Hey all. Pretty much what it says on the tin. I make a post with other people, tag them, then I check the post at a later date, tags are gone. I dunno if ig has some kind of feature where you can delete tags or something, but even if that's the case I don't think this is the problem because I had a post where the only person tagged was my dad and I really hope my dad of all people isn't wanting to be tagged in my posts. I hope I'm not that unsavoury that my own father doesn't want to be associated with me
This isn't a huge deal or anything I just like tagging my friends in my posts and it makes me a little sad when it undoes the tags. Any advice as to why this is happening and what I can do to stop it?
Any help is greatly appreciated

We didn’t have a typical breakup. Although I was the one who started the conversation to initiate it, we both agreed that due to our situation, we wouldn’t be able to continue dating. There were a lot of “I love yous” said during the breakup, and we had a long hug goodbye.
The reason we broke up was that my ex got a new job and had to move somewhere that’s a 6 hour drive away. When he first started talking about possibly having to move, we were both optimistic about continuing our relationship long distance. However, my ex does have a history of mental health issues, and even while he was job searching, I noticed his mental health declined because his communication was becoming worse. We both decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea to try doing long distance, given the fact that communicating would be harder and even more so if he ever experienced other issues.
However, there’s no denying that I still love my ex, and I’m sure he still loves me. Although we only dated 2-3 months and were still technically in the “honeymoon phase,” I have never felt more drawn to someone. My ex is very mature for his age - he even thought to get me flowers on our first date - and he always made me feel like I could be myself, which is something I struggle with around others since I tend to be more introverted. He was also the first guy who said he loved me and genuinely meant it and the first (and only) guy I have slept with.
I recently saw him when he paid a visit to see his best friend graduate from my college, and he told me he’d make more visits to see friends here and that I could see him when he did. The moment I saw my ex that day, I honestly felt like I fell in love with him all over again. He’s been through a lot in his life, yet he’s made so much of it and he’s always so sweet, understanding, and funny. Not to mention, I always want to melt when I stare into his eyes.
Anyways, I am still in college and plan to go to law school after I graduate in two years, but I really have no interest in dating anyone now because I can’t get over how much I love my ex. I really want to try to get into a good law school that is near where he lives in hopes of reconnecting with him. I don’t plan on limiting myself to that plan for the future, but I know that it’s something I want to consider. My ex and I had often talked about getting married, and even before he left for his job, he refused to take back one of his sweatshirts he’d given me because he wanted to hold onto hope that we’d be together again.
I’m hoping I’m not too delusional about the whole situation, but in any case, having this kind of mindset has helped me deal with his absence.
TLDR: I still love my ex who I am on good terms with, and I am holding onto hope that we can one day be together

so I didn't know my crush was going to prom. she never mentioned it and i was honestyly super disappointed. I wasn't even looking forward to it as much. but i just found out she actually is going so im extremely excited and extremely nervous now. she's coming with my big group of friends. so my plan is to get a bouquet of flowers and i will gift one flower to each of my friends. i will specifically give her a red rose though. she knows flower language, she will most definitely know that red roses are romantic. but its subtle enough that i could play dumb/have plausible deniability if i need to. if she has the same feelings, she can say something about the rose. if she doesn't, she can just ignore it. I'm so nervous about making her uncomfortable though. we've grown such a great friendship. the other day i was drunk at her house with our friends and she was taking care of me the whole time. helping me walk to the bathroom, making me food and water, carrying me to bed. it was so sweet and caring. i want to keep having that. i hope prom will evolve our relationship, not set it back. its tough though, we're both going off to do different things after high school. but it would be nice to have a sweet relationship, even if its just for the summer. or even if its just for the month of school we have left.

hey y’all. i got a question that i’ve been trying to find an answer to but haven’t really found a real good solid one. what constitutes an appalachian? i’m originally from taylors, sc right outside of greenville. i have the best memories of hiking at paris mountain w my family, in fact my childhood dogs ashes are spread there. i have many memories of nature and waterfalls in the mountains. my grandparents are from Weirton, WV. when i told my granddad i had picked wild blackberries for a pie, he said him and his mama used to do that. seems very appalachian lol. i now live sorta by charlotte, nc. obviously, for the sake of internet safety, im not gonna say exactly but im like 40 minutes out from the city now. im thinking about moving back closer to the mountains after college. appalachia and the mountains have my heart but is it more appropriate to just say i have appalachian roots? i don’t wish to offend no one cause im certainly not saying at all that im my granddad or someone who was truly raised in the asscrack of the mountains. i ain’t something i ain’t but appalachia has a deep meaning to me and i certainly am proud of my roots. i ask this all because i was having a conversation somewhat related to this topic and it got me thinking if it was even appropriate to consider myself appalachian. i mean, i certainly can say i have appalachian roots. coal mining family history, upstate sc, WV, “hoopy” saying grandma, and all. can’t deny that’s appalachian for sure lol! but i’d rather not offend someone who is genuinely through and through appalachian by saying i am too. i guess the main point of my post is to ask y’all’s thoughts on this one. btw…i’ll always say app-uh-latch-uh cause you know, “throw an apple at ya!” lol

I have an idea for a new kind of westmarch. Some of this will be hard to grasp. I am not trying to argue its points. If you are interested let me know.
Everyone is their own dm. This is the main point. You paid for the content, use it as you wish.
Since you are your own dm. You approve your own characters. This means you decide what content is allowed on dndbeyond.
You can solo or form a group. A dm will be decided upon by the group. Usually this is the person advertising. When forming a group players will just br upfront about what they want.
Homebrew. Go for it. When you post in LFG you will list what rule set is being used. 5e will be the most common. This also goes for optional rules. Homebrew will get tricky but I think its doable. Communication will be important. Their are some tricks to this. Like having your custom things be documented in a way that its explained upon use. Avrae custom attacks allow for this. Whatever the homebrew it should ideally be setup through custom commands.
I understand why servers set common rules and standards. Players should be allowed to decide this for themselves on an adhoc basis as they form groups.
There is no content to balance against. There will be narratives and example combat created. But players will be encouraged to add to it and run with it.
Primarily I need some staff to work put the details of our shared vision. Dms and players for sure. It feels like an exciting opportunity to really put d&d to good use.
At its core its to facilitate roleplaying. This is what I want to emphasize on the server. Not arbitrary rules dictacted by server staff. Not saying that wm servers are wrong. I am just burnt out on them. Having to start the grind to 20 again. It makes no sense. It is a game of imagination and creativity. I feel that arbitrary rules are prohibit that.
I very much do not want to involve any kind of gacha mechanics. The server should just be fun. This is all we need to encourage growth and activity. Mechanics designed to reward players for logging in, forcing them through grinds that have a cap with daily and weekly resets or limiting character respecs. I just don't understand why we do it to ourselves.
Since every player is their own dm. They can respec whenever they want outside combat. They can level up freely in town. Rest as often as they want. Award themselves anything. Even determining how a rule is to be applied when concerning their own characters.
Erp and nsfw. We just need to follow discord rules. I understand that allowing it prevents having a permalink. This will ultimately need to be discussed with other staff. Allowing it will quickly push away some players and draw in others.
Player owned channels for things like homes, shops, taverns. I'm in favor of it all. With something about no use in x days leading to removing them to make room for new ones. There is a channel limit after all.
I think I covered enough to get started.

So I am completely new to LARP and trying to figure things out as I plan to go to my first event... I love the collective storytelling and the general "yes and" mentality, but one thing I have noticed from listening to so many stories is situations where someone comes up and kidnaps the player by walking up and saying "you are kidnapped, come with me" or more importantly if a caster character casts anything everyone seems to just comply.
Is there ways to resist magic effects or refute something that is being "done" to your character that you don't want to happen?

I recently met someone and we’ve hit it off in every way and the chemistry is insane between us. Anyways we’re talking so obviously birth charts end up being discussed.
Eventually I end up meeting their best friend. TELL ME HOW CRAZY IT IS AND this absolutely blew my mind that their best friend is two days younger than me and we have basically the same chart. Like what are the odds to meet someone who checks every box and then their best friend has an identical chart to your own. Blew my mind. 🤯 Same year and everything. Like i’m so shook.
Me and their best friend are both capricorns and I feel like Capricorns have super high standards anyways. So the fact they’re like lifelong best friends since childhood and the fact that him and I met suddenly and our chemistry is insane. Like it feels like something is aligning here 😭 Anyways thoughts, opinions, insight?
I’m a double Capricorn , Libra moon, Aquarius venus
And the person I’m talking to is a Libra sun, Gemini moon, Aries Rising, Libra Venus

I’m really nervous rn bc my parents got a letter in the mail saying that I have too many tardies (I completely understand that it’s my fault for having too many tardies) and in the letter they said to call this number as soon as possible to talk about it I’m just worried that their gonna say to come into my schools principal‘s office I really don’t want to go there if that turns out to be the situation bc one time I got my first detention from her for a really stupid reason in my opinion and I think that she was kinda mean abt it (like I understand that u can’t be nice when giving a detention but I don’t think she had to be kinda mean abt it) and she just really makes me anxious or also I’m afraid bc one of the assistant principals knows my name but I don’t really like it (ik its really odd) and I don’t want my parents to think that I want to be friends with all of the staff in school or something they haven’t called the number as far as i know yet I’m just worried abt the outcome of this situation

I’m terrified. On thanksgiving he got diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer at the age of 27 with innumerable liver metastasis. He was hospitalized for 11 days, it was the worst 11 days of our lives. The initial oncologists didn’t give much in the way of hope, but he quickly responded wonderfully to chemo.
I got him a consult with one of the best, if not the best, liver cancer surgeons in the world. He said this can still be cured, it just depends on how aggressive we want to be.
He’s been off chemo for three and a half weeks and the whole thing is just terrifying. I’ve personally have had over 10 surgeries for my own medical problems and I’ve never felt like this. I truly love my husband more than myself or anyone in this world. I would do anything for him, I wish I could take this all from him. He doesn’t deserve any of this, no one ever does.
He just had his MRI today and lab works. Hoping that the liver grew from the portal vein embolization they did and that there’s no new cancer. I’m a wreck. I’ve been hopeful as surgery is the most curative measure, but I haven’t been thinking about it. But now that we’re down at the hospital and starting to prep I’m beginning to feel all the emotions I’ve pushed down. It’s just so much.
This is my nightmare. I watched my uncle die from pancreatic cancer in 2013. My second mom (mom’s best friend and also my best friend’s mom) also lost her 16 year battle against a rare and aggressive thyroid cancer in 2021 - she outlived her cancer 3 times, thank god for clinical trials. And my sister also battled chondrosarcoma over 10 years ago, she’s been in remission. I can’t wrap my head around the statistics of my partner also getting cancer, I thought we’d be free of it after the long suffering of those close to me. What were the odds, at such a young age and barely two years into our relationship.
When I met my husband, I had this feeling something was off with his health, but he had zero obvious symptoms. He’d been sick well before I met him but we just had no idea. A couple of months into our relationship I had this awful nightmare that he got diagnosed with stage IV cancer, we got married, and he passed. I woke up sobbing but grateful it was only a nightmare. I hate that this has become our lives but I’m so grateful everyday that I have him. I can’t do any of this without him. I can’t.
I hate cancer, I hate what it does to people. How soul crushing it can be. He’s a fighter, but they all were. We’re very optimistic about this treatment, I’m positive, but that doesn’t mean I’m not scared of the unknown.
My husband saved my life. He came at a time when I was struggling to find myself again. My second mom had just passed, I bought my house, and got out of an unhappy relationship with my cheating, useless ex. I met him and suddenly everything made sense. It just feels like we’re living some sick cruel joke.
I just love him so much, I want him to be okay. I needed to get this all out.
Also a couple of things, 1) I will not be answering anything about his symptoms or colon cancer symptoms - if you have symptoms of a change in your bowel habits go to your doctor and push for a colonoscopy, colon cancer does not discriminate by age today. 2) I am in counseling and on a leave of absence from work for my own mental health, I’m trying to do things for me.

Hi friends! Sometimes we can't go wrong with the classics and today we're doing a Jump Doc Analysis of Burkess's Concept Understand Education Wonder jump! As usual have a secondary link to my past discussion posts.

General Thoughts

I've noticed I always have a lot of fun with Burkess's odder jumps. One of my favorites of theirs is Generic Totally Not Mind Control, which is a hilariously powerful jump depending on the setting you're planning to go to, and this one is also shockingly powerful (there's a perk to become a concept, a perk to bring inanimate objects to life, and an item which can absorb all of the knowledge someone has! It's wild).
This jump is the ultimate one-stop-shop for teachers & educators, which is a VERY good skill for jumpers to master. Jumpers, particularly early jumpers, would be wise to figure out how to do teaching stuff and do it well, as being a teacher is a good profession for a jumper and also mastering teaching is a pretty powerful way to subtly or not so subtly guide, shape, and improve settings. Becoming a skilled teacher is a powerful key to figuring out how to alter the course of jumps without having big flashy powers, and being a skilled teacher is a heck of a way to craft better, or worse, ends for the places you visit.
I'm a member of a setting known as the Shiftverse, which is VAGUELY like a fusion of jumpchains and more generic isekai stuff and in it two skills are top of the line in almost any situation: farming/survival & teaching. Teaching is a critical way to become indispensable to a community or group of people that is in a moderately stable condition, while farming/survival is more critical for communities in dire conditions, but of the two skills teaching is usually the skill that produces the most change over the long-term. Teaching is a vastly underrated skill set for any sort of multiversal wanderer, and in this jump we start to see some of the real power of a teacher come to the fore. So let's dive in!

Items

There's only nine items in this jump, Jumper Academy, The Living Orphanage, Treats & Games, Teaching Materials, Experimental Lab, Book Of Concepts, Media Library, Your TV Show, & Hungry Knowledge.
Two of these items are books, Book of Concepts (the obligatory "You can spread abilities like the ones here throughout the setting) & Hungry Knowledge (which can grant magical knowledge to peeps!). Three of the items are places: Jumper Academy (Generic School item), Living Orphanage (an orphanage which naturally attracts little orphan peeps from throughout a setting), & Experimental Lab (self-cleaning, auto-adjusting laboratory for all of your experiments). Three items are collections of items; Treats & Games (fun prizes and rewards for your students), Teaching Materials (a collection of supplies for teaching stuff), and Media Library (a collection of copies of all of the media you've consumed and will consume in the future). The last item is Your TV Show which is a program you are the lead actor in which will naturally be geared around education in some capacity, AND a network which you control and can create more shows for.
I like these items, they're all pretty solid encapsulations of various scenarios related to learning and different contexts in which learning can occur. Honestly there's just a lot of fun to be had with these items, and a range of different jumpers would be able to benefit from looking over some of what this jump has to display in terms of items. Funnily enough there's no teaching certificate item here, which is a bit disappointing. Though if someone wants that, it's the free item for teachers over in my High School Musical jump which could be a very fun jump to use this as a supplement with.

Perks

There are many pages of perks, as is invariably the case in a jump like this. I have a few standout favorites and I want to talk about them for a beat.
Innovation is an immersive power-modifier that allows you to take all of your powers and figure out ways to creatively use them which grants you new abilities thematically tied to your powers. They Ask Questions & Always Employed are thematically relevant employment perks that guarantee that you'll find that people like and respect you more, and are more willing to ask you to help them learn new stuff. Retrocognition is a fun perk that lets you learn the pasts of places you visit and objects you touch. Some perks like A Customized Approach, Potential Unlock, and What's Your Motivation are perfect for tutors working with singular students or small groups and allow you to figure out how to create the best, most fulfilling stuff you can imagine to work with them and teach them.
Some of the perks here are direct superpowers like Know What I Know which is a telepathy granter, and Uplift Them and Creating Life which is a sentience granter and a life-creator (for inanimate objects) respectively. These perks are interesting, and all grant new contexts for you to mess about with your abilities and CREATE students for you to teach as well as figures you can learn from.
The perks here are a healthy mix of giving you new ways to get people excited about learning, allowing you to learn stuff from people (or even ghosts!), and ways to figure out how to best teach someone something. A lot of this stuff is really good for tutors specifically, as opposed to more modern teachers and lecturers, but make no mistake there's plenty of ways to leverage the stuff here to be handy among larger numbers of people.
The perks this jump offers are worth exploring yourself, but if you've ever thought about having a jumper who either uses a job as a teacher as a cover, or just IS a teacher who likes to explore and learn stuff this jump has a lot of fun stuff for you to snatch up. I think there's just a lot of different, interesting ideas this jump allows you to explore and gives you a set of skills and abilities that will be useful in virtually any context sans something truly extreme like you being in a jump where you are either alone or almost completely alone, or where you are well and truly surrounded by hostiles and you've just got to endure whatever bullshit the jump is throwing at you (and this jump has stuff for that too! Seriously, this is a very intriguing jump).

Conclusion & Parting Thoughts

This is a very intriguing mundane/cosmic citizen jump. I think it's funny that Burkess found some straight up superpowers related to teaching and learning and I appreciate that a jump as minor as this has some real powers in it. I also like that this jump just revolves around an essential skill, and takes that skill to some pretty intense heights without doing the traditional stuff like allowing you to teach someone your superpowers. It's cool to see such creative thoughts put into a jump and made into a fun playground for jumpers to mess around in.

I didn’t date until I was 18 years old. I never really got asked out and I really wasn’t that outgoing so I probably wouldn’t have said yes anyway. “My first date” if you can call it that because I definitely don’t claim it as one. we went to college together and one of my friends at the time convinced me to go out with him. He was funny but that was about it. He really wasn’t that cute, with acne all over his face long shaggy hair, facial hair that really wasn’t coming in and very bushy eyes brows. Hopefully you get the picture.
I really didn’t want to. But i think I went because I told him that I would and really value my word and I don’t like following through with what I said. I texted my Mom about it to let her know where I was going just to be on the safe side. We went to Chick-fil-A down the street we drove separately thank the lord I really don’t think after the conversation we had or should I say he had that I would have road back with him.
So I got there and he told me that he had forgotten his wallet at home so I being the nice person I am paid for his meal.
I honestly don’t remember eating and I barely remember most of the conversation. I just remember him going on and on about himself and about his family. I think the BIGGEST thing that shocked me to my core and left me speechless and still has me kind of like lost for words all these years later was the fact that his sister if she liked you she would bite you. And she would bite him and her fiancé all the time. He tried to play it off like it was a normal thing because I guess it was in his family but I was just token by surprise and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Needless to say I never went out with him again and ether he was just using me for a free meal or he knew that I wasn’t going to see him again.( I honestly think it was the first option) he didn’t text me after that. Thank the lord, I’ve never wanted to get away from someone so fast. But now I’m happily married to my best friend who also went to the same college and who pursued me even though I turned him down several times. But that’s a story for another time.
So do you guys think he was just getting a free meal and he made all that stuff up and he was being a bad date on purpose? Or do you think any of that was real?

So I'm rewatching Steven universe with my mom and I realized something in season 5 episode 21 when he's talking to Ruby about her and Sapphire at 2:08 Steven says "You're like sugar and flour. I love eating them separately but I still want cake!" He eats straight flour... I semi get sugar but just flour?

I randomly give compliments in public, not usually anyone’s face, I’m too socially awkward for that. But if I’m with my friends I’ll loudly say things like ‘oh my god, I love that bow in their hair! It’s so cute!’ Or ‘I love that shirt, they look so cool’, sometimes I pretend I’m on call with someone or something like that. At work I’m already interacting with them so just after they’ve payed I quickly make a ‘by the way I really love your ___” kind of remark.
Whenever I’m having a bad day or struggling with something it’s just nice to do, sometimes the person glances at me, or looks at whatever I decided to point out, sometimes people just don’t hear me, but it makes me feel good.
No one really knows that I do this purposely, as in like when I’m with my friends and stuff, and it’s been something I’ve been doing for about a year or two now.
It’s just good fun!
I’m still very much in a time of my life where I’m still figuring things out, especially with being 17, soon to be 18, feeling like I still haven’t quite found myself, the transition is hard, but i know how important a random compliment could be to a person.
I use to be very insecure (not so much now, school really was just a breeding ground for mental illness and insecurity) but distinctly remember when I was in a supermarket with my mom and heard a stranger compliment my shirt, that made me feel good for such a long time and I’m unashamed to admit that I wore that shirt a lot more after that.
Literally that one small thing made my week, and that person would never know how much it meant to me at that time, or how it’s inspired me to do the same.

my best friend doesn’t like my boyfriend and it’s driving me crazy!!! both are sober alcoholics with ocd. my boyfriend is extremely loving, supportive, gentle, kind, basically everything i’ve been looking for in a relationship. we’ve been together for about 8 months. he briefly lived with us (me and my best friend) but ended up going to rehab after a relapse that entailed my best friend and i searching for him in the middle of the night and even reporting him missing (just in case.) he ended up coming home in the morning hungover with hypothermia and lots of regret. once he was home safe, she sent him a long paragraph about how he’s basically a massive piece of shit who is going to ruin our lives and how he doesn’t deserve me. obviously it really got to him and they haven’t talked since.
its been about three months and he’s been through rehab and is now in a recovery house, he’s got a new job at an extremely nice fine dining restaurant and is committed to recovery but recently she relapsed and did some questionable things while drunk.
i decided to wait a few weeks and then talked to her about my boyfriend and she said she doesn’t trust him AT ALL and never wants to see him ever. this made me cry. i feel like of all people she should understand the struggle of sobriety and know that despite alcoholism, people can be amazing. she’s so worried about the possibility of him hurting me that she’s hurting me.
i don’t know what to do because they are the two most important people in my life and the tension is eating me alive! i hate not being able to talk about all the sweet things my boyfriend does for me or about the time we spend together like best friends do when i listen to her talk about her boyfriend all the time aaaahhhhhhhh

I've finally decided to hang it up.
Two Thursdays ago, I went to a celebratory event at a fancy venue hosted by the first law firm that I worked at out of law school. I proceeded to drink half a dozen martinis on a mostly empty stomach, black out, stop returning my wife's texts, vomit in the Uber on the way home, and stumble through the door about three hours later than expected, unable to walk and unable to undress myself.
The next day I had a crippling hangover. I heard my wife getting my young son ready for school at 7 a.m., but I could barely more. I proceeded to vomit three more times over the course of the day. The lowest point was being unable to go pick up my son from school at 4:30 p.m. because I knew I would vomit if I got in the car. I was hung over for the next three days.
One good thing I did on that hungover Friday was tell my wife that I thought I had a problem and that I needed to never drink again. Saying those words out loud was its own type of liberation. Giving voice to those thoughts made me feel just a little bit less alone.
Over the following few days, I wound up telling some close friends and some not-so-close friends who I knew were sober. They all responded with genuine care and support. This shouldn't have surprised me but it did. I finally told my parents on Wednesday; they were the last important people I told and I was pretty nervous. Not because I was worried that they wouldn't be supportive, because I knew they would be. I think I was a little bit afraid of taking that final step of accountability. Can't get new parents, after all. So if I tell them that I am stopping drinking, then there's no going back. But I took the plunge and, again, relief washed over me.
I've since spent a lot of time in this community and I've gone to a couple of AA meetings too. I'm trying to get my workouts back on track... I want to run a 50k trail race in mid-August.
I am feeling good. Cautiously optimistic. I have taken breaks of 90 or 100 days before, so I know I can get that far as long as I remain focused and diligent. My problem has never really been drinking every day or even drinking on most days: it's having 10-plus drinks over the course of a couple of hours and behaving like a lunatic. I can avoid situations where I might be tempted to do that for a few months.
And then what? Well, we'll see. When I've taken those 90-plus day breaks in the past, everything about my life has improved. Of course, I went into those breaks with the intention of returning to drinking, and return I did. I suppose I needed to make sure that I wasn't the one-in-a-million drinker who actually can go back to drinking like normal after a nice little break. Well, I know I'm not. I've got all the evidence I need.
Can't help but think that I wish I had done this earlier. I can think of shameful and embarrassing binges going back to at least 2013. I have done things that I regret very much. I have behaved very, very poorly. Yet in many ways I am very lucky. I haven't killed or maimed or injured anyone. My son is young enough that he probably won't remember his father as a drinker. My wife loves and supports me and wants to see me get better.
I owe it to myself, to my family, to my friends, and to this community to give sobriety the best effort I can. Thank you all for your unwavering support and optimism. It's been a lifesaver.
I will not drink with you today.

(Apologies for the length)
So here is mine. I (37M) made the decision, earlier this year, to leave the company I co-founded a few years ago. I've since been re-prioritizing, working out and improving my health, eliminating stressors, and planning my next business moves (basically self-focus). Last Fall I reconnected with a close friend (32F) that I had lost most contact with for a few years.
We used to work together years before and became close quickly and easily. We were always naturally flirty and still are, and one day she opened up about her feelings for me to which I happily reciprocated. This is where the problems began. Reason being that years prior I had gone through about 3 subsequent relationships/situations that destroyed my trust and desire for being vulnerable romantically. I had just given up for the foreseeable future. This reveal from her occurred during this aftermath period and I was unable to process, comprehend, and alleviate doubts/fears appropriately, preventing me from communicating with her about it almost altogether. She persisted and was graciously cool about what I'm sure was confusing to her with my horrible communication abilities at the time. Eventually she moved on and we just remained friends, with her leaving for a new job not long after. She also entered a relationship with a mutual acquaintance soon after that (randomly, not because of our situation). She was happy and growing in her life and I found joy in that but my missteps haunted me since she moved on. I meant the reciprocation but knew then that I couldn't be what she deserved and refused to use her affection for my own happiness. I also knew that I owed her an explanation, as I couldn't stand for her to possibly think I found something wrong or undesirable about her, leading to my actions before. It just never felt appropriate to do while she was seeing someone.
FAST-FORWARD (Don't laugh too hard at that)...
After leaving the job myself and helping start a company and going my own direction, my feelings never waned off but I didn't dwell. Around 4-5 years had passed. I would see her randomly here and there, still in her relationship, and it was always nice. It was apparent she was excited by my presence and always made the effort to share a hug and some time talking. We have an incredibly solid friendship and banter base that will always be around. Despite that, the occasions she would be where I was became scarce and it was back to the usual. During the days leading up to my decision to leave the company, I just needed a trusted friend to talk to. I ran into a mutual friend of mine and hers and during the catch-up they mentioned they had hung out with her recently and that she had ended her relationship. Now, someone in my position would probably relish in that information. I'll admit I wasn't bummed by it. I realized, however, that I more just missed talking to her and felt I should reach out. So I did.
Now we are caught up (It annoys me as well)...
Since last Fall we have been catching up and bantering better than ever and it has been great. The natural flirtation and everything has been there but more in-line with where we are now in life. She had mentioned her breakup during the initial reconnect, but never mentioned anything further from her end nor inquired about my status. We just focused on the stellar conversation and regained contact. I knew my feelings never went anywhere and they just became more enhanced as we kept talking (only via text to this point). I knew the possibility that she was seeing someone else was there but didn't really care. I wasn't much to expect her to consider letting her guard down a second time with me, especially without having spoken about what happened before. After much thought, I made certain I was sure of how I was feeling about myself, her, and the situation and texted her about meeting up. She was very excited to do so and we set up a plan and ended up meeting recently. I was just purely excited to see her again in-person, but the obvious hopes and desires we as people have are always there. I knew part of me would be gauging it all to see where we both stand.
It was a fantastic meet up but she did mention her breakup quite early on and also that she was dating someone currently. It did NOT hit me like bricks or whatever saying applies. It wasn't great to hear for that part of me that was hoping, but I knew it could be a thing going in. The real impact was the reevaluation of much of the previous conversations we had made, with before having no knowledge of her dating someone during so. It never got out of hand, just that natural flirtation and sharing of trusted information that can seem to have dual tonality to them. You just never know until you know. The evening carried on and we kept bonding really well and having a great time as friends (the tone it needed to take). I'll mention that this person is an amazing, generous, loyal, independent, and confident individual that overcame a lot of insecurities in life (like so many of us do or hope to do), and has incredible integrity. She would not intentionally disrespect the person she is dating. One of her many admirable qualities. We continued catching up and relocated to grab a bite to eat. During this portion we bonded on more things and I was finally honest with myself internally that I can't fight the fact that I do, in fact, love this person and it made me excited. I knew though that I had to now have that conversation about what happened in the past, which was long overdue and needed to happen before anything else could be broached.
I promise I'm going to wrap this up (I appreciate your patience if you got this far)...
It was now nighttime and a reasonable time to part ways. I knew my chance was now or never so I inquired if we could park for a second and chat. We did and I just went into it in the best way I could that respected her current situation (I feel too strongly and respect her too much to let my feelings disregard her boundaries). She listened and received it like a total boss, which is no surprise. Luckily it hadn't impacted her too poorly and the new knowledge alleviated any doubt she may have had about herself. I didn't really expect her to even remember it all anyhow. I just had to know she knew what happened and where I stood/stand. Human nature being what it is, I toed the line a few times with my words but I always made sure she knew I meant all due respect and meant it. Some things just build too much pressure when you hold on the them and they eventually get released. She was very reassuring that I was behaving and even revealed new information from her side of it back then and now. She allowed me to express everything I was able to within the boundaries present and was very kind about it. Obviously I had now revealed that I still maintained feelings for her amidst it all. I am not a pro on the subject of attraction, but I'm not an idiot either. The eyes and mouth can speak volumes, and I saw what I'm sure I subconsciously wanted to see. I knew I would run risk of breaching her trust if I persisted too far and I was feeling bad about keeping her out as late as it was, so I asked if I could make a couple inquiries that were appropriately worded. She agreed and I asked if after my idiocy back in the day when she approached me, was that where her feelings for me had stopped. She quickly and softly whispered "No.". I took that in and decided to ask, hypothetically, that if she had no attachments and I were to approach her, would I receive a half-way positive response. She had a slight pause and said "More than half-way.". Despite a heavy desire to explore further, I knew I shouldn't and by happenstance she got a phone call right after this. She said she needed to take it and it was her dad. I stepped out of the car but doing so I happened to notice the name on the dash screen (we had taken her car the the restaurant). I don't know her father personally or know his exact name, but it wasn't the one on the screen. I didn't and likely won't read into that too much, but thought I'd share it in here. Anyway, she handled the call quickly and got out to hug and say our goodbyes. We shared a long hug and exchanged thank yous and then found the opportunity to enact a fake threat of a gentle kidney goosing from some flirty banter a few days prior. She enjoyed it. We then parted ways asking each other to inform of their safe arrival home. Which we did.
So there you have it. Obviously there are many ways to dissect something like this. I feel we both behaved rather well even though I feel a bit of guilt and hope I haven't caused her any undue problems, as she is in a great place in life (mainly because of her personal and professional growth, not necessarily the dating). I also don't regret unburdening myself the way I did. I think we both deserved it for different reasons.
I suppose I'm just curious of your thoughts on it all. I'm doing alright after it all but know the dynamic is different now. She is likely juggling a thought or two just like I am, but we still talk as friends. She is content where she is but I could tell that, if perhaps the timing was different, we wouldn't hesitate to get together. I hold excitement at the thought but will not wait on chance. She is walking her path and me my own. Those paths may indeed converge one day, but her friendship is something I won't gamble away nor would she to mine. It also may never happen. These are the realities.
Thoughts/anybody else out there?
Thank you for your indulgence.

Well I guess that I have to start somewhere, so why not the end! I’ve been disowned for the umpteenth time by my parents (or rather by my mum because over the years, Dad has just learned to go along with whatever she says out of duress!) This has all been as a result of my having visited them in Hay ( a 700 kilometre round trip might I add) because my Dad’s brother passed away this week and it was Mother’s Day. I thought that I’d go to show my condolences and to wish my mother and sister who also lives there a happy Mother’s Day and bring them all some hand made gifts, I’m a bit sentimental like that.
I have taken to the craft of making pebble art. The gift that I made for my mother was of an image depicting my family with my parents, my sister and I and my brother who’s passed away, as he is handing my mum a bunch of flowers. I made one for my dad depicting he and my Nan (his mother) fishing at their favourite fishing spot; my Nan passed away just last month as well and I thought it’d be a nice gesture, then I gave my sister one as well with a quote about sisters being joined by the heart.
The first day, Friday, that my husband, daughter and I came there was okay. It always is especially when I’ve not seen them for six months or more! We catch up, mum talks about her very many health conditions, she then complains a little bit about everything and everyone but it’s not over the top at this point because she and my dad are kept busy opening gifts and seemingly happy to see us! But we had decided before coming that we were going to stay in separate accommodation for the weekend with the knowledge that things with my mother usually go sour very quickly! And if we’re not having to stay at their home when it does then we can at least retain some mental stability throughout our trip! This would normally be a point in which I’d let out a bit of a chuckle or if I’m texting or writing a social media post, that I’d add the LOL at the end of that statement, simply due to the stupid realisation that unfortunately it is so very true that it’s almost comical, remembering in my mind the very many times that her very predictable unstable behaviour kicks in at around the 24 hour mark and doesn’t often dissipate until well after we’ve left if not months later! I have no clue as to why I’m still surprised by this occurrence?! Perhaps it’s because it is so unbelievably erratic and shocking to anyone that witnesses it that still even now it’s hard not only to watch unfold but to believe!
But sadly as a result of these personally flips, she lashes out in anger, she can become nasty and callous, her comments are cold and uncaring, she can become physically aggressive, and the damage done during these times can be hard to ever overcome, especially if she aims any comment or remark at you! It is during these times that you know in your soul that she has not a single care for you, not an ounce, and that the only attention or compassion shown towards you as her child or friend is one of obligation out of her need to keep up appearances with those who are still weaved in her web of “social media” deception! She wouldn’t dare lift a finger for anyone in person! But just the fact that we pre decided to obtain alternative accommodation was possibly one of the triggers I was already prepared would set her off, as we would usually choose to stay with her and dad in their spare room over crowded with belongings of the past and present, not unlike the rest of their home.
With this alone, one would see that she has an overwhelming need to retain old memories, be them bad or good. She still literally keeps every ounce of clothing I’ve ever passed on to her since well before I had children which was 27 years ago! Looking in her wardrobe, there are outfits there I remember her wearing when I was a teenager! Her bathroom still retains the $2 gifts (still in their packaging) that us kids bought for her from school Mother’s Day stalls, and the Mary Kay makeup I used to steal when I was attending high school!
Her kitchen still holds the Amway cookware she purchased for hundreds of dollars before I can remember! And to make matters worse, even some of the food in her pantry is from supermarkets no longer operating! Over the years, her hoarding has been a bit of a thorn in dad’s side, having lived a life of drifting from house to house, town to town, moving around as often as they have, having to cart it all along with them and something us kids (myself, my brother and sister) have always found funny to pick on her about, but in writing this, it is easy to see that her need to keep the past fresh in her mind and under her nose is a sickness all In itself.
Whilst we were visiting, we visited my sister in her little unit. It’s like walking back into the 70s and equally as much as a step back in time like my mother’s house! My sister has been diagnosed with schizophrenia which when first diagnosed was apparently drug induced, however; going from the lifestyle we were forced to live as the children to my parents and their lifestyle choices plus my brother and I having been diagnosed with conditions and disorders of our own, putting the puzzle pieces together as to how we’ve all accumulated mental health diagnoses isn’t that difficult taking into consideration that neither one of my parents exerted any kind of maternal instincts at all! And not even as us kids have grown and struggled through our lives, we had always been told by them that once we turned 18 we’d no longer be their “problem” anymore!
My sister’s name is Julie. She moved in with my mum and dad after one of her countless admissions to the psychiatric hospital in Bendigo, having absconded from their independent living facility which is meant to be a monitored introduction back into society after a mental health admission, but she always left before she gave the chance for them to find her accommodation that wasn’t with her abusive ex husband and 4 children.
Sitting down with her in her home, hearing all about the time she’s lived in Hay both with and near my parents, how our mum would bail her up sometimes (which had happened recently) even physically, how she’s thrown dishes at her and how she abuses her denying her food for being overweight on a daily basis… how she calls her fat and crazy… there’s literally a Myriad of abuse in all its forms being dished out to Julie, and yet, because she has nowhere else to go, like the situation my brother was in living with them on and off before he passed away (under questionable circumstances in my opinion) she has no choice but to endure it… and it saddens me to hear about it all let alone see it going on right before my eyes! Especially when the exact same denigrating comments about being useless, overweight, a waste of a life and criticism about the way she’s living her life, the choices she’s making and what she chooses to eat etc etc was also drilled into my brother by my parents and whispered to all that they spoke too for many many years before by brother lost his life.
I know through my own experience having lived with her that her poisonous mouth can lead a person to questioning your mere existence, your reason for living and remove all self esteem in a single spat with her! In 2013 I took an overdose due to a gross level of mental health issues and past trauma which I couldn’t deal with. My parents were living with us at the time and my youngest daughter exhibited some challenging behaviours… my mum found it difficult to cope with her however she made no attempt at patience or compassion and so in a fleeting moment she’s said to my daughter “if I was your mother I would’ve killed myself a long time ago!”
Wow! Just WOW! The above mentioned examples of how toxic my mother is… after only explaining to you the very tip of the iceberg in these few paragraphs, even I am second guessing writing this at all, and I’m finding it hard to fathom how I can rehash the past and get into more detail about the really bad situations! Not to mention, go into my life right from childhood until now with her and my father which is yet to come!
Writing this down, whether I share it here or not is going to be a huge journey for me that’ll take a lot of courage and open some really raw emotions… bring back old memories that I’ve suppressed and disassociated myself from… there will undoubtedly be many trigger points that I will go into which some people might become affected by, including me, but mine is a life that was, is and continues to be a challenge day in and day out… it’s something I’ve had to survive, a life and reality that I still struggle so much with but least attempt to cope with and in some way, I hope that my story will be able to shine a light on just how the importance of love, attention, affection and nurturing in our childhood really do mould the person we eventually become…

Im genuinely curious if men and women find mature bodies attractive.
Feel free to elaborate on what you consider aspects of a 'mom bod' or 'dad bod', your age, and any other relevant info that you think plays into your opinion.
If you aren't attracted to these body types that is fine and feel free to share why but please be respectful. You can absolutely say you are not attracted to something without bashing it.
I personally find mature bodies incredibly attractive. The wider hips and soft curves of a woman who takes care of herself but shows the signs of having carried a child or just natural aging is so beautiful to me. There is a grace and beauty to a body that has been loved and lived in. It makes me want to hear her stories. Same with men, the thickened arms, belly, and legs of a man who has grown comfortable but confident in himself is very sexy. He might have some wrinkles and weathered skin that give him an edge of relatability and damn do I love a 5 o clock shadow or a scruffy beard.
In general 5he human body is beautiful to me, but the personal and unique characteristics of a mature body is stunning, because you know they have lived and can offer so many ideas and opinions. There is rich conversation in the lines of their skin. There is experience and adeptness in the workings of their touch.
Aging can be beautiful if we appreciate the gifts it gives us instead of only focusing on the things of youth that it takes away. Anyways yeah, mom and dad bods are hot. What say you?

I’m still relatively new here. I’m in the process writing my whole story because I want folks here to have context as I talk about my experiences. But it’s taking a long time. My first drafts are a jumbled mess that need constant editing. I think it reflects how much I got fucked up. Anyway, I want to participate, so I’m starting with this.
I’m here because it’s the only place that makes “that which did not make sense” make sense to me. I need your opinions to find out if I’m correct in my assumption that my story is a BPD scenario.
I wouldn’t allow myself to feel anger towards my (suspected) pwBPD. Not because I’m a fool, but because she’s still nice, but probably not really.
I was suddenly discarded in February. It was weird. The ostensible devaluation took place in the span of 36 hours. I couldn’t fucking believe it. But in the following weeks, despite her trying to cut me out, she was also super nice. Acted like she would listen, trying to show me that she cared and how much this sucks. But she will only listen. She refuses to talk about what happened. She tried at first because when we re-established contact, I really put the screws to her. But her responses were esoteric, contained non-sequiturs and just didn’t make sense at all. Since then, I’ve seen some anger, but she has always apologized unprompted. She continues to try to be kind even though it’s clear that she has blown the whistle on the relationship. She said initially she wanted to be friends but would understand if I didn’t. But a lot of what has followed strongly resembles push-pull; though she maintains that there’s “no chance we’re getting back together”. I don’t care anymore. I literally caught myself singing along to the Taylor Swift song last week, even though I’m not much of a fan.
So, anger. I wouldn’t let myself feel it because it felt misplaced. I directed it at myself for a while, then realized that it didn’t make sense. Then I directed it at “the sky” for a bit. Now I’m letting it land on her. When I say “land on her”, I mean in my mind. I promise I’m not saying mean things to this poor girl. She isn’t also saying any to me. If I’ve endured any abuse in this situation, it’s simply lovebombing/manipulation. I’ve yet to experience her wrath. But I know it exists. She told me stories during the “100% trust” phase that gave me a chill or two. Some of the experiences I’ve read here have taught me how ridiculously lucky I am to have not seen the flip side of the “idealization coin”.
But I am mad at her. Angry as fuck. She came after me so hard. Chased me down. Studied me. Mimicked me. Denied the mimicry. Continued to mimic after the call-out. I was fine. I had actually just recently come to peace with life after a lot of upheaval. I’m getting angrier as I come to understand that she likely sniffed that out. But I’m determined to not let it consume me. If I can reasonably confirm that this is a BPD scenario, then I would never let my anger fly at her. It would hurt the two of us, and everyone we surround ourselves with.
But I have to let myself be angry with her. Even if she’s still “sweet”. Clearly, she’s not sweet like someone who’s trying to become your lover. That part is over. But now I see a woman who is in her own head, doing the gymnastics, who is actually decent at being civil. But it’s not for me, it’s for her. I want to meet her in the middle, but since I’ve perceived that she split on me, I don’t know what to do. But independent of any advice or inspiration I’ve received over the past few months, I’ve told myself that I’m allowed to be mad at her. I can feel anything I want to feel. It’s my perfect right. As long as I don’t abuse someone, I can think my own thoughts at home.
I worry that anger is poisonous and transmits to others. I don’t want to entertain it, but at the end of the day, I have to believe I’m allowed to be mad at her.
Whatever she’s going through is hers. Since she won’t talk about what we went through together, I’m allowed to be mad. I hate that I still have compassion for her. I want to be indifferent, which is how she mostly seems to me at the moment. But for now, if I get mad at her in a moment, I let it happen. and then I let it go. A cycle of my own. Which makes me empathize with this woman whom I care about. Hopefully for not much longer.

I've been wrestling with the best way to come out to my friend and would love some input from all the lovely people in this subreddit <3
So, for context, I am 21, have been tranisitioning medically for well over a year now, and have been generally passing quite well.
Now, I met my closest friend from being housemates with her last year, which was my second year of uni and her last year. She graduated and moved back to her country, but we still talk and play games for hours each night. She does not know that I'm trans, but knows that I love generally to do makeup and most of my clothes are from the women's side. She also knows that I have been lasering my face. She knows that I exist in online spaces as female (voice included) and actually goes along with it so well, has never misgendered me online or even messed up my name irl when i poliety gave her a new name to use for me, abeit a shortened, feminine nickname. We've done makeovers and photoshoots and just overall done "girly" things together with no issues. She did ask me if I was gay one time but I said that I am not because even though I am gay (lesbian) I know she meant am I a gay men.
I never came out to her before because honestly I never thought we would become so close and stay friends for so long to the point where she has actually brought a ticket and will be staying with me for two weeks during my graduation. The need to come out never really happened and I was happy with how things were so I never saw the point in telling her, like I can present completely femme, use a female voice and she uses the right name for me.
In the time that she left the country, I doubled my dose of E which is when the majority of changes, including me being able to pass as a cis woman have happened. I'm at the point where most people in my life know me as a woman, and I would like to come out to her.
The only reason I'm a bit nervous is that she may not actually view me as a woman. I know that she is completely fine with people being gay/trans or just queer in general but I need more than that, I need her to view me as a woman and use the correct pronouns and everything for me. She's said a few things before such as not accepting trans people as their correct gender until they actually start to tranisition medically which make me think that she may accept me and being trans but not view me as a woman.
Now, of course I don't want people in my life who cannot view me as a woman (in fact I recently cut off one of closests friends for this reason) but I really hate argueing and really enjoy her being my friend, It's almost like a sort of if it aint broke then dont fix it sorta thing, because I have pretty much everything I could want considering im not out to her but I also think being out would help explain some things such as boobs when she comes. Overall I'd just love for her to accept me fully as a woman, and to be honest not that much really needs to change in our friendship and I generally feel like she treats me like one anyway but for some of the reasons I mentioned earlier I'm just kinda nervous and think it may be smart to have some extra talking points for when I do tell her with how some of the things that she says can be problematic sometimes.
I really hope this made sense, my brain feels very scattered currently during the last week of my uni and honestly typing this out made me feel like I am 15 again, confused about identity and pretty much all things trans as well as how to come out to people in my life at the time.

The novel begins September 3, 2006, a Sunday. In "physical time," our reality, Andre Agassi played and lost his final match of his career. Steve Irwin, the croc hunter, would die the following day from a stingray's three barbed venomous spinal blades puncturing his heart. Senator Barak Obama was still denying he was intending to run for President (he would announce in February 2007.) The number 1 song in America and the UK is Sexyback by Justin Timberlake. Egypt warned of Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis vacationing in Sinai. Charlie Sheen turned 41. 200 Taliban are killed in a major battle in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Iraqi leaders announce the capture of the #2 leader of Al Qaeda. Europe's space agency purposely crash-lands a lunar probe into the moon.
In short, nothing, on balance seems to have happened in the world that has any particular world-historical or even US-historical import. Just a day. Even searching back 4 extra days from September 3 - since we are told that the man viewing the art installation is now on his fifth straight day in the museum - nothing all that *important* seems to have happened on any of those dates, the way saying a novel is starting on June 6, 1944, or (obviously) September 10, 2001, or July 16, 1945 or November 22, 1962 would be of course trying to tell us something.
Q: why is Delillo's purpose (is there one?) for telling us this specific date? Why is it important that the man is there on September 3, 2006 watching this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a31q2ZQcETw over and over.
Q: who is the man? Delillo himself? Just a random unnamed character? Is it definitely Finley and Elster who are the two men who come into the room? The description of the older man "long white hair braided at the nape" [p.7, Scribner] certainly seems to suggest it is Elster, described in Ch. 1 as a man "with silvery hair, as always, was braided down into a short ponytail." If it is definitely them, what does it mean they attended a museum show together? Anything?
This is not the first Delillo novel to open with a scene where a movie, and anonymous characters' responses to watching it, is central to the narrative - Players opens with a movie being shown on a plane that is basically a silent movie of a terrorist machine-gun attack on waspy golfers, only accompanied by a pianist (yes a pianist) in the airplane bar filling in the suspense with improvised show tunes - and it is not the first to open with an examination of an art installation - Underworld, after the fantastic baseball game section - opens at Klara Sax's airplane bomber art installation commune. But this opening seems to introduce two characters obliquely, and of course only if you've paid close attention to the description of Elster's hair could you think back to it being him, perhaps.
"The nature of the film permitted total concentration and also depended on it." "The less there was to see, the harder he looked, the more he saw." [p.5, Scribner]
Q:Who is this person watching and why should we care?
Q: Did the opening sequence provide you any insight other than , perhaps, confusion? Something other than "what the hell did I just read?" What? Does your reaction to the opening sequence change when you know (if you did before this post) that the Psycho installation was and is real?
Moving on to Chapter 1 [p. 17, Scribner], we learn that we are on Day 10 of a 12-day period of time that relates the initial relationship between Elster and Finley. Finley, who is probably in his early to mid-30s and 73-year-old Elster are spending time at Elster's house in the desert to record a one-take movie of Elster's testimony of what it was like to serve in an administration that went to war under less than honest circumstances.
Our narrator is Jim Finley, a documentary filmmaker who has made exactly one film about Jerry Lewis's telethon appearances - Lewis, a "rampaging comic" to whom Elster would merely be a "straight man." [p.27] Elster, who Finley also describes as "not a man who might make space for even the gentlest correction," [p.22] is a non-political theorist being brought in to an administration to provide narrative to their war. I've seen references to him being based on Paul Wolfowitz, the political scientists who became Deputy SecDef in the Bush II Administration who famously nearly swallowed his comb to wet it to comb his hair in an image that likely sealed his fate in D.C. as unserious and ridiculous who was then shuffled off to the World Bank, but would Delillo ape the man AND mention him in the narrative? If so, that seems clumsy.
Q: Do you even take Elster serious as a character or believable as a "brain" behind the narrative of an administration going to war? A man who speaks in bad koans and aphorisms like "Time becomes blind." [p.23] and who reads Louis Zukovsky into the night? (Zukovsky famously worked on an epic poem called "A" for over almost 50 years, finally finishing it a few years before his death in 1978.)
Finley tells us: "To Elster, sunset was human invention, our perceptual arrangement of light and space into elements of wonder." [p.18, Scribner]. Elster has come to the desert to seek - something - we know not what and are not told definitively - but his narrative of what his role was in Washington was to create a interpretation of the "closed world" for the "plotters, the strategists" [p. 28] and ends up delivering to Finley what I think Finley was after - the cynical idea that Elster was giving form and shape to the government's bullshit narrative - "The state has to lie. There is no lie in war or in preparation for war that can't be defended. We went beyond this. We tried to create new realities overnight, careful sets of words that resemble advertising slogans in memorability and repeatability."
Q: Is Elster ultimately right? Did the country have a "shadowy need" [p.34] for such a narrative? See, for instance: "Let's roll." [probably in reality, "Let's roll it" referring to a beverage cart to break into the cockpit.]
"Shock and awe." "Global War on Terror" "Slam dunk" "WMDs" "The Surge" And perhaps most infamously "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques"
At the ends of the chapter, we get what counts as a cliffhanger in this slim novel: Elster's adult daughter would be coming for a visit, Jessie who was "otherworldly" [p. 36].