Which do I like the most? .....Psyche House>Kyokute Necromance>Astro Royale
Which i think is most likely to succeed?........ Astro Royale>Kyokute Necromance>Psyche House
Psyche House
I thought the first chapter was cute and pretty inoffensive, but apparent japanese social media doesnt agree with me. Slice of life supernatural series to replace ruridragon sounds like a great idea, and the vibes were chill.
Beyond controversy on the shoplifting, its engagement online was very low on japanese social media, the pv views were low etc. This feels like a series that will be hard to gauge reception till the toc comes out.
Kyokute necromance
This started out generic, but with competent art. Its an exorcist manga but with a summon gimmick. I will say though, chapter 3 was actually pretty good? I like the more grounded vibe , it explained the characters motivations a little more and added some intrigue. Pacing was good too. Dont know how to explain it, but it feels like im reading a police procedural but with exorcist theming, the earnest rookie and the cynical veteran.
Reception in japan was decent,but nothing remarkable, It has ok engagement too from what I can tell.
Astro Royale
I really like the old school shonen feels of the first chapter, but since then it feels like its rushing it beats and is very predictable. I still think its good, but id like it to slow down a little and flesh things out more. Is clearly made by a veteran who know what they are doing, so it may just not be for me. Magazine needs a classic shonen though so i think it has a place
Had good reception at the start, but it seems like chapter 2 to 4 were slightly more mixed. Probably doesnt matter and will at least do decent.

I just had a run in with a groomer for my dog. My dog is still a puppy being about 7 months old and for the most part is well behaved but still acts like a puppy in a sense. Before I get into it, she is super friendly, loves showers/baths, and can be touched all over by anyone with 0 aggressive responses. She loves her vet and is always excited to get in the car and go places.
Now here is where it takes a turn, I hired out for a mobile grooming service and the first time was an okay job. The groomer didn’t do exactly what we wanted but went with it. The second time there was a miscommunication and my dog didn’t get groomed properly so had to have them out a second time and it went well.
The most recent experience: I hired the groomer to come out and service my dog. I had my wife take care of things and within 15 minutes the groomer said the dog was not able to be groomed at the moment due to nervousness/ skittish. Completely understandable, it happens. Now here’s what I don’t understand, their policy stated if the customer cancels or no shows it is a full grooming/ services provided fee. Completely agree with this. However, out of the blue with no mention in contract or anywhere it became a minimum fee of 65$ and they tacked on another 10$ for a bs reason. This is with a groomer cancellation, not mine. The owner ended up telling me they are changing the contract to a 65$ min after I called her out.
The only service that was completed was a nail trim. And they did coerce my wife into paying it. I came home wanting to go for a run with my dog and no real grooming was done. I paid all that money and then I reviewed the receipt. They tacked on a bunch of bogus charges for services they did not do. I contacted the owner and she went on to say that all the services were done. I sent picture proof in of the services that were not completed and they refused a refund. I went to my bank and asked to dispute the charge “services not provided” and the owner charged my card again saying they need their money. Spoke with the owner and the owner even admitted that not all services are done but charged me nonetheless. Be careful who you choose to groom your dog, has anyone else had an experience like this?

..I have a gift for falling for emotionally mentally and physically abusive men in my past. My sister met him (40m) about 12 years ago thru her husband and she knew my marriage of 10+ years was awful. He was manipulating and controlling your typical textbook narcissist...she reached out to me that night and said that she had met what she could only describe as my soul mate...this was in 2013. Fast forward 5 years...my husband finally finds a new supply and leaves me. And I move on. In 2019 I meet the man that would eventually break me in ways that I didn't know was possible and we end up separating...enter the "soulmate" we end up chatting for months and eventually start seeing each other and it's a relationship unlike anything I've ever known...he is caring and loyal...trustworthy and truly one of the best men I've ever been with. Due to life just being life I ended up moving back in with the ex and begun a poly relationship that worked for us all. Both of them wanted me and being a person capable of loving two men fully with all my heart. There was no competition and it worked for well over a year and a half. My ex I was with for 5 years found a new supply and promptly broke up with me and started dating the "love of his life" 2 weeks later...thus me and soulmate closed the relationship and have grown closer than I thought was possible...I moved 4 towns away and actually closer to soulmate. It's been a hard transition after living in the same town for 30+ years. This town is very small and I miss my people's terribly...but it's worth it in the long run...he's been my rock and has let me express the pain of once again being thrown away by someone I loved deeply.
Now we get to the issue. His father has been married SEVERAL times and his brother has been married at least 4 that I know of. And it has pretty much ruined the idea of marriage for him...I don't want to be someone's girlfriend for the rest of my life. I was a good loyal loving wife from 2004-2018. I was a loyal girlfriend 2019-2024. I have brought up the issue of us moving in together several times (not even moving in soon...just someday) and he can never give me a straight answer...(I struggle with several disabilities and I have been on ssd since 2008) as well cptsd and BPD so bad that it has made me unfit to work. I feel as if under the amazing outer shell is someone thats just keeping me around because he had been single for so long. And if we aren't living together and not married when he does meet someone better it will be easier to leave me...he's got my heart and soul and if I had been braver I would have. Made my move back when my sister told me about him...but I was raised to be loyal. You stay with your husband. I've done so much thinking in this past month...and I have purchased promise rings...I would much rather be his betrothed for the rest of my life...I don't need the piece of paper. I want to share a home and a life with him. But the voice in my head tells me that he's just like the rest...I'm placeholder...something to settle for until someone better comes along. And I'm terrified. To come straight out and ask him because I'm really trying not to be the crazy girlfriend...therapy isn't an option. Meds have never worked...I've been on almost everything you can think of since my teens. Is my only option to just smile accept this future. Or do I deserve to be with someone that wants to commit to me on the same level?

So just for context, I like to do creative writing exercises by trying to string along connections between fictional characters that have no connections, I've seemingly incidentally come to the conclusion of something about Courier 6 and The Lone Wanderer.
I'm not gonna beat around the bush beyond that. I will explain what my thought process is. I'm going to explain why Courier 6 is a con artist, and the Lone Wanderer is the beginning of the story of what would become the West Coasts most dangerous Mailman. A hero who truly lived long enough to become the villain in a world of his own making.
The Lone Wanderer, and why his character is designed to have a sequel story.
Upon completing Project Purity, certain things to note happen in the general Lore of the game. The Lone Wanderer is confirmed to have purified the wasteland upon delivering the G.E.C.K (keep note of this entire sentence), and also confirmed to have lost his Father and Sarah Lyons before the time New Vegas is taken place. The Dialogue of the Lone Wanderer is unique because people actually are consciously aware of his fame due to Three Dog's radio station. James alludes to this in dialogue. In fallout 4, Megaton is alluded to have been destroyed.
This leads me to believe the Lone WandereCourier 6 may be the same individual, due to James' untimely demise, would lead anybody to be stricken with severe mental illness. (I KNOW ITS A REACH BUT HEAR ME OUT)
Let's discuss Courier 6's past
His earliest known accomplishments is being a Postman for a California based Mailing Company in the early 2280's, now traveling across the entire nation (extremely treacherous, yet not really a sweat for someone as powerful and dangerous as loss-stricken Lone Wanderer). The violent actions of the Lone Wanderer are yours to create as you play the game of course. Same for New Vegas. What leads me to believe they are one in the same is due to Lonesome Road, Ulysses alluding to some sort of "Talk" about the man that is the Courier. There's also the idea of how the Courier traveled the Divide with a straight up nuclear weapons detonation device.
It's literally stated by Ulysses and even your OWN BRAIN that YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE. Responsibility is a common theme in dialogue between people of importance in the stories and the Lone WandereCourier 6. Why? Because the Lone Wanderer was abandoned by his father, and lost his mother during child birth. The loss the Lone Wanderer has experienced, as a staunchly well esteemed vault dweller (passing all exams, escaped, saved the wasteland from being exposed to the Modified FEV). Dude is a straight up Hero, yet, if we are to assume this character would go on after the end of the story of Fallout 3, what exactly would a man like this do? He'd find a new home, far far away, doing a job similar to what would amount to being his calling (other than annihilating every single thing in his path). Being a Mailman.
I don't know why nobody has realized this but the story of the Lone Wanderer in Fallout 3 is actually a story about a young adult man finding his calling in being a Mail Carrier. Having been dealing with so much trauma, a 19 year old man that is the Lone Wanderer, would definitely have a psychopathy after all that happens. Imagine what it must be like for a man like Ulysses to be from Cali, and meeting the Lone Wanderer (nobody knows what the Lone Wanderer looks like on the west coast, but know OF him.)
Now into the REALNESS ZONE because I wanna explain what I was thinking that made me connect the dots, besides the fact that the idea that being able to set your age in FNV means it's impossible for it to be a sequel to Fallout 3 due to the Lone Wanderer is confirmed 19 years of age. You JUST TURN to adult age by the events of Fallout 3, by New Vegas, that man has experienced a LOT. And that LOT, has got to be all of the events of Fallout 3 for one reason.
Ulysses knows who Courier 6 truly is, but due to amnesia, and Ulysses own psychopathy (recurring theme for people who become exceptionally dangerous and powerful in the Wasteland), and its this dialogue that basically has been in front of ALL OF US the entire time, and nobody has ever known what it actually means. The Courier definitely doesn't, but the Lone Wanderer, if he were talking to Ulysses, I know for a fact that all of Ulysses dialogue would remain unchanged, but the Lone Wanderer would say very different things than what the Courier 6 said.
"Name's died twice to history. If the West thanks you... the East won't, in time. Fall apart, back to the tribes, maybe."
Implying that Courier 6 had a double life, or a life before the current one Ulysses met him. He met him before Benny shot him, but clearly wasn't close in any capacity. Referring to knowing where he came from, and possibly knowing he's the Lone Wanderer. If anyone could get the signal from DC of any news regarding the Lone Wanderer, it is Ulysses (Ulysses' Point in Big Mt. Big Mt. contains many many clues as well.)
"Let the land do the killing for you, that's one of the things you taught me."
Whether the Courier at the time of transporting the Platinum Chip, had either intentionally or unintentionally set off the nukes in his path, the idea of him being completely unaware of it before Benny shot him is completely false according to Ulysses' statement. Basically, whatever was already there; nuclear missile silos, were what would be the land that killed everything for the Courier. He says he taught it to him because, well, as someone who's talked about on the other continental shelf, he must know what he's doing. He must be deliberate in his intention. Maybe it's alluding to this man being not actually a Courier... Maybe...
Courier 6's Brain's Dialogue: "I don't know. I'm afraid the trauma of our separation rendered me quite insensate. I didn't come around until I was safely ensconced in this tank." (separation anxiety is one of the biggest hints in my opinion. Not just every wasteland powerhouse experiences subconscious anxieties of the nature that someone living in a cozy environment would. Like the Lone Wanderer, having lost his father, and mother, and Sarah Lyons, and Megaton.)
"Oh, lovely, we've reached the mindless violence portion of the program. Tell me, what exactly are you - and I use the word loosely - planning?" (clearly there's a separation of intention between the Courier's subconsciousness and his actual actions. That's indicative of someone who cannot fathom responsibility for his actions.
"Ah yes, there's that greed and general sense of malice. I'd nearly forgotten it. What's the plan, then?" (I think this just reinforces everything even more because it's obvious from lines like this that this man has a serious history and even his own subconsciousness knows he did something extremely bad... like nuking an entire trade route in a drunken stupor? Don't believe me? Why does your brainless body say this then?)
Brainless Courier 6:
"I would. And I'd follow it up with an alcohol-and-ant-nectar cocktail every night." (a truth. Without the brain to develop conscious lies, clearly this was what Courier 6 has done before. Must be lots of ants where the Courier 6 is originally from, and intentionally moved somewhere where he could still realistically acquire ant nectar)
More Ulysses dialogue that reinforces the idea of the Courier's intentions being significantly different than the narrative:
"That violence in the sky, had a source. Tracked it. Like following a river current. Left the colors to mark my way, like always, case someone finds them, learns the pattern - the Courier might." (James unintentionally left a paper trail for the Lone Wanderer to follow. His tracking skills are significant enough that Ulysses knew.)
"Not a camp - vigil, maybe. Never claimed it as mine. {More a question}If anyone owns the Divide... {"well..."}your claim is stronger than mine." (sort of a jab at how dangerous you are.)
"Words aren't the only way couriers meet... sometimes it's the paths we walk. But no... we've never spoken before now." (he's seen him visibly possibly many times before they first spoke.)
"You may not know my voice, but we've walked the same places. The Long 15 to Primm... that wasn't the only road you ever walked." (He knows a secret)
"I've been to your home, the place you kept returning to... may not be the place you were born, was the place you gave life to, same thing." (He knows he's foreign to the West Coast region.)
I know this is all a reach, but the thing that cements my idea, is because there is no official dated time for which Courier 6 began his activities. To me, it reads like things happened in a very short span of time, the time between F3 and FNV chronologically is 4 years. Now I wanna provide EVEN MORE hints, because there's so many weird interactions between the Courier and just random people. People even confusing him for something he's not, and it's evident that is the case due to established lore, its not like people are lying, its just purely subtle hints.
(The Courier is initially unaware of the rarity and value of the Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle caps as Malcolm Holmes says the Courier did not express any reaction upon finding their first one.)
And let me get the Montana Connection to the Courier bit out of the way before people start saying, "uh but he shagged a broad in 2260-something:
"That would explain how they could forget what happened at The Divide... but then there's all this other weird stuff the Courier does remember, like a shtupping he gave a dame in Montana 17 years earlier. (Interestingly, this also establishes a ballpark minimum age for the Courier of around age 30, if said doinking occurred when he was a teenager).
More strangely, (with a high Intelligence stat), the Courier can speak Latin to Silus while interrogating him, but is totally dumbfounded by a phrase in Latin spoken to him by Arcade. (This is all the weirder because the Latin the Courier uses when speaking to Silus is more advanced than Arcade's "Nihil novi sub sole", which -- even without being proficient in Latin -- is fairly easy to figure out from the English words descended from it.)"
And finally, the one thing I predicted just by thinking about all of this. The Courier is a Con Artist. He flat out tells Keith he is one.
And lastly, the ED-E and Courier connection. What is that connection? They both long to return to their true homes, the Courier remarks, "Why do you think I became a courier?" HE WAS ONE WHEN HE WAS HOME, AND HE CONTINUED TO BE ONE AFTER AS WELL.
Any counter argument would be greatly appreciated, however, I believe I've covered all bases without saying Sarah and Sheldon Weintraub are the Courier's/Lone Wanderer's long lost siblings lmao. And also, before people get confused about the Montana Connection, the implication I'm making with that is the fact that going off of specifics like, for example, a Brain Damaged Courier saying he messed around with a woman in a place like Montana, but not knowing what Illinois is, or what Chicago is, or what Denver is. Oh and also, the Latin thing too. His brain was too damaged before he went to Big Mt. where his subconsciousness is fully revealed to be a sorta nihilistic, psychopathic, and bitter as well. The emotion of being bitter in that fashion, regarding violence, greed, malice as a end-all-be-all means the Courier wasn't always like that. He was once a not-so greedy, malicious, and violent individual. To me, everything from that dialogue between Brainless Courier and the Courier's Brain tells me he was once a Vault dweller.

This post might be a little jumbled, but I do need to get this off my chest. Finding closure in my dad's passing from many years ago.
It all happened so fast, and I never had time to prepare. I was at home playing video games many summers ago, and my mom went to visit him at the hospital. My mom was taking a long time for some reason. I started getting a little suspicious that something was off, but I shrugged it off. Turns out my first instinct was right.
Then when she came home at night, she called me into the living room and told me he was gone. That's it. No preparation, nothing. It left me in shock, and it's the kind of moment that sticks with you forever. How do you even prepare for something so sudden? You don't.
And then a week later at the funeral, the person in the casket didn't even look like my dad AT ALL. He looked like a haunting ghost mannequin mockery of sorts. Why did I have to take a look? I never wanted my last memory of him to be...whatever THAT was. Just awful.
I've recently requested an online death certificate, so that I can get the address of the cemetery where he was buried. It's been a while since he passed, so I don't remember where exactly (though I still have a vague idea), and I've never visited his grave before since for the longest time I didn't have a car until recently.
But I seriously realize that I've never gotten closure and now is a good time. Just visiting his grave, leaving flowers and maybe having a so called "talk" with him. Talking with my therapist has really made me realize that I've never gotten the closure I needed, and that this is a good step in the right direction.

I have two kids, my wife, 3 cats and I, and we're in a bad place. I got laid off in October, I'm in construction so that's a terrible time to look for a new job, I was out of work for 3 months, I finally got a job, then got injured, the injury got infected and I have been battling that since then. We are now 5 Months behind on rent. I have two beautiful boys , my youngest turns 4 on the 24th of this month, and I have no way to get him presents for his birthday. He's such an amazing kid. He loves toys and I was wondering if there are any recourses for toys or gifts or clothes I could look into, he's so excited for his birthday and I'm crushed that I can't get him anything. Also... My landlord called me last week and threatened to get a lawyer to sue us for everything we owe, we would have 5 days to pay, or were out on the streets. I talked him down, but he needs some money to tide him over until I can start work and make regular payments (next week). He said I have to pay at least one month at the minimum by next week, but every rental assistance place has no funds. I have tried churches , and I can't get anywhere with rental assistance. Does anyone know of anything I could do in that area? We have a beautiful little home, I just built a fence and a tree fort for the kids, they are young and they are just getting settled in and I can't lose our house. Please, if anyone has any idea of what I could do to get assistance.

Is my boyfriend emotionally cheating on me?
Is my boyfriend emotionally cheating on me?
My boyfriend ISTP 9w8 (22) and I ENFX 7w6 (26) started an online relationship turned real life which I met him in August, and the relationship was official 1/1.
However, when I got to know him (Let’s call him Trevor) summer leading to fall, it was mostly platonic, and a little flirting. However, he didn’t know of my age so I assumed I was too old for him for 4-5 years so I just engaged in the community online texting and not through Whatsapp.
However, starting in October, everything was smooth until he talked to this girl, let’s name her Lara. She is a “mean girl”, and she playfully flirts with everyone. He started to talk to her and banter with her meanly with a specific kind of humor, always flirt with her, talk about sexual topics with her and say things like “I’ll drop my EP a day early for you” and “Mad submissive”. It felt like he didn’t like her for her but flirts with her for god knows what reason!
The thing is, I liked him throughout the whole fall, so me and my friends seeing it they were always asking if they were together. She flirts with everyone, but he only bantered with her. So I concluded it to 3 reasonings of why: 1) he finds her the youthful option and he is pragmatic in choosing a mate 2) He wants her validation 3) he genuinely likes her.
Then came around 12/28 when we got closer and closer and I sort of told him how I felt through music and we talked everyday after. However on 12/30 he ignored me for a whole day to talk to her even saying things like bruised minge(?) which means vagina in slang. And voice notes her a lot with a jump in his voice.
After we got together on 1/1 which we grew really close we would call hours a day. The flirting mostly stopped but there were times on 1/30 and 2/5 and 2/18 where he would still have that jump in his voice and sends us the same memes and such. I confronted him on why he says he saw her as entertainment and felt empty so he flirts a lot and he said I made him stop liking mean girls? He said he likes chasing thrills and feeling something. And I always saw it as a validation thing because he never liked her just the idea of her as he didn’t know her that well as it was like that from the get go but it was always banter as he showed me his dms with her and he only has me on WhatsApp which we bonded over a companionship bond (calling every day for 2 hours, saying I love you, deepest darkest secret sharing, being there for eachother) and laughing a lot than a fire bond. We even visited each other and we held hands a lot and cuddled and slept with eachother. He told me his insecurities and darkest thoughts and we hanged out with eachother everyday for months just us alone on call and he even said he would be content with us me to talk to not the community at large
Still, it kind of hurt. Because we were together. And I liked him before. I asked him in a call one month later and asked if he thought she was cute, he said “of course she’s cute, she’s absolutely silly” which shocked and saddened me. I broke up with him.
Why do you think he did that, does he have a type, was he chasing validation and thrills, or he genuinely likes her?
Also did he emotionally cheat on me because it really hurt when he hyper fixated on her for banter.
Please help.

Hi all,
I am looking at getting more into credit cards to build up points to pay for travel. I have a good amount of my regular spend categories covered with 2-3x points but always think I could do more. Also wanting to get some cards with bigger sign on bonus to really start racking up points.
I fly 3-4 times a year, on delta mostly. But I am moving and the closest airport will no longer be a delta hub. When I do travel I mostly stay at Airbnb’s and get rental cars or Turos, would like to build up points to stay at hotels from time to time.
Let me know your suggestions!
Current credit cards you are the primary account holder of: - Wells Fargo Autograph, $5.3k limit, June 2015 - Amex Delta platinum, $28k limit, June 2021 - Bilt Mastercard, $6.5k limit, Feb. 2024 - Amex Blue Business plus, $14k limit, April 2024 - Also a BCU Cash Rewards card that is not used anymore $9k limit, June 2020 * * FICO Scores with source: - Fico score 780 * * Oldest credit card account age with you as primary name on the account: - Wells Fargo autograph from 2015

• * Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 6 months:
• 1
• * Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 12 months:
• 1
• * Number of personal credit cards approved for in the past 24 months:
• 1
• * Annual income $: $120k CATEGORIES
• * OK with category-specific cards?:
• Yes
• * OK with rotating category cards?:
• would prefer having categories that stay consistent
• * Estimate average monthly spend in the categories below. Only include what you can pay by credit card.
  • * Dining $: $350
  • * Groceries $: $400 at Trader Joe’s and around $250 at Costco
  • * Gas $: $80, Work mostly from home so barely need to fill up.
  • * Travel $: Will spend about $3k a year on travel, mainly to beaches or on ski trips in the winter as well as flights back home for holidays.
  • * Any other categories (examples: phone/internet, insurance) or stores (example: Amazon) with significant, regular credit card spend (the more you specify, the better): $30 for gym, I make the large insurance payments with my BBP, phone and internet is paid with my WF autograph that gets 3x.
  • * Any other significant, regular credit card spend you didn't include above?: $1,500 for things like golf/skiing/other recreational activities
  • * Can you pay rent by credit card? - I pay about $2,200 for rent that I pay with my Bilt card which gives me no fees. The fee for using a normal credit card is only 1.95%, so I have thought about using my BBP instead to get more points at basically no cost. MEMBERSHIPS & SUBSCRIPTIONS (delete lines that don't apply)
• Currently a member of Costco and Sam's Club
• For subscriptions I am only paying $12/month for Apple Music
• I Currently bank with Sofi but used to bank with WF
• Not in the military
• I would prefer personal cards but I already have a business card and wouldn’t completely shut down the idea.

PURPOSE * Purpose of this next card is mainly getting Travel rewards points for other portals outside of the delta points that I have an lot of. I also want to get the best points per dollar spent on my regular purchases. I prefer to fly Delta (hence the platinum delta amex) but also need a card that gives me more airline options.

• I’ve been looking at the chase sapphire for the 85k in branch sign on bonus. Also the citi custom cash for the 5x back on one category that would probably be for groceries.
  
• I don’t think I NEED a new high end travel card as I already pay $350 for my delta platinum that gives me TSA precheck and other perks, but if one could get positive value I would consider.
  

 We have to tell you something before we finish this. Do you remember the humans; their appearance, language, culture, and technology? We do. Each planet that they colonized. All the advancements they made. Every sentient they encountered. Understand that as a Hivemind, our species has little use for language, either written or otherwise. But because of our telepathic connection, as long as there are enough of us around, we can keep memories well past what a single mind species could. We remember first contact. Our appearance millennium ago was much more different than that you look at now. See, our home world Apis 3 drifted too close to one of the gas giants present in our system. It was thrown out of orbit and was threatened to become a nomad world. At that point in our history, we were still in our hunter-gatherer phase, so there was no possibility for us to save ourselves. Vegitation was dying, animals went extinct. We were doomed to be snuffed out like a small fire in a roaring blizzard. But our saviors came. The Hive remembers. Humanity saw that the planet, despite going rogue, was a perfect planet to colonize if they could just solve the problem of it free floating into the void. So that's what they did. We remember the structures the size of cities that pushed the planet back into orbit around our star. We stayed underground, scavenging what was left of our world trying to survive as their terraforming efforts marched on. It was awe inspiring for how quickly the frozen wastes became meadows of their homeworld's flowers. We never saw them up close until desperation made us attempt to steal their food. That was our first encounter with a human at a settlement called Mel Farms. See, the humans had brought the DNA of about every domesticated species of flora and fauna with them to clone and modified them to be able to live on our planet. One such species was an insect about 15 millimeters long, yellow with black stripes, and had a symbiotic relationship helping the plants reproduce in exchange for producing their food. The humans had kept them in large boxes outside that allowed them to breed and overproduce this food for human harvest. We attempted to steal this food after discovering it was really, really good. Our first encounter with a human was after we learned of this insect's defense mechanism. Injecting us with venom at the cost of its own life while summoning more of its sisters to continue the onslaught. As embarrassing as it was, the Hive remembers. The security measures around the area had alerted a male human named Charles. We recall the white clothing he wore to protect him from the insects as well as the atmosphere. We recollect the weapon he wielded to pacify the creatures, a tool to emit smoke. We reminisce about the kindness he showed us when we were left to seven members of our species. You have to take into account that we were weakened by the recent climate catastrophe, so at that moment, we accepted our fate. But destiny had other ideas at hand. They fed us, shelted us, studied us, healed us, and most importantly, they saved us. We learned how to communicate non verbally with the help of their machines. They showed us the many other species of insects that they brought, worms that produce silk and transform, small insects that farmed and built structures, arachnids that flew on tiny balloons; we admired the little creatures they showed us. Despite our small stature, we did our best to repay the humans and their kindness even if it was just helping their construction, manufacturing, and agriculture. They were concerned about this relationship; Charles said it was because historically, humans had a tendency for a group with superior technology to take advantage of with different advancements. But we continued unfazed. And as our numbers increased so to did our reverence of them. They taught us quickly how to stand on our own legs and think critically to solve our own problems. When Charles died, we honored him by asking the humans to genetically alter us to appear as his pets. Our chitinous armor is now covered with yellow and black setae, larger eyes, small antenna, small clear wings added to our bodies, and the capability to produce materials like wax, honey, and silk. We call ourselves the Keepers. Despite being cute by their standards, we were useful to them; even if it was just as a way to intantly communicate accross systems. The Hive remembers. Understand that it is completely common for a human contacted sentient to alter themselves to honor their friends. When the reptialian Drakon were suffering from a global plauge; the humans came down, helped them, and gave them the means to advance. They learned of human history and culture and incorporated it into their own, adding ancient heroes like Shaka and Sun Tzu to their pantheon. When they discovered the gods and demons humans revered, they saw fit to mimic them. Now, all the Drakon females have brightly colored feathered wings and serpentine bodies, while the males have large leather wings, spiked tails, and produce combustable gases in their mouth they ignite for a dangerous attack. When humanity discovered Gaia, it was just a living mass capable of converting inorganic material like heavy metals into biomass. It was starving, having converted the whole planet into biomass, and its last resort was to self-destruct so that its spores could potentially discover new planets. A human gifted the planet the genetic information of every known Earth species into Gaia, allowing the all-consuming planet to morph thriving biosphere of new unseen creatures and photosynthisis capable plants to feed from. Perhaps it wanted a civilization of its own, so it created a sentient similar to the humans, albeit with pointed ears, a telepathic link to the planet, and distinct dimorphic traits where the social herbivorous females outnumber the solitary carnivorous males. The Alvari have now taken to the stars, bringing the spores of Gaia to terraform new worlds. We could go on forever rehearsing every species that changed to honor the humans. The Vanara changed their appearance to be more simian after humans averted a drought on their jungle world. The robotic Rossum altered their mechanical bodies to be more humanoid, making relations easier and distancing themselves from the creators they overthrown. The polypheltic Limosa, after their first contact, now shape their gelatinous bodies to appear more human, even placing their control core in their chest similar to a human heart. The humans have left their mark on hundreds of sentient lifeforms accross the galaxy; and despite our different customs and biologies, we all cooperated for the sake of the humans. And then you killed them. You came to our galaxy, you slaughtered them by the trillions, and drove the species that has done so much to make up for its own dark history into extinction. Your entire empire is built on the bones of a once prosperous species. Do you remember how they found you dormant on your own orphan planet? When they brought you to their one of their own systems? When you conquered their worlds and butchered them for meat? Have you forgotten the bravery that human soldiers fought when they defended their homes in vain? Can you even remember their screams? We are the Keepers of their legacy. It has taken us generations, but we are ready to avenge our fallen saviors. We have amassed a swarm so massive that your computers would malfunction, trying to comprehend the strength of our numbers. And we are not alone. Every sentient uplifted by humanity is on a warpath to eradicate you. The combined fleets of our crusade will block the light of the stars from hitting the surface of your stolen worlds. We will lose many, but we guarantee that you will wish that you froze to death on that rogue planet centuries ago instead of collapsing under the weight of your sins. We hope your gods are forgiving because each and every one of you will be introduced to them. You will die, and not even the Hive will remember you. 

Pre-emptive TL;DR: Is joining the Air Force Reserves with the primary purpose of receiving tech school training that will land me a good full-time job a viable strategy, and if so, which AFSC's would be the best choices for me to achieve this goal?
I'm 36 years old, married, no kids, in the Atlanta, GA area.
I've been a cop for the last 12 years. I quit a few months ago because almost every time someone else quit or was fired, I was given their job to do in addition to my own, and I was on-call 24/7 and receiving an average of 19 calls per week, mostly during the middle of the night (for no pay)... I was covering 4 full-time different job roles at the time I quit. I covered a minimum of at least two separate full-time jobs my entire last year at that department.
I haven't been able to find a decent job since I quit. I'm making some money doing remote part-time work, but it's not enough, and I'm honestly extremely bored not having enough to do day-to-day. I've been a damn good house husband and my yard and property look great, but I need to get out of this house more often. I made almost $100k last year, and I'm routinely getting rejected for jobs even at $50k or lower. I have extensive experience leading and managing people and units, but it doesn't seem to matter since I don't have any private sector experience. I really don't want to return to law enforcement at all, because my experience, training, and skillset prevent me from being able to stay where I actually enjoy policing, which is patrolling on the streets. I'm not originally from the Atlanta area - I grew up 2 hours from here. I can get a job easily back in my hometown from all the connections I made over the years, but that's too far to commute and it would be financially irresponsible to sell my house here and buy a new one there due to the interest rate climb and all the remodeling I've done in my current home.
I'm considering the Air Force Reserves because 1. I literally have nothing else going on and could easily accommodate the time away at basic training and tech school and 2. I'm hoping if I choose the right AFSC that after tech school I could get hired for a full-time job based on the training from the tech school for that AFSC. I'm aware that there are also full-time roles for Air Force Reserves, but I'm assuming those are difficult to get, especially for someone without prior active-duty service. 3. I want to stay in my house in the Atlanta area for the long term, but I can't sit around applying to infinite jobs for an indefinite period of time. Being away for basic training and tech school is fine, as long as I'm not moving away for good.
My wife is on board with this idea, so there wouldn't be any conflict there. I'm in good shape and health, and have always considered the annual police PT to be a joke, so there are no issues there. I'd love to go active-duty if I hadn't bought a house here 2 years ago. My wife works remotely, so it would be feasible, but the biggest appeal that joining the Reserves offers is the fact that we could stay in our current house instead of moving every few years. We have discussed the possibility of me being activated and deployed, and that's something we can handle if it comes to it, but that's much better than the guaranteed moves that going active-duty would require. If I do join the Reserves, I would be signing up with every intention of doing at least 20 years. I do have a 4-year degree in Education, but from what I've read so far, getting a commissioned officer spot as a civilian seems highly unlikely, especially since I don't have any degree, let alone an advanced degree, in any of the appropriate fields, so I'm only looking at enlisted AFSC's.
Based on everyone's experience, do y'all think that I could use Air Force Reserves tech school to get a decent full-time job?
If so, what AFSC would you recommend as the best path toward a good job? I don't even care what I do at this point, I just want to work, preferably in a career field where I can start at $50k or more with room to grow towards $75-90k in the next five years. I'm interested in cyber security, and being close to the airport in Atlanta I feel like something regarding aircraft repair and maintenance might make sense for me to find a quick job, but I truly just want a new career and don't care what it is. I'm hoping some of you have enough experience with yourselves, friends, or people in your units to provide some insight on which AFSC choices yield the best results on the job market.
I'm considering the following AFSC's:
2T2X1 - Air Transportation - Could potentially land me a job at an airport.
1P0X1 - Aircrew Flight Equipment - Could potentially land me a job at an airport.
2T3X7 - Fleet Management - Could potentially help land me a job with a shipping or trucking company.
2T1X1 - Ground Transportation - Could potentially help land me a warehouse or mechanic job.
6C0X1 - Contracting - Could potentially help land me a job with a construction company.
3E5X1 - Engineering - Could potentially help land me a job with a construction or surveying company.
6F0X1 - Financial Management and Comptroller - Could potentially land me a job in HR for a number of companies or as an auditor or in a financing company.
3F0X1 - Personnel - Could potentially land me a job in HR.
1D7X1 - Cyber Security - Could potentially land me a job in Cyber Security or IT Helpdesk.
1B4X1 - Cyber Warfare Operations - Could potentially land me a job in Cyber Security or IT Helpdesk.
1N4X1 - Cyber Intelligence Analyst - Could potentially land me a job in Cyber Security or IT Helpdesk.
9S100 - Scientific Applications Specialist - Could potentially land me a job in a federal or state crime lab (I have extensive experience in forensic evidence collection and analysis from my law enforcement career, too, but mostly on-the-job training)
3E0X2 - Electrical Power Production - Could potentially land me a job as an electrician.
3E0X1 - Electrical Systems - Could potentially land me a job as an electrician.
3E1X1 - Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration - Could potentially land me a job in HVAC.
3E2X1 - Pavements and Construction Equipment - Could potentially land me a job with a construction or paving company.
3E3X1 - Structural - Could potentially land me a job with a construction company.
2T3X1 - Mission Generation Vehicular Equipment Maintenance - Could potentially land me a job as a mechanic.
2T3X7 - Vehicle Management - Could potentially land me a job as a mechanic.
2A6X6 - Aircraft Electrical and Environmental Systems - Could potentially land me a job at an airport or aircraft production/repair facility.
2A6X4 - Aircraft Fuel Systems - Could potentially land me a job at an airport or aircraft production/repair facility.
2A6X5 - Aircraft Hydraulic Systems - Could potentially land me a job at an airport or aircraft production/repair facility.
2A3X3 - Tactical Aircraft Maintenance - Could potentially land me a job at an airport or aircraft production/repair facility.
2A7X1 - Aircraft Metals Technology - Could potentially land me a job at an airport or aircraft production/repair facility.
2A7X3 - Aircraft Structural Maintenance - Could potentially land me a job at an airport or aircraft production/repair facility.
2A7X2 - Nondestructive Inspection - Could potentially land me a job at an airport or aircraft production/repair facility.
1C7X1 - Airfield Management - Could potentially land me a job at an airport.
4V0X1 - Optometry - Could potentially land me a job at an optometry office.
4P0X1 - Pharmacy Technician - Could potentially land me a job at a pharmacy.
5J0X1 - Paralegal - Could potentially land me a job at a law firm.
Clearly, I'm not being picky here. Just to reiterate, I would be staying in the Reserves for 20 years unless circumstances dictated otherwise. I'm more than happy to put in the monthly/annual training in addition to a full-time job. I'm aware that I'd likely be far older than most or all of the others in basic training and that I'd be measured by expectations geared towards me being a decade or more younger than I actually am. My parents talked me out of the military twice (after high school and after college), so I've always been interested. I've served my local communities for over a decade, and now I'm looking to serve my country while also leveraging that service into a new career.
I plan on talking to a recruiter soon, but I'd rather have a good understanding of how I want to proceed prior to doing so, and I'd also like to narrow the above list down. Are any of the above AFSC choices likely to lead to a decently paying full-time job soon after basic training/tech school? Thanks in advance to everyone for taking the time to read and respond.

I thought maybe he was turning around and finally understanding. Even the PT tried to explain why it'd help. I could do less than 10% of what was considered normal in my testing and my symptoms flared badly.
On the ride home he yelled at me, pretty much telling me the idea was stupid. I know my city is inaccessible, but I can't even leave the house even if I wanted to now. He chalked up my issues as mild and wasn't listening at all.
I can't drive as well because of POTS making me extremely dizzy and out of it while in cars, and he yelled at me for that, too. As if i choose to not be able to do shit (to which ive expressed how unhappy I am with this)
I feel so trapped. he even drove to a planet fitness and pointed out every little thing on our way that was inaccessible, which I am WELL AWARE OF. i literally can't leave the house like this and I just want my independence
I don't have ANYONE else who can vouch or do this for me. It feels like I'm just trapped and it feels like he doesn't care, or at least he doesn't see my pain and problems as "real"
I thought this would be a step in the right direction but it's not. I don't think he's gonna go through with it. i know my disease is going to get worse the more I keep on like this, and I already can't do more than 3 things a day on my feet without being wiped out with pain and exhaustion
I know I'm rambling but im super upset and I just can't take it anymore

im gonna go into full explicit detail about everything that happened from a-z. and i want opinions
i met this guy at a social event and we clicked instantly (as friends because i had another bf at the time and hes gonna become relevant in the story). lets just call the guy at the event john and lets call my ex alex. me and alex broke up about 3 days after i met john and i started to develop feelings for john. me and alex ended up trying to “talk things out” even tho i was just attached and wanted the attachment to wear off. so we were “talking” but we werent exclusive and had no boundaries and i knew i was eventually going to cut alex off because i didnt see a future with him, i just was attached because we had memories and he was my first ever boyfriend
me and john liked each other, on october 7th we kissed. and about 4 days later i met up with alex and “hooked up” which i later found out he sexually assaulted me
i was avoiding john because the entire situation was hard on me and i was tired of having to choose because i was the first girl john ever liked and i felt bad about kissing him and i DIDNT want a relationship (at the time) slowly, john blocked me because he had enough and thats when i realized i didnt want alex anymore. i cut alex off for john. john asked me if i met up with alex after me and him kissed and i said no because my god forsaken self fucking forgot, as much as it sounds like an excuse, its not. i had no memory of seeing alex after me and john kissed. and so me and john started to become exclusive after we met up and talked things out. i told him i didnt see alex after me and john kissed.
we dated and we were so happy until we broke up for a few days because he wasnt ready for a relationship, we got back together and we were happy.
theres the part where i start to fuck up. and i wont deny a single thing i did
theres a guy named eric, or at least we will call him that. i used to “like” eric, not even like i just thought he was cute. nothing too deep. im friends with his girlfriend and she trusts me enough because she knows i feel nothing for him, but she trusts me to come to me whenever they have issues in the relationship because she KNOWS its nothing like that
theres another guy named timmy, timmy and eric go to the same school so theyre in the same class. timmy is spreading shit rumors about me and its no fucking rumor anyone could ignore. it was a rumor where i had a “sex tape”, have 3 bodies, and had sex with john even tho non of it is fucking true. it was getting so bad my friends were getting dms saying “your little friend had sex with her boyfriend and i have proof”. it was so fucking bad. not to mention, im a minor and i live in a small fucking country shit gets spread so fast here. and so i would go to eric as ask him about timmy because i was gonna take legal action against timmy because it was going so fucking far. and john didnt like that. because he knew i used to “like” eric. which i fucking didnt and i just thought the dude was good looking lol
and so i would only speak to eric to ask about timmy and i would let john know about. except this one god forsaken time where i didnt show a fucking continuation of a conversation and he got so mad he started threatening to break up with me
keep in mind, im an anxious attachment and im pretty sure john is avoidant even tho in the relationship he was surely an anxious so i dont know cause we havent spoken in a fucking month lmao
we both are borderline by the way.
so this is a part where i fuck up
the reason why i use the name eric is because eric is like someone who associates himself with eric cartmen from south park, he makes him his entire personality and its just a joke between him and everyone 😭 as immature as it sounds, i dressed up as eric cartmen for characters day in school and i showed eric the outfit because i thought it was funny and didnt think anything of it. i didnt show john but i didnt hide it from him either because i know john would go through my phone and i didnt see anything wrong with what i did, until he went through my phone and saw the chat, keep in mind, i do delete chats with my friends sometimes because i dont want john to see some things because of privacy, not out relationship, but between me and a specific few girls he doesnt like and doesnt want me to be friends with
and so he saw the message and got upset, and i took the hint that this guy just doesnt want me to interact w eric at all and i understood but i understood him way too fucking late and he broke up with me
which for some reason my dumbass was shocked even tho he made it clear that he didnt want me speaking to john so this is where i realized i fucked up
i took it as a lesson and learned to not do it again but i was too late
me and john break up and i wanted him back badly. an hour after the breakup i started posting on my story about a random guy that i made up and acted like i liked him to piss off john and make him jealous which was a bad fucking idea
to me, the more someone doesnt want me, the more i want them. thats how i thought it was
and he found out and got pissed off. he ended up texting alex and found out i met up with alex after me and john kissed. but no one was aware that i was actually sexually assaulted by alex and i found out later because my friend went through the same thing. me and john stayed talking to see if we could work it out and i fucked up by telling him to stop basing our relationship over something from the past that happened over 8 months ago. he got pissed and blocked me
i later found out he followed back the girl he told me not worry about and said he didnt know why he was attracted to her but at same time would say “i dont know if shes actually pretty or if im trying to move on” (as in move on from me) i got so fucking pissed, i texted the girl w my friend we and told her that john was using her and a rebound. john found out, threatened to ruin my life and was so fucking mad over it, but i later then realized he just thought she was pretty and didnt want her like that. i ended up apologizing to john because i wanted him back but it didnt work because he was standing on business lmfao
during this time, my friend told me he would always consider going back to me and missed me and loved me so much. and john did love me. a LOT. he bought me flowers, a ring, everything. like he did everything for me and he did love me so deeply
and now we havent spoken over a month and its slowly killing me because my friend who was close with him said he was dead set with his decision n doesnt wanna get back with me. i dont know if this will change because right now he has new priorities like studies since hes graduating soon. but right now, he seems dead set with his decision even tho his biggest fear was losing me. i saw the way he would talk about me and we were so deeply in love.
but john thinks i cheated on him with what happened with alex. my friend told him he sexually assaulted me but it was very vague and he doesnt know the details.
i was johns first love. first EVERYTHING. we broke up march 18 and last spoke april 19 where he thought i was shit talking him and i proved i wasnt. he later said he was worried about me but right now he doesnt seem to care.
please dont tell me to “let him go”. if u have any other opinions on what u think will happen and if he will come back please let know because i really want him back. my family friend who is a psychic told me he was coming back if this helps lol.
let me know if u guys think hes coming back. this is all fresh but yea.

I'm m 30 and I feel like I lost all drive and hunger for moving on in life, and in the last couple of years, I feel like I'm just going with the flow instead of trying to navigate it. I moved to Canada for school when I was 22 and back then I was all piss and vinegar; I was a top student, going out of my way to participate in competitions and gain internships, going to networking events, and even trying to start two startups with friends during my school years. During that time I met my now-wife, and shortly after school we moved in together and rented a place. If I had to pinpoint where the slope started, it was pretty much around that time. When I finished school I managed to get a job in my field of study, and I also reached out to one of my old managers from an internship I got from performing well in a competition where he pulled me into a project of his, so right out of school I had a full-time job and a side hustle. At some point, the side hustle deal kind of faded away with the project not going anywhere. I had a couple of ideas of side hustles that I tried to develop but never did, took courses and certifications to increase my skills in my field, and probed my job for raises and promotions, but overall I started becoming quite static. It was only when my partner started talking about looking into buying a property that I was pushed into looking for another position that pays better. After a while of searching, I was able to find a very well-paying position in a US-based tech company that almost doubled my salary. Thanks to that new salary, and the fact that my partner also got herself a high-paying position, we were able to afford to buy a house when I was 28 with plenty to spare after paying the monthly mortgage payment. We got married, and she is now pregnant with our first kid.
Comparing myself now with myself 8 years ago make me feel really sad for where things are going. During school, I was able to put in the work, get out of my way for better grades, and better opportunities, and give myself an edge and start something of my own. Since I finished school I really feel like I'm drifting. During a work day, I can honestly say I spend over half my time on YouTube shorts giving myself brain rot. I'm still performing well and up for a promotion (as long as HR budget shenanigans won't shoot me in the foot), but I know I can do so much better if I were to find the drive and develop discipline like I had before. I've tried getting up earlier, rather than 30 minutes before my first meeting, but I always just get up, turn off the alarm and go back to sleep. I got back into working out, thanks to my wife buying me a home gym for my 30th birthday so I really enjoy it, but I don't feel like it's developing my discipline that much. In the last year I worked on a project and brought it to MVP status, and then never continued developing or marketing it. I'm currently studying for a certificate for a relatively new technical sub-field that should get me all excited, but it just doesn't, it feels like a chore.
I just feel like there is no fire in me anymore, like I've gotten to a place so comfortable I'm half asleep and passive all the time. I was thinking having a kid on the way would spark it up, some sort of provider instinct to make sure I keep moving forward to give it the best life I can. But no, it's not there. I don't feel lost, but I do feel like I'm just wandering in a general direction without a plan, because every time I try to come up with a plan I just end up scraping it.

LONG POST WARNING
Hello everyone,
My partner (24F) and I (25M) returned home from our 3-week Japan trip last week and due to us using this sub a lot during our planning I thought it would be helpful for other current planners to upload a trip report.
Our main interests are Japanese traditions and history, street style/culture, and food so keep reading if these interests are mutual. Read to the bottom to see how much we spent plus some tips and disappointments.
Prelude
We were caught up in the madness at Dubai airport during our layover. Long story short; Airport (and the rest of Dubai) flooded and caused all the flights to be cancelled. What was meant to be a 5-hour layover turned into a torturous 36 hour wait. No staff to be seen, crowds of people arguing, fighting, and crying. We queued for 12 hours to get a new boarding pass for the next flight to Japan. We were meant to fly to Haneda but settled for Narita as we needed to get out of that place as soon as possible but still ended up missing our first day in Tokyo (should have had 5 days). We can’t complain too much as some of the people I spoke to on emirates were in the airport for up to 5 days before getting a flight back to their departure destination. Oh, and our baggage was missing with us only receiving our checked in bags on day 19. Cheers Emirates.
Day 1
Arrived in Shinjuku around midnight. We went straight to Don Quiojte to buy some replacement cosmetics and clothes. The combination of no good-quality sleep for 48 hours and the stimulating nature of the store was very intense! We then started to walk back towards the hostel and passed a Ichiran, so dropped in for some 2am ramen. Not the best ramen I’ve ever had but was still very good for the price.
Steps: 21,643 (includes some airport steps)
Day 2
Woke up and ate the free breakfast at the hostel (this turned out to be a really good money saver for the whole trip as we are not huge eaters in the morning anyway, but it was good to get something light in us before a long day walking). We then walked through the Shinjuku Gyoen Garden – saw some late blooming cheery blossoms and overall, it was a really beautiful botanical garden.
The next stop was Meji Shrine and a walk through Yoyogi park. The shrine was cool to see, especially as it was our first one in Japan. Saw a middle-aged man wearing denim hotpants so short that his balls were hanging out?!?!
Walked to Shibuya to see the scramble. This was cool but also felt it was a bit underwhelming at ground level but the view from Shibuya station walkway was wicked. Lunch was at a conveyor belt sushi place on the top floor of this department store right next to the scramble. This would be higher than average quality sushi in Europe, so it blew our minds that it was available on the top floor of a department store and for so cheap.
Shimokitazawa – We picked up some bargains at 2^nd street and I treated myself some Japanese jeans from a small Demin shop called Bears. The guy in the shop was super helpful and friendly and even tailored the trousers to exactly my size.
In the evening, we first had a poke around Golden Gai and then headed towards Shibuya and stopped in a cool bar where the owner was mixing vinyl while he mixed your drinks (think it was called Q Bar).
We had previously bought tickets to a gig at Circus for one of my fav rappers who I’d been wanting to see for a while. Also really enjoyed seeing the local Japanese warm up acts. Stayed until 5am and then go the train straight to the Tsukiji outer fish market. Was there way too early and had to wait roughly an hour for thing to open. Went to chill by a bench for a bit and by the time we went back to the market it was rammed! Went to bed around 8:30am.
Steps: 32,159
Day 3
We woke up at 2:30pm, got ready, and headed to the Bunkyo civic centre for the free observation deck. We heard it wasn’t meant to be the best Tokyo skyline view but for a free attraction we thought it was very good! Jimbocho book town was also very cool to see. We had a peak into a couple adult movie/magazine stores where I don’t think the owner appreciated our presence as western tourists.
In the evening, we first went for Ramen at Motenashi Kuraki in Asakusa Bashi. Honestly probably the best Ramen I’ve had to date. I ordered the Black Pepper Shio special, and it blew my mind. Even though the staff didn’t speak English they were very accommodating for my partner who doesn’t eat meat (pescetarian but will brave a meaty broth).
We then had a stroll around Akihabara and played some dance mat games in the arcades before heading back for an earlyish night.
Steps: 28,680
Day 4
I couldn’t sleep so got up around 3am and did some admin stuff to try and get our bags back to us ASAP. Chatted to people in the hostel for a few hours.
We arrived at Senso-ji for around 8am. Wasn’t too busy at this time and the temple was impressive. Went for a coffee down the road and had a chill for about an hour before heading into Asakusa. Got admission to the Drum museum which was wicked. Only 400 yen each and had the whole place to ourselves to smack some big fucking drums and make as much noise as we wanted.
We then started to head towards Ueno but made a slight detour to Kappabashi Dougu street to peruse the Japanese chef knives and other cookware. Grabbed lunch from a 7/11 and went and sat in Ueno park which was super busy. There was some food market event on which loads of food stalls had set up. There was also a stage with some J-pop performers and people dressed as ninjas dancing in the crowd. Weird to say the least. By mid-afternoon we were pretty tired so headed back to the hostel for a nap.
In the evening, we headed down to Harajuku and stopped by Big Love records. My partner is really into vinyl, so this was definitely a highlight for her. She picked up Wu Tang 36 chambers in case you were wondering. We then went for food at Afuri as my partner wanted to try the Vegan ramen to which she said it was ok but nothing special. My cold dipping noodle dish was very tasty, however. We then stumbled across this vinyl listening bar called Bar Music on the 5^th floor of this pokey building on the outskirts of Shibuya for a few drinks before bed. There was such a good vibe in there and the cocktails were super good for the price. If you’re looking for a romantic spot, then this is the place to go.
Steps: 31,818
Day 5
Today we headed to Kyoto on the shinkansen around midday after a slow morning chilling in and around the hostel and catching up on some sleep. Checked in to the hostel and had a walk around downtown Kyoto, stopping at 2^nd Street to buy some more clothes.
In the evening, we headed to Kodai-Ji to see the shrine lit up at night. We couldn’t believe how few people were there as it was stunning and truly magical place to be at night. It also has a bamboo grove (much better than Arashiyama, see below). The bar for Kyoto shrines/temples had been set very high.
Walked down Pontocho alley and stopped at a yakitori restaurant which was just ok. We knew it was going to be average when we looked around the restaurant and it was just western tourists dining.
Steps: 25,255
Day 6
First thing in the morning we rented bikes and cycled across the city to Arashiyama. Parked the bikes at the train station and walked up through Arashiyama. We were expecting it to be busy but there were so many people it was almost impossible to move. Had a look around the bamboo grove and was slightly underwhelmed after our visit to Kodai-Ji so we took the tram and then bus up to Kosan-Ji. This was very much worth the 45-minute journey as there was only one other group there and the temple nestled between the trees overlooking the river was breath-taking. On the whole, Arashiyama was way too packed during peak times to enjoy and with everything else Kyoto has to offer we wouldn’t say it was a must see.
We then picked up the bikes from the train station and cycled back across Kyoto taking the long route to explore and get lost. Once we dropped off the bikes, we went for another explore and this time went into WeGo for more clothes shopping. At this point we’d pretty much matched the amount of clothing that we had packed in our checked-in luggage that was still stuck in Dubai.
After a nap we walked towards the metro and stopped at a Katsu restaurant as we wanted to try something different, and it was pretty good. For the price of 1300 yen each we got so much food/sake and left stuffed.
Fushimi Inari in the evening. Like Kodai-Ji, we would recommend visiting Fushimi Inari at night. Firstly, to help avoid the crowds (we got there around 9pm and there was hardly anybody there) and secondly as seeing it lit up at night is a nice change. It was however slightly creepy at night, especially as it was lightly raining. My partner started to get a bit scared once we saw the signs to be careful of the wild boar and monkeys haha. We didn’t make it to the top of Mt Inari as the rain started to get heavy but still very much enjoyed walking through the hundreds of tori gates, stopping off at the shrines and soaking up the history.
Steps: 23,686
Day 7
Today was a late start as even after 8 hours sleep the 25k plus steps a day was starting to catch up with us.
We took the metro to Shimogamo Shrine in north Kyoto. It was very peaceful and quiet however temple fatigue had definitely set in at this point. We then walked through Kyoto to the beginning of Philosophers path. We had seen on this sub that people recommend skipping it unless its Sakura season however we disagree. The path along the river is so pretty and atmospheric, along with the fish gently swimming along in the river.
Kyoto Hand Crafts Centre – if you have the money then this is a great place to pick up souvenirs.
Pre-booked Sushi Iwa for a 15 course Omakase. The food was amazing, but it came to an eye watering 28k yen each. The difference for our western palettes between mid-range sushi and exceptional sushi is negligible. Nonetheless it was a good experience and I’m glad that we did it.
Steps: 23,751
Day 8
Today was an empty day in terms of things we wanted to do, so used it to walk the city and explore.
We checked out the Nishiki market and ate various fried foods on sticks which were all pretty tasty. We then walked northwards, stopping for coffee before reaching the imperial palace. By this point we were very much bored of temples and structures of similar architecture, but we actually ended up enjoying walking the palace grounds and seeing the buildings more than we thought and would recommend it to those who find themselves in north Kyoto.
A leisurely walk back down towards downtown Kyoto, stopping off at a wicked standing soba joint. Forgotten the name but their curry soba was delicious.
Chao Chao gyozas (only veggie gyoza place we could find) for our evening meal before a night cap at the bar across the road before bed.
Steps: 23,304
Day 9
Shinkansen to Hiroshima arriving around 11am.
Checked into hostel and then went straight to the A-dome, peace memorial and museum. We thought the museum was very moving and captured the horror of the events that unfolded very well. A must see for sure.
Okonomiyaki at Okonomimura and then some vintage clothes shopping in Hondori.
Went back out for food in the evening and ended up getting Okonomiyaki again. This time it we enjoyed it a lot more than we did at lunch (probably because we got it covered in cheese). There are a few streets by Hiroshima station with lots of bars and restaurants on top of each other, much like Golden Gai in Shinjuku, however they are not super touristy and has a more laid-back feel to them.
We then went to some bars in the city centre. The best one we stumbled across was called Tropical Bar Revolucion. It was on the 8^th floor and the smoking balcony overlooked the city. Plus, the beers in there tasted so good and I’m not sure why.
Steps: 23,299
Day 10
A hungover morning. Headed to the Hiroshima National Gardens. Going to some gardens is my go-to hangover activity as its low effort, relaxing, and feels productive. These gardens in particular were great and we really appreciated the signs explaining the history behind the space. Overall, we enjoyed this more than the national gardens in Shinjuku.
Public baths near Dobashi in the afternoon. If you’re feeling brave enough to get your kit off in front of 10s of strangers, then this is a good experience. Male and female baths are separate. Can’t go wrong for 400 yen.
Went for a drink at Bar Pretty and then realised the effect of golden week on trying to get a table walking into a restaurant. Walked around for about an hour with no success so settled for food from a department store food court. Sounds miserable but the food was pretty good for the price, and it was busy in there, so it still had an atmosphere.
Steps: 29,487
Day 11
Miyajima Day. Took the ferry to the island arriving at 10:30am. The Ryokan staff met us at the port and collected our bags to take back to the hotel.
Had a mooch around the port area before doing the hike up Mt Misen. The climb to the top on a hot day is not to be underestimated. Sweating buckets, but the route and the view from the top was amazing and one of the standout highlights of the whole trip.
After descending Mt Misen, we bought some beers, oysters and, ice cream and sat along the beach wall and chilled in the sun for a couple hours. The hotel staff then picked us up from the ferry terminal, we checked in and went straight to the Onsen for a couple hours before dinner. Dinner was a traditional kaiseki meal (with more courses than I can remember) served in the banquet hall with the other guests.
While the staff converted our retro ryokan room and set up the futons we had a few more beers before bed.
Steps: 20,803
Day 12
Today we had a chilled morning on the island, having a stroll and stopping for some coffees. We then took the ferry back to Hiroshima, stopping for Okonomiyaki one more time, before taking the shinkansen to Osaka.
Checked into our hostel near Namba and went out for a walk around 8pm. When looking for somewhere to eat we walked past a sign for a vegetarian Indian restaurant called Shama. After nearly two weeks of pure Japanese food we were craving some variety so decided to head in. Located on the basement floor of a particularly run down looking building the restaurant was not the most glamorous. Barely enough space for 10 people, it was hot in there. A constant stream of people was coming in and out of the restaurant and we were lucky enough to walk in when there were two spaces available. From sitting down at the table to receiving our food we waited just under an hour. This would be enough to put most people off but fuck me the food was good when it did finally arrive. We got a selection of 4 different curries, naan breads and samosa. We left stuffed. If you’re in the area this is definitely a place worth checking out.
Steps: 25,502
Day 13
Our first stop of the day was the Umeda Sky Building. Not suitable if you are scared of heights as the glass elevator made our stomachs drop slightly. The views were impressive but we thought the price was a bit steep at 1500 yen each.
We then spent the afternoon wondering about near Namba and Shinsujibashi dropping into shops and picking up some food.
For dinner we made a reservation for a Mexican restaurant near Dotonbori. Massive margheritas, nachos and enchiladas. The food was great, and it shows by how busy the place was still at 10pm. It had been open since the late 70’s with the décor to match and it had a great atmosphere.
Steps: 27,290
Day 14
Checked out Tsuruhashi and Korea Town. Loved the market – dimly lit maze of numerous food and clothing vendors. Stopped to have some Korean stew and pancakes and it was delicious. One of the best meals of the trip.
Shinsekai in the evening. What I can describe as the armpit of Osaka. We loved it. Dirty? Yes. Rowdy? Yes. Rough around the edges with a red light district to top it all off. We had Kushikatsu to finish the evening off. Fried stuff on a stick – of course it going to be tasty but it wasn’t exactly flavour town.
Steps: 23,777
Day 15
Took the train to Minoh and hiked up the trail to see the waterfall. Hike was easy in comparison to Mt Misen and the waterfall was very cool to see. Had a wonder around Minoh stopping for some lunch at a Ramen bar.
We went to the Team lab botanical gardens in the evening. It was very awe inspiring seeing all the installations lit up.
After sampling Japanese McDonalds (I had a burger where the buns were made out of rice) we went for some drinks at Zerro. We liked this bar a lot, the guys working there were very friendly and it had a good vibe.
We then sat and watched the skaters at triangle park with some beers from the konbini before going to see Dj Masda at Circus until around 4am. This area of Osaka was such a vibe and came back here a few times over our 6 days here. Overall, a very fun evening.
Steps: 26,130
Day 16
Woke up chronically hungover but powered on and went to see a baseball game. You’re allowed to bring food and drink into the stadium (as long as alcohol is in plastic/paper cups) so we grabbed some beers and snacks from family mart. We had no idea what was happening but the atmosphere was electric and we enjoyed getting pissed and cheering.
Had a nap and then went to Hafez for middle eastern food. The food was good but not amazing, nothing in comparison to my local middle eastern restaurant back home. Chilled around the Namba park/Big step area. Loved this area so much, we are big into street fashion and culture so this place really ticked some boxes. Lots of skaters and street wear stores concentrated around here. Got an early night watching Battle Royale back at the hostel.
Steps: 22,065
Day 17
Today we went to the Umeda area. Popped into some shopping centres and had Omurice for lunch. It was tasty but not something I will crave when back home. Good experience trying it though. We then walked through Yodoyobashi along the rivers and got gelato and sat in the rose garden. The sun was beating down and we enjoyed just chilling in the sun eating our ice cream.
Compufunk Records were holding a party in their store. Decent gaff with some very welcoming and kind people to party with until the early hours.
Steps: 21,267
Day 18
We reluctantly left Osaka for Hakone today. Very sad to go but onwards to the next adventure. Took the shinkansen to Odawara and then the Hakone Tozan Train to Gora. Checked into our Ryokan and relaxed in the Onsen for a few hours.
Went for a walk around Gora and had dinner at the Ryokan before watching Predator in bed.
Steps: 16,926
Day 19
Today we did the Hakone Loop, starting early in Gora.
Started with the Open-air museum and it was great. We loved the installation and ended up spending 3 hours slowly making our way round. Got some cool photos as well for the gram.
Ropeway to Lake Ashi. This was absolutely terrifying. You have to swap cable cars 3 times on the way over and the warnings of the service being suspended due to the wind was announced at each stop. I’m not going to ruin the surprise, but one section made me literally freeze in terror due to the winds outside so try to do it on a calm weather day.
We then took the pirate boat (bit underwhelming) across the Lake and stopped for some soba noodles and a wander around. Unfortunately it was way too cloudy to even get a chance at seeing Mt Fuji.
Train to Kamakura and checked into our super cute traditional hostel near the beach.
Dinner at an Izakaya from the hostel owners recommendation. Food great and beers slipped down a treat. First time I tried Yuzu Kosho as well – I’m now addicted to the stuff and literally cover all my food with it.
Steps: 19,512
Day 20
A slow start to the morning. Weather was pretty bad but we still managed to hit all the main sights in Kamakura. Big Buddha was a refreshing sight from the temples. Did some shopping up Komachi Dori. Highlight of the day was Hukokaji temple. It was so peaceful and zen in the rain with its very own matcha tea ceremony backdropped by bamboo forest. This turned out to be our second favourite temple/shrine we visited, just being beaten by Kodaji.
In the evening we went for Sushi at a conveyor belt place. Figured this would probably be my last Japanese sushi of the trip so devoured 7000 yen worth of sushi and beer. Went back to the hostel and invited some of the other guests to drink with us. The owner of the hostel had some bayberry homebrew, so we got stuck into that.
Steps: 20,494
Day 21
Enoshima Island is just a 25 min train from Kamakura. Started off the day by walking to the top of the island to get French toast and a beer with a lovely view across the bay. We then headed up the Sea candle to check out the observation deck, still the illusive Mt Fuji hides behind the clouds.
We then bought admission to the caves beneath the island which was pretty cool. I won’t ruin the surprise but there’s something waiting for you at the end of one of the caves.
Had an explore around the rockpools near the caves and took some cool photos. We then had a pizza with fish on which was pretty crazy. Walked around the island a little bit more and I picked up some more Japanese denim which wasn’t the cheapest but the quality of the trousers are great and will last me a lifetime.
Back to Tokyo in the evening.
Went for Izakaya around Asakusa and popped into a couple bars. One was called Not Suspicious and the whole bar was covered in handwritten notes by patrons. Very touristy but quite cool at the same time. Our favourite was a drawing of Mario saying It’s a Me Muthafucka.
Steps: 25,903
Day 22
First stop was Don Quiojte to pick up some Yuzu Kosho (if you know you know) and weird flavoured KitKats.
Kappabashi Dougu street to purchase a fine Japanese carbon stell Santoku. Honestly in love with this knife so much. The people at the store were very happy to hear exactly what I was looking for and even let me try before you buy on some daikon radish.
While in Asakusa I had to return to the place where I put the best thing in my mouth in Japan. Motenashi Kuroki. Switched it up this time and had their classic Shio ramen plus the duck rice as a side. Honestly this place is amazing, and you have to go there if you have time. They aren’t veggie/pescy friendly so my partner went for one last round of sushi round the corner. We met up at a massage chair parlour and spent 30 mins relaxing in the chairs.
We had a bright idea to watch the sunset one last time so headed over to the rooftop park on a department store in Shibuya. Sipping on an ice cold Kirin, the sun slowly dropped behind the distant mountains and we knew our trip had come to an end. How symbolic.
Flight at 11pm from Haneda.
Steps: 23,187
On reflection:
I honestly think this trip was almost perfect in terms of hitting our interests and travel style. There was a good balance of doing the typical first time visit to Japan sights and activities while still exploring and seeing what we came across in the moment.
It hard to pinpoint exact highlights of the trip as everywhere we visited had so much going for it in different ways. We loved the rugged and trendy vibe to Osaka, and I think this would be the city I would most want to live in for a considerable amount of time (If I had to choose). Miyajima was also stunning and a great overnight trip with the Ryokan experience. We also underestimated how much we would enjoy Kamakura with its laid-back surfer vibe and access to Enoshima Island.
One random memorable moment that has stuck with me was when we landed at Narita airport, we took the limo bus to Shinjuku. As the driver pulled away, all the staff at the station turned and bowed in unison. It felt so special to first observe a culture totally opposite to the one I grew up with and was at this point I knew I had embarked on the trip of a lifetime.
If I could go back and change something I would probably miss out Hakone and do an extra day in one of the major cities. This isn’t because we didn’t enjoy Hakone, but we feel like it’s a place that needs more time to soak in what’s going on around you (plus the weather was bad when we were there). This being said the Open-Air Museum was amazing and we enjoyed it more than the Teamlab botanical gardens so the trip up the mountains was worth it just for that.
So, how much did we spend per person (not inc flights)?
Accommodation - £765pp
Given that we spent a couple nights in Ryokans raising the average price slightly, we were pretty happy with the accommodation costs. We stayed in a mix of private room and shared dorm hostels and pretty much all of them were spot on. Travelling as a couple meant that anywhere with a private room split the price between 2. The only hostel we didn’t like was the one in Hiroshima, there wasn’t anything in particularly wrong with it, there was just a really bad vibe from the owner and other guests.
Transport - £344pp
This includes shinkansen to and from all the major cities as well as our suica top ups for metros and buses. Unless your itinerary is something like 3 days Tokyo, 2 days Osaka 2 days Kyoto then there really isn’t any point getting the JR pass now that the price has increased.
Activities – £280pp
It is hard to give an exact amount for activities and food as 1) I didn’t track what we spent our cash on and 2) my partner and I would take in turns paying for things like temple admission. That being said I’ve allocated 25% of the cash we spent to activities such as temple admission. Activities includes our baseball tickets plus club entries as well as temple and museum admissions etc.
Food – £962pp
As above, its hard to give an exact amount for food. On the whole we tried to eat cheap with possible, especially at the start of our trip. There were a few expensive meals peppered in plus we ate out twice a day towards the end of our trip as we realised we were under budget.
The total is a bit skewed as this includes all the alcohol we bought in bars as well as the konbini trips for beers and cigarettes. I estimate that booze accounts for around a third of the total per person. If you would like to do Japan on a budget, reducing the booze will make a big difference.
Shopping/Souvenirs/Gifts – £607 (just me)
We went hard with the shopping. We didn’t actually receive our checked in luggage until day 19 so we had to buy all new clothes and cosmetics. If this wasn’t the case, then I don’t think I would have spent so much (airline is comping us for the additional clothing bought anyway). I also bought a fairly expensive chef knife and Japanese denim pieces, plus lots of gifts for friends and family. Obviously, this number could theoretically 0 if you are on a serious budget and did no shopping but I really underestimated Japanese shopping, especially thrifting. Also, given our cheap choices when it came to accommodation we could afford to splurge. However just to note my partner spent less than half than I did on shopping.
Total: £2958 (582,628 yen at time of writing)
I kept within my budget of £3000. I definitely got a bit frivolous with the cash in the last few days or so, if being as careful as I was towards the start of the trip, I think the total would be closer to £2500.
Disappointments
Takoyaki. We thought it was going to be all about the octopus but were disappointed with our balls of sloppy goo surrounding tiny chewy pieces of octopus. We tried it twice and couldn’t get behind it. Sorry Takoyaki fans.
Arashiyama. Way too busy, especially around the main station and bamboo grove. If it’s the bamboo you are going to see, then Kodaji is a much better spot.
Dotonburi. Albeit we were there in golden week, and it was pretty busy. However, I get the feeling this area has fallen to the past its golden days title and has become a bit of a cash cow for places selling spiralised potatoes on a stick. The area around Namba park was a better option for us.
Tips
Konbini. Absolute life saver for snacks and drinks on the go. The food quality for a convenience store is higher than most other countries so we had no problem with grabbing a meal from one to help keep within our budget.
Don’t over pack – even though we didn’t get our checked in bags, I still packed light so had plenty of space to bring stuff back. Emirates give you your allowance by weight rather than number of baggage so we could check in additional bags on the way back.
Don’t be scared of hostels. If you don’t want to brave the shared dorms, then most hostels offer private rooms with just the shower and toilet shared. Obviously, it’s cheaper if there are two people sharing a room.
Don’t stress about cash. Most places take debit/credit card and if they don’t, you’re never more than 5 minutes from a konbini ATM.
For us, golden week didn’t seem that big of an issue. No problems booking shinkansen around GW. We spent most of GW in Osaka, as such it was going to be busy anyway so maybe we didn’t see much of a difference from normal numbers in the spring.

I'd really like to begin running more public "event" games to attract more people to playing. I figure my LGS is the best way to do it- but I'm not sure how to go about it. I have ideas, though:
1.) Mörk Borg one-shots- it is so easy to teach this game, and people largely seem to like the... Borg-ness... of it. But, it's kind of a lot for some people, and it REALLY sheds a lot of the familiar ttrpg tropes. Refreshing for experienced players, but dizzying for new people. I did have a good experience running this for an open table.
2.) Old-School Essentials- I've ran this the most of any OSR system. It's basically perfect in my opinion, but it's clunky and somewhat unintuitive. "Roll high" doesn't universally apply, and there's a lot of sub-systems that I'm fine with tinkering or tossing in home games, but really want to nail for public games. People can bring back characters to play again, which is cool. Again, this one did work for the public game- but I spent a TON of time explaining rules.
3.) Dungeon Crawl Classics- Honestly the most tempting, because of the funnel dungeon. But I've never ran it. I have a huge stack of books and extra dice sets. This might be the middle ground between MB and OSE on the spectrum of wildness.
Pitching the game and getting the LGS to advertise the events are the hardest parts, besides deciding the system. I don't have social media so it's not as easy as getting permission to post to their page on Facebook. My flier I put up at the store was wordy and didn't really get responses. And when people didn't show up for an event, I got discouraged.
So- how do you guys do it? I'd like to take another crack at it.

I know the opinions of LOs working with friends is kind of mixed, but does anyone really understand what makes them choose their lender?
When I first started 7 years ago I was 22 so most of my friends weren’t buying, but I felt like I worked with a fairly high rate those who did buy. Most of my sphere are high FICO quality buyers, so I always viewed sphere as low hanging fruit and to be a driver of high quality loans. However, as I’ve gotten further along in my career I would have thought I’d capture my personal network at a higher rate than I do. Though more people I know are buying houses, I’m not really doing more loans for friends than I did in 2020 and 2021. It seems the people who are most loyal in that sense are friends of friends who I’ve met and hung out with a handful of times. On a few occasions, I’ve had my friends’ wives object to the idea of me helping them.
Nonetheless, curious if you guys have experienced the same thing or have any insight on how to capture them at a higher rate.
TLDR; looking for insight on the thought process of friends working with you for their loan. While the views on working with friends are mixed, I feel as though I’m capturing a smaller % of my sphere despite and increase in friends buying homes and a longer duration of marketing.

I just wanted opinions on this. BTW I am not a Kanye fan, I enjoy some of his songs but that’s it. I was seeing this video on YouTube that was discussing how Kanye’s album Vulture is a threat to music industry and monopoly of record labels and how he was being set up to fail but still dominated. It’s true though I had no idea he even released an album but the streaming numbers on Spotify are crazy and the title track is solid. Okay so Kanye is doing something that PRINCE had been telling people to start doing. On number of occasions including an acceptance speech at an award show Prince told people that record labels enslave you and misuse you. And let’s not forget what he did to his own contract in the 80s. After seeing that Kanye video I felt like this is what Prince wanted to see happen. Prince is someone that Kendrick admires so much, even seen throughout this beef. So Kanye talking about having Kendrick’s back can be understood from that perspective because Kanye is embodying what Prince fought tooth and nail for and there might be a lot of background bonding on this point between Kendrick and Kanye. What do you all think?

One year ago mybest friend passed away tragically, leaving his mother and a younger sister behind. His sister is 19, I had met her 3 years ago for the first time, and I thought that she was really pretty and exactly my type (good girl, but also a bit tomboyish and girly at the same time) and I respected her as my best friend's sister, so I kept my feelings for her for myself. I treated her like she was my own sister, instead of thinking about how happy we'd be together.

I went to visit her mother because she was having trouble with the ceiling, needed to put a barrier on the balcony and to install the things that surround the light bulbs. I dont know how you call them in english.
Her husband also passed away, and she's a widow with a low income job and a girl to raise, and my father told me to check in on them once in a while and help them in case they need some help in the house for things to fix
Turns out the issue was that the ceiling leaked in her daughter's room, so I went there. The girl still had a very chilhood sort of bedroom with decorations, and she herself seemed to be so different. I greeted her and shook her hand as we do over here, and she kept studyin g on her desk. I opened the windows to remove the old satellite and install the new receiver, and noticed that there were some crumbs on the side of the window. I asked her about the crumbs, and she said "it's for a little bird that comes to visit me every day"
and I said "ok". Sounds fine... until I found out later, by another friend of mine, that the girl is heavily depressed and hasnt stepped out of home for days since her brother died, and that in college she endured some sort of abuse by some guys, there is a trial going on, this friend said we should do something for her as she is our best friend's sister, and we should protect her, and this also makes sense because I saw in her room packets of a medicine that I looked up and turns out it's an antidepressant. Actually she looked so different from the last time I saw her, she was very pretty, wearing girly summer dresses and long hair and looked so pretty and lovely and now she seems so pale, wears baggy clothes and turtlenecks and seems sort of "without will to live"
and the silly thing she said about the bird worries me too. I feel like that bird is the only interaction she has had in a while. At some point while I was asking her questions about the things to fix, it seemed like she was turning red about to cry. Like, something was very wrong.
I said "I know you miss him, but you have to be strong, for your mom at least" and she said "I dont know... everything is over now. they're not coming back anymore. mom knows that, I know that" (she lost her brother, and also her father a few years earlier).
I did the things I had to do, but I tried to involve her. Like, I asked "where is the hammer? do you have some nails like this one?" and she went looking for things for me in the house in case they already had them, and she tried her best to look for them. even if she didnt find all the things, I always said "ok dont worry, I'm gonna buy them on the store here close to your house"
After I finished, I tried to clean up the place, but she said "no dont worry, I'll clean up. you already did a lot for us thank you" with a very sad face.
I didnt tell her mother anything, I'm sure she's already aware of how her daughter is, but I cant help but think about her. I'm so worried. Should I talk to her mom? Even if I do, what am I supposed to say? I'm just his brother's friend, not someone important for her.

Seventeen days ago, my mom came home to find my baby brother dead on the floor of his bedroom. He was 22.
Epilepsy had been progressively ruining his life since he was a young teenager. When he first started experiencing seizures, they only happened when he was asleep, and only when he was very sleep deprived. But over the years they had become worse both in frequency and severity. By the final months of his life, they were happening all the time -- awake, asleep, singing onstage at church, talking on FaceTime. Sometimes he would just pause in the middle of a sentence and start staring into space, and my heart would be in my throat until he started talking again. He had trouble holding down a job because no employer wanted to deal with an employee who needed to take constant time off for medical care. My mom was doing her best to provide him the 24/7 care he needed while also working a full time job. He was on three different medications, for a total of ten pills every day. (The day he died, he was two hours late taking one of his doses. Two hours, that's all it took.)
And even so, I had no idea how much danger he was in. In the abstract, I knew that if a seizure lasted long enough, it could become a medical emergency. But that term "medical emergency," was still divorced from the idea of death. Medical emergency meant ICU. It meant, at worst, permanent disability. It didn't mean dead at 22.
My brother had tried everything. Keto made his seizures worse. The seizure detector he wore on his wrist was failing to detect massive seizures, so he stopped wearing it. He had an inpatient brain study done back in December, where he spent three days in the hospital while a team of neurologists purposefully triggered seizures to try to determine where in the brain they were coming from. They said he broke the record for the number of seizures during a single study: I think it was something like 40. The study didn't yield anything conclusive. I remember him saying that one of the doctors told him his seizures only had a 3% chance of being controlled with meds.
And you know what? I never once heard him complain. He found humor in everything. He called his seizures "doing the forbidden disco." When he went in for the study, he said, "I'm going to go in, shake a little, and then come out."
Even I heard the dire 3% predication, all that meant to me was that we'd have to try another intervention. He was already on the road to neurosurgery. Death never once crossed my mind.
And now his ashes are sitting in my living room, and I know the word SUDEP, and I can't help but feeling like he never had a chance. His body just decided it didn't want to exist anymore. I recently read about some of the risk factors for SUDEP, and he checked every box, and it's so unfuckingfair. He was the best person I know...the funniest, the kindest, the most genuine. He was a musical prodigy. He was studying to become a cybersecurity specialist and had recently finished building his first PC. I loved him with my whole heart. I just wish I would have educated myself earlier. If I had had any idea that death was on the table, I would have moved back home to help care for him, I would have made sure he was never alone.
And I know this is probably not at all helpful for the community of people here who are trying to eke out an existence with epilepsy and who live in constant fear of SUDEP. But whatever I can do to help ensure that those with epilepsy can live the life my brother deserved, I want to do. This should never happen to anyone, and to the extent that this story can help anyone else, I hope it does.

Recently got new irons (fitted), Callaway AI Smoke, 4-PW, I also have, driver, 3 wood, 4 hybrid, 3 wedges (50, 54, 58).
The 4 iron is quite strong at 19*, 4H is at 20*, 3w is 14.5*. So I have a decent gap between the 3w and the 4h and 4i. On the sims I hit the 3w 220ish, 4h 200ish and the 4i 190ish.
I can hit them all well enough out on course, more mishits with the 4i than the 4h but to be expected for a mid hcp.
My question/wondering which I'm opening up to the hive mind of Reddit is whether I should ditch one of either the 4h or 4i (and which one) and replace with a 5w (or something around the 17-18* area) or whether there is room for both the 4i and 4h, plus a 5w/18* club and replace the 56*wedge (which I scarcely use, 50* is my go to pitch club and the 58* if I need some air).
I know best thing to do is go to a gapping session or spend some time with a pro to understand my game more, but I also know there will be a lot of people here who will have had similar issues/thoughts so keen to get an idea what other people have done.
My home course is a 6200 yard Par 72 parkland course. I also play a 6179y tight parkland course and a 6000y relatively straight course with a 638y par 5. Typically driving the ball 230y.
Thanks in advance.