• Modou Jadama
• Bill Tuiloma
• Foster Langsdorf
• Kendall McIntosh

Technical Director - December 2018
2019 Season
Signings

• Marvin Loría - Ned is credited with scouting him.
• Renzo Zambrano - Ned is credited with scouting him.
• Claude Dielna - Ned is credited with scouting him.
• Aljaz Ivavic
• Brian Fernandez
• Jorge Moreira

Extensions/Renewals

• Sebastian Blanco
• Diego Valeri
• Bill Tuiloma
• Steve Clark
• Jeremy Ebobisse

2020 Season
Signings

• Yimmi Chara
• Blake Bodily
• Jaroslaw Niezgoda
• Chris Duvall
• Pablo Bonilla
• Zac McGraw
• Felipe Mora
• Dario Zuparic

Extensions/Renewals

• Dairon Asprilla

2021 Season
Signings

• Larrys Mabiala
• Santiago Moreno

2022 Season
Signings

• Justin Vom Steeg
• David Ayala
• Justin Rasmussen
• Diego Gutierrez
• Claudio Bravo
• Juan David Mosquera

Extensions/Renewals

• Felipe Mora
• Zac McGraw
• Diego Chara
• Cristhian Paredes

General Manager - December 2023
October 2022 - GW Fired
2023 Season
Signings

• Evander - Neville said that he had wanted Evander at Miami.
• Miguel Araujo
• Antony
• Eric Miller
• Frank Boli

Extensions/Renewals

• Nathan Fogaça

2024 Season
Signings

• Kamal Miller - Neville guy
• James Pantemis - Neville guy
• Trey Muse - Neville guy?
• Maxime Crepeau - Neville guy
• Jonathan Rodriguez

Extensions/Renewals

• Juan David Mosquera
• Santiago Moreno
• Eric Miller

Do we blame these guys going forward?
Jack Dodd - Technical Director - April 2023

• Former Director of Scouting for Toronto and a scout for Liverpool and Crystal Palace

Nacho Leblic - Director of Scouting - February 2024
With all of this info, I think we can blame Ned in whole or in part for the following current players being signed and / or having their contracts renewed:

1. Rodriguez
2. Evander
3. Loría
4. Williamson
5. Moreno
6. Mosquera
7. McGraw
8. Eric Miller
9. Fogaça
10. Antony
11. Mora
12. Diego Chara
13. Araujo
14. Paredes
15. Ayala
16. Mabiala
17. Asprilla
18. Kamal Miller
19. Muse
20. Crepeau
21. Pantemis
22. Sulte
23. Zuparic
24. Ikoba
25. Bravo

Gee, that's the entire roster. Realistically though, I'm only crediting him for 2023 and maybe Rodriguez. He wasn't really GM until Evander at the end of 2022. GW, Paulson, Porter, Gio, and Neville all have had input and in many cases more authority in decision-making up to that point.
Which players came and went under Ned's watch should we not have signed or not let go?
And which players who are still on the roster just objectively suck and aren't MLS-level players? As starters or depth? Who doesn't even have any potential? Who has aged out? Who is good but doesn't fit the system? Who doesn't fit Neville's system but fit Gio's? Note: this is all in MLS-level terms.

1. Rodriguez was great but is now just good and arguably doesn't fit the system. He's a second striker but we only play with one forward. I don't think the 4-4-2 we tried against Seattle was a good idea. Obviously, it didn't work. Maybe a diamond of Evander, Chara, Ayala, and Paredes. We'd need more defense to cover for Mosquera getting forward and Moreno tucking in. But I digress...
2. Evander is good but poorly utilized and inconsistent. He plays to the level of his teammates. He's not a leader. Could he be great? Probably not as a 10. He's got flashes though, so I hope I'm wrong.
3. Loría in my eyes isn't MLS level and hit his ceiling. I'll accept arguments that he's a good sub for the money.
4. Williamson is good but oft-injured, and inconsistently plays to the level of his teammates.
5. Moreno is inconsistent, sometimes played out of position, doesn't fit the system, but has potential. He takes chances, which I respect, but maybe doesn't have the best judgement. Maybe he can learn. I hope so. He tries. He's good. He could be great. He probably shouldn't be the starter all the time.
6. Mosquera is a good winger but terrible fullback. Or maybe he's a good wingback but terrible fullback, depending on how you define the roles. Maybe he has potential. I increasingly doubt it. He doesn't seem to have the mentality for it. He's Alvas Powell 2.0. I'd love to be wrong. He tried last match. If he becomes a good fullback he'll be great overall.
7. McGraw is good but terrible in the system, especially when Mosquera doesn't track back. He's just too slow and sometimes has poor judgement.
8. Eric Miller is good as a sub right fullback and decent as a sub left fullback.
9. Fogaça isn't good and has no potential. I'd love to be wrong. I like his workrate but he's not MLS quality and never will be.
10. Antony is good, not great, and maybe has potential. His first touch is garbage, he's one-footed, and he doesn't make smart runs. He fast though. I don't think he can succeed on a shitty team like ours because he won't see the ball enough. Ideally, he'd understudy to a great winger and learn from them.
11. Mora is surprisingly good. He's opportunistic. He's a leader. He's committed. He puts in effort. I still don't think he's a DP and I'd kind of prefer he was a subto an even better forward but it's hard to argue with success.
12. Diego Chara. He's still very good. People who say he's lost a step are confusing his inability to cover everybody else's mistakes, and his own occasional lapses, with having lost it. He's barely lost anything. He'd look better on a team that wasn't absolute ass. It's sad for him.
13. Araujo. I think he's good but just too slow for this system. His passing is good and he's good with the ball at his feet. His positioning and judgement seem fine, generally. I'd bet he'd look better on a better team too. I could say the same for some former centerbacks as well.
14. Paredes. He's good. He's developed and grown on me. He's pretty consistent and generally puts in effort. He rarely pisses me off. I'd hoped he'd develop into a 6 but that's apparently not to be. I think he's hit his ceiling. He's a great rotator or sub. Not a star.
15. Ayala. He's good. Could become great if he can stay healthy and get more development. I'm worried about his injury history. He's a bit small and can get pushed around a bit.
16. Mabiala. He's just too old and slow now. Good dude. Maybe his last extension was too long. I think the tactics are especially bad for him but he wasn't good enough last season either. Father Time just caught up faster than we expected.
17. Asprilla. Is he good? I don't think he really is. But his moments of sheer genius, his workrate, and his heart make him great. As a sub. Flare counts for a lot. I love it when Asprilla dazzles.
18. Kamal Miller. He's good but too slow for the system.
19. Muse. No idea man.
20. Crepeau. He's great but we sure haven't given him a chance to be great for us yet.
21. Pantemis. He's good and could be great.
22. Sulte. I've only ever seen him be awful. I wish him the best but have no reason for optimism, especially since Muse came on.
23. Zuparic. He's the best player in the league, obviously. He's good. Maybe he was great once. He's not good enough for the system at least. If Neville ever substantively changes tactics I think he could be solid for us again. Seems like his attitude may be a problem though. Who knows what to believe?
24. Ikoba. Absolute mystery to me. I assume the worst from context clues. Wish him the best. I think he, Sulte, and all who came before underscore how wretched our academy system is. Who do we blame for that? Does it matter? I think it does. I'd love to develop cheap players we could sell to reinvest in the club.
25. Bravo. He's great. He could be brilliant. He makes the occasional mistake but that's the price of greatness. He takes risks. He's a fighter too. Love this dude but he still gets underrated and shit on. We're so much better with him on the team. How often do we have good fullbacks, especially a left back. Him, Moreira, and Villafaña are kind of it, right? Farfan showed promise but bringing Jorge back stunted his prospects with us?

I think we are less than the sum of our parts. I don't think too many of our players are scrubs. We have too much invested in central midfield, centerback, and keeper. Central midfield was complicated by injuries and Chara's insane longevity. Our poor DP signings hurt our ability to move on from them in terms of timing and money. Ivacic was still on the books well into the last transfer window. Mabiala is taking up roster and cap space. Zuparic is questionable. McGraw and Araujo just don't seem to be good fits for the system that Neville is trying to implement. Kamal Miller isn't either but Neville doesn't realize that. I'll suggest that Mosquera not defending hurt the CBs last season too, along with the missing attacking DPs.
I don't know what we can realistically do about our problems near-term. I don't think Nevilleball works even with a right fullback who can defend and faster centerbacks. That would help. But the lack of off-the-ball movement, lack of ball progression through midfield, lack of creative runs, poor passing, low pressure, shitty zonal marking on set piece defending, not closing passing lanes, not stepping to the ball; not making incisive, line-splitting passes; not communicating, poor rotations, not making the final pass or taking shots in the box, passing back all the time, slow build-up, not covering the far post, injuries... It's a lot. Some of these problems predate Neville, so he ought to have accounted for them and adjusted accordingly. The FO has denied lack of talent is a problem. That leaves coaching and attitude or mentality. Attitude and mentality often come back to coaching IMHO.

Hi, I just want to clarify I haven't really examined my identity as a mixed person because of how separated I was from both sides. I also want to just quickly ask if I am mixed because I said I was mixed one time and somebody said I couldn't be because I am technically all white with race but ethnically/culturally I am not. I will take down my post if I am not considered mixed.
So, to start off, my mom is a white US citizen and my dad is a darker skinned Guatemalan. Both are considered white in race but ethnically are completely far. It doesn't help that my "white" dad is dark and is treated unfairly because of it.
I grew up being told I was just plain mixed, I guess maybe we considered it was just culturally mixed or ethnically but I am unsure. I was born in Guatemala but already had dual citizenship for both my parent's home countries at 10 days old. So that is where my confusion stems from with the whole being mixed dilemma. Again, I don't know if that makes me not a mixed person because this subreddit is for mixedrace but there is no other subreddit.
I digress, to get on with the title. I used to have dark skin like my dad when I was little, I looked like I was a full Guatemalan. As I grew older, I started to look mixed. Now that I am a freshly new adult, I look white. Throughout my various stages of life, I had noticed various r*cist comments pointed out to me and my dad's culture. It was stuff I used to shake off since I live in a predominantly white community and thought that it was normal to be treated horribly.
I started examining my own identity and how my darker skin/culture had affected my social life when I was younger. I realized how plainly rcist people were and talked about it to my mom. All the sudden, she told me that she is sorry she is white and that "not all white people are like that" as if trying to guilt me. She kept asking me over and over again if I hated her for being white which I had to repeatedly tell her no. I felt horrible the whole time as if I was the one being rcist to her.
After that, she started separating us as if we were different. We are but it felt like I was being outed by my own mom! If I brought up anything about the injustices in the world, she would turn it back to how sorry she is for "her kind" to do horrible things.
Occasionally, she will say something r*cist.... about dad's culture. I hate that i have to go home sometimes and feel like I am tip toeing around because she will randomly sprout something that makes her the victim and make me feel horrible about half of myself.
Something I have always struggled with was my mixed identity of culture. I was only really around my mom as a kid (thats another long story) so I was around her typical all-American ways. My first and foremost language was Spanish but moving to the US had me learning English. My mom refused to teach my sibling and I Spanish, saying that if we were to learn, we had to learn from dad. So, I lost what little Spanish I had and still struggle to speak in English. I still cannot learn Spanish for the life of me. Another thing she did was just completely treat me as if I were a completely white kid. I never ate any foods from my dad's culture (my mom hates eating anything that isn't a typical Euro food) nor was I taught anything about Guatemala other than that it was dirty, gross, and that my parents did me a favor immigrating.
In doing so, I acted like a white kid... but never was accepted by my white peers. On the other hand, I never was able to be accepted by my latino peers as they often only spoke in Spanish in their small group and had a different life than mine.
I feel that I am neither one nor the other and it hurts. The "woke" people I know are amazed that I am from Guatemala and make it known to everyone they know as if showing me off despite me not feeling Guatemalan enough.
I've been trying to accept myself for who I am but it gets harder when my mom keeps making those kinds of comments. I feel like I can't win, even at home. I'm such an outsider and nobody really knows. I was hoping maybe somebody else here feels the same with not being enough or having a family member that is r*cist towards the other half. I can't stand living like this divide anymore, I just want to be a person.
(I also want to note that my mom is a great person and she doesn't mean to make rcist comments. She lived in a little town where there was only one non-white person living and idolizes european life. She grew up with her own problems but made the best out of her situation. I love my mom a lot, it just gets hard to be around her whenever we talk about my home country or about politics. She isn't rcist to anybody else, not even to my dad. I think she thinks that I will understand her when I am the least able to. My dad has only recently figured out this is happening but he hasn't said a word.)

How y’all arguing about “heard Dave free might be the father” and saying stuff like “he said he heard it and doesn’t know for a fact”, but when Kendrick did the same thing. “I heard you like them young.” Both sides are arguing over the smallest words and being so hypocritical 😂 I’m just picturing this as a face to face diss/battle. Who tf is proving anything in a battle? if someone said “yo momma fat” you aren’t going to say “no she isn’t” as a rebuttal, you say something worse. Tf. I think that’s where Drake fumbled, he acknowledged the accusations then mocked Kendrick for possibly being molested in the sameee song... The Mariah Carey comment was not it.. He could have posted outside of a song saying “that’s wild I would never” and even donate to some sort of organization to speak against child trafficking or something.
IF there is any minors involved you can’t just name drop a victim(s.) I hope it’s not true. I hope all accusations aren’t true..
The whole mole thing is stupid too. Drake easily could have had suspicions about a mole/leak and made up a story about a daughter. “Could have gave a name or destination” Feeding the story to 1 or more ppl but Drake didn’t know who the actual mole was. so putting that info out there he is finding who the “clown/mole” and ALSO giving false information to the oops. That’s some high school shit tbh…
Also I haven’t heard anyone discuss the 2 times Kendrick says something like “hide your little sister.” Idk it just stuck out to me, has anyone brought their sisters around him that doesn’t anymore? Also the “protect the family” to everyone also made me 🤔🤔
It does seem like rumors have gone around the circle of people that hang with Drake.. “heard this and that” take it however you want type thing… they both are talking tbh. The street always whispers... We can ask why isn’t Drake saying who told him/posting proof or why isn’t Kendrick isn’t telling who/posting proof.. sounds like a lot of pillow talking or playing the telephone game. He said she said they said who said…
Remember you don’t know who someone is 24/7. I hope Kendrick hasn’t had any domestics or domestics, I hope Drake isn’t a pedo. But do I or you know FOR SURE they aren’t or haven’t? No. Unfortunately both situations are very common in the US so you never know.. hopefully the truth comes out.
I am biased in the sense of never liking Drake, even back in the day. I just always thought he was annoying and looked like Will Smith’s fish from Fishtales 😂 I only know the most popular songs from both Drake and Kendrick.

Welcome to the Daily NC/NP Trade/Sell & Pet UFA/UFT thread. A new thread will be made every day at midnight NST. Please refrain from posting individual threads and use this thread for your trading purposes!

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Remember that you can use Ctrl + F to help you find items you might be interested in! Please use the following specific formats to make it easier for people searching for either NC or NP items.

Format - NP

Please use this format when buying or selling items:
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item - price (or link to your shop/trades/auctions)

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item(s) or link to wishlist
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item(s) or link to trade list

Neocash Trading

Please keep in mind that you can ONLY trade Neocash items for other Neocash items and cannot buy them with Neopoints.
To trade an NC item you need a gift box that you receive when redeeming NC cards, opening Gift Box Capsules, or other events. To read more about trading Neocash items check out the Jellyneo guide.
If you're trading NC items, here are a couple of guides to help you out with values and avoid being scammed: ALWAYS KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR WHEN THESE WERE LAST UPDATED AS THEY MAY BE OUTDATED.
Neocash Guide Hub
/~Neocash - Neocash Petpage Hub
/~Helper & /~Cashier - NC Trading Guides
Most Recently Updated Value Guide
/~Owls - NC Wearables A through J
/~OwlsTwo - NC Wearables K through Z
/~Upstairs - Owls, but all on one page without assigned dates
/~Valisar - Non-Wearables
List last updated Nov 27th, 2023

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This also is the place to post all your pets that you are seeking new homes for, whether you're trading or adopting out.
Please post the pet or pets you currently have up for adoption, that you are zapping to adopt out, or that you wish to trade.
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For guides and resources, I would check out the following pages:
Pet Trading Guides
/~kalux - General Links and Resources
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/~Tradez & /~Laural - Past UC Trades
/~Applebean - Past BD Trades
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/~ZYDP - Zap Your Dream Pet
/~Eggso - UC Project & UFA UC Listing
/~Hootiolado - H.E.L.P's Dream Pet Listing
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/~Clurisa - The Fortunate Ones Adoption and Dream Granting Agency
/~Kiasa - Wondertrade's Dreamy Dreams Directory
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/~Gladiro
/~Kyynator
/~Extrapbclothes
List last updated Nov 27th, 2023

Rules

1. DO NOT mention /neopets or reddit on Neopets in any way.
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Apparently so.
Your options are either watching Ant watch news clips or the other Compound/Stern spinoffs watching clips of each other.
Kevin Brennan occasionally puts out a good show. Usually by accident when the guests and superchats are on fire.
But KB's show is mostly clips of anyone who mentions his name, who are total losers, and dead air as he struggles to work streamyard.
Do I even need to elaborate on why the Stuttering John sphere is awful?
"OMG JOHN MISPRONOUNCED A WORD LETS TURN THIS INTO A WEEK'S WORTH OF CONTENT"
You'd think with a combined centuries of entertainment industry experience that one of them would get the bright idea to just be funny and put all the other afternoon shows out of business.
The M-F afternoon time slot is primed for someone O&A adjacent to swoop in and pick up a large audience in a short time. Just be funny. Don't bitch about politics. Don't turn 30 second clips into 45 minute segments.

Going through the threads I see this question come up a lot, so I'm hesitant to ask but I feel like my situation is a bit different.
Tldr What can I do to figure out if I'm actually trans?
33 year old amab. And I have a lot of the very masculine markers (I'm 6 foot 8, grow a full beard in 2 days, hair freaking everywhere, that sort of thing). Thing is I've never felt pride in them. Even when I work hard to make myself look good (and I know I can, I used to be a shirtless bartender) I've never really felt joy in it for itself (the attention for sure but still)
I realized about 7 years ago I'm bi, and honestly really only accepted it a year or so ago (was in a committed het relationship so...) and about 6 months ago I realized I might be genderfluid at least. So I'm not exactly fast at making these decisions or processing these thoughts.
But lately I've realized that every character I create to project myself onto has been femme. All of my mmos, fallout, etc. I got a pair of pants that actually fit me from value village the other day. Most comfortable pair of pants I own. They are women's pants. Honestly for most of my life I've lamented at how boring men's fashion is in comparison to women's. Regularly online people think I'm a woman and I stopped correcting them because what's the point (even had a few refuse to believe me until we got into voice). Hell my raid group is made up mostly of gay women, and they made the joke that the only reason I'm allowed in is because I'm actually a lesbian.
Then I found put the insurance I get through my job covers a lot of gender affirming care. Like at the least top and bottom surgery. Now I'm going to look into what that means tomorrow, because even if I don't use it I have more than a handful of trans friends who would like to know options I think, and I regularly have students come out to me and share their troubles.
But, I can't deny the weird emotion I am feeling finding out it could be possible. And I'm trying to process it in a constructive way.
Thing is, I know I'm depressed as hell. I know that I want something to point to and say "If this was fixed I could be happy" and I really want that to be true.
But also, as mentioned above, I've got so much, like two surgeries, tracheal shave, voice altering, face feminization, that's so much. It would take years, I'm already 34, and honestly my insurance isn't so stable that I can count on it. I haven't talked to anyone about this yet in person, because my closest friends have been (pretty obnoxiously actually) making hints that I am, but both of them are, and they have a tendency to project. I don't even know what I would say to my doctor or therapist at this point in the process, and honestly the only reason I'm here is because I'm teaching a bunch of 14 year olds math in about 7 hours and I can't get to sleep since I'm thinking about this.
So at this point asking for advice. In summary, what exercises or activities can I do to explore this and see if it's actually what it is, because if it is, I have so much work to do it's not even funny.
Obligatory on mobile disclaimer.

A popular high end grocery store that I frequently shop at stopped me to check my 100 bill. I was at checkout w my toddler when the cashier called over the manager. The cashier said he has to do a bill check which never happened all the years of me shopping at the store. The manager came over to take the bill and I asked “How long will this take and there should be a smoother process for parents w babies”. The manager replied angrily “Well, tell your people not to steal”. I didn’t even have a chance to reply as the manager ran off after his comment. The cashier profusely apologized while the manager was gone and also gave me the info of the higher ups and the name of the hostile manager. The manager returned after about 5 minutes rudely handing 20’s to the cashier. The store was crowded when this happened and other shoppers heard. I called the store and spoke to the person above the manager and he apologized but sounded more like he was covering for the company as he skated around the comment the manager made and the criteria for the “bill checks”. He also seemed relieved when I said that I lost my receipt but I later found it. I feel extremely confused and dissatisfied w the outcome. Can anything be done?

Content warning: sexual assault, child rape, grooming.
I;23F, have had a very difficult upbringing. I was sexually abused by my father(70M currently) and my mother (62F) did absolutely nothing about the abuse. When I was taken into foster care, she was on my father’s side, saying I was making allegations against them and lying about them. My father went to prison in 2014, my mother realized that the relationship she was in with my father was very harmful and that she was also abused too. We have a lot better of a relationship now; but it still isn’t quite the typical mother-daughter relationship. I wouldn’t ever let her be around her grandchildren unsupervised because of that. If I ever have any.
But here is the thing. I was taken into foster care at 13 years old due to the neglect and sexual abuse in my parents care. Enter my sister, Lynnie(53F) Lynnie and her ex husband; Derek(51M) took me in at 17 years old when my foster mom kicked me out by saying I would seduce men(I was 15, a virgin up until the rape occurred with Derek.) and saying I would ruin their marriage. That was in October of 2017. Several months later, in February of 2018, three days after I got with my ex partner, was the first time that Derek cornered me and raped me. Gave me oral sex against my will, and did… I’ll let you finish the rest. This would go on multiple times a week for almost a year and a half until I was finally so suicidal enough I couldn’t take it anymore and I told Lynnie. And I told Lynnie when she asked why I didn’t tell her sooner was because she didn’t believe me when my foster mom was abusing me physically. I was being starved and physically abused.
Lynnie has never once picked her own children, or any children in her care; over any man. When Derek got on to me and my niece(Bailey; 21F) she would be on his side. When he hated the fact I was bisexual and that Bailey was too, she hated it too. She still hates it to this day. Bailey told her that Derek made a pass at her at 14. But it took me being raped at 17 for her to finally realize it was all true.
She talked to my niece when they first separated. And my niece told me tonight that Lynnie blamed me for the rape when it first happened. Just like she did for the abuse my foster mom did to me. Just like the abuse our dad did to me. She blamed a 17 year old girl for “seducing” a grown man. A GROWN FUCKING MAN.
I have been ready to cut contact with her for a long time because of her letting our sister, Cyndi, age 50(passed this year due to stroke) keep all of her boyfriends who would grope me in the house and wouldn’t care that I was the only one paying rent. As if it wasn’t me who was working my ass off and then on top of it, blaming me when I took a day off of work because I thought my rapist was following me to my work. I WAS FUCKING SCARED. I was fucking 18 years old and scared I was gonna get cornered in my own work.
And now my niece telling me that when she first got into contact with her; she told her that it was my fault I “seduced” him. And that I “seduced” every man due to the sexual abuse I went through from our father. I was a little girl. I was not a woman. I never seduced a man. That should never be in a persons vocabulary, a minor “seducing” a grown man!?
It’s the grown man’s fault. You don’t ever go after a minor, let alone also one who has been sexually abused and one you can take advantage of. You should never go for a minor. At all. Ever.
Minors don’t seduce people. People who are grown seduce people.
And I can’t think that my own sister would think that about me. At 17 that I seduced her ex husband into molesting me.
I didn’t seduce your ex husband. I was a minor. He raped and groomed me and you want to be upset that I want my name changed because when you look me up online it links me to him!?
Please. Please give me some encouragement I’m doing the right thing. Because I’ve been staying up at night and tossing and turning thinking about how sick she has absolutely made me.

Yes, I had a lot of time. I originally played this game when it launched during the pandemic and stopped at 1k trophies, and picked it up again ~3 years later. I want to share my thoughts about the last ~15 days while it's still fresh and answer any questions people might have.
I have a 43% win rate in 3600 BR games, and 300+ games with each of the following heroes: Angel, Bastion, Blizzard, Blot, Cyclops, Ghost, Levi, Lynx, Ramsay, Raven, Sparkle, Vi. I have the most fun with Angel, Raven, Ramsay, and Lynx.
I've unlocked every hero except Alice, paid for Blizzard and Vi. I have a full pg set and two skins waiting for when she arrives.

Trophy Tiers

Broadly speaking, the percentage of poor players decreases as you gain higher trophies. Being completely honest, I saw a bunch of mistakes made by enemies, teammates, and myself at 9k trophies. At 10k+ trophies, most of the mistakes I see are my own.

Low Tier: <3k

I have a second account on an old phone at this tier that I use to play under powered / rarely used heroes in casual games. It's mostly bots and occasional humans with rudimentary gameplay.

Mid Tier: 3-7k

People are still misplaying all the time, but in general are improving and trying to coordinate as a team. Pickup teams are pretty easy to create and people are generally pretty friendly. Honestly, I probably had the most fun at this tier since I enjoy playing the game casually with a variety of heroes and different team compositions (vs trying to win all the time).
There's still plenty of bots in offpeak hours.

High Tier: >7k

This is the first tier where it starts to get competitive. Relatedly, this is also the first tier I started seeing bad manners and griefing.
Early on when I was around 2k, I teamed up with some high trophy players and played in 10k games. That's when I learned first hand how much faster and aggressive the game was. On certain maps (Bank, Village, Hotel), fights will often initiate after picking up ~2 items.
As for bad manners, I'm used to it from playing plenty of other online games but enjoyed the fact that Bullet Echo largely doesn't have it. However at 7k+, now you get a lot of people bm'ing when they kill you, if two people fight over an item, etc. It most commonly manifests as sprays/stickers, but also a lot of head shaking and the occasional teamkill grenade for taking "their" item.
Pickup teams are a lot more mercenary. People join up, and if the team loses 1-2 most will leave; there's little to no chat banter anymore. If someone misplays a few times, they often get kicked from the team, the team is disbanded, and/or they get defriended. This, uhh, has totally never happened to me.

10k

The "end game." Heroes' power typically ranges 1650 - 2200 (Ultimate level 70 to Divine). There's relatively few bots during peak times.
The games are fast and brutal, and any small mistake is quickly exploited. My winrate has dropped significantly even when playing my better characters, but I'm learning. Pre-10k, I'd typically open 3x battle and skull chests under 30 minutes. Now, opening battle and skull chests has become significantly harder.

Bravery Road

I don't have any experience with this tier since I lack Divine heroes. Others have shared that it's mostly full of bots.

Heroes

Tier List

This is based on 9k+ trophy BR in the hands of a good player:

• S: Vi, Lynx, Mirage
• A: Blizzard, Ramsay, Raven, Dragoon, Angel, Freddie, Arnie
• B: Firefly, Shenji, Ghost, Alice, Leviathan, Hurricane, Satoshi, Sparkle, Tess, Levi
• C: Blot, Bertha, Doc, Cyclops, Slayer
• D: Bastion, Stalker, Smog

Bastion

Bastion is great for bot farming and low / mid tier gameplay, but is easily outplayed in 7k+ games. I had a bunch of Bastion friends that I invited to 7k+ games and they've always left after a few games due to being outplayed.
Outplaying Bastion is usually done through kiting or baiting and flanking with teammates since their range is too short and movement speed is too slow. Bastion (and Blot to an extent) is outclassed by more mobile shield heroes: Angel, Hurricane, Satoshi.
Leviathan gets a special call out since his turret is great for zoning and has extended spray that can be abused to hit behind walls.

Grenade Users (Firefly/Shenji/Sparkles/Freddie)

Pre-10k, most of these are terrible nade spammers hoping to get an easy kill. I've seen so many Firefly users use more nades than bullets in a round, adding little value chucking nades into thin air. Shenji users, please use your nades to zone the enemies and less about trying to kill them. Also stop burning the grass because you can, especially when you're up against snipers.

Vi

My win rate with Vi is significantly higher than the rest of the field, which shows how broken she is. Even in 9k+ games, the winning team usually has at least one Vi. I think she needs to be nerfed, and she's my most played and highest leveled character (Stellar).
I also have some bad experiences after teaming up with a bunch of Vi-only tryhards (about 6-8 different teammates for 5+ games each). They're generally incredibly aggressive and good at racking up a high kill count, but often lack map awareness or team dynamics (besides spamming, "Let's go!").

Tips

League

Climb as fast as you can, as high as you can since you get more loot per chest depending on your league level, and streaking gets harder the higher you climb in trophies. Bot farming (read below) is the easiest way to streak games and hit the next league level.
I think there is an argument to be made about staying in purple 1. I found it significantly easier to win most of the contracts at purple 1, but I was grouped with all the other grinders once I hit purple 2. This may or may not be a red herring.

Spending Money

Contracts

• 7 day contract hacks (and assuming you have enough time to grind) is the most effective use of money.
• Consistently winning the 21 hr contract for 300 jokers is paramount.
• 3 hr contract (particularly in off hours) can be pretty easy to win for 20 jokers.
• Read the contracts carefully. Often you can use a hero to progress against 2 or more contracts simultaneously.
• Bot farming and SvS is usually the easiest way to quickly get contract points.
• Ghost in KOTH is a great way to grind "The Collector" contract.

Star Pass

• I don't mind spending $15 to get the new hero via the base pass, but I don't think the premium pass is worth it.
• I didn't get tiers 2 and 3 for Vi but still got her to Stellar with a lot of grinding via contract hacks and jokers.

Technology

It's $10/mo. You get a random hero motivated and 8 drone plugins (2 of each color) per week, and 10 tech tokens/day. 70 tech tokens/week is enough to get drone blueprints, 2xpersonal gears boxes, some squad gear, 500 nuts, and 5 costume tokens. Also your name is highlighted in gold.
I think it's great for the first month or two for the personal gear and drone parts, but not sure if it's worth keeping afterwards.

Bots

Recognizing bots means you can adapt your strategy when playing with and against them.

Identification

Pre-game

• in the same bot syndicates: CCCP, Botsavethequeen, Botdamnit, 486DX, etc
• are listed after human players
• don't have drones
• never play as the newer characters: Blizzard, Vi, Shenji, Ramsay, Lynx, Tess

You start recognizing the bot names after a few hundred games.

In game

• immediately opens chests
• goes in a straight line while swinging their flashlight, humans tend to run with their flashlight facing forward except when checking corners
• doesn't use any abilities

Farming (BR, SvS, sabo, koth)

Bot farming is a great way to hit the streak for a league jump or grind for festival tokens.
I find sabo, SvS, and sometimes arcade in offpeak hours (or other region's servers) the easiest modes for bot farming.
Generally bots will collect a few items and start roaming looking for enemies. If a firefight ensues, the bots will start swarming towards noise like zombies.
The best characters to farm bots are those that can do a lot of damage without taking any themselves. Since bots will run in a straight line towards you, assault rifles and snipers excel at bot farming.
Recommended heroes: Bastion, Satoshi, Blot, Hurricane, Levi, Firefly, Blizzard, Cyclops Not recommended: Ghost/Stalker (bots are not affected by cloak), Slayer (fire rate is too slow), SMG users (can't reload fast enough when swarmed)

As teammates

It sucks to get bots as teammates, but if you understand their behavior you can take advantage of it to try and win the round.

• don't get sucked into unnecessary fights, let them die and don't bother reviving
• use them as dumb scouts to flank the enemy
• treat the round as a training exercise on how to win one-vs-many fights. It'll happen more and more often as you climb trophies

Drones

• medpro is great for tanks, assault rifles, and attacking SMGs (Angel, Alice, Freddie, Ghost)
• zenith is great for snipers, Raven/Ghost, 10k+ games
• guard is useless except for the occasional ability to zone enemies

Zenith gets increasingly valuable in 7k+ games as you never have time to revive and/or enemies will camp dead bodies. Zenith's ability to revive through walls can also be exploited.

In game tactics

This is already a long post, so I'll brain dump common improvements / mistakes that I come across. Feel free to ask questions in the comments.

• Don't be greedy and go after risky upgrades. More often than not you're going to get sucked into an early fight. Even if you win that one, you'll quickly get swarmed by bots and/or other teams. It's not worth losing a round because you might get a purple upgrade.
• Don't be greedy for early ammo and upgrades. In 7k+ games, fights can/will happen by the time you've picked up 1-2 items. Taking multiple ammo means losing an effective teammate that can shoot a weapon. If you're a low ammo user (e.g. Vi, Slayer, Bastion), opt for a 2x or 3x ammo pack and leave the 4x ammo pack for high ammo users (e.g. SMGs, assault rifles). Leave and ping optimal upgrades for teammates. This means reserving scopes for snipers, armor for machine gunners, extended magazine for SMG/shotgunners, explosive ammo for DPS.
• Shotgun users should heal at spawn and save the armor pickup for others.
• Generally stick together as a team.
• Don't follow suiciders (bots/humans) and get sucked into unnecessary fights, preferring to fight 2v3v3v3. Yes this conflicts with the above bullet point.
• Learn the map. This means knowing where are the spawns, purple chests, hot zones, and choke points. This means you can anticipate where you'll need to slow down and prepare for a fight (e.g. early game near purple chests). In low/mid tiers, human teammates often run straight for a neighboring spawn while completely ignoring the safe purple chest right behind them because they run straight ahead in the direction they were facing when spawned. I find it easiest to familiarize myself with maps by using heroes with high vision like snipers (particularly Lynx) and Raven.
• Develop map awareness. You can tell who is left based on the gun sounds and the weapon in kill notifications. Generally avoid fights with many teams remaining, and go after the last two teams as they're fighting. If machine gunners are remaining, try to find open spaces. If snipers are remaining, try to initiate fights near corners and obstacles. In low/mid tiers, human teammates will often emulate bots and run straight towards the fight with a complete lack of map awareness.
• Good Shenji users use grenades to zone enemies rather than outright damage. Bad Shenji users kill their teammates / prevent them from being useful. If you're playing with a Shenji teammate, expect that they're going to nade everything and act accordingly.
• Tess users should try to use the lightning ball judiciously against enemy shields or to zone, and not disable their teammates' shields and abilities.
• Cyclops/Raven users should not spam their skill early game, and used selectively late game. It gives away your position and in high tier games only invites unwanted attention. Learn to use scan offensively and defensively when appropriate. At higher trophies, it can be used as a feint for an invasion or to lure enemies into a trap.
• SMG users should use stimpacks offensively rather than only to heal.
• There is a time to initiate and time to fall back. In early/mid tiers, people need to learn to retreat more often (and communicate it to their teammates). I wish I had more actionable advice, but I can tell when a fight was initiated well or poorly. Don't attack that unsuspecting enemy just because you can, but attack if it's the right time to do so.

tldr

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Bullet Echo, bots and all.

TL;DR: My parents feel entitled to my unborn daughter and make comments/plans despite me or my sister asking them not to. My father is starting to get rather obsessive about his role as a grandfather. I made a list of boundaries, and the response was not promising.
Ever since I got pregnant, my parents have become obsessive. This is "their" baby, and they are entitled to spending all the time in the world with her. My father declared that he would take my husband's place at the birth (husband is overseas). My mother said she will move in and be her nanny/second mommy (she wants to raise her). I'm honestly super creeped out because it's gone from normally excited grandparents-to-be to obsessive behavior. My requests to change their behavior are constantly ignored.
My amazing sister is backing me up when my parents talk bad about me to her. She tells them that I want personal space and that I will not be having visitors for a while after the birth. In response, my father calls me selfish and says, "we'll see how long she lasts". He and my mother call me selfish and "un-motherly" because I will not rehome my snakes that they think will kill my baby and are vile creatures. They are in locked enclosures and are ball pythons, not anacondas. I have asked them numerous times to stop commenting on my pets. Ignored.
They constantly tell my sister how I don't know what I am doing and that I will listen to them once I realize I am way over my head. I tell them that I will ask for parental advice if I want it. Ignored.
My parents currently live in a different state, but my father is moving here a month before the due date so that he can "be a part of her life". He literally told the rental company that I will be at the house all the time with the baby and that I'll be storing my stuff there (what stuff?) and that he might have me move in with him at some point. I told him that I will be spending time with my husband and our baby, not being at his house all the time. Ignored.
He's already planning on making a nursery at his house and talking about how much time she'll be over at his place. How he's going to stockpile diapers in his garage. Every time he talks to someone, he's mentioning how he expects me to bring my daughter over all the time because I'm unemployed and "have nothing better to do". He wants me to get rid of my dog and move in with him and the baby (and just...forget my husband apparently). He calls my daughter the feminine version of his name. I've asked him to stop calling her that. Ignored. I ask him to stop suggesting I rehome my dog. Ignored. "You'll change your mind when you realize you're a mother".
I told my father not to expect much considering my husband is in the military and we're slated to PCS within a year. He told my sister earlier today that he will follow us wherever we end up to be with "his grandbaby". I am still processing hearing this.
Per my husband's suggestion, I created a long list of boundaries that I posted in the family group chat. This way, it is in writing so they can't claim they didn't know. I made it clear that these rules applied to anyone including family. My father did not reply, and I know he is fuming and will be saying crap behind my back to my mother and sister or maybe even confront me about it in a few days. My mother's reply? "I think this is acceptable." Excuse me? This isn't an option. I'm not asking for your approval.
I don't think they will take these boundaries seriously and will just ignore them like they have thus far throughout my pregnancy. I know my sister will have my back and defend me (she's a saint) and my husband has already said he has no problem confronting them when he gets back state-side. It was so easy to ignore them when they were living in another state, but now my father is moving 11 min away from me. My mother is planning on moving here as well (they're divorced).
I know people might suggest going NC. Not sure I'm mentally prepared for that. If I do that, I know I will lose my entire family except for my sister, as each respective side of the family adores my mom and dad. My husband already doesn't trust my father and is very much pro-NC or LC and thinks the boundary list will help me build a backbone to eventually cut contact in the future.
This whole situation sucks, and I feel so trapped.

I don’t even know where to begin. 26F. I have had a lot go on in my life (not to short anyone else, because life is screwed). I’m just going to tell my story because I don’t know what else to do. As I’m telling this story please keep in mind, I don’t have all of the information and I’ve been kind of surviving up until this point. When I was 3-8 months old my father packed me and the dog up, and left my mother without telling her while she was at work back in 1997(Florida to Pennsylvania). having no idea because I was an infant, going in to toddler my dad loved the crap out of me. I felt safe, and cared for. My dad ended up sending me to a catholic school for 1st- 5th. started growing and realized that I have a difficultly keeping concentrated, was way friendler than everyone. @ 9 years old he had me speak to my mother for the first time and all she said was mean shit about him and I cried and hung up.
I had noticed my dad started to grow aggravated with me, and would say some down right mean shit. Not let me have my own personality, Embarrassed me by writing mean shit about what I did wrong on sticky notes and would tell me to keep in on my shirt all day at school. Back me into corners like he was a big bully if I didn’t do things right/his way. He through a birthday party for me when I was 11 and then was like “look at how nobody showed up” when he was most likely the reason they didn’t. Before sixth grade started, he moved us back down to Florida. So from catholic school to public. I noticed bigger changes in him and it was a complete 180 for me, going from a religious school to a public. It was like there was no longer the happiness in him and he would pick on me and bully me, when I started going to public schools I was bullied as well there. I would come home from school crying and he stated “I’ll give you a reason to cry”. Would be very physically abusive. Would even threaten to send me to my mothers which I was scared of because of the mean shit she said when I was 9. He sent me to another girls mom to learn about “women things”- literally just how to shave my f**** legs. I eventually went to the schools therapist in 6th grade and tried to tell them what was going on without getting my dad in trouble or him hearing about it and doing something worse, that didn’t happen. I guess I blacked out most of my memory’s about things because of the way I needed to cope but I remember writing him letters and begging him to talk to me because he started just not speaking to me at all, would leave me at home while he worked and told me to lock the doors and hide. I eventually tried to disconnect from it all in my head to go with the motions. Eventually before 8th grade started we moved up to Maryland and moved in with my cousins because he had claimed he lost a lot of money in Florida( in recent years he told me the school was trying to get him charged for the things I said back then to the therapist.) we became more distant because he wasn’t very friendly and would hide in the basement. Moved into my god parents house because eventually he had enough issues with my cousins he didn’t want to be “there problem” anymore. We became more distant as he would just hide in there basement as well, I’d go down there just to talk with him and he’d just be this mean person I didn’t know anymore. Still being a very emotionally abusive person. I got arrested 3 months before graduation because I had weed and cigarettes at school.
When I was 18 I moved into my 2nd boyfriend’s house. Not a good idea looking back at it because it was totally a trap house and I had no clue what I was doing there.(drugs) that’s what I was doing. He had no clue & didn’t care to notice. A lot of co-dependence was there because I stayed there for 4 years.
In 2018 (I was 18 at this point) he was going delirious for about 4-5days and would tell me stuff like take my stuff, I’m going to die ect. Wouldn’t let me take him to the hospital, just wanted to die, thank god my god mother was there when he collapsed and had a ambulance come and get him, he went into a diabetic coma it lasted for 1.5 months or so, he came out of it and basically told me he should’ve died and that he wanted to.
That made things worse mentally for me, I did a lot of fucked up things in the 4 years I was with the boy I was doing drugs with, he also was very physically abusing, as so was I at this point. We broke up and I did everything I could not to go back to living with my father who ended up with enough money to buy a place in my name. I ended up living there for a while and nothing good came from it.
A lot of drinking and boyfriends and dumb shit happened and I was completely out of it until I got a DWI in late 2019. Really woke me up. I started wanting better for myself, knowing I could just didn’t know how. I got into YET ANOTHER RELATIONSHIP, and thought it was good for me, two years in we decided we were going to buy a home (23 years old at this point) we bought it and a lot was wrong with the house and clearly the boy I bought it with because he was into a really odd kink, had girls in his phone, and would not introduce me to his female friends. On top of that he did not doing ANYTHING to help me fix the home. A year into owning the home I broke up with him and lost my job. I was depressed for 7-8 months, got another job and about 1.5 years after the break up someone came up to me and asked me on a date. (I still lived with my ex in the house we own). (I was completely honest with him and up front about everything.)
He has shown me grace, kindness, and compassion. He had shown me a whole new perspective in life. He also had gone through a really traumatic past. Starting of the relationship was rough, I was feral and he gets defensive really easy. We have stuck this thing out and I am 7 months in therapy and he just had his first session in years today. I would like to consider this success. I just changed therapist because the one I had been going to wasn’t as good as I would’ve liked them to be. We are now 1.5 years in, and I’m still trying to figure myself out and currently won’t hear from the new therapist until the 21st of may. I’m struggling mentally but not half as bad as I used to. I guess I’m just looking for new perspectives and some positive words at this point. My boyfriend and I are on opposite schedules for the next 2.5 months and I can tell I’m still very co-dependent, in my head I’m hoping his new therapist doesn’t tell him we are not right for each other. I’m so full of stress and trauma it’s crazy. I don’t even know who I am or if I fully feel happy in any situation.
Any kind words would help. Sorry for the all over the place read.