1. Make renting and any type of air BnB illegal
   
2. Only 1 house per person
   
3. Only can buy a house if having a Austrian citizens ship and living in Australia more than 6 months of more that will need to sell house ( it is to stop people form other countries buying houses and no one living in them )
   
4. Make it so anyone can live any where but if living in a industrial zone or office zone then can’t file complaints about noise or air quality
   
5. Build better houses eg. put house at the back of property to take all that wasted space form the back yard and side strips to make one big fenced front yard, make houses 2 stories and have ramps instead of stairs so the elderly can still live in
   
6. New houses in must have a 30% plants on there probably at all times to help with wild life and add birds houses ect for helping nature
   

Hello, I am new to reddit and have never really thought much of posting anything, but the events of the past two days have changed my mind - along with some urging by some co-workers. Sorry in advance if this is long . . .
I, 27M, have been in the military for a little over five years, and am currently in the process of getting out due to mental health related issues. I have been going through a lot of therapy, and have even had stints in military medical institutions because of the depression and anxiety problems that developed during my time in. I live alone and often times get very lonely, leading to a whirlwind of old thoughts and emotions coming to the forefront of my mind. I've never been successful in the dating pool, and I don't have anyone I'd consider a friend, so the thought that I'll be alone forever with the problems in my mind with no-one there by my side, often makes things spiral even worse.
I had thought for some time about getting a pet - a dog or cat - but could never bring myself to go through with it. I have OCD as well, and much of my routines are very ingrained, and too much deviation makes me very anxious and unstable. I suppose that was the biggest negative for me when it came to thinking about getting a pet; that deviation from routine. A cat would be fine, I suppose; they don't need much attention other than feeding, cleaning a litter pan, and occasional affection. In my mind, a dog was so much more, and for the longest time, just the thought of having a dog and my routines be so drastically challenged, was enough to break me out in a mild panic attack. One of my therapists suggested that a dog may be good; something that needs attention to break me out of my loneliness, and also something that demanded I deviate from such ingrained day-to-day tasks to help me with my OCD. My parents and many co-workers urged the same, and after much consideration on my part, I finally consented and decided that a dog may be helpful.
I live in Southern California, and the humane societies here are nearly overflowing with dogs up for adoption. It really is a problem around here, and often times, the humane centers will stop taking in dogs, simply because they are overwhelmed with how many they have at that time. I found a few that - based upon their online description - I thought would be a good fit for me. . . but the adoption councilors always seemed to think otherwise. It seemed as though every dog I was interested in was either too high energy or had severe behavioral problems. And every time I would probe into what the problems were, the adoption councilors would make the problems seem worse and worse as the questions and time went on. It got to a point where I seriously expected them to just say, "No, you're not allowed to have this dog." I know these workers need to vet people to try and put the animals in a true forever home, but why not state problems up front instead of after the fact when someone has already gone in expressing interest in a particular animal.
You're probably thinking: Why haven't you just gone and gotten a service animal if your problems are really that bad? The thought did cross my mind, and it wouldn't be difficult to get a recommendation from my therapist and psychologist to get approved for one through the military. But I have a hard time asking for things, often talking myself out of it by having these fake Worse-Case-Scenario conversations in my head, that leave me feeling unnecessarily anxious and uncomfortable. Also, I do not feel as though I deserve one; guys that have gone and come back one or two limbs less, guys that have lost friends in action, I think those are the ones that deserve service animals. I'm not discounting what I've been through - god knows I do that enough already - but it has become a core belief of mine that I am not deserving of anything like that. An emotional support pet, on the other hand, is of a different nature - practically just a normal pet that you don't have to pay rent for - that I felt was more appropriate for me.
Since the humane society was of no use to me, I decided to search online, finding many websites that were used to rehome pets - some had rehoming fees and some didn't. And this is where Finn comes into the story. After about a month of trying to find a dog, I finally found the one that I thought was for me. Finn was a 2 year old, 20 pound Chihuahua/ Podenco mix that absolutely loved playing with his frisbee and peeing on trees. His previous owner, we'll call Sarah, said in his bio that Finn was such a sweet dog who loved to play. He'd had a decent amount of obedience training, was house trained, did great on a leash, and was trained to sit anytime his owner sat so that they could take him out and about to restaurants and the like. His case was also helped by the cutest ears I'd ever seen - Finn was able to work them independent of each other, giving him the ability to make faces I'd never seen a dog make before. Sarah had said in Finn's profile that they would love more than anything to be able to keep him; however, they had a toddler who was starting to wander that Finn did not get along with at all. So much so, that there came a point where Finn had bit the poor guy. At that, Sarah and her husband made the decision that they couldn't keep him anymore. Though, a dog biting is always concerning, I wasn't much worried about it. Given my track record, I wasn't going to be having a kid anytime soon, and besides, I lived alone. Per what was in his bio, Finn would have no problems at my place. He also had no rehoming fee, which I do think was another draw I had for him.
I met Sarah and Finn at a dog park close to my house one afternoon on a Sunday. Finn was just like his pictures, and was super playful. If I recall correctly, the whole meeting took about an hour, maybe a little more. Sarah had brought along treats - which helped Finn warm up to me - and his favorite frisbee, which I threw for him the whole time. He wasn't overly affectionate with me like some dogs are, seeming to not really want pets from me, and didn't care much for any of the other dogs that were there at the park. Sarah told me much of what I had read about Finn in his online bio, talking more in-depth about his training, and especially about how much she and her husband loved him - it was more than clear that they were going to be sad parting with him. Once our meeting was over, I was convinced that Finn was for me, and I told Sarah that I would be glad to adopt him from them. It was later that week - on a Thursday I think - when she dropped Finn off at my place for good. Later that day, Sarah transferred Finn's chip over to me, and sent all of his vet records via email. There was no adoption paperwork - or any paperwork for that matter - but I wasn't concerned. I am originally from West Virginia, and it is very common to get a dog - or any animal - without a bill of sale or transfer of ownership document. Back home, as long as you pay taxes on your pet, the state doesn't care about documentation like that. Often times, ownership is simply proved by showing off all of your pet's pictures that you have uploaded to Facebook or Instagram.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has been at war with Satanism and the Satanic Temple since December 2023.
In December 2023, the Satanic Temple erected a Baphomet display in the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines for the Christmas season. However, on 14 December 2023, the display was destroyed by Michael Cassidy, a 35-year-old candidate for the Mississippi House of Representatives and a Christian conservative from Lauderdale, Mississippi.
Cassidy, who read about the display on social media, went to the Capitol to destroy it, stating his reasoning for vandalizing the statue: "I grew up in a country that was founded on Christian principles, and in America, that generally promoted good ethics and public displays of virtue. The evil display and the lack of action surprised and offended me as a Christian. People need to stand up for what is right. Satan is evil, and glorifying evil is not an American value."
Cassidy also stated that the Satanic Temple "needed Jesus", and sought to evangelize adherents.
In a further interview with conservative news outlet The Sentinel, Cassidy said, "The world may tell Christians to submissively accept the legitimization of Satan, but none of the Founding Fathers would have considered government sanction of Satanic altars inside Capitol buildings as protected by the First Amendment. Anti-Christian values have steadily been mainstreamed more and more in recent decades, and Christians have largely acted like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water. I saw this blasphemous statue, and was outraged. My conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree, and so I acted."
Cassidy also cited 1 John 3:8 from the Gospel of John from New Testament of the Bible as his motivating for destroying the Baphomet display: "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the Devil. Scripture exhorts us to think and act like Jesus Christ."
Despite Cassidy's claims, the Satanic Temple states on its website, "We do not believe in the existence of Satan or the supernatural. The Satanic Temple believes that religion can, and should, be divorced from superstition. As such, we do not promote a belief in a personal Satan. To embrace the name 'Satan' is to embrace rational inquiry removed from supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based superstitions. Satanists should actively work to hone critical thinking, and exercise reasonable agnosticism in all things. Our beliefs must be malleable to the best current scientific understandings of the material world, never the reverse."
The Satanic Temple also denied Cassidy's accusations of "promoting evil", stating, "[We] hold to the basic premise that undue suffering is bad, and that which reduces suffering is good. We do not believe in symbolic 'evil'. We acknowledge blasphemy as a legitimate expression of personal independence from counter-productive traditional norms."
Cassidy was later charged with fourth degree criminal mischief after the Satanic Temple pressed charges; if found guilty, he will face a maximum penalty of one year in prison, and a $2,560 USD fine. He was later charged with a hate crime under Iowa's list of misdemeanors.
The Sentinel subsequently launched a crowdfunding campaign for Cassidy's legal defense fund, and raised $20,000 within three hours, $10,000 of which was donated by conservative campaign group Turning Point USA. Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also stated on TwitteX that he would donate to the campaign. Overall, the campaign raised over $75,000 for Cassidy's legal defense.
It was announced that Davis Younts, an attorney and retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, would represent Cassidy in court. Younts stated, "My client [Michael Cassidy] was motivated by his Christian faith to peacefully protest a display that is a direct affront to God. When others, including elected leaders, were unwilling to act, he peacefully removed the display. It is my hope that the citation will be dismissed when my client's actions are understood, and that he will not face prosecution because of his Christian faith."
Kim Reynolds, the Governor of Iowa, released the following statement on 12 December 2023, just two days before Cassidy destroyed the Baphomet display: "Like many Iowans, I find the Satanic Temple's display in the Capitol absolutely objectionable. In a free society, the best response to objectionable speech is more speech, and I encourage all those of faith to join me today in praying over the Capitol, and recognizing the nativity scene that will be on display – the true reason for the season."
Iowa State Representative Jon Dunwell, an ordained minister and Republican, stated on TwitteX, "My observation as a follower of Christ, I certainly find a display from the Satanic Temple objectionable. It stands in direct opposition to my faith, and would be classified as evil...[however], in fairness, many other religions or nonreligious people have the same perspective about Christianity...[and] I don't want the state evaluating and making determinations about religions. I am guided by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."
Another Iowa State Representative and Republican pastor, Brad Sherman, disagreed with Dunwell, calling the Baphomet display "disgusting", and arguing that the display was a violation of the Iowa State Constitution.
Sherman stated, "The Iowa Constitution is the supreme law of the State of Iowa, and it establishes the legal foundation upon which all other state laws are built...it is a tortured and twisted interpretation of law that affords Satan, who is universally understood to be the enemy of God, religious expression equal to God in an institution of government that depends upon God for continued blessings. Such a legal view...violates the very foundation of our State Constitution."
Sherman also argued against the separation of church and state in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and in favor of Christian nationalism, in the State of Iowa.
DeSantis also joined Sherman in arguing against the separation of church and state in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and in favor of Christian nationalism, after recently signing a bill allowing religious chaplains as guidance counselors in Florida public schools.
By doing so, DeSantis insisted he was only returning public schools to their "original intent", stating, "It used to be, I mean, when education in the United States first started, every school was a religious school. That was just part of it. Public schools were religious schools. I think what we're doing is restoring the sense of purpose that our Founding Fathers wanted to see in education."
DeSantis' words also echoed those of Iowa State Representative Brad Sherman in a release.
As they have done with other cases involving religion and public schools, the Satanic Temple said it would gladly send chaplains into Florida’s public schools as soon as the new law took effect. These Satanists are not actual Satan-worshippers, even though they have legal status as a church, but rather a secularist group, hoping, in their words, "to provide a safe and inclusive alternative to the religious clubs that use threats of eternal damnation to convert school children to their belief system".
DeSantis fired back. "Some have said that if you do a school chaplain program, that somehow you're going to have Satanists running around in all our schools," he said at a press conference at a high school in Kissimmee, Florida, where he also signed a bill (HB 1317) giving more school access to "patriotic organizations".
"We're not playing those games in Florida," DeSantis continued. "[Satanism] is not a religion. That is not qualifying to be able to participate in this."
In a statement sent after the bill signing, the Satanic Temple indicated that hadn't changed. The legislation takes effect July 1, 2024.
"Despite DeSantis's contempt for religious liberty, the U.S. Constitution guarantees our equal treatment under the law, and DeSantis is not at liberty to amend the U.S. Constitution by fiat, at whim," said Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the the Satanic Temple. "[Ron DeSantis] just invited Satanic chaplains into public schools, whether he likes it or not."
DeSantis' comments contradict the bill's sponsor – Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce – who said that because of the First Amendment's religious freedom protections, the school chaplain bill (HB 931) wasn't limiting.
Sen. Grall, though, was concerned about Satanic chaplains: "I think that as soon as we get in the middle of defining what is religion and what is not, and whether or not someone can be available and be on a list, we start to run (into) constitutional problems," she said before the legislation passed.
Yet the fundamental problem remains. The program smashes through the wall between church and school, and it’s patently unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has ruled in cases like 1948's McCollum v. Champaign that public schools could not invite preachers in.
DeSantis seems to be banking on the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority to back this norm-breaking law—a safe bet, given the number of court opinions in recent years that have allowed religion into public schools, including a 2020 decision, Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue, that concluded that leaving religious preachers out of public schools was a kind of "discrimination".

I'm planning to write a fairytale retelling story based on 2 different tales . The original texts glossed over the sexual assault parts and both victims weren't treated as such; therefore, I want to portray both stories through the hardships both characters had to go through. The problem is that, one character is a female and another a male, and I don't want to write the male sexual victim part in a 'hey, men got raped too' way.
The premise is that, the first victim was a queen who slept with 3 different men and her story solely focused on how lustful she was. In my retelling I want to point out that although she didn't suit the 'perfect victim' role in society, those 3 men and the system were the ones that failed her. The queen didn't show physical signs of abuse (since she immediately complied with the men) and didn't cry or seem to be shaken, people thought she 'liked' it. This retelling will focus on the perfect victim myth and the patriarchal society that is still prevalent nowadays.
Otoh, the male victim was a prince who was taken under a spell to his nemesis's kingdom, leaving his family behind, by the work of a wizard who was hired by the twin princesses who desired the prince. Once he reached the palace of the princesses, the wizard released him from the spell; the original text, however, stated that he immediately slept with the princesses as it is the nature of young men. My retelling will focus on the male victim and social stigma concerning it, where the prince found himself in his enemy's land and had to played along with the princesses to survive.
Now, my concern is that my retelling will start from the queen story first, then the prince's. I want to do justice for every victim but I'm afraid that if done poorly, these retellings will repeat the age old dispute of 'men got raped too' whenever women talked about their sexual assault experience. So writers of Reddit, in a sensitive issue where sexes are one important factor, is there something I should avoid or something I should highlight in order to prevent the aforementioned conflict?

Hi all
Back story: I was hired about 3 months ago at my current company (after 5-6 months of struggling to find a job due to current job market). The office is located outside a major city, which is very easy and accessible to me. Regardless, coming from a completely remote sales position, during the interview I asked about hybrid opportunities and was told there may be opportunities to work hybrid and they were actively looking into it. Cool.
After accepting the offer and working for the first couple of weeks. I realized that remote work would be pretty difficult due to the daily sales operations of working closely with the warehouse employees, which is attached to our office. No big deal because of how easily accessible the office is to me.
We were recently all individually told by the CEO that they are planning to move the office (not warehouse) to the major city, which was not told to me in my interview. Because we would not be directly working with the warehouse, I asked again about hybrid opportunities, as the commute to major city daily is a huge pain and costly, and now doable due to working remotely from the warehouse as it is. I was told again by the CEO that they may have opportunities for hybrid and are also looking into some sort of parking passes for a lot or garage for employees (about 10 of us). He acted as if hybrid was a sure thing as well.
Come to find out (by other employees not the ceo) that not only will hybrid NOT be an option but they are expecting us to fully pay for public transit or parking in the city. For me it would be 360-420 dollars per month, which is about 8% of my gross income salary.
People in my office are not happy. some commutes are even more expensive and longer than mine would be now. Any advice on a professional way to bring this up? Or am I just being a Whiney millennial lmao.
To be honest, I would not have taken the job initially had I known zero hybrid opportunity and 5 days a week in a Boston office at the current pay, I would have kept looking as the main justification was how close the office was to my house.
Am I/we (employees) being unreasonable? Or other way around?

[First, I want to be clear that if you enjoy Traviss's work, that is obviously cool. This is just an annoyance I have with her that I do not see people addressing]
The main gripes that EU fans generally have with Traviss is her depiction of Jedi, severe warping of characters and their arcs, and, as one commenter on reddit said awhile back, her fetishization of Mandos. All if these are valid, and there are decent arguments in favor for and against her handling of certain characters and events [I also did some digging on old forums from back in the day - we're talking pre-2010 - and found she had also seriously retconned mando lore in general, which many folks are not aware of; just wanted to throw that out there].
However, there is something else that Traviss rectonned that I do not see people talk about enough. This is her retconning of how clones are portrayed in her Republic Commando series. She humanized them in a way that contradicted how their are shown in the CWMMP. In those books she primarily deals with Commandos, the Null class ARCs, and Mandalorian culture, which I think has overshadowed her treatment of clone lore. Many in the EU fandom give TCW flak for how it humanized the clones to a degree that massively contradicted the CWMMP, and I agree with those criticisms of the show 100%. But no one seems to know/acknowledge that Traviss much of the same thing.
And don't worry, I've brought some examples...
Here is an example of how regular clones (i.e. non-Commandos/Commanders/ARCs were portrayed):
My helmet's speakers crackled softly. "Comm check," lieutenant Four-One said. The Lieutenant's our pilot. The 2nd Lou, CL-33/890, handles nav. He checked in with a "Nav is go." I reported my turret as go, and my port-side partner, CT-014/783, did the same from his... I am a clone trooper in the Grand Army of the Republic. My designation is CT-6/774. I serve on a Republic close-assault gunship. I am the starboard bubble-turret gunner. I love my job. We all do; we're created for it. (From: Shatterpoint, by Matthew Stover,, p. 411-412 of the original trade paperback - part of the short story Equipment)
Notice how they only call each other by their digits. No nicknames. Very depersonalized. They clearly people with minds, somewhat differing personalities, etc. But these are CTs, the "bottom-of-the-barrel" as far as the clone genetic hierarchy goes. That's how their supposed to be. This lines up with how they are portrayed in the Republic comics, Battlefront 2 campaign, and especially the 2003 Micro-series.
Now, here is Karen Traviss...
"You're going to be in the dwang when you get back to HQ, General," the clone trooper sergeant said with a grin. He slipped on his helmet and sealed it. His nickname was Clanky..." She wasn't fully up to speed with the mass of acronyms and slang that had erupted in the last year. She could hardly keep up with the clone troopers' inventiveness: their extraordinary capacity to appropriate language and habits and shape them to their needs had spawned subcultures of clone identity everywhere. She almost felt she needed a protocol droid... "There's nothing to be afraid of. What's your nickname?" "Fi," he said, and it shocked her briefly, but there were many men called Fi in an army with numbers for names... They joked, gossiped, and evolved small subcultures, and mourned... There were two shades of existence that tinted the force in that vast hangar: resignation, and an overwhelming simultaneous sense of both self and community... They were confident of their own abilities, very centered in whatever identity had evolved despite the Kaminoan belief that they were predictable and standardized unites, and they were bonded irrevocably with each other... "Are you alright?" "Yes ma'am." "What's your name, and not your number, okay?" "Nye..." (From: Republic Commando: Triple Zero, p. 54-71)
In case anyone isn't aware, let me point out what's wrong with this:
Triple Zero takes place almost exactly 1 year after AOTC clones, and clones, including Commanders and regs, have nicknames they have given each other by choice. This is, according to the original timeline, about 7-ish months before the ARC training program was started by Alpha-17, at which Anakin had put in a personal request with Alpha to encourage the use of nicknames amongst the commanders since none of them where doing it. Triple Zero makes Anakin's request absurd if all clones, regardless of place on genetic hierarchy used nicknames long beforehand.
More to the point, the clones, not just ARCs/Commanders/Commandos, evolving subcultures, unique identities, so much so that Traviss even straight up says they have "defied" the Kaminoan expectation of them completely upends the CWMMP depiction of clones. This is not that far off from how they are portrayed in TCW. Read Bly's thoughts in the Republic issue where he and Aayla Secura encounter Vos. Even as a commander, one who had respect for Aayla, he is very reserved and nothing like how Gett or Clanky are portrayed. Far from Fordo, far from even Alpha. This also touches on another thing, that being how Karen portrays the clones are good people who are victims of the war. This is not really how they're are portrayed in the CWMMP, and it certainly isn't how they're portrayed in the Dark Times comics. This isn't even getting into Corr, a regular CT who gets accepted into the Commandos by Darman's request. No. Just, no. That's not how that would have ever worked. The clones were cold-hearted, blunt killing machine soldiers who only cared about getting the job done. They were fanatically loyal to the Republic. Yes, they were humans, not organic droids. Yes, there were occasional signs of humanity in them, but by and large, the clones were not victims. They were perpetrators.
And there are more examples I could give, but this post is already neckbeard levels of too long, so I'm gonna shut up.
​
To conclude:
​
I want it to be clear that I'm not saying her stuff is bad, or even that she completely and utter contradicted every single little thing about the clones. In many ways, she is very consistent with the CWMMP. But in a more crucial way, she upended pretty severely clone identity just in this one novel. I personally feel like she does to the GAR what she did to Halsey in her Halo novels.
And please, don't take this post as me trying to be divisive or anything. I'm really not aiming for that. It's just with all the problems that TCW caused the EU, many folks have glossed over problems within the EU's own depiction of the Clone Wars that also warrant criticism.
I eager to receive any engagement feedback/disagreement with y'all!

Hi Charlotte!!! My sister and I have been fans for several years. My sister, Avery is a beautiful redhead, like you, and she really looks up to you. I, Shay (F-22) created this Reddit account just so I can share this story. I promise this is 100% true, and people in my family have told me this story for a long time.
To start off, my mom grew up in as an American in Egypt. My grandpa worked at the American Embassy. I have had a deep fascination with Egypt that started when I was little and continues to this day. Now, I am in college and hope to go to Egypt one day :)
Now for the story. My wonderful parents graduated from college and moved to Washington D.C. for work. My dad was getting his master's degree and my mom was taking care of me, a newborn baby. When I was a couple of months old, my parents decided to take me to the Smithsonian museums because there was a travling Ancient Egypt exhibit, featuring the sarcophagus and mummy of an Egyption princess. My mom was super excited to show my dad the exhibit, and show him some history of where she'd lived for 10+ years.
As my parents made their way through the exhibit, I was in a front carrier on my mom's chest. That fact is important. My mom was carrying a diaper bag, but before entering the room with the exhibit, a security guard stopped her. He said that no bags were allowed and she couldn't bring the diaper bag through.
Leaving the diaper bag at the entrance of the exhibit, my parents walked into the exhibit. My mom said I was enjoying kicking my little legs in the front carrier. She leaned over the glass to inspect some of the jewlery exhibit, and another security guard said she was too close and reminded her to step away from the class. My mom walking through the room and up to the highlight piece of the exhibit, the mummy case. That's when I decided to do something...
While my mom was closely examining the beautiful details of the sarcophogus, I let a huge baby fart and sharted out my diaper, through my onsie, out of the carrier and... all up the side of the glass case of the Egyptian princess's sarcophagus. In an effort to contain the mess, my mom tried to hold back the mess with her hands but instead managed to diffuse it, splattering it wider.
Horrified, my mother tried to grab for her diaper bag, which wasn't there. With baby poop dripping off her hands, she turned and looked at the security guard, who looked as if he might quit his job right then, and offered to clean up the mess but understandably, was waved out of the room.
Now that I'm older, one of my best friends loves to blame anything weird on the idea that, "ever since that day, I've been cursed by that Egyptain Princess" and my parents remind me about when my baby-self desicrated the dead.

This was originally on, AITAH Hi, my name is not important, but my friends call me Dulec. I am a 14-year-old girl, and my best friend is a 15-year-old girl named Mily. I have another friend who is also 14, and her name is Kaylee. Mily and I have been friends for two years now, but it feels like we have known each other forever. We are very close and always hang out together, just like sisters and best friends do. We have each other's backs, especially in school.
Lately, Mily has been spending time with a different set of friends. I don't mind it much because she is free to choose her own friends, just as I am. I am not the kind of person who gets bothered by this.
Over course of 3 months Mily has been displaying some odd behaviors. let's just leave it there for now and talk about her friends.
Her friends are the type of people who make jokes about child abuse, the Holocaust, slavery, and racism. They also constantly use racial slurs around their one black friend. As a black person who has experienced abuse and racism, I don't want to associate with those kinds of people.
I confided in my friend Mily about the abuse I suffered as a child and the emotional scars and trauma it left me with. She kept insisting that I tell her everything, which made me feel uncomfortable. This will be relevant later on.
I'm not very knowledgeable about sexual education, just the basics. However, after I confided in Mily about my past, she started treating me like a child and talking down to me.
Fast forward to cheer practice, where all the cheerleaders were eating together at a table. We started discussing boys, and I said I wasn't interested in anyone. One girl at the table attacked me for saying that, and I told her there was no need to be so hostile. She then accused me of using "big words" and said that's not how people are supposed to talk. I explained that I learned those words in school, but the girl continued to attack me.
I have never told many people this, but because of what I've been through in my life, I had to grow up mentally much faster than my peers. When the girl asked me if I had a boyfriend or knew about sex, I replied that I didn't have to answer that. I looked to Mily for support, but she sided with the other girl and called me dumb.
"After that, I felt really bad around her and had a mental breakdown. I was going through a lot in my life at the time and didn't need her to be a terrible friend to me. All I wanted was love and support for once in my life to not feel alone. I have always been there for her, and even when she felt sad, I comforted her. She did the same thing that hurt me to know."
"Now let's go back in time for a moment. Do you remember Kaylee in Kaylee's class? They were learning about the Holocaust and the terrible things that happened. The girl said to Kaylee since she had Jewish descent, she was supposed to be in the concentration camps and killed. I don't know about you, but that's a crazy thing to say to someone. Especially my friend. I was angry but couldn't do anything because of principle. I already did something, but I set the record straight with her that I didn't like her. Each time I saw her in the hallways, I gave her a dirty look. A few weeks after the incident, guess who became friends with the girl who said that? Mily. I was bewildered, but if she wanted to be friends with her, that's okay. I just personally did not like her because of what she said. I also tried to stay as far away as I could from her. Kaylee seemed hurt."
"Fast forward to five months after everything I've just told you. I called up Kaylee and said, 'I feel very bad.' And she said, 'What's wrong?' So, I started venting to her about how I felt about Mily. She told me our relationship was kind of toxic. The fact that Mily persistently asked about my abuse story after knowing belittled me and made me feel bad."
"A few weeks after that, I decided to break up our friendship. I did not want to deal with that, and I would rather not deal with someone who hurts people that I care about, which is Kaylee. Now she is one of my best friends. But now Mily is talking behind my back and saying that I was a bad friend. I'm sorry, but that made me reconsider my decisions. So, am I the asshole?"

Hey there :)
I'd always heard Persona 3 had a great story, ever since I was a kid and people would recommend it for the PSP, so I was glad they made a remake of it earlier this year. I just saw today that it went on a sale of 30% off, which is pretty crazy considering it came out a few months ago. Goes without saying, it's currently at a historical low.
These tend to get a bit away from me and this one is no different this time either. I'm hoping it's got enough relevant info without feeling too ramble-y or reading as filler.
(My username is a Drawfee reference, by the way)
​
Why Persona 3 Reload?
I'd considered making a request post for Persona 3 Reload around the time it came out, but that seemed unnecessary since I hadn't played the 4th one, which was much cheaper. I was gifted Persona 4 Golden after making that request post and it's easily in my top 5 favourite games. Probably top 3. If anyone who happens to be reading this, hasn't played that game yet-I cannot recommend it enough. I'm itching to go through another one of these adventures from beginning to end, especially since I've always heard that this one (Reload) has the best story out of any of the Persona games.
I was lucky enough to be given Persona 5 Royal by someone I know this past year and really enjoyed that one. I'm right near the end in that one, but got myself pretty soft-locked by playing ~80 hours before realizing you can switch out Personas mid-battle. Lesson learned haha. Don't have it in me to replay ~85 hours within such a short amount of time (ADHD), but at least it'll be something to revisit in a year or two. Despite getting stuck that far into it, it's definitely also way up there as one of my favourite games. Also despite missing out on a pretty core gameplay mechanic lol
I currently have a torn tendon in one arm, with tendonitis in the other 3 surrounding tendons, from an injury that happened while I was on the street. I'm fairly limited right now to turn-based or point-and-click games since doing fast inputs aggravates my shoulder. And, as cheesy as this sounds, getting in the zone playing Persona 4 Golden actually helped distract from the pain a lot more than I would've thought. There's been a lot of days I'm having a harder time focusing on anything because the pain keeps making itself known. Playing a rock album while killing monsters and then watching some story happen while making decisions every once in a while to break it up, had really helped the hours pass by much faster.
Why I don't have the budget to buy it fullprice
I'd made some Request posts earlier this past year after being homeless (due to neuro issues) and unable to buy any games for myself whatsoever after my cards got stolen while I was on the street and were then in overdraft. Thankfully, now that I'm on disability I've got an income, however, I've done the math and it gives less than half what you would get working minimum wage where I live-so my budget's pretty tight.
I'm, luckily, still living with my parents so I've been able to afford rent and whatnot, but I still don't have much expendable income. I do have a bit of money coming in now though, rather than being in overdraft like before, so I figured I'd post a request for about half the cost of the game instead of asking for someone to buy the whole game for me. I'm still stretching my budget a tiny bit to cover the other half since I've got some expenses coming up that I have to budget for, but I'm going to get a frig-ton of hours out of it and I liked the other ones so much that I'm okay treating myself a bit. Especially to help with where the pain is at right now. I've got an appointment with orthopedic surgery in a month, so hopefully I'll get better pain management than distractions, at that point. Fingers crossed.
For anyone looking for an update from my last posts: I'd mentioned before that I'm not planning on staying on disability and I've figured out what job I'd like to set myself up for, so I'm starting to make moves towards making that happen (hence some of the budgeting). I've unfortunately ran into some red tape which is delaying things, but at least things are in motion! As far as my neuro stuff, I'm still waiting on imaging in the next year or so, so hopefully there's been no extra growth or anything. Slowly getting other things checked out in the meantime to address the injuries I got while on the street-waiting on imaging results for my other, non-messed up (hopefully) arm right now just to be sure things are allright in that one too. Things are slow, but on an upward trajectory.
Closing Remarks
I'm Requesting $25 USD in giftcard funds so I can purchase Persona 3 Reload. I live in Canada so it converts to ~$35 dollars in Canadian (CAD) which would cover about half the cost of the game (once you factor in taxes). Depending on where you gift a giftcard from, the conversion rate will change the currency/amount. Ie a giftcard for €25 EUR would be $36.55 CAD. Here's a conversion thing if you're looking into gifting the Steam funds (you'd just hit the drop-down menu on the currency and switch it to whatever your currency is to see the value difference between the currency you use and CAD).
Here's a link to the Steam Giftcard Page
Here's a link to the Persona 3 Reload Steam Store Page so you can check it out and see what it's about if you don't already know
Here's a link to my Steam Profile
Thanks to any of those who read this far, or even to those who have skimmed down to the end. Cheers.

Hey everyone, there's no doubt that Aerith's death scene in Rebirth has been a source of contention between fans. Some love it while others hate it. Bit of a long post but these are just my thoughts on why I think the rendition in Rebirth delivers the same storytelling intent that it did in the OG.
Think back to the first time you played the original game, a blind playthrough without any knowledge of what was to happen. When the Masamune suddenly pierced through Aerith, what was your instantaneous gut reaction? After honestly reflecting, I don't think it was sadness, grief, or despair - those came later. What preceded that was shock, disbelief, confusion, and uncertainty. Namely, thoughts like; what?!, wtf, no way that just happened, is this really happening, this can't be real, did Aerith just die, is she actually dead?! Things along those lines were likely the initial feelings, which were then forced to take the backseat as we were thrust into the Jenova fight. The heartbreak regarding her demise wasn't pronounced until the realization gradually set in that she was indeed gone. And from a storytelling perspective that realization wasn't provided to the player until the burial scene, after the Jenova fight. During the fight itself the overwhelming feeling was that of perplexity, confusion, and shock, unironically similar to Rebirth.
Here is a subtle point which I think is often overlooked. After experiencing this scene in the OG for the first time we as players made the subconscious link between the moment of her stabbing and her death. This was because we now had full context of the scenario, i.e. Sephiroth stabbed her = Aerith died. Going forward any subsequent playthrough of the OG definitively meant that once Sephiroth descends, it's over for Aerith. Therefore in our minds the scene forever signified the tragedy of Aerith's final moments, which is why it carries the emotional weight that it does. When we approach it in the game on any subsequent OG playthrough's we're hit with that emotional weight because we know the context - she's about to die. The uncertainty and initial shock from our first experience is no longer present, better yet it's permanently erased and replaced instead with feelings of grief and loss since we know what happens.
Now from a storytelling perspective let's place ourselves in the writing team's shoes for Rebirth. In order to stay true to the original they had to deliver not the incredibly emotional moment that returning players had foresight of, but rather that similar feeling of shock, disbelief, confusion, and uncertainty that accompanied our first playthrough. This is because Rebirth will in fact be the first playthrough for many new players. Therefore they had to do it in a way that both brand new players AND returning players would equally experience the same emotions. A 1:1 remake of the original scene would not provide this novelty. As a result, the way in which they handled the scene attempted to create those similar sentiments that we felt the first time we saw Aerith ostensibly die - i.e. wtf, did she just die, is she actually dead, will she survive, etc. After Sephiroth's monologue were were again thrusted into the Jenova fight with an incredible rendition of Aerith's theme playing, all while still processing the complexity and magnitude of what just happened. In this regard it's very much like our first playthrough of the OG.
For returning players who know the story, an often mistake while playing these remake titles is superimposing foresight of the OG and judgingly playing the game from that point of view. I personally feel that this game delivers best when despite knowing the story beforehand, it's approached from the perspective of reimagining oneself playing FF7 for the first time; taking in the game as it's presented within its own context rather than through the lens of already expecting what's to happen. Many players went into that Aerith scene in Rebirth waiting to be hit by the emotional hammer of her death, forgetting that the first time that they played this moment in the OG they had no idea that was to come. As such, it's a bit disingenuous to overlook this context then blame the game for not delivering what it never meant to in the first place. After all they're retelling the story for brand new players as well, who aren't approaching that moment expecting or knowing that she died in the OG. They're gonna be hit with confusion and shock just as we were during our first encounter in the OG.
In Rebirth, by design it wasn't supposed to be a monumental moment of loss that explicitly showed and confirmed her death. It's why the burial scene hasn't taken place. In fact, within the context of this remake series' narrative, the scene was masterfully done from a directing point of view. More-so than the original we're very much playing this game through the lens of a severely mentally unstable Cloud. As Sephiroth aptly uttered in that exact moment, we're seeing the scene through clouded eyes just as Cloud is, and it's not until Cloud is able to see the truth in the next game that we as the player also will. Until that moment arrives I presume we will be slowly piecing the puzzle together alongside Cloud. It's an excellent implementation of the unreliable narrator. According to the new Ultimania even Nomura has said the intention behind that scene was to remain ambiguous for the time being, and highlight how in real life facing loss is a complex process. There is an initial period of disbelief and bewilderment that precedes grief and sorrow.
Some people may be thinking well the scene is now over, the emotional buildup of the moment is gone, how are they going to recreate it and deliver the meaningful loss we were expecting to feel at her death. As uninteresting as it sounds I think the answer is to just trust the writers. This is the story they've written and chosen to tell after nearly 3 decades, safe to assume they must have strong conviction in what they've prepared to deliver. It's the same creative team as the original after all, so story-telling prowess is not an issue. In fact, almost no one disagrees that they've done a phenomenal job expanding character moments and depth in the remakes. There are many more emotional scenes in Remake and Rebirth than the OG had at this same point in the story. Take Biggs' and Jessie's deaths, Tifa's lifestream sequence, the trials at the Temple of Ancients, Aerith's goodbye to Cloud in the church during the dream date. Even Dyne's death, while one may prefer the original's scenario, there's no denying it was still a powerful scene. Ultimately the creators have shown that they know how to deliver in heavy character moments. For this reason I have no doubt they will in part 3 as well when it comes to one of the most iconic deaths in gaming. Just to note I do think she's actually dead because devs have said they're not planning to change the major story beats of the OG, and both games thus far have been following the original plot incredibly faithfully. For those who think that she doesn't actually die, then that explains the mystery and ambiguity of the scene either way.
Apologies for the long post. I know it may have been redundant at some point, if you made it this far I hope it made some sense. Definitely not claiming I'm right or trying to convince anyone. Just my interpretation of why from a storytelling POV they handled it the way they did. Respectful discussions and disagreements are always welcome.

Okay so- long story short: Our Shift Leader decided to leave as soon as she found out that she was pregnant. (She called this a leave of absence, as she might plan to come back after she has her baby.) I waited a month to bring up to our District Manager that I wanted the position. I wanted the Shift Lead job temporarily until said co-worker returned, or permanently if she decided to not come back.
District Manager is best friends with our Shift Leader, and told me that we might wait until she comes back to remain shift lead (10 months) or I will gain the promotion by doing a list of extra work everyday on top of my current job. (Mind you, the current Shift Leader did NONE of these things. She barely even worked 6 hour shifts without complaining. I work 12 hour shifts with no complaints. I need the money, and enjoy the work.)
Current Shift Lead hasn’t been to work in 3 months coming May. I have asked my District Manager and even gone above her to our Owner to inquire about the position. They string me along.
I want this job, and SHOW that I do with my countless overtime hours and leader qualities as I have trained ALL of our current workers.
They only hired a Store Manager because Corporate came and yelled at them for lacking one. I feel as if I’m doing the Shift Leader’s job already without the additional raise. (It’s only $1.)
I don’t want to leave this job, but I’d like to contact someone about this that is above them. We have 4 workers on the roster, and having no leader aside from the store manager is an issue. 2 people scheduled nights with NO direction and increasingly busier nights with no leader to take charge. Things are mismanaged, and I don’t know who to contact without causing myself to be hated by my bosses.
I want the job so badly. I want to eventually own a franchise. I want to move up in the company. But it seems like they want to take advantage of me being so eager to run the store without the proper pay.
What do I do???

Throwaway Account
There are two brothers whom I’ll call Jack (M29) and Jason (M27) who live next door to my (M25) family. Jack and Jason are really big on rescuing dogs from so-called killed shelters. In the 4 years they’ve lived next door, they’ve had 3 different shelter dogs. They always get the dogs with the most issues since these ones are supposedly the ones most at risk. Since Jason sometimes does dog training the last 2 dogs were able to become “relatively” normal. This most recent one however is a different story.
Back in January, Jack and Jason got this rescue dog I’ll call Max. From what Jason told me, Max is something called a great pyrenees and weighs well over 100 lbs. Max was going to be put down since none of his owners could stand him for more than a week. He was supposed to be put down the day after Jack and Jason brought him to their house.
After about a few days, it became obvious to me why none of Max’s owners kept him long-term. This dog is an actual nightmare. He constantly barks and growls at the smallest sounds. They sometimes let Max free in their backyard and if I’m in our backyard he’ll follow my every move and constantly be growling. Also, because Max has a lengthy history of aggression, they need to take him on walks before sunrise because he lunges when he sees people, other dogs, etc. Jason always tries to justify Max’s behaviour and uses such bizarre language when describing him as “excitable”, “curious”, and “reactive” which I’m pretty sure are all just codes for aggressive.
Since Max has supposedly been improving around people and other animals, Jason has tried to take him for walks during the day. I sometimes see him giving Max some sort of treat if he doesn’t lunge or bark at people which I guess is part of the training. A few days ago, all this went out the window as Max apparently got out of Jack’s grip and ended up chasing some children. Thankfully they were able to get into their house before he reached them. I guess Max wasn’t too happy about that because he then turned on the car in the driveway and started tearing it apart. It took Jason a good 5 minutes to get him to stop.
The damage to the car was pretty significant (see here) and the homeowner called animal control. Of course, before she could call Jason apologized and begged her not to. He not only offered to pay for all damages but also give her money. All because he knew once animal control was involved Max would be done for.
The lady refused all this and called anyway. Long story short, Max was taken away and according to Jason the paperwork to have him put down is already complete. When Jason told me all of this, I told him that it was probably for the best since Max was a menace to the neighbourhood. Jason seemed upset with this and now people in my social circle think I should apologize.
AITA? I only gave him my honest opinion

Okay, first off why would anyone find entertainment out of someone telling a story about how someone murdered someone's daughter, or father? It's depressing AF, and I honestly don't fully judge people who watch it but for me, Ovehearing Mr ballen podcast on my dad's phone against my will in a car was enough to convince me I hate true crime, It's just an emotional rollercoaster, thinking that the daughter is going to be ok, safe only to find out someone sadistic took her to a private location and choked her until she passed away... Seriously messed up stuff, It's just odd to me that people enjoy listening to this stuff without having any emotion towards it

I (F33) have a partner (M33) and we have children together. My partner has a kink. He largely kept this hidden from me for 11 years (he said due to shame/embarassment). He has mentioned it but very briefly and said he didn't want to try it at that time. A few months ago we started discussing it and I said I'd be up for trying it with him. So we have been. I also found out around the same time that he had been posting erotic content about it online for years without my knowledge and having some direct conversations with readers about the stories.
Fast forward and feeling comfortable with it, he has now set up a business around this kink, which is growing nicely. I found out a week ago that he had been responding to DMs from people using his erotic persona. Some of these messages weren't to people who were interested in buying content. I was very upset about this as felt like he'd crossed a boundary but he feels like it's just part of the role related to the business and not an issue as he doesn't intend for the conversations to go anywhere personal.
In the last few days he's been saying he'd like to attend an erotic social event and potentially go without me. We have recently had a child so I don't think I could go on my own for quite a while and he's concerned that I'll be scrutinising his every move if I do go. I feel like he should delay and go when I can go and when our relationship has healed and my trust has rebuilt. He feels like it should be okay for him to go on his own because it's just about him meeting others who have an interest in his kink, finding out what they do, what kind of people they are. I feel like it's not a great time as we're unable to do much sexual stuff together currently due to new baby and I'm feeling insecure due to the stuff he's ommitted to tell me around this kink for years. What do you think? How reasonable is he being to ask this? How reasonable is he being to want to go alone and not wait for me? He doesn't like feeling controlled and I have some insecurities which can make giving full trust difficult.

I was molested by my fifteen year old neighbor when I was eight. Because it wasn't your typical situation, I was actually hoping she would of been my wife. Fast forward a few years later, we moved apart and when she came back into my life -- I was then sixteen and in my first real relationship with another victim of what I would now consider to be rape.
I broke up with her shortly after and began to have an emotional crisis because our relationship was founded on meaningless sex and when I looked at when my neighbor did what she had, I began to see certain cycles repeating.
So, I started looking into statistics -- started talking to my folks, ask if they were molested, come to find... yea. Both of their mothers and both of my parents were victims of rape.
And I'm growing up in Irvine at the time -- walking around seeing old Asian men smack their wives, or hearing them beat each other through the walls when I lived in apartments/connected condos, thinking about when my first real partner cheated on me -- thinking about how I forgave her because I was just a stupid child who was hoping to gain some real world experience.
And I started to think about all the racial stigmas we have about each other and how I've seen these echo across all ethnicities -- and of course, I've been wondering how many of the people pushing these lazy thoughts have pointed that finger back at people close to them or related to them for that matter.
Well, somewhere along the way through my existential crisis -- I was reading about Siddartha.
And at the time, I was exercising for eight hours a day, practicing calligraphy, taking speech and debate club, doing acting, etc... tl;dr -- being groomed for a level of success that I ultimately wasn't able to handle.
And then I snapped. I felt like I wasn't in my own head. I couldn't sleep for days on end. I was now a visitor to my own life and all of that used to make me golden, was smothered in shit -- and I was quickly becoming poison.
I'd developed epilepsy from excessive sleep deprivation, they took me to the docs, they gave me the drugs that erased my ability to be there -- I weened myself off the drugs due to a deep mistrust of a system that didn't seem to care, fell into insanity -- became homeless, fell from my parents insurance, couldn't get the medical help I needed because they don't care for you when you're here -- and its been down hill ever since.
I've no kids, I've only ever been with three women, I've found it insanely easy to connect to people -- even easier to do everything I've ever done -- and with these easy connections, comes great pain. So, to avoid passing on my insanity -- I've quarantined myself.
Yes, there is a lot of information that is necessary to make a lot of this make sense -- but I'm thirty years old now, homeless, and am labeled a drug addict. At best I am a malnourished soon-to-be ALS patient slipping into nothing.
But while I've been slowly killing myself, I've traveled around the continent -- every state and most of mexico and some of Canada -- I see a lot of the same trash I see here, over there, and in myself I also see you guys.
Sorry for the rough story telling but I've been struggling with my own personal guilt conflated against a world that doesn't seem to be much better and yeah it's pretty shitty of me to put that on you guys because "just because of X doesn't mean Y is true, what about the exceptions to the rules"
But I'm sorry I'm homeless. I'm sorry my family and the government/quacks denies my disease. I'm sorry that I've never been able to keep it together.
I wish I became a drug addict, at least then -- you guys could of been right about me.
I don't want to live anymore. I've lived a relatively full life I think at least for someone in my position...
Mom's dead. Dad lost his shit. Sister doesn't wanna talk. Rest of my family is pretentious religious zealots. Or worse. My friends are all the scum of society apparently. So too must I be.
And the one woman besides my mom who ever treated me like a real human I had to push away because she was and is bound for success.
Fuck you all. Fuck me. Wish the rats would feast on me. I just want peace of mind.
I was never suicidal for all of my life -- I don't think I'm suicidal now, but I don't want to be alive anymore, but I don't want to be dead.
I look around me and the people who have their houses and etc, are starting to do things that remind me of when I lost my cool, and its freaking me out.
I wish I didn't smell like shit. I wish I wasn't afraid to reach out for help. I wish I had a job. I wish I had money. I wish my mom was still alive. I wish everyone was cool again. Or rather, I wish I was young and stupid again, oblivious to what I think very few people can see.
And please, don't be kind to me. Don't offer me advice. Don't anything. Just take from me what you can, and move on. Like everything else and everyone else will, for everything and everyone else -- unrelated and related to me.
Be well. Be better. You guys have so much more going for you, you could be me. You could be worse than me.

Hi! I've been a One Piece fan for over a decade, and I love the conversations regarding the Earth in this story potentially not being correctly orientated. This obviously isn't a complete theory that has originated from many before me, but I can provide some scientific rationale for the conversation that may help.
Throughout the One Piece story, there's been a lot of evidence to suggest that the One Piece world has been rotated 90 degrees so that the magnetic north doesn't align with the true north (ex. Jaya birds, map orientations, whale migratory patterns, etc.). Lots of evidence for that has been laid out before, so I'm not going to get into all of that here. But I DID want to talk about what would happen if the Earth rotated back 90 degrees, making the Grand Line run North to South and the Red Line along the equator.
Our own Earth isn't perfectly spherical- the rotation of the Earth causes a centrifugal force, causing the planet to bulge out along the equator where the rotation is the fastest (called the equatorial bulge). As a result, along the equator, the relative sea level is higher in this area. If the One Piece planet has been rotated 90 degrees, that would mean that the sea is artificially higher along the Grand Line (where the are now a bunch of small islands where people live) compared to the rest of the 'true ocean', and is potentially covering space in the Grand Line that was once an exposed continent that people lived on. This would explain both why there are ruins of towns on the sea floor, and why the Grand Line ocean area is so turbulent.
If the Earth had been rotated, the entire ocean circulation would have been suddenly disrupted, and the water passing over this newly-covered Grand Line would be a lot shallower than the real ocean depths around it, denoted by the Calm Belt edge. This water would be very turbulent, and explain some of the extremely rough seas in the Grand Line. The best analogy to this is water circulation patterns formed by white waters (and used in white water rafting). The water then running into this comparatively higher piece of continental crust along its sides wouldn't have anywhere to go, and not generate currents or even potentially large wind patterns (think of Backwaters in rivers).
The sudden rotation of the planet would also explain the variations in weather patterns and magnetic fields of the different exposed islands along the Grand Line. After being rotated so suddenly, their magnetic fields would be completely out of sync with the planet, as well as with the larger thermohaline circulation patterns (deep ocean currents that are huge drivers for temperature and salt circulation patterns). With the disruption of these currents, continental areas (now islands) that may have once received colder, deeper circulation waters are now getting warmer ones, and vice versa. Combined with magnetic anomalies, this could be the cause of the crazy weather patterns seen on many of the islands visited, and why the special Log Pose compasses are needed for navigation.
If the Earth was rotated back 90 degrees, this would have huge implications for reconnecting the world and the four Blues. To start, the theorized connecting continent along the Grand Line would be exposed as the equatorial bulge was relocated, and the many islands along it would be reconnected together. There also wouldn't be the deadly and harsh waters of the Grand Line and the Calm Belts separating people, allowing them to come together (one step closer to the 'All Blue' goal). This would also allow many of the Straw Hat crew to fulfill their own dreams.
At the same time, this theory alone doesn't explain why the Red Line exists. However, just by looking at it, it's clear that the Red Line is not natural to the world around it and has been raised from the ocean floor (cliff-like edges, lack of natural life, etc.). This act alone would have caused a huge displacement of water and tsunamis, and ultimately may have been the cause of a prior flood, or the first 'cleansing'. However, the Red Line's existence may make better sense in the broader picture of the world nobles and Gorosei.
This also all then begs the natural questions of why, how, and by whom.
I think the 'whom' side of this is the easiest to speculate on and kind of answers the other two questions. Imu. All of the other Gorosei are shown to be other planetary Gods that have immense power yet have chosen to make Imu their ruler. None of them seen like they would want to give up such a ruling power that they could control themselves so easily UNLESS Imu already had the same planetary power, but for Earth. If Imu had such a powerful Earth-controlling power, he most likely was the individual responsible for either raising the Red Line or rotating the Earth 90 degrees.
The Red-Line-raising and the Earth-rotating actions could be theorized in either order, with Oda potentially rationalizing it either way. The raising of the Red Line to encompass the Tree of Eve, blocking sunlight and thus hope to the now disconnected masses could have caused enough turmoil to rotate the Earth, but an easier explanation is the opposite order of events. Imu could have rotated the Earth 90 degrees to flood the major Grand Line continent and kill the masses in a first-strike flood, then followed by the raising of the Red Line. This would have enclosed the Tree of Eve, given his loyal "Celestials" a place to live, given the Gorosei a place to live away from prying eyes, and broken up the ocean into four distinct Blues. This tactical move would have separated the people and made them easier to control (for what is power if you have no one to rule over). However unclear, it is easily concluded that the Red Line needs to be destroyed to free the Tree of Eve and connect the people of the world.
By rotating back the Earth 90 degrees and destroying the Red Line (post-Imu defeat), Luffy could fulfill many of his own dreams and those of his crew.
However, most importantly, this theory could potentially be rationalized by Oda to a broad audience in a limited number of panels, which would go something as follows: 1) Imu is the Earth God, and can control the tectonics of the planet. 2) During the time of Joyboy, Joyboy or someone affiliated got too close to finding out the truth of the Gorosei so a great world cleansing was initiated. 3) To prevent this from happening again, Imu rotated the Earth and raised the Red Line, separating the people and killing many more. 4) Raising the Red Line gave the Gorosei somewhere to live away from the people, which they also extended to the Celestials. 5) The Celestials were just people or a kingdom that sided with the Gorosei during this fight and were thus granted a place to live in the "Holy Land of Mariejoa". 6) To reconnect the people, Imu/some power must be forced to reorient the Earth. 7) The Red Line must be destroyed.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter, and see what people think (either in favor-of or against)!

So, I was thinking about what a shame it is that the people who love the game enough to be discussing where to go for the Major Order on the Discord or Reddit are ultimately wasting their time because the bulk of the playerbase ends up interacting with the game’s galactic war exclusively through the war table. People go where they want, or they go to the first planet they see with a lot of other people on it, ignoring things that the Reddit/Discord community considers such as cutting off supply lines and liberation gambits that are broadcasted to us through these additional channels outside of the game.
What if we ran a poll on which planet the Reddit/discord community thinks should be the main focus, with the winning planet being given an additional 5% increase to requisition slips, an extra medal per mission completed, or some reward of that kind until the target planet is completed.
People who only play to enjoy the game might simply not know or care enough about supply lines/other factors, so they go where the bulk of people are. People also might simply refuse to spend their one hour of free time on a planet with effects/enemy types they don’t like and instead opt for a planet they view more favorably for whatever reason.
This solves both issues. It gives people clarity on the game’s liberation mechanic without them having to understand/consider all the factors the more dedicated playerbase considers, and it incentivizes those who would otherwise not see /any/ reason to play outside of their comfort planet/faction with a SLIGHTLY, almost negligible boost to the game’s progression system.
Obviously this would only apply to larger Major Orders, and would likely need to be implemented sparingly. So what about waves? Let’s say we have 6 days to liberate 10 planets, one planet gets a boost on the first day. Two days later, a separate poll is run and a new planet gets a boost. On the last day, a final poll is run and one planet gets a boost. This reduces the amount of polls/planets getting a boost to once every couple days only during story moments when a huge Major Order is being run. So 3 planets out of 10 get a boost, the playerbase still gets time to liberate however they’d like with no punishment, and we might even hit higher player counts on days where there is a planet giving a “boost to liberation”.
Just an idea, let me know what you guys think

Hii Charlotte I wanted to share this story with y'all English isn't my first language so I'm sorry if there's no punctuations or bad grammar. Just wanted to say that I have so many stories to share so if anything I'll share them here thank you for being an amazing content creator But let's start
5 years ago I met my best friend let's call her "Karen" well me and Karen have been best friends as you can see for a very long time recently I've noticed the changes in her behavior she has always been the flirty type of friend and pretty much no filter at all.
we all have a friend group most of us in relationships (I'm lesbian most of my friends aren't but I am in a relationship) this is important tho.
karen is bi she shared this with us and nobody ever judged her as we all had family members who are bi and know people also and I myself am lesbian But recently she has been really touchy with certain guys who mind you are her best friends bfs we just thought she was trying to be friendly (with touch) I guess her claws where starting to get pretty long.
Because soon we discovered that she wasn't being friendly but more trying to do something else She has texted one of our friends we will call her Lisa well Karen shared with lisa that she had a crush on every guy that our bffs where dating including my gf who is dating me this was a shocker I don't think Karen thought Lisa would tell us but she clearly told us.
the most crazy part is that not only has she been having these crushes but she's been sending flirty texts messages and photos n*** photos of herself to these guys. The girls confronted her and she said that it was all a lie and she was only joking to get a reaction out of us two weeks later she gets caught trying to have s*** with two of the guys and trying to even get with my gf.
I called her out on her actions and she said I was being an asshole for telling her that her actions are f stupid and she should learn some respect we kicked her out of our friend group but now she's going online about how we ruined her life and her chances at happiness.
Mind you we didn't say anything to anybody after we stopped talk to her and she tried to be a little petty by breaking my car and putting spray paint as over it a White was with bright pink paint a new car at that. and saying it was pay back for all we did to her.
but that pissed us all of so we got petty and took screenshots and proof of her actions and send them to her whole entire family friends that didn't know what happenend.
Apparently some of the guys let's call them chad , Tyler and jacob got mad at this and told their girlfriends how low this was and how childish we were being that Karen was doing nothing wrong except have some silly little crush on them ( my girlfriend agreed with me and my friends yayyy some of the other guys did agree with us tho except those 3.
Oh yes those guys that made comments on our actions (WERE ALREADY SLEEPING WITH KAREN BEHIND THEIR GF BACK FOR OVER A YEAR NOW) the three of them did break up and now my besties have amazing bfs I'm still with my gf but Karen is now in a relationship but still hasn't taken a break from trying to get in-between relationships.
AITA FOR calling her out and dropping our friendship with her?

Hi! I bought a 3 bed, 2 bath house in 2022. It’s around 1,300 sq ft. I more or less settled on the house (it’s a long story). My non-negotiables were a condo in a city but I got sfh in a suburb. My plan is to rent the house out and buy a condo, either a one bed or studio, in Miami, which is one hour from me. I’m trying to be patient but am highly debating selling instead. I just hate Boca Raton so much and am way too young to live here lol. I care a lot about walkability and love being around people (not all old people) so suburbs just ain’t it.
Whether I remain patient or not, has anyone done something similar? What was your experience? Was it worth it to finally be in a location that makes you happy? Was the size reduction a big deal? And is there anything you recommend I consider or think about before making this decision?
TYIA!