Peyton manning got married

Okay so Im a 28m that has had Facebook for like 11 years. Never really used it, other than to add people for messenger.
Recently (last week or so). Facebook has begun recommending me random women, like actual phone notifications that are popping up.
The first was someone i have no mutuals, and just lives nearby. Was the first notification i had gotten for this. Found it odd and ignored it.
The SECOND is a big deal to me, cause its a woman I had a crush on, last i spoke with this woman was over a year ago, she was in a relat at the time, and i havent seen her since.
I just have no clue why it would recommend her to me, we have a few mutuals, but i have never searched her profile, mentioned her on my phone in text messages, nothing.
I am the type in life to overthink EVERYTHING, so my only assumption here is that this woman has checked my FB profile recently, and FB is being weird and sending me a notification telling me to add her? (Facebook you wing man you).
But i have no clue if it works like this. Why i got the first suggestion, and if I'm just nuts and FB is just being random.
So, the few questions i guess are...

1. Why is facebook suddenly popping up with phone notifications to random people
   
2. Is it truly "random" or does it have something to do with searching peoples profiles?
   
3. Am i just overthinking something stupid and ignore it
   
4. Do i just add? 🤔 this woman has never shown any interest in me, was last in a relat, have 0 way of finding out if thats changed, and dont want to seem like a creep by all of a sudden adding her...
   

My boyfriend D.C. copied my condo’s keys without my knowledge.
Last September when I went back to another country to see my grandma (for last time, she passed away because of cancer two months later), DC told me he’s returning to Oakland for work (he rent a space in a living room there) but in reality he had my keys and stayed in my place. He does not have a place in Vancouver. When he comes to Vancouver, it’s to visit me only so he stays with me. But I never gave him my keys!
I only just found out about this. He lied on Reddit saying that he is a married man. He also did not mention it’s not his home. He asked strangers, including couples (he wants to be third), to come to my apartment to play with him. He posted so much on Reddit’s related community to a point that he got two Reddit accounts banned.
As a single lady who’s constantly feeling insecure, after dating DC for almost four years and been engaged for a while, I saw him as my family and best friend I can count on. I always appreciated him crossing the border a few times a month to come to Canada to see me.
He has never told me anything about his sexy kinks. He clearly knows I would not be part of any of those given my personality so he did not even mention it whatsoever. When I asked him if he has a special sex kink needs to be fulfilled, he denied, sayings it’s just a dark side of him.
I’ve been going to therapy with this and also dealing with trauma of losing my grandma who raised me. You might judge me but I’m still struggling to move on from this pathological liar.
Financially I’m doing much better than him so there was some pressure on him about starting a family. Therefore he also guilt-trip me for what he did.
Let me know your thoughts or advice. #cheaters #liar #fallapart
TLDR Boyfriend copied my keys without my consent and used my home for threesome, hook-ups and whatever while I’m struggling with my sick family

I have been married for over 25 years. It hasn’t always been easy. In fact it was hard and traumatic. I have devoted my life to trying to be stable and hold it together. Coming from a bad childhood and lack of family stability. I have alway wanted a family that is close. I am finally doing therapy to understand myself. And according to the therapist I need to start putting myself and wants first. And I am trying to figure out what that is.
My husband had always had issues with mood and anger. And my son is the same. My daughter has with therapy became stronger and is able to express herself.
My husband finally started therapy and he confirmed that he has OCD on top of ADD. It has never been easy to have a conversation with him because he gets frustrated and shuts down. We live apart due to his job. But in recent conversations he has told me that he likes being alone and he doesn’t miss me or the kids. He wouldn’t want any thing bad happening to us or would probably be upset if something did. But he doesn’t know if he got married because that what everyone else did or had kids because of the same.
Maybe I have been lied to all these years or like he said he is going through a midlife crisis. But it hurts. I had to keep my emotions under control to keep the peace. And I thought if he got therapy that he would see and care. But it seems like the opposite happened. I am upset that I have spent all my life striving for a family and I feel lost.
I just needed to say it out loud. I have limited friendships because I always put my family first. And I couldn’t talk about my issues since I didn’t want anyone seeing me or my family in a negative light

I’m an Indian 28F, moved to Canada when I was 10 years old. I met my boyfriend during my fourth year of undergrad. He was finishing up his masters in the same university. We became friends, then started hooking up (for about 6 months), we fell in love and have been inseparable for almost 8 years now. I’m a non us IMG, finishing up medical school. He is a manager for fast growing company, salary is in the 100k+ range.
My father is a little conservative, him and I have had conversations about my relationship for the past 5 years. He broke down into tears and told me that the 4 things that concerns him about my future.

1. He is not gujarati
   
2. He is worried that if I decide to have kids by 32-33 my partner would be 40.
   
3. He doesn’t own a house. (I come from a very well to do family)
   
4. He became bald at a young age, 24-26. So now he just shaves his head. I honestly never cared. I mean I’m overweight because of hormonal issues and stress. I’m on a weight loss journey and basically a holistic self healing journey because I have ignored my health and well being pacifying others in my life. Not once has he or his family said I needed to loose weight to marry their son.
   

I have told him that I’m not attracted to gujaratis, I’m not a fan of family dynamics in gujju culture. I don’t like the intrusive and petty behaviour that comes along with their culture. Gujju people just make me uncomfortable because that’s all I have seen throughout of my life and I’m not a fan of the whole hypocritical behaviour that exists ( I know it happens in other communities as well, but his family is closest thing to my family, NGL I feel more comfortable in his family than my own)
The whole having kids thing, I have pcos. So I told him that if god wants to bless us with kids it’ll happen. But if it’s not in our destiny then no matter what we do it won’t happen, which I’m okay with as well. There are plenty of options considering I’m becoming a physician myself.
I’m between clinical training and still not sure whether I want to settle in Canada or America, looking at the economy right now, I’m more inclined towards a residency in Texas region and it doesn’t make sense to invest over 600k in a house he won’t even live in for the next 2 years. We might as well invest the same money in Texas and get a great starter house.
I agree he’s concerned about my future but so far in my life I have done everything he wanted me to do, even as far as I didn’t want to become a doctor but I’m becoming a doctor for him. However I can’t throw away the years I have invested in this relationship to the point where even if another man held my hand it would feel like cheating to me, it would feel wrong. I can’t compromise on this aspect of my life.
My siblings support my bf and I. We have convinced my dad to meet up with him and just get to know him.
Please give me advice!!!!

I (26F) when I was 4 years old my parents legally divorced and for my whole life I lived with shared custody. Until I was 16 years old my mom was my biggest enemy because she abused me verbally and physically while my dad was my best friend, going to his house was what I expected all week long because I went on weekends, we played board games, we went to the movies or to different places, he did let me have a pet, everything was a dream until I turned 16 years old. Something curious about this time is that my dad used to talk to me about how my mom cheated on him and she told me not to believe him, but since he was the enemy I didn't listen to him.
12 years ago my mom started attending a Christian church along with my whole family and I, curious, started attending with her... that's when everything took a turn. You see, my father is an extremist Catholic and from then on he started to attack me in every way possible: against my new belief, he discovered that I had Facebook and forced me to give him my password to h*rass me and read absolutely everything; he told me that if I took the entrance exam for the university I wanted, he would find out because he hired a friend to stand near the door and take photos of me if he saw me arriving, which made me scared; when I decided that I was going to be a teacher my dad exploded in fury, although I was already a legal adult he told me that I had no right to choose my career and only my mother and he could do it, he tried to force my mother to pay me to study medicine but he didn't succeed and now I am studying education; Oh and it is worth mentioning that he generated in me an irrational phobia of buses because he told me that if I got on a bus, my parents would never see me or my body again.
My father over time has tried to manipulate me more and more and I increasingly move away, he pressures me every year to marry someone rich, to get pregnant even by accident because he doesn't want to “die without knowing his grandchildren” (my father is macho), that I stay in his house when he no longer lives alone and lives with a family that I don't like, he wants me to call his partner's children "my siblings" and treat them the same as my biological siblings, that I become Catholic again so I don't go to hell, that I convince my sister to stop therapy because her bipolar "is a lie", that I don't relate to minorities or people of other races (my father is r*cist since we are not white), that I don't relate to anyone in the LGBT community (my father is “proudly homophobic”).
My father lives by appearances, he lives in an expensive house but my grandparents pay his rent, he wears pilot suits when he used to repair airplanes and he doesn't know how to fly a plane, he tells everyone that I studied “educational administration and future founder of a school” because he is ashamed that I am a teacher, he bought very big cars when he didn't even have enough to pay for gas and finally he presumes he is a good father... when he has caused me such strong psychological abuse that I'm afraid to do things because he might find out.
4 years ago I started to progressively cut communication with him to the point that I don't talk to him and I don't go to his house anymore, only once a month and it hurts me because in this dispute my paternal grandparents and my younger sister got caught in the crossfire, but my dad is so harassing that if I call them or her just to say hello, he will find out and come here to complain because I talk to them and not to him. Sometimes I think my life will be easier and I will rest the day he dies, AITAH for wanting or thinking that?

Well… it wasn’t like seein your grandma in a duck costume screaming “someone gets the wrench there is a raccoon in the tomato patch” weird but… at least somethin like it.
Anywho, I wanted to inform everyone of my first hike! It was today and it was quite nice! Except the bees and the teleporting deer and the feds and the bunker but WE WILL GET TO ALL OF THAT YALL I PROMISE I AINT MR. BANE WHO KEEPS THINGS NICE AND CONCISE I LIKE SPEAKIN!
So it all started when I put on my boots, I opted to get some nice dark green ones and paint and lil smiley face on it :) and when I got my gear that was so kindly left in the diner for me I went outside and began walkin to the mountain. It was quite a nice day too! The sun was shinin and the birds were doin their little do-op I even saw Mr. Tom! He don’t like me much though, he threw a bottle at me.
When I got to the mountain I was a little puzzled at how many different ent paths there were. Some where on the map and some weren’t, I could see some green flags in the distance but I watch late night television ain’t no way I’m goin off the beaten path (unless it’s to save my bff Claire) So I looked at the nice map and chose the red path I couldn’t see exactly where it was leadin but it seemed like it was nice and easy. That’s when I heard a buzz… and there on a small tree was a little honey bee nest!
Now… back in Alabama it was pretty rare to find some nice bees but these ones seemed super friendly! I was even able to get up real close to the nest with no issue at all! (Don’t do this at home kids) but then somethin truly odd happened… there was a smell… like a… metallic smell… mixed with like bleach… it started freakin me out a bit so I left them as is and went up the path. I saw some beautiful views and got to use the compass I was gifted! It got me thinkin about this place… how much I love it… but also how much I don’t remember… that’s when I saw the deer.
Now I tell ya… I used to go hunting with my daddy and I’ve seen some bucks but this one… was MASSIVE. and it had little cute white hoofs!!!! It came up to me and gave me a little stare like it was trying to say hi. Or maybe not. Now this is when it gets weird… I swear on my daddy’s life this buck was right in front of me and then when I blinked… it was over 10 feet away from me! I was honestly surprised… I tried to step again but it ran away as soon as I made a sound :(
So I decided to carry on and I made it to the end of the trail! Yay me! I saw a nice pond with some cute frogsssss. I named one teddy and the other Lisa… if you find them, tell them “ribbit” for me!
Now this is when it gets a little intense (Mr. Bane I may need your help) I remember seeing that wonderfully interesting post about that bunker and goddarnit I found it! But it was really far away from me up a cliff. And I don’t know what made me decide to eat my lunch then and there but I did! I sat and unwrapped my pastrami sandwich ich and chowed down. Now folks up until this point I ain’t seen no other human being, so let me tell you when I jumped out of my skin when I heard a voice in the distance yelling “hey!” Aw man I jumped!
I remember having to squint my eyes to block the sun and look up the cliff. And there at the top was a man in a dark suit and sunglasses then another…. Then another… then ANOTHER. 4 FEDS ALL CROWDED AROUND THIS BUNKER. Now if this don’t smell like my dead cat then I don’t know what does! (Fishy)
Now folks get a load of this… I go “hey” FBI “what are you doing?” Me “eatin” FBI “why?” Me “cuz I am hungry… is there a problem sir”FBI “you can’t have pastrami here” Me “what the hell? Why not?” FBI “interference” Me “with what?” FBI “we suggest only eating cheese sandwiches in the woods… ungrilled they must be cold”
And you will NEVER GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT…. THEY THROW 3 CHEESE SANDWICHES HIES AT ME. I got to many questions
Why do they have them? Why are they wrapped? Why are they on multigrain? Why did they give me three?
Wow I really do feel like Mr. Bane.
Anyway after that I lost my appetite and made my way down the mountain and back to my home.
I’m excited to do that again soon though!
Thanks for reading! Kisses SB

TW!!! I transcribe everything that crosses my mind to evacuate the pain that these thoughts give me. it's disjointed and quite violent. Please to not lose your time reading this if you're not feeling well. Might be highly triggering!!
I just write all the thoughts that comes to my mind without thinking. It fucked me up. I hate everybody. I fucking hate them all. I hate hate hate it here. I hate my body. I hate sex, I hate the fact that I hate. I hate the fact that I'm sad. I hate the fact that I feel humiliated meanwhile THEY LIVE WITH NO CONSEQUENCES. Hopefully they burn all in hell. Please may God forgive my intrusive thoughts but oh dear God I hate this hardship that you put me through. I don't wanna give up but it's hard. I see myself in the mirror and I don't even know who tf I see anymore. Is a strong and beautiful woman? Or is it broken one? Who tf am 1? What do I like? What DO ILIKE??? They took it away from me. My identity. I love my dad but l hate the fact that he told me that « men fuck around but want to marry a pure woman » well fuck em all! Fuck em all!!! I'm not pure anymore right? Because they did this to me? Because I loved the wrong man? I rather die alone and I will. Since nobody would want me. Not an issue. Rather be alone and suffer bc of myself, than because of someone else. I'm scared, I'm tired, " tired I'm tired I'm tired. I don't wanna do this bu can't take it no more.

At that stage where I'm trying to organize everyone's seating, and I got to thinking wow I don't really know where I'm going to put my bridal parties plus one? As in my bridesmaids and my man's groomsmen plus ones. What is the customary practice? Do they just pull up a chair next to them (I think there's going to be a main table for us ) or should I make a separate table for all of them??

My BF (30M) and I (27F) are on vacation right now for a wedding. We’ve been together for 3 years. We’ve been getting along great, no issues popped up until last night.
We were at the wedding and somehow got on the conversation of how much money we make. I then asked him how much rent I would need to pay to him. He bought a house recently (5 months ago) and he still has yet to tell me what the mortgage payment is. He then told me he doesn’t really know but he’s been paying “x” amount. We haven’t moved in together to the new house yet.
I got a little peeved and told him I wished he would’ve communicated this months ago since it seems like he does have a dollar amount. He then made some comments on how he knows I won’t pay half and it started getting a little more heated… Finally we agreed to drop it for the time being and apologized for bringing it up right then and there.
When we got back to the hotel room we started talking about it again. My bf then made a comment saying how I was selfish and I made the evening all about me. We didn’t get anyone else involved in our discussion and no one even knew what we had talked about. It was maybe a 4 minute talk at the wedding. He started making me feel really bad, said I ruined his night, etc. I got angry and admittedly I told him “F U”. I was drunk and I realize I shouldn’t have said that. He got super angry and grabbed me by the arm and yelled at me to stop.
I was crying and he told me that maybe we shouldn’t be together and he can’t be with someone who fights like this and he doesn’t know if it’s going to last. We have fought like this before, but it’s been a long time and we’ve really grown and gotten better.
I’m upset that it escalated so quickly and now I’m feeling down. The whole night I was telling everyone how proud I am of us for how far we’ve come and how I can see myself marrying him. Now I feel like I’ve ruined everything.
Reddit, how do I move forward from this?
Tl;dr BF and I got into a big fight on vacation while drunk.

(TW:we were 14, now I'm 15 and she's still 14/uncensored words about s*xual assault/cussing, just putting this in here since I know someone would most likely report me for not adding it) So just around Christmas eve last year, I started dating with one of my long-time friends, and my life prior to this was just empty, but she brought light in me, she made me feel something I never felt before, I felt alive for the first time in a long while, and everything was going great, I loved her, and she loved me, so I promised her that I will love her as much as I can until my heart stops and my mind fades, however things took a terrible turn when L (first letter in his name) entered our lives, originally it was just a one time thing where me, my GF, friends and L would go out, and we were drinking and shit, just having fun, we'll now comes the worst part, L was 21 at the time, and so to hang out a little longer we went to his place to chill, but then everyone left, and it was just me, GF and L, and we were just chatting, having fun, but then he started talking about our relationship, he started undermining it, talking about how we were not made for each other, that the only reason we are still dating is because we were long-time friends and shit, and I had none of that, however (I will start calling the GF, S) S took those words to her heart and started crying, I tried to comfort her but then he started putting pressure on me, bombarding me with questions like:DO you really love her? What do you love about her, why do you love her, do you think you two will last together? And under the pressure I just said that I loved her, and that's enough, but at this point S needed to go home, so I offered to walk with her like a good bf, however L said that I should stay and let her be, so she can think about this, and once again under pressure I folded and I stayed and she went home sobbing with me not having the chance to console her (looking at it now I should've persisted on walking her home, because he would start laying his manipulation on me, once again undermining me, and my love to S, but I did send her a voice message telling her all the things I love about her, and that I found the purpose for why I'm with her, she completes me) so after a few moments I left and came home, the next day I talked to my sister that we two are "friends" and she started going batshit, because my sister also has long extensive history with L, as well as my sister's friend, and my cousins, so she started telling me all the things, he did including (allegedly but probably truthfully) giving alcohol to one of my sister's friends (who was also around 14) getting her drunk, and then letting one of his friends rape her while watching (he probably joined in as I think about it) and many other stains, same thing with the cousin and sister's friend, but the problem was that S started liking L, and we started going out every single day after school, I took the info from the sister, cousin etc and I wanted to talk with S about it, however when I was about to initiate the conversation, I started overthinking and got to my head that I'm probably just being possessive, so we would continue these meet-ups with L for 2 more days,, every day ending with S crying, L completely undermining our trust and love, and me ultimately feeling shit, but at the last meet-up, just before it, I found cracks in our love, since L was dating with a 14 year old before that (He's 21 by the fucking way) S told me that 14 and 21 isn't too crazy and bad, I knew what was gonna happen, it would ultimately end up with her coming up to me, and telling me that "we need to talk tommorow" and I knew, I knew this was it, and I knew I was now powerless to do anything, she broke up with me, i was inconsolable, however the reason why she did it was the sentence that he said, that would turn out to be the most mind numbing, shit filled junk I'd ever hear "you need a man that can show you the world" I came home told my sister, and since she had S added on Instagram she started messaging her, warning her about L, his history, how he is, even her friend tried to tell her, and what his true colors are, even my cousin started planning with me and some of his friends, who L also fucked over, that we would beat the shit out of L, however, I started messaging him about it and the shit that happened, it was mostly just me writing a paragraph about how he was the biggest mistake in our lives and that he never acted like a true friend, he started firing back with shit like he never said anything bad, he was always supportive, and that I just overlooked it, however nothing changed, around a month came by, I started cutting myself, had the worst depression I've ever had, (I just recently realized this so I'll just put this out here) L and S started dating, I don't know for how long, when it started or when it ended, but L apparently spread the word of them two dating, all around the city, also at that point, L's manipulation started cracking too, and too little too late, S finally realized who Really is, so she broke up with him, (also in the month I asked her 3 times to reconsider, to think about it, and to give me one more chance, dismissing me every time) and so the depression arc continued until around April when I started slightly healing and getting used to not being with S, but then me and S started talking again, as friends, and I got re-added to a group chat I haven't mentioned before, (since it wasn't important) from which I got removed by one of the friends because she called me out for being a Wretch, so I got re-added and when I was gone, there have been some drama that I didn't knew of (that's where I found out that S and L were dating, and at prom where I danced with S, I found out something horrible which is the reason I added truthfully to the part where L probably raped the 14 year old girl too, I'm not gonna specify ) I was in utter shock, but yeah, shit went, and well we started talking more, that's where the promise I made turned into a curse, no matter how hard i tried, no matter how much I insisted and promised, my feelings never went away, so some more happened, and just yesterday until 3 am today (it's 5 am when I'm writing this) me and S went on a bike trip, since I want to stay close to her, we rode for 7 hours, chatting, laughing and having a good time, while I tried to make it as comfortable and enjoyable to her as possible, and we threw around a conversation about L, she said that he was the worst thing to ever happen, which I completely agree with, but I couldn't shake off this feeling because (it may just be overthinking) but it seemed like she started liking me again, she would constantly smile at me, look at me, having fun and it was just great, but now as I'm writing this I realized the situation, she is the reason why I continue living, her smile, her eyes, her personality, and just her, the only thing driving me into another day is the thought that one day I could maybe be hers again, and she could be mine. However I can't tell anyone expect the stranger on reddit, since if I'd tell my family they'd probably scold me, my friends would laugh at me, and God forbid I'd tell her eyes to eyes. I'm just at a crossroad where every turn I take is wrong and I'm just hanging on something that will never be, but the feeling that the impossible could happen, is the only thing keeping me going. Sorry for this long ass vent but I just needed to take it out, and I'm nearly sure someone will go full on detective mode to try and find, names, locations and shit, but I could just care less

Began this journey at my lowest point mentally and financially, 11k+ in debt with over 7k of it on 30% interest credit cards.
It's one thing to be broke. Less than broke is dehumanizing. If my car broke down I'd lose my job level of despair. Four maxed out credit cards.
Not suggesting you let it get to this point. Just learn from my mistakes.
I walked away from debt in the past. Decided I would be a man this time. Quit gambling, lived frugally and got satisfaction from paying the most predatory cards the most aggressively.
150+ days later of no gambling and from 11k to 2.8k of debt on one card with 0% interest until Feb 2025.
Thank you guys! You inspired this!
ODAAT! 💪

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Synopsis:
Juliette Contzen is a lazy, good-for-nothing princess. Overshadowed by her siblings, she's left with little to do but nap, read … and occasionally cut the falling raindrops with her sword. Spotted one day by an astonished adventurer, he insists on grading Juliette's swordsmanship, then promptly has a mental breakdown at the result.
Soon after, Juliette is given the news that her kingdom is on the brink of bankruptcy. At threat of being married off, the lazy princess vows to do whatever it takes to maintain her current lifestyle, and taking matters into her own hands, escapes in the middle of the night in order to restore her kingdom's finances.
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Copious Ohohohohos.
Chapter 241: Until Now
The doors to the Hartzwiese Adventurer’s Guild opened.
Before, the sound of raucous laughter could be heard flooding the street outside, filling the quiet of a spring night with all the debauchery the local drunkards had to offer.
Despite the halls of adventurers not being formal drinking establishments, those within were ready to compete in boisterousness with all the taverns, inns and pubs of the town combined. And also win. Handily.
And yet–
The moment the doors parted and I stepped within, a hush as quiet as any grave fell over its inhabitants.
A woman balancing with her derrière upon the head of another became still, the alcohol in her cup the only movement as it dribbled onto a stunned face below her.
A man slurping from the communal cauldron stared wordlessly, the stew pouring in, and then out of his mouth as the muscles of his throat forgot the means to swallow.
A bartender asleep upon a row of kegs quietly rose, the sudden din of silence waking him where the sound of debauchery and those drinking from the taps beside him had failed.
Here, there, and everywhere, eyes widened as the sudden silence was filled with the sounds of my footsteps as I strolled past, my loyal handmaiden and my brother’s attendant in my wake.
And also–
Mreow.
Mrewowow.
Meww.
Cats.
Tabby cats.
Calico cats.
Ragdoll cats.
Cats with twirly whiskers. Cats with puffy faces. Cats with slightly rounded ears.
Behind me, skipping around my legs while taking turns to sit upon my shoulders and very occasionally my head, were a legion of cats of various shapes, sizes and colours.
But no matter the springiness of their whiskers, the shine of their coat or the liveliness of their tails, one thing to bring them all together was the anarchy they caused.
This was no neat line of ducklings following after their mother.
This was a barbarian horde.
With no sense of organisation other than a shared drive to claim everything as their own, they immediately skipped amidst the stunned adventurers, scavenging for all the copious scraps while still turning their noses away from the alcohol forming sticky traps upon the floor.
Saying nothing, I allowed their demanding cries to fill up the hall as I swept forwards, pausing before a wall plastered from end to end with faded notices and requests long gone unanswered.
One by one, I systemically tore every request featuring a crudely drawn image of a cat, gathering into my arms a pile of parchment large enough to reach my chin.
Then, I made my way to the wooden desk.
A receptionist waited with a smile at the ready.
“Greetings! Welcome to the Hartzwiese branch of the Adventurer’s Guild. I see you’ve removed several notices from the–”
Poomph.
Silenced but unperturbed, this latest clone watched as I dropped the stack of requests onto her desk, before promptly topping off the stack with a copper ring.
“Do what must be done,” I said, my voice defiant. “I am ready.”
The receptionist answered me with a smile more permanent than the wall the notices were torn from.
A moment later–
“[Identify].”
A green hue appeared in her clasped palms as she assessed the ring.
“Juliette. B-rank. Your registered branch is Reitzlake.”
The sound of several cups clattered against the floor.
“Welcome again to Hartzwiese. I see from your commission history that you have an extraordinary amount of completions for recovering lost cats. May I assume the significant number of cats now roaming the branch hall relate to the notices removed from the wall?”
I pursed my quivering lips.
“Maybe.”
“Wonderful. And how many cats is it that you’ve rescued?”
“... Lots.”
“I see. Please give me a moment while I confirm the requirements of our commissions.”
The receptionist swiftly retrieved a stack of parchment from a drawer.
As she flicked through, her eyes simultaneously went to every cat roaming, napping and clawing in the hall. A skill not even monstrous overseers from the abyss with their dozens of eyestalks could match. But that’s only to be expected.
Wherever these receptionists were found, it was from a level deeper than any monster dared roam.
Eventually, she gave a nod.
“Thank you for waiting. There appears to be an excess of cats in relation to the number of commissions we have available. We’ll endeavour to ensure that every cat is rehomed at the earliest opportunity through our partner agencies and charities. But unfortunately, I can only provide official acknowledgement for cats rescued through a formal commission.”
I sucked in a deep breath, hoping that patience was one of the things I accidentally inhaled.
“Fine. And how many commissions does that end up being, then? … 10? 15?”
The receptionist flicked through her bundle of parchments once more.
“94.”
“... Excuse me?”
“I can confirm the successful completion of 94 simultaneous F-ranked commissions. Congratulations. This is a new record, breaking what appears to be one earlier set by yourself. A remarkable achievement befitting a B-rank member of the guild.”
The receptionist’s professional smile never wavered.
I thought that would be the worst of it.
But then–
She slowly brought her hands together … and started applauding.
It was the leak which broke the dam.
At once, she was joined by all who were present to witness this crowning moment of regret.
I turned around in time to see a riot in motion.
“W-Wooooooooooo!!!!”
“In … Incredible …”
“A new record … I … I heard it was broken in Trierport … to think I’d witness it broken again!”
“A B-rank adventurer … ?! Where … Where did she come from … ?!”
There was no polite, respectful applause here.
It was the wild cheering of a crowd at a tournament. The whooping cries of theatregoers calling for an encore. The acclaim of my father as he elbowed others to delight in the poetry I’d written when I was 6 and thus now regularly attempted to burn.
Everywhere I turned, I saw and heard the acclaim mixed with shouts of horror as mugs of alcohol were spilled on purpose and by accident. The layabouts stomped on the floor, doing their best to murder decorum under the strain of unbridled emotion.
Only a few falling teardrops formed any hint of more dignified revelry, the glimmer of admiration running down cheeks as sniffles were hidden amidst the raucous cheering.
And then I bore witness to the most morbid sight.
Like a tidal wave of soiled clothes and snotty faces, they suddenly came as one, hands reaching out for me with dripping mugs still in their grips. Horror struck at my soul. And unlike a farmer who’d scarpered into the night, I had nobody who could heal a wound caused by hooligans accepting me as their own.
“A-Amazing!! Take my drink! Take anyone’s drink!!”
“So many cats rescued … even my allergies can’t believe it!”
“My gods, it’s a legend! An adventurer among adventurers!”
This.
This right here.
This was the lowest point of my life … were I not an unparalleled genius.
“Oho … ohoho …”
At once, the wave halted.
Faces which were lit up in unabashed delight turned to looks of mild confusion against the tinkling music of my laughter.
They needed to cycle through the expressions until they reached horror and shame.
“Ohhohohohohohoho!!”
… For I was no drunkard seeking to join their ranks!
No … I was Juliette Contzen, 3rd Princess to the Kingdom of Tirea!
And that meant every action I took, every word I spoke, and every cat I saved was for a reason beyond the hopes and dreams these hoodlums had of wanton debauchery and rusting swords!
Indeed!
A lesser princess than I may slink away into the night, cowed by the utter shame, humiliation and disgrace of completing so many F-ranked requests that I somehow broke a record I’d only just set!
But I was made of greater things!
Of schemes and subterfuges so deep that it would take too long to explain! The plots I weaved were a silken web more intricate than any cogs which made up Coppelia as she doubled up, desperately trying to stop herself from succumbing to more pain from laughter!
And that meant with every cat request now denied to these louts … they would finally do some work!
“Ohoho … ohohohohoho!! Behold and be afraid! Witness before you the coming of a new dawn, here to lift you from your days of boundless reverie! Unfurl the shutters and gaze upon a radiance so pure it brands your dallying minds! The scorching sun has come to test the snail’s back, and all that your bleary eyes see is a great salt lake to devour you whole! Shrivel as you cling upon the sweat which drips upon your brow, for that is the proof you’re yet alive!”
A sudden silence met my proclamation of their coming ordeal.
And then–
“Wooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
“I don’t understand! But what a speech!”
“If she can do it, so can we!”
I raised a hand to my lips, barely covering my smile.
“Ohhhohohohohohohoho … !”
Here it was!
Operation: Gainful Employment!
An entirely new strategy, as bold as it was uncharted!
By removing what was surely the vast majority of missing cat quests available to the adventurers of this town, they would have no choice, utterly none whatsoever, but to engage in actual work! The type of work adventurers openly advertised themselves as doing!
Monster subjugation! Crime prevention! Fetching artifacts from hidden dungeons and then succumbing to their wounds at the entrance while the Royal Treasury pocketed the treasure!
Yes, this was clearly a highly experimental tactic.
But what was I, if not a bastion of creativity?
At the very least, I utterly refused to accept the status quo! An organisation dedicated exclusively to rescuing lost cats or elbowing into my kingdom’s sovereign affairs was no good to me!
Thus … I could not cower like some towngirl nauseous from the smell of their revelry.
Instead, I would squeeze the Adventurer’s Guild dry until the day I replaced them with an army of trained poodles. Until that joyous day, I could never tear my eyes away when they waited to be robbed.
To do so was more than a dereliction of duty …
Why, I’d be an accomplice to their drunken escapades!
My vow remained unchanged. For my goal, I would brave any indignity. The ring I was hoping the receptionist would forget to return was proof of that.
And thus–
I stood tall as a summer reed, proud in the knowledge that I had no need to feel even an inkling of embarrassment over completing 94 simultaneous F-ranked commissions! …
“Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft.”
“S-Stop at once! You are not to laugh!”
“Pffffttt~”
“C-Coppelia!!”
Clearly not seeing the angel of self-sacrifice who I was, Coppelia held one hand tightly around her mouth. Even so, she failed to stop either the sound of her amusement or the tears falling from her eyes.
My only salvation was that it came at significant cost to her. Even now, she careened between laughter and painful regret.
I decided to offer both her and myself mercy.
Turning to the receptionist, I found a modest pouch already waiting upon the wooden desk. As well as a copper ring waiting beside it.
“Thank you for your service to the Adventurer’s Guild,” said the receptionist, her professional smile undaunted by the commotion. “Your total remuneration is 102 gold crowns, 7 silver crowns and 9 copper crowns. I’ve taken the liberty to compile all your separate payments together.”
I took the pouch and ignored the ring.
The receptionist pushed the ring forwards.
A long moment later, I collected it, uncertain what a receptionist would do if I tossed it into the communal cauldron, but knowing it would somehow still end up on my finger regardless.
With my head held high, I bravely ignored the chorus of voices unknowingly cheering for their own hardship as I swept past. Renewed tears and applause filled the hall. A few cats attempted to follow me. I stopped to shoo them away.
And then I was outside, the door closing behind me.
“... Goodness, that was quite the sight,” said Renise with a bemused smile. “It reminded me somewhat of the inns of Reitzlake’s docks. I wonder if all the halls of adventurers are like that, or merely those which you frequent?”
“Please don’t insinuate I’m responsible for the debauchery which occurs wherever the Adventurer’s Guild is concerned. That’s something I can claim no credit for.”
“You say that … but to me, it seems that you caused quite a stir. That really is a remarkable number of cats you rescued, after all. Even I can tell that 94 simultaneous F-ranked commissions–”
“Miss Renise.”
The maid’s smile wavered against whatever fatigued expression I was making.
A moment later, it fell away entirely as she switched to her role as my brother’s attendant and the leader of whatever scoundrels he’d charged her with herding.
“... Yes, I suppose there’s time for idle conversation later. There’s a guardhouse nearby. We should report on all that’s happened tonight.”
I gave a nod of agreement.
Hopefully, the baroness hadn’t woken from her stupor yet. But if she had, I was certain the single portrait of myself I’d returned to the wall of her gallery to smile down at her gagged and bound state would calm her nerves.
Renise hummed towards the direction of Hartzwiese’s centre, before returning her attention to me.
“If you wish to keep your identity incognito, I can see guards sent to where they’re needed using my own authority, and arrange for the appropriate seizure of the goods and crowns we’ve discovered.”
I beamed at once.
My, so prudent! It’s little wonder she was chosen by Roland!
“A judicious offer. And one I’ll accept gladly, providing the burden isn’t too severe.”
“This is merely an administrative task, and little burden compared to what both yourself and Miss Coppelia regularly perform. In any event, it is only efficient. I expect I’ll be spending a significant amount of time at the baroness’s farmstead. It is quite extensive. If possible, I would like to make use of it for Rose House. I imagine having such a facility close to the Granholtz border would have its uses.”
I nodded, already forgetting the barn’s existence.
“I encourage you to use your discretion as required. My brother has put his trust in you, and so I both expect and know that you shall not disappoint in furthering the kingdom’s prosperity.”
The young woman smiled. One filled with appreciation, but also lacking ambition.
Good.
An excellent combination as far as retainers were concerned.
“Thank you. Although I worry you place too much trust in my abilities. In truth, those like Baroness Arisa would have made for a greater asset to the kingdom. Her resourcefulness must be acknowledged.”
“It is not resourcefulness my kingdom requires. It is loyalty. And hers is a pit so empty it drains others.”
“That’s true. But at least we were able to acquire some useful things from her nonetheless.”
Renise pulled out a tiny vial from the belt around her thigh.
A golden liquid was stored within, glimmering with an unnatural light.
“These were in her chamber,” she said, her eyes lacking emotion as she surveyed the bright liquid. “When we met, she actually attempted to purchase my loyalty with this.”
“A suspect vial. How quaint. And what miracle did she promise?”
“One that would wake my parents from their curse of eternal slumber.”
“... And is it?”
“I don’t believe so, no. This is one of many identical vials I found in her chamber’s desk drawer. All prominently labelled with instructions to only drink as required to stave off the effects of bloating.”
Renise returned the vial to her belt with a slightly embarrassed smile.
“It’s still useful,” she admitted. “But just not for what I require.”
I gave a simple nod as my reply.
Nothing else needed to be said.
She hoped to see her parents wake from their prison of dormancy. An understandable wish. And one I wasn’t required to supplement with the comment that no pair named the Smuggler King and the Smuggler Queen were likely to receive as light a sentence as their daughter.
I could not speak on behalf of Roland. Although I imagined that as a kind man, he would prefer not to pass judgements which were total. But as the Crown Prince, he did not have the luxury of kindness.
It would take much to change their fate.
But perhaps that’s why Renise was here, still proving true, and not accepting stomach ailment potions from a baroness.
A moment of silence followed.
Renise gave a short sigh. And that was that.
She set her eyes on the task ahead–at least until whatever words she’d parted her mouth to say were interrupted by Coppelia’s humming instead.
“Sooooooooooooooo … you just want to wake up two people eternally sleeping, right?”
A small smile met her optimistic voice.
“If a cure were readily available, I’m certain I would have found it by now. I believe one might be possible, but it would take skill and ingredients beyond any apothecary I know of.”
“Well, sure, you could go that way. But what about going straight to the source instead?”
“The source?”
“Sure. They’re asleep, right? So just ask the one in charge of where they are now.”
“I’m … not quite sure I follow?”
Coppelia clapped her hands together and beamed.
“The Spring Court is the realm of dreams. Chances are, they must have shown their faces around a few times by now. If you ask the Spring Queen nicely, she might do you a favour.”
“The Spring Queen? … The fae?”
“Mmh~ luckily, we have someone with connections here!”
Renise was startled out of her reply.
It was nothing compared to me. The one being pointed at.
“Coppelia!” I said, truly aghast at the suggestion. “The fae are not to be taken lightly. Why, I still have nightmares about my conversation with the Winter Queen! I learned a side to royalty that day which I shall never forget … and I’m quite poorer for it!”
“You met … the Winter Queen?” asked Renise, her eyes suddenly wide.
“Unfortunately, yes, but I had zero intention of meeting her, and I’ve just as little intention of meeting any other fae as well. Including the Spring Queen.”
I waved away the coming query to declare what was just as important as my lack of enthusiasm.
“Besides, I’ve not the foggiest idea how I would even hope to use these supposed connections I have.”
“Oh, that’s the easy bit,” said Coppelia, her casual disregard for what counted as ‘easy’ more terrifying than any lout I’d met today. “The hard part is getting them to do what you want. But meeting them? The fae are creatures of stories. If the time is right, they’ll speak to you–one way or another.”
“Then they must book an appointment. One which I can formally reject.”
“I mean, I don’t think you have much choice. You didn’t last time, right?”
“The last time, I was sat beside the Winter Queen’s crown. I see no fae artifacts to hook me away. And that means utterly no scenario in which I could be abducted without my express–”
I suddenly stopped, clasping my hands around my mouth.
A moment later, I raised my arms in a martial art I’d just invented, turning repeatedly on the spot.
Renise blinked at me.
“Excuse me, but what are–”
“Shhshhshh!!”
I paused, gazing intently around at the quiet, dark streets of Hartzwiese, all the while ignoring Coppelia’s giggling at my near miss.
That … That was close!
“O-Oho … oho … I almost invited something terrible. Truly, it’s perhaps best not to needlessly voice things which Fae Queens and their deviant brand of magic could use …”
Coppelia nodded at me, as proud as she was clearly disappointed.
“You’re lucky. If the Spring Queen had a sense of humour, she’d have snagged you right there and then.”
“No. If the Spring Queen had a sense of humour, she’d wait until–”
Click.
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My ex and I just broke up.
One of the bitter issues we had was that he was really controlling.
He tried to convince me that the changes he made to my health were things that I wanted.
1) I got off of my birth control. The first reason he gave was that it lowers men’s testosterone. He also said that there was research saying it had “negative impact on relationships” and said that it never ends well?? And he said that I would need to be off of it for a year before he’d consider marrying me. I argued back that we live in a state with no reproductive rights, so I would have to go out of state for an abortion or he would need to care for our kid that he can’t support right now. He convinced me to stop it “for myself”.
2) I was on a prescription medication for insomnia that happened to be an antidepressant. He is very passionately anti-pharmaceutical; he said he does not want a partner or a mother of his children to be on antidepressants or pharmaceuticals. I argued back that that is for my doctor or OB/GYN to say, not him. Apparently he knows better than them though so he convinced me to stop it “for myself”.
3) I made all of these changes for him. When he had a problem with me, I had to change it otherwise he’d give me an ultimatum. But if I had a problem with him, I had to get over it because he’s right and I’m wrong and he doesn’t have to change himself. Just me.
4) We went camping and everyone was partying, drinking, smoking and I got dehydrated because of the cold, making me more drunk than intended. Nothing happened. I was just drunk and my boyfriend had to make sure I didn’t fall in the pond because I wanted to paddleboard. My boyfriend took a photo of me drunk and sent it to my sister’s boyfriend to shame and embarrass me. I discovered it, and confronted him. He threatened to break up with me, and put me on an “exercise program” where I had to exercise to “earn” drinks during the week. Yep. If I exercised 3 times a week, I’d earn one drink, etc.
5) Someone asked my ex why he had not proposed to me, and I wanted to know too. This was after I had made all these changes for him and was working on other problems he had with me. He said he, “Still had to see more progress from me” for a while until he was sure. At that point, I felt like goal posts would just continue to get moved and I would always be trying to meet certain standards. Stick and carrot.
6) He told me multiple times that his love was conditional. I had to meet certain conditions and standards to earn his love, and if I didn’t, he would withdraw that love and affection from me. He would become mean, cold, withdrawn, a stranger.
I mean, typing all of this out, I’m thinking who in the hell would be with a man like this?? But the blame is being placed on me for our breakup. He was treating me like shit on vacation, like I was worthless and meant nothing to him. His friend treated me with basic kindness and decency, nothing inappropriate happened. My ex was fighting with me, putting me down, making me cry, and his friend was hugging me, asking if I was okay, being supportive to me all right in front of my ex’s eyes. While my ex was treating me like trash, my ex said he was watching the whole time us getting close, yet he never stepped in to tell me he loved me, he cared about me, that I meant something to him, or any sign of affection or love. He just berated me and made me feel bad about myself.
I’m questioning my sanity.

Hey guys, I (25M) wanted to post this here and get some advice of what to do next? I have been considering legal action, but I wonder if I have much of a case here. Some key things to note:

• I live in Nevada, USA, which is a right-to-work state and I was about to complete my 6-month probationary period before I was let go.
• I never signed off on a termination letter or any written statement about what happened
• The company I work for is a private company

I have been talking to my company's HR department about what happened and I'll just copy and paste what happened from the written statement I gave them:
"On 5/9/24 I was originally scheduled to work at 2 PM, and was heading into our office on the second floor when Chris, my director, was waiting for me at the elevator doors. At that moment, I did not know he requested to speak with me as I had not checked my messages yet prior to arriving to work. I followed him to a meeting room behind the bar on the casino floor and sat down with him and Kevin, a new Operations Manager that had just been promoted, as a witness. Chris informed me that I was being let go, to my shock. I asked why. He gave me a rather vague answer about how many factors have led to this decision, but he does not believe that I will mesh well with the team long-term and unfortunately it has come to this. When I had first started in my position, Chris and I had only two conversations about my progress and his concerns:
One was with my former superior Paul and Chris about how some of my behavior was a bit distracting to others and while it is good to be enjoying your work, please focus on my work and try to conversate with my coworkers about things relating to the job. I understood that, and took it in stride. I reigned it in and focused more on my tasks at hand and never heard another such complaint.
The second was when I had incorrectly scored an NHL game one night and the mistake was not found out until the next day, causing an all-around headache. I had similar, more minor mistakes in the past, so Chris told me to do better and that while mistakes are bound to happen, to have a better attention to detail. I understood and had improved in the months since that conversation and I hadn't made a mistake like that since.
With these in mind, I said to Chris that he couldn't deny that I hadn't improved since starting my position and my former issues had already been rectified, to which he agreed. So I asked him to give me a more tangible reason behind his decision. He cited my interactions with my coworker Logan made her feel uncomfortable in the office.
Logan is a girl the same age as me and her desk is on the other side of the room. My interactions with her were limited simply because of this fact and the most I ever spoke to her was greeting her when I arrived in the office, as I greeted everyone else, and benign small talk. May 9th is also her birthday, as I had heard from some of her other coworkers, so I even got her a birthday card and a singular cupcake that day.
For the record: I never singled her out in this treatment; in fact many times I had offered snacks or food to fellow coworkers. I even brought in staple snacks in Chinese culture for Chinese New Year this year a few months ago for the whole office to try. I offered them to everyone including Logan, as it is a big day in my culture and unfortunately I had to celebrate while at work. In my opinion, things like reminders of your birthday while at work is a very inclusive gesture and I was actively trying to make our company a better place to work at by promoting a more positive culture by setting an example. I even asked a coworker for his birthday so I could remember when it came around, as I realized I didn't know anyone's birthday yet. I did not mean anything by my actions, if they truly were making Logan feel uncomfortable, and I think some sort of warning beforehand would have been more than fair. If Logan herself was too uncomfortable with saying it to me personally, I could've also have heard it from any of my superiors first.
I made this point in my conversation with Chris; his only reply to me was that some people aren't comfortable enough doing that without hurting anyone's feelings. I feel that there is something more than what Chris told me and Logan's perception of me may not be the only reason I was terminated. And if Logan's perception of me was a deciding factor in my termination, I do not appreciate that treatment or assumptions being made of me simply because I am a man and she is a woman and therefore all my actions are perceived as malicious and/or having ulterior motives."

Dani complains that women speak to her in inappropriate ways. yet, today we got to witness Dani grooming Jordan to be her next "girl crush"!! All this after a morning with Goth (married older woman) having a very sexual, disgusting conversation with a known habitual predator

Gender: Trust me, I would love to have the satisfaction of saying that my gender identity was easy to decipher, but it very much isn't. When I was a very small child, maybe around six or seven years old, I was playing with my toys, and then out of nowhere I got the super strong feeling that I was born in the wrong body, that when I was born, God had put me in a female body when he should’ve actually put me in a male body. I had always understood boys more than I understood girls; I believed myself to be an oy, but after I told my mother this feeling, we got into a one-sided heated argument with my mother. I decided to just identify as a tomboy, since her saying I was born a girl, so that's what I was, didn't change how I feel. When I was in sixth grade, I didn’t necessarily feel like a boy or a girl; I just felt super gender neutral, like I wasn’t anything at all; I was just a person, but at the beginning of high school, I began to feel super masculinely aligned again. As time went on, I felt a lot more genders; sometimes I feel like a man; sometimes I feel like a woman; sometimes I feel gender neutral; sometimes I feel completely genderless; and for a long time, I identified as genderfluid, but for the last three weeks, my gender has been suspiciously absent, and it’s actually starting to stress me out. Most of the time I feel masculine and gender neutral at the same time; sometimes I feel genderless but also feminine, but now I just feel absolutely nothing at all.
Sexuality: I forced myself to be attracted to people because I thought that's what I was supposed to do because all the other kids my age were being in love; I just became really good friends with my 'crushes' and never wanted to kiss, hold hands, or do more than just hang out; I never thought any of my classmates were attractive; if society deems someone attractive, then so do I; I never realize people are genuinely drawn to people they think are attractive and want to DO things with them; I think romance is gross when I see it IRL or between live-action people and think it should just stay in books or non-live-action media. I just think people of any gender presentation look pretty. Growing up, I developed a 'crush' on anyone who was nice to me; I had a crush on ALL my friends and just wanted to hang out with them a lot; I got super uncomfortable and my attraction faded when we became 'intimate' with me like holding hands or wanting to date; and I feel this towards ALL genders, so I thought I was pan. But inside my head is the only place I feel sexual and romantic attraction, and it's only between non-live action characters and is always experienced from a 3rd-person perspective. Love and sex are just a storyline to me; I feel the romantic and sexual emotions of the character I'm telling the story's perspective from, but once the storyline ends, so does my attraction. I have a libido; I still experience personal desires, but I find that they can be managed easily on my own. I feel very repulsed by the idea of having sex with someone else. But, when I do get aroused, it's sexual attraction to anyone of any gender, but again, it's viewed from the 3rd-person perspective. After the solo mumbo jumbo, the arousal and sexual attraction fade into nothing; I even get repulsed by sex and romance for a long while after solo spicy adventures. I genuinely don't understand how somebody looks at someone else and wants to touch them, kiss them, and have sex with them. It's always been "Oh, they're pretty!"; it's never been "Oh, they're pretty; I want to date/have sex with them!". When I was a kid, I was a hopeless romantic; I wanted to find my soulmate, but the way of doing that was unrealistic. It was more like a remix of a Disney movie rather than something I actually wanted. I saw other kids my age have crushes, and adults always asked me if I was going to get a boyfriend, so I always thought it was something I was supposed to want, but I don't. I'm fine with being single forever. I'm happy this way, but I also don't want to do anything with anyone, so I feel as though I'm somehow on both the a-spec and m-spec. I’m not sure how exactly. All I know is that I consider both men and women attractive, but I don’t necessarily care about their gender identity when it comes to finding them attractive or not. I honestly can't understand how someone wants to do romantic or sexual things with another person. I dated this one guy in my freshman year, and it only lasted a week, and I avoided him like the plague the whole time. I felt all mushy and blushy when we talked and did things together, but once we started dating, I got super uncomfortable. We texted, and I was a huge flirt, saying we could hold hands and all that stuff , but when I went to school and he wanted to hold hands, I didn't want that. I didn't like being touched in a romantic way. I'm fine with my friends, though. What's confusing is that, at the same time as never wanting or feeling romantic attraction, I still want to do those things. I literally only feel romantic and sexual attraction to fictional characters. Because I am attracted to [female OC] and [male OC] (currently speaking, not speaking about past fictional crushes). I always have the strongest desire to be with [female OC], touch her, kiss her, and do other things, but I don't feel those things in the real world. She is literally my soulmate. Yes, romance and sex are still just a storyline to me, but I would say that I am in love with her. And sometimes the same can be said for [male OC]. There are some moments where I, Rowan, will get blushy and just smitten over him, but again, it's never in the real world. Would this even be considered a romantic or sexual attraction? I think it would. It's very rare when I feel something for real-world people, but it's always on the a-spectrum, like cupioromantic or grey-, for example. The reason I think I have a gender preference is because my entire life I have only been introduced to boys and girls, and the only queer people that I see are online, and all of them are attractive regardless of their gender, but again, that’s only online. How do I know if I actually feel that in the real world? How do I know if this is even a romantic attraction or just an aesthetic attraction? @DannyPhantomexe and @_augustskyz_ are both hot as heck, and just seeing them on my For You page gets me giddy. I honestly don’t know how to explain this part (m-spec) any better. I was brought up in a ultra-conservative Christian family and community, so I’ve only ever been introduced to gender men and women, so I’ve only ever been attracted to men and women, but when I am online, I find everybody attractive, regardless of what their gender is. If they have an objectively pretty appearance, then I think they are pretty. Growing up, obviously, I was attracted to men, because that’s all I ever grew up thinking was OK, but I just remember seeing girls on TV and thinking that they were so pretty, wanting to hold hands with them, and wanting to snuggle and cuddle with them. but I just thought that meant I just wanted to be really good friends with them and wasn’t anything romantic. But knowing about the queer community nowadays, I would technically consider that romantic. Any ideas as to what this would be?
— Rowan (they/he)

Hi friends. I wanted to vent a little bit about a situation I encountered today. I was downtown in a local shopping center looking to kill some time before my eye brow appointment. I walked into a coffee shop, placed my order and walked to a standing table near the window away from the checkout counter. As I was scrolling on my phone and enjoying my small breakfast, a man approached me asking for help with the self automated ordering machine. I told him that I do not work at the coffee shop and to take his concern to the clerk behind the register for support. He kept trying to talk to me but I turned away from him and continued to mind my business. Thankfully, he got the hint and left me alone.
Less than 10 mins later, one of the workers approaches me with a look of discomfort on her face. For context, there were a few workers in the store, one of which being a young man. The worker tells me her colleague wanted to know if I was from a certain ethnic background. I told her to please tell him I am not interested and she said she understood and left. As soon as I turned back to finish my drink, the young man walks over to me and starts asking if I was waiting for someone. By this point I was thoroughly annoyed and let him have it. I told him I was not interested in his advances. He then starts back peddling and stating that she was the young who was curious about my ethnicity. Yea right. I told him to exercise a degree of professionalism and not use the work force as a dating site. He then told me he was trying to ensure that I was comfortable as a guest in the shop. I threw out my drink, grabbed my bag and left.
In hindsight I should have left earlier. I am debating on calling corporate but I fear that he might retaliate.
I am so exhausted of men feeling entitled to our time and energy and convos. Just wanted to share.

I found out a man Id been seeing for over a year is married. Told me he's separated "done and dusted" was the phrase. Doesn't take me long to find people online. Not gonna say how I found out, cos F*** him and I don't want him to know but it was an easy Internet search. Turns out he's done it loads even when she was pregnant with their first baby. His wife is a stupid c***. She said she was told by other women it was just sex, but for us... he met some of my family, we had nights out, I had things in his flat like toothbrush, exorcise hour conditioner, bath robe. He'd put my favourite wine and snacks in his home fridge for me for after work for movie time. He's probably told her since I told her that it was just sex, but it wasn't. He invested time in me. I'm completely done so the time now seems like the biggest con, and I hope he jumps off a balcony. His sons don't need a mother who constantly allows a man to cheat on her, and they also don't deserve a father who disrespectfully cheats on their mother time and time again.

My parents (45M, 38F) have never had a good relationship for as long as I’ve been able to remember. They both had a toxicity that boiled over and burned everyone around them (aka, me - 16, my older sister - 20 and my little brother - 11). Me and my older sister would always get the brunt of everything, and we got hurt a lot, but my brother didn’t (he only got shouted at) because he was just a baby and he had difficulties so the school’s he went to would have a close eye on him anyways.
The only reason i’m asking if i’m TA is because i’m beside myself right now. I don’t know what to do and I need advice and I’m scared I may have started the end of my family.
Just before christmas, on the second to last week of term before winter break, i refused to go into school. The only reason being was I was in a difficult situation with a couple friends and I felt i had no one, I was alone and i hated that so i didn’t want to face anyone at school incase i broke down. My dad had come into my room, telling me to get up for school, get ready and he’ll take me. An hour goes by, and I hadn’t moved from my spot in my bed. My dad comes back into my room, and says ‘you need to go to school’ and such things like that. I didn’t say anything to him, all i did was groan (like when you don’t wanna hear it or don’t wanna do smth).
flash forward about midday, my mum comes screaming and shouting into my room, telling me all these horrible things and that i needed to go to school or she’d ‘make me pay for it’. I immediately thought it meant she was going to hurt me, so i thought i’d stand up for myself and tell her ‘what? you gonna beat me because i can’t stand going to school?’.
Half an hour later, and with no one saying anything else, i heard my mum on the phone (she’s really loud - she like raises her voice down the phone unconsciously so i heard every word) but then I heard these exact words: “(dad’s name) told me she refused to get up this morning and that i fcking knew about her not going in”.
I jumped up and raced down the stairs and started screaming that i didn’t say that because my mum was threatening to ground me and ‘make me pay for it’ - which actually meant chores but i liked chores to a certain extent. My dad had lied to her to make me look me once again, like a couple years ago when I caught him cheating on my mum when messages from a random woman on facebook would ping on his screen (he cheated on her 24 times since they’ve been married, also cheated on her a couple days before their wedding day and even fcked an old woman, like an OLD OLD woman).
My dad seemed to like the chaos because he always was the root of it. Whenever my older sister and mum were on good terms, he would go whispering into my mum’s ears saying my sister said this and she said that and so on. The same went for when myself and my mum were getting along. He had lied to my mum once again about me and it ended up backfiring mostly on me.
I told my mum what really happened and she confront my dad, who was sat on the sofa watching tv, and he fought back saying ‘she said it, she said it, i’m not lying! why would i lie?’ but when my mum refused to back down, he stood up and squared his shoulder and went to leave the front room, where myself and my mum were stood, which freaked me out because he clenched his fists and my mum saw it and she hugged me, saying go upstairs because he said he wasn’t going to be spoken to like this. (he also once got told by his sister that he shouldn’t be dictated by a child - ME, his first biological child - when all i was trying to do was talk about how i felt with his drinking because it was really bad.
Because of this, he left and he showed up on christmas and spent time with us, but kept getting agitated with my little brother because he kept asking questions and kept talking about his new plane game for his ps5 (my brother was recently diagnosed with ashbergers (however you spell it, it’s on the spectrum) and ticks that could develop into tourette’s). two days later, he left and i didn’t see him for about two months.
during those two months, i was conflicted because he’s my dad and i don’t want him to leave but he didn’t reach out, and i was tired of trying to reach him for the last sixteen years of my life so i didn’t bother. whenever i tried to spend time with him on my own as father-daughter, he would ignore it until my mum forced us to watch a documentary together (it was a murder documentary because we both like the genre) and it was so awkward, i wanted the ground to swallow me whole.
i didn’t see him until he came to pick my brother up for plans they made with one another because he messaged my brother first, which hurt but i couldn’t say anything because i felt i caused the whole mess of him leaving. we didn’t talk and i told my nan (we were living at hers because my mum filed charges of DV against my dad, which he didn’t and shouldn’t have needed to know - a lot more had happened because of him, but he was a veteran so his abuse was ‘excused’ and no one said anything despite us asking for help, especially from my dad’s side of the family) that i didn’t want to see him ever again.
i did see him again, only a couple times though because i felt really bad and i wanted him to be better (from the drinking) so i went with it and spent time with him, thinking it would help but it didn’t. he’s gotten to point he physically shakes because he hadn’t had a drink that day, and his face was all red whenever we saw him. he was also denying all the abuse and harm that he caused when we were younger.
It was only recently that everything has sunk in properly. i’m 16 and doing my final exams and i have a life that i need to start leading soon, and that’s terrifying. i’m moving across the country after waiting since early january, but my dad isn’t coming and he recently told me that he’s getting a place of his own soon (he’s in a temporary hostel) and invited me to go over whenever i wanted to because he would be working and it would just be sitting there empty. i told him i might, but i’m moving on the 15th of June and i don’t even know when i’m coming to visit my sister and my nan and my nieces let alone him, especially since my mum told me to cut all contact with him.
the thing with my mum is she found herself a new man from tiktok because she’s in an “agency”, and he’s a bit of character, in all honestly. my mum had always needed a man in her life and she’s had multiple boyfriends when she and my dad would split for months at a time. the only reason we’re moving the area we are is because that man is there, and she’s lost two of the babies she could have had with him.
i’m so lost and i don’t know what to do.
my dad still drinks and he basically lives at the pub that’s across the road from where he lives at the moment, and i don’t want to watch him drink himself into an early grave.
and i believed my mum was influenced to move to where we are going because of this new man, who she’s now not with because he’s also controlling and doesn’t trust her.
do i cut all contact with my dad just because my mum doesn’t want me to or because she’s trying to protect me? i’ve just gotten him to open up to me as a dad for the first time ever and i don’t know what to do. i know he was a bad dad, and he can only love one person at a time, but am i in the wrong for wanting my dad to finally see me as a daughter?
and should i really move because my mum wants to? does it sound that it’s gone too far?
AITA for wanting my parents to get along for the sake of me and my little brother, or is that asking too much?