I [female 46 years old] am being treated by a rheumatologist for undifferentiated connective tissue disease. I take 2 maintenance meds to function, plaquenil and methotrexate, which I have taken for more than 2 years. I came down with COVID (along with my husband), and still have a fever and am struggling to get better. I told the rh office I had COVID, and had to reschedule my appt., which they did for August. My last appt was late January. I've run out of refills on my medications, so I called to ask for enough refills to get me to that Aug. Appt., after the pharmacy tried contacting them 9 times and were completely ignored. I called every day for 2 weeks, and every day the receptionist said they were just waiting for the np to sign off on the refills, and then told me to call back if I didn't hear anything, so I did every day for 2 weeks, while no one could tell me anything.
Then yesterday a receptionist told me she won't give we refills without blood work. I told them I can't go any where, I have COVID, I'm too sick to drive anywhere, being in an Uber puts the driver and everyone who gets in the car after me at risk. They said to pay for a service that comes to you. I made the appt to have someone come draw my blood at my house. At 9 last night the service called and asked about me having COVID, I told her the symptoms im still having, and she said okay, but then at 4 am I get a message saying they cancelled the appt because of my COVID.
I went online to find another in person lab and that lab says you can't come in until 14 days after onset of symptoms, which I'm not there yet, and I still have a fever (i took paxlovid, since I have a compromised immune system, but it came back full force as soon as i finished the paxlovid.)
They np doesn't care, it's not her problem, and I'm being told not to disclose that I have COVID so I can get the bloodwork done. I couldn't live with myself if someone got hospitalized or died because I gave them my COVID. I told them I feel it would be morally wrong, and begged for just enough to get through this, but they won't help me. Last time I went too long without the methotrexate, the pain was so unbearable I contemplated suicide. I am terrified to go through that again.
The office is part of a larger hospital, but I didn't know who I could talk to about this. I'm being told to lie and endanger others. They won't let me speak to anyone else in the rh office. What should I do?
The methotrexate and plaquenil are not pain killers or opiates of any kind, they are just maintenance drugs.

I am currently in an employment tribunal concerning disability discrimination. Last week I had submitted a few extra pieces I wanted included in the preliminary hearing bundle that’s coming up. They are supposed to say whether or not they agree with the disability and submit the bundle for the PH this week. When I didn’t get a response from them last week, I followed up with her colleague and that solicitor berated me in a scathing email about sending my email to his colleague while she is out of office (she is the only stated point of contact for the respondent). There wasn’t an out of office email so I didn’t know. He’s said he’s received my new bundle items but did not confirm they will be in the bundle. Now he’s out of office for the rest of the week? Is this a tactic? And if so, what do I do??

Hi! This is my first post after lurking here for a few weeks and I wanted to share my SP journey to hopefully inspire some of you, as many of your stories have inspired myself.
I'm gonna give you some background on myself, so you can see what my starting point was. I'm currently 24 and in the past I didn't have great successes when it comes to dating. After much time, therapy and introspection, I realized that I used to whole-heartedly believe that I was ugly, unlovable and not chosen by anyone.
In august 2022 I broke up with my boyfriend of 2 years because he was not the person I wanted to be with. I actually never really felt attraction to him but I believed that no one was ever going to be interested in me, so I dated him. This breakup was a huge milestone for me because, at least for a period of time, I was confident and believed I deserved much more.
After just 2 weeks of the breakup, I met my current SP through some old friends I reconnected with (100% sure I manifested him in the perfect timing). Fast-forward some months, we started dating. I was absolutely elated, as he was my dream guy and felt an unmatched connetion. However, I used to question why he was dating me if he was so handsome and I felt like he could do so much better than me. I often repeated to my friends that sometimes it was really hard to believe that he was my boyfriend.
You can guess how that ended right? He started acting hot and cold and eventually dumped me out of nowhere. I was obviously devastated and in a really bad mental space for MONTHS. I'm not gonna go into details, but he turned into a whole different person (as I perceived him, assuming basically the worst of him).
Now it's been almost 1 year since the breakup. I've done a lot of healing and no longer have those negative assumptions about me (mainly, even though I can sometimes slip). I even went on dates but I didn't like no one, up until a week ago when I decided that I wanted him back. To cut out the crap and be honest with myself. I don't care what other people tell me or "should" do, I admitted that I wanted HIM. So I decided to give it all for just 1 month. Actually apply the law consistently, instead of just one day and the next feeling horrible about myself and his vision of me (which is what had happened months ago when I tried).
I basically decided that he is coming back, that he is my boyfriend and we are in a happy relationship like the one we used to have on the first months of dating. I started noticing my thoughts and reject those that engaged in the old story (such as having arguments with him in my mind, relieving hurtful conversations, analyzing his supposedly "avoidant" behaviour... you know the gist). Instead of relieving good memories, which was what I often did, I started imagining new future memories. I specifically created a memory of him and me in his kitchen, him telling me he loves me and kissing me. I play out this scene for as long as I can until I fall asleep, but I'm not rigid with it, meaning that if I feel like imagining something else, I do. Whenever I have time and I feel in disbelief, I just robotically affirm some sentences for a minute (like he and I are a couple, he loves me, etc).
However, I think that the most important part for me (and most difficult) was ditching the old story, since I'm very used to think about it (I have been doing it for 12 months lol). The key for me is reminding that that was the past, but now it doesn't matter. That I'm not the girl I used to be, I'm safe now and I get everything I want. No need to stress, no need to worry. Everything is working out. The same applies for him: he is not the guy he used to be, he is the guy I actually want him to be.
And now for the actual results. I want to remind you: I have been doing this for just 1 week and a half. And probably not perfectly. But the results have been FAST. I'm still quite in awe at how things are playing out.
Quick context: I have a spot in a parking garage really close to his parents' house (he doesn't live there anymore, but I know that he goes to have lunch there every day). In months, never have I run into him accidentally, despite going by his parents' house every day at roughly the same time as him. I always just saw his car parked. In this week that has passed, the day after starting to seriously manifest him I was him going inside the house (he didn't see me, though). A couple of days later, I saw him driving in the street. A couple of days later, I run into his mum (who btw loves me). I chat with her and she tells me that he isn't seeing anyone, and she is telling him to invite me and he says he'll do so someday. Today (also a couple of days later), I actually run into him and we talk.
The end result has still not played out in my 3D, but I KNOW I'm getting there eventually. I'm just shocked and how much movement I have been getting in just 1 week of manifesting, without me lifting a finger. Just deciding that he is my boyfriend and truly believing it (after changing my negative beliefs too).
I want to remind you that the law is absolutely real and you will get whathever you want. At first I felt completely crazy and delusional in beliving he is my boyfriend, but I think it's a type of discomfort you need to get through if you wanna get your desire. Just keep it to yourself and have faith, don't let others interfere with their opinions. Remember, it's your life no theirs.
I hope this has inspired someone and I'll be sure to answer any comments! I look forwards to having a discussion here :)

I (22F) still live with my mother, I work full-time and recently graduated college with an associates degree because my mom did not want me to finish so I could help her with bills. I pay at least 1300 in bills including our phone and wifi bill as my job pays me well enough to take care of basic needs. I've never been late on rent(which i zelle my mom weekly-but somehow our rent is always late). My mom still buys me food, despite me saying we could just go half on groceries instead of eating out everyday. My mom never cleans after herself or her pets and tells me that I can help her out with her animals despite her adopting all these animals I did not want (I already have 10 of my own that I take care of)--I clean up after myself and animals as well as do the dishes, take out the trash, and the entire house more than often. However, whenever I clean up not even two hours she comes home the house is a disaster again with pee and poop all over the floor from her dogs, old fast food cups in the windows, floor, table, etc. I get frustrated because I hate a dirty house and her excuse on not cleaning is "I work, I don't have time" and she says this about everything, including taking care of her animals. Our arguments are mostly about her not being clean and how i'm not helping her take care of animals she decided to adopt especially after she dumped her other two dogs onto me when i was just a kid when I never asked for them. She's very emotionally immature and can't talk without screaming or trying to hurt me. I cannot move out because where I live all the places are over the amount I can afford and I'm not able to save much because she is always asking me for money.

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Prometheus's defences had started to fail, as it took increased amounts of fire, from drones and ships of the Kirosian and Cerian space fleets. The situation was beginning to get grim, as Beyond's forces were reduced to only forty ships. It seemed as if any cries for help, would get lost in the depths of space.
However, a light began to shine on the visitors from Earth, as over a thousand Azurian ships, came in alleviating the pressure. The entire armada and reserve.
The one leading the charge, broadcasted a message to his fleet before the attack. "My people, and those of you watching back home. Today we have watched members of our clan die on this forsaken planet. Right now, our benefactors and the future Queen of Azuria are at risk of perishing to the monsters who threaten our very way of life and our existence... Forgive this selfish king, but will you follow me into battle and help me save my granddaughter and our allies?!"
Everyone watching, roared in response and stomped in rhythm. "Hai!"
Akio smiled. "Then, let us be victorious!"
The broadcast ended, as his ship, the Azure Dragon, descended towards Rennaya, ignoring the barrage of missiles fired by the Pandora. Akio looked back with a pained look, at the remaining, twenty-two Hashin with him, standing in formation by the bay door.
"I have seen all of you, grow up, trained you and guided you. I have seen you find love, be hurt, and find true happiness. Each of you are my kin, nothing can hold us back when we work together and no one can stop us." He took a deep breath, then continued. "However my comrades. Today is the one day, you are excused from your duties. This mission is out of respect for my child and the level of danger is much more than I can even anticipate. I will not fault any of you or hold a single grudge if you feel like walking out of that door right now."
None of the Hashin, flinched, nor budged, they didn't doubt each other either. Making Akio's lips tremble. "Do you know what I'm asking of you? You're lives, will be forfeit the moment we enter Rennaya."
Roku stepped up, unveiling his mask. "Do not disrespect us, Akio. Our honor was tarnished, the moment we let our prince die alone out there. We are failing right now to protect our King. Please allow us, to protect the next Queen and our Elder. For Azuria "
He glanced back at the soldiers. "Isn't that right?!"
They stomped to rhythm, in agreement. "Hai!"
The General smiled at his King as he watched a tear roll down the man's cheek. "Cheer up old friend. Let us die with you." He said, as one by one, the Hashin began jumping out of the bay doors.
Outskirts of Senae, Atlas vs Tobi & Osei...
Osei launched several volleys ahead, as he called on lightning to reinforce himself. Atlas was elated, dissipating the volleys with electric volleys of his own, then blocked his charge, as he reached out and manifested an intricate sword out of the ground below. Which slipped into his hand, just in time to block a flaming strike from Tobi, coming from behind him and managed to push him back.
"Bring it on!" He yelled out to the brothers, while unsheathing his own sword with his other hand, then began simultaneously parrying and striking back at them both.
He broke the deadlock, then twirled around quickly in place, creating a hurricane barrier, pushing them both back. Then threw the sword he created, at Tobi, who managed to deflect it, with quick reflexes, however, the force of the impact stung his hands, distracting him for a second.
A chance the emperor did not hesitate to take, as he dodged a charge from Osei and instead, teleported behind Tobi, while raising his own sword, high above his head.
"No!" Osei yelled out.
Atlas's eyes glimmered, as he smiled, seeing both of the brothers in despair. "Imperial Judgement, Execution!"
The wind followed the emperor's strike, erasing the landscape behind Tobi, as a massive fountain of blood, sprayed out of a gaping new cut, diagonally down his chest. He dropped to the floor, dozens of meters from his original position, as he held onto his chest, freezing his wound and convulsing. It was taking everything he could, to not fall unconscious, however eventually, the darkness took over.
"I... I... I won't forgive you!" Osei yelled out furiously, losing it, as Atlas laughed out loud.
Then, he glanced back at him, soaking in the torment, he was putting the prince through. "Don't worry, he won't die. I still need him. I just wanted to make sure he had a good nap." He said, pointing his right hand at Tobi's body, as a coffin of ice, swallowed him and began healing his wound back, slowly.
Osei could not believe, the situation they were in. It felt surreal after everything he had been through. Something deep within him, began to snap, as years of trauma, boiled up to a single point. He lunged, at full speed, striking Atlas' sword, with overbearing might, and pushed him flying back into an area away from Tobi. "You bring disaster with you, everywhere you go. You're existence, is the only one, this galaxy... No, this universe never needed!"
Osei struck down as the emperor hopped to his left, freezing the prince's sword to the ground. Osei managed to break his hands-free and followed up with a high kick to his face.
Atlas bent back, nearly missing the strike, then gave him two quick punches. One to his face, the other in his gut, bursting forth a beam of ice, as it crashed him through several hills.
Osei got up, coughing blood. "Not yet! Thunder Raika!"
Lightning crashed down, meeting an umbrella of ice, that the emperor managed to raise in time, with its hilt redirecting the charge into the ground. "It's over. Just give up. You did your best."
Osei clenched his fists, seething. What must his people be thinking of him? What would his parents do?
He felt as if he had failed them and could no longer take it anymore. "Not yet. As long as I draw breath..."
He placed his hands together, condensing a massive amount of electricity within a small violet sphere, dozens of times over. "Remo Raieqa!" It shattered forth, beaming violently and eating away the landscape on the way, to Atlas.
Atlas raised a finger, as a sphere of ice, held together an unfathomable amount of pressure, causing cracks in the sphere itself. Then, he launched it towards Osei's incoming attack. "Wind Sovereign!"
The shockwave, followed by a razor blast of wind, dispersed his beam in half and dissipated it as it crashed into Osei's chest, knocking him off of his feet, and crashing him through the terrain. Osei was having a hard time, keeping his eyes open. He felt bruises and fractures in multiple parts of his body. "I've failed." A tear fell down his cheek, as his regrets ate him up.
"No, my son." His eyes glanced to his left, as he raised his head. It was as if he was daydreaming, with illusions blending in with reality.
"Mom?" He asked, unbelieving of what he was seeing.
She smiled while keeping her hands above his chest, healing him, as someone else knelt to his right and spoke. "We failed you."
He glanced at the face of a very familiar man. One wearing a crown, with a remorseful and saddened expression. "Dad? But how?"
His memory took him back to the explanations, the Novas and Tobi gave of the ethereal plane. However other than Tobi, the others had only seen one or a few Rennayans each.
Zenu shook his head. "We should have been certain of you and your brother's safety, from the very beginning. The life you've had to go through. I can never forgive myself for that."
Safiyah was fighting back tears, but she took over. "We are so sorry. Will you forgive us?"
Osei, laughed, with tears escaping his eyes. "I've never blamed you for anything. I wish things never went the way they did. You were the greatest parents. My only regret is not having enough strength to restore Rennaya myself."
He covered his eyes. "I'm sorry father, I'm no prince. I've failed to keep my brother safe and I've failed to bring justice for our people."
Zenu smiled. "If we can be forgiven, then you can too. Come on, get up."
Osei pondered about what he meant, but as he got up, slowly, his eyes grew wide. Standing around them, with Waio in front, were hundreds of millions, if not a billion people.
Safiyah spoke up. "My little Osei, no one blames you for anything, you've far exceeded what was expected of you and gave hope to the galaxy once more. You have done your part. Let us help you, with what you want to do. However, I would advise you to take your brother and escape immediately."
Osei was a little dumbfounded to be once again, seeing so many of his people. It was a little difficult for him to speak. "Thank... You."
He shook his thoughts away, remembering his mission. Then he reached his hand out, as his sword, flew back into his palm, hilt first. "I have to keep my little brother safe. My people, I ask of you, please lend me your strength."
They all began to kneel and punch the ground, as their fists broke through into a deep abyss of darkness. Each of their eyes, began to glow, like a domino effect. They all smiled and spoke together. "Yes, Your Highness."
Osei was stunned, as multiple branches of energy began, opening up, within his body.
Waio spoke up. "Do not be alarmed, my pupil. Of course, you're affinity is high with your people. All of Rennaya once celebrated your birth as a sign of hope, prosperity, and good times to come."
Seeing Waio again, made it hard for him to keep his composure. He continued to look around, remembering all of the faces, of people he used to know, as his parents placed their hands on his shoulders, then spoke in unison. "Whatever you do from now on just know, that we are proud of you and we will always love you, no matter what."
He nodded, as his tears dried up, along with them all disappearing, as Atlas broke the silence. "I was waiting back there, expecting you to come back up. You know, with how you couldn't forgive me and whatnot, but instead I find you bawling your eyes out here. What's the matter with you?"
Osei wiped his eyes, then swung his sword to his side, and released all of the built-up energy he had gathered. A skull with markings similar to Tobi's manifested over his face, then crumbled apart, as his eyes, glowed bright blue, with purple and black veins, coursing through his body, pulsing in intervals. His hair flashed full silver, then settled, mixing evenly with the rest of his jet-black hair.
Mist escaped his mouth, with each breath he took, as rings of fire crushed the ground, followed by tremors and thousands of lightning strikes. He had reached his peak.
"Sorry for the wait. I'm alright now. Let's settle this." He spoke calmly, as the tension, rose between them. They stared each other down with pure malice. Yet the emperor could not help noticing, the phenomenon occurring around him.
He laughed, realizing what was happening. "It would seem, the reports were true. The suits that have been granting your human allies, abilities, can also bring about miracles near death. It was tragic what happened on Valtorin, but it was a truly valuable experience. Luckily our drone captured everything, but to be witnessing it myself here... I'm getting even more excited."
Osei, cracked his neck, then crouched, charging up electricity, as his sword caught fire. Then he struck vertically, ripping apart the ground between them, as the aerial strike jetted with at an incredible speed.
Atlas was surprised by Osei's growth. Forcing him to shift into second gear, as he raised a steel wall out of the ground. Which forced him to drop Tobi out of his chamber and woke him up, as he wondered where his brother went.
Atlas drew his sword, coating it in fire. "I raised you. Yet, you dare stand against me!"
Osei laughed out loud. "Every living moment under you was hell. You're just a robot, gone wrong. It's time for you to get tossed to the junkyard."
The emperor glared at him, a vein nearly bursting out, on his temple. "I see, you're prepared to die."
They lunged at each other, bringing absolute devastation to their surroundings, as both of them aimed for the kill. Osei broke the deadlock, jumping back, then pointed a palm at the ground, as it started to rise. "Doteko Ohoni."
A gigantic replica of him rose out of the ground, with its inner body fueled by lava and its outer covered in titanium, diamonds, & other gems. In its hand, a sword the size of a building maintained violent, violet flames coated over it, as lightning continuously struck it.
Atlas's eyes grew wide, then he turned around, to retreat in the opposite direction while preparing a condensed sphere of lava. However, the giant lunged after him and swung vertically with precision, before he could escape.
The emperor spun around just in time, thrusting the sphere at the giant's sword, to mitigate some of the force as he was sent flying across the country. He tried regaining mobility, midflight, but the winds were too much, that's when he saw a looming shadow, covering the sky, and beginning to descend.
Atlas immediately threw his hands into the air, trying to launch anything to protect himself on time. However violet lightning struck the giant, aiding his descent down even faster and leaving a devastating impact on the face of the planet.
Osei hovered over, feeling the emperor's life force, still burning strong below. "You don't deserve any mercy!" He yelled out, knowing he could still hear him, then raised his right hand to the sky. It began to rain and then seconds later, the rain clumped together while freezing into sparrows, charged with electricity.
He watched as the remains of the giant was split in half, by a beam of lava. As it broke apart, he didn't hesitate and dropped his hand. "Kraman Armada!"
Millions of sparrows crashed down onto the emperor, cutting him up, and bombarding him with intense stings and surges. Then, froze him in a massive iceberg of birds, shocking him nonstop with tens of billions of volts.
Osei crouched down and gathered all of his energy to the edge of his blade, then burned it hotter than ever, with fire & electricity, as dark clouds supplied him with an endless capacity. He frosted his hands over to protect himself from the heat, as a superheated coat of magma pulled itself together over his blade, adding to the firepower.
He thought of everyone he needed to do this for and sealed his resolve. "Let's finish this."
Atlas was trapped, defenceless as he tried to melt himself free. Regardless of anything he could have done, it would have been too late, as Osei shot out of the sky, like lightning.
"Raieqa Omega!" He yelled before he cut through the ice and Atlas at the same time. Wiping out the entire landscape around and behind Atlas, as he whizzed past, sheathing his sword.
He turned around cursing, as multiple side effects started to take effect on his body, disorientating him, as he watched Atlas stitch back the half of his body that had nearly been cut clean. "I missed." He whispered to himself.
Atlas noticed, that several of his circuits were not working the same, since his core was nicked. He glared at Osei, with a deadly look. "You've gone too far!"
Osei smirked, knowing he struck a nerve. "I could say the same for you!" He heaved, trying to catch his breath. 'Hold on Osei, just one more.' He told himself, as he gathered up the last of his energy within him and formed a stance.
Atlas looked down at the ground, as his anger boiled over the top. All five of the elements began to rampage all around them, simultaneously. Disappearing as each one laid waste to the environment. His hair began to flash silver, as earthquakes raged the continent.
Osei's eyes grew wide, as he noticed the emperor's energy skyrocketing.
His eyes went white, then slotted back to a glowing bloodshot red. New pressure emanated from him, making the air, seem heavier to breathe. As he spoke, his voice sent chills down Osei's spine. "It's time to end this."
Osei, clenched his teeth, leaping at lightning speed. "Raieqa Omega!"
His sword, this time, collided with Atlas's, but the force of the emperor swinging back, sent him flying back over half a kilometre. Osei dropped his sword, unable to hold onto it, as he skidded, crashing across a field. He quickly got up, putting all of the energy he could muster into a condensed violet flaming sphere, charging it with electricity, and spinning around a core of magma.
Frost covered his hands, as the heat of its orbit, began cutting into his palms. He thrust it forth, just in time as the emperor landed in front of him. "Seiaqa Ultimate!"
Atlas smirked as he raised his hand at the incoming blast. Then it began to split around him as it seemingly struck an invisible barrier in front of it. Visible only as it began to crack.
Osei staggered, letting up in disbelief that it had done nothing to the emperor. He watched as Atlas raised a finger toward him, with a disappointed, yet saddened expression. "You were a good warrior. You just didn't know, who you were up against." He spoke calmly, as the sky seemed to go dark, raining with occasional rings of thunder, while he darted his finger in five thrusts at Osei's body. "Particle Decimation."
Tobi had just arrived. Just in time, to watch his brother drop to the floor.
Notes:
Raika means bolt in Rennayan.
Remo means concentrated in Rennayan.
Raieqa means shock or volt in Rennayan.
Saieqa Ultimate is ultimate lightning in Rennayan.
Kraman and Doteko Ohoni (Stone King, possibility) were taken from the Ghanian language and used as part of the Rennayan, but I may have misplaced the translations.
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Having recently been released from prison my father(58M) decided that it would be right to visit me and I, out of some deranged sense of fillial responsibility decided to agree. He got through the visa waiver surprisingly quickly and I thought fortune was blessing us.
anyways he texts me about a week before saying that due to "other responsibilities" (what fucking responsibilities ur on a tourist visa bitch) he can't come visit me and i would have to come vist him in norfolk- because he wanted to see my (half) sister(22F) too. 🙄🙄🙄 ok whatever, sure ill come !!! he agreed to put me up in a hotel for the duration of the stay. whatever i have to say about him that was very nice and i am thankful
i was a bit tense but overall enthusiastic, and when im finally visiting him i notice two things, one that he seems really distracted and generally just, out of it and secondly i meet his new girlfriend. idrc about her but i can tell she's uncomfortable. my sister was also clearly uncomfortable with her too. when we're talking i tried to keep on my tiptoes about what to ask him. avoid jail talk etc. instead i just let him drone on about business and sports and eventually he got bored of that and asked us about our lives.
me and my sister were pretty clearly bored but we answered to the best of our wavering abilities. i talked about my first year in college. overall pretty ok, but there was an undercurrent of bad vibes.
anna said she had to leave and i jumped at the opportunity to leave too. im not exactly sure what happened but here's my loose understanding of the events that happened
Me and my sister leave, I go home and immediately fall asleep.
My sister goes back to where my dad is staying bcz she lost her purse.
My father's girlfriend made a comment about the purse
My sister and my father's girlfriend get into an argument.
i wakeup with my sister blowing up my phone and i tell her ill call her later. from reading her texts i kinda figure out somethings wrong but i stupidly come back to wher my father's staying to say goodbye and all that we talk for a few minutes. then he mentions the argument from last night, and i say I heard from my sister and im not getting involved. he tells me that my sister said some very rude things about her, especially that she looked like "a pig who just rolled in the dirt* (she does) I said that, while i got his point it's so ridiculously rude to bring a woman to a housecall with your children that she has the right to say whatever she wants. We start arguing badly, i cried and said some nasty things as well.
two days ago(i guess for mother's day?) he texted me to say he's sorry for how he acted. super conflicted now bcz i don't want to disrespect my sister but i feel like i might want to apologize too. after all i didn't check in with my sister about the whole girlfriend thing. was i enough of an asshole that I should?

Sorry if this is a bit long, I’ll include a TLDR below, i have no one i could vent to so i decided to seek some help here. I’m 18. It’s been clear since I was a kid that my parents never really loved each other. My father has always been around but he would neglect me emotionally. My mother is the parent I’m closer to, but when she is angry, she gives me the silent treatment and ALWAYS expects me to apologize for it, even if the fight isn’t my fault. None of them has ever taught me how to communicate my feelings and my mother has crossed my boundaries multiple times (unlocking my locked bedroom door, reading my locked diary, and punished me for writing about her in it). A few days ago, my older brother Facetimed us and I made a funny face at some point during our call. My brother said I looked like an elephant (whatever that means) and my mother agreed. I have been struggling with accepting my appearance my whole life and that somehow triggered something in me, so i walked away. I didn’t know what to say so I stayed quiet the following day, I didn’t know how to tell my mom that i dont like it when she or my brother makes fun of my looks. Today, I tried talking to her, i didnt expect to get a ‘How are you?’ or ‘Do you want to talk about why you’re upset?’, just wanted to forget about what happened and start some small-talk but when I got close to her, she said “What’s up with you? What’s your problem?” with a stern look. And that triggered my flight or fight mode, I tried my best to explain myself but it didn’t get me anywhere so I walked away and locked myself in my room. I cried so hard. What makes me even angrier, is that if it was my brother instead of me, she would’ve forgiven him in a heartbeat.
TLDR: I don’t get why my mother never taught me how to communicate, gets angry that I can’t do it, and THEN punishes me for it. What do I do? How can I make it clear to her that I don’t appreciate it and it hurts me.

I recently bought my first house and bought a DeWalt power tool from my new local Lowe's for the first time to shave a cabinet to finish an install. The power tool was cordless and worked the first night - but then after leaving it charging overnight to keep working the next day, it looks like the battery totally gave up and only worked for a few seconds at at time. Tool would give me max power, whir to a crawl, and then nothing. The battery check button would either give me a green light or no light.
I went in to Lowe's with everything in the tool bag it came with to return it and get a new one, or at least see if they could give me a new battery. The first time I went, a lady (who looked like a manager) called me out in line and asked me what I was in for. While telling her, she simply repeated to me, "Talk to DeWalt... Talk to DeWalt. Or show up with the original box and everything if you want to return it." Well, I need this tool immediately - I can't sit around waiting for a response from the manufacturer.
The next day, I come in with the box and all parts included. Still within the 48-hour return window (isn't that kind of short). Another lady is working at the desk and says they only are only take unopened items. "Not even defective items?" "No, you have to go through manufacturer's warranty for that. But we will make a one-time exception for you."
My conclusion is that if I buy a power tool from Lowe's for a same-day job and it happens to be defective, I am out twice the money until I wait for the manufacturer's warranty to come through and give me a refund. Though they let the return go through, they made it sound like they don't take defective products and were just being nice.
If that's the case, then does Lowe's just not stand behind the products in their store? From what I've heard elsewhere, you can just put a brick in a box at Home Depot and they'll still accept the return. Probably not literally true, but it seems they're much more generous.

Hi everyone, the title is pretty much the core of the issue.
23, male, 180cm, 60kg, white pale complexion, smoker, myopic and with several postural issues.
I have been experiencing this for years now and I can’t seem to find any definitive solution. Not even my doctor could help me so I’m asking here in the hope someone recognises this or has some useful advice.
Long story short sometimes I get out of the shower or bath and as soon as my legs dry a little they start to itch. Itching restlessly and intensely as if someone was pinching me all over them. It usually lasts a few minutes and then progressively calms down, even tho it can last up to half an hour sometimes.
I know it doesn’t sound like much of a problem but I really can’t describe how terrible it feels with words. When it happens I feel helpless and like I could go mad, it’s a very intense sensation, sometimes I even slapped my legs hoping they would stop. Sometimes it starts making me shake
It feels obvious to say it but scratching only makes it worse and prolongs the torture.
On to the weirdness of this: I thought of every possible reason this happens and every possible remedy doesn’t help in the slightest and sometimes makes it worse.
I thought it was a skin sensitivity problem and I only use pharmacy’s shower oil to wash my body, nor do I use exfoliants chemical or physical (I wash myself with my bare hands and nothing more).
I thought it was a dryness problem so I tried multiple hydrating creams all with varying results from no effect to making the situation worse.
I thought it was an oil depletion problem so I applied sweet almond oil (which also should have calming effects on irritations) and it doesn’t do anything.
I thought it was a circulatory problem so I started wearing compression socks as some recommend (I don’t have varicose veins nor anything similar).
What is left on my list of ideas is a peripheral nervous problem and I really want to hope that is not the case.
I can’t see a correlation between the times it happens (as it’s not a regular appointment, thankfully) as it doesn’t matter if I shower or bathe, hot or cold, etc.
The extra important information that I can tell you is:

• It could have some correlation with shaving: I say some because I don’t do it often, I don’t do it with anything other than an electric razors with spacers anymore and most importantly it happened when I hadn’t shaved for months too, although less intensely
  
• It happens consistently every time I bathe in sea water and that is the only time the sensation expands all over my body (when it happens at home my arms itch too sometimes, but way less noticeably than my legs.
  
• There are no visible signs of this, no rashes, not even redness
  
• My mother said she has had this problem all her life but the solution that worked for her was using cleaning products for sensitive skin which, as I mentioned, didn’t do it for me (although it seems to have made it a little less frequent, sea water aside).
  

Please help Thank you for reading this long message

My mom received several letters from the IRS at her address (which my dad never lived at, they've been divorced for decades) addressed to my dad's current wife saying she owes back taxes. Letters were forwarded to them but the issue wasn't resolved (not surprising). My mom just found when she looked in her online account that the IRS took the new wife's back taxes out of her refund this year! Her accountant is no help (you get what you pay for) and she can't get ahold of anyone at the IRS on the phone after trying several times. What is she supposed to do?

Met my girlfriend last August through a dating app. We live little over an hour away from each other. Along with the distance she is working two jobs to make ends meet because her 3 kids dad lost just job and stopped paying support. I co-parent with my 2 kids mom 50/50.
Here is my struggle right now. My gf is constantly needing reassurance. Constantly questions my love after I say love you. Constantly says I'm not attracted to her. Constantly asks questions about my ex.
She also wanted to move out of her apartment. I invited her here and she says I didn't mean it and goes and starts a new lease somewhere else nearly a block away from where she was living.
For several months she kept trying to get me to tie the knot right away. Then suddenly said she don't want that because it would mess up financial aid with her kids for college.
I don't know what to do at this point. I enjoy being around her. But am struggling with the constant reasurrance. Part of me feels like since my funds had gotten tighter myself and I havnt been able to go out and do as much as I could at the beginning of the relationship that I'm just to boring. She claims she's not a priority even though I have let so much other stuff go when she's not working and I can go see her.
Any suggestions on if I should just weather the storm or go seek shelter?

Looking for suggestions. My mother has had small cell lung cancer that moved to her brain in the past year, and beat both, a true miracle. The doctors are begging her to stop vaping saying it is increasing the chances of it coming back or getting worse.
She refuses. She used to smoke a pack a day and had been smoking for over 50 years but switched to vaping after she had a cancer scare (a year or so before actual diagnosis). She says she likes the action of the vaping, so I have been googling best tools to help with stopping. I see they exist (like füm) however they are all fruity or minty and stuff. She specifically will only use the tobacco flavor vapes and refuses anything else.
I feel like I’ve googled to the ends of the earth.
Does anyone have any suggestions for tools that help with vaping/smoking cessation that have tobacco flavor?? Do they even exist?
Thank you in advance.

First of all, I never watched a romance show before but I enjoyed it a lot! Aside from the drama elements, the recurring theme seems to be a balance between passion and responsibility. They keep saying that you cannot have everything, and must pick what is more important. This is very true IRL. The dad only forces James' responsibility on him with no regard for his feelings, but while he is justified in some ways, he crosses the line way too far.
Forcing James to hold a position in the family business and go to college to get a business-related degree is 100% what a parent is supposed to do, being a hormonal teenager James sometimes does not know what is best for him in the long run. He comes from an aristocratic family, and he has to live up to at least some of the expectations.
However, a man should be free to pursue who he wants. While it is James's responsibility to find a wealthy wife to consolidate his wealth, his passion and happiness matter more in this case. His dad never wanted to get to know Ruby personally, and help his son make a decision and instead stalked her wtf.
Furthermore, I do not get why the dad withheld the news of his wife's death from his kids. He used the college interviews as an excuse, but who cares about that? James even said that the interview did not matter and he would get accepted either way due to his status.

who that one heart belongs to. Sunday. Crack theory alert, this could totally just be my delulu but I genuinely think this song was meant for Sunday. Hoyo's already done the whole "foreshadowing a character's arc through song" thing before with White Night. White Night is about Aventurine and the lyrics fit SO WELL after 2.1 and really spell his character out perfectly. Everyone and their mother thought White Night and IICSOHFB are about Firefly and while it does fit, I think both songs fit Aventurine and Sunday respectively, more.
Birds are born with no shackles
Then what fetters my fate?
Blown away, the white petals
Leave me trapped in the cage
The endless isolation
Can wear down my illusion
Someday, I'll make a dream unchained
https://preview.redd.it/6xg5ivlw4e0d1.png?width=1490&format=png&auto=webp&s=a54cd1bf747e2bc54b1bf8df467f3112ffb7b909
https://preview.redd.it/g6yh8mlw4e0d1.png?width=2262&format=png&auto=webp&s=b12231e05e392d003b3b94a3a00a24e58b424ef8
"Birds are born with no shackles, then what fetters my fate?" The questioning tone is very reminiscent of Sunday's view on birds and their freedom in general as we come to learn from the Charmony dove flashback. It this referred to Robin or Firefly, they wouldn't question the fate of birds despite their freedom. It would more so be a question about when they would get to become the bird eventually.
A lot of people think that Robin's the caged bird in the analogy (with a robin being inside a cage in HMC's splash) but IMO it's actually Sunday. His overwhelming empathy is a cage in and of itself trapping him in his desire to make everybody around him happy.
"endless isolation" Sunday had no one to talk to the entire time after Robin left. And even in his ideal world, he was ready to be the only one left in perpetual solitude like Robin herself says.
"Can wear down my illusion". Wear down the illusion that is the sweet dream that Penacony and the Family pride themselves on. But Sunday's been witness to the ugly truth behind the sweet dream.
"some day I'll make a dream unchained" Sunday's dream of Order controlling the world instead of the Harmony. The unchained part here kinda contradicts it though so -
Let my heart bravely spread the wings
Soaring past the night, to trace the bright moon light
Let the clouds heal me of the stains
Gently wipe the sorrow of my life
I dream
What is meant by miraclе?
A word outside my days
Once again, repеatable
But how, could I escape
No further hesitation
On those unanswered questions
So now, I’ll make a dream unchained
https://preview.redd.it/6zw8wglg6e0d1.png?width=2420&format=png&auto=webp&s=9e8c4555409455359ae7869f431cd3f4271ac90e
https://preview.redd.it/xykx5blg6e0d1.png?width=2864&format=png&auto=webp&s=34f41e8c9b3dadbbc53d731c213e18ef444c12b6
Now this part is my true delulu. "Let my heart bravely spread the wings, Soaring past the night, to trace the bright moon light". His decision to bring to life Ena's dream would not be without consequence if he failed, so it does require a hell of a lot courage from Sunday. "Moon light" although a lot of people, including me, thought it was primal light which would make more sense here BUT it probably refer's to Ena's hand reaching out to him. Xipe and Ena are Aeons who preside over very similar paths but Xipe noticeably has a very "sun-like" aesthetic whereas Ena has a moon-like aesthetic.
This is a HC: "Let the clouds heal me of the stains. Gently wipe the sorrow of my life. I dream". I think this might've been train of though when Robin and him fell. They're pretty high above the ground so suffice to say, a lot of clouds touched on the way down. It could also refer to Robin herself wiping this sorrow off of Sunday.
"What is meant by miraclе? A word outside my days. Once again, repеatable. But how, could I escape" Miracles are often referenced in biblical texts and are focal points (Not a Christian but been exposed to the teachings, might be a bit rusty on this). Sunday probably think Ena's dream IS the miracle that people need. "A word outside my DAYS" Remember his every day is a Sunday proposal ;) ? The last quest is also called "On the Eight Day". A day outside of our usual days literally one that doesn't exist.
"No further hesitation, on those unanswered questions". Sunday knows he won't get any answers from The Family or Xipe themselves but he still searches. But all that time spent searching is more time spent my people suffering. So he resorts to his plan but when does he give up? When his question was answered. "So, why does life slumber?" "Because someday we'll wake up from our dreams"
Total delulu? Probably but I love Sunday and I couldn't shake the feeling this song was for him.
PS: Plenty of grammar errors probably so PLEASE EXCUSE IT T-T

DAY: MAY 13, 2024

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• 5-13-2024SCIENTISTS FIND SLEEP MAY NOT CLEAR BRAIN TOXINS

The short story is this:
I(34F) have been with husband (33M) for 10 years. He's a wonderful man but suffers from extreme anxiety and generally poor mental health and thusly struggles to help me with any big stressful decisions in life. Lately as stress has risen he has started not only not helping me with big decisions but panicking and getting in my way. I am starting to wonder if it's worth it to continue to stay with someone who has such a negative outlook on life and massive anxiety that he's just not a good partner when things are rough in the mental load department. While I understand and feel so bad for him that he's going through something as rough as severe anxiety and depression, it's also been quite hard on me and makes me feel unstable about my own future. And if I do stay with him, how the heck do we move forward?
The long story is this:
We've been together for over 10 years. My husband has extreme anxiety. He has been going to therapy for it (although he's having to take a break right now because we're both between jobs), and generally working on improving his mental health all this time. I'm proud of him for that--it's not an easy road. A lot of people refuse to even try. I've definitely noticed improvements. In many ways he's a wonderful man.
But any time things are stressful I feel like I have to handle them alone because he just can't. Asking him to help with things like deciding where to move, what to do with our careers, finances, tricky family stuff, and even planning our wedding a few years ago mostly just sets him off. And it's not abusive or anything, but he'll either shut down and just stare into space (a trauma response I'm sure), or just like attach to some random tangent and refuse to talk about the issue, or just get mad and grit his teeth and say "fine" over and over. To be clear I don't think he has bad intentions in doing this, I think he literally just cannot process it. To some degree I'm like "eh I'd have to do this for myself anyways" but I'm also like "man I wish I could talk to him about what to do about mom getting older" for example. I've suggested for a long time that he could do something like pick up a book on finance basics and read it himself, I don't need to be involved (because if I'm teaching him that's stressful for him). But the reality is he hasn't learned even basic finances even though I've explained to him multiple times it's really important. The very idea of finance just scares him too much.
With finances for example, this backfires because he doesn't understand things like a budget exactly. I'll say "ok, we can only spend XYZ this month. I know the credit card would *let* you spend more than that, but we need to not do that. I don't want to cap it in case we need it for something though". This kind of conversation will trigger anything from "Omg we are broke and about to die of starvation" with a side of panic attack or basically behavior like I'm gonna go spend more because I feel out of control of my life with any restrictions. The dumb thing is if I just don't tell him about a budget and do things like say "Hey would you mind cooking a steak tonight" it's totally fine. But like...I don't want to feel like I have to manipulate him into staying on budget. It feels awkward and also unstable to me. This all feels especially stupid because we're actually fairly well off money-wise--but we can't afford "eat at steakhouse 3 times a day" and this is enough to set him off because he's just so detached from understanding money it's kind of all or nothing for him.
Lately stress has been extra high -- we're between jobs (but have ample emergency fund), family stuff is piling up, we've had to move, and I've made it clear our relationship is struggling lately because of this whole topic. So he's been doing weird things that to me I consider a threat to our safety. He'll stare at his bank account for hours. It makes me worry he'll do something crazy. I feel like a mega bitch for even considering "hey maybe I take your bank passwords and hold them for right now" because I'm like "are you just gonna start smashing buttons out of fear and drain all your money???". Thankfully I recognized this weird behavior a long time ago and my finances are pretty separated from his but like if we stay together I'd be responsible for him too so it's still like "Please don't go do something crazy like move all the money into some account you don't understand because you read about it for 5 minutes online". Also lately when he's applying for jobs he's been only applying for jobs he's way overqualified for or that are based in some random area that pays a lot less. He has a lot of anxiety about not being good enough if he applies for the types of jobs I tell him to (I am senior in the same field). I decided to remove myself from the equation (I get it can be hard hearing these things from your wife) and connected him with a career coach (he very much likes working with the coach) but he's still just doing stuff like applying for entry level positions even though he's far ahead of that.
And this type of behavior is where I'm like "Ok this is no longer you're sweating in the corner while I decide what to do about mom" it's like "You are making bad financial decisions that impact both of us because you're afraid and refuse to actually engage in a conversation with me where we actually talk about it and solve the problem." Like sure, he'll sit there, but he's just saying "fine" over and over or parroting back what I say without actually understanding. It's like every conversation I have with him on a stressful thing is him trying to figure out how to get out of the conversation without me "getting mad". Which is totally again a trauma thing from his childhood. I usually just end up sighing and saying "Okay...this is going nowhere, I guess I'll just go handle it..."
Then the other day when I was explaining some expenses he had the gall to say "I don't trust you with money!!!" and I was just sort of like "???" because this dude has made me manage his accounts since 1 month into dating him LOL. I was like "Do...do you think the rent just pays itself? Do you think the fridge is just magically full of food all the time? Do you even know what a credit score is and why yours is so high now? Do you think your portfolio magically built itself? You don't trust me? You've implicitly trusted me all this time because you refuse to do any of this yourself but I don't want our lives to suck so I handle it."
I bring up finances because it's the easiest to explain without context of family stuff for example but this behavior extends to many parts of our life that are "stressful".
He's super willing to do things if I do the mental load associated with it. Like ok, I figured out all the stuff about mom needing a nursing home and the logistics of that. Help me move her in? Absolutely, no problem, will 100% show up and be happy to help. Physical labor or anything repetitive where I've helped laid down structure is generally usually fine. That's part of what makes me figuring out what to do next is so hard. He wants to be better. But I'm still just like "Please don't go exploding our life because of your anxiety."
I feel stuck. I understand why he's doing these behaviors but it's like...ok I'm still left out in the cold on things. And then to get something as ungrateful as "I don't trust you with money" as if all my work on it wasn't real...ugh. And if I just leave him be a lot of the time it's fine, but if I press him on it things almost always get worse because all he does is add panic to my stressful situations. If he doesn't think too hard life isn't that bad and we can do things like go out with friends, but if I question him even a little it sets him on an anxiety and depression spiral.
I feel lonely in the big decisions of life. I feel his lack of understanding mixed with his poor mental health is making him incapable of truly being grateful because he just can't understand everything I've done. Sometimes I just get straight up resentment because I do things like explain our budget. I so desperately want to make things work but I feel so incredibly stuck on these things after having tried to improve them for so many years.
Does anyone have advice on how to move forward?
Thank you for your time.

My partner (28F) of 4.5 years and I (26M) have had this reoccurring situation for a while now, and I don't know what the fair way to deal with it is. We don't live together and usually see one another 2 days a week. She's living a little bit more of a structured life, finishing up school and already working. Also, she has BPD, which results in her needing more downtime. I am, however, in my master's and can choose my own schedule more. This results in me being able to (and wanting to) go to parties more often.
Now the problem is after. If we have a day together planned after I've gone to a party, she will often say she actually doesn't want to see me because she doesn't want to deal with me potentially being tired or labile.
To me, this just feels like a loss. The days we see each other really are the only days that would work. And it feels that her wanting me is contingent on what I do in my free time, which feels like she's 'indirectly' trying to control what I do. If she really doesn't want to see me, that shouldn't be dependent on what I do the night before. The 'tired' part I get. If she'd just say, Hey, if you are too tired, I'd rather not see you (although, booh, that's lame), but I don't like that it's contingent on the party.
But it's fine if I'm tired of something else, like work or study. The fact that it's tired due to the party makes me think it's more related to possible envy or anxiety (of me meeting someone), and she's hiding that behind this 'boundary' to protect herself.
But all of that is my side; I'm curious how you poly peoples interpret it, and what is ethical.

Ruby groaned as the alarm went off signaling that one of her charges had arrived back from their mission. While troublesome in its own right, what really got under her skin was that she only had one charge at the moment, and that edge lord piece of shit wasn’t supposed to complete his task for AT LEAST another 4 deca-cycles according to the prediction algorithm. Grumbling to herself, she rolled out of bed and poured herself a glass of water to offset the hangover she was trying to recover from.

A few moments later she was gliding down the hall to the meeting room. She knew Jason was going to pitch a fit that she had left him waiting, the self-entitled brat always did think the world revolved around him; but perhaps he should have thought about that before freaking dying so early. If he wanted her to be there to meet him upon death, he could at least have the decency to not die the morning after one of her binges.

Other staff members gave her a wide berth, even if it was a hollow title, she was still technically far above basically anyone else in the pecking order, at least those who had a physical presence within the Agency. She knew they all mocked her behind her back, even divine beings were sadly prone towards gossip. She put the anger at her subordinates/coworkers out of her mind for now; even if she didn’t particularly LIKE Jason, he still didn’t deserve her coming in with baggage.

Lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t noticed that she’d arrived in front of the conference room door. She had been mulling over her thoughts, just staring into nothingness, for several minutes before she finally snapped back to the present. With a soft rap on the door, she opened it and floated inside. Jason was lounging, sprawled out on the regally padded chair throne he so fancied.

They exchanged pleasantries before she sat down to go over the mission summary. Upon seeing the cause of death, she had regrettably lost her composure and started to laugh uncontrollably. Her mighty subordinate had been felled by a goblin?! The mighty Jason Alexander Coyle, “mercenary extraordinaire”, had gotten his shit kicked in by a lowly goblin using what looked like a shiny butter knife. Oh, it was just too rich to not laugh at the absurdity.

It took her much longer than she would like to admit, to stop laughing. Jason of course wore a sour look through the entire endeavor. She shrugged it off, she had little doubt that if the same thing had happened to someone else, he would have been right beside her doubled over in laughter. Hell, once he was in a less pissy mood, she might even be able to get him to laugh about it later.

As luck would have it, it appeared that Jason’s actions had been enough to alter the tides of the war. The kingdom, and its divinity, would still lose many to the battles ahead, but Jason had done enough that the Agency could still bill the client for services rendered. As she spoke, she could see the disdain the man had for her, he always complained that she was drunk and reeked of liquor. Sure, that was often true, but he didn’t need to be such a stick in the mud about it all.

She went ahead and authorized the transfer of credits to Jason’s account. As soon as she did so, he opened up the store page and tuned her out. She watched him open up the back-channel site and purchase something, a small part of her wondered who was going to get roasted over the coals this time for allowing their admin privileges to be hacked. She toyed with the idea of bringing up his illegal actions, but truth be told she didn’t really give a shit. The other divinities were far too lax with their security, it had been child's play for one of her previous wards to hack into the Agency’s system and build the black site.

She’d ask him once about the whole thing, didn’t really grasp as much as she would have liked, but basically it functioned by spoofing a handler's credentials. This allowed the user to gain access to encrypted parts of the network, specifically access to certain privileged services that handlers enjoyed and most importantly, access to the mission assignment database. Users could buy and sell restricted or banned goods, and a part of the profits would be siphoned off to her ward’s personal account.

With Jason’s attention otherwise occupied, Ruby went ahead and reviewed the logs for his previous mission. Something about it was nagging at her. She couldn’t put it into words; however, the whole series of events just didn’t feel like ‘bad luck’. Using her divine authority, she rewound events, watching Jason’s lungs unfill with blood and refill with air.

The goblin skulked back to its den of corpses, resheathing the dagger at its hips, and reburied itself underneath the bodies. She let it rewind another few moments before stopping the feed and letting it run at normal time. She watched the goblin, slowly shifting the bodies out of the way, making sure they made no noise when it moved them. Slowly, carefully, it began to creep towards Jason’s exposed back. It drew the blade, again slowly and quietly. It closed the distance making sure to never let Jason see it or to give him any reason to think someone was behind him. Then in a flash of movement it leapt, burying the dagger right into a joint in Jason’s armor. The placement was perfect, no resistance, so the blade sank to the hilt. Allowing it to puncture Jason’s right lung.

Ruby rewound the log once more. This was wrong, very wrong. The goblin was way too good to just be some random grunt. Its movements were too smooth, its aim too precise. No, she was sure of it now, this was not a normal goblin. She focused her attention on the thing, aiming to scan the goblin for abnormalities, the dust covering it offering a surprising level of resistance to her scan. Not enough to stop her from doing what she wanted, but more resistance than she felt was reasonable for the anti-magic powder.

When she finally gained access to the monster’s stat block, her suspicions were proven correct. That was no normal goblin, that was a Redcap, a Redcap assassin no less. What in the dozen hells was a Redcap assassin doing in the middle of a freaking battlefield?! Such a valuable unit wouldn’t be used on the front lines, their skill set was terribly suited for the chaos that was an active battle. No, something was very wrong here and Ruby was going to figure out what.

As her mind raced trying to puzzle out what the actual fuck was going on, something else about the goblin flagged in her mind. It had come out of the corpse pile with the dagger already in its possession. She highlighted the various bodies that had made up the goblin's hidey hole, and then rewound the scene back. Every time one of the highlighted bodies met their fate, she froze the moment and pulled the scene into a separate window. It took a few minutes, but she eventually had all of the corpses frozen in the heartbeat before their deaths. She went through and scanned every single individual. Not a single one had been equipped with a magic disruptor blade. “So, where the fuck did the Redcap get a kingdom issued disruptor?”

Looking up, she saw that Jason was still fiddling with whatever it was that he bought. She tried to make idle conversation with the man, but he had gone full auto pilot, giving curt one-to-two word answers when asked a question or having to respond to a comment. She rolled her eyes, as much as she and him butted heads, she did have to admit that she did kind of like the guy. He had been going a little too hard into the whole dark and brooding edge lord thing recently, but that was hardly his fault. The human soul was ill suited to withstand the trauma of death, much less multiple deaths. The Agency usually did a memory scrub every couple missions, to prevent that kind of issue, but Jason had been dodging the screenings. For a moment she considered just letting sleeping dogs lie. Jason was dead and the mission was over regardless of what she might find, but the whole thing just rubbed her the wrong way.

Taking a little nip from her pocket flask, she once more focuses her attention on the Redcap. After scrubbing through the last several months of the creature’s life, she finally finds what she was looking for. The blade had come from one of Jason’s personal guards.

Ruby did a deep dive on the guard, and what came back made her blood run cold. The man had recently lost his lover. Jason had ordered a company to mop up a fleeing enemy force, before it could regroup and cause more issues. The entire thing had been a ruse and the company had been slaughtered to the last. The guard's lover had been part of that company. The loss had hit the man hard, driving him to the only rock left in his life. His deep belief in the kingdom’s divinity.

And wouldn’t you know it, apparently the kingdom’s divinity had some issues with Jason that it couldn’t be bothered to address through the proper channels. So instead of letting Ruby handle the trainwreck that was Jason’s social skills, this little scum lord of a God, had taken upon themself to deal with the issue. Several months of holy visions were enough to convince the grieving widow to betray everyone and everything he had ever known.

Once the guard had been properly brainwashed into turning his coat, it had been a simple matter to worm his way on to all of Jason’s post-fight surveys of the battlefield. The magic scanners that were exclusive to Jason’s retinue, had allowed him to see that Jason’s inhuman ability to avoid taking damage was really just a creative use of high-level magic. High-level magic that could have easily been used to save many of the kingdom’s soldiers. But of course, Jason believed himself too good to give the common man a means to protect themselves and those they loved. All this knowledge was of course worthless to the guard, he was nowhere near skilled enough to actually challenge Jason. But wouldn’t you know it, the divinity had thought of that too.

The podunk worm had brokered a secret deal with the enemy he’d contracted the Agency to deal with. In exchange for getting rid of a thorn in the God’s side, it would use its powers to scale back the war. Instead of facing a war of eradication, the enemy would be allowed to keep some of the land it had conquered.

At the urging of his God, the guard held a series of clandestine meetings with the Redcap. Imparting all the information he had learned in the months of shadowing Jason. He also gave the beast two gifts, the first was a Disruptor blade the guard had swiped from a fellow honor guard; when Jason’s corpse was found the blade would be traced back to the unfortunate guard instead of the traitor. The second was a satchel of Grarothian powder that had been blessed by the divinity, to ensure that Jason wouldn’t see the attack coming. It had worked of course; Jason hadn’t even known he was in danger till the blade was already buried in his lung. Oh, she was going to have the wannabe God’s head on a pike after this.

It pained her to admit it, but Jason deserved the final say in how this was all going to go down. She attempted to grab his attention, but the man was lost in his own little world. She tried waving her hands, ignored. She tried snapping her fingers in his ears, ignored. She even went so far as to beat her wings, blasting his face with the wind force of just under a category 1 hurricane; again ignored. Her rage was starting to reach fever pitch. So, she defaulted to the most tried and true method of stress reduction she had in her arsenal. She decided the only way for herself and Jason, once he knew the truth, to calm down would be to relax with a drink of the finest Earth treats.

With a heavy heart she opened up her most beloved extra planer storage space. This place was used for the only two things Ruby really cared about anymore. It was where she kept her most prized and coveted liquor, and where she kept the last few mementos, she possessed of her fallen wards. Her eyes scanned the room, she needed to pick the right apology gift. As she carefully made her way towards the back, she saw it. Tucked in about two thirds of the way to the back wall, stood a single hogshead of ancient scotch whiskey. The second to last gift she had received from one of her dearest friends, all those years ago.

Yes, this was the correct one. She felt it deep within her chest, a proper atonement requires a proper level of sacrifice. With a heavy heart she lifted the barrel over her head and began to stride out of the extra dimensional space. As she neared the opening, the soft clink of something falling and a flash of gold caught her eye. Sitting on a tiny end table was a small pouch of coins, one of which had somehow gotten loose and tumbled face up onto the polished table face.

For a moment she hesitated, she knew exactly what those coins were; and knew how much trouble she would get into if upper management found out she had them. That said, she also knew a sign when she saw one. The artifacts that she held within this place were the last remnants of those she had failed most of all. She pondered the meaning behind the fact that two of her previous charges seemed to have taken a shine to Jason, offering up to him their most precious of gifts. With a heavy heart and a plea to those long lost, she grabbed the coin before closing the pocket dimension.

With a loud *CLUNK* She set the hogshead down. Apparently, the sound of the barrel had finally made enough noise to draw Jason’s attention away from his screen. From a much smaller storage pocket she produced two crystal glasses. Pouring a hefty serving into each glass, she set one down in front of herself and the other in front of Jason. Locking eyes with the man, she said a single word.

“Drink”

The man twisted his face up in disgust at the sight of the liquor.

“Thanks, but no thanks, I’m not inclined to degr...”

“I said, DRINK!” Ruby growl bellows, casting the Command spell on the last word. Jason, despite his best efforts to ignore the compulsion, is forced to do as he is told, and takes a hearty swig of his hundred-year-old Scotch. With a smile on her lips, Ruby takes the opportunity to sip the illustrious gift. The hours melt away as they both sip and savor the deep complex flavors of this legendary brew.

As the drink flows her recollection of events becomes just a tad bit hazy. She can’t really remember how long it takes, but she does eventually come clean about the reason for this impromptu bout of drinking. It comes as little shock that Jason is... less than pleased to learn about the events that led to his death. He downs the rest of his drink in a single gulp, a waste of grand booze in Ruby’s opinion, and demands she fill his next one to the brim. For the first time in FAR too long, Ruby gets to see the Jason she had known all those years ago was still in there.

As the festivities carried on, she would occasionally catch him fiddling with the token he had bought. Curiosity finally getting the better of her, she decided to ask him about it, deciding to NOT mention that she knew it was illicitly purchased. He was cagey about it at first, but eventually loosened up and told her the truth.

He had grown bored with the usual missions that he had been assigned. He was sick of always having to play support, always cleaning up someone else’s messes, always laying the groundwork for someone else’s story. So, he had decided to cash in his points, and finally make use of the vacation time he had accrued. He had picked out what looked to be a pretty basic Isekai mission. Ruby suggested not mentioning his luck to anyone else, even she was aware how rare and coveted those missions were.

As the night wound to a close, they said their goodbyes. Before taking her leave, Ruby remembered the other present she had for Jason. A sharp whistle was the only warning she gave him before flicking the coin at his head. Even drunk, the man’s senses were still a thing to marvel at as he caught it in midair .

“The fuck is this?”

“Think of it as a gift.” She snorts.

“Oh, how generous of you. A whole gold coin, whatever will I spend it on.” Jason responds as he jangles the large coin pouch at his hip.

“Oh, fuck off. I’ll take it back if you’re going to be a brat about it.”

Jason drops the coin into his wallet and shakes it again for good measure. “Oops, too late now. Guess you’ll just have to let me keep it.” He gives her a smug grin.

She scoffed before turning around and making for the door. She could hear him activate the token as she closed the door behind her. As she wandered down the hallways back to her room, she pondered the events of the day. The rogue client would need to be dealt with, but she still wasn’t sure if burying him in legal paperwork for the next millennia or two, or just giving him a good old fashion human curb stomping, was the better punishment for his actions.

The choices bounced around in her head till she finally reached her residence. Having made no real progress in deciding her actions, she elected to just table the decision till she woke up next. The God was small time, so it wasn’t like it was going anywhere.

She took her time getting ready to sleep. Being a divine being herself, she didn’t actually NEED to sleep, but she did so enjoy the human customs surrounding the whole process. She took a long hot bath to unwind, before summoning a pair of adorable pajamas. Her body clean, and her mind at peace she laid down in her oversized excessively fluffy bed.

She had barely closed her eyes and began to drift off to blissful sleep, before she was awoken once again by the sound of her alarm going off.

“You have got to be shitting me. HOW?!?!”

As the title says, there’s a lot of classic black and white opinions that are the loudest on YouTube / social media about how to secure and find long term relationships which often come with the caveat of not sleeping with guys before getting to know them well enough or only after you’ve entered a committed relationship.
My view has always been that sexual compatibility probably on the same level for me as actually liking them as a human being and wanting to be friends so I don’t mind having sex early on to find out if we are sexually compatible. Also I enjoy it so why not lol.
Still too early to tell if this approach will work for me as I’ve just seriously started dating with intention of settling down (no kids!) - would love to hear from fellow ladies who shared similar opinions and managed to find your long term partners despite it!

This story was inspired by the following prompt: https://www.reddit.com/humansarespaceorcs/comments/1cqvbwk/humans_are_known_for_building_veryvery_large/
General Kim was awakened from a sound slumber by klaxons. Years of military training kicked in and he was out of bed in record time. Checking the data pad briefly while pulling on his uniform he saw something terrifying.
“Attack in progress. Launch in 10:34.”
An attack? Who? Where? How? What kind? General Kim was soon out the door to his quarters. He was at his battle bridge before the launch countdown had reached 10:00. Similar scenes were playing out throughout the ship, as generals checked in with their battle bridge statuses.
In the ship’s primary bridge, two kilometers from General Kim, Admiral Sol looked at her command display with satisfaction. 100% readiness in less than two minutes. She was pleased. She addressed the 10,000 soul the crew over the PA system. “An allied colony is under attack by enemies unknown. Wormhole travel will take approximately twenty minutes and thirty-four seconds. Prepare for battle.”
General Kim scrolled through the scant field assessment data. There wasn’t much. A large multi-species colony was being bombarded from orbit. No signs of enemy ground forces. The primary wormhole comms array was out, but an old Subspace system was still functional after 120 years of dormancy. “And THAT,” said General Kim, “is what preventative maintenance is for.”
“General, sir?”
“Sorry. Just thinking out loud. Their W23 system is down but they’re still in touch using an SB-Class 3.”
“I think I’ve seen one of those in a museum!”
“Our grandparents saw them in museums. You make do on the rim.”
Launch and wormhole transit went off with clockwork precision. Soon, the ship exited its artificial wormhole. It was immediately bombarded by the unknown hostiles. Explosions of varying kinds went off on the ship’s hull, ripping gashes in her armor.
“Damage report?” Admiral Sol asked.
“Ablative armor at 97%. No other damage reports.”
“Excellent. Inform me when the preliminary weapons analysis is in.”
Meanwhile, the Admiral's counterpart in the invading fleet, Imperial Agent Skrald, was still screaming, “What is that THING?”
“I’ve seen moons smaller than that ship,” said one of his lieutenants.
“We have to have a record of it. You can’t build something that big in complete secrecy!”
“Imperial Agent Skrald, I think it’s the, “Blade of Scoth.”
“That ship’s an old myth! It can’t possibly-“
“We've carved a notch!”
“Send the biggest we’ve got,” the Skrald replied.
A “notch” was a divot in the ship’s hull of the right shape to prevent weapons files from glancing off the armor.
“We’re being hailed, sir!”
“Tell them we don’t talk to burnt food and end the transmission,” the Admiral replied.
Imperial Agent Skrald watched with glee as the missile made contact with the notch and detonated.
On her ship, Admiral Sol asked for another damage report.
“Lower-port ablative armor section 374 at 40%, pinata layer is fully exposed.
“Can it take another direct hit?”
“It was only a gigaton blast. One more should make a perfect crack.”
“Excellent. Order the candy away from the blast point just to be safe.”
“Already done ma'am.”
“Make a note to find out who gave that order so I can commend them on their quick-thinking.”
“Yes Admiral.”
While the invading fleet pivoted their attention to the new ship, a second Terran vessel, the “Rule of Two Rogers” exited its artificial wormhole on the far side of the planet. A swarm of smaller craft flowed from the ship into the atmosphere below.
Imperial Agent Skrald, ignorant of the “Rule of Two Rogers,” was shouting with excitement. “Hit it again! Fire another!” The second missile flew through space, connecting with the underlayer exposed by the last missile. At first, it looked like the ship was spewing out debris, but the debris started flying in formations and shooting at his ships.
On the human ship, the Admiral smiled with satisfaction as she heard the report, “Piñata 86 has been breached. The candy is flowing. I repeat, the candy is flowing.”
“All stations, fire at will,” she replied.
The eyes of Imperial Agent Skrald opened wide as the surface of the massive ship lit up with a multicolored array of missiles, lasers, torpedos, and something that seemed to fire AFTER destroying one of his ships.
“It’s a rainbow of death,” he said, shocked into immobility by the way his fleet was being erased. He came back to his senses when his ship was rocked by debris impact from his erstwhile fleet.
“It’s too big to land!” He yelled. “All ships to the surface! I repeat, all ships retreat to the surface!”
The debris tore off one of his ship’s nacelles. “Did we need that to land?” He yelled.
“Only to get home sir,” an officer replied.
“Good.”
Admiral Sol watched the battle with satisfaction. This was the Blade of Scoth’s first battle in over 100 years. As a descendant of the famous Ambasador Sol, she took her guardianship of the BoS very seriously. A report came up on her screen. The hostiles had been identified. It was one of the Naga Imperium factions, or they were at least using the faction’s ships, weapons and known tactics. “Bastards,” she muttered.
“Admiral?” Lieutenant Cutter said.
“Analysis says it’s the ‘Naga Imperium of the Bone.’ The colony's 20% Naga. They’re slaughtering their own. Have we established direct contact with the colony yet?”
“Not yet Admiral. They don’t seem to have any short-range communications working. We’re still limited to what’s coming over their old subspace system.”
On the planet below, Sally McCool, a Naga hatched and raised in the colony, like her parents and grandparents before her, looked to the night sky. The missiles had come down, glowing brightly as the stars before they impacted. Now, the bright glowing objects had become larger, but many were breaking up and vanishing into nothing. Were these larger bombs, or was the enemy tumbling out of space?
She watched with growing horror as one approached the ground near the south okra field. She took a deep breath, and braced herself to be vaporized by whatever was about to land. Unable to watch, she curled into a ball on the ground, hoping death would be quick. She expected a nuclear flash, obliteration before hearing the blast. Instead, she heard a massive crash, crumpling metal and exploding components, and a long grinding sound as something huge cut into the soil. A rain of stones and soil covered her.
Sally looked up, and took several seconds to process what she was seeing. It hadn’t been a bomb. It had been a ship, and it had just crashed into one of their fields, carving a huge channel as it ground to a halt. A cloud of smoke was rising. Suddenly, a disk-shaped ship shot through the cloud of smoke. She recognized it from her history classes and old war movies. A flying saucer, painted with concentric circles of red, white, and blue. It was a Steve. A Steve class fighter. They were special. Why were they special?
Another saucer flew overhead. This one was red and yellow.
Sally remembered why the Steve battle saucers were special. They were exclusive to a ship called “The Rule of two Rogers.” The Steves were for battle, and this red and gold ship, as it landed she remembered, “It’s a Fred!” She yelled. She waved her arms, calling out to the ship. “We have injured! We have injured!” The side of the saucer opened up, and a multi-species crew of medics poured out.
While medics swarmed the colony providing aid, the best day of Skrald’s life had turned into the worst in a matter of minutes. He looked around his battered bridge. Even the emergency lighting could only manage flickering glimpses of the sparking wreckage around him. The only functional display was informing him the sewage system had ruptured and was pouring into what remained of the ventilation system.
“Is anyone else alive?”
“I TOLD you it was the Blade of Scoth you idiot!”
Skrald straightened his posture as much as the sharp pains in his abdomen would allow. “How DARE you speak to a member of the Imperium that way! I’ll eat you myself for that!”
“Good luck with that. I’m surrendering to the colony.”
“THEY’LL EAT YOUR FLESH AND MAKE SHOES FROM YOUR HIDE!”
“How’s that any better than you eating me?”
Outraged at the insolence, Skrald lunged in the direction of the taunting underling, smashing his snout against a hunk of metal he hadn’t noticed in the dim, flickering light.
Hours later, sunrise came to the battered colony. Most of the fires in the colony proper had been put out, but some of the Naga wreckage was still burning bright. Emergency contamination domes had been put up over the upwind wrecks, to contain as much of the toxic smoke as possible.
General Kim was on the ground, commanding the cleanup crews from both ships. He’d taken a brief break from those responsibilities to speak to one of the captured Naga.
“The guy in the fanciest duds tried to eat you when we took you into custody. Why?”
“I used to be a pilot,” she said. “Until that moron weaseled himself into enough power to do THIS!” She opened up her arms, as if to gesture at everything around her. “The only reason I’m even here is because I objected to this madness. That royal waste of scales wanted to personally mock me when he won. He even put that in writing on the paperwork for my ‘Away Without Leave’ warrant.”
“Weren’t you on his bridge?”
“Yes. You look confused, or at least that’s what my translator is telling me about your expression.”
“I don’t have a lot of combat experience. Nobody does these days, but hand-picking someone for your bridge crew because they have no confidence in you sounds like a bad idea to me.”
“This whole mission was nothing but bad ideas.”
“Please, tell me more.”
Meanwhile, in the darkness of space, a third ship of Capybara / Human design moved silent and unseen. Complex sensor arrays had been tracing the path the invaders had taken, seeking their origin. Data flowed in on interstellar communications problems, often evidence of ships passing though communications tunnels. The Starship Peggy Carter and her crew were on the trail, and the ship had a reputation to uphold. Latin mottos had fallen out of favor decades before she was built, so her motto was written in English.
“Those we fail to defend, we will avenge.”

I’ve been debating posting on here or speaking out for a while, but I finally decided it needs to be said. I was a former mod for Scudi, he is NOT who he says he is or appears to be on stream. The people defending him so hard are insane. It’s not just about my story, there are so many others that have been affected by the actions of this man. Scudi does nothing but sit behind his camera & yap. His mods do all of the rest of his work for him. They run the discord, they handle any issues, they are in charge of everything. He has said before he wanted us to handle it all so that he could be able to just get on and stream. It was our job to make it as easy for him as possible. On top of doing all of that and handling everything he had the nerve to tell us in a meeting that we don’t do enough as mods, we need to be doing more, we need to find and suggest games for him to play. Another mod spoke up and said it was unfair of him to say we weren’t doing enough and should do more. He’s even made me cry on more than one occasion. Know what happened to her? He got so pissed that he actually made her cry and feel like she had to apologize to him, not long after that she mysteriously disappeared from the discord. Probably either left on her own or was banned. He talks crap about any other streamer who isn’t himself and actually brags about it. He really hates BimBamgaming & Captain Tubesocks the most as he has referred to them as “Bimbo gaming & Captain C*msocks” on more than one occasion. Also his “buddy” Juuq? He doesn’t like him either, regardless of what you see online. he talks crap about him to his mods too because he feels like Juuq copies him since Scudi has “figured out what works” and he thinks Juuq is stupid for choosing to not have any mods himself. Also ever notice how he never says the name of a game and it’s always a “funny” made up name? He doesn’t do it to be funny, he genuinely doesn’t want to tell people the game so there’s less of a chance of someone “copying” him. At one point he had it as a rule to ban or mute anyone saying the game name, only did he have us stop doing it when people noticed and he was starting to get called out for it and had people asking. He’s also admitted to us on more than one occasion that he records every call he has with someone via discord or what have you. He proudly and openly admits that and he does so without the other party being aware or consenting. This is all honestly a small part of everything that has happened or gone on. Don’t even get me started on the fact that he is a creep who harasses most of the mods for nudes or tried flirting with them and making everyone uncomfortable. He is a creep, it’s disgusting. Just saying there is a reason there are only ever female moderators, men are almost always automatically denied & even if they get to be interviewed, most likely won’t be accepted. Maybe, just maybe if he could have admitted his wrong doings and owned up to his mistakes this could have been better, maybe we could have moved past this… but instead he continues to be a master manipulator, never taking accountability, making everyone think he’s some great saint when he’s the furthest from it. Take what you will, believe me or not I don’t care. All I’m saying is this is all happening right in front of you & you should open your eyes. There’s so much more I could say or mention.