Criss cross friendship bracelet

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Two items — a crystal ball, and a green leather-bound notebook — sat benignly and idly atop of the black-robed professor’s desk.
The camera lingered on them, giving them what most may see as an undeserved moment in the spotlight.
But to those that knew, to the parties invested in this controversy, this little pause and dramatic zoom-in was accompanied by a hair-raising excitement… along with an untempered nervousness for what was to come.
It definitely caused the investigative duo on the other side of the screen some pause for thought; prompting them to stand intently, pondering both the orb and the notebook.
Ilunor, as far as I could tell, was entranced by the green notebook in particular. Though it wasn’t a trance born out of any positive emotion, but instead, one of abject horror.
“Recommended Reading Materials for the Studious Student.” Sorecar announced with a steady breath, prompting Ilunor to visibly flinch in his seat, as the man reached a finger over to point at the hand-scrawled title of the leather-bound notebook. That finger soon found itself carefully manipulating its pages, opening the cover first, before turning over the internal dust-cover to reveal letters and symbols written in High Nexian, but arranged in a manner the EVI simply could not translate.
“Error: Unable to Translate. Cause: Unrecognized and/or unintelligible organization of local script-forms.”
Yet despite this, it seemed as if both Sorecar and the Apprentice were able to draw something from its otherwise senseless pages. As despite being written haphazardly, with letters and pictograms arranged in no meaningful order, they were able to still draw meaning where the EVI couldn’t.
“Within these pages lie materials for the studious student. Materials are to be found within The Library, and are to be retrieved with great haste. May you make swift work of their contents, and may those after you find only ash in your wake. Seek, unlearn, and remove from the grip of the eternal entity, that which was once a gift but is now a curse. Seek, unlearn, and remove; with the fires of your passion, oh studious student.” Sorecar read aloud, managing to read something verbatim from the nonsensical pages of the book.
Ilunor’s eyes were practically glazed over at this point, as he began bringing his cape over across his chest, tucking his legs towards his chin in the process.
“This is it.” The apprentice announced with a half-cracked smile. “Please, keep going. I’m certain your skills of appraisal far exceed my own, Professor.”
Sorecar obliged by flipping the page, turning over to two pages of complete gibberish, once again watermarked by the EVI’s error message; but proving no challenge at all for the ever-inquisitive professor.
“Section One, A Tainted Reality: A Wretched Collection of Historical Affidavits During the Reconciliation and Reformation of Otherwise Lost Realities.” Sorecar paused, before turning towards the apprentice. “It lists an entire section’s worth of books, in titles held within spatial positions with reference to their potentialities within the ever-evolving library.”
Thacea’s features visibly flinched at that revelation, but similar to the apprentice in the footage, she refused to comment. At least not for now. Her eyes however betrayed a look of mild distress, which subsided somewhat as the apprentice urged the armorer to continue.
Which he did, as he flipped from page to page across the relatively small notebook, only pausing to read in between what he interpreted to be different sections and ‘chapters’.
“Section Two. The Unspoken War and the Treacherous Alliance.”
“Section Three. All surviving works from Alaroy Rital.”
The apprentice cocked her head, as if trying to recall some familiarity in that name. “Alaroy Rital.” She repeated. “I don’t recall hearing of such a name before.”
“Well his full name, as far as I recall, and vastly aided by the book is as follows: Alaroy Rital, Lord-Mayor of the Township of the Two Rivers, Slayer of the Dragon of the Grey Canyon, Repeller of the Tainted Blight of the Orsin, Liberator of the Aether, and Grand Master of the Elusian Guild Hall of Adventurers.” Sorecar responded succinctly, prompting the apprentice to once more clench her eyes shut in deep thought, before finally letting out a sigh of defeat.
“The name is both familiar yet foreign at the same time.” She finally admitted.
“As far as I recall, and mind you, my memory of those years are far from perfect… the man was a local hero of sorts. Though his record was besmirched by some controversy or another.” Sorecar offered, prompting the apprentice to finally shrug, giving up on this particular subject matter entirely.
“There are more sections, yes?”
“Correct.”
“Then let’s move on.”
Sorecar nodded promptly at that, flipping the pages over until he hit the next section.
“Section Four. A Sordid Account of the Most Bizarre of Newrealmer Arrivals: A Death By Harmonization and the Ensuing Investigation.”
That immediately got my attention, causing me to jolt forwards, prompting the armor to quickly follow as it automatically switched from the currently active in-armor-postural-readjustment mode, and back into its active configuration.
“Section Five. The Unfortunate Procedures Against Unruly Realms and the Instances in Which Such Procedures Were Incurred.”
The armorer paused after that, not necessarily due to its contents, but as if puzzled by what lay ahead in the next few final pages. In fact, he flipped back and forth between the pages soon after that, treading and retreading what were effectively the last five pages of the book. “There is an appendix which includes titles not covered by these sections, however it will take some time to read through them.”
“That’s enough for now, professor.” The apprentice offered, prompting the man to quickly pull back, closing the notebook with an unsatisfying thump. “We have our glowing wand.” The apprentice surmised. “The oeuvre of works which are no doubt the subject of this grand controversy. Now all we need to find is the contract which ties everything together.”
“I’m assuming you haven’t forgotten about our second item of interest?” Sorecar gestured towards the crystal ball.
“Of course not, professor. However, the fact we’ve found that book implies that we must be close to its dependent article.” The apprentice responded with a renewed sense of urgency, as she began using that same ornate magnifying glass in an attempt to further pick apart each and every nook and cranny of Mal’tory’s desk.
Part of me wanted to make some joke about how this was every unpaid intern’s dream, to be rummaging through your boss’ stuff.
But that part of me was completely buried underneath the confusion and dread that came with the revelations from within that little green book.
I… honestly didn’t know what I was expecting, but I felt like I’d been suckerpunched, with the wind being knocked right out of me from the implications of exactly what had been selectively purged from the library.
It was a struggle to process it all, which more or less made me dull out the more eccentric aspects of the apprentice’s investigation; as she unlocked drawer after drawer, pulling out pile after pile of magical nicknacks and more documents than what was possible from that finite amount of space.
Sorecar was clearly of the same opinion as the rest of us right now however, as he continued obsessing over the book, his hands once more trailing over to inspect its cryptic pages. The man seemed transfixed on the second and third sections in particular, though his featureless visor made it difficult to really pin down what his reactions were.
Yet throughout all of this, it was clear the reactions on the homefront were much, much more animated, as Ilunor was just about ready to pass out from the stress, and Thacea seemed about ready to burst at the seams if her featureless facade was of any indication.
“That was the book.” Ilunor finally chimed out, just as the narration through the recording had died down during the more tepid phase of the apprentice’s investigation. “I know it.”
“I thought your memories when it came to the whole Mal’tory book burning situation was lost, Ilunor?” Thalmin countered.
“It was. I mean, it still is. But I remember parts of that room. I vaguely recall the emergence of a book that I was forced to…” The Vunerian trailed off, as if struggling to piece together words.
“... to sign?” Thalmin offered in a surprisingly helpful tone which stood at odds with how he earlier regarded the Vunerian.
“No. No you imbecil-” The Vunerian paused, realizing his misstep as he backtracked from what would’ve otherwise been an expected response. “That wasn’t a book of binding. It’s not comparable to the yearbook, if that was where your assumptions were leading to, Prince Thalmin.” Ilunor clarified, gripping the armrests of his seat tight between his fingers.
It was about this point in time that I expected Thacea to chime in, to elaborate on the nature of the book with her encyclopedic knowledge on seemingly every aspect of the magical world.
But she didn’t.
Instead, her eyes remained practically glued to the screen, as I realized that whatever had been revealed thus far had hit much, much harder than I could’ve imagined.
Ilunor, as if taking note of this silence, elected to fill in for Thacea. “The book… is an adjacent artifact. It is, as the apprentice has noted, an eclectic oeuvre of works, a list if you will, to be bound to and referenced by a contract and a spell of binding. The book itself isn’t the binding agent, moreso the reference material by which the contract is hinged upon.”
“So what’s with the illegible text? Are they ciphers or some magical equivalent of it?” I gestured once more at the bird’s eye view offered by the drone, and the pages of indecipherable text currently beneath Sorecar’s hands.
“Those are anchor runes, earthrelamer.” Ilunor answered with a frustrated sigh. “It is frustrating to see them for what they are not. Frankly, it’s as if your sight-seers and memory-shards were designed to mimic the world as it is seen through the eyes of a particularly weak-fielded commoner.” The Vunerian went off, venting his frustrations through a rant before finally calming down. “But I digress. Those runes are referred to as anchors for a reason. For tethered to them are akin to pages of text to be openly read and deciphered within the manastreams. Granted, this form of writing is not common; moreso used for the purposes of contracts and other such magical binds.”
“And on the topic of contracts. I’m assuming that the contract… your contract, is what the Apprentice is currently rummaging for?” I gestured towards the screen once more, at the apprentice who was now buried ankle-deep in piles upon piles of books, documents, and an assortment of scrolls that criss-crossed across the room’s mahogany and carpeted floors.
“Unless she’s a complete nitwit, then I’d imagine so, yes.” Ilunor responded with his signature cattiness. “In any case, the fact she’s even trying proves that she’s barely above a fool anyways.” The Vunerian shrugged. “And before you ask, earthrealmer, let me preempt your question. The contract, at least on the professor’s end, has more than likely suffered the same fate as my own. Namely, its existence is more than certain to be dubious at best. What the apprentice will surely find will be nothing more than ash at the bottom of that bottomless drawer. Which… given its sheer size and scale, and the potential inhabitants within its limitless confines, will more than likely result in even ash being difficult if not impossible to find.”
There was… more than one point I wanted to raise with Ilunor’s statements. However, before I could address any of them, the elf in question finally spoke up once more; now surrounded by an entire archive’s worth of documents and nicknacks.
“Nothing.” Larial spoke with a sullen breath, taking a moment to steady herself as she made a point of not sitting on Mal’tory’s chair. “At least nothing that’s relevant to our case.” She continued, resting her palms flat against the green suede of the desk.
“Were you really expecting anything different, Apprentice?” Sorecar countered, having since moved from pondering the pages of the book to now pondering the depths of the crystal ball.
“I’d assumed the damage to the man hadn’t been so severe.” Larial admitted, alluding to something else that drew all of our collective attention. “When I first saw him in the healing ward… he looked… intact. You couldn’t even tell there was anything wrong with him.”
“And yet they called you of all people, to aid in the ritual.” The armorer surmised, with a tone of voice that now more resembled that of a fully fledged Academy Professor. His happy go lucky persona had subsided completely, at least for now, as he addressed Larial in a manner more akin to what I’d expected of the Dean. “You have been around the Academy for long enough to understand that calling upon the aid of apprentices is unprecedented. Which means that despite how things may seem on the surface, that lurking beneath the seemingly calm waters, is a hydrostorm of epic proportions.”
“This entire situation is unprecedented, professor.” Larial countered meekly. “But you are correct. It… must have been desperate if they required the aid of apprentices. I just… cannot fathom the fact that the professors must have…” The apprentice trailed off, her face scrunching up and breaking eye contact with the armorer as if too skittish to broach the next point.
Sorecar didn’t reply, nor did he complete her sentence for her, simply allowing her to recuperate and reorganize her thoughts herself.
“... brought the man back from the brink.” She managed out, offering what was in effect a euphemism that didn’t seem to sit right with the armorer, if his immediate head cock was of any indication.
“That is the only way you can explain the complete loss of a contract.” Sorecar reasoned. “You were hoping to find it, despite knowing well that it, amongst the rest of his contracts, have more than likely gone up in flames.” It was around that point that he walked around behind the desk, and reached down into the drawer the apprentice had been searching in. His arm sank impossibly deep, deeper than what should have been physically possible inside of that small and limited space. After a few moments, the man finally brought his hand back up, holding within it what appeared to be fine specks of ash that he allowed to filter back down into the dark depths of the seemingly bottomless drawer. “And there you have it — ash. Most of it has no doubt already been consumed by the bottom-feeders. However, what remains is enough to account for what is perhaps more contracts than most would form in their lives.”
The man stood back up soon after, before once more taking his place at the front of the desk.
“Well, I believe that answers our prior speculations on Auris Ping’s potential relations, contractual or otherwise, with Professor Mal’tory.” Thalmin growled out, punctuating the moment of silence within the footage; which soon continued with a resonant sigh from the apprentice.
“I guess, in a way, I was trying to find the contract not so much because of my assigned task, but because I wanted to perhaps prove to myself that the situation wasn’t as dire as my intuition leads me to believe. The loss of all these contracts can only mean one thing.” Larial paused, once more trying to find the strength inside of her to face whatever facts were self-evident in this case. “The man was lost.” She finally managed out through a shaky breath. “His soul must have departed from his mortal coil. And yet…”
“... and yet he remains.” Sorecar surmised.
“They must have re-tethered it before I arrived that night.” The apprentice shot back. “But I felt nothing different when they asked me to aid in the mana-channeling processes. This whole situation is just…” She sighed, prompting Sorecar to cock his head.
“Unprecedented?”
“Yes.” The apprentice once more admitted, sinking her face into her hands and taking a moment to process it all, more or less falling into the same camp all of us were currently in. “Moreover, it brings up a very disturbing question.”
“Which is?”
“If his soul was truly untethered, even for a split second… how exactly were they able to retether it? Or more specifically, through what means are they using to permanently retether his soul to his mortal coil?”
This question seemed to cause some level of concern from Sorecar, as his answer soon demonstrated. “There are… ways of doing so that aren’t exclusive to being spellbound to armor.” The man offered under a dour breath. “Especially if the body is… fresh, in a manner of speaking. Though it requires the use of-” He stopped, halting himself from going down what was clearly a darkening path. “I apologize for prompting this rather… dark and dreary subject matter, Apprentice.” Sorecar offered, as that empathetic, kinder side of him returned without much prompting.
“It’s quite alright. It… it needed to be said, if we are to complete this investigation with any degree of professionalism.” The apprentice concluded with a small smile. “Whatever the case may be, it is clear that we are unable to procure the contract through which the perpetrator of the library’s burning was bound. We have, however, undeniable proof of Professor Mal’tory’s involvement with the scandal.” She pointed at the green notebook. “And of course, a potential interloper who may or may not have been a part of this conspiracy; thereby expanding this from a mere Academy matter, to one which could implicate others beyond its walls.” She pointed at the crystal ball. “Have you discovered anything from your observations thus far, Professor?” The apprentice inquired, prompting the man to nod, as he knelt down to eye-level, pondering the orb from desk-height.
“The inherent limitations of the Echovale make it so that it’s near impossible to transcribe anything following the cessation of a communique.” Sorecar began. “Though of course, you knew this, and hoped that because I am perhaps one of the greatest armorers to have ever lived, that I would be able to aid in this impossible endeavor, hmm?” The armorer’s tone of voice had more or less resumed that flighty, happy-go-lucky one I knew him for.
The apprentice, hearing this, could only smile awkwardly in response. “I wouldn’t have put it that… bluntly, professor. But I do indeed have faith in your ability to make the impossible, well… probable, at the least.”
“Hmph! Well, I couldn’t pin a face or a name, but I was able to pin a definite location if that helps.” The man offered.
“Any stray piece of information will help tremendously, professor.”
“The Crownlands.” He answered without a hint of hesitation, prompting the Apprentice to raise both of her brows up high.
“That’s as far as I am able to draw from the residual echoes within the vale.” He tapped at the ball, generating a series of satisfying clinks in the process.
“So the man wasn’t acting alone. Or rather, perhaps he was consulting someone.” The apprentice pondered. “Then again, that final communique could very well be with Lord Lartia—” The apprentice paused, before placing both palms softly across her throat. “—may his soul rest in peaceful slumber.” Following another moment of silence, the apprentice’s hands soon shifted towards the ball. “In any case, if it isn’t Lord Lartia, then who could it possibly be? Maybe we should…” The apprentice suddenly stopped; as if realizing the dangers of diving any deeper into this growing conspiracy. “No.” She quickly corrected herself. “Whatever the case may be, this is probably now completely out of my purview. I was assigned to collect any evidence I deemed to be relevant to recent happenings, and I believe this should suffice.”
“Whatever you believe is best, apprentice.” Sorecar acquiesced, prompting the apprentice to slowly, but surely, pack the archive’s worth of documents, books, and scrolls all back into the drawer using nothing but telekinetic spells.
This left just the crystal ball, and the little green book, both of which the apprentice promptly pocketed into a small pouch, before placing it somewhere beneath her cloak.
“Though on that note…” Sorecar began, pointing towards the apprentice’s cloak. “If I may ask, how do you plan on divvying up these finite pieces of evidence?”
This caught the apprentice off-guard, as her mouth opened, but no response came through.
“Moreover, are you even obligated to hand in this evidence? Or are you only expected to write a report to all parties involved?” Sorecar continued, pressing the matter further, causing the apprentice to stop mid-stride. “Because if primary evidence isn’t explicitly required, might I offer my services as a master forger?” The man spoke with a hint of mischievousness, the duality of the word perhaps translating equally well despite the language barrier.
“I may need to contact my superiors to ask if a… copy will be satisfactory to their needs. I believe not, but… we shall see. In any case, I am due to submit the evidence along with my report no later than the end of next week. As such, this should give me ample time to organize my findings, which is especially convenient given the roster of duties I am expected to cover over the next few days.” The apprentice took a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose, halting her rambles as she steadied herself with a sigh. “But I digress, I believe I will take you up on that offer, Professor Pliska.”
“It would be my pleasure to welcome you into my domain, apprentice.”
The rest of the footage consisted of small talk between the pair, with nothing in particular standing out as the topics being addressed soon turned from high-stakes espionage, and back into faculty banter.
Yet despite that, none of us broke the silence that now dominated the boring trip back. Not even as the footage came to a complete stop, and there was nothing more left to play.
I leaned back against the armor, eliciting a series of creaks from the couch below me, echoing across the high-ceilinged room and disrupting the tentative peace that came with this ominous silence.
“This explains… a lot.” Thalmin offered, finally breaking the silence with a tentative tone of voice. “It explains your contract, and its abrupt cessation.” He continued, turning towards Ilunor. “It explains Mal’tory, or at least, his current lack of public appearances. And it reveals to us exactly what he was trying to hide from you, Emma.” The lupinor eventually turned towards me. “And I think the sections of the library, selectively pruned, are self-explanatory as well.”
“Section four, and section five, at least.” I replied shortly thereafter. “I have no idea who or what Alaroy Rital has to hide in section three, and don’t even get me started on section two, let alone section one.” It was at that point that I turned towards Thacea, who let out a sharp exhale upon me bringing up section one.
“The removal of all information relevant to… and I quote — Tainted Realities — speaks volumes to the inherent fears of the Nexus. Though I know not what specifically they may fear from your discovery of its deep and now-lost lore.” Thacea offered through a pensive gaze. “There are many rumors, legends that come with the phrase Tainted Reality. Though most are mythical; epics of long lost eras that dwell between the blurry line that exists between history and legend. Perhaps the records within the library were pieces of irrefutable evidence that would’ve shed light on this nebulous subject matter. But even so… that begs the question… why? Why would they hide what is effectively a non-issue when it comes to your discovery of its lore? Taint, and more specifically, the concept of a Tainted Reality, is something that is inconsequential in the contemporary world. Its history, even if it proves to be true, is neither a disruptive political element, nor a practical tool for war, that could be used in countering the Nexus.” The avinor’s explanations were clear, concise, and yet they belied something personal that she clearly wasn’t broaching.
And I wasn’t about to dig either, not when this topic very clearly hit close to home for her.
“This leaves the second subject matter then.” I offered, giving the avinor an off-ramp towards a potentially more palatable topic.
“The Unspoken War and the Treacherous Alliance?”
“Correct.” I nodded.
“That… I have no knowledge of.” The avinor admitted, prompting me to turn to both the lupinor and the Vunerian for answers.
“Don’t look at me, earthrealmer, I’m the one who lost all memories on the subject, remember?” Ilunor countered.
“I’m afraid I’m as in the dark as you are on this one, Emma.” Thalmin replied with a loud huff, leaving me with perhaps more questions than answers at this point.
“Right then.” I nodded. “Well, regardless, as disquieting, confusing, and disturbing as these revelations have been, they are exactly that — revelations.” I took a moment to stand up, resting both hands on my hips, as if adopting Ilunor’s more theatrical approach to things. “We started today off with no intel on Mal’tory, with no idea how we were going to complete The Library’s Seekership questline, and no knowledge on exactly where we stood in this game. We’re ending today off with a firm grasp on exactly what we need to do, what exactly was scorched in the library, and a tentative understanding on Mal’tory’s fate. I’d say that’s an incredible step forward, even if the answers we now have are leading to even more questions.”
“Reality is often filled with disturbing truths, but only when we acknowledge them, can we act to change them.” Thacea offered.
“Here here!” Thalmin reaffirmed through a firm stomp, standing up tall and ready.
“While certain revelations come as disappointments… namely the survival of Professor Mal’tory… it is indeed somewhat satisfying to hear that the man is at the very least suffering for his actions.” The little thing spoke maliciously, as he too stood up. This prompted a look of worry to form amidst all three of us, but instead of reacting accordingly, he instead displayed an expression of confusion. “What? The man was a monster! He actively antagonized not only me, but this entire group! Surely you also feel at least some sense of satisfaction at the consequences of his actions catching up to him!”
“The delight in an enemy’s defeat, best comes from the resistance of the blade against his body. Not from the suffering incurred from happenstance.” Thalmin countered, whilst Thacea and I refused to entertain that line of thought, as I quickly placed a palm across my forehead, bonking it once again in the process.
“Right, well, here’s the game plan. We now have a clear target to complete our first objective — the notebook. We grab that, hand it in to the library, and presto, we accomplish the Seekership questline. Now comes the difficult part… how exactly do we do that?” I turned to the group, as offers and suggestions finally came flying in.
“Take advantage of your life debt?” Ilunor offered.
“I wouldn’t take advantage of that card just yet, Ilunor. Not if we have other options.” Thacea countered.
“What if we steal it?” Thalmin proposed.
“Thievery isn’t a diplomatic approach, Thalmin.” Thacea shot back with a glare.
“Well, Emma here was able to grapple her way, through manaless means, across the outside of the castle towards the apprentice whilst she was in the medical wing. I’m sure we can pull something else off in a similar capacity!” The lupinor countered.
“No, Thalmin. As much as I would like to try, I believe it might be best if we try a more diplomatic approach.” I offered, prompting the three to cock their heads.
“We could just ask, right?”
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(Author’s Note: And there we have it! The first step towards the completion of the Library's questline! We've found exactly what we were looking for, the list of books that were ordered to be put to the dragon flame by Mal'tory. With that being said however, a new series of questions arises... exactly why were these books targeted in particular? Moreover, what exactly was lost as a result? These questions and more will continue to linger in the back the gangs' minds as we push forward! Especially as we now find ourselves in the midst of another conundrum, exactly how are we going to get the book to the library! Regardless, this is still a massive step forward, and one that will surely bring Emma and Ilunor closer towards addressing the first phase of their intertwined fates with the library! I hope you guys enjoy! :D The next Two Chapters are already up on Patreon if you guys are interested in getting early access to future chapters!)
[If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 84 and Chapter 85 of this story is already out on there!)]

Legit burner account just to help me solve this issue I'm going through.
I have AuDHD to start and grew up in a family where "jokes" and "sarcasm" were used to cover up the fact my family was abusive/racist. Being younger, I couldn't tell until around the age of 10. Before that I'd go off on them for "bullying" and would be told "its just a joke".
I'm sure this is part of why I have this issue, as well as where I currently live. Though I'm in a more progressive and liberal area, the general surrounding area isn't and I find even in professional settings these "jokes" pop up.
The main issue I find is I often can't tell what is and isn't a "joke", which, when I was younger was much easier, as I could just ask. Some people DO have the type of friendships they with name call each other affectionately "Asshole" to a spouse in a "loving" way, but as tone and history is a big part of those things, I'm never certain.
I've learned if someone generally seems close, being adults I assume they'd say something and in my personal life I take zero care and drop relationships and friendships if they cross my boundaries too many times after asking and clarifying (as I find this to simply be abusive and/or incompatible at that point).
My biggest issue is in the work place, where I KNOW its just straight up bullying, harassment power plays and toxic environments. I've quit jobs when I find them to be bad enough, but, especially since covid, it feels like its seriously gotten worse.
Walking around watching married people legit flirt/cheat and calling it "innocent fun", watching women talk ill about their "friends" behind their back, men's "locker room talk" even when every age and person is present. I hear high school never ends for some people but it's ridiculous.
Professionally, it feels like its not a choice, as well as in some cases outside of work, not being able to leave some situations. I really just wish I knew how to deal with such people without getting involved in it. Even if I were to try and help someone at my age who is clearly being harassed/bullied the majority seem to be more upset that I noticed (like they are embarrassed/ashamed) and I've learning to gently ask them, indirectly otherwise stay out of it.
If it's me personally, any attempt at boundaries with such people makes them seem to take it as more of a challenge to cross those boundaries or when called out or told off, they double down on harassment. Stonewalling/ignoring theses people also has a similar affect. They harass and bully as if to try to get my attention or a rise. Neither keeping my head down, nor speaking up nor going to someone of higher ranking has ever worked for me professionally and I just end up swapping jobs eventually (as I've always been good at my job and never had issues finding another).
I imagine others have had similar struggles and might be able to give advice on this.

Let me start out by saying that I’m a twenty year old girl who has never been in a serious relationship, let alone married. So I am positive there are some themes and lines that flew directly over my head. However, I really liked this musical, and I found Bobbi to be very relatable. I do have some questions about the theme.
To my understanding, Bobbi was uncomfortable with the proximity of marriage, of having someone that she felt would be in your room, and in your head 24/7. In addition to that, she was scared that through marriage and life she would be with this person but perpetually alone. Therefore she was always doubting. Bobbi liked her proximity to her married friendships, but with those people there was a line. You can be good friends, but you can’t be best best friends. Always catching up and never hanging out. Always second (if not third, fourth, or fifth) to the highest priority. And the few times that hypothetical line was crossed, the entire scene got really uncomfortable.
My interpretation of the ending is that Bobbi realized she was just way too much in her head about the entire ordeal, and that she finally realized she just needed to take her friends advice and jump in. She wanted marriage so bad, but it scared her so much. I think in the end, she realized that what she truly needed was simply semipermanent company. Someone who wouldn’t come and go like everyone else. Someone who would just stay and share the world with her. Idk though correct me if I’m wrong.
As for my comments/questions:
(Comment) For David and Sarah, This is one of the couples that Bobbi crosses a hypothetical line with after David hugs Bobbi while high. Sarah gets uncomfortable, and basically insults Bobbi while implying that she’s not allowed to follow them in the house.
This scene was uncomfortable, but I truly think this couple had problems. Even after that scene, Sarah is incredibly uncomfortable every time David mentions Bobbi. To the point where it seems that their friendship with Bobbi seems to be putting some strain on their relationship. In addition to this, while smoking Sarah desperately wishes for a day where she could be single and young again. In front her husband.
To be honest, to me they seemed to be the second most not ok married couple in this play. I’d like to know other people’s thoughts on them, and their relationship with Bobbi.
As for Joanne and Larry
(Question) Did I hear that part wrong or did she actually offer her husband to Bobbi just because they’re friends? Was it because Bobbi offered to get the bill? Huh? Also can someone explain ladies who lunch to me?
(Comment) Larry seems to have such a good understanding of Joanne, but he’s still a human my god. I know he said Joanne doesn’t talk/treat people like that when Bobbi’s not there, but still. The behavior is a bit over the top.
(Comment) Also, in all the scenes where the couples are sitting together, why are Larry and Joanne always apart? I can see they have some sort of rhythm together, but it just feels so disjointed. What’s going on with them?
(Question) Also, I don’t understand why PJ was a necessary inclusion into the story from the perspective of Bobbi. I understand Andy was there to tell Bobbi not to settle, Theo was there as a “right guy wrong place/time” typa moment. But other than singing Another Hundred People, and saying that he personally knows every single person in NY, PJs kinda just there. Why do you think the writer included PJ?
Last question, at the end of show after Bobbi realizes what she wants, what do you think happened. Even though the Theo scene was probably a flashback. A part of me wants to believe that she followed him wherever he went and got married, since they already seemed to have a good relationship. (Of course if Theo already had a serious girlfriend when he said he was moving away and getting married, this won’t be the case). Bobbi’s not gonna marry Andi. I don’t see why Bobbi would marry PJ. I think the most probable thing that happened is she just opened herself up to the eventuality of a semi-permanent companion and put herself back into the serious dating scene.
Idk though, I would love to hear thoughts on the themes and characters, especially if you are actually the target demographic for the musical.

1. Fantasy:
   
   • "The ancient tree in the heart of the forest whispered secrets only the chosen could understand."
2. Science Fiction:
   
   • "The malfunctioning time machine thrust them into a future where humanity faced extinction."
3. Mystery:
   
   • "A cryptic message in a bottle washed ashore, hinting at a long-buried treasure."
4. Romance:
   
   • "Their paths crossed at a masquerade ball, igniting a clandestine romance under the masks."
5. Horror:
   
   • "The eerie melody played by a broken music box summoned something otherworldly."
6. Historical Fiction:
   
   • "An unlikely friendship formed on the battlefield, transcending sworn allegiances."
7. Thriller:
   
   • "A coded message hidden within a famous painting triggered a high-stakes pursuit."
8. Adventure:
   
   • "The discovery of a hidden map led to a perilous quest through uncharted waters."
9. Dystopian:
   
   • "In a society segregated by classes, a forbidden love threatened to dismantle the system."
10. Comedy:
    
    • "A case of mistaken identity at a prestigious gala led to uproarious chaos and hilarity."

I'm desperately in love with my "abusive" ex boyfriend
Cross posting this on a couple of subreddits to hopefully get a good amount of advice.
Hey, I made this account for this and haven't used reddit before so I'm sorry if I do this wrong, and english is not my first language.
This requires a good amount of backstory.
I(19F) am from Louisiana and so is my ex(20M). We met when we were 14 because we were in the same grade at the same highschool. We hit it off immediately and became really good friends. After being friends for about 3 months he got the courage up to ask me on a date, and we started dating. We were together from then until we were 15 and 16, and got back together after I turned 16.
About 2 months into us dating this second time, he had a mental break. I have a lot of trauma that caused me to feel the need to stay with him despite the way he treated me at that time. He never cheated, but seemed to think it was funny or entertaining to do everything in his power to make me think he was, and to make me think it was with some of our close friends. He got distant and snappy and would yell at me over little things a lot. He tried to hit me out of frustration one time but I personally grew up in the hood and do not take lightly to being attacked so he got smacked right back and never tried that again. At this time his parents(they were practically my parents too, mine have never been good to me and they did and still do care a lot more about me then my own do) told me he was having a mental break and that I should leave for my own good but also that they understood why I was staying.
Eventually I couldn't take it anymore and right before the start of our senior year we broke up(both 17). Throughout senior year he would spread rumors about me, a lot being about us having sex, though I was still a virgin and me and him never went farther then me performing oral on him. I distanced myself from him as much as possible but we were both in our schools top band and jazz ensembles as percussionists and were in constant competition with each other.
We ended up going to the same college, and we are now going into our junior year in a few months. I never had friends in highschool, my friends were just his friends and everyone "didn't pick sides" when we broke up. which they just said to me because I wasn't trying to make anyone pick a side but they really did just pick his, except our friend who I'll call Dan. I'll also call my ex Joe. Both are far from their names but I'd like to stay anonymous. Dan told me he understood that Joe was lying and spreading rumors, but felt to bad cutting him off as we all knew he was having a break, as did I.
This year Joe was set to be loving in a dorm right across the hallway from mine. When we had gone home for the summer I made no effort to reach out or see him as our friendship in freshman year of college was just not really there. Though all this time I really have missed my best friend, I've never felt like anyone has been as close to me as he was or understood quite like how he did.
I ran into him during move in day this year. He looked a lot less erratic then he had been the past couple of years and seemed a lot calmer. That night, I was leaving my dorm to go on a midnight walk downtown when I found him sitting on the front of his door in the hallway. He looked like he had been crying. I saw him and decided to quietly sit down next to him and sheepishly ask if he was okay. He said he wasn't, and asked what I was doing, so I invited him to come with me and he did. We left the dorms at about 10 pm, and didn't get back until 6 am. We walked and talked for hours about everything, and he might've apologized for the way he treated me a million times. He explained what happened that caused him to break, and told me he had a realization about it that led to a meltdown, placing him in the psych ward at the end of our freshman year. He was now medicated, healthy again, and finally in therapy!!! I was so insanely proud of him. I called him parents because I wanted to confirm and they confirmed he was telling the truth. From there, we rekindled our friendship and have been back to best friends ever since.
It's been a few months now, and we both have moved back home for the summer, both with plans to love with some friends in apartments starting when fall quarter begins. Recently my mom died in a car accident. She was an abusive neglectful parent who should have never had kids as she truly didn't view me as a human. But despite that, I've been struggling a lot with her death. Joe has been very helpful through this, as he is the only person I've ever told about what happened with my mom throughout my childhood. Yesterday was a particularly hard day for me, and he invited me to do my absolute favorite activity, night drive and smoking.
So now we get to the actual story and where I need advice.
Last night he came and picked me up at about 10. When I got in he handed me the rolling tray and had me roll a blunt for us while he drove to our normal parking lot. This whole time I couldn't stop staring at him and couldn't figure out what it was. When we stopped he turned the music down and faced towards me so we could talk properly and we started smoking and talking. Eventually, this dialouge exchange happened.
Joe - "No it just didn't work out with them so we broke up." Me - "Well what happened?" "Well a lot, but it boils down to they don't understand me in the way I would need my partner to" "How so?" "Well for lack of a better way to put it, the way me and you understand each other"
This lead to us talking about had gone wrong before, and eventually, he told me I looked really pretty and kissed me. I lost my virginity to him in his car last night, and it was more amazing then I ever imagined it could be. I never thought I would be someone who enjoyed sex but I have genuinely been thinking about that and him ever since it happened. When we finished, we took about 5 minutes of laying still and occasionally just muttering out a "Jesus christ that was amazing" before we eventually moved back to our seats. He took me to get ice cream and then brought me home.
I miss him, he's so amazing!!! The sex was great but that's not even what I'm worried about, I just couldn't stop staring at him and I still can't stop thinking about him.
I need advice. I want him back so bad, but is it worth it? He completely destroyed my confidence and love for myself in a way that has not recovered. I truly want to believe he's changed and all signs point towards him changing. I know if I asked him out again he'd say yes immediately. But I'm at a crossroads. Most of me wants to forgive and forget as he truly is the love of my life but that part of me that spent my childhood being abused by my parents has a little Itty bitty voice in my head telling me he isn't actually changed.
Would I be crazy if I went back to him?

Will probably delete this soon because I’m so paranoid about people I know personally finding this.
Hi all, I have one FS who is 8 and bio girls who are 7 and 5. All three kids are Taylor obsessed (courtesy of my eldest girl). My husband got us Taylor tickets at Christmas time with the intention of me, him and our two girls going (this was pre-placement). However, since having our FS and seeing how Taylor obsessed he is (again, all due to my eldest daughter) my husband has decided to step aside and let our FS go, which he is over the moon about.
Unfortunately issue arose when FS excitedly told his mom about the concert. She was very upset and expressed to social worker that she would never have been able to afford the tickets the way our family could. I felt crushed, it was never my intention to make her feel inferior as she is a great mother, and we have done everything in our power to 100% ensure reunification. I explained to her that the ticket wasn’t originally meant for her son, that my husband didn’t want him to feel left out when the girls would go and he’d have to hear all about it. I assured her that I didn’t mean to step on her toes or anything and that he has liked her music lately and that it would be a nice outing for him (plus my husband isn’t a huge Swiftie). She didn’t seem to be pleased and expressed that she doesn’t want him to go.
Foster son will be CRUSHED if I tell him he can’t go (I would never say his mother said no). He has made friendship bracelets, picked out an outfit and has been counting down on his calendar. He has told all his friends in school and has learned off the soundtrack. I’m not sure if I could break his heart like that considering how much his life has been upended lately. Therapist said to me last week that all he has talked about in recent sessions has been the concert, and that it’s a huge motivation for him in school to ‘be good.’ But I can also see his mother’s POV. What do I do? I’m genuinely lost. My husband is insisting he still goes and we just don’t tell FS about his mom’s wishes but I want to respect her. I’m lost. I can completely see where she’s coming from.
Just so everyone knows: I’ve tried and failed to get a fifth ticket so his mom can join. Tickets are like gold dust and we’re sitting, quite impossible.

https://depop.com/clairemarie1989
I’m going to be posting some new items today!
In addition to my other listed items, I just opened up my custom friendship bracelet commissions on my Depop and will be listing some of my more complicated bracelets separately too.
Would really appreciate any traction my Depop shop can get. All funds go to helping me pay for Army ROTC uniforms, summer school expenses, and housing/food costs, and purchases are greatly appreciated.

This story is one that started a long time ago, but still affects my (32F) day-to-day life. Sorry everyone, it's a long one.
It began about 17 years ago, when I was 15 and still in school. I frequented internet forums including several fan sites of video games and books I enjoyed. One of these was a role playing forum where I and five others were writing stories together in our favourite universes. I got along well with the other members and it was a great way for me to learn English. Importantly, we only ever communicated through text, never through voice or video calls.
This is where I met the main character of this story, let's call him Tom. Tom said he was 19 years old, and was the only guy active on the forum. He had a great way with words, was mature beyond his years, and had a natural charisma about him. Naturally, as a 15-year-old with no prior experience with relationships, I was instantly drawn to this mysterious, well-spoken figure. Over the course of a month since meeting him, our conversations grew in frequency and depth, until eventually we spoke to each other on chat clients for 3-4 hours a day. At the same time, we continued writing our stories, including a plethora of romantic scenes between our respective characters. We also shared poems that we had written. It was an intense experience for me - I had never really had such a deep connection with a 'boy' before.
My parents never really taught me the importance of internet safety, and I can't blame them: it was all still very new at this time, also to them. It was Tom and my other friends on the forum that stressed how important it was to keep personal information private, especially when they learned my age. Tom especially was adamant never to share my location or photo with anyone, not even with him. It made me feel safe with him - for how could someone who so actively dissuaded me from sharing my information be a monster?
Of course I fell in love with him, to whatever extent a 15-year-old brain can comprehend love.
From written descriptions I had given of myself, Tom had expressed that he thought I must look beautiful, and so the fool that I was I gathered up the courage to send him a picture of myself anyway, desperate for his approval. He was complimentary, but did ask me why I had sent him a picture. I admitted my feelings for him. Tom was understanding, but stressed that he would never be able to give me what I needed from him.
Still, that did not stop either of us from progressing the nature of our interactions into something more sinister. I call it sinister looking back on it as an adult; at the time it was titillating and exciting. We started to send each other 'kisses' goodnight, sent back and forth explicit drawings depicting characters that looked like us, and described other intimate interactions over chat.
My mother once came into my room and witnessed Tom calling me by an endearing term. She interrogated me and I begged her not to make me break off contact with Tom. She listened to me, but made me promise her to be sensible. I want to scream at her now for not stopping it then.
My school friends did what my mother could not: they were concerned for my safety, and stepped to the headmistress, who called me into her office. After telling Tom about the encounter, he panicked. He told me we could no longer chat, and made me promise to tell the headmistress that it was over. I was heartbroken, but promised him.
I did ask Tom if we could still communicate through other means - we were doing some online art projects together that we both wanted to finish. He said yes, we could still maintain contact over e-mail and forum DM, but chat was off the table for now. I took what I could get.
The years that followed were chaotic. Sometimes our contact would be e-mail only, then we would move back to chat. At times, when things got too hard, I would decide to go no-contact for a while. I had my first real relationships in the lulls, but I would always come back. Tom would always receive me with open arms, either as a friend whenever I was dating someone, or rekindling our romantic interactions when I was not. He was always kind, patient, sensitive, and seemed selfless in his interactions with me. He made me feel so good about myself that I became obsessed with him, convinced he was the love of my life.
Three years in, Tom knew my real name, knew where I lived, and had seen nudes of me (he used one as his desktop background for years). At the same time, I knew nothing about Tom. What was worse, the few details he had unintentionally revealed weren't adding up.
Tom always portrayed our story as one of star-crossed lovers who due to circumstance outside our control could never be together. He told me I would never love him if I ever saw him in real life. First he claimed that his face had been ruined by flesh-eating bacteria. When my biology degree taught me that it's nearly impossible to survive that, he claimed body dysmorphic disorder (which I think to some extent was true).
Things reached boiling point six years into this mess. He slipped up, and revealed a detail about his life that directly contradicted the only concrete thing he had ever told me about himself: his age. I took a day to process, then confronted him, asking him how old he really was. After some initial resistance, he admitted that he had lied.
Mid-thirties, he said. A decade(!) older than he had at first claimed. I should have been furious, but after 6 years of being charmed and manipulated by him, I could only feel sorry for him. When I assured him that nothing between us had to change because of a 'number', he dropped the next bombshell:
Tom: "Alright then. Mid-forties."
I felt like I couldn't breathe. For years, I had been having sexually explicit conversations with someone old enough to be my father when I had believed him to be my age. What was worse, it had all started when I was underage. I gave Tom an ultimatum: either tell me the full truth about who he was; or lose me forever. I gave him two weeks to send me his information. He decided not to, which should have immediately set off the alarm bells that there was even more he was lying about; more he had to hide. I didn't even consider that in the moment; my heart was broken once again, and I cut off contact.
At the time, Tom and I had a number of mutual friends that we both spoke to regularly. Two of these were my cousin and his wife. I went to see them after I found out about Tom's real age, trying to find solace and understanding from someone who also knew him. I felt incredibly betrayed and angry, and asked that they also break contact - maybe that was a bit of an a-hole move. They said no: after all, Tom had never revealed his age to my cousin or his wife. As such, he had never lied to them, only to me, and they were not willing to end their friendship with Tom over that. When I asked what they thought of a 40-year-old having explicit conversations with a 15-year-old, they said that from a certain age, the teenager also has a responsibility in preventing this.
My cousin and his wife were not the only mutual friends that knew what was going on. Amazingly and invariably, NONE of our mutual friends chose to break contact with Tom over this. It caused immense doubt in me. Was I wrong in judging Tom for lying to me? Maybe the lie wasn't so terrible. And all those explicit conversations? Well, I instigated a large number of them, not Tom, so maybe I was equally, if not largely, to blame.
The way I see it now: Tom is like a cult leader: no matter what he does or says, his 'followers' will defend him; even blame themselves if it strips him of guilt. What is worse, anyone who dropped out of his inner circle would feel incredibly isolated and excluded. My friends would not play games with me because they preferred playing games with him. They would not write with me, because writing with him was so much more fun. I wish I'd had the strength to stay away, but one year later I came crawling back, desperate to be included into his circle once again, desperate for his affection that the others seemed to thrive under.
I was 22 at this time. Our contact was sporadic for the next four years - I was hesitant to engage romantically with him, even though part of me, despite everything he had put me through, still 'loved' him (trust me, writing this down, my naivety is making me want to claw my eyes out). I entered a relationship with someone else during this time, and went back to no-contact for most of its 4-year duration. When that relationship ended, Tom and I started talking more again, slowly slipping back into old habits and using the same terms of endearment we had used in the past. Tom revealed more details about himself now - he would talk about his boss, his sister, his friends, his home-town, and discussed things that were going on in his personal life. We also started talking over voice-chat, and damn it, he had an attractive voice.
I had just turned 27 when a response of his triggered me. We were recalling the early days of our interactions, and I mentioned how he had once accidentally sent me an e-mail from a throwaway account. I recalled the address letter by letter (I have a mild form of autism). He went very quiet, and then said that my memory was astounding.
Something in my lizard brain decided to look up the name in that e-mail address. I had done the same 12 years prior, but I had much more information now. It took me three hours to cross-reference the tidbits of information he had fed me over the months and years within the context of this name. And what do you know: it WAS his real name. I continued looking for the rest of the evening.. and I found much more than I bargained for.
You see, Tom was not the only person registered to his house. He was reported to live there with a woman who shared his last name, let's call her Hannah. I naively thought she might be the sister he mentioned (though he had given another name). Fortunately for me, Hannah was a lot less careful than Tom with her personal information, and I soon found a link to her blog on her Twitter page. A goldmine of information, going back over 10 years, covering almost every single day since Tom and I started talking.
My blood went cold as I started reading. It soon became clear to me that not only was Hannah his WIFE of 25-or-so years, they had an 11-year-old SON together (let's call him Jacob). I was 100% sure it was his wife writing - I could easily cross-reference the little things he had told me (assembling a bookcase, having lamb for dinner, visiting SIL for the weekend, getting a sunburn) with the details she was sharing about their life.
Once more, I should have run for the hills. Once more, I didn't. I often wonder how I could have been so stupid as to let this shitshow continue for so long, despite the thousand-and-one reasons Tom had given me to drop him. I can only attribute it to some kind of twisted sunk cost fallacy. By recognising Tom for the monster that he was, I had to face having loved that monster for over a decade. It meant admitting to myself that I was a terrible judge of character, and how could I possibly trust anyone ever again if I could not trust my own judgment? Also, all our mutual friends had always normalised his behaviour to the extent that it seemed almost arrogant to say that HE was in the wrong.
Because of the reactions that I had received from my friends and cousin last time, I kept what I knew to myself, even from Tom. Enter the next ridiculous phase of the story: Tom was saying how he was ordering a passport SO THAT HE COULD COME TO VISIT ME AND MY COUSIN. And idiot that I was, I wanted nothing more, because I was STILL IN LOVE WITH THE SH*T even after everything he had done, now not only to me, but also to his wife Hannah and his son.
I met him in real life five months later. He would be visiting my house for the day, and I was planning to confront him about what I knew. I had given one of my close friends his real name and address, and had told them to contact the police in the event they didn't hear from me by evening - I had no idea how Tom would react when exposed. Probably the fact that I felt unsafe in the first place should have been enough reason not to meet him alone.
We met, and I wish I didn't feel attracted to this 50-year-old but I did. We talked a lot. Eventually, I decided to test him, to see if he would be disloyal to his wife. While our conversations had definitely been flirty over the past year or so, I had never actually been straight with Tom and told him I still felt the same way. So I told him. Credit to him where it is due, he said he couldn't pursue a relationship with me, but followed it up with 'that we could still hold hands and hug'. He did not tell me why he couldn't, of course.
Only then did I reveal what I knew. I told him I've known for months now what his real name is, where he works, where he lives, and who he lives with. I probably could've been a bit more sensitive in how I brought it up (but let's be honest he doesn't deserve it and I was pretty pissed off keeping this stuff inside for 5 months). He turned incredibly pale and said that I could ask him anything I wanted to know. I asked him about his wife and their relationship (which hadn't been good for years according to him), his son (the pride of his life), and why on earth he had chosen to have explicit exchanges with a 15-year-old as a married man ('I was drunk').
During his stay, we were never intimate in the 'spicy' way, but we did hold hands a lot, he would have his hand on my leg, and we shared long hugs. He stayed the nights at my cousin's, and a few days later he left to go back to his country.
I am not proud of what happened next. Over the next months, we video chatted almost every evening. The conversations got flirtier, the amount of clothes we were wearing diminished until we both went into the calls topless.
One night, things escalated. We had gotten into a fight earlier in the evening - he had revealed that during that first real-life meeting, he had made an audio recording of the whole conversation, apparently so he could later prove to his wife that nothing happened. I responded that it was ok (it totally wasn't but that's beside the point), that I had taken precautions as well, and told him about the friend I had contacted. He lost it, saying I had no right to share his personal details with my friend or anyone else. I got angry in return, saying that he had no reason to distrust me as in the 12 years of knowing each other I had never lied to him; on the other hand I had EVERY reason to distrust him as he literally hid a wife and son from me, and had lied to a 15-year-old girl about his age.
We were both emotionally drained after, and I took things a step further that night, and seduced him into doing more together in front of the camera, maybe knowing that he would be too drained to refuse. He asked me later if I had consciously manipulated him into going along with it, choosing a vulnerable moment to strike - maybe I did, and I regret it.
Over the next months, our 'mishap' developed into a full-blown affair. I visited his home-town about 5 times in the year that followed. We kissed, and did basically everything apart from the 'deed' itself. I think he never wanted to have traditional sex either because then he could keep justifying to himself that he hadn't cheated on his wife, or because he was terrified of getting me pregnant. During my stays in his home-town, he would bring his son Jacob along to our lunches and dinners. Mostly to pacify his wife I suspect, for how could it be an affair with his son around? I loved the kid, we got along well, but I hated the lie that I had to live. To put myself through this was one thing, but it was so unbelievably unfair on Hannah and Jacob.
The whole situation sent me into severe depression. I was abandoning my morals for this man whom I still could not trust. I was lonely, and didn't date because I refused to be a cheater myself (maybe hypocritical). With every real-life meeting, his mask slipped further, and by the end there was little left of the charismatic, caring man that I had imagined him to be. Still, I was so entangled with him that I could not imagine my life without Tom. I did not know who I was without this person, who had completely overshadowed at this point almost half my life and all my adult life. I was stuck.
Eventually, I gave Tom an ultimatum again: Hannah, or me. I gave him two months to make up his mind. We spoke daily, and as his 'deadline' was approaching he became verbally aggressive with me, saying that he wasn't enjoying our conversations as much as he used to because I kept bringing up the choice he had to make. I asked him what he needed from me. He said he needed more time. I am ashamed to say I gave him that time.
I was lucky to have found two very close friends among my colleagues over the course of this whole drama. They had slowly witnessed the situation devolve into something unmaintainable. One of them often visited when I had panic attacks; she even slept next to me on the bad nights to make sure I'd be ok. They recommended me to make written lists of the red flags that I saw, the abusive behaviours Tom had demonstrated, and the effects the whole situation was having on me. They made me see how he would never choose me, that he was happy using everything and everyone as long as it served his needs. They slowly guided me into making the right decision during a work conference, when I didn't have time to contact Tom. Being away from his reach for a week, combined with the continuous talks with my two friends throughout the conference, made me strong enough to make a decision. Together, we agreed that as soon as I got back home, I would call Tom and cut ties with him. My friends would be available on call straight after.
Thanks to my friends, I went through with it. I cut contact almost three years ago now. As expected, he did not fight for me, and never tried to contact me again. My friends saw me through the worst of it.
Four months after cutting ties with Tom, I met the man who is now my husband, and we are currently expecting a baby. He makes me unbelievably happy, and has taught me what a loving relationship should feel like. He knows about this whole story and is very supportive. He even encouraged me to post this as he believes it'd help me process things.
I am still in touch with some of Tom's friends: my cousin, his wife, and a 40-year-old woman who has been my friend since the start of this whole story and was my MOH during my wedding. I have decided not to hold it against them that they cannot let go of Tom - hell, I couldn't let go for 14 years. It just demonstrates the horrible grip and influence he has on people. My MOH and I have an understanding that we don't discuss Tom, and that saved the friendship - we actually have a lot in common and enjoy each other's company a lot. I refuse to lose any more people over him.
I am in a good place now, looking forward to the future, and can't wait to meet our child. Still, this experience has not left me unscathed. I still struggle with trust, in other people and myself, and feel that I am responsible for a lot of what happened. I feel incredibly ashamed and naive for my behaviour over the years. I especially feel horrible about what I did to Hannah and Jacob - as far as I know, Tom never told them about the affair, but I would be very surprised if Hannah didn't know what was going on. I do have my suspicions that I am not the only one Tom did this with, but I have no proof, and it does not take away any of my responsibility in all of this.
So reddit: did I seduce Tom as a 15-year-old, or did he groom me and manipulate me into falling for him? Or was our interaction simply toxic on both sides, and not any one person's fault? And AITA for having pursued this affair even after I found out Tom was married? Also, should I reach out to Hannah (though honestly I would be a bit scared to do so, and I don't feel at all like reinserting myself into Tom's life in any way)?
And finally the question that still keeps me up at night: did Tom ruin half my life, or did I do that all by myself? And if I had a role to play in this, am I fit to be a mother?
TL;DR: As a 15-year-old, I fell in love with a man who claimed he was 19 but was actually 40. 12 years later, I found out he had a wife and son, but had become so infatuated with him that I pursued an affair with him. I ended the affair two years later but still feel guilty. I feel like much of what happened is my responsibility, since I instigated most of the intimacy. AITA?

so as the title suggests im in a bit of a situation right now… for context i met this girl freshman year of college (this year) and we instantly clicked. Thinking back on it she was definitely flirty w me but swore she was straight ( yep, its gonna be THAT kinda situation) so even though i had a crush on her, i wasn’t deep enough in it to consider ending our friendship over it. plus i was kinda already dealing w the repercussions of my own messy dating life, so i was pretty preoccupied by other people anyways and put my feelings for her on the back burner. The fact that our hugs felt literally electric and lingered more than a platonic hug should kinda stuck but i truly didn’t overthink it as in my mind, she was off limits. Last thing i wanted was to be like a straight guy that faked a genuine friendship w a girl only to get in her pants. just thinking ab being that to her makes my skin crawl. She even started dating this guy during winter break so i thought that was the end of it. (still with him to this day)
The problem is that, it isn’t the end of it. Ive never felt so genuinely respected and cared for than i do with her. i feel genuinely loved by her, our devotion to one another is unparalleled. Opening up is hard for me, but with her it seems to come to me naturally. Our relationship is so balanced, we sometimes spend hours and hours walking around, talking about everything and anything, but we also goof off all the time. She shares my love for the little things, we’re both art students and go a little crazy when we see a composition irl that looks good. So i know that when i point up to a tree at night, amazed at the contrast of the green of the leaves and purple of the sky, that she’ll be equally as excited as me. i want to know every little thing about her, and i know she wants to know about me too. i could go on and on, but i think i would bore anyone who’s read this far.
These feelings are confusing, i’m a little bit in love with all of my close friends i think, all in different ways. But not like i am with her, i love everyone just as much, but i hold her in my heart with the care one would hold water in their palms. i see her and i can almost feel the sun warming my skin. its insane. You’ll read this and probably think: "well she’s definitely in love" but thats the thing, everyone i hold dear to me invites these emotions within me. i love her like i would love my platonic soulmate, my issue is our chemistry goes beyond typical friendship. i can tell from the way her fingers dig into my shoulder blades when she hugs me or how shell lean her chin on my shoulder from behind. Never going as far as making an outright move on me but the touches are there nonetheless.
Although its painful to stand next to the only person you’ve ever wanted and not be able to HAVE them. i would rather that and cross my fingers it dies down than cut her out of my life. Nonetheless, i am deeply frustrated. im learning to deal with it but i had to vent about this somewhere. thank you to anyone who stuck to the end i appreciate it.

As soon as this beauty came out the oven, one thing came to mind:
Jack - see that criss cross on the top? Lattice they call that
Victor - that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Look at the colour it’s golden, like it’s been fired by the breath of angels
😂😂😂

I F16 and my best friend F18 have been spending a lot of time together recently and the more i’ve been in her company i realized my feelings for her (Just to clear any misunderstandings Im turning 17 in July and she turned 18 in March) I realized how often i missed her company when she would leave and how i always wanna touch and be near her. Mind you we have a very hands on kind of friendship we aren’t explicit or anything js holdin hands, hugging, we even went to sleep together and cuddled recently we have been more intimate with our physical touch i have been caressing her thighs nd touchin her butt every once inna while i have asked her so everything ive done to this point was consensual and she has been reciprocating my energy and recently ive been wanting to kiss her ive never actually attempted but it has crossed my mind multiple times and im not sure what I should do because she’s also currently talkin to someone i consider a friend she confides in me about them so I know their situation at the moment is being questioned by her and she doesn’t know if she wants to continue talkin to him i havent gave my opinion on what she should do because i dont want to seem biased. Yes i’m aware of the fact we are both female i am openly bisexual and she is as well she also recently got out of a wlw relationship so im not sure if she even wants to be in a relationship with another female after her last. so should I tell her or just continue as is?

So I'll keep it breif, but I need some advice.
Essentially I run an online game, where everyone can roll how they want. I have suggested we use roll 20s online roller in the past, but I personally have decided it will be a pretty lacks game (read: I am absolutely unable to put my foot down ever) and have given up insisting. Some players lie about wanting to roll their fancy, expensive, physical dice so that they can make up the result they need. This is clear to anyone who thinks about it even a little bit. The problem comes in with Lucy (fake name), who seems to always roll NATTY TWENTIES. She does fail a roll here or there, but its always on something insignificant. But when the roll is important, the stakes are high, I can almost gurantee that she will not fail to seduce the BBEG. Whenever she's rolling a save on one of her bad stats, she magically gets a 20 and turns the spell back on her opponent. I told her this isn't how it works, but it's a pretty lacks game so I decided to let it slide. Her attack mod is good (higher level) but even still, I don't think she has rolled less than a 19 on the dice once in the past few months. At first I thought she was just lucky, but I genuienly feel for the last 10 or so sessions her luck as just been... impossibely good.
I'd maybe just gently insist everyone use the online roller again, but I already have and feel she'll pick it up as a passive accusation. Passively accusing her would definitely be a bad thing because I am absolutely unable to engage in any form of confrontation. I would rather stew about this problem on reddit. I know as a mature adult, I should just talk to her one on one, but its awkward, and I'm not really sure how to approach it. I've already let it go on so long. Furhter, she could just deny it (it's not exactly like I have concrete proof), then we're back in the same spot, plus the awkward tension.
The game is becoming frustrating to play due to it. I spend time making fun, balanced encounters, only for her to land every hit, make every save, and make my boss baddy look like a wet noodle. I either cheat myself and bump the monsters hp/ give him some new ability, or I let her 'power-gamed to oblivion' character seduce him in three rounds, while all my other players just... watch. It doesn't cross my mind that none of this would be necessary if I just told the players to all use the online roller.
I'm begining to feel like a bad DM. I'm either cheating and feeling quite player adverse. Or making painfully unbalanced fights. If I up the stakes too much, im wiping the floor with the other players who play honestly.
I am genuinely at an impass, she is my friend outside of this and I don't want to damage our friendship for a game, but it's sucking the fun out of the game for me. There clearly isnt a solution to this outside of never speaking to her again.
Any advice will be ignored in favour of doing nothing.
Thanks.

Hello! I am new to this community despite being lifelong roleplayer! I want to share my story in a hope that someone here can give me a suggestion at how to handle the situation.
First, here's long story: there is an artist I knew from high school. We were best friends until I endured her bullying in person and online. It happened because she couldn't accept that I wanted to go to college. We did reconcile and apologize again after several years later. However due the trauma, I decided to end our friendship for good. It did pain her. She had reach out to me few times over the course. I chose to ignore any of her messages.
Her last message to me in Twitter was odd: asking me for a permission to revive old stories we had together after 5 years of no contact. As always, I ignored it, never replied back to her. My bestie out of curiosity looked up her account and pointed me a situation I never thought I would be in: she went ahead claiming one of my characters as her and exclusively drawing him last year. I checked the odd message and found out that she blocked me. I never did give her a permission to claim my character as her and cannot contact her ... It devasted me because I am artist as well. The character she had was exactly same as mine, down to the personality and name! That character was last character I roleplayed with her before the bullying happened. It did leave huge impression on her.
Not only that, she also stole another of my characters, but that second character had changed so much that I cannot really claim the theft. It's already tough as a survivor of bullying and struggled to recover from the effects of it to today. I barely post anything online without a fear of backlash and repeating the experiences.
If anyone had experienced this before, What should I do about this situation? Will accept any advices and suggestions! Thank you, everyone who cross this post, for your time at reading my post! 💜

So I’ve (f23) started a new job and have developed a crush on this guy(m20) for the past 3 months. And only recently, he mentioned he had a gf (he doesn’t know what I have a crush on him). I DEFINITELY DON’T WANT him to leave her for me but I think I still want to be his friend. And maybe hearing about her more will help move on from this crush?
But at the same time, is it inappropriate? I wouldn’t want to cross any boundaries but I always thought our friendship was a bit flirty. Hence why I started developing a crush. But maybe, it was all in my head and he doesn’t see it as flirty.
But anyway, I want to still be his friends. I definitely won’t be a homewrecker and in no way will I flirt with him but I guess I feel guilty for liking someone who has a girlfriend already?
Is it a bad idea to stay friends with him or is it not that big of a deal?

[PS4] [PS5] [PC] [XBOX] UK clan ‘Your Callouts Are Wrong’ seeking to invite players into our clan and correct their callouts.
Cross platform clan ‘Your Callouts Are Wrong’ looking to add 10-15 players aged 25-50 to create a tight knit community. Want to keep game time similar for all so UK /EU preferred. Not seeking the very casual, more those inclined to challenge the PvE end game, chase and finish raid seals, complete missing challenges etc. Of most importance for those interested wud be that they are wholly decent people, those who know how to balance a healthy life around the game and are looking to make friends and develop friendships. If u don’t mind a dabble in PvP and trials etc that’s also kl coz we have a few like that. Any interest hit me up, thnx
Chris

A lot of the people here have had romantic experiences with BPD, but I (M) have been friend with a person with BPD (F) for a couple months.
We met online and live in two different countries so it's pretty casual, she's just someone I talk to and joke with.
Back when we first met it seemed like she was almost flirting, but I quickly made it clear that I don't want a long distance relationship and I just want someone to talk to and keep each other company.
Browsing this subreddit I learned how they are in a romantic relationship and it sounds quite scary. So, I have a couple questions about their behaviour in friendships specifically.

1. Sometimes she gets upset a me for example if I go to sleep earlier than her, because she'll take it as me leaving her alone or something, and she'll say things like "go away, I have other guys to talk to", which to me sounds like she's flirting and trying to make me jealous. Now, is she actually trying to make me fall for her, "testing" me, or is she just genuinely teasing as a joke?
   
2. Can I expect her to randomly stop talking to me for long periods of time, because that's obviously something that would hurt me?
   

In general, I'm wondering what I can expect from this friendship as a whole if I never cross that line and go into romantic territory and don't let her cross it either. Because as a friend, I find her pretty awesome and I'd hate to lose that.
I don't know if this makes any difference, but she refused to talk about her trauma, even though she hinted that it has to do with bad sexual experiences at a very young age...

Hi all, I’m size 32DD (UK), wide root, full splayed based on measurements of this sub (and confirmed by bras own). I tried a couple sports bras after doing measurements and need something with the following characteristics:

1. Clip on back (no pull over bra)
2. Padded (not the removable pads) to cover the nipples
3. No underwire
4. Something I can buy on Amazon because of easy returns
5. Something cool (I live in hot area)
6. Medium support
7. Preferably thicker straps and bands
8. Preferably one NOT in cross cross back (I generally don’t like criss cross back in sports bras or regular bras)

I don’t care about colors or being fancy or stylish.
Thanks!!