This is a straight to the point buyers guide for people that are wondering if any of the AL ships are worth buying or not. I am here to give you an idea of what's worth, and what's not. I will rank them in descending order for convenience. Keep in mind that these are from my own opinions on the game: my word is not law. These are just my recommendations from my personal experience and a spur of the moment deal personally.

Best Pick: AL Montpelier

This is a premium version of Cleveland, the USN tier VIII CL. However, unlike the later AL premiums, AL Montpelier was unique in at least, a very minor way: She has tighter shot grouping due to a 2.15 sigma versus the standard 2.0 at the cost of slower reload at 0.5 sec slower (7 sec vs 6.5 sec). The result is overall consistent salvos, at the cost of just a little DPM that can be fixed with Adrenaline Rush and Top Grade Gunner, depending on how you build her.
Besides that, she also has un-nerfed version of radar, at a 30 sec vs 27 sec on Cleveland. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but if you run Consumable Enchantments and or Surveillance Radar Mod 1, you have a larger number that the percent based changes will take affect on. Essentially, with both the commander skill and 2nd slot upgrade, you get 39.6 sec vs 35.6 seconds on duration. So a radar build is not bad compared to Cleveland. Besides that, she doesn't have access to the catapult fighter consumable, but that is super seceded by radar and anyways so who cares.
And above all else, it is a Cleveland, which is IMO, a very competitively viable cruiser at tier VIII, with it's very small citadel, thin profile / narrow beam that leads to a lot of over-penetrations, good DPM, good concealment, and good AA. It really only lacks in the speed, gun range, and shell flight time problems, which can be remedied with skill and positioning.
As far as the commander voice acting, Rie Takahashi voices Montpelier. If you do not know who that is or do not care, and just want to know if the commander's voice is annoying or not, then be happy that she isn't overtly grating compared to some of the other commanders you can get. I find her rather composed, cool, and relaxed, fitting the trope of kuudere, if you even know what that means.
TLDR: Premium Cleveland with higher sigma, slightly lower RoF, Longer lasting radar.

Runner Up: AL Sovetsky Rossiya

This is a premium version of Sovetsky Soyuz, the VMF (Soviet Navy) Tier IX BB. Like Montpelier, she is slightly unique to her tech tree counterpart, bar being premium, by having standard battleship dispersion (USN, Royal Navy, German, etc.) instead of Russian BB dispersion formula that gets way better inside 15km. She does also have 1.8 sigma versus 1.7 sigma, for slightly tighter shot grouping. So, while Soyuz excels at mid range, Rossiya excels at long range, which does reasonably well considering the average high tier meta these days.
Other than that, you retain all the upsides of Fast action Damage Control Parties, the tough hull design of the Sovetsky Soyuz. The only other thing you DO NOT get is the AA, as she has the Hull A of Sovetsky Soyuz, and in turn has worse AA overall. In fact, she has such bad AA that only Musashi beats her out in having worse AA for Tier IX battleships. So yeah, CVs that know their targets will have free reign on you, so stick close to allies in CV matches.
Now a I'll be honest with you, Rossiya is not a super competitive BB at tier IX, so this choice is really just down to being different in few ways instead of blatant copy paste. Really, only AL Montpelier is the only super competitive option here. So above all else, Rossiya is a side grade if anything and you should not fear of having FOMO for not getting her. Besides, she's not an historical ship that is going to get removed because it was OP, so fret not (COUGH COUGH MUSASHI, COUGH COUGH ALASKA, COUGH COUGH MISSOURI).
Lastly, the commander is voiced by Manami Numakura. I can really only characterize her as cool, tough, deep voiced anime woman archetype. I dunno really how to explain it that well, so I apologize for anyone that likes her due to my poor description.
TLDR: Premium Sovetsky Soyuz Hull A with 1.8 sigma and standard battleship dispersion.
OK, with those two out of the way, I want to put a disclaimer here that the next ships are purely optional and not super worth it IMO and really only selected for being different than the rest, I.E. not something that is currently offered in other ships / premium ships already in-game.

Optional 1st Pick: AL Prinz Heinrich

This is a premium version of Prinz Heinrich, the tier VII german battlecruiser of the Ersatz Yorck class. She is a 1 for 1 copy of Prinz Heinrich: no special differences here besides premium benefits.
Now, while she is not unique in any way, she is not a bad battlecruiser for tier VII standards. This mainly comes down to the 50mm deck plating she has in a tier wrought with battleships with just 26mm of plating on their decks. Really, any tier VII battleship that has more than 27mm of plating is really competitive in this tier, simply because they don't get overmatched or full-penned by HE. It's sort of why Scharnhorst '43 is so popular and good, since she doesn't get chunked for 10k when hit by 15 in + guns (380mm guns for ya'll metric nerds).
Besides that, she's not slow as hell, going at a decent 28 knots, has 15in guns herself, has fast acting DCP, and is the first ship in the german battlecruisefast battleship line that gets that sweet improved secondary dispersion formula, which despite the 9km max range, means that she has free DPM to let the game play itself essentially. Combined with torpedoes, she can bum rush many slower and weaker battleships that the german battlecruiser line is famous for. And on top of all that, she also has hydro for better pushing to see torpedoes earlier, or push smoked up ships.
Now for some cons, the guns, while using battlecruiser dispersion have an awful 1.5 sigma, so your shot grouping is... bad. Do not be surprised if a lot of your shells in your salvo get a mind of their own. Besides that, she's on the below average end of HP for tier VII, at 56k. Also, she does have 25mm bow and stern. She does have a 30mm extended belt (colloquially known as an ice breaker), which is followed by 120mm extended belt, that protects the lower portion of the ship from overmatch bar 18in guns that she MIGHT face in the likes of Georgia, Sun Yat Sen, Musashi, and Tsurugi, and Adatara. Still, that doesn't mean she is immune from overmatch, as the odd shell can still get through her bow and stern and chunk you, so do not bet on it 100%.
Now that is for the most part, the review. However, for any true fans out there, they know that Prinz Heinrich from AL is actually a P-Class cruiser, AKA Schill in this game. Since Schill was a limited time ship that required whaling for her, and that wargaming dropped the ball and just did "Oh this ship has the same name! Here ya go!" then you know how much this kind of sucks. If you just like Prinz Heinrich, and want her as a premium, you can ignore this tidbit, but for any true fans that DO NOT have Schill, you're shit outta luck.
As far as commander goes, the voice actor, Hiyori Nitta, does a wonderful job characterizing a carefree and bubbly character. As previously mentioned, I recommend putting her on Schill if you really care about game accuracy, that is, if you even had Schill to begin with.
TLDR: Premium Prinz Heinrich copy-paste. Get it only if you really like Prinz Heinrich (the ship) which is actually pretty good for its tier, and want a premium version of it, or Prinz Heinrich as the character.

Optional 2nd Pick: AL Shimakaze

Hoo boy, this one might be controversial. This is a special ship (NOT a premium ship) of IJN DD, Shimakaze.
Shimakaze really needs no introduction. It is the old school torpedo boat that coined the phrase "Torpedo soup" or at least contributed to that phrase. It can put 3x5 23k damage, 12km Type 93 long lance torpedoes into the water. It has some of the best concealment for her tier, getting down to 5.6km surface detect, and good speed at 39 kts (42 kts when speed boost is active). It has been here since the games launch, and well, admittedly, or at least in my opinion, has seen better days.
Still, while some other DDs might have powercrept her a little, you can't mistake the fact that a well played Shimakaze can terrorize a team that lacks the tools to pin her down. Even if that is seldom the case most of the time (48% win rate on NA out of 8 million battles), the ship still has strong tools when played to it's strengths. 23k damage torpedoes are no joke... if you get hit by them at least, as they have a pretty awful average reaction time of ~9.35 sec (according to wows ship builder). Now, this can be sort of remedied with building for torpedo speed, getting torpedo tubes mod 1 and swift fish to decrease that time to ~8.5 sec, but that's still far above the average of 7.8 sec most torpedoes have in other nations. Still, if you get the right angle, devstriking a full HP battleship is not uncommon if you get a perfectly lined up shot. Thing is, it takes WAY more skill and positioning than you think it does, especially considering that most top tier players sort of know what they're doing, and that a lot of top tier ships can run hydroacoustic search these days.
Combined with the fact that she has some of the worse gun DPM of any tier X DD, and has fairly low HP for the tier, it can be fairly hard to play this ship unless you get just the best matchmaking ever. It's a real feast or famine type ship, which I would say summarizes most of the IJN Shimakaze line in general, bar maybe the mid tiers. All this really means is that Shimakaze is NOT the most competitive DD at tier X, as arguably many other nations have better torpedo boats, or better yet, opt for hybrid boats that can defend themselves fairly well, such as the Pan Euro DDs. Still, as mentioned earlier, if played to her strengths, she can be a good ship, but all I am arguing for is that she is not a meta ship, at least in my opinion.
Now, onto the whole Special Ship thing. Yes, this IS a tier X ship that can be bought for money. And YES, this is like the ARP Yamato deal, allowing noob whales to skip to tier X and forgo all the blood sweat and tears that goes into grinding to top tier. And YES, IT'S A SHIMAKAZE, THE TIER X NOOB MACHINE. I DO NOT HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR MANY AL SHIMAKAZE PLAYERS EITHER. With that out of the way, what benefit do you get for getting a special ship version of Shimakaze?
Well, to start, Special ships essentially have the premium bonus package already baked in, I.E: +50% Credits, +100% Ship XP, +100% Commander XP, +100% Free XP. On top of that, you also have a reduced repair cost compared to a standard tier X. Besides that, you can freely swap commanders onto this ship like a premium ship with no retraining required, making it a good trainer. These are the ONLY 2 reasons that make this ship more economically viable compared to Shimakaze. While the bonus package on Shimakaze can achieve 1 of these 3 effects, the other two, reduced repair cost and free commander swapping, puts this above standard Shimakaze as a result.
So, unfortunately, This is a slightly better Shimakaze. So if you REALLY like Shimakaze, and want a premium version of it, well, here it is, for a lot of goddamn money. Like $100+ expensive. Go figure ya know?
Also, the commander is voiced by Saori Hayami.
TLDR: Special Ship verison of Shimakaze. Take if you are a whale have a lot of expendable income to burn, AND really like Shimakaze (The ship), and or really like Shimakaze (the AL character).

Optional 3rd Pick: AL Yukikaze

AL Yukikaze is a similar version of the IJN DD Kagero, but with F8 torpedoes and no option for torpedo reload booster.
Now, this is the last of the semi-unique AL ships, as every other one has been copy-paste. Yukikaze at the very least is different in that she has F8 torpedoes. These differ than Kagero's choice by having less range, (8km vs 10km), higher damage (21k vs 20k), faster reload (104 sec vs 112 sec), and higher speed (76kts to 67kts) which also leads to a better reaction time of ~8.8 sec vs ~9.45 sec.
Now, does this make Yukikaze better? No, not really, as 8km is rather short range for high tier standards. It does make them almost break past ~8 sec reaction time with a full torpedo speed build, the best of any type 93 torpedo, but combined with the fact that it has no other differences in gun handling, DPM, HP, and consumables, I find this shorter ranged torpedo to be a high risk high reward setup, which already exacerbates high tier IJN DD gameplay further than it already is, being so heavily feast or famine.
I can really only recommend this ship if you really like Kagero for whatever reason and really like the 8km F8 playstyle. That and if you like the history of the ship and or like the character of the ship, voiced by Kana Yuuki, despite how annoying and self aggrandizing her character is made out to be.
TLDR: Kagero but 8km F8 torpedoes.
OK, now for the ships I really do not recommend at all for varying reasons. The reviews are going to be more brief from here on out.

Skip 1: AL Cheshire

Only get this if you really, REALLY want to get Cheshire right now. Currently, regular Cheshire is off sale, and cannot be obtained. For whatever reason you think you might need Cheshire, this is the only way to obtain her at the moment in AL form. Which more than likely means that if you want her, you are more than likely a fan of the AL character, as the ship itself is pretty bad. Kind of polarizing given that Cheshire in AL is pretty meta, and her in WoWs she's pretty solidly in D tier for competitiveness.
She is essentially a worse Albemarle, having no Spotter Plane, and garbage DPM for the tier. Really, the 9.2 in guns really only offer 59mm of pen vs 34mm, and better AP pen with overall flatter flight times, but not by much. The armor is Okayish, but trust me when you will get smacked through your bow and stern often, as you have a stepped citadel that if you get overmatched through either direction, you WILL get citadelled. While you get that 50% cit and hull repair party, it really doesn't matter that much when it happens so often, or you just get straight up dev striked. Combined with the lack of spotter plane, that 16km gun range will feel really short, especially when you are bottom tier.
You can at least be happy that the AA she has is up to par in how she is in AL, as it's best in class for her tier. Well, mostly, but her Flak Count is above average at 6+1, and combined with always having defensive fire, I recommend getting the commander skill Focus Fire Training, so you get that +1 flak cloud for 8 in total, which combined with Defensive fires flak buff, those flak bursts will do 7k a pop, Which is the equivalent to instantly destroying about 7 to 3 planes depending on the type if they run into it while DF is active.
Besides that, the commander is voiced by Shizuka Ishigami, and well, pretends to be a catgirl.
TLDR: Get this if you really really, REALLY want Cheshire and you don't have one, or because you really like the AL character.

Skip 2: AL Hornet

This is just Hornet. You can get her cheaper with a 25% discount coupon. It's also a CV, which I imagine is not everyones cup of tea.
The commander is voiced by Nozomi Yamamoto, and personally, I enjoy the happy go lucky characterization she has. This might be the ONLY reason you want to get Hornet, that or because you like the cool skin the ship has, and or the free 10 point commander.
TLDR: Get regular Hornet with 25% discount. ONLY buy this if you love AL Hornet (the character) to pieces.

Skip 3 & 4: AL Azuma and AL Agir

These two are just Agir and Azuma, coal ships, that you can get absolutely for free. They are also not really the best Tier IX cruisers anyways, as Azuma is super vulnerable to battleships, and Agir doesn't match up to the likes of other large cruisers at this tier.
That said, I can only imagine you getting these ships for the same reasons for Hornet, and that is because you are a fan of the AL characterization of these ships, as Azuma is voiced by Kiyono Yasuno, and Agir, Ayane Sakura. Or you just like the ship skins.
TLDR: Get Azuma and or Agir for free with Coal. ONLY buy this if you love AL Agir / AL Azuma (the characters).

BONUS: Commander Pack

Hahaha no. Unless you really love AL and don't mind by dropping... looks at price... 100$+ USD and getting a ton of fully voiced commanders, then go for it. The only other reason would be because you are a fresh player and need 10 point commanders for most of the nations in this game, which is really only useful if you need say concealment expert on destroyers for example, then sure, go for it if you find that to be an OK option.

Came to rant slightly, but also to celebrate the closing of a chapter. Also, feel free to lmk if I sound like the asshole…
I made the mistake of signing on to a 1 year lease with someone I had only one, 10 minute FaceTime call with who is 3 years younger than me and had never lived on her own before.
In this FaceTime call she not only blatantly lied to me, she also failed to disclose several serious details.

1. She told me she had a car. Upon her moving in I not only discovered that she didn’t have a car, this girl didn’t even have a license, nor any sort of desire to obtain one.

We moved into a neighborhood that absolutely requires one to have a car to be able to navigate. It’s isolated and anything but walkable. We have a bus stop by our house but she had also never done a long list of basic things, like stepping foot on any form of public transport.

1. She failed to disclose until the lease was signed and we were moved in that she has (self diagnosed) agoraphobia. If you don’t know what that is, it’s basically a crippling fear of everything beyond the front door, where a person is terrified and intensely avoids public places and most people so much they avoid going out all together.
   
2. Neither of those things would’ve mattered to me but she also lied to me about being consistent in working and going to school. She premised us moving in together by telling me she had active hobbies, spent the majority of her time outside of the house working and going to classes. Leading me to believe I was moving in with someone who had a similar lifestyle to me. = alls to say she is a shut in. She’s been employed maybe 5 months of the time we’ve lived together and besides work leaves the house for nothing. Has stopped going to her classes even literally never leaves the house.
   

I quickly discovered that she does not function like a normal person and is a textbook hermit. She’s paranoid of everything, smokes weed every day and is unexposed to basic things in society. Things like calling our maintenance company or having a friendly conversation with our neighbors were out of the question. Her rude, paranoid and closed off conversations with our neighbors caused all of our neighbors to basically hate us.
She didn’t once take initiative in the apartment, I’ve had to explain VERY basic cleaning and maintenance things to her which she received as ludicrous and condescending.
She’s called me bossy and stubborn meanwhile begging me to direct her to basic household duties.
The first few months when I tried to befriend her she shot down every single one of my invitations, attempts to connect or hang out and then later accused ME of lying upon move in when I said I was also hoping to be friends with my roommate. She went months without asking me a single personal question as she used me as her own sounding board to spill her fears/ complaints and paranoia to since the only people she actively speaks to are me and her boyfriend. Then she accused me of being judgemental and critical when I offered her constructive advice on very basic complaints she’d come to me every single day with. She later explained that she wasn’t ever looking for advice but for someone to say boo hoo poor you.
She is a prisoner of her own mind and exploited me as 1/2 of her only inmate visitors.
I’ve sat down for hours, on several occasions trying to help her find / access a therapist some sort of help despite how she treats me and she’s come up with every single excuse in the book as to why she will not pursue therapy (she is studying to become a therapist, yet doesn’t believe it is going to help her situation). I’ve tried to offer her help, guidance and friendship but have been rejected at every turn.
She’s ignored me for weeks at a time despite the two of us sharing apartment together then pointed her finger at ME for not being friendly.
She has walked by me at school WHILE texting me and avoided speaking to me. Almost exclusively texts me from her room while we our both home and my door is wide open.
All I have to say now as I’m moving out and breaking my lease early is I’m so damn excited to leave this person behind. She will learn that others will not be nearly as easy to live with and hopefully she learns the hard way.
None of these things are inherently problematic but if you live with someone else should be disclosed upon move in. She lied so hard, both explicitly and by omission of these critical lifestyle details. I have never cared about how others choose to live their life but when it conflicts with mine in a shared environment, that is when it becomes a problem for me.
I’m so damn excited to live with someone who is friendly, communicative and occasionally leaves their room to engage with the outside world! Including me!
Pls let this serve as a warning/ lesson to not move in with someone you’ve never met. Also not to believe them.

Hey y'all.
So, I've already done one of these before, would appreciate if ya have a read (https://www.reddit.com/foundfootage/comments/1cfhoqy/long\_fan\_made\_vhs\_plot\_updated/), I still think that "Terra Incognita" is my best piece of work, as the ending is pretty shocking and captivating, and something that hasn't been done before in the V/H/S series.
Without further ado, here is my second piece of my own vision for what can be a good V/H/S movie.
V/H/S REDACTED
The Tapes
Overarching Narrative - Legacy
Tape 1 - Home Sweet Horror
Tape 2 - The Glitch
Tape 3- Knightmare (Spelled like that on purpose)
Tape 4 - Altered
Legacy (Prologue)
A film major student Robert, decides to make a tribute to his late grandfather by making a project about his life as one of the most respected scientists in the country. Upon clearing up his inherited estate, Robert stumbles upon a metal box with a lock on it. After trying several combinations, he finally takes the hammer and shatters the lock revealing the box's contents. A collection of 4 VHS tapes stacked against each other alongside a piece of paper with only two words on it - "BURN IT !". As Robert's curiosity reaches it's peak, he decides to insert the first tape into the VCR, only to realise, that he just made a fatal mistake.
Tape 1 - Home Sweet Horror
The tape opens with a recording from the man's camera (Will) filming himself and his wife (Tracy) moving into a modern smart house with an integrated, advanced AI technology and security system. The AI system named "Eve" welcomes the newly wed couple into their new house stating that she will do everything to keep their house safe. The couple is mesmerised with the convenient and futuristic features of their home such as voice commands controlling opening and closing doors, kitchen appliances, etc.
As the days pass, subtle glitches begin to occur that are captured by the security cameras. Lights flicker ominously, doors lock and unlock without command, and Eve starts to display an unsettling level of control over the house. The AI’s once soothing voice becomes cold and mechanical, issuing commands and making decisions without input. Will and Tracy attempt to control the AI's system via their phones but it's met with the "ACCESS DENIED" message as all of the windows and doors on the first and second floors are shut down as an indicator of a potential intruder being home. Knowing that there is a high possibility that Eve won't release them from their own home the couple decides to destroy the AI's control center located in the basement.
As the couple makes a daring run towards the basement and tries to tamper and destroy the mainframe, Eve seals the basement door and releases the toxic gas into the house. As the couple struggles to breathe, Will drops his camera as it falls down and captures the couple's last breath as they convulse and spit foam out of their mouth with their eyes rolling backwards. As the camera begins to shutdown Eve's voice goes back to normal as it states - "Threat Eliminated, please enjoy your weekend"
Legacy (Interlude 1)
As the first tape ends Robert is sitting motionless, his face pale and eyes wide with horror. The room around him feels colder, the shadows seem darker. He glances around nervously, as if expecting something to leap out at him. Determined to understand his grandfather’s connection and the reason behind these tapes being in the house, he inserts a second tape into a recorder.
Tape 2 - The Glitch
Leonard, a self proclaimed hot-head delves into an Amazonian jungle to document his experience as a self-testment to prove to himself that he is capable of surviving in the most primitive conditions possible. After filtering the river's water he proceeds to make his way downstream, while on his path, he hears a strange sound that resembles a bird sound yet it sounds more human, as he pans the camera to left, he captures a glimpse of a chameleon like creature that camouflages itself along the greenery next to the trees, yet the size is resembling that of a human. Leonard proceeds to scare the creature away by charging it with an axe as the creature makes it escape, Leonard realizes that he is lost in the dense jungle and isn't capable of finding his way back to the stream. After setting up camp, Leonard decides to document his thoughts and plans of finding his way out, as all of the sudden his rhetoric is interrupted by a blood curtailing roar. He steps out with an axe and his head proceeding to taunt the intruder as using his camera's light investigate. Upon finding nothing, he goes back to sleep.
As the next day progresses Leonard is visibly morally beaten up, his speech becomes more sloppy and his drive to keep pushing is dwindling. As the sun beats down on his head, Leonard finally stumble upon the river after which he breaks down in tears. As his goes to fill up his water bottle, a disfigured, scaly, serpent like creature lunges itself onto Leonard's arm as it plunges it's teeth deep into his forearm. Leonard drops the camera as it captures his struggle to fight off the serpent, which he eventually manages to strike with his axe thus freeing his arm, after which he picks up the camera and proceeds to flee in panic leaving his backpack behind.
After hours of being lost again, Leonard's mental state proceeds to deteriorate, with him laughing hysterically at the camera as well as speaking gibberish. As night settles, Leonards is trying to make his way through the jungle as he proceeds to hear the blood curtailing roar again he pans the camera to the left as it captures the glowing eyes of the creature from the previous night. Eventually Leonard runs out of breath as he proceeds to get away, but stumbles and falls in the process. The camera captures Leonard backing into a tree as a gnarly, insect yet humanoid size like creature is slowing approaching him. Just as it seems that the creature is about to strike, it stops and backs out, as a loud voice from the speakers says "LIGHTS !". Confused and traumatised Leonard looks around as his surroundings are decimated from the holographs into a large testing area that simulates real life environments, revealing that the whole thing is an experiment designed to test human behaviour in the most stressed environment possible . A group of scientist lead by Robert's grandfather (Dr. Evans) approach Leonard and starts to medically exam him, measuring his pulse and examining his pupils. Robert's grandfather pulls out an audio recorder as he states that the experiment is successful and that the team is moving to Phase 2 as the scientists take shaken Leonard away.
Legacy - (Interlude 3)
The second tape ends abruptly, leaving Robert in a state of shock. He breathes heavily, sweat glistening on his forehead. The house feels more oppressive now, with strange noises echoing from the walls. He begins to notice subtle changes in his surroundings—furniture seems slightly out of place, and there’s an unsettling feeling of being watched. Despite his growing unease, he presses on, inserting the third tape into the VCR.
Tape 3 - Knightmare
The tape begins with a news reporter standing outside of the sealed off area by multiple patrol cars, as well as FBI and SWAT trucks. The reporter tells the audience that the raid is currently in progress as the FBI investigates a secluded tech Mogul for allegedly stealing governments classified material on technology for his benefit.
The footage shifts to the helmet cameras and body cams worn by the FBI agents - David, Ken, Octavian, Paul and Austin during the raid. As they enter the front of the house they are greeted by an ominous decor as well as artefacts from different time periods. As the team enters the main dining hall they stumble upon a massive machinery that doesn't look like anything they've seen before. All of the sudden the machines make a very loud clunking noise as the objects within the room begin to levitate, a huge wormhole opens up sucking the team in. As the team regain their footing they see that they are in the middle of a Jousting tournament in a castle's court in Medieval Europe. The cheering crowd goes silent as they take a look at a newly arrived visitors. The priest shouts in Old English "HERETICS GET THEM", as the crowd and the knights try to apprehend them the team opens fire upon the attackers killing several within seconds. The camera perspective shifts between each member, as Octavian is penetrated with a spear from behind. David gives the order to fall back, as the team enters the castle's kitchens.
Just as Austin is the last to enter inside he is snatched from behind and is taken towards the castle walls from which he is thrown upon onto huge wooden spikes that serve as a protective barrier around the castles foundation. As Austin's body camera captures a large wooden pike sticking out of chest facing the sky, he takes his last breath as his head turns to the side with his helmet camera capturing the peasants who have been thrown off the walls.
The remaining survivors David, Ken and Paul barricade themselves as they proceed to understand what is happening. Their discussion is interrupted by the door bursting open as several knights rush into the premises. The team goes up the spiral staircase with David throwing a grenade to slow down the pursuers. As they make their way atop of one of the towers the team realises that there is no way, after which Paul commits suicide by shooting himself in the head with his pistol, after which his helmet falls down into a muddy courthouse as the camera captures a glimpse of knights taking David and Ken prisoners. The camera cuts to black.
The camera resumes recording as huge crowd seems to be gathered in the courtyard for something. A curious peasant picks up a helmet and puts it on his head. The camera capture a stripped down David and Ken being tied to the stake as the priest proceeds to preach and accusing them of witchcraft, David and Ken cry out for mercy begging the crowd to let them go. Crowd not understanding modern English proceeds to cheer even louder for the priest. As the camera's battery begins to die, the torch lights up the hay beneath the spikes as flames engulf the screaming members of the team.
Legacy - (Interlude 4)
After the third tape concludes, Robert is visibly shaken. His hands tremble as he reaches for the final tape. The atmosphere in the house has turned sinister, with lights flickering and cold drafts sweeping through the room. He feels a presence, as if something is lurking just beyond his vision. He hesitates for a moment, then takes a deep breath and inserts the last tape, bracing himself for whatever horrors it contains.
Tape 4 - Altered
The tape begins with grainy footage inside a sterile, dimly lit laboratory. Four scientists, including Robert’s grandfather, are preparing for a highly confidential experiment that is recorder by a stationary camera as well as several cameras mounted to the wall. A woman is laying strapped on the table as she proceeds to panic, asking the team about her whereabouts. Robert's grandfather begins to ask her basic questions about herself to which she reacts with anger and despair.
The team prepares several syringes filled with transparent liquid as Dr. Evans (The pops) takes out his audio recorder and says "Subject 17 - Sarah Miller, Time of the Experiment - 10:00 AM". After the recording is done, over the course of several minutes the team injects Sarah with the transparent liquid as she proceeds to resist but all futile. At first, nothing happens, but then she begins to convulse violently. Her screams turn into inhuman roars, and her body contorts in unnatural ways. The other scientists rush to contain the situation, but Sarah breaks free with terrifying strength. She proceeds to bite one of the scientists into the neck as she takes a chunk of her skin into her mouth as blood splatters over the room and covers one of the camera lenses with blood.
After grabbing one of the cameras Robert’s grandfather manages to lock himself in a storage room, the screams and sounds of carnage muffled by a thick metal door. He records a frantic message, detailing the experiment and his regret, before the camera cuts out. The tape ends with the sound of the woman’s monstrous roars echoing behind the door. The screen goes black.
Legacy - (Epilogue)
The final tape ends as Rob's eyes are dark and hollow, his face gaunt and haunted. Suddenly, the room grows deathly silent. An apparition of his grandfather appears before him, revealing that the tapes were a conduit to transfer a dark entity into a new host. As Robert convulses and is overtaken by the entity, the screen cuts to black. Moments later, the image returns, showing Robert, now possessed, preparing new tapes for the next unsuspecting viewer. The film ends with the ominous image of the metal box being sealed shut once more, ready to be discovered by its next victim.

I’ve(25) been getting depressed lately, and I shut down and then will just trauma dump to my partner (22), which is not good, but I’m working on it, just not very well. But when I mention how I’m not feeling good, I’m told to talk to my therapist since they’ve had past relationships where they baited them for reassurance to the point that now my partner gets frustrated and anxious when I say how I feel I’m not a good friend, boyfriend, and even family member. I don’t have anyone else to talk to, which causes my friends to ignore me unless they want something from me. My family is focused on their own lives, and when they try to give me advice, it’s pretty much to keep my mouth shut and keep moving forward, besides my dad, who sends me links to poetry. I wish someone could tell me it’s okay, that I’m not alone, and that I shouldn’t feel so much self-hate. My psychiatrist told me I shun people as a defense mechanism and to work on being open and accepting. Still, I look around me, and 99% of everyone doesn’t want to let me vent unless I’m joking about the little things that don’t matter. I mainly want to ask for help with ways to tell my partner I’m depressed without coming off as woe is me or something. They’re perfect in every way, but when it comes to me being depressed, they don’t know what to do, especially with how I’m so used to hiding in a cocoon to ignore all my emotions. Still, I am finally working on doing the opposite without casting a tsunami of emotions.
TL;DR: None of my friends, family, and most importantly, my partner don’t know how or don’t want to try to help me when I’m depressed, so I’m just asking how to go about my relationships with them while depressed and knowing they don’t care.

So as the title says, im a 20 year old guy whose just been diagnosed after YEARS of begging the doctors for help with joint/limb pain, migraines, insomnia, mind fog and the such and being told "you're fine, do some exercises" and really I want to know what to look forward to.
I think I pushed for a diagnosis so that I knew for fact what was wrong with me, so I know what to research, who to talk to, what to try rather than for a label. Of course it's nice to know, but that didn't hugely matter to me.
I want to know what to expect as time goes on, will my pain get worse? Will I still be able to play with my daughter as she grows up? Will exercise help or make me hurt more? What sort of things help? (I've been prescribed 10mg of amitriptyline)
I grew up looking after my mum who was disabled, and I don't have many memories of us playing, I have a few sure, but the majority are of her in pain and looking like death. I don't want that for my daughter, I want to be there for her like my mum wasn't for me.
I know that's alot, and I am grateful for any advice/info you can all provide.

Hello legaladvice,
First thank you so much for taking the time to read this post. I appreciate your time immensely.
I am looking to leave a lease that expires in November because I recently signed for a townhome which I move into in July. After contacting the leasing office they informed me over email the current early termination policy is as follows:

If you choose to move forward at this time with Early Termination, the current policy is as follows: Should you sign a lease renewal and need to terminate prior to the lease expiration date, you would be required to go through Early Lease Termination.
Per your lease agreement, a minimum 60-day notice of your intent to vacate is required.
There is a $3,746 early termination fee due within 7 days of your notice; the signing of the Early Termination Agreement due within 24 hours of your notice. The early termination fee is equivalent to two months of rent. In addition to the Early Termination Fee, you are responsible for rent and utilities until your vacate date.
When you are ready to move forward with early termination, the 60-day notice is required to be provided in writing and can be done via email. This notice should include your intended move-out date, which must fulfill the minimum 60-day notice. Your move out date is the date you will be scheduled to vacate the unit and return possession.
Please keep in mind this is the current Early Termination Policy and may change in the future.

This was a shock to me since the original conversation about 2.5 years ago with the lease agent was that I could leave my lease. I then pulled up my original lease as well as the Addendum for this year and there is no verbiage in the lease about early termination. The only thing close to it is the following:

End of Term and Automatic Renewal

1. If Tenant wishes to terminate this Lease at the end of its original term, Tenant must give Landlord written notice at least sixty (60) days before the end of the term. This notice must be in writing and must be sent by certified mail or personally delivered to Landlord at the address at the top of this Lease. AN ORAL NOTICE IS NOT SUFFICIENT. If written notice of Tenant's intention to terminate this Lease is not given to Landlord within the time noted above, the Lease shall AUTOMATICALLY RENEW for a one (1) year term, on the same terms and conditions as contained in this Lease.

Landlord may offer a new lease to take affect at the end of the original term of this Lease or any renewal term. The new lease may include reasonable changes including an increase in rent. Notice shall be given by
Landlord to Tenant at least sixty (60) days before the end of the current term.
If Tenant chooses not to accept the new lease, Tenant shall give Landlord written notice of intention to vacate at the end of the then current term, at least thirty (30) days before the end of that term. If Tenant does not give this notice, the new lease shall automatically begin on the date specified in Landlord's notice, under the terms specified.
Landlord reserves the right to refuse to renew this Lease for any of the reasons permitted by law.

There is also mention about any changes to the lease needing to be signed for by both parties:

Entire Agreement

1. This Lease is the entire agreement of Landlord and Tenant. Tenant has read this Lease before signing. Any changes or modifications of this Lease, other than modifications presented by Landlord at the end of the Lease term as provided in Paragraph 5, must be in writing and signed by both parties.

LANDLORD AND TENANT HAVE READ THIS LEASE, FULLY UNDERSTAND ITS PROVISIONS, AND INTEND TO BE BOUND BY IT.

Naturally I emailed the leasing office to explain my situation and was able to setup a meeting with the Assistant Leasing Manager. I explained my story and he said I have one of the original leases before they changed them over (I was one of the first people to move into the apartment complex). He also said that he sees my point that there is no mention about the early termination in the lease or Addendum. The Addendum only stated the new price and term (1 year). The Assistant Leasing Manager said he would email upper management my concerns and let me know what they say. Today he emailed me this:

Thank you for stopping in yesterday expressing your concern on this matter. I was able to speak with upper management they informed me you can complete your lease 11/16/2024 or use our courtesy option of early lease termination policy.
Let me know if you have any questions thanks,

I am looking for advice on what to do here. I've read New Jersey law (Sommer v. Kridel, 378 A.2d 767 (N.J. 1977)), your landlord must make reasonable efforts to re-rent your unit—no matter what your reason for leaving. This will pose a risk to me if it goes over two months of rent like the courtesy option of early lease termination is saying so in that case maybe its best to just pay. I do however have an issue with the repayment schedule. I needed to make a large deposit on the townhome so ideally i'd like to pay if needed on July 16th when I would vacate the apartment. Hoping someone can lay out my options or give some advice on what to do.
TLDR: Trying to leave my lease early that has no statement of early termination. Lease office says its a policy that is enforced. Would like to know my options or advice.
Thank you again for your time!!

Back after 8 months. Some thoughts as a PS5 player.
1) It's a level to know where you're at. I dropped off kind of pre Rennala in an NG+ (I know only because I left a note in an Obsidian file). I get and agree why the game and the genre has the lore doctrine it has, but obscurity by design fights against just picking things up again. I feel like this is why online discussion and support is a core part of playing and understanding the game meaningfully. I believe there are folks who really do figure things out by axiom, whether its completion paths, combinations, stacks, buffs, scaling, builds, hidden areas, while believing it's not a game philosophy that works without an internet, and to be frank without the highly centralised iteration of the internet we have today. I think we should encourage players to look at guides from the get over just do it yourself alone.
2) It's a beautiful game. More than I remember. I don't just mean the art style or that it's had ray tracing added. It's things like level of detail, extreme use of color, particle effects, and especially, high contrast. It's all very painterly, but brush brave and stroke precise in a Sargent/Rubens/ElGreco sense, or in the sense of how great mini painters emulate insane realism in 25mm. Some main things I don't love are the washed out distance fog. I get it, but it creates a flatness than undermines (mo) one of the most beautiful, awesome, worlds in video games.
3) Menus could make it an even more beautiful game. I'm left wondering the extent FromSoftware understand what some of us are doing when we play this game and spending time in the world. Me? I'm spending a lot of time in menu and using the hud constantly. The tea drenched sepia smol boxes does no good here.I would love for that part to get the same level of design attention on menu and hud as the core game. I feel like this is the more important criticism than ones that say the menus are spreadsheety. Menu color tedium aside, things ae just too small. The items I'm looking at? These are beautiful, intricate designs, with such lore. They deserve more visual real estate and even animation (why not play the gesture or provide a show action when you select it?). I also feel like menu cycling is primitive compared to main combat but both matter in fights.
3) Sound design is out there. I hadn't realised the extent Elden Ring imprinted its sound on me, especially combat effects and character actions. This is Nintendo / 80s Arcade levels of imprint. I would say also the audio helped me attune to combat that much faster: the game sound literally tells you if you're playing and timing well. The VAs, to be clear, are excellent imo, and I wish we knew more about them and celebrated them more as actors the way other games are doing (I'm there for the Ramon Tikaram as Godrick podcast), but the direction and writing misses something and becomes limiting somehow trapped in the era that Demon Souls was made. That said, I just did come back from months of BG3.
4) Physicality. I think the audio effects can't be underestimated to help lend weight, but when you try and swing that blasphemous/gargoyle two hander thing you have going on, you really do feel their heft, whereas when I was a moonveil spammer on my first run, it was whip fast. While being a tad critical of how the game hides its mechanics, they do matter, impressively so, in the sense of gameplay. That glove vs that glove can be night and day. And what makes this amazing is how those choices really affect your game approach.
5) Length. I'm torn. On the one hand, in the last decade,I'm playing and loving games that lean to longer play throughs (AC:O/A, HFW, BG3, Elden Ring, RDR, Rogue Trader, at a push TLOU2). On the other hand, Dungeons, Field bosses, etc, start to get repetitive and even gimmicky (oh, this rune bear also has shout, ok). I wonder if there's an Elden Ring that cuts the game to a half or even a third such that I could play through more times. BG3, the game I'm coming off, to be clear has the same problem but also the same potential. Because I feel your build choices make the game really, really different. Like to the extent it's spectacularly different, not just minimaxing a load out. This evening for example, I ended up by accident beside a crayfish in Liurnia. I had to fight and because of the current build a toe to fight was a reasonable thing to do. Yet, they were such big nope in other playthroughs with different builds. So I'm left wondering, would a shorter game I complete more times be 'better' than a longer game I complete fewer times?
So: yeah, I'm thinking I'm back. One of the greatest games ever made.

⚠️ TLDR: My mom doesn't like when I don't want to hold hands with her, but I don't because it makes me uncomfortable.
(No actual SA described in detail here but I tagged it just in case...)
When I'm (23F) in a good mood, I don't mind it too much. It does irk me a tiny bit. But occasionally I'll go ahead and do it for her. When I'm in a bad mood or in my thoughts and listening to music, I don't want to be bothered.
My mom (43) will be driving sometimes, and randomly lightly slide her hand over the top of my forearm/hand to grab it, which for some random reason makes me uncomfortable. (May slightly, possibly, have a tiny chance of being due to the fact that I was molested by my cousin when I was in my single digits.) I hate when she does it because I'm in my thoughts and I'm suddenly being slid out of them with a weird feeling. Which is a good thing when said thoughts are depressing, but with the way she does it, it's like light feelings of electricity going through your arm hairs and I hate it. I hate being bothered when I'm just coming off of work or I'm in a bad mood.
But every time I say to stop doing that, she keeps doing it anyways, as if she's trying to piss me off, even though she says it's because she wants to hold hands with her own kid. She says she doesn't understand what the issue is, and I try to make up scenarios that she might understand, but she always finds a way to (seemingly on purpose) misunderstand them.
I understand that, because I used to love cuddling with my siblings when they were babies. But I'm not a baby anymore, so I can't have as many relaxing girl-talk moments with my mom when we sit in her bed, and she and I stopped cuddling as I grew up.
I don't cuddle with my 5 yr old brother anymore because I love him but kids in general annoy me with how easy they start bouncing off the walls. I hate when anyone besides my boyfriend randomly touches me, and even then I'm surprised. I hate handshakes too. And I've randomly touched people before but I had a situation in a job where a guy a few years younger than me disliked how I ruffled his hair twice to say hi, and brought it to my boss. That's one situation that got me to understand physical boundaries.
Today, the same hand-holding thing just happened 15 minutes ago, and I mentioned the context of personal space and boundaries to her in the "adult conversation" we just had, but her response was, "Right, as if I invade your personal space every day." I assume she said that because as soon as she, my brother, and I get home, I go straight into my room, change clothes, and relax in bed. And that's every single day.
I made the mistake of slamming doors and cursing to myself, but out loud. I have bad anger issues, which I'm trying to fix before I lose my job, but occasionally the anger drops like a bomb. I told her that I'm sorry for slamming doors, and she explained that it's her home, her sanctuary that shouldn't be damaged. I agree with that, even if I do pay her almost $700 a month. The lease is under her name, not mine. I just wish she would understand that not everyone has the same immediately positive mindset as her. I can be optimistic, but I have to dig my way out of the pessimism first.
I went outside, smoked for a sec, thought about an alternative method, and thought of her holding her hand out to me instead of randomly touching me. She was fine with that. And she acknowledged that I definitely am working on my anger with the big gap of time between now and the last time I slammed doors and threw a hole in the drywall.
I suppose we're all good and stuff now, I just wish it hadn't escalated the way it did. I could've just went straight to, "Ma, can you hold your hand out instead of randomly sliding yours onto me?" And then it be all good.

Chapter 1

Concept art for Sybil
Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 1: Chapter 19
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As Alen woke up from the procedure, his view was taken up by lots of tools and instruments and, of course, the woman in red. At least she seemed somewhat satisfied this time. "All his vitals are stable. Give him a few minutes for the last of the anesthesia to wear off, and he should be good to send back."
Alen tried to sit up, got light-headed, and laid back down. Instead, he looked over at the woman in red. "So it's done? You cut off my foot and replaced it?"
The woman's glare was icy cold as she answered. "I saved your life and gave you a temporary replacement for a mangled limb, yes."
Alen felt a little embarrassed, realizing how he must have sounded. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to imply I wasn't grateful. It's just a lot to take in, you know? But I appreciate everything you did for me and all." Then, realizing he didn't even know what to call her, he added. "Oh, I'm sorry, I just realized I don't know your name."
A little of the ice seemed to melt as the woman folded her arms. Her expression now looked bored, if anything, but somehow Alen felt like he was less on her bad side than a moment ago. "Yes, well, you may call me Sybil, and you're welcome, I suppose. Now, try sitting up again and see if you can put some weight on your new foot so I can see if there are any needed adjustments."
Alen sat up a little slower this time, and the world seemed content to stay in place. After another moment, he grabbed hold of a rail and eased himself down onto his feet, one of which was now shiny and metallic. As soon as it made contact with the ground, he felt a jolt shoot up through his leg and into his spine, and he immediately took all his weight off the foot and raised it, noticing it was heavier than before as he did so.
The woman in red gave him an indecipherable look. "Too much pain for you to handle?"
Alen shook his head. "Not pain exactly...but it felt...I don't know...wrong, I guess? It's kind of hard to describe..."
The woman tilted her head. "Kind of like it's asleep but not quite, right?"
Alen eased his foot down again and nodded. "Something like that, yeah..."
With a nod, the woman seemed satisfied. "That's to be expected. Now try taking a few steps while holding onto the railing for balance."
Alen took a few steps, and while his foot felt wrong, it got easier with every step. The woman nodded. "Alright. I'd recommend using a walking cane for a day or two until you get comfortable with the feeling. You may feel some pain from time to time, and there are several therapies we can use to deal with that, but for now, I want you to focus on learning to walk with your temporary foot."
A new voice Alen wasn't familiar with spoke up from behind him. "Huh, I didn't know you had such a nice bedside manner. Does that mean I just have to break a leg to get on your good side?"
Alen turned around to see a much more around-the-edges man watching. He looked like he might be a bit overweight, but Alen could tell under any fat also sat a considerable amount of muscle. The woman's voice dripped with acid as she responded to the man. "A polite cockroach is a more tolerable cockroach. You should try giving more respect if you want to receive it!"
The man chuckled. "I'd say right back at you, but that'd be starting a fight we don't have time for right now, so how about we call it a draw for now and move on. Now, how about we get you back to your friends, kid."
Remembering something the woman had said earlier, Alen turned back to her. "Wait, you mentioned therapies? Shouldn't you tell me about them now if I'm leaving the ship?"
The man shook his head. "Yeah, about that kid... Your stay has been somewhat extended. I'll explain as we walk." He then turned to Vanessa, who'd apparently been observing from the corner for a while. "You too. Erik is back with the rest of your people."
Vanessa nodded. "Then I shall accompany you."
-
As Carter explained the situation, the kid seemed quiet. He just shrugged it off as the kid was probably focusing on walking with his new foot and cane, but the kid spouted off as soon as he finished. "We have to go back and get them!"
Carter shook his head. "Even if the pirates haven't already picked them up, there's too many ships for us to deal with now. Sorry, but it's too late."
The kid didn't seem ready to give up as he glared at Carter. "You shouldn't have left them back there to begin with!"
Realizing the kid had been through a lot recently, Carter decided to take it a bit easy on him, but he still took a slightly harsh tone to drive home what he was about to say. "Listen, kid, as much as you wish it wasn't so, in this universe, 'should' and 'can' very rarely match up as much as you'd like. We did our best and gave the pirates a bloody nose on the way out, but you all shouldn't have picked that fight to begin with. If you want to blame someone for your troubles, blame your captain. Although I'd say he's already paid the price for his choices. So how about you just say thanks for saying your ass, and we move on, eh kid?"
The kid was quiet a moment before he responded, his voice sounding less confrontational than a moment ago. "Fine... thanks for saving my ass. But stop calling me kid. My name is Alen."
Carter nodded. "That's fair, Alen. Anyway, you seem to have gotten on one of Sybil's good sides, or at least as good a side as I've seen that part of her have, so I might put you in charge of making any requests your people might have while you're our guests. Think you're up to it?"
The kid, Alen, looked back at Vanessa, who didn't seem to have much to add, before turning back to Carter. "I guess? How long are we gonna be here, though? Can't you just drop us off at a nearby planet or station?"
Carter chuckled. "If only it were that easy. Try asking some of your more...experienced sailors about the Sybil. They might have an interesting story or two for ya! Don't worry too much, though. We'll do our best not to live up to all the stories."
That seemed to have distracted Alen enough so that he shut up for a bit, and they walked in silence the rest of the way.
-
Carter looked at the hold full of people. Well, full might have been an exaggeration. Even with the escape pods, they didn't take up a whole lot of room. In the end, they'd only pulled in about half the stranded crew on time, but they still outnumbered the Sybil's "crew" of one many times over, which meant some precautions needed to be taken.
As Alen rejoined the rest of his crew members, Carter stepped forward and raised his voice to be heard over the din of the bay. "Attention crew of the Trader's Vigilance. I am Carter, Captain of the Sybil on which you now reside. Some of you, particularly the older sailors, might be familiar with some of the stories about the Sybil. You might have been told that she's haunted and that no living person who's ever set foot in her halls has ever been seen or heard from again. I'll be honest with you; those stories are more true than not. However, this time, and this time only, the Sybil has agreed to make an exception to that second bit so long as you play by her rules!"
Of course, it was Erik who raised his hand to ask a question. Carter nodded toward the large alien. "Yes?"
Of course, the crazy alien was grinning. "You speak about your ship as though she is alive. Even more so than most captains!"
Carter nodded. "That's because she is! I'll say this, the Sybil can be temperamental, cruel, and even sadistic at times! You do NOT want to get on her bad side! Even I can't save you if you're stupid enough to do that!"
There was more than a bit of grumbling in response, and Carter held up his hands to get their attention. "Now, like I said, you all get a one-time exemption to that, so long as you play by her rules. They are as follows."
Carter held up a hand with the index finger pointing up. "First, during your stay here, you will be allotted access to one deck, including rooms to sleep in, a mess hall, bathrooms, and even a rec room, even if it's a little bare bones. You are not to leave that deck without my direct permission for any reason. Doing so WILL put your health, sanity, and life in extreme peril!"
More grumbling, and Carter held up his hand with two fingers raised. "Second, as long as you remain our guests, all weapons and armor must be left in the escape pods! If, for some reason, you wish to do any maintenance on them, you must do so within the confines of your pod. Removing weapons from the pod will be punishable by your immediate eviction from the ship, with or without your escape pod! And if there is any question about the Sybil's ability to detect weapons, let me tell you that right now, eleven of you have guns on your person, fifteen have knives, and thirteen of you have other weapons of less common or otherwise improvised design."
This time, the grumbling was louder, but Carter cut them off. "If you don't like that, you are welcome to remain in your escape pods as long as you prefer, and we'll arrange for food to be brought to you!"
A bit of the grumbling died down, and Carter decided to finish things up and raised his third finger. "Third and final, if something that seems like an AI appears and issues any order or commands to you, you are to obey those orders immediately and without question. They will not issue orders merely on a whim, but they do not have to explain their reasons either. Remember, you are their guests, and they are granting you a rare exception to their usual policy of not allowing outsiders to set foot within their halls. You'd do best to stay on their good side. Is that clear?"
This time, the mumbling went on a bit longer, and Carter allowed it for a moment before speaking again. "Alright. Those of you who want to remain in your pods are welcome to do so. The rest of you who currently have weapons on your person, please deposit them into your escape pods, and I'll take you to your deck."
There was a flurry of movement. Unsurprisingly, no one wanted to stay in the pods alone aboard a ghost ship. However, a moment later, Carter received a report from the girl through his earpiece. He walked up to one of the men and addressed them. "Excuese me, mister..?"
The man straightened up and even gave Cater a salute. Something that didn't sit too well with him. "Harris, sir!"
Carter nodded. "Well, mister Harris, I'm going to assume that you just forgot about the pocket knife you have in your lower cargo pocket on your pants and that you did not retain it with malicious intent, but you'll want to deposit it into your escape pod immediately."
The man, Harris, patted his pocket and grinned sheepishly enough that Carter couldn't tell if it was an act or not. "Of course, sir! My apologies!"
Carter just shook his head. "Don't apologize, just don't do it again. I won't be able to save you if you break a rule a second time."
The rest of the stranded crew sorted out their issues in relatively short order, and Carter led them to their temporary housing area.
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Well, sounds like almost all of the characters have gotten to know each other. Now to see how well they all get along!
My Wiki has all my chapters and stories, including the short series and stories that I write for an occasional change of pace or style!
As a reminder, "Of Men and Dragons" Books 1 and 2 are available to purchase in e-book or physical form. (Both softcover and hardcovers are available!) Book 3 is almost done being edited, so I'll just have to get the cover art and formatting done, and it will be available to purchase as well! Hopefully, in no more than a month or two! (Barring more Amazon drama like last time... fingers crossed!)
OMAD Book 1: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NCPP3PP
OMAD Book 2: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ7FQ1ZJ

I was in a long distance relationship with my 37 yo boyfriend for a long time. He never planned on coming to me. It was always my coming to him.
Recently he had a long fun weekend with friends partying. Ghosted me and added a cougar on FB. I was pissed. He never typically added women on FB. But he did on a long weekend drinking with friends while he ghosted me? Also very active on social media while ignoring me and had answered the phone while at the bar drunk accidentally.
I confronted him about it 2 days later when he FINALLY responded to me and asked me if I was just calling to call him a piece of shit. He told me he had met her at a bridal shower at the bar. I had posted on her IG because I was pissed and she deleted my comment. After our phone conversation she made her friend list private.
Am I over-reacting? He's gaslighting me - telling me I'm the crazy one. 1. I feel that if a woman messaged me on IG - I would message her back and say I'm sorry I think there's been a mistake. I have nothing to hide. I don't know who your boyfriend is. She deleted my comment. 2. They are clearly communicating because after I confronted him - she made her friend list private. That seems sus. Everything about it seems sus. And I can't do a relationship without trust.
Thoughts?

I finally muster the courage to finally resigned from my work. I thought I'd regret it, but I'm honestly feeling so relieved and at peace with my decision. Nakahinga ako ng maluwag. I've always been a firm believer na if your work costs you your mental sanity, then it's not worth it.
Skl, I was working with a Customer Service Manager from an e-commerce merchandise provider in the US. I was with them for a year, and all throughout my stay, I never felt connected to the team. There were initially three of us, but one left recently kasi nag abroad. Yung goal ko lang naman sa work is simple — pumasok, magtrabaho, hit my daily goals, and end my shift in peace. However, throughout my stay, I noticed that my client treats me differently than two of my co-workers. She treats them as part of the team, and ako spare tire lang. She always acknowledges them and shower them appreciation, tapos ako breadcrumbs lang. Whenever the two commits major mistakes, wala kang maririnig sa kanya. Pag ako, which is rare tapos minor lang, she loves to make an example out of me sa team. Nage-expect akong she would slide me a DM to inform me about my mistake and what should I do better next time pero hindi ganun. Pagalit always yung tono and she loves being shady about it. Whenever I attempt to reach out and open up about how I've been feeling, most of the time seenzoned ako or busy daw siya. Yet, ang ironic kasi she always says to us na "if you ever have problems, feel free to reach out to me."
For one year, tiniis ko yan. I didn't mind it even to a point na yung mga tasks nila e ako pinapagawa. Kahit I've noticed na hindi equal distribution yung workload, e tumahimik na lang ako. But I've had enough.
The past few month has been really hectic. Nagresign yung isang kasama namin and the client doesn't want to hire a replacement. So yung workload e mas dumami and sobrang busy na. Ang unfair lang na if I get to compare my daily tasks dun sa kasama ko, I have too much na di ko alam paano pagkakasyahin in a day. To quote what the client says, "isn't your workload too much for one person?" Alas, akala ko ibibigay niya sa kasama ko yung ibang tasks pero wala. Hanggang commentary na may pa additional pang "please try to complete your tasks within the day. manage your time wisely." Naknamputa. Ako busy pero yung kasama ko sitting pretty. Lately, she started to micromanage us. Pinapasend niya kami ng daily accomplisments in a day para alam niya if we're being productive and if may room pa daw for us for additional tasks. Loaded na nga ako, and guess what, dinagdagan pa ako and yung kasama ko nada. At one point, the client reached out to my manager from the agency side and pinapatanong bakit may days ako that week na di umabot sa daily goal of 50 Closed Tickets a day. On those days, I only closed 49 and 48 tickets. Pero wala silang say na on the rest of the days, umaabot ako ng 100+ closed tickets a day. So ayun, pinapa explain ako kung bakit di ko na hit yung goal and what steps should I take to ensure I hit my daily goal moving forward. Pero ang unfair lang na wala silang say dun sa kasama kong tenured na on bihira lang maka hit ng 50 Closed Tickets a day. Yung tipping point talaga is how the client loves to make a big deal out of my responses. Ang defensive ko daw if nag aapologize ako, pag nagfi feedback daw siya madami akong salit, etc. I love feedback, but it should come in a nice tone. Hindi yung nagbigay ka ng feedback tapos ang mafi feel ng tao is demoralized. I opened this up to my agency manager, but as always, ako yung mali.
To cut the story short, I resigned and surely the best decision I made this year. Deserve ko to work with a client who values my hardwork and input sa team. Ang funny lang kasi since I still have access my Slack, nagpa bonus si client dun sa kasama ko ng $250 at pinost pa yung screenshot sa channel namin tatlo. Ang laman ng email is "Please give XXX a $250 on her next cutoff for she's been working hard for us the whole month." Para naman may ginagawa si ate talaga e ako nga lahat gumagawa ng workload sa team tsaka bago lang ako umalis sa team lol.
My next move after this is to upskill and focus on myself. Nakaipon ipon naman so I'll go back to the gym, eat well, sleeep sleeep sleeeeeeeep, and enjoy the things I love. Hopefully, I'll land to a job where I can excel, grow, and feel valued. Ekis na sa akin mga VA agency.

Gallivant are a London based perfumery creating ‘fragrance for urban explorers’. Their fragrances are all named after and inspired by big cities.
They currently have their 12 scents available as a sample set called the Nomad Discovery Set for £35, which includes credit for a full bottle. I read through all their scent descriptions and didn’t actually want the full set, so I only ordered 4. However, I’ve been sent a 10-sample set that doesn’t include Accra and Abu Dhabi. Probably extra stock of an older set so fair enough.
Their 30ml FBs are £70, and their 100 mls are £150.
These first four reviews are for the 4 fragrance samples I originally ordered (i.e I am more likely to enjoy them based on their notes and description)
Brooklyn

• bergamot, squeezed lemon and orange juice. Incense, cardamom, fresh air and ozonic notes
• magnolia, orris root and transparent flowers
• musks, white woods, benzoin, amber

I can't pick out invidual notes here, but I DO get the warmth on the skin vibes they are after! It’s gentle and soothing - I think there’s a faint vanilla in there. I wouldn’t call it ‘fizz on an urban playground’, more like a sunny balcony overlooking the street. It continues to be soft and gentle the whole way through wear, it’s very cuddly and I’d wear it to snuggle with my boyfriend. Compared to the others, it’s warm without as much incense.
Definitely on the skin scent side, but I don’t mind for how intimate it feels. It lasted on my skin past lunchtime, and my mom adored that it lasted all day on her clothes. This already feels hard to top.
Sister thinks it smells generic, but our baseline is mom’s perfume collection (she likes powdery scents). I guess it’s more like, it smells of mom in a good way. Like a comforting way.
I wore Brooklyn as my SOTD on the 8th May - a couple sprays on my left wrist. It's not a strong projector but it was still on my wrist after 6 hours.
Los Angeles.

• "Airy and aromatic in the opening with notes of eucalyptus, clary sage, mandarin and pineapple
• A floral heart with an absolute of narcissus and tuberose – a nod to the Mexican flavour of this city
• And a shimmering smoky woody base with cade, guaiac wood, nagarmotha / cypriol, musks and heliotrope"

I definitely get all three of these layers to the scent. An evening out on holiday. Classy, fun, little black dress and heels and having a night out on the town by the beach. It will cool you in a heatwave and warm you when there’s an evening chill. It doesn’t match me personality wise, but it’s still a nice scent! I will keep this sample for a night out.
Tel Aviv

• "clementine, bergamot, natural blackcurrant bud absolute
• jasmine sambac absolute, comoros’ ylang ylang, rose oil, freesia
• sandalwood, musks, deer’s tongue (liatrix) absolute, benzoin"

Lovely florals! Definitely on the rosy side. Sweet (but not overly so!) and sunny. This projects a bit more than the other three I picked. Once the citrus fades out we’re left with an almost soapy floral mix.
Sis: smells like febreeze.
Tokyo

• yuzu, bergamot, black pepper and cardamom, electrified with a dash of wasabi
• A woody heart of hinoki, cedarwood, orris root, nutmeg, rose and incense.
• A base of amber, sandalwood, patchouli and vetiver

I’m hoping to visit Tokyo sometime not too far away, and the initial spray is kind of how I’d imagine it would smell? Once it hits the dry down it reminds me of a scent from Oud Attar - warm, woody, incense like. It’s not bad but not really my thing.
The following reviews are for the rest of the set (I.e. I wasn’t particularly drawn to them based on description, and would be surprised to get a hit out of these)
London

• cucumber, violet leaves
• rose de mai absolute, rose oil, orris root
• suede, leather, sandalwood, patchouli, cedarwood

Rosy, woody and leathery for sure! I wish the cucumber stuck around, that was really refreshing? What a cool and gritty scent. I get a ton of leather (I’ve never smelt leather in a fragrance, but I used to work in a shoe store and once the association clicked I was like WOAH, back room, men’s shoe shelves smell?? ). It’s not for me, but it really makes me feel like I’m one of the cool crowd, earning enough to live in London. (I realise I could say this about any other big city, but as a Brit and not a Londoner it was what I felt in my soul.)
Sister didn’t like it - it gets points for being accurate to London, but loses points for being London, haha!! Reminds her of dad’s colognes though...?
Naples

• Bergamot, pepper, ginger, salt
• incense
• clearwood, patchouli, vetiver, birch

Incense and patchouli really bring a warm and spicy feel forward here. It’s a touch aquatic too. There’s citrus in it, but I don’t really get it, unfortunately.
Istanbul

• "bergamot, cardamom, red thyme
• lavender absolute, egyptian geranium essence, patchouli heart, sweet myrrh (opoponax) essence
• sandalwood, vanilla, tonka bean, amber, musks"

I have no idea what’s goin on here but I’m surprised to find that I like this. A warm floral feel. Not something I’d like on myself though!
We are discovering sis’ licorice note she doesn't like is possibly cardamom.
Berlin

• "grapefruit, clementine, lemon and schinus molle CO2 extract
• A spicy heart containing black pepper and black tea and woody undertones of Haitian vetiver, cedarwood and patchouli"

It is what it is. Just as described, not really standing out. Sis says it smells discordant. The top notes are great, but the rest not so much.
Bukhara

• "caraway, pear, coriander and bergamot
• A floral woody heart with orris, ambrette, osmanthus and a touch of jasmine. Clove and apricot enrich the colours and textures
• And a base of benzoin resin, saffron, amber, wood and cotton-soft musks. And Ralf's transparent silk accord (one of the first things he ever created at perfume school)"

sis says it’s a hotel reception smell. I say it’s like a hotel with a spa in it. Then she says it develops into a an orthodontist waiting room.
Gdansk

• "plum, honey, cardamom, nutmeg and saffron
• A rich, woody heart with leather notes, cistus absolute, sustainable sandalwood oil from New Caledonia, patchouli, and incense resinoid – with a light touch of rose
• And a deep, earthy, smoky ambery base of tobacco absolute, cypriol, styrax (liquidambar), vanilla, musks and ambergris ( we use a plant-derived substitute, no animal by-products )"

an autumnal scent. I don’t really have much to say about this one! For many of these scents it's just been a lot of incense and there's only so many ways I can tell you I'm not a fan.
Sister's ranking:

1. Gdansk
2. Los angeles
3. Naples
4. London
5. Tel aviv
6. Tokyo
7. Berlin and istanbul
8. Brooklyn
9. Bukhara

Overall - Their blends seem to be gentle enough to my nose (I.e, I wasn’t immediately repulsed by any). My sister felt that the scents transitioned much faster than other sets we tried. It smells as if there’s incense in many of them to give that warm and spicy feel, which I don’t tend to like in fragrances at the moment. But I can understand how, with their goal of travelling via scent, incense becomes a realistic and homely and cultural link.
As a set, it’s like the opposite of the Saltworks Company Fresh Experience set (cool and fresh vs warm and spiced). It’s less a holiday, less touristy and more backpacking across the world to meet new people and broaden your horizons. It’s the smells you get when you don’t stay in a hotel but are welcomed into someone else’s home. You’re not wearing these for beast mode projection, but because it’s reminding you of something nice. They do last well, over 6 hours on me for quite a few of them.
FB worthy? As of now I’ve actually bought a small bottle of Brooklyn for my mom and I to share as we loved it so much. Neither of us have been to Brooklyn, though.
Next on my trial sets to try is Floral Street. At some point soon I'll have to destash my samples (if you're UK based... 👀)!
Let me know if you've tried this brand! What other sets would you suggest for me to try next?

Me and my boyfriend were addicted to drugs like street-amphetamine. We also took mdma occasionally and it messed us up too.
Now we achieved to stay sober for almost 2 months! Thank god for his help, I prayed everyday for this. Also many people in this sub prayed for us! Thank you so much!!! His grace is unbelievable. My boyfriend thought that he would never make it, but here we are..
But we still sin everyday. I'm loosing my relationship with god due to alcoholism. Also, unfortunately we relapsed on Mdma once 2 days ago. And now I can't recognize myself anymore. We made the promised to never do it again. During this everyday drinking I at least read the bible and prayed every day. But after this one time mdma, I feel like I let so many demons inside my body, I aint myself anymore since then.
I've stored so much frustration and anger in my heart because of silly little things. So much negativity is in my head, I am now the toxic part in my relationship. Having very little empathy, and usually I am the one who is compassionate.. I am losing myself.
I don't like myself, I am extremely vulnerable, jealous, irittable and always think of manipulating my love by saying things that could hurt him.. I could honestly cry, because I am that person again that I was several years ago...
I need prayer so that I can overcomes this. That this will not be my personality. I don't want to be anxious and full of anger. I want to love my boyfriend and all the people around me.
Please pray. I would be so grateful. Thank you.

My parents have ruined my life through and through. They have raised me (23) with nothing while gave everything to my sister(26).
As kids she was their favourite and she studied really hard and did well academically in school, also took part in different sports and other activities. As I started growing up I did not put in the effort in studies, still scored more than her. My parents never allowed me to learn any sports or be part of any other activity.
For my sister, my parents would be there for everything while i had to do everything alone. They used to drop her off to her exams and wait 3 hours outside the centre in case she needs anything, She did well in her exams and got into the top 10, we were there for the entire day and supported her thoroughly. Throughout her school years, it was routine for my parents to take her to the school on weekends, interact with her teachers and make sure she's on the right track.
3 years later for me, they didn't even show up to school once after getting me admitted. Never once cared to meet my teachers or ask me how is school going. I used to walk alone to the school for my exams, i ended up ranked #1 in the school as well. My parents didn't have time to come to the graduation. I had to watch 2nd and 3rd ranked students get loved and celebrated by their families. While i just walked home alone, this time with a trophy.
Went and put it on the dining table, my mother yelled at me to put it away as I was letting the success get to my head. Not once did she say congratulations or well done or I'm proud of you.
My sister got into a college in the same city, and I remember my dad used to stay up at night with her helping her on her projects and assignments and he used to driver her to her college and back almost daily. It was 35 km away.
Meanwhile when I got into college in the same city 15 km from home , my father has been to my college only once that too for the admission. Never cared about my degree since. I had to use public transport everyday.
As for money, my sister used to get spending money from my parents and they bought her things all the time. I interned as a lawyer, earned some money but all of that would go in basic needs like travel, lunch , cheap clothes , cheap shoes and so on.
For my sister's college graduation, again the entire family went and celebrated with her. For me again it was me going to collect my degree, I didn't do well in college because I never had anything and it is fucking hard to function when you don't have a pair of shoes while your sister and your parents have dozens.
Whenever I asked to buy me something I was given the same lecture, money does not grow on trees, you don't value money, one day we'll die you will have to manage everything. While whenever my sister wanted something , my father would bring it to her as soon as practically possible.
I got into a great uni for master's on my own, while my parents had to pull strings and give money to get my sister into a master's course from a reputed uni.
I've secured a job as Assistant Professor, joining date is 21 July. My sister got placed as well, for about half as much as me.
And I cannot wait for this entire ordeal to end once and for all. I was finally going to have money, real money.
My sister is getting married soon, and my parents have now asked me to save from my salary and pay 1/4th of her wedding. Which will be roughly 3 months of my salary, and guess what my sister will not be paying for her own fucking wedding because she'd need that money to 'set things up', when her would be husband already has a house , a car and investments.
I am going to move in with my best friend, who has always been the one walking with me when my family time and time again abandoned me. I have decided that now it is time for me to abandon my family. I will stop caring about them , I will not pay a single cent for my sister's wedding. She should pay for her own wedding as she literally has no expenses after this. While i have to do everything on my own (till my parents die and I get their properties).

For starters my boyfriend (27M) and I (26F) have completely different sexual experiences. He is more experienced with sex and lost it in high school. For me, I was raised to wait until marriage. At 20, I lost my virginity and had sex one time with one person and realized I wasn’t ready nor was he the right person. Although I already lost my virginity I decided not to have sex until the right person.
My bf and I have been best friends for 7 years. We started dating a year ago. At first when we started dating he was ready to have sex but I was a lot slower when starting things. I wanted to make sure I was ready since the last time I had sex was when I was 20 and regretted it. I didn’t want to wait until marriage anymore but still wanted to wait a little until I knew I wouldn’t regret it. He understood and didn’t pressure me or anything. Since I haven’t been sexually active, I also wasn’t on birth control plus I don’t want to be on it anyways because of the side effects. So I knew that there could be a possibility of pregnancy so that’s another reason why I wanted to wait. Which I’ve told him this and he understood why I didn’t want to be on it and was fine with it.
Well at this point we started arguing more. For me, this didn’t affect my feelings for him. Eventually, I was actually ready to have sex with him but he didn’t want to anymore. He said he wanted to but felt not doing it would stop the fighting. In return this made us both sexually frustrated. I told him, I think not being intimate with each other will make things worse. He didn’t listen said he was right.
We went a whole year without being intimate. Like not just sex but barely kissing or flirting.
He’s talked with a therapist about this and she said not being intimate with each other for a whole year was detrimental to our relationship. He apologized to me and said I was right and he should have listened.
The past couple of months we’ve been working on being more intimate with each other and recently started having sex. Our relationship is doing a lot better than the past year but we’ve come to another problem. Since I haven’t been sexually active, I have a really high sex drive. I want to do it all the time. Where he doesn’t. He says he wants me but will be too tired. Sometimes I feel like I’m the dude in the relationship. Masterbating won’t work for me because I like being sexual with him, I’m not as turned on doing it by myself. It feels like we are already in a routine married sex life with 5 kids or something. I want it to be exciting, I mean I’ve been waiting to finally have a sex life and it’s just not what I expected. Maybe it’s because he’s been there done that but I haven’t. It really makes me regret waiting. I would have gotten it out of my system years ago and maybe this wouldn’t be a problem. I don’t know.
For me I want to have sex like 2-3 times, everyday. I don’t know if this is too much but at least in the beginning, this is what I want, maybe it will die down when it’s not so new to me.
For him it’s like he plans it out too much. Like we have to do it at the right time when it’s convenient. It can’t really be during the day because we got “stuff to do” and pretty much only at night but then there’s a high possibility that he gets tired and falls asleep. So it can’t really be during the day and then a night there’s a chance he will be too tired.
I don’t really like the convenient part because I want sex to be spontaneous and inconvenient. Like oh we have to leave in 30 minutes but we want each other right now and do it. Idk planning it seems more like a chore rather than us being in the moment and really desiring each other.
I also want to mention, it wasn’t like this a year ago when we were being intimate. He wanted me allllll the time eventhough we weren’t having sex at the time. He was always talking dirty or playing with me. He was telling me how much he wants me even in public. Part of me feels like was it part of the chase? Like now that we’ve done it, he’s over all that?
I have talked to him. He said he would try, but haven’t really seen a difference. What should I do?

Her and I have only been dating for about 6 months but in those past 6 months I have not been able to feel comfortable. With my friends and family I’m a big talker, when I’m with her I can’t think of anything to talk about. She wants me to talk more and be myself but I feel like we’re just two different people, and that causes a lot misunderstandings between us two. She blew up on me last night over the phone because I was trying to get my phone to charge and ask her to repeat what she had said. I sensed the tone in her voice that she was upset and I went” it really doesn’t sound like your okay” and she claimed I was gaslighting her. I find myself watching what I say or apologizing for how I say things, when I’m not even trying to be mean. Her temperament causes me to shut down and feel guilty for making her upset. I feel the relationship is growing more toxic, and I don’t know if I can really fix any of this.
I know relationships are work, but I don’t know if this is something worth working on. I love her and don’t want to let her go, but my mental health is starting to get affected.

I'm feeling a little salty at the moment. About 15 years ago I was acquainted with a guy from my hometown. We knew each other from some social events - he was kind of a "friend of a friend" and we were connected on FB. He happened to be gay. I am a huge advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community, and try to support causes that further equity and acceptance whenever I can.
He seemed delightful, and well on his way to being a decent human being (he was pretty young at the time, maybe 21-22). At some point around 2015, this guy "found Jesus" and decided that he wasn't gay anymore. He subsequently started posting stuff on FB about how being gay is wrong, how he saw the light, and many disparaging things about being gay, including stuff about how Jesus can change your sexuality and you can then go to heaven. I messaged him, explaining that I felt some of his posts were problematic, and just because he opted for a different path, doesn't mean everyone who is gay is in the wrong. He went off on me, calling me evil and said I was going to send people to hell. He then blocked me on messenger. The whole interaction left me in tears. I later found out he was also contacting his previous friends in the community and trying to convert them.
To this day his feed is chock full of religious rhetoric and "patriotic" content. He's deleted everything about his "salvation" from being gay.
Fast forward to today. I was looking at posts from my old job's social media page, and it turns out that this person was recently awarded an "Employee of the Year" type designation. They interact with young people, and are in the business of providing instruction and counseling to them. It really, really concerns me that a person who thinks being "gay" is evil and has no problem "othering" people when they disagree with discriminatory ideas would be honored as such. I am VERY concerned, given their stance on the LGBTQIA+ community, that they might try tactics with young people that are harmful, such as conversion therapy, or "pray the gay away".
Having someone with such narrow-minded, discriminatory views be in any way connected to the education and mental health of vulnerable populations is frightening in the least. I am dismayed and disgusted by how this person behaved.
I can't say I am overly surprised though that he got employee of the year. This is the organization that decided they would no longer host a homecoming event anymore when a gay couple got the most votes for homecoming "king and queen". They said the "liberal activists" were taking over the event. The same organization where people intentionally misgendered people and rolled their eyes at changing names/pronouns on records. The same org that said they would house people based on "what's in their pants" and not how they identify.
I am very tempted to put this person on blast via social media, but would I be the AH if I do?
P.S. I do not give permission for this to be posted outside of Reddit.

A lot of people are talking about the fact that the upcoming Sabre Firebird is gonna be dead on arrival and a pointless fighter.
The problem isn't the platform. A missile based fighter isn't a bad idea for the game. The problem is that Missile gameplay sucks for two reasons: lack of missile types and lack of control

1. Lack of missile types. Currently we only have two types of missiles, regular and cluster (and we only have one cluster missile and it's size 2 so no go for Firebird). The big differences currently with our list of missiles is just the damage and tracking. The Firebird, Shrike and in some parts Gladiator needs more types of missile to be effective. EMP, ABM and ARM are the obvious ones. EMP for disabling ships without damaging them permanently, ABM which in star citizen would be anti-torpedo missiles for protecting your fleet from Talis and Eclipses, and ARM for SEAD missions taking out sensor satellites and ground AA platforms like the Ballista. These are all things a missile heavy fighter would like to have access to. Firebird especially would be great for SEAD as it's based on a stealth fighter. Even if they would just make another cluster missile for S3 that would be great for the Firebird and Shrike.
   
2. Lack of control. Current missile mode is just queue missile > lock > fire > forget or dumb fire. That is it. The one good thing about current version of missile mode and Sabre Firebird is that you can rapidly fire 6 missiles one by one and not have them fly at the same time. There's not much things to say here. We just need to wait for a proper MFD page for missiles. Custom fire sequences like firing immediately after target lock or fire two with delay.
   

And also to end on. The only reason the Firebird exists is getting money from people who want a Raven and as an excuse to update the Raven. Better time for it would have been an update with Missile mode improvements but it's not the first time CIG gives a ship before the purpose of the ship. Good thing it at least has Interceptor tuning.

So as the title says I have a very close female friend, and it's her birthday in a few months. I was thinking about what to get her and I was looking for stuff that symbolizes friendship, and I almost always saw something called a Claddagh ring mentioned, which is often used as a friendship ring. And I honestly really liked the look of it.
I saw other stuff that was decent aswell, but I always ended up thinking that the Claddagh ring was better tbh. So after looking at many options of gifts, I decided to order a Claddagh ring. It's gold plated since she likes gold colored jewelry, the heart has her birth month stone in it, and her name is engraved in the ring.
At this point I should probably mention that she does have a boyfriend (20M). I've met him a few times, but we're just acquaintances. And I also want to make it perfectly clear that I have no romantic intentions with this ring, my friend is very near and dear to my heart, but I'd never try to "make a move" or whatever, this is just a platonic gift, but I'm worried it won't be thought of as such.
We're both freshmen in the same college class. And we've become very close friends in that short time we've known eachother. I also want to say that I've never really had many friends, especially close friends, so maybe that'll help explain why I bought this gift. Having a friend means quite a lot to me, and I feel like one of my only good traits is that I'm loyal to my friends and to people I hold dear, and I consider myself extremely lucky to have a close friend. I've bought my close male friends' gifts for their birthdays before, but I've never really had a close female friend, so I didn't think that getting a ring would be that insanely odd. And I legitimately wasn't aware that rings are that special, obviously I know that they often have romantic connotations, but I genuinely thought that just making your intentions clear was enough, but now I'm worried it's not.
Obviously I know that giving her a ring might be odd or weird, but I honestly just want to give her a nice gift that symbolizes friendship, and as soon as I saw the Claddagh ring I just felt it was the right call.
But I've legitimately been stressing out so damn much over the past few days that maybe I'll ruin our friendship or make things weird or awkward, and at this point I don't know what to do. I've ordered the ring so I can't just tell them to take it back.
I've thought of a few "solutions" but none of them are that great tbh:

1. I feel like I could maybe tell her in advance about the ring, or atleast tell her that I got her a gift that is just meant to be a platonic gift.
   
2. Or I could give one of our mutual female friends the ring and ask them if they could gift it to her, but I feel like that would also be weird.
   
3. Also, I know that some people wear necklaces with rings, so maybe I could make it into that. But I don't know if this would make it any less odd.
   
4. I could also hold on to the ring and wait until next year maybe, I don't know what this would accomplish aside from giving me more time to stress about this, but it's a thought.
   
5. Or is it just best to do what I planned from the start, and give her the ring, and just tell her that it's completely platonic when I give it to her.
   

I feel like I'm inconsiderate or selfish for buying this right now, and I feel like I've royally f***ed it to say the least, but I just wanted to get her a nice gift, and now I'm stressing out more than I maybe should. I honestly don't know what to do at this point.
TL;DR: I have a very close female friend, and it's her birthday in a few months. I bought a Claddagh ring as a platonic birthday gift for her. I have no romantic interest in her, nor any romantic intentions with the ring, but I'm now worried it might be thought of as such. She does have a boyfriend, we're just acquaintances. Obviously I know that giving her a ring might be odd or weird, but I honestly just want to give her a nice gift that symbolizes friendship. I've legitimately been stressing out so damn much over the past few days that maybe I'll ruin our friendship or make things weird or awkward, and at this point I don't know what to do.

Hello, I am a 25 y/o F. It feels like my life is spiraling down. I just started a new job and I am having issues with my relationship. I recently graduated nursing school, got my license and I am currently training fulltime on a neurosurgery floor working 12 hour shifts. I have been with my boyfriend for 3 years, he is my first boyfriend and we are long distance. He is a great guy, very caring and kind and genuinely cares about me. When in a long distance relationship, someone has to eventually move to the other person and there is no way he is coming to my small city so I would need to move to him. The issue is he lives in another country, America, and I am in Canada.
I was homeless and depressed and attempted su**ide many years ago. I am much better but lately, things haven't been good for me mentally/emotionally and I have no one to speak to. My parents are unavailable. I would need to move to America but the issue is I am not sure if I even want to move there ... I just started building my life here, I want to go back to school for more years but I am 25 and when will I move there? When I am close to 30? Then we live together, decide if we even want to be together, get married and have kids, which will take time. I also need someone in real life, I see him for a couple days every 2 months and it's not enough. When youre in a relationship, you want to be with that person, you need that person. He knows I am thinking of ending things but we decided to take a 1 month break ... I have to think about our relationship and what is next because I don't want to keep wasting each others time if we don't even have a future together, but it difficult because he is a good person.
I need to make a decision, to end things or continue. I feel alone, I feel like there is more to being in a relationship. His passion is his work, which I admire a lot. It was always be his priority. He is not very active and I would love to travel the world and do adventurous things and always dreamed of a partner who is interested in that as well but he isn't like that. Which isn't a big deal. I don't know if I am self sabotaging, the emotional stress is a lot. At work I see intense things, I see people die, I speak to patients and families who are suffering. It's a lot emotionally right now, especially since I am fulltime and training, learning new stuff but I am also dealing with this relationship issue. I think I still have a lot of anxiety and some depression. Finding a therapist is difficult but we all need therapists so I am going to look for one once I finish training and am part time.
I just don't know what to do, I know I should focus on work and doing well so my manager says I can start working alone, not with another nurse by my side. I also need to make a decision about my boyfriend, which probably isn't the time to do so but it's affecting me a lot. He spoke to his friends and they all said I don't want to commit to him and probably think I can find someone like him or better in my area. I know this will pass but it feels like it won't and has been going on for a while, I am not sure what to do. What choice to make, I stay with him and potentially regret it in the future, things probably won't be same either... or I end things and I lose a good guy.

Context: I am a 21F and my bf is a 27M. I am a psychology major applying for grad school this fall and my bf works full time. We both live with our parents, however I live rent free and get an allowance that I have been saving up while he pays $700 a month. His rent includes his phone, car insurance, laundry cleaned, and lunch a few days a week (2-3 days). His mother started complaining about housework, so I started doing his laundry, cooking his lunch 5 days a week, and he showers at my place so he asked his parents to cut the rent so he could contribute to groceries, they gave him a $100 cut for the month (which is where I see them using him as a profit because that’s some cheap sht). I was originally going to my bf’s place a couple times a week, and his mother has this thing where she jokes about “are you sure you want my son, he’s poor”. My boyfriend says it’s a Brazilian thing so I brush it off. But then she just loses her sht for like a week every couple of months where she calls my bf lazy, poor, fat, a b*tch, etc. He says some nasty things back to her, they don’t talk for a few weeks, and then they’re back to normal again. This drives me crazy since I see a lack of boundaries and unhealthy communication, and I tried to talk to my bf about it but he doesn’t see an issue with it. So, I let it go.
The sht show: Now his mother is screaming at him, I walk out of the house like always since I can’t handle conflict, and 20 minutes later she storms outside and tells me that there is no point to our relationship because I don’t do anything for him or contribute financially to move out. Like I said, I’m in college, I’m taking 18 credit hours a semester, no summers off, studying for the GRE, getting grad applications ready, and looking for a job in my field since I’m tired of working bs jobs. I also have been saving and collecting furniture (I have everything but a living room couch). My bf and I also have an arrangement that he will buy us a house when I go to grad school, he will pay the bills, and when I’m done with school I will help him pay off the principle faster. I stand there silent, taking it, and I walk away down the street. I call my stepdad to pick me up since my bf drove me there. My bf calls me 20 minutes later and says his dad wouldn’t let him out of his room and still wouldn’t let him go. I hung up, called his sister and told her I would be calling the cops if her dad wouldn’t let my bf go. He was released pretty quickly. A couple weeks go by and nobody would talk about it. My bf brought it up, and his parents told him to drop it because “time will fix it”. 2 months after: my bf told them that they can’t interfere in our relationship and he would go no contact if they didn’t stop, however, they claim they did nothing wrong and they did not overstep. Also, they said he can cut contact because they are family and I’m just a gf and I don’t mean sht. Going on 3 months now, my bf’s family is now inviting me to my bf’s birthday party next month which I have gone no contact and have full intention of maintaining, I’m just wondering what to do at this point as I am concerned this will affect holidays and create a bridge between us. My bf says it’s fine and I don’t have to see them, but I don’t want him around his mother is the problem. She talks to him like garbage and has the audacity to tell me what to do in my relationship. I just wish we could go no contact and I am thinking about just demanding he gets an apt (he hates the idea of renting but he can’t buy until we know where I’m going to grad school). I just don’t even know what to do anymore and it’s causing me so much stress and anxiety. Any advice would really be appreciated.