I have no job, no qualifications to even get a well paying job. Well at least I have a healthy body right? Nope, I feel just as shitty about my body. I have gained 10 pounds because of medication I have to take, and I‘m generally depressed because of the masculinization of it. All people notice, I‘m never just another person or woman. I‘m always trans. Some sort of trans. It‘s making me sick. I cried enough and I‘ve complained enough. I tried to push the responsibility on others, my ex who pushed me to question my gender identity in the first place, the queer establishment that sent me to the endo after only a couple surface level conversations, but in the end, it was my choice. And I never knew what I‘d change with hormones.
I want a restart! I wanna go back 5 years, hell even just 2 years and stop myself from transitioning. What was I thinking? Meh, doesn‘t matter anyways… I‘m afraid to build new friendships and I NEED friends in my life desperately. Am I shallow? I don‘t wanna be a burden with my life story. I desperately need female friends. Friendship with women is what would heal me, but I never feel enough now. I feel too much, even with past girl friends I don‘t wanna contact them again because I sound so awful. I can‘t just yap and laugh and scream jokingly about things! I feel the need to be serious and grounded and selective of the things I choose to say out loud. Is this a left-over transition thing, where I think guys have to be like that? Idc, people don‘t take me seriously when I am girly. It just doesn‘t fit anymore. I don‘t think I‘m overthinking it or imagining things! I‘m so desperate and needy and honestly I shouldn‘t bring this energy i to anyones life.

Hi, I am a very inexperienced drinker but since I will be visiting Scotland for 5 days I want to take the opportunity to sample some whisky.
I will still go easy with 1 small glass (like 1 oz / 3 cl ~) per dinner for 5 days but I am unsure about the following:
1) Since it's in combination with dinner, will I need to reduce my dinner bolus or is it too early for that or even too little amount? How much would you reduce personally? 10, 20%?
2) Will the effect stack or will it go out of my system "every day"? Like, if I have had a glass per dinner for 4 days in a row, can I expect a stronger effect on my blood sugar after that meal versus the first day of drinking?
I guess I am also worried that whiskey each day plus a looot of walking will be a strong combination that will force me to reduce my basal by a lot
Thanks!

I had multiple conflicts with aggressive cyclists on whatever side of the road I was running on in pedestrian/cyclist only zones.
I prefer to run on the left side of the road, because the road can be busy with cyclists and if they don't notice me, then I can take action and avoid a possible crash. But if I were running on the right side, then I would have no idea if someone is coming and if they are inattentive, then they can hit me. This rule works well on roads where there is no sidewalk and motor vehicles are allowed to drive.
After my first conflict running on the left side of the road I thought maybe I was wrong, so I tried out running on the right side, but then another cyclist started scolding me again, because he had turn his wheel 10 degrees to the left and he found this difficult.
I adapt to the walkers on whatever side of this shared road they are walking on and I move temporarily to the other side while I'm passing them, because I'm the faster one. As a cyclist I also adapt to anybody on whatever side they are doing whatever, because again, I'm the faster one and this is a shared road, but some cyclists think differently and they become aggressive and try to hit me.
I experienced this in the German-speaking part.

Alright just want to get a few things clear, I have not played all Paper Mario games, hence why I havent said this one is the worst. I have yet to play PM and CS, but plan to soon. I also havent finished the game yet and will probably have to do another part. This is going to get downvoted to hell lol
So, first thing, Im not going to compare this to SS and CS, I feel like just because the games before were considered to be bad and this one is slightly better, doesnt mean its a good game. I think they should be viewed as individual games, not sequels as they arent really ''true'' sequels.
With that out the way, biggest flaw for me is BY FAR the combat system. Why. Just why nintendo? Hate on the stickers and cards all you want, but atleast they were funny like the huge fan. This one has nothing. Its a stupid weird puzzle system that just doesnt work. The bosses are slightly better, but still far off from good. It feels quite clunky to use. As well as that, it takes away from the experience. Every single encounter is just a chore, I get that its like that in most Paper Mario games, but here it feels so bad.
The ''gimmick'' of this game ( from what I can tell ) is the 1000-fold arms and like, where are they? They've come up like 10 times or something, did they forget? Are they stupid?
I could go on, but honestly I need to play more of the game to actually give a final judgement on it.
See you soon everybody. :)

[Just a quick note here but I would like to say that I'm not going to go into details about Natsumi and the plot point that concerns her because I think arc 7 is just her introduction and that there's way more things to this persona then just what arc 7 showed, this post is very long too so please be aware]
First I would say that this plot point is very dear to me for many reasons, but the most important Point is that for me it dealt with a problem I always wanted to see which is Subaru obsession of having the choice of RBD and how to use it, from the moment arc 4 finished and until now Subaru was always struggling with chosing the best way to RBD, in arc 5 he reached the conclusion that he shall use it to save his friends but focus on other ways to save the situation so he won't depends on it, arc 6 was Subaru using the power to reach what he believes to be the real Natsuki Subaru
And in arc 7&8 he was dealing with the guilt of not using RBD to save people in the previous arcs and the current ones, showing that just because Subaru didn't RBD in those previous arcs it doesn't mean that he didn't want too or that he didn't feel bad about it, however the arc also showed a very big flaw of Subaru that he carries on since arc 4 and until now, which is that Subaru always blames himself for every situation that goes wrong
Even when he is not in control Subaru STILL insists that he is and that the only reason why he couldn't save the people in the shelter in arc 5 for example is that he didn't do it, in arc 6 Subaru blamed himself for Ram taking the burden and fighting until she got severely wounded, he didn't accept it was her decision, at they ending of arc 6 Subaru blamed himself for Shaula death saying it was his fault because he came to the twoer until juluis shut him down and told him to be respectful for shaula wishes
In arc 7&8 this becomes more obvious to the point Subaru becomes really frustrating (which I like) he doesn't RBD when someone already dies due to their own decisions BUT he doesn't let go either and use this as an excuse to blame himself feeding on the fact that if he RBD he would have changed the situation, as if his feeding on this dulusion that if he died and RBD everything will be okay and the only one to blame is not those who did the kill no, it's his fault because he didn't stop it
After the "you are not a hero" chapter which was in amazing call for arc 6 because it was testing Subaru new determation of " you are in amazing guy Natsuki Subaru" by literally making the person who gave him this determation rejecting him completely Subaru was lost, he can't move on now because the mirror he used to see himself through is no longer here BUT he can't go back because Rem wasn't the only reason why Subaru reached this conclusion and now he genuinely understand his achievement and how great they were
he can never go back from this but now he can't move forward either which left him in a critical vulnerable state making him clinch into Natsumi as a piller of strength, which lead to Vincent looking down on him because Subaru reason of using this mask is emotional and to hide his weakness rather than solving them and this is the principal of weakness in the vollachian empire ( this is not the first time someone see right through Subaru like this, ironically enough Vincent sister Priscilla was the first to do that in arc 3 and just like what happened in arc 7 Subaru ignored Priscila completely there as well )
Unlike Natsumi, Subaru shotification was a very unfortunate and unexpected turn of events for Subaru, we all saw how frustrated Subaru was when Todd was haunting him down and how not even RBD was enough to control the situation and get him out of it, the RBD was useless here shocking Subaru to his core not just because Subaru most useful power RBD becomes useless but also because situations like these when Subaru is incapable of getting the upper hand DESPITE using RBD is what terrefy him the most
(It's a quick note here but this is a going fact about Subaru, in the recent Q&A for the 10th anniversary of re zero the author said that Subaru Just like Rosewaal likes to be in control of how people perceive him and intentionally makes people annoyed with him or very confused with his speech pattern, it's also the reason why Subaru is weak to effection, he is not used to it and doesn't know how to handle it)
So unlike the normal situation when Subaru is capable of using every single death efficiently or when his wearing the mask of being the perfectly confident Natsumi, just like how his death against Todd was out of his control shotabaru was the same and he was Subaru's weakest form....it was supposed to be his weakest form
Let's go back again to Chicha and olbart discussion a little, it was the conversation that made chicha understand how this ability works and re-create it to use it on cecilus, but it's not just that, olbart said that there's people who won't be effected because the core of their personality didnt change since childhood, example being Meduim and Cecilus, then we have the ones who the ability were created for, the ones who got weaker physically and emotionally and no longer capable of using their power the example for this is Al, and then we have cases, a very special cases that it not known how it exactly work for them but..they become more dangerous, way more dangerous then their adult form
Think about what limit RBD as a power, Reinhart the strongest has his moral code and the believe that his family will be okay if the kingdom is okay, there's definitely more to this but this is the only known information so far, for Subaru it's the same as well, some think that it's Subaru moral code that hold him back ,but to be honest I think that his moral code is as good as him keeping his promises...which is not something his that good at
If Rem and Emilia were in danger he would fight back and even kill if it was necessary, like when he put a death trap to kill Todd and his soldiers after knowing what they would do to Rem, when it comes to his close friends it's not really that hard to give up on many of his own rules, what hold Subaru back is his fear of death... Subaru is terrified of death, he doesn't believe that death is a good thing at all except when it happens when you are old and full of wrinkles, otherwise death is always a tragedy
After arc 4 and finally Subaru admitting his real feelings which is that he is terrefied of death, Subaru was very obviously scared of his ability and scared of returning back to his arc 4 mindset, it's not just death as a concept but rather RBD as a whole is what terrefy Subaru, the random chack points that keeps changing without a note, the pain that comes when his soul possess his body again, the fear that it's just too late and that if it was too late...then it's too late, and there's nothing Subaru can do to change that, he becomes a hopeless human being and face what every single person face in this world, an unbearable unchangeable lose that nothing could overturn, and Subaru said it himself in arc 7, RBD manifested because of his upnormal fear of lose
Despite everything I mentioned our MC continued to blame himself for other people's choices, in his dialogue you would always read his thoughts that go like
" They don't understand but I can change the situation"
Which is true, but here's the point he doesn't change it, so he doesn't let himself use his power to stop this self loathing due to his fear ( I explained what I meant with this up there) nor does he accept the lose and just move on, his obsession with perfect ends was always there but his fear was what stopped him from going all in, so imagine if what will happen if I removed this from him, made him incapable of thinking of such a complicated thought and rather turn him into something that doesn't understand these big complicated concept, remove the only thing that hold Natsuki Subaru back and see what kind of monster he will become
Through his shotification Subaru speech pattern was written in hiragana and katakana without kanji in the text to show how childish he has become, it also shows how his memories are kind of vague, he does remember some things and after the 10 second of hell Subaru was forced to somewhat catch up to his original self, but the full details and all are not that obvious, this vagueness is exactly why he was so dangerous as well
As a child I think all of you noticed that after chapter 75 you don't feel that much tension with shotbaru, the more you see of him the more you get...assured that nothing bad will happen, you are not afraid that someone will die nor are you worried that they will fail to save vollachia, heck you don't even see RBD or actually feel any of the normal tention that comes with the ability while you are reading, shotabaru makes everything easier...he make them easier for Subaru as well and the more shotabaru dies Subaru becomes more and more in control so much sonit becomes very hard to different them at some point
While the whole thing started as in out of control situation first, I have no doubts that it becomes something that our Subaru took advantage of, he notices how shotbaru has no real understanding of trauma, it's more like a painful unconvinet event to him but that's it, he theorized that it might blow up in his face later on but he was fine with this, he also noticed that his mindset has reset to his younger years when he was a prodigy, the Subaru from that time was obsessed with being his father son, this obsession continue for YEARS, because it took years for Subaru child self who believed that everything is possible with enough hard work to die, now imagine that desperate child with Subaru crazy idoligy and RBD and well, this is the formula for in utter disaster
It was a convinet situation for Subaru because it made him reached his desire BUT it wasn't something he desired to be because he still wanted to stand alongside Emilia as a knight and because this was still Subaru after all, and I think that Subaru hypocrisy and everything that I mentioned before in this post came together in the moment Subaru rejected to return back to normal despite him having few chances to do so
While the situation was unfortunate at first but this excuse to defend Subaru fall down in the moment he had the chance to return to his adult self but he willingly choose not too, he has the chance to ask olbart for help and Vincent will aid him, but he refuses saying it was for the pleadise but we all know that in chapter 75 this assumption was rejected, and even then Subaru returning back to normal should be for the best, isn't Subaru killing himself anyway because "it's for the best" as he put it? Wouldn't it be better to risk the possibility of one loop to see the outcome of this? Yet Subaru didn't do it, he could have do it after they left to the capital away from pleadise but he also refuses, and finally in arc 8 chapter 74 Subaru was seemingly knowledgeable about a way to return back to normal after using glouutiny yet he still didn't use it... it's because Subaru not shotabaru is the one behind this madness, and because he has decided that him retuning back to normal in this current time won't be beneficial, but since he can't explain exactly why he hide behind the lie that it's all for the plan, when in reality it was just him hiding behind this mask of invisibility that was forced on him but he crafted it to fit him eventually
Subaru knew for a fact that his adult self who has a full understanding of RBD won't really use this power to it's full potential, meaning that there's many tragedy that Subaru won't really stop from acuring, meaning that what hold Subaru back from the future that he always desired will be back again, as a child Subaru could do this but his not so sure if this will continue as in adult, in the moment Subaru felt that the ending of the story is getting close and that sphinx death is right in front of his eyes ( basically when he finally precived his perfect ending that he always dreamed of ) that he gave up on shotabaru , throwing him away like some unwanted rug, with amnesia barue at least it was emotional scene of acceptance, with shotabaru it was more like a weight that he finally lift from his shoulders without even one second of a proper clouser, only to run for Emilia happy that he finally no longer in need to stay like this
What many receive as Subaru finally being free from shotabaru is for me showing Subaru absolute hypocrisy and how he was actually the one abusing his child self and not the opposite, despite having the chance of letting him go Subaru used him under the excuse that it's for the best, and while he use the pill to remind himself of how harsh death is Subaru didn't stop seeing RBD as a method or a tool to reach his goal, Subaru in arc 4 used RBD to self punchiment, while in arc 7&8 he use it to save everything and the hurt part is just a neccacry process, he never lost meaning of death due to this BUT he has lost his way with RBD
The fact that the author killed off Priscilla when Subaru returned back again to his original self is a really big slap on Subaru face ( and it's not the last ) because Subaru has give up on the excuse that made him act out of his usual self thinking he has already reached the perfect ending only for him to face the fact that Priscilla has died off screen even before the big battle happen, Because unlike shotabaru who immediately think about RBD when faced with the death of someone dear, Subaru... Subaru is not like this, many people forget this but in arc 5 when Subaru saw that Emilia might have died he immediately fall down to his kennes and didn't move, his first instinct wasn't to RBD no, it was him surunder to grieve that swallow him whole, that's why Subaru reaction for to Priscilla death and her disappearing into thin air right in front of his eyes wasn't to kill himself, because his mind was so messed up and distracted by in unbelievable event that made him genuinely stunned and incapable of even trying to solve the situation, right now the amount of death he endure throughout the arcs will be rushing to make his wound even more painful
Of course I don't believe Subaru will accept that soon, I think that the aftermath of Subaru hypocrisy and his choices in arc 7&8 that he uses to Sneak away from what he leaned before since arc 4 will be shown in the next arc, there's also a high chance Subaru might go back to this mindset of " if I didn't RBD I would never know whatever they were savable or not thus I can still make myself believe that they were" which will be a perfect call for that scene in gunhive when Subaru also refuses to RBD for the same exact reason
I don't doubt that at some point Subaru will overcome this but my fear is actually that Subaru might go through his phase of hating the world ( just like in the shadow garden) switching the blame from himself to the world itself as a way to cope because I doubt Subaru would let go of his fear and obsession with Saving that easily but whatever will happen i feel that the whole arc was setting Subaru up for starting the path of him accepting death and lose more

Below you will find a weekly reminder of our Rules and partial FAQ. It's definitely a long read, but it's worth your time, especially if you are new to the community, or dropping by as a result of a link you found elsewhere. We periodically revise our rules, this weekly notice will help keep you informed of any changes made.
NOTE: These rules are guidelines. Some moderation discretion is to be expected.

Community Rules

1. Kindness Matters

Advise, don't criticize.

• Post with empathy, thoughtfulness, and constructive commentary rather than judgment. Don't be an asshole.
• Name-calling, slurs (including gender or race based slurs), and insults towards other community members will not be tolerated. Do not attack others for their personally held values, custody situation, marital status, physical distance from stepkids, or economic status; or on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, or ethnicity.
• No name-calling toward children, including the above-mentioned insults or the term "skids", or terms such as "mini-wife" or "mini-husband."
• Comments advocating spanking or any mention of wanting to harm children are not allowed.
• This is a support sub, not a judgement sub, assholes are not tolerated. Comments with terms used in other subs to pass judgement on assholes will be removed.

2. No Drama

This is a support sub.

• Bickering, nitpicking, and thread derailment will not be tolerated and will be subject to removal at moderator discretion.
• Do not repeatedly badger a poster demanding answers, or refuse to acknowledge an answer that's already been given.
• Do not use sensitive issues from past posts (either from this sub or other subs) to attack another user, as we are all discussing vulnerable topics.
• Crossposting anything from /stepparents to any other subreddit might result in a ban and may result in the original thread being locked. Brigading our sub will result in an immediate ban.

3. Report, Don’t Rant

No backseat modding.

• If you see someone breaking the rules, report the post or comment to the mods rather than engaging them in an argument. Failure to do so may be subject to comment removal at moderator discretion.
• No meta posts complaining about rude comments, DMs, or general sub issues.
• If you think someone is a troll or previously banned user, either use the report function or message the mods to direct their attention to the issue.

4. No Naming & Shaming

No userpings or links.

• Tagging/pinging users or other subreddits in an attempt to bully, harass, or complain will not be tolerated. Do not tag other subs, ever.
• If you want to complain about another subreddit being hostile to stepparents, do not name the subreddit. "Other parenting/advice/judgement subs" will suffice.

5. No Platitudes

Nobody knew what they were getting into.

• Comments like "You knew what you were getting into", "Love them, love their kids!", "They're a package deal!" and "You have to love them like your own!" will be removed.
• Comments suggesting that OP is not cut out for stepparenting will be removed at moderator discretion.
• Comments like "This is just a part of parenting, deal with it!" will be removed at moderator discretion.

6. No Trolling

We have zero tolerance for trolls.

• This is a support sub. Our subscribers do not have the time, nor inclination, to provide support to internet trolls. Posts that are suspected to be trolling attempts will be immediately removed, and the poster banned.
• Concern trolling, devil's advocating, gish-galloping, sealioning, and general asshattery are subject to immediate removal and banning without warning or notice.
• Any attempt to circumvent the ban by creating a new username will be reported to reddit admins and possibly result in account suspension.

7. No Personally Identifiable Information

Use discretion when posting.

• We highly recommend using a separate account for support subs to help prevent being doxxed. Do not post any information that may allow others to figure out your identity.
• Do not post photos of children, or any other photo that could be used to identify you or another user on the sub.
• Any image that contains a name or other identifying information should have the name or identifying information blurred out. This includes drawings, notes, and screenshots.
• Do not link to social media or any articles/blogs where you or another user on the sub is mentioned by name.

8. No More than 2 Posts per 24 hours

Use the daily threads.

• We are not a huge sub, but we are no longer a small sub. If you have multiple grievances to air, use the daily discussion threads instead of multiple posts.

9. Follow Reddiquette

Remember the human.

• Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life.
• Read it in full here.
• Downvoting is reserved for comments that don’t contribute, and shouldn't be used to indicate disagreement.
• If you believe someone is in violation of the subreddit rules, please either use the report function or message the mods to direct their attention to the issue.
• Suspected brigading will be reported to reddit admins.

10. No Porn, Spam, Blogs, or Research Studies/Surveys Without Mod Approval

Just don't.

• This is a SFW subreddit. Posting pornography will result in immediate post removal and permanent ban.
• Advertising on the subreddit (outside of Reddit's own advertising) is not allowed.
• No personal blog posts are allowed without express moderator permission.
• No advertising without prior mod approval.
• No asking for money/posting fundraisers/etc.
• For links to parenting research studies or surveys, please message the mods for permission before posting.

11. Disputes in Modmail Only

Don't argue with the mods on the sub.

• Any issues specifically related to how a mod is moderating should be addressed to the full moderating team via mod mail. This ensures that all mods are aware of any concerns and prevents disintegration of the topic thread at hand.
• This means to do not message or send chat requests to individual mods. All discussion and complaints about mod actions need to be done in mod mail ONLY. Failure to follow this rule can result in an immediate permanent ban.
• Comments in threads asking about mod decisions are subject to removal without notice.

12. Moderator Actions

We aren't kidding.

• Users are expected to know the rules before posting. If you are warned or banned for violating the rules, ignorance is not an excuse.
• Moderators will remove posts and comments and/or lock threads in accordance with the rules above. Typically this happens when threads have gone off-topic in a way that is not productive for the OP, or comments overall have become contentious or disrespectful.
• If a poster continues to argue or to willfully violate these rules, temporary and permanent ban procedures will be followed. Any attempts to avoid or bypass temporary bans will result in a permanent ban. User bans will not be discussed in the sub. Questions posted about user bans are subject to removal and the poster subject to warning/ban procedures. The mod team will not discuss a specific user ban with anyone other than the user involved.
• New accounts are subject to manual approval until they are no longer deemed "new" by the mod team. This helps to weed out trolls and ban evaders.
• We rely on Automoderator to scan for specific words and phrases that are not welcome here and notify the mod team to review the comment or post. This includes slurs of any type and platitudes such as "Love them as your own!"
• The mod team uses a combination of blacklisting and banning when dealing with trolls.
• We employ the use of a bot that automatically bans anyone who comments in subs that have historically harassed our users. If you are picked up by the bot for telling trolls to get fucked, reach out via mod mail and we'll get you sorted out.
• The rules above as well as ban procedures are considered guidelines only; some deviation may be necessary on a case by case basis and/or at the mod team's discretion.

13. Ban Procedure

These actions are at moderator discretion.

• Pornography will result in an automatic permanent ban.
• Extremely egregious content will result in an immediate permanent ban.
• You may receive a 7 or 30 day temporary ban for first and second rule violations, depending upon severity.
• Continued rule violations will result in a permanent ban.
• Willful attempts to avoid or bypass temporary bans will result in a permanent ban.
• We recognize the reddit site-wide rules of using alt names to get around bans and will ban those as well as report them to reddit admins.

​
​

FAQ - About the Rules

What does Kindness Matters mean?

• Shortest version? Don't be an asshole. People come here for support and advice, they do not come here to be yelled at or told they are the reason everything is going sideways. There are ways to point out that someone may want to do some reflection on their own actions and reactions without being an asshole about it.
• The purpose of this subreddit is to provide support and a sense of belonging for struggling stepparents. We aren't here to pass judgement, but rather to offer support, empathy, and constructive commentary. That does not include "hard truths" or "tough love." Stepparents get enough of that in every other subreddit, we're not passing it out here. Be respectful.
• Remember, most people aren't going to come to a sub like this when everything is going great and everyone is getting along. People are coming here when they are down, when they are feeling defeated and stretched to the limit. Kicking someone when they are down is shitty behavior and we don't tolerate it.

What about being kind to the kids?

• "Won't somebody think of the children?" Pearl clutching isn't needed here. If you read the Kindness Matters rule closely, you will see that there is a clause in there about name calling children. We don't allow it. We also don't allow people rolling in telling OP that they feel sorry for their stepkids because OP is feeling overwhelmed and overloaded.
• If anyone is advocating slapping, spanking, or any other form of violence, report the comment immediately. We do not advocate violence towards children of any sort. The mod team does not advocate any sort of physical punishment at any time.
• Venting about behaviors is not the same as insulting the kids. However, if you see a post or comment where kids are being name called or dragged to the point of no return, use the report button. We try to catch the posts and remove them before they hit the sub, but we cannot see every comment without your help. Use the report button to bring problematic comments to our attention. Don't engage in a war of words on our subreddit.

Why is this sub such an echo chamber?

• Not allowing contributors to pile on and tell OP that they are a terrible human being who should never be around children does not equate to being an echo chamber. Many contributors here will offer OP suggestions to help them work through their resentments and frustrations, and the most egregious situations are called out. We simply ask that it be called out with respect.
• If you feel that a post is simply too much for you to handle without following the rules, move on to another post.
• If you believe that a post itself is crossing the rules report it. If the mod team has approved the post, it is because the mod team believes that the OP needs help from the community or needs a moment to vent and move on from their vent. That does not give you license to pile on disrespectfully. Unless it is proven that OP is a bot, assume that OP is a human being with real thoughts and feelings and has posted from a place of vulnerability.

Why can't I tell OP that they are an asshole?

• Because this isn't a judgement sub. We aren't AITA, we don't want to be AITA.
• Comments with terms like YTA, NTA, ESH, NAH will be removed.
• Don't start your posts with INFO either. We generally recognize that as a fishing attempt for more information to pass judgement on OP, and again, we are not a judgment sub.

But OP asked if they were an asshole?!

• Their post somehow got past our automoderator. Just use the report button. We will address it with OP.
• If you've asked if you are an asshole, a-hole, a*hole, a**hole, whatever, don't be surprised if your post is removed without warning. This isn't a judgment sub. If you want judgment, you know where to go.

What is a gendered slur?

• While it seems that everyone understands what racist slurs are, people struggle understanding the concept of gendered slurs. Generally speaking, we are talking about derogatory nouns or verbs that are used to negatively describe people or situations based on gendered terms.
• We've gone back and forth on this a few times, and the truth is, we get it, it's your safe space and you want to be able to vent about BM/BD how you want to vent about them, without us telling you how to vent about them. Fair enough. Vent away. What we are going to stick to here how people are referring to other users and to stepchildren.
• Examples that are not allowed:
  • "My SD is such a little bitch."
  • "She dresses/acts like a slut."
  • "My SS acts like a pussy."
  • "My SS is such a beta male."
  • "You are all fucking whores."
  • "Any dude who is raising some sluts kids is a cuck!"
  • "Little Lord Fauntleroy over here thinking he runs the house!"
  • "You're just the bangnanny, get used to it."
• Don't call users here names, don't call stepchildren names.
• Masking the term with asterisks or other neat little tricks might get you around the bot, but if we see it, we're removing it and quite possibly giving you a time out. The intended word is still there and you deliberately tried to skate the rule.
• As there is not enough space to list every term that is offensive and does not belong, nor every situation in which term or phrase may be allowable in context, this rule is enforced based on moderator discretion.

Seriously? You are the language police now?

• We're here to talk about stepparenting. And we would like for that to happen in a respectful way. Attacking each other doesn't help. Belittling stepchildren draws in trolls who don't understand your frustration, all they see is an evil stepmonster talking shit on the internet about a poor, innocent baby. Yes, even if that "poor, innocent baby" just robbed you blind and set fire to the house on their way out the door. That's just how it goes.
• We are aware that this is a relatively new rule and a lot of older posts and comments contain a lot of problematic language, including some from mods themselves. We are growing and evolving, and rules change as the sub grows and evolves.

What does No Drama really mean?

• Pretty much what it says, do not bring drama from other subs into this sub. Do not engage in vote brigades. Do not try to incite other subscribers to riot in a different sub. Don't follow posters into this sub from other subs to continue to harass them. Do not badger someone or derail threads. Do not harass community members because you don't agree with them. There's enough drama in the daily lives of subscribers, more isn't needed.

What is thread derailment?

• When a comment chain has devolved to the point where all you are doing is arguing back and forth with someone about the same thing over and over again, you have derailed the thread. Also known as bickering. It's what children do. We assume if people are in a stepparent role they are adults. We expect you to act like it.
• If you aren't a stepparent, or in a stepparenting role, consider that perhaps this subreddit isn't for you. If you want to participate, do so with respect. Thread derailment, arguing, bickering, and nitpicking are not allowed.

But what if they didn't answer my question?

• No one has to answer your questions. This is a support sub, not an inquisition. Jumping on a bandwagon with "OP is evading the question" in a 20 comment long chain is the epitome of thread derailment. You'll find more information about trolling below and how this might be considered such.

Why am I being silenced? I'm just asking for a back and forth!

• Thread derailment, badgering, and nitpicking are considered harassment. Continued harassment of either community members or mods will get you banned.

Why can't I look at someone's post history and comment about it?

• No mod in the history of this sub has ever once said post histories are forbidden. What we do frown upon is using someone's post history to attack, belittle, or otherwise harass someone.
• Example Post: "My stepkid's mom really hates me. How can I make this better?"
  • Okay: "Based on the timeline and your post history, it looks like this may have started as an affair. Unfortunately there's going to be outstanding issues for a long time due to that. Try focusing on yourself and how you can move forward without worrying about how someone else feels about you."
  • Not Okay: "Holy shit! You were the OW! What the hell do you expect, homewrecker?!"
• Example Post: "I am completely overloaded and feeling very down about myself."
  • Okay: "In your post history you mentioned that your spouse wasn't really helping around the house. Has that changed at all?"
  • Not Okay: "LOL, you already got the answers you need in your post on relationships. You are stupid for sticking with your lazy spouse."

Why can't we crosspost stuff to other subs?

• We can't stop you from doing so. The problem isn't that something has been crossposted, it's when the community that it's been crossposted to feels the need to come over here and harass OP. When we see that happening, we lock the post and start passing out bans. If you did the crossposting, you'll be banned. If you participated in the brigading, you'll be banned.

What if it's my own post?

• Again, we can't stop you from doing so. We prefer that you don't technically crosspost, but rather just copy and paste your post. Why? Because inevitably the above will happen. Redditors from other subs will follow you back to /stepparents and start attacking users here. It just happens.

What is "brigading"?

• Reddit defines vote manipulation and brigading as follows:
• Using multiple accounts, voting services, or any other software to increase or decrease vote scores.
• Asking people to vote up or down certain posts, either on Reddit itself or through social networks, messaging, etc. for personal gain.
• Forming or joining a group that votes together, either on a specific post, a user's posts, posts from a domain, etc.
• We, along with pretty much every other subreddit that has ever had to deal with this nonsense, further define brigading as this: You saw a post on another sub that linked to our sub either via a link in a comment or a crosspost. It was basically saying something along the lines of "OMG, check out these assholes over on /stepparents! They literally hate all their stepkids!" And then you and your friends come over and start hammering on OP and telling OP how much they suck. Congrats, you have just participated in a brigade.

What is this whole Report, Don't Rant thing about?

• If you see a post or comment that breaks the rules, instead of engaging, report it. When you report it, it sends notification to the mod team. We will act on it where appropriate. Engaging with bad faith users may result in your comments being removed. If you repeatedly do so, you may end up being banned.

What if I see an obvious troll?

• Report it.

What if they are being really mean in comments?

• Report it.

What if they are harassing me in private messages?

• Step 1: Report them to admins. You can report harassment to reddit by using this link or send a DM to reddit admins. Include the link to the DM, admins can see your inbox and providing a direct link is helpful for them to weed out bad actors.
• Step 2: Block the person so they cannot directly contact you again.
• Step 3: Send us a mod mail and let the mod team know. Tell us who they are and what they said, send us a screenshot if you can - admins can see your DMs, mods can't. We'll take action where necessary by banning from the sub if they aren't already banned.

What do you mean by No Naming & Shaming?

• Just as we prefer to not be linked to or crossposted from, we do not allow linking to or calling out other subs by name. If you see something you want to share, say it's a hot post that has hit the front page and a stepparent is being absolutely flayed, just refer to it as "that hot post that hit the front page." If you want to complain about other places in general, "other parenting/advice/judgement subs" will suffice. Absolutely under no circumstances should you link to anywhere else.

I can't link to other subs?

• Do not directly link to another sub. (e.g.: "/insertsubnamehere is ridiculously hostile to stepparents!")
• Do not name other subs. (e.g.: "I won't link to it directly, but insertsubnamehere is ridiculously hostile to stepparents!")
• Do not abbreviate other subs. (e.g.: "I know that ISNH is ridiculously hostile to stepparents!")

I can't ping other users?

• Do not summon another user with a username ping/tag. (e.g.: "insertusernamehere was being an asshole.")
• If you are agreeing with someone, it is okay to link to them. (e.g.: "I agree with insertusernamehere, you need to take a couple of steps back and reflect on this.")

What does No Platitudes mean?

• Sanctimonious, overused clichés that grossly oversimplify the stepparenting experience are neither wanted nor allowed here. We have all heard it a thousand times before, we don't need to hear it again. It's not nearly as insightful and wise as some would like to think.

Why don't you people understand it's a package deal?

• Any comment that suggests that OP should have known what they were getting involved with, or that they needed to understand that the kids were part of some package they needed to accept before signing up for marriage is subject to immediate removal.
• This is one of the most insensitive things you can say to a stepparent. Most stepparents were aware of the children, but they were probably not aware of all of the family dynamics.

Why can't you just love them like they are your own?

• Demanding that a stranger you do not know love children that are not biologically theirs as if they were theirs can be incredibly damaging to someone who is already in a vulnerable situation. Any comment that falls along these lines will be removed.

What do you mean by No Trolling? I was just...

• No means no. No trolling. No pretending to be a stepparent and then whipping out the Greatest Hits Bingo Card of The Worst Stepparent in the History of Stepparents. We see you. We've seen you a thousand times.

What does "concern trolling", "gish-galloping", and "sealioning" have to do with stepparenting? This isn't a debate sub, why are you using debate terms?

• That's absolutely right, this isn't a debate sub. And yet, here we are, day after day, having to defend ourselves against this sort of thing. So, enough. No more. Usage of any of these things will get you banned.

What is "Concern Trolling?"

• A concern troll is someone who disingenuously visits sites of an opposing ideology to disrupt conversation by offering unwanted advice on how to solve problems which do not really exist.
  • Example Post: OP expresses concern that she will feel, and possibly act, differently towards her stepchildren after her husband decides that no, he doesn't want anymore children after all.
  • Example Concern Troll pulled from actual mod mail after their comment was removed: "Possible child abuse claims need to be sorted out well before whatever empathy you believe the OP was looking for."

What is a "Devil's Advocate"?

• "I'm just playing devil's advocate here, but have you considered that maybe BM is just really tired and needs a break, too?" BM has dozens of different mom based subs alone on reddit she can complain on, this sub is for stepparents. The stepparent doesn't need to consider that maybe BM is just really tired and needs a break.

"Gish-galloping?" What does that even mean?

• The Gish Gallop is the fallacious debate tactic of drowning your opponent in a flood of individually-weak arguments in order to prevent rebuttal of the whole argument collection without great effort. The Gish Gallop is a conveyor belt-fed version of the on the spot fallacy, as it's unreasonable for anyone to have a well-composed answer immediately available to every argument present in the Gallop.

And "sealioning?" What's that?

• Sealioning involves jumping into a conversation with endless polite, reasonable questions and demands for answers, usually of entry-level topics far below the actual conversation (e.g. "please prove sexism exists"). This tactic differs little from harassment; instead of discussion, the point is to derail discussion, receive criticism (for their ignorance) so as to look like a victim, or to make someone feel overwhelmed and quit talking.

Who gets to define what is considered asshattery?

• The mod team, of course! If we feel that comments are out of line, are trolling, are leading up to a fight or "just asking questions", we are going to remove them and most likely ban the offender.

​
​

FAQ - Sub Questions

Posting Guidelines for Stepparents

• Body text is required, we suggest you use line breaks between paragraphs as a wall of text is difficult to read. Posts that have only a title are likely to be removed. Instead of using names (even fictitious ones), try to use the sub acronyms. It helps our users to follow along if you use the acronyms and not names.
• Assign a post flair that accurately describes what your post is about and what you are seeking. If you are posting an update from a previous post, include a link to that post.
• Flairs are applied to posts to determine what a person is looking for. When submitting a new post, you should choose a flair that specifies if you are looking for advice, support, etc. The following link flair is available and is color coded with side bar links so that you can search by flair:
  • Advice - For when you are specifically asking for advice or help.
  • Announcement - Mod Use Only, for subreddit announcements.
  • Daily (Formerly TTP) - Mod Use Only, for our daily discussion threads.
  • Discussion - A little advice, a little "How does your family handle this?"
  • JustBMThings - Pretty sure this is self explanatory!
  • Legal - Asking for legal advice? Tag it with this!
  • Miscellany - Just a sort of off topic thing? Use this tag.
  • Resource - Sharing a good resource or asking for one? This is the tag you need!
  • Support - For those days when you want nothing but a good old fashioned cry and some community love.
  • Update - Updating us on something that you posted about previously? Use this one!
  • Vent - We all need to vent sometimes. Respect the tag as a vent. This isn't how OP talks all day every day.
  • Win! - Celebrate those wins with us with this tag!
  • Megathread - Mod Use Only, for large mega threads (typically around major calendar events.)

Posting Guidelines for Bioparents

• Stepparents is a support community for stepparents, by stepparents. As bioparents, you may want to have more insight into how the stepparent in your life feels or thinks. You may have questions on how to ease the transition for your partner. However, please keep in mind that this community was not created for you. It was created for your partner or your ex's partner. If you are seeking support on how to deal with a stepparent, there are other subs more suited for your situation and your post is subject to removal.
• There are some posts from bioparents we will accept:
  • Seeking advice on how to support your partner as they navigate stepparenting
  • Seeking resources to help you better support your partner
  • Seeking resources for your partner
• There are some posts from bioparents we will not accept:
  • Complaints about how the stepparent is too involved in your kids lives
  • Vents about how the stepparent is not involved enough in your kids lives
  • "Cautionary tales" advising stepparents to back off
  • Seeking advice on how to tell the stepparent to back off
  • The Do's and Dont's of Stepparenting
  • How your kid's stepmom is literally The Worst
• Comments from bioparents that are helpful and supportive are welcome and appreciated. Comments from bioparents that are not helpful or supportive are not welcome and subject to removal. There are several other subs that may meet the needs of bioparents better than we can. We recommend /coparenting, /parenting, /parents, /blendedfamilies, and /singleparents as starting points.

Guidelines for Stepkids

• At this time, we do not generally accept posts from stepkids. Comments from stepkids that are helpful and supportive are welcome and appreciated. Comments from stepkids that are not helpful or supportive are not welcome and subject to removal. If you are a stepkid seeking support, we highly recommend /stepkids. It is a very supportive community specifically for stepkids. We also recommend /blendedfamilies as another potential group for support.

What the heck are all these acronyms? I'm confused!

• Check out the Common Acronyms wiki page. We try to keep this updated as new terms are introduced to the sub.

Why aren't my posts or comments showing up?

• New posters and accounts go through a waiting period before their posts will show in the sub and the comments on posts automatically. During the new account approval period the mod team will check posts to be sure you aren't attempting to circumvent a ban with a shiny new account. Please be patient while the timer runs down on your "new" status and the mod team approves your posts and responses.

Why was my comment removed?

• Comments are removed when they do not follow the rules of the sub. These rules are published in several places for your reading pleasure.
• Comments are removed at moderator discretion. In some cases your comment may be removed while another remains up. If you find this to be the case, and you believe the comment to be violating the rules, instead of arguing with mods or demanding they remove the additional comments, just report it.

This comment/post is really offensive! Why is it still up?

• All moderators are volunteers and have busy real lives. Sometimes things get past us. The best thing you can do is report anything you find offensive or inflammatory. It's the quickest and most reliable way of alerting us to an issue.

I've received a hurtful/unwanted PM from someone about my recent post. What should I do?

• If you receive an unwanted/hurtful PM from a name you don't recognize, please report it to Reddit Admins using our handy pre-populated form. Be sure to include the permalink to the message. We've been dealing with a few unhappy folks who like to attack stepparents, and reporting it to the admins is the only way to make it stop.

What are the general moderator guidelines?

• Users are expected to know the rules before posting. If you are warned or banned for violating the rules, ignorance is not an excuse.
• Moderators will remove posts and comments and/or lock threads in accordance with the rules above. Typically this happens when threads have gone off-topic in a way that is not productive for the OP, or comments overall have become contentious or disrespectful.
• If a poster continues to argue or to willfully violate these rules, temporary and permanent ban procedures will be followed. Any attempts to avoid or bypass temporary bans will result in a permanent ban. User bans will not be discussed in the sub. Questions posted about user bans are subject to removal and the poster subject to warning/ban procedures. The mod team will not discuss a specific user ban with anyone other than the user involved.
• New accounts are subject to manual approval until they are no longer deemed "new" by the mod team. This helps to weed out trolls and ban evaders.
• We rely on Automoderator to scan for specific words and phrases that are not welcome here and notify the mod team to review the comment or post. This includes slurs of any type and platitudes such as "Love them as your own!"
• The mod team uses a combination of blacklisting and banning when dealing with trolls.
• We employ the use of a bot that automatically bans anyone who comments in subs that have historically harassed our users. If you are picked up by the bot for telling trolls to get fucked, reach out via mod mail and we'll get you sorted out.
• The rules above as well as ban procedures are considered guidelines only; some deviation may be necessary on a case by case basis and/or at the mod team's discretion.

I've been wrongly banned/Why can't I comment here?

• Due to an influx of harassment from users with specific user histories, we have employed a user history ban bot as described above. If you think this has affected you and wish to appeal, please message the mods.

Why was I banned without warning?

• There are numerous reasons that the mod team might opt to move perm banning without warning. Message the moderators if you have specific questions.

Crypto.com is a popular crypto service that provides users worldwide with the opportunity to:

• Trade crypto
• Earn interest on crypto
• Get cashback using a Visa card

Currently Crypto.com are offering new users worldwide with a free $25 in CRO when they buy and stake $400 of CRO on their Ruby Steel Card in the platform.
The $25 bonus is instantly withdrawable to a bank account, or it can be deposited to earn 10% interest or swapped for another crypto.
Card benefits include:

• A Visa Platinum Steel Card
• 2% cypto cashback on all purchases
• 100% cashback on Spotify

The crypto cashback card is a great way to earn crypto on all your card purchases.
I swap my cashback for Bitcoin each month.
Links
My Referral Link $25 bonus in CRO
Non referral link No bonus
Referral program info
Referral code: 9zbsuy6fn9
Steps
Here are the steps to take to get your $25 bonus

1. Click on My Referral Link
2. Enter the referral code: '9zbsuy6fn9'
3. Complete account verification
4. Order a ruby steel card.
5. You will automatically receive an instant $25 in CRO.

If you have any questions just let me know.

I don't want to waste y'alls time so if you're not on PC this is useless to you.
So I've been playing around with my Nvidia Game filters trying to make my game look as realistic as possible at least color wise, without using Reshade Raytracing mods from nexus, as I have an okay pc and I doubt it'd run well with Reshade mods. So this is a performance friendly filter.
Keep in mind this will not work for everyone as we all have different monitors so tweak until you're comfortable with the look. I'm only showing you in which direction to go. I'm new to PC gaming and I'm sure most of you already use game filters anyways it's for people who are looking for things like this and are new to PC gaming.
So I use Nvidia app I'm sure it works with Nvidia experience as well so once you're in breakpoint press Alt+F3 that will bring the game filter tray on the left side click on the box with 1 in it. Then below are filters you can use we will be using 4 of these so press the + button for

• Sharpen
• Details
• Color
• Brightness/Contrast

It'll take them to the top so go and expand Sharpen and set

• Intensity 10-15 (start low, increase gradually)
• Ignore Film Grain 0

Expand Details

• Sharpen 0
• Clarity 5-10 (start low, increase gradually)
• HDR Toning 0
• Bloom 0

Expand Color

• Tint Color 44
• Tint Intensity 30
• Temperature -35
• Vibrance -18

Expand Brightness/Contrast

• Exposure -4
• Contrast 10
• Highlights -10
• Shadows 14
• Gamma either leave at 0 or increase it to 2

These worked perfectly for me, when adjusting set your monitors brightness to 50% or whatever is the middle so you won't over do your settings and also your in-game image calibration will affect how it'll look so adjust that as well if needed. I use a MSI thin GF63 15.6" monitor gaming laptop. I hope it works for y'all Im sorry in advance if it doesn't work out well. If you have free time i can guarantee you can make it look amazing by tweaking these settings it'll take time and patience tho. :)

GREETINGS FROM OZ!
Firstly, thank you so much for clicking on my post!
If you’re on the search for constantly shifting power dynamics, chemistry and tension so thick you could cut it, then you’re in the right place!
I’m looking to write a long-term dark-romance story with someone who can capture emotion, vividly written senses, and near-disastrous chemistry. I want to weave together two characters that hate each other so terribly that they burn for one another, and it only leaves them hating each other more. I’m cruel to my characters like that, but it always makes for a delicious tale!
(Also please excuse this formatting. Reddit tends to mess with what I have, and this is the only way I can make it nice to read.)
ABOUT ME
✧ 28YO
✧ Advanced literate writer
✧ 10+ years writing experience
✧ Third person perspective
✧ Multi-paragraph to novella posts
✧ Discord, Reddit or other platform friendly
✧ Happy to OOC chatter, but respects personal boundaries
✧ Your character will have a fan base, and than fan base will be me
✧ Actively advances plot
✧ Happy to plan, organise and discuss ideas but also a love of keeping some things secret and spontaneous
✧ NSFW friendly, seeking adult themes
WRITING SAMPLE
✧ Writing Sample
CHARACTER PREFERENCE
I’m currently looking to write a male character as my main. I do love writing masculine men that have multiple layers and a bit of gruffness to their exterior; I find them so much more delicious to torment. In contrast, I can also write leaner men with slightly more feminine features; that appear beautiful but are deadly sharp.
✧ I’m looking to write a switch/versatile male character.
✧ I’m hoping to find someone who is also looking to write a switch/versatile male character, or even dom/top leaning.
WORD BANK
Enemies-to-allies-to-lovers, hate-fuelled passion, banter, intense chemistry, “I hate you so much I burn for you”, yearning, masculine men, alliance of convenience, against all odds, morally grey, denial, fighting as flirting, competition, prolonged palpable tension, “just kiss already, dammit”
IDEAS
“Captive Prince” Inspired Spinoff
✧ The continent is split into many Kingdoms, two of which neighbours and have been at war for a great length of time.
✧ My character (MC) is the sole legitimate son of King A, and has served as his father's General throughout his early twenties. He's an esteemed warrior, a battle-hardened man, and extremely devout to his father's cause. In battle, MC kills the young King Bof their enemy Kingdom. However, a little while after he returns home, King A/MC’s father dies and MC’s been framed with the murder. MC is taken prisoner by his jealous half-brother (who's made the elaborate scheme) and told that he's to be given to their enemy kingdom as a slave—amidst dozens of other slaves to be gifted to the enemy kingdom as "good will" while MC’s bastard half-brother ascends the throne and seeks to make peace.
✧ Your character (YC) is the brother of the fallen, young King B and now sole remaining heir to the enemy kingdom. Having now inherited the crown, YC ascends as King, and receives the shipment of slaves sent to him as a token of good faith in attempt to broker a peace deal (this could be to their disgust, or hold cultural significance). YC is, however, told that one particular slave has been explicitly sent as his gift (MC), and that refusal of such a slave would be to elicit further war. YC has no choice but to accept the slave…who just so happens to be the rightful Crown Prince (MC) and murderer of his brother. But does YC recognise his brother’s murderer? Does he recognise that the “slave” he’s been sent is the rightful King of the other kingdom?
✧ I'd love to explore starkly different cultures and the shock faced when MC is thrust into the unknown. I'd also love to develop political intrigue, espionage, and more. Besides, what better way is there to force these two unlikely characters together than the need for an ally?
✧ Perhaps YC is nearly assassinated, and recognises that MC has skills able to keep him safe. Similarly, perhaps MC knows that he'd have no chance to escape his servitude alive if the King is killed, and instead plots to escape while protecting the King, with the goal to return to his kingdom and kill his bastard half-brother as revenge.
✧ I imagine their relationship in public to be very stony, with examples of "ownership" in order to keep the court gossips from spreading rumours. Despite whatever intimacy they find behind closed doors (if at all), I imagine that they would have to participate in court theatrics and games so that no one questions their relationship. After all, I doubt the court nobles would take well to their new young King having feelings for his slave—as it’s one thing to own one, and another to actually care for them.
✧ If YC recognises MC, then I also imagine that, given MC killed YC’s brother, the previous King, in combat, that there would be some very hard feelings there. A potential reason for the hatred, on top of sheer bias as result of the two countries being long-term enemies. However, the hatred between people and the general scorn YC may feel would be enough for a sour relationship.
✧ I do, however, imagine that MC would be far more trouble behind closed doors. While in the public eye, he understands that his behaviour is a reflection upon YC and would likely result in severe punishment. So, he avoids it, even if he has to bite his cheek until it bleeds and participate in petty, little games. Behind closed doors, however, I imagine he is far more likely to try and push YC beyond his limit, the two perhaps even getting physical during a fight. If all this boils over into passion, then that’s the dream!
✧ I see there being no true “role” between either characters, as there’s a deeper power struggle occurring. While one holds possession of the other (MC being owned by YC), behind closed doors would be entirely different. Their relationship would be complex, dynamic, and forever changing. I’d much prefer for their roles to be just as fluid, and entirely dependent on the specific situation rather than pre-defined. In all actuality, I see both characters vying for dominance over the other, until they settle into intimacy and understanding.
YOUR IDEAS
Please feel free to pitch your own ideas! If they have these key elements (chemistry, tension, boiling hatred), then I’d be more than interested to hear them!
THANK YOU!
Thank you so much for your time and attention, I really appreciate it!
Have an awesome day,
Smoulder 🔥

Hello Evertonians! I am an FC Barcelona fan, based in Los Angeles, who works in Sports Finance. My neighbor and his wife, who are Evertonians, came over to chat and understand what’s up with the club. It's Saturday night here, and I didn't have anything better to do, so I dug into things.
I will try to simplify things from what I read and the conversations I have heard. I am not involved with the buyout but know folks who are. It's a much smaller industry where everyone knows everyone.
Here we go.
The Debt

• £159 million – MSP Sports Capital
• £225 million – Rights and Media Funding
• £4-5 million – Metro Bank
• £190 million – 777 Partners (Inherited by A Cap)
• £450 million – Moshiri Shareholder Loans

MSP Sports Capital has two distinct security arrangements:

• Assets of Everton Stadium Development Company Limited. This means that in default, MSP can acquire the new stadium to recover their loan. Slightly complicated to explain, but Andy Bell, George Downing, and Moshiri through Blue Sky Capital are also funders of this project.
• Alternatively, MSP has an option to acquire 50 per cent plus one share of Everton’s issued share capital, which would give MSP majority control over Everton Football Club.

Rights and Media Funding is a five-year rolling credit facility. Think of this as something similar to a credit card. Here is where you get conflicting information. A significant discrepancy in reporting, which in my opinion can be a dealbreaker. A few outlets report this loan is secured by future payments from transfers/media, etc. I likely believe it is secured against Everton’s bank accounts, fixed charges over Everton’s property portfolio (near Goodison Park), and a floating charge over all other unencumbered assets. (Shoutout to The Esk, he is an absolute gem). This RMF debt accrues a 10.25% interest.
These are the loans that Everton will have to pay regardless as they are secured well.
Loans to 777 Partners (Inherited by A Cap) are likely junior to these two loans. In any bankruptcy event, MSP and RMF get paid first before 777 Partners and Moshiri. However, A Cap says their loan is secured and they are senior creditors of the club, which would put them at the same level as MSP and RMF.
The Timing
Something that came up in the chatter was the timing of this takeover. It is interesting as Everton is due to receive prize money payments from the league which are stood at £133 million. This is the money the club receives from the overall competition commercial pool, which is distributed to all the teams, based on a few things, for example, their position in the league table at the end of the season.
Folks involved in financing other clubs have said this payment likely hits before 30th June. There is another payment due in August/September which is the first tranche of payments from the league. (Unsure on this one, but this is what I heard, payment flows vary a lot).
Despite the timing, the payments would go only so far in helping the club and were likely factored in during takeover talks. My bet is the takeover is likely to complete before 30th June, or at least a structure is agreed upon. 30th June is the deadline used for accessing Premier League Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR) compliance.
If deals can be done before that “deadline”, they fall within transfers for the 2023/24 season and are included in the club’s financial accounts for last season, rather than moving into the new campaign. If the plan of the new owners is to recapitalize the team, pay down some debt, and sell players to avoid another PSR violation penalty, my bet is the deal gets done before June 30th.
The Sale
The Buyers As of today, June 8 11:00 pm PDT, here are the potential suitors:

• Andy Bell, George Downing, backed by BDT & MSD Partners (More on this later)
• A consortium led by MSP Sports Capital
• Vatche Manoukian and Investors from Gulf and USA
• John Textor, founder of Eagle Football, owns 45% of Crystal Palace
• Dan Friedkin, Owner of AS Roma

Hear rumblings of another group, but almost everyone is looking to finance the takeover using debt along with equity. Many suitors will be willing to provide debt-based financing for the purchase, hence allegiances are bound to change.
The Possibilities
Here are the things that can happen. I am simplifying this to the bare minimums. The actual deals are complicated af and take months to put up and months to complete.
Possibility I: New Owner comes in, pays all debt, and recapitalizes the team
Highly unlikely. The Premier League is a lucrative league for almost every single private equity investor. It’s the league that is expected to continue to grow and firms take less downside risk when buying a team versus a team in a league like Serie A.
However, this would cost any new owner over £1 billion. My bet it costs somewhere around £1.3 billion. Deals of this size happen, but Everton is in a unique position and negotiating from a position of weakness. In my opinion, only someone in the Middle East or a single buyer would be able to pull this through. No one in private equity would commit to this, as they are all answerable to their investors.
Simply put, Everton is not worth £1.3 billion.
Possibility II: New Owner comes in and negotiates with creditors
A likely option. In this case, a new owner comes in and negotiates with the creditors to either forego some of this debt or restructure it over an extremely long period of time at low rates. This would make Everton a more lucrative option. However, the club would still owe a lot of money over the long run and will be paying interest on that loan.
This would mean Everton is run like a lean machine for a few years, with fewer resources going towards things like player transfers, etc. It would, however, still be able to stay afloat.
Possibility III: MSP Capital exercise the option to take majority control of Everton
Another likely option. More likely than Possibility II. MSP Capital takes majority control and would, in all honesty, look to buy out Moshiri. They will need a lot of capital, and they are already pulling strings, putting up their stake in FC Augsburg for sale last week. MSP buy out Moshiri, restructure some of the debt, and put up some more capital. They would likely clear the RMF loan first.
The managing partner of MSP Sports Capital, Jeff Moorad, was a professor of mine in a class I took at UCLA. He is an absolute beast, and an amazing dude to hang with. Unbiased view, MSP is actually highly respected in the industry, and widely regarded as having a razor sharp approach to finance.
They are known to take long positions, but I think Everton would likely be a position they hold for the short term, IF they go alone on this deal. (This is my take, not Professor Moorad). It would be akin to what Elliott Investment Management did with AC Milan when their Chinese owners backed out. They would step in, stabilize the ship, hope the new stadium attracts enough new commercial and matchday revenue, and sell the team to another buyer recovering some of their investment. What Elliott did with AC Milan was absolutely legendary, and in no world would Gerry Cardinale and RedBird have bought AC Milan had Elliott not done its job.
INSIDE INFO HERE: I cannot reveal others in the MSP Sports Capital consortium. Texted a former colleague who is at the firm that are bidders with MSP. If the consortium is agreed upon, MSP comes in with others, who are capable of buying majority control, and running Everton over the long term. MSP in this case would still retain a minority stake. The new stadium holds the key to this deal.
Possibility IV: Everton goes into administration
Cannot rate this option or its likelihood. Let me walk you through this. Administration is a major taboo in the football world, but something extremely common in finance. It is a way for a firm to basically restructure its debt and get back to good health. It does not mean the club ceases to exist.
The preferred way that things are done is through a method called ‘company voluntary arrangement’ (CVA). In a CVA, a deal is put forth, which creditors vote on, usually giving them less money than they are owed, with voting power decided based on seniority. In this case, MSP and RMF would get more votes in the say versus A-Cap and Moshiri.
CVAs are extremely common in the EFL and other leagues, with advisory firms literally minting millions every year, doing nothing but advising teams here. In the Premier League, only Portsmouth has ever gone into administration. Going into administration would see 9 points being docked at the start of next season for Everton.
The Pros of this approach:

• Everton sheds a ton of debt. This would make it extremely attractive for someone to buy the club.
• The reduced debt will likely be restructured over the long run, hence a free-spending owner coming in can actually devote more money to things like rebuilding the squad, enhancing facilities, hiring more staffers, and growing the club.

The Cons:

• A ton of people likely get fired at Everton, as the club must break even.
• The club cannot spend any more money on signings. They may even sell players.
• Local businesses are affected the most, these are folks who provide things like catering services, produce, florists, etc.
• The Big Kahuna: Going into administration can trigger certain clauses in player contracts that allow them to leave for free. I have seen it happen with teams in the EFL, but the situation remains subjective. Any player with such a clause would need assurances from the new owners before the takeover is complete.

There are some speculations online as this being the preferred way in for new owners. I doubt it, but the threat of administration is enough for even the world’s biggest banks/financiers to come to the negotiating table. Every possible new owner would hold this gun over Moshiri’s head, to get him to agree to a deal, and forgo as much of his loans.
Some Questions I think are FAQs
Is Michael Dell buying Everton?
No, Michael Dell is not buying Everton. Michael Dell’s family office is DFO Management, which was formerly known as MSD Capital. MSD Capital was Michael Dell’s family office, meaning it exclusively invested his money. However, in 2009, MSD Capital opened up to outside investors and became an investment firm of its own. In 2023, MSD merged with BDT to create BDT+MSD, the firm that is backing the Bell and Downing bid.
They do still invest some of Dell’s money, and Dell may be their biggest investor, but as far as I know, BDT is huge itself, managing some of the capital from the Walton Family (Walmart), the Pritzkers, and the Mars Family. BDT’s founder, Byron Trott, is worth about $3.2 billion alone. Trott is considered a legend at Goldman, where he helped Buffett structure his investment in Goldman Sachs during the financial crisis of 2008. One of my ex-bosses worked at Goldman during this period under Trott’s team and considers him a legend, even saying he single-handedly saved Goldman Sachs by convincing Buffett to invest and structuring some wild deals.
One thing I know for sure is BDT+MSD would likely pursue a debt-based financing structure. They are not built to go heavy into equity-based financing for sports teams. BDT+MSD have already done a bunch of debt-based deals; Everton won’t be different. In the scenario where Bell and Downing succeed in taking over, Everton would likely owe a lot of money to BDT+MSD.
Would Bell and Downing with BDT+MSD make sense?
My take here is no. Running a football club is no joke. Even though Bell and Downing being Evertonians makes it ideal, I am not entirely convinced of their ability to run a team. Everton would still be severely constrained financially, as they would owe money to BDT+MSD, and Bell and Downing wouldn’t be able to pump a lot of cash into the business from their end.
There is nothing that guarantees Everton will not see the same scenario as it does now, three years after Bell and Downing take over. Private equity folks make sense, as they come in knowing they may know other clubs but don’t know much about Everton. They will, by default, bring on Evertonians on the board, and will have much more incentive to run it over the long term, as the only way they see a return is through actually growing the club economically, which only means a better Everton on and off the pitch.
Are BDT+MSD backing only Bell and Downing?
No, BDT+MSD are free to back anyone in the contention. They are committing to debt-based financing, so as long as the buyer is credible enough, they should have no problem going ahead. Considering they are backing Bell and Downing, I would be surprised if others in the race did not get better financing terms.
As I said, allegiances in debt-based financing are fluid. The hard truth here is BDT+MSD would likely be calling up other potential buyers who bid to see if BDT+MSD can provide financing for their deal. Debt-based financing for a Premier League club is pretty much a dream scenario for any firm, as the underlying asset securing the loan is more stable than in other deals.
Simply put, BDT+MSD are not competing with other potential buyers; they are competing with firms like JP Morgan, Sixth Street, Ares, Arctos, etc., who may want to front one of the buyers.
What’s up with A-Capital?
I do not know. Conflicting things online. I doubt A-Capital will get to invest anything more in Everton, through debt or through equity. I also read that their financial position is under question as the rating they rely on no longer reflects their financial standing. However, I still do not know what there position is.
Who do I want to see win the bid?
Biased towards MSP Sports Partners because of Jeff Moorad. If they pull the consortium through, and the other investors take over the majority club, all I can say is Everton would be lucky. That being said, there are plenty of other people willing to buy Everton with MSP. As of now, the one most likely, along with MSP, would be a dream scenario.
Also, it wont take time for someone entirely new to emerge as a suitor. That is how consortium works. People are surprised, but its literally like texting friends to pitch in and creating a group chat. Things happen over Telegram/Whatsapp/Signal. My boss had once raised $xxx million for a deal texting the LP in the deal. The conversation went along these lines.
Prospectus sent over Mail + WhatsApp
My Boss : What do you think?
LP : $xxx m 👍
LP : Jeff also $xx m and Jake $xx m 🤝🤝
I can bet there are plenty of group chats of potential consortiums that may enter bidding. Everton FC is low-key a bargain, the debt will eventually get restructured. There are plenty of more messy restructurings that have happened in Finance before. Creditors eventually cave, but its a dogfight.
Enough written. Feel free to drop any Qs you may have, I will answer them to the best of my ability and knowledge of Everton’s finances. Massive shout to The Esk. The guy seems incredibly passionate about Everton.
I really hope you guys pull through, I know you will.

I've dedicated myself to watchint as many Ghibli movies as possible so I can see what all the hype is all about. I'm someone who REALLY enjoys discussing / critiquing movies and whatnot so I thought I'd ramble about my impressions of each movie here...
Grave of the Fireflies - solid 20/20. I couldn't begin because I wouldn't be able to stop. I'm someone who loves more grounded, emotionally driven stories (and more melancholy ones at that), so I really feel like this movie was made for me. I've rewatched it so many times, and each time I am swayed all over again. First and foremost the animation does the characters so much justice - the perfectly realistic, age-appropriate mannerisms. There's something special in a story where kids *get to act like kids*, but aren't reduced to a "brat" or a narrative annoyance / burden. They are both just so sweet and innocent, and well mannered... Despite the struggles of the war they manage to approach the world around them with so much hope. They make the time for joy, and fun, and love. You can't help getting attached, you want to see them succeed... I truly feel like this is Ghiblis best in terms of getting the audience invested in it's characters.
Howls Moving Castle - definite 20/20!!! I have a lot less to say about this movie but it's overall just a treat to watch. I really feel like this film is Ghiblis best - gorgeous animation, wonderfully charming characters, and a plot you can't help being invested in... It has it's twists, but manages to avoid becoming confusing or convoluted. Theres the typical Ghibli vagueness, but it never leaves you feeling as though you've just ran past a giant plot hole - in other words, the world/setting actually feels alive. Theres a world beyond the lives of the main cast, and you can feel it. Not every single little thing (between characters) is explained to you, but with enough context clues things begin to make sense in it's own time. I just love rewatching this movie and letting all of the pieces fall into place. Also props for doing time travel in the least confusing way possible
Ponyo - 20/20. Subject to change because I JUST watched this movie and I still need to gather my thoughts - but as of right now I have no complaints! It's just a sweet, lighthearted movie. The perfect mix of childlike innocence, adventure, love/connection, and fantasy. I think this movie is Ghiblis peak in terms of balancing out those themes. Ponyos friendship with the little boy (sorry bad with names) is the HEART of the movie, of course, and it's a joy to see them run around and goof off! But Ponyos parents.... Oh my gosh... they were such a treat. I really really loved their dynamic, even if it wasn't the key focus. Before watching this movie I would see people frequently comment things like "how did that weird wizard bag the goddess!?!?" but like.. Guys.. It makes sense. I get it. Despite swearing off his humanity, it's pretty clear that the father still exhibits some emotionally driven... Irrational... Imperfect behaviors. He's still very much human, on the inside. I think that's why they work. You can tell she adores him for these traits. I'd bet shes quiet fond of humans, despite how gross they can be, and that's exactly why she doesn't mind Ponyo experiencing their life for herself. JUST MY THOUGHTS THOUGH...
Princess Mononoke - 19/20. This was my very first Ghibli movie (I went in COMPLETELY blind, not even a trailer)... As someone who is very passionate about nature and biology, I obviously fell in love with the environmental message within this film. I think it was done oh so perfectly well. I think what I love most of all is the nuance. There is no strict villain. The animals kill people just trying to make a living, but you can't call them evil for it, for they are just trying to defend themselves. And the exact same can be said vice versa. Two sides fighting for survival, their mere existence - at least in the beginning - is inherently harmful to the other. I think that's fascinating. To say the only reason this movie is not a 20/20 is because I had a difficult time connecting the main characters curse to the overall environmental plot, the jump from "I need to do something about this curse!" to "I need to stop these people from beefing!" kind of gave my whiplash as I genuinely did not understand the correlation ...... It's one of those things I only get in hindsight, but alas, these are my first impressions
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya - 18/20 I cannot write an essay about this movie because my hands will fall off, and honestly, what even is there to say? The animation was beyond what words could describe. I LOVED the slow, personal, down to earth story / pacing. Some people may consider it a "boring" movie but I was personally very invested. I mean, she just randomly came out of a bamboo! And now shes growing! How could I NOT want to know what happens to her?.... To say... the only reason this movie is not a 20/20 is because the ending, personally, was not up to par to me. Do I think they should have *changed* the ending? No, actually. To me, the ending just didn't feel like it should have happened when it did. I enjoy sad endings don't get me wrong - but what makes or breaks a sad ending is if they feel *deserved*. Just narratively speaking. If I end things now, in this manner, will the audience walk away feeling as though they'd completed the story.... Or as though they'd been cheated out of one?
The Boy and the Heron - 17/20. I saw this movie in theaters when it first came out, my second Ghibli movie ever! I couldn't write an essay about this movie even if I wanted to, tbh. The only reason this movie is not a 20/20 is because the plot/pacing was... Well... A little too abstract. I don't think I consider it a FLAW as much as I consider it a barrier, though - I knew I was watching something good, but I couldn't for the life of me fully access it. It's not the abstract storytelling that gets me as much as it is the failure to connect narrative plotpoints, really. It felt like I was watching eye candy, and every 10 minutes I'd have a "I get the plot!" moment of clarity, before plunging into the unknown again. LMFAO I could pick up on the main characters dynamic with his step mom, the loss of his mom, and how it effects his behavior. Boy beyond that I felt kind of lost. I couldn't understand what, exactly, the fantasy aspect was trying to teach me... I really enjoy stories that are vague/abstract but this one stumped me dawg
Castle in the Sky - 17/20. I'M TRYING MY HARDEST NOT TO WRITE GIANT ESSAYS ABOUT EACH MOVIE. I feel like this movie is a little rough around the edges, you can definitely tell this is Ghiblis earlier works. But I was invested in the story, and quickly grew very fond of the characters! I wouldn't personally consider it the best of Ghibli, but it's an incredibly charming, enjoyable watch. This is worth putting on when you just want to see something cozy, and a little funny, with just the right amount of action!
Spirited Away - 14/20. OKAY I'M SO SORRY people are so shocked when I say this but.. Spirited Away, at the current moment, is the Ghibli movie I've taken the least interest in by far. And I'm just going to break it down why because so many people I know have asked me. first and foremost, the story... I thought the story was okay, not bad, but just average. It genuinely just feels like the usual ‘kid gets lost in another world' movie, but with a fantasy twist to it. In terms of characters, none of them seriously stood out to me!! I don't know if i'm just going crazy here, but I don't feel like I had the time to get to know ANY character. Which stems into my biggest issue with the movie.... Investment. I, honestly, just wasn't invested in this movie! I tried so hard, but I seriously didn't care much for any of the characters, and a good plot can only do so much when you have 0 reason to care about the characters. Just when I was beginning to take interest in a character, the story would shift focus and move on to someone else! I literally felt like I spaced out and missed a quarter movie by the end of the movie, because the whole River Spirit thing felt like utter randomness to me. am I seriously going crazy? Like when was this ever brought up? When did Chihiro ever mention falling in a river??? This was never hinted. There was no mention, or a flashback - they just showed a frame of Chihiro underwater like 10 minutes before the reveal and expected me to register that as adequate foreshadowing or something. WHAAAT! And when Haku remembered his true identity, I couldn't tell you what I was supposed to feel in the moment, because I seriously did not care about him or his relationship with Chihiro at all. I couldn't even tell you 3 facts about him besides "almost died" and "is dragon". Overall... Good movie, but I wouldn't watch it again
Later I'm going to either watch The Wind Rides or My Neighbor Totoro. Let's see where they stand...

okay so basically my cat is 5 years old. ive had him since he was a 13 week old kitten. i want to preface that my cat is the sweetest cat ever, has never hissed, super cuddly, velcro cat.
i feel like know my cats behavior pretty well. i know what hes like when he wants to play, when he wants food, when he wants to be left alone and when hes going to bite, among other things. recently i noticed that when my cat would have the zoomies, he would bite and latch on to me hard and not let go, to a point where it's actually HARD for me to get him off me. and it always happens in one specific scenario. in my room, im in my bed, most of the time when the lights are off and i happen to be trying to tuck myself into bed. he jumps into bed meowing like he wants pets, pupils dilated to the max, ready to pounce position, and as soon as i reach over to pet him, he jumps on me. it also happens when i dont try and pet him and just mind my business. he latches on both biting and wrapping his paws around me scratching, and will not let go.
ive tried imagening all kinds of scenarios for him to act like that but i don't really understand. it can happen randomly like: hes been in my room all day, sleeping next to me, getting pets, purring, and then lets say he leaves my room for 10 minutes. when he comes back he has that same look i described earlier and tries to attack me. or it could have been i just got home, havent seen him in 8+ hours, havent even pet him yet, just trying to tuck myself into bed for a nap, and he comes into my room quietly sneaks up behind me and attacks.
ive thought, oh its overstimulation, its understimulation, he needs more play, he needs to be left alone. but no matter what it happens. its not super frequent, and by now i know his behavior well enough to know when its about to happen, and know when hes done and cooled off.
i dont understand why my cat is doing this. hes comfortable in my house, i know what he likes- and what he doesnt. i know what his "play fight" is like. there hasnt been any major change that makes me believe is causing his behavior.
i also think i should add, most of the time when this happens ill take him out of my room and either go to bed for the night or just let him cool off for a couple of hours and aftethe next day, hes completely fine acting like normal. ive tried redirecting it with play, and this behavior comes with the regular behavior he has when he has the zoomies. and this doesn't happen everytime he has the zoomies either.

Hi, I have been grinding arena god since release going from A-Z, kinda dissapointed that riot changed it to 60, i had like 25/168, in first 3 days. I was sick for 2 weeks and grinded it a lot. Made a break after the change, now i have finally obtained it while playing 90% of the games solo, as well as odyssey of champions (need 1 more on release). My IGN is Rinkutemo#Prime on eune and I want to give some advices regarding the grind you probably already knew:

• Get a friend... It's much easier to win, especially if they abuse meta. Or you can just waste your life as me, playing 3x more games than needed with randoms. Had to start with the most obvious one :) ;
• If the champ you are trying to win with sucks, you need to have stat advantage, in that case i preferred going for anvils instead of items. Essentially every round you buy 2000 gold anvil, and when everyone has 3 items you have 4. Not only that, but you use excess gold after full build for stat anvils, so you always have much stronger stats, making your champ useful;
• If you get spatula, pleaseee, do not take haste, always prefer omnivamp or some other stat, if you didn't realize until now, your abilities recharge faster by themselves already;
• Use portal to dodge certain death, Vi is one of the most broken champs in arena, when facing her, stay near the portal and cancel her ult by using it, also it negates many effects, like Karthus ult;
• If you are range champ go fight and then go to heal using plants, if you are melee champ, first take all plants then fight;
• If you can revive your ally but you know he will die immediately, and you are playing some strong tank like Rammus. Don't revive him. Wait for the last ring to start collapsing and then go to revive him, this will buy you enough time, for any enemy to die in the ring, solo carrying the round;
• Gambler's blade is overpowered, buy stat anvils with excess gold, you can easily reach prismatic stat anvil amplifying all the stats, giving you almost twice as worth gold value of stats than opponents;
• Always take a dragon soul as first augment, unless smth synergizes much better with your champ, and take dragonheart if offered, but even if it isn't you can purchase it in round 13, around finale, to get elder anyways;
• If you take chain lighting, dummy sett is your best friend, do not even fight them, just fight sett, true damage will be dealt to them and you get a free win every time;
• if you have spatula quest, and free winning the round, always let them revive, that one additional kill per round means a lot, especially in early game;
• If you are free winning and there is dummy sett, just ignore them and stack heartsteel or anything stackable on the sett until the last ring;
• When playing slow cooker or infernal conduit, always look at their status bar, and flash if needed, do not ever let them reset it to 1, you can solo win the game if you keep this stacked, while on the other hand, if enemy has this, always look to get portal or reset stacks every 10-15.
• If you are playing a champ with insane flash combo, always take flashy or any flash reset augment, for example gragas e flash or shen e flash. And just do it every round for free wins. They can't kite if they are dead;
• Omnivamp stands for all the damage, true, magic, physical, ability damage, damage over time, item damage, whatever damage you do, it will heal you;
• If you have fallen aegis force fight first 12 seconds, if they have it, avoid fighting first 12 seconds;
• It is in the description but even I didn't realize it until 20 games with it, Galeforce can dash through walls in arena;

Some of the free win synergies:

• Healing Urgot: The best to play when you get tap dancer or spirit link, or angel of retribution, but can be played anyways. moonstone and Sword of Blossoming Dawn, you can build anything other than that;
• If you see apex inventor, go for it, doesn't matter what champion you playing. For items, go reality fracture, heartsteel, unending despair, sundering sky, eclipse. This build have won me many games. I had 3000+ stacks on Heartseel without the quest easily;
• Raid Boss & castle, one of you take each, At the round start you can use castle to get full raid boss charge every single round;
• Chauffeur when playing with morde, as he ults you both go into his ult, resulting in 2v1;
• Aurelion sol, teemo's passive, you can use Q while invisble since you are not moving, one of the easiest ways to win with the champ;
• Dragonheart & crown, those 2 synergie sooo good, both of them amplify your stats by percentage, and one affect the other, resulting in huge boost, almost always trying to hit both;
• Chauffeur on any adc + pyke, it's bugged, when pyke uses w, you glitch out and they cant see or target you (not sure if this is fixed);
• Draw your sword, into range extending abilities or augments, it resets your range to melee, but if you get range extending anything it will actually extend the range and not convert it into melee as well, so you get to be adc again but with draw the sword benefits it's op;
• Don't blink, with rylai and ice cold/with haste, you slow them for like 50%, and if you get movement speed on stat anvils, it can result in like 50+% more damage dealt;
• Don't blink with homeguard, if you have some ult like karthus ult or cait ult, or anything like that, it will deal like 50% more damage, cause you still have 100% bonus movement speed;
• Vulnerability + crit Garen's E, I have seen this deal 10K+ damage in a single round;
• Katarina + Runecraver, her ult gives 10+ stacks immediately;
• Ashe with hamstringer, she applies it on every aa or w, cause her passive converts crit into slow, it counts every aa as crit, even if you have 1% crit;

Obv must pick augments:

• Spirit link on any support;
• Courage of the collosus on any tank;
• Slow cooker on any tank;
• Dragonsoul with dragonheart;
• Goliath on any bruiser;

Obv must pick items:

• Cruelty with any cc champion (alistar, leona);
• Empyrian promise on any support;

If your champ is not broken, make it broken.

I got bored of writing, so that would be all. Keep in mind, some games are not winnable, just go next. With number of teams increased, there is a much higher chance for someone to get perfect build.
Also one bonus thing, I am pretty sure it isn't fixed yet, you get battlepass points for full match even if you lose and leave before the end. I am level 200 on the BP while doing 2 jobs. Kinda OP.
Sincerely, Fellow Arena enjoyer.

Chapter 5: A Life of Servitude Jessica sat naked on the couch, her long legs stretched out before her. Brad, now kneeling at her feet, carefully painted her toenails a deep shade of red. He was his normal height of 5’10”, and his eyes were cast downward, avoiding eye contact with his wife. The soft hum of the TV in the background and the gentle rustling of the wind outside created a soothing atmosphere, but the tension between them was palpable. Jessica smiled to herself, feeling a sense of satisfaction as she gazed at her submissive husband. She had grown accustomed to keeping Brad tiny, only allowing him to return to his normal size when she needed him to run errands or complete chores. And even then, she never let him out of chastity. He was always locked away, a constant reminder of his submission to her. Since she had started dating Henry, Jessica had found herself keeping Brad tiny more and more often. It was easier that way, less complicated. She could use him as a buttplug or stuff him down her panties when she went on dates with Henry. It was a thrill, feeling Brad squirming inside her as she laughed and flirted with her new beau. As Brad finished painting her toenails, Jessica reached out and gently stroked his tiny head. "You're doing a wonderful job, Brad. You're such a good boy." Brad looked up, his eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and resentment, but he quickly masked it with a forced smile. "Thank you, Jessica. I'm happy to serve you," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. Jessica's expression softened, and she reached out to gently lift Brad's chin. "Oh, Brad, I know you're not happy about me dating Henry. But I want you to understand, I need this. I need a real man in my life, someone who can satisfy me." Brad's eyes dropped, and he nodded reluctantly. "I know, Jessica. You deserve to be happy. I just wish...I wish I could be enough for you." Jessica's face lit up with a warm smile, and she leaned forward, her voice taking on a gentle, condescending tone. "Oh, Brad, you are enough for me. You're my husband, my submissive, my everything. But I have needs, darling. Needs that you can't fulfill. Henry makes me feel alive, he makes me feel petite and feminine. You can't do that for me, no matter how hard you try." Brad's face fell, and he looked away, his eyes welling up with tears. Jessica's voice was gentle, but firm. "Brad, I'm replacing you with Henry. Not as my husband, not as my love. But as the man who can satisfy my needs. You'll always be the love of my life, but I need more. And Henry can give me that." Brad nodded, reluctantly accepting his wife's words. "I'll do it, Jessica. I'll do whatever you want. I just want to serve you, to make you happy." Jessica's face lit up with a warm smile, and she leaned forward, her voice taking on a gentle, condescending tone. "That's my good boy, Brad. I'll even explain our relationship to Henry, so he knows he's not there to replace you. You're my submissive, my tiny husband, and I love you for it." With a flick of her wrist, Jessica shrunk Brad down to a mere three inches. She picked him up, her fingers closing around him like a vice. "Now, Brad, I want you to worship me. I have a phone call to make." Brad's tiny voice was barely audible as he whispered, "Yes, Jessica." Jessica placed Brad between her butt cheeks, feeling a thrill of excitement as she made her phone call. Her voice was flirty, playful, as she spoke. "Hi Henry. I've been thinking about you. Are you free this Friday?"

There's such a ridiculous number of things to do post-campaign that it's jarring compared to others in previous years. The fact you can actively contribute to the healing of the traveler in a PATROL ZONE and its just one long continuous public event makes it feel like I'm conquering the Hive again.
I haven't even fully completed all of the missions! Micah's kinda hot. Mithrax is MY BOY. And both Caiatl and Savathun are here too!
I also don't think it was mentioned anywhere, but the stacking nature of Frost Armor REALLY lends positive credence to Stasis' playstyle. Although I could see it falling behind in more difficult gamemodes in the future, I can't wait to experiment with it more.
Arc if I had to take a guess, Hunters were given Gifted Conviction because of the fact Arc has low survivability. Arc Titans didn't get anything yet, but I wager they will soon. Well getting gutted makes Storm Trance(and others) a much more interesting option and opens up an entirely new role for Warlocks in difficult content!
All in all, I'd give this one a 9.9/10. There's like, only one thing I was dissatisfied with but that's to do with scout rifles and their niche not the expac.

2nd baby is a surprise and I wanted at least a 3/4 year gap.. I’m currently pregnant with my 2nd and I don’t want to be. Absolutely hate the fact that I am pregnant again and I’m currently going through that much pelvic and lower back pain, currently on paid mat leave, have GD (just started Metformin) and low iron and low Vitamin D, my first Bub is only 21 months and I’m currently 32 weeks with my second.. Ive got my fingers crossed that I can bond with the baby when she comes out, otherwise I’m going to end up hating myself!! Honestly we don’t have a lot of help/support either and I’m the only one working whilst dad is the stay at home parent, I make just over 2k a fortnight.. and have about 300/380 left after I pay everything. I do have to have another c section which was a pain in the arse for healing for the first baby. Went to the doctors because my c section was hurting that much and they told me to have Panadol, “scar looks like it’s healed great, and if the pain in a 10 then to go to ED!!”, so I just got in the car and went home and laid in bed crying until I wasn’t as sore, When I do complain that I don’t want this baby and I’ve gained too much weight and I’m hating my body and the hormones, my partners reply is always “it takes two to tango”, NO IT TAKES YOU 2 MINUTES AND ME 9 MONTHS TO CREATE THIS BABY!! IM THE ONE GOING THROUGH THE FUKN SHIT!!! NOT YOU!! AND ALL THE AFTER WORK WITH IT ALL AND THE HORMONES and breast feeding and appointments and everything!! Then I have to go back to work after 6 months because I’m earning more! IM EXHAUSTED AND TIRED AND OVER IT AND FEEL THE NEED TO LEAVE FOR A WHOLE WEEK!! 😭😭 I’m overwhelmed and overstimulated from my first born and the GD is being a pain in my arse for my second! Idk, just needing to rant because my partner doesn’t want to hear it over and over again! I’m struggling, I’m sore everyday and I just don’t want a 2nd child, guess I’m pissed that this is sorta forced on me to keep the child! Abortion was not an option at all! I wanted all my children planned. So fingers crossed I’m able to bond with the baby after she’s cut out of me 🙁

(no spam) hey anyone Wana buy MbA litmus in sharing with me? U can take online class I will be fine with recorded classes It’s cost is 20 k so 10 k each So what say dm me if interested?

TW for very brief mentions of sexual assault
For context, my boyfriend and I have been together for around 10 months now but just recently he has been acting incredibly distant and uninterested, something incredibly out of character for him. We have both struggled with mental health in the past and during the start of our relationship I supported him at his lowest through some particularly tough times. We have always been incredibly open about this kind of stuff.
In the past month or so it's been me that's been struggling, I was a victim of sexual assault a few years ago and although it doesn't affect my life in anyway now; I still struggle when put in a situation in which I'm expected to talk about it. My boyfriend has recently started to try and get me to talk about it more which is causing him to bring it up more often, insisting that the best way for me to heal is to talk. I understand his point because whenever he brings it up it causes an emotional responses from me that leaves me feeling vulnerable and reliant on him so I definitely feel as if I need a better support system than only him and a few friends,
The issue has arisen when recently he has been acting differently, quieter, more uninterested, and ignoring me/ cancelling plans. I confronted him about it the other day by asking if he was alright and he went on this long talk about how I am exhausting him and he needs to take some time away, which is apparently why he was ignoring me and our plans, but it isn't intentional. He feels unmotivated and as if he has no energy and he "wants to figure out why it is and how he feels about our relationship" - a direct quotation. I feel as if my feelings weren't considered while doing this but I can understand why he wants to put himself first right now.
I can see how my reliance for emotional support could cause him to feel burnout, although it's not something I have personally experienced, and I just want to know what I can do to support him right now. I don't want this relationship to end because I still really love and care about him and I know it is kind of my fault for acting selfishly and not thinking about him.
I want to know how I can best support him right now so he can try and feel better and more like his old self again?
Thanks <3