I am a fucking TERRIBLE writer, so bear with me.
Over the past year as a member of the Australian Labor Party, I have been able to successfully convince several fellow members to support Georgism. Simultaneously however, I've also witnessed myself and many others try and convince the Unlandpilled to support LVT and fail miserably.
In some cases, they are unable to convince them that Georgism won't lead to unwanted outcomes, such as increased rents, other times they are unable to adequately explain what Georgism is in the first place, in other cases, people simply dismiss Georgism as Left-Wing nonsense. As such, I have made a new question guide on how to land-pill YOUR mates!
Question 1: "What is Georgism":
DON'T say:

• "All land belongs equally to society and the people should get money equally from the state’s profits..."

Issue: This response comes off to those who are unfamiliar with the concept as downright socialistic and radical, and may lead to the listener not having an open mind about Georgist ideas.
Additionally, it is entirely philosophical and does not describe Georgist policies, nor does it adequately explain the benefits of Georgism to society.

• "Georgism is a philosophy of economic truth-seeking centred around resolving the problem of wealth disparity or inequality of opportunity."

Issue: Apart from once again being entirely philosophical, and not at all pragmatic, this response comes off as vague at best, if not outright condescending.
This response raises more questions than it answers.
DO say:
"Georgism stands for the principles of 19th century economist Henry George, such as... (list policies). Georgists believe that the implementation of such policies will lead to beneficial outcomes such as (list benefits), these ideas have been endorsed by (list famous economists, politicians or figures), (source) "
This response gives a detailed, pragmatic explanation of what Georgism is, provides adequate justification for Georgist principles and gives credibility to your position.
Question 2: "Ah man, I ain't reading all that!"
DON'T:

• Mock or berate your listener.

Like it or not, we all lead busy lives and its natural that sometimes people have better things to do than listen to some guy lecture them about a 140-year-old (let's face it) obscure economic theory.
Do:
Georgist: "Georgism stands for the principles of 19th century economist Henry George, such as... (list policies). Georgists believe that the implementation of such policies will lead to beneficial outcomes such as (list benefits)"
Listener: Okay
Georgist: "these ideas have been endorsed by (list famous economists, politicians or figures), (source)"
Tadaaa! You've now turned your psychotic Anti-Landlord essay into bite-sized, palatable pieces!
Question 3: "Doesn't this mean I'd have to pay more taxes???"
Don't respond:

• Taxes are based, Jack.

Do respond:
"The implementation of LVT allows for the reduction in other taxes, such as (list taxes, be it income tax, property tax, sales tax). Your tax burden shouldn't increase, unless you're a mega landowner or a property investor"
Question 4: "Doesn't LVT actually hurt (X demographic)?"
Should be common sense, incase anyone is having difficulty putting it into words:
"Don't worry ^{(Saying something like "don't worry" or "don't stress" comes off as far politer than simply saying "no" or "not at all" as it acknowledge's your audience's genuine concern}), (x-demographic) wouldn't actually be impacted by, and may actually benefit from LVT, due to (X, Y and Z) reasons"

I have been talking to a guy over some weeks now. We are supposed to meet tomorrow. He wants me to come to his home. Which I have not agreed to.
We have been speaking for MANY hours. Over the phone, on video and in written. He calls me every time he has a moment. I also call him often.
Since we don't have the same native language there can be misunderstandings. Both in understanding the meaning behind words and cultural differences. Danes can be consiyvery direct and rude. But he has been living in DK for 20 years so he knows the culture.
Here is the subject. He has been sent out to Afghanistan and I asked him if he had killed someone. At first he gave me a somewhat detailed reply. Which I was happy with. But after that he spent 30 minutes on telling that it was absolutely forbidden to ask a soldier this. There are even books about this topic, he informed me. I told that since we have never met I could ask him any question but that he could choose not to answer the question. In the a bit agitated conversation following this lecture I asked what other questions I was also not allowed to ask. Which there wasn't. He said.
We continued talkimg and I avoided this topic since I know it can be a sensitive one and since I knew what I needed to know at that time. I asked because a persons reaction to this particular question could be very useful to find out if it would be safe to meet him.
In general I find him open and honest and really not hard or bitter. He understands me well and I like his person.
Today I asked him about his expectations to a relationship. He started by saying that he aimed for one to life with. But then a parallel to the above mentioned happened. Half an hour lecture about what couldn't be promised so soon, it depended on the person you met what you wanted, that sometimes men wanted to live with one particular women even though he said he wouldn't. And sometimes everything went too fast and that many expected sex on first date and sometimes people messed up good potential by talking too much and bla bla bla. I know all this, I have been on many dates.
I think he kind of slammed the door in my face here with all those second thoughts and reservations.
My simple question was: what do you dream about with the right one. It could be me or another one. I know that very well. I am 54.....
One good thing happened here. I rescheduled our date to last one hour only in a place where none of us are living. My expectations are down to zero. Which is really good. And we have had many good talks. So I don't want to cancel.
But I don't like this pattern. I don't really see him as an avoidant and I have also not sensed commitment phobia in general. But I don't like this.
But what do you think about this 'dont you dare mentioning this again' attitude?

So i have a confession I have been almost 2 months free of porn! Woohoo! But the sad truth is I have pied from it and im a little confused of if maybe i finally broke it? So when imagining myself having sex I do it in first person and am so happy that i get aroused from it, but everytime i do I suddenly get scared I have pied and it becomes a fight to get it up. I am guessing this is some form of performance anxiety. Anyone got any tips?? Good example is when a girl I have been hitting it off with and her and I danced I got ROCK SOLID. Didn’t even think of pied or get scared and was hard for a long time. But sadly when I think of PIED i become scared and it takes so much longer to get an erection :(. Do you guys think this is mote of me being anxious or PIED itself? I am so proud of how far I have gone and it makes me a little scared of what this could be is all.

Question for the Married ladies here. How do you choose your husband?
I need a advice from happily married women here or women in happy long term relationships. I am 25F and I have been courted by two guys (30M and 33M) I have not slept with any of them nor have labels with any of them since I want to preserve my virginity for marriage. In our culture of which is very traditional we have this thing called courtship. I told them both I am more traditional and I will only do labels if the guy is prepared to marry me. 30M have been courting me for one year he is from Europe and he visited twice in my country with lavish getaways that made me feel like a princess, he is really honest and he is a hard-worker and career-focused. He would have 12 hour shifts and still manages to call me in his only lunch break. He values indepence while I value a partnership. He proposed to me I didn't say yes yet I told him I need time to think about it since he is against having children while I am 50/50. He was my bestfriend and he is caring when told what to do but never initiates gifts and plans. He provides for me now (with ticket costs and some postmates) but he doesn't like the idea of it in the future and he expects me to help out financially even if it is a small amount. He says that it doesn't matter if I earn less than him as long as I try. (I am college grad for 5 years already and from a top university so I don't mind working and I have a ton of savings with no debt but I am not used to setups like this where the woman is expected to pitch in in our culture the woman is the homemaker and tends to the house. She can work but ultimately she can do whatever she wants with her money) We fought lately because he does not want to quit porn at all and says that I should just suck it up, yes he was not nice about it. I am making myself okay with the idea of porn being in a relationship. Now 33M have been courting me for 4 months and he visited once here and proposed as well he is from the USA. A christian man with the same values, doesn't mind providing or supporting my career doesn't tell me I am annoying when I cry and he is willing to move to my country and get a higher paying WFH job to be with me. I see great qualities of a husband and father in him and he always says that I inspire him to do better. I still enjoy 30M's presence because he is extremely honest and he is trying even though he is explosive and can be harsh when I voice out my needs but he is truthful in what he cant do or do.
Should I spend 3 months in 30M's country and see how things are in person if things go great I will accept his proposal or should I just fly out to 33M's country instead. I want to focus on one guy now.
To be honest I still have faith in 30M since he and I shared a lot of great times together and I trying hard to accept him but I find that he is too rigid and it feels like he impose rules so often that changes my identity and I often find that he has zero interest in my culture and my values. 33M I am not that inlove with but I know love can be nurtured over time.
I am scared and confused because I don't want to have the same mistake my parents did which they ended up annulled.

Question for the Married ladies here. How do you choose your husband?
I need a advice from happily married women here or women in happy long term relationships. I am 25F and I have been courted by two guys (30M and 33M) I have not slept with any of them nor have labels with any of them since I want to preserve my virginity for marriage. In our culture of which is very traditional we have this thing called courtship. I told them both I am more traditional and I will only do labels if the guy is prepared to marry me. 30M have been courting me for one year he is from Europe and he visited twice in my country with lavish getaways that madr me feel like a princess, he is really honest and he is a hard-worker and career-focused. He would have 12 hour shifts and still manages to call me in his only lunch break. He values indepence while I value a partnership. He proposed to me I didn't say yes yet I told him I need time to think about it since he is against having children while I am 50/50. He was my bestfriend and he is caring when told what to do but never initiates gifts and plans. He provides for me now (with ticket costs and some postmates) but he doesn't like the idea of it in the future and he expects me to help out financially even if it is a small amount. He says that it doesnt matter if I earn less than him as long as I try. (I am college grad for 5 years already and from a top university so I don't mind working and I have a ton of savings with no debt but I am not used to setups like this where the woman is expected to pitch in in our culture the woman is the homemaker and tends to the house. She can work but ultimately she can do whatever she wants with her money) We fought lately because he does not want to quit porn at all and says that I should just suck it up, yes he was not nice about it. I am making myself okay with the idea of porn being in a relationship. Now 33M have been courting me for 4 months and he visited once here and proposed as well he is from the USA. A christian man with the same values, doesn't mind providing or supporting my career doesn't tell me I am annoying when I cry and he is willing to move to my country and get a higher paying WFH job to be with me. I see great qualities of a husband and father in him and he always says that I inspire him to do better. I still enjoy 30M's presence because he is extremely honest and he is trying even though he is explosive and can be harsh when I voice out my needs but he is truthful in what he cant do or do.
Should I spend 3 months in 30M's country and see how things are in person if things go great I will accept his proposal or should I just fly out to 33M's country instead. I want to focus on one guy now.
To be honest I still have faith in 30M since he and I shared a lot of great times together and I trying hard to accept him but I find that he is too rigid and it feels like he impose rules so often that changes my identity and I often find that he has zero interest in my culture and my values. 33M I am not that inlove with but I know love can be nurtured over time.
I am scared and confused because I don't want to have the same mistake my parents did which they ended up annulled.

Just a young man, most alike to you guys in a lot of ways that is both needed, required and desiring of following a path, ideal, conquest of sorts that is in fair view of many whom are both wise enough to see as well as unfortunate enough to be made witness too.
This is an acceptance of true self, a claim to a greatness beyond me and a desire to be fruitful and of great courage among the greats both of the past, present and future. In one regard or another. To each or either.
I am a willing witness of both the desires of good and the passions of the wicked.
I claim to seek, and eventually attain, dominion over both (At least within my dealings with them both as passions and practitioners) and to make of myself a man that is both feared and loved, respected and I'm sure often at times despised by some.
I am misunderstood, I am a man that has done bad things. I'm sure all witness would know, I am also assured of the fact that I ultimately desire for a good place of rest for all, for as many as able, for any many that will work aswell as abide by such.
I also know that there are many others who seek the same for themselves and likely for some, so too their peoples. And that many are greater than me in some aspects, and One in all aspects.
I find that the foolish seek to hide in ignorance or mock the truth, they will not be granted the blessings of the respectful.
I would ask that I, in transparency, first of all am granted a longer life than that I have been witness too, so as to create for myself, and many others (I assure) at least a blessing in season or seasons. As not only a grace and mercy, so too as an evidence of virtue, of man and woman, of the angels and all the beings. Of the [powers'] that be and of the truth and divinity that lay within all made in His image.
The truth is apparent before all whom know Him, I do know Him and I have known Elo.
I am just writing and posting this as a show of consent to the path ahead and also as a promise that I will commit to helpful dealings w/ as many as possible, as well as promise to deal in more brutal means towards threats or openly/evidently hidden enemies that may arise. I will at all times be savagely protective of me and my own as well as any who call to aid me or call for aid in decency. I do mourn for the losses both past and promised (within reason) though also wholly accept the fact that it is a needed consequence of the life of man.
I ask that any who see reason and the genuine need and profit of mutual and positive conduct and discussion to contribute in any way they see might be of help to a better future and to be better as people.
I don't care what God// or Idol you follow, I don't care if you're a saint or a demon, nor do I care if you've robbed, lied, cheated or protected, spoke true witness and played fair. As long as you have a genuine desire for a mutual commitment to a greater peace amongst the living (Perhaps also the dead) (Or you seek to abide by such) than you are welcome to assist and I will also abide by you.
I do however myself abide by the common and basic rules of decency - care for yourself and others, speak truth (When it is most needed and of course among friends), protect the mistreated, reject acts of cruelty (As much as possible.) And fight for the hearts desire that desires the wants of another.
TLDR - I am a man with decent intentions, willing to do bad and brutal things who is in pursuit of the safety and benign of myself and others.
tldr - - Yes the devil is real and yes the Lord of Isreal is real. Revelations is in play and we all need to play our parts, irregardless of how we or others might feel about it.
ps. Don't be mockers or rejects in response to this. Mutual respect is granted to those who take these things a seriously as they should.
pps - lol this is on reddit.

Welcome back to a little more MARRIED Mary Mania before I wrap things up with The Abridged Goblinization. I decided that this bit deserved its own chapter. Some of you seem to be entertained by Mary (or at least entertained by your own loathing of her), so I hope this will prove amusing. In my life, I've encountered an inordinate number of low-key lolcows (probably because I was far too patient and far too passive for far too long), so I might as well throw just enough distortion on the page to protect the good guys and the genuinely reformed beards. But I'm also gonna shine a bright, unflattering spotlight on the lolcows, creeps, weirdos, pervs, and BEARDS, both neck and leg.
And I'll very, very cautiously tiptoe over the bit where I do a bunch of mental gymnastics, squint my eyes, tilt my head, and convince myself that dating Whisky might be a welcome change of pace. I have no delusions when I look back on it. This was a dumb move in retrospect, but all the mental gymnastics in the world can't bring me to a reasonable scenario where I was psychic and thus able to predict what he'd become once he stopped pretending to be a gentleman. Nor can the most elite, Olympic-level mental gymnastics execute a double salto layout with a half-twist perfectly enough to force me to concede the "logical point" that I should have spotted warning signs that I'd never freakin' seen before. Okay, that's enough saltiness for today. Don't worry. This chapter mostly focuses on Mary's mania. Whisky's just kind of... there.
So there I was... dating a guy who called when he said he would, remained constant in his affections, never asked for weird stuff in the sack (in fact, we weren't even intimate at that point), and claimed to be a secular humanist who practiced elements of Hinduism (as opposed to conveniently becoming born-again whenever it suited his needs to wallow in shame). And we seemed to have similar enough tastes in media, which made for pleasant movie nights and enjoyable conversations about nerdy stuff. It felt like a step up. It felt safe. At that point in time, I was content.
But here's a shameful admission for ya. My original intention was to make Whisky the "for now guy." I knew I could do better. I was formally educated, I was in shape, I was normatively attractive, and I tended to be successful in both my theatrical and academic endeavors. Plus, I was super friendly and good with people. Whisky was kind of a bump on a log. Sure, he seemed nice. He was sometimes able to make interesting conversation. To quote his favorite catch phrase, "Meh."
I knew he was mooching off his mysterious "big bro," and he wasn't doing this with the intention of saving up and eventually becoming self-sufficient. He just kicked up a fuss whenever he wanted something, and... it usually appeared. I still thought he was physically unattractive, too. I hate nasty-ass beards, I have a strong preference for shorter guys (they don't need to be as short as Dennis, but I don't exactly love being towered over), and Whisky had whatever the dude version of resting bitch face is. I admonished myself for being shallow and decided to soldier on. Date after date. And I did kind of get used to all the shallow things I objected to.
But, really... Dating Whisky at all was a dick move on my part. Then again, how many Nice Guy (TM)s want girls to do exactly what I did? Not attracted? Think he's kind of a bum? Find him a bit boring? Just give him a chance!!! Go on a crap-ton of dates with him until you like the familiarity enough to settle for him. That's the key to a healthy relationship!!! It never works. You could flip this around and apply it to Nice Girls who want pity dates, too.
Anyway. Lucy knew I was dating Whisky, and she thought it was great. She was honestly just happy to see that I was no longer pining over Dennis and that Whisky was no longer getting relentlessly stalked by Mary. Speaking of Mary... She'd had an imaginary dramatic breakup with Scumbanger not long after she crashed Lucy's brunch. Murky aside... The following summer, I'd do another show with the pervy pest and I'd find out that Mary had given the former Rum Tum Tugger a tug in the parking lot of The Imp and had let him motorboat her. When dozens of lewd messaged filled his inbox the following day, the most indiscriminate playboy I'd ever met in my freakin' life blocked that clingy legbeard's number and never had any further contact with her. But seeing as neither of them are especially reliable sources, my best guess is that the truth is somewhere in between.
After the dramatic "breakup" with Scumbanger, Mary immediately became obsessed with the new tech guy (and his wife). They allegedly had something of a throuple situation going on, but no one ever witnessed any hard evidence of this. And then Mary and Tech Guy's wife allegedly had a catfight in the middle of the fancy restaurant where the three spent their date nights. Mary did have a shiner and a scraped knee for a few weeks, and she intimated to me that Chuckie was actually the one responsible for her looking a little rough...
I believed her because there was something very different about her demeanor when she told me this. When she was in larger groups, she just screeched about how she thought the catfight was foreplay until Tech Guy ghosted her. Yet again, we'll never know the truth. But I err on the side of belief when someone tells me that DV is going on in their home, even if I generally regard that person as a delusional pathological liar. Plus, Mary had never badmouthed Chuckie before and she never made excuses for her philandering. She just felt entitled to any ding-dong she desired. Bottom line, I think there was an unfortunate incident, and I urged her to report it. She didn't; but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.
And, yes. I think we're allowed to show compassion for Mary if Chuckie did indeed do what she was accusing him of. She absolutely deserved to get dumped in a spectacular fashion. No one deserves violence, though. But I think we're also allowed to laugh at Mary when she's acting like a crank-crazed maniac.
Moving on to lighter topics! Mary claimed to be having a hot, steamy affair with the artistic director of The Imp. At first, this seemed outlandish. But he had been the one to hire her. And he repeatedly refused to replace her when she consistently failed to learned her lines, ran around naked, and contributed little more than muckbangs to the comedy (again, I personally found it funny when she did that, but I was in the minority).
Some skullduggery was definitely afoot. Was it "sexy time," as Mary enthusiastically claimed? Who knows. Chuckie might have been paying the dude to give Mary a hobby. But not long after Mary started boasting about boning the artistic director, he suddenly began calling her out on her unprofessional behavior. They "broke up," but Mary managed to avoid getting kicked out of the improv troupe, bragging that she could sue the director for sexual harassment if he fired her.
And then... there was the pièce de résistance of Mary's misadventures in mating. She met a biker dude at Filthy McNasty's. This guys was disgusting. Most of her previous dudes had been questionable, weird, or possibly imaginary. But we all saw this one. He was as fat as a Hutt, he smelled like a grease trap, motor oil, B.O., and a very specific type of cheese... The few teeth that he had were black and green, his fingernails were yellowed and a few of them oozed pus. Finally, the volume and crackly, bubbly properties of his frequent farts indicated to George Gay that he, "definitely had a virgin booty." Mary's lard-ass loverboy called himself "Hogg," which was probably a reference to the two-wheeled vehicle that he was very obviously too large to actually ride. Or it might have just been an obvious nickname for a filthy fat fuck.
But Hogg, like Tech Guy a few loverboys ago, had a wife. And she made frequent appearances at Filthy's as well. Hogg's wife was shockingly... kind of pretty. A little rough around the edges. Didn't smell the greatest. But she stood in stark contrast to her repugnant hubby, even with her fried hair, her sloppily inked tats, and her imprecisely applied eye makeup. Her teeth were free of obvious rot. She had a beautiful figure. And she had a carefree attitude that was probably attractive to a number of people. She'd fart right along with Hogg, she didn't shave her legs, and the profane compound nouns she came up with always cracked me up (lard-tard, smegma-booger, felch-belcher).
And Mary was once again claiming to be in a throuple with The Hoggs. But this time, there was hard evidence. They'd get busy in some corner of the establishment, and even got booted from the dive bar a few times for lewd behavior, offensive odors, and illegal drug use. On one particular night, Mrs. Hogg lit one of her hubby's gargantuan ass-rippers while Mary was doing her thing, completely shrouded by his big belly. The blue flame ignited some spilt booze on the dingy floor, and a small fire erupted. The staff were able to stomp it out, but the nasty throuple was unceremoniously banished.
Alas, management allowed Mary to re-enter the bar because she apparently had some sort of sway with one of the bartenders. Instead of meeting her...uh... "partners" for some more boom-boom, Mary decided to come back inside and gush about Hogg's majestic rooster to all of us. She smelled like D cheese, ammonia, and burnt farts as she plopped down at our table, already screeching about how much bigger her "new boo" was, compared to that vile turd of an artistic director.
George Gay: Fuck me, Mary!!! You reek. Go wash the uncircumcised methhead off your hands and then you can sit with us.
Mary started to protest. Lucy cut her off. "Your whole body is probably a veritable Petri dish from fooling around with those nasty-ass people." She handed Mary some Purell. "Was the junkie junk off, keep the bottle, and don't you fucking touch me when you come back!"
Mary's bottom lip began to quiver and she looked pleadingly at me. "Just wash up," I told her. "You're too pretty to go around smelling like that.”
Off she went to the dingy bathroom. Maybe I wasn't harsh enough, but flattery got results in this instance. And when she returned, she had managed to dilute the stench enough so that we could stand to sit at the same table with her.
Mary took a deep breath in preparation to gush about something that would have undoubtedly been disgusting, but George cut her off this time. "Mare. How do you even BANG someone with a belly like that?"
Mary (speaking a bit more quickly than usual): Oh, it just takes some creative positioning. We get him to lie down. If Mrs. Hogg is taking in the rod, I hold his bowl of jelly up with both arms and stick my cooter in his face. He eats it like his mommy made it! And when it's my turn to get blasted, the missus uses a bunch of yoga straps to hold it up. I have to take it from behind because my own little tiny bit of va-jiggle-jaggle bumps up against his bowl of jelly if why try to smash like vanilla people. It's so much fun, though!!! And then he props his bowl of jelly up on the coffee table and plays with himself while he watches his honey strap on a dil...
George: I so regret asking.
Mary: They're sooo fun to fool around with! I think they might be my forever partners! (Her hands were too shaky to slide down her body in unbridled ecstasy, so she clasped them together and hid them underneath her itty bitty little gunt.)
Lucy: So when are you gonna dump Chuck?
Mary: Well... Hogg and the missus don't have much scratch. And what they do have, they spend on smokeables. When I meet a real sugar daddy, I'll get rid of Chuckle. He pretended to be a baller before we got married. But he's just middle management and he's content to stay there. Pffffftt. No ambition.
Mary launched into another long, unnecessarily graphic gushing about her garbage partners and their nasty-ass boom-boom. So I decided this would be a good time to clear my conscience about dating Whisky. Mary hadn't so much as mentioned him in months. She was inexplicably smitten with The Hoggs. And her ultimate dream man was obviously some filthy rich dude (perhaps a literally filthy dude who was also rich), which took Whisky out of the running. I still think it would have been amusing if Mary had tried to date Mori...
I waited for her adult film star gasp to wind down before I finally interjected, "Wow. Sounds like you've got a fantastic sex life right now!"
Mary: I do! You need to get over that born-again weirdo and find a real man so that you and I can have good girl talk!
Me: Well... I'm not banging anybody, but I am dating somebody. Sort of. It's not really that big of a deal. I'm not even sure that I'm completely into him. But he's been super sweet to me...
Lucy put her arm around me, almost as if she knew I was about to need protection.
Mary: TELL ME!
I hesitated. "Well... It's Whiskers."
In an instant, George jumped up and grabbed Mary by the shoulders, lest she lunge at me.
But Mary got very quiet. Silent tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She gasped and buried her face in her hands, now emitting one seemingly endless, impossibly high-pitched whine.
George loosened his grip and began to pat her on the back. Lucy's grip tightened on me and she whispered, "Here we go. Overreaction sequence has commenced."
Mary lifted her red, tear-stained face and glared at me. "HOW COULD YOU???"
Me: Mary, I swear. I thought you hated his guts. I haven't heard you talk about him in ages. When he asked, I thought it would be good for me to give him a chance since he's always been really sweet to me.
Mary: But what about the way he treated ME??? He was such an asshole!
Lucy: Was he? Mary, you stalked the guy. If he was rude, it was only because you weren't taking NO for an answer.
Mary: He never told me he wanted to end things. He just kept ghosting me. But whenever I showed up at his house and jumped on him, we always wound up smashing. Eventually.
I didn't have the gumption at that point in my life to suggest to Mary that it's wrong on every imaginable level to coerce someone into intimate activity, regardless of gender. And even knowing what Whiskers would eventually become, he didn't deserve THAT. I should have called her out. Instead I tried to steer the conversation back to her current bedroom bliss and try to get her to resume thinking the disgusting thoughts that delighted her so much.
Me: Who cares what he's doing now?! Aren't you insanely happy with your fun new lovers???
Mary: NO! THEY STINK! HE'S FAT. I want my sexy Whisky-Boo Whiskers back!!! Give him back, Valley! Puh-leeee-eeee-eeeee-eeeease.
Me: I don't "have" him. I'm just seeing him. If he hurt you this much, why don't you try to sit down and have a real conversation with him? It might be good for both of you to clear the air.
Mary: He blocked me on everythi-iiiiiii-iiiii-iiiiiing. Waaaaaaaaaah!
Me: Well, I guess that's your answer. You probably overwhelmed him. He seems like a bit of a softy. Personally, I need a softy right now. But I think you need a manly man.
Mary rose. She gave me an icy stare. And then she cooed in an unnervingly sweet tone. "I love you, Valley-Boo. I know you didn't mean to break my heart."
Me: Thank you, Mary. Really, I wouldn't have even considered his initial invitation if you hadn't been calling him "Satan," and telling us all that you hated him, and dating all these new guys. I didn't do it to spite you, I swear. It just happened.
Mary (still creepily, icily sweet): Yes. We're so alike, you and I. It's perfectly understandable that the same guy would go for both of us. But you owe me. You owe me big.
Me: I'm gonna disagree with that. If you think I slighted you, just tell me to fuck off. If you really do understand that these things happen, then you'll accept that there was no malice on anyone's part.
Mary: Mmmm-hmmmm. We'll see about that.
She jiggled her Jupiters, tossed her hair, and stalked out of the dive bar...

AND THEN SHE BANGED DENNIS.

This story was written and emailed to me by an anonymous source. And it’s one of the craziest most bizarre stories I’ve ever read. Ever! 😆 Enjoy the read. It’s long and ridiculously wild. ☘️ Also, in advance, no one can use this story. These stories are written and emailed to me for me to turn into a Video Narrative for my YouTube & TikTok channels. But I would like to share their tales as reading material as well. Thank you for understanding.
I hope you enjoy. 🫶
Story by - “Alex” & “Shane”
Okay so…
I went on vacation to Ireland with my brother last year. And had the most wildest experience of my life there.
Or should I say, we both had the most…wildest experience.
But More so me. And to Tell you the truth, I don’t think I’ll ever go back again after what happened.
As a matter of fact, no, I won’t go back.
So, it’s a Sunday night and it was pretty much our last day of vacationing.
My older brother Shane, wanted to go out… And I’m quoting him - “let’s get fuckin wasted tonight!”
So… We’re on vacation right? Why not? We had rented an Airbnb for the week, we had a rental car - we had a great week so far and we were having…
A proper vacation.
He was already dressed up and ready to go. I wanted to take a quick shower and shave so I told him to head out and I’d call him when I was ready for him to pick me up.
He says cool. He leaves, and I jump in the shower. He’s the one that knows the hot spots in Ireland better than I do. I mean, this was my first time ever coming here. So…
I take a shower, shave, and I get dressed. As I’m about to call my brother, the front door to our Airbnb opens up.
And Its my brother with two bad ass Irish women! They both jump on the couch and they’re laughing their asses off and my brother is just standing there looking at me with a sly grin on his face.
He looks over at the ladies and says - “Give me a minute please” walks over to me, puts his arm over my shoulder and walks me to the bathroom. He then whips out a bag of mushrooms and smiles. Ya know… The psychedelic kind.
I look down at the bag and I shake my head.
He says to me - “come on bro. We got two hotties out there who are trippin and they want to party. Don’t be a flake. This is our last night. Let’s make it special.”
I don’t like disappointing my brother but I was kind of hesitant.
I opened the bathroom door and take a look at these gorgeous women who were both sitting upright now and both looking at me as I opened the door. Both smiling. I smiled back. Closed the door… I looked at my brother and said - “Alright dood fuck it! Let’s do it!”
He gives me a huge hug, kisses me on the forehead, pours me a handful of shrooms and does the same for himself.
We both looked at each other to see who would go first. He counted to three and down the hatch they went. But they were the most unpleasant tasting mushrooms I’ve ever eaten in my life. They were disgusting.
I ran to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of juice because I was having a hard time chewing these nasty things.
But my brother Shane? No, he’s a pro. You give that guy a barrel of hay and he’ll eat it faster than a horse. The guy can eat anything.
40 minutes go by and I’m still straight as a pin. However, my brother on the other hand? He’s already trippin.
I think he had already taken some beforehand.
But in the next 10 minutes… These shrooms hit me like a ton of bricks! It was like this intense wave of cool and hot went completely through my body.
And I’ve taken mushrooms quite a few times but have never felt anything like this before. It was so sudden!
And I feel fantastic!
The next hour went by so fast because we were having so much fun! And these Irish girls? Man… I had the sexiest one! A beautiful Redhead by the name of Katrina.
She was kind of short though. About 5’1” maybe? But good things come in small packages, right? Well, not really. And you’ll know why soon enough.
I don’t recall anything else that happened for the rest of the night after my brother left with the other girl. And before I continue with the rest of the story. My brother’s name is really not Shane. And the redhead girl I was with is not named Katrina.
You see I had to make up these names to protect me and my brother. Because what happened during the rest of the night? I don’t remember. But also, I’ll never forget either.
Okay so, let's get back to the story…
I do remember my brother leaving with… Let's just call her Gloria, Katrina’s friend? And me and Katrina, the redhead, stood behind. I do remember us making out in the bathroom together, but…Everything else after that? There’s nothing there. Nothing. I don’t recall anything from that point forward no matter how badly I try to remember.
This is what my brother told me he witnessed as he arrived back at the Airbnb five hours later with Gloria.
And until this day, I still don’t want to believe this happened. But according to my brother…
It truly did happen.
My brother is going to write this part of the story because he’s the one that has this locked in his memory for life. And for the sake of the story, my name will be Alex.
Here is my brother Shane’s point of view - his perspective on what he witnessed that crazy night. Wow man… This is so fucking nuts. So buckle up and be prepared. I understand you don’t know who I am, but I swear, I’m not a bad person. Okay.

• “Shane’s” story on what he witnessed.

Yeah so, I guess I’m Shane now. Unreal…
Okay. Here we go. Meat and potatoes.
We arrive back at the Airbnb and I see Alex outside in the front of the house wearing only socks and he’s running around on top of the grass like an animal yanking out handfuls of grass from underneath him.
I look at Gloria and we’re both baffled at what we just saw.
First thing I said was - “Oh yeah! This dood is off his rocker right about now - as I parked the car.
We both hop out of the car and walk up to the front door. I slide the key into the door, it unlocks, but there’s a chair behind the door and it’s tipped over blocking the entry way and only leaving enough space for a crack. We both awkwardly look at one another and as I’m about to call out for my brother, I hear someone sprinting towards the door and bang!
The fuckin idiot shuts the door on us.
I then knock on the door softly because It’s almost 1 in the morning as I don’t want to make too much noise. God only knows what this kid has been doing since me and Gloria left.
After I knock on the door a few times, I hear the chair getting pushed to the side and my brother slightly opens the door. I take a peek inside, and his nose is broken, lips are bubbled up and his left eye is completely shut, black and blue and swollen.
He then drops to his knees, and begins crying but no sound is coming out of him! You know… Like when you get smacked by your parents when you’re a kid and it shocks the soul of you? Yeah, that kind of cry.
I don’t react to what he’s doing to not scare the shit out of Gloria, because she’s right beside me. So I push the door open and tell Gloria to hang on a second and shut the door and lock it.
I pick his busted ass up and sit him on the couch. I look around the house and it’s in complete shambles. Our clothes are everywhere, there’s food all over the fuckin walls. It was chaotic. And my brother is now sitting up breathing frantically.
I ask him - “what in the fuck happened?”
He looks at me. Face looking like he got into a boxing match with Rocky Marciano and whispers to me.
“Dood… There’s a leprechaun in the bathroom.”
“A fuckin what now?” - I said with the most bewildered look on my face. I mean I must have… I wish I would have taken a picture of my face at that very moment. I should have taken pictures of everything so this idiot could see the havoc he wreaked on that night.
My imbecile brother continues - “I’m telling you. There’s a fuckin leprechaun in the fuckin bathroom and this little lucky charms motherfucker won’t tell me where he hid the gold!”
“A leprechaun in the bathroom. What the fuck happened to you?” I said as I felt my blood beginning to boil.
The Imbecile then says - “Don’t worry. Don’t worry! I hogtied that little bitch and stuffed my underwear in its mouth. It’s in the bathtub. But don’t go in there. Don’t go in there. This thing fucked me up!”
And now I can hear someone fumbling in the bathroom moaning very softly. I looked at my brother and said - “What in the fuck did you do Alex?”
He replies - “I’m telling you. It’s a fucking leprechaun.”
“Okay. Okay.” - I said. “Stay right here and just, don’t move. Don’t do anything. Just keep still.
His eyes were so huge and dilated. He was so fuckin high. He had heartbeat pulses pumping from the top of his head.
I rushed back over to the front door and told Gloria that my brother got into a fight with a couple of guys at a pub while me and her were out and that her friend Katrina left because she got scared. She told me that was the first time she met that girl tonight so she really didn’t care and shrugged it off. Which was a huge relief to me. I told her thank you for a wonderful night. She understood. W said our goodbyes. I shut the door. And now… What the fuck is in the bathroom? Or better yet, who, is in the bathroom? Because let’s face it. This motherfucker did not find and fight with a leprechaun tonight. No way. There’s just no fuckin way.
I rush over to the bathroom and my brother leaps at my legs, and he’s holding onto me for dear life, begging me!
He says - “Please don’t untie it! It’s got magical powers! PLEASE!!!
Now, at this very moment? I am sort of hesitant about opening the bathroom door. But I snap out of it and open it. What the fuck. A leprechaun? No, I don’t think so.
I open the door…
“Holy shit.” - I said while covering my hands with my mouth. The floor was smeared in blood as if someone was dragged, leading to the huge cast iron tub. Smeared bloody handprints were all over the tub. And now I hear the faint moan coming from the tub. My legs are shaking and feel like they’re ready to give out on me. I was scared shitless.
“What did my brother do? Who is in that bathtub? I pray to God Katrina isn’t in there right now.” - I said to myself completely freaked out.
I slowly walk up to the bathtub…
And sure enough, there is a hogtied person lying in it with my brother's underwear stuffed in their mouth with a ripped t-shirt tied around their head and mouth, but… It’s not Katrina.
It’s a little person. You know, a dwarf? And… He’s literally dressed up in a leprechaun costume…
And how, on God's green earth did he end up here?
He has no idea I’m standing above him. I reach down to begin untying him but he begins squirming and screaming. I told him to relax and that I was here to help him.
And then My imbecile brother Alex, rushes into the bathroom and tackles me down. Stands up and begins shouting at this poor bastard hogtied in the tub - “Tell me where it is you greedy little fuck! Tell me!!!
I jumped to my feet and slapped my brother back to his childhood. Grabbed him by the throat, tripped him and threw him to the ground and said - “are you fuckin crazy? Do you want to go to prison for kidnapping? What in the fuck is the matter with you? You dumb fuck!!”
He then looks up at me with this pessimistic look on his face and says - “It’s a fucking leprechaun dood. A leprechaun.”
I was absolutely dumbfounded and furious at this point. I have this stranger in my Airbnb rental, hogtied and gagged and squirming and screaming and my brother thinks that he’s a leprechaun…
I can’t make this shit up.
He was so fucking high on those mushrooms. He was absolutely convinced that this man was a leprechaun. So… I had to play the game.
It was the only way to help this poor son of a bitch that my brother had kidnapped and hogtied in our Airbnb rental.
I calmly whispered and told him to please leave the bathroom so I could interrogate the leprechaun and find out where he was hiding the pot of gold.
My brother slowly stood up to his feet, face busted up, his cock and balls all shriveled and tight, looked at the man dressed up as a leprechaun, smiled at him with an evil grin and just, walked away…
And as he walked away, I told him to go and please put some clothes on, lay down in bed, and that I would handle the leprechaun. That I, would find out where the gold was hidden…
And that’s all I’m saying. I’m giving the computer back to my dumbass of a brother to finish off whatever else he wants to write.

• Back to “Alex”

Pretty outlandish right? I know. I know. You must think that I’m bat shit crazy huh? Okay so, to make the rest of this long story short, my brother Shane never told me what he did with the poor guy I hogtied and, well… i don’t remember how this guy came to be in my possession. I really don’t.
The only thing my brother Shane told me was that he ungagged him, untied him, and that he was extremely pissed off. And that he had compensated him for his troubles.
Man, I felt so horrible. I felt so horrible…
What I do remember though is waking up that following afternoon with my face all fucked up. Dehydrated with a tremendous splitting headache. I had no clue as to why I looked and felt the way I did. It was terrifying.
All of our luggage was packed and my brother was just sitting there, legs crossed and his arms folded.
Hey man… Take it from me. Don’t do fuckin drugs.
Regards, “Alex” & “Shane”
Disclaimer- This story may not be used for anything other than reading, sharing your thoughts and enjoying it. It is now protected by the United States Library of Congress/Copyright Office. Thank you. ☘️

I weirdly miss that one friend I had in high-school that was extremely toxic to me and overall just not a good friend. I can't explain why I miss her, or if i even miss her in general or if it's just the nostalgia but it has made me pretty sad those past few weeks because I can't stop thinking about everything we went through together.
For some context, we met in high-school and were extremely close. Our friendship was quite unusual as I was the weird kid and she was the beautiful & tall popular girl and gave a bit of a mean-girl vibe. We did not share a lot in common but somehow we got along super well, or I thought so. It took me years to realize that I was in fact just desperate for some kindness coming from 'popular' kids as I was always getting picked on by them.
We were inseparable : she taught me how to be more feminine, how to dress better and because of the huge influence she had on me, I started to like the same things as her. I did a 360° on my life and went from the weird kid to the pretty and slightly popular girl (and to be honest I loved the attention I was getting). However, I do remember she kept me around like a dog in some way and subtly belittled me all the time but I never payed to much attention.
When we graduated and started uni (both at the same one for our first year), she had a flat (she was super rich and could afford to live alone at 18) where she invited me very often. We had tons of sleepovers.
However, she was in a toxic relationship that ended pretty badly at that time and she became extremely underweight. I was there to help her and came to her flat to cook for her every two days, clean her flat for her (as she was depressed and didn't do anything) and overall took care of her like a mother for 4 months straight. She never thanked me for it, but I did not do all this to be thanked, for me it was normal to help a friend in need.
When she got better, that's when she began having a toxic attitude towards me and our friendship completely changed. She constantly picked on me for my appearance, giving me backhanded compliments such as 'ugh I'm so obese (she was still very skinny, like a top model), I wish my fattness looked good like it does on you', 'You eat so much, I could never ! I would love to be like you and not care about weight !' etc. The thing is, she KNEW I was struggling with body image and viewed myself as overweight although I was also skinny, I'm just very short with a large lower-body (hips) that can sometimes give the illusion that I'm on the thicker side.
She also started to weirdly shame me for casually dating and having hookups (I grew up in a strict household and never had a boyfriend. I did casually date and flirt with guys once I got to uni and regularly slept with one (1) guy but she still slutshamed me about it). She became religious out of the blues and constantly shamed me for 'messing around' with a guy whom I'm not even in a relationship with. It hurted me quite and even when I told her it hurted my feelings she kept on going.
I had a messy relationship with a second guy the second year of uni and it ended very badly. I got very very depressed for weeks and didn't even go to uni anymore, just like how she was with her own toxic ex. Needless to say she was not there for me, not even once. In truth, she even ghosted my messages and only checked up on me to help her on a project for her own uni-course (I did law, she did business). When I accepted to help her through Facetime, she badmouthed how lazy and ridiculous I was and how it was 'gross and lame' to be sad like that. I later (1 year later) learned through my ex when he contacted me to apologizes once and for all that she hooked up with him while I was depressed and that she talked mad sht about me to him while the were cuddling after hooking up. He even sent me the snapchat-memories they took together at dinner that night and I was baffled.
When I got back on my feet and got back to school, I learned how she talked about my private sex-life to all of our common friends and even to her own male friends. She told them everything I ever did, who I slept with throughout my whole life (which was just 3 guys but apparently for her it was enormous) and basically created me a slut-'reputation'. I never understood why and was to ashamed to confront her about it. I acted like none of it affected me when in reality it almost sent me over the edge and made me suicidal.
And when I tried to talk to new guys (for friendship or for flirting), she would always somehow find a way to talk to them too and continue to nourrish that sluttish reputation she created around me, which obviously made the guys uninterested or worst, more interested but for the wrong reasons.
Then covid came and I moved to another city. Thankfully, because of covid I never had to go back in person to school and graduated online !!! I never saw her again and took the opportunity to cut things off completely. I 'broke up' our friendship two years ago by simply stopping initiating conversation with her on social media and declining her latest offer to come spend the night at her house. It felt liberating.
But now... I do have some nostalgia about the '''good''' moments we had together but I also keep reliving all the sadness and shame she made me feel throughout the years. I miss her, or I miss the illusion of a friendship we had, I don't know. I just feel so sad. I had the urge to contact her again to rekindle but I knows it's the worst idea ever and I won't ever do it but idk, i'm just so sad.

Discovered this reddit few days ago and has been tremendously helpful - so thanks for everyone contributing. This is my story with the pouches, and why i firmly believe they are insane to be legal.
Been a nicotine addict for 10 years - first smoking cigs, then started doing 10mg VELO pouches (similar to Zyn) while in office to distract myself from not having smoke breaks. Then decided to quit smoking altogether and go full-on the VELO wagon. This was 14 months ago i quit smoking and picked up VELOs (roughly 15-20 pouches a day of 10mg) and since then, my health has SIGNIFICANTLY deteriorated. The irony is amazing, right?
8-10 months ago while at work i came very close to fainting all of a sudden. Huge shock but im a big guy, so went to bathroom, splashed some cold water in my face and went about my day, not thinking more about it. Weeks later this happened again, and I started feeling heart palpations, dizziness, difficulty breathing, difficulty sleeping, restlessness... Went to doctor who checked EKG, bloodwork, all looked superb. Was very dissatisfied as I was sure my symptoms were real, I was literally terrified, and so I demanded a long-term heart monitoring (Holter monitor, wearable EKG that detects artifacts). Turns out heart was as healthy as ever; no issues at all. Doc came to conclusion that i was suffering anxiety or similar mental illness, as all my physicals were on point. I have absolutely never experienced any mental conditions what so ever, so I was very surprised with this - but also eager to tackle it and find a solution. Months go by and I try meditation, breathwork, cold plunges, better exercise, lowering caffeeine intake, better diet. God i tried it all, but with very limited / no direct effect. I still experienced insane heart palpations; sometimes feeling very sure I would drop dead. It could happen multiple times a day, then vanish for a month, then return, and it seemed all random; it could not tie it to workload, alchohol, diet or similar. But truth be told; i was extremely scared, and my girlfriend got scared as hell as I was a complete mental mess at times. I even started leaving my apartment door unlocked to make sure I could get help if my heart failed during sleep. It was really that bad..
Then, on a flight home from a business trip 4 days ago I started getting crazy palpations, becoming dizzy. It was scary as shit as we were nowhere near an airport or any help. For some reason, it occured to me that it might be the fucking pouches; all this shit started as soon as i ditched the cigs and went full-on nicotine pouches. After landing at home i decided to ditch the pouches. This is now ~60 hours ago, and to be very honest, I cannot believe how incredible this is.
60 hours only, and my heart palpations are COMPLETELY gone. I feel I can breathe 2x the volume of air as I could before. Yesterday I had the best sleep of my entire life; not having to spend 1½-2 hours twisting and turning and being afraid my heart is gonna stop. BP back at 120 / 75, resting heart rate stabile at ~50 BPM. Overall my body feels amazing. Sure, the nicotene withdrawal is very real and that part suck massively, but it is NOTHING compared to that terrifying feeling of your heart exploding or stopping at any minute.
To anyone considering quitting, this will very likely be the single best decision you ever make for your health - both mentally and physicaly. I have been a fucking mess for the past 10 months, honestly believing I could drop dead any second; and it is only now clear to me that I'm good - its the pouches wrecking my system like mad. If I can do it after 10 years of nic addition, ~200 mg per day for the past 14 months, so can you!!

Hello everybody, I've been in a relationship with my girlfriend for a little bit over 2 months everything was going well until yesterday where we had our first argument over text since we live far away cause we are doing internships for school abroad.

1. The argument started of with me telling her I will be starting getting serious about sports and that I will be doing a MMA Sparring with an old friend (we have decided on doing but we don't talk anymore). She said she got embarassed that I still talk to that person since she is arabic and that guy is racist (which is why I don't talk to him anymore). I tried explaining that I have ego/honor that the sparring was already decided and it would be "The Last Dance" then I cut ties completely with him. She couldn't understand this and ended up saying do as you want but I could feel she was annoyed and doing something for honoego is ridiculous.

Now this morning I don't know how to act if I should appologies again or how to start talking with her again properly since IDK if she cooled down

1. I currently live abroad for my internship and she is in another country too. Last week end there were off days so I decided to take the plane to go see her to officialise the relationship IRL. Everything went well I had gifts and flowers we stayed at her appartment. The only problem I got hit with is that as it is my first realtionship I didn't really know how to act being physical and all I didn't want to do too much so I probably didn't do enough. Eventhough she said to dare and try things it was hard cause I was expecting some more guidance from her and not me having to do most of it.

If you have any advice on how to read the mood and how to do enough to please her it would help. She should be coming over to my place in around a month so I want to show that I can improve and do better because I really care.
Sorry for the long message and the burden to read probably since I've never done this.
Thank you in advance for the answers and tell me if you want more details.

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Chapter 15: For What You’ve Tamed
“We’ve come a long way, Vikri. Let’s finish your story,” Rayner said as he sat down in the same chair, crossing his legs in the same way.; small consistencies that made the task of talking about my past seem a little more routine. “I understand you lost someone important to you that day.”
I shifted slightly where I sat. “Yeah,” I answered coarsely. I grabbed at the poncho hanging over my shoulders. I remembered what it felt like in my dreams. Radiant warmth always seemed to emanate from it. Not necessarily the poncho itself, but Tenga’s memory. I realized that as long as I had those, then he was still here in a way. I’d much rather have him here than his memory though.
Rayner nodded. “I know what that’s like,” he said in a near whisper.
I shook my head. “It’s not just that I lost him. I…I failed,” I rasped. “I could’ve saved him. Maybe if I’d gone back I could’ve gotten the equipment before the fire did. I was too afraid.”
Rayner nodded slowly. “And now you feel responsible.”
I remained silent as I clutched my tail on the couch beside me. Rayner already knew the answer. He pursed his lips. “Yeah…I know exactly how that feels.”
I looked up at him. For the first time, his eyes weren’t on me, but on the adjacent wall as he seemed to ponder something. “You think about all the things you could have done differently. Things that are so obvious in hindsight,” he sighed and adjusted his glasses. “If only it were that clear in the moment.” He looked up at me, clasping his hands together. “So walk me through what happened.”
I could still vividly remember the moment Tenga got shot. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. So quickly in fact, that it even took Tenga a moment to realize there was a hole in his torso. Minutes of continuous tension shattered with a hail of gunfire lasting less than a second. The echoes continued to howl through the mountains long after the bodies met the snow. My friend was fatally wounded, the snow around him dyed bright red with his blood. And I had to leave him.
The entire time I was in the belly of the federation destroyer with danger lurking around every corner, all I wanted to do was to get this done as quickly as possible and get back to him. I was enraged that they’d done this to him and to billions just like him.
“Tenga was all I thought about the entire time,” I croaked. “And I…I was willing to kill everyone onboard to get back to him, even if there was no way I ever could. I… did things I could never have imagined myself doing even just days ago. I tore a chunk out of my leg just to be able to get to the Krakotl pinning me down with a crowbar.” I inhaled deeply, staring down at my reflection in the water, recalling my bloodshot eyes in the reflection of the ship's monitor. The grimly colorful bloodstains in my fur from several different species.
Rayner nodded. “It was a desperate situation. Many don’t see themselves doing things like that until they’re put in a situation where it's necessary. A situation where it's do or die. No one can fault you for that, especially not with all that depended on you.”
“I guess I just…It’s just worrying knowing that there’s a part of me capable of that.”
The doctor tapped his pen on his notepad as he seemed to think for a moment. “Do you worry that you may have violent outbursts?”
I scoffed. “Well, the events of a few days ago provided good grounds for worry.”
Rayner nodded. “Aggression is common for PTSD victims. It can be difficult to manage intense emotions when your mind is already dealing with so much.
I shook my head. “That’s not the person I want to be.”
Rayner nodded. “I know Vikri. That’s why it's so crucial for you to talk about this stuff. The less all of this weighs on you, the better you’ll be able to control those emotions when they arise.”
He finished writing on his notepad before taking off his glasses and leaning forward slightly. “So what happened to Tenga?”
The question made my heart sink. My mind went quiet. The second hand of time sounded like the footsteps of a giant marching toward…something. My body seemed to go cold and numb. “He died…” I croaked, staring down at the table. That was the first time I’d admitted that to myself verbally in such a direct way. “And I tried so hard,” I choked, tears now streaming down my face. “I did everything in my power to save him. I even put Querek’s life in danger.”
I felt the heat. I could feel cold water dripping from my paws as the burning ship melted the frost accumulating in my fur. I remembered the terrifying hopelessness that gripped me as I gripped Querek and pushed him into the snow. He tried to sacrifice himself for Tenga. What if I had let him? Would it have even worked? Could Tenga accept that?
I recalled the story to Rayner, battling to keep my composure. “I…I watched him die,” I choked. “And I was furious. Reese had to pull me off of him. I wanted to do…something, anything, but…he told them not to bring him back. I think he…” I winced at the thought of him considering this. “I think he’d rather have died sacrificing himself over…going rabid.”
Silence perforated the room for what felt like several long minutes. Rayner sat with his legs crossed, his hand propped up against his mouth. He seemed to become lost in thought for a moment before speaking. “I know how that guilt feels,” he admitted quietly.
I looked at him, somewhat surprised. “You do?”
Rayner nodded, rubbing his hands together. “My son,” he said plainly, taking a long pause before he continued. “He and Jesse were very close as kids. Practically brothers.” He tapped on his clipboard with his pen. “I was…not so available in those days. I was a very different man than I am now. I was still in school. I was always busy, always stressed. I hadn't even considered becoming a therapist. I was deadset on becoming a neurosurgeon.” He scoffed at himself, his head gently shaking back and forth as his gaze grew distant. His delivery lacked that matter-of-fact candor I was so used to by now. He was much quieter; less animated. His eye contact was sporadic and he never stopped fidgeting with his pen. Everything about him seemed suddenly mired in an emotion that was difficult to read. That was when I saw everything we'd done over the past few days for what it really was. Rayner wasn't invincible. He never claimed to be. He was hurt; I could hear it in his voice. He wasn't a person reaching down into the mud and yanking me out by the nape of the neck. He was man covered in mud himself. He wasn't an untouchable hero. Merely a guide.
He continued as that realization struck me. “I loved him as much as a father could. But I was so busy that…well I wasn't there as much as I'd like to have been. That put a big strain on our relationship.” He removed his glasses and wiped the lenses a few times before he continued. “One night we got into an argument. He’d just gotten his license. He had an old beat-up car I'd bought him for his birthday,” he chuffed. “A teen’s first car is always…eccentric. Thought it was a great deal at the time.” He sighed and nodded slightly before continuing. “He left the house enraged, speeding down the road. After a few miles, he lost control, swerved off the road, and hit a tree head-on. The airbag never deployed. The car crumpled like a soda can.”
I stared at him, speechless as he concluded in a near-whisper. “He was declared dead at the scene.”
The room felt hollow for a few long seconds. I searched for a reply but couldn't fathom the right words to say. Fortunately, Rayner didn't stay silent for long. “Like you, I blamed myself for a long…long time.” He sighed. “And it nearly destroyed me.”
I stared at the floor, fidgeting with my tail. “How did you…overcome that?”
“Well it didn't happen overnight,” he replied, flashing a brief smile. “It takes time but, at some point, you have to carry on living. You have to continue loving.” His eyes creased slightly as he looked down at his own hands. “You have to keep loving,” he repeated in a low whisper.
Loud silence claimed the room again as his words sank in. He was right. It was either accept what happened or live like this forever. Looking at it that pragmatically, the choice seemed easy. Emotions are never so logical though. It wasn’t as if he relieved himself of that burden either, it was obvious he still carried it. It just…didn’t weigh as much now. Not because it got lighter, but because he got stronger. I eased into speaking again. “I…I'm sorry. About your son.”
Rayner nodded. “I'm sorry about your friend.”
We both stewed in silence for a minute before Rayner spoke up. “We’ll send you home today.”
“You…really think I’m ready?”
Rayner nodded slowly. “I think so. The medication seems to be working, you haven’t had any breakdowns since you’ve been here. You’ve gotten much better at discussing these things. I think you’re equipped to face this now.”
“...I’m afraid,” I croaked.
“Of what?” Rayner asked, leaning forward
“Of…seeing Lucky again. I'm doubting whether I even should. I was never prepared to be her master. I’m just a danger to her.”
“Vikri,” Rayner exhaled and leaned forward. “You made a mistake. We all do. But you have a responsibility to her. You should at least see her and face that mistake, or you’ll never have closure. What you decide after that is your choice, but I don’t think it’ll be as bad as you think.”
“I hope so,” I sighed.
Rayner clicked his pen and set his notepad aside. “We’ve made you some medication to take home, same stuff you've been taking. The plan is to keep lowering the dosage until you’re sleeping without it. We’ve made you some sheets with all the daily doses on them and when to take each one. It’s enough to last you two weeks, then once they’re out, you’ll come back here for another session, then if you need it, we’ll get you more and keep weaning you off them.”
He leaned forward, emphasizing his next words. “And I cannot recommend enough that you go to Jesse’s support group in between our meetings. Those will help you tremendously, I’m sure of it.”
I nodded. “I have his number. I’ll…I’ll give it a shot.”
“You won't regret it,” Rayner assured me. “Jesse was in the same chair as you not too long ago for similar reasons. He has knowledge from first-hand experience. I can vouch for him, he’s a great guy.” He inhaled. “Well, is there anything else Vikri? We won’t be seeing each other again for a while, so if there’s anything else, now’s the time to talk about it.”
I thought for a second. We’d covered almost everything. I’d never discussed those days in so much detail. It felt like being submerged in icy water. It was miserable at first, but over time it became easier, even comfortable. I’d relived so much pain over the last three days, but here at the end of the whole story, It felt less like a nightmare, and more like reality. “No, I don’t think so,” I finally replied.
“Then I’ll clear you to go home. Andrea is here, she’ll give you a ride, I’m sure. Here.” He reached over and handed me a small business card. “That has all my contact information on it. I’m usually here in my office until late at night, so feel free to call if you need anything. If the sedative gives you any issues at all, any side effects, make sure to call and let me know. We followed the recipe to a tee, but it’s wise to be cautious.”
A familiar silence flooded the room as Rayner and I seemed to, for the first time, have nothing left to say. Finally, the doctor spoke. “See you in two weeks, Vikri.”
///////////////////////////////
Golden strands of light danced between the digits of my paw as I moved it in front of the brilliant summer sun. An intense beacon of warmth floating in a sky as blue as Earth’s oceans. The rumble of Andy’s car occupied the air as we cruised down the highway. Vivri was sound asleep in the backseat. The gentle white noise and vibration seemed to knock her out cold. I watched the sunrays dance as I waved my paw in front of me, before turning it around. Several spots on my paw still had obvious scars. I even still had burn scars from the electrical systems aboard the crumbling Cardinal.
I curled my paw closed into a fist and rested my head against it, watching the lush, green mountains pass by in the distance. After three days I was set loose into the world once again, hopefully better armed than I was before. Even after all the weight I doffed from my shoulders in Rayner’s office, a crushing mass still rested on my chest. Lucky.
The weight only became heavier as the car slowed, and rounded a corner into the parking lot of a large animal hospital. Andy gently brought the car to a stop in a parking space in front of the entrance. Occasionally people would walk in and out with their pets, many of which were dogs on leashes.
Vivri stirred awake after we stopped. “Oh…We’re here,” she muttered nervously. “There’s…a lot more animals here than I was expecting.”
Andy chuckled. “It’s an animal hospital girl, there’s gonna be all kinds of critters here.”
I turned around to face her. “You don’t have to go in there. You and Andy can wait here.”
Andy scoffed. “You might wanna tell Rayner they screwed up those meds, ‘cause you’re delusional if you think I’m letting you go in there by yourself.”
“Well I don’t want her to be alone out here,” I argued.
“I’ll go in, just…stay close, please?” Vivri interjected.
I looked back at her, ears tilted. She was dead serious. I sighed and shook my head. “This is gonna be a disaster,” I groaned.
Andy opened her door. “I’ll wait with her in the lobby, you go talk to the vets. It’ll be fine.”
I looked back at Vivri one last time as Andy stepped out. “Alright, just stay away from the cats.” I opened my door and began stepping out into the summer air.
“C-cats?”
“Small felines. They're demons with mind control,” I replied just before closing the door.
Vivri scrambled out of the car and followed right on my heels. “Well don’t just leave me!” she squeaked.
I laughed. “I’m kidding. Well, mostly.”
Walking into the building, I realized that Lucky had been in a very similar place as me over the past three days. The lobby felt eerily similar to the one at the medical center. Everything went silent as Vivri and I walked in. Immediately I could feel dozens of eyes on us. Vivri hid close behind me as Andy gestured for me to follow her to the desk.
I doubted any of the humans there meant any harm, but dozens of binocular eyes snapping onto her in an instant had Vivri more unsettled than she already was. It didn’t help that several dogs were either on leashes or in carriers in the lobby, which were no doubt just as curious. I grabbed Viv’s paw. “They don't see many Venlil,” I whispered. “Just ignore them.”
I approached the desk with Vivri still hiding behind me. “E-excuse me?” I stuttered. The woman at the desk looked up, clearly caught off guard by two venlil standing before her. “O-oh! Excuse me, you must be Lucky’s owner, right?”
“Yeah. Vikri.” I could feel Vivri shivering behind me.
“I’ll let Doctor Gavin know you’re here.”
“Thanks,” I muttered before turning to Vivri. “Are you sure about this?” I whispered.
“Of course! It’s just for a few minutes, right?” Her body language gave an entirely different answer. She seemed like she might faint at any moment.
I looked up at Andy. “Keep her close, would you?”
Andy wrapped her arms over Viv’s shoulders. “Of course. I’ll keep little Vivi safe from all the big, bad puppy dogs and mean kitties,” she said in baby speak, twisting her side to side. She giggled. “We’ll be fine.” Her tone suddenly shifted as she locked eyes with me. “Will you?”
I stood there in silence for a moment. This entire time my heart felt unbearably heavy. Standing there, I felt nauseous. So much so that I made it a point to know exactly where the bathroom was when I walked in. The weight on my chest made breathing a laborious task. I heaved in a deep breath. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t know what’s going to happen in there but…I have to do this. For both of us.”
Andy exhaled and nodded, seemingly just as nervous for me. Right on cue, the door at the back of the room opened with a heavy click. “Vikri?” a male voice called out. An older gentleman in burgundy scrubs surveyed the room. It didn’t take long for him to find me. He nodded toward me as he adjusted his glasses. “Right this way, please.”
“We’ll be right here,” Andy whispered, her hands still resting around Viv’s shoulders, who agreed with a tail flick.
I nodded and walked toward the man, leaving the cozy waiting room behind, and entering a long, sterile hallway. The doctor’s shoes clicked against the tile as he walked just in front of me. The weight bearing down on my chest only got heavier with each step. After a few agonizing seconds, the man finally spoke up as he stopped outside a door. “I’m Doctor Gavin,” he said breathily, extending a hand. “I performed Lucky’s surgery.”
I took his hand with my paw, which he could no doubt tell was trembling by this point. “Vikri,” I choked. “S-so…How is she?”
“She’s good,” Gavin answered in a higher pitch. “She’s recovering remarkably fast. Really lived up to her name.” He opened the door and stepped through into a kennel area as he continued. “The bullet hit one of her ribs and shattered. A couple of fragments pierced her lung, one of them was just inches from her heart. There’re still a few very small ones lodged in her tissue, but we’d be doing more harm than good by trying to remove them. They shouldn’t cause any issues and come out on their own after some time, but we’ll keep track of them with x-rays.”
As he spoke we passed by kennels, some empty, some with dogs that barked or jumped up on the cage as we passed. I scoured each one for Lucky, my dread building with each one we passed. Suddenly, the doctor stopped in front of me. He inhaled deeply. “I should mention…Given the…circumstances of how she got these injuries, me and some staff will stay with you just in case she becomes aggressive. That’s not to say that I think she will,” he added hastily, “she’s been great with everyone here but…you know, just to be safe.”
“I get it,” I breathed. It made sense. If Lucky attacked me, it would be far more deadly than it would be for a human. And I was confident even a human wouldn’t last long against a half-wolf her size. Fittingly, a group of four humans were gathered at the end of the hallway, catchers in hand.
Time seemed to slow as I approached the pen. The staff members all looked over at me with the same anxious expression. I felt like a prisoner walking toward my judgment, and that perhaps it was me that belonged behind these cages. I swallowed and took a long, slow breath as Gavin opened the gate. He walked in ahead of me. “Hey there big girl,” he said in a chipper tone. I heard the familiar thumping of Lucky’s tail against the floor. Gavin chuckled to himself as the remaining four staff calmly and quietly filed into the pen. Once they were all inside, the final human leaned around the corner, looked me in the eyes for a long second, and nodded once.
A new reality awaited around that corner. My sentence was about to be read. It felt so cripplingly helpless; wanting so desperately to finally be reunited with my best friend, yet trembling at the thought of rounding a corner to run face-first into the consequences of my actions. I steeled myself one last time. I nodded back at the catcher and took slow, deliberate steps toward him. I finally rounded the corner, and for the first time since the incident, I saw Lucky.
She lay on a large, fabric bed, with food and water bowls close by. Her right front leg was bound in a cast, tied up close to her body. A large patch of fur had been shaved away around her chest and halfway up her neck. She seemed thinner than I remembered. It reminded me of the scared, hungry pup I’d met so long ago.
Her eyes tracked onto mine instantly, and I felt an ache that defied all imagination. The same gaze that would send almost any other Venlil scrambling down the hallway instead gripped some inner part of me in a cold, numb stasis. I couldn’t move. Part of me wanted to run to her and spill out how sorry I was. Another wanted to curl up on the floor right there and sob, returning to that familiar numbness that seemed akin to the ancient enemy of life itself. The cold. That bitterness that pierced through fur, through flesh, through bones, and any ideal held by the naive child that sat next to Tenga’s corpse that day. It ran through until there was nothing left.
Then, I felt a warmth as if someone had draped a blanket over me. I gripped my poncho around my shoulders, grabbing it tightly. I made a quiet promise to myself there and then. Not a promise to my sister, or my parents, or Andrea. Me. I wouldn’t lie down in the cold. Never again. One more hill.
“Hey Lucky,” I said, my voice coarse and breaking every syllable.
The silence was abruptly broken as Lucky, though seemingly frail, shot to her feet. Everyone in the room shifted, prepared for the worst. I didn’t dare move, but I could feel my heart pounding in my legs, my body preparing to bolt. The staff watched her carefully, their grip slightly tightened around their polls. Lucky made no sounds, only stared at me, her nostrils flaring as she gathered my scent. Her right front leg was useless, immobilized against her body. She shifted her footing to steady herself. Then I saw something that replaced fear with tears. She was shaking like a leaf, never taking her eyes off me. She could care less about the others. She was scared. Of me.
I felt myself fall off a ledge in a sensation I’d become all too familiar with over the last few weeks. Tears streamed down my face, my breath hitching as I brought my paws up to my face. I fell to my knees, the presence of the staff had become irrelevant. “I’m…I’m sorry,” I exhaled between gasps. “I’m so sorry.”
So there it was. My new reality. It wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but it was what I expected. I didn’t know what I’d do then, and I didn’t know now. Could I go on without Lucky? She was the one fortress in the turbulent seas of my broken mind. She was the one I could always count on. The one that I knew would always be there, no matter what. Now I was convinced she was terrified of me.
I sat there a shattered mess for a long moment, tumbling off that cliff and reaching out for anything to catch myself, but found nothing but jagged stones. I felt a hand on my shoulder, Doctor Gavin attempting to comfort me, I assumed. Until I felt something touch my knee. I looked up, thrown out of the spiral abruptly. Lucky was now just in front of me, licking my leg. I froze, confused. She gently laid down, careful of her bandaged leg as she rested her head on my leg, looking up at me. That was the same leg she’d broken months ago. Finally, I got it. “I hurt you, and you still loved me.”
A wave of relief rushed through me and I looked down at her, eyes glossy with tears. I bent down and rested my head against hers. I laughed, though it sounded more like a sob. For the first time in days, I felt whole again.
Lucky still loved me.
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So I M/17 used to know this girl F/18 we were very close and dated for a little bit and due to moving we sperated and didn't talk at all, now 2 years later we have been talking again for a bit now, she considers me her best friend and I consider her mine, since we dated we have both changed completely, and for the better I might add.
She has a boyfriend, the boyfriend is aware we talk, I am friends with him, we talk here and there, like maybe once every few days. Her and I are very close, now I don't overstep, we just talk about normal every day stuff, give each other advice, vent about random stuff, etc.
I like her, I really do, I have no intentions of causing anything between them and I'm actually really happy for both of them because he is a genuinely awesome guy. Just today she was venting about how he was kind of being a dick and I told her that I didn't want to get in-between them and didn't want to cause any drama between them, he has told her she was being annoying. I told her I don't see how she's annoying, or why he'd be upset, I asked her if maybe he was having a bad day, if maybe he had something bothering him, which she said she didn't think so that he said no.
Her and I talk for probably 5-7 hours a day, on the phone and text, and if we do hangout we've already agreed that the boyfriend will be there simply because it wouldn't be right for us to hangout by ourselves. Now her and I have so much in common it's not even funny, literally every little thing, every interest, every opinion, both of us has said it's actually really scary and that we've never met someone who's so alike with each other, which is why we are close, we never have disagreements, nothing even close. I tell her quite a bit that I appreciate her for who she is because I really do, she's great and helpful, and apparently no one else tells her anything like that, no one compliments or appreciates her, that I'm the first person that's told her that in years, apparently I'm the only person who will actually listen and give her the truth instead of sugar coating stuff and telling her what she wants to hear, she constantly says I'm a great person and she appreciates me as well.
Ive made it clear I have no intentions of trying to get with her, of course I really like her and I would love to be something one day but as I said, I'm genuinely happy for both of them, though it's kind of annoying how shitty he can be sometimes, he's still a great guy. Plus even if she wasn't with him it's still too soon and I atleast want close to a year of time before doing something like that.
The other day he got a hold of me and just said "question" out of nowhere, I asked him what was up and he asked what I do in my free time, so I told him and he just kept making it very clear that they were together by hinting how much they talk and hang out, we both talked for about 20 minutes and ended by us talking about some really nice stuff and we were both pretty happy I'd say.
If something were to happen between them in the future I'd love to be something one day but I'm honestly just grateful for being friends, I'm extremely grateful that we talk and we are how we are right now. I just want a lot more time before anything like that if something were to happen. Even though I really like her I would still want time
Shes constantly complimenting me though, and constantly being very very friendly, I dont know if I'd call it flirting but she's definitely extremely, extremely comfortable with me. Which makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong, because if she's gaining feelings for me I don't want them breaking up because her and I just talk, even though I don't THINK I'm doing anything wrong it just still feels wrong because if she does catch feelings then at the end of the day it's because of me that they'd break up. She's constantly telling me how happy I make her, but she also talks about how great her boyfriend is, which is relieving because It shows me she's still happy with him and all of that.
I just dont know, I feel like I'm doing something wrong, I feel like I'm gonna cause issues between them but i dont want to be a dick and stop talking to her because i am the only one she can talk about some stuff with because her boyfriend just doesnt really care, it makes me happy that we talk aswell, doesnt matter if its good, bad, sad or happy, we are both just happy to talk to eachother.
Am I in the wrong? Should I stop talking to her to protect her relationship? Like I've mentioned I won't act on my feelings, it's more of just I really like her but want the best for her either way. If you guys want any other details or have questions feel free to ask me anything, I just want to know what people think.

This sub exists only for users to spite the fans of the characters they are trying to slander. Most of the people here aren't interested in knowing what a character is truly capable of, but only to find miniscule things in the story to slander a character and then be toxic with the fans who love them.
Like, It's so simple, but so hard for the people in this sub. Scaling characters is one thing, but ignoring everything that characters have in mind like their objectives, mindset, emotions etc is such a pointless thing to do while scaling. At that point even you know you're wrong. So what are you trying to accomplish while knowing the truth?
Few examples here:
1) Mihawk has no interest in looking for challenges anymore, but we know he's Shanks' equal. He doesn't need to prove anything and we know what he's capable of. Yet many here don't seem to get it. 2) Kizaru is not emotionally prepared for the challenges he would face in Egghead and yet, even after knowing what he's going through, you're trying to use his mental state to slander him? 3) Dragon and Akainu being cautious doesn't make them weak, but just capable as leaders of their respective factions. 4) The Gorosei are on Egghead to stop Vegapunk's message. They're not there to destroy the Strawhats. Yet many bring up "If 5 Kaidos or 5 admirals were there on the island, the Strawhats would've died a while back"
All of the above mentioned characters haven't gone all out yet and you guys know it, but still you try to find something to downscale them prematurely.

So, I was just thinking and comparing pregnancies and thinking about my sleep vs. Baby sleep. So, I have a few questions for you guys to see if my theory hold any truth or it’s just a bunch of 3 am non-sense 😂

1. In pregnancy did your baby keep you up at night moving a lot? Was your newborn moving and waking a lot at night?
   
2. In pregnancy did you have anything that would keep you up at night like insomnia or RLS? Did you newborn sleep well during the night or was he restless and a not so great sleeper?
   
3. In pregnancy how was your caffeine consumption - low or high? Was your newborn a good sleeper? Was he or she a restless or agitated baby day or night?
   

I personally noticed that my first pregnancy my baby did not keep me up at night at all (I was just up for regular pregnancy aches and pains from sleeping on my side all the time and from having to pee). And when my baby was on the other side of the tummy she was exactly the same, no keeping me up at night, very quiet and slept well.
With my second she actually did move a lot at night and I had a lot more insomnia. I also may have had a higher caffeine intake. Since she was born she was not a good sleeper. Up all night for hours, really bad reflex, so a lot of startling and moving. Restless, etc.
So, I had noticed both of them how they seemed to behave in the belly vs. Outside of the belly was the same or very similar.

INTRO: First and foremost, I don't know if anyone cares, but I just reached Plat 2. For someone with a full-time job, I think I did pretty well, although my KDR is quite bad.
HOW IT STARTED: I think the game got a ton of hype in the beta for a good reason. It was explosive, sparkly, good-looking, and the CS:GO x Valorant x Apex hybrid that we were looking for. As a veteran Apex player, I can say that Apex feels so bloated these days, with so many new layers added each season in a desperate attempt to keep the game relevant, that I no longer recognize the game I fell in love with some years ago.
Ending the side story, The Finals did very well in the alpha/beta because everyone was a noob, and we were just messing around. When it got released, the classic "playing meta characters/weapons" settled in, and some powers/weapons/even classes became irrelevant, at the very least for the solo queue experience.
WHAT I LIKE: The graphics and movement system are unmatched for me. Even Apex falls short when it comes to movement and the numerous ways you can approach a situation due to the destruction physics. I think the only time Apex gets the lead is in map sizes, but we are talking about barren lands vs high-dense housing buildings.
The overall Mirror Edge aesthetics and battlefield destruction physics, combined with Apex sweatiness, is a winning combo for me. The game oozes with personality, even in the marketing materials. As a graphic designer, I recognize something that others may not. For example, on most marketing materials including the website, you can see printing artifacts and errors, which in a web environment should not make sense, but the game wants to give you the feeling of "this is a real billboard/poster that is going to be placed in the real world because this is a real event," which I think is really great.
This might be the most fast-paced game I've ever played, and I love it. It really gives you that adrenaline kick, and you don't have to walk 50 km to find an enemy team like in Apex.
Great performance, for the way it looks and moves, the team behind it did a pretty good job preserving the looks that we saw on YouTube (some downgrades happened, obviously) for the time when the game got released.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE: The game fails, and let's not sugarcoat it, we are in freefall as of now because it fails to attract new players. We all know that; even the streamers are not touching it. I think, at the end of the day, the game is not fun solo, which let's be real, not many of us have that many friends, or better yet, not often are you able to sync with a bunch of people in order to play.
Personally, I would've focused more on environmental destruction and less on the pew-pew part. I don't really know how to put it into words, but I believe the game would've been more inviting if the environmental destruction (the main gimmick of the game) played a bigger role and not the classic "HHM or MMM" team combos that we see every day. Most of the time, I play the same game where no one dares to pick the sword, the shield, or another weapon that does not make sense. I am always punished by teammates when I pick the flamethrower, for example.
The new maps are terrible, let's face it. Vegas and the Glitching map are just bad. The starting maps are glorious; the fact that they took real places (most of the time) and transformed them into an arena is genius. They could have expanded it every year with cities around the world and even inspired the battle pass skins on the country the new map was coming from but maintaining the sports apparel vibe and feel of the game.
The game is detaching from Mirror Edge's aesthetics, and this is a big no-no for me. I love skins as much as the next guy, but if you pay attention, most of the free skins the game gives you are sports apparel, which is great for the game. I don't mind if the skins are even fancier sports apparel, but I fail to see how a $19 bunny costume or an Elvis costume would fit into the game. I think the skins are random af and not in a good way.
Lastly and arguably the most important, the lack of any social interaction... I get that text chat was thought through for toxicity reasons, but I think the game could borrow a page from League of Legends or Fortnite's book when it comes to introducing the social element into the game. These things have been said before: a global chat, an actual clan system, menus that help you see who you played with, check profiles, and add those players, make players play with one another, and create the bridges that are necessary for players to connect with one another.

Hello all first time posting here but I had balloon dilation surgery done a first time in 2021. I now have to get it done a 2nd time.
The thing is truthfully I really don't want to get the surgery done a 2nd time. Do to the fact afterwards it really wasn't a fun experience.
Truthfully I feel like there is probably something out there that I could try besides flonase/fluticasone & xyzal.
Seriously this is all my ENT has tried.
I was seeing a nurse practitioner in the practice who understood I didn't want to get the surgery done a 2nd time & was willing to try working with that.
Though I show up to an appointment and get told oh she left & now your seeing this new guy. I walk into the appointment & he says he doesn't believe in treating stuff with medication makes me get a ct scan done & shows me I have loads of mucus built up on the right side of my sinuses & just threw me for sinus surgery a 2nd time.
I am sitting there like & I don't mention this but I am sitting there like isn't there away to you know flush the mucus out or you know maybe suck it up or something?
So I ask isn't there anything you can recommend in the mean time & while waiting to get this done then he's like nope.
Funny thing is I can still breathe out of my nose just fine from the first surgery & I can still blow my nose as well. So it makes me wonder if this 2nd surgery is even worth it & maybe there's like some other option out there we haven't tried yet.
I mean I seriously don't want to get this done a 2nd time & kind of feel like this guy is now jumping the gun.
I mean I know the first time I did the surgery it wasn't bad but this time the guy mentioned using a bigger balloon. I mean after the first surgery it left me with nerve pain shooting into my teeth truthfully. Though they also removed nasal polyps as well. So that was probably what caused the nerve pain.
This 2nd time I am going into the surgery with extreme head pain because my neck is herniated from c2-c7 from a head injury & it's causing nerve compression & vestibular migraines. I also have asthma as well so having my nose clogged up was a real pain for me to breathe properly.
So it just makes me think doing this a 2nd time will make everything worst including my nerve pain i just feel like I should cancel this appointment & get a 2nd opinion but I am not really sure & have no clue on what to do.
I mean seriously I can still breathe & blow out of my nose just fine. Where previously I couldn't really breathe or blow out my nose at all. So I don't know I just think if we could just somehow flush the mucus out then maybe some kind of medication regimen would work or maybe there's some other medication I can try besides fluticasone or zyxal.
So I am kind of just stressed out & dreading getting this done a 2nd time.

UNMARKED SPOILERS BELOW, I will sadly go into spoiler territorry so often the post would look like a bad SCP Foundation article if I tried to black out every single one.
First thing I thought upon finding out about the Wizard Three in Sigil was to notice an opportunitty to include more iconic characters. As we learned more about their role I noticed several complaints about them. Like, "why are we having epic level NPCs relegating the work to mid-level party"? Or "isn't Tasha evil? What is she doing here?" Or "how the hell did Kas fool Tasha, who knows Mordekainen very well?". And so an idea to fix these issues all at once presented itself to me.
In this version of adventure, the PCs are summonned not by Wizard Three, but Wizard Nine. Nine iconic, high-level wizards or other magic users from across D&D worlds or even beyond. They were all summonned to Sigil, to each tap into one of Outer Planes of appriopriate aligment and channel that power into Wish, so the Will of the entire multiverse wishes of Vecna's death. Once it fails, the wizards realize it means one of them must nto be who they claim, possibly an agent of Vecna. So they immediatelly lock themselves in Sanctuary - only PCs can enter and leave because they weren't i nthe room doing the casting of that super Wish. And every time they return with next piece of the Rod, they find Wizards in most disfunctional game of Among Us ever, often probably erupting into violence - this is nine geniuses working AGAINST each other as everyone suspects everyone.
Now, you could keep the original reveal, where Mordekainen is the imposter. If you do, I would advocate against bringing any magic users who know him, like Tasha, Elminster, Storm Silverhand or Dalamar the Dark. If you decide to change the imposter's identity, you can happily bring in some of them, but I would avoid those who know each other (so if you want Elminster, then no Mordekainen or Dalamar).
Evil characters can work with this group because of several reasons, which they should be open about. They may vary from "You think I don't realize Vecna is going to screw ME over alongside everyone else", through "uppity gods need to be put in their place, especially this one" to "I would love what the guy is promising to do to all creation, but I'm not bending my knee to NOBODY!".
Below is a list of proposed characters to use from as many worlds I could think of. I will be comign back to this post to add more names and more worlds with further research, potentially going even beyond strictly D&D settings. You ca drop your own suggestions, I will happily add them to the list with next edit. All requirements are that the character is able to cast 9th level spells, if you have any notes for potential DM willing to use them, please provide them as well.
Eberron - I noticed most of suggestions for Eberron are of evil variety, due to the setting's lack of high-level heroic NPCs (with two exceptions that cannot leave their seats of power), but we'll work with what we have

• Mordain the Fleshweaver is the most popular suggestion, being a rare Chaotic Evil 18th level Wizard in Eberron. An issue is that Mordain is often used, and even recommended by Keith Baker to be used as Eberron's stand-in for Vecna. If you wanna run adventures with Hand or Eye of Vecna in Eberron, they are hand and Eye of Mordain. This may disqualify him, but you could alternatively play into it. Have Mordain rant Vecna is "ripping him off" or call the lich "a pale immitation of true dark sorcery".
• Hektula is Keith Baker's personal choice for a standin for Tasha. She is a pwoerful Rakshasa Archmage, with passion for collecting forbidden tomes of dark magic, serving one of the Overlords and firmly Lawful Evil. I certainly could see some laughs when wizards realize there's an impostor among them and all eyes turn towards Hektula, who goes "Of course, blame the shapeshifter!".
• I have seen floated idea for Sora Kell or her three daughters. The Daughters canonically in 3rd edition had levels 10 or 11 on top of being half-fiend Hags. You could maybe handwave that they get to cast 9th level spells as a coven, Sora Kell is more ambigious, with no statblock and her lore giving vibes of Baba Yaga, fans compare her to Demon Lords in power level. Personally I feel she would stand out too much.

Exandria (Critical Role) - I noticed most Exandria characters don't reach this high level - even Circle of Brass from Calamity were level 15. However, I found two options to provide a bit of fanservice for any critters at your table, both Chaotic Good:

• the Mighty Nein Reunion got us level 20 versions of Caleb Widogast, so he's great excuse for a DM to do their best Liam O'Brian impression of angsty bi diseaster wizard who really wishes he was back with his boyfriend, instead of being trapped here with all those asshole wizards.
• Not a wizard but a Bard, but if you want to bend a defintion a bit, Scanlan Shorthalt could be pulled out from a moment in time before he lost an ability to cast Wish. Considering this happens in final episode of Campaign 1 and their final enemy was Vecna, it would be thematically appriopriate.

Krynn (Dragonlance)

• Raistlin Majere is by FAR msot iconic character of the entire Dragonlance, the go to if you want to include an iconic Dragonlance character. Dragonlance Saga 15 anniversarry lists his aligment as Neutral, while 3rd edition book Legends of the Twins lits him as a Neutral Evil - the latter is after he becomes master of Time and Present and so powerful enough to be included.
• Dalamar the Dark - after Raistlin's demise, Dalamar was touted as new most powerful wizard, he was paired with Mordekainen and Elminster to form original Wizard Three. He is also listed as Neutral Evil, but I would argue he could be Lawful Evil.
• Fistandantilus - the greatest wizard before Raistlin, he is also Neutral Evil, but I woudl argue he's more CHaotic Evil, due to his tendency to backstab other wizards to steal their power. I honestly cannot see this guy working in this adventure, he seems like he would try to bodyjack someone and get 8 Desintegrates to the face.
• Phalin Majere - if you want a good-aligned representative of Krynn, Raistlin's nephew, Phalin is basically a magical prodigy and chosen one and firmly Lawful Good. The issue may be that it may be hard to find a time where he is powerful enough to be here, but before Wizard magic on Krynn went away (because all Gods, including Gods of magic, f*ed off to space and then had the whole planet stolen from under their noses) and he had to reclass to Sorcerer, starting all the way from the bottom.

Magic the Gathering - there are many worlds in this franchise, but they're often very shallow, so I will group this stuff together.

• My first pick would be Liliana Vess, originally from Dominaria, nowadays hanging out on Arcavios, home world of Strixheaven. Strixheaven book lists her as true neutral, and she has a history full of twists and turns where this character development from original evil could be justified. Personality-wise she could be the easiest quick replacement for Tasha, even if you don't feel like putting in the whole group of nine wizards. Also if you have player bringign back a Curricullum of Chaos PC for this game I can only imagine their jaw drop upon seeing "Provesso Vess" among greatest wizards in the Multiverse, snarking at all of them.
• Teferi Akosa, originally from Dominaria, now his homeland of Zalfir became a separate plane. He was always extremely powerful, what if accidentially phasing his whole country out of time and space, he was always heroic and good intended, but often prone of getting unwaranted suspictions from others, which makes him good for this kind of plot.
• From Ravnica we could pull either Jace Beleren or the dragon-mage Niv-Mizzet, during their respective time as the Living Guildpact, representative of all 10 Guilds of Ravnica. In this position their could fit well for neutral-aligned places of aligment chart, Jace leaning towards Neutral Good or Lawful Neutral somewhat more.
• Speaking of Dragons, here is a crazy idea - Nicol Bolas, one of greatest villains in Magic as Chaotic Evil representative. Okay, it may be not a good idea, I cannot imagine a situation where he doesn't try to hijack the plot and take Vecna's place or just kill everyone when the problem of potential traitor arises. Still, the idea of this really evil demigod-drgon being his petty, snarky self towards other iconic characters is kinda funny.
• For a reach more into Magic's past, we have Urza, original protagonist. He would fit well into Lawful Neutral or even Lawful Evil role, considering last time he dedicated himself to stop multiversal-level threat, original Phyrexia, his means quickly "begun resembling Phyrexian ends". This is the guy who honestly tried to outeugenics a wizard nazi "for greater good". Seriously, so much of Magic lore can be summed up with words "Local Man Ruins Everything" and picture of Urza.
• A different type of Magic candidate is Jodah, ultrapowerful Archmage who is not a planeswalker like others, but had often maneuver around them, so he is used to having to outsmart powerful people. He represents all colors of mana so he would fit for any of middle collum positions.
• Jodah old associate, Jaya Ballard, could also work very well, considering she did eventually ecame so powerful some planes confused her with a diety and established religions to her. She strikes me as a Neutral Good candidate.

Mystara - one of my beloved classic worlds, poses an issue because it never conformed to classic 9-types aligment, isntead opting for lawful (defined as "altruistic") and chaotic ("selfish"). A rare exception, 2e book Glantri: Kingdom of Magic, was a big help here.

• Prince Haldemar of Haaken - protagonist of series of short stories "Voyage of Princess Ark". Daring explorer, captain of flying ship Princess Ark, hero of Empire of Alphatia. Champions of Mystara describes him as good and heroic but having "typical Alphatian chaotic thendencies". As such I'd lean towards Chaotic Good or Neutral Good.
• Bargle the Infamous - Chaotic Evil, if D&D ever had something close to the Joker, it was Bargle. Bargle was originally an evil wizard who kills mentolove interest of the player in introductory adventure of Red Box, but this made him enemy #1 of whole generations of players and elevated to first iconic evil wizard. I would be wary of using him, as any D&D veteran or grognard may forget about Vecna in favor of trying to strangle the guy with his bare hands.
• Demetrion Karagentreropolus - most powerful Archmage in Empire of Thyatis (think: fantasy Roman Empire), he is of lawful aligment and described as sometiems working secretly to undermine Emperor's decisions that he finds to be bad for the Empire and its people. As such he could slot as Lawful Good.
• Empress Eriadna the Wise of Alphatia - current Empress of Alphatia, canonically of Neutral aligment, she rules msot powerful empire in the world and probably haven't conquered all of it only because her subjects care more for magical research and getting high. She's 80-years old.
• Prince Zandor - 40-years old son of empress Eriadna, described as "chaos personified", his aligment is "Chaotic (very)". Thanks to Mr. Welch it became popular to play him as wizard version of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. Use him if you want a comic relief.
• Master Terari - former Emperor of Alphatia, he abdicated in favor of Eriadna and disappeared, he now runs magic school in a small kingdom of Karameikos, he is working to ascend to Immortality (basically godhood without calling it so).
• Principalities of Glantri have multiple Princes of various all kinds of aligment. The country got 2e book which gave them classic aligment., I will list them below, but two I would avoid are Eitienne d'Amberville and Jaggar von Drachenfels, since they are actually Immortals (Rad, patron of magic and Diamond,, discount Bahamut, respectively). Immortals officially aren't Gods, but this is often a distinction without difference, so I cannot see them showing up in Sigil without Lady of Pain nuking the whole building.
• Princess Carnelia de Belcadiz y Fedorias (Lawful Neutral, extremely beautiful, known for her horrible temper) and Princess Carlotina Erewan ((LG, basically discount Galadriel) rule two Elven principalities, the latter rules more traditional Elves, the former's subjects are...Spanish Elves. Yes, really. They do not like each other.
• On the evil side we have Prince Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany (wizard Nosferatu, which is like Vampire with less weaknesses, he's Strahd on steroids), Princess Dolores Hilsbury (actually a Night Dragon, undead dragon-shaped mosnter, in disguise) and Prince Brannart McGregor (lich, he's actually from real-world Scotland, I kid you not). All three are Chaotic Evil and hide their true nature, though considering Morphail looks like he walked out of set of Dracula, they aren't trying very hard.
• Rounding Glantri princes we have Prince Jherek Virayana (Neutral, master of illusions, he deflected to Glantri from their mortal enemies, Ethengar Khanates, so he is used to being under suspiction for treachery) and Prince Harald Haaskinz (LG, he's kinda new guy in the club).

Oearth (Greyhawk)

• I don't want to spend much time on Oerth since I suspect anyone using this will use either Mordekainen and/or Tasha, who are already in the module. But some alternatives could be any of wizards who have spells named after them - Bigby is neutral, Tenser is Lawful Good, Leomund is Lawful Neutral or Lawful Good, Nystrul is Neutral, Rary is Neutral Evil

Toril (Forgotten Realms)

• Alustriel was already included. She and her five sisters (not counting Dove Silverhand, who is a Ranger and a Ghost) all fit similair role as "big good immortal sorcerress". With exception of Alassra Silverhand a.k.a. Simbul the Witch-Queen, who is Chaotic Neutral, they're all Chaotic Good, so I see little point switching Alustriel for another one if you want CG spot to be fit by someone from Toril. I would also be wary of using Storm Silverhand, who, according to Ed Greenwood, helped real Mordekainen recover after his role in Curse of Strahd and has a "friends with benefits" relationship with him.
• Elminster is also Chaotic Good, I don't get why WotC shy away from using him. I get he is controversial, but his exclusion has been kinda awkward here. They really don't think Kas can fool Elminster, but he can fool Tasha? As far as I know only one of them slept with Mordekainen, like come on! Anyway, if you want to use him, Elmisnter is also Chaotic Good, so kinda redundant with other Choosen of Mystra.
• Larloch the Shadow-King or Szass Tam could each work as a powerful lawful evil lich, that allies with the good guys out of spite against interloper god that dared throw their weight around and claim godhood over THEIR world. Larloch in particular is no stranger of going against gods and their servants, who seek to rewrite rules of magic that is basic of his power - just ask Shar and her servants at Shade Enclave.
• While characters from Baldur's Gate 3 end their adventure around 13th level, Book Minsc & Boo's Journal of Villain contains statblocks of multiple characters from previous two games. Edwin Odesserion, infamous Red Wizard of Thay, is among them, powerful enough to fit in the group.

Domains of Dread (Ravenloft) - I put this one last because of unique use we could have out of Domaind of Dread in this campaign. You see, we know that characterstrapped in Demiplane of Dread cannot leave that easily, they need Dark Powers' permission. And Dark Powers are backing up Kas. I have also seen multiple complaints how both main antagonists of this campaign - Vecna nad Kas - are absent from most of it, with many ideas being thrown around about having Kas as an active rival that competes for pieces of the Rod. It occured to me that he may play that role, while we still have an impostor - another character trapped in Demiplane of Dread could be working with Kas and the Dark Powers in exchange for their freedom. This way we could even allow PCs to sherlock holmes who the traitor is between collecting different pieces of the Rod, and still can have Kas show up with hordes of monsters to steal the Rod later. All that matters is they do not impersonate a character of the same aligment. Here are some candidates for this role:

• from Forgotten Realms, we could reach for semi-official suppliment minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy, written by lead writer of first two Baldur's Gate games. It suggests an alternate fate for main villains of Baldur's Gate II - Jon Irenicus and his sister Bodhi - that places them in Demiplane of Dread, leading their own evil cult working towards their escape. He is neutral evil, she is Chaotic Evil
• From Mystara we have Meredoth, main antagonist of classic Ravenloft module Ship of Horrors, condemned to Demiplane of Dread afre his negligence caused his subjects to die of starvation. TWICE!. He is cursed to be unable to discover new magic on his own and having to steal knowledge, so he would be itching, as a mole, to steal from other eight wizards in the room. He's Chaotic Evil.

That's for now, but rest assured, I shall be returning to this post to update it with more characters, potentially more campaign worlds even. Your suggestions whom to add are always welcome.

I (m27) got married to my beautiful wife Lizzy (28) a month ago and I just got a text from my best man. "Hey, congratulations to you guys for your newly wed life. Next time you're having a big party at somewhere rented and you've known about it for 6 months ahead, it would be nice if you did some of the preparations beforehand. Also if you know that you're gonna be drunk af and have plans to leave the rented location for bar hopping, then it might be a good idea to hire a cleaning service or something". I haven't answered yet. Yes, me and my wife did leave some of the decorations etc for the last minute, so my best man, let's call him Arnie, and maid of honor, Monica, came early to help us get the place ready. Wedding went well, everyone was having fun drinking and dancing. Even tho Monica and Arnie had a little difficulties to fit in their little awkward games of steal the groom and some small cards of dares for the guests to perform during the day. So later that night, Lizzy and I were a bit tipsy like the rest of the people, and we wanted to go clubbing. I know that Arnie isn't a big drinker and wouldn't have had more than two glasses of wine, so as the responsible sober best man, I thought he would do the cleaning after with my brother. I guess I forgot to mention that to him, since he was kinda quiet when we were calling ubers he was picking up cans and bottles. But isn't helping the groom and bride a duty of the best man? My wife is a nurse at ER, and I am a bartender, so we don't really roll on money, and weren't able to hire a cleaning service for our already expensive event. What should I reply to Arnie?

Me and my ex are currently doing no contact. She knows how much I love her as I already write her a very heartfelt letter saying so. We’ve talked about how we can’t see each other with other people and how much we love each other even after the breakup. Yet long story short me and my ex had a little drawn out break up. I tried to make things work for a month after she first broke up with me. She said she needed to be alone a month later. I kept calling her and she agreed to, up until about a week ago she asked for me to take a step back. I agreed and didn’t message her and her birthday went by within those days. I still didn’t message her. She saw me downtown that night and cried to me and vented and was mad that I didn’t wish her a happy birthday. She asked to apologize and meet up in person the night after. That night we only talked super formally and only about how we’re looking forward to healing.
My one concern is that through that whole conversation, I didn’t make it clear that I still want to try again for a relationship with her. Earlier that day when she had initially apologized for crying and venting to me, I responded with as heartfelt and mature of a response that I could give, including me saying “While I’m aware that what we had is over,” then continuing to be optimistic about our healing processes. While I have made it know ever since our initial breakup two months ago up until a few days ago when we had that talk that I really want to make things work, I feel like given how I responded to her request for space, didn’t wish her a happy birthday, acknowledged that what we had is over, and me not even bringing up how I want to try again in the future will make her believe that I’m just truly completely over trying for her, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
For additional context, we had drawn out the breakup simply because we have so much love for one another other. We were each other’s first bf/gf. This whole process was all about her needing space and needing to be alone right now. She had said once or twice that if this is meant to be then it will be. Yet I’m scared that she might take me saying “While I’m aware that what we had is over” as a sign of me not wanting to try anymore. She never gave me a direct statement of her saying how we are completely over. She had said enough times to me that this is a breakup. How she needs to be alone right now. How she needs her space. And she doesn’t know for how long. Yet I’m afraid that I might have said the wrong words and followed through with actions that don’t truly align with my true incentives. I can easily tell that the conversation that we had was all the closure that she needed to officially move on from me and to start living her life completely without me. She is a very healthy woman who looks at the world through a very healthy, optimistic and peaceful perspective. Due to this it seems like she wouldn't’ be the type to hold onto something like this after getting closure like that.
I only acted that way and didn’t speak to her and didn’t bring up any future aspirations of rekindling with her just do not disrupt her emotions any further as I know that this is a tough time for the both of us.I currently work with her yet she put her two weeks in already and I have my final shift with her this Sunday night. I’m contemplating if it’s a good idea for me to tell her one last time that I’m still interested in trying again in the future.
Should I use our last shift working together as an opportunity to tell her that I still want to try again for a relationship in the future? I really miss her and still love her and care about her deeply. This whole process has just been really hard and I feel the need to use this last in person chance as an opportunity to show her that I’m still interested in her. I feel like she’s the love of my life and I’ve told her that throughout the past 2 months. Please let me know if you guys think that this is a good idea.
TLDR: I feel as though I gave off the wrong impression with my ex over the past few days. Unintentionally letting her think that I’m completely done with her and wanting to move on when that couldn’t be further from the truth. She is a very mature, peaceful, healthy and optimistic woman, and given all of the closure that she just got combined with my misleading intentions, I fear that she will officially let me go given that I was the one who wanted to hold on and make things work when she first asked for space. I still really love her and care about her deeply and feel as though she’s the one for me. Should I use our last shift working together to tell her how I still want to try again for a relationship in the future?

Hello and Good day all,
**Background**
I am an expat. Renting a house for one year. One year payment have been made. I have EJAR contract (all online, absher verifiable). All rental process went through in one real estate agency (lets call it 'Snail'). Few weeks ago, I found Eviction notice pasted outside the main door. Picture attached. I never receive any court notice or any sms regarding any court proceeding. I have conducted some due diligence.
**Due Diligence/What transpired within +- 2 weeks** in chronological order.
• *Snail's Director* : I texted him. According to him, owner have a problem and he is trying to solve the eviction notice. Told me not to worry.
• *Officemate A's cousin* : He is in the real estate industry. He confronted (by phone) Snail's director because he noticed that Snail the company and its director was name as Lessor and Lessor representative respectively. He also asked what happen with the eviction notice because I have valid Ejar contract.
Shocked by the call, snail's director mentioned that he needed to sell the house because his father needed money for treatment. After been pressed futher, Snail director folded and said I can remain until the tenancy end.
• *Officemate B's father* : Hes in the government (unknown department). According to him, aslong Ejar contract is valid. I cannot be evicted.
• *EJAR's office* : Show them the eviction notice. They said its fake. And that my Ejar contract is valid. If i want to lodge a report, go to REGA (real estate general authority).
• *REGA* : Went to the office Rega told me the notice is fake and to lodge complaint online. Complaint file and later the ticket status is 'Closed'. Received call from Rega asking me to lodge police report.
• *Enforcement Officer ('Repoman') : Texted him asking about the notice. I send him my Ejar contract. But he insisted i get out in a week. He also mention I need to talk to court if Im not happy.
• *ETC lawyer friends/district neighbors* : Reiterated, aslong Ejar contract is valid. Cannot be evicted.
**Fast forward to Yesterday**
A man claiming to be real owner (never met him before) said hello and ask me to wait 10 minutes. Later a police sergeant came along with a guy claiming to be officer from the court (his number appear at the bottom of the eviction notice). Three of them threathens me to give vacant possession to them immediately.
I called a local neighbour (lets call him 'Hat' for now) to assist me to speak Arabic with them.
The owner keeps on screaming that my Ejar contract is fake. The police took a hold of my Iqama and keep it with him, he stayed in the car. Repoman kept saying I acknowledged him because Ive texted him before. Hat argued back and forth with them. Hat managed to calm the owner down saying if anything I was a victim too and to give me time to vacate the house.
• *Hat* : Owner said he rented the house to Snail at 20 coins but he never received any rent for 2 years. He then find out that Snail has rented the house to me for 50 coins.
Further, Repoman took copy of my Ejar contract. According to him, he will bring my Ejar to the judge to see if he should proceed with the Eviction notice or seek further instruction.
Hat manage to get the owner to agree in principle after he gotten vacant possession, I could rent it back, at a lower rate. [Safe to say I have my doubt].
• *Snail's Team Member* : Received a call from unknown man claiming to be Snail's team member. According to him, Snail is a broker and owner trying to raise the rental. They had disagreement and hence the eviction notice. He also said that if i leave, Snail will reimburse balance of my rent by this week. I told him, I need time to think of the conpensation because this has caused inconvenience for me and I need to look for a new house. Also, ig we agree he must start the termination process in Ejar because the one who started the termination have to reimburse the other.
**Present**
• *REGA* : Trying to ask rega to verify the eviction notice again because I was ambushed by 3 guys prior. And if what the owner claiming is legit. Is my Ejar contract valid?.
Rega asked me to file new complaint to investigate the Ejar contract. They told me not to worry. I am very worried because I am in a foreign country without family support. Rega ask me to check the validity with the court.
• *Court* : Went to the counter. Was told that the eviction notice is with a judge now. I am not sure if my Ejar contract was attached to the notice or not. Ask me to come back in a week.
**TLDR :** I rent a house through real estate agent. I never known/met the owner. Owner and agent had disagreement. Owner obtained an eviction notice on the house. I was told that I have valid rental agreement and cannot be evicted. Owner bring police and repoman to threathens and evict me. I am clueless and in despair, not sure who to trust. Still not solve. Still finding the truth/answer. Waiting for court solution (if any).
**My question**

1. Can a property be rented twice using Ejar system?
2. Can agent rent a house as a broker against the will of the owner? If yes how? He have to fraudulently/knowingly fill the online form wrongly?
3. How does Ejar verify if the property can be was rented by a rightful Landlord?
4. Are my right as tenant protected if Snail comitted fraud? (Where i am a 'bona fide' tenant/victims/bystander).

Any advice/suggestions/share similar experience?
Thanks in advance.