So I’m planning out the classes i wanna take for the last three years and I’m looking to major in biomedical sciences (premed track). The only medicine-related APs my school are AP bio and chem and pysch ig. I alr took ap physics and I am not looking to take more physics 💀. I’ll have more free space in my schedule by senior year and i could either fill it up with stuff like AP gov and politics/APES or with normal level classes like Biotechnology , which i think would be more helpful for the major im looking for. Would it look bad for college Apps If instead of taking more APs, i take normal level classes?

So I’ve had the worst pride month so far and just need to vent, buckle in cause this is an EXTREMLY long one.
Some backstory I (17f soon to be 18) have known I was into women since as young as 13, I had unlimited access to the internet and knew about different sexualities so it was very easy for me, well for the longest while I went by pansexual. I had come out to my mom almost a year ago as her and I were always close, well she just didn’t care and almost pretended like I didn’t. This year however I realized that I was actually a lesbian and came out to her and 2 weeks before pride month, it didn’t go all to well and our relationship is a bit strained but it was fine until this past weekend.
Onto the worst pride month of my life:
Saturday June 1st:
Well comes June first, I worked at 6am and got home at 12, I had a rough day at work and was just ready to relax, well my mom and I step out the car and suddenly I am being cornered by my ex step-father (him and my mom broke up about 6 months ago at this point and he already moved out months ago). Apparently he found my socials which clearly state I’m a lesbian and felt it was his “duty” to tell my mom even though they aren’t together any more 😒. He proceeded to tell her had had screenshots and blah blah blah in case I tried to deny it but obviously I didn’t because my mom already knew.
WELL she threw me under the bust and pretended she didn’t know just to appease him, I was annoyed by this so I just went inside to my room and locked my door. Well about 10-15 minutes later she comes banging on my door and is fuming with me, apparently my ex step-father didn’t want my brothers (I have 4 brothers who are his kids) living with me and was threatening to take them and it was my fault. She blamed me for everything saying I ruined her life (yes HER life, not mine who has just been outed, HERS) she forced me to take down all gay stuff from my accounts and I ended up setting them to private them.
Well later my my ex-stepfather starts calling my phone, I don’t answer obviously so he sends my brother to come call me so we can talk (I later found out he outed me to my brothers as well and asked them if they knew I was a lesbian, not cool dude 😒). Well he surprised me by talking about how he raised me since I was 2, and didn’t care what identified as and loved me regardless (dude never apologized for what he said or did but I’ll give him a pass). Well he was about to say something else, when his mother started CRYING saying him leaving ruined her life, (Yes his mom still lives with us, that’s a whole story in itself) so he left. I had one more fight with my mom about everything and then that was the end of day 1, Yep just day 1, more shit happened on day 2 and 3.
Sunday June 2nd:
So it is now June second and obviously I was pretty upset considering the events on the previous day as not only was it pride month but my 18th was only a month away, I had work that day but called out because after the shit show the day prior I was NOT in any place mentally to go to work (about 80% of my co-workers are apart of the lgbtqia+ community and I knew seeing them all happy about pride month would make me upset). So instead I went out with a friend as we had already prior made plans to go thrifting that day before I had work and after the day I had the other day this was just what I needed. Well it was a fun and eventful day ending with us getting lost and (once again a story for another day). Well I get back home and ex-stepfather is in the kitchen? I say good evening out of respect and head to my room when DAMN I’m being cornered AGAIN, I thankfully got to relax a little before I was attacked but suddenly my mom comes to my room and is furious.
Apparently my ex-stepfathers sister had found out (who lives all the way in Jamaica by the way, and this went down in Canada) and was nagging my mom about it and blaming my ex-stepfather for me being a lesbian and my mom was not happy about it. (Yes she is still in contact with his family, and the reason she blames him is cause he cheated and treated my mom horribly so she thinks he made me hate men 😒).
My mom was mad he was getting blamed for me being a lesbian, and for me being hostile with him the day before and today (yes she still loves him, once again another story, I feel like at this rate I should create a post for these 😂). This starts an argument between us because I tell her he had no right to out me to my brothers or her, even if she already knew (I don’t know if anyone else knows) She once again talks about how she’s struggling with this and I accidentally sigh out loud (I mean common though if you’re struggling then what about me) well one thing leads to another and we end up fighting, she tries to say I can’t be a lesbian because I dated my ex boyfriend (even though he was the only guy I ever dated before realizing I was lesbian and we’ve had numerous conversations where I told her that she made me feel pressured to date him). Well the fight got super heated and I did say something I’m not proud of after she told me to go read a bible, this resulted in her telling my to call my dad to pick me up so I can stay with him for a while (this is legally allowed as he does have part custody of me and I turn 18 in July)
Eventually after slamming doors and me almost calling my father, we calm down and have a talk (I still live with her currently) the conversation didn’t really go anywhere and we did end up fighting again, this time over different religious views and me talking about how I felt pressured by her to date my ex. The conversation ended because we had to pick up my sister from work and we never picked it up again, it’s still feels like she wasn’t trying to understand me, but I was too exhausted to put any more effort in.
Monday June 3rd:
Never fear this is the last day of the saga and it thankfully was happy, in the end.
Well, it’s Monday and I have to go back to school and it’s also my Bio fathers birthday (which I totally forgot about due to the prior days events and felt extremely bad), I thought I was ok but after a couple pride month announcements, I ended up leaving class and had a breakdown in the hallway (I’m ok now, all the weekends events just finally caught up to me that day). Well, I was found by some teachers and was brought to guidance to talk to somebody after I went back to class and and talked to my teacher about everything who offered me her support (she is an absolute sweetheart, and I love her so much🩷).
Well, I made the executive decision to just tell my father because considering the fact that people in Jamaica were finding out he was going to find out at some point and I wanted him to find out from me (I did intend on telling him, just after my 18th in July incase things went south with my mom, which they almost did).
I sent him a text and turned off my phone for the day, thankfully his response was much more loving than my mothers and he told me he loved me regardless, he picked me up from my moms and we ended up spending the day together and later on we picked up my sister and watched a movie together. I didn’t speak much to my mom this day, aside from telling her I was going out with him.
Well this is it so far, it’s been 6 days but I still can’t get over everything so I just wanted to vent. As of right now my relationship with my mom is improving but still strained and I don’t think it will ever go back to how it was before. Especially considering the fact that my father was very accepting of me, and even my ex-stepfather was more accepting of me than her despite the way he initially reacted.
Well, this is it if you somehow read this entire thing and thank WOW and thank you. If anyone wants clarification, feel free to ask and I’ll edit them onto the post. Also if anyone is curious, I am more than willing to talk about some of the other stories of my family (Trust me it gets CRAZY)

I'm a 20 years old boy, suffering to study in college, In a major that I don't want, and suffering from mental health issues( like, I get extreme anxiety and extremely physically and mentally agitated if not coped with practices like meditation and awareness of breath), (medications and CBT psychoterapy are not helping much)
and personal questions, along with existential/spiritual issues, and "adhdlike" symptoms.. I'm also level 1 autistic, diagnosed when I was a kid. These kinds of issues began in my first year of high school.
And I feel a need to stop using social media as much as I wish, as I can, and living alone in a house or with a relative or friend or whatever, and just dedicate the next 5 years to developing the habit of meditation and introspection and writing down thoughts and feelings, connect more with myself, find inner peace and become less susceptible to outside influences, opinions and views, and less prone to absorving everything that I hear or read like a sponge, like an inner urge to become an "actual thinker, a real/true free thinker, an actual ""Rene Descartes"" , let's say. And discover myself and prepare myself and my mental health, reducing my anxiety and dysfunctional executive symptoms, and read, watch videos and learn about topics that interest me inside a comfortable home without too much external contact, even with family. But still keep in contact with people that I love, and with society
And play videogames, start reducing social media usage and instead start enjoying single player, maybe even Minecraft, with a peace of mind and content.
Unfortunately, this is an idealization in my mind, since as humans in a society, we need to work, find a degree, fit in and such. The only way I could not focus on job or college right now, would be through that the financial help from my mother.
My mother died of cancer this year, and as a single child with mental health conditions , here in my country I have a right for a lifetime pension that would be kinda like my mother's retirement money(don't know how much per month). Relatives that I trust and love are helping me with this issue already.
Krishnamurti is an author and thinker who influeced myself to have this inner desire and internal planning like this. 5 years is an arbitrary number that I chose, don't consciously know why I fixated on the number 5 in the long-term.
What kind of therapist could help me?

So I came across a post recently, where the person asked what we would want in a warrior's game, and it got me to remember a document I had made ages ago now regarding that. Now warning, this post is extremely long, and much of what I've written down probably isn't possible to achive (I'm no game develouper). But if you're curious, and find something you like on this list that's do-able, then feel free to run with it, cause I would love to see this in action. (Sorry for any weird spelling/grammar, this is my second language).
Character Creation:
Breed:
-Pureblood.
-Mixed between 2 (choose which trait you want from which breed).
-A specific breed with some minor differences/changes, due to mix breeding.
-A mix of several breeds (from 6 to 10 different breeds, choosing between which trait/look you want from which breed).
-Normal house cat (breeds unknown/unrecognizable/unimportant, free to choose whatever looks/traits from whatever breed).
Fur:
Patterns:
-Single color (with/without different areas with lightedarker markings).
-Single color, except for one, partly or fully, different colored body part.
-Two colors (choose where you want which color to be and the size and shape of the different colors).
-Tabby (choose if the markings are paler or darker in color compared to the main, solid one): Spotted, Classic, Mackerel, Ticked, Patched Tabby markings (in regards to the patched tabby, the player can choose where they want which color to be and the size and shape of the patched areas).
-Multi Colored: Tortoiseshell (bridled, patched), Calico (traditional, dilute, patched tabby). The player can choose where they want which color to be and the size and shape.
-Color Points: Lynx, Seal-Mink, Seal-Point, Seal-Solid.
Colors: Amber, light amber, smoke, black, blue, caramel, caramel 2, chocolate, lilac, cinnamon, fawn, light brown, red, ginger, cream, apricot, orange, white.
-Albino (half or full).
Choose realistic or unrealistic color patterns/combinations (unrealistic = the colors themselves are realistic ones that naturally show up in cats, but the colopattern combinations that can be mixed together aren’t).
Volume, Amount, Length, Appearance:
-Thick, dense, thin.
-Long, medium, short.
-Curly, glossy, wirehair, normal, fluffy.
-Extra fur around the neck, between toes and inside/on top of ears.
-Double layer coat.
-Hairless.
Build:
-Height: Small, big, normal, between small/normal and normal/big (a bar the player can slide to adjust the size).
-Shape: Skinny, lean, sturdy, muscular.
Looks:
Eyes:
-Color: Gray, yellow-gray, blue-gray, blue, blue-green, green, hazel, yellow, amber, orange, brown, red.
-In each: The same color in both eyes, complete heterochromia, sectoral heterochromia in both eyes, one eye with complete heterochromia and one with sectoral heterochromia.
-Shape: Almond, round, oval.
Nose:
-Shape: Flat, normal.
-Color(s).
Whiskers:
-Length.
-Shape: Straight, curly.
Legs:
Length: Hind legs can be longer than the front legs or all 4 can be of the same length.
Tail:
-Length.
-Look: Plump, feathery, thin, bushy or stumpy/bobbed.
-Tailless.
Ears:
-Size.
-Shape: Rounded, folded, floppy, loosely folded, curled (from 90 to 180 degrees), straight.
Shoulders:
-Size: Broad or normal.
Face:
-Shape: Flat (mild, moderate, profound, severe), round, triangle, square.
Scars: Choose the length, shape, how visible they are, where they are, the amount. (Some will show up after battle practice, and the others after fighting).
Mutation:
Face: Half the player character’s face is a darker color, the other half is a lighter one (the player can choose the two colors).
Paws:
-Split-foot (syndactyly).
-Extra number of toes - only front paws, or with back legs as well - , 4 to 7 on each (Polydactyly).
-Thumb-cat - 1 or more extra toes around the dew claw specifically - (Polydactyly).
Pelt: Vitiligo (players can choose between a spotted pattern, whole areas turning white, or both, and how much of the white color takes over).
Ears: Four ears.
Tail: Shortened and kinked (japanese bobtail gene), no tail (manx tailless gene).
Size: Dwarfism (dwarf cat gene).
Others:
-Missing body part.
-Reduced or complete loss of hearing or vision (one eaeye can also be completely gone - senses vice - while another is reduced, one eaeye can be gone/reduced while the other one is working, one ear and one eye each can be gone/reduced, and both eyes and both ears be gone/reduced. Although, I must admit, I have no idea how it would work gameplay vice if a character is completely blind and deaf, or has one eye/ear with reduced vision/hearing while the other 3 are completely gone).
Any missing/partly missing body part, mutation or reduced/complete loss of the senses will make the game harder and can cause the player character to go through a special training arc.
Other Choices:
Clan. (Player’s choice, or take an in-game test with the possibility of getting more than 1 clan as an answer - making the player a half-clan cat if they go with that, with the clan they got the highest percentage of being the clan the character is born in).
Blood ties: Full blooded, half-blooded cats (the player can choose what trait/skills they want from each clan. It will cause the player character to have a longer apprenticeship in order to prove the player character’s loyalty and dedication as gaining the trust of their fellow clanmates will be harder).
The half-clan option can lead to several different possible outcomes for the parents, the player character and siblings depending on how the player played the game and how well and how many in-game characters trust and like the player character unless the player chooses something specific. The player can also choose how far back in the family tree the half-clan blood runs and who (if only one) of the parents has it.
Family situation:
-If the player character’s parents live in different clans, if one of them moved to the other’s, if they’re still together and if they get along or not, if one or both of them found another mate, and if they end up switching clans at some point during the playthrough.
-Whether the player character grows up with their mother’s or father’s clan (if the parent’s lives in different clans. The game will provide the player character with a foster mother and siblings if the player chooses the father’s clan).
-If the player character grows up with siblings, and whether or not none, some of or all of their siblings live with the player character (if the parent’s live in different clans), and if the player character knows about their other siblings - and if the siblings knows about them, or only the siblings know - if they do live in different clans.
-The player can also choose if their character and clan knows or is unaware about the fact that they are half-clan (the player can also choose if only the clan or only the player character is aware/unaware of it).
-Parent(s) with half-blood (what traits they have from each clan, and if they’re in one of the clans they have blood ties to, or in one of the other three. If they are in one of the other clans this will give the player the opportunity to add traits from said third clan to their character, deciding how many/few traits the player character gets from each clan, as long as one of the player character’s other parent has blood ties to the third clan).
Most traits from=check off 6 boxes, some traits from=check off 4 boxes, few traits from=check off 2 boxes. In case of half-clans the player can check off 6 boxes from each side/clans, or remove some from one side and spend them on the other. If both parents have blood from the same clan, that clan/side has to be what the player character has the most filled out boxes from.
-What role the player character’s parents have (including being a medicine cat. The different roles affect how the player character is treated).
Character vice:
-Gender.

• The Medicine cat path.
  
• The Warrior path.
  
• If the player character ends up becoming leader or not.
  
• The player character’s voice.
  

-The player character’s name (either the whole name or just the first part, in which case the second part will be given based on your dialogue choices/reputation and what specific skill(s) the player character excels at).
-Choose what the player wants their character to be honored for during the full name ceremony or have the game choose based on the player character’s game-play/performance (same with what lives the player character receives if they become clan leader).
Likes/Dislikes/Preferences, player character vice and npc vice:
-Fur color(s)/pattern, eye color, build, gender and personality regarding npc’s.
-Sayings/expressions.
-Rival clans.
-Other ranks within the clan.
-Half-clan cats.
-Places.
-Prey.
-Weather.
-Seasons.
How player character feels about:
-Rouges/loners/kittypets.
-The opposite gender.
-Different personalities.
These choices will affect the dialog options in the game.
After finishing the game the 1st time, the player will be able to go to the menu and choose one of the special powers mentioned in the series (maybe also some new ones) to give to your character. The player can also go into the menu and change it during the play-through if they want. And they can choose to play as a character from the Warriors series.
Possibly other choices:
-The personality of the player character’s parents (if they stay close or grow distant/cold towards the player character. What they feel about their former mate, if they still see the player character as their kit, or regret having them).
-The looks of the player character’s parents (unless they’re the foster family).
-The looks of the player character’s siblings (unless they’re the foster family).
-Number of siblings (unless they’re the foster family).
-The sibling’s names (unless they’re the foster family).
-The sibling’s genders (unless they’re the foster family).
-The personality of the siblings (unless they’re the foster family).
-The future position of the siblings (unless they’re the foster family).
-If the player character and the siblings are half-clan, what traits each of them got from the other clan(s).
-If the player character or one of the siblings are the player character’s parent’s favorite or if everyone gets equal attention/love (regardless if they’re the foster family or not).
-How the player character’s siblings feel about one another and the player character. Who’s their favorite sibling to hang out with, who they don’t get as well along with, if any (regardless if they’re the foster family or not).
-If the player character and the siblings are half-clan, what they feel about being half-clan, what they feel about the way the clan treats them and if they want to, and if they end up, switching clans.
-If one or both of the parents passes away and when (before birth, during your character’s kit-hood, as an apprenticeship, afteshortly after becoming a warrior), giving the player the possibility of being in a clan that mostly don’t trust the player character, with only the player character’s siblings for comfort if the player chose the “parents in different clans” option (if the player choose for both of the parents to pass away or the mom while the player character lives in their clan while the player character is a kit, the game will give the player a foster family).
-An option for it being certain and one for being uncertain about whether or not all of the player character’s siblings survive into adulthood/survive long enough to become elders, and whether or not the player character’s parent(s) survives long enough to become an elder.
-Having the option to start the second playthrough as a kittypet, loner or rogue (full, or part kittypet/rogue, kittypet/clan cat, rogue/clancat, lonekittypet, lonerogue, loneclancat). The player can choose if they encounter the clan through positive or negative reasons. Choose at what age the player character meets the clan. Choose whether the player character’s siblings, all of them or just some, choose to join the clan as well and if they choose to join the same or want to join a different clan.
-Choose which season (and possibly time of day/night) the player character is born in.
-A button that randomly picks every choice the player can make in the “Other Choices and Possibly other choices“ part (apart from the Character vice, Likes/dislikes/preferences and How player character feels about part of the list).
-A button that randomly picks every choice the player can make in the “Character vice, Likes/dislikes/preferences and How player character feels about” parts specifically.
-A button that randomly picks every choice the player can make in the “Character Creation” part.
-A button that randomly picks every choice the player can make in the “Mutation” part.
-A button that randomly picks every choice the player can make.
Every randomize button also gives the player the option to cross out boxes that they don’t want checked off, as well as check off boxes that they do want to specifically get chosen.
-A peace mode where the player can walk around and enjoy the territory without the risk of enemies/events, and possibly the other clan’s territories and camp, watching the in-game characters walk around, performing tasks and interacting with each other without the risk of getting attacked/hurt.
Game-play:
The Warrior Apprentice Path:
-Learn about the warrior code.
-Learn about the territory and its layout-how to use it to the player character’s advantage.
-Learn about predators and how to fight them or stay hidden from them.
-Look for, discover and learn about different tracks and track them.
-Learn about prey and how to detect, sneak up on and catch them as different prey requires different techniques.
-Learn where the borders are.
-Learn where scent marks are.
-Mark the territory.
-Learn to look for signs that someone has crossed the border and/or taken prey from the player character’s clan’s side.
-Master different battle techniques, learning when to attack and defend and what technique the player character can/should use when.
-Train and specialize in player character’s clan abilities:
ThundeShadow/SkyClan: Tree climbing.
ThunderClan: Moving/sneaking through heavy/thick undergrowth.
Shadow/Wind/RiveSkyClan: Sneaking in more open/exposed areas.
ShadowClan: Special night lessons.
RiverClan: Swimming and fishing lessons and fighting in water.
WindClan: Races and obstacle course.
SkyClan: Jumping/leaping lessons.
-Learn and detect the different scents of prey and predators, if it’s stale or fresh, and what kind of prey/predator it is, rivaling clans, dogs, two-legs and non-clan cats.
-Learn how to deal with cats waiting at the border.
-Collect moss and water.
-Fixing dens and nests.
-Removing ticks.
-Keep guard outside the player character clan’s camp (After the first playthrough the player can go into the menu and shorten the amount of time it will take).
-Learn about the important cats from rival clans (leader, deputy, medicine cat, medicine cat apprentice), their scent and their clan’s specialties and weaknesses, and how to best beat them.
-Protect the kits and elders during camp raids.
-Travel with the player character’s mentor to the Moonstone and survive in the area outside the player character’s clan territory (Scripted so that different things can happen on different trips, so two trips in a row is rarely the same. After the first playthrough the player can go into the menu and shorten the amount of time the journey will take).
-Race to the camp to warn the player character’s clan leader about surprise attacks, possibly outrunning a pursuer.
-Attend Gatherings and meet and mingle with other apprentices and make sure not to give anything important away.
-Train/fight against the player character’s fellow denmates while inside camp.
-Bring prey to queens and elders.
-Pass the warrior assignment (skippable).
After the first playthrough the player can choose from the menu to skip the parts where the player character learns about the territory, detecting/tracking/finding, prey and predators, hunting ,scent marks/borders, fighting/ battle techniques, cats waiting at the border and trespassers/signs of it, shortening the player’s time as an apprentice.
The Medicine Cat Apprentice Path:
-Learn about the medicine cat code.
-Learn about the territory and its layout-knowing where to find which herb and when they grow/are in season.
-Master basic battle techniques and when to use which.
-Attend Gatherings.
-Learn the scent of different herbs, predators and other cats and how to detect them.
-Learn the names of different herbs.
-Learn what the herbs look like.
-Learn what the different herbs do.
-Learn how to prepare different herbs.
-Learn how to make poultices.
-Learn what’s dangerous and not.
-Learn about different complications and stuff that can go wrong and what to do.
-Learn how to heal different wounds (keeping infection away), diseases and poisons.
-Learn to recognize symptoms for different diseases and keep it from spreading.
-Travel to the Moonstone (Scripted so that different things can happen on different trips, so two trips in a row is rarely the same. After the first playthrough the player can go into the menu and shorten the amount of time the journey will take).
-Receive dreams/warnings/prophecies/omens from StarClan.
-Learn to assist queens giving birth.
-Learn how to deal with different patients.
-Make sure the plants don’t get destroyed or rot.
-Assist and go over the player character’s clanmates after a battle.
After the first playthrough the player can choose from the menu to skip the parts where the player character learns about the different herbs, injuries, illnesses, territory, fighting, kitting, predators, detecting, poultices, complications, preparation and prevention, shortening the player’s time as an apprentice.
The Warrior Path:
-Pick up interesting news and whispers at Gatherings without getting detected.
-Stand guard duty at night and after the player character receives their full name (Skippable, but the player can also, after the first playthrough, go into the menu and shorten the amount of time those nights will take).
-Lead patrols and decide where to hunt.
-Report back to the leader about any events outside of camp.
-Become a mentor (the player can ask for a specific kit. Mentorship is partly skippable: ceremony - both for the player character’s apprentice apprentices and warrior ceremony and assignment, as well as teaching the player character’s apprentice about territory, detecting/tracking/finding, prey and predators, hunting ,scent marks/borders, fighting/ battle techniques, cats waiting at the border and trespassers/signs of it).
-Make sure the player character’s clan has enough prey.
-Help the player character’s clan through battles and harsh seasons.
-If the player wants to find a mate and start a family, name some of the kits and watch them grow into warriors or a medicine cat.
-Go to other clans in times of war and ask for assistance.
-Join a patrol led by the player character’s leader to another clan’s camp.
-Help find lost kits.
-Rush to help during a border fight.
-Deal with trespassing non-clan cats or predators.
-Perform escort missions.
-Do side quests like playing with kits, rebuild/enforce dens and the camp wall, help out friends within or outside the clan and learn about their past, dreams and secrets.
-Share tongue with the in-game characters.
-Build the player character’s reputation and popularity and increase the chances of them getting chosen as deputy.
-Take the player character’s apprentice to Gatherings and tell them about other cats.
-Take the player character’s apprentice to the Moonstone (Scripted so that different things can happen on different trips, so two trips in a row is rarely the same. After the first playthrough the player can go into the menu and shorten the amount of time the journey will take).
-Go on missions from StarClan.
-Guard any potionsoal prisoners.
The Deputy Path:
-Organize patrols (skippable, in which case the game will pick random npc’s).
-Report to and stand by the clan leader.
-Go on behalf of the clan leader to the gathering, or to deliver important messages to the other clans.
-Step in whenever the clan leader is away from camp.
Ceremony skippable.
The Leader Path:
-Go to the Moonstone and receive 9 lives (skippable, in which case the game will choose what lives the player character gets based on the actions they have taken and who they have supported).
-Choose the clan’s new deputy (skippable, in which case the game will pick the most suitable npc based on the in-game character’s personalities. But, the player can also have the game choose among only certain npc’s based on the player’s specific preferences, like: a cat that can challenge them, a cat that stands by them, a cat the player can teach/mold themselves, a cat that doesn’t need any guidance/help within the new role).
-Make decisions affecting just the player character’s clan or several.
-Get help and guidance from the medicine cat and elders.
-Travel to the other camps to discuss clan matters with that clan’s leader.
-Convince the npc’s about the decisions the player character made.
-Handle any negative feedback from the player character’s decisions, the player character’s popularity (both in the player character’s own and the other clans), and face any challenges about the player character’s leadership.
-Give reports at Gatherings (the player chooses how much they want to tell and what they want to hold back) and solve any possible outbursts.
-Listen to and decide what to do with rival clan cats or non-clan cats coming into the camp.
-Make sure the warrior code is being followed and punish rule breakers accordingly after hearing their explanation, if the player finds that necessary.
-Enter StarClan and receive tips, guidance, encouragement or comfort when the player character loses one of their 9 lives depending on what claimed one of their lives (skippable).
-Hold apprentice ceremonies and assign mentors (skippable, in which case the game will assign the newly made apprentice a mentor).
-Give warriors their full name and choose what to honor them for based on the reports from their mentors (skippable, in which case the game will choose a name based on the npc’s actions/personality).
-Guide and boost the warriors’ spirits during challenging/harsh times.
-Negotiate with rival clan leaders for the safe return of any imprisoned clanmates.
The Medicine Cat Path:
-Make sure there are enough herbs.
-Make sure the herbs are fresh.
-Keep as many of the player character’s clanmates as safe as possible during outbreaks and take precautions.
-Give advice to other medicine cats and/or pick up tips.
-Go to another clan and help their medicine cat (bringing herbs if necessary).
-Pick the herbs that might be needed before leaf-bare kicks in.
-Make sure the player character’s have enough herbs before a planned battle.
-Walk with the cats in StarClan, asking them for advice/guidance.
-Help elders and kits through leaf-bare.
-Make sure the player character’s clanmates get what they need in both herbs and knowledge before going on a long journey.
-Go to the Moonstone with the clan’s newly appointed leader (skippable).
-Get through a hard season with only a few herbs (be it having many different ones but few in numbers of each, many in numbers but few in types, or both few types and low in number.
-Race out of camp to help seriously injured clancats, cats who have accidentally eaten something poisonous, or queens giving birth too early.
-Break heavy news and comfort life changing, seriously injured or ill cats (or family members/mates of mentioned cats), and help train them back up again if recovery is possible/if they survive.
-Prepare fallen clanmates on their way to StarClan (skippable).
-Become the clan’s sole medicine cat (skippable).
-Train an apprentice and give them their full name based on their performance (skippable, in which case the game will choose a name based on the in-game character’s actions. Mentorship is partly skippable: ceremony - both for the player character’s apprentice apprentices and full medicine cat name ceremony, as well as teaching the player character’s apprentice about herbs, injuries, illnesses, territory, fighting, kitting, predators, detecting, poultices, complications, preparation and prevention).
-Help the player character’s clanmates keep faith in StarClan during times of crises.
-Join the player character’s clan leader and clanmates on trips to enemy camps as a show of peace/good faith.
-Share tongue with the in-game characters.
-Take the player character’s apprentice to Gatherings and tell them about other cats.
-Take the player character’s apprentice to the Moonstone every half moon (Scripted so that different things can happen on different trips, so two trips in a row is rarely the same. After the first playthrough you can go into the menu and shorten the amount of time the journey will take).
-Receive omens/prophecies/warnings, and find out which cat/event/clan it refers to.
Small side game:
-The player can play as the spirit of the player’s character, hunting and exploring StarClan or The Dark Forest.
-Get to meet and know the other clan cats the player might not have gotten a chance to in the main game.
-Look over the clan, the next generation in the player character’s family and how they’re doing.
-Visit the player character’s descendants in their dreams.
-Walk around the player character’s old clan camp, and its new members, invisible (and listen in on what kind of stories the player character’s predecessors are telling about them).
-Pass on prophecies/guidance/warnings/omens.
-Take part in meetings between fellow StarClan cats and decide what is best to do for the clans.
-Meet old, famous cats.
-Be part of the 9 cats that give a clan leader their extra lives (the player can choose what the life they give is for).
The Elder Path:
-Telling kits-possibly the player character’s grand or great-grand kits, stories about the player character’s life.
-Spend time and share tongue with the player character’s mate and/or fellow den mates that made it into their senior years.
-Roam freely through the territory whenever.
-Take fallen warriors to the burial place and help bury them.
-Based on the player character’s dialogue/options, the player character can either pass away during a raid on the camp, defending their clan members one last time, or pass away in their sleep during peaceful times.
-A cut scene plays out where the player character hears the voices of old clanmates calling them, and their spirit stands up and walks upwards towards the starry sky.
-As the camera goes from the ground to the sky (birdseye view), the player sees the player character’s clan leader give their speech about the player character at their vigil, and then after zooming further up, the player hears the player character’s clan leader informing the other clans of the player character’s passing during the next Gathering, before the player start playing as a StarClan/Dark Forest cat.
The Kit path:
-Spend some time exploring the camp, playing, make friends, practicing the hunter's crouch, leaping, surprise attacks and wrestling, meeting clanmates and listen to the elder’s stories (after the first playthrough the player can go into the menu and reduce the amount of time the player’s new character(s) spends as a kit).
-If the player character’s spend some time with a specific warrior the odds of that cat becoming the player character’s mentor increases.
-Go through the player character’s apprentice ceremony (skippable).
Playthrough:
-Starts with the player character’s opening their eyes for the first time.
-Encounter different cats outside the player character’s territory.
-During hunting or stealth/sneaking mode make sure not to step on or brush against anything that can make sound or move giving away the player character’s position.
-Make sure the wind is towards the player character, and keep to the shadows if possible.
-Activate a “scent mode”, where the player character gets to see everything in different colors, each color representing a scent (the amount of it telling how old or new it is).
-The player character’s get points based on how well the player character hunts, fights and helps out inside the clan, and if the player character’s do well enough the player character gets taken to Gatherings.
-Getting caught breaking the code will result in punishment.
-Stay a clan cat, switch clan, become a loner, rogue or kittypet (which can cause the player character’s to not end up in StarClan/The Dark Forest).
-The game ends with the player character joining StarClan or The Dark Forest after a lifetime (or 9).
-How your clanmates remember the player character will be based on the player’s choices, how well the player played, and how much they learned.
After the first playthrough the player can choose to start with their new character as a newly made apprentice or warrior (starting with the ceremony).
Other stuff in the game:
-Day/night and seasons cycle.
-Easy, normal, though, challenging and random mode. Makes it so that events such as outbreaks of different illnesses, different natural disasters, harsh/long seasons, prey shortage (and prey getting poisoned/contaminated), conflict/tension, invading forces (other clans/groups of cats/animals), low number of warriors/shortage of new kits being born, losing territory, two/three rival clans joining together to face off against your character’s clan, clanmate(s) trying to overthrow and take over leadership of the player character’s clan, and wars happen a specific amount of time within each mode.
Easy: 0-2 things.
Normal: 3-5 things.
Though: 6-8 things.
Challenging: 9-11 things.
Random lvl button: The game picks (same with the other randomize buttons, the player can cross out the challenge lvl the player doesn't want to be included).
Random events list: Allows the player to cross out events they don’t want to happen, and check off events they specially do want to encounter, before picking a lvl/clicking the random lvl button.
-The player character could end up being taken prisoner if they’re found sneaking around inside another clan’s territory. The player will either have to try to escape, or wait until their clan sacrifices something for the player character’s return.
-If the player character ends up getting too many punishments from getting caught breaking the warrior code too many times, the whole clan can grow to distrust, and eventually, even kick the player character out.
-If npc’s finds the player character on their territory alone often, that rival clan will be on a look out, more hostile/aggressive towards, and talk about/discuss the player character in a negative way during Gatherings (this could have a negative effect on a patrol if the player character is part of a patrol traveling to an enemy camp).
-If the player character has a good reputation, enemy warriors will respect and enemy apprentices might look up to and admire the player character and talk in an positive light and exited way about the player character at Gatherings (this could have a positive effect on a patrol if the player character is part of a patrol traveling to an enemy camp).
-Kits could end up playing pretend as the player character regardless of the distrust/trusted status.
-Follow an evil route and the player character could end up becoming a scary story that keeps disobedient kits inside their dens at night/inside their camp.
-Follow a good route and the player character could end up becoming a popular and exciting bedtime story for the kits.
Stuff that could possibly be different between each playthrough:
-Different cats could end up becoming mates and different she-cats can become queens (also resulting in different kits being born).
-Different characters could end up dying or be named deputy if the player character isn’t.
-Different cats could start off as leaders.
-Different cats could end up being leaders, medicine cats, medicine cat apprentices, and warrior apprentices could have different mentors.
-StarClan can send new, or no, prophecies/warnings.
-Npc’s could keep their personality/alliance throughout the playthroughs, or end up changing, depending on: If they fall in love with an outsider or rival clan member. Who they follow. If they have something against the leadethe way the leader leads the clan, or the player character. What happens to them throughout their lives.
-The leader could turn evil and try to prove the clan’s strength and glory through endless battles, try to drive off one of the other clans, or try to merge several clans into one (and this could be challenges the player character could end up facing if they become the leader).
-The medicine cat could lose faith in or be angry at StarClan, and use their powers/knowledge against the clan or to shatter other npc’s faith in StarClan.
It will be up to the player character to help prevent/solve these npc/leademedicine cat events. The player will have the option to choose if these specific events can happen or not during their different playthroughs.
-Different npc’s could end up trying to befriend, fall for and become rivals (both friendly and non friendly) the player character. This could give npc’s from a playthrough where they weren’t in focus/as important more depth/personality.
There could also possibly be a list over the different npc’s, where the player can cross off if a/some specific npc(‘s) should be more in focus/more important during their playthroughs, and what specific role that/those npc/’s will play.
If the player makes several characters, the player can see them in camp, and on the territory if they’re in the same clan, or during border patrols, Gatherings, attacks, or if they arrive in the player’s current character’s camp with their leader if they’re in different.
Controls:
-The view could be behind/over the shoulder, or through the player character’s eyes, or both switching freely.
-Fighting, battle training, tree climbing, fishing, swimming, leaping, pouncing on prey and obstacle course could be a combination of using the moving buttons and mouse or button clicking).
-The player can save and switch characters whenever they want.
DLC or Sequel:
-At a young age, the player character, and their siblings and mother spot a group of strange cats traveling from the mountains to the moorland and forest area not far from the two-leg place, where the player character’s family lives as loners.
-The player character’s mother makes sure the player character stays well away from them, as blood is suddenly being shed over newly made borders and the prey within, kin attacking kin over the right for space and having prey in their mouths.
-When the player character’s mother passes, the player character must make a choice. Try to survive on their own, or join this strange, rouge group of cats?
-Will the player character stay in the group or leave and try to fend for themselves?
-Does the player character switch alliances to a different group, or do they stay with the group that took the player character in when no one else might have had?
-Learn a new way of life and survival depending on where the player choose to live.
-Try to survive and get enough prey through leaf-bare as hostile strangers and hungry rivaling groups eye the player character’s prey.
-Help keep the campmates safe by helping them fight off intruders with the goal of chasing the player character’s group off.
-Get through harsh seasons and fight off dogs, foxes and badgers.
-Learn how to heal campmates with herbs or help them by training kits and gathering prey.
-Attend their meeting every full moon and learn their history (as a tribe or their personal one) and about the other groups.
-Find a mate, start a family, and fight to protect and keep them alive through storms and diseases.
-Watch them grow into independent adults and expand the family tree.
-Walk in the paw steps of the mysterious mountain cats and become a true wild cat and a part of the early 5 clans.
-A cut-scene at the end of the DLC/Sequel will play, showing the player’s 1st character, or the/one of the character(s) from the same clan the player character is in in this DLC/Sequel, from the main/1st game, as a kit in the nursery, being told a story about one of their earliest ancestors, the character the player just played, in modern ThundeShadow/Wind/RiveSkyClan.

Cover Art <<Previous Start Next >>
GLOSSARY This links to a post on the free section of my Patreon. Note: "Book 1" is chapters 1-59, "Book 2" is chapters 60-133, "Book 3", is 134-193, "Book 4" is CH 194-(ongoing)
Kazue tried not to fret as the dungeon waited for the arrival of their invaders. It took hours after the message arrived for the first group to cross into their territory. Without foreknowledge, and if their territory truly began where most thought it did, there would have been nothing to make this group stand out from others. They didn't even head directly to the town, they skirted well clear of the trading post and made their way down to the trail leading up from the main road, and then came back up along the trail to arrive from the same direction as other groups did.
The first notable anomaly was in the third group to arrive. Mordecai was examining magical auras very carefully, but even he missed it at first. One of the people in this group proved to have a new variation of the token that had been used previously to summon enemies deep into their territory, but it had been tucked away deep into their pack. But as they had to sign up for an entry slot that started the next day, they took rooms in the inn.
And placed their bags down. Unattended. In a dungeon's territory.
The entire contents of the bags were analyzed in an instant, and the odd magic of the talisman was noted. She watched as Mordecai crafted a physical replica and imbued it with an aura that would look like the original to most people. A skilled mage or arcane craftsman would be able to tell the difference if they examined it closely.
While he was doing that, Kazue stole all their potions and replaced them with weaker variants, along with subtly sabotaging other items such as arrows.
If they had done this to normal delvers there may have been repercussions for acting against these people in what appeared to be a safe area. But both by their actions and by carrying summoning tokens with the same traits as the previous enemies had used, these groups had shown themselves to be hostile to the dungeon.
And there are no safe spaces for invaders.
Letting these people enter both routes grated on Kazue's sensibilities and instincts; she knew they were not truly here for any reason other than violence. But Mordecai had a plan, even if he was already modifying it with a new idea because of the tokens. The presence of so many hostiles was also rapidly finishing off their deficit and giving Kazue enough mana to expand their prison.
The next twist came shortly after a hundred invaders had entered their outer territory, and the first few groups had started down each path. Cold fury bloomed in Mordecai, drawing Kazue's attention to the new group. As soon as she recognized two of them, her own ire began to simmer.
The oni was easy to spot, and they recognized the bandit Akuma's face immediately. And walking beside him was a man that neither of them had seen before, but whose likeness had been shown to them. Lord Antoine Demidov.
Kazue wanted to claw their eyes out.
She'd never felt so bloodthirsty before. When they'd been invaded before she'd been scared and angry, but she hadn't felt such a personal hatred of another person. It was hard to not order those two to be attacked immediately, but they needed to follow Mordecai's plan if they wanted to make sure they got everyone.
By the next day, the only groups on the signup boards were those of the invaders.
The day after that, the dungeon began the next stage of their plan.
When the invaders in the trading post awoke that morning, they found it deserted by everyone but them and the town emptied of all supplies and merchandise. The contents that belonged to outsiders were carefully marked so that they could be returned, but they would give no spoils to these people.
Antoine gathered a larger group together and sent in a few scouts followed by some heavily armored muscle, and slowly added more groups to investigate. The shrines were deserted, and the path selection chamber was open, but the pedestal was gone. Instead, the third door was revealed, showing the path to hell.
While the mercenaries scouted the entrance to ensure that no traps waited, the rooms remained quiet. It was only when Antoine and Akuma approached the selection chamber than the dungeon showed its hand.
Two pedestals that flanked the opening into the selection chamber activated, one of them being controlled by Mordecai to display his image. "Invaders. Killers. Murderers." Kazue's illusion hissed at them, channeling her genuine anger into this performance.
Mordecai played opposite to her, cool and unflinching. "Last night, one of the groups you sent in made a slip of the tongue. Now that we know part of your plan, well, we can't prevent you from entering. But we can make it unpleasant. As for the portion of your forces already inside the dungeon, we're going to be spending some time sorting them out from the proper delvers. Hopefully, no innocents will get caught in the way. You should find at least some of them joining you in the sewers, where there are no rules restricting groups. And no rules about fair play."
Antoine sneered, "Do you think to trick me with paltry threats, demon spawn? We've come prepared to cleanse the world of your filth, and we'll burn you and your whores to ash. We prepared for this, thanks to Akuma's recounting of your previous encounter. Men, begin!"
They had obviously trained in this maneuver as various troops began unloading alchemical flasks that were rolled down the slope and into the awaiting darkness. Then an array of tower shields was erected before several mages launched fireballs down into the sewer depths.
The results were less spectacular than they might have hoped, though there was still a multistage explosion. It did not, however, propagate down the sewer the way that the invaders had undoubtedly hoped it would.
Mordecai smiled unpleasantly. "We've had time to prepare as well. Don't think we've neglected to evolve some countermeasures ourselves. Oh, and Lord Antoine Demidov, I know exactly who you are. Don't think of running away, or I will hunt you down. So come on little Tony boy, show me what you've got. One of my wives already beat you up once, maybe I should let the other one have a go at you too?"
And with that provocation complete, both illusions cut off. Mordecai had fibbed a touch in his parting words, his phrasing had implied that they'd evolved ice mold, infamous for its dangerous ability to consume heat and fire to fuel its growth. In fact, the alchemical flasks had been part of Kazue's sabotage and his avatar had been present in the sewer in order to counter the blast of fire.
Antoine's response was fairly predictable, and despite Akuma arguing that they should cut their losses, the prideful young lord had to have his way and ordered his troops to make their way into the dungeon. He at least let the professionals do their job, and they set about countering the slick slope before they actually descended. The dungeon couldn't interfere with the frame they put in front of and inside of the doorway or the ropes attached to the framework, at least, so long as any of it was attended. But eventually, the entire group made its way into the sewers, the deadly spikes carefully broken and a path cleared.
While this was going on, the dungeon was dealing with its other hostile visitors. The various groups were either at the rest spot before the library, the rest spot at the entrance of the mushroom forest on the combat side, or otherwise spread throughout those two zones, as everyone from the day before had the time to clear the first three zones. At the same time that the initial selection room was set for the hell path, every entrance and exit to the library and mushroom forest zones opened to the hidden paths they'd constructed so many months ago. And much like the trading post, the floors were emptied of contents. However, their inhabitants remained, though they were hidden for now.
Leaflets fluttered from the ceiling, all saying the same thing. [We know your intentions, you have been separated and divided. Those who surrender will not be harmed. All others will be eliminated as threats. To surrender, gift the dungeon your weapons and armor.]
Most of the invaders in the dungeon were in large enough groups that confidence and peer pressure dominated. However, a couple of the groups were isolated enough that they chose to not risk being able to make it to another group in time, and a handful of individuals were able to slip away to surrender privately. The tunnels that had previously been used to ensure a healer was always nearby were now used to have the dungeon's warriors surround these groups and take the prisoners away. All told, they had eighteen people surrender. A nearly ten percent reduction in enemy forces before they even engaged in combat.
The forces on the non-combat path were ignored for the moment, to encourage them to make their way into the sewers. The forces on the combat path and not in one of the designated safe spaces were engaged as soon as their intentions were clear, and there was no longer any hint of fairness or encounters meant to merely challenges. They were harried and harassed, constantly assaulted by carefully timed waves to give them no opportunity to rest. And their only exit was through the boss room, while they were still being attacked by the regular floor inhabitants. None of the groups that had been scattered through the forest made it past Sarcomaag and Klastoria despite doing their best to simply fight their way through to the open exit.
Those scattered on the library level faired much better, but a little under half of them fell before they made it to the sewer. Biblios and Horace were injured during their participation in the running battle, but they would have faired much worse if the merged groups had made a stand. Of course, those groups would have lost more people too, and unlike them, the dungeon bosses would be back in action in less than twelve hours. So fighting their way past was the wisest move.
The two merged groups in the safe zones both chose to enter the sewers through the entrance near them, rather than fighting across the floor to skip part of the sewer. It was a rational seeming decision, but if they had fought across the floor, uniting with the small scattered groups might have cost them fewer casualties.
The fighting in the sewers was a slog in more ways than one. In favor of the invaders, these groups were already gathered together into larger forces, and their spellcasters could focus their defensive spells on acid, poison, and disease. But these sewers were hostile lands even to the dungeon inhabitants, and the presence of literal fresh meat attracted the attention of every single predatory scavenger in the sewers. Nothing was safe here; even the crystal flowers had become explosive traps, and the crystal shards had to be removed quickly from any survivors for they acted as quick-growing seeds that would consume the flesh they had been embedded in. Meat was much more nutritious than muck or the acidic bodies of slimes and oozes.
The largest group was the one facing the least resistance, and despite the delay caused by making the entrance ramp safer, they were moving more quickly through the hell route than the groups further on. Which was when the next stage of the trap was sprung.
Such a large group had attracted the attention of everything in the sewers, which also meant that they'd cleared out every significant hostile creature in the sewers. The dungeon's inhabitants in the early zones were entirely unoccupied, so now Mordecai gave them something to do. They flooded into the sewers behind the small army and charged forward.
The first waves were not terribly dangerous to the veteran mercenaries who were now formed up into proper ranks, but there were a lot of them and it now meant that the troops were facing a battle on two fronts. Additionally, as the army cleared the sewers of a particular zone, Mordecai could send in the inhabitants of that zone to join the earlier ones, and every twelve hours he had a new wave available.
And finally, once Mordecai had sent in the first of their inhabitants, Kazue sent a rabkin to fly to their borders and signal the troops that had come from Riverbridge and Azeria in response to their request for aid. These were the final backup plans if the invaders proved more dangerous than Mordecai had estimated. For now, the two sets of troops followed their guides, stalking the tail end of the army from the safety of the dungeon's normal paths.
While the invaders slogged their way forward under constant assault, there was still the matter of the talismans to deal with.
<<Previous Start Next >>
Also to be found on Royal Road.
My Patreon My Discord Top Web Novels - Romance.io - TVTropes
$3. : 10 Early chapters, lore excerpts $5. : 20 Early chapters, Short Stories $10 : 30+ Early chapters, New stories not published anywhere else (Until after I finish this story at least) . . . . . "A Girl and Her Dungeon", "The Celestine Fox", and AU Core 1: "Coreless"

So I’ve had the worst pride month so far and just need to vent, buckle in cause this is an EXTREMLY long one.
Some backstory I (17f soon to be 18) have known I was into women since as young as 13, I had unlimited access to the internet and knew about different sexualities so it was very easy for me, well for the longest while I went by pansexual. I had come out to my mom almost a year ago as her and I were always close, well she just didn’t care and almost pretended like I didn’t. This year however I realized that I was actually a lesbian and came out to her and 2 weeks before pride month, it didn’t go all to well and our relationship is a bit strained but it was fine until this past weekend.
Onto the worst pride month of my life:
Saturday June 1st:
Well comes June first, I worked at 6am and got home at 12, I had a rough day at work and was just ready to relax, well my mom and I step out the car and suddenly I am being cornered by my ex step-father (him and my mom broke up about 6 months ago at this point and he already moved out months ago). Apparently he found my socials which clearly state I’m a lesbian and felt it was his “duty” to tell my mom even though they aren’t together any more 😒. He proceeded to tell her had had screenshots and blah blah blah in case I tried to deny it but obviously I didn’t because my mom already knew.
WELL she threw me under the bust and pretended she didn’t know just to appease him, I was annoyed by this so I just went inside to my room and locked my door. Well about 10-15 minutes later she comes banging on my door and is fuming with me, apparently my ex step-father didn’t want my brothers (I have 4 brothers who are his kids) living with me and was threatening to take them and it was my fault. She blamed me for everything saying I ruined her life (yes HER life, not mine who has just been outed, HERS) she forced me to take down all gay stuff from my accounts and I ended up setting them to private them.
Well later my my ex-stepfather starts calling my phone, I don’t answer obviously so he sends my brother to come call me so we can talk (I later found out he outed me to my brothers as well and asked them if they knew I was a lesbian, not cool dude 😒). Well he surprised me by talking about how he raised me since I was 2, and didn’t care what identified as and loved me regardless (dude never apologized for what he said or did but I’ll give him a pass). Well he was about to say something else, when his mother started CRYING saying him leaving ruined her life, (Yes his mom still lives with us, that’s a whole story in itself) so he left. I had one more fight with my mom about everything and then that was the end of day 1, Yep just day 1, more shit happened on day 2 and 3.
Sunday June 2nd:
So it is now June second and obviously I was pretty upset considering the events on the previous day as not only was it pride month but my 18th was only a month away, I had work that day but called out because after the shit show the day prior I was NOT in any place mentally to go to work (about 80% of my co-workers are apart of the lgbtqia+ community and I knew seeing them all happy about pride month would make me upset). So instead I went out with a friend as we had already prior made plans to go thrifting that day before I had work and after the day I had the other day this was just what I needed. Well it was a fun and eventful day ending with us getting lost and (once again a story for another day). Well I get back home and ex-stepfather is in the kitchen? I say good evening out of respect and head to my room when DAMN I’m being cornered AGAIN, I thankfully got to relax a little before I was attacked but suddenly my mom comes to my room and is furious.
Apparently my ex-stepfathers sister had found out (who lives all the way in Jamaica by the way, and this went down in Canada) and was nagging my mom about it and blaming my ex-stepfather for me being a lesbian and my mom was not happy about it. (Yes she is still in contact with his family, and the reason she blames him is cause he cheated and treated my mom horribly so she thinks he made me hate men 😒).
My mom was mad he was getting blamed for me being a lesbian, and for me being hostile with him the day before and today (yes she still loves him, once again another story, I feel like at this rate I should create a post for these 😂). This starts an argument between us because I tell her he had no right to out me to my brothers or her, even if she already knew (I don’t know if anyone else knows) She once again talks about how she’s struggling with this and I accidentally sigh out loud (I mean common though if you’re struggling then what about me) well one thing leads to another and we end up fighting, she tries to say I can’t be a lesbian because I dated my ex boyfriend (even though he was the only guy I ever dated before realizing I was lesbian and we’ve had numerous conversations where I told her that she made me feel pressured to date him). Well the fight got super heated and I did say something I’m not proud of after she told me to go read a bible, this resulted in her telling my to call my dad to pick me up so I can stay with him for a while (this is legally allowed as he does have part custody of me and I turn 18 in July)
Eventually after slamming doors and me almost calling my father, we calm down and have a talk (I still live with her currently) the conversation didn’t really go anywhere and we did end up fighting again, this time over different religious views and me talking about how I felt pressured by her to date my ex. The conversation ended because we had to pick up my sister from work and we never picked it up again, it’s still feels like she wasn’t trying to understand me, but I was too exhausted to put any more effort in.
Monday June 3rd:
Never fear this is the last day of the saga and it thankfully was happy, in the end.
Well, it’s Monday and I have to go back to school and it’s also my Bio fathers birthday (which I totally forgot about due to the prior days events and felt extremely bad), I thought I was ok but after a couple pride month announcements, I ended up leaving class and had a breakdown in the hallway (I’m ok now, all the weekends events just finally caught up to me that day). Well, I was found by some teachers and was brought to guidance to talk to somebody after I went back to class and and talked to my teacher about everything who offered me her support (she is an absolute sweetheart, and I love her so much🩷).
Well, I made the executive decision to just tell my father because considering the fact that people in Jamaica were finding out he was going to find out at some point and I wanted him to find out from me (I did intend on telling him, just after my 18th in July incase things went south with my mom, which they almost did).
I sent him a text and turned off my phone for the day, thankfully his response was much more loving than my mothers and he told me he loved me regardless, he picked me up from my moms and we ended up spending the day together and later on we picked up my sister and watched a movie together. I didn’t speak much to my mom this day, aside from telling her I was going out with him.
Well this is it so far, it’s been 6 days but I still can’t get over everything so I just wanted to vent. As of right now my relationship with my mom is improving but still strained and I don’t think it will ever go back to how it was before. Especially considering the fact that my father was very accepting of me, and even my ex-stepfather was more accepting of me than her despite the way he initially reacted.
Well, this is it if you somehow read this entire thing and thank WOW and thank you. If anyone wants clarification, feel free to ask and I’ll edit them onto the post. Also if anyone is curious, I am more than willing to talk about some of the other stories of my family (Trust me it gets CRAZY)

So I’ve had the worst pride month so far and just need to vent, buckle in cause this is an EXTREMLY long one.
Some backstory I (17f soon to be 18) have known I was into women since as young as 13, I had unlimited access to the internet and knew about different sexualities so it was very easy for me, well for the longest while I went by pansexual. I had come out to my mom almost a year ago as her and I were always close, well she just didn’t care and almost pretended like I didn’t. This year however I realized that I was actually a lesbian and came out to her and 2 weeks before pride month, it didn’t go all to well and our relationship is a bit strained but it was fine until this past weekend.
Onto the worst pride month of my life:
Saturday June 1st:
Well comes June first, I worked at 6am and got home at 12, I had a rough day at work and was just ready to relax, well my mom and I step out the car and suddenly I am being cornered by my ex step-father (him and my mom broke up about 6 months ago at this point and he already moved out months ago). Apparently he found my socials which clearly state I’m a lesbian and felt it was his “duty” to tell my mom even though they aren’t together any more 😒. He proceeded to tell her had had screenshots and blah blah blah in case I tried to deny it but obviously I didn’t because my mom already knew.
WELL she threw me under the bust and pretended she didn’t know just to appease him, I was annoyed by this so I just went inside to my room and locked my door. Well about 10-15 minutes later she comes banging on my door and is fuming with me, apparently my ex step-father didn’t want my brothers (I have 4 brothers who are his kids) living with me and was threatening to take them and it was my fault. She blamed me for everything saying I ruined her life (yes HER life, not mine who has just been outed, HERS) she forced me to take down all gay stuff from my accounts and I ended up setting them to private them.
Well later my my ex-stepfather starts calling my phone, I don’t answer obviously so he sends my brother to come call me so we can talk (I later found out he outed me to my brothers as well and asked them if they knew I was a lesbian, not cool dude 😒). Well he surprised me by talking about how he raised me since I was 2, and didn’t care what identified as and loved me regardless (dude never apologized for what he said or did but I’ll give him a pass). Well he was about to say something else, when his mother started CRYING saying him leaving ruined her life, (Yes his mom still lives with us, that’s a whole story in itself) so he left. I had one more fight with my mom about everything and then that was the end of day 1, Yep just day 1, more shit happened on day 2 and 3.
Sunday June 2nd:
So it is now June second and obviously I was pretty upset considering the events on the previous day as not only was it pride month but my 18th was only a month away, I had work that day but called out because after the shit show the day prior I was NOT in any place mentally to go to work (about 80% of my co-workers are apart of the lgbtqia+ community and I knew seeing them all happy about pride month would make me upset). So instead I went out with a friend as we had already prior made plans to go thrifting that day before I had work and after the day I had the other day this was just what I needed. Well it was a fun and eventful day ending with us getting lost and (once again a story for another day). Well I get back home and ex-stepfather is in the kitchen? I say good evening out of respect and head to my room when DAMN I’m being cornered AGAIN, I thankfully got to relax a little before I was attacked but suddenly my mom comes to my room and is furious.
Apparently my ex-stepfathers sister had found out (who lives all the way in Jamaica by the way, and this went down in Canada) and was nagging my mom about it and blaming my ex-stepfather for me being a lesbian and my mom was not happy about it. (Yes she is still in contact with his family, and the reason she blames him is cause he cheated and treated my mom horribly so she thinks he made me hate men 😒).
My mom was mad he was getting blamed for me being a lesbian, and for me being hostile with him the day before and today (yes she still loves him, once again another story, I feel like at this rate I should create a post for these 😂). This starts an argument between us because I tell her he had no right to out me to my brothers or her, even if she already knew (I don’t know if anyone else knows) She once again talks about how she’s struggling with this and I accidentally sigh out loud (I mean common though if you’re struggling then what about me) well one thing leads to another and we end up fighting, she tries to say I can’t be a lesbian because I dated my ex boyfriend (even though he was the only guy I ever dated before realizing I was lesbian and we’ve had numerous conversations where I told her that she made me feel pressured to date him). Well the fight got super heated and I did say something I’m not proud of after she told me to go read a bible, this resulted in her telling my to call my dad to pick me up so I can stay with him for a while (this is legally allowed as he does have part custody of me and I turn 18 in July)
Eventually after slamming doors and me almost calling my father, we calm down and have a talk (I still live with her currently) the conversation didn’t really go anywhere and we did end up fighting again, this time over different religious views and me talking about how I felt pressured by her to date my ex. The conversation ended because we had to pick up my sister from work and we never picked it up again, it’s still feels like she wasn’t trying to understand me, but I was too exhausted to put any more effort in.
Monday June 3rd:
Never fear this is the last day of the saga and it thankfully was happy, in the end.
Well, it’s Monday and I have to go back to school and it’s also my Bio fathers birthday (which I totally forgot about due to the prior days events and felt extremely bad), I thought I was ok but after a couple pride month announcements, I ended up leaving class and had a breakdown in the hallway (I’m ok now, all the weekends events just finally caught up to me that day). Well, I was found by some teachers and was brought to guidance to talk to somebody after I went back to class and and talked to my teacher about everything who offered me her support (she is an absolute sweetheart, and I love her so much🩷).
Well, I made the executive decision to just tell my father because considering the fact that people in Jamaica were finding out he was going to find out at some point and I wanted him to find out from me (I did intend on telling him, just after my 18th in July incase things went south with my mom, which they almost did).
I sent him a text and turned off my phone for the day, thankfully his response was much more loving than my mothers and he told me he loved me regardless, he picked me up from my moms and we ended up spending the day together and later on we picked up my sister and watched a movie together. I didn’t speak much to my mom this day, aside from telling her I was going out with him.
Well this is it so far, it’s been 6 days but I still can’t get over everything so I just wanted to vent. As of right now my relationship with my mom is improving but still strained and I don’t think it will ever go back to how it was before. Especially considering the fact that my father was very accepting of me, and even my ex-stepfather was more accepting of me than her despite the way he initially reacted.
Well, this is it if you somehow read this entire thing and thank WOW and thank you. If anyone wants clarification, feel free to ask and I’ll edit them onto the post. Also if anyone is curious, I am more than willing to talk about some of the other stories of my family (Trust me it gets CRAZY)

Lydia awoke with Waldo screaming. Lydia quickly got up and activated the magic stones lighting the room, Lydia did not see a reason for him to be screaming and was about to wake him when he went quiet. Lydia wondered what had happened and as she watched him she became concerned he was not breathing but just as she was about to shake him away he started breathing again then he began to weep in his sleep saying “I would take it back if I could. I did not know what it meant. Please, I never meant for this.” Lydia watched over him for several minutes as he repeated this over and over. Lydia did not know why but after a while she embraced him gently.
“It is ok. We all make mistakes.” Lydia said quietly holding him. She did not entirely know why she chose to do this as she felt some concern over what he was apologizing for having done but something made her decide to stay with him. Eventually, he stopped and started sleeping peacefully. Lydia slowly fell back to sleep after he quieted and returned to a peaceful state.
Lydia awoke again with Waldo sitting dressed on the edge of the bed. “Good Morning.”
“Good Morning.” Waldo replied, turning to Lydia. “Sorry, if I woke you in the night. I do not always sleep well.”
“I can understand that. It took almost a year before I could sleep through the night.” Lydia replied.
“I brought breakfast up. Kna mentioned I screamed in the middle of the night. I rarely have a companion… So I did not know. I guess I was extra loud last night. I woke some other patrons.” Waldo said calmly. Lydia climbed out of bed and dressed herself as Waldo watched her but when she looked at him she felt he was lost in his own mind.
"Copper for your thoughts.” Lydia said as she started to lace up her dress. Waldo walked over to her and helped her.
“I thought I knew who I was…but I remembered things last night…” Waldo said hollowly. “I don’t know what I was fighting for… All that time as a soldier and now I remembered… what I learned before arriving here and it isn’t what I thought.”
“Do you want to elaborate?” Lydia asked.
“I am not sure I know how.” Waldo said and there was silence for a moment.
“Well, maybe you should stay here if you don’t know why you were fighting. At least, until you figure out what you want.” Lydia said and feeling better about what she had heard last night she kissed him gently on the cheek. “Thank you. I would stay for breakfast but I need to get to work.” Lydia said, grabbing a piece of bread with an egg off the plate.
“Have a nice day and I hope to see you later.” Waldo said, as she headed toward the door.
“Good luck today!” Lydia said, smiling and left. Waldo collected several things from his pack then stored it under the bed and took the plate of food to the common room where he ate slowly. Waldo noticed that Lydia was not in the common room as he ate breakfast. Waldo did not have to wait long after finishing his breakfast before Strisk arrived.
“Good Morning!” Strisk waved at Waldo moving across the common room.
“Greetings Strisk.” Waldo replied standing and moving to meet him.
“Are you ready to go down to the training grounds?” Strisk asked.
“Yeah, let’s head out.” Waldo said, motioning for Strisk to lead the way.
“Are you in a hurry?” Strisk asked, leading Waldo out.
“No, nothing like that just…” Waldo stopped in the door exiting the inn as he looked out into the city. Waldo had expected Protham to be small but realized it had been dark when he arrived and late that is why he had not realized how expansive it was. Waldo saw a wall sixty or seventy feet tall. Waldo stepped into the street and could see a gate two hundred or so feet down the road in one direction and in the other there was what appeared to be a small square. “How big is Protham?”
“It is just a small village, only five thousand or so. Most people are employed in fishing the lake or harvesting trees.” Strisk replied. “The gnolls recently opened a college here… Something about ley lines and increased power, but that is not my expertise.”
“I am surprised they even care about the ley line. The planet is so saturated with magic I would have thought everyone can easily use it.” Waldo responded.
“I wouldn’t know about that. Are you a mage?” Strisk asked.
“I cannot use magic… I can still feel it pooling.” Waldo said, wondering why he could feel it still since he now knew he could not use it. “It must be something to do with the leveling. I wonder if there is a construct powering the whole system.”
“You are suggesting a magic artifact causes people to level?”Strisk asked, shocked at the strangeness of the idea.
“Um… So I assume it is a mage college of some kind they opened?” Waldo asked, trying to change topics.
“Yeah. I would have suggested going and seeing the head there about your teleporting but from what I have heard they see almost no one who isn’t a student.” Strisk said, starting to walk down the street. Waldo followed, taking in the people and the streets. Waldo noticed most people were gnollish he saw drakes as well but it seemed to be ten to one.
“Lydia said you are a Drake. I have never learned to identify the scaled races apart from one another. It appears that Protham is mostly gnolls and Drakes. What makes a drake a drake and not say a lizardfolk?” Waldo asked, carefully.
“Lydia is right. I am a Drake. Lizardfolk always have tails. Drakes rarely have tails and those that do have a tail almost always have wings. That is usually the easiest way to tell us apart but it is more nuanced. A healthy Drake’s scales are vibrant, we stand out. A healthy lizardfolk has duller scales. Drakes can have horns or spikes across their head and back but never hair. Lizardfolk never have horns but can grow spikes. Usually they grow something more like a fin, which can be over their head or even down their chin to their chest. All the facial features are nuanced except the eye. Drake’s eyes face forward. Lizardfolk’s eyes face out enough to easily tell if you look at them.” Strisk explained calmly. “Kobolds are short but look like Drakes with a tail and all the other scaled races have gills.”
“Thank you. I realize that might have been rude to ask but I assume it is ruder to make a mistake.” Waldo said as they continued to make their way through the mostly empty streets.
“Most drakes consider it the pinnacle of rudeness to mistake us for the lizardfolk. Well the lizardfolk seem indifferent. I once saw a short Lizardman get mistaken for a Kobold and they laughed about it. Well a few days ago I had to break up a bar fight cause a gnoll called a drake a lizard.” Strisk said. “My people need to calm down about being mistaken for another race. Most cannot even tell the other races apart. No offense, but I assume you are a human because Lydia is one without looking at your ears, which are currently covered by your hair you could pass for an elf in my eyes and if you told me you were a dwarf I would believe it… even though, I think you are too tall to be a dwarf.” Waldo laughed at Strisk’s words.
“An elf you say?” Waldo said, smiling and moving his hair from over his ears. “I am a human. However, I can understand the confusion. Even among humans it is possible for some to mistake another human as one of our kin races.”
“Kin race?” Strisk asked.
“Yes, races that share certain broad features and where half races are possible.” Waldo said.
“Then would Drakes not be a Kin race.” Strisk asked.
“You ever seen a half human and half drake?” Waldo asked.
“Well no, but I was told it was possible.” Strisk said, wondering.
“Possible for our race's women’s bodies to respond as if they are creating a blend. However, it is largely my understanding no blend has survived birth. Maybe one is out there but largely our internal anatomy; bone structure, organ placement, organs in general, and finer points don’t blend into something that survives birth if a pregnancy occurs which to my knowledge is extremely rare and usually it is a half race not a full where that can occur according to one report I read most mothers die in labor if they carry the blend to term and the child still dies.” Waldo said calmly. Strisk stopped.
“How do you know this?” Strisk asked. Waldo thought about it for a moment. Realizing he did not know how to explain having millions of years of knowledge on hand a little surprised he had so easily recalled something from another life. As he thought about it he wondered how he could so easily access it. Then he knew. Four of his prior selves had learned to build a mind palace. When the Orc had implanted all the memories, those four had combined their knowledge and laid out everything, which made him wonder how he knew about the interbreeding of humans and drakes, which brought forth the memories of four doctors. One of which was drake. Strisk watched as Waldo stared off into the distance. Suddenly, Waldo went pale and threw up in the street. “What the hell?” Strisk said, jumping back to avoid getting splattered.
“Sorry.” Waldo said, feeling queasy. Waldo pushed the doctor’s memories away realizing he was not ready to go exploring all the memories aimlessly. Waldo pulled out his hip canteen and washed his mouth out. Spitting the water down a nearby drain “Damn. I was hoping to not have to eat until dinner. I assume the interview will have a combat skills test?” Waldo asked, looking at Strisk.
“Well yes, but what was that?” Strisk asked, feeling the response was unjustified for his question.
“Oh, right, your question. Um… I went to a memory I should have left alone. I was thinking about my time studying… when I strayed into an incident.” Waldo said, trying to explain without lying.
“An incident?” Strisk asked.
“I expect there are things you have seen as a city guard you would rather not remember.” Waldo replied, carefully.
“Oh… you mean something like that. I can understand that. Let’s continue on. Just another block or so.” Strisk said, letting Waldo follow him. Neither said anything until they got to the city's barracks. They had crossed near the center of town and were now at a lakeside gate that had a training arena with a large gatehouse next to it.
“How many positions is the guard filling?” Waldo asked as they approached the building.
“We are adding five new full time positions in hope of growth due to the mage college, three part time, and around fifty new reservists.” Strisk said and then opened the gatehouse’s front door.
“Good Morning, Strisk!” A female voice behind the counter greeted as they entered.
“Good Morning, Violet.” Strisk replied. “Is Trag in?”
“Yes, he got in a bit ago and…Who are you?” Violet asked, staring at Waldo as he entered the gatehouse.
“Waldo Winter.” Waldo said, step into the room and bowing slightly to the human girl behind the counter.
“He is with me. Violet. He arrived in town last night under strange circumstances.” Strisk said.
“Is he why you are meeting with Trag this early?” Violet asked, keeping her eyes on Waldo. “Is he a criminal?”
“Yes to the meeting with Trag and not as far as I am aware. You haven’t done anything illegal have you?” Strisk asked, grinning Waldo.
“Admittedly, I have not read your legal code, but assuming it follows traditional patterns of legal codes for structured societies. Not in this city. At least, I very much doubt I have.” Waldo said, smiling lightly at Violet.
“What are you doing here then?” Violet asked.
“Apart from identifying myself to local authorities due to the strange way I arrived. Hopefully, applying for a job.” Waldo stated. Violet frowned.
“Are you applying for citizenship in Protham or just submitting notice of intent to work in Protham?” Violet asked.
“Notice of intent to work, at this time.” Waldo replied, moving up to the desk as Strisk stepped away. Violet handed him a sheet of paper and pulled out a second enchanted page.
“Good luck finding work here. There are not many jobs outside of scribe, barworker, or general laborer for humans in Protham. The Drakes and Gnolls are larger and stronger than humans naturally and they are basically hiring enforcers right now.” Violet whispered to Waldo. “Where are you staying?”
“The Spriggan Inn.” Waldo said, looking at the form, surprised he could read it. As he started to fill out the form he remembered a passage about grown arrivals passing between world and being gifted languages of the worlds they arrived on from death. Waldo tried to remember the author's reasoning for the gift but could not. Waldo wished he had learned written gnollish languages but had only learned their spoken languages.
“How did you come to be there?” Violet said, showing surprise.
“Long story short…Some sort of teleportation accident.” Waldo answered, focused on completing the form.
“Wow… Lucky.” Violet said, thinking it strange he appeared in the only inn with a human working in it in Protham.
“Yes, but I suspect there is a good reason for that.” Waldo said, handing her the completed form.
“You how to read Grofeas gnoll?” Strisk asked, looking at Waldo holding the form out to Violet. “You said you had not heard of this country last night.” Violet took the form looking suspiciously at Waldo.
"No, I am familiar with other gnollish written languages and this is close enough to them that I guessed. Please check that and make sure my responses make sense.” Waldo said, looking at Violet. Waldo smiled at his omission. He was familiar with several gnoll written languages and had learned a few key words like bathroom, food, and price but had not even memorized their alphabet. Violet started to look over the document carefully. Waldo noticed the enchanted page on the desk had a picture of his face on it now with a list of several things about him, such as height, an approximate weight, and the like. Waldo heard a low growl with several inflections. Waldo looked at the gnoll standing by Strisk.
“Would you mind repeating that? I am not sure I quite heard what you said, because I thought you called me a fur lover.” Waldo said, looking narrowly at the gnoll. The gnoll made several more growls at Waldo. The gnoll had reddish brown fur and stood a little shorter than Strisk. Waldo thought the gnoll would probably be considered extremely handsome among gnolls. He was well groomed and clearly muscled under the fur. He even wore a steel breastplate that was polished to a shine. Waldo saw a stamp over his right peck that appeared to be a runic enchantment.
“Because I am not. I learned it at the time because my life depended on it. The gnolls I met were not as affluent as you are here and only knew one language. Their own. I had to learn it or live without speaking. Their treatment of me would have killed me if I had not learned their language. They knew next to nothing of humans and were a tribe secluded in the mountains. They meant well, but due to the harsh circumstances of the location I was slowly dying from starvation and exposure. It took four weeks to learn enough for rough communication after which I found them to be extremely friendly and curious. I spent two years with that tribe before making contact with a human settlement in the area. I managed to broker a peace there because I learned gnollish. So I continued my education and have since learned various spoken dialects.” Waldo responded to the newcomers' growls calmly.
“Why don’t you respond in gnollish?” The gnoll asked, changing languages. Waldo growled back in several inflections and moved a hand. Violet had noticed hand movements when gnolls growled and never associated it with them speaking but Waldo’s movements were so pronounced she realized it had to be part of the gnollish language. “Fair enough. I am Captain Trag. Strisk says you are a soldier.”
“Wait what did you say?” Violet asked Waldo.
“Violet. Don’t be rude.” Strisk chided, curious himself but having held himself back.
“I am sorry. I have just never seen a non-gnoll speak gnollish” Violet said, almost involuntarily. Trag slapped Strisk across the back of the head.
“Strisk, she is our scribe, do not order her around.” Trag said, smiling. Waldo got the sense that Trag did not like Strisk.
“I explained human throats are not well formed for the gnollish language, which hurts my throat the more I speak it and makes my accompanying hand movements more pronounced than is proper.” Waldo explained to Violet.
“Can you teach me?” Violet asked, seeing how beneficial it would be to know gnollish in her job.
“We can talk after the interview.” Waldo said, smiling at Violet.
“Right, sorry. Thank you.” Violet replied looking over at Trag apologetically.
“Excuse me for interrupting your conversation Violet. I will make sure to send Waldo back once we are done.” Trag said, smiling at Violet then turning to Waldo. “What level of soldier are you? Or is it some other fighting class?”
“I don’t have any levels in fighting classes.” Waldo replied.
“And you want to be a city guard?” Trag said looking angrily at Strisk who looked at Waldo surprised.
“Wait, are you a medic of somekind?” Strisk asked, remembering the other night.
“No, just give me a chance. We should go to the training ground if combat assessment is to be a large part of this process.” Waldo stated, a little surprised they had started asking questions in the entrance.
“It is. We can train you in Protham legal code, but we rarely do combat training for our guards; most people come to us with twenty or more levels in a combat class, when they are applying to be a guard.” Trag stated, as Waldo opened the door.
“Where I come from people do not rely on the leveling systems for combat training.” Waldo started walking to the training grounds as Trag and Strisk followed.
“Where are you from?” Trag asked.
“Halcyon. Heard of it?” Waldo asked, knowing the reply.
“Nope.” Trag replied, thinking this human could never keep up with a gnoll or drake in a fight. “What are you wearing?” Trag asked, no longer able to hold back the question as the human looked very strange to him.
“Desert Armored Combat Fatigues, my throwing knives, combat knife, an assortment of tools I have found useful over the years, and a magic sling.” Waldo said, touching different things on his body. “The armor is stab resistant and there are several metal plates spread out in the fabric. If I get the job I would like to wear this until I can afford to get some locally made gear.”
“A magic sling?” Trag asked.
“Yeah, but I have limited ammo for it. It only works with special magic ammo and I doubt you have that here.” Waldo replied.
“Have you heard of a magic sling Strisk?” Trag asked.
“No, that is new to me.” Strisk replied. “I thought you could not use magic.”
“I cannot not cast a magic spell but this is an artifact. I could teach anyone to use it. If I had unlimited ammo or access to a bullet manufacturer I would be happy to show it off but I only have ninety rounds for it.” Waldo explained.
“How long have you been a soldier?” Trag asked, Waldo had seen himself in a mirror and knew they would not believe the truth. Waldo looked like he was in his prime but Halcyon slowed aging massively Waldo was older than any human got to normally and he was still unsure if he had died or Death’s healing had further reduced the effects of aging.
“Nine years.” Waldo replied, pushing it as far as he thought he could. Waldo had put his age down as twenty nine on the form, but knew he looked closer to twenty now. “I expect I will be sparing with one of you?”
“No, we are waiting for your sparring partners. I sent for two reservists. They generally are not needed for regular guard shifts and if they are injured it should not interfere with their regular jobs.” Trag stated, show us how good you are with throwing knives.
“Alright.” Waldo said, pulling four of the weighted knives from their sheaths. Waldo carried twelve in all. Four on his left leg, two on each arm and four on his chest. Waldo started by juggling the knives as he moved into position to throw them. Waldo smoothly plucked them out of the air as he was juggling them and launched them one after another in quick succession down the lane, with the knives sinking deep into the wooden target in a tight group.
“For having no skills that is pretty good. Now for the moving targets.” Trag said, with Waldo looking back at him as he pressed a button. Waldo watched as the targets began to move side to side. Waldo could tell this was intended for arrows as the range was longer than he would usually throw when it came to moving targets.
“May I move up or do you want me to throw from here?” Waldo asked.
“Tark throws from there.” Trag replied, Waldo grabbed two more knives, throwing them half a second after looking back at the target. Both landed bullseyes but Waldo could feel the strain on his muscles. He was not used to this distance. Waldo pulled two more and turned his back to the targets. Waldo slowly strafed toward the center of the range as he had started to the right side. After a moment making sure to give the targets time to move he spun around and with one hand launched both knives. One landed in a bullseye, but the other fell short. Waldo turned his back to the targets and drew all of his remaining knives placing them at the ready in one hand. Waldo turned and threw three and turned back around quickly. He heard 2 thuds and one that was a clang. He was not sure what the third had hit. Waldo spun around and sent his final knife down the lane hitting another bullseye. The three quick throws were not bullseyes but they had all hit targets.
“That is all the throwing knives I carry.” Waldo said. “Shall I collect them?”
“No, Strisk go get the knives and report back on how deep they are.” Trag said, turning the moving targets off. Waldo moved over to Trag as Strisk retrieved the knives. “Only one complete miss, that is not bad. If you are hired then we are gonna have to replace the knives with some weighted rods. We can issue you some bolas while on duty. Unless a kill order is issued, but most the time we will expect people to be taken alive.”
“Understandable. What is a bolas?” Waldo asked.
“It is three pieces of rope tied to each other on one end and has a weight on the other side. When throwing it, the intent is to hit a person's legs and if it works correctly it will wrap around a fleeing person’s legs and trip them. In town it can be tricky to use and for people they have lighter weights. It was originally used to hunt various animals on the plains. If the weights are too heavy they can break bones.” Trag said, explained. “What class are you?”
Waldo had been preparing for this question since they had asked him earlier. “Diplomat.” Waldo replied.
“You have no levels in a combat class but you are a diplomat as a soldier?” Trag questioned.
“When I use skills from it as a soldier it is generally in interrogations, but my personal goal was to try and find less violent solutions to my nation's disputes. So, I ended up becoming a diplomat. The times I acted in that capacity I was glad to have trained as a soldier. Few people seem to want peaceful resolutions. So as a diplomat I have often been met with violence.” Waldo explained twisting the truth. They stood in silence as they waited for Strisk to finish retrieving the knives. Strisk handed Waldo eleven of the knives and Trag one of the knives.
“Six perfect hits. Three near perfects. Two hits. One miss. Ten hits were all very deep. The one that made the clang hit a metal frame holding the target. It dented the metal and chipped his knife.” Strisk reported as Waldo sheathed the eleven knives he had been handed. Waldo looked at Trag just in time to catch his face returning to a neutral state after what Waldo believed to be a frown.
“How is your hand to hand combat proficiency?”Trag asked.
“I am an expert with a knife, however, I could easily swap it out for a padded baton. It would be harder on me, but I am sure I can hold my own.” Waldo said, showing the knife sheathed across his lower back and trying to determine Trag’s mood. Trag examined the knife and could see it was custom made for Waldo and well used.
“Strisk, you are good to go on patrol. Your partner should be ready about now.” Trag said, with a hint of sadness.
“I was hoping to stay and see him fight the reservists.” Strisk said, a little excited and as Strisk said that it clicked for Waldo.
“No one is coming. To test my combat proficiency.” Waldo said, calmly. “Sorry, Strisk. I should have known better.”
“We should go to my office and talk.” Trag said and handed Waldo the chipped knife Strisk had handed him.
“Wait, why?” Strisk asked, Trag.
“Politics, Strisk. Guardsmen are just a little political, which means Trag cannot hire another human. Especially, not in a citizen-facing role.” Waldo said, with a smile. “Am I right?”
“Violet, is our scribe. Citizen’s see her.” Strisk said looking confused.
“Violet is my scribe. She assists with filing and compiling guardsmen reports. She has only covered the front desk on a few occasions and usually it is to give another scribe a break or chance to go to the bathroom.” Trag stated.
“Strisk, thank you for introducing me to Captain Trag. I truly appreciate this opportunity. I would be happy to speak to you in your office Trag.” Waldo said, smiling at both of them.
“Sorry, Waldo… I didn’t realize.” Strisk said dejectly. Waldo laughed lightly.
“You have done no harm at all and even helped me file documents I needed to in order to stay. You introduced me to your Captain. Strisk, you have been nothing but helpful. Please do not feel sorry.” Waldo said, smiling at Strisk.
“Thanks, I guess I should get going.” Strisk said, clearly feeling better. “Sir. Waldo.” Strisk said, nodding his head to each of them and leaving. Trag started heading towards the guard house and motioned for Waldo to follow, which Waldo did in silence. Trag opened the door and sure enough Violet was no longer at the front desk. There was a male Drake scribe sitting behind the counter.
“Sir.” The drake said, standing up to greet them. Trag waved his hand and the drake sat back down. Waldo followed him up a set of stairs and down a hall to an open room with three scribes working on various documents on a table big enough for four, one of which was Violet.
“Your morning report sir.” A female gnoll scribe said, smiling at Trag and holding a folder. She noticed Waldo and her demeanor changed slightly. She glanced at Violet as Trag grabbed the folder.
“Thank you. I have a meeting for a few minutes. Is there anything urgent?” Trag gestured at Waldo. The scribes all looked up and gave a negative nod. “If needed you may interrupt us.” Trag said, opening his office door and leading Waldo into his office. It was a plain room. There were several chairs facing the back of the room with a large desk and chair behind it facing the door. There were two sturdy looking bookcases organized with an assortment of documents. The room was clean and orderly. A couch sat against one wall with a window behind it that had shutters and Waldo noticed a plain axe with a rope next to it leaning against a bookcase. “Please take a seat.” Trag said, opening the folder as he moved around the desk and sat down. Waldo sat across from him. They sat in silence as Trag read over a few reports. “Thank you for your patience.” Trag said look up from the report.
“Anything important?” Waldo asked.
“No, just the normal going on. Except for you of course.” Trag said.
“Yeah, I made a surprising entrance last night.” Waldo agreed.
“Teleportation has a tendency to create some alerts. If Strisk had not reported your arrival last night, the guard may have interrupted your welcome to our fine city.” Trag replied.
“That report is more thorough than I would have liked.” Waldo stated.
“Kna is a friend and Aer is a gossip.” Trag replied.
“I should have waited in the common room. We could have talked last night.” Waldo guessed.
“Doubtful, but I would have known your face this morning if you had.” Trag stated.
“I had hoped this was an offer for contract work of some kind.” Waldo said, frowning slightly.
“It still might be. I have not determined what to do about you.” Trag replied.
“Oh, well is there something you would like cleared up?” Waldo asked, smiling.
“Kna is worried about one of her barmaids. Aer has never seen her friend respond so positively to someone so quickly.” Trag stated, calmly. Waldo knew they were straying into dangerous territory.
“I have never responded to another human as positively.” Waldo replied, honestly.
“Just two soulmates meeting for the first time?” Trag asked, Waldo jerked in surprise at the word reacting before he could stop himself. Waldo realized Trag did not mean it the way he had taken it but it was too late. Trag had been watching him closely and was now looking unsure at Waldo. “I think you have some explaining to do.” Trag said, prepared to strike. Waldo leaned forward and placed his head in his hand dropping his show.
“This cannot under any circumstances leave this room. If you have listeners they need to stop. If you have a way to make the room secure. I will tell you enough to know why.” Waldo said, unsure of what would happen next.
“What, so can you kill me in silence?” Trag asked, feeling concerned about this stranger's response.
“If you want to tie me up feel free, but I am not talking until I am confident the secret won’t leave this room.” Waldo said, sitting back and calming his nerves. Waldo was trying to figure out how to explain this with as little lying as possible. Waldo wondered if he could avoid lying all together. Trag hesitated for a minute then opened a drawer and pulled out a small box. Trag said a command word under his breath and the box activated.
“Alright, we are alone and no one can see or hear us. This better be good or I won’t keep your secret.” Trag said.
“Have you ever been in love so much it hurt your soul?” Waldo asked.
“What?” Trag asked, surprised.
“I have. If I had understood this was possible. If I had known. I would have done so many things differently.” Waldo said, deciding to be as honest as he felt he could. “I thought she was dead. I joined the wrong people to get vengeance. To make it stop. In doing, so I pissed off some really powerful people. I thought my master was strong enough to protect me and I thought I was powerful enough to protect myself. I want to tell Lydia so bad. I want her to remember our time together. Every second we spent together. If I had magic this would be so easy but using magic to accomplish it would be wrong.” Waldo said, with tears in his eyes. “I wish I could just show her. However, the people I pissed off took my ability to use magic. I did not even know that was possible.” Waldo said, holding out an open palm. “Light.” Trag felt magic tug slightly, but nothing happened. “They took my magic so I could not interfere. When they did that I thought they would send me to a prison cell or some equally horrible place. They cursed me with unwanted knowledge I can barely grasp. Part of my mind is still trying to rip itself apart. But instead of sending me to a desert. They toss me like I am nothing and I land inside Spriggan Inn, in Protham barely even hurt. I did know she was the same soul at first. Standing in the dim light of the inn. She looks the same. Alive working as a barmaid in a place I have never even heard of. She doesn’t even remember me but she was drawn to me just like I was to her all those years ago.” Waldo said. “Kna is worried I might hurt her and honestly so am I. However, if we are to separate again I would have her tell me to go. It would be the most painful thing I ever do but I would leave if she asked. I don’t blame you if you don’t believe me, but I have found my dead lover again, my soulmate and I never thought I would see her. She died so I figured that was it. I did not know about the cycle but now I do. So please give me the chance to win her.” Waldo finished with tears at the corners of his eyes. “Please, I am begging you.” Trag knew Waldo was leaving part out but felt he was being honest and looking at Waldo Trag knew he held this man’s life in his hands at this moment. Trag looked at Waldo and activated several skills he had for conversations like this. Trag knew Waldo did not intend harm at this time or harm to his city.
“For the moment. You have convinced me.” Trag said, still slightly concerned, something about him bothered Trag, but Trag was confident the stranger would be unlikely to deliberately cause problems in Protham.
“Thank you for giving me a chance. I will prove I mean no harm.” Waldo said, starting to recover his composure. Trag grabbed the rope and axe, placing them on his desk.
“Do you know how to cut down a tree?” Trag asked.
“Yes.” Waldo replied.
“As captain of the guard. I am allotted two trees every year. The town allows me to do as I will with the tree tokens, I am issued. The mill will pay me five gold per token on average. However, If I cut the tree down and turn in the tree with the token they will right now pay eight gold. If you cut a tree down and turn it in for me. I will let you keep two gold coins of those eight.” Trag stated placing a token on the table.
“Sounds like a good deal.” Waldo replied.
“Have you hunted boar?” Trag asked.
“I have hunted. Not specifically boar but I am familiar with the complexities they present.” Waldo replied, wondering where this was going.
“Currently, we have a boar problem on the western road and several groups have been attacked by boars. It is quite troublesome. Protham does not have an adventuring guild and most hunters will hunt safer game or only kill one or two boars at a time. You can rent a hand cart for a day for three coppers at the docks. Usually they are used to transport fish around town. They are sturdy carts and can hold several hundred kilos. There are several blacksmiths in town that sell quality steel tipped javelins, for a silver. Now they are not perfect for hunting boar but they should work well enough. Currently, I have placed a bounty on boar kills of a silver per boar jaw turned in. We will even buy the dead boar for one and half coppers per five pounds. However, you could show us the boar, collect the silver, then most local butchers will buy dead boar for two copper per five pounds. Those are the current rates for whole boars” Trag explained.
“Sounds like I have a tree to chop down.” Waldo said standing.
“Out the main gate past the mill and then pick an un-worked tree the taller the better. They pay less for trees shorter than twenty feet and more for trees taller than twenty five feet. If you are willing to search there are some forty and fifty footers out there. I expect six gold regardless.” Trag stated.
“Why are you doing this?” Waldo asked.
“It is not one thing. Lots of little things adding up. Kna is a friend and Lydia is important to her. Kna knows I cannot employ you as a guard. This keeps you out of trouble. Solves a problem for me and if you work hard. Kna might start to like you. I was not going to be able to cut my second tree down before the end of the year. There are more reasons, but in the end, I see no downside for me giving you this chance.” Trag stated plainly.
“Well thank you. I appreciate this.” Waldo said and picked up the axe smiling.
“Good Luck. I plan to eat dinner at Spriggan Inn. So if you get back after sunset you can find me there.” Trag said, gesturing for Waldo to leave.
“Thank you, again!” Waldo said, leaving. After he closed the door he looked for Violet but she was not there. Waldo headed to the stairs back to the entryway. Violet wasn’t there either so he left a message for her and headed back to the Inn. Waldo wanted to ditch his armor before heading out to cut down a tree.

Heavenly Father,
As I come before you, I open my heart to your presence. In moments of uncertainty and doubt, I seek solace and guidance in your love.
Holy Spirit, I invite you to dwell within me, filling me with your light and wisdom. Pour out your love upon me, soothing my troubled mind and comforting my weary soul. Help me to trust in your divine plan, knowing that you are always with me, guiding me along the path of righteousness.
Grant me the courage to surrender to your will, allowing your transformative power to work in my life. May I find strength in my weaknesses, and hope in the midst of despair. Lead me to the truth that sets me free, and fill me with the peace that surpasses all understanding.
I pray for healing and restoration, both in my heart and in the world around me. May your love reign supreme, dispelling darkness and bringing forth new life and hope. Empower me to be a beacon of your light, shining brightly in a world that often feels overwhelmed by darkness.
Thank you, Lord, for your unfailing love and grace. May I always remain open to your presence, and may your Holy Spirit continue to guide me on my journey of faith.
Amen.
🙏🕊🙏

1. What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games (ex: resolution, FPS, settings) or programs you will be using.

• Will be playing all sorts of games, Not too many with rtx but there will be a few.

2. What is your maximum PRE-TAX budget before rebates and shipping?

• 2000.

3. When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.

• As soon as possible.

4. What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ex: toweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc)

Just the tower, everything else is covered.

5. If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? How old are they? Brands and models are appreciated.

• n/a.

6. Will you be overclocking (ex: CPU/GPU/RAM)? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line?

• Not from the start and probably not down the line.

7. Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, VR, VirtualLink, tensor cores, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)

• SSD, wifi, and vr capability.

8. Do you have any specific case preferences (ex: mITX/mATX/mid-towefull-tower sizes, styles, colours, window or not, LED lighting, etc.), or a particular color theme preference for the components?

• No theme or preferences.

9. Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? Note: some post-secondary students can get Windows 10 for free.

• No.

10. Will you be upgrading this PC in the future (ie: will you swap out better parts later on or will you build an entirely new tower later)? If so, when?

• Will eventually be upgraded, but that will be in 3+ years.

11. Do you have a brand preference? (ex: AMD/Intel for CPUs, AMD/NVIDIA for video cards, etc)

• Not particularly but i have heard amd cpus are better for gaming.

12. What are the specs of your old PC / laptop? Do you want to see if it can be upgraded instead? If so, paste its build from PCPartPicker here.

• N/A.

13. Extra info or particulars:

• Thanks for the help with my last post for my brother, he's really enjoying his pc.

I'm planning to buy a new phone as an upgrade from my poco x3 nfc 6/64 variant. However, I'm conflicted on what to buy. Below are the phones that I'm currently eyeing for. Please feel free to suggest other brands and models. Here's a reference on how I use my phone:
-Manhwa reading
-Anime/Movies
-Light gaming (cozy games)
-Photography and Videography (include editing in Polarr and Capcut)
-Social Media (Reels)
I need something that will last me 4-5 years max. My Poco x3 is going 4 years this year so I'm kinda leaning towards poco and xiaomi.
View Poll

 As our new Cloud Engineer, you’ll have the opportunity to: 

 Responsibilities: 

Had probably 3k hours in D1 and played D2 on and off all the way up to Shadowkeep then quit enitrely. Was planning on coming back around a month ago while the DLCs were free but life happened and it looks like I missed out on a lot of the pre-Final Shape perks that people were getting.
As someone who literally knows nothing about anything since Shadowkeep, is it even worth getting into? I know I missed loads of story but that's fine.
What would be the best way to go about it? Play all the campaigns? Etc. I just remember getting into D1 right after TTK dropped and being very overwhelmed

I have a friend named Sophie who works for an airline and I to also worked for an airline. We had been working together in the aviation industry for about 7-8 years and have been pretty close up until I got my new job which is in the tech industry.
To simplify it, the new job I had got in March pays almost x3 of what we make at our positions at an airline, and Sophie knows this because her sister works in the same industry and I am assuming disclosed that to Sophie because she never asked me how much my new job pays, she just started assuming I would pay for everything going out. It got to the point where she would call me her "sugar mama" and how she can't wait for me to shower her in gifts. At this point I couldn't tell if this was just her way of being happy for my new job or just being selfish.
Since my position in the aviation industry was very close to minimum wage I had racked up some debt and now with my new position want to take the time to try to pay of this debt asap. I had explained that to Sophie but she pretty much had just brushed it aside and said "you'll have $15K paid off in no time with that new job of yours and soon well be going to Italy together and 'we' Weill be able to treat 'ourselves' to the fancy places now" and comments like that told me, she just wants me to pay for everything.
We had been friends for 7 years prior to this both working minimum wage positions at the airport and always had worked together to find cheap or free events to go to, window shopping, not overpriced places to eat, the whole goal was so we could enjoy ourselves without the guilt of spending too much.
Now, when Sophie asks to hang out, she plans this whole extravagant outing where will have to uber, pay for cover, go out to eat, she wants bottle service, space to dance so a VIP section, a place to sleep. When I tell her I will have to decline because I can't be going out and spending a bunch of money on an outing that would cost hundreds of dollars, she gets offended, leaves me on read, doesn't answer my phone calls, won't talk to me, until the next birthday or event comes up and she does this whole extravagant planning again to which ill kindly decline because I would remind her Im trying to pay off my debts and can't afford to be going out like that.
It got to the point where she had vocalized it is "unfair". She claims because she's constantly flying everywhere and is only in the city a couple days of the month that "we should take advance of the time and go out". I tell her she's more than welcome to come over, make food at my house, drink here, but im not paying to go out when it's going to cost a lot of money. She has made comments like "well your life is easier and more affordable now, going out once and a while isn't going to kill you" " you need to get out and live" I have shot all these comments down by re-enforcing boundaries and telling her I just can't afford it. We are now at the stage where she doesn't even bother anymore. She hasn't answered my message or phone calls in weeks. To be honest I feel used, I dont really know how you can be friends with someone for so long and the point that makes you want to drop it all is because they won't spend money on you. I just want to understand her perspective, but anytime I had asked, she claims she is just trying to live her best life and that Im not. I never in my life thought money would get in-between me and a long time friend but here we are. She used to come over all the time, wed meet down town just to hang out, but now, if I don't pick her up for the airport, her boyfriends house, her moms house in a different province, then she just stops responding.
Not sure if this is a common thing, but curious to know if it is or isn't since I have expressed my concern for this to others and no one has really given me a straight answer.

So like the title says, I am trying to showcase our great state to my boyfriend. Maybe I'll do so well he'll change his mind about moving here lol (although tbf I liked Maine quite a lot). This will be from July 2nd to July 17th.
DISCLAIMER: I live in Iredell County, specifically Statesville (unfortunately) but right at the border of Catawba and Alexander. My family has always lived in the area (albeit further up in the Brushy Mountain area) so I want to give him a taste of Western NC and the Appalachian Mountains.
What are some good events we can go to? Best fireworks for July 4th? Good hole in the wall spots or experiences we could try? Any and all suggestions welcome!!
This is just me brainstorming lol feel free to ignore:
Charlotte stresses me out but we are planning on going there for a day or two to visit a mutual friend. (He wanted to go to Carowinds but I had to explain that he doesn't want to do that in July unless he wants instant melanoma, still we might do that in the evening if weather permits). Whitewater rafting is a consideration too. Definitely going to Boone, Blowing Rock, and Banner Elk since I'm an ASU alumni and very proud of my school. Probably gunna go to the swinging bridge. Maybe the New River? And going on the parkway. Obviously going to let him taste the ol' Carolina specials (including livermush, which he thinks is gunna be gross but I swear it's so good). Oh, and thought about going to Roan Mountain since the rhododendrons may still be around by then.

Hello I'm planning to get back to school at the end of the next year. The plan is to sell my ps5 and use the money to buy a gamming laptop that can optimally run CAD applications so I can practice for my classes and play games in quality equivalent or higher than the ps5 so I can relax in my free time.
What should be my start point and how much should I be prepared to spend?

.

.

Find a health plan:

• Out 2 Enroll

.

Understand how to use health insurance for transition-related care:

• Trans Health Project

Maintained the Trans Legal Defense & Edu Fund (TLDEF) - Highly recommend to all trans US residents

- Very thorough

.

Determine in-network or out-of-network:

• National Provider Information Registry

• NPI is useful for searching health insurance plan's directory of covered providers
• Sometimes name searches won't show-up correctly; sometimes NPI searches won't either
• Directories can be out of date
• Always confirm with the provider's office whether they are in-network or out-of-network*

.

Get required insurance letters for free:

• GALAP

.

Appeals, denials, general insurance navigation:

• TransFamilySOS

• Expert consultant

DM for contact info
Longtime trans-inclusive health insurance advocate who is themself trans - Decades of experience - Assists securing inclusive employee and union member health benefit plans - Individual assistance appealing denials/exclusions - I don't post contact info publicly due to trolls - I am not affiliated
.

General legal landscape:

• Movement Advancement Project (MAP)

• 👍 Map of US: bans on trans exclusions in health insurance (policies that bar health insurers from explicitly refusing to cover trans-related healthcare benefits)
  

- 👎 Map of US: bans on providing trans-related healthcare to youth

.

Find provider options:

• Trans Media Network websites:

Lists of known surgeons worldwide offering services
Important Note: Trans Media Network accepts paid advertising. Just because a provider is featured prominently does not mean they are necessarily endorsed or recommended by the site.
Surgeons with reported histories of patient harm, neglect, and abandonment are listed on these sites. - #TransHealthcare.org - #MTFSurgery.net - #TopSurgery.net - #Hysto.net - #Metoidioplasty.net

- #Phallo.net

.

Legal help with insurance:

• Trans Health Project

• Transgender Law Center

• National Center for Lesbian Rights

• Not limited to lesbians
• Long history of advocating for and defending the rights of all trans people (not just lesbian trans women)

• National Center for Trans Equality

• Lambda Legal

• American Civil Liberties Union

• Find local ACLU

• Sylvia Rivera Law Project

• Medicare Rights Center

• Campaign for Southern Equality:

• Trans in the South Guide
• Additional Resources List

• Equality Federation

• Find state's LGBT state-wide orgs

- May be able to provide referrals to lawyers/other resources

.

hi i’m a latina pre med student with very high expectations of myself. i graduated with my AA degree and i have a lot of my pre reqs done. im staying close to home to save money and to make my own money working as a CNA. i am not financially dependent on my parents so i have to work. i plan on applying in 2026 so in two years. do you guys have any recommendations or know anyone that got into harvard med and what they did? getting into any medical school is amazing as no matter where you go you graduate as a doctor. but as many others my dream is to go to harvard and get away from home. i would also get a full ride because i make under a 100 thousand, which would be awesome cause i would graduate debt free. since i come from a financial disadvantage background and latinos are not well represented in medicine. would that help or hinder my chances?