PC

Reddit Account: u/TheSacredGroves
Discord Tag: justinkayce
Name and House: Roland, of House Arryn
Age: 28
Cultural Group: Andal
Appearance: Tall, lean, well-muscled, handsome, fair - Roland is the portrait of a Knight of legend, of the Winged Knight come again. Harsh sky-blue eyes, severe cheekbones, and the familial aquitaine nose give him a cold and distant look - but one frequently broken by his warm and gentle smile. He keeps his pale-blonde hair long and his jaw clean shaven, accentuating the lines of his face. Roland is always neat and clean, his armour burnished and his threads well-tailored and fashionable.
Trait: Blademaster
Skill(s): Swords (e), Andal Knight (e), Essosi Blademaster
Talent(s): Dancing, Hawking, Singing
Negative Trait(s): -
Starting Title(s): Knight of the Gate
Starting Location: King's Landing
Alternate Characters: n/a

Bio-Timeline

• 3 BC: Roland Arryn is born to King Joffrey I Arryn and his wife, Queen Sharra. The third son, Roland's birth firmly secures the succession - fortunately timed considering his father's death later that year.
• 1 BC: The Conquest passes the two year old Roland by, the only impact on him being the squall he raised when Vhagar landed atop the Eyrie.
• 1-4 AC: The post-conquest world is the only one Roland knows, and he grows up in a household dedicated much to it. House Arryn in this period is an odd family, to say the least. Sharra Arryn's attentions are much divided and she has less time than a mother normally would for her third son; Roland is mostly raised by the medley of the Arryn Household and Court and is well-moulded by that as the expectations of maester, septon, courtiers, knights, servants, begin to be shape him into what an Arryn 'should' be in the eyes of their people.
• 5 AC: Roland struggles to find his place as a third son with little direct supervision. It is decided early that he does not have the smarts to become Septon nor Maester... but even as a youth Roland has a keen interest in the training yard, often an annoying shadow to his eldest brother and his squire friends. However, even at eight years old it is clear there is a natural talent to the boy - and when he defeats a squire four years older than him in a training bout in the presence of Lord Corbray, the famed Raven Knight, takes the precocious boy on as a page.
• 6 AC: Roland is by Lord Corbray's side when he tracks down the Root Father. Now a newly minted squire, Roland ignores his knight's orders to remain with the horses and sneaks after them. He kills his first man there, taking a clansman from behind as he in turn tried to attack the Raven Knight from the back. It is not an honourable kill or a clean death, and Roland is badly injured in the scuffle - but he survives. Lord Corbray is furious, and fiercely instils in Roland the importance of fighting with chivalry and honour. He almost abandons Roland, but his tearful begging convinces the Raven Knight that Roland is genuine in his regret.
• 7 AC: Visenya Targaryen's visits to the Eyrie become more frequent, and Roland's wariness of the stern, dragon-riding pagan is overcome by his fascination with said dragon, her skill with the blade... and his mother's growing closeness to the Queen. Visenya becomes something of a second mother to Roland, and her influences war with Lord Corbray's own. From Lord Corbray, Roland learns chivalry, honour, piety, and how a true Andal Knight should act. From Queen Visenya, Roland learns the importance of victory, and an understanding that wars must be won - he learns practicalities and realities. It is a schism within Roland that troubles him, but from both he learns the blade and even at ten it is more and more obvious there is something special about Roland. He quarrels sometimes with his brothers. Jonos, as even at ten, Roland could find little but disdain for his scheming, sneering, brother, and Ronnel as again even at ten, Roland already began to see himself as the better sword (and grows envious that Ronnel gets to adventure and party while Lord Corbray keeps Roland on a much tighter leash).
• 10 AC: Roland learns of his mother's death while at Heart's Home. He returns home swiftly, and his grief is overwhelming. There are few Roland can turn to; Ronnel is concerned with his marriage and rulership, Arwen retreats into the forests, and Jonos is Jonos. Roland relies further on Visenya, who has experienced such grief herself recently and guides Roland through it. Her place as a mother to Roland is confirmed in utterance. To distract himself, Roland throws himself fully into his training and an ensuing victory at a squire's melee at the age of ten and three sparks his reputation as a squire to watch across the Vale.
• 12 AC: Roland, at ten and five, wins the squire's tourney at Maiden’s Bay. He is stopped from sneaking into the higher tourneys by Lord Corbray, much to Roland's chargrin and his demand to be knighted is refused. His calamitously sized ego is rapidly deflated by the Eyrie's Septon and Queen Visenya, who pick him apart and teach him between them the values of humility, and the value of letting ones abilities speak for themselves. Roland does his best to control his pride in the future; ego is rarely ever an issue from him.
• 13 AC: While the honour of the day goes to the Cavaliers, Roland Arryn wins his spurs when the Painted Dogs are crushed under the Moon Gate, killing near as much as the Cavalier Superior herself. That his knighthood was overshadowed by an order of women warriors initially irritated Roland, but recalling his lessons from the last year, he happily shared the honour alongside them and was one of the voices that petitioned his brother to replace the Keeper with the Cavaliers. Knighted, Roland joins the Brotherhood of the Winged Knights and although young, is a key figure in helping rejuvenate the Brotherhood.
• 14 AC: Roland is betrothed to Alayne Waynwood; their romance is one from the storybooks, an instant and deep connection from the moment of meeting.
• 15 AC: Roland and Alayne wed as soon as they turn ten and eight. Part in celebration and part as dignitaries, the pair go to King's Landing together as guests of Lord Orys' great hunt for his son's coming of age. At the Kingswood Catastrophe, Roland saves Orys' life, but Alayne is slain defending other noblewomen. Roland hunts down, duels, and kills the King of the Wood afterwards. He is offered the Whitecloak for his service; on advice from Visenya, he declines, claiming his family needs him and he can defend Laenor and Visenya just as well in the Vale.
• 16 AC: Roland withdraws into mourning for a year, taking up a brutal campaign of bandit hunting in the Vale to cope with his grief.
• 17-18 AC: Roland returns to his brother's side, continuing to help rebuild the Brotherhood of the Winged Knights and slowly coming to terms with Alayne's death. He begins to more keenly ride the tourney track between his duties, earning a reputation as a fine lance alongside his growing reputation as one of the greatest knights in the realm.
• 19 AC: With Roland settling into his knightly role, Ronnel names him Knight of the Gate, with the downside of forcing Roland to have to keep a firm hand on Jonos from time to time when their brother is exiled to the Gate for yet another slight. The relationship between Jonos and Roland sours; where Ronnel threatens Jonos with exile or the Wall, Roland threatens him with death.
• 20 AC: Requested personally by Visenya, Roland tries to take on Prince Laenor as a squire. They are utterly ill-suited to the role, and after many frustrating failed training sessions in the yard, Roland gives up, labelling the Prince untrainable. The relationship between the two almost-siblings sours, but Roland works to repair the rift he created between them with much kinder words.
• 21 AC: Roland develops a relationship with a fellow Knight of the Vale, Colmar Corbray - the son and heir of the aging Raven Knight. Colmar has a fire in him that Roland can't help but seek, and he excuses Colmar's many flaws far too readily. It is a secretive bond, and toxic, but Roland does not believe he deserves better after letting Alayne die.
• 22 AC: The Winged Knights are whipped into fervour as yet another piece of the ancient armour is found. Roland himself dreams of perhaps finding more. Inspired my tales of the armour, the Brotherhood grows even further and in order to keep a firm hand on them, Ronnel makes Roland their Commander.
• 23 AC: Roland and Colmar's relationship deteriorates, ending in a duel that sees Colmar humiliated but, thankfully, alive. The two men hate each other from then on.
• 25 AC: Roland rides by his brother's side to King's Landing.

Family Tree

AC

Name and House: Marla of Gulltown
Age: 34
Cultural Group: Andal
Appearance: Broad and strong with well-calloused hands, Marla is as obvious a blacksmith as Roland is a knight. She keeps her brown hair tied severely back, framing her dour face with its squinting brown and wide mouth that wears an almost perpetual frown.
Trait: Artisan (Weapons)
Skill(s): Craftsman (e weapons; e armor)
Talent(s): Whittling, singing, maintenance of arms and armour
Negative Trait(s): -
Starting Title(s): King's Landing
Starting Location: Master of the Armoury of the Bloody Gate

Timeline

• 9 BC: Marla of Gulltown is born to a master-armourer in Gulltown
• 1 BC: Marla begs her father to help as his assistant as he tries to deal with the massive increase in orders thanks to the Conquest; he reluctantly agrees. Her older brother dies when Vhagar burns the Vale's fleet.
• 2 AC: Marla secretly goes out to work her father's forge at night, practicing at smithing - and finding herself something of a prodigy.
• 6 AC: Her father dies of a weak heart. Marla and her mother discover his great gambling debts, and no money saved for them. They keep her father's death a secret as Marla works the forge to complete his current orders - what comes after that, no one knows.
• 7 AC: Somehow, the charade is kept up. Marla's father is portrayed as a recluse who has devoted himself to his work and the Smith and will see no one in person. This mystery increases the shop's popularity, and many marvel at how greatly his work has improved since taking up this holy vow of solitude.
• 10 AC: A young merchant attempts to woo Marla and is rebuffed. Spying on her, he discovers her secret, and spreads it through Gulltown. The reputation of the shop collapses, and Marla and her mother flee ahead of those furious at the deception, the Faith angry that they had been used, and the law's punishment for fraud. They flee to Pentos.
• 11 AC: Marla finds work with a Qohorik blacksmith, an old master, now drunk and washed up. He teaches her all he knows. Helping each other back to their feet, the pair set up a proper shop, once more, together.
• 15 AC: The old blacksmith dies; Pentos proves to be unfriendly in its business to a woman by herself without the old master by her side. Despairing, Marla hears about the Cavaliers of the Vale, and reckons that if her home will now accept female knights, surely they'll accept a female blacksmith.
• 16 AC: Marla returns to the Vale with her mother. She avoids Gulltown and instead heads to the Gates of the Moon, seeking to offer her services to the Cavaliers. She is accosted by vengeful Painted Dogs on the way, and saved by the miraculous intervention of Roland. He offers to accompany her to the Gates of the Moon, where Marla is gladly accepted.
• 17 AC: Having forged arms and armour for Roland as well, which Roland raves over, Roland has his brother take her on as the Arryn's personal smith and armourer.
• 19 AC: When Roland is given the Bloody Gate, he begs Marla to come with him, who agrees in part. The smith spends her time between the two Gates and the Eyrie, overseeing the arms and armours of all the Arryn forces. Mostly remaining at the Bloody Gate, Marla becomes an integral part of the Winged Knights.
• 20-24 AC: Marla is regularly persuaded to accompany Roland to yet another tourney to help maintain his arms and armour. She grumbles, but secretly enjoys the competitions. Tales of the Winged Knights armour fascinate the Blacksmith, and with her small amount of Qohorik experience she helps verify the pieces as true Valyrian Steel. Her and Roland worsen each others obsession with tracking down the rest.
• 25 AC: Marla rides to King's Landing with her Lord and Knight, ready to work her magic if Roland breaks his armour yet again.

Supporting Characters

• Septon Gernot, 41 (Medic) - Septon of the Gate
• Maester Guy, 42 (Scholar) - Maester of the Gate
• Ser Martin Donnerly, 36 (General) - Castellan of the Gate

How do I(29F) handle my parents(64M and 63F)?
I (29F) have been dating a guy (32M) for several months and decided it was time to tell my parents about the relationship. They expressed their immediate disapproval because he does not currently have a college degree. For context: both my parents and I have at least masters degrees and my mom has a Phd. They believe he will not be able to find good jobs in the future and will limit me. They see it as "laziness" that he did not go to college after he got out of the air force (he enlisted right after high school) since the government would've paid for it. He is currently at a great job and has a lot of experience in his industry. He makes a little less than me but we are both making 6 figures and are doing well in our respective fields.
They both value education and so do I so they believe I am "betraying my values" by dating someone who isn't college educated. But he is very educated within his field with certifications and very technically qualified.
During the second time my parents spoke to me about my relationship, my mom expressed that she had given up so much in order for me to be successful and she didn't understand why I would throw away my entire life. This was hurtful as I always felt guilty that she had given up so much to raise me, such as a career and huge involvement in clubs and organizations. But until now, she never said she resented it. At one point my mom drove (5 hours) unexpectedly to "meet me for coffee" to talk me out of dating him.
My boyfriend is over half done with getting a bachelors of science, but because it's an all online small school, my parents don't think it's worth much and also don't think he will finish the degree.
After two months of this I finally get a text from them saying they don't support this is any way but it is clear they aren't getting through. They hope I eventually make the right decision and we don't need to discuss it any further.
I don't know how to proceed as they said they will not meet him unless I marry him and they will never "accept that I have settled this way". I don't think it's fair to my boyfriend to keep dating him if my parents will be this upset and I am worried I may be "blinded by love" and maybe this relationship is a bad idea. My boyfriend knows my parents are not happy but he says they will come around.
Would it be wrong if I distanced myself from my parents a bit over this? We usually talk once a week and we see each other about once a month but I recently haven't wanted to talk or see them at all. Should I continue to see my boyfriend given that he may have to interact with my parents? I don't know if that is fair to him.
To answer other questions before they begin: this is the second "serious" relationship I've been in where I have said I wanted them to meet anyone and they said they were "fine" with the last boyfriend but we seldom talked about him. That old boyfriend had a law degree and was clerking. My current boyfriend and I were friends for about 18M before we started dating so we knew each other well and that's why the relationship has become serious more quickly.

I didn’t grow up with my dad - he was always in my life and took care of me financially but he lived in a different country so he could do this, while I lived with my mom (they’re still married).
As a result, our relationship has been pretty terrible. I just feel like I have this burden to fix this relationship all on my own.
After finishing high school I moved to the same country and that’s when everything changed. I was used to sometimes going weeks without speaking to my dad and suddenly he wanted to speak every single day. This was a foreign concept to me so I couldn’t get used to it and I’d sometimes not be great at initiating conversation everyday. He’d get upset as a result and then start telling me off. This only put an even bigger strain on our relationship.
Whenever I voiced concerns to my mom, she’d always tell me how I should change and whenever I tried to make her understand why things are the way they are from my POV, she’d always tell me I’m the child and it’s disrespectful to put myself on my dad’s level, and that even though she understands me, I basically have to be the one to humble myself and do certain things to fix the relationship.
Recently I’ve been feeling very distant from him, and almost upset at him because I feel misunderstood by him. He texted me to arrange a call and when I responded, he opened the message and never responded or called. It’s been 2 weeks.
Today I get a call from my mom and she’s telling me my dad was crying (literally) to her saying he doesn’t understand why I hate him and that I’ve ignored him for 2weeks. I don’t hate him and I didn’t ignore him - I texted back and he never responded. I’d previously told my mom about the message I sent and he never responded to, but he apparently said to her that he never saw a message from me. Untrue and I sent my mom screenshots to prove he’d seen the texts.
This really upset me and made me feel very overwhelmed, especially hearing he was crying about it. My mom started giving advice about fixing the situation but it was all stuff that I should do to make him happy and nothing that he should do. I tried to explain how the relationship will never be fixed if we’re ignoring his part in this and just focusing on how, even though I haven’t done anything wrong (as he’s the one who ignored my message), I have to be the one to fix things.
I feel like I have to please him in order to have a good relationship with him. I feel overwhelmed and burdened by everything that’s expected of me, and I feel misunderstood.. like he’s not hearing me.
I don’t know what to do. I feel really angry and resentful.

I’ve developed hard trust issue just because they keep lying for no damn reason. Every time I ask them to do something for me they either one don’t do it or two do the complete opposite of what I told them. Example A: There was a school trip happening at my school and I asked if I can go they said yes and I even suggested they should let me get a job the beginning of the year so by the time the trip started I’ll have enough to fully cover it. They said don’t worry about they’ll have the money come 2 weeks before the deadline of the trip they told me to forget about it because they didn’t have the money. I was so livid I missed out on an good opportunity because they can’t just let me get a damn job to afford the trip and the only reason they said they can afford is because they have some weird pride that their rich or something but can’t even afford common school expenses. Example B: When they finally let me get a job, I worked my ass off for a year to save money for a car that I really wanted just a simple 2012 Chevy Malibu that they said I can get with my money. When I finally saved enough money they got mad at me for even suggesting that I’ll be even be able to buy my car by myself because I don’t know anything and that I should give them my money to hold on so later they can combine with whatever money to buy me a brand new car. MIND YOU I never fucking asked for a new car I specifically said that I wanted that car over and over again a simple ass sedan. When ever I bring up the issue with my car or say that just put the money back into my account they get mad at me and say I should never bring it up again. Then one day they decided to bring home an ugly ass SUV and say that I should just drive till they have enough money for a brand new 2023 car for me.
That whole car situation pissed me off because I had the money to buy what I want and I had everything laid out to the expense so that’ll be able to save enough money for it and they just took it to buy some stupid car that I never asked for or wanted. Now thousands of dollars and year of my life is gone and I’m stuck with an ugly ass car. Why do African people do this every single time I have something planned out they always make it ten times worse or do everything in their power to prevent me from do it. But whenever they need money and I say I have nothing for them (which is true) they get mad at me and call me stingy, ungrateful, wicked, etc. and start rambling how they don’t even need my ‘small money’ I’m making. I swear they have to be jealous of me or something there is no reason for a parent to do they’re absolute best to make their child’s life harder. I’m so done and tired with this stupid manipulative bullshit I’m moving out the minute I turn 18 and getting the damn car I want.

First / Previous / Next
Before anyone could say anything else, there was a blinding flash of white light. The Dreadnought appeared directly in front of them, impeding their progress. Stormy fired the thrusters and tried to duck underneath.
"Get back into your seats! I'm going to link away again." Northern and Zhe dove towards their seats and bucked back up, but before Stormy could link, there was a clatter and a shudder throughout the ship. New alarms sounded throughout the ship, a kind of wailing trilling noise. It was incredibly loud.
"What's that Stormy?" Zhe clapped her hands over her large ears. "Can you turn it down any?"
"It's... It's a grapple. We've been grappled!" Stormy's rage permeated her voice. "Those were banned centuries ago! I can't believe they used a grapple on us."
"Can we do anything?" Fen asked. She looked down at her screen. There were new spots of orange on the readout where the grapple was damaging the hull.
"Our options at this point are to allow us to be taken aboard, or blow the reactor." Northern shook her head. "They've got us."
"Stormy, might as well disconnect and come up here. I don't want them doing anything to you." Fen closed her pad with a snap. She looked at Zhe and Northern. "Sorry."
Zhe shook her head. "Nothing to be sorry about, Fen. We're in this together."
Northern nodded. "Despite myself, I do find that I like you two. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. It's not your fault Fen."
Fen sighed. "Yeah, but if I wasn't a clone of the first Empress..."
"There's no way these people know that Fen. They're just after their current Empress and probably think we know something about it. I'd say just answer their questions mostly honestly." Northern ticked off points on her long fingers. "We saw her on Picaresque, we went out drinking, we partied with her and her honor guard, and in the morning we left. None off that is a lie."
Stormy walked into the Command Deck and looked around. Finding a seat, she sat down and buckled in. "The four of us is enough to operate a frigate of this size without raising too much suspicion. They shouldn't ask about whether we have an AI pilot."
Zhe's ears flicked in surprise. "Really? Only four people?"
She nodded. "It's just about the bare minimum, but it's possible. It could be explained away that we're a new merc group and haven't taken on more crew yet. These kind of ships are meant to be run lean and mean anyway."
Fen wasn't so sure, but she couldn't do anything else.
They waited.
About 30 minutes later, there was a pounding on the airlock. Fen unbuckled and went to the lock. Peering through the window she saw three armored spacesuits. She toggled the intercom. "Yes?"
"Human Imperial Navy. Open up please. We have some questions for you."
Please? That was interesting. "Why did you grapple me? You could have used your radio."
"The Admiral wishes to speak to you in person."
They did not elaborate further.
The voice of the suited person sighed. "Look. If you just open the doors, it'll go better for you. We won't even restrain you. You just open up, we bring you to the Admiral and then we let you go once she's happy with the answers."
"And if I don't open the lock?"
"Then we force it open, capture you, restrain you-" They hold up some metal zip cuffs. "-and still bring you to the Admiral. Only now, your ship is damaged and you can't leave once she's finished speaking. Your choice."
Fen cut the intercom. "Fuck." she said to nobody, and pressed the purge button. Both airlock door snapped open and there was a puff of air as the pressures equalized. Fen's ears were pained for a moment, but she swallowed and her ears popped.
The guard lifted their helmet. It was two men and a woman who looked so similar they could have been related. The woman smiled. "Thank you, really. My name is Lieutenant Shelly Cooper. What's yours?"
"I'm Captain Fenchurch Whitehorse, but please call me Fen."
"Very well, Fen. Who else is aboard?"
"The rest of my crew. They're on the Command Deck. There are four of us."
That caused Lieutenant Cooper to raise an eyebrow, "Four? That's it?"
Fen smiled awkwardly. "I wasn't able to hire anymore crew than that. Believe me when I say I've been trying." It wasn't a lie, not really. Fen found that there weren't many people who were willing to sign on to an unproven merc company, even if they were a couple years old.
The Lieutenant turned to one of the men behind her. "What did the bioscan say?"
He looked down at a pad strapped to the arm of his suit and tapped at it with a gloved hand. "She's not lying. Ship is empty except for the command deck."
"Curious." Cooper stared hard at Fen. "Have we met? Are you from Sol? You seem familiar to me."
"I don't see how. I grew up in a Gren station, far outside of Colonial space." Again, it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. Of course people in the military would know what the first Empress looked like.
"Hmm. Okay. If your crew agrees to keep the reactor powered down and be powered by an umbilical, they can stay confined to the ship and you accompany us. Deal?"
"Yes, I agree to those terms. Let me go tell my crew."
Lieutenant Cooper nods. "You have three minutes."
Fen hurries back to the command deck. "The Admiral wants to talk to me. They said you can stay here so long as you agree to be powered only by their umbilical."
Zhe stood up and crossed her arms, her tail swishing irritatedly. "It won't matter, because we're coming too."
Northern looked to Zhe and sighed, but only a little. "We can't leave you out to dry, Fen. We'll come along too. How bad can it be? Plus, if we come with you we can't suffer "an unfortunate accident" in the hangar."
Fen exhaled. She hadn't realized she was holding her breath in. "Thanks Northern, Zhe." She turned to Stormy. "You're welcome to come along, but I also know this isn't your thing. We had just hired you after all."
Stormy looked at Northern who shrugged with her eyes. "Up to you."
She runs her hands over her face. "Fuck, me. I swear Northern, you know how to pick them." Stormy stands up and smiles. "I'll come along, what the hell. Sitting on the ship was going to be boring by myself anyway."
The four of them went to the airlock, and Fen went up to Lieutenant Cooper "I spoke to my crew, and they want to accompany me."
Lieutenant Cooper throws up her hands. "Fine, I guess we'll just give you the VIP tour on the way." She gestures out towards the hangar. "Here is the hangar, where we store our smaller ships and boats, as well as the frigate of a merc captain we captured that the admiral wants to speak to and offered to let her crew stay onboard but they want to follow their captain to the ends of the galaxy."
Fen crossed her arms, but said nothing.
"Come on then. We'll find you some more chairs or something." Lieutenant Cooper turned on her heel and walked out of the hangar, without waiting for them to follow. The two guards with her looked at each other and one of them gestured for them to follow.
Not too far from the hangar, Lieutenant Cooper came upon a small conference room. She opened the door and led them inside. As they sat, a steward came by with a small cart of drinks. Fen was offered and accepted a coffee, and they went around offering beverages. Lieutenant Cooper also took a coffee, but everyone else abstained.
Cooper took a sip and looked down at the comm on her wrist. "The Admiral will be here shortly. Please be respectful. She's... lived a long life and doesn't suffer fools. If you want to make it back to your ship, answer her questions quickly and honestly."
Fen wasn't halfway through her coffee with the door chimed. Lieutenant Cooper stood. "This is where I leave you. The guards will wait outside the door and - should you be able - will escort you back to your ship." Her face was odd. She looked worried, and also like she felt bad for them. Just what kind of person was this Admiral?"
The door whooshed open and the Admiral strode in. She was about the same height as Cooper, maybe a few centimeters taller than Fen. Her hair was blond streaked with grey and she wore it clipped very short on the back and sides and a little longer in the front. She wore her hat at an angle that probably was against regulations. Her uniform was immaculate and her chest bulged with medals. She had a hard, but not unattractive face, lined with time. As she entered, she looked down at everyone sitting, and as she passed over them she stopped at Fen, and her breath caught.
"You are dismissed, Lieutenant."
Cooper saluted sharply. "Yes, Admiral."
"Dismiss the guards as well. I will not need them."
"Admiral? With all due respect-"
The Admiral turned to face Cooper and stared at her. Without saying anything at all, Fen could feel her shouting at the Lieutenant. Her gaze was withering. Cooper swallowed and saluted again. "Yes, Admiral."
The door closed behind her and the Admiral's demeanor immediately changed. She shrank down a little, looked older, less hard. She strode around the room and glanced down at the carafe of coffee. She poured herself a cup and sat at the head of the table. While everyone watched, rapt. She took a sip and placed it down on the table without a clink. She looked at Fen.
"You look like her, you know? I can see that you're different. A product of your upbringing. It's your eyes, and the way you carry yourself. I can see so much of her though. It's a little spooky."
Fen blinked. Whatever she expected, it wasn't this. "You know I'm a clone of the first Empress?"
The admiral laughed. Her voice was surprisingly musical. "Fen, I knew Melody. I was friends with her. I... I was on a different ship when she was killed. I became Empress after her."
Stormy gasped. "No. No way. She retired to Venus, and let her daughter reign. She would be over five hundred years old. You're not her."
The admiral smirked. "If you know all that, then you know that the Nanites can extend life. I can't do the Voice anymore, and it's been more than two centuries since I carried a crown and wings, but I am still me.
Northern turned and stared at Stormy. "Who is it, Stormy?"
The admiral spread her hands wide. "I am Empress Helen Raaden, First of Her Name, Ruler of Sol - Retired."

A magus cannot rest, even in the rain.
The barrage hammering his umbrella only distracted him for a moment from the bitter cold that misted his breath. Around him, the decent people of the world took shelter, seeking the warmth of cafes and restaurants until the worst of the deluge passed. Those unlucky enough to be stuck outside huddled beneath umbrellas, newspapers, or a hood. But even in the heated stores and restaurants, fear reigned. People stole nervous glances up from their phones, scanning the streets for a quick moment before looking back down. They hugged their coats tight; parents gripped their children’s hands to keep them from running into some alley they would never return from. There was no question: something besides rain weighed on the city. This wave of “incidents'' had claimed multiple lives and left the police at a loss. But who could blame them? The duty of resolving these incidents lay on the master's clan. The Ritual required the blood of heroes, not of innocents, and he would not allow such to be spilled on his watch.
“This way, Master,” his Servant murmured. She walked a little ahead of him, hidden beneath a heavy yellow raincoat. It had taken some convincing to get her to conceal herself; she refused to shed her armor even in public… which meant that people would be taking pictures wherever they went. The coat, at least, would hide this stranger from the eyes of ordinary people. What it could not hide – even from the back – was the aura of raw determination that radiated from her. He could imagine her face on the other side: a strict, cold stare that withered injustice at a glance.
He gave a soft murmur of approval before following her away from the main thoroughfares, toward the docks and warehouses that dominated the coast. The dock district was the epicenter of the “incidents” – and no surprise. Dark, oppressive, and cramped, this urban snarl promised a well-hidden warren for vermin to hide in, as well as an excellent hunting ground. Drunk sailors and longshoremen made easy prey, to say nothing of the odd out of towner who got lost around here. They all had been devoured for mana. To involve sleepwalkers in the matters of magi violated all principles of honor and decency, and to him fell the duty of executing the culprit.
Thus, they walked onto the predator’s turf. Their logic was simple: the fastest way to deal with an ambush is to spring it. A stalking predator only emerges from the underbrush when it thinks it has the upper hand. The question then, is whether they had prepared enough to compensate for this home-field advantage. Crossing into the maze, though, the young Master wondered whether any plan would be enough. It was almost pitch black beneath the thick rainclouds; shining signs and windows cast thin lines of light along the alleyways and roads, glinting on the water choking storm drains. There could be anything hiding in these blind alleys and derelict buildings; each one could hide a coiled serpent. The damp air felt thick enough to chew.
A moment later he walked right into his servant’s back. She’d drawn up short, dropping into a martial posture.
“Close?” he murmured.
“Very.”
The scent of the enemy led them to a dark back alley. A pile of garbage in a rusted dumpster decomposed beneath a rat king's tangle of wires above, a snarled mess that – in theory – powered this building as well as several others by stealing power and internet. The Master stole a glimpse over his shoulder at the road beyond the alley's mouth. Still save the rain. When he glanced back, a pulse of mana turned his servant's blade red hot; it melted through the padlock with one clean slice. As the chain splashed to the ground, hissing in a puddle, she edged the warehouse's door open with raised sword. As they entered the offices in the back of the warehouse, the smell hit him: sickly sweet, nauseating. Mana. The predator lurked nearby. They had reached its den.
As they walked through the rear offices, the miasma only grew thicker. Lights were off, and while his Servant could see with her reinforced senses, he could only make out shapes in the murk, broken up by the occasional beam of neon light cutting through a window. The long linoleum floor stretched out forever between rows of mold-gnawed cubicles. Sweat beaded on his brow. Every footstep sounded like a thunderclap in the cavernous silence. As the offices ended, they faced another door – this one leading out onto the floor. Here, the fog of disease grew thickest. His servant shared a momentary glance with him before she eased it open.
The creak of the unoiled hinge was like a scream. His blood ran cold.
He had heard that a certain magus had arrived in the city to participate in the Rite of the Holy Grail. They called him the Mycoidist: his research had given him mastery of a parasitic fungus that would seize control of its victim, leaving them an empty husk he alone controlled. Now he saw that grizzly work firsthand: cordyceps-infested victims glistening with sporelike structures. Nothing human remained of them: they ambled around the room, obeying their master like machines. It was, perversely, the ideal magic for the Ritual: they had no need of their souls, so the Servant could feed on them with impunity, leaving empty husks for the master to use. The young magus murmured a few words to increase the weight of the invisible spores around him, dragging them to the ground; they would not reach his lungs. His servant had her own defenses –
Not that she would tolerate such injustice for long.
She sprung forward, blade flashing through the air. The cordyceps rushed forward to meet her, giving a gutteral, abhuman howls that echoed in the rafters. The master raised his hand, crest on the back of his hand shining a brilliant blue-green in the low light. In answer to his incantation, several metal pipes ripped themselves out of the wall. It felt like a crude use for ten centuries of his family's research into magecraft, but undeniably gravity had many applications. For example: turning rebar into javelins flying at eighty miles an hour. True enough that the fungal horrors did not die easily, but each spear would stake one to the nearest surface, leaving them trapped. They had almost cleared the room when –
“MASTER!” she snapped . He barely had time to react before she shoved him aside, throwing him to the ground with a soft grunt. A split second later, the enemy Servant's blade split the air where he’d stood. A clash of steel, a burst of sparks: his partner deflected the strike sending her opponent flying away. “Stay close, master. I cannot guarantee your–”
He couldn’t sense an Assassin’s aura – no mortal could. But he didn’t need to, not one he had spotted a softer target. For a split second, his crest pulsed as he reduced the hold of gravity on his body. For all those around them, it looked like an impossible burst of speed as he headed for the front exit. “Keep him off my back! I’ll hunt his master.”
His servant had no time to answer before Assassin erupted from the shadow, poisoned dagger whistling through the air. As the servants fought a hypersonic duel behind him, he followed the faint presence of the heretic through the open cargo bay doors, bursting back out into the rain. Dozens of infected longshoremen wandered there, the spores even growing on a stacked labyrinth of crates. The Mycoidist leapt up onto a nearby crane, one foot planted high on the metal beams.
“Well, well. You seek the hunter in his den!” His raspy voice betrayed decades of self-serving evil. “I can’t begrudge you your courage, but… how does the old saying go… discretion is the better part of valor?”
The cordyceps froze, only to turn on the young master in unison. Must be two dozen, at least. This horror explained the disappearances at least – each one was a human being, a living person that the master had failed to protect.
His teeth ground. “You’re a madman who’s betrayed every principle of a Mage's honor, to say nothing of your humanity. Spare me your advice."
“Such righteousness…! Your family’s legacy is famous but… I’m afraid… it ends here, with you. You and your crest will be put to work in my service, oh magus of gravity, but… my, my, what is this?”
All around the young master, that spectral blue-green light shined like a vicious halo. He seized any projectile he could: the metal of a torn-out downspout from a nearby building, pipes ripped from the ground and walls, the metal prods from a forklift. At its full potential, his sorcery could control dozens of objects.
“This land is the grave of countless mages,” the young master hissed. “Time for you to join them.”
The steel hail fell.
I hope you enjoyed this (rather long) introduction – and to be clear, it’s more a tone piece than a starter. (Though, if you wish to build on those characters/that situation, I don’t mind!)
The classic Fate/stay night games and shows have always been favorites of mine. It’s simply one of the greatest weeb high concepts ever: seven modern mages summon seven heroes of history and myth to fight to the death for the wish-granting power of the Holy Grail. Only one pair can survive and claim the prize – but often at a terrible cost to themselves, their values, and those they love. To secure the loyalty of their servants, each master possesses three command seals: spells they can use to issue absolute commands – even impossible ones – to their partners. What ensues is a brutal war to the death, as they stalk each other through a vicious urban jungle. Alliances shift, ideals clash, characters are tested – It’s the kind of high concept that makes you jealous you didn’t come up with it! It also practically begs to be expanded: the system invites making up new Servants, Masters, and settings.
So, now with some more Fate coming out (still early in Samurai Remnant!, I thought I’d return to RPing for it. In particular, I want to go back to basics: I want to come up with a pair of characters, Master and Servant, and put them through hell as they try to win the war and fulfill their wishes. This would harken back to the tone of the original, so I’ll say up front to expect this RP to have some fairly dark content, like horror, sex, violence, gore, civilian death, all that good stuff. I’m a proud authorial sadist: I like to put my characters through hell to find out who they really are. However, I want to juxtapose that heaviness with moments of fun and joy. A romance would be great – Shirou and Saber's starcrossed love has lived rent-free in my head for over a decade.
Beyond that, I am open to both canon characters and OCs, but I do not double. If you're playing a canon, it should be because you want to, not as a transaction. I'm also open to both canon settings and experimental ones, making our own little alternative universe, tweaking the rules, and so on. Really, my main requirement is that I'm looking for something that hews close to the tone of early Fate, especially Fate/Zero. I want grimy streets, ruthless mages, heroes out of time whose blades flash brilliantly against the concrete backdrop. I want melodramatic debates about the nature of heroism, the price of kingship, and the possibility of justice. I want One Last Night whiled away together before the dawn separates the lovers. I want horrors both eldritch and manmade, and I want to really see what makes these characters tick.
A few words about writing style. Lately, I have drifted toward a "lazy lit" style where I do write long posts when necessary like opening the RP or a scene, but keep it snappy and short for most posts. I find this keeps the plot moving along at a good clip; responses come faster when they don't have to be five paragraphs long.
One last note: I have nothing against it, but I’m not familiar with Grand Order or its offshoots. If a character or concept from Grand Order inspires you, by all means pitch me on 'em, but be ready to adapt them to the tone and setting I’ve described.
To summarize:

• I want a classic Grail War scenario: Seven masters each summon a Servant from the past to battle for the Holy Grail.
• I don’t need our RP to take place in any official setting. We can use some alternate world, an original world, some ridiculous fandom crossover, or any mix thereof.
• I'm fine with OCs, canon characters, and any combination thereof, but I don't care for doubling.
• I expect a fairly dark, serious tone broken up by lighter moments.
• Be prepared for NSFW and horror content.
• A strong masteservant relationship. If it’s a romance, I prefer to write the M in M/F relationships.

A little about me:

• 33(ohgod)m, enthusiastic if aging weeb on the West Coast.
• Veteran of both freeform and system-based RP, starting in the heady days of livejournal nearly, oh, fifteen years ago?
• You can gauge my literacy level from the sample above.
• Posting Style: Lazy lit, pretty frequent.
• Friendly OOC. For me, half the fun of RP is meeting people from all different walks of life.

What I need from you:

• To be 21 or older
• To be enthusiastic and communicative
• To add your own ideas to the plot

If you’re interested, shoot me a PM, not a chat. Include:

• Your age, pronouns, time zone, and anything else you’d like me to know about you.
• What you want out of this RP
• An idea for a setting concept or character
• An example of your writing

So I set up bluetooth about a week ago, and since then I haven't been able to get any audio without using my bluetooth device. I setup bluetooth up so I could use a pair of beats studio pros i have, and it's been working well with them. I noticed shortly after setting them up that the system doesn't play well with having them on but disconnected. Programs (namely Crispy Doom) flat out won't launch, and youtube videos wont play unless the headphones are totally powered off. The issue i'm having now, of course, is that this is happening without the headphones being either powered on (a), or not even being within range of the system (b).
If it's any help at all since I'm running on real hardware, I have it installed on a Thinkpad t440, although I highly doubt it's a hardware issue. I'm fairly certain (since I'm not too sure how to check otherwise) that the plugin/driveservice/the-thing-im-using-to-make-bluetooth-go is libspa-blueooth
Very well could be wrong though, i'm a little fish in a big pond here. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Hello! Forgive me for knowing next to nothing, but I just had a few questions since I am off of school this summer and wanted to do a few things to my car:

1. I wanted to get the wheels painted black. I have the stock F Sport wheels that came on the 2015 IS F Sport (you can look them up), but they have some curb rash. I wanted to know how good the end result could be if I did this myself by sanding and priming, putting index cards between the tire and wheel, then using some sort of engine enamel or other paint to paint the wheels myself. I'd probably have to do one at a time. Has anyone done this? I've heard that it can be done quite well by yourself if you are patient and know what you're doing. I'd also use some sort of lacquer afterwards to seal everything, as well as use some metal filler before priming to fix some curb rash, followed by some sanding.
   
2. I wanted to do a chrome delete. I'm sure I can take my time and do the windows easily, but my grille is more complex. If you look at an image of the front end online, you can see that the chrome isn't gonna be done with one piece of vinyl, and I'd have to overlap some of the vinyl on the corners on the top. Will this edge be visible? I don't want to risk taking one big sheet and mess up doing it, then have to buy another, but also want to avoid any kind of visible overlap on the corners if i use 3 strips of vinyl.
   

Thank you for any suggestions, like I said I haven't dabbled with much of this handy stuff and I'm trying to learn, so any criticism or advice is welcome!

I’m not sure how much attention this will get or if I’ll do this right, because I don’t think I’ve ever really made a public apology like this, but still, here goes.
Exactly 121 days ago(according to my post, which has now been deleted), I made a post on CringePurgatory, titled “If ‘punchable’ was a person”, and it showed a YT short from the channel “The McFive Circus”. The post managed to attain over 2.1K upvotes before being taken down, but I did receive plenty of comments by people who, putting it lightly, were really rubbed the wrong way with my usage of the word “punchable” to describe a child. These comments made me realize how crappy of a thing that was, not only because I advocated for violence against children, but some users also pointed out that Isabel was most likely innocent, and that she was being coerced into making the video by her parents. Looking back, I wholeheartedly agree. And honestly, seeing these comments made me feel a lot worse, because not only did I call a kid “punchable”, but I was also getting mad at a most likely innocent person, which made me feel like even more of an asshole.
So, overall, I wanted to apologize for my poor choice of words, as well as my misdirection of my hatred
Here’s the short if you guys wanted to see it for yourselves. Also, the comments used to be turned on before I made my post, but they seem to have been disabled now. Hopefully it’s not because of my post, though I doubt they saw it.

Hi everyone, I decided to join this community as a way to vent and cope because I'm sure my friends are tired and honestly, even my therapist sometimes gives me misguided advice on how to deal with my dad sometimes. She's been slowly getting the picture but it's hard.
Long story short - I am 34(f) my dad is 87. He has three kids from a first marriage, who are all in their 50's with kids my age. He had two kids from a second marriage - my sister and I. I recently made the decision to move back home with him because he agreed to help me through grad school (just graduated, hurray! now...job hunting) and has even agreed to make me co-owner of the house.
He's a stubborn new england father, the house is up in the middle of the woods and everyone in the family is thankful that I'm here keeping an eye on him. As "luck" would have it, not even two years back and he did have a major minor accident. I say major because he fell from the stairs at like 2 in the morning (he does not have a good sleep schedule) and discovered after 3 days of refusing to go to the hospital, that he got a hairline fracture in his neck. I also said minor because he thankfully got away with the least possible damage, and the fracture is stable and he is mobile. It's been two months and of course, the fracture isn't healing, so they are giving him another month before deciding on surgery....
Of course this means he can't drive and just basically stays at home all the time. This is where my patience is wearing out thin. He continues to do the things that got him in trouble and overall just argues with me when I say he needs to take it easy and not, say, go for hours long walks in the woods where the trails are not defined during dawn! I legit almost called the police one day because 4 hours later, 9 pm, he was no where to be found. Until he popped up finally and scoffed at me being worried.
He's become hard of hearing which he blames me for not speaking clearly and not looking directly at him (he's lipreading) and gets angry when I do raise my voice.
There's obviously a lot going on, I feel for him, it's not easy loosing your autonomy but jesus he can be such a dick sometimes. He was rude to waitstaff because he didn't hear what the lady said. He's constantly talking down to me and is very patronizing and doubts and questions my every fucking word.
This summer is going to be rough because when I was studying, at least I was out of the house all day. Now I'm trying to help clear the house out (SO MANY BOXES! He's horded boxes of things - like newspapers - from the frickin' 60s) Thankfully he's been cooperating but very slowly. The house needs a lot of work and he also refuses to hire people and believes that once he's healed, he'll be back to doing things like finish building the porch he started 10 years ago?!
I can't wait to get a job so I can hire professionals to, say, put in a new water heater because ours has been leaking for over a year but he hasn't bothered calling anyone and refuses to give me the number to call. Ah, power struggles.
Anyways, if anyone read this, thanks. I was just on the verge of crying today because of a random-ass trivial thing that he got very obstinate about and basically insulted my intelligence =[

I know a lot of people complain that they did not like the show after Stabler left but honestly I was still enjoying it after that. I can not pinpoint exactly what season i started to get bored but I do know some things that have made it boring for me:
I miss the investigation! I feel like the squad is always in the the squad room and then POOF here comes a clue out of no where. I'm watching an episode right now and I have hardly seen detectives with the accused in the interrogation room, we've barely seen a crime scene, no talking to witnesses or family, no Melinda, none of the people with that cool "blue light" stuff they used to do. I've just watched 3 episodes in a row and nobody died??? Apparently, they solved the case but i couldn't tell you how, and I wouldn't remember it in the next 10 mins even if i could because it was more than likely extremely forgettable.
There used to be some real progression from crime to investigation to court case. That was the best parts of the show for me. Now its like we know who did it in the first 10 mins and the rest of the episode is just about proving they are guilty. Was seeing how they got the evidence not the best part? Especially with all the twist and turns. It was even better when you saw some recurring attorneys for the defense and you just knew they always put up a good fight. There is just a lot more personal life involved with some crime sprinkled in and then at some point we just end up in a court room.
The dialogue. I know everyone cant be as funny as Munch but wow the conversations are so bland. I know they are doing a hard job but there used to be some humor in that squad room while still relating to the work. The coworker banter made them human. Sometimes I cant even tell if these people like each other. And when the episode is incorporating current (sometimes controversial) events i feel like I'm watching the news. They used to do that in a more "this is still a show" way and put a better SVU spin on it that made it very interesting and often taught me something. Now they just throw it out there and cue the angry mob outside the courthouse.
I have other complaints like Carisi as ADA. Or the topics being bland. Where is the DV, child abuse, teen dating violence, elderly abuse, helping victims that can not speak or defend themselves, the victims with the messed up past but I'll save that.

So I work at this school daycare. And work in a room with four 1 year Olds. And we also have another teacher. Let me just tell you, there is this one kid. He is a little demon I tell you. The second his mom drops him off he's already causing so much chaos. The 3 other kids are calm until he shows up and then they are all misbehaving. They don't listen to us at all as soon as this kid is here. This kid will have dozens of toys scattered on the floor, but he is more interested in kicking the other kids on the head, pushing them as hard as he can into a shelf, climbing on top of them, hitting them, stealing their toy when he already has one, tugging on the curtains, trying to press the alarm door, opening closets or cubbies and processing to throw everything out, ALWAYS throwing his food and water even after we get him another one and he starts crying that it's on the floor, fighting you to change his diaper, fooling around during nap time and waking up the others by jumping on them or removing their blankets, trying to pull an outlet, ripping our work papers that we need to turn in, etc etc etc..... These other kids are nothing like him, but AS SOON AS HE IS IN THE ROOM...ALL THESE KIDS START ACTING LIKE HIM😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 me and my coworker tried to figure out why he is so aggressive. We've come to find out that his mother let's him watch wrestling and aggressive sports. And we told his mom how aggressive he is and she didn't believe us. He also gets hurt way too often at home and at the daycare cause they let him do anything at home and they don't watch him and at the daycare he is doing things he isn't suppose to do and chooses not to listen to us. And the worse thing is, he knows what he is doing. Cause the second you catch him doing something bad, he starts smiling at you and does it. He loves getting a reaction. I even told my mom about this kid and she gave me a small bottle of holy water to bring to work for me when I get too stressed. But this kid really push my buttons one day and I threw like a splash of holy water on his head and he started laughing and wanted more.
At this point me and my coworker don't know what to do anymore. This kid stresses me out, I can't get him to listen to me or be calm. What advice would you give? Please help🙏

Become a star citizen.
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/enlist?referral=STAR-DP7P-GD4P
use code STAR-DP7P-GD4P
If you don't already have a Roberts Space Industries (RSI) account, you'll want to take advantage of the Star Citizen referral code program. Doing so benefits the code provider and grants only you a bonus 5,000 United Earth Credits (UEC), the in-game currency for Star Citizen!
Thanks!!!
Improved New Player Experience : Play the tutorial
Star Citizen features a beautiful sprawling universe full of wonder, adventure, and action. However, it’s easy for new citizens to feel overwhelmed as they take their first steps into life in the 30th century.So, from Alpha 3.19, a whole-new guided mission will welcome new players to the ‘verse, including showing them how to get around, use the mobiGlas, and fly a ship in atmosphere and in space.
Invictus end free fly Celebration May 17-29 Invictus Launch Week 2954 - Roberts Space Industries Follow the development of Star Citizen and Squadron 42
Letter from the chairman https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/19848-Letter-From-The-Chairman
Alpha 3.22 https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/19565-Star-Citizen-Alpha-322-Wrecks-To-Riches
Alpha 3.21 https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/19477-Star-Citizen-Alpha-321-Mission-Ready
CitizenCon October 21st and 22nd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKWa4WoTkV4&list=PLVct2QDhDrB15f0diWl9YaDmL4Je1BkX3
Welcome Back, Pilot! https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/18359-Welcome-Back-Pilot
STAR CITIZEN & SQUADRON 42 EXPLAINED
There are two components to Cloud Imperium Games' (CIG) project. Star Citizen is the MMO component, a first-person experience in a simulated 30th-century universe. Squadron 42 is the single-player component, a story-driven campaign where you enlist as a UEE Navy combat pilot. Our current understanding is you will be given the option of having your Squadron 42 character, who musters out of the Navy at the conclusion of the campaign, carry over into the Star Citizen persistent universe, taking with them the reputation and relationships they've built with NPC entities.
[Customers interested the Squadron 42 standalone only] If you only want the single-player campaign, after creating your account (next section) you can buy the Squadron 42 standalone here. You need only wait for the game to be released and become available for download. But take note that when you buy Squadron 42 you also get immediate access to Arena Commander, the online dogfighting module, and Star Marine, the online first-person shooter.
Squadron 42: I Held The Line https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDtjzLzs7V8
UNDERSTANDING THE PLEDGE STORE
There are a couple of points I want to make about recognizing what comes with a package. First, game packages may include only Star Citizen, only Squadron 42, or both games. Look at the package's contents for "Star Citizen Digital Download" and/or "Squadron 42 Digital Download." I will show you an easy way to add Squadron 42 to a Star Citizen-only package during the checkout process.The second point of interest concerns ship insurance (also found in the package's contents). Ship insurance covers the ship's hull and factory stock equipment in the event of complete loss. As a part of promotional offers, ships are sometimes sold with lifetime insurance (commonly referred to as LTI), but there are tricks to get LTI on almost any ship and many people will advise you to take advantage of them (often at a cost of $20-$35 USD = Token LTI ). To properly assess of the "value" of lifetime insurance, you should know a few things.
guide https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/18381-New-Player-Guide-Star-Citizen

When quitting Teams, the "How do you want to open this file?" dialog always opens.
This is only happening on one computer. When I'm done using (New) Teams & quit the program, I get the "How do you want to open this file?" dialog opening every time.
If I actually try to pick a program from the dialog, for example Notepad, it says that it cannot find "C:\users\name\Desktop\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MSTeams.txt". I do it again & this time pick Paint, it says that it cannot find "C:\users\name\Desktop\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MSTeams.png".
It seems that "MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MSTeams" is the folder name under AppData\Local\Packages that the new Teams is installed into. So I suspect maybe it's trying to write into a log file, but for some reason it's looking for it under my Desktop instead of AppData. Reinstalling it doesn't change this behaviour.
Any ideas on how to fix this? It's a minor annoyance, but still an annoyance.
Win10 22H2, btw. This is also the only PC I use Teams on that I login with a personal MS account vs a work AD account. Also this is the current Teams (work or school) application. The re-installs were fresh downloads from Microsoft.

Glass Weeds Sometimes I feel like a writer. Like that was really “it” for me but I got blocked along the way. 20 years ago. 13? Maybe that was when the thought river was dammed up. That’s definitely when the self doubt and esteem issues arose. I know I could(can?) write. I learned the structure of an academic essay (intro, thesis, body, conclusion) and it worked for me, as bland as I found the rules, it served me at that time. I had a “voice” and I was told that by teachers when I was a young child and even when I was an older teen. “I can hear your voice in your writing.” Was that voice me? My “personality”? My “person”? My “self”? “Myself”. “Me”? I have joked for years now about how I’ve had an “x-years writer’s block! Lol—I swear I am a good writer” or communicator, or person even. I swear. I’m just “blocked”. I’m clogged up. I can’t get it out.
Now I’m 33 and just had an “I think I want to end this marriage!” outburst with my husband. It’s the time of the year where I’m lucky to have a constant, stimulating, and distracting, physical outlet in my garden.
My favorite task: weeding the garden. It’s a memorable analogy from AA’s “24 Hours” meditation books. Or maybe it’s from “Daily Reflections”. Either way it’s that sobriety “give it up” stuff.
Weed your emotional garden. Tear that resentful shit out. Plant the good seeds and rip out the bad ones.
I’m a tactical gardener. And learner. And experiencer. And some real gardeners would probably laugh at the way I put on my gloves and tear each and every individual weed by the root. Every. Tiny. Clover. Every single root. All the way. I like to get to the root or it just comes back.
I pull and pull and in this particular garden something else comes with the roots. Broken glass. An inexplicable amount of shards of all sizes. And when I thought I unearthed them all, more is pushed up to the surface weeks later.
This garden is 5 years in (my) making now. I remember in the beginning of my spring time digs, it was a cute, not so disturbing wonder “oh my! Look! There’s a shard of glass. I wonder where it came from? Let’s just get it out now.”
Then in the subsequent years, it became part of the process of the till. Turn the soil, pull out the few glass pieces. Wipe your hands. Have a good summer!”
This year it hit me harder than most. I’m hurting more than before. I’m drawing near the end of my capacity to feel blocked. And I am turning to the soil to dig dig dig with my bare hands and unearth whatever is hiding just beneath the surface.
Because it always is just beneath. My first real soil (lol that autocorrected to “soul”) search this spring was in the perennial bed and an inexcusable amount of glass was right there on the surface. Different colors too.
I always thought I was digging up the soul soil of the original home owner. Whom I at this point assumed was a passionate, garden loving, angry alcoholic. Why would there be so much broken glass in a garden?
But more importantly why does it keep resurfacing, even days, after I thought I’d found the last angry, imposing, threatening shard.
Today in my weeding frenzy which is also a thought frenzy, the biggest pieces I’ve found this year came to me. Green, clear, brown. I used to feel upset by them. Deep concern for the safety of my daughter, who now knows is not allowed to be barefoot in this particular garden. You must watch your step. But as I found each piece of angry glass, I came to a conclusion, or realization, of sorts.
I have a mind garden and I plant beautiful seeds and even plant big, fruitful ideas, but the cost of that is unearthing years of untold, unrecognized, unhonored, very very broken glass. Of all different sizes and colors and degrees of danger. But they are there. They’ve been there for years. Before I lived here. They’re always there. Especially when I thought that I got rid of them all.
That’s when they choose to remind me and scream: “I AM STILL HERE!!!!!!”
The first dig this spring brought a different narrative to the “angry alcoholic” smashing beer bottles. Because I dug up something different, an angled glass rod. Also, a chunk of ceramic,white, glazed, with the classic blue painted inscriptions. China-? Something other than beer bottles?
I used to throw these glass pieces away as fast as I found them, but now I have decided to collect them, as artifacts, of my inherited, 45yr old garden.
I’m learning to not be so angry and jaded toward the signs sent to me regularly. Part of my recovery from whatever this damaged, shattered glass soul, that I guess I’m realizing I am, is to embrace these small angry shards and give them the acknowledgment they truly deserve. I buried them, dug them up and tossed them, but more came.
I don’t even want to eradicate them anymore. I just want to keep collecting them as I find them for the bigger art piece to come. It will be a beautiful mosaic.

I'm sorry if this comes out scrambled as the feelings I have in this situation are so complex and my words are so much better spoken then written. Me and my boyfriend have been together since we were both 16 so about 2 and a half years. I myself am pretty mature for my age, but he's about average. He is great and his intention is so good, the problem just comes to his execution.
A lot of my issues come from the fact that I simply don't feel loved. I will tell him exactly what I want him to do, and I will feel like he's just brushing it off or he will do it for a week and then come up with excuses for why he can't. A big example of this is at the beginning of our relationship, for about 7 months he never bought me flowers despite me asking and then finally when I felt so drained after asking so much and always bringing it up, and I was considering leaving, he bought me some. I promised myself I wouldn't make a fool out of myself like that again and ask for attention, but it's honestly been downhill from there. After the flower incident, I could see that he was trying to 'love' me more the way I want to be loved- I told him my love languages were acts of service, quality time, and gift giving, but his progress was just really slow. Like when I asked him to do more, I thought he would do more right away, not a little more only a little bit of the time.
After the flower incident, there were much more. Literally for the following 6 months after that I felt like I was just constantly nagging telling him that he wasn't doing enough, not because I wanted to make him feel bad, but because that's how I felt. Countless times I've felt like I was settling, but he keeps promising that he'll try and get better. My biggest foe is the fact that I feel like his mom. I feel like I'm teaching him to love me- which I know is normal but with every piece of information I give him I feel like he never gets it. I give him ideas on what he can do for me, and it's like he doesn't spend any time even thinking about it. He's one of the types of people that doesn't think in their free time- his mind is just empty most of the time, and at this point I don't know if I can deal with it because he really just does not think things through all the way. I know it's a lack of maturity and it makes sense considering our ages, but am I expecting too much out of him? I know other guys our age who are willing to do more and put in more effort and thought into their relationships, so why is this such a big thing for him?
Another big thing is that to soothe my mind he lies a lot. Not about anything scandalous, but he'll lie about things like his grades being good when he knows that I want him to be focusing on school. Then a couple weeks later, when I've felt disconnected enough from that lie, he'll bring it up in a joking manner and try to make me laugh about it, knowing that it's been long enough so I'll be like 'whatever'.
The latest big thing I've been nagging about is him planning dates for me. He barely works so he doesn't have any money and complains about it, but I told him it's ok he can show his love through other ways, like planning dates, but even that is going wrong. I told him everything he was supposed to do basically step-by-step and he still doesn't get it. He won't let me know the times he wants to pick me up or anything, and just half asses ( I feel like it's half assed ) the plans and deals with most of it by the time we're already there. It's so tiring especially since I have to teach him all of it, I just feel like his mother.
I feel like it's gone on for too long and don't want to stay if the truth is that he will never really try for me. The issue is he's such a good person with such a good heart, it just feels like he doesn't use his brain when it comes to me. I really don't want to break up with him, but I don't know what else I can do to make him understand what I want. I try to communicate all the time, and have told him all of this several times, but it feels like he doesn't get it/if he does he doesn't execute it and it's just so draining. What do I do?

Hello everyone.
I am really interested in acquiring knowledge and experience in creating my own covers for popular film scores, most notably Avatar (James Horner), and The Lion King (Hans Zimmer), among others.
Problem is, most tutorials I watch on YouTube on "how to create music in X" just show a person skimming through how to use the DAW and create a very basic trap/rap/hip-hop style beat, which is not what I am looking for. I am looking to create beautiful orchestral music, learn how to mix sounds together and how synthesizers, and what not.
I am not looking to turn this into a career or a side hustle, just as a hobby I engage with from time to time, so I am not looking to invest on hardware whatsoever. My question is, how far can I go creating music with just my laptop's keyboard and my headphones?
I have access to LinkedIn Learning from my college, would I benefit from using this as a resource on learning how to use the DAW (Logic Pro) first, then worry about the VSTs and mastering later? Do I need to learn music theory if all I am looking for is to create covers of some film score tracks?
I appreciate any and all support I get from this post.

I'm going to try to keep this short.
Ever since I got into the 8th grade my social life has gone shitty. Few friends which I don't like back, most of my classmates are just "neutral" to me. I am more antisocial and asocial (yes, both), very unhappy with school but it's whatever. It's much rarer for me to see someone and think "that guy's cool/I wanna be around him/I like this person". Now people around me seem more annoying, cocky and overall unlikable. Onto the major problem:
My main problem is this new "event" - after some time socializing I suddenly get extremely tired of doing so and MUST go away from others ASAP. If I can't get away from people I get increasingly upset and nervous.
When I get home to my family I, of course, don't talk to others for a while to regain my energy. Unfortunately my brother is a prick and really gets on my nerves during these "outages" because he'll bother me.
I just want my old happy life back. My class is 21 girls and 6 boys. I'm a boy. I feel like my life has gone irrepairably wrong when I got here and it's like I am not doing what I'm supposed to.
Will this event stop occurring? Why is it happening in the first place? How do I explain this to people around me, if they'd even understand?

there’s more context on my last post. anyways, he couldn’t keep his word on looking at porn, which at this point it’s all about the principle and the lies to get around it and empty promises. i’d never do the same to him with his boundaries. it’s common sense to respect your partner. everything we went deep to discuss about, i told him exactly how he can make it right, i warned him i’d breakup with him, i reminded him not to do it almost daily. yet he threw it all out the window and still did it multiple times in the same week thinking “as long as she doesn’t know”. truly betraying. i wanted life-term with this man but all the signs are saying he’s not what i thought i was looking for. i also loved him for 2 years before we got together, been together about 10 months. im his first ever girl in his life. though I had 2 horribly failed relationships before and i never wanted it to happen again. I tried to do it all right on my end this time. i feel like i’m throwing away my future and i’m actually suicidal with a lot more stuff building up

I was wondering if anyone could answer this question for me. My child’s father since he was born a year ago has seen his child 10 hours total. Does not check up on him. Doesn’t ask to see them. Has not seen them for almost 6 months now. Last time he did was for 2 hours if that in a public setting. Makes zero contact. I waited to see if he would enter their child’s life for this entire year and they did not. Now I just filed for child support in the state of Michigan. Does the state of Michigan open a custody case/ or create visitation schedule when doing so? If it’s just a visitation schedule I’m there for, he can choose to do at times. I’m fine with. But to throw my child into the custody of someone they don’t know, I am not okay with. I could see said person trying to get overnightts to lessen support and do the bare minimum of taking care of said child. How does it work when opening a child support case in Michigan? Thanks in advance

I have mentored 4 student teachers in the past two years, with only 1 showing an outstanding attitude and work ethic. My first one helped herself to my secret stash of chocolate, giving it to a work colleague, so I couldn’t stress-eat in my recess break. She also invited herself out to dinner with other (too-nice colleagues) and said “Oops! Can you spot me? I don’t have any money on me.” She did not pay him back. She used to rock up 29 minutes before class, sit at my desk and require reminders to stop being on her laptop when I’d previously arranged for her to supervise a small group. Student 2 used to skip into my room and ask me “What’s your goal that you want to achieve today?” before informing me that she was off her ADHD meds and all over the shop. Which brings me to my current student teacher. I’ve awkwardly been put into a situation where she is a parent at the school. - not even manage to locate the paperwork she needs to record her observations, lesson plans or know what rubric I’m assessing her on (I found it all within 10 minutes of reading the Uni handbook). - Writes lesson plans that require me to spellcheck (I can’t even at this point). Lesson plans arrive 3 days after discussion. - I get emails seeking clarification on things we have already discussed, or I have provided resources for them to research content knowledge, behaviour management etc but then actively asking questions that could be answered by reading the said resources. - Not having access to personal laptop or knowing how to log in to access her Uni things from the school laptop I’ve provided. - I get 3am emails because she’s stressing at how she’ll be able to cope and has stated she wants to cry when some student (Junior kids) needs her support and she doesn’t know how to give it. I mean….this parent has a child in exactly the same age group! - I’ve reassured her that she doesn’t have to do it all and I do not have expectations that everything will be perfect but to prioritise what’s important- observing, getting to know students and writing a lesson plan. Yet I’m the one accessing all of the materials she needs and I cannot believe I am dealing with a grown adult here. -It’s not even a ‘student teacher’ thing for me- I’m just finding it depressing that people who are so obviously unsuited to being a teacher are studying a Masters, and have stated that they are doing this because ‘they’re scared that AI will take their current job’ is setting our profession up for failure. My most competent student teacher who will become a fabulous teacher over time is the only thing that motivates me to keep mentoring. Thanks for the rant….It’s a laugh or cry situation….🤦🏾‍♀️🤯

I (23m) am a medical student. Ive been taking medical classes from high school till now since I was 14. I’ve worked in hospitals, pharmacies, doctors offices, and clinics. I am very versed on medicine, and I’ve spent time around infections and other diseases. My friend (22m) is not versed on medicine or sexual safety whatsoever. He likes to get around. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but he neglects safety often times. Well one day he called me over the phone and asked me to come over, because he believes he contracted a nasty infection on his junk. I came over and he went on an emotional rant about how he messed up, and he doesn’t know what to do. He said he didn’t want to consult a doctor because, he can’t afford it right now. He started screaming in Spanish (I’m Dominican and he’s Mexican). I asked him his symptoms, and he said there was a bit of a rash and it kind of burned to pee. I told him that if he were to let me take a look, I would be able to tell him if this is anything to worry about, and if he should consult a doctor. He started getting upset and uncomfortable. He said that that’s gay, and he would never do it, and he doesn’t believe I would ever ask that. He asked why I would ever suggest that, and now he’s going to look at me different. Well I’m not sure exactly why he called a MEDICAL STUDENT over his house to complain about a potential illness if he wouldn’t let me assess it. He said I made the situation much worse, and he told me that I could go home because I’m not helping. We’ve been best friends for 7 years, so I’m not sure exactly what he’s so embarrassed of and why he’s acting like this. He hasn’t talked to me since the situation and he’s ignoring me. It’s been over a week.
AITA?