Hi there fellow Redditers!, I'm 19 M from India looking to make some friends for daily chit chat😁.
I'm a chill guy, who loves watching movies, listening music, cats, cricket(plays it too😅), reading newspaper(ofc for politics, lol 😂) and into tech knowledge.✌️
Maybe we can just introduce ourselves first and then get to know each other a lil more and see where it goes.
Age, location and gender don't matter to me much, just don't ghost, and don't be creepy and the rest we can figure it out ig.
HMU if you're interested, we can just chat and see how it goes!. Send me your age and location to start off with and what made you text me🤔
PS: I'm a night owl💀✌️😂

Hi there fellow Redditers!, I'm 19 M from India looking to make some friends for daily chit chat😁.
I'm a chill guy, who loves watching movies, listening music, cats, cricket(plays it too😅), reading newspaper(ofc for politics, lol 😂) and into tech knowledge.✌️
Maybe we can just introduce ourselves first and then get to know each other a lil more and see where it goes.
Age, location and gender don't matter to me much, just don't ghost, and don't be creepy and the rest we can figure it out ig.
HMU if you're interested, we can just chat and see how it goes!. Send me your age and location to start off with and what made you text me🤔
PS: I'm a night owl💀✌️😂

Read the book 10 times. However, I've come across 2 things in dating which are a bit more advanced, and I'm not too sure about. Bit of a longer post, but I'd really appreciate any insights you guys have.
Just went on a 2 night, 3 day trip with a girl, which she proposed (currently seeying her 2-3 times per week). Couldn't meet her the night before the trip to go together because I had another date, so I met her out in the morning and we had breakfast together. We then went to the train station and went to another city for the trip.
The first day was amazing, non-stop talking, her doing 80-90% of it. We went to a museum when we arrived and the vibe was so flirty, with her chasing to kiss me, that we ended going to the museum bathroom...
We then went to check into the hotel, which was 2 hours later since we were walking around, with her holding my hand, putting her head on my shoulder and kissing. When we arrived to the hotel, smoothly went into another round of indoor olympics. Then I took her out to dinner. Everything up to this point, I'd planned and made reservations for. During dinner, she commented that I seemed quiet, which I took as "you're not making me talk, I want to talk more", hahaha. I think I was tired, I don't know, but once my drink kicked in, the conversation re-started. We went back to the hotel, and she said she had a surprise, she went to the bathroom and came out just wearing some launderay she'd just bought. Never before had she worn anything beyond the classic bra and panties lace launderay. Indoor olympics ensued but she asked to stop during the foreplay because eventhough she was very wet, and seconds before, begging, she was still sore from before. She said she still wanted to make me happy so she helped me finish.
The next morning, we had to check out, we were in bed laughing, but it seemed she wasn't very responsive to escalations, so I just assumed she was still sore from the night before. We went out for breakfast, this I hadn't planned. I said to go into a café that we walked past and she said that "being in the city that we are, we can definately do better than that". I agreed, because it was true. She started proposing something, and this is were I fucked up. I just told her to relax and that I'd take care of it. I looked up something on google, and we took transport to get there. After that she seemed off, I figured she was shut down, but I didn't open her up. When we got to the café she was a bit bitchy, saying things like "this doesn't look as good as the other one", etc... We ordered and after some conversation and some laughter she just came out and said this: "I am in a better mood now, before I was upset and almost cried. I know some girls like the feeling of just being able to turn their brain off, and I do to, but this is my trip to, and there were so much nicer and special bakeries that I know of, and if you'd just let me tell you we could have gone to one of them. Like I'm not going to think, oh, he hasn't looked and researched all of the best cafés and bakeries in this new city, that's bad. Like sometimes it's good to just not have a plan. I've been single for so long, that I've just become used to getting and doing exactly what I want, which I guess is something that I just need to get used to, and learn how to compromise." HOW DO YOU BALANCE PLANNING DATES VS GOING WITH THE FLOW AND BEING SPONTANEOUS? Because, I'm very spontaneous, with my friends we rarely plan things, we just do whatever we feel like and we come up with stuff on the go. However I've found that, eventhough she may say she wants that, when I have done that, inevitably stuff goes wrong, and then it seems to me she steps into this more reserved persona, were she almost feels unsafe when stuff goes wrong, she lets me handle things, but still kind of shuts down emotionally... maybe I just need to re-assure her more?
Then she said the following: "I've spent a lot of time alone, and when I do so, I can do whatever I want. I've also found that when my social battery runs out, I just want to be alone, or do an activity that I want, like reading my book. This even happens when we spend a lot of time together. I love spending time with you, but I just want to relax or be alone sometimes. I really like just relaxing next to you, like I would like to read my book with you in bed next to me. I also sometimes just want to pop in and say hi during the day and then go do my own thing like go on a run, etc..." So, she's helping me out like crazy here... [she's done the thing before of wanting to drop by and bring me some food during the day. I let her, gave her some love and some indoor olympics, and she left all happy afterwards]. For the rest of the day, we had fun, and good conversation, holding hands, kissing, etc... but, at some point the conversation slowed down considerably, to a stop for some time, and we were just enjoying the sights together. It's not a lack of things to talk about, but like during the dinner, I didn't feel like talking much and wanted to enjoy her company, and just relax. She said sometimes she just wants to relax and read a book, and would love if that was in my company. I feel the same way, sometimes I just want to cuddle, relax, read a book, and not say much, just enjoy each other's presence. I typically get this feeling if we hang-out for more than 1.5 days with no intermission. CW says that what I feel and she feels like doing, is hanging out as roomates and not as lovers. TO WHAT EXTENT, AND UNDER WHAT CICUMSTANCES, IS IT OKAY TO DO THINGS LIKE READING A BOOK, WALKING/CUDDLING, IN PRETTY MUCH SILENCE, YET NEXT TO EACH OTHER? IS THIS TOO PLATONIC, EVENTHOUGH WE HANGED OUT EXTENSIVELY FOR 2 DAYS, AND HOOKED UP NUMEROUS TIMES? IS IT JUST THAT THE KITTY-CAT AND MYSELF ARE BORED AND WE SHOULD JUST GO DO OUR OWN THINGS WHEN I DETECT THAT, OR IS IT OKAY TO TAKE THAT BREAK FROM EACH OTHER WITH EACH OTHER? THERE'S NO SPACE, EVEN WHEN YOU'RE LIVING WITH YOUR PARTNER, THERE'S SPACE BECAUSE YOU GO TO WORK, A RUN, GYM, ERRANDS, ETC..., BUT IF YOU GO TRAVELLING TOGETHER, HOW DO YOU HANDLE THAT?

First of all this isn't just some fake story to get upvotes. It actually happened and I'm not proud of it. I have added fake names instead of real names and I'm not that good in making fake names. The story is a bit too long and I hope you have the patience for it.
I was in the 10th standard when this happened. The final exams were near, and I was about to head home one day when I saw two girls walking down the corridor together. I instantly fell for one of them, let's call her Abby. Mustering up my courage, I approached them. Abby was with her friend, whom we will call Lucy for this story. I introduced myself as a friend to avoid coming off as a creep, and we quickly became friends. We spent a lot of time together until the end of the 10th standard. Both Abby and Lucy were in the 10th grade as well, but in a different section. My main goal was to first become friends with Abby and, over time, hope she would develop feelings for me. When we started 11th standard, Abby and Lucy introduced me to their entire friend group. Everyone in the group had opted for the science stream; some were in medical, and some in non-medical. I chose medical, Abby went for non-medical, and Lucy also chose medical. Other members of the group aren't that significant to this story, except for one guy we'll call Jack. Jack was also in medical. He and Lucy were very close friends, often flirting and sometimes even dancing together, holding hands. They seemed more like a couple than just friends. I would often joke about being jealous of them because they looked so cute together. Their playful behavior sometimes got them in trouble with teachers who would scold them and tell them to behave outside of the classroom. However, after some time, Lucy switched her stream to commerce. This change seemed to affect her, but we continued our friendship. One day, I noticed Lucy seemed upset, so I asked if she was okay and if she needed to talk about any family problems. As a friend, I also offered a hug to make her feel better, but she declined. Respecting herspace, I backed off, thinking she just needed some time. A week later, I noticed that no one from our friend group was talking to Lucy, and she stopped visiting our class. It was as if everyone had suddenly forgotten about her. Eventually, I learned that the group had started hating her and had actually kicked her out. This news was shocking to me. It wasn't until a year later that I discovered what had happened. Lucy was in a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend whom we will call Rocky. Everyone in the group knew about Rocky, as they had been together for two years. When I offered Lucy support, she misunderstood my intentions because she was self-centered and thought everyone loved her. She assumed I wanted to take advantage of her because she had a boyfriend. She told Rocky about our conversation, and he messaged Jack, asking for my contact information to warn me to stay away from his girl. Jack, whom I had been telling for the past 3-4 months that Lucy liked him and flirted with him, refused to give my information to Rocky. When Rocky tried to argue, Jack straight up told him, "Your girlfriend flirts with me daily and you are concerned that a short average-looking guy is going to steal your girlfriend? Your girl is technically cheating but you don't know cause you live more than 200 km away. You should be more concerned about your girlfriend than a funny little guy. Tell your girl to let me know if she actually likes me or you and to stop leading me on!" I guess me again and again telling Jack that they both acted like a couple subconsciously got into his head. He started believing that Lucy was cheating on her boyfriend. The next day Lucy and Jack had a fight online in their personal chat and that led to the friend group being broken. Everyone sided with Jack as they too believed that they flirted a lot and Lucy was technically cheating. Also, she was in commerce stream and everyone else was in science stream. Her class was on the opposite side of the campus so she had lost her influence in the group. She told everyone to fuck off as she didn't care about them as long as her boyfriend was with her. Then after a month her boyfriendtold her to fuck off as Jack's messages had left him with trust issues. With no friends and her lover, she fell into depression. It took her a year to partially recover. She is still in deep depression. She is unable to make friends and has trust issues. For a long time, I blamed myself for her pathetic condition. I believed that I manipulated Jack into believing that Lucy liked him and that led to his messaging and all that. About a month ago (Class 12th ended): For 2 whole years I kept giving Abby hints but she never did anything so after 12th I messaged her and told her how much I loved her. I told her how I fell in love with her at first sight. To my surprise, she too loved me since 2 years but could not bring herself to confess. I was confused but then she told that after our very first meeting Lucy told her that I liked Lucy so according to her she was more beautiful and I was looking at her before approaching which I was not. Abby was always underconfident and she just believed her. She told me that if she knew that I approached her for her then she would have confessed to me herself and that would have led to 2 of the best years of my life. Lucy's main character syndrome was the reason why those 2 years never existed. She changed the future by telling that self-centered statement to Abby. Now that Abby and me are going to different colleges (engineering and medical respectively) and have not had any romantic relationship till now, there is no point in a long-distance relationship. If I would have had that 2-year relationship then I would have gone with a long-distance relationship. Did Lucy technically get karma? Or what happened to Lucy was way too harsh?

im making this post on a throwaway account to avoid any family input or what have you. i want to start off by saying the dog i mention in this post has been close to me and my partner since my mother brought him home about 2 years ago and the reason for this is simply because we have been taking care of and raising him like he was ours since she got him because all she wanted him for was so that she could look cute with him on social media (where she basically lives digitally). about a year after she got him problems had arised in the household mainly because of me, i had just got back to her house after spending 2021 back in my hometown three hours from where we lived after she kicked me out of her house for questioning her on account of a current gf i had at the time (who did start the issue and waited until my mom kicked me out to come clean). it was fine with me i took that on the chin because at the end of the day i was wrong for coming at my mom for assuming she didnt like my partner bc she was white. fast forward a year later about early 2022. and we talk about our bond and she says i can come back and get myself together because she knew i was in a fucked up situation financially where i was staying. i come back to her house in 2022 and she had told me before i even came back that she just wanted me to focus on myself and not worry about her bills. i wasnt eager to go with this decision but it was smart considering i was basically starting from scratch with life in general. got a job not too long after i got back and met my current partner (we'll call her beck). beck is white while me and my family are black and trust me this information is important. beck comes into the picture and we hang out more and she starts coming over some days hanging out in my room and i went to her house twice because her mother kept the place in shitty conditions and basically tried to downplay her own daughter right in front of me both times. i could tell beck had issues with being home and she too was in the process of getting her life together without even saying any of this. so i knew being with me in my room at my moms house was her only escape. mom for random reasons started having issues with beck cleaning the house for her while she was at work or taking care of the dog in a way my mother didnt approve. then it graduated to beck "stealing" money from her but her never having the proof or the funds to back it up to begin with. my mothers partner at the time of like 8 or 9 years who we'll call randy was cool as hell but somehow never managed to avoid fighting with her verbally. this went on the whole time i was there and randy ended up leaving and they broke up. problem was randy left right around the time i started fumbling with my jobs and needing to look around. now i wanna say im no saint, i spent my time searching for jobs AND gaming bc im a gamer. problem was i was taking too long this time around and theres no excuse. she started turning the heat on me and my partner once randy left and i started getting fed up because she was now asking for rent money while belittling me and my partner for being "laid up in her house". again, fair point. so my next step was realizing whether i had a job or not this woman was a firestarter no matter what you had going on. getting up early morning to say little slick comments in the morning because she wanted to get a reaction. by this point me and my partner are looking for a new place to live while we figure things out. my mother catches wind of this and starts asking when we'll take the dog after we get the place. now me knowing that she wont take proper care of him, i agree to take him with us and her response is "well hes not going anywhere until i see the house that yall move to. i wanna see everything to make sure its good for my baby"(the dog). i immediately got pissed and told her its not going down like that and that she needs to start considering how she speaks to people mainly me because im not gonna keep dealng with it. she got offended and kicked me and my partner AND THE DOG out of the room mid convo bc she didnt like what i said. me and my partner go back to my room and close the door to which she comes out saying "disrespectful little motherfucker talking to your mother like that" super loud. i let that one get to me and i mistakenly opened my door and started arguing. out of nowhere she hits me with "n***a fuck you" "you wont have to worry about me or the dog because NOW you AINT seeing him how about that" i said "thats fine hes not a bargaining chip". she went back to her room and slammed the door. didnt speak to me for like a week. my birthday comes around after this long week and she working the day of. i didnt expect her to say shit bc i know my mother and shes that petty. what i didnt expect was for her to hop on social media and wish early happy birthdays to two family members that werent me. ok fine thats cool. she gets home that same day and asks my partner if sai(the dog) has been out. my partner says "no we couldnt take him because his leash and collar are in the room and you locked the door. she had been locking the door ever since she started blaming beck for stealing from her. so once she realized the dog hadnt been out because she locked the door, she tells beck to "ask him if he'll take him out" by this point ive been told im not shit and im not needed and the first thing u say to me on my birthday is "can you take him out" i said no. rage ensued as she slammed the bathroom door on her way out of it. this time she kept walking passed my door talking more shit. more of the usual "i gave you life and you treat me like this" i told her to get away from the door with the nonsense and she started a full argument and said we had to go tomorrow. tomorrow rolls around and we wait for her to go to work so we can leave in peace. she normally got home around 9pm but on this day here she comes strolling in at 2pm right in the middle of packing. paces in front of our door talking shit and this time beck responds saying "we're leaving you need to let us be". this woman then told my partner she was going to beat her ass. i immediately shut that down too because i never seen my mother get tough with anybody. and here she is getting tough with the one person who hates confrontation. after i told her she wasnt even that type of person she replies with i'll stab both of yall in yall sleep. said weird stuff like "thats right i forgot i cant throw pussy on you and call you sexy like her im just the mother you dont have to respect". beck calls me sexy every day. its our little corny but cute word between us. anyway after 30 more minutes of bullshit arguing we leave for becks moms house which fucking sucked until my brother offered me a job in California working with him and my dad. throughout the 5 or 6 months of me being there i was making good money and even tho my mom was fucked up to me, i sent her funds when i could. my father found out i was sending funds to my mom AND my sisters (his daughters with other women) and the fuckhead accused me of using him then when i told him save it for after work(we worked the same construction site) the motherfucker sat there next to me and argued with himself bc i started ignoring the "i feel like your playing with me" comments because i told him "im a grown ass man and we are at work. you are not to question me about shit because you wont get an answer you like. i help my family out because its my money. simple" he then grabbed my shirt yelling "who are you talking to" snatched his hand off and he gets in my face saying "DONT FUCKIN TOUCH ME" so i replied calm "dont touch me at all. thats the last free one your gonna get" dude looks around the lot at a crowd and says "you wanna fight or something? yall wouldnt be working here without me" i couldnt help but laugh in his face for trying to cause scene for an audience and went home. packed me and my partner up, came back to new york where im from. stayed with my mom for a month before me and my partner rushed and got into the place we have now. problem was now that we had our own space, my mom pushed sai off on us and dude practically lived with us. barely went home.fast forward to like 2 weeks ago. by this point we have our two cat boys cosmo and dexter. they are babies. 4months and some change to be exact. we tried introducing sai to the boys multiple times a day and he kept jumping at them or scaring them. the only option was to let sai sleep in the living room. we kept my mother in the loop with him because by law, hes "her dog". she started her little comments over text to beck immediately "if yall plan on mistreating my baby he dont have to be there" then told beck "im venting if you mention this to my son im gonna cuss you tf out" we let that one slide because now i was building my evidence so when i bugged tf out, i wasnt wrong. next day some old dude on our block got aggressive with beck for walking sai "on his block" she called me to come handle it and i get there and back him off. by this point im pissed. beck calls my mother to tell her sai gotta go home this week hes been with us since we got our place. mother catches a attitude and i again let it go. two days later beck has a goofy moment and brings sai in the room seconds after her, the boys and i just got up. dexter pops sai on the nose for getting too close. beck moves asai then scrunches dex to put him in time out. i got annoyed when she scrunched my furry boy. told her dont do that shit again even tho it supposedly doesn't hurt them, i dont like seeing it especially when it all happened because she was doing too much too early. she had a moment and told my mom he has to go "because your son is getting annoyed". mother responds "he can come today he'll be fine at home by himself. hes favoring those cats over his brother (sai). i immediately got pissed at both of them. called my mother and told her hes going home and hes not coming back because im tired of the comments of neglect when i actively tried to introduce him to the boys with no progress. i mean FUCK i kept the boys stuck in the room in their own home so your dog can fuck our living room and kitchen up. i then got on beck for being a firestarter to which she argued me on. then i told her the relationship was on the verge of being done because your not gonna be sitting around me starting shit. i didnt let up until she realized how petty she was being and how at risk we were because of it. my mother then argued me down telling me im dumb. and then she basically skipped over the fact she didnt reach out to her son to see what happened before coming at me in a side convo with beck. beck brought the convo to my attention which was wat initially set me off but i made sure to get on her ass instigating an issue where there was none. mom then called beck a white trash stealing dirty bitch. we told her to come get her dog. i cut contact soon as she left. a day later i find out she called the women on her side of the family and fabricated the whole story i didnt bother clearing it up or giving her that satisfaction of a response. then 2 days ago she called my phone and i let it ring. haven't spoken since. AITAH here? genuine question

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Hello Hopeful Storytellers and Fellow Adventurers!
I am looking for 4-6 new to experienced Dungeons and Dragons players to join me in a long form campaign in a fully homebrewed world. Preference will definitely be given to brand new players and people stuck in the forever GM seat. This game is friendly to women, people of color, and of course members of the LGBT+ community.
There's really nothing I can say here that isn't already better expressed in the New Player Guide that I've written up, so click that for a better feel of what to expect in terms of table style, campaign concept, and general vibes. The rest of this post is really just a rehashing of that.

Quick Overview 

• System: D&D 5e
• Platforms: Played on Discord (Avrae, voice chat), D&D Beyond, and FoundryVTT for Battlemaps (occasionally).
• Schedule: Saturday, 8pm to 11pm, weekly or biweekly (based on availability), Timezone is US/Mountain Time (GMT-07).
• Focus: Roleplay-heavy, with heavy emphasis on character and world development. Combat and Exploration will also be included in most sessions.

​

The Campaign 

• Name: The Wilds of Novamira
• Genre: Fantasy (focus on exploration/frontier-forging)
• Inspiration: I had this idea in the shower about what it would be like if fantasy Elon Musk took his workers to a new planet to escape the apocalypse and then died on arrival anyways. Fast forward ~300 years with the frontiers still largely unexplored and thats the idea.
• Overview: Our story will open in the city of Riftwatch, a haven forged from the ruins of a fallen world. Here, six factions vie for power amidst the remnants of the Tower of Cregrolin. Beyond its walls, untamed wilderness harbors ancient mysteries and lurking dangers waiting to be uncovered by brave adventurers.
• Want to know more? As above, check out our New Player Guide for a very quick-and-dirty overview of what to expect.
• Spots filled: 0/6

​

What I bring to the table 

• Here's what I can offer you...!
  • A blend of serious + goofs and gaffs. My games can be a bit dark at times but I always try to keep things fun. I don't like murder hobos or rules lawyers. My priority is to tell meaningful and rich stories which make us all feel something.
  • Sourcebooks from D&D Beyond, to give you free reign on your character creation desires. (Most? All? It's hard to keep track these days...)
  • A safe space for all players and an inclusive and welcoming table. This table is one that will seek to be a haven for people regardless of their identity. To be explicit, that means that if you have problems with LGBT+ people, people of color, neurodivergent people, or really anyone different from you then this game is NOT for you.
  • Commitment and dedication — I have run three campaigns from 1-20. And I expect to be just as serious about this game. I am in it for the long haul, as should any player who applies. No flaking at these tables!
  • Fairness -- I love Rule of Cool (within reason) and I always consider myself to be the PC's biggest fan. I love throwing hard encounters at players and seeing them crush it. There will be no Players v. DM at my table.
  • A game which will give brand new players the chance to explore the setting which I have poured my heart into building with the guidance of a DM with over a decade of DM experience and two decades of experience with Dungeons and Dragons.\
  • Safety tools such as a lengthy session 0, player consent sheets, lines and veils, stars and wishes, and after session check ins.
  • ˜”*°•.˜”*°• fwendship •°*”˜.•°*”˜

​

Who should Apply? 

• Here's the types of players I'm looking for...!
  • 18+, sorry kids.
  • Players who are excited and open to roleplaying their characters! You should also have an appreciation for tactical combat and adventuring. This doesn’t mean you have to know all the rules.
  • Players who WANT to explore the setting and who say things like "My character (or I) would like to dig through this stack of moldy books to see if I can scavenge anything useful" rather than "I roll to Investigate these books".
  • Creative, passionate, and excited players. We want to learn all about your character.
  • Players willing to really flex those creative muscles who can commit to writing a well thought out backstory (with likely more than a single draft) and collaborating with me as the DM on fitting the character of your dreams into the setting.
  • Ideally I would love a group that is diverse in life experience and identity. This tends to create the best stories which dig the deepest into who we are as we confront differences together in a healthy space.

​

How to Apply 

Now that you've read all that (or skimmed it, I don't blame you!), the next step is to fill out the google form, located here.
I understand the reluctance to fill out a sheet of this length (it's ~12 questions after the basics are filled in), but I am in this for the long haul and want to find players that will fit together as well as possible. I've had fantastic finds using detailed forms on this subreddit in the past, and believe strongly that running a game is a commitment, time- and energy-consuming, and this is a way of offsetting the burden from my shoulders in order to find players who are just as committed and excited to play as I am.
This form will remain open until I get a decent pool of applicants (whether that be 5 or 50), at which point I will reach out to the top 10 players via Discord for either a voice or text convo to basically do a vibe check, hopefully by next weekend. Ideally I would like to have our Session 0 as soon as Saturday, June 22nd, and we can get to know each other better then.
If you've got any questions, my DMs are open.

First off sorry for any spelling errors , i am typeing this on a whim and dont have time to go thru again , i know english i promise . Well where do i even begin with this mess , first lets get roblox jank , gliches , bugs and cheat detection out the way sience thats not up to them . The moderation team fucking sucks at doing their job , if you submit a ticket with proof and all theres about a 90% chance they will decline you without looking at it but its ok , i can deal with that , the biggestthey also abuse their powers (especially in chmie) going in with all kind of unobtainable weapons and enchants , imo that is not ok not to mention those weapons and enchants are absolutely busted , they should be balanced accordingly and made obtainable and while im at it i would like to mention not being able to get lightborn is some real bs , i wish they would maybe hold a tournament between the top 20 chime players that dont have lb or something weekly so that theres an actual way to get it if you work hard , that would be sick but no , they cant spare 30 minutes a week to do something like this for us . And regarding races why the fuck is there no way to reroll races without useing robux ? Like lemme reroll with echos or knowledge at a shrine or something , anything , and also the races are not balanced accordingly and matter very little , they should have tallents that actually change combat , like etreans are suposed to be imune to acid , well thats not the case cuz they cant properly code , they are also meant to get less time on buffs and debuffs , thats also not the case . If it was however for example that would be very cool , you could pull some fun stuff with poison , ignore charm debuffs , not need strong stern or mayne run into a pocket of acid when low but no cause we cant have nice shit can we? And now regarding slots i fullheartedly believe they should give you 3 or maybe even 5 starting out , i guess you can buy them and they are dirt cheap but i still feel like its a very greedy move seen as you need a minimum of 3 to you know , actually play. With revives i also have no problem except that you cant revive without robux . Like maybe let me ask yun shul to give me another shot in fragments and i can use statue for free , or maybe when u max rep with celtor , or for 500 echos , anything really . Some more boring stuff out the way , the activities like fishing mineing and choping trees have no point as the rewards are not worth the time at all , characters are 1 dimensional and only serve to die or give you something for the sake of progressing plot , the world feels dead , the ai is trash and theres way too much chesse . Balance i wont even commeont on , you know it , i know it , its absolute dogshit and thats not gonna change , they claim to revisit the broken stuff and want to rework it ? Yeah right just like you did to jetstriker , i mean its not bad its much better than before but they missed the silver lineing , fighting jetstriker sucked not only because the opponent could run away , it sucked cuz he could just keep you at mid range , use gale and thunder to poke you down with little counterplay if you are not a mage silentheart or blindseer , guess what ? Thats still a problem . The weapons are extremely unballanced as well and so are the atunements mantras and enchants equipment and everything else , if they cared to fix it it would take well over a month of actual daily balance changes not the bullshit they are doing now . Pvp is curently in a 1 shot meta , chime , guildwars , voidwalking , doesent matter the fight always ends in less than 30 seconds thanks to chesse , the infamous ragdoll into bomb that has no counteplay , potions and assassin builds (dont get me wrong im an assassin build enthusiast myself but they are FAR too busted in this game like wtf) . Pve is boring too , everything is eighter easy or unfair , its all easy except for the ocasional stat sponge like a kyrsgarde gangbang or broodlord that do over 1 bar per hit and have as much hp as duke . Theres nothing fun to do except combat , the world feels dead and so very lackluster and boring , the lore sucks sience its not expanded on , altough a great concept . Now lets talk about vw , as a vw myself i dont think it should take a life when the voidwalker kills you , like you die and lose your stuff but you dont get stained for example , but i dont think it should be the same for when you kill the vw sience then he could just level without consequence , vw should also not be able to take bounties on ppl with more than 3 level diffrence up or down and shouldnt be allowed to do to1 , instead their first 5 bounties give 2 levels each if successful , and they should also get like a damage taken from mobs multiplier till max lvl so that you get dettured from pve , that would be great. also i think u should be able to get the tracking outline beep ocasionally on all bounties , not just voidwalk , like do a quest for it and then get it on the slot .that would not make it go to origin , now regarding origins they all have little going for them atm theres no reason to not pick deluvian for pve and vw for anything else . Also we need more goddamn origins like some that start in layer 2 at lvl 10 and you need to kill chaser or start fort merit at lvl 6 or start in voidsea , meteor isle , hive , stuff like that would be so sick but no instead we get ysleys pyre that has 5 crits and 2 passives that all have the special effect of makeing you want to kill yourself . I could talk about so many more issues like no new luminant , no layer 3 for 2 years or no more lore being dropped but ass of now if they could fix all of this by the end of the year i would be ecstatic and truly greatful , its seems they cant and wont learn , they are leting the flame of this game burn out just like they did to rogue a good bit ago . All it needs is a litlle kindeling wich given how much money they have and how many talented pepole wouldnt turn them down should take them a mere 2 months if even that , but then again ragoozer and archmage dont give a shit. Also we love you naktigonis , your music is unreal.

So, I started a new job after moving 3 hours from my hometown. I loved it and my boss, she was sweet, kind, loving and a joy to work with. Her husband works with us too and he seemed nice at first.
I ended up working with him alone one day and after I was done cleaning up the lobby he leaned into me and said "You shouldn't bend over when you clean, you're built like a shit brick house and it's distracting" I didn't even know ow to respond or even what he meant other than he was commenting on my body.
This made me uncomfortable but I tried to brush it off...until the next time I had to work with him. He was constantly saying SOMETHING about me, my body, my demeanor etc.
It was always after I had just got done dealing with a male customer, he would say "You need to be caredul or youre gonna get raped". He said "You shouldn't smile and be so nice to these men, they're gonna snatch you up." One time I had left to do something in another part of work and when I came back he said my phone had rang and he looked to see if it said "Boo thang". Which I found weird and inappropriate.
He would stand behind me and I could feel him staring at my ass, he would purposely walk or stand behind me which made me uncomfortable. One day, he wanted me to show him how the remote/TVs worked in one of the rooms (its a hotel) and wanted me to show him in an empty room. I was super uncomfortable with this, and it was a day I had to bring my daughter to work. So I had her come with us and kept the door proped open.
My last straw was that same day, I had gone to the pool to check on my daughter and do a walk through on the floors. When I came back,my car key was bent at a 90 degree angle. The ONLY people who had access to my car keys was him and I. I didn't bend it, it didn't get hit or stuck anywhere. He asked how I was gonna get home and I said I had a friend coming up with my spare key. I don't have proof but it felt like he did this to try to find out where I live. I quit my job and after I returned my work shirtsi went to HR.
I told HR everything above. Well, today I had a message from his wife (my old boss) on FB, but she had unsent it. And then blocked me. So I contacted HR and asked if they had told her it was me who had come to them and what I had said. HR swears they didn't tell her, but they did go to him, she said as they're supposed to but didn't mention my name.
I'm now worried because he has come into my other place of employment. And for his wife to message me, unsend it and block me, I'm worried about retaliation. Which is why it took me so Ling to report because she was my boss. Now I feel like I can't trust HR and I don't know what to do. Do I make a police report ? I'm scares he will harass me or she will, and I just want to feel safe. I just don't know what to do.

I've been dating my boyfriend (M31) for over 3 years, and we've lived together for 2 of those years. I'm aware that there is a significant age gap, as I'm (F21). My boyfriend is Korean, and I'm half Japanese, half Spanish. At first, he thought I was too young, but I begged him to stay with me regardless of our age difference. He works full time 6 or 5 days a week & im a student & I work full time as well but the days varies so I’m home more often.
The issue is that I've tried changing almost everything about myself to make him like me, but nothing seems to work. I've changed my personality, clothing, hair, interests, and even tried to be more sexy or cute. However, my boyfriend is not very interested in sex, as I was his first partner and I didn't have much experience either. He said he was never really interested in sex and just likes playing PC games, especially League of Legends. I've tried learning to play, but he gets upset when I'm not a pro at it when he "teaches" me, and he doesn't even last a minute teaching me before getting frustrated.
Before I say anything to him, he sighs and says he doesn't care or that it's stupid. He often assumes I'll say or do something I've never done, and this leads to arguments. He makes me cry both inside and outside the house which is always so embarrassing, but he's never apologized or tried to make me feel better. He just has a cold expression and gets even more annoyed, looking away.
There are times when he is nice and loving, but it's very rare. I get confused when he acts that way, and I forget everything he's done to hurt my feelings. I would never forgive anyone else for the things he's done, but I'm very grateful for all he's done for me, and I always let him know.
I tell him I'm grateful, I tell him he's handsome, I praise him, I love him, I always hug him & caress him. But sometimes, I’ll give him his space for like 3 weeks but it isn’t enough. After a while he’ll come home from work and he’ll go straight to his pc and if I try to cuddle him or kiss him for a few minutes , he gets super mad and annoyed, telling me he just wants to play bc he’s tired.
He never says I'm pretty, but he gets annoyed when guys message me on social media saying they think I'm pretty. I always ask him if he thinks I'm attractive because he never looks at me or says I'm pretty. I don't feel like he finds me attractive at all. When I try on sexy or pretty clothes and ask him if I look good, he'll just say "yeah" or "ugh, I'm playing," without ever looking at me and continue playing his game. He doesn’t look into my eyes!
When I try to talk to him about funny videos or things that happened to me or interest me, he always says, "Ugh, I don't want to hear about that." He says that about everything. It breaks my heart that he's so uninterested in me. I know guys don’t like clothes, makeup, and those kinds of things but fashion interests me a lot and when my partner talks about his interest I feel happy seeing how his face lights up so why does he hate when my face lights up? Why does he ALWAYS turn that smile into tears? Why is he with me if he seems to hate me so much?
I've lost a lot of weight and try to look my best for him, he says that I care about my looks way too much but I feel like he treats me according to how I look. When I ask him why he doesn't pay attention to me, he just says always says "ugh" “ugh” that Korean sound angry Koreans make. It always triggers me. I don't know why he doesn't like me, so I try to fix myself in any way I can. I'm already smart and nice, so I feel like it’s my looks and now I feel extremely insecure with my looks and personality. I starve myself to try to be as pretty/slim as I can, like the girls he had saved on his phone when I had first met him but nothing seems to be enough. He doesn’t have any photos of me either btw. He doesn’t post me though, he doesn’t post anything on social media he only scrolls on Facebook like, a lot.
I get a lot of attention from others, but not at home. He hates that I like TikToks funny cat memes, and other "dumb" stuff, but they're just innocent jokes, and I have nothing else interesting in my life. I'm very lonely because this situation makes me so depressed and it makes me feel stupid and useless. I don't feel like I'll ever be liked/loved by anyone If my own partner doesn't love me.
He yells at me and starts arguments over the simplest things, like sharing something I thought was funny or interesting. It’s never negative or insulting. Everything makes him angry and annoyed. I sometimes feel scared that he'll get too angry and break things again, as he's already broken 4 TVs. I don't even do anything to him; he just gets so angry when I ask for a bit of attention. I just don't understand why. I feel so lonely.

28M, living at home still.
My life hasn't been easy, and sure I can level the playing field by saying no one's life has been easy. We all go through things, we all struggle, and there are those who overcome those struggles, and those who stay in those struggles.
To me, it almost seems like no matter how much I try to overcome my struggles, there was always one or two more things that came out of nowhere and made everything worse than the struggles previously, just to knock me back down a few more pegs. I'll give you some examples: at 24, while striving for a full-time position at the hardware store I was working at to secure stability and independence, I was wrongfully fired. Compounding the stress caused by later being diagnosed with Ulcerative Proctitis (ulcerative colitis), and the looming need for personal health insurance. A stroke of luck came when my mom's friend facilitated a job opportunity, but the role of a mortgage servicer proved mentally and emotionally taxing, exacerbated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and eventual quarantine. Despite grappling with trauma and disillusionment from the corporate world, I found solace in joining my best friend's candle business at 26, albeit facing daunting challenges accessing affordable health insurance due to income restrictions and exorbitant medication costs for the condition ($600-$1200 without insurance). The only way I could see a way out was either by balancing multiple part-time jobs and working insane amount of hours, finding a full-time job with benefits, or staying exactly where I was by flying underneath the goverment required limit of hours one can work, so as to recieve free healthcare by only working with my friend (who wasn't giving me very many hours to begin with since it is a small-business of just her and I). I chose to stay where I was because there were more layers behind just the need for healthcare that was in the recesses of my psyche which were self-esteem issues, finding a sense of purpose, the seeking of therapy to work through these issues, eating disorders that have been around since I was a kid, and the perpetual loneliness I had been feeling for quite sometime. You might be wondering, "why didn't he just move out and find a roommate?" I don't want a roommate, and see no difference in living with someone like a roommate and learning to adapt to their lifestyle, or living with my mother who I already know the lifestyle of.
Nevertheless at some point, I found a YouTube channel called, "HealthyGamerGG." Where the creator known as Dr. K talks to everyone in his community about mental health matters. I learned about alexithymia (which is correlated to my sense of purpose), he talks about self-esteem, he talks about confidence and finding a partner, and I'm just soaking it all up! I'm learning everything I could, I'm talking to all of my friends about this stuff too and they're noticing a change in me. At some point, I started going to therapy and my therapists started noticing the changes in me as well, I even started going to the gym. I finally find a sense of purpose, and I go out on a limb and try something in IT--my friend told me I could shadow him at work, and he was going to help me through getting a job.
Despite the significant personal growth and improvements in various aspects of my life, such as self-esteem, ambition, and healing from trauma and Alexithymia, I still struggle to find love. The issue: there is an initial expectation of perfection early on, which often overshadows deeper connection and understanding of nuance in personal situation. In essence, there's a lack of flexibility and grace for each other. Of course, while I endeavor to be transparent about my journey without overwhelming potential partners, my life is far from stagnant and there is a clear path forward with much ambition (something I've been told that many women are looking for in men); I'm actively pursuing certifications in IT to eventually land a job, I'm learning French, I'm engaging in photography, and I'm maintaining a fitness routine. However, I recognize that my life feels incomplete without a partner to share experiences and contribute to mutual growth, aiming for a relationship where both individuals complement each other without relying on the other for complete fulfillment solely from one another.
A recent twitter post by a woman in her 30s sparked some discussion online a while ago, about her dating struggles due to career-focused life choices. She had a life that was very carefully designed by her own hands, and she was finding it hard to get into a relationship with someone who would fit in to the concreteness of the life that she built for herself; vs finding someone when she was younger or being a little more flexible with what she allows. At first, I thought this was just something that was significant for her life and could only be attributed to a reason why I was still single on the other side of the equation, but didn't have any consequence with how I should or have approached my own life. Upon recent reflecting on a date that happened a few weeks ago, in addition to a friend's insight about why I'm still single as a whole--with the analogy of me being a unicorn seeking another unicorn, coming from my friend--I came to the understanding that I shared in the issue immensely. The challenge for me was to find acceptence of the seemingly concrete quirks from people who didn't want to accept those quirks. This introspection revealed the need to reject limitations imposed by conditions like ARFID so that I can be embraced for actual personal traits, rather than being a unicorn seeking a "perfect match." Thus the a wider diversity of people being able to love me for me rather than most being put off by the rigidity of my quirkiness and only few trying to love me for "me," with the quirks. The aim has shifted to working on being open-minded so that compatibility isn't overshadowed by arbitrary constraits set upon by my own short-comings and traumas.
In the interim, while I can understand that people shouldn't date others based on one's "potential" or their prospect, that should only apply when someone's word doesn't match their actions. Likewise, there seems to be a lack of understanding that when you get into a relationship, you are adopting some of that person's responsibilities and/or another person as a responsibility. Relationships aren't there to make you happy, they're designed for accountability and improving in life and happiness can be a side-effect of that. Which means that you're not going to be perfect or ready when you walk into a relationship, but you become ready and you have to be willing to change. Otherwise, there is no other point to be in a relationship as there is no place for rigidity in relationship. This requires a lot of grace, patience, and understanding from both sides of the equation to work and to attempt the relationship. It's scary, but at some point everyone needs to take a leap of faith knowing that even if the grass might be greener on the otherside, you should just worry about taking care of the grass you do have instead of comparing with something that is imaginary or could potentially just be artificial.

So this is my first ever Reddit post and I thought I’d share my ex story and maybe seek advice or some wisdom on the whole situation…
So to how we met it was actually at my job she at the time got a job there ( I know I broke the first rule …) but I’m usually not good with meeting new people so when she started to work there I kept my distance maybe a hello here and there she would even have this running joke cuz she thought I didn’t like here she would come in and say “did u miss me ?” And I would just say no or just laugh. A month goes by with that and one day I decided to talk to her and even offer to get delivery on some food and during that day she ended up finding my Instagram and my Snapchat and we started to talk there after our shifts we talked in snap chat for a couple day and ended up getting our phone numbers exchanged and started to text and FaceTime each other. At this pinky she became the only person I started to talk to talking late into the night on face time even falling asleep on the phone. She told me about her past and her up bringing (which wasn’t good but out of respect I won’t go into details ) . After a week or so of talking she invites to her place to hang out I accepted and went over I was nervous of course but I went anyways we ended up talking like we normally do and we played the board game mancala ( switch I never played in my life ) and I told her about some fidget sword toy I got in the tik tok store and she ended up scratching her initials into it but overall it was probably the best experience I had with someone for a long time especially since it took me 2 years to heal and move on from my ex before her. So after a couple weeks of talking hanging out etc she ended up making the first move and told me she loved me . I was in shock I didn’t know how to process it but all I could do was smile (I eventually said I love you back after the none stop smiling lol) so we started dating…. And at the start things were amazing FaceTiming all night talking all day every day etc etc then one of my triggers from my last ex before her came up ….. I was a jealous person and she was spending a bunch of time with a different coworker at the time and it would cause fights …. To the point where it was every day but when I would try and communicate how I would feel it was always responded with stuff like “I’m not ur mother it’s not my job to sort thru your feelings “ which she was right i should of had a better handle of my emotions at the time …. So after 3-4 months of constant fighting and name calling and arguments we ended up splitting up ….. and she ghosted me …..me being the person I am cuz I really liked this person I constantly would call her text her leave voice messages begging her to at least here me out or to At least send a message back all she would do is call me crazy or leave me on read …. So after a week of doing that I ended up giving up I didn’t text her I didn’t call her nothing during this time we still worked with each other ther so I tried to be civil at work but it was also hard because we weren’t talking also during this time I found out she started to see someone new a guy she met on a dating app and started to date him one day I confronted her at work and asked who he was etc etc and she told me who he was and that she wanted to be with him and “ that’s it’s not her fault I couldn’t get my shit together “ and that she wanted to be friends with me so I just let it be after a while we continued not talking and I gave her her space then one day she called me early in the morning like 4am she left his house and wanted to talk just like we used to at first I was hurt saying how can u call me right after leaving ur boyfriends house ? She then told me that they aren’t dating they were just friends and that she was using him for sex …. Even then I was still shocked I would say things like isn’t that not fair to him what if he actually likes you ? She would then say that he is probably doing the same thing to her and that she didn’t care after that conversation I just hung up and put my phone on DND and went to bed…. Well those 4 am calls started to become more and more frequent as and I started to be ok with just talking to her and that’s all it was for a while just talking ….. but we started getting close again and started to spend time with each other hanging out etc then started relationship type of stuff started to happen again and things were great again ….. till I found out she was still seeing that dating app guy saying the same thing that they aren’t together and that me and her weren’t together and that she can’t wait forever for me to get my shit together …. After I found this out my mental went down hill I started checking her phone for messages when I went to her house started more arguments cuz one night she would see me and the next she would seee him but she like tell me things like she loves me and wanted to be with me and say they are friends but would say the same thing to him slowly I felt like I was losing my self never knowing what to believe and what not to ….and for a while that’s how things were …. We would fight she would ghost me for a day have him come over and the next day talk to me like nothing happened then would see if I wanted to hang out for the day …. And during this time I was providing for her I would give her money buy her whatever she wanted I would build things she would buy on Amazon I would fix her car etc the list goes on and on and after a while I told her I was done cuz it just seems like she was using me and of course she would tell she wasn’t and that the money and everything didn’t matter and I couldn’t believe her so we didn’t talk for a week or 2 during this time this guy called me from a random number and told me things like she slept with our boss that she told him that she’s only talking to me cuz of the money and things and I was extremely hurt by this so I confronted her about this and at first she denied it but when I told her I was done and to never speak to me again she then came clean about the boss thing saying it was only one time she was alone and stuff he gave her the right attention and she took it . I didn’t know what to say so I hung up and just continued with my day she continued to text and call me but at first I would just read it or decline the calls then eventually I gave in and started to talk to her again and hang out with her even after everything and even knowing that she’s still seeing the guy still providing for her and doing a bunch of stuff for her ….. but the same problems always came up we would fight cuz she was spending time with the guy felt like she was using me etc etc and after a couple months of that we stopped hanging out all together she told me it was cuz her grandma and her kids moved in (which they did she didn’t lie about that) but what I later found out was that the guy from the dating app was seeing her almost every day while she would tell me things like “the house was too full and messy for me to come over “ once I found this out I was done I told her that and then she dropped a bomb on me which was that she was getting abused that he would show up banging on the door going in and fighting with her even hitting her and she even showed me proof of it like photos and conversations with family members about the abuse …. She said her family wouldn’t help her and she was scared so because I cared and loved her I stayed I offered to keep her company and keep her safe which she declined she said she needed to figure it out on her own which I understood and I just tried to be there for her the best way I could while still providing for her helping her with bills food money etc but it got to a point her all she would talk about is him saying he’s crazy his this he’s that and after weeks of that I got so mad that I did some name callin and said some hurtful things that to this day I still regret but I know I can’t take them back and she said I’m just like him and we didn’t speak for a couple weeks or if we did it just be a fight then little over a month ago we started talking again and u know started up again providing for her being there for her helping her with random problems and we started to move forward until recently … she’s been going on a lot of vacations which I never complained about I’m always down for enjoying life especially after what she’s been thru so I just told her have fun text me whenever u get there stuff of that nature then of course I don’t hear from her or if I did it was just short messages which I didn’t think to much of it at the time just thought she was having fun and was busy then a day or 2 before was suppose to be back someone old me whose was the guy that she posted on her Instagram story I said idk and they showed me once again I was hurt so I contacted her about it and she told me it was a friend that she reconnected with from her hometown that she grew up in and that she’s not gonna stop living her life and wait for me to get my life together so later that day we been talking still and I looked at her Facebook story to see a bunch of pictures of them being together hugging kissy faces etc even one with them at a house together being “super close” and I was back at square one with me being hurt …. So eventually she comes back and we start talking again things are a bit awkward but I still try and prove to her that I love her and that I want to provide for her … so her car had a problem and of course I’m the guy that always worked on her car so I offer to take it and she says yes we set up a time to meet for the next day and continued to talk the next day come I get there early gave her some money and she told me that her aunt found someone to look at it for cheap which I was ok with so I got her Starbucks and got in my car when I was about to leave I saw the guy from the vacation which at this point I wasn’t able to control my emotions and I stormed inside and told her how could she lie to me and I asked for the money back and left the next day she told me who the guy was it was the ex she was with before she was with me (mind u this is the guy she told me was a manipulator controlling psychological abuser )and she told me she wants to take the relationship seriously that she sees her self marrying him in a year or at the very least engaged and asked if we could still be friends and cool but I couldn’t accept that cuz I was still in love with her and it wouldn’t be fair to me or her new relationship and I took a step back now she says she’s happy and he makes her happy etc which part of me would be ok with that if I didn’t find out he was gonna work at our job lol so not only do I have to keep my distance from her out of respect for her new relationship I now have to work with her boyfriend while hearing how happy she is and that she wants me to leave her alone lol ironic ….. well the reason I’m posting this here and not some other relationship Reddit is cuz we are kinda in a no contact we only text about work no calls no personal text just work and that’s it
If u took the time to read this I appreciate it and any advice or thoughts on the situation is welcomed !

I know, I know... you should be the one responsible for your own happiness, but I've just been finding it really hard lately.
I'm think I need someone who will be sweet and caring, and can say things to me that will keep me smiling for the rest of the day.
I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for in terms of relationship or length of association or type of association, but just a headsup, I'm just really looking for someone sweet and kind and nice right now. Someone who can talk to me and listen to my woes... because honestly I think on top of being generally dysthymic, I am nursing a broken heart.
A little about me: I'm a medical intern, I work weird hours and spend most of my free time asleep (/escaping sadness), I don't hate what I see in the mirror most days, I like to make people laugh, I know a little about a lot of things because I like to read and watch stuff... that's it for now I guess?
This post isn't the best, but I do hope I get people to respond with more than the generic hi or asking how I'm doing. Please introduce yourself properly so I can gauge if we'll mesh.
That's all.
Hope to read from you in my inbox!

I'm exhausted. Why do I care so much when I've been shown otherwise?🤷. I logged off yesterday. Then within a couple hours of feeling relaxed this sadness came over me. Do you get like that as well? Where all of the sudden a surge of emotions overwhelm you?... They come out of left field...I never experienced this before. Not to this degree anyway. Ever since my feelings for you came to fruition this sorta stuff started to happen last year and this year. I'm not saying it's related to you but ffs I really wish I could understand it better.
So, when those feelings of sadness overtook me I decided to write you a love letter earlier. Now I feel ok. Like everything is ok now. I'm really tired though. I deserve a break. Like Elizabeth Barrett Browning... When she writes that poem... How do I love thee... I mean she's like "I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life!"... I mean this love is exhausting at times... It's why at the end she's like look Robert... Check it... "I shall but love thee better after death."... Poor thing is exhausted from loving him so much...
It's how I feel sometimes. When you love without any return... And yet, even though you haven't received a message... You somehow still manage to love them fiercely...
One thing I hoped for was to at least be your friend. To ask if you need anything of me? Anything I could help you with in anyway. Offer support during stressful times... Cheer you up if you're down or even send a care package with goodies. It's what I love to do...
What is it about certain people in your life? They make you look foolish at times ... And you don't seem to be bothered by it as well. I guess it's really a goofy sorta vulnerability if anything. Like I could totally see myself running barefoot across a field of stickers just to say Hi...
Perhaps my love is more in line with enthusiastic devotion with subtle hints of nuttiness...
I miss you... I miss who we were to each other.

Hello everyone! Hopefully my story reaches whoever needs it. I sadly struggled with BV for 9 months straight before it finally went away. It all started when I was sexually active with a guy that was no good for me. It was my first time ever having BV so I didn’t understanding what was going on with my body at the time. After ending the connection my vaginal health wouldn’t get better for the life of me. I was constantly going to the clinic getting tested, making multiple doctors appts but no matter how much antibiotics was given to me I would still have BV. The antibiotics I took were Flagyl (took this about 4 times) and Clindamycin cream (used this once) and both gave me the same effects. I always finished the meds and my downstairs area would smell like dirty water! I was miserable and super insecure. Before having any vaginal issues I was drinking a lots of water and taking my probiotics on a regular basis. In those nine months nothing was working! I spent around $200 in probiotics trying different brands and different strains to see what would work for me. I can’t say they didn’t work because I did feel and smell a difference but I still wasn’t back to normal. Finally after a long 9 months with lots of research and a good amount of money spent I am happy to say I am free of the shackles of BV. I been BV free for 4 months now. Here are some tips for anyone struggling.

1. Drink lots of water! I know it’s very cliché to say this but dehydration can intensify body odors. I recommend drinking about 40oz - 64oz a day. Stop drinking water when your pee is clear. You don’t wanna over hydrate your body and lose electrolytes.
   
2. Invest in a good probiotic and be patient. Sadly a lot of reviews online for probiotics are fake and some companies pay for good reviews. Avoid the brands that have reviews like "after one day of taking this probiotic all my problems went away." Learn from my mistake of being gullible enough to believe that. Look for probiotics with variety of strains, between 7 to 20 strains will do. CFU count can be a little tricky but I notice my body reacts will to 50 cfu. I don’t suggest 100 cfu because it could give you adverse effects and make your BV or yeast infection worst. If you need any recommendations feel free to message me.
   
3. TEA! There are lots of different teas that have amazing benefits for you vag. I researched the benefits of a lot of teas before i came across hibiscus tea. This tea has completely changed my life for the better. Funny enough I had a dream about hibiscus tea after i brought it and something told me to give it a try. Before i tell you this recipe I recommend you do your own research on this tea. If you have low blood pressure I do not recommend you drink this because it could lower it even more. Hibiscus is rich in antioxidants and assist the body in fighting infections. You could drink the tea alone but i personally didn’t feel the most benefits from doing that. What I do is brew a cup of tea for about 5 mins, add a SPLASH of Apple cider vinegar with the mother. ACV does have some antibacterial and anti fungal properties that could help with health of your gut and vaginal Microbiome and the "mother" is the cloudy particles you see within the vinegar, which is made of good bacteria. Not a shot but a splash of it, took much ACV can be harmless to your throat and teeth. To sweeten the tea I use 100% organic, honey. This is optional but if you have pure 100% pure cranberry juice not from concentrate in your home add a splash of that too. Literally a hour after drinking this I smelled significantly better and continued drinking this for 7 days straight, once a day. My ph balance was right back to normal on day 7. Now I make this for myself about 2-3 times a week. If you come to the conclusion that you can’t consume hibiscus tea a good alternative is green tea, ginger, turmeric, peppermint, licorice, and black tea.
   
4. Take a shot of Pure 100% cranberry juice not from concentrate twice a day. Yes cranberries are mainly used for UTIs, but with long-term consumption, it can help the overall pH balance of the vagina. I recommend the Lakewood Juice brand.
   
5. Ask for a different antibiotic. Please be vocal about a specific antibiotic not working for your body. A lot of doctors love to prescribe Flagyl because it’s considered the standard for BV but it doesn’t completely eliminate the problem. For any of my ladies who have been prescribed Flagyl over and over again please consider trying oral clindamycin! This is the only antibiotic that has completely cleared my BV. Please be cautious though, it can be really hard on the stomach so i do recommend you take a probiotic about an hour after the dose. For example, if you have to take two pills a day after your last pill take a probiotic a hour after. This is to prevent the loss of the healthy bacteria in your gut. YOU DON’T TO GET C DIFF. If you have IBS, Ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease please talk to your doctor to see if it’s a good fit for you. Tips 1-4 are for replenishing your Microbiome and maintaining your pH balance.
   

If you come to the end of this post, thank you so much for reading. I hope my story encourages you and gives you a sense of hope that you can gain control of your body again. Feel free to ask any questions or message me! F**k BV.

There's a knock at the door. It's Monday morning, and half the team is gathered in my office. We've been wrestling with this problem for the past week, and morale is low. As the leader, I'm feeling the pressure. I let out a sigh, and open the door.
Standing there is our junior intern, Tom. He's been with us for only a few weeks, and his enthusiasm is infectious. He stammers, "Sir, I...uh...have an idea."
I look around the room and at the sea of tired faces. "Alright," I say, "Let's hear it."
He pitches his idea, and I'm stunned. It's a completely fresh perspective that none of us had even considered. The room is silent for a moment before buzzing with renewed energy.
So what's the moral of the story? As a leader, it's easy to keep looking at a problem from the same perspective, getting stuck in a rut of conventional thinking. But the best solutions often lie outside of this rut. This, my friends, is where lateral thinking comes into play.
Lateral thinking, coined by Edward De Bono, is all about freeing our minds from established patterns and opening up to unconventional approaches. It was clear Tom had utilized lateral thinking. His fresh perspective allowed me, as his leader, to step back, reconsider the problem, and embrace a new approach.
That day not only gave us a breakthrough in our project, but it also taught me a valuable leadership lesson. I started to invite more ideas, from all levels of our team, encouraging unconventional thoughts and perspectives. This, in turn, fostered a more dynamic, creative, and inclusive culture in our team, improving our problem-solving and decision-making skills tremendously.
P.S. Just to clarify, Tom doesn't exist, neither does the problem we were facing. The truth is, this story is completely fictitious, created by yours truly to help you get a feel of how lateral thinking can be applied in a leadership role. So next time you're stuck in a rut, channel your imaginary Tom and think laterally! And yes, you can laugh about this. After all, there's nothing like a good, constructed story to start the week, right?

Hey guys,
I keep seeing posts about how hard the job market is. Honestly, it's not as tough as you're making it out to be. I'm a third year student from UNSW, with average grades, an average resume and I got intern offers from Atlassian, Canva, and EY with minimal effort. Here’s how I did it:
First off, if you’re not involved in uni societies like CSESOC or DevSoc, what are you even doing? These societies are goldmines for networking and look great on your resume. Get involved, go to events, and make connections.
Second, keep a HD WAM. Seriously, how hard is it to get HDs? Just pay attention in lectures, do your assignments on time, and study smart. If you’re struggling with this, you might need to rethink your priorities.
Side projects? I didn't have a ton. Just a few quality ones that actually showed off my skills. Employers want to see what you can do, not a list of random projects.
Referrals are key. I got mine through an Adelaide-based study program. Yeah, you might have to go out of your way a bit, but it's worth it. Seek out these opportunities, network, and get those referrals. It’s not that complicated, start spamming linkedins.
So, to everyone saying the job market is brutal: step up your game. Get involved, keep your grades up, do some decent projects, and network. If I can do it, so can you.
Later, aaron-bonnet

1. Time commitment. People who have succeeded on the SHRM certification exam report investing between 120 to 160 hours in their preparation. (That's a solid month: four weeks at 40 hours a week.) You might spend as little as 60 hours or as much as 180 hours—adjust as needed. But remember that hours alone aren't a guarantee of success; the time needs to be well-spent. Keep this in mind as you build your study plan. Look for moments you can steal—use your lunch break to work online in the SHRM Learning System, go out to your car and read a little, and never be without your flashcards (more on that below). It all adds up.
   
2. Practice questions. The more practice questions you answer, the better prepared you'll be. Some of my students have found non-SHRM resources like study apps Quizlet and Kahoot to be helpful in this area.
   
3. Explanations of answers. The online SHRM Learning System has many practice questions for both the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP practice module exams and finals. After you answer the questions, you'll see explanations for why the correct answers are correct and why the others are wrong. This will help you refine your thinking.
   
4. No shortcuts. A word of warning: While practice exams are helpful, they're not a replacement for studying and learning. Some students become overconfident when they repeatedly take practice exams and see their scores improving—but they aren't learning the content, they're just memorizing those exams! Don't mislead yourself. You've got to do the reading, attend the classes, take notes and study them. On this exam (as in life!), there are no shortcuts to success.
   
5. Flashcards. Become best friends with your flashcards. Whether you choose to print them out and cut them up or download them to an e-reader, always have them with you. That way, you can make good use of small bits of unexpected available time—waiting for a meeting to begin, standing in line at the store, etc. Flashcards help you remember concepts and definitions. If you understand a concept and know a definition, you've got a shot at answering an exam question correctly. (Flashcards are not enough on their own. But if you don't know a concept or definition when you're taking the exam, your chances of answering a question correctly are low.)
   
6. Learning through stories. Throughout history, humanity has always learned through stories, whether sharing ancient lore around a fire or tales from a pulpit. People retain lessons when they can connect to them. Knowing the story behind SHRM exam content can be helpful as well. For example, there are stories behind key employment laws and court cases. What happened to Willie Griggs that made Griggs v. Duke Power a landmark decision? Why is what happened to the namesake of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act relevant today? While the SHRM certification exams won't test you on such stories per se, you might encounter related questions. If knowing the stories helps you retain the knowledge, search online and read all about them.
   
7. Discussions and study groups.SHRM Connect is an online community for SHRM members to discuss all kinds of HR topics. Search for the "SHRM Certification Prep Group." For those of you who like to work in a study group, you might be able to find or start one in your area using this platform. Plus, it's a good networking opportunity—a double payoff.
   
8. Now that you've read some tips on test preparation, here are a few tips for test taking: Trial run. A tutorial available on Prometric's website allows you to try out the test-taking platform before you take the actual test. Do a generic mini-test to use the highlight, strikethrough and flag functions and more. Becoming familiar with the system before the day of the exam will improve your confidence greatly.
   
9. Long questions. It's easy to get distracted by all the information in situational judgment test items or long narrative questions on the exam. Stop to identify what the question truly is. Be sure to pick out the exact question you're being asked to answer.
   
10. Multipart questions. If you encounter a block of text on the exam followed by multiple questions relating to it, different parts of that text will be useful for answering different questions. Use the highlight function to mark what stands out to you—what is relevant to each question—one by one. Erase the highlight when you've answered the question, then highlight the new material that relates to the next question and so on.
    
    1. HR means action!In the modern era of HR, we are expected to get things done and make things happen, to be proactive partners and leaders in our organizations—not sit and wait to be told what to do. The exam reflects this. Look for answers in which you are expected to act.
    2. Use the strikethrough function and other tools that help you focus. Strike through "distractors," which are answers you believe to be incorrect. Eliminating incorrect options improves your focus on the remaining options, which may increase your chances of selecting the correct answer. Learn how to use strikethrough with the tutorial available on Prometric's website (requires Adobe Flash Player version 10.2.0 or later) and practice using the test-taking system before your exam date.
    3. Use the flag function. Not sure what the answer is? Mark the question with a flag so you can return to it later. As you warm up through the exam, you may pick up hints from other questions and answers, or some piece of critical knowledge may get knocked loose from your memory, and you'll be able to come back to the flagged item. (How to use flags is something else you'll learn on the Prometric tutorial.)
    4. Use the calculator. You don't have to do math in your head. There's a built-in calculator, so use it. (Practice using the calculator, too, on the Prometric tutorial.)
    5. Use scratch paper. Scratch paper is provided by the testing center, so use it. Capture things while they are still in your short-term memory. Writing things down helps you see what you're doing, so scratch paper can also be useful for completing math calculations even if you use the calculator.
    6. Know HR math processes. While we're discussing calculations, keep in mind that the four multiple-choice answers offered for a math question will often reflect how the numbers in the question itself are used. For example, if the question involves the numbers 4 and 3, the answers to choose from might be: 7 (4 plus 3); 1 (4 minus 3); 12 (4 multipliedby3); or 1.3 (4 dividedby 3). Learn the processes required for HR math.
    7. Look for differentiator words in the questions. When you see differentiators—"least," "best," "quickest," "most important" and so on—use them to guide your analysis. These words require you to distinguish between a pretty good answer and the best answer.
    8. Approach absolutes in the answers with caution. When you see absolutes—"all," "always," "only," "never" and the like—beware! Absolutes in HR are unlikely and are just as unlikely to be correct answers on the exam. After all, how many things have you encountered in your career that are always or never true?
    9. Answer every question. Not answering is a bad idea: Don't leave questions unanswered. There's no penalty if you answer incorrectly—points are not taken away—so take a guess. It can't hurt, and you might guess correctly. (Of course, if you think you can guess your way through the whole exam, guess again! Refer to the very first test tip in Part 1, which discusses how many hours of preparation time you should plan for.)
    10. Watch your time. Keep your eye on the timer at the top of your screen. Don't dwell on one question for too long; in doing so, you might run out of time, sacrificing your chances of answering other questions correctly later.

#shrm #shrmcp

Here's some context before this story: My vent : selfharmteens (reddit.com)
Hey! so I've been just sad recently and finding "solace" or whatever you call it in the darkness, alone. I just feel calmer, I guess I just like being my myself. I don't know whether its because I'm depressed or not.. I just haven't realized how peaceful it feels.
Anyway so my parents brought me to their friend's house / my former friends house (They are like neighbor-grandparents) and I brought my kindle with me and just read, kind of avoiding conversation
(They used to be my friends but one time during dinner my brother was saying mean comments about me, and I responded jokingly, trying to avoid it. i was just talking a lot. anyway we were playing uno and the husband of the neighbor-grandma just started yelling in my face about how we needed to be quiet and stop arguing and that he couldn't hear anything because of us. I wasn't even arguing! I was trying to do the opposite! and then i started crying and he just said angrily "stop crying" and nobody, even the daughter of the neighbor-grandma) did anything. I was crying and they didn't care. And then the neighbor-grandma e-mailed my mom saying:
"Wanted to share an incident that occurred here Friday pm. Sanara was unusually actually picking on Samar more than he to her. We were playing a game after dinner and the kids were quarreling so much/loudly that Kevin physically moved himself between them (they'd been sitting together) and raised his voice and gave them both a little reprimand. Samar appeared to be ok with it but Sanara was visibly NOT! She attempted to dispute with Kevin and he told us all to just move forward and continue to play. She cheered up quickly but it was a bit uncomfortable for all for a bit."
(I only know this bc i saw the email on my mom's apple watch)
-I actually didn't cheer up, I just pretended to, because i wanted it all to be over and you fake it till you make it, right?
-Also, I just started saying a quarter of a sentence to plead my case, when he yelled at me and I started to cry.
-Also, I thought these people were my friends, and they betray me. always.)
Anyway, so I continued to read by myself, moved to a different spot away from people, and then we left. My parents brought me on a boat. I read. We got back. I read. I read for many hours straight until i physically couldn't distinguish what facts were from my book and which ones were real. (Does this happen to anyone?)
Anyway they got upset that i wasn't talking to them, but they really didn't put in much effort to make conversation. On the car ride home they started saying how rude I was and embarrassing for reading, which I said sorry, sorry. I said it honestly, i realize it was a bad decision. And then I corrected her grammar when she was ranting on to me (english is not her 1st language) and she started to cry. I felt horrible.
My mom said that the way i act (by myself, in a different room, not really talking, and I don't mean to be rude, i really regret it afterwards) makes her cry 4 times a week and she needs a break from me. She says that she thinks im depressed because everyone in our family is. (She and my dad are depressed bc of me, my brother hates me) So now im staying at my grandparents house for 4 more days, while the rest of my family (my parents and brother) are going to live their more happy lives without me for the next 4 days in the city.
My grandparents house doesn't seem so bad, except there have been many incidents.
Once was when my grandma yelled at me until the point I had a panic attack/was hyperventilating while crying.
Another was when I couldn't focus on my homework and was singing while doing work (I may have Adhd, I haven't gotten tested but i want to) and my mom got so upset and cried and said how immature i was, and how that's why i don't have friends, and how all the ones i have will leave me, and all these mean, mean things, like how i am such a bitch, i never listen. And i just smiled because i smile to hide the pain. And they thought i was mental because they thought i was laughing at them crying. And they were asking about if there was something wrong with me, if i needed help, etc. (they didn't say it in a nice way) and my grandma was next to my mom hearing this and didn't say anything, just agreed with my mom. and then my brother just started punching and throwing me around and then I just hit the dresser and fell. and laughed. Because im insane.
Another time was when i was taking too long in the shower and my dad kept on banging at the door. I yelled, "Later!" but he got angry that i wasn't coming out. He unlocked the bathroom door with a knife from the outside WHILE i was showering but i was wearing a towel luckily by the time i realized what was happening. My grandma barged in with like pure rage, and i was terrified, just there cowering with my towel. She said, "You may think im nice and that I love you, but..." She didn't say anything else, but i wonder if she meant that those things weren't true. Anyway that experience combined with other experiences was the reason I first started to cut myself.
Sooooooo anyway i feel like i shouldn't be acting rude because my parents are trying, but I just cant look at them the same way after all that they have said, (My mom has called me a dumbshit, ugly, stupid, a bitch, she said she wanted to disown me once, etc.) and my dad never did anything when this happened. He agreed with her. he also said "fuck you" to me. I don't really know how i am supposed to act. I just cant be the perfect happy innocent child anymore. Im sorry im not how i used to be. Im sorry im breaking your heart. But you broke mine a while ago.
YOU DESERVE AN AWARD FOR STAYING HERE THIS LONG AND READING MY EXTREMELY LONG ESSAY. (I didn't mean for it to be the length of an essay, the more i wrote the more stuff i wanted to say)

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It had been a few weeks since Altier was brought to the run-down shack that his black-scaled companion likely called home, and he could now comfortably say he was accustomed to the…household’s routine. The kobold typically left at the crack of dawn, returned a little after noon, and occasionally left again to forage until nightfall. When the weather was bad or there wasn’t a particular need for something, they half-heartedly chased their rabbit around for a bit, which usually ended with a bout of quiet petting while everyone got ready for the night. It was always amusing to see the energetic side of what he had come to know as a relatively lazy loaf of an animal. As for the routine of the ferrorabbit in question… Well…it was at least more interesting than expected.
Hoppit would begin his own series of activities as soon as his caretaker left—the first of which being a check of every nook and cranny in the shed. He sniffed at anything that caught his interest, varying from morning to morning, but he gave every object or corner its due attention. Once he was satisfied with that, he would eat some of the ragged plants that made up most of his diet, take a drink from his bowl, then jump onto the tro— table and plop himself down, his ears pivoting towards the door. It was hard to say if the lounging spot had been established before Altier’s arrival, but it was somewhat amusing to pretend that the little rabbit was standing guard over his core—if it wasn’t for one particular part of the morning ritual, that is.
Indeed, the ferrorabbit had a habit of licking the obsidian orb that sat in the middle of the room, which thankfully didn’t seem to perturb the system enough to give Altier a headache. He was confused when it first happened, but it was commonplace enough now that he barely acknowledged it. A part of him liked that he was getting attention as a core, even if it was delivered via a strange grooming method. The closest he got to being acknowledged as something other than ‘the dungeon’ was through an unfortunate misunderstanding that he could never properly rectify. He supposed that was hardly worth thinking about now, though; too much time had passed for there to be anyone left to correct. The little oddity of his mornings would have to suffice.
There wasn’t much to comment on as far as the rest of the day’s happenings. Hoppit would end his loafing by shaking his head and ears in a way that filled the silence with soft clacks, give the core a customary tongue bath, then jump off the table to nose his way out of the shed through a hole that was hidden by the storage cart against the wall. Where the rabbit went was anyone’s guess, but he always returned before anyone noticed he was gone, and often did so while covered in small cuts and scratches. Any blood from the lacerations was quickly licked off before it could be seen by the kobold, and in the event that the scaly caretaker happened to return earlier than expected, Hoppit would scurry over to the bundles of blankets to finish the cleanup in secret.
Today looked to be following the usual pattern. The kobold left bright and early with various gardening tools and a wooden pail, and Hoppit had since set off into the great unknown for one reason or another. Hopefully, he returned less injured than usual. It was frustrating to admit that Altier had begun to grow rather fond of the fluffy creature, and seeing the thing come back hurt was bothersome. Was it off looking for food? There wasn’t a whole lot given to it, so that was a possibility, and it could be getting into fights over whatever it found. That still didn’t explain why the animal was so thin, and Altier didn’t have enough to go off of to think of a potential solution. He wanted to help it in some way, like by summoning a creature to act as an escort, or maybe just by manifesting something edible like he once could. No, he could only stare at the ‘Synchronizing…’ that occupied his menu, wishing he had more information to work with.
He never thought he would miss the bombardment of notifications and their lingering presence that filled the edge of his mental vision; at least with that he could surmise enough to hazard some kind of action. Even knowing why the menu was acting the way it did would be a start. Yet, try as he might, there wasn’t a history for him to reference anymore, and he had nothing to work with. He was confident the last message had asked him to ‘accept’ something, then took his befuddled ponderance as an answer, but he was no closer to an explanation for what it wanted, nor why it prompted him in the first place. He just didn’t have another experience to compare against, since nothing like that had ever happened before. Not that he was ever in much of a position to allow it.
The entire purpose of having Altier inhabit a core was for him to become a dungeon of Decay, which entailed all the skeletons, poisons, acids, and whatever else came to mind when one pictured the concept. ‘Living’ creatures were something he only had the chance to experiment with near the beginning of his new existence, though he never dabbled past the first few insects before transitioning to the mindless undead. Having a thinking, feeling, breathing entity touch his core was a rite reserved only for the adventurers and soldiers that bested his trials, and that was usually a painful experience. Now, he had spent what he could only guess was hours being held by a kobold, followed by having a rabbit bump against him, and neither felt like what he came to expect. Instead, both had led to a completely novel reaction from the system. The strange circumstances put him at a bit of a loss as to what it all meant for him.
Sure, he could dismiss the deluge of errors from his companion’s involvement by pointing to the numerous ‘corrupted’ messages before it, and Hoppit was a part of mostly unexplored territory, but the lack of clarity nagged at the back of his mind constantly. Being exposed to activity after potential decades or centuries of unchanging solitude made him despise the informational dead end. If he couldn’t make sense of the rabbit’s circumstances, then he didn’t have much hope of deciphering the reason for why his system was misbehaving so terribly. He also didn't know much about the one who owned the decrepit holdings he was housed inside.
He still wasn’t sure what drove the kobold to take him from the cave. His suspicion of becoming traded goods fell flat after the first week or so, and he hadn’t noticed any cult-like behaviour, which was promising. Granted, a lack of nefarious behaviour didn’t mean there was a lack of nefarious intent, but he didn’t get the impression his companion held that either. The kobold itself didn’t seem quite settled on an opinion of his core, though it was up for debate if the hesitation was due to knowing what he was or not. They seemed to mull something over before bed each night, yet never reached a satisfactory conclusion, staring at the obsidian orb through weary grey eyes until they eventually forced themselves into sleep.
Whatever the underlying reasoning for his abduction was, he had observed enough to know that the kobold didn’t deserve to live in destitution. As beaten as the shed might be, they cared for it as best they could, and did so without a single groan or grimace of complaint. The floors were cleaned with a tattered rag and fresh water, dust was removed regularly, and any stray mess that Hoppit made was dealt with promptly. They even took the time to wipe off his core, which was possibly where the ferrorabbit got the idea to start licking him. The only time Altier had seen discontent from the kobold was when they didn’t find much during their foraging, and thus couldn’t give any treats to the excited and bouncy herbivore.
He wasn’t aware that a creature’s face could make such a painfully broken expression, and he was quick to decide that he never wanted to see it again.
Vexingly, his metaphorical hands were tied; a dungeon could only influence their Domain, and given the state of his system, not even that option was available to him. All he could do was glare at the rotting wooden beams that held up the roof and remember when such an issue didn’t exist. It would have taken a mere flicker of thought and a paltry sum of mana to mend the struts when he was a proper dungeon. He could even outright reinforce the structure by weaving in other materials, leaving the appearance as it was while making everything stronger than iron. Well, he once could. Working with other affinities was something that came to him after absorbing the coloured motes left behind by adventurers, and the accursed stone that stole his mana had taken that ability as well.
An attempt was made anyway, his will ordering the deteriorated wood to absorb any trace metals from the ground, but it was no use. He couldn’t feel the iron or stones beneath the shed like he would have been able to before, all but confirming his suspicion that his connection to the Earth element had slipped away. Nature was much the same; the only way he knew when Hoppit had returned most days was from the subtle noise and the essence of injury. The other attributes—Air, Flame, Luma, Shadow, and so on—were ones he never experimented with to any real extent, so it was less noticeable when he lost his grasp on them. Perhaps they faded early. Either way, all he had left was a waning cognizance of his own alignment, and that wasn’t of much use to him. If he had any appreciable mana income, then perhaps he could do something, but he wasn’t even sure what the upkeep of his current Domain might be. It was entirely possible that he was running on a deficit, which would offer a reason for why his system had been so—
[Do#$@n Ex@#d$%^&d! CRe@#r H-H-H-HoPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP—]
[Errrrrrr—]
[Sy$%^hroni%^$zing…]
[Creeee-tu— Hoppit ha@$ esttttb-hed terrrrrrr-ity f^#% t$e dun@&$n!]
- - - - -
“Well then,” he mumbled to himself, taking in the strange scene behind the shed. For one, he could actually view a small distance beyond the structure now, and two, there was a rather proud-looking Hoppit sitting on his haunches before a pair of significantly less prideful examples of the species. They looked quite a bit bigger than the lazy loaf Altier had come to know, yet they were more cut up and dejected than his furry friend. That answered where the injuries had been coming from, he supposed. Hoppit was probably running off to bash heads with whatever animal population existed here beforehand, and they had only just reached a consensus on who was in charge. Impressive.
One of Hoppit’s ears turned back towards the shed, his head following suit as he gave a lagomorph’s approximation of a ‘Look what I did!’ smile. Altier blanked out mentally, but didn’t have time to question anything before the new leader of the local rabbits imperiously pointed a paw towards the surrounding forest, which was equally surreal to witness. Most surprising of all, the…subordinates? The other ferrorabbits did as commanded, keeping their forms small as they took off into the foliage. Soft clacks came from Hoppit’s pleased shake of his head, then he too left the area with only a slightly lopsided bounce to his stride.
The man-turned-core could only gape at what he saw. Were animals always so…expressive? Had Hoppit heard him? What in the world was happening? Why had Hoppit’s personal conquest led to Altier’s Domain expanding?
He lamented not having fingers, nor temples to rub with them. His system was a garbled mess of errors and inconsistent messages, his residence was falling apart at the seams, his companion was someone who abducted him from the dungeon, yet never did anything past that, and his first real experience with an animal was turning out to be more confusing than he thought possible.
All of this was after an unknown amount of time spent commanding legions of undead to strengthen the very people who he would later learn had lied to and manipulated him, making him into a nightmarish entity just to bolster the power of their forces. He almost missed the days spent gazing out of a mossy window. At least then he knew what to expect.
Nothing made sense anymore.
= = = = =
The soft sound of roots ripping free from soil suddenly stopped, only to be followed by a dull thud of Ceele’s palm slapping against the ground to catch her fall before she landed on her rear. She righted herself with her tail and tossed the stubborn weed into a pile with the others. No matter how many mornings she did this, they always seemed to replace themselves faster than she could remove the pesky things. A sigh slipped from her muzzle as she set about grabbing the next one embedded in the vegetable garden.
Aches and spreading stiffness flared up, but went ignored as she neared the end of her duties, though she was well aware that they would come back with force once she tried to settle down for the day. The impending soreness was an inevitable byproduct of spending so much time working. Still, she knew that if it wasn’t for the kindly old couple that allowed her to call their shed home, she would still be sleeping beneath the stars while making sure nothing tried to get at her Hoppit. Even if it was just a part of the deal, they were owed this much in return, and she would see it done properly.
The sun bore down on her back as she did her usual tasks, which was a departure from the slightly overcast weather as of late. It looked somewhat promising when she checked in the wee hours of the morning, yet as her gardening duties dragged on, so too did the intensity of such a clear sky. A disappointed glance at the empty wooden bucket on the edge of the field was quickly corrected. She hadn’t thought to refill it at the river after watering the crops, and her parched throat was making its protests known, while also reminding her that there wasn’t much water left at home either. One more thing to take care of when she was done.
A gruff cough brought her attention towards the old kobold resting his back against a tree some distance away, safely shaded from the unforgiving rays beaming down. Her displeasure at having yet more to do was hastily wiped away. She was undecided on what to think of the detached audience, but looking so sour while upholding her side of the agreement wouldn’t reflect well on her. Hopefully, he hadn’t seen it. Not that she could tell if he did; he always had the same expression when he watched her work. The elder kobold’s arms were crossed, a finger tapping absently against his bicep, while his tail sat motionless on the grass, the muddy red colour of his scales standing out amongst the greens and browns. ‘Makis,’ was his name, assuming her memory served.
Makis had taken to observing her every so often, usually propping himself against this or that at a distance, the unwavering scowl being as unnerving as it was belying of his age. Somewhat loose skin sagged a bit around his jowls and neck, yet the rest of his face was still taut from how much time he spent examining red-hot metal, and his arms were marred with countless burns and cuts from his profession. He held an oppressive aura, though the crinkles around his eyes and muzzle suggested he smiled as frequently as he glowered, even if Ceele was yet to see the former. There was only the same judgmental expression aimed at her when he was around. She could only hope that he didn’t take offence to some unintended slight, but she didn’t know him well enough to say what might be considered one.
They hadn’t spoken since she took up residence on the outskirts of his land. His wife was the one to introduce them, but it was quickly established that he had no intention of being a chatty individual. He led Ceele to the shed hidden amongst the trees on the edge of the property, then dismissed her with only a grunt coming from the elderly kobold. She supposed that it was for the best. Her experience in socializing was centred around convincing others to employ her, and there hadn’t been much of an opportunity to expand her horizons while living a life on the road. If that had been the end of their interactions, she would have swiftly written the terseness off, but he appeared every few days, taking up residence beneath the shade as he watched her work, never speaking a single word. At least he didn’t openly protest her presence, yet she figured that would be easier to manage. He wouldn’t be such an enigma then.
There wasn’t a whole lot she knew about him besides his penchant for ‘supervision,’ and anything beyond that was what his wife had volunteered during the rare opportunity they had to chat. She was told that Makis worked the smithy out front, and although he had retired from doing so in an official capacity, she could still regularly hear his hammer as she tended to the garden, so she figured he kept himself busy most days. It made her wonder what was so interesting about a vagrant like herself, but when there was so little else to do, she could see how anything could be made worth the attention. It was just him and his wife living in the once bustling home, after all; the couple’s children had long since grown up and made families of their own.
She noticed his gaze shift elsewhere as she tugged yet another stubborn intruder from the soil, his arms falling from across his chest and the perpetually worn displeasure melting to that of curiosity. He wandered off shortly after, and she had to make an effort not to fall onto her tail as the pressure on her shoulders unexpectedly evaporated. Did something happen?
Ceele shook her head free of the distracting thought. It wasn’t her business if he grew bored with watching her work. As long as no one voiced any complaints, she could only assume that she was doing a satisfactory job. Maybe he finally decided that he didn’t need to be so watchful because she was doing well! That could be it, right?
A glance at the somewhat sloppily maintained garden erased the false confidence from her face, but she was just as quick to focus on finishing up, unwilling to allow darker musings to fester. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be anything else that needed her intervention. The weeds were all uprooted, the soil was appropriately dampened, and her check for pesky insects or wildlife turned up nothing to worry about. She was free for the rest of the day!
…Or she would be free—as soon as she finished the last of her tasks, anyway.
The black-scaled kobold got up from her crouch unsteadily, shivering and wincing from the pins and needles in her legs. She would have to remember to stretch more often; it was far too easy to forgo that kind of thing just to make the overall work go slightly faster. Her hand reached out to grab the pile of weeds and put them into the bucket as she ran through what needed to be done before she could properly relax. Hoppit’s food needed to be washed, she needed to bathe, and they were running low on water anyway, so she would have to visit the river. Just the thought of dragging herself into the forest again made her muscles protest, but she wouldn’t have the energy to do it later. She forced the smile that had started to fall and took the first of many steps.
- - - - -
The river wasn’t too far away, only taking a few minutes of traipsing through the dense woodlands until she reached her destination. It was an idyllic little spot. The trees thinned out to allow a grassy bank along the water, and there was an appreciably gentle slope from shallows to depths, making for a convenient place to take care of various needs. She had discovered this place during her travels, and it was where a kind older woman found her.
Ceele was washing off at the time, with Hoppit safely taking shelter from the outside underneath the bundled blankets while he waited. The trickle of the stream brushing against rocks covered the sound of footsteps, so she was rather surprised when an aged voice called out to ask if she was okay. Her first reaction was to distance herself and apologize—the why didn’t matter, but she had learned that most people were more lenient of her presence if she seemed apologetic for it, and she usually was. The elderly kobold just laughed at her scrambling, tacking on an assurance that there was no need for modesty. The woman was blind, apparently, which explained how Ceele’s blackened colours hadn’t deterred her.
Strangely enough, there was a comforting sense of ease around the one who introduced herself as Hira. It was a sort of presence that Ceele could only vaguely remember, and it drew her close enough to speak as she finished bathing. The conversation wasn’t anything profound, of course—they hardly delved deeper than surface-level small talk—but Hira lost her smile as she listened to the younger kobold. By the end of it, the old woman posed a series of questions with a dark inflection to her voice, and Ceele struggled to find an answer.
‘Are you tired of looking for something that only slips away? Are you tired of running? Do you really want to be scared and alone?’
If the silence bothered Hira, then it didn’t show. She had simply held out a hand and offered Ceele a way of life that didn’t involve wondering where she would be spending the night, nor entailed cowering in the brush while fearsome predators roamed freely. It would be a simple existence of few fortunes, but it was safe, and it was honest. All she had to do was say yes.
Ceele denied it at first, partially because she knew most people despised Hobbit's species, and partially because she couldn’t shake the offer being too good to be true. Hira was quick to propose a compromise; Ceele could take residence in the gardening shed that had fallen from use, and to satiate the nagging sense of an unfair deal, she would be put in charge of maintaining the garden itself. All Hira wanted was to ‘see’ her favourite space bloom again, since she couldn’t take care of it anymore. The black-scaled kobold stared longingly at where Hoppit was, his little body shivering from the prolonged cold and fear that he would be hurt if he left the blankets hiding him. It was with a heavy guilt that she accepted Hira’s offer, keeping quiet about her true reason for doing so.
That was in the past, however, though she thought about it every time she stopped by and saw the smooth rocks where she and Hira first met. Eventually, she might gather the courage to admit that she was housing a ‘pest’ and beg for forgiveness. Until then, she would just work her hardest to prove it wasn’t a mistake to give her a home. That her endless efforts weren’t meaningless. That Hoppit deserved to be more than a ‘pest.’
That Ceele was more than something she had no control over being.
She cleared her head a bit and started on the reason she came all this way. Her dress was rather easy to wash in the meandering water, and the trees provided a suitable place for it to dry in the sunlight and light breeze. The weeds were fine with a thorough rinse near in the shallows, but taking care of her own hygiene required her to wade farther in, though it only came up to her chest in the middle of the rill. Still, she could scrub off the soil and grime, which was all she really needed. Perhaps some simple soaps would help rid her of the pervasive black that stained her skin and scales, but that was beyond her meagre means for the time being, as well as being mere wishful thinking.
She worked past the dreary mindset that settled in when she allowed it, focusing on how serene the river was. The soft birdsong from the trees helped make for a peaceful experience, and she could feel the somewhat chilled liquid basically pour into the aches and pains throughout her body, washing away the stiffness from spending so long under the unerring sun. It was nice to escape reality and let thoughts drift while held buoyant by calmer waters.
Yet the bliss was short-lived. Even if winter was gone, spring was still far from warming the waters enough for her to laze about for too long. She dragged herself from the soft current and fetched her dress from the low-lying branch she left it to dry on. It was still a touch damp, but it wasn’t anything a bit of time in front of the fireplace wouldn’t fix.
Ceele was only a short distance away from home when she heard a gravelly male voice, but it was the flicker of sight between the trees that made her drop what was in her arms and lunge into a sprint.
Makis stood just outside the gardening shed, a ferrorabbit held at arm’s length by rusty crimson hands placed on the scruff and haunch, the rabbit’s little ears flattened as fear filled its tiny face. Her eyes widened further when she noticed the small stains of blood in his light brown fur. They found out about him. Ephemeral claws of blackness clutched at her soul, ripping the very fabric she was made of as an unseen beast smiled, eager to take yet one more thing from her. Her Hoppit. Her baby. Her everything.
“Hoppit!” she shrieked, her words all but tearing out of her throat in desperation. Frozen blood coursed through her veins, yet poured into exhausted limbs. She broke through the treeline with no regard for the branches slashing against her flesh, panic making each sting fade before it could be processed. The grizzled glare of the older kobold snapped towards her, his usual scowl picking up an actual air of intensity that she never thought could be absent, the promise of violence lurking in his eyes. She skidded to a stop a few paces away, the lump in her throat threatening to clog her airway. “S-stop hurting him!”
“Didn’t,” he barked back, his tone even yet firm. “Cuts ain’t me. I’d’a done worse if’a had ta mind ta.”
The blatant declaration snapped her from blind panic, although his apparent anger didn’t do her fear any favours. “B-but… Then how…”
“‘Hoppit.’ Named it, did’cha?” he grunted, ignoring her confusion and bobbing the rabbit to get her attention again. His gaze shifted back to the animal, the flames of ire cooling slightly. “I was wonderin’ why yer plots ain’t dead yet. Suppose this critter’s why.”
One of her hands hesitantly reached out until she pulled it back, while the other clutched at her chest to stop her heart from hammering against her ribs. She couldn’t act rashly. Not while her baby was in his arms. “I—”
“Soft thing, ain’t it,” the elder kobold commented curiously, cutting her off.
“Y-yes?” she returned reluctantly, struggling to stop herself from lashing out to reclaim the ferrorabbit in his grasp.
“Like fine silk.” Makis tipped and tilted the animal, inspecting this and that with a deep-seated frown, all while Hoppit silently looked to her for help. The pit in her stomach grew. She needed to get him back, but how?
Ceele swallowed the dense dread as she tried to formulate some sort of plan, stumbling over her words and forced smile. “I-it’s nice! Isn’t it nice?”
His eyes snapped back to burrow into her own with hatred. “Wasn’t a compliment, girly.”
“B-but you—”
He released Hoppit’s lower half to jab a claw at the various spikes around his body, plying them with minimal force. “Look. See this? These’r suppose ta break bone. ‘Specially when he’s stiff like this. Ain’t no way I should be able ta bend ‘em. He’s barely more than a walkin’ carcass—all skin ‘n stick. He’s gonna get picked up by a wandering pecker if he keeps pissin’ about out ‘ere. It’s a wonder he’s still kickin’. What’cha feeding ‘em?” His gaze dropped from her face to the rest of her, disgust curling his muzzle into a snarl. “N’ver mind. I can guess.”
She felt the dampness build at the edges of her vision, unprepared to not only worry for Hoppit's immediate health, but also to face such harsh criticism while she was so vulnerable. “I… I try to make sure he has…”
Makis crouched to release the ferrorabbit onto the ground, Ceele dropping to her knees the moment he did. The terrified lagomorph wasted no time, bolting towards his adoptive mother and leaping into her arms, shaking uncontrollably. The rust-coloured ‘bold stared as she started soothingly stroking the animal’s back.
“Yer given’ em the weeds, aren’t ya?” he stated rather than asked. She gave a teary nod when her voice wouldn’t respond for her. The old kobold drew a breath, letting it go in an exasperated sigh as he stood back up, his expression becoming more impatient than antagonistic. “What else?”
“I— Um…”
“What. Else?”
“W-whatever I c-can find!” she sputtered out. Hoppit tried to hide against her neck, prompting her to tighten her hold. She couldn’t stop herself from shrinking, the guilt and confusion pulling her head down. “R-roots, vegetables, fruits… I give them as often as I can.”
His glare continued unimpeded, his cadence cold. “That it?”
There were a million things Ceele wanted to say. A part of her wanted to beg him not to kick them out of the first safe place she had in longer than she could remember, but she couldn’t find the words. She wanted to deny the judgmental tone that stabbed into her insecurity surrounding how good of a job she was doing with Hoppit, but the deadened void in her chest swallowed her pride whole. She knew he was right to critique her. That she was failing in the only thing that mattered anymore. That the feeling of loss would return.
“I try,” she whispered through the beginnings of a sob. “I try to find more, but he needs someone around, and I have to work the garden, so there’s only so much time I can spend looking. He won’t even eat all of what I bring back…” Tears dripped off her cheeks as she aimed a desolate smile at her furry friend. “He wants to make sure I have some too.”
“Yer killin’ em,” Makis pointed out plainly, crossing his arms. “He’ll be dead ‘fore the summer at this rate.”
“I know!” she shouted, forcing back the memories of insidious murmurs that lurked in the back of her mind, eager to creep into her ears again. The hate-filled stares that followed her, the rumours that arrived in towns before she had the chance to make an impression, and the guilt that loomed over her like an executioner's axe… “I know I am… I just… I don’t know what he needs. I don’t know how to make him happy…but I try. I’m trying…”
“…Yer an idiot, girly.”
She looked up to see the elder kobold walking away without another word. Her eyes fell to Hoppit, the ferrorabbit pressing himself against her as much as he could. He was small, thin, soft, and growing weaker by the day, but he never let it keep him down for long. No, he always showed his best for her, giving her joy that wasn’t provided anywhere else. She saw the thin cuts and dried blood, though she didn’t know where they came from, nor how he got out of the shed in the first place. But that was okay. Hoppit was okay, and she had Hoppit, so everything was okay, right?
…But how much longer would everything stay okay? How much longer until her efforts weren’t enough, and she was left desperately reaching for fading memories of what once was? How much longer until she killed her baby too?
How much longer until she was alone again?
Soft footsteps drew near, pulling her from the spiralling thoughts that threatened to gnaw at her soul. Damp, blurry eyes fell on Makis returning with a small wooden crate, the older kobold stopping a few steps away. He dropped the box, a deep, rattling thud produced as it impacted the ground, making Hoppit flinch in her arms. Ceele blinked as she kept him calm, then blinked again, looking up at the man for answers.
“The name, girly,” he spat in irritation. “Ferrorabbit. Ther’ Earth aligned creatures; they need metals. They don’t care where they get it, but they need lots of it. Iron, copper, tin, lead—raw crystal, if they can find it. You name it, they’ll take a chunk out of it. It's why they bother farmers so much; the best soil’s usually top’a gem deposits, ‘n the little bastards have no issue burrowing deep to get it. Dries up the element’s energy ‘n makes the crops weak.”
Ceele’s mouth opened and closed, each unsuccessful attempt to speak making her feel smaller and smaller. More and more lost. Why was he telling her this? How did he know? What was in the—
He kicked the crate with the side of his foot. “Scraps. Don’t’cha look at me like that. I’m a smith, girly. I might be old and retired, but I still work a forge. Now, this ain’t anything pure—it’s just slag and hunks—but I’m sure the critter won’t mind. Your little gardenin’ project pays off, ‘n I’ll see which of my contacts can get in some better ore.”
She ripped her eyes away from the box and met the perpetual scowl of the old kobold, seeing a warmth behind the hostility that she had never noticed before. “…Why?”
He scoffed in amusement, which looked somewhat menacing on such a hardened expression. “Yer a touch stupid, girly, but the missus adores ya, ‘n yer a good worker.” A shadow of a smile formed on his face. “Hira spent more evenings asking ‘bout how the plots are doin’ than I got time in the day. She’d bite my head off if I noticed a critter like that sufferin’ and didn’t lend a hand. ‘Specially when it’s obvious you ain’t tryin’ ta hurt the thing.”
“B-but the garden… Isn’t he a problem?”
Makis rolled his eyes, turning with a dismissive wave of his hand. “If he was, he’da killed it by now. I’d say he’s been keepin’ the others clear ‘n got scratched up for the trouble. That’s more reason to feed ‘em right in my eyes; pay the poor bastard his dues.” He paused after a few steps, shooting her one last incredulous glance. “‘N the rabbit’s right. You’re not much better off than he is. Eat. Before the missus takes my head, preferably. I ain’t need ta hear her worryin’ over you more than I already do.”
And with that, he walked off back to the house, leaving Ceele to sit stunned on the ground with Hoppit quietly nuzzling into her.
“Hoppit…?”
The ferrorabbit perked an ear and gently licked her collar. Fresh tears ran rivulets down her face, yet they didn’t weigh her down. They felt freeing. She adjusted her hold on the rabbit and held him out, taking in the small cuts and numerous other injuries she had never noticed before. He stared back at her with worried eyes.
“You’ve been busy, huh?” she cooed quietly, doing her best to keep her voice from cracking. He shrunk in her hands. “I told you to stay home, baby. What if something happened to you? I wouldn’t know where you went, and…”
Her protests died out as she saw what was unmistakably guilt on his little face. She brought him back to her chest and cleared her throat.
“It’s alright, Hoppit. If… If you want to help momma, then we can work together, okay? Just…please don’t go off getting hurt… I don’t know what I’d do without you…” The rabbit didn’t reply, and she was pretty sure she had never heard him make any sounds that weren’t his happy little ear clacks, but she chose to interpret the nuzzling as an agreement. “Such a smart boy…”
She took a breath and wiped off the excess moisture from her cheeks, setting Hoppit down on the ground. “Let’s bring Mr. Makis’ gift in, and then I need to go get more water so we can clean you up, okay?”
He bounced his way to the door of their home, waiting patiently for her to lug the surprisingly heavy crate into the shed. He was even still behaving himself by the time she returned from picking up the things she dropped in her haste. There wasn’t a single protest from the ferrorabbit as she washed over his wounds with warm water, nor when she asked him to wait as she cut up a small salad for him using an extra portion of her rationed vegetables. Finally, once everything else was gone, she tentatively sifted through the box until she found a chunk of something that didn’t look so sharp, then offered it to Hoppit skeptically.
As startling as it was to see him bite through metal without issue, she couldn’t help but tear up again at how pleased he looked with the bizarre addition to his diet. He munched through the first piece, then stared at the box while pawing at the air, asking for more. She obliged through wet laughs, feeling lighter than she had since he first gazed at her from his burrow, alone and afraid, just like she was.
Her little baby was happy, and that made it okay.
Next
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A/N: Thank you to my Patrons, new and returning! No Thanks, Emmanuel, and Megathor join the others who get to read 1 chap ahead!