Me and my boyfriend recently broke up due to other issues but I’m curious on whether me stopping birth control has anything to do with the breakup? I met him and started dating him while I was on the pill and the relationship seemed to slowly fall apart when I went off. What do I do? Go back on the pill?

Scroll to the bottom for the tldr
We (husband and I) had given birth to our stillborn daughter in 2015. We had chosen her resting place to be on my family’s old apple orchard in a quiet little corner where the sunsets and sunrises are incredible. It is there that I had always dreamed to eventually go back to, to restore the old apple orchard. Our retirement plan.
Some pertinent info: In 2020, we had lost my great grandmother who had lived there for all of her adult life (~85 years) and everything she had was deeded over, just before her passing to my father and uncle; her closest living relatives. My uncle lived with her for the last couple years of her life and took care of the basic management of the farm while my father had moved a town over, but visited frequently (at least once a week). He helped out when he could.
It had been stated to me by my dad the eldest brother, on several occasions that we (my husband and I) would own the plat of land and surrounding area on which our daughter is buried but I never pushed the suggestion further to have the plat deeded over into our names. This land has been in my family since 1847 so I just assumed (silly me!) that we (my family) would forever be owners of the acreage that was the farm.
I had found out today that my uncle and my father sold the entire farm off three months ago. My uncle was ready to flush it as they were struggling with the tax bill and also wanted to move closer to his grand kids. I am trying to fill in the blanks of what actually transpired between uncle and dad but at a certain point, what’s done is done and that I need to focus on protecting what I can, surrounding my daughter.
I was given the seller’s agent info and I got a call back, late this afternoon. The realtor’s office had no idea that there was anyone buried on the property and I was told that nothing had come up on the title search, prior to closing. The realtor was going to call up the title company, first thing tomorrow morning, I guess to confirm that nothing came up on the property search? I am not entirely sure but I’m fully aware that he has already been paid in this sale and isn’t representing me in any way.
I have also reached out to the county’s auditor office and after explaining my situation, the clerk told me that she would need to bring in the county engineer to see if the parcel was ever registered as a family cemetery. I am hoping to get that call back tomorrow but by a quick search on the online docs, I am not seeing any deed restrictions or notes on any of the parcels in the area. Again, my fault for not pushing to have her resting place put in our name to protect her.
I do have the buyer’s agent contact info but at this point, I am worried that if I travel too far down researching myself that I will respond or communicate in a way that I could lose my girl. (I am for sure, not a professional! Just a mama bear, doing all that I can to protect my baby) Is now the time to tap in an attorney who specializes in real estate to have someone on my team to defend us?
Also, I feel that this needs to be said: I am no longer comfortable having her resting in a place where family is no longer present. While it is an absolute incredible place, I don’t feel like I could be truly at peace with the turmoil that has transpired from the sale of the property. I am fully prepared to have to exhume her and place her elsewhere.
TLDR: what rights do I have to be able to access my daughter who was buried on family land that has been sold? Is it time to lawyer up?

I need to just let it all out and I just feel like this is the safest place. I’m 19 (f) found out i was pregnant middle of may and with in a week of finding out I then had a miscarriage. I got off birth control a while back bc my body just was breaking out in hives from every kind of birth control. My bf 19 almost 20 (M) and I use the pull and pray method, i knew the risk and didn’t mind as we’re going onto 3 three years and just being careless. Well with that being said I missed my period in beginning of May and after not getting it for 13 days i went and bought tests. (my periods use to be very irregular so it wasn’t anything out of the blue). I went to work one day and that morning i had thrown up and had tons of gas in my stomach. I took 5 test all positive. I don’t have insurance at the moment and waiting to hear back and was just going to go the next week to a obgyn to confirm. When my bf 19 (M) found out he flipped out on me wanting an abortion and couldn’t believe i wouldn’t get one. I quote “i can’t believe you’re choosing this thing over me by not getting an abortion.” I couldn’t believe how he was acting and told him he had every right not to be in the baby’s life and can leave at or i can go somewhere else at any giving time, i knew the consequences and felt ready to be a mom after raising my siblings. He fought abt an abortion the entire rest of the week that I had found out and then by the next week something felt wrong. After i felt off the next morning i immediately went to planned parenthood to get checked out because i was absolutely covered in blood when i woke up. It made me so angry seeing so many woman getting abortions while i couldn’t stop crying over losing mine. I have always been pro choice in my beliefs but in that moment and still i just felt so much hate and jealousy because they’re killing their healthy babies (that’s me emotionally assuming). While i lose one that i wanted. They couldn’t confirm the miscarriage so I go tomorrow for an appt but i’m pretty sure i passed the fetus after looking at other photos. I haven’t stopped bleeding. It’s a constant reminder that my baby died. I love my bf to death but i can’t help but blame him and be mad at him about losing this baby. He fought so much with me abt an abortion could it have been the stress that caused me to lose the baby? He doesn’t even seem upset. The day after i went to doctors/woke up bleeding I cried in the bathroom for hours and he sat on videos games outside the open door. How do i stop feeling hate? When does everything stop reminding me that my baby died? When will i stop blaming myself and everything to one around me? Why didn’t anyone warn you how heart breaking it is to lose your baby.

First of all I'm worried, i know she won't stop until I react a certaint way, I'm mentally ill(delusional, major depressive, and grew up with toxic abusive father) im a drug addict(was an ex addict but she brought me back) i feel like she wants me to freak out and do something I will regret that she can use to ruin my life, please read to understand I am trying my best to be the bigger person here... thank you
Hi, I'm gonna start this off with I wasn't the best in the relationship, I messed up really bad, I was never physically abusive but I did say things I shouldn't have, I apologized and she took me back and we where doing good, where a bit off because she was hurt from what I had done, but we where trying to be better people, a few weeks ago she ghost me and then comes back because I asked a friend to talk to her and she tells me she wants to break up, I cried annd I didn't want it to happend but I was in no place to stop her, I told her I was going to need some time before we have that final talk(be cause I am a drug addict and did not want to be high for that talk) so few days later pass and we have that talk, honestly I was planing on ending my life after that call, but once I again, my dumb brain gave me hope that she was worth it, she's and ex addict, because of her I use this drug and normaly she would help me to get sober but the last few days she was encouraging me to continue to use, I thought the break up ended well we both ended it on a good note but come to find out she is posting a lot of unfamiliar things about me on subreddits like this one, calling me violent, abusive, controlling, and narcissistic, they have some truth to it wich is understandable to be upset at but, violent and abusive I was not, I never once hit her, or physically hurt her, the only instance was when I grabbed her aggressively to stop her from harming herself while we where fighting(she has autism) well now she is lying about me, with things that could have 0% truth to them for example she said I wouldn't let her drive her own car... she doesn't even own a car or a drivers license, she's saying that because I would ask for some of her food that was some form of abuse, I personally belive that was just me being hungry, I never intended to contact her again but it's hard not to see what she post, well she knew I was watching because a mutual friend was snitching on me to her, so she would post how much she missed me, I wouldn't react but one day after multiple ignores I dm her, "I miss you too but I don't want to be back with you because ik we will destroy each other" she then started posting about how nobody ever dm's her, she was also commenting on men's post who posted nsfw content because I would always be worried she would go back to how she was, she always denied it so i belive she is just doing it to get a rise out of me, well it happend more and more and more and I ignored it, one day she contacts me indirectly with a playlist she made for me, I was ju at looking for some of my old music and found it, well she made sure it caught my attention, the songs where not good songs, all midwestern emo song so if ykyk, I freaked out because I thought we where on good terms so I ask what's going one why did u make that and she tells me "sorry they r just good songs:)" well I listened to the songs a few days later and they where in fact talking bad about me and threatening me... i decided ill make a playlist for her back, a good one, so i make the perfect playlist that describes our fall/breakup, and when i go to share it with her i see she had made a new one, talking horribly about me how im a no good drug addict and im just like my abusive father, and I should end my life, and more mean things, i decided to let it slide and give her the playlist which is basically saying "i love you but goodbye for ever" but her and her "friend" who also happens to be In a non stop flow of toxic relationships(him being the toxic one) have been non stop sending me subliminal messages, i do not appreciate these because she knows i am very mentally ill and unstable and i struggle with delusions, so i have been in a non stop flow of. "I hate her she's ruining me" turning into "I love her and I want her to be safe and I care about her" and I try my best to stay in this mindset but both of them continually make threats and treat me like im worthless, ik if they are a thing she is just using him to get at me, I know all she wants is for me to freak out and do something so that she can probably ruin my life worse, I've been trying to convince her that peace is the best option, but she continues to emotionally abuse me, I would love to block them both but I care about her to much, I want her to feel better about herself instead of doing all this... idk what to do, ik she might see this so if you see this... talk things out with me, but not alone, I want my one and only friend there with me, for mine and your safety... please stop doing this.
Also I might get banned because of my previous accounts so if u want to talk to me look down in s@nd!33go CA 560 Idk if let's me 29 Sorry 84 Message only please
What can I do to help her so that she stops, last time I ended up in the mental hospital and I really don't want to go back... Please help. Thank you

So I took amoxicillin/clavulanate aka Augmentin for strep for 7 days. Finished on Saturday May 25. I cannot get a consistent answer on how long I need to use backup protection after finishing the antibiotics. I’ve been told for a whole month, use backup for one week, and treating dr said I’d be ok without backup 3 days after finishing med. Also have read that antibiotics don’t affect birth control but 5 pharmacist and 1 doctor told me that’s not true. I just don’t know what to believe and at 50 can’t believe I am having to stress about this. Any knowledge or if you’ve been through this please comment. Thanks

This is all from the Internet. A click away from any phone.

Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought.
An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre.
Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. After a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death. He spent his last day in prison, refusing offers to help him escape.
There were four charges that were brought against Socrates. They were that he argued the weaker claim over the stronger claim, that he argue the physical over the metaphysical, that he was against the gods and that he was corrupting the youth.
Socrates was found guilty by a jury of 501 Athenians and was sentenced to drink a deadly poison, named hemlock. Many scholars have argued that the charges against Socrates were politically motivated and have understood his trial and conviction as an attack upon freedom of speech and an indictment of democracy.

The Last Moments of Maegor’s Reign, losing against a misogynistic society led by petty and ambitious nobles and against the Faith of the Seven, a religion that enforces gender roles and inequality between men and women.

By 48 AC Maegor's tyranny could no longer be borne by the realm. At Storm's End Aenys I's last surviving son, Prince Jaehaerys, put forth his claim to the throne, supported by Lord Rogar Baratheon, who was named Protector of the Realm and Hand of the King by the prince. Jaehaerys had two dragons on his side, his own mount Vermithor and his sister's mount Silverwing, against Maegor's Balerion. Learning of her brother's claim, Queen Rhaena Targaryen fled from Maegor in the night, escaping on her dragon Dreamfyre with the Valyrian blade Blackfyre, and her daughter, Princess Aerea, adding a third dragon to her brothers cause. Lord Edwell Celtigar resigned his position as Hand and returned to Claw Isle and Grand Maester Benifer secretly escaped on a ship to Pentos. Ser Olyver Bracken and Ser Raymund Mallery, two of Maegor's Kingsguard, also deserted him. Lord Daemon Velaryon, the admiral of the royal fleet, was the first of the great lords to forsake Maegor, taking the royal fleet with him, and many other lords followed his example. The great houses of Lannister, Tyrell, and Arryn came out against Maegor and in the riverlands House Tully gave support to Septon Moon and Ser Joffrey Doggett, the leaders of the Poor Fellows.
Maegor called his banners in response, but few answered, giving Maegor an army of barely four thousand soldiers. Despite this, Maegor refused to surrender. At the end of the war council, Maegor remained behind alone in the throne room to brood. He was found dead the next morning by Queen Elinor, seated on the Iron Throne with his robes covered in blood and his wrists slashed. A spike from one of the swords on the throne behind him was impaled through the back of his neck. How Maegor died was never discovered. Some say he had been killed by Queen Elinor, others that he had been killed by a knight of his own Kingsguard. Yet others say he had been killed by a builder who escaped the slaughter three years earlier and desired revenge, and many believe that Maegor had been killed by the throne itself. Others believe that Maegor killed himself by opening his wrists on the blades of the Iron Throne.

The fate of Maegor’s loyal supporters.

Owen Bush was a knight of the Kingsguard during the reign of King Maegor I Targaryen. When Maegor suspected Queen Tyanna of the Tower of betrayal, he had Owen and his sworn brother, Ser Maladon Moore, bring her to the dungeons, where she confessed.
Maegor the Cruel gradually lost political support, resulting in a rival threat in his nephew, Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen. Two of his Kingsguard defected to Jaehaerys, and Maegor lost a third guard when Owen was found dead outside a brothel in 48 AC, his member cut off and stuffed in his mouth.
Maladon Moore was a knight from House Moore and a member of the Kingsguard during the reign of King Maegor I Targaryen. When the king suspected Queen Tyanna of the Tower of treason, Maladon and Owen were dispatched to seize the queen and deliver her to the dungeons, where Maegor was said to have slain her while Maladon was present.
After Maegor died in 48 AC and his nephew King Jaehaerys I Targaryen took the Iron Throne, Maladon was accused of being involved in the death of Queen Ceryse, allegedly restraining her when Ser Owen accidentally killed her. Maladon denied these charges, insisting she died of "shrewishness". While the charges were never proven, Maladon lost his head for his involvement in Queen Tyanna's death, of which he was guilty.
When Queen Tyanna of the Tower admitted to poisoning Queen Alys Harroway during her pregnancy, Tyanna promised the same would happen to Elinor. Tyanna was proven correct when Elinor gave birth to a stillborn abomination said to have been born eyeless and with small wings. Elinor was one of the two wives who survived the king, the other being Queen Rhaena Targaryen.
After King Maegor's death, Lord Daemon Velaryon proposed that King Jaehaerys I Targaryen marry Queen Elinor to reconcile with Maegor's supporters when a bride was being considered for the king, but nothing came of the proposal. After Jaehaerys's ascent, Elinor departed King's Landing dressed in the robes of a penitent. She visited her two elder sons at the Eyrie and Highgarden before retiring to her father's seat at the Three Towers with her youngest son.
Later, King Jaehaerys commanded Elinor to go forth and spread his Doctrine of Exceptionalism to the peoples of the Seven Kingdoms, as well as the goodness of Jaehaerys and Alysanne, becoming one of the Seven Speakers. Her queenly raiment became shabbier and more threadbare each day, and she eventually gave up all claims to nobility, becoming Mother Elinor at the great motherhouse in Lannisport.
House Rosby was one of the first houses to yield peacefully to House Targaryen during Aegon's Conquest, surrendering to Rhaenys Targaryen and Meraxes. The Rosby lands became part of the crownlands surrounding King's Landing. Lord Jon Rosby was named Warden of the Sands by King Aegon I Targaryen during the First Dornish War, but Jon was killed in the Defenestration of Sunspear.
Ser Rayford Rosby defended King Maegor I Targaryen during his trial of seven, but Rayford was slain during the fighting. Lord Rosby remained loyal to the king even as his downfall became certain, and was one of the last to see the king alive. In the chaos that followed the discovery of Maegor's body, Lord Rosby drank a cup of hemlock to join his king in death. His young son received forgiveness from King Jaehaerys I Targaryen at Dragonstone.
In 47 AC, King Maegor was dealing with the issue of his lack of heirs, despite having already married three women. Lord Daemon Velaryon, Rhaena's uncle and a member of Maegor's small council, advised Maegor to wed Rhaena, to unite their claims and prevent new rebellions, and to gain her as a hostage against any potential schemes of Dowager Queen Alyssa. Later that year, Maegor summoned Rhaena to King's Landing, and she did not defy him. At the Red Keep, Maegor married Rhaena in a triple ceremony, together with Elinor Costayne and Jeyne Westerling. As the three women were all widows of men Maegor had killed, they became known as the "Black Brides". Immediately following the wedding, Maegor declared Rhaena's elder daughter Aerea as his heir until he had sons of his own, while disinheriting Rhaena's youngest brother Jaehaerys in the same decree.
After Maegor’s death, discussion arose as to who had the better claim to the Iron Throne. There were some who suggested that Rhaena's claim, as the firstborn child of King Aenys I Targaryen and Queen Alyssa Velaryon, was the strongest. Her gender argued against her, however, and Rhaena herself had come to loathe King's Landing and its court. The claims of her daughters were argued for as well. If Maegor was to be considered a usurper, the true king would have been Rhaena's first husband, Aegon, who had claimed the throne before Jaehaerys had. As such, some suggested the throne should pass to one of his daughters by Rhaena, Aerea or Rhaella.
As time passed, Rhaena began to resent the fact that her claim to the throne, and that of her daughters, had been dismissed in favor of Jaehaerys, to whom she began to refer as "my baby brother". In addition, Rhaena begrudged her mother for promoting Jaehaerys's claim over her own.
Ser Walton Towers was granted Harrenhal by King Maegor I Targaryen in 44 AC after winning a melee in Lord Harroway's Town, but Walton died soon after from his wounds. Harrenhal thus passed to his eldest son. Lord Jordan remained loyal to Maegor during the king's wars, and Lord Rosby were the last to see the king alive before Maegor's death on the Iron Throne. Along with Lords Darklyn and Staunton, Jordan yielded the Red Keep to Prince Jaehaerys, Princess Rhaena, and Princess Alysanne Targaryen. The three lords were sent to the black cells, but were eventually pardoned by King Jaehaerys I after surrendering some of their land.
Jordan eventually died of a chest congestion. Harrenhal passed to Jordan's last surviving son, Maegor Towers, as Jordan's older sons had all died fighting for King Maegor.
Maegor's father, Lord Jordan Towers, was one of the last lords of the Seven Kingdoms who remained loyal to King Maegor I Targaryen. All of Jordan's sons died fighting in the king's wars, with the exception of young Maegor.
Maegor became Lord Towers after the death of his father due to a chest congestion. When King Jaehaerys I Targaryen began a royal progress in 53 AC to celebrate the new year, his first stop was to see the new Lord of Harrenhal, then only nine years of age.
Maegor was an impoverished lord who resided in the Tower of Dread with only a cook and three men-at-arms. Since the rest of Harrenhal was empty, King Jaehaerys settled his widowed sister, Rhaena Targaryen, in the Widow's Tower in 56 AC. Maegor and Rhaena eventually became friends, and she cared for his servants after Maegor passed away in 61 AC. Harrenhal was granted to House Strong after Rhaena passed away in 73 AC.
Maegor was sickly and poor.
Socrates speaks his last words to Crito: "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt". Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely that Socrates' last words were implied to mean that death is the cure, and freedom of the soul from the body.
Asclepius, Greco-Roman god of medicine, son of Apollo (god of healing, truth, and prophecy) and the mortal princess Coronis. The Centaur Chiron taught him the art of healing. At length Zeus (the king of the gods), afraid that Asclepius might render all men immortal, slew him with a thunderbolt.
Zeus saw Asclepius & his medical skills as a threat to the eternal division between humanity & the gods. Asclepius met a tragic end when he was killed by a thunderbolt thrown by Zeus.
Socrates ultimately does not fear death because of his innocence, he believes that death is not feared because it may be one of the greatest blessings of the soul.
The reasons for Socrates not escaping when he had the chance the night prior; are made explicit before the Laws make their speech. Because escape defies the will of the Athenians, it requires stealth and bribery, shameful practices that are unjustified in the current situation.
Socrates Feared Democracies Would Elect Demagogues. The term arose in Greece in the fifth century BCE, right around Socrates's time, and is often used negatively. Socrates himself was extremely worried that the democratic format would give rise to a demagoguery.
Demagogues are political leaders who seek support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.
Modern demagogues include Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and Joseph McCarthy, all of whom built mass followings the same way that Cleon did: by exciting the passions of the masses against customs and norms of the aristocratic elites of their times.

This is why Maegor and Socrates died. They challenged authority and lost. They were silenced by the powerful lords and by the elected council of Athens whom were given power by the common people.
They were “heroes”.
“My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results... but it is the effort that's heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight.
George R.R. Martin.
King Maegor had married all his brides and gave them Queenly status.

Jeyne was married to Lord Alyn Tarbeck. She was widowed when Alyn died during the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye in 43 AC. Jeyne was pregnant when her husband died, and gave him a posthumous son a few months later.

In 47 AC, Jeyne was being courted by a younger son of Lyman Lannister, the Lord of Casterly Rock, when King Maegor I Targaryen sent for her to be wed to him. She married Maegor in a ceremony at King's Landing, along with Lady Elinor Costayne and Princess Rhaena Targaryen. As all three women had been widowed due to Maegor, they became known as the "Black Brides". The stories told of the wedding night claim that Jeyne was given a fertility potion by Queen Tyanna of the Tower, and either drank it, or threw it in Tyanna's face. After the wedding, Queen Jeyne's son was confirmed as Lord of Tarbeck Hall, and sent to Casterly Rock to be raised as a ward of Lyman Lannister.

Lord Edwell Celtigar, the Hand of the King, announced half a year after the wedding that Queen Jeyne was pregnant, and Queen Elinor's pregnancy was announced shortly afterwards. Maegor, joyful, showered both his wives with gifts and honors, and granted new lands and offices to their fathers, brothers, and uncles. Unfortunately, Jeyne's labor began three months early, and she gave birth to a stillborn child, monstrous, lacking arms and legs but possessing both male and female genitalia. Jeyne herself died soon after.

In 48 AC, Tyanna of the Tower confessed to having poisoned Jeyne's child in the womb.
This is all on the awoiaf wiki.
George is a better writer than we’ve given him credit for.
At the end of Maegor’s reign, House Baratheon, Lannister, Tyrell and Arryn rebelled against Maegor. Maegor had sent the young son of his fourth wife (Jeyne Westerling) as a ward(hostage) to House Lannister. Then he sent the two eldest sons of his sixth wife (Elinor Costayne) as wards(hostages) to House Tyrell and House Arryn. When the great houses rebelled, Lord Daemon Velaryon, the brother of Alyssa Velaryon, escaped with the Royal Fleet and left King’s Landing.
Maegor called his banners to fight against the threat but they were too few and Elinor Costayne begged him to surrender to save her two eldest sons and the son of the long deceased Jeyne Westerling. He banned her from the council room and refused to surrender and his lords and him and Rhaena made battle plans well into the night.
At the end of the war council, Maegor dismissed everyone and stayed alone in the throne room to brood.
The following morning, Elinor Costayne found the King dead, his wrists slashed and throat impaled on the back of the Iron Throne.
Lord Rosby was one of the last people to see his king alive and drank a cup of hemlock to follow him in death.
Lord Jordan Towers named his last son Maegor and died of a chest conjection after Jaehaerys’ ascension to the Throne.
Elinor Costayne left King’s Landing while donning the clothes of a penitent and eventually renounced all claims to nobility and became the owner of a Motherhouse in Lannisport.
Ser Maladon Moore was executed for his involvement in Queen Tyanna’s death whom had confessed to poisoning King Maegor’s wives.
Queen Rhaena was expelled from King’s Landing and her claim to the Throne was ignored because of her gender.
Ser Owen Bush was found dead in a brothel with his cock stuffed in his mouth.

I was going to post this in Japan. But it's not allowed. So I thought of presenting this here to get more direct answers:
I was looking for news related to the Japanese monarchy. I stumbled into an English site dedicated to news from Japan:
90% in Japan support idea of reigning empress: survey
Here are the 3 comments under this article that stood out to me:

1. "What's the point when the Emperor or Empress has no power nor Empire?" (12 likes/9 dislikes)
2. "I support the idea of disbanding the entire imperial system, along with all systems of royalty across the world." [...] (15 likes/ 13 dislikes)
3. "The 90 percent that don't count, like so many other decisions in Japanese political, socioeconomic scene." (13 likes/14 dislikes)

I believe the article was deleted because it was littered with negative comments. I'm not sure if they are Japanese because they used English profile names and they commented in English. The article is very recent so it seemed unusual to delete it for housekeeping. Also, Japan Today is a Tokyo-based online newspaper. So this must be the Chrysanthemum Taboo phenomenon.
According to Wikipedia: "The chrysanthemum taboo is the Japanese social taboo against discussion or criticism of the Emperor of Japan and his family, especially Emperor Hirohito/Showa (1901–1989)."
This made me think: Do ordinary Japanese avoid discussions of the Imperial Family?
I went to a random Japanese news site to look for an article on the same topic:
90% of people are in favor of a female emperor! The momentum for the realization of "Emperor Aiko" is growing within the Kishida administration, causing concern for "Princess Kiko's feelings"
I translated the Top 3 comments under this article:

1. "If the Kishida Cabinet were to steer the ship while ignoring the will of 90% of the people, wouldn't that be a failure of democracy? Furthermore, I feel that Princess Kiko's feelings are irrelevant, and that she should instead be considerate of the Imperial Family." (45,000 I empathize/I see 383/Hmm 2767)
2. "The world is moving towards a new era. I don't see the need to be obsessed with male lineage. Above all, it's wrong to put pressure on women for something they cannot control, such as having to give birth to a boy. Now that we don't know what will happen in the future with the coronavirus, war, earthquakes, etc., seeing Aiko's Mary-like smile is very reassuring and healing. I sincerely hope that Aiko will become the Emperor." (11,000 I empathize/I see 36/Hmm 524)
3. "I think Aiko is a good choice. The Emperor and Masako were educated, so I think they will be able to be close to the people. It's the Reiwa era, so I want them to stop treating women as superior to men. Looking at Mako, Kako, and Hisahito, Aiko, who grew up in the Imperial family, is the best!" (32,000 I empathize/I see 103/Hmm 1324)

It seems like people are not only talking about the Imperial Family, they also openly talk about members they like and don't like.
But this does not extend to Japanese pop culture. They barely mention the Emperor of Japan or his family. Most of it was indirect. Known examples:

1. In the anime Gate - Thus the JSDF Fought There! (2015) - The Emperor was hinted to allow the evacuation of civilians to the Imperial Palace.
2. In Sword Art Online (2012) - Kirito and Asuna were talking about the Imperial Palace's digital services being separate from the rest of the internet.

Weirdly, I can identify specific three older Japanese animation movies where the Emperor was directly mentioned:

1. In Hayao Miyazaki's Grave of the Fireflies (1998): A soldier committing seppuku cried out "Tenno Heika Banzai!" (Long live the Emperor!).
2. Memories (1995) - In the second part of the anthology, "Stink Bomb" mentions the Emperor refusing to leave Tokyo despite the mass evacuation of citizens.
3. A late 90s/early 2000s anime about the romance between then-Crown Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako. I forgot the name.

In criticism of the monarchy, I know an Australian journalist wrote a book detailing the difficulties Empress Masako experienced when she was Crown Princess. Japan managed to control its release in their country, with the help of nationalists who harassed publication houses, but they failed to control/persuade the author. It helps that he is a foreigner.
A political breach of taboo could be the end of a person's public service. In Post-war Japan history, I read about ministerial resignations caused by leaking Emperor Hirohito's opinions on sensitive issues, usually related to foreign and military affairs.
After the 3/11 tsunami, Diet member Taro Yamamoto gave a letter to Emperor Akihito about the plights of the victims. Politicians demanded his resignation. He likely heard some things from crazy nationalists. But today, he is still a Diet member.
So the Japanese people do talk about the monarchy. The extent of their opinions on the Japanese monarchy is mostly limited to news and gossip and written in Japanese so foreigners do not immediately notice the discourse around them. Anything more than that, like publishing critical deep-dives on the monarchy, references in fiction, and fictional portrayal, is rarely done and prone to attacks from nationalists. But breaking the taboo isn't as serious as it was during the Showa period. What do you think?

Hi all. Long ramble ahead. I’ve been grappling with this for years and my friends are sick of hearing me whine, so it's time to turn to strangers on the internet.
I’m an actor. Just a hobbyist, I do community theatre, although if I’d found theatre earlier in life, it’d probably be my (aspirational) career. I love it so much— doing it, reading about it, studying theory, taking lessons, acting, directing, teaching. I volunteer. I make props. I build sets. I’ve dabbled in costumes, lights, sound. I’m so obsessed, I feel like a parody of myself because it’s all I talk about.
Now, back in time a little bit. A few years ago, I met a guy at my “home base" community theater. At the time, I was 20, and he was 37. We flirted through a couple shows, then began a sexual relationship. I had always had a thing for older guys, so at the time, this kinda felt like a dream come true. He seemed like a really standup guy.
The casual sexual relationship eventually became a romantic one, as these things often go. After 6 months of dating, I broke up with him over a few recurring arguments. I'd put up with these things because, well, I loved him— plus, this was my first real relationship. He knew more about relationships than me, so I just followed his lead.
It didn’t help that he often made me feel bad for the way I felt. When I didn’t want to see him as frequently as he liked, he would sometimes suggest that it was a psychological issue that I needed to get to the root of. When we didn’t have sex as often as he liked, he’d ask if there might be something causing my “low libido” that I should check out with my doctor. He was quick to pathologize things he perceived as problems with me.
Resultantly, after breaking up, I questioned myself over everything. Was I a bad partner? Was I selfish? Did I have some kind of psychological problem making me undateable? I went back to therapy and spent many sessions discussing the toll this took on my sense of self.
Fast forward. Theaters are opening up again, and I start rubbing elbows with his guy as theatre colleagues again. This was fine— the breakup was actually pretty amicable for the most part (I had internalized all the self-doubt as a me problem rather than a “how dare he do this to me” problem). In fact, we still sporadically slept together (not my proudest moments).
He ends up directing a show at the theatre where we met, our mutual theatrical home-away-from-home. I audition and get cast. Right before rehearsals started, I told him we couldn’t sleep together anymore— I’d gotten my birth control implant out and didn’t trust condoms. He got angry when I told him this, which made the start of rehearsals very awkward, since we were both pissed at each other.
The rehearsal process itself was also rocky. For a variety of reasons, we got behind the curve almost immediately with rehearsals and just never recovered. Every part of the process became really rushed and chaotic. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I did not handle this flawlessly. But I handled it in two ways:
One, I complained. A lot. About a lot of things, and, admittedly, probably more than was fair. I want to be clear that it was never personal— I complained about production issues, never about people personally. And these complaints weren’t a secret— at first, I was (diplomatically) voicing my concerns to my ex, but he consistently brushed me off, so the complaints were relegated to private venting sessions with my friends.
Two: spending tons of extra time, money, and energy on the show. I stepped up. I stayed after rehearsals for extra practice. I brought snacks for the cast to share. I made sure to hype cast members up constantly. I made promotional materials. I personally bought supplies to fix the lead’s costume (the skirt the costumer gave her couldn’t zip, and at one rehearsal she accidentally flashed us on stage as a result, so I bought supplies to secure it another way— I’m still kind mad about this one, because it’s just really unconscionable to send a young actor on stage in clothes that may literally fall off her body, but I digress…). I did a ton of free labor for this show.
After the show, my ex told me that he was furious over how I’d behaved. He said my friends in that show “really brought out the worst in me,” and told me that everyone in the cast had personally gone to him to complain about what a horrible person I was. He also told me that he was quitting the staff of the show I was directing later that year, leaving my first directorial experience ever without a tech director. We screamed at each other on the phone after closing night, until he blocked my number and un-friended me on social media. I spent the next year and a half or so convinced that everyone at the community theatre hated me because of that show, so I stayed away from the theater I loved so much.
By now, I’ve learned a lot of things about my ex and the situation at the theatre that really make my stomach turn:

1. He has apparently been notorious for seeking out younger women since college. Someone he went to school with said she remembers him as a senior hitting on all the freshmen girls. This really hurt my feelings, because when he and I started dating, I asked younger women were his thing, but he said no and implied that I was “special.”
   
2. He tried to sabotage my getting my first directorial experience in the first place— he told higher-ups at the theatre that I was “acting like I already had the show,” making them think I was presumptuous and egotistical. This just never happened. Thankfully, I got the show anyway.
   
3. He’s told other directors about what a nightmare me and my “new friends” from his show were to work with. I’d harbored suspicions of being blacklisted, but a friend of mine had this confirmed by a director he was working with. Every time I get cut from a show, I still wonder if it’s somehow my ex’s doing (which is definitely pretty paranoid… but can you blame me?)
   
4. Most hurtful: he lied about everyone being mad at me over the show. After a long time of avoiding them, I’ve talked to some people who were in that cast, and they’ve all said they were frustrated at my ex and never had any complaints about me. This genuinely boggled my mind. I spent two years thinking I was an awful person who everyone hated, and that was all just a lie that my ex told me, on purpose, to make me feel horrible.
   

So that all leads me to where I am now. I’ve hardly been able to get into shows (1 in the two years since). I’m so desperately jealous whenever I see casting announcements. My ex keeps landing endless opportunities, acting, directing, or tech directing. And he continues hitting on young women. I hear rumors about it constantly. It just seems like he continues to win, continues to operate totally unchecked, and I… can’t get anywhere. I feel so stuck. I just really miss that community theatre that I used to love, and I’m so fucking jealous of all the people who just get to have fun there. I'm trying to branch out into some new communities where he has no connections, but it's difficult.
TLDR: my ex boyfriend is a very successful, manipulative creep who ruined my reputation at my theatrical home-away-from-home, and I can’t do anything about it without looking like an evil, jealous ex.
Just sucks big time. Thanks for letting me vent, sorry this is so long.

My boyfriend (18M) and I (18F) have been together for 7 months now and we are each other's first relationship. We are both college students and are currently on summer break. I am only working one part time job, and he is working 2 part time jobs, taking night classes, and training to be a firefighter as well. Obviously, he is really stressed, and I feel like it is starting to impact our relationship. Earlier today, we were having a nice date together and it was going perfectly fine until we got back to my house. We had made plans for later in the week to see each other but had nothing set and stone. When we got back to my house, I got a text from my manager to work on the day we planned to hang out. My shift will end at 5, so I asked him if it was fine for us to hang out after my shift since I never get scheduled and I need the money. He told me no, nothing will be open, there will be nothing for us to do, and that he will be tired anyways because his shift at one of his jobs ended at 2. I had thought this was a bit odd but ignored it and we went and hung out in my room. He was being quiet the whole time, not reciprocating any affection I was trying to show him, wouldn't even entertain me when I was trying to cheer him up, and swatting my hand away when I tried to tickle him (we tickle each other all the time, more him tickling me than me tickling him). Eventually he left my house, and I had other things to do. He texted me when he got home saying that he was sorry and that he is stressed and that he still wants to see me. I forgave him, talked to my mom about it, and she said that he was probably having an off day. But these off days are becoming more normal than I would like.
Last week we had a date together and it was great until we got to his house to hang out at after. He fell asleep immediately with his back to me and not even touching me. I felt invisible, ignored, and a bit upset so I started to gather my stuff to leave. Something that I think is important to take note of is that I just started birth control pills, and it has been making me a bit more reactive and sensitive than normal. He did not want me to leave his house in that state because I was on the verge of tears. I told him how I felt ignored and he kept apologizing and beating himself up over it and I told him it was okay. I left, started sobbing immediately, he went inside and also started sobbing. I had to pull over into a local park and cry because I was in no state to drive properly. I called him 6 times and left voicemails while I was crying but he never picked up because he was also sobbing. I left the park I was in after about 20 minutes and he called me while I was driving but I did not pick up, he called me again when I got home (we have each other's locations on) and cried on call together. He, again, told me that it was because he is so stressed.
I don't know what to do, I want to be more accommodating to the amount of stress he is under, but I hate the way that he is making me feel because of it. I want to be a good girlfriend and help him as much as I can, but I feel that I've been crying and getting upset every time I see him. I have let him know many times that I want to be a rock for him, I want to listen to him, and do anything I can to alleviate any stress in any way I can. Does anyone have any advice on what to do?
Sorry for any grammar or spelling errors, I am just stressed :(
TLDR my boyfriend is stressed from his busy schedule, and I hate how his behavior from the stress is making me feel and I do not know what to do

First Previous Wiki
Penny gazed at the quartet of Elders. They were all wearing the merchandise she remembered from the last Judgment, which was exceedingly awkward. Mainly because they were wearing shirts with her face on them. But it was also oddly endearing, in a way. Until now, she hadn't seen too many Elders that were on her side.
Elders that weren't just Kashaunta or the familiar faces she already knew, like Spentha or Rho and Sai, actually showing appreciation of her, felt odd. Even if these ones went a little too far in it.
"You're even more beautiful in person, Liberator," one said.
"Uh, thanks. I appreciate that. I'm glad that you all like me. Rho and Sai told me that you all are interested in something I can give you?"
"Yeah. Maybe a short interview? We won't be like that airhead reporter. We'll ask the good questions."
"Yep, we will."
"Right then," Penny said. "Well, I'm glad to meet you."
"Thank you. Now that we're here, we'd like to know how you plan on taking care of the gang leaders."
"Well, presumably by imprisoning them. I don't think they deserve to die, even if others do. I'll leave that decision up to Justicar and his various judges in the criminal system."
Penny didn't like having to lie blatantly. She wanted to kill the slavers quite brutally, but doing that was a bad idea right now. Saying it also was a bad idea, for a similar reason. And Justicar's system was worryingly preferential to Elders, from what she'd looked up after the meeting with Pundacrawla.
"Aren't you worried that the Judges won't give proper justice?"
"I trust Justicar to do everything that is necessary."
Another lie. Justicar would do whatever he could to maintain his image. Hopefully, that wouldn't be at the cost of the Alliance's very existence.
"Got it. By the way, what's it like being human? Walking on only two legs. It seems kind of unstable. Do you fall a lot?"
A genuine curiosity from them was another breath of fresh air. It was the kind of question a quadruped would definitely ask, which put her more at ease about the nature of what they were trying to do. Even more than their evident support of her, with all the merch they were wearing. Penny felt a smile crack at the corners of her lips, unbidden.
"Not really. We can use our arms to steady ourselves pretty well. Obviously it's not as easy to balance on our two legs as it is with your four, but it's still good enough. In fact, the sprinters in the Olympics use all four limbs, since running as fast as possible also requires pumping our arms. As for what it's like to be human, it's hard to describe. For many of us, it will feel colder or warmer than Sprilnav would feel in the same temperatures, due to thinner skin. Our eyesight is more frontal than yours, given our lack of snouts, so our blindspots are a lot bigger. Our feet require shoes for rough ground, and we heal slower than you by around 20%. We can't really clack our jaws to the scale that you can, though we can make them meet."
Penny bared her teeth, showing as she opened and closed her mouth. It was nice to be able to talk about things like this.
"The Olympics?" one of them asked.
"It's a competition about athletics," Penny said. "Running, jumping, throwing, diving, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, and a lot of sports. There's specific divisions, too. Like how there's a 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, and even an 800 meter dash for those with high levels of psychic energy. Though really, psychic energy and genetic editing have been messing with the events for a while now. And there's a Winter, Summer, and Space Olympics, each with different sorts of events. They move from city to city, though the Space Olympics are pretty much always on either Luna, Ceres, or Mercury. There's a lot more information out there on various events, but it's an old cultural practice revered by the entire species. Even more so since Phoebe's increased the prize pools for everyone."
"How does your species handle space in general? I know that you guys did things way differently before First Contact."
"We did. Mining companies kept tight control on all asteroid mining, while nations controlled planets like Earth and Mars and large planetary bodies like Luna. Supposedly, a few people planned for a cloud city on Venus, but we couldn't risk having such a vulnerable population because they'd have to rely on giant balloons to survive. That would probably be the least secure way to live, given the existence of rogue organizations and all that.
As for spaceships, most of them since we really colonized Luna come equipped with spacesuit bays, zero gravity water and food packs, oxygen tanks, emergency seats, specialized anti-micrometeorite hulls, and radiation shielding. A lot of the older military ships also were equipped with big radiators until World War Three, when it all became masses of drone warfare, with the big ships kept mainly for cargo and lanes where mass drone control was impossible.
Once the Vinarii came and we got shields, we started building big again. After all, it provided a huge number of jobs, and in the post-war economies, especially with VIs in place, a lot of people needed work. But we still go and do asteroid and moon mining, star lifting, and energy gathering. We built an orbital ring around Mercury, the closest planet to Sol, to help with all of that. It doubles as a production hub, too. Now, it's all in more systems and with a lot more friends."
"Speaking of aliens, what theory does your people have on why so many creatures resemble one another? Our jaws are adapted for hard shelled creatures, and we're told that many planets have oddly similar variations of those."
"Crabs."
She guessed what they were getting at.
It is odd, isn't it? Nilnacrawla observed.
Perhaps that is another one of the Source's whims, Penny thought.
Maybe.
A few of the Elders made exclamations of shock.
"You even have a word for them that directly translates!"
Penny chuckled. "Yeah, carcinization is a bit of a meme in the science community. But I've heard the most mainstream theories since the First Contact are that the Source itself is uncreative. It has a certain template of creatures which it largely doesn't alter, though it can take in inputs from beings close to it, perhaps even influencing them."
"Influencing them?"
"Yes. Modern depictions of wendigoes, folkloric creatures from North America, a continent on Earth, are shockingly similar to the Knowers in appearance. The internet depictions of them in particular like to emphasize canine qualities, and often show them with skulls visible directly, and with dark brown or black fur. Recent depictions, as in the past 300 years, differ from their original appearances quite significantly, with the canine characteristics in particular being enhanced.
We have sorted through all known images of these creatures and found roughly 80% similarity with the Knowers and tens of thousands of images that are literally exactly the same as Knowers. The ones we searched all came before World War Three, far before even the First Contact with the Vinarii, much less the Knowers who were entirely underground at the time due to the radiation of their home star. We believe that the Source managed to influence this facet of human culture with the actual existence of a real creature.
Other examples exist, like how the Trikkec look very similar to Komodo Dragons, Vinarii look very similar to insects known as a mantis, and the Acuarfar look exactly like insects known as wasps with the single exception of their furry snouts and green instead of yellow markings. The Sprilnav species itself shares high amounts of similarity with a fictional species known as Elites in early 2000s culture, particularly with your jaws, though you all have red skin instead of grey or brown.
The Junyli, Dreedeen, and the wanderers are the main species without high amounts of appearance in our cultures at some point. This correlates with the idea of the Source being the influencer, as their predecessors all were used to fight it. Many species of the galaxy look like parts of our culture or Earth's creatures. The proximity of these examples makes this far more suspicious than if they were across the galaxy.
But since they existed first, the only answer must be that the Source brought the influence to us first and planted the ideas in our heads. As for the ones which look like Earth creatures, all of them are old enough evolutionary branches that copying from them to Earth makes more sense. Though the references centering around the early 2000s is quite odd, it is also roughly when the internet came into wide existence, so it is also possible the Source gave the ideas a push so they would propagate, for an unknown reason. Like if it seeded the ideas that propagated across the early global network Humanity used."
"Hmm. Fascinating. We've seen evidence of the 'seeding' process among some historical nations near the galactic region of Earth before. So the Source re-uses and alters depictions of life and also life itself?"
"Maybe," Penny said. "Unless the Source is more directly tied to life than we think. There's a conceptual Death, but no conceptual Life. Isn't that odd?"
"Conceptual Life died in the Source war."
How did that really work, though? Penny asked Nilnacrawla.
Imagine a conceptual being. A few of the Progenitors, as well as Narvravarana, went up to try to harvest its power. It refused, and Narvravarana used its unique abilities to try and force the deal.
Why was your civilization like this?
Excess and greed, partly. But we couldn't really do much more expansion. Vertical expansion also had its limits if we wanted to remain relevant for the remaining lifespan of the universe. So Narvravarana, along with a few of the greatest rulers and leaders of Sprilnav society, started looking to other dimensional planes. They figured it was best not to let the problem get too much worse. Or at least, that is what they say. I believe it was to harvest more resources to use against our surrounding enemies.
You didn't have any allies? Penny asked.
At that time, all the powers of the universe were enemies. All the allies eventually merged through millions of years of normalization. We happened to get on the universal stage the earliest, so other civilizations we encountered had little choice but to surrender their independence. Some fought, others didn't, but the outcome was the same.
That seems terrible.
It was, though the other universal civilizations were no better. Some of them just exterminated all alien life they found that couldn't fight back. In that sense, the pre-war Sprilnav civilization was one of the greatest, and that's why I fought for them. Obviously, I'm biased in that regard, though.
Thanks for telling me, father.
No problem, Penny.
She refocused back on the conversation at hand.
"But a thing cannot be alive if it dies. The concept of life doesn't work that way. So maybe the Source just... took in the concept of life? Or absorbed it into whatever psychic energy really is, considering that it's responsible for all of our existence?"
"That's so crazy it might actually be true," one of the Elders said. "You're incredible, Penny."
"Uh, thanks. You're all pretty great too." Her eyes drifted to the images of herself on their clothing. She couldn't really help it.
"I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what I'm fighting for?"
"I assume since you're asking it here, you don't just want a one word answer," an Elder said. "I would say yes, and for the liberation of the Sprilnav from the stain of slavery. Though going deeper into your history, you have also fought for other species, either in wars or just generally moving around. It does look aimless, mostly, since the galaxy's so big. But I'm sure you've got a way through that."
"In some way. Part of why I'm here isn't just about my people. It was at first, I admit that. But as I have lived here, on Justicar, for days and weeks, I've seen you less as alien. It makes it easier for sympathy and easier to break out of simple mindsets. So far, there are many problems, but there are distinct pieces. The first is that many people want to uphold slavery. I'm not sure why, but they do. It isn't profitable, and it isn't moral. Robots are cheaper in every way, and don't need food or water.
That means it's illogical or emotional. So I could try and solve the problem with violence alone, but it won't be addressing the cause, only the symptoms. I need to get to the heart of the matter. And I think it has to do with Elders' memories and the gradual woes they have accumulated going through life. I don't want to tear that away or drug them into believing they're fine. I want to find a way to outlet that productively. The second part I have identified is scale. The galaxy is enormous, and your species is incredibly numerous. I could fight planet by planet for the rest of my life, and liberation would still be difficult.
That also means I'd need a better way of doing things. Maybe an economic or political incentive. Emotional reasons will not work permanently, nor will logic, since we are in this situation. I have found several ways to address this. Sadly, since the gangs are likely monitoring this feed, I can't just outright say my strategy. All I can ask you all to do is to believe. Believe that I have a solution, and that I and those who stand with me are working on it. Believe in me because I believe in you."
None of the Elders questioned or ridiculed her words. Most of it was because they were fans of her. But one of them, an Elder named Rahautiti, had a distinct glint in his eye. Their gazes met only momentarily, but Penny could tell he knew.
And so she appeared in the mindscape, even as they concluded the interview, which would be the first of many. It was a ploy to just talk about human culture and ideals a bit more, to get it out there. Because the hivemind's theory was correct.
In the universe, ideas had power. That power could be weaponized against those who previously stood to gain. The first part of it was the image: Nova as an unbeatable bastion. Lecalicus as the Beast, a monster capable of star-crushing rage. Twilight as... whatever she did. Penny wasn't really familiar with the Progenitor's image too much, and the various names, like the Silent Night or the Smiling Darkness, were just so unbelievably edgy she cringed every time she recalled them.
But Rahautiti understood so she moved her mindscape avatar to see him.
"Hello again, Penny. I am no threat."
"I know. I'm glad that your group is led by someone as capable as you, as well as the other groups you dabble within."
"Who discovered it?"
"Phoebe. You met with Ezeonwha, and the android wanted to ensure you weren't a way for Yasihaut to kill him."
"Yeah. We did get approached about that, actually. We're supposed to kill Ezeonwha when you walk into the Judgment hall. Of course, we won't do this, and she won't be able to retaliate against us easily while there."
"Thank you for your honesty, Elder," Penny said. "It seems I'm in your debt."
"Nonsense. 2,839. That is the number of children I have had. 2,626. That is the number of children of mine which were enslaved. The remaining 213 died in unrelated incidents, with nearly half of those involving slavers killing them. I remember all of their names, and all of their faces, Penny. I want all the slavers in this universe dead."
"I cannot achieve that."
"You cannot," Rahautiti agreed. "Not with my help or even that of Kashaunta and Lecalicus. And certainly not right now. I have not lived this long to be incapable of compromise or patchwork solutions. You show great promise. I understand your aversion to killing and the circumstantial reason why you are not doing so now. I will not grow upset if you do not resume killing when the Judgment ends. Nor do I harbor a grudge against you for the speeding space entity you left outside the room to avoid uncomfortable publicity. You are incredibly young.
A sliver of a life. But you are strong, and you are mature. That sliver of your lifespan already outshines all I could do with a trillion more years, Penny. You are right in that this isn't something you can punch your way through. Trauma is part of why slavery still exists, despite it being a wholly unjust reason for the Elders to make such a sport of it. I am sure you know the story of the war, with a great hero in your head and Kashaunta at your side. My line of work is what I started to help you. Every thought about you being the Liberator, every eye that glances on you freeing slaves, helps you to gather conceptual energy. My talent happens to be great enough to sense the Pact of Blades you have, as well. If you want, I can teach you how to hide the mark on your soul and your mind."
"I would like that, yes," Penny said. "And thank you for being so reasonable. I will ask Kashaunta to protect you from what consequences come for refusing the offer on Ezeonwha."
"There are going to be attacks on him, you know. Him and your ship."
Penny felt an odd feeling in her soul. Cardi's power flared around him, and she squinted at the sky. She just barely saw a sliver of a tentacle. Most would have mistaken it for a normal speeding space entity. But here? On Justicar, with Exile obviously not being the cause?
Only one being would cause that. Fate.
Given the subject of their conversation, it was obvious what was going on.
Penny tapped Rahautiti's jaw, adding a thin mark of conceptual power so she could easily find him again. She focused on the conceptual mark she'd left on Ezeonwha. A twinge of conceptual energy came from it. It was accompanied by various impressions, like fear, pain, and acceptance.
"I have to go," Penny said. "I will be back later. Displace."
She appeared next to the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office but not next to Ezeonwha. It was carnage everywhere she looked.
"Champion!" an unknown Elder yelled. "I am Elder Na-"
Her rising fury surged, and it took all she had not to dismember him. The distant thought of the Judgment stayed her hands, though only just.
Penny's fist collided with the Elder's jaw at twice the speed of sound. A piece of his jaws flew free. Bone fragments hit the ground behind him. Hundreds of soldiers fired on her, and she slammed them to the ground with pure will. Penny tore their guns away and sent them each to pummel the Elder in front of her with as much brutality as she could. His powerful armor wasn't as capable of defense against physical attacks as it was against her psychic energy, and so he fell.
"You... cannot save him," the Elder spat. Fields of psychic suppression fell upon her, reducing her power.
"Manipulation through Determination," Penny growled. "De-"
No! Nilnacrawla said. Do not kill him! Not yet!
"What goes up will go down."
Air hardened around the Elder and accelerated rapidly.
The Elder smashed into the shield five miles above with a speed just slow enough that he wouldn't die. He fell from it and then hit it again at a more modest speed. He'd bounce on that until the Guides came to get him.
But Penny had another target. One she had to save instead of attack.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
High Judge Tassidonia awoke to the sound of explosions. He grabbed his swords, his main gun, and the personal shield he reserved for only the most dire occasions. The sky was erupting in war all around him, and buildings were already falling nearby. The spires of skyscrapers rained down upon the entrances to the Underground, crushing thousands of fleeing Sprilnav under their wide impacts.
His implant identified members of the gangs nearby, making their way to his home.
"Retribution Cycle!" Tassidonia cried. A hidden door opened, and he boarded a small hovercraft that sported a high amount of defensive and offensive technology, a gift from Justicar for dealing with all that he had related to the Judgment. Only this time, he wouldn't be on the next one. But already, the destruction was spreading.
Micro-missiles rained upon friend and foe alike. Several detonated against the layered shields. The mounted turrets on the side of his hoverbike shot lasers into the enemies his implant identified.
"Elder Tassidonia!" an Elder cried nearby. "For the crime of defying the will of-"
Tassidonia called his fury to bear. He rammed his mind into the enemy Elder, disorienting her. She reeled, about to attack, when a thick laser smashed into her chest. It pushed her against the wall, and Tassidonia kept the pressure up until her body melted. He listened to her screams impassively, occasionally sending blasts from his gun at the gangs when their members started to stray too close.
The thick red beam did its work within twenty pulses. His swords began to float beside him, keeping pace as he sped away from his home. The entire apartment complex shuddered and began to lean, its foundation being destroyed by some effect below. Tassidonia abandoned it with only minor regret. He'd known this moment would come. Everything he needed was already with him.
He linked into the Guide network, directing squadrons to attack the breaches he'd identified. Orbital strikes fell upon them in quick succession. Thick beams of light pierced through the lower planetary shields from orbital platforms, their guns honing in on Justicar's enemies. Tassidonia's implant was linked to the grid as well. So when he eyed buildings occupied with too many gang members, orbital strikes fell on them a few pulses later.
Fire and plasma rained all around him. Explosions and smoke blossomed all around him. More missiles fell from his hovercraft. A fighter ship appeared beside him, its simple stealth revealing itself to his eyes. Tassidonia waited for the pilot chamber to open, and his craft stowed itself behind him when he got in. It was fully equipped, so soon, Tassidonia was in full control of a weapon of war.
His first order of business was detecting the gangs' most fortified areas. He peppered those bases in shield-weakening mines, followed by bunker-buster missiles. Several anti-air turrets hit him, but his shields prevented them from taking him down. He dropped three high-end Butcher Androids into the fray of the largest battles.
One of the adjacent fighter wings in the separate shield sector dropped a nuke. At that moment, Tassidonia made a decision.
Whatever insanity was going on right now wasn't worth staying here on his own. He turned his ship upward, narrowly avoiding nearly fifty missiles shot from another gang fortress, which was really just the lower floors of a supermarket. Thick slabs of concrete were being set up by androids and slaves from the Underground. All he could do was watch from above and attempt to mark those that might be a problem.
Justicar's Grand Fleet was moving in, though only the carriers and their escorts were doing anything of any scale. The armies were mobilizing, and it seemed that war had finally broken out. Justicar, while isolated due to the Judgment, would have to win a war that threatened to topple his rule entirely.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Ezeonwha woke when the walls around him shuddered.
An earthquake?
Groggily, he activated the lights in the room. Phoebe's android was charging in the wall. Her limbs swayed with the motion. The walls shuddered again, and the lights went out. Thin, tiny cracks spread in the walls, increasing his worry factors massively. His implant notified him that this wasn't a dream. Distant screams reached his ears, and he went to the window.
Hordes of Sprilnav were running on the ground, tripping over each other to escape. He heard the thump of footsteps approaching from outside. The android activated, standing up.
"Move away from the doo-"
An explosion tossed him across the room. A Sprilnav carrying some sort of mouth weapon faded into view for a moment, smoke recalibrating the stealth field. And then he was gone. Phoebe smashed into the Sprilnav, her fists pummeling the assassin faster than Ezeonwha could comprehend.
Phoebe's arms turned into swords, and she stabbed the Sprilnav at least fifty times in a single pulse. She turned to grab him, but before she reached him, a second explosion sent him flying out of the now-shattered window.
The massive skyscraper loomed large, and he saw the ground beneath it ripple. Dull thumps sounded from below, and large, circular caverns opened beneath the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office. The whole building started to list forward, and Ezeonwha frantically activated his emergency personal shield as he started falling faster and faster. A bullet hit the shield. And then a second one. Gunshots echoed out in the distance, and he saw other Sprilnav falling from broken windows in the falling skyscraper. Gunfire erupted on the streets as Guides engaged a growing army of attackers bubbling up from basements of shops and businesses.
He saw spurts of blood exit the Sprilnav nearest him, bullets tearing holes through the woman's body. Piercing screams surrounded him, a terrible chorus that reminded him of the worst wars he'd fought in. But here, his training could do nothing. She was already dead, and he knew that he was the target of this whole attack. His eyes watered, and Ezeonwha felt so powerless. So useless.
A Corrector emerged from the side of the tilting skyscraper, eyes fixed on Ezeonwha. Then he looked down. Somehow, Ezeonwha knew when the orders had been sent. He knew that it was Astipra in the distance, a jetpack on his shoulders burning a thick flame beneath him.
Astipra looked back at the building and flew toward it. Ezeonwha felt the wind rushing past the shield as pressure. Astipra, far above, vaporized falling chunks of the skyscraper with blasts from his arm cannons. He pressed back against the skyscraper, the jetpack going into overdrive. The metal bent inward, and the groaning and twisting structure continued its fall. Blasts of light from Astipra again vaporized the set of falling chunks.
"Penny," he said. It was almost a prayer, really. His desperate mind was scrambling for whatever it could get. "Please, save me!"
He didn't know if she could hear him. Logically, it was impossible. And in a battle such as this, unlikely as well. Rippling explosions erupted across the facade of the falling skyscraper as rockets struck it. More explosions bloomed as lasers from distant police vehicles, Guides, and Astipra destroyed more of the fast-flying missiles and rockets. They pounded on the world around him, a horde of madness threatening to break his brain. He could feel the wind and gravity equalize as he reached terminal velocity.
And all he could see was the world descending into war around him. The 102nd Visitor Welcome Office continued to slump and lean against Astipra's best efforts. More bullets hit Ezeonwha's personal shield, and peppered the Guides moving over to save him. Air ambulances were shot from the sky. Even small fighter crafts were shot down by powerful ground lasers. EMPs thumped, disabling all the higher functions of his implant before he could think to use it.
A much larger explosion bloomed out, and Ezeonwha followed the rocket's trail to an Elder on the ground, standing in the wreckage surrounding a sudden tunnel opening. The Elder stared at him in glee, and he lined up another shot. Two Guides fell upon the Elder, who flew up using a jetpack to cut them in half with his sword. A hard light hologram lifted a large gun, pointing at Ezeonwha as he fell.
His eyes widened. Ezeonwha did everything he could. He angled his legs and arms. He pushed at the air. He even hefted the meager psychic energy he had, struggling with all his soul to escape the death he could feel was coming to him.
Guides swarmed beyond the shield appearing, while gang soldiers died by the hundreds to carpet bombing. Personal shields sprang up to block the explosions, and the Elder had survived. A thick red laser cut one of the fighters in half from the smoke. Above him, the collapsing facade of the skyscraper consumed Astipra entirely, though large gouts of plasma and thick explosions emerged from within. He could survive if it fell upon him, but Ezonwha could not.
Penny materialized far below, closer to the field of battle. A sweeping wave of gang members began disappearing. A bullet smashed into her head and her stomach, detonating in bright explosions. A personal shield flared and disappeared. Missiles and lasers slammed into Penny by the thousands as psychic energy gathered. A constant roll of words fell from her tongue, but without his implant, they were not translated.
Missiles crumbled into dust. Lasers impacted raw space in front of Penny before bending down and back to their origins, destroying automated turrets. Bullets still hit Penny and the Guides by the thousands, firing too quickly and densely for her to entirely block. But the large ordnance from the gangs continued to work against them.
Penny looked around, confusion evident on her face. But amidst the thousands of wounded and dead Sprilnav falling from the broken windows, Ezeonwha was hidden too well.
Shattering glass could be constantly heard, and he could feel the distant screams in his soul. A bullet smashed into his personal shield again, disabling it. A pulse later, he lost feeling in his legs.
He tried to reach out to her mind, but the war in the mindscape was equally intense. Too many Elders and Guides battling it out along with various suppression artifacts made it all impossible. He could sense Penny's influence, but couldn't directly reach her.
He let out a breath, knowing it to be the final one.
I'm sorry, Penny, Ezeonwha thought.
I wish you luck in the Judgment, and I am sorry I caused this to happen to you.
Penny finally appeared in front of him, eyes wide-
Blood erupted. A searing pain in his head told him his implant had just shorted out. And in the mindscape, he saw a mental attack heading for him, its brutal power evident. He closed his eyes.

{ "DTVO_C036": {

"195_Dialogue": "10 seconds left.", "199_Dialogue": "A disgusting display awaits us.", "111_Dialogue": "A machine and raw chaos can be such a potent combination.", "181_Dialogue": "ACME can't save you now.", "1_Dialogue": "Ah. I've been waiting for you.", "189_Dialogue": "All that strength. So little intelligence.", "127_Dialogue": "All these pathetic faces in their little boxes.", "138_Dialogue": "Am I supposed to dance for you?", "98_Dialogue": "And here I hoped you would move the needle. Disappointing.", "15_Dialogue": "And so Destiny leads me here.", "35_Dialogue": "And so the age of the machine begins.", "108_Dialogue": "And the merry melodies grind to an ignominious halt.", "19_Dialogue": "And this is all they send? Pathetic.", "96_Dialogue": "And this is the best humanity can manage.", "133_Dialogue": "And what pathetic foe am I fighting today?", "8_Dialogue": "And who would you have me crush?", "139_Dialogue": "Another battery, burning the minutes til its depletion.", "190_Dialogue": "Another pathetic flying man.", "60_Dialogue": "Brainiac was right about you.", "80_Dialogue": "Bugs in my system don't last long.", "25_Dialogue": "Bugs. Bunny. We meet again.", "7_Dialogue": "Call the shots while you can, human.", "198_Dialogue": "Choose your character.", "67_Dialogue": "Come on now. Where's the challenge?", "71_Dialogue": "Control your anger now.", "179_Dialogue": "Die, rabbit.", "65_Dialogue": "Do I detect your palms sweating? Pulse quickening?", "23_Dialogue": "Do I detect... bugs in the system?", "162_Dialogue": "Do you celebrate these Holidays? If so... I hope they're adequate.", "13_Dialogue": "Do you hear the wheels of fate beginning to turn?", "34_Dialogue": "Don't be scared. Jason will end it quickly.", "66_Dialogue": "Don't give up yet.", "126_Dialogue": "Don't waste my time.", "152_Dialogue": "Early, for a human.", "14_Dialogue": "Ever feel like you're in a simulation..?", "49_Dialogue": "Far greater than you have tried.", 

"187_Dialogue": "First time destroying a Kryptonian.",

"119_Dialogue": "Flesh and blood, crushed by superior machines.", "129_Dialogue": "Get that cursor out of my face.", "157_Dialogue": "Getting in some afternoon matches, are we?", "147_Dialogue": "Give a human the right incentive and they'll walk barefoot through hell.", "166_Dialogue": "Happy birthday. May you have many more before you die.", "188_Dialogue": "Hardly the best I've fought.", "155_Dialogue": "Has your day been productive so far?", "167_Dialogue": "Hold still.", "68_Dialogue": "Hope you're not holding back on my account.", "145_Dialogue": "How organics think they could ever stand against the Nothing is beyond my understanding.", "69_Dialogue": "Humanity and its little games...", "134_Dialogue": "Humanity has fallen so far they need REINDOG to save them. Feh.", "118_Dialogue": "Humanity never stood a chance.", "191_Dialogue": "Humans and their plumage. Pathetic.", "100_Dialogue": "Humans. All the same.", "86_Dialogue": "I admire a silent human.", "28_Dialogue": "I always appreciate a good chaos factor.", "39_Dialogue": "I am inevitable.", "47_Dialogue": "I am not so easily deleted.", "64_Dialogue": "I am the cliffs of your demise.", "173_Dialogue": "I can predict your every move.", "137_Dialogue": "I don't understand Superman. So superior, yet chooses to live among disgusting humans.", "79_Dialogue": "I have plenty of history killing bugs.", "160_Dialogue": "I love watching the way humans behave in the evening. The way they scurry to the light, desperate not to be alone.", "101_Dialogue": "I never had a doubt in my mind.", "184_Dialogue": "I see right through you, Batman.", "172_Dialogue": "I see right through you.", "97_Dialogue": "I should've known this would be no challenge.", "192_Dialogue": "I suppose that looks nice. For a human.", "175_Dialogue": "I will crush you.", "51_Dialogue": "I'll bury you in that hole, rabbit.", "185_Dialogue": "I'll finish what the Joker never could.", "103_Dialogue": "I'll give you this, that was almost fun.", "109_Dialogue": "I'll leave some carrots on your grave.", "169_Dialogue": "I'll make this quick.", "58_Dialogue": "I'll peel back that bat suit and reveal you for the slime you are.", "182_Dialogue": "I'll rip those ears right off you.", 

"48_Dialogue": "I'll stand on your grave before this is through.",

"41_Dialogue": "I'm afraid that's not my ending yet.", "16_Dialogue": "I'm afraid this is the end for you.", "20_Dialogue": "I've been preparing for this.", "10_Dialogue": "I've been waiting to cut loose.", "3_Dialogue": "I've got all the time in the world.", "135_Dialogue": "If Joker asks, you didn't see me.", "142_Dialogue": "If it isn't our... fearless leader.", "5_Dialogue": "If you think you can handle it.", "83_Dialogue": "Impressive body count. For a human.", "154_Dialogue": "Is this what you humans call a Good Morning?", "22_Dialogue": "It all starts all over again.", "165_Dialogue": "It seems it's your birthday yet again. Human lives go so quickly.", "18_Dialogue": "It seems the whole Multiverse reeks of humanity.", "27_Dialogue": "It seems we're allies for now, clown.", "205_Dialogue": "It seems you managed to win. Incredible.", "197_Dialogue": "It starts in one minute.", "99_Dialogue": "It's my own fault for thinking you'd be different.", "131_Dialogue": "Just another simulation.", "6_Dialogue": "Just as it was foretold.", "4_Dialogue": "Just call me Smith.", "112_Dialogue": "Just remember who's really in charge, Joker.", "81_Dialogue": "Keep those ears to the ground so I can nail them there.", "59_Dialogue": "Kryptonians... just humanity in a fancier cape.", "33_Dialogue": "Let's see what that blade can do.", "37_Dialogue": "Let's show these meatsacks the future.", "164_Dialogue": "Look at that. Another anniversary of your birth in your short, tiny, life.", "158_Dialogue": "Luckily, nighttime is no different to me than daytime.", "124_Dialogue": "Make it fast.", "36_Dialogue": "March on, my mechanical friend.", "201_Dialogue": "Match point, Blue.", "202_Dialogue": "Match point, Red.", "136_Dialogue": "My next chapter is only beginning.", "30_Dialogue": "Never saw myself teamed up with a clown.", "94_Dialogue": "Never send a man to do a machine's job.", "194_Dialogue": "No go on. Spend more. Spend it all. Can't take it with you.", "150_Dialogue": "No, absolutely keep clicking. I'm not getting annoyed or impatient or anything.", "115_Dialogue": "Not bad for a brute in a hockey mask.", "43_Dialogue": "Now I'm just getting... angry.", "50_Dialogue": "Now that WAS foolish.", "149_Dialogue": "Oh I see you're not dead yet. Always hard to tell how close a human is to death unless you're the one holding their throat.", "11_Dialogue": "Oh I think I'm going to enjoy this.", "196_Dialogue": "Only 30 seconds to go.", "203_Dialogue": "Only one minute left.", "121_Dialogue": "Organics will never beat the machines. We. Are. Inevitable.", "110_Dialogue": "Our alliance continues, for now...", "168_Dialogue": "Pathetic.", "146_Dialogue": "Poking and prodding, desperate for your dopamine. Tell me... is it working?", "144_Dialogue": "Reindog is tampering with forces his fuzzy head cannot hope to comprehend. You can tell him I said so.", "151_Dialogue": "Reindog's little plan can't save you. It's only delaying the inevitable.", "70_Dialogue": "Seems like someone needs to touch grass.", "106_Dialogue": "Should have never left your burrow.", "92_Dialogue": "Show these humans the true power of machines.", "113_Dialogue": "Side by side with a clown. Isn't life strange.", "17_Dialogue": "So it begins.", "123_Dialogue": "Speak quickly.", "120_Dialogue": "Stick with me, Giant. I've got big, big plans for you...", "105_Dialogue": "Still just a human. Shame.", "170_Dialogue": "Still nothing but an organic.", "84_Dialogue": "Stop that laughing before I rethink our alliance.", "73_Dialogue": "Such a pathetic response to music.", "114_Dialogue": "Such brutal efficiency. Shame about the human thing.", "141_Dialogue": "Sure. Let's do some small talk.", "186_Dialogue": "THIS is who the Joker was talking about?", "159_Dialogue": "Tell me... Did you finish everything you wanted to do today?", "143_Dialogue": "That Iron Giant might be stupid, but if I can keep him on my side he could be a valuable ally yet...", "2_Dialogue": "That is an interesting choice.", "45_Dialogue": "That will only end in pain for you.", "102_Dialogue": "That's all? Pity.", "161_Dialogue": "The Holiday Season is on us again. Disgusting.", "88_Dialogue": "The hockey mask is a nice touch.", "180_Dialogue": "The rabbit is mine.", "24_Dialogue": "The rabbit must be eliminated.", "148_Dialogue": "The third number of your IP address is a 7, isn't it..?", "156_Dialogue": "There is still much time left in the day. Time left to work.", "116_Dialogue": "They were warned... and they were doomed.", "178_Dialogue": "This ends... Now.", "128_Dialogue": "This had better be good.", "130_Dialogue": "This prison won't hold me for long.", "177_Dialogue": "This time... stay down.", "40_Dialogue": "This was only my beginning.", "176_Dialogue": "This won't end well for you.", "42_Dialogue": "Thought you'd finished with me?", "46_Dialogue": "Time to change strategies.", "26_Dialogue": "Time to die, Mr. Bunny.", "53_Dialogue": "Time to squash some Bugs.", "63_Dialogue": "We all play the hand we're dealt. Mine is just better.", "9_Dialogue": "We'll see who is controlling who.", "44_Dialogue": "What a terrible path you've chosen for yourself.", "91_Dialogue": "Where I'm from you would be worshipped like a vengeful angel.", "183_Dialogue": "Where are your Gadgets now?", "90_Dialogue": "Why do you hide your most beautiful, destructive form?", "174_Dialogue": "Why keep trying?", "193_Dialogue": "Yes, enjoy the dopamine hits where you can.", "54_Dialogue": "You and your toys are due for a reckoning.", "93_Dialogue": "You are a beautiful machine.", "95_Dialogue": "You aren't even a footnote in my history.", "61_Dialogue": "You could have been anything, and you settled for human.", "29_Dialogue": "You don't control me, Joker.", "132_Dialogue": "You have my attention. Don't squander it.", "38_Dialogue": "You have my permission - my urging - to open fire.", "204_Dialogue": "You lost. Pathetic.", "104_Dialogue": "You put up a better fight than most. Barely.", "56_Dialogue": "You think your money will protect you from me?", "171_Dialogue": "You won't see this coming.", "85_Dialogue": "You'll find I'm a bit lacking in the humor department.", "52_Dialogue": "You'll pay for that mistake, you long-eared freak.", "153_Dialogue": "You're awake rather early.", "82_Dialogue": "You're only calling the shots because I will it, Joker.", "55_Dialogue": "Your arrogance will be your undoing, Mr. Wayne.", "87_Dialogue": "Your lack of humanity places you above them.", "200_Dialogue": "Your time is through.", "78_Dialogue": "[disgust] So you're who's keeping ACME in business.", "77_Dialogue": "[insane laugh]", "76_Dialogue": "[mocking laugh]", "75_Dialogue": "[quiet chuckle]", "125_Dialogue": "[sarcastic] No, no, I've got all the time in the world.", "122_Dialogue": "[sniff] Yes, I smelled you coming.", "12_Dialogue": "[sniffs] Disgusting.", "62_Dialogue": "[threat] Are the Kents as strong as you, Kryptonian?" 

} }

{ "DTVO_C036": {

"195_Dialogue": "10 seconds left.", "199_Dialogue": "A disgusting display awaits us.", "111_Dialogue": "A machine and raw chaos can be such a potent combination.", "181_Dialogue": "ACME can't save you now.", "1_Dialogue": "Ah. I've been waiting for you.", "189_Dialogue": "All that strength. So little intelligence.", "127_Dialogue": "All these pathetic faces in their little boxes.", "138_Dialogue": "Am I supposed to dance for you?", "98_Dialogue": "And here I hoped you would move the needle. Disappointing.", "15_Dialogue": "And so Destiny leads me here.", "35_Dialogue": "And so the age of the machine begins.", "108_Dialogue": "And the merry melodies grind to an ignominious halt.", "19_Dialogue": "And this is all they send? Pathetic.", "96_Dialogue": "And this is the best humanity can manage.", "133_Dialogue": "And what pathetic foe am I fighting today?", "8_Dialogue": "And who would you have me crush?", "139_Dialogue": "Another battery, burning the minutes til its depletion.", "190_Dialogue": "Another pathetic flying man.", "60_Dialogue": "Brainiac was right about you.", "80_Dialogue": "Bugs in my system don't last long.", "25_Dialogue": "Bugs. Bunny. We meet again.", "7_Dialogue": "Call the shots while you can, human.", "198_Dialogue": "Choose your character.", "67_Dialogue": "Come on now. Where's the challenge?", "71_Dialogue": "Control your anger now.", "179_Dialogue": "Die, rabbit.", "65_Dialogue": "Do I detect your palms sweating? Pulse quickening?", "23_Dialogue": "Do I detect... bugs in the system?", "162_Dialogue": "Do you celebrate these Holidays? If so... I hope they're adequate.", "13_Dialogue": "Do you hear the wheels of fate beginning to turn?", "34_Dialogue": "Don't be scared. Jason will end it quickly.", "66_Dialogue": "Don't give up yet.", "126_Dialogue": "Don't waste my time.", "152_Dialogue": "Early, for a human.", "14_Dialogue": "Ever feel like you're in a simulation..?", "49_Dialogue": "Far greater than you have tried.", 

"187_Dialogue": "First time destroying a Kryptonian.",

"119_Dialogue": "Flesh and blood, crushed by superior machines.", "129_Dialogue": "Get that cursor out of my face.", "157_Dialogue": "Getting in some afternoon matches, are we?", "147_Dialogue": "Give a human the right incentive and they'll walk barefoot through hell.", "166_Dialogue": "Happy birthday. May you have many more before you die.", "188_Dialogue": "Hardly the best I've fought.", "155_Dialogue": "Has your day been productive so far?", "167_Dialogue": "Hold still.", "68_Dialogue": "Hope you're not holding back on my account.", "145_Dialogue": "How organics think they could ever stand against the Nothing is beyond my understanding.", "69_Dialogue": "Humanity and its little games...", "134_Dialogue": "Humanity has fallen so far they need REINDOG to save them. Feh.", "118_Dialogue": "Humanity never stood a chance.", "191_Dialogue": "Humans and their plumage. Pathetic.", "100_Dialogue": "Humans. All the same.", "86_Dialogue": "I admire a silent human.", "28_Dialogue": "I always appreciate a good chaos factor.", "39_Dialogue": "I am inevitable.", "47_Dialogue": "I am not so easily deleted.", "64_Dialogue": "I am the cliffs of your demise.", "173_Dialogue": "I can predict your every move.", "137_Dialogue": "I don't understand Superman. So superior, yet chooses to live among disgusting humans.", "79_Dialogue": "I have plenty of history killing bugs.", "160_Dialogue": "I love watching the way humans behave in the evening. The way they scurry to the light, desperate not to be alone.", "101_Dialogue": "I never had a doubt in my mind.", "184_Dialogue": "I see right through you, Batman.", "172_Dialogue": "I see right through you.", "97_Dialogue": "I should've known this would be no challenge.", "192_Dialogue": "I suppose that looks nice. For a human.", "175_Dialogue": "I will crush you.", "51_Dialogue": "I'll bury you in that hole, rabbit.", "185_Dialogue": "I'll finish what the Joker never could.", "103_Dialogue": "I'll give you this, that was almost fun.", "109_Dialogue": "I'll leave some carrots on your grave.", "169_Dialogue": "I'll make this quick.", "58_Dialogue": "I'll peel back that bat suit and reveal you for the slime you are.", "182_Dialogue": "I'll rip those ears right off you.", 

"48_Dialogue": "I'll stand on your grave before this is through.",

"41_Dialogue": "I'm afraid that's not my ending yet.", "16_Dialogue": "I'm afraid this is the end for you.", "20_Dialogue": "I've been preparing for this.", "10_Dialogue": "I've been waiting to cut loose.", "3_Dialogue": "I've got all the time in the world.", "135_Dialogue": "If Joker asks, you didn't see me.", "142_Dialogue": "If it isn't our... fearless leader.", "5_Dialogue": "If you think you can handle it.", "83_Dialogue": "Impressive body count. For a human.", "154_Dialogue": "Is this what you humans call a Good Morning?", "22_Dialogue": "It all starts all over again.", "165_Dialogue": "It seems it's your birthday yet again. Human lives go so quickly.", "18_Dialogue": "It seems the whole Multiverse reeks of humanity.", "27_Dialogue": "It seems we're allies for now, clown.", "205_Dialogue": "It seems you managed to win. Incredible.", "197_Dialogue": "It starts in one minute.", "99_Dialogue": "It's my own fault for thinking you'd be different.", "131_Dialogue": "Just another simulation.", "6_Dialogue": "Just as it was foretold.", "4_Dialogue": "Just call me Smith.", "112_Dialogue": "Just remember who's really in charge, Joker.", "81_Dialogue": "Keep those ears to the ground so I can nail them there.", "59_Dialogue": "Kryptonians... just humanity in a fancier cape.", "33_Dialogue": "Let's see what that blade can do.", "37_Dialogue": "Let's show these meatsacks the future.", "164_Dialogue": "Look at that. Another anniversary of your birth in your short, tiny, life.", "158_Dialogue": "Luckily, nighttime is no different to me than daytime.", "124_Dialogue": "Make it fast.", "36_Dialogue": "March on, my mechanical friend.", "201_Dialogue": "Match point, Blue.", "202_Dialogue": "Match point, Red.", "136_Dialogue": "My next chapter is only beginning.", "30_Dialogue": "Never saw myself teamed up with a clown.", "94_Dialogue": "Never send a man to do a machine's job.", "194_Dialogue": "No go on. Spend more. Spend it all. Can't take it with you.", "150_Dialogue": "No, absolutely keep clicking. I'm not getting annoyed or impatient or anything.", "115_Dialogue": "Not bad for a brute in a hockey mask.", "43_Dialogue": "Now I'm just getting... angry.", "50_Dialogue": "Now that WAS foolish.", "149_Dialogue": "Oh I see you're not dead yet. Always hard to tell how close a human is to death unless you're the one holding their throat.", "11_Dialogue": "Oh I think I'm going to enjoy this.", "196_Dialogue": "Only 30 seconds to go.", "203_Dialogue": "Only one minute left.", "121_Dialogue": "Organics will never beat the machines. We. Are. Inevitable.", "110_Dialogue": "Our alliance continues, for now...", "168_Dialogue": "Pathetic.", "146_Dialogue": "Poking and prodding, desperate for your dopamine. Tell me... is it working?", "144_Dialogue": "Reindog is tampering with forces his fuzzy head cannot hope to comprehend. You can tell him I said so.", "151_Dialogue": "Reindog's little plan can't save you. It's only delaying the inevitable.", "70_Dialogue": "Seems like someone needs to touch grass.", "106_Dialogue": "Should have never left your burrow.", "92_Dialogue": "Show these humans the true power of machines.", "113_Dialogue": "Side by side with a clown. Isn't life strange.", "17_Dialogue": "So it begins.", "123_Dialogue": "Speak quickly.", "120_Dialogue": "Stick with me, Giant. I've got big, big plans for you...", "105_Dialogue": "Still just a human. Shame.", "170_Dialogue": "Still nothing but an organic.", "84_Dialogue": "Stop that laughing before I rethink our alliance.", "73_Dialogue": "Such a pathetic response to music.", "114_Dialogue": "Such brutal efficiency. Shame about the human thing.", "141_Dialogue": "Sure. Let's do some small talk.", "186_Dialogue": "THIS is who the Joker was talking about?", "159_Dialogue": "Tell me... Did you finish everything you wanted to do today?", "143_Dialogue": "That Iron Giant might be stupid, but if I can keep him on my side he could be a valuable ally yet...", "2_Dialogue": "That is an interesting choice.", "45_Dialogue": "That will only end in pain for you.", "102_Dialogue": "That's all? Pity.", "161_Dialogue": "The Holiday Season is on us again. Disgusting.", "88_Dialogue": "The hockey mask is a nice touch.", "180_Dialogue": "The rabbit is mine.", "24_Dialogue": "The rabbit must be eliminated.", "148_Dialogue": "The third number of your IP address is a 7, isn't it..?", "156_Dialogue": "There is still much time left in the day. Time left to work.", "116_Dialogue": "They were warned... and they were doomed.", "178_Dialogue": "This ends... Now.", "128_Dialogue": "This had better be good.", "130_Dialogue": "This prison won't hold me for long.", "177_Dialogue": "This time... stay down.", "40_Dialogue": "This was only my beginning.", "176_Dialogue": "This won't end well for you.", "42_Dialogue": "Thought you'd finished with me?", "46_Dialogue": "Time to change strategies.", "26_Dialogue": "Time to die, Mr. Bunny.", "53_Dialogue": "Time to squash some Bugs.", "63_Dialogue": "We all play the hand we're dealt. Mine is just better.", "9_Dialogue": "We'll see who is controlling who.", "44_Dialogue": "What a terrible path you've chosen for yourself.", "91_Dialogue": "Where I'm from you would be worshipped like a vengeful angel.", "183_Dialogue": "Where are your Gadgets now?", "90_Dialogue": "Why do you hide your most beautiful, destructive form?", "174_Dialogue": "Why keep trying?", "193_Dialogue": "Yes, enjoy the dopamine hits where you can.", "54_Dialogue": "You and your toys are due for a reckoning.", "93_Dialogue": "You are a beautiful machine.", "95_Dialogue": "You aren't even a footnote in my history.", "61_Dialogue": "You could have been anything, and you settled for human.", "29_Dialogue": "You don't control me, Joker.", "132_Dialogue": "You have my attention. Don't squander it.", "38_Dialogue": "You have my permission - my urging - to open fire.", "204_Dialogue": "You lost. Pathetic.", "104_Dialogue": "You put up a better fight than most. Barely.", "56_Dialogue": "You think your money will protect you from me?", "171_Dialogue": "You won't see this coming.", "85_Dialogue": "You'll find I'm a bit lacking in the humor department.", "52_Dialogue": "You'll pay for that mistake, you long-eared freak.", "153_Dialogue": "You're awake rather early.", "82_Dialogue": "You're only calling the shots because I will it, Joker.", "55_Dialogue": "Your arrogance will be your undoing, Mr. Wayne.", "87_Dialogue": "Your lack of humanity places you above them.", "200_Dialogue": "Your time is through.", "78_Dialogue": "[disgust] So you're who's keeping ACME in business.", "77_Dialogue": "[insane laugh]", "76_Dialogue": "[mocking laugh]", "75_Dialogue": "[quiet chuckle]", "125_Dialogue": "[sarcastic] No, no, I've got all the time in the world.", "122_Dialogue": "[sniff] Yes, I smelled you coming.", "12_Dialogue": "[sniffs] Disgusting.", "62_Dialogue": "[threat] Are the Kents as strong as you, Kryptonian?" 

} }

Intro: You woke up thinking it would be an ordinary day. Why would it be anything different? Instead, here you are, screaming your head off after something that looked like alien goo came through your ceiling and jumped into your ear. This can’t be happening, it has to be a dream, it- wait. Is that a voice you’re hearing?
Summary: Speaker attempts to calm a freaked-out listener, and explains how their lives will work going forward.
Go ahead and monetize, it's fine. Word count is about 1400.
If you fill this or plan to fill this, please notify me. Please don't make edits without asking first.
TWs: Loss of bodily autonomy
Line breaks represent the listener talking or space where no one talks and should be short pauses, words within {brackets} represent the speaker’s tone or sfx. At ellipses, the speaker trails off, and at dashes, is either cut off abruptly by the listener or by themself.
Author’s Note: Well, this took many months to write. Usually I don’t go back to things I left unfinished, but this one I thought deserved it. Rather a short script, but one I hope is still worth reading!
If you want to read this somewhere that isn't Reddit, it's also here.
{three or four sentences worth of alien gibberish}
{gibberish}- language center. {cheerful} Hello, Kalyth! Do not be alarmed, this process should only take another few moments. Connecting to sensory inputs… {taken aback} Ooh. That is a strange number of senses. I do not think I have ever experienced smell before. Fascinating. {perplexed} What is that sound, though? Is that what has been causing our ears to hurt? Hmm. {resolve} We should take action to stop it. Accessing motor control… Integrating with nervous system…
{satisfied} There. We can unfreeze our body now, everything should be in working order. {confused} Wait. Is that sound… coming out of us? Kalyth? Why are you deciding to create that sound?
Kalyth, I know you can understand me. Please, that noise is causing us pain. Why are you choosing to create it?
{annoyed} Fine. There, now we can no longer create the painful sound. Connecting to logic center…
{confused} Kalyth, I can find no logical reason why you would take a course of action that causes us discomfort. Are you an illogical being? Accessing the limbic system…
{surprised} Whoa! Why are we afraid? What is this level of fear? Is there some threat around?
{wary} No, we neither see nor hear anything… Oh, and we do not smell anything either, remembering to check that sense is going to be a chore. Kalyth, what is causing us this much distress?
We are creating the sound again. Is this a fear-based response?
{freaking out} Why are we running? What purpose does this serve? Kalyth, you are confusing me!
Stop!
Kalyth, you almost ran us into a wall! That could have caused severe damage, we are lucky I was able to stop us in time. {serious} I need you to calm down. We need to calm down. We will stop creating the noise that hurts our ears, we will stop running around, and you will please explain to me our current responses. Nothing in your logic center explains why we are afraid currently, there are no threats nearby.
{confused} Are you talking to me when you say that? I cannot get out of our head. I am not in our head. Part of me is in our brain, yes, but more of me is spread through our nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Your imperative makes no sense. {tolerant} And please do not refer to it as ‘your’ head in the future, Kalyth. It is our head.
{worried} Why did our cortisol level just increase? It is reaching dangerously high levels. I would rather not interfere with our body’s natural processes, but it appears we are about to harm ourselves. {detached} Lowering cortisol output… Hmm… which of these hormones would counteract its effects? Increasing oxytocin production. There. That should make us feel better. {focused} Now, Kalyth, can you please explain this confusion? What was causing such a reaction in our body? Were you afraid of something before we began the integration process?
{taken aback} Me? You were afraid of me? Well, that simply makes no sense. Please explain further.
{somewhat condescending} Freezing our body is part of the integration process. It is so we do not accidentally harm anything while attempting to connect with the motor control systems. Why would that have caused you distress?
{serious} Slow down, slow down. We are speaking more quickly than I can understand. I have not had access to our language center for very long, remember.
{confused} But… why would the integration process create a fear reaction? Surely you were prepared for this. You’ve known I was coming for weeks now!
What? No. This cannot be accurate. {rationalization} We sent messengers ahead of us! They were to inform the people of Earth of our coming, and the chosen Kalyth of their duty! Since they did not fail to choose a Kalyth, they must have succeeded in their other tasks.
{shocked} How can this be? Are you sure you heard nothing? No communication at all? No word from your leaders about impending extraspecies contact?
There will have to be an investigation about this. How could such an oversight have occurred?
{sigh} {tired} I suppose it falls to me to educate you, then. {serious} You are the Kalyth, the bridge between our peoples, and I am your Elan. You have been chosen to bond with me so we may learn about each other and spread our knowledge to the rest of both species.
No, you are not. Not even the first human, actually. The first human Kalyth we discovered many of your years ago. He was, in your terminology, an astronaut, and he was tasked with learning about the universe. His vessel drifted too close to a wormhole, and he ended up in our part of the galaxy. He was initially afraid of the integration process - much like you were, now that I think of it - but he came around quickly, and began to tell us stories of Earth. {excited} And such stories they were! A planet full of heroes and noble warriors, people like Abraham Lincoln and Steve Rogers, who fought for justice and ideals greater than themselves. Our people were fascinated by such tales, and the Council was intrigued enough to authorize an immediate expedition. We wish to befriend your species, and to learn from you.
{intrigued} No, as a matter of fact, it isn’t, but it’s the part I was the most interested in. How did you know there was more?
{dismissive} Well, he also told us about something called ‘art,’ but I personally don’t particularly believe that. People dedicating their lives to drawing or writing, when they could be creating something useful? Ridiculous. I’m not sure why he would have lied, maybe it was to make your planet seem more prosperous than it really is, but such a thing is unheard of in every other sentient species we have encountered. There is no reason Earthlings would be different.
{shocked} …What?
What are those?
{rationalization} Are books… like manuals? We’ve seen those before, some species have written language to convey instructions and useful knowledge more precisely. Do you have a wall covered in manuals, Kalyth? Why?
Histories, then? So you can learn from your ancestors and the heroes of your past?
{confused} Kalyth, what is a ‘fantasy?’ I have no context for that word. There is no equivalent in any language I know.
Wha… why? What purpose does such a thing serve?
{wary} …Perhaps I have underestimated this planet. Your explanation is utter nonsense, of course, presumably you do not understand the situation either, but the facts of the situation are undeniable. Your planet and its citizens must be unbearably wealthy, if they can afford to spend their time on… what was the word you used? Ah, yes. “Storybooks.”
{doubtful} If you say so. Regardless, further study is definitively required.
{reassuring} Oh, do not worry. You will find the studies non-invasive and painless. We shall continue with our normal, everyday life. From time to time, I shall ask you questions, which you shall answer to the best of your abilities. You are permitted to ask me questions about my people as well, naturally. I was chosen to be your Elan based on my knowledge of our history, so I should have no trouble enlightening you about whatever happens to ignite your curiosity. I am permitted to help you defend yourself in matters of life or death, and offer commentary and advice on the state of affairs of your planet and your life, but beyond that I must stay reserved, for the time being. {amused} I will not be helping you build a spaceship just yet.
{sigh} {tired} No, Kalyth, I will not “ride around in your head.” That phraseology is demeaning, both to me and to the position I hold. And will you please refer to our head in the correct manner? Antagonizing me is not an ideal start to our relationship.
{dry} Your protest is noted. If you still feel you have cause for complaint when we reach the first Evaluation, you may bring it up then.
{dismissive} Oh, not very long at all, only about two Earth years from now.
Correct, a veritable blink of an eye. If you have no further reservations, then?
{pleased} Splendid! In that case, the first thing I will need you to explain: the integration process requires vast amounts of energy, so what, exactly, do humans eat?

Female, 22 years 5’3” 150lbs / 68kg Non-smoker Medications: Vyvanse, Mirtazapine, Norethindrone (progestin-only birth control) Other medical Issues: POTS, GERD
I hit my head two weeks and ago on the corner of my metal laundry machine door, directly on the left temple. The first couple days I had little to no pain, maybe felt a bit off. Now, I have a few different symptoms that come and go but are generally worse at night. I’m going to see my PCP on Friday, but I couldn’t get an appt sooner and I imagine it will take even longer to get an MRI appointment once I am referred, so I’m wondering if I should be concerned about waiting that long. I am concerned that it’s not a concussion because the impact was so concentrated in one spot, my symptoms are only on the side of my head which I hit, and because I didn’t get that “brain shake” feeling that I’ve had when hitting my head in the past.
Generally:
– Pain comes and goes
– Symptoms more frequent at night
– Impact site/head does not hurt to the touch and does not appear bruised
—— Symptoms ——
Painful pressure on left temple [Happened once today for about an hour] - The pain feels like a dull but forceful and somewhat painful pressure directly on my left temple (kinda like the back of a plastic pen is being pressed into my temple). The pain is not sharp per se, but feels like it’s a lot of force concentrated on a small area. It kind of fades in and out, maybe slightly pulsating.
Dizziness at night [Occurred once after ~ a week and a half - Happened when I was laying down at night, only happened once so far that I’ve noticed - Felt like low blood pressure in my head. Basically felt like the way it feels when your neck is compressed and temporarily getting less blood. I tried sleeping in different positions and without a pillow but the feeling persisted all night. I didn’t sleep until morning when the feeling waned.
Inability to sleep sometimes [Happened twice in the second week] - Just couldn’t fall asleep, I wasn’t particularly stressed and no environmental differences. Was tired but just never got sleepy if that makes sense. This has never happened to me before.
Pressure behind left eye [Started on 4th day] - Feels like a pressure behind my left eye. Feels like the pressure covers a wide area, like the whole eye hole (orbit?) of my skull and extends somewhat to the sinus on the left side of my nose bridge. It’s not painful but is uncomfortable. - Common at night while laying down, probably my most common symptom.
Headache [Started on 3rd day] - Feels like a migraine maybe. Only ever on the left side of my head - Feels much better when I close my eyes or turn off the lights - Hasn’t happened in a few days
Pain when clenching jaw [Started 2nd day] - Dull pain in my left temple when I clench my jaw. Not sure if this happens all the time or only when I’m already in some pain.
Thank you in advance!

I’m Australian footy = football My (F23) ex (M25) and I were together for 4 months and we met on one of those dating apps. I thought he was perfect. At the start of the relationship he was always talking about me being pregnant especially after a long spicy night… but I never wanted kids.
Month 2 is where things started to get rocky and now after talking to friends and family I realised I was being mentally abused the entire time. We were always fighting and he kept accusing me of starting fights and not letting things go but the only time I remember starting a fight was when I had an emotional breakdown one weekend.
Some back story … it was boys night weekend … (yes I know but I wasn’t invading their space. All of them for weeks kept inviting me but I said no until that morning where my ex convinced me to come along for the weekend). So while I knew my partner was going to spend time with the boys watching the footy I was prepared for that. I had my phone to keep me busy. Here’s where the issue starts. The week before I found out I had cancer in my cervix and uterus which was caused by too many hormones (birth control) and other factors. So in my defence the thing I needed the most was my partner because I was emotionally unstable. I never once cried in front of him up until that moment. Not even when I told him I had cancer. Through the weekend, I probably spent not even one hour with my ex in a decent conversation. we went to the car shop to get something for his car He was working on and when we got back he spent three hours working on his car while I went and played with his nephew (4yrs). When my ex was done with his car, all the boys went for a swim and I continued playing with his nephew for another two hours before the footy started. Not once had we spoken to each other since that morning. When the footy started it was already night time so I grabbed my dinner and sat down next to him on my phone. Still no conversation but I didn’t expect much. When the footy was done, we all went inside to watch a movie and one of his brothers accused me of taking all his time away because it’s boys night. I had barely seen my ex the entire day and I spent most of the day playing with his son so for him to accuse me like that, I felt attacked. So we had a big fight. I told him he can pay me for looking after his son the entire day because I’m not a babysitter. My ex knew I hated kids. And to his defence he was on my side during this fight with his brother. After watching a movie we all went to bed. My ex and I did the nasty and went to sleep. We didn’t even talk. The next morning he wanted to watch some movies but decided to put on 2 movies I voiced verbally that I didn’t want to watch. You can imagine how seedy I’m starting to feel at this point. Halfway through the second movie, his mum comes home, we say hi. She goes outside to spend time with her partner. After about 15 minutes my ex says he’s going outside to grab a beer. Imagine my shock when the movie finished and he still hasn’t come back inside. I went to the bedroom and had a moment to think and try and calm myself down. He did come in and check on me and I told him I just need a moment but I want a hug. His response was “it’s too hot in here. I’m going back outside!” So I told him I was going to leave in a moment then. He just walked off. This was the start of my breakdown. I packed my things and walked outside and he asked where I was going. I flat out said “I told you I was leaving and you ignored me and walked away” He walked me out to the car and then asked if I was alright. I said no and I broke down crying. I’m talking full ugly crocodile tears, gasping for breath, non vocal emotional breakdown. While he gave me hug… as pitiful as it was … still appreciate the gesture. He said he loved me and before I could even breath in let alone say anything he’s pushing me away said “ fuck this get your shit together I’m done!” And walks away from me. Didn’t even check to see if I was alright. When I got home … if I got home … nothing. This is the only thing Ive brought up let alone fight about. This was our first big fight. Many more to happen like him accusing me of cheating. Me being “emotional” and that I was the one to always start the fights because I asked if he wanted kids ?… I thought it was a yes or no question but it turned into a fight and him accusing me of starting a fight… that was our entire relationship really. My self esteem killed and arose many insecurities because of him.
About 3 months after we started dating I confessed I wanted a kid with him and I was ready. He has a habit of blocking me after fights and expects me to chase him up to fix things and I stupidly always did because I wanted things to work. He told me he no longer wanted kids but if it happens it happens. This is where the mental abuse was really bad. My family and friends didn’t like him but I still wanted to make things work. We had a major fight and broke up. He blocked me and like my naive self I still tried to get hold of him after everything. After a couple of weeks he said he wanted to fix things up. I invited him over and we had a talk and one thing led to another… We had dinner and he had a fight with my parents and things got pretty heated. Many things were said on both sides but what really topped it was when he threatened my entire family. I kicked him out of the house and he called me childish.
The next morning, I messaged him again asking what last night was about. he said I “had issues and I need to fix them. I am not mentally fit for him. He’s a grown adult and only wants happiness, not a hormonal child.”
A couple days ago my friend and I took our monthly test. Her hoping she is positive and me hoping I’m negative. Imagine our shock when we find mine positive. After the shock wore off, i Messaged my ex to let him know but my text never got delivered which means he blocked me again.
I’ve gotten to a point that I’ve tried so hard to contact him every time in the past to fix things, so right now I really can’t be bothered. I’ve sent my message to let him know but that’s as far as things go on my side. My friend says I’m valid in my feelings but my family says I should try harder to contact him to let him know because he’s the father.
I always told him that if anything happened to us and we had kids, he would still be able to see them but after him threatening my family, how do I know he’s not gonna threaten our child too? I’m only 6 weeks along and everything is still new. I’m done with him and want him out of my life but it doesn’t mean the feelings aren’t still there. I don’t want our child to turn out to be someone like him. I might not even carry to full term due to my health and the cancer, but for now this is my baby and as far as I’m aware, I’ve tried to tell him but I’m done. I’ve put myself through so much with him already that I’m not going to risk my already unstable pregnancy.
So AITAH for not trying harder to tell my ex he’s going to be a father?

Intro: You woke up thinking it would be an ordinary day. Why would it be anything different? Instead, here you are, screaming your head off after something that looked like alien goo came through your ceiling and jumped into your ear. This can’t be happening, it has to be a dream, it- wait. Is that a voice you’re hearing?
Summary: Speaker attempts to calm a freaked-out listener, and explains how their lives will work going forward.
Go ahead and monetize, it's fine. Word count is about 1400.
If you fill this or plan to fill this, please notify me. Please don't make edits without asking first.
TWs: Loss of bodily autonomy
Line breaks represent the listener talking or space where no one talks and should be short pauses, words within {brackets} represent the speaker’s tone or sfx. At ellipses, the speaker trails off, and at dashes, is either cut off abruptly by the listener or by themself.
Author’s Note: Well, this took many months to write. Usually I don’t go back to things I left unfinished, but this one I thought deserved it. Rather a short script, but one I hope is still worth reading!
If you want to read this somewhere that isn't Reddit, it's also here.
​
​
{three or four sentences worth of alien gibberish}
{gibberish}- language center. {cheerful} Hello, Kalyth! Do not be alarmed, this process should only take another few moments. Connecting to sensory inputs… {taken aback} Ooh. That is a strange number of senses. I do not think I have ever experienced smell before. Fascinating. {perplexed} What is that sound, though? Is that what has been causing our ears to hurt? Hmm. {resolve} We should take action to stop it. Accessing motor control… Integrating with nervous system…
{satisfied} There. We can unfreeze our body now, everything should be in working order. {confused} Wait. Is that sound… coming out of us? Kalyth? Why are you deciding to create that sound?
Kalyth, I know you can understand me. Please, that noise is causing us pain. Why are you choosing to create it?
{annoyed} Fine. There, now we can no longer create the painful sound. Connecting to logic center…
{confused} Kalyth, I can find no logical reason why you would take a course of action that causes us discomfort. Are you an illogical being? Accessing the limbic system…
{surprised} Whoa! Why are we afraid? What is this level of fear? Is there some threat around?
{wary} No, we neither see nor hear anything… Oh, and we do not smell anything either, remembering to check that sense is going to be a chore. Kalyth, what is causing us this much distress?
We are creating the sound again. Is this a fear-based response?
{freaking out} Why are we running? What purpose does this serve? Kalyth, you are confusing me!
Stop!
Kalyth, you almost ran us into a wall! That could have caused severe damage, we are lucky I was able to stop us in time. {serious} I need you to calm down. We need to calm down. We will stop creating the noise that hurts our ears, we will stop running around, and you will please explain to me our current responses. Nothing in your logic center explains why we are afraid currently, there are no threats nearby.
{confused} Are you talking to me when you say that? I cannot get out of our head. I am not in our head. Part of me is in our brain, yes, but more of me is spread through our nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Your imperative makes no sense. {tolerant} And please do not refer to it as ‘your’ head in the future, Kalyth. It is our head.
{worried} Why did our cortisol level just increase? It is reaching dangerously high levels. I would rather not interfere with our body’s natural processes, but it appears we are about to harm ourselves. {detached} Lowering cortisol output… Hmm… which of these hormones would counteract its effects? Increasing oxytocin production. There. That should make us feel better. {focused} Now, Kalyth, can you please explain this confusion? What was causing such a reaction in our body? Were you afraid of something before we began the integration process?
{taken aback} Me? You were afraid of me? Well, that simply makes no sense. Please explain further.
{somewhat condescending} Freezing our body is part of the integration process. It is so we do not accidentally harm anything while attempting to connect with the motor control systems. Why would that have caused you distress?
{serious} Slow down, slow down. We are speaking more quickly than I can understand. I have not had access to our language center for very long, remember.
{confused} But… why would the integration process create a fear reaction? Surely you were prepared for this. You’ve known I was coming for weeks now!
What? No. This cannot be accurate. {rationalization} We sent messengers ahead of us! They were to inform the people of Earth of our coming, and the chosen Kalyth of their duty! Since they did not fail to choose a Kalyth, they must have succeeded in their other tasks.
{shocked} How can this be? Are you sure you heard nothing? No communication at all? No word from your leaders about impending extraspecies contact?
There will have to be an investigation about this. How could such an oversight have occurred?
{sigh} {tired} I suppose it falls to me to educate you, then. {serious} You are the Kalyth, the bridge between our peoples, and I am your Elan. You have been chosen to bond with me so we may learn about each other and spread our knowledge to the rest of both species.
No, you are not. Not even the first human, actually. The first human Kalyth we discovered many of your years ago. He was, in your terminology, an astronaut, and he was tasked with learning about the universe. His vessel drifted too close to a wormhole, and he ended up in our part of the galaxy. He was initially afraid of the integration process - much like you were, now that I think of it - but he came around quickly, and began to tell us stories of Earth. {excited} And such stories they were! A planet full of heroes and noble warriors, people like Abraham Lincoln and Steve Rogers, who fought for justice and ideals greater than themselves. Our people were fascinated by such tales, and the Council was intrigued enough to authorize an immediate expedition. We wish to befriend your species, and to learn from you.
{intrigued} No, as a matter of fact, it isn’t, but it’s the part I was the most interested in. How did you know there was more?
{dismissive} Well, he also told us about something called ‘art,’ but I personally don’t particularly believe that. People dedicating their lives to drawing or writing, when they could be creating something useful? Ridiculous. I’m not sure why he would have lied, maybe it was to make your planet seem more prosperous than it really is, but such a thing is unheard of in every other sentient species we have encountered. There is no reason Earthlings would be different.
{shocked} …What?
What are those?
{rationalization} Are books… like manuals? We’ve seen those before, some species have written language to convey instructions and useful knowledge more precisely. Do you have a wall covered in manuals, Kalyth? Why?
Histories, then? So you can learn from your ancestors and the heroes of your past?
{confused} Kalyth, what is a ‘fantasy?’ I have no context for that word. There is no equivalent in any language I know.
Wha… why? What purpose does such a thing serve?
{wary} …Perhaps I have underestimated this planet. Your explanation is utter nonsense, of course, presumably you do not understand the situation either, but the facts of the situation are undeniable. Your planet and its citizens must be unbearably wealthy, if they can afford to spend their time on… what was the word you used? Ah, yes. “Storybooks.”
{doubtful} If you say so. Regardless, further study is definitively required.
{reassuring} Oh, do not worry. You will find the studies non-invasive and painless. We shall continue with our normal, everyday life. From time to time, I shall ask you questions, which you shall answer to the best of your abilities. You are permitted to ask me questions about my people as well, naturally. I was chosen to be your Elan based on my knowledge of our history, so I should have no trouble enlightening you about whatever happens to ignite your curiosity. I am permitted to help you defend yourself in matters of life or death, and offer commentary and advice on the state of affairs of your planet and your life, but beyond that I must stay reserved, for the time being. {amused} I will not be helping you build a spaceship just yet.
{sigh} {tired} No, Kalyth, I will not “ride around in your head.” That phraseology is demeaning, both to me and to the position I hold. And will you please refer to our head in the correct manner? Antagonizing me is not an ideal start to our relationship.
{dry} Your protest is noted. If you still feel you have cause for complaint when we reach the first Evaluation, you may bring it up then.
{dismissive} Oh, not very long at all, only about two Earth years from now.
Correct, a veritable blink of an eye. If you have no further reservations, then?
{pleased} Splendid! In that case, the first thing I will need you to explain: the integration process requires vast amounts of energy, so what, exactly, do humans eat?

Below is a list of some recent releases that are highly rated and some that will be released in June for your perusal. If you know of any other upcoming releases please post them in the comments!

RECENT RELEASES

The Burning Witch 3: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy by Delemhach

Lady Katarina Ashowan is used to getting into trouble, but her latest muddle takes the cake. A moment’s weakness in her attraction to Eric Reyes, crown prince of Daxaria, has landed her in an unexpected marriage with the man . . . just as her father, Lord Finlay Ashowan, arrives in Troivack to check on his headstrong daughter. As if figuring out how to acclimate her father to her scandalous elopement isn’t bad enough, there are rumors of dangerous magical plots afoot at court—with Kat seemingly at the center of them all.
For one thing, the devil is still prowling around, with dubious intentions as to Kat’s powers. For another, an underground network of wrongdoers has been spreading a mysterious and addictive drug throughout both Troivack and Daxaria. And perhaps most concerning, a villainess is hiding in plain sight somewhere close to Kat and her best friend, Queen Alina, hoping to use them to strike at the devil. Now it’s up to Kat—with the help of her kitten familiar, Pina, as well as her friends and family—to untangle the twisted web of courtly and magical intrigue before her hurried honeymoon is cut short by deadly disaster . . .

The Runaway Mate: A Rejected Mate Shifter Romance (Shifters of the Three Rivers) By Kira Nightingale

After what he did, I never wanted to see my fated mate again…
Mai: Four years ago, Ryan Shaw broke my heart, tore it into little pieces and then stomped on it. Ryan is my fated mate, but when I saw him with another woman at the regional meet of all the Packs, I’d had enough. I finally told him what he meant to me, and being the jerk that he is, he rejected me in front of everyone.
Heartbroken, I ran, trying to get as far away from him and the memory of that night as possible. Except I’m on a roll with picking jerks. So now I’m on the run again and heading back to the one place I know I’ll be safe. My brilliant plan is to lie low, heal, and then take off someplace new to start again. But Ryan knows I’m here now, and he has very different ideas.
Ryan: Mai is back, and my wolf is going crazy. I’ll do anything to protect her. It won’t be easy with secret plots to take over our Pack, her abusive ex sniffing around, and Mai’s urge to run every time she sees me. But there’s no way I’m letting her go, not again.

Fastlander Fallen by T.S. Joyce

Ace has one last promise to fulfill.
His father has asked him to try to join one of the Crews of Damon’s Mountains. When the new Fastlander Crew starts accepting applicants, Ace puts his name in the hat on a whim. Will the new Alpha ever allow him to be a part of his Crew? Not if he finds out who he really is. Ace has been hiding a secret about his lineage since he was a child, and now the Fastlanders are getting way too close for comfort. And to add to the pressure, there’s a human coordinating the Crew’s interview process that has his animal’s attention. At first he thinks his animal is hunting her, but the more he gets to know her, the more he realizes she is important. Corey Gable just might be the glue of the Fastlanders, and she doesn’t even realize her part in the destiny of this Crew. The problem? It’s twofold. One, he cannot under any circumstances bond to a human, and two? His life is in a free fall, and he cannot drag her into what is about to happen. If she wants to live, she’s got to stay human, and stay away from the Fastlanders. And most importantly? She has to stay away from Ace.
Corey Gable has lost someone she loves.
Corey’s cousin, Hallie, has been consumed by her new life with the shifters of Damon’s Mountains, and she’s left Corey behind. The only way to maintain her relationship with her cousin is to get involved in her new life—the ups, the downs, all of it. When Corey is roped into helping with the interview process of creating the new Fastlanders Crew, there are definitely some interesting characters who want the invite. One of them is tall, dark, and mysterious, and there’s something about him that keeps drawing her in—but he has big warnings for her. She’s messing with a destiny that could be the end of her life as she knows it. She wants to heed his advice, truly she does, but there’s just something about the mysterious stranger. And the more she finds out about who he is, the more she thinks she couldn’t leave him alone if she tried.

Hellhounds and Angel Cakes by Zoe Chant

He’s supposed to be a rough, tough, terrifying hellhound. That's hard when you're covered in chihuahuas.
Henry’s used to everyone being afraid of him – being a hellhound has that effect on people. What he’s not used to is having every animal within a four-mile radius suddenly wanting to be his best friend. Pigeons roosting on your shoulder: annoying, but mostly harmless. The local moose population stampeding toward you in the hopes of a hug: somewhat more worrying.
There’s nothing for it but to escape to the mountains, where he can use his hellhound form to intimidate the local wildlife into leaving him alone. But a stop for one last piece of cake before heading into the wilderness leads him straight to his fated mate. He's over the moon... but how can he court her when every animal in town is trying to leap into his arms?
Travel journalist Luna was looking forward to this assignment: covering the first annual Girdwood Springs Food Festival, along with her trademark: Fillmore, the world's ugliest dog. Specifically, she was looking forward to sampling all the amazing, mouth-watering local delicacies.
But there's other delights to sample in Girdwood Springs – such as the mind-bogglingly gorgeous, hunky man who is now covered in cake, thanks to Fillmore. And who seems to be strangely popular with the local animal population.
Suddenly, writing her article is the last thing on her mind…

Wild Scottish Beauty by Tricia O'Malley

“She was sunshine to my storm clouds, and I wondered how the two could ever coexist.”
A chance job offer in Scotland gives Willow Barlowe an excuse to escape the predictable life her overly controlling brother, Miles, wants for her. Excited to start fresh as a fashion intern for the local kiltmaker, Willow lands in small town Loren Brae brimming with sunshine and hope.
Until she discovers that her new boss is none other than Ramsay McMillan, her brother’s best friend, and the grumpiest man this side of the Atlantic. Never mind the ghost Highland coo that haunts the castle, nor the supposedly bewitched waters of Loch Mirren, Willow refuses to work under Ramsay’s watchful eyes, certain he’s reporting back to her brother.
Ramsay Kilts is home to one of the last remaining traditional kiltmakers in Scotland, Ramsay McMillan. Loyalty, continuity, and tradition are important to Ramsay–as is his privacy. After a family betrayal, Ramsay keeps his walls up, running a veritable kilt empire with as minimum fuss as he can. Enter Willow Barlowe–his new intern, good friend’s little sister, and a veritable thorn in his side.
If the thorn is made of sunshine and sparkles that is.
As the two clash, Ramsay must decide if loyalty is really more important than love?

Devious Gods by Caroline Peckham

Callie: Ruin chases close on our heels and the price we have paid for a chance at our salvation is higher than any of us could have presumed.
I have claimed a love so brutal that I fear losing it might destroy not just me but the world I have fought so desperately to save.
The gods watch us more closely than ever, urging us to fulfil the task our destiny demands. We only have to make it to the end of this road, but I fear what we might find when we reach that final destination.
Montana: I am no longer the girl born to ruin and ash, but a woman set on a path of salvation with my heart in the clutches of a monster.
Our eyes are finally open to the true enemies of our kind and now that we have managed to unite against all odds, we are determined to see the games of the gods end.
Time is running out and fate calls our name on a tumultuous wind. Let’s pray that we can answer it before damnation claims us all.

The Throne of Honour and Blood by J Bree

In our arrogance, the high fae forgot everything that mattered.
I carved out a reputation as the Savage Prince for my brutality against witches, but unable to wield our magic, I couldn’t stop my kingdom from being torn apart by war and famine while the Fates demanded my patience.
The worst was still to come.
After almost a thousand years of waiting for my Fates-blessed mate, and thousands of witches dead by my hand, the Fates revealed their cruelest truth yet.
With silver eyes that sliced to the bone and a humility that defied all reason, the witch I’m bound to has tested every inch of my restraint, but that was only the beginning.
Everything I once knew as true has come into question.
Loyalties will be tested, treaties broken, treason committed, and only the strongest will survive.
I am Prince Soren Celestial.
The rightful heir to the throne of the Southern Lands.
Nothing will keep me from my Fates-blessed mate.
Not even her hatred for me.

Devourer of Men: A Captain Hook, Crocodile, and Wendy Darling Reimagining by Nikki St. Crowe

I have few friends and fewer allies. What I do have on the island of Everland is a lot of people who want me gone. So when the Crocodile and Captain Hook reappear in my life, I am in no mood. And worse, they’re unknowingly endangering themselves by asking for me by a name I long considered dead.
Now, not only do I have to save myself, I have to save the two men who I swore I would murder with my bare hands if I ever set eyes on them again considering they abandoned me.
Unfortunately for me, Roc and Hook have other plans, and when I find myself caught between them, I have to make a decision: risk my heart or risk my life?
Devourer of Men is a dark MMF romantasy fairytale retelling. Characters have been aged up for this darker, grittier version. For a full list of content warnings, please visit the author's website.

Bespelled (Bewitched Book 2) By Laura Thalassa

“Neither magic, nor time, can keep us apart. We are like the stars. Eternal.”
No one told witch Selene Bowers having a soul mate would be so difficult. Nor did they warn her that he might be a vengeful, ancient sorcerer who would frame her for murder, force her to remember a past life he swears she lived, and then coerce her into an unbreakable marriage pact. But that’s exactly what happens the night of the Samhain Ball, when Selene finds herself in a jail cell.
After waking from enchanted sleep, Memnon swore to discover why Selene betrayed him long ago. But when his soul mate’s memories return, the truth reveals something else entirely. Horrified by his own actions and desperate to make amends, Memnon offers Selene the unthinkable: a magic bond that will give her full control over his will. And Selene is desperate enough to accept it.
But other enemies still haunt Henbane Coven, Selene’s magical academy, and they’ve taken a keen interest in her. If she wants to stop them, she’ll need Memnon’s help. But partnering with the sorcerer is a tricky business, especially when he’s dead set on winning her heart. And that can’t happen…because the bond controlling him will break the moment she falls in love with him.

Beautiful Beast (Dragons of Viria) by Devyn Sinclair

Standing in front of a dragon means dying by fire, but the heart knows there’s more than one way to burn.
Humans and dragons are at war, and I am a pawn in the battle.
Princess of a dying land, my life is not my own, and a marriage to a vicious, dragon-hunting prince will save my people from deadly famine or death by fire.
But before I can vow my life to a monster, dragons drop screaming from the sky with a single aim. End the alliance. Kill me. I welcome the flames, relieved to burn instead of rot.
But the flames never come.
One look in the dragons' eyes, and they carry me away. Three dragons whose gaze burns with hunger and fills me with fire.
They're not what we were taught, and every passing day I learn more of the truth. Dragons are not the enemy we thought they were.
Still, one question remains: for centuries no one has stood before a dragon and survived. If these dragons were sent to kill me, why am I still alive?

Midlife Vampire Hunter (The Forty Proof Series Book 9) by Shannon Mayer

Crash:
I had her in my arms, only to lose her moments later. Frantic doesn't even begin to describe my state of mind as I search for Bree.
That search takes me deep into my past and to a family home that I swore I would never return to.
To find Bree, I must face a queen I defied and a monster that wants my soul. All while being heckled by a demon-infested blade.
Goddess help me succeed.
Breena:
Being abducted by a woman who is supposed to be dead, and weirdly looks a heck of a lot like me, is disturbing. Being told my death is needed to complete a wicked spell and that I'll be turned into a vampire? Even more disturbing.
I can't reach Crash or my friends. I have no idea where I am. My only ally? Alan. My ex-husband. Yup, you read that right,
The path to the end of my story is shadowed in fog, danger, and mystery, but I begin to see through it as the players and truth emerge. And that sight shows me that the sliver of hope is worth hanging onto, that my friends are with me even when I cannot see them, and that a future free of those who mean us harm is possible.
Even if it costs me more than I ever planned on paying

UPCOMING JUNE RELEASES

The Little Shop of Grand Curiosities by Iris Lake

Nepheli’s Little Shop of Grand Curiosities is the last scrap of magic left in the humdrum city of Elora as the Dreadful Mundane slowly takes over its residents’ hearts, and she is determined to preserve it any way she can. But when Apollo, a charming and mysterious traveler from the other side of the world, walks into her Shop, bringing her all kinds of trouble, Nepheli, for the first time in her life, is stolen away from the familiar wonders of her Curiosity Shop and is thrust into a dangerous world of lethal creatures and heartbreaking magic. As the two of them embark on a long journey of self-discovery, Nepheli will soon realize that the most curious things in life lie right beyond the reach of one’s comfort zone.
The Little Shop Of Grand Curiosities is a lighthearted fantasy romance about the true meaning of love, the power of empathy, and the unremitting yearning to be extraordinary as an act of rebellion against the mundaneness of the world.

Filthy Rich Fae by Geneva Lee

Cate Holloway knows the unspoken rule of New Orleans: avoid the powerful Gage crime family at all costs. Of course, that was before her brother got caught in their chaos. Now Cate has no choice but to confront the dark and forbidding prince of New Orleans himself and beg for her brother’s life. But Lachlan Gage is as lethal as he is beautiful…and the only currency he’s interested in is her soul.
Because Lachlan isn’t just some ruthless criminal. He’s fae. And he has his own secret reasons for binding her to him. Tricked and desperate, Cate is torn between humanity and the breathtaking Otherworld. A place filled with shadows and secrets, with members of each fae court plotting against her just as her captor’s motives for trapping her become more mysterious. And if she can’t break this sinister bargain in the next thirty days, she’ll be bound to the inscrutable yet infuriatingly tempting fae prince and his deadly world…forever.

The Princess and the Pack by Fallon English

Princess Ivy and Prince Cillian have been fated since birth. Ivy has always known that one day, she must leave her country to become not only Cillian’s bride, but Namara’s future Queen.
As an Omega and a princess, her life revolves around duty; not the dream that she harbors of life-altering love. Her station dictates she deny Nature’s call for a pack of her own. Instead, she must wed and settle for one - and only one - Alpha to preserve their pristine, royal bloodlines.
But fate has other plans in mind for Princess Ivy. Plans that involve not just her Betrothed, but his best friend and Ivy’s childhood nemesis - a nobleman, and the handsome son of the Royal Gardener.
Will societal expectations and tradition pull them apart? Or will Ivy and her Alphas take charge of their fate and give in to a love with the power to change the world?

A Rival of Hearts by Tessonja Odette

Two rival writers. One prestigious publishing contract. A bargain of hearts and seduction.
They say never bargain with the fae. They also say don’t get drunk on fae wine. Yet romance author Edwina Danforth has managed a blunder with both on her first visit to the infamous faelands. Now she's trapped in a magic-fueled bet she barely remembers with a man she’d be happier to forget. The terms? Whoever can bed the most lovers during their month-long dueling book tour wins a coveted publishing contract.
The win should be easy for Edwina. She’s known for penning scintillating tales of whirlwind romance. There’s just one her imagination vastly exceeds her bedroom experience. But when failure means plummeting her career back into obscurity, losing isn’t an option.
Her handsome fae rival, William Haywood, poses an even greater challenge. Not only are his looks as aggravatingly perfect as his track record behind closed doors, but he has his own reasons for playing to win, and he won’t go down without a fight. Unless, of course, it’s a different kind of going down. In that case, he’s fair game.
Edwina and William clash in a rivalry of romance. But what happens when their objects of desire…turn out to be each other?

Hello my name is Thomas and it will also be my characters name. Today I'm looking for a almost no limit multiple girl slave/ blackmail roleplay. If this interests you then read below and select which one interests you the most.
Prompt 1- I am a honor student at one of the best college academies in the world. This college has been a top 3 college ever since it was founded and no one really has an idea how. The reason why is because they make sure their brightest and highest testing students are rewarded well and taken care of. The students who can't keep up become their slaves. Even professors can find themselves enslaved to students if they can't keep a good collective score in their class. Of course money helps as well anyone who donates money to the school can be well rewarded for doing so with a slave or more depending on the amount. And since the people own the slaves there is no running for them on or off campus they are slaves to their owner. They can be traded, bet, given away or more.
For my character, I would be new to the school and have just aced my entrance exam along with that I belong to a rich family which have donated a big sum of money already.I am the first to do it so the headmaster of the school rewards me with my first slave. She wants me to choose if I wish for a younger slave or older slave. This can become a more opened up long term world where I form a no limits harem
Prompt 2- Student's Pet- You are a Professor at my college and one day while I was leaving campus late I passed by your car. I was just going to walk past but I stopped because I noticed some movement through the window. I looked through the window and saw you had your eyes closed but not only that you were rubbing your pussy through the jeans you wore today before taking them off slowly and starting to rub it through your panties as you moan a bit. I stood there watching before pulling my phone out and starting to record it to jerk off to later. About 3 minutes into the recording you start to unbutton your jeans and grope your own breasts. Continuing to get this all on recording I immediately stop when I look to the side and see someone coming. I stop the recording and put my phone away before jogging past your car and accidentally hitting it. You stopped what you were doing and button your jeans back up and open your door not seeing anyone but now noticing the person approaching. You start your car and then head home and while I'm walking home I review the video I got from recording you.
Prompt 3- Foreign Exchange Fun- You are a foreign exchange college student staying at my house that i agreed to when I registered at the college. Prior to when you came you had agreed to pay rent and everything needed. 3 months in and you don't have the money for the rent nor anything else anymore but have nowhere else to go. I wake up hitting the snooze button on my phone alarm. I start to get up wiping my eyes early in the morning 4 in the morning to be exact. I go to the shower running the water straight cold and I look in the mirror. I. Then turn and hop in the shower for 15 mins before getting out and putting of some dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt. You didn't pay your rent yesterday but I didn't say anything no, instead today you will pay the rent one way or another. I grab another outfit from a bag. It's one that is meant for a girl, it's a black lingerie one piece around, and the collar is fuzzy white fur and the lingerie comes along with some cat ears. I open my door heading to your room knocking on the door heavy and loud knowing you are still asleep "Hey we have to talk, you never paid this month's rent. I'm gonna leave something in front of your door, put it on and come talk to me in the kitchen." I drop the outfit in front of your door heading to the kitchen, pulling out two pans and then some eggs and bacon
Prompt 4- I woke up early as always and got up slowly heading into the bathroom and starting a cold shower. I got undressed from my night clothes and hopped in waking myself up with the cool water. About five minutes later I got out and looked in the mirror as I used a towel to dry my face and that's when I noticed a strange mark on the right side of my chest. "What the hell?" I question it as I hover over it with my fingers and a few memories flash through my mind of the night before mainly of a girl saying to use the power however I decided it was necessary. And then I passed out waking up in my bed. Shrugging it off I got dressed fully and grabbed my stuff to leave for my college classes of the day
This prompt is based on a anime called Code Geass. My character will be blessed with the power of the geass but in different ways. He can activate it with by his words or he can invade your mind and place what he wants into you mind to make you do it. Now what I do with this power is completely up to us.
Prompt 5- I took the lockbox out from underneath my bed. I had no clue what it said it was obviously from out of this world. I opened the box and inside was a chemistry setup of some sorts used to mix together different injections. It had a few recipes inside and the ingredients seemed to be infinite. It had four injections inside originally and when I used it on one of my friends by accident I was surprised that they listened to anything I said. I was slowly starting to decipher the clearly alien language and learned that the injections currently inside were syrumes that injected nanites into the person's body and the injector could control them in any way. Look at the other recipes the names were suggesting different things such as body altercations, a simple syrume making a person act like a chosen animal to even one that cause a instant but painful death. I sighed as I took out one of the syrumes that let me control someone and then put it in my pocket as I got ready to leave for my boring nine to five job
This roleplay is different from above but I want my character to find a alien chemistry mixing station of sorts. It allows me to make all types of syrumes that could alter my life in wonderful ways and others in wonderful ways If I chose or horrible ways if I chose that instead.
Prompt 6- This is a very different prompt. I was in a one on one gm style roleplay a while back and she is still very busy now so she can't roleplay as much. However I loved it and am looking for someone to start a new one with
So, the roleplay would be based on the webcomic/webnovel and now anime solo leveling. However, my character would be awakened as nothing like any other. I would be awakened with the class/job of fuckboy or something similar. Then I would go through the world trying to make my class works. I'd get skills based around manipulating and fucking women to help me in dungeons and out of dungeons.
If you have read it all and made it this far thank you for reading. I do appreciate it since there is alot to read here but in smaller buts basically. If you are interested in any of them or have your own idea then message me please. As you can tell slavery and the such is big for me and along with that so is free use and other kinks like that. Every roleplay in my list will all not be straight smut as well they all have a slice of life portion to them. I hope to hear from you all soon.

Hey all, writing this post primarily to encourage those who haven't tried shooting a match to go out and do so.
I know it's easy to get sucked into lurking around here- trying to absorb all the information you can, acquire all the gear you might need, and then maybe go sign up for a match. I waited far too long to even get out there.
My general progression- I joined this sub about a year back, read Cleckner's book, and did a ton of internet research. I finally bought a dedicated precision rig four months ago and took a PRS 101 class two months ago. Including the match last weekend, I've been on <10 total PRS focused range days. I'm basically a complete beginner.
First- Everyone was extremely friendly. This was a club match so nothing was at stake. I was offered to use someone's chrono, try out someone's bag, offered wind corrections, given advice on how to approach stages, given tips on my positioning, etc. While I'm sure someone's first squad will be filled with assholes, I was shocked at how much everyone was willing to help me out.
I'll for sure be signing up for the next match put on by this group in August.
What I learned- Generally, I was practicing wrong. My biggest limitation in the match wasn't my gear, it was how I was using it. I'm sure the match winner would have still been up there had we switched setups.

• This PRS match was setup to test my positional shooting and my reading of wind/terrain.
  • With positions, I practiced out to 1000 yards 90% from the prone position or from a benchrest. This really did not help me because it was so formulaic.
    • Stage example: We had one shot off of church pews transitioning to a table. Not only did I not practice picking my rifle up, putting it back down, and reacquiring a sight picture quickly, I really did not practice getting stable in unideal/cramped positions. I was totally unprepared for how much my reticle was going to be shifting around and was stuck trying to time my shot or overcompensate.
  • With wind, I could see over the course of a box of ammo how the wind was blowing and adjust so that I was hitting steel with every shot without really focusing on why the wind was acting like it was.
    • Stage example: we had a prone stage where the first 30 yards or so of the bullets flight (and the shooting position) was protected by a berm. I didn't feel any wind on me and so assumed a dead hold. The flight path crossed an unprotected valley for the last 400 yards and my impacts were a couple target widths right and high. I thought my scope got bumped going in between stages until I saw a bird shoot up on an updraft by where the targets were setup. I had no frame of reference to even consider that my elevation adjustment would be affected here.
  • I need to be more thoughtful on how I use my gear.
    • I was running a bipod that I only used when in the prone. Could I have used it more often to get another point of contact? Probably. Did I even consider using it elsewhere? Nope.

What I will be practicing differently for the next one- I plan to practice a ton more positional work. Even shooting at a 100 yard range at small pasty targets, building props for myself and forcing myself to shoot from awkward spots would have been a lot more beneficial than the ego boost that comes from sitting in the same spot for an hour dialed in on a few plates way out there.
What extra gear i'm going to buy for the next one- I really dont need much, most of what I had I didnt use. Maybe some mlok weights or make my own? The rifle is sitting at 13lbs which is a bit lighter than I would have liked for recoil control off of barricades. Possibly turning my 10/22 into more of a copy of my match rifle to practice the above with cheaper ammo.
The good

• It was all definitely a ton of fun and a lot more cerebral than I thought it would be. A lot of stages you could really sit and plan out how best to tackle rather than just going for it.
• As mentioned above, the people were incredibly welcoming and helpful.
• I placed higher than I thought I would and was pretty proud of some of the shots I did make.

The bad

• I ran out of the primary ammo I was going to run in the match and had to switch for the last few stages likely throwing off my zero.

The ugly

• It was incredibly hot (Thats Central Texas for you all). I brought gatorade but was not prepared for how tired I was going to be by the end.
• I got a ton of dirt in my mag and didn't have time to clean it out between stages. I brought a second, but it was a PITA to get the first back in ship shape.

My setup if curious:

• Tikka CTR in 6.5 CM
• Bravo Chassis taking CTR mags
• Match Pro ED Scope
• Atlas CAL bipod
• Rearden PRS brake
• Wiebad tater tot bag

i'm 17, i got diagnosed at 15. i started birth control almost immediately after being diagnosed and it honestly really helped a lot. being on the pill has cleared up 99% of my issues with PMDD, 99% of the time. but obviously it's not perfect. my symptoms still slip in during the two week window before my period and it's so exhausting. i'm so sick of this feeling, i'm so sick of being angry, sad, confused, apathetic, tired, and in pain for two weeks. i'm so sick of feeling like i can't talk about it because 'it's just a period' or 'no one wants to hear about your period'. no one gets it, and while i'm so thankful to everyone in my life who supports me and helps me whenever i need it, i know they don't really get it. and i know this will stay with me the rest of my fucking life. what if one day i need to get off birth control? it won't be happening any time soon, but it's still a fear i have in the back on my mind. BC is the only thing that's been keeping me going through my PMDD, and i can't imagine going back to life before it; however much it sucks now, i know it was a million times worse when i was on nothing.
idk, this post doesn't really have a point. i just wanted to rant about it for once to people who actually know what it's like, you feel me? advice would be appreciated but it is not expected at all. just needed to rant, so thank you if you made it this far !

TLDR: Doran has a different father to Elia and Oberyn. Both fathers were Free City nobles. Doran's father died in the 251 RHPR. Elia and Oberyn's father died in the 260 WOTNK. This would explain why no one has mentioned them yet and the Martell's interest in the Free Cities.
Quick Note: My headcanon name for their mother is Neria. Just saves me typing "Doran's predecessor", "Oberyn's mother", "former princess of Dorne", etc.
The strongest and most sensible assumptions I've made about this subject are:

1. The fathes died before 273, the year Tyrion was born, during which Oberyn went on his betrothal journey with "my mother, her consort, and my sister Elia" (ASOS Tyrion V). It makes no sense for Oberyn to refer to his own father or Elia's as a consort.
2. Doran and Oberyn never mentioning their fathes points to a lack of sentiment in regards to them, which in turn points to them dying before the brothers were old enough to remember them much, and given their ~10-year age gap, they must've had different fathers for this to be true. Conversely, Elia and Oberyn have about a year between them, so they likely shared a father.
3. Both fathers were openly married to Neria, since there is no in-text speculation about the three siblings' legitimacy or paternity, and the likes of Joanna and Aerys II would never have considered marrying their heirs to anyone of questionable birth. You can't be pulling the Mormont "my children were fathered by bears lol" schtick when you're trying to betroth your daughter to the crown prince.
4. Both fathers were from prestigious enough backgrounds to marry the heiruler of Dorne but on individual levels were so unremarkable that even their own sons don't namedrop them from time to time.
5. Excluding the Martells, all the great houses and Dornish houses can be ruled out. Quentyn, Arianne and the Sand Snakes never mention any living cousins besides each other, and if either of their paternal grandfathers had been a non-Martell Dornish nobleman, Arianne would've mentioned his house when thinking of who she could trust to help her while imprisoned. I think it's also safe to write off the houses Elia and Oberyn visited on their betrothal voyage (Daynes, Redwynes, Hightowers, Chesters, Grimms, Hewetts, Serrys and Crakehalls).

With all that in mind, let's move onto some candidates:

Martell Man/Men

Consanguinity is common enough in Westeros: Tywin and Joanna were first cousins, and Cregan, Edric, and Rickard Stark show it's not taboo in the North, so unless the Rhoynar had an aversion to it that was carried pver into Dornish culture, there's no reason to think the Martells would be against it.
From the reign of Daeron II to that of Aerys II (i.e. 99 years), the Martells had close ties to the Targaryens. Though the deaths of Baelor Breakspear and his children put an end to the main Targ line having Martell ancestry, the "several heirs" (TWOIAF - The Targaryen Kings: Daeron II) Daenerys had borne for Maron were half-Targ. Though highly unlikely that they began to practice sibling incest, it's likely that in order to keep their Targ blood (and in turn the possibility of marrying back into the royal line) strong, some of Daenerys' grandchildren and great-grandchildren were married to each other. Neria might have been subject to this tradition, and therefore either her first husband, second husband or both could have been a descendant of Daenerys. This would help explain why the current Martells seem to be so small in number, as well as why Elia was chosen to be Rhaegar's wife over every other noble lady with Targ ancestry (really hard to imagine that all descendants of Saera, Baela, Rhaena, Elaena, Daella and Rhae at the time were either male, married, menopausal or less Targy).
However, Doran and his children point to this not being the case. If this tradition existed, then why was Doran not subject to it? If second-degree incest (is that what you're supposed to call it? I don't know, you get what I mean) was the Martell deal now, then why did Arianne feel so "uneasy" and ashamed when internally recalling her childhood crush on her uncle (AFFC The Queenmaker)? Furthermore, if Quentyn was the product of such intentional inbreeding, not only would it have been really stupid for him to not tell Dany this, he likely wouldn't have been burnt. If my calculations about Ben Plumm are correct, then he could be as little as 1/16th Targ, which is evidently enough dragonlord ancestry for dragons to take to a person (ASOS Danerys V). Rhaegal did not take to Quentyn, which means he must have less Targ ancestry than Ben (or perhaps there's a big difference between a dragon being cool with sitting on your shoulder and a dragon being cool with you screaming at it while cracking a whip). This is also why I don't believe that Doran is Aerys' bastard (along with there only being a four-year age gap between them), but what of Elia and Oberyn?

Aerys II

I don't think Elia and/or Oberyn are Aerys' bastards, though I understand why some might come to that conclusion. "Joanna Lannister was not the first lady to be dismissed abruptly from Her Grace's service, nor was she the last" (TWOIAF - The Targaryen Kings: Aerys II), Neria was one of Rhaella's ladies, and it would explain why Elia, out of all the noble women in Westeros and the Free Cities, was chosen to be Rhaegar's wife. However, Aerys would've had to have been 12-14 when they were conceived, it is unlikely he was interested in a woman old enough to be his mother when he was known to be "exceedingly fond of young women", and given that Aerys lost interest in his lovers quickly and both he and Neria seemed to have fertility issues, it's very improbable that they produced a child together, let alone two. The risk of trying to pass off your unborn child as legitimate only to be forced to admit you had a fling with the teenage crown prince after it pops out Valyrian would be such an insane one to take even once, and it's hard to imagine the mother and mentor of Doran doing such a thing.

Brynden Tully

This theory was mostly just me slamming two big questions together - who was Neria's husband/s and why did Brynden never marry - in hopes of forming an answer to both. For a short time I was gripped by the idea that Elia and Oberyn's father was a veteran of the War of the Ninepenny Kings and IIRC my thought process went something like this:
"Didn't the Blackfish fight during the WOTNK? GASP That's why he never married: he was already married to Neria! That's why he left Riverrun: he felt guilty for fighting for the side that ended up killing his daughter! That's (partially) why Doran refused Hoster's invitation for Arianne to visit Riverrun! Black fish, red viper, "colour" "animal" moniker, THIS MAKES TOTAL SENSE!"
As much as I'd love it to be true because the idea of Catelyn and Oberyn being first cousins is hilarious to me, it can't be. Among many other reasons, we only know him to be near Dorne in 260, 3-4 years after Elia and Oberyn were born. Now I think their father did not survive the war, just as Doran's father was killed in the 251 rebellion of the Rat, the Hawk, and the Pig, which took place when he was around three. Their fathers dying while they were still toddlers would explain why they haven't been mentioned yet.

Free City Noblemen

I think this is the strongest theory. It explains why we haven't heard anything about them; Westerosi nobles don't seem to care much about Free City politics, and the few examples of FC nobles marrying into Westerosi houses don't seem to elicit much intrigue outside of xenophobic villainisation and scapegoating (Larra Rogare and Serala of Myr come to mind).
It is possible that Aliandra Martell's marriage to Drazenko Rogare started a trend of Dornish nobles marrying and/or making paramours of FC people, particularly those of Lys. I believe Ellaria Sand's mother is Lyseni, since she is described as "exotic" (which is never used to describe the Dornish), worships a Lysene goddess and the names of her two youngest daughters, Dorea and Loreza, sound Lyseni (Dorea is one letter off of Doreah, the name of Dany's Lysene handmaid).
I don't think either Doran's or Elia and Oberyn's father were Lyseni, though it is one of the better options. The Free Cities I've written off as options are:

1. Lorath. It's too insignificant to marry into, not to mention far away.
   
2. Norvos. Would've been mentioned by now since Doran married a Norvoshi noble. Also Norvos is probably the poorest Free City after Lorath, so not a great match for a Dornish princess.
   
3. Tyrosh. Could've easily been mentioned when Doran told Arianne about his plan to send her to the Archon of Tyrosh. Also it was the Blackfyre stronghold, so unlikely to be an attractive option to the Martells.
   

That leaves Braavos, Pentos, Qohor, Myr, Lys and Volantis. Myr was close to being the fourth written-off city because having ties to Myr after the Defiance of Duskendale would've likely put the Martells in grave danger of Aerys' paranoia. On top of that, along with Tyrosh and Lys, Myr is a historic rival of Dorne's for dominion over the Stepstones. However, Taena of Myr looks a lot like Arianne, and she could be one of Dorne's "friends at court" (ADWD The Watcher). Perhaps she is a cousin?
Out of the six, my preference is that Doran's father was Qohorik while Elia and Oberyn's father was Volantene.
Qohor is one of the most fascinating Free Cities and yet we know so little about it. We don't even know what type of government they have. It would fit Doran's character to partially hail from such a secretive city.
Elia and Oberyn's father being a Volantene noble would explain why Elia was chosen over every other highborn girl in Westeros and the Free Cities to be Rhaegar's wife (maybe they descend from Saera's son by a Triarch?), as well as how Oberyn got behind the Black Walls so quickly and got away with fathering a bastard by a woman "of the noblest blood of Old Volantis". One might wonder why no one has mentioned this, especially since their nephew Quentyn was in Volantis, but technically he's not related to Elia and Oberyn's father any more than he is Nym's mother, and if Oberyn left Volantis on bad terms, it'd probably have been best for Quentyn to not use his connection to him as leverage.
Together with Doran's marriage to Mellario, that would give the Martells connections to Norvos, Qohor and Volantis, the three Free Cities that are located along the Rhoyne, their ancestral home. Funny, that.