Does he like me back quiz

Now that you're here all angry and riled up because i said something about your leader, just hear me out. In my previous post in this sub i talked about how army is dumb for doing everything it is right now, and many of the responses were: we need a rebellion like the Russian revolution against the Czars (not necessarily a socialist revolution just revolution) or the French revolution against the Monarchy to fix the state of country right now and send them packing back to their barracks... Not discussing other factors, one thing I'd like to point out is, the nearest thing we've had to a Rebellion (recently) is the 9th may protests (yeah the recent Kashmir protests are something but we're yet to know what's going to be the end of it). But we all know what happened to "the rebellion" as it's all a thing of the past as most of the people ran in the face of state push back and the other braver(dumber) ones ended up behind the bars. Ever wonder why? Not because the state is too strong neither because people are weak, it happened because the motive behind the rebellion was weak, the people weren't out for their democratic rights neither to end military intervention in state affairs, they had one sole purpose to be there: that was to rescue their cult leader and free him from comfinement. That's why it ended as soon as it started... And before you say Imran is the revolution leader like Lenin was in Russia, think again. Imran khan, call him whatever you want but he isn't a revolutionary... Why? Because of several reasons 1. He's just another politician like Nawaz Sharif who used army's shoulders to get into power and then turned against them when they pulled their shoulders... Nawaz has done this time and again. 2. He isn't as pure as we were made to believe by the media back then, he has had corrupt people on his team and he has done nothing about them because it suited him politically. 3. Taking "U turns" was what he accepted publicly and openly... thats not what revolutionary leaders do. 4. He's not against the army being in civilians businesses and being corrupt, he's against the 3-4 people who ousted him and will take a deal if a new face takes over or if they promise him a way back into power by obviously their subservience. 5. (Predication) He'll take the deal from army real soon to get back into power or for a chance atleast. And when he does I AM SURE ALL HIS REVOLUTIONARIES WILL BE SINGING PRAISES FOR ARMY WITH HIM.
All this said i really hope that our youth actually does wake up and realise that a Messiah ain't saving us, if we want a revolution we need to start educating ourselves and our peers and our children if it takes, and working today so that in ten, twenty or even fifty years(if it takes) we are educated in good numbers to do something against the tyranny and maybe bring a revolution about. We need to recognise the purpose of the revolution (civilian supremacy and democracy) rather than being a personality cult and decieving ourselves and others.

So my boyfriend and I just broke up. We dated for about 6 months and then things started to go weird. We went back and forth a bit but he ended up deciding he wanted to be single to figure out his own stuff and hopefully work on himself so he could be better in the relationship down the road.
A week post break my old ex boyfriend reached out to me out of nowhere and basically said he misses me and still wants to be with me. Me and this ex have a lot of history we dated on and off for almost 4 years, lived together, did long distance, etc. he would be considered the avoidant type that struggle with commitment when to much started to go on in life. He says now he’s ready for it but idk if I entirely believe him. Actions speak louder than words.
My problem now is I could see myself being with either of these guys. My most recent ex is the kind of man who does want a future in the same way I do and we have lots in common. He has a good heart and he hasn’t burned a bridge with me a million times. But he’s also not with me right now lol. The older ex is much different then me but we share this insane connection I’ve never had with someone else, I know he wants the same future as me but idk if he’s really ready for it. I feel like I love both of these men and I don’t know what to do. (My older ex knows about the new guy and that we recently broke up - he didn’t know that when he contacted me though, he told me he wants me to be with the other guy if that’s what’s going to make me happy because he knows he had his chances, but if it doesn’t work out he says he’s waiting for me)
I’m just so overwhelmed and confused and I don’t even know who to talk to about it because I know my friends and family will think I’m crazy. I know they would tell me to find someone else and ditch both of them because maybe they both aren’t ready but it’s hard to ignore both these wonderful people. Granted right now my recent ex doesn’t want to be in a relationship but the other guy doesn’t even live here at the moment so I’m not sure I’m even supposed to do anything about it. I just don’t understand what the universe is trying to teach me by doing this 😭

"Music explains itself. It is the road and the map that shows the road."
"Can you explain how music works without using music?"
That brought me up short.

BLUF: Kvothe knows the name of music.
When Elodin is teaching Kvothe about naming, we have this discussion about how there are some things that can't be explained and that naming helps us to understand them anyway.

"The majority of important things cannot be said outright," Elodin said. "They cannot be made explicit. They can only be implied." He looked... around the lecture hall. "Name something that cannot be explained."
...
"Naming?" Fenton asked.
"That is a cheap answer Re'lar," Elodin said with a hint of reproach. "But you correctly anticipate the theme of my lecture so we will let it slide." He pointed at me.
"There isn't anything that can't be explained," I said firmly. "If something can be understood, it can be explained. A person might not be able to do a good job of explaining it. But that just means it's hard, not that it's impossible."
Elodin held up a finger. "Not hard or impossible. Merely pointless. Some things can only be inferred." He gave me an infuriating smile. "By the way, your answer should have been music."
"Music explains itself," I said. "It is the road and it is the map that shows the road. It is both together."
"But can you explain how music works?" Elodin asked.
"Of course," I said. Though I wasn't sure of any such thing.
"Can you explain how music works without using music?"
That brought me up short.

To dig a bit deeper, let's go to the frame story.

...he added a small, frightened silence to the larger, hollow one. They made an alloy of sorts, a harmony.
"...and the final ring was without name."

So Kvothe knows the name of something that has no name. Speaking the name of a thing which has no name leaves only... silence. Which can apparently create harmonies. To be clear, I don't think actual silence is the name of music, because that doesn't make sense, it's not a name. I think that silence is needed to heaknow the name of music because music is its own name. Maybe not all of it, not every piece, but music's name can only be "spoken" through music.
Okay whatever, fairly flimsy, I know, but for the sake of argument assume I'm right. How does Kvothe know the name of music? Yes he's a very accomplished musician, but there are many more who are as or more accomplished even just in Imre. To know a name, you need to learn about a thing for days, weeks, sometimes years. Long enough that your sleeping mind awakens and absorbs all that there is to know about it. If only there was a period of Kvothe's life where his waking mind was asleep and he did nothing but play music for hours on end...

...my mind used the first door [the door of sleep] to numb the pain. The wound was covered until the proper time for healing could come. In self-defense, a good portion of my mind simply stopped working - went to sleep, if you will.
Of course I played. It was my only solace.
Eventually I could play from when I woke until the time I slept.
I began to play something other than songs... I would play until I got the feeling right.
I remember spending three whole days trying to capture Wind Turning a Leaf.
Somewhere in the third month, I stopped looking outside and started looking inside for things to play.

To me, this is similar to the way he describes watching the wind until he saw its patterns and thus learning its name.
But hang on, music can't be it's own name, then everyone would be hearing a name every time it's played. That would surely do something to them; names have an effect on people after all. They stir something in them, make them feel moved strangely (see: whenever Elodin speaks; when a name is spoken but the person hearing it doesn't know the name; etc). If only music did the same thing.
"Thin, Albannach, very thin," I hear you say. And I'm with you. Surely, if Kvothe knew the name of music it would have more of effect on him. Let us turn to when he calls the wind the first time:

He looked at me. His dark eyes steadied me somewhat. Slowed the storm inside me. "Aerlevsedi," he said. "Say it."
"What?" Simmon said somewhere in the distant background. "Wind?"
"Aerlevsedi" Elodin repeated patiently, his dark eyes intent upon my face.
"Aerlevsedi," I said numbly.
...
His eyes caught mine. The numbness faded, but the storm still turned inside my head. Then Elodin's eyes changed. He stopped looking toward me and looked into me. ... He leaned forward and his lips brushed my ear. I felt his breath. He spoke... and the storm stilled. I found a place to land."

Is there a parallel with music? When is there not in this story. Many times, Kvothe refers to his music keeping him grounded and sane. Besides the detail above about him playing during his time in the woods and it allowing his mind to heal, I'll pick out one or two. After he got his lute back when Denna took it:

"With my lute back in my hands, the rest of my life slid easily back into balance.

Or playing at the Eolian:

"Offstage I worry and sweat. Onstage I am calm as a windless winter night."

Going back to the initial evidence about the discussion with Elodin. That comment about the road and the map that shows it is interesting. Sounds a bit like his chat with Tempi about the Lethani.

"What is the purpose of the Lethani?" Tempi asked.
"To give us a path to follow?" I replied.
"No," Tempi said sternly. "The Lethani is not a path."
"What is the purpose of the Lethani, Tempi?"
"To guide us in our actions. By following the Lethani, you act rightly."
"Is this not a path?"
"No. The Lethani is what helps us choose a path."

A slight addendum theory that plays into the bigger picture here: the Lethani is a way to invoke the mental state Kvothe calls Spinning Leaf, which enables people to better know/learn names, as we see Kvothe do multiple times. This is not an accident. The Adem, like the Edema, are descended of the first namers, and the Lethani comes from that heritage... just as music comes from the Edema heritage. The Edema music comes from Illien (who could be any number of namers/shapers who pop up in the stories: Lanre, Tarborlin, Iax, etc). What better evidence that music is its own name than the greatest Ruh (equivalently, the greatest of what became of the original namers) being the greatest musician travelling the world to show people the way.
In summary: music is its own name and to hear it and know it you need silence. Why else would Kvothe keep silence so heavy around himself at the Inn? (yes okay I know there's lots of other reasons he might but that's not the point of this theory)

Im going to assume I have bpd at this time considering i cant find anything that matches my exact feelings but the people here. The person that i am fixated on isnt texting me back like he usually does, and ever sibce he did shrooms i saw him as this other chabged person (i have a weird thought that once someone drinks or smokes or does anything that they are a new person and i dont know them anymore) so ive been avoiding him out of fear and anger
He used to respond to my texts around 5-15 mins after id text and now what feels like hours is going by. I kinda freaked oht on him yesterday saying something was wrong with me and i had a weird fixation on him and i couldnt stop thinking about him and he should just block me (i didnt even want that i just wanted him to disagree and be nice to me i guess??)
Im laying here shaking cayse im crawling in my own skin. I think im feeling frustration or anger maybe, and Its stsmmibg from my loneliness and withdrawals from talking to him. Does anyone else have this experience and what do i do to stop this??? I feel like nothing will ever get better and im screwed for life :( I did art, ate, tried meditation (and failed tremendously) and watched tv but i am still so stressed and unavle to even sit still argh

Back in late 2021, my husband Craig (M46) and I (F44) welcomed our fourth child into the world. As a result, we needed to upgrade one of our cars to something larger. We decided to trade in my super reliable Toyota RAV4 for something bigger since I was the one who drove the kids around most often.
I was open and ready to embrace minivan life and was planning to buy something reliable and safe, like a Honda or Kia. But Craig had his heart set on an SUV; in his mind, minivans were "too feminine." So, against my better judgment, we ended up purchasing a used 2018 Mercedes GLS 450, mainly due to his insistence. He argued that this car would offer similar space to the Kia/Honda minivans I wanted but with added luxury. Since it was priced like a loaded Honda van, we went ahead with it.
After two years, I can safely say we made the wrong choice. While the car does have good passenger space, it doesn’t seem to have as much cargo room as those minivans. The reliability has been junk. The car has had 8 recalls during our ownership. Even when not recalled, it spends too much time at the dealership because something always seems to be broken. Some repairs have been covered under warranty, but we've still shelled out over $9k (maintenance not included). The car hasn’t even racked up that many miles.
Below are just some of the annoyances:

• The shifting can be rough. Sometimes, I press on the gas and the car barely moves, and when it does, it's jerky.
• The shifting can be rough. Sometimes, I press on the gas and the car barely moves, and when it does, it's jerky.
• For the past few weeks, the check engine light has been turning on randomly.
• Numerous electronic issues.

Since the car's problems have stepped up in the past few weeks, I'm beyond fed up. I don't feel safe driving it around with my kids and I've even started getting nightmares about it stranding us in the middle of nowhere. Craig always downplays this and claims that it's normal for the car to have some issues.
Making things worse somehow, Craig's sedan has started developing issues lately. It has begun to refuse to start some mornings and will sometimes shut itself off when it comes to a stop sign or red light.
On Saturday, I was supposed to drive our eldest to his soccer game and then take my younger kids to the doctor's office. When I turned on the Mercedes, it sounded very rough, the engine light was on, and the temperature reading was extremely wrong. I don't bother risking it and end up ubering with the kids.
I told Craig about it that night. He listened at first, but when I suggested selling it, he cut me off and said that he wasn’t getting a van just because I wanted that. It was so combative and defensive the way he said it, and because I was so tired from the day, I lashed out. We argued it got heated and I ended up saying "Your fragile masculinity is costing our family so much money". In retrospect, maybe my tone was harsh, but he was being needlessly difficult. We haven’t really spoken much since then. I'll also be ubering to work this week since I won't be touching that car.
AITA?

I’m slightly insecure over my looks. I like how I look enough, but I have a few big insecurities and I do care about my appearance a lot.
My boyfriend, (M20), doesn’t really compliment me - even if I get all dressed up - and if he does, it’s usually either that “I’m crazy out of his league” or about my boobs.
He likes to joke and banter, but the way he says these jokes is in a tone that I don’t realise is joking - so for a while I thought these jokes were real. He’s pointed out new insecurities too in these jokes - if I smell sweaty, if my lazy eye makes me cross-eyed, my hair looks weird and bumpy when it’s tied back. These are all jokes but they’re slowly getting to me.
I got to a point where I asked him if he ever found me ugly. He said “sometimes you look good, sometimes you don’t. I’m sure you have moments were you think I look bad”. That response is what brought me to writing this post. He’s honest at least, but I kind of wanted him to always think I’m pretty. He’s reacted badly to things in the past - when he saw my old self-harm scars and was verbally and physically grossed out (now he doesn’t mention them though). He also once said “I’m not sure I like you as much as I think I like you” during a conversation about our relationship which is another comment that’s really stuck to me.
When I brought up wanting to loose weight after one of these moments (as I’m becoming more and more insecure kinda), he responded with how he “shouldn’t of said that” in a way that made me feel bad for mentioning it.
As the relationship has developed, aftercare after intimacy is slowly disappearing. Although he is interested in me and how I am feeling during, afterwards he just falls asleep, and recently he’s been not even letting me cuddle him afterwards. I tested him recently (unhealthy I know) by saying I wanted to have less/more planned out intimacy as I feel ugly. And he didn’t say anything, just a “how would that work?” and then changed the subject. I thought he might be a little concerned about me feeling ugly, so ugly I want to have less intimacy, which made me feel worse when he wasn’t concerned at all.
He also watches porn daily when I’m not there (which I think is pretty normal for men), but he points women he finds attractive out on the street - as I’m bisexual - but he does it so regularly and even comments on their bodies. Which makes me feel like shit. His ex is literally a model and I feel like he thinks I’m a downgrade looks-wise
I don’t know how to bring this up to him. I genuinely really like him, he’s such a perfect guy who’s very considerate in every other way, so I want to fix this.

Hello! I am asian american and 15 years old, a sophomore in high school, and today we just got out yearbooks for the school year.
To preface this conversation, my self confidence has been on a downward spiral recently as I notice more and more flaws about myself. This has been going on for a few months and my parents are aware of this. My mom, also understanding my struggles, has tried to help me be more positive; she even told me that I started to look prettier because I was happier. My father and I usually have a lot of conversation about my daily life and struggles where I have told him that I like honesty - which I guess I regret a bit now. However, he has told me that he has a high EQ and a great sense of social awareness, so I assumed that would apply to most cases. When I told him about my insecurities, he kept telling me to just "be confident" and that if an average looking person like me wasn't satisfied with my looks, then how could the ugly people live. Looking back, I understand his statement, but in my state of self loathing, I wouldn't let his words through. But still, after his "pep talk," I still kept degrading myself and would look sullen because of this. I would even cry everyday because of how much I hated my looks - both my parents knew somewhat of what I was going through. From time to time, my dad would also comment on my attitude since I was pretty negative during that time (I will admit, I was the AH during those encounters). Recently, however, I am glad to say that I am slowly recovering and experimenting with makeup to enhance my looks.
Sorry for the long FYI, on to the story. When he picked me up from school today I showed him my yearbook picture, and I joked how I kinda looked like a boy (the picture was taken at the beginning of the year, so I look quite different as my acne had cleared up). After saying that, he said how I should stop parting my hair and just put it up in a ponytail without a part. I will admit that this next part may be my fault, but I got a little frustrated and in an annoyed tone, I told him that I know I shouldn't part my hair (he had told me when I was feeling down) and that I can't change the past of when I took the yearbook picture. I also forgot to add that both my father and I are ill-tempered (like father-like daughter I guess). So when I was agitated, he got mad saying that since I showed him, he was going to say something and that he couldn't say nothing. He proceeded to throw the book to an empty seat and angrily drove off. For the rest of the car ride, we didn't talk.
When we got home, I was trying to be a better person (compared to before) so I called out to my mom, trying to hide my anger, for dinner. The moment my mouth blurted out a sound, my dad starts angrily scolding me, saying how he hated my attitude and that if I was so "amazing" why don't I make my own money and do my own things. He said that he and my mom had done so much for me as to attend a great high school and that they had keep working when they could've already retired. He noted that if I was in a family of 5 (referencing to one of our family friends) that no one would care about me. He said that he had spent countless nights unable to sleep thinking about my college app (which I truly am grateful for, but I never implied that I wanted him to do so much work. I will also note, he does go to the extreme, sometimes). He continued to rant about the same things and others along similar lines before he stormed out.
I ran to the bathroom crying. I had a panic attack which made me start to overthink. And I don't know if I'm in teh wrong.
More things I want to point out (sorry for writing so much) is that my dad always tells me how "he's not like other asian parents," and in a sense, he is different, but at the same time, I'm starting to wonder if he is a narcisist. Funny enough, he was the one who introdcued me to a youtube channel about dealing with narcisists (Dr. Ramani). I googled narcisist anger symptoms and other signs of narcisim and I guess they match up, for the most part. I also felt like he was gaslighting me during his rebuke, but I may also be victimizing myself.
I mainly just want identification on my situation and what I should do about it for the next 2 years before I go to college. (if you need anymore information I will gladly provide it).
Thank you! - I was in a rush, so I apologize for grammar or spelling errors.

The following is an original work of fan fiction. It will only make sense if you’ve read Corpies and SP4
“Fucking bullshit cock-garglers!”, Hannah, formerly known as Hexcellent, uttered louder than she intended.
Luckily, she was sitting by herself in a third floor private room in the brand new wing of the Sizemore undergraduate library. On the main floor, any sound louder than a fart would’ve earned a collective, “shhhhh,” and annoyed stares from half the people studying. And frankly, as difficult as these Gen Chem practice exams were, the former PEERS would be spitting out a few more expletives before she was done.
Hannah glanced at her watch and sighed heavily. It was 4:43 PM. She still had two and a half hours before she’d need to head to the lift to meet Devon and Kacey, two other first year HCP students, for some evening training. Okay, you got this girl. You just fucked up some amped criminal supers, you can handle goddamn mass to mole composition formula and stoichiom-whatever-the-fuck, she thought to herself. With resigned determination, the HCP student began swiping through class presentation slides on her tablet, reviewing problems she had trouble with. For a solid 2 hours her eyes never left the material and she honestly started to feel more comfortable with what she needed to know. Hannah was in the zone. That was until she was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“What. The actual. Fuck?“, Hannah said slowly as she looked up towards the door and the adjacent window.
The summoner saw two boys standing outside , one of whom was a short muscular guy with dark brown hair that she recognized. She was fairly certain his name Lucas, and that he was another HCP first year. He was in the alternative class though, while Hannah was in combat, so they hadn’t been around each other a whole hell of a lot. The other seemed familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger or on where she’d seen him before. They were each moving their mouths, and pointing a finger at themselves and into the room clearly asking if they could come in. Hannah got up and opened the door.
“Hey, Helen, right? You think that we can study in here with you? All the good tables downstairs are full. I just met Tristan here and he’s in the same predicament as me,” said Lucas before he lowered his voice to a whisper, leaned his head in, and pointed to the boy he referred to as Tristan. “He’s in the same ummm…special program as us. In his 2nd year.”
With that information, Helen realized where she’d seen that guy. He was at the freshman party hosted by the second years. She remembered thinking that he came off as kind of a douchebag by the way he was standing around, nursing the same drink with a smug look on his face the whole time.
“Yeah, sure, whatever. As long as you guys dont act like complete assholes and make a bunch of noise. I gotta focus for about another 30 minutes then the room is yours. Cool?”
“Cool,” the boys said in unison.
“And it’s Hannah by the way. Not Helen. You’re Lucas, right?” She held out her hand towards him.
Lucas politely shook her hand. “Sorry about that Hannah. I’m terrible at remembering names,” he said with a slight shrug. “Just gonna grab a seat on this side so I can stay outta your way.” He held out his arm towards the opposite side of the table from where Hannah had been sitting and started walking over there.
Tristan walked in and closed the door behind himself. He gave Hannah a simple head nod and smirk but never formerly introduced himself. Very similar to his demeanor at the party; as though he couldn’t be bothered.
Yep, arrogant douche, she thought. Then she pictured the look of surprise on the 2nd year’s face if she were to manifest her big furry friend to accidentally-on-purpose kick him in the balls.
Hannah had often wondered if anyone in the HCP realized her summon was the same giant bunny that helped save Brewster almost a year ago. Titan had told her the DVA would hide any association between the tower-sized rabbit and her PEERS persona but she figured that once classmates saw her summon for the first time they’d make the connection. That didn’t seem to be the case though, at least as far as she knew. It helped that when she summoned Hopcules these days, he was about the same height and stature as Titan. None of her combat training took place outside yet, so no one in HCP got to see her manifestation at his full potential size. He’d also taken on more humanistic facial expressions lately and had been appearing in a variety of different clothes and accessories. Hell, the last time she trained with Kacey, the hulking rabbit materialized in a denim vest, a blue bandanna on his head, metal spiked leather bracelets around his wrists, brass knuckles, and with gold chains around his neck. Kacey couldn’t stop laughing during their sparring session until Hopcules had her bound and hog tied. Even with her enhanced strength, she couldn’t break free of what evidently weren’t just plain gold necklaces. It hadn’t dawned on Hannah until later that, the night before, she’d fallen asleep to an old 80s action flick about a renegade cop taking on a vicious street gang. She wondered if tonight her childhood protector would show up in a lab coat, holding a periodic table. The Sizemore freshman briefly shook her head to snap herself out of her thoughts and sat down to resume her work. She’d gotten fully back into her study mode until…
“Yo, does sound carry out of this room?” Tristan asked.
“Seriously?! You do remember that whole bit about NOT being obnoxious assholes, right?”Hannah asked incredulously.
“Damn girl chill. I just wanted to ask my guy here a question and didn’t want to risk being overheard. You should smile more girl. You know what I mean?“
Relax. Breathe. You don’t want to be seen as a troublemaker. It would not be a good idea to kick this fucker’s ass while inside of the school library. Or would it be? No. No. Definitely not a good idea, she thought to herself.
“Well unless you two were standing outside of here practicing at being mimes as a back up in case you don’t make it to graduation, I’m pretty sure this room is well insulated to sound.”
Tristan grunted in indignation and sarcastically replied, “you’re hilarious.”
“I’m definitely going all the way through. No way I won’t graduate,” Lucas chimed in, seemingly oblivious to the tension that’d just arisen between the other two people in the room. I’ve known I wanted to be a hero ever since I was little. My parents have spent a fortune sending me to an elite training camp for the last seven summers to make sure I’d be prepared as possible for the HCP. Plus I’ve had personal coaches work with me for years on new ways to use my power.”
“Bro! That’s what I was wanting to ask you about. I saw the logo on on your bag. Holy shit, did you do the SETA training camps?” asked Tristan.
“Yeah, I take it you’ve heard of it.”
“Hell yeah I have. The Super Elite Training Academy. Who hasn’t? I hear those workouts are so intense. No wonder you’re so jacked. You must’ve been in great shape for your first day here. Mad props bro. Is it true you get to fight against human looking robot…”
“Hey! Tweedledum and tweedle-dickless, I honestly didn’t know there was such a thing as a two-man circle jerk, so I really appreciate the show but is there any chance I can get back to work without any more distractions?“
Lucas had mixture surprise and guilt run across his face. He opened his mouth as though he was about to say something, but then glanced over at Tristan and stayed silent.
“What? You mad because you’re realizing you can’t stack up against the competition. Guess what. My guy here isn’t the only one who’s been preparing for this program long before he was admitted. I’ve been getting ready for years too. Trained in jiu-jitsu and boxing on top of honing my super abilities. Have you even done anything? Or did you just apply and cross your fingers?”
Hannah could see where this was going in. She decided in that moment to just let it play out. Fuck it, she thought. She was basically done studying. Even if she failed the final, which she was confident that she wouldn’t, she’d still pass the class. She stood up, pressed an icon on her tablet touchscreen and began putting other things away in her bag while she spoke. “Actually, I never had any special training as a kid. To tell you the truth, I shouldn’t even be here. I got into some trouble years ago. The kind of trouble that normally prevents one from getting admitted into an HCP. But, I was on a PEERs team for years and I got to do a lot of…
“Ha! You’re telling us you’re fucking a Corpie. Can you believe this, dude?“ Tristan nudged Lucas, looking for his agreement. To his credit, Lucas appeared visibly uncomfortable and leaned away from the other boy.
“Don’t know what it says about your class if they’re letting Corpies in,” continued Tristan with a sneer. “I guess you really do need to study. Obviously you’re the one that needs a back up plan. And here’s another thing little girl. It’s not just about how much you’ve trained beforehand, it’s also about who you know. And I know people. My mom‘s best friend is related to the Hero, Unseelie. So I’ve actually met a few Heroes who I’m sure will vouch for me when the time comes. Pity you can’t say the same. We all know Heroes don’t give two shits about Corpies.”
For a moment Hannah’s face expressed a flat affect. Then suddenly she burst into laughter. And not just some derisive laugh as though she was trying to convey to Tristan that she didn’t take his comments seriously. But an eye watering, oxygen depriving, honest to the Gods belly laugh. The kind of laugh that would’ve been contagious had she been around friends. She carried on for a minute until her amusement died down to a just a mild chortle. Hannah wiped her eyes. “You know people?“ She started laughing again, even louder than the first time. “Oh my Gods. Stop. Stop. I can’t breathe. Is this your fucking power?” Hannah was bent over at the waist still laughing hysterically, holding out one finger as to communicate, “give me a second.” After another minute, she wiped her eyes again, took a big gulp of air, and collected herself. “Woooh. Now that was some funny fucking shit.”
“Who in the hell do you think…“ Tristan started to say through gritted teeth.
“No no no. Please don’t get me started again. I don’t think my ribs can take it,“ said Hannah still chuckling some. “Let’s see what have I done and who do I know? You know I always knew that eventually I’d tell people about this, I just didn’t think it would go down like this.” The summoner raised her hand, then slowly curled it into a fist. Standing 3ft tall and leaning into the corner so as not to be visible to anyone who happened to be looking into the room at that moment, was Hopcules, adorned in the same armor he’d worn on the day he helped to save Brewster. “Look familiar to anyone?”
“That looks like the giant rabbit that fought robots with Titan. Hare-a-clees or something like that. My little sister has like 5 of its t-shirts ,” Lucas responded.
“Wow kid, you really are shit with remembering names. Hop-cu-les is the name I gave him when I was just a kid. Surprised the shit outta me that he came out the size of a skyscraper when those robots nearly killed me and my team, ” Hannah stated nonchalantly as she waved her hand and made Hopcules fade away.
With a grudging realization, Tristan began to ask, “wait, you’re not actually saying…”
“Oh look, captain mc-douche-nozzle is catching on. Somebody give the kid a prize. Yes, dumbass, I’m actually saying I fought with Titan, yes, thee fucking Titan, with every other Hero team in Brewster to stop those mechs from destroying the entire city. I’m saying the strongest hero alive is my personal mentor and it was his recommendation that got me into this program.”
Lucas looked back and forth between Hannah and Tristan having already realized that the sophomore might be one of those guys who’d lash out over his perceived inferiority. Lucas was so curious though he had to ask, “but… But, that rabbit is everywhere these days. Not just T-shirts. Toys, a cartoon, and I just read there’s going to be a next-gen console video game based on his character. If you own the rights to that image, you’d be loaded.“
“Eh,” Hannah said with shrug. “Youre leaving out the movie deal Lenny just got for me, but not something I talk about too much . It leaves me enough to be comfortable and to be able to donate a library wing to the university thats giving me a shot at being a hero.” Hannah responded. She gave Tristan a quick wink and glanced over her shoulder towards the door.
Tristan looked in the same direction and noticed something he hadn’t bothered paying attention to before, a small engraving on the center of the door of a bipedal rabbit. This would’ve been the most surprising thing that he’d seen since he set foot in the room if it wasn’t for the photo that appeared on Hannah’s tablet now facing him. It was an image of five people: Graham De Soto, the new head of the DVA, Titan in his iconic Hero costume, Dean Jackson, a large muscular young man with a shit eating grin who Tristan didn’t recognize, and another person in a generic gray mask, presumably female, and wearing a smile of malicious enjoyment, the same as the women standing before him.
Hannah saw what caught his attention and picked up her tablet. “Oh, did you notice this? I love this picture. Titan called me in for back up as a Temporary Emergency Hero Asset. We beat the shit out of a literal army of enhanced criminal supers and took this picture after everything calmed down. All the other HCP deans were there too. Mr. Desoto actually told me if I ever needed a favor, he owed me one.” Hannah wore a wistful expression as she thought back on that day with fondness.
“Anyway, I gotta get outta here. S’posed to meet up with my training partners. Cause no matter what your background is or who you know, no one is a shoe-in for the final 10. Lucas, feel free to meet us in the combat cells tonight if you want to get a work out in and get tired of hanging out with this fuckwad. Later losers!” Hannah said this last part as she turned around and headed towards door while holding up her middle finger for all to see.
Tristan was obviously livid. His hands had been visibly shaking as he stood and listened to all the ways this 1st year had accomplished more than he’d even thought possible for student. Who does this little bitch think she is? She’s full of shit. She has to be. I’ll show her. From his elbows down, Tristan‘s arms began to darken. In seconds the two appendages looked like small tree trunks, with his fingers elongating into barbed tendril-liked branches rapidly moving towards Hannah.
Although Lucas had worked for years to improve his ability to cast his energy based illusionary environments-referred to by one quirky coach in the past as a “holodeck”- speed was an element that he continued to struggle with. He began to cast a simple illusion of darkness, so as to blind Tristan, but he knew almost immediately that it wouldn’t reach him in time. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw furry white movement. The miniature Hopcules had reappeared and was running towards the back of the chair Tristan had been sitting in. With a parkour maneuver that would make Jackie Chan jealous, Hopcules leapt from the floor to the chair, then from the chair to the rear wall. He torpedoed off of the wall with the force of both hind paws and made contact Tristan’s head, knocking the arrogant second year to the floor. He laid there dazed and confused about what had just struck him as his branches retracted and his arms returned to normal. The summon vanished before he even touched the ground.
Hannah smiled as she exited the room. Thanks be to the Gods. I was hoping that piece of shit would try something so I could have self-defense as an excuse. Kacey and Devon better be ready. I’m already warmed up.

My friend of 10 years recently came out of the closet by telling me how he felt about me. I had a feeling thoughtout the past 5 years that was the case, but i never pushed for an answer, since I had no interest in him. He came out 8 months ago and it kinda shook me how he approached it. This is when I first clearly told him I didn't want a relation ship because I am not gay. The examples of why he thought I were into him were everyday stuff, me just being nice and a friend, things I find very normal in a friendship like sharing a bed if there is no extra matress or playing that kicking game on the couch, where you push your feet to see who the strongest is, i guess. Things I've done with all my friends. We had a talk and it seemed like he understood what I said about there being no intentional romace between us and that he must have misunderstood some situations. Things went back to normal and I thought he got over it. Fastforward 8 months, he tells me he has something to say and I immediately assume the worst. A few days go by and he's to nevous to tell me what he wants to say, until I really push to get it out of him. He tells me and again it's about how he feel towards me and that he really thought about it over the last months. I accept the conversation and tries to understand why he still feels this way when it seemed like he had accepted me saying NO and moved on. This is where it gets weird. He starts saying that he doesn't have any feelings for me and that it's purely sexual "I just want to have fun", which is not how he usually speaks and it freaked me out a little since at this point I had already told him NO multiple times. He then says: "I don't believe you", which is a very scary sentence to hear when you repeatedly have siad no 8 months ago and now. We go back and forth with me telling him that it almost sounds like a threat him not believeing that i have no sexual or romantic interest in him and him saying I do want him and always have. He now starts making up scenarios and conversations that have never happened. This is where one of our mutual friends joins the conversation and tries backing me up, because we also have known each other for about 10 years, telling him that I would never say or do stuff like that. This made him ticked him off in some way and he left and then started spamming my messages with stuff like we have to not see each other ever again, where I reply asking how this will affect the others (The rest of the friendgroup). He tells me that they will have to choose and that they will probably chose me. I try to comfort him saying that they would never choose anyone, because we are all friends. He then starts sharing all the stories he made up with the rest of the group and calls me manipulative and a monster. I now have to explain the situation to everyone and it obviously doesn't go his way, only making him go even deeper into his delusion. He is not too close with 1 of us in the group and only actively does stuff with 1 other, but this puts it all onto our friend caught in the middle of all this. He says he wasted the past 10 years of his life as if we were only friends because he wanted to get close with me, explaining why he never really got close with the goup, he didn't open up much. I am ready to cut ties with him since he can't accept that I don't want to get with him and that is apparaently all the has mattered since the beggining to him. Personally I think he is wway too far gone in the delusion that I want to get with him to solve this in any other way than cutting ties. I am just unsure how this will affect the group or if I am overreacting and just need to deal with the situation differently. (I am scared on his behalf because his mental health has never been good and this is a hard hit to it it seems. He is very impulsive and he very well could do something he would regret)
Bit of a long one, might have gone into too much detail somewhere. Hope to get some help.

SOOOO let me start off with, the reason I'm confused is bc it doesn't make any sense. SO A Month ago I had a Retreat RC with a tooth on top ( endo did the retreat) then I had a tooth pulled that already had a root canal/crown just last week ( last Wednesday), it was also a back top tooth#2, I have been doing salt Walter rinses amd finished my Antibiotics on Saturday. ( it was my 3rd round of Abx my 1st round Amixocillin 7 days was 2 weeks before my Retreat bc my dentist said it may have been a sinus infection bc xrays showed NO INFECTION, went to Endo he started the Retreat with a drain and put Medicine in and sealed it up put me on my (2nd Round Antibiotics ) Keflex for 7 days, then 3 weeks later went back to finish up Retreat root canal, everything went awesome, but he let me know that my back top tooth #2 which had crown/rootcanal was loose and had a crack he could see on the x ray but I had already had a bad taste coming from it which I had already told my dentist, and he said it looked fine and it was probably from the one that was being retreated which he had said that it didn't have any infection ( it was infected based on what endo said, but My Dentist informed me that Endos can see more bc of their equipment, although my Dentist done a xRay that went all away around my head and he had stated he could see everything) so I had called my Dentist to make an appointment to have crown took off to look at it, but then with rge Money adding up so quickly I said let's pull it bc Endo said by what he saw it probably needed pulled and he was correct, it was decayed pretty bad, it's been less than a week it was pulled, but before they pulled it 4 days before I was put on a (3rd round of Abx Amoxicillin 9 days, [it was for 10 days but dropped my bottle and 3 of my pills got soaked] ) went had #2 extracted so far so good, THEN THIS MORNING HAPPENS!!!! Getting to my question, so sorry.
So I brushed my teeth and I have been noticing that bottom tooth # 30 which has also had a root canal with a crown just a couple years ago by my Dentist, has been sensitive and been told that is normal and since I have had the top extraction just 5 days ago I have noticed it is sore maybe from the pressure of biting on guaze trying to get bleeding to stop from the extraction ( I was bleeding for 8 Hrs pretty heavy)I'm not sure, ANYWAY then I noticed a hard Bump that was the color of my skin it was just a Hard bump with NO white on it like a pimple, but it was hard so I called my Dentist they said to come in at 12PM only 3 hrs away, so I was in the car before going in and I pulled the side of my mouth to look at it and pulled tight and then I tasted a salty taste,, ( the pressure from pulling the skin to look at it must have popped it) didn't see anything but BUMP GOT SMALLER, as I'm walking into my Dentist, x ray was done with a visual exam , ( no tapping of teeth or cold/hot sensitivity test just visual and xRay) was glaced at for maybe 10 seconds when I showed him where a very tiny bump remained (bc my dumb butt had to look at it and mess with it before he looked at it, so it popped amd went down quickly)and he gets up takes gloves off and said no sign of infection , so I asked what it was and the taste I explained to him once again, he said IDK I see nothing, he then says maybe a Mucosa Gland but not sure bc nothing is there, I asked if he could see where it was leaking, he said no signs of infection, I remind him I was told the same when I did have infection when he sentt me to the endo. So I felt embarrassed and so stupid and felt so small bc I felt he just didn't believe me bc his tone, didn't even explain anything to me, so abt 6 hrs later it's coming back slowly, amd I called my detist office again to let them know the bump is returning amd sometimes I taste a salty taste,the office staff called me back amd said he said he could put me on anorher round of antibiotics( 4th round) just in case it is an infection or gum boil, or it may just be a mucosa cyst ( i thought cyst didnt drain?)I reminded them I had just finished a 9 day ABX ( my 3rd round) not even 48 hrs ago, then I told her I wanted to ask him questions bc I never had a " Abcess/ Gum Boil/Mucosa Cyst, but he literally was in that room with me MAYBE 1.5 MINUTES, she asked me what would I need to know, I then changed the subject amd asked what should I do going foward, Their Amswer since I'm" denying" My 4th round of Antibiotics within a month and a half was to see if it keeps coming back, maybe wait a month or so, touch base if any significant change and go from there. I asked if maybe I should go to an oral surgeon for them to glance at it. I was told no , I couldn't get a referral let's just wait and see, I explained to them if IF it's an infection I would take my 4th round of Antibiotics but he said it wasn't an infection this morning , amd I asked twice as he was walking out if he was sure it wasn't t an infection, he stated NO It isn't, then while walking down the hall I asked him one more time if he was sure it wasn't an infection he said NO, if it was am abcess it would show up on xray. He then stated real loud NOTHING NOTHING Is there and IF something Appears call us, I felt so small. But I did call, and I still have NO ANSWERS after paying $110.00 today for NOTHING!!!! I also have Crohns so being on alot of Antibiotics cam really mess me up, amd ir it's truly not an infection you don't need an Antibiotic, or so I thought. So I said and explained all that, to ask, is it possible to have a "Gum boil" without any infection? The hard Bump is not right under tooth #30, it's more over we're #29 ( but #29 is gone just empty space) so it's way down on gums Like where your inside cheeks go down and meet ur gums, I hope I'm explaining that right, anyway again it's not right up under tooth #30 I would say if #29 was there it would be under that tooth all the way down past gums where gums meets ur cheeks. ( when I'm home I may be able to get a picture to explain better) but again #30 has been sore and hurting off and on since extraction again I thought it was from me bitting down on that guaze all those hrs, I had alot of pressure on them, but before that I had explained to them that it was sensitive to sweets, amd some colds was told it was normal, so again here are my questions!!
What could it be if it isn't infection?
Should I get a 2nd opinion?
If it's an abcess , are abcess hard to leak out, does it take alot to pop am abcess? ( again there was no white pimple looking bump or any blood or pus that leaked out it was just clear n salty, amd the color of bump was the color of my gums)?
How fast do abcess fill back up if it's an infection amd would it hurt and could u see where it leaked or popped fluid from? Would it look like a sore after it pops? ( mine hasn't filled all the way up as it was this morning but i can tell it's coming back, it's slow.
Should I take another 4th round of Antibiotics without knowing it's a true infection?
I have spent $2,800 in the past Month and half, and I'm so scared I'm gonna have to lose another tooth bc I can't afford another Retreat, and I'm scared my dentist doesn't really care or maybe just doesn't know, but being told to wait it out, if it's am abcess wouldn't that be dangerous? I hope I explained amd to anyone that cares to explain anything to me abt what you think my Dentist is thinking please explain to me bc I don't even know. All I l ow to do, is wait and see what happens. And was told to try to wait atleast a month. THANKS and GOD BLESS!!!!

I’ve been on Sprintec since Feb of this year. The past few days i’ve all of a sudden noticed that my boobs are so sore, and im eating wayyyyy more than normal. I take my birth control at the same time every day. Never miss a pill etc. My boyfriend does not withdrawl in me either…. he might pull out, ~do it~ then stick it back in but never fully ~does it~ in me. Is it possible to have side effects all of a sudden 4 months in? I feel like i would be that person that birth control fails 😅

Is it me or does this look like the hand of Godzilla? I know they had him once before but do you think he’s coming back?

For backstory, recently my ldr bf (M23) has really been pulling away from me in all ways. Emotionally, physically.. He’s said it’s because of weight gain and work stress, which I tried to be understanding about (since last September) and nothing has changed, except for I went from happy and fulfilled in my relationship to sad and neglected. But cut to the main point of last night. We were on FT and I was telling him I’d just had a rough day and didn’t feel great, so I asked him for some loving attention/affection. (I have to ask for this, he doesn’t ever freely give it even when I say I had a bad day) And he told me he just wasn’t in the mood. I told him it would help me, and he just said “yes that’s true” and cut to total silence. Like not even “I love you” or anything, just pretty much shut me down. And then I got a little sad about that, and when he saw I was sad he just said “I’ve been lovey with you the past couple days, there’s only so much I have to give” Which only made me feel worse. I even cried a bit and he kinda just stared at me, and he says he’s not good at giving comfort over the phone but I feel like that’s crap. If you love someone wouldn’t you at least try your best to help them feel better? He even had all day to himself to do whatever he wanted,it’s the hockey playoffs and he was watching while we were on FT and I only asked for this attention in the last 15 minutes of our FT (after game was over) so I could relax a bit before I went to sleep, I didn’t even ask during the game so as not to ruin that for him. Plus I didn’t talk to him all day except for a quick 30 min in the morning so it’s not like I’d been harassing him about my day or bothering him or anything. Anyway I’ve felt really down about it today and I was just hoping for some insight into this. We’ve been together a year and a half, and this is kinda feeling like the straw that broke the camels back, since I’ve been dealing with this sort of attitude since last September and despite telling me to “give it time, it’ll change” it does not. And it’s not like I’m not pulling my weight, I give him so much love and attention and he actually even told me to stop giving him so much because it was too “overwhelming” So I’m really not sure where to go with any of this anymore. I just feel cast to the side and like a bother to him.

For backstory, recently my ldr bf (M23) has really been pulling away from me in all ways. Emotionally, physically.. He’s said it’s because of weight gain and work stress, which I tried to be understanding about (since last September) and nothing has changed, except for I went from happy and fulfilled in my relationship to sad and neglected. But cut to the main point of last night. We were on FT and I was telling him I’d just had a rough day and didn’t feel great, so I asked him for some loving attention/affection. (I have to ask for this, he doesn’t ever freely give it even when I say I had a bad day) And he told me he just wasn’t in the mood. I told him it would help me, and he just said “yes that’s true” and cut to total silence. Like not even “I love you” or anything, just pretty much shut me down. And then I got a little sad about that, and when he saw I was sad he just said “I’ve been lovey with you the past couple days, there’s only so much I have to give” Which only made me feel worse. I even cried a bit and he kinda just stared at me, and he says he’s not good at giving comfort over the phone but I feel like that’s crap. If you love someone wouldn’t you at least try your best to help them feel better? He even had all day to himself to do whatever he wanted,it’s the hockey playoffs and he was watching while we were on FT and I only asked for this attention in the last 15 minutes of our FT (after game was over) so I could relax a bit before I went to sleep, I didn’t even ask during the game so as not to ruin that for him. Plus I didn’t talk to him all day except for a quick 30 min in the morning so it’s not like I’d been harassing him about my day or bothering him or anything. Anyway I’ve felt really down about it today and I was just hoping for some insight into this. We’ve been together a year and a half, and this is kinda feeling like the straw that broke the camels back, since I’ve been dealing with this sort of attitude since last September and despite telling me to “give it time, it’ll change” it does not. And it’s not like I’m not pulling my weight, I give him so much love and attention and he actually even told me to stop giving him so much because it was too “overwhelming” So I’m really not sure where to go with any of this anymore. I just feel cast to the side and like a bother to him.

Read the TL;DR if you don’t read anything else.
Before all the context, I’d like to establish that I have already decided to not break up or end any friendships so please do not suggest that as it’s not even an option. I don’t need any help deciding a course of action, I just need help with my own emotions as well as the lack of said emotions.
Context for what happened:
Two nights before I was told, we were all hanging out as usual with my bf (I’ll call him D) at his house and I was having a rough time with anxiety so I went to bed first. It was about 3am when I went to sleep in mt bfs bedroom on the main floor and so they stayed up because they were still pretty awake. I was asleep the whole time. I was told that D and my best friend (I’ll call them S) fell asleep on the upstairs together. I assume it was in a spooning position? Anyway, D told me that he half-woke up to petting S’s back (something he does with me too when we co-sleep) and it turned into nudging, then cuddling up, then D feeling S up, which became neck kisses and grinding from S which ended up with D rubbing S’s clit which he then abruptly became fully awake and went downstairs to crawl into bed with me.
I then awoke in the morning after about… 3(?) hours of sleep and had breakfast, then went back to bed after S left for work. The rest of this first day since it happening was a bit pff but I am fairly oblivious at the beginning of being exposed to an “off atmosphere” or “tension” of any kind so I didn’t notice D feeling weird until S came back from work and they acted like normal (very big-sibling-little-sibling energy) so I suspected literally nothing. The rest of that day was both of them trying to figure out if the other remembered anything and when we all went out for an errand I had to make, food, and groceries, and when we got to the grocery store S stayed in my car but I had to come back to the car due to my anxiety flaring tf up. I asked to be left alone but S got out of the car and I attributed it to them taking my request as literally as possible. I then sat with my anxiety until I calmed down and the two of them returned. They had addressed the situation between themselves in the store. Everyone was definitely feeling off but I didn’t really know the why for anyone but myself. S left immediately after I drove back to D’s place. They ended up parking in a nearby school parking lot and sobbing to W about it before they were able to head home.
Until the next morning when I was told, I genuinely didn’t think much of anything due to the immense amount of anxiety I had been having. I went to sleep early and D tried to stay up for his sibling night ritual he has with his siblings. He joined me in bed about a half hour into the morning they were watching together. This morning he essentially told me what I’ve written down.
Context for the next day discussion:
I haven’t felt anything I’d consider as emotional distress or pain, even when I was told. I only felt really sad over potentially losing the four-player stardew co-op D and I had with S and their long-distance bf (I’ll call him W) I was only briefly sad about it though. Anyway, after comforting D through his confession and the huge emotional anguish he was in, I headed to S’s place to do the same for them. S and I talked about having a discussion with the three of us with W on a video call on S’s phone. D agreed when I proposed this idea so I drove S over to D’s house.
I’d say the discussion went very well. They decided to not just end their friendship straight up and to try and move on from the incident with mine and W’s encouragement. I’m satisfied with this decision. W has agreed as well.
Context for S and D’s dynamic:
S and D have basically become best friends after D and I helped S through a super duper rough time in their life several months ago. S and D both see each other as one of their best friends (D said S is his best friend while S told me D is definitely one of their top best friends) and S felt that the “correct thing to do” was to full stop their friendship with D, despite not wanting to lose that bond in the slightest. D didn’t want it to seem like he was trying to change S’s mind so he didn’t reiterate his feelings to stay friends from when he expressed them in the store.
I relate to S’s attitude as I also felt that I wasn’t feeling the “correct” emotions. But for me, I was super glad to not be upset at all as when I am deeply upset, I tend to struggle with handling said emotions and am oftentimes rendered unable to function due to this. I’m working on it with my therapist, don’t worry. (Btw I’m writing to Reddit as my next therapy appointment is still several days away, I’m gonna bring this up to my therapist, don’t fret)
Further context that I feel is important:
D feels the worst he’s ever felt and I can tell. Neither of them cry… ever. So for them to both respectively sob for an extended period of time as I held them was a new experience for me but I was told I was doing a great job comforting (I’m typically awful at comforting anyone lmao) I am a deeply empathetic and intensely emotional person so I feel the yucky feeling they both said they felt but I don’t feel anger or any betrayal or anything.
Additionally, I have never been in this position before and I’ve already decided and explicitly expressed that I don’t consider it to be cheating. W agreed with me too. We didn’t consider this cheating due to the lack of: * Any true intent/desire * Any deception or secrecy, * Any full on sexual intimacy, oral or penatrative * It happening more than once
Aside from that, the clear intense and incessant guilt, shame, sadness, etc. that they both feel from it all is proof enough that they didn’t want it, didn’t mean it, and regret it deeply. Both myself and W don’t exactly feel betrayed as it was addressed, confessed, and resolved as soon as circumstances allowed it to be. It’s definitely weird feeling so… nonchalant about it all? I’m usually the most sensitive and emotional person in the room at any given time so it’s a foreign experience all together.
D expressed to me that he never even thought the situation to be possible but I mentioned that he’s very inexperienced and seems to have just not known himself as much as he thought he did. I’m his first ever romantic relationship and his first sexual partner too and he’s unconsciously felt me up in his sleep to the point of intercourse several times before.
They each deserve the other’s friendship and during our resolution discussion they both expressed that they didn’t want to just abandon their bond. I wholeheartedly agree and support the decision to mend the torn dynamic as best as possible. I fully believe that I would be absolutely devastated if I wasn’t able to play the new stardew update with the three of them… or any other video games or group activities, really lol. I don’t do well with big and sudden changes like that.
What im asking for advice on:
I have not been upset by this at all and I’m extremely relieved that S and D are healing their wounded friendship. However, I’ve been feeling yucky and it keeps I guess building on itself so I’m feeling yuckier and yuckier as more and more time passes and in top of all that… I think I feel… turned on by one of the details of the incident??? I would attribute this to my past and long ended courtship of S from when they and I first became friends.
I don’t really feel shame about it but I’m not sure how I will treat any future physical intimacy I have with D with this… visual in my mind now. How do I even address that with him??? Do I address it with him????? I am not one to hide or take anything to the grave so I don’t know if I can’t address it at all.
TL;DR: title essentially says it all but note that I’m NOT ending ANY of my relationships with them (so PLEASE don’t comment if that’s all you want to advise me to do) and I’ll be bringing this all up in my next therapy session but since that is several days away, I’d basically just like help on what is described in the paragraphs of the “what I’m asking for advice on” section of my post.
I just don’t understand how to help myself deal with or handle the weird/inconvenient emotions I do feel about all this so can y’all offer any insight to this?

I'm not gonna say whats obviously been said. Theyre incredible.
The funny thing for me, is that while T3 really interested me as a kid because of the more hand to hand oriented fight scenes between the cyborgs, I had a very different reaction to trying to watch the movie today.
I boot it up and read the blurb,
"It's been 10 years since John Connor saved Earth from Judgment Day, and he's now living under the radar, steering clear of using anything Skynet can trace. That is, until he encounters T-X, a robotic assassin ordered to finish what T-1000 started. Good thing Connor's former nemesis, the Terminator, is back to aid the now-adult Connor … just like he promised."
And I tabbed out.
I finished T2 yesterday. Now, i could be mistaken here, but:

1. 10 years.. and he's now living under the radar, steering clear of using anything Skynet can trace.

What? T2 ends with old ass SC rejoicing quietly that Skynet never came to be. And why is John in hiding? He should be on the road to becoming a Senator and building a family. And how can Skynet trace anything if it doesnt exist?
Even if SC is wrong and they failed, they had no idea, at least not up to that scene in the park. So even if there is a Skynet, while I could see John being cautious, he has no reason to believe he has to duck Skynet spycraft.

1. "Connor's former nemesis, the Terminator, is back to aid the now-adult Connor … just like he promised."

Umm... The Terminator never promised to come back. That was just a line. A really great ironic line in the first film, because he comes back with a vengeance. Then a Poignant line in the second movie due to the sentimental addition of his care for JC (oh fuck they really went there with the symbolism huh).
Point is, every piece of pop media using I'll be back as an I'll return catchphrase is actually simply inaccurate if based off of T1 and T2.
Now, to answer a couple questions for myself, I almost started to watch a bit and jump around, but i couldnt handle the tonal difference in the movie score. It's very blatantly early 2000's Daredevil basketball for me.
Anyway. Not here to start a flame war against any T3 Dark Fate or Genysis Fans.
I just had a bad whiplash bc I want more Terminator, but I realized the content changes in the way that drew in young child me, but bores present me to tears. Anyway, hi the oldheads. After watching 1 and 2, I get it. I get it.
Edit: Now I'm watching Dark Fate and I have questions I hope will be answered.

1. Why does JC need to die if the timeline has already been altered to preclude is military career? I know theres an alternate future, so he has to be critical to their timeline as well I guess. Idk the first movie was better at laying out the rules sequentially. This movie operates off of assuming a lot about audience knowledge so its hard to know what the rules are bc i cant tell if the canon matters.

Apologize in advance this is extremely long.
So the moral of the story is I finally found a name that actually makes me happy. It's been a few months now, and I am beyond grateful to my friends, especially my teachers.
Now, when it comes to family, it's complicated. It's always complicated when it comes to certain things. I had told my mom first in my family, and she didn't have anything apposing to say about my name. I understand that it would be a lot to transition to because the name wasn't normal by social standards. My name, by the way, is Lafontaine, which fits so well with my middle and last names.
I had tired of telling my brother, but he had laughed it off and just walked away. I tried again, and he just tiredly said okay and walked away again. So I kind of just gave up and didn't think about it much; my brother rarely called me by my dead name anyway.
I was still concerned about how he felt about the name, as much as I was concerned about him knowing I was non-binary. I came out as non-binary to everyone in my family, but was worried about my brother's response, mainly because of his past responses regarding trans people. He had both a lesbian friend and a friend who had been dating a trans woman. He would let his lesbian friend smoke with him and hang out, but the moment he found out that his other friend was dating a trans woman, he dropped them and refused to smoke and hang out with him. He thought that it was "disgusting." So I was on the fence about bringing something up like that, knowing his views.
So fast forwarding to today, we were in the car on the way home, and my mom kept dead-naming me the entire way there. Both days have passed since I first told my mom about my name. Like I said, she didn't seem to be bothered by it; she just understood that it was going to take some time to get used to it. Of all the days that went by, she would only use it once in a way that sounded more condescending when I corrected her, and then she just completely stopped calling me that and just called me a different name, which was pumpkin, something that she called me a lot. But it made me realize that she'd rather call me Pumpkin and never call me by that name, and that made me feel some type of way.
So when I corrected her in the car regarding my name, my brother quite literally gave me a lecture. My mother had hopped out of the car and gone to the store, so she left me alone with him. He practically told me that my dead name is my name, and that's it. My mother birthed me, and she named me, so that's my name. She is also not obligated to use a name that I'm comfortable with, and I shouldn't want to change my name because there's nothing wrong with it. He asked me why I changed my name, and I said just because I wanted to; he said it's deeper than that, and so I told him I didn't like it because it was girly, and I guess I shouldn't have expected him to understand that because he said, Oh, other people have that name too. And just because I like girls, I shouldn't have to change my name.
I was baffled and honestly pissed, because what does my liking for girls have to do with the fact that I changed my name? I and he kept going back and forth, and by the time my mom came back, I was just over it. He was saying how it didn't make much of a difference because we are family, and they're allowed to call me by my dead name, but if it was a stranger, he'd get it. He tried saying that I need to be more comfortable in myself even though I've been trying for 7 years hasn't gotten me anywhere but just suffering in the fact I'm being called something that I hate. He didn't see how that was a problem. He was saying a nickname would have been better, which defeats the purpose completely, because I would still be called my dead name and I wouldn't want to be!!!!
I said how disrespectful that sounded for not just respecting my choices, even when he said he loved me and that he's my brother.
After we arrived home, he was like, I'm not calling you Lafontaine, and I'm not going to call you your dead name. I just told him, Don't talk to me, because if you can't address me as anything, then what's the point of talking to me? And he was like, You know what? I'm just going to call you by your dead name. I gave up and told him just don't talk to me in general if that's the case. My mother hadn't said anything regarding this.
I'm still trying to understand if I'm really the problem if I haven't really been communicating well.. Because when it comes to my mother I wouldn't be pushing so hard if I hadn't already knew the fact that she doesn't take these things seriously, and it hurts my fucking feelings everything I try to express to her it's a joke. It seems like pushing so hard to my brother is being fussy if anything she hasn't even tried. I could give a whole list on why I doubt my mother so much. I wish my brother could have responded differently even if that's his way of saying he loves me I'd rather him not love me at all if this is how he wants to treat me.
I'm happy with my name now, I'm at peace with myself. I shouldn't have to feel like I need to change something for the comfort of others.

I don’t know how to tell you this Sir
But there’s a toad in the pool
No
It’s not a frog
I promise
The craters on his back
Tell
Me otherwise
The sun doesn’t smile across his stature
His lips are much too dry to kiss
He looks into my eyes instead
And does not balk at my presence
Okay, Sir
I’ve plucked him from the water
And I think he understood
On a hot July day like this
He does not belong in the pool
By the children
Lapping up sickly sweet fruits
https://www.reddit.com/OCPoetry/comments/1cr754m/nature_is_clea
https://www.reddit.com/OCPoetry/comments/1cr6f9u/curdled_citrus/

Okay, so I'm a huge fan of Rick Riordan. I love the Percy Jackson books and the expanded universe they take place in. So I decided to give his other novel Daughter of the Deep a shot.
So I read it on my own a few months ago and I'm currently revisiting it in Audiobook form.
Honestly... I kinda have mixed feelings if I'm being honest.
I can't in good conscience call it a bad book because I do think it's a good book. It's well written, has a really cool premise, really fascinating ideas and it does a good job making you emphasize with the main character Ana Dakkar.
But there's one big hang up I had that just puts a shadow over the entire book that makes it difficult for me to get past. And I really really just need to talk about it.
Okay, so spoilers past this point,
So for those who haven't read it, the premise of the novel involves the main character Ana Dakkar who's attending this school for Marine Biology called Harding-Pencroft, which has a rivalry with another school Land Institute.
To make a long story short, it turns out both schools were founded by the protagonists of the novels "The Mysterious Island" and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" respectively which as it turns out were secretly works of nonfiction. Captain Nemo is real and Ana is his descendant. The two schools' rivalry is all about what the legacy of Captain Nemo should be. Either sharing his technological advancements with the world (Land Institute.) or keeping them hidden to make sure no one misuses them (Harding Pencroft).
That's all well and good but what bothers me and what kinda wrecks the novel for me is the inciting incident that kicks off the story.
Namely, Land Institute using a high-tech submarine destroyed Harding Pencroft potentially killing hundreds of innocent high schoolers and faculty.
I mean...what!? You're gonna open with that Rick? You're gonna open with potentially over a hundred people getting their lives snuffed out!?
It was just such a dark moment that it invoked "Too Bleak Stopped Caring" for me.
And it just continues. The novel just keeps going on about this. It keeps coming back to that point. How the characters mourn the family and friends they lost.
It also made me really hard to just...buy Land Institute doing this. Like... no one had reservations over killing one hundred people? NO ONE!? I understand LI is supposed to be like this "Hardcore military academy" but I still... I just don't buy that no one had reservations about killing a bunch of people like that.
Honestly, I was tempted to stop reading/listening in disgust when it got to a point where the characters look at a news broadcast and it showed some parents weeping.
Rick. Buddy. If you're reading this (I doubt you are) I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to make me hate LI as villains so I want to see them get taken down, but this doesn't make me hate LI, it makes me hate the story for forcing me to experience this!
They only hint that maybe some people survived towards the end but Rick really really should have implied that earlier (Or better yet just revealed most everyone got out at the end), because otherwise it just made an already pretty depressing book even more depressing than it had to be.
And there's another twist in the book that frankly makes it worse and adds to the "No one had reservations about this?" issue I stated earlier but I'm not gonna spoil it. If you've read the book you know what I'm talking about.
No joke this is probably the most depressing book I've read from Rick. Yes even more than the Burning Maze. Especially because aside from some references to Finding Nemo here and there, his trademark humor isn't really present in it. The whole thing is just soul-draining at points.
No one wonder one of his next books was Chalice of the Gods. He probably needed something easy and lighthearted after writing this.
You know though? Maybe it's just a me thing. Maybe I'm just too much of a softie for this book. Every other review I've read is just people gushing over how good it is; so there's a decent chance, that this is just a me problem.
Look if you like this book, more power to you. I totally see why. Like I said, I don't think it's bad. I think it is really good.
It's just that one part I really have a hard time getting past...

Working moms: I (33F) have a 10 month old with my (45M) husband. My husband and I have been married one year. He works a typical 8-4 schedule. He also sometimes has to travel for 2-7 days at a time out of state, probably every other month. We split household expenses 50/50. We have no savings.
Since getting out of very severe episode of postpartum depression (6-month mark), I was able to renew my spirit and create a small business for myself doing something I love - accounting. Previous to pregnancy, I was a small business owner in marketing, which I hated and will never go back to. When I work hard, I see great success and prosperity follow. I've had it in me since I was a little girl. This year so far, I have been able to network and grow my business to getting over $100k in contracted billable hours for the year. My schedule is all over the place, but always within the hours of 8am-9pm. Ideally, I'd probably work 50 hours.
My husband says he is feeling lonely that he does not see his wife. He's requesting I only work during his work hours of M-F 8-4, as he needs at least a couple hours of quality time with me every day, and does not like the idea of me working more than a few hours on the weekend, even though it is all from home. I've never been around this. The couples I grew up around were all highly successful in their careers (and marriages). He talked so proudly about his go-getter wife before we had a child, and never cared that we spent time apart. I'm realizing it is not time with me he is wanting - but time being childfree. I never thought this would be an issue but it is becoming clear we have divergent value systems. My earning potential is unlimited and I'm the only one with the tools to help us save and bring in more money. I see it as a necessity for me to work hours outside of when he works.
We go to bed together every night, and even if I continue to hustle hard, this would remain true. When I am working, it is at my desk in the family room, where he watches our child. I still do all of the grocery shopping, meal planning, and night wake ups. I've only been working at this for a few months, and he is reacting quite egregiously to it. The most he is "stuck babysitting" our kid while I work is a few hours. I've had to consider getting a babysitter while I need to work from home occasionally, since he says he feels like he's just watching the kid. He wants to spend any time we spend together just watching TV. I'd rather be working, he never wants to spend any free time working on goals or learning something. I've found it's something I absolutely cannot live without.
Working moms or breadwinner moms - how often do you give your husband uninterrupted time? Do you schedule your work around his? What does supporting YOUR goals look like in your household?

Hello!
I meant to stop my NF subscription for a while because I'm getting bored (have been for a long time) with Netflix, but I forgot and missed it by one day so will wait another month and mull over my options during the meantime. However, I just noticed that Netflix has an option for cancellation only and there was no mention of having a total of ten months to pause service. Is this no feature longer available?
I started sub'ing Netflix back when it was mail-DVD only, I think it was 2003. I was late to streaming NF, which we began in 2008 via my kids' Wii. I can't remember how much we paid in the beginning, but I could swear it was $4.99/month at the time for 2 or 3 movies, or maybe that was the one movie option. If anyone remembers or knows what the price was back then would you please share that info with me just to satisfy curiosity? The earliest and lowest price I can find online right now is $9.99 a month, but I remember when it went up to $9.99 and had to think about whether or not it was worth keeping because it took a while to watch a movie, get it back in the mail, get another movie, watch it, get it back in the mail, and then get another one all within a month's time -- we're very rural in the middle of absofreakinglutley nowhere and the mail takes about 2 or 3 days longer each way for us. It was still great programming at the time, and the added streaming was a huge plus, so we kept it and have been with NF since...more than two decades.
However, my kids are older now, the platform has greatly changed, and there isn't much on Netflix that interests me anymore, or rather, possibly there is but it is too difficult for my feeble old brain to browse. There used to be a great site that had a database of most of what NF had, and it seemed to keep up with the monthly changes pretty well, but they haven't been doing that for a while now. Looking at pages of huge thumbnails of what is immediately current is a pia. If anyone knows of a site that keeps track of titles (such as a database), then would you please share that link? Something like that is much easier to use.
I enjoy many of the foreign shows, but more and more of them don't have English audio dub. Although I enjoyed subtitles in the past, neuro issues have now made it nigh impossible for me to read them while trying simultaneously to watch the show. This genre is the biggest reason I kept NF after the database website stopped keeping the database. So before beginning ponderations on whether or not NF is worth the $276/year, I'd like to better understand NF's steaming options. Although my laptop and mobile devices are 1080, my TVs and desktop are 4K or UHD. My ISP plan definitely has the ability to deliver the higher resolutions, but recently I saw a video on YouTube where this guy was talking about not getting 4K. I stupidly didn't write down the title, didn't save or bookmark it, and now I cannot remember the title or the channel or the person so can't go back and find out what this was all about. He did some digging and talked to NF and .... I absolutely cannot remember what he was saying, but it was along the lines of not only do we need to have the appropriate equipment capable of streaming and viewing 4K, but we have to also have the precise equipment that NF wants us to have. Please do not ask me for details because I have no clue. My memory has deteriorated considerably. Do any of you know about this 4K/UHD issue and needing equipment that Netflix wants us to use? I was thinking that if I cannot really get 4K (sometimes I know I do not but I thought perhaps it was just glitches with router), then perhaps it is not a big deal to jump down to the one device plan at 1080 since I'm the only person using NF in my family.
If this is the case, then I'd like to compare the viewing quality of a 4K show, UHD, and 1080. It is easy to find 4K, but when I search for UHD, I get the same 4K titles. I'm guessing that this is because the vert is the same but not the horizontal? Does anyone know? But if I search for 1080, well, that doesn't really matter. Do any of you know of a show on NF that is not the higher rez's so I can use it for comparison?
I'd really like to get this figured out before the next billing cycle, especially considering the fact that Netflix is expected to raise rates sometime this year.
Any help is greatly appreciated!