Alex of exploited college girls

A little back story before I begin the talking about the actual issue. I was 6 years old when I was fostered by this current family (not adopting - this means councils can intervene a bit more) there is my foster dad, mum and sister and then there's my real brother and I. We all had our issues when my brother and I were growing up. I am 17 now, and have since grown out of the stupid things that we used to do.
I had an ok childhood and I didn't see much of my sister. She only participated with my life and started wanting to make memories with me once I hit puberty. When I started my periods, the foster parents made it a big deal to start me on the pill as soon as they could. I had no issues with my periods - except holidays. But they didn't want me making an issue of going on holiday with them. So they lied to the nurse and got me on the pill., even getting me on evening primrose and starflower oil, claiming I had behavioral issues - bear in mind I was 13 when this was all happening and I wanted to have my say. And my way of getting my revenge was to deprive them of having the ability to do girly things with the second daughter who they'd never really treated as a daughter. I began to hate being a girl and hated being called a woman. So I started covering up and not allowing them to buy me stuff that might show me off or indicate that I'm a girl (I even wear jumpers in the summer).
My sister got me these books for my birthday or Christmas because they helped her through growing up into the woman she is now, and wanted me to understand what was going on with my body. I knew what was going on with my body, I just didn't care - so I started mistreating it. It got so bad that my brother actually thought I was a boy. And I told her I had no need for the books because I didn't want to know and I wouldn't be the sister she wanted me to be.
I know this sounded vain - but I genuinely thought this way and hated life itself and wouldn't talk about any of it. Not to anyone.
Onto the main story. My sister is 23 with Fragile X, and I am 17 in June. My foster sister (FS) came to college with me - I signed up before she did - I was brought round to having the idea of having her at college with me, though being pessimistic about it at first. I asked her not to tell anyone that I was a foster child because here people believe that all foster children are pure evil and should be kept away from. But on the very first day, we weren't sat there 10 minutes and she goes "yeah, she's my foster sister. My parents fostered her when she was very young" I was upset because she broke the promise she'd made me. But I ignored it because I told that it wasn't malicious and I was over reacting.
In December last year, she struck again. I had told my friends to tell me if they had an issue with me. This was because I had to deal with a psycho ex bf that almost had his way. My friends told my sister first, made them panic and told them to report me because I've done it before which is a lie, 4 weeks I had to endure of silence, insults in front of me and behind me, and door slamming. Worst of all, she told everyone, leaving no one out. So it wasnt just her and they're still being horrible and snubby towards me today. But I've grown to not care. They want to live in a world centered around her lies, then that's their own pain when they find out.

I participated to a inter school softball game (our school got our cheeks clapped btw) and while I was on the bench, there was a girl next to me that I know but never actually talked to, I know her cause she’s a crybaby and she kissed 3 girls while drunk at a party after a breakup but whatever… She asked me about the red picture I posted on a group chat that had all of our grade’s student and even some teachers. I answered that I liked cross dressing since I didn’t wanted to go through explaining femboys and all. She questioned me a bit, confused which I understand. I remember exactly how it went:
Girl: Why do you do that?
Me: I enjoy it, it’s my hobby.
Girl: Are you like… going to be trans?
Me: i chuckled No no no… I like having a dick.
Girl: she chuckle too Are you going to me a drag queen?
Me: I laugh Naaah, I’m not into that over the top makeup and crazy wigs.
Girl: She laughed too alright alright…. Will you dress like that at school?
Me: Nope
Girl: So you just dress that way at home?
Me: Yup.
Girl: She nods That’s cool.
I was so stressed in the beginning, it turned out waaay more wholesome than I thought it would be. And I made a girl laugh! We kept talking for a bit after. I’m happy :3
Yo boy -Alex

I broke up with my on again off again boyfriend since middle school nearly three years ago. He and I were best friends/dating for 12+ years. We were each others first kiss in 6th grade, and we loved each other all the way up until our senior year of college. We used write each other poems, he’d get me build a bears with his voice in it, we’d write each other notes in the sand in the beach, he bought me Louis Vuitton and Gucci when we were in college, and so much other little things that don’t really matter, but still mean a lot to me to this day. Until the last year or so, our relationship was literally like a movie. I could talk about it for hours. I miss those days. I think of them fondly.
I won’t go into major details about our break up, but just know it was one of those breakups where you feel forced to break up with them because they completely changed/started to treat you different. Let’s pretend his name is Tommy. I didn’t want to break up with Tommy. I ADORED Tommy. Like, literally would sometimes cry while thinking of him because of how much love and care I had in my heart for him. We had been in a long distance relationship, close distance, everything in between. His family loved me, and mine loved him. My family toook him to Key West, Disney World, the beach, and so much more. Tommy was like my parents son. When we broke up, I completely lost myself. I would give up my body to guys just so they could spend the night so I could have somebody to sleep beside. Writing this is bringing me close to tears, because I truly regret doing that. I obviously was lost, until I meet this great guy who I dated for about a year. I ended up breaking up with him too because I resented him for making me unfollow Tommy and his family on social media, talking badly about him, etc.
About 6 months after I broke up with Tommy, I found out he had been telling people I “emotionally cheated on him” which is not true whatsoever. He made me look like the “bad guy” (probably because he was hurt) and all of our mutual friends from childhood, boys and girls, no longer speak to me. Meanwhile, I had only been speaking highly of him and wanted to still be friends, I even considered our break up a “break” at this point. So, naturally, to hear such a blatant and nasty lie was very hurtful. To think he was telling others I cheated on him when all I wanted to do was love him unconditionally was not a good feeling. I shrugged this off ike I didnt care, but I do. Now, I believe the lie and believe maybe I am the bad guy for breaking up with him. Also during this time, I found out Tommy was diagnosed with heart failure at the age of 22. We are both 24 now. If he does not get a transplant soon, he will die. This has been confirmed by a FB post from his mother. When I found out, I once again told myself I didn’t care. A few months later, I had a total breakdown one evening and told my parents I can’t handle it. Against my best judgement and normal character, I caved and texted him for the first time since we broke up. I said something along the lines of “Hey Tommy, this is xxxx. I wanted to lyk you are in my prayers and of course my family. If you ever need anything at all we are all here for you”. Send. No reply. Frantically a few days later, again against my character, I texted him again. I said something like “If you want me to leave you alone I will please just let me know what you want me to do”. Send. No reply. Damn, thats still gut wrenching to think about.
Here two years after his diagnosis, and three years after our breakup, I would be kidding myself if I didn’t admit that I dream of him every night, think of him at least once a day, and regret ever leaving him even though I know it was the right thing to do. Sometimes I wonder if he never got the diagnosis, if I would be over our break up now. The anxiety I feel daily about the fear of him dying is nearly unbearable. I have a new boyfriend now whom I feel like I neglect because of this entire situation, and I truly don’t know how to fix it. Every time I get a memory on social media, it’s of him since we were together for so long. All my major memories in my life (firsts, proms, graduations, vacations, etc) are with/of him. I feel like I can’t escape it. I’ve tried to forget and that just seems to have made things worse because I feel like I never gave myself time to heal. At this point, I feel like I should be healed. I am starting to get scared that this is going to affect me long term, and that I will never get over it. Some days it bothers me a lot (like today, to which I had to write for advice to strangers on the internet) and other days I rarely think of it at all. I have a family history of mental illness, and I every so often think of suicide even though I know realistically I’d never do it. I’m currently taking Buspar after being on Prozac for 15+ years. Advice is appreciated. I sincerely thank you if you read this far.
TLDR- I broke up with my first love 3 years ago and still think of him nearly daily. I think part of this is due to the fact that he is now unexpectedly dying from heat failure, and I live in constant fear that he will pass any day now. Please help with tips on how to get over this/how to move forward.

Alright, I should tell a little bit of myself before getting into the problem. I’m “19M”, I’m going to college for law enforcement, very tall (6’3”), and pretty muscular (not trying to brag but that’s what I’ve been told). I’ve been in quite a lot of situationships. But I never get close to sticking it or making it official besides twice technically. I think I’m fairly good looking and I can get a girls number pretty easily and 80% we will end up hanging out a couple times at least. But after weeks of hanging out, it just comes to end or slowly fizzles out. I’m not really sure what I’m doing wrong. But my main theory is confidence and/or my beliefs, I don’t want to get turned down and I don’t really have the ability to build up to more intense stuff (I kinda just spring it on them). My other thing is that I want to get people better before sleeping with them and I think it’s hard for me to show affection besides that. I’ve tried almost any age group from “18F”-“23F”. I just don’t know what to do anymore. Any advice recommendations?
TLDR: how to keep girls interested?

I’m 23(F) been working in BPO for 2 years then nagwork ako sa JP Morgan Chase in BGC (full-time) during my last year in college. I graduated Cum Laude from one of the top universities in the PH. I live in a condominium which only gives me a ₱20,000 take home THAT TIME. Working student ako at alam kong magaling ako. Pero I don’t know, sobra naman kasi ako magmahal.
Nakilala ko yung BF ko now sa bumble. He’s (21) good-looking, maganda ang upbringing, generous, pero baduy manamit but he NEVER let me pay. During our ligawan stage, ayaw na nyang umuwi sa kanila kasi namimiss daw nya ko. So ako na sobrang rupok, umaabsent ako sa work. Like medcert lang naman katapat nyan. Hanggang sa naging habit na niya na ayaw umuwi na para syang pusa na dinomesticate ang sarili para maging pet HAHAHAHAHAHA. Tapos first pa namin ang isa’t-isa kaya tuloy spiritually bonded kami. Uuwi na kasi siya sa ibang bansa para mag-aral doon so kami parang may countdown sa pagsasama namin. We date everyday as in sobrang activities and gastos. 5k-10k a day EVERYDAY. Sobrang madiskarte niya dahil malaki siya kumita sa crypto. So I decided magresign kasi napapapelan na ko sa work at nakakahiya na puro ako reason out na may sakit ako. Gladly, I have savings to cover for my monthly expenses pero may times na nanghihingi na ako ng share (deserve). Last February 2024, pumunta na siya ng ibang bansa para magaral. Habang ako nagwork ulit. After a week BUMALIK siya ng Pilipinas. He decided na isasama na niya ako doon. Then nagdecide kami maglive-in habang inaasikaso ko ang Visa. I don’t mind paying 50-50 this time sa bills kasi nga either way magbabayad pa rin ako. Nagresign ulit ako kasi I was disappointed na hindi ako nakakuha ng slot for Working Holiday Visa. Then he gave me an option to just process my visitor visa then I can quit working. He paid for everything. EVERYTHING. I am so lucky. Until nagsabi niya na “magshare” daw ako. LIKE????? Sabi ko I have job offers tapos he nagcounter offer siya na he’ll pay me instead at wag na ako magwork.
Now, pupunta na kami pa-ibang bansa. I am so scared. Never nagcross sa isip ko na magwork sa ibang bansa kasi I have a decent career here na maybe after 3-5 years manager na ako. I took the Law Aptitude Test and I passed. Gusto ko maging abogado. Pero hindi ako makapagenroll kasi gusto niyo doon ako sa ibang bansa kasama siya. Syempre doon hindi ako pwede maginarte sa work. Kahit sanay ako sa office work.
I AM WILLING TO DELAY MY DREAMS FOR HIM. I can change route if necessary. One time I asked him, “do you still see my in your future?” sagot niya, “im still looking for a partner whom I can rely on”. GIRL sobra akong naiyak at nasaktan. Like LECHE KA??!!!! I quit my job to support you. I delay my dreams so I can be with you.
Mahal ko siya pero natatakot ako na I’m just building him for someone else.

Yeah, I said it and i know it will most probably get deleted.
But it is true.
Truckload of Punjabis are moving to canada but only a handful of them are actually going there to study and get a proper job.
They take bullshit courses in worthless colleges just to get in this country.
Most of the people are just going their because others are going and their friends and relatives are living there.
There are so many who cant even speak basic English and yet they immigrate to a english speaking country. And then they refuse to even attempt to learn and get better.
The lack of will to get out of the bubble and communicate with other community is so annoying.
Most of these guys don't care about studies, they dont contribute in group projects and cheats in exams and assignments. All they want to do is either truck driving, security guard or grocery store supervisor jobs after they are done and then somehow get a PR.
They make other immigrants look bad when they act crazy in public or what they call the "carefree attitude" or "living life to fullest attitude". Shouting and dancing in public and trying to be overly friendly with white girls will not make you cool. You just look stupid and ignorant.
Going againt the rules and regulations of the country, college or anyother place will not make you look cool. Again you just look stupid.
Blasting music out of your mustang or jeep while rolling in plaza or going above speed limit on roads will not make you a cool community.
Thinking you will take over and rule this county is again completely stupid.
There are thousands of other things that i can mention. And it all says that punjabis are ruining canada. Stop acting like fools and be civil.

I've always been pretty social, I'm good at talking to people and from my perspective I seem to be well liked by most people I meet throughout highschool and college. People greet me in passing in the halls, I would always have people in my classes I could talk to and have a good time with, I always had people to sit with during lunch and have a good time. I had a gf in highschool that lasted for about a year and I've even had a girl ask me out once before so I don't think I'm a person that a lot of people don't want to be around.
The problem is that everyone outside of my girlfriend was always an acquaintance. I never got invited to parties or anywhere outside of school. I only ever had one actual friend but I met him in middleschool and we just naturally became friends none of us really did anything to make that happen.
Since I graduated highschool in 2020 my friend moved away and I've been without friends. I was attending college but I live at home and I work so socially interacting with people has been difficult. I also took a year off during covid because I just couldn't deal with the online only classes and I need to save some more money anyway.
During the gap year I spent my time working on myself, I started learning martial arts, I started lifting more. I gained a lot of confidence in myself and I saved a bunch of money from work so I can continue college. I became comfortable with myself and being alone and I wasn't really worried about making friends or finding a partner.
I returned to college in fall of 2023 and I haven't made any friends. I've had nice acquaintances, just a few weeks ago I ran into someone from a class I took last quarter and we had a good chat for like 10 minutes but we've never done anything together beyond that.
I finally met a girl I found attractive in one of my classes and I asked her out this past week and got rejected. Now my emotions are going crazy and I've kind of "woken up" to the fact that I don't have that much time left to make friends and find a partner. I graduate in 2026 so I still have some time but after I graduate this all becomes significantly more difficult because there are much fewer situations where I can meet people. Im also still a virgin so Im worried as I get older women are going to see that as a red flag.
I've come to the realization that I need to start taking my social life more seriously and make friends. I just joined a bunch of clubs in the university and will be attending them this next week but I'm not sure how to actually make real friends. I want to make friends with people that I can hangout with outside of the clubs I meet them in. I need to get in more social situations so I can hopefully find a partner. Its one of my life goals to get married and have a family but I guess I lost sight of that during my self improvement journey and havent been making that goal a priority.
I might just be overreacting as I get over this rejection but I'm scared im going to end up alone now. Like what if I dont click with anyone in the clubs? What if I dont find any of the women attractive or I get rejected by everyone I do find attractive? Im feeling really afraid and I need help.

There’s one every year. And you don’t get the offered money from schools you don’t attend.
https://people.com/high-schooler-accepted-into-231-schools-awarded-millions-in-scholarships-8649958
​

Madison Crowell was accepted into 231 colleges and awarded $14.7 million in scholarships to help fund her college education, according to High Point University (HPU).

“ Getting all of this recognition is very heartwarming. “
And that was the driver, wasn't it? Usually from parents.

her parents began planning her college journey back when she was a young girl.

​

Every time we have people visiting I get the “they’re asking about you, come out and say hi. They’re going to think something is wrong with you” speech. I know it’s rude to not go out and greet them but I don’t care. Well maybe just a little but not enough to go and say hi. I do wonder what they say and think about me when they leave. Everyone knows me as the girl that never comes out of her room or goes to family events. A couple years ago My mom told me she got embarassed when someone asked if I was in college and she had to lie and say yes. Honestly I get it lol, that was around the time I dropped out because I couldn’t handle doing presentations. I’ve gotten way too comfortable being this way..the years just pass by and I’m still in the same place. Wasting my life away.

Bit of context first, I (M19) have been in a few long term relationship since High school and have always had more crushes than my friends but nothing crazy, just a few. About 8 months ago I've broken up a very tough relationship with someone who had a lot of unresolved emotionnal issue and took their anger out on me. I was hard but I got over it and is now healed.
Recently I've been very troubled in what I feel. I've started college a few month ago and I am pretty active in a big social circle full of really nice people. I've had a lot of crushes these past 6 months, A LOT.
More than crushes, every time in fall very hard for a girl and she takes up a lot of space in my mind and it sometimes really feels like I'm falling in love again. But everytime I tell myself that I'm not ready yet or that I really like that girl as a friend and do not want to ruin our friendship... I get over it.
I've had an unlucky experiences recently, a girl that I really really liked but who honest with me (told me she loved me until we slept together and then stopped responding to messages) I've never felt so lost emotionnaly, sure having crushes leads to some cool moments of feeling high on love but I'm scared that those just mean I'm emotionnaly immature and am just trying to compensate something.
As I'm writing those lines I have this girl in mind I really like but also other girls. Some friends tell me I'm just too romantic others tell me I'm just in a weird emotionnal phase that will pass, I don't know what to think of it, whether to fight it or just ignore it. I come from a history of emotionnal abuse (at home and some unhappy relationships) and the idea of being emotionnaly immature terrifies me, I'm so scared of not knowing what I want because I don't want to hurt other people in my unsureness.

Hey everyone, I’m from Chicago, I’m female, 20 years old. Looking to transfer to UNLV with my associates from a community college. I’ve applied today. Fingers crossed :). (I know it’s a high acceptance rate lol).
But just any tips? How are people like here? Will a midwest girl survive???? Lmfao. Definitely looking for friends as well :).
If you guys heard of the “Midwest goodbye” it’s true. We take forever to end conversation here lol. so me, myself, i am pretty talkative and extroverted!

As the title says, I 20M made many decisions that I believe messed up my youth experience and will probably have consequences in my future. If you don’t want to read all of this just read the last question paragraphs.
So basically, I lost a year in High School due to bad grades at 17, as I had to work another 2 jobs to help my family, which went trough an extremely hard financial situation. I lost almost all my friends that year and became extremely depressed, and bitter. I gained lot of weight and my hygiene was on all time low.
At 18 I became extremely antisocial and literally only went to like 3 parties, where I didn’t do anything. I became over stressed over my future, my career, and started thinking that I’m a failure. I legit couldn’t even focus on girls, or anything like that because of how much I was thinking to try to figure my life out. Even though I started going in the gym, and put (physically) my shit together, I was still mentally depressed and even though girls and people were approaching me, I still acted like an autistic person, and messed up my last year at high school. I only focused on getting my grades up.
By 19, where I had to pick a college to go on, again, I messed up real bad in the access exams due to working the last months. My grades were so bad I had to go to a famous online school in my country, which is known for being the “failure students” uni. I spent 2 years studying hard to get a good grade and pick a good college, and still failed tremendously, meanwhile other people who didn’t focus and just partied and lived their lives, went to the one I wanted to.
So, I decided to start my degree online, and miss the first year college experience. This killed me inside but well, life goes on. Basically I spent that year working on multiple places, training, and being miserable. Meanwhile my classmates were enjoying the shit out of their lives, I was working in some low class jobs (I saved a lot of money but it doesn’t compensate), studying at the worst uni possible, and being stressed 24/7.
As if this wasn’t enough, this year I missed the matriculation of the access exam. I was misinformed via phone call and now it’s too late for me to do the access exam. I spent a whole year studying for nothing. I genuinely feel like my life is over, like 100%. Never, ever, in my life I had this sense of extreme emptiness and overwhelmed. I can not longer train properly, sleep, work, study, do self improvement habits without the thought that I completely f up my youth, even though I was working hard and doing my best, It’s absolutely incredible how hopeless I am now. It really is over. All my plans are terminated, all the work and endless hours that I’ve gone through just working were useless.
So basically my main concern is that I’d have to wait till I’m 21 to actually be on a decent college (3rd year), till then I have to study online and ruin completely my college experience. I genuinely don’t want to work as garbage man/toilet cleanesecurity/airport auxilia… kind of jobs that I went through, but I’m forced. Everybody knows I worked as these and make fun of me. I don’t have anything going on in life. I do feel like my social circle is also a big contributing factor, as almost all my close friends are in the same position as me. I do not want to end up like my family, working all their lives in low class jobs, but I am really going that path if I keep being this way. The career path that I chose (Computer Science) is really making me rethink whether this is for me or not. I am not enjoying coding, or at least the way they teach it. I only enjoy it when I code my own things, but working 8 hours a day in front of a screen…
I would like to ask some questions to people who may think can contribute something:
-Do you think I am missing a lot of the college experience? Like meeting a lot of new friends, girls, parties and all that stuff? I don’t know what is it like. I’m concerned if I’m just over stressing. I want to get to know people, girls, but I’m just not able to.
-Is it weird to be in college at 21 without knowing anybody there? What if I start a new degree? Will I be the uncle of the class?
-Will I do right if I get rid of my friends? They’re all very low level people, with black future, but they’re the only reason I have minimum social skills.
-Am I doing right focusing way too hard on self improvement? I’ve been watching hundreds and hundreds of hours of podcasts to gain knowledge and proper mentality, but I’m scared I will learn the same things if I just lived properly and do what everybody my age does. Maybe maturity can’t be learned.
-How do I not waste the year? I’ll have a lot of free time in some months, I genuinely don’t know what to do. All I have in my sad life is a 100k youtube channel that grew a lot in the last months that really doesn’t compensate all my lost experiences in life. My family isn’t being harsh at me due to “losing” the year, but I always had high expectations over myself and now I’m in the literally worst position possible.
-Am I doing wrong thinking I will make money on my own? Am I just being the classic 20yo kid who thinks he will become a millionaire?
Just FYI, I’m 6’6” and fairly attractive, so you don’t think I’m a random incel. Just a normal dude with really bad luck in life.

https://twitter.com/JapanTank/status/1789491214968144105
 
[Japan in 2024]
 
It's the year 2024 in Japan, and people are so outbid even for orange juice that they have resorted to desperately making "orange-tangerine mixed juice." Women are traveling abroad to prostitute themselves so much that they are being refused entry into the United States, and even to the point where they are going to South Korea, which was far poorer even just a short time ago, to work as prostitutes. What was once a major trading and exporting nation has long since rested on its laurels, and now with a trade deficit of trillions of yen and nothing to export, it is desperately bowing down to people not only from Europe and the United States, but also from Southeast Asia, India, and even countries whose names we have yet to discover in the tourism industry in order to earn foreign currency.
 
Even though it is a country with extremely low wages, it provides subsidies of hundreds of billions of yen to foreign companies to build factories in the country, and yet young people still go abroad to work. The top tier of universities has been completely snatched up by foreign capital, and graduates from prestigious schools such as the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, the former imperial universities, Waseda, and Keio are pursuing empty careers in consulting and the like rather than manufacturing, with no prospect of earning foreign currency. The top echelons of the working world are fleeing to America one after another, and once they do, they never come back. In urban areas, Japanese people pay rent for apartments to the Chinese owners every month, and while the Japanese lament that they cannot afford the high prices, the Chinese buy the apartments in cash, calling them cheap. The price of imported building materials has soared and it's difficult to even buy a house, but the company president keeps saying "Don't worry, don't worry!" and people are grateful for the good value for money house, and the company makes the highest profit ever, and the sales of the small house real estate agency that calls out to people in their 30s in street sales in front of the station and has the slogan "Let's go, one trillion" have finally exceeded one trillion.
 
Even though the price of an iPhone in the US dollar has not increased, there is uproar in Japan saying, "It's gotten expensive again!", and almost all mobile communication means, such as smartphones and LINE, are controlled by foreign companies. By preaching some vague, mysterious fantasy and delusion called Society 5.0, they are desperately trying to hide the fact that they have not achieved Industry 4.0, let alone the Third Industrial Revolution, and since neither the government nor the private sector has any IT technology to sell anymore, they are desperately promoting something that is hard to understand, saying how amazing IOWN is, and making it look like they are doing business.
 
This country, which once engaged in empty discussions such as "If there is a labor shortage, we can just bring in immigrants" and "It's better not to bring in immigrants," is now being told, "People go to Korea or Taiwan because the wages are low," and "Wages are higher in urban China," and so it has no choice but to deceive Vietnamese people and create a slave system to secure a labor force. The medical infrastructure, which was once one of the best in the world, has been eaten up by the elderly, and the working generation has been exploited to the point where they have finally reached the limit of what they can pay. As a result, drug prices have been forcibly lowered, and there are now countless foreign-made drugs that Japan is unable to procure, with people saying, "We won't sell to Japan at that low a price." Young people who could be saved with new medicines are not saved, and today, old people still gather happily at the hospital to get compresses, and are given medicine that only slows down dementia by 20-30% at a cost of 3 million yen per person. Elderly people in their 80s and 90s lie in bed, simply prolonging their lives by being bedridden, and their single sons in their 60s come to visit them occasionally, hoping to get their pensions. All of this is being borne by the young working generation, who are short of money and have hit an all-time low in marriage rates and a post-war low in birth rates.
 
The yen, once a currency coveted by people around the world, has become known as the "yen in times of emergency" and is now being sold off at bargain prices almost every day. Now one of the emerging currencies of the Far East, it is experiencing wild fluctuations in value and is managing to hang on by selling off the foreign exchange it had accumulated during its glory days, but it is unclear for how long it will be able to hold on. The country and its people have mistakenly believed that monetary and fiscal policies would solve the problem, put off structural reform, neglected technological development, and simply put everything off. Forgetting the bloody efforts of wise men of the past and the history of the dramatic changes that came with modernization, the old men of companies and organizations that flourished during the Showa era, steeped in old vested interests, are wielding their power, crushing new technologies and ideas, only for the people in question to be dead by the time they get away with it.
 
These young people, like those in the bellies of boiled frogs, are carrying a time bomb, and they vaguely foresee a future in which they will no longer be able to buy beef, flour, soybeans, oil, gas, uranium, or anything else, when foreign currency runs out, leaving society in ruins. But they simply turn a blind eye to this reality, and today, they are sipping mandarin orange juice while a girl looking for a sugar daddy is asked by an older man what color her underwear is.

I am three weeks post break-up from a man I have come to believe is a narcissist. Long story short, he left me after two years. He slipped back into full blown alcoholism (we both value recovery, or so I thought) and the verbal abuse increased. He has been unable to take accountability at all and has even continued to try to hurt me through the break-up (more verbal abuse and pics/videos of him being intimate with the girl he started seeing a week after we broke-up).
I've obviously been struggling. I'm doing everything in my power to be healthy and re-enegage in self care after neglecting my needs for a long time. One of my biggest coping mechanisms is research and I found this article when reading about ADHD and Narcissistic Abuse. I'll leave the link below, but here are some points that stood out to me. I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences!

• People with ADHD are often vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation, and they may find themselves trapped in a cycle of abuse and codependency.
  
• In addition, people with ADHD may be less likely to recognise the warning signs of a toxic relationship, as their impulsiveness and distractibility can make it difficult for them to see the long-term consequences of their actions.
  
• In a narcissistic relationship, the narcissistic partner may use the memory difficulties of their ADHD partner to their advantage by gaslighting. Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which the abuser tries to make the other person question their own memory, perception, or sanity.
  

https://www.spiescoaching.co.uk/blog/w9x1pdbrnu5aahioh7cdmfadn01ueh#:~:text=People%20with%20ADHD%20are%20often%20drawn%20to%20narcissistic%20individuals%20in,to%20emotional%20abuse%20and%20exploitation

So I'm doing a rewatch and as we all know, Season 1 is perfection. Firstly it's paced so damn quickly that characters and storylines go so quickly. You're exhausted by the end of it. However, the humour and lightheartedness is the number 1 thing of Season 1. Plus you've got the score by Christopher Tyng which is basically a character in and on itself. That plus the warm highly saturated lighting makes the show feel really warm and fuzzy. Like a nice big warm hug.
Now I'm on Season 2 and the fact that storylines slow down so much is the biggest shot in the foot. Here are a bunch of things I've noticed:
There's no "ending" to storylines. Like for example I feel like Seth is just obsessed with Alex for WAY too long. Just when you think it's ended the next episode Seth is like "so how do I get back with Alex?", it's like the writers just didn't know WTF to do with the storyline. Like move on!
The above paragraph is exactly the same with Ryan and Lindsay. How many times does she say "I think it's best we don't see each other anymore". Like for gods sake if this was Season 1, Ryan and Lindsay would only date for like 3 episodes and then he will be with another girl. Same with Seth.
DJ is so boring and had no chemistry with Marissa. He also never once interacted with any other character on the show??? Like huh? Have him talk to other characters. They really didn't know what to do with this guy and I feel like something happened behind the scenes?
Zach is too nice. I feel like he's always on the verge of tears.
Now one of the main things in my opinion is that they started giving Kirsten and Sandy really hard hitting storylines. Season 1 was perfection with them two because their storylines were serious but written extremely fun. Think of the episode of The Heights, or the episode where Sandy finds out about Jimmy kissing her. Those episodes are fun and yes they argue but by the end of the episode they are tight as hell, even stronger and ready to face a new episode of drama.
Also there's hardly any scenes with the kids and the adults. This gets even worse in S3 but once they introduce Rebecca and then Carter it just started to spiral to S3 depressing territory. Like S1 with Rebecca constantly flirting and trying it on with Sandy is how you should be doing a "cheating" storyline. Not dull Rebecca and Carter who looks like he smells of vodka all the time.
Like I'm watching while episodes in S2 and I swear there's an episode where Sandy doesn't talk to Ryan once.. I'm like wtf how did this get approved? Instead they focus on such dull voting soap opera storylines like Rebecca and if she's alive or dead.
The score was still made by Christopher Tyng but it takes a MAJOR back seat and instead starts to rely on "real singing music" all the time. Which means your kicking a "hidden character" off the show.
The lighting starts to get darker also but not as depressing as S3 lighting.
This season is at its absolute best once they bring Trey back. Because it forces Sandy and Kirsten to be there for Ryan and it makes Ryan more S1 esque with the broodyness, hardly talking and fighting drama. By the end of S2 they try to do what early S1 did best with the kids, which was fighting, beaches, sexiness, parties, Ryan and his family etc. it heavily brings back the Cohens being there for Ryan feeling that S1 thrived upon.
I also think that in S1 they were all so like tanned and brown which made them full of life. But in S2 onwards everyone is so pale (besides a few characters) which doesn't make you feel good.
Ok that's my mini rant done. I've just entered Rebecca territory and I'm always skipping scenes. God help me in S3.
By the way I didn't skip One. Single. Scene. In season 1.

I (21 m) am 7 weeks post breakup and the pain is unbearable right now. I was dumped over text. We’ve been together since right before 11th grade (4.5 years) and she told me she felt compliant to me for 3.5 of them. I was controlling in some ways (so was she) but I also cared for her when nobody else did and We both were long distance for college and that was a strain but we also got so excited to see each other and I thought we had such fun every summer when I’d stay with her.
The day of the start of the breakup was Easter. Two weeks before she had seemed distant but played it off as that she was stressed about school. That was the first time I’d ever questioned anything. Our goodbye was still drawn out with lots of hugs and a long goodbye. Felt nothing abnormal as I drove back. We talked normal on Easter about our plans for her spending a week in TN (fam moved there) and what we’d do in Maine. That night she sends me an insta video and I realize I’m out of the picture and lost it. That turns into her admitting later after I gave it time to cool off she doesn’t have feelings, but then said we’d call tomorrow. We never did
Next day she slowly starts removing everything and when she finally texts it’s just quick “I don’t want a relationship anymore” and I spiraled after this.
3.5 weeks later after that I finally got her to talk (over text again) and we had what I thought was a productive conversation about what happened. We agreed to talk again in two weeks and added each other back on insta. We talked ab a lot of stuff but a big thing was her not feeling comfortable with my family. And I said it was a bit harsh to use that as an excuse but unfortunately, I agreed my family while loving to her and me was a bit much. Led me to want to stay at my college in NC for a whole month in June because I resented everyone and everything for making me the way I am. I’m also autistic so my brain is stuck on this life I thought I was gonna have with her.
Ofc I text after two weeks and she says she never wants to speak to me again. And at first I went off for good and was okay. I went on a solo trip, I finally had another pics with friends to post there, and I even was happy to go home. I mailed the stuff back she didn’t want too and that felt so relieving. But idk what happened but this past week has destroyed me for no reason. I feel dead. I can’t get out of bed, I have no joy in anything, and the last couple days, I’ve started looking ups ways to end it all. I’ve realized that the pain I have is much worse than the pain of those who’d miss me. I’ve rlly started to actually consider how I would do it.
I’ve been depressed my whole life, but this is something I’ve never gone deep into. I was happy a week ago after she shut me down. I was happy the two weeks in between our texts when I finally found reason to work on myself. I was actually somewhat content with just being friends for that time I was praying for that bc I just needed good friends. And I have some of them, but everyone is so sick of hearing about her. I have nobody to talk to. And my parents got pissed when I mentioned how I felt earlier on bc my uncle took his life. But I can’t do this. My autism caused me so much social pain growing up. That girl was my escape from it all for YEARS and now it’s gone. And I don’t feel the same around my family anymore. The only thing I can do is cry and long for her back.
She would always say she loved me more all of these years and stuck by me through it all. But she made a friend in December and when I visited her they texted like crazy. And now she is visiting this female friend in June a 4.5 hour drive and she despises driving. I literally got replaced by a friend. She struggled socially like me but the second she met anyone to take the pain away, she leaves me and now is so happy because I was the one holding her back in life. It’s such delusion. When we briefly texted she said she cried bc she felt bad but who knows.
She has always had trouble facing things and speaking up, so this could be her way of not wanting to know my pain or get feelings for me again. I don’t even think she’s the one who texted the break up.
So I’m done. I hate my future. I hate my major. And I don’t enjoy my life anymore. Doing the things I love brings me pain. Is rehab an option idek what there is for that but I’m done. I could keep texting her but 50/50 chance that just goes to hell. I loved her like crazy and while she was suffering too, her escape was dumping me when I was the one who loved her the most and more than my family the past couple years. I can’t do this. Help.

My best friend and I have known each other since freshman year of college, so like 5 years now. We are super tight, she’s the funniest person I know and we’re like ride-or-dies.
Her and her boyfriend have been dating for 1.5 years now (I think), and I’ve met him more than a few times. He’s cool! But I am not into him like that.
I was in a LTR for 2 years but recently broke up, so I’m single again. I went out with my best friend (i.e. Jessie), her boyfriend (i.e Sean), and a couple other of our mutual friends (both girls). I was visiting them in Chicago for the weekend by the way, but I don’t live there.
Throughout the entire night, Sean would single me out to ask me things, or try to dance with me. For example, he would say “Hey, Salmonpaddy, what’s the tattoo on your back mean?” or “I like your outfit, Salmonpaddy” (which was a tight cropped tube top and baggy jeans lol).
Eventually he pulled me to dance with him, in front of my best friend, and I just danced super rigidly. Or he would grab my hand. And he knows I play some video games, so every time I see him he asks me to play video games with him, to set up a date/time to play together, the two of us.
He made me pinky promise that we would play Fortnite together this Wednesday at a specific time, he said he’ll buy me skins. I’m like. Bro😐. And he only talks about this stuff when she’s not around! So I asked if it’s possible to play with three people, since we should play with Jessie too, and he seemed awkward after that and switched topics.
Jessie went to the bathroom with a friend of mine, and I was with my drunk friend making sure she was good, and Sean. Sean starts talking to me again, and asks me in a teasing way, “So when are you gonna move to Chicago?” I replied that I have no plans to move to Chicago, and said I am actually going to move to NYC soon. He seemed shocked and asked how soon, I said a couple weeks, and he said “No, Salmonpaddy you just broke my heart! Don’t go that far! I’m barely gonna see you!” I said we don’t even see each other that often right now (like once every few months) and that I’ll see him and Jessie the same amount still! He was unsatisfied with that, and buckled down on trying to find ways to spend time with me. He said we should play games together, start a podcast, make a song together (I make music). Half of this stuff he repeated throughout the night, directly in front of Jessie, and it started to piss me off because he should be pouring that energy into her, not me, and I just felt bad that she just had to watch him constantly try to make plans with me or dance with me.
One more thing that made me skeptical is how he tried to disrupt men talking to me. I had quite a few men come up to me, and I spoke with one of them for a slightly longer time. Harmless conversation, the guy was cute though and I gave him a small peck on the cheek as I rejected his advance to dance with me. Yeah, mixed signals, but I’m dealing with my own stuff at the moment. Lol.
Anyways, Sean suddenly taps me and waves me to come talk to him, in like an urgent way. I asked him what was up, I thought maybe we were leaving, and instead he says “Are you into that guy??” and I said uhhh, I mean yeah I was talking to him but nothing serious. He apologized and said I could go back and talk to him, and I just laughed uncomfortably and went to go dance with Jessie instead.
Point is, Jessie is head over heels in love with Sean, yet I really don’t feel like he is being loyal to her in this way. I think he’s a cool person, but she’s my best friend before anything else and his behaviour as her boyfriend is giving me the ick.
How do I approach this situation?
TL;DR: I think my BFF’s boyfriend is into me and I don’t know how/if I should address it. She loves him so much but I feel like he is not as loyal as he should be, and I feel like he is lowkey hitting on me.

I (21M) and the girl I’ve been dating for about two months (21F) recently went back to our hometowns from college for summer. She lives 5 hours away from me and with us both working and being busy on weekends haven’t been able to see each other since the last week of school (first week of may). We texted and called pretty much all day every day this summer until about a week ago when our communication has been less and less as the days go on. It went from her responding within minutes to now it’s close to 4-5 hours until I hear back from her. The whole vibe of our conversations are different too like shes not as interested in what were talking about and her personality that I fell in love with isn’t in her messages like they were a little bit ago. I know she’s busy but I also know she’s the type to be on her phone a lot. We do have a couple weekends scheduled to meet up this summer but I feel like it’ll be different after this. I’m worried she’s losing feelings due to us being apart. I really like her and want to keep our relationship intact but I feel like it’s slipping away. I still try to engage in conversations but with her not giving effort in her responses I feel like I’m being annoying. Any advice?

I am a 39 year old man. I like to "work from home" on the campus of a prestigious university in my city.
Why? The wifi is good, I want to get out of my house, and I don't want to feel pressured to buy things at a cafe. People accuse me of wanting to ogle and pickup college girls. Yes, some of them are quite pretty. I am 39, but look MUCH younger and am considered to be very handsome. I think that they ogle me much more than I ogle them. I very often see them checking me out and hear them say, "He's hot!"
I didn't talk to anyone. I eventually became assigned the trivia host of the on-campus bar, which does give me a better reason to be there.
There is one girl who looks like a senior. I have also seen her at a concert, and she clearly recognized me. One night she came to trivia and gave me the most exaggerated look of girlish yearning. I should have winked or waved at her, but I just didn't. Later, at an on campus festival, I saw her from afar and she was frowning at me, perhaps thinking that I couldn't possibly be attracted to her.
Months pass, and I would sometimes see her on campus. Then I finally got the nerve to approach her and chat her up. She is a senior, and I got her first name. It seemed really awkward so I didn't ask for her number, which I regretted as what was the point of speaking to her?
With her first name and some other details, I was able to figure out her full name. I mailed her a letter to the university in general and explained how I got her full name. The letter was short and funny.
I later got a phone call. One ring, then they hung up. I googled the number and it was from her on-campus job. I don't know why she called or why she hung up. I decided to write her a second letter. This one was actually much funnier and more cute.
Nothing happened, and I think it is over. I think it was good of me to approach her. We both needed vindication. Me from thinking that I am too scared to talk to women, and she might have felt good that I was in fact attracted to her.
But is this creeping people out? Keep in mind, there is a 0% chance that she was NOT attracted to me. It is very possible that she thought I was a late 20s grad student which is fine, and not a late 30s almost-rando which she might not like. But why did she call and hang up?

I have recently turned 18 years old and I was diagnosed with PCOS a while back. I had regular period from age 12 (when I first got it) to about six months ago, where I would bleed every two weeks. My obgyn said my testosterone weren’t as high as she normally sees, I was just 3 ng above. Anyways, I’ve been feeling insecure about my body all my teens. My body hasn’t changed much since I was 14, although I’m somewhat curvy, slightly overweight, in particular my breasts have been the same, a tanner stage 3, my body hair has been sparse and I’ve come to wonder if this has anything to do with pcos?
Also: She just put me on birth control for my period and depending what happens afterwards she’ll prescribe metformin. And I have an appointment with an endocrinologist soon.
I feel so detached from my body— I’m starting college soon, and I’m gonna start to do big girl things soon. I’m sure I’m not the only person who has dealt with this and maybe you can share your experiences?? I feel like I go in circles when I think about my insecurities, and I know it’s out of my hands, and I know all about body positivity but honestly I don’t want to hear it. I know I’m still a young, insecure teenager and whatever but holy fuck, I feel so bad about myself.

Background: I (23F) am an active participant in a music fandom. I won’t say which, but I am sure if anyone is familiar you can probably figure it out. I have been a fan of a certain artist within said fandom for about 5 years. A couple years ago, said artist did a special performance I desperately wanted to go to, and I purchased tickets, however it being across the country from me and having no support from family or local friends to go with me at the time, I opted not to travel alone and spend thousands of dollars I didn’t have doing so. I was devastated, and since then I still have been unable to see them for reasons out of my control.
Around this time, I was scrolling social media and came across videos of a girl who went to the performance and blogged her experience. She was beautiful, the same age as me, in college, and to my surprise lived in the same metro area as I did and flew out of the airport I would have. Difference was, her mother, sister and friends all went with her. I remember watching her vlog and feeling sick to my stomach, as if I was looking at what my life could be like if it was just a little different. If my family was a little wealthier. If they cared and shared my interests or at least supported me. I followed her on social media around this time, and we interacted a few times but she unfollowed me at some point not long after so I unfollowed sometime later and forgot all about her account for maybe a year or two.
As if on cue, about two years ago, I start to get into another artist. I start to look at social media for people who like both artists as I was uncovering a small niche in a larger community of these two artists individually. Lo and behold, I find her account. She too is now a fan of both artists, and we instantly became a mutual follow, and of course, she has already met the band and people in their circle at events I can never even think about affording and seen them perform up close. I try to imagine she might be jealous of me too for attending their last tour when she wasn’t a fan yet, but I know this is a ridiculous comparison when she eats sleeps and breathes them. She even invited me to join her group for a special performance our new artist did in another city, but being in my financial situation and knowing I hadn’t met her yet I decided to decline, much to my regret. It was basically history repeating itself, although more personally now.
We started to become a bit closer and talk in direct messages as we realized how much we had in common, weird coincidences too. Of course, she’s just as perfect as I thought she was all those years ago. She has an amazing job in my dream creative field, fully remote and always posts photos and videos from her beautiful and tidy bedroom/office space (I’m unemployed after being fired this year, and mine is chronically unorganized and filled with junk.) I don’t know how much money she makes but she also has another part time creative job on the side related to our fandom where she gets all sorts of cool opportunities. Whenever I talk to her I feel like I’m looking at a reflection of what I could have been if I did things differently or my life was better. I scroll her accounts for hours trying to piece together bits of her life I wouldn’t know otherwise and figure out what makes her the way she is. As we’ve gotten closer I fear it less, but for a while I would compulsively check her accounts to see if she unfollowed me like she did before and was hyper aware of what I posted in fear that she would see something she didn’t like. Ultimately, I want this to be a normal friendship and stop obsessing over her like this.

I recently graduated with a master's degree in computer science. There was a girl in front of me who caught my attention. I remembered her name from when she was called to receive her degree; she was graduating with a bachelor's in computer science. She is the same age as me and we went to the same high school.
I was able to find her full name using college data, but she is not on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or ANYTHING.
I know she used to have a Facebook because I found old posts where she was tagged, but the link to her profile was inactive.
THE ONLY place where her name came up was on GitHub. So I'm wondering if I should just reach out to some friends to get her number that way. BUT I do have her GitHub... So I was thinking, what if I MAKE A MOVE WITH GITHUB? I could fork and create a PR for one of her projects, use the issues section to get her attention and give her my contact info, so if she's interested, she can DM me.
Maybe I can create a quick reveal.js page with a good level of creativity and link that?
I'm not sure if this is something Joe Goldberg would do and it's better to just find her number lol
Has anyone hear of something like this? Any ideas?