Let's look at it both ways. Either Karen is innocent or she is guilty. If she is innocent, she has had a tremendous streak of bad luck, and if she is guilty she has had a tremendous streak of good luck.
Innocent:
-She happened to bust her tail light just several hours after she is alleged to have hit her boyfriend with the rear of her car in an unrelated fender bender
-She decided not to go to the party that night at the last minute, meaning she couldn't be there to see what happened.
-She contacted Jen McCabe that morning, who just so happened to be planning to frame her.
Guilty:
-Brian Albert happens to butt dial Brian Higgins at 2:20am, raising the question of why he would reach out to Brian Higgins at such an odd hour of the night.
-Brian Albert and Brian Higgins just happen to get rid of their phones right before they are ordered to preserve information, which obviously looks suspicious.
-Jen McCabe just happened to delete calls and texts for unclear reasons and made a google search at 2:27am (i might be off by a few mins here but it was around then) that could be interpreted as being highly relevant to the case.
This isn't me trying to argue one way or the other, but it's just insane how both circumstances involve a bunch of crazy red herrings. I think that's what makes this case so interesting to follow.

I, 26f, am addicted to catfishing people. Addicted might be a strong word but I find myself doing it often. I don’t set up meetings, I usually just ghost them before it gets to that point.
To preface, I am what I would call “girl pretty”. Which means that when I’m around my girl friends or out with them and other girls are around I get told that I am “gorgeous” “beautiful” etc, but never receive those same compliments from guys. (Girls I hope you get what I’m talking about) I know this is because I do not meet the “beauty standards” of my area. (Info: I am from the Midwest. I am mixed, dark curly hair and on the heavier side)
But I guess I am pretty enough for guys to want to hook up with but never ask on a real date or actually get to know without the promise of sex mixed in. It’s really discouraging having never been romantically pursued by a man without those intentions at the forefront.
I can’t even begin to explain how frustrating it is to meet a man and actually have so much in common with them but for them to not give me a second glance as a romantic choice. I am perpetually stuck in the friendzone.
So one day I decided to conduct an experiment to see if I acted like myself but just didn’t look like myself would these guys who wouldn’t give me a second glance give me a chance? Long story short, yes. They all loved this other version of me.
I know I shouldn’t keep doing it and like I said before, I don’t talk to any of these guys long enough for any real feelings to brew to go full on Catfish™️ but yeah. I just had to share.

marked nsfw due to topic
About 7 months ago we rescued a little female calico kitten (named asajj) that was thrown out of a car on my way home from work, she's been very sweet and all things considering relatively quite and calm. Fast forward to this past week when we rescued another male cat (named revan) probably around 6months - a year old. Fate would have it Asajj has decided to go into heat for the first time when he showed up! We have them separated for the time being (his appointment to get fixed is in 3 days and hers is in june) but asajj has decided she hates being kept from the love of her life and has been "howling" almost non stop for him. I was just seeing if anyone had any tips on how to help her quite down until he gets fixed and they can hang out again, thank you in advance!

I’ll try to keep a long story short as much as possible while still providing the most relevant details. I’m a 29/F and have been involved with my boyfriend 30/M for two years.
Basically my boyfriend who I recently moved in with has had this female friend from work since before we met. Let’s call her Ren 29/F. My bf helped Ren & her husband with their wedding, attended and everything, & since they’re all around the same age / have similar interests, Ren would invite him to their group outings (music festivals, dinners, etc.) with all their other coupled friends.
My bf (before we started dating) was the single guy of the group at the time. Ren’s husband didn’t like my bf because he felt threatened by him or whatever and in turn, got the other males in this friend group to have the same, we’ll call it hesitancies, about him so my boyfriend expressed to me he always felt like the outsider of the group.
Ren & my boyfriend would also hang out just one on one every couple months or so (in addition to seeing each other at work almost every day). While my boyfriend and I were in the “talking stage”, he’d share a lot about how he would talk to her about me and that she was excited to meet me, etc.
When I met her, I’ll be honest, nice girl but I didn’t get the most genuine vibes… i’ll just leave it at that. Even then, I tried to give the benefit of the doubt as I didn’t have any other reason to be suspicious.
Anyway. My boyfriend & I started officially dating & were doing the long distance thing for about six months before I moved out to the state where they all live. He would freely share a lot about their conversations and hang outs (between him and Ren), which I appreciated he did on his own as I hadn’t expressed any concerns at that point.
I’ll bullet point what were the “final” three straws for me before I felt I had to say something, as this is already getting way longer than I was hoping and don’t want to dilute the main concerns lol

1. While Ren & my bf were talking about me moving out there, she said “snarkily & playfully” (his words) that “she better not take my best friend”….. this was the moment everything switched in my mind as I thought it was majorly inappropriate and not something I would ever say to any of my guy friends with girlfriends even as immature as I’ve been in the past, let alone the fact that this is coming from a MARRIED woman, but I still didn’t say anything as I didn’t want to make an issue out of nothing since I do trust him. Also didn’t want him to stop telling me things..

*Even if I felt that way in some past past friendships, that’s something that I always had enough respect for my male friend’s relationships to leave in a thought bubble. As a single person but especially as a married person. The fact that she felt comfortable enough to say something like that really irks me.

1. A couple months after #1, I was having a little insecure moment about my aging appearance & he was telling me how lucky I am to have good genes & don’t need botox etc., that Ren has a lot of wrinkling on her face that she gets botox for. I think he may have felt bad about commenting “negatively” on a woman’s appearance so he said something right after like “but she’s still very pretty… i’m treading lightly here” etc. I didn’t appreciate this comment at all. Individually I might not have read too much into it but considering #1 & now #3.
   
2. I’ve lived out here for a month now and we’ve been busy settling in, and so haven’t really hung out with any of his friends yet (even outside of this group). I decided to travel out of state for a weekend to spend mother’s day with family. What a coincidence… Ren’s husband also happens to be traveling out of state, and so since they’re both going to be alone with the dogs all weekend, they were talking about getting together to do something with the dogs. I clearly wasn’t thrilled about it when he told me, so he said nothing was set in stone and it might not even happen. I said well maybe you guys can meet at the dog park down the street lol
   

While I’m out of state, my bf tells me that “oh we might end up going to a dog friendly brewery”. And this is where I couldn’t take it anymore and had to say something.
I’ll admit, I didn’t confront the situation in the best way possible but I was already day drinking with family when he told me & I felt I had to say something before he went through with meeting up with her.
He was defensive when I brought up my concerns. I only brought up #1 & #3. His reaction made me very sad to the point I reacted to his reaction poorly, but I clarified it wasn’t that I thought he was cheating… it’s that his reaction to my concerns wasn’t what I was expecting. He pretty much ended the conversation promptly to go take a shower. I realize he may have just needed time to think but overall the defensiveness just made me feel like my concerns were even more validated.
He said after taking time to process, he could see where I was coming from and didn’t want to jeopardize what we have, etc. I thought everything was OK but then I get home from my trip, he’s acting unusual.. we ended up talking about it again and he once again was going back to me making something out of nothing basically. When we brought up how the brewery was the moment I felt I had to say something, he said how that’s not a big deal, that brewery tours was kind of “their thing” they would do since they both moved here from out of state….. I said “well that’s interesting because I pretty much had to beg you to go to a brewery with me here and you wanted to leave so quickly once we were there. But i’d hate to ruin your guy’s thing if it’s really that important to you.”
I felt weird asking him not to hang out with her one on one, that I could put my feelings aside and be cordial with her in group settings. It’s not like we talked much the day I met her or that she made any real effort to get to know me.
Sober, I was able to better articulate my feelings in a less emotionally charged way and we talked it all through, had a delightful rest of the night, and now everything’s ok. But honestly that comment he made about the brewery tours being their thing is still sticking with me and all the things considered, I wonder if I’m overreacting or how ya’ll would feel in my shoes?
Sorry for the typos I’m tired of typing. Thanks if you read all the way through or even if just skimmed. Thoughts are appreciated.
TL;DR; : This is a sample summary of the TLDR rule, all things are bold. Is this going the right way?

I (25f) have been working for my company for a year and a half. It is an incredible company that I planned on sticking with through graduation. My team is a fairly small, tight knit team. For reference it is international company and very corporate. We also have another location in the area, which is relevant.
I recently went out with my coworkers for one of their birthdays, there were about 6 of us total. We had a few drinks, danced, hung out, and had a lot of fun. I know most of these women and they're all around 40-50 years old. There was only one guy (47m) there, and he is from our other location. I don't know him super well but I've met him before. He is friends with the birthday girl.
While I was dancing, I looked over and saw that he was recording me. I confronted him, and even though I shouldn't have, I grabbed his phone to delete the videos. He ended up physically pinning me down to grab his phone back and I proceeded to tell him that I felt like that was predatory and that I wanted to see him delete the videos. He did delete them and I left the party shortly after.
I was just going to let it go until I found out that he is planning on applying to the open position on my team. I want to talk to management but I'm scared it's going to reflect poorly on me because I am the youngest person on the team and they already have an opinion on how I am outside of work (as in I go out, go to concerts, etc). I don't even know how to approach this with them without it potentially coming back and biting me (Well how much did you have to drink? That happened outside of work. You shouldn't have been out with your coworkers anyway.).
Any advice on the best way to broach this is greatly appreciated. Also, birthday girl has defended him to me saying that he didn't mean it to be weird and that she is still going to give him a reference.

NOTE:I structured each team based off of their current performances in their current teams, how I think they would perform on a diff team, and their character(Playstyle, ego, and mindset). Each team is structured around their "star player" or primary goal scorer which were 5 characters I thought based on the NEL all have star striker potential. Essentially they are the type of the player that causes their team to rally around him in the same way Ego said that teams begin to revolve around strikers I think these 5 all would have potential to cause their teams to revolve around themselves. That being said, I tried to give each "Star player" a team that has players that not only would do well in their respective team environment, but work well with their star player. The only asspull was Manshine, but there aren't enough good players to work with for all 5 teams. Other top tier players like Kaiser, Lorenzo, Charles, Ness, and Agi are assumed same team.
Bastard Munchen:Isagi(Obviously because of performance currently and because he needs Kaiser to develope his MV). Once he develops MV all he really needs is Kurona and Hiori and he will be fine. Hiragi would also I think work well with Isagi since he's basically a data analyst version of Isagi.
Ubers:Barou(Worked beautifully in Ubers) and just a bunch of defensive players. Barou showed he did fine with just support from Lorenzo+Niko and Aiku. Doesn't need a MV user for his passes since I don't think he would make use of it very well w/o it himself. Everyone on the team would do well because of the role that Snuffy would figure out for them
PXG:Nagi-Nagi's insane potential and talent is precisely what Loki is looking for which would make Loki focus on Nagi and his talents. I think Nagi is definately a player that Charles would find interesting and be fascinated by due to his superhuman talents. Charles has a highly developed metavision and passing skills which I think could help Nagi greatly since he hasn't really had that level of passes given to him(ie Hiori, Sae, or Charles level passes+vision). Yuki x Nagi worked in 3rd selection +Yuki x Karasu. Nagi also dealt with Kiyora and Zanetsu so I think they would work well to support Nagi.
Manshine-Rin would do well on literally any team imo. Chris would def make the team revolve around him and I think Chigiri's golden formula+ Another ability that Rin could develope from Chris would work well. Nanase good supportive player and others just could use better physical abilities ig. Prob weakest team imo, but Rin could carry with a new ability +Chigiri golden formula. Agi is also someone I think would work well with Sae just due to his nature as a player.
FC Barcha-Shidou is a player who wants to explode from his creativity. What better place then the team that fosters creativity and individuality from the most creative player in the verse. Shidou would thrive in a environment that fosters individuality and creativeness as we saw from his innovative goals both in the PXG match and in the U 20 match. Bachira is a obvious choice and could easily score+get Shidou the ball with his dribbling. Reo could also benefit greatly from creativity since his copy ability has so many possibilities that having more creativity would without a doubt benefit him greatly. Copying Sae's dribbling and passing is obviously a plus since he is helping Shidou so his copy of Sae x Shidou would be deadly. Reo also has a form of MV which seems to work well with Shidou's playstyle so thats also a plus. Otaya seems to be doing well in FC and I don't see another team that would pair with him
Note I honestly don't know what to do with alot of the U 20 players since they didn't reveal alot tbh. Idk their mindset, chemistry, or anything really U 20 was just Sae + Sae x Shidou so I didn't know exactly where each U 20 player should go. I think with these teams, each team is very competitive and has good possible synergies.

Ok overall, I loved it. I was absolutely hooked. But I just have to see if anyone else agrees with these few opinions I do have.
1) Basically everything was chefs kiss up until Mina left and Nic died. I’ll never forgive them for not having Mina there when Nic died. I just hate to think how she would’ve reacted in Nigeria finding out about it and knowing she wasn’t there to help. (And yes, I know it’s fiction but I’m immersing myself lol)
2) To piggyback on the departures of Nic and Mina, I know it was both of their personal decisions to leave, which is arguably better than a lot of other current procedural shows who just kick favorite characters off at random (cough SVU cough) but I still hate that they left, and it almost ruined the show for me.
3) Bell’s character development felt so quick that it was almost more like they completely retconned him? Like, I feel like he went from conniving, sinister, I’ll-kill-to-protect-my-image, straight to Kit’s lovey-dovey husband with a heart of gold in 5 seconds flat. I don’t even know if I could cite the event that changed him. Also, was his tremor from season 1 supposed to be the first sign of his MS? Or are they unrelated? And if so, where did it go for all those years in between?
4) Billie. I’d say I don’t like the character in general but there are certain things I did appreciate. I liked the variety of the storyline with her and Trevor not having your traditional happy ending of “Mother reunifies with long-lost son and immediately falls into the bond they would’ve had all along.” But I don’t like that she stuck around, and I don’t like that they made Conrad so quick to drop the whole “I don’t agree with your ethics” thing he had against her. It felt trivialized imo.
5) Speaking of Billie… I hate to say it, but I don’t think she and Conrad should’ve been endgame. It kind of goes back to what I said about Conrad getting over his issues toward her too fast, but it also just felt wrong to me. It felt like he was just looking for the closest thing he could get to Nic, and obviously that was Billie considering she was Nic’s closest friend. I would’ve much more appreciated a storyline where they tried to make it work and agreed it just wasn’t right. It felt icky to me. Like when a guy marries his wife’s sister after she dies.
6) On that note, I honestly think they dropped the ball with Cade and Conrad’s storyline. I think Cade was similar to Nic in that she challenged Conrad. The go-team scenes always kinda felt like when Nic and Conrad had a difficult case together. The dynamic was so there. The writers just didn’t nurture it. I would’ve liked to see a little more character development in Cade, with her starting to open up more, and that was starting when they solved the Medicare fraud thing, and when she opened up to him about Ian going to rehab. It was just too late. They could’ve done so much more with it imo.
Anyway, that’s basically it. I’m probably breaking some fandom tenants by opposing Billie and Conrad but I’ll take that risk. Overall tho, loved the show. Now I need something new to fill the void lol

Will and Sharon set about gathering the things they needed including the spell book in a backpack while I sat with an uneasy feeling. I was nervous and excited watching them flit in and out the room while getting various items. I figured it was best not to ask what these things were or why we needed, what looked like chicken feet, probably asking would delay them and they seem to be in a hurry. Then my coat was being brought to me by Sharon. I must have zoned out because they both had theirs on already. “Come on honey, Wills in the car waiting.” We left heading back to the care home. My heart was pounding in my chest. I opened the window, the blast of cool night air kept me focused and conscious, “Sorry” I said “I need some fresh air do you mind I can close it if you are cold.” I added reminding myself of my manners. I'm in their car, I should have asked first. “It's OK you were looking a bit pale there I was going to suggest you open it” replied Will. We will be arriving soon, I recognise the area. I take some deep breaths, we near the building I can see most of the lights are off in the rooms. “Maybe we should wait for daylight?, that thing is going to be hard to find in the dark”. “Don't worry we won't need to find it. We will summon it into a safe place it can't escape from” Sharon explained as we pulled into the car park “we will go into the kitchen there won't be anyone in there it's after 10pm now I have a key to the back door. Wait here. We will set up the stuff and will come get you when it's ready. We will be 10 minutes tops.” and with that they both exited the car leaving me alone I locked the doors on instinct I thought that thing can't be far away it's probably watching me right now I feel the night breeze on my face. Damn the window I hit the button the whirring started then stopped short an inch from the top. I hit the button again but nothing it wasn't working. Why the hell, what's wrong with this thing? The engine is still running bang! The car rocked as if something slammed into it at speed. I look around searching for the reason that just happened then I see the long black fingers snaking into the opening of the window. I soothed over to the other side of the car and reached for the handle. It didn't work then I remembered I had locked it. I pinch the lock in a bid to flee to the kitchen but I see the death entity's red eyes outside that window. I panic thinking how can I escape it's heads on one side and hands at the other side impossibly squeezing through the gap reaching for me. I'm cowering in the back seat pleading for Sharon and Will to come save me from this thing that clearly wants to get to me “Open the dooooor!” it hissed”, “Open it… Open! IT! NOWW!” it roared. NO! What did I ever do to deserve this!? Tell me why you want to hurt me , kill me, Why?” I didn't need to know why I didn't want to know why I was just trying to keep it busy it seemed as though it knew if it squeezed itself inside the car far enough it wouldn't be able to see me anymore and I would escape “Don't think you can escape me this time human your life is mine. I wondered when you would return to this house of death. I must kill you! ” it hissed “Why must you kill me I haven't done anything to you, you killed my friends they never did anything to you why did you do that I understand you killing the old ones they have lived their lives but why me? I'm young, I didn't tell anyone what I saw, who would believe me?” I have to keep it occupied “But you did see me didn't you that is why!?, now open the door!” I saw light as the door opened from the kitchen. “No you do it I won't help you kill me no way.” I see them approaching quietly reaching for something in the bag. The snaking hand found the door lock and pulled it up. The things hand retreated out of the window as the thing crawled down the car to the now unlocked door it pulled at the handle as I reached for the lock and handle of the other door and bolted to Sharon and Will. I turned to see the death entity slowly advancing after me “Ah ha ha more souls for my collection” it taunted. Will pulled me and Sharon backwards we made our way slowly walking as it advanced on us grinning, showing its weirdly enlarged teeth. They looked too big for its mouth and were a pale blue colour. We reached the door and piled inside Sharon slammed it shut with a huge exhale. “I thought we were gonners for real then. Fuck”. “It's not over that door won't stop it, whatever your plan is do it quickly” I said hurriedly. Will turned they had set up some candles and a pentagram chalked on the floor “Light those candles and stand in the middle he handed us both a lighter and we got the candles lit as the entity was turning the door handle chuckling that haunting laughter that haunts my dreams.
Part 6 to follow soon

(btw English is not my first language so if there are some mistakes try to understand it I'm trying my best ) Last year I was heading home from a vacation,I actually like being at the airport cuz there I can see different people and in general older good looking guy/man,I was going for the check out ,to fly from that county and I see this good looking man ,he was probably in his 40s or idk in his late 40s...idk but he really looked old enough to be my father, actually older than my father,the moment I saw him I was only looking after him ,good thing he was from my country and we were close to each other cuz where he was going I was going too.He had 3 big boys staying next to him I think they were his son's and they didn't look old then 16 17 or so on somewhere around that age .I made some eye contact with 2 of them with one of those boys I made many eye contacts but they lasted like 3-5sec .I was actually looking more at their father lol,I mean he was soooo.Anyways he was actually my type andi really liked that ,he had brown or black hair if with some white ,he was tall like taller than me and that was perfect ,he had some veiny ahh hands omggg u couldn't belive what I was feeling in that moment . I catched him talking with his son's ,he was annoyed for some reason and how he was speaking was much more attractive.I don't remember making eye contact with him really....but I was always looking at him and his eyes ,he had long hair to his shoulder but still shorter than shoulder,It looked like a kind of hot male teacher yk ,and how he was pulling his hair back with his finger like he just got out of the water and got the we hair or of his face .Anyways I kind of had some crush on him for that time at the airport. When we were going into the plane I really wanted him to be near me or even to have his seat next to me oh god....I had an separate seat than my family so yeah ,but sadly it didn't happen ,when we got to out destination,home country,we were waiting for the luggages on that trail ,he sat in front of me and the way he was standing is was like he was in the military,he had his hands crossed legs apart and standing there very serious,his luggage came first,he just got it and left immediately Don't think that I forgot about him I still think of him somesomes ,but this happened 2023 on 4 august on my bday ,is was cool I was thinking of him and made some fake scenarios In my head they were wild and idk...how to explain them , interesting but weirdly cool Everytime I was in the city I was kind of looking out for him idk why cuz it's not like he is a relative of my father or sum and someday I will just see him visiting my house and reseeing him again ...

Hi there!
I’m a regular player with over 8000 hours played over many years. Never before I cared about climbing high in the bracket, but with a lot of thing’s going right now in my country, I have to spend a lot more time inside. So in February I decided to try and climb up a bit.
Started at Ancient 1 after 5 months of break from Dota. First couple of games were smooth, then I get matched with people who do random stuff. Rince and repeat.
Highest I climbed was Divine 3 (~5000 mmr), which happened 2 days ago. And since then almost all the games were complete disaster. Feels like I’m going circles, and there’s actually something coded into the game. Or I’m just delusional.
Honestly, with war stuff around me, I managed to keep myself sane quite well, and having some goal, even though it’s about a game, was a good thing. But being thrown into a circus after trying so hard to climb up 100-200 mmr to lose them without any chance is killing me.
I can enjoy a lost game, if it was good. I would commend enemy team who bested me. But after winning a bit a never get a good game like that, where I would feel like we did what we could.
How do you deal with such things mentally? What do you do in game to stop the fall?
P/S I don’t rage or give up, when game is hard or trash (well, maybe in 1/100 games that could happen). Rarely say anything even slightly offensive. Just thought that I need to add this, for some reason

I (20F) have been talking to this guy (22M) since June 2023. I’ve never been in a real relationship, but have been with only a couple guys sexually (I’m very very selective). During that summer, he was really sweet and consistent. He told me he wanted to learn everything about me and take me everywhere. Near the end of the summer, he began to get distant and when I brought it up he would say he was busy and dealing with a lot. I was patient, but eventually had to end it eventually. Fast forward to now and to make a long story short, we’ve been on and off ever since.
He is very inconsistent, going a week or two without reaching out. Recently, I found out he was on hinge and was going to bring it up, but decided against it because my friend said we’re not exclusive so he can talk to others. We’ve never had sex and when we’re messing around, he typically works on me, but the next day, I let him over and ended up giving him head for the first time. I felt very awkward so I found an excuse for him to leave, but he told me it was really good. The next day he texts me asking how I’m doing and stuff, when he never reaches out on the next day. He also called me a few times and thanked me and kept telling me how good it was. He asks to come over again and I let him and end up giving him head again. This time, he tells me we’re locked in and he’ll definitely need this in the future and before that he said we should go on a date, but he also left immediately after I gave it to him. I’ve always had feelings for him so all of this is nice to hear, but I fear that it’s all for the wrong reasons. What do I do?
Why is he acting like this? Should I try to take him serious? Cut him off? Talk to him? What would I say? pls help :/

This is gonna be a long one, but I need some help and guidance.
I'm someone who holds onto fat, but i'm also very strong. I've always been pretty "normal" of a size, I had spine surgery when I was ten and got chubby due to the months of bed rest but puberty snapped that right out and I was around 135/140 when I was 14. I developed an eating disorder and got down to 108 lbs due to insane activity and nearly starving myself. this went on for 3 years until I was back at 135 just before starting college by trying to recover. I did a lot of this in silence. I got married at 18, and was married for almost 6 years. In that time my restrictive eating disorder turned into binge eating and 3/4 years ago I was 220 lbs. Once again I found recovery and got down to 180. I've been able to fluctuate between 180/120 for the past almost 3 years. I work on my feet all day, I work two jobs. My knee has been incredibly swollen with no injury for a couple of months now with flares along with other joint pain so I sought out a doctor and was diagnosed with RA. I'm constantly in pain. I can't move my body in the ways I used to. I love to lift weights but it's not in the cards for me right now.
How do I lose weight without triggering my eating disorder? I am going to start swimming as my primary source of exercise now that I can't lift weight at the moment. I've heard great things about the mediterranean diet for RA. I know what foods will trigger inflammation that I need to start avoiding. I know I need more omega 3's and calcium. But I'm feeling very overwhelmed at where to start. I just know I need to do this to have a better quality of life. All advice welcome.

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(On Mobile please Swipe left to see the prices and tags)

Game	Price/Link	Tags
Persona 4 Golden	$11.99 $19.99	Turn-based/Modern Japan setting/Highschool life simulatoMystery/Monster collectoSocial link system/Great soundtrack
The Persona Collection (P3P/Persona 4/Persona 5)	$49.49 $89.99	Turn-based/Modern Japan setting/Highschool life simulatoMystery/Monster collectoSocial link system/Great soundtrack
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth PS4 & PS5	$48.99 $69.99	Turn-based/Contemporary Hawaii setting/Yakuza life/Open World/Heavy on Drama and Comedy/Heavy on Mini-games/Class Changing Mechanics
Star Ocean The Second Story R	$39.99 $49.99	Action/Sci-fi mixed with Fantasy setting/Choose 1 of 2 main characters/Expansive crafting system/Affection mechanic for Party members/Choices matteRemake of the original PS1 title
Tales of Arise PS4 & PS5	$14.79 $59.99	Action/Fantasy setting/Anime style/Revolution Story/anime trope heavy/Social links mechanic between party members
Valkyria Chronicles 4 Complete Edition	$9.99 $49.99	Tactical Turn-based/World War Militar setting/Tactical mixed with real-time elements/Sketch or "Canvas" art style/Build your Army with character customization/Mission based story progression/Army management
DORAEMON STORY OF SEASONS	$14.99 $49.99	Farming Simulator/Mini-games/Social Links system
Rainbow Moon	$2.99 $14.99	Tactical Turn-based/Character customization/Fantasy setting/Dungeon Crawler
Terra Memoria	$14.99 $19.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Pixel Graphics/Base Building/Resource gathering & Crafting
Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters	$19.99 $49.99 [PS4 version]	Turn-based/Female Protagonist/Comedy/fan-service/Parody
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling	$14.99 $24.99	Turn-based/Paper Mario-like/Comedy/Adventure
Monster Sanctuary	$4.99 $19.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Monster CollectoMetroidvania/Pixel Graphics
Relayer	$11.99 $59.99	Tactical turn-based/Sci-fi setting/Space travel/Piloted Mecha/Female Protagonist/Anime art style
Death end reQuest	$7.99 $39.99	Turn-based/Female protagonist/Cyber World setting/Psychological HorroNudity
Death end re;Quest 2	$11.99 $49.99	Turn-based/Cyber world setting/Female Protagonist/Dark Fantasy/Gore/Fan-service
Shining Resonance Refrain	$5.99 $29.99	Action/Fantasy setting/Dragon transformation/Musical theme/Anime visual style/Social link mechanic
Mary Skelter Finale	$14.99 $49.99	Turn-based/First-Person View Dungeon CrawleDeep & Full party customization/Female Protagonist/Multiple Endings/HorroFan-service
Born of Bread	$14.99 $29.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Paper Mario-like/Comedy/Timed hits combat
DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT	$14.99 $59.99	Action Fantasy/Semi-Open World (zones)/Anime story adaptation/Beautiful animations
South Park™: The Fractured but Whole™	$8.99 $29.99	Tactical Turn-based/Modern Day setting/Comedy/Mature/Dark HumoNudity/Fart Jokes

​

[~ Switch ~]

Game	Price/Link	Tags
Star Ocean The Second Story R	$39.99 $49.99	Action/Sci-fi mixed with Fantasy setting/Choose 1 of 2 main characters/Expansive crafting system/Affection mechanic for Party members/Choices matteRemake of the original PS1 title
Ikenfell	$5.99 $19.99	Tactical Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Pixel Graphics/Female Protagonist/LGBTQ+/Retro
Dodgeball Academia	$9.99 $24.99	Action/School Life Sim/Sports (Dodgeball)/2D Hand-drawn Cartoon Art style
Born of Bread	$14.99 $29.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Paper Mario-like/Comedy/Timed hits combat
Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe	$6.99 $19.99	Action/Fantasy setting/Cooking battles/Female Protagonist/Side ScrolleBeat'em up/Hand-drawn
Fuga: Melodies of Steel	$23.99 $39.99	Tactical Turn-based/Steampunk setting/Anthropomorphic characters/Social Links System/Base upgrading
Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2	$23.99 $39.99	Tactical Turn-based/Steampunk setting/Anthropomorphic characters/Social Links System/Base upgrading
Front Mission 1st: Remake	$17.49 $34.99	Tactical turn-based/Sci-fi setting/War & Politics/Mecha/Customization
FRONT MISSION 2: Remake	$27.99 $34.99	Tactical turn-based/Sci-fi setting/War & Politics/Mecha/Customization
Dusk Diver	$8.74 $34.99	Action/Modern Taipei Ximending setting/Female Protagonist/Beat'em up/Anime visual style
Terra Memoria	$14.99 $19.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Pixel Graphics/Base Building/Resource gathering & Crafting
Infinite Guitars	$11.99 $19.99	Turn-based/Sci-fi setting/Rock Music/Hand-drawn/Robots/Rhythm/Timed button presses
Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs - Royal Edition OST Combo	$7.49 $24.99	Tactical turn-based/Medieval Fantasy setting/Social link system/Politics/Comedy
Potato Flowers in Full Bloom	$13.31 $17.99	Turn-based/Medieval Fantasy setting/First-person Dungeon CrawleCustom Party creation/Class Mechanics
Rainbow Moon + Rainbow Skies Strategy RPG Bundle	$23.99 $29.99	Tactical Turn-based/Character customization/Fantasy setting/Dungeon Crawler

[~ Xbox ~]

Game	Price/Link	Tags
Blue Dragon	$6.59 $19.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Class changing mechanics/great soundtrack
Lost Odyssey	$8.24 $24.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting
Costume Quest 1	$4.49 $14.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Female Protagonist/Choices Matter
Terra Memoria	$14.99 $19.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Pixel Graphics/Base Building/Resource gathering & Crafting
Dodgeball Academia	$9.99 $24.99	Action/School Life Sim/Sports (Dodgeball)/2D Hand-drawn Cartoon Art style
Ikenfell	$5.99 $19.99	Tactical Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Pixel Graphics/Female Protagonist/LGBTQ+/Retro
Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition	$5.99 $14.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Female Protagonist/Pixel Graphics
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling	$12.49 $24.99	Turn-based/Paper Mario-like/Comedy/Adventure

~ Steam ~

If you want to check the games yourself:

~ Link to the JRPGs on Sale list ~

Steam Deck Icons (As explained by Steam itself):

🟦 Verified: Means that the game is fully compatible and works with built-in controls and display.
🟧 Playable: Means the game is Functional, but requires extra effort to interact with and configure .
"--" Unknown: Basically unconfirmed or still under-review.

Game	Price/Link	Tags	Steam Deck
Chrono Ark	$18.74 $24.99	Turn-based/Modern day setting/Roguelike DeckbuildeFemale Protagonist/Anime visuals/Card Battler	🟦 Playable
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night	$9.99 $39.99	Action/Medieval Gothic Fantasy setting/Female Protagonist/PlatformeSide ScrolleMetroidvania	🟦 Verified
In Stars And Time	$15.99 $19.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Monochrome art style/LGBTQ+/Comedy/Time Travel/Hand-drawn Cartoon style	🟦 Verified
Ni no Kuni™ II: Revenant Kingdom PRINCE'S EDITION	$11.99 $79.98	Action/Fantasy setting/Isekai/Base BuildeArmy Battle/Character CollectoBeautiful art style	🟦 Verified
Born of Bread	$12.49 $24.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Paper Mario-like/Comedy/Timed hits combat	🟧Playable
Terra Memoria	$14.99 $19.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Pixel Graphics/Base Building/Resource gathering & Crafting	🟧Playable
Fuga: Melodies of Steel 2	$23.99 $39.99	Tactical Turn-based/Steampunk setting/Anthropomorphic characters/Social Links System/Base upgrading	🟦 Verified
Fae Tactics	$5.99 $19.99	Tactical Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Female Protagonist/Beautiful Pixel Graphics/Unique Battle system/Monster Collector	🟦 Verified
Dodgeball Academia	$9.99 $24.99	Action/School Life Sim/Sports (Dodgeball)/2D Hand-drawn Cartoon Art style	🟧Playable
Sword and Fairy 7	$14.99 29.99	Action/Chinese Martial Arts Fantasy (Xianxia)/Female Protagonist/Great visuals and Music/Rich Story and Lore/Chinese voice acting with English subtitles	🟧Playable
Ikenfell	$5.99 $19.99	Tactical Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Pixel Graphics/Female Protagonist/LGBTQ+/Retro	🟦 Verified
Astria Ascending	$8.74 $39.99	Turn-based/Medieval Fantasy setting/PlatformeFemale Protagonist/Class system	🟦Verified
Haven	$14.99 $24.99	Active time combat/Sci-fi setting/Heavy on Romance/LGBTQ/Local Co-op support/Exploration/Resource Gathering	🟦 Verified
Crimson Tactics: The Rise of The White Banner	$14.99 $29.99	Tactical Turn-based/Medieval Fantasy setting/Class system/War & Politics/Dragons/	--
Jack Move	$9.99 $19.99	Turn-based/Cyberpunk setting/Female Protagonist/Pixel Graphics/Hacking	🟦Verified
Earthlock	$4.49 $29.99	Turn-based/Fantasy setting	🟧Playable
Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament	$4.49 $14.99	Real Time/Chinese Martial Arts Fantasy (Xianxia)/Rich Story and Lore/Monster collection/Chinese voice acting with English subtitles	🟧Playable
Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament	$4.49 $14.99	Real Time/Chinese Martial Arts Fantasy (Xianxia)/Rich Story and Lore/Monster collection/Chinese voice acting with English subtitles	🟧Playable
Children of Zodiarcs	$5.39 $17.99	Tactical Turn-based/Fantasy setting/Female Protagonist/Card Based/Deck Building	🟦Verified

​

~ General Recommendations (All Consoles) For Anyone Who Can't Decide ~

First off, I won't recommend big or famous games like Final Fantasy or Persona, this is more for lesser know, hidden gems, or just games where it's hard to find someone talking about them.
​

[Valkyria Chronicles]

[Valkyria Chronicles 4]

This one is really hard to explain through words alone, but just in case, the VC series is a World War 2 military setting story, where you act as the lead of a squad and take mission to drive back the enemy. The story is drama heavy and the gameplay is tactical turn-based, but it's mixed with real-time third person shooter.
You can also make your own army by recruiting different types of solders, training them and upgrading their gear. From rifles to tanks, this is a game you have to experience to understand.

[Fuga: Melodies of Steel 1 & 2]

Great game, great art style, and really well made and balanced turn-based combat. That alone is enough to get the game. Then you add the time-management part of the game, where you spend time upgrading the different tank rooms, cooking, exploring ruins, spending time to bond with other characters, and so on. It's also great if you want a game that you can play for an hour or 2 and then put down for later. As the game is played through stages, and once you're done with a stage, you get an intermission to do what you want and come back to it later.
It's not a long game (compared to the usual JRPG), as you mentioned, it's about 20 hours. Story-wise I think it was a bit too short. Gameplay wise it was great fit, because it didn't outstay it's welcome, and it ends when you feel you have mastered the gameplay and want to face the final challenge.
The story is good, but isn't the focus. Gameplay is the main focus. In fact you'll feel that a lot of context isn't told in the story, but instead left for you to either read about in the in-game wiki or just figure out through obvious clues in the story.
There is a big mechanic that this meant to put a lot of pressure on your playthrough (don't worry about it being spoiled because it's literally explained in the first hour of the game). The thing is though, if you have experience in JRPGs or just play in a really well thought out and relaxed manner, then that mechanic might not be as big a deal as they make it seem to be. Yet it's still fun nonetheless.
Fuga 2 is even better. It fixes a lot of the minor issues the first game had, and what's really great, is it improved the "big pressure" mechanic I talked about, and now it actually is a big deal. Then add to that so much little new mechanics added that just makes for a much more fun and challenging game. The 2nd game also continues the same story.

[Ni no Kuni] Series

If you're looking for that great Isekai fantasy adventure feel, then these two games are where it's at. Fantastic visuals and great music, coupled with a great art style, a combo that is perfect for a chill and relaxed gaming experience. Especially when talking about the first game, with the help ofStudio Ghibli, they managed to make a truly whimsical world with that Studio Ghibli classic touch.

- Important Note: The games aren't connected story-wise, so you can start with any of them -

[Wrath of the White Witch]

For a the best fantasy adventure feel, while the combat is a hit or miss depending on your taste, don't let that stop you from actually diving into a true fairy tale world, this is the one with the better story in my opinion, so if you want more story than game, this is for you. Still it has a good share of gameplay, from raising and collecting Pokemon-like monsters, to learning and using different spells, not just in combat but for the overworld too.

[Ni no Kuni™ II: Revenant Kingdom]

This one focuses more on gameplay, with a Kingdom builder, Army battles, Heavy loot focus, and even character collector, this is the one to go with if you want more game than story. Still has the great music and he fantastical art style and setting. Add to that a lot of side activities like beating rare monsters, collecting cute creatures to help you in battle, and even going around the world to gather people to help you build your kingdom. You'll never be short on things to do.
Finally, both of them have beautifully draw world that is just a pleasure to walkthrough, made even better with the amazing orchestral soundtrack.

[Star Ocean The Second Story R]

The original PS1 game was already an amazing JRPG and a classic. But this remake takes it to go even further beyond SSJ3. It should be the standard on how to make a faithful remake on of a classic title.
I don't want to overhype it more than I already did. So to keep this short, this remake does so much:

• All major story events are now fully voice acted. This includes a lot of the private actions too.
  
• Fully redone and better translation of the game.
  
• New Character to recruit to the party.
  
• New Private Actions and 13 new Endings.
  
• New character portraits, not just for the main cast, but also for many other characters.
  
• A complete rework for the battle system to be up to modern standards.
  
• So many QoL features:
  
  • Auto-saving
  • Fast-forward cut-scenes or skip them.
  • Text log
  • All difficulties can be accessed from the start
  • Fast travel
  • 3 different voice dubbing options to choose from (New English, Original Japanese, New Japanese)
  • Your choice of different art styles
  • Choose between original OST and new rearranged OST.
  • No random battles anymore, as enemies can be seen and avoided

And believe me when I say I still haven't touched half of the amazing work that has gone into this remake.

[Sword and Fairy 7: Together Forever]

They did a great job with the presentation of the game. Great voice acting (Chinese), great graphics, amazing music, and an impressive attention to details of the world and it's lore, especially the engineering of the buildings and their decor. Then you have the really beautiful design of each piece of gear, and even just normal attire of each NPC and the disciples of each sect or soldiers of each of the different of each plane (gods, humans, demons).
Then we go to how great looking the monsters and local flora and fauna of each realm. You can feel the intense work that has gone into making and animating each of them. It really is a joy to watch them, as much as it is to watch each environment you see them in. There really isn't enough time to talk about how good the presentation is.
As for the story. First off, I am not an expert in Chinese novels mythology, but I am a big fan of Xianxia and Wuxia novels. So when I say that the story is...good but nothing great, I am saying this as more than just a JRPG fan, but also someone who is very into this type of world and Chinese martial arts fantasy setting. it's nothing that will stick in your mind, apart from the events that take place in some of the beautiful set pieces in the game, or the cut-scenes with beautiful action cheoragphy.
The gameplay is also about average. The side-quests are fun and are worth doing if nothing more than for learning more about the lore and the world. But the actual battles and action gameplay isn't as good as the best ones out there, but it's not bad. I have ran into some bugs, some small, some big, but that was when the game just came out, and it did receive a lot of patches since then. You can tell that they aimed to make a huge triple A production, but didn't have the time or manpower to test a game of this size. It's still fun to play and experience, but the level of gameplay is nowhere near the level of the presentation that the game gives the impression of having just from watching the gameplay or trailers.
If you enjoy walking through magical and fantastic looking JRPG worlds, or if you enjoy Xianxia/Wuxia fiction, then this is an easy choice. Hell even if you don't, it's still worth a go at this price.

[Blue Dragon] & [Lost Odyssey]

These two are classic titles that will probably won't be ported to or remade to modern consoles. That's why this might be the last way you'll ever get to experience 2 classic titles of the genre. Lost Odyssey has great story writing and unique character settings, and Blue Dragon has great exploration and a really fun character class customization system, and one hell of a boss theme.

[Monster Sanctuary]

This is a solid game, everything in is polished and balanced to make sure you are having fun collecting new monsters and customizing your team through evolution/skill trees/gear and making the best in-sync party you can. I only wish it was longer, it's not short by any means, but it's not long either. I would say depending on if you're trying to "catch them all" and explore everything and fight all bosses, this could easily be a 30+ hours game, but if you focus on the story, then it's about 20 to 30 hours. Now even longer with the 2 new free DLC expansion added.
Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining that it's short, but that I was having so much fun, that I wish it didn't end.

As always, please do add your own recommendations, and let me know if there is mistake or if something was missing, and have a nice day.

Last time I took the sat I got around a 1250 without studying. Can I improve that to a 1500 with 5-7 months of practice? Also, how should I go about studying for it? I plan to study for around 5 hours a week. Thank you

First off; let me say that I am a fan of Homeworld and the Remastered Collection. I play mods on both versions even to this day. Classic is still playable despite it's age and I still get a kick out of from time to time.
When they announced Homeworld 3; I was excited like most fans. I loved Homeworld 2 despite the flaws fans had with it in terms of gameplay and campaign. However; as the months progressed while following Homeworld 3; I began to notice a trend. Blackbird was being extremely coy of what the progress was like when the game was in development. You would think that they would be active in terms of giving updates every 3-4 months or wanting to show off what they were working on to generate hype for this game.
Blackbird barely gave consistent updates about this game even after it was delayed the first time. There would be months of radio silence before they actually posted on what they were working. I began to see several red flags about what they were demonstrating in terms of gameplay but kept them to myself. After all; game development changes unexpectedly and not everything makes it for that reason in the finale game release.
I was optimistic but guarded despite this game being delayed again and again. People kept saying "The longer it takes for them to make a good game; I'd be okay if they pushed it back. Give them time to cook to make a Homeworld we all wanted"
Okay. I could understand that. I was one of the few that actually voiced dismay that this game was going to be delayed but after awhile; I could see reason. I was still skeptical that they could turn it around after the game was so close to release when they announced the delayed to May 2024. I did not think much could be done within 3 months of game development; if anything; production would have wrapped up at the most with everything pretty much completed. It's not like they could redo something major in terms of gameplay mechanics.
However; when the game was finally released and with people showing off in YouTube; I couldn't help myself. I wanted to like what I saw and initially I did. I have an impulse to buy something that if I feel like it could be really good in actual gameplay content in the long run. I was worried about the whole focus on War games that Blackbird kept mentioning but felt I could get into it within reason and time. I like PVE content if it's only PVE and not solely PVEVP.
So I brought Homeworld 3 as soon as I could. I waited eagerly for it install while watching gameplay videos. The gameplay had me hooked and I loved what was shown with gigantic climatic battle in space. The campaign was secondary but I didn't pay more concern to it at the time.
This is where I began to dislike what I brought. The game; while beautiful; lacks actual soul of what it's trying to be. Something felt off. I tried doing a few Skirmish matches against the AI. I found it to be underwhelming due to how the AI reacts; is over aggressive without actually researching; gathering resources; and building a fleet to attack you in the game. That was the basis in previous Homeworld games where it was it's "you built a base in terms of ships while gathering resources". It just rushes you for no apparent reason. I've been told this a bug on easy but have seen it on standard as well.
The other issue that I had was that it lacked build tree depth and upgrades to every ship. In Homeworld 2; you could research hull defense and firepower with different levels in terms of upgrades. Where is that in 3? You could upgrade what type of ships you build within a carrier or on the mother ship. Each category had it's own set of upgrades per ship type. In 3; it's too simplified. For example; the fighter class you could only research the ability for it to boast firepower for a temporary set of time in exchange of a negative. Where is the upgrades to make it faster or increase durability? Where is any type of actual research for ship classes within 3?
I'm not even going to go over the actual campaign as it's been discussed to death and the negative issues with it is shared by almost the majority of the fanbase. I will say that the overall gameplay features within Homeworld 3 is severely dumbed down. The ship designs are lacking in terms of actual creative design but that's just my opinion. Some people like it while others obviously do not.
I wanted to like this game. I brought it at full price and had high expectations like everyone else. It's been too long since we actually got a Homeworld sequel. I'm disappointed with how this game was released. They should have done more on features that the fans wanted before actually releasing it. It feels lifeless and generic at best.
And I know people will down vote me without actual replying because that's how they are on Reddit. I ask you to actually understand the legitimate issues that this game has. This game has issues; that is a fact.
I just don't get why certain users need a reassurance boast of self confidence by posting a topic saying "Let's give praise to the developers of this game and no negativity!!" You do not know the developers at all. They do not know you. They are not your friends. They were paid to make and develop a game that clearly wasn't fleshed out and released it in this dismal state of backlash.

I'm Chris. My girlfriend and I are planning are planning a trip to the perth area in September. Both of us have first nations heritage in North America. I find that when visiting family on the reservation I almost always learn how to tread lightly and respect the land.
Being a visitor I'd like to learn from you all how I may do that in your area? Which plants or animals need to be given extra reverance. What customs I should abide? I'm a pretty avid photographer and really enjoy taking pictures of nature and the world around me. And if I'm going to indulge this hobby in your area I'd like to do so as respectfully as I can.

So i was out in town skateboarding at 3in the morning bc why not we ballin, that was what i needed yk (my bf at the time and i had got in a fight and broke up so i went skateboarding to clear my head,
Anyways So a cop sees me skateboarding on the side of the road theres zero cars around its just me and that cop. She stops me ask where im headin, for id, reasons i was out so late etc... i told her i was just out clearing my head this is what i chose to do instead of anything else, she understood and asked some more questions looked up my name yada yada
Also i am 19 female talked to the cops like 2 weeks or so before my 19th bday (may 11) im in texas. So, she said she would feel safer if she took me home and i wasnt gonna say no to a cop (i get really bad anxiety when having to deal with them bc every cop in my town sucks) she pats me down and then i get in and shes driving were talking etc she askin me a whole bunch of personal questions. We get there and theres another cop with 2 males one was a Sargent. Same thing askin me questions, asked me if i knew any drug dealers etc🤣 then they say they were gonna go through my bag and if there was anything there shouldn't be in there and im like all i have in there is a speaker a water bottle and a vape. The girl goes thro my shit finds the vape, takes it and the cops are scolding me about having it and then the male cop not the sargent was like "do you really think youre smart riding around town at 3am" i said no sir and he said "why" i said, "i can get kidnappped, hit by a carrrr, etc and then he said something douche baggy i cant remember and i tuned him out im ngl.. LOL oh i also had another vape in my pocket they took too
So now i have a charge for "possession of cigarettes" as it was a regular vape... But yh they gave me court for it. Everyone ive talked to said they had no reason to search me and i should fight it but with the way cops are around here i will honestly just make myself a target to them over what probably a not thaat bad fine. I also dont even know how i would.. but im not fighting it. I got some cool vids n pics skateboarding on the dead main roads with some music going, no regrets it was a vibe
But court date lingering giving me anxiety 😤

I (28F) have known my partner, David (29M) for 5 years now, which includes an 8-month period in which we were broken up and I was in a serious relationship with another man, Luke (30M).
Before I met Luke, my relationship with David was suffering from a ton of very textbook communication issues. I won’t go into too much detail, but here’s an example. Whenever I tried to do something nice for him, he would guilt me for trying to make him feel bad because he would not do nice things for me (he was depressed at the time so that’s why it made sense to him). Or rather than talk about our feelings in a healthy manner (I-statements), we would blame each other. It was messy and resentment grew in our relationship. I used to cry a lot.
This was exactly the time I met Luke, who is a relative of my stepmother through her late husband before she married my dad. My stepmom was renting out a portion of my dad’s and hers marital home to Luke and one night she invited me to dinner with all of them. Luke instantly drew me in. He was a child’s psychologist and since I also work with small children, we had so much in common. We had an amazing conversation that evening and I learnt he had a great insight into people. I could not put my finger on it instantly, but it felt so refreshing meeting someone like him. When I shared that I met Luke with my then boyfriend David, he accused me of cheating on him and acted extremely possessive about me which angered me because I didn’t do anything wrong.
Having Luke around was more frequent now since I am close to my stepmother. Maybe because my relationship with David was getting so bad, I projected a lot of my fantasy on Luke, unconsciously. I never meant to get emotionally close with him, and as soon as I realised I was developing feelings for another man, I ended my relationship with David. That very week, Luke asked me out and our relationship blossomed. At the time, it felt like destiny, like we were meant to be and we moved too fast. It was a whirlwind romance. He was incredible and after 5 months of dating, we moved in together. However, he does not want kids of his own and I realised we were incompatible ultimately and we broke up amicably. I should admit that despite our incompatibility, there was a lot of genuine love in our relationship and he is going to be one of the “great loves” I have experienced in my life.
A lot of you might also feel differently about this, but we cannot control our feelings, only our actions. And as soon as I realised I was falling for Luke, I did right by my then partner, David, and ended things with him. I NEVER wanted to lead him on, NOR am I the cheating type. I ended things when I realised my feelings. I never cheated on David and our couple’s therapist agrees with this
I remained single for a whole year, and David reached out. He was doing better mentally now and we went for couple’s therapy as well and are in a good place now when it comes to communicating maturely. However, he cannot seem to navigate his insecurity of how I “left him for Luke”, and he wants me to say that I regret being with Luke. As hard as it is on David, I do not regret meeting Luke. David and I were bad for each other back then and we were different people. I see that the way life lead us apart, and now together, we have grown so much. Yes, it’s true, that while being with David, I fell in love with Luke, and I do not believe in the concept of “love of my life”. David also feels insecure because I never moved in with him, but I moved in with Luke. However that’s an unfair comparison because no 2 relationships are equal.
I am committed to making my relationship with David work and I know a lot of you will want to know this, but I absolutely have no feelings for Luke now. He is a different chapter of my story and is in the past.
TLDR: I was in a rocky relationship with David due to communication issues, which led to meeting Luke and eventually leaving David for him. Despite our differences, Luke and I had a whirlwind romance but ultimately realized we were incompatible. Now, David struggles with insecurity and wants me to regret leaving him for Luke, but I don't. I ended things with David as soon as I realized my feelings for Luke, and while it was tough, it was the right decision for me. I'm committed to making things work with David now, but I won't deny my truth or regret meeting someone who was once a significant part of my life.

I’m a single mom of 2 special needs children.
My BD is almost completely a deadbeat. Since our separation there’s been 3 months of MIA (usually MIA happens when he fights with his GF, and when she’s not around to remind him his children exist he just disappears). He’s about 6.5K behind in child support, and he skipped both birthday’s and Christmas (as in he didn’t get them any presents, didnt visit, didn’t text or FaceTime).
Naturally this is infuriating for me on behalf of my children, so I vented about how much of a deadbeat loser he is to friend over the phone. At some point through the venting I used the combination “daddy, loser”.
I’m worried my youngest heard this even though I was downstairs and they were supposed to be sleeping, because when I took her to school the next day another child addressed their father with “Daddy” of course, and my youngest repeated “Daddy— loser!”
Immediately I’m embarrassed because despite my negative venting coming from a place of truth I don’t want to be one of those parents that constantly badmouth the other parent in front of their children.
Luckily in this case my youngest is difficult to understand to everyone other than myself, so it’s very likely no one is going to pick up on it.
From now on I’ll be more mindful and discreet when I vent about him, and hopefully this minor hiccup will fade away shortly. I just felt super guilty about it and had to get it out 😅

You can make the case for weakened demand due to people who can afford EV's already having bought one and the sustained elevated interest rates hurting demand but there are a couple of factors that can affect the future stock price that are of varying degrees of likelihood of occurring but are positive catalysts for the stock.
take this information as you will and make your own financial decisions.
Positive Catalysts and likelihood of occurring
*Rivian has just completed their plant shutdown in order to streamline operations and promote productivity which should also impact profitability.
As this has already occurred the chance is 100% and unless they are complete idiots should in fact lead to greater productivity and in turn profitability aka less $ lost per vehicle, it remains to be seen how much impact this will have on operations
*Rivian has changed suppliers on certain things like sensors and cameras as they are doing a refresh on the current R1 lineup. Chances of occurring is 100% and based on what Wassym from Rivian has stated should lead to increased capability including self driving capability. May lead to increased demand.
*Rivian has access to the Tesla charging network and is currently in the proceess of sending out CCS to NACS adapters for free to current owners. Chance of occurring 100% as this has happened / is in progress. Some rivian owners have already bought their own adapters. This should solve the issue of the charging station woes and lead to reduced range anxiety for current and potential owners as road trips become basically a non issue. Just happened recently so should lead to increased demand going forward.
*EV tax credits are currently being looked at to be reworked in 2025 the details are still in flux, but as Rivians currently only qualify for $3750 tax credits to those who are under the income limits this is more likely to be a beneficial change to rivian than to hurt rivian. I'd say the chances of a rework to EV tax credit rules are 100% as the current EV tax credit rules are stupid and everyone knows it. The chance of it being beneficial to Rivian is currently unknown as they could increase the amount Rivian owners would qualify to receive or increase the amount of potential Rivian buyers who would be eligible. Worst case I could see no change for Rivian,
I dont see Rivian buyers less eligible or receiving less credit than they do now.
*Rivian becomes positive gross margin by Q4 on a per vehicle basis. This is what Rivian is pushing for and what they say they are striving for on their earning calls. For this to occur they would have to make great strides to profitability. Whether they meet their goal or just get close remains to be seen. I think this is both a potential positive catalyst if they meet this goal or get really close as it should greatly increase stock buyer sentiment. Conversely if they fall well short then this could be a very negative catalyst. its hard to assign a chance to this occurring with so many variables that could happen between here and there.
*Interest rates reducing. Interest rates haven't increased since July of 2023. As the rates have been sustained since then that may have weakened demand somewhat. However I believe it is more likely for interest rates to be reduced than to be increased further. If interest rates somehow increased I couldn't see how they could possibly sustain more than an additional .25 or .50 total increase from where they are now and even then I think those are unlikely. I think its more likely that interest rates are reduced at least .25 by the end of the year with further rate reductions likely in 2025. This should increase consumer sentiment toward both the stock and toward demand.
Can't predict the future but I think rate reductions or at least one by the end of the year is at least 65-70% likely in my opinion. The stock price at the time of the last rate hike was around a peak of $26-27 before dropping after that but staying around $17-23 til 2024.
*R2 model, if Rivian starts improving their financial situation and that they look like they will be able to stay in business to launch the more affordable R2 which there should be a robust preorder demand I think this will have a good impact on the stock price. They will probably releease preorder numbers at some point this year and if they do that will probably help the stock price on their own. I would estimate that there are 60k-100K R2 Preorders and as that is a much more affordable price point the closer we get to the 2026 projected launch the better rivians stock price should be.
My positions: 170 Shares and 21x $20 calls for January 2025 with plans to add another $10k worth of a mix of calls at varying strikes and shares in the near future. If you do your research and decide to buy calls/puts dated out in 2025 or beyond make sure to check the bid/ask and put in a limit order so you aren't burned by large bid/ask gaps. I also own a Rivian Quad R1T
I would like to address the apple partnership speculation last. This is all rumor based and should be taken as such and not as factual in any capacity. As to what validity to it I wouldn't care to guess but there are many options in which a partnership of some sort would make sense and a lot of different options as to how that would take shape.
*Apple could simply lease/sell the research from Project Titan to Rivian for cheap as they spent a lot of money on it and Rivian was asked on the Quarter 1 24 call how they plan to be able to fund future development of their driver+ software (self driving).
Apple spent a lot of money on project titan and it would be a waste if none of that data was useful or ever used.
*The rumors of the apple rivian partnership was credited to an unnamed supplier in Asia. This could be relevant because if Rivian is purchasing or looking into purchasing Apple chips (to power self driving AI assistants) or anything like sensors of the same kind that apple used on its test cars for project titan, could make the rumor a bit more credible. If any information comes out supporting that Rivian is buying apple related hardware this could impact the stock price upward.
*maybe this could simply be a planned implementation of Carplay with the new upcoming version of Carplay being added to R1 and future R2 lineups. Given that no one is going to refuse to buy a Rivian if it introduces the completely 100% optional carplay and that Rivian has a real issue with the lack of software in its vehicles (I can't name another vehicle that doesn't have integrated text messaging) I could only see this only helping demand as there are plenty of soccer moms who wouldn't buy a car without carplay.
*could be a partnership to build apple branded R1/R2/R3 vehicles. Rivian vehicles look good and have a good interior quality thats better than what you would expect. I could see apple badging and functionality being added to a Rivian vehicle to be sold as the apple car.
They could even throw an apple chip in there to run the center screen and it could basically be an IPAD and run all the ipad apps to instantly compete with tesla on functionality and breadth of media/games etc.
Think of like how Ford had an Eddie Bauer edition of their Expedition vehicle years ago. Makes way more sense than apple starting their own car manufacturing and Rivian makes a whole lot of sense for Apple to partner with due to quality of the vehicle.
Note I dont believe the chances are anything but low for most of the speculation about Apple above, but if there was a major or even minor partnership with apple, expect the stock to take off.
Even without any of the apple things above taking place, I think if Q4 profitability happens the Rivian stock price could be above $20 again in 2025. While there are chances of negative catalysts taking place such as dilution so that Rivian can raise cash and other negative things that could occur so take care to make your own informed decisions do the research and dont risk more than you can afford to lose.

So my girlfriend has this cousin that she grew up with and they've been planning a visit for years. I was all for it.
I only met her once a long time ago at an event for about 5 minutes. But she finally came over to our place for a long stay about a month and a half ago.
She immediately seemed off but only to me and no one else. She was hard to place: wealthy parents, college dropout, never had a real job it seems but claims otherwise.
During her time here I have started to notice how manipulative she is. She should twist things, insist she said things she didn't say and make you doubt yourself. But no one called her out on it, in fact everyone likes her. She always runs to meet people and shake their hand, but she clearly doesn't have any real friends.
And now she has started interjecting herself into my girlfriend's business. My girlfriend is very shy and loves to run her business her way, very low-key. But her cousin started introducing her to people and forcing her way. She brought in small influencers to promote the brand and she recently organized a charity type deal for single low- income moms. My girlfriend was so stressed about it and everything being perfect as she's an introvert. I told her cousin this and confronted her about forcing her ways and she just said it's good for the brand to be a part of the community and called me incapable.
It wasn't worth arguing over, but the more time I spend around this girl the more worried I get. She is so clearly only using people. I've watched her fake expressions and heard her shit talk people with my gf then get favors out of them the next day. I know she has an ulterior motive for being here, but my girlfriend won't hear it. In fact when I tried bringing it up she was insulted so I let it go. How do I bring this up the right way?
TLDR my girlfriend's cousin is a bad person that's trying to get something out of my girlfriend. She doesn't see it. How do I go about this?