Best way to get bonus stickers in first in math

There's a lot of background context for this. I(18f) have a cousin(18f) who we'll call Aria. Aria is the most stuck up, annoying, bratty, vapid, girl you will ever meet and I HATE her. Everything has been handed to her on a silver platter and I'm so SICK of it.
I grew up in a cramped sh!tty apartment with a single mom whereas Aria grew up with 2 rich parents and THREE large AF houses. We live in the same town and we're the same age so I have to see her all the time. It's so annoying and I feel like I'm going to explode because NOBODY sees her for the troll she is. She's super popular at school and the family favorite. More than that she goes out of her way to ruin my life. My mom isn't rich so I've never been able to travel much but a few years back my aunt took pity on me and paid for me to come on their vacations. It was amazing, we flew first class and I stayed in a suite bigger than my apartment! After we got home I heard Aria complain to her mother about how I "was annoying" and "bullied her" and she made her mom promise to not invite me again! When I tattled to my grandparents about what she did they said I should've been grateful to my aunt and nicer to my cousin!
At school it's even worse. Everyone, the students and teachers, ADORE Aria, and treat me like I'm nothing. Aria does everything to make me look bad, when I tried out for the school play so did she and then SHE got the lead and I was cast as ensemble! She's always getting straight A's and this year she was even named Valedictorian. She's cheer captain, class president, she signs up for anything that makes even more clear that she's perfect and I'm a slack. And the one time I stood up to her I was suspended for being "ableist and homophobic" just because I was mean and she's autistic and lesbian. It's INFURIATING.
So when we got our college results back and I only got into one mediocre college, and she got into an IVY I snapped. My mom already told me tuition was too expensive so I'd have to go to community college and get another job and it's not fair! So I logged on to Aria's computer and sent an email to her top college choice declining the seat. When my family found out they were FURIOUS. My grandparents demanded my mother kick me out and they disowned me. I was angry at them but I couch surfed with my best friend in the meanwhile and I figured it was worth it because for once Aria had gotten her comeuppance. Yesterday however I found out Aria was taken off the waitlist for her dream school and committed!! I had never been filled with more rage. After everything I sacrificed and she STILL got her way?! Now my grandparents and mom won't take me back and I don't understand because it's not as if my plan even worked. I know it's because of Aria, she told them not to take me back as an act of revenge. I don't know what I've done to deserve this. AITAH?

My sister and I rushed to the veterinarian and ended up getting there earlier than our appointment; the vets rushed to stabilize him the moment we walked in. I agreed to do lab work because I needed to know what was wrong with him. I guess I just needed to know that this time if wasn’t a close call like all the rest, that this was it. His kidney disease had progressed tremendously and his values were double the usual and one of them couldn’t even be read by the machine because of how high it was - my guess was his kidneys were failing. After asking the vet for her professional opinion, it was decided euthanasia was the best course of action. All throughout this process my sister and I were crying. In trying to come up with a decision, cremation vs burial, at home or in the clinic. So many decisions to make and such little time, it was stressful in the strangest ways. Unfortunately, the vet came into our room to tell us that his breathing was failing him and becoming weak.
The next course of events took place very fast. We entered the room where he was hooked onto a ventilator, an IV, and a heater. His temperature had dropped to 95 degrees Fahrenheit... he was so cold. The moment we touched him and he heard my voice and Isis voice, he started trying to get up and his heart started picking up. Seeing him struggle with all those wires, while he was hurt, he was trying to come to us and comfort us, it was so painful and so kind for him to do. We ushered to him “It’s okay. You don’t need to fight anymore. We’re gonna be okay. Please just rest. It’s okay to go now. It’s okay.” And although I meant those words, it was so hard to say them with conviction. He laid back down and his heart beat started slowing. I wrapped him in my green neon sweater; he had always loved sleeping on my clothes and basking in their scent. I had hoped it would comfort him and make him feel safe. We pet his head and comforted him. He soon started seizing.
We made the choice then to euthanize him at the hospital and we would take the body back with us to bury him in our backyard. We picked him up on a pillow and walked into a small room that was dimly lit with electric candles...it was a thoughtful touch. The injections for euthanasia were three. After the last one, he was gone. My sister and I stayed in his view while it happened and stroked his fur one last time. I gave him a last chin scratch before he took his last breath. We told him it was okay and that he was going to a better pace where he would no longer be in pain. That he was a good boy. The best boy. The best companion one could have. My sister and I cried. Our cries vibrating through the walls, following the loss of our best friend and sibling.
The ride home was horrible. My sister and I cried the whole way while carrying our dead best friend in the pet carrier. Just a few days ago he was full of energy running around... okay more jogging, but still. How did he deteriorate so rapidly in three days? I just couldn’t understand it and the whole existential question of how fragile life was and how things rapidly unfold crossed my mind. I started to resent my job and I still do. I felt that time was robbed from me and that somehow it was the jobs fault. I still think it is.
I had already called my parents beforehand and so they were prepared to hug and kiss us while my right hand felt the weight of my dead boy. We quickly got to work, my sister, parents, and one of my mom’s friends who had the unfortunate luck of seeing us bury him. We all took turns shoveling the dirt and created a deep hole to bury him. My sister and I, in tears. My dad cried some and my mom was sad. We decided to bury him with his collar, a memento of us. I picked him up from the black carrier bag and felt how stiff he was. I was already prepared for it, but it still broke my heart to feel his body so cold and stiff. I walked to the hole and slowly and delicately lowered him into the grave. Although I knew he was dead, I did not want to drop him into the bottom, he was still my fragile baby. I laid onto my stomach and put my head into the grave until I felt his body lay onto the dirt below him.
My sister and I bawled. We picked up our individual shovels and began pouring dirt into the grave. As dirt began to cover his small body, a jingle came from the bell attached to his collar, almost as if it was his final farewell, the final jingle we would ever hear from his bell. My heart broke and I kept pouring more dirt onto him until I could no longer see his small face and big ears. My beautiful grey, green eyed friend.
Everything in the basement reminds me of him. The day before, we had cleaned his room, his blankets, his litter box... and he chose to die after we cleaned everything as if to make it easier. However, the places he frequented curse or bless us? I half expect to see him in the hallway, next to my chair at the dinner table, I expect to see him on his bean bag...to sneak into my room.
Wherever you are, just know that I love you. We love you. You are...were my best friend. I hate myself. I regret not spending enough time with you, not giving you more chin scratches, not taking time off from work for you, and most of all I’m sorry that I didn’t get to sleep in bed one last time with you. I’m so so sorry.
I just hope I made the right choice. I don’t know if I believe in an after life, but I really hope there is one for you. I really hope you’re happy now. I hope you’re no longer in pain, I hope that wherever you are, you are thriving. I hope you get all the Purina food you want, fresh tap water, and Delectables treats. You deserve that and so much more. Thank you. Thank you for being my best friend. Thank you for being by my side from the age of 6 to the age of 27. Thank you for a wonderful 21 years. I just hope you know how much I loved you... how much I still love you. I hope you know how much the family loves you. You will forever be in our lives. I will never forget you. Fly high my beautiful, pretty boy.
Forever yours ☀️

How should I tell my grandma that this miscomunication between us is causing her to grow some resentment towards me from her projecting a false narrative about me? I love my grandma but I don't think she knows how to ask for help. I'm 24 btw. Asking too since my grandma is kinda indoctrinating my little sister to think like her. How do I know this? Because I also mistakenly made my grandma my moral/emotional foundation for a long time, and only just recently broke out from it (the reason I left for nearly a year in the first place). Maybe i'm also not communicating with her enough about how I feel. Yet when I have done that in the past, its been brushed off like it doesn't matter and I was "stupid" or crazy to even think the way I functioned. If you ask for help, I will help you 10,000%. If you don't ask for help, you don't actually need my help right?
Today, I just got back from moving into my mom's house, where my grandma, mom, little brother and sister also live. Apparently I am not taking initiative enough and making them "grandma and sister" uncomfortable by my 'attitude' that was not intended to be read the way they are. All because the 'tv' wasn't working because of a connection issue to the internet, which I mistakenly assumed my sister was fully capable of fixing as they wanted to watch a movie. Why? Because I had taught her how to forget our network in the Wifi settings, re-input our internet password, connect and that should fix 99% of the "Problem with Network Connection". My little sister is almost 17 btw. I've taught her this like 2 times already and she knows the password to the Wifi...
Am I the one without the initiative when I was confident my sister was fully capable of diagnosing the problem and fixing it. And if not... Then would they ask me for help. Am I thinking about this backwards? I assumed backrgound comments like "The tv isn't working" between them was just them talking to each other, since clearly the solution was there, my little sister. Someone who has a phone and accesss to google 24/7 too... yet I just hear them on TikTok and Instagram all the time...
This is just a long line of miscommunication in the part of my grandma 'asking' without asking and me assuming they don't need help. My grandma has blatantly said she talks a bit 'louder' when she gets irritated I don't come out to immediately help her. Commenting about the problem they're having. Yet it always ends with them expecting me to just stop everything, run out of the room and build them a castle(exaggerated but yeah). How can I be listening to her conversation 24/7 ready to do tasks I've repeatedly willingly done at their call for help. If I am busy working on my own things, i'm going to filter out the noise to concentrate. This isn't that I don't have initiative either since I wouldn't be the person I am now if I didn't go out of my way to help my family, friends and people when they needed help for anything. I'll gladly help and put 200% for trying to find a solution and often do. I don't need to announce that I fixed/maintained some random trinkets in the house because I don't need appraisal for eveything single thing I do. Yet it comes to bite me in the ass, when I'm told I don't do enough? The whole point of preventative maintenance is for it to be invisible to others and still function.
Even the times when I did ask if they needed help when I thought they did, they just say no. And the times when they finally ask me directly in an angry demeanor after supposibly "insinuating me for help", I feel absolutely uncomfortable that they feel the way they do towards me. Its especially infuriating/hurtful to me when they snap me out of a flowstate and concentration on a project or study that completely ruins my enthusiasm and mood for the mood or even month... Fuck, id just lay in my bed doing absolutely nothing with my life doomscrolling on instagram for weeks/months when they would just tell me straight up I'm useless. When they infact don't allow me to try and be of use when I can absolutely learn a new subskill with youtube, and I want to learn and apply myself.

40m Partner and 40f I have been seeing each other for a year and im starting to have compatibility concerns.
I didn’t have great role models growing up (or even now) and have only been in one long term relationship where we lived together so apologies in advance if this sounds silly but am just a bit insecure and trying to be better.
Some of the things that concern me:
Partner sometimes does not appear to pick up what I put down. For example:
1-he came to visit overnight and I hid a silly little gift (nothing dangerous) in his bag and when he found it he thought it was super weird, rejected it and we ended up in a first over it.
2-he had a little milestone (kind of silly little one but I like to celebrate the small stuff) and I made him a certificate for it. He felt I had “too much time on my hands”
In parallele he doesn’t doesn’t seem to see anything I do as that amazing. I recently had a large achievement and pay rise at work and simultaneously purchased a property. He listened to me when I talked to him about it but never asked about it again. Settlement went past without a note. In comparison my friends are wanting to have a party for me … but he won’t even mention it.
This all makes me feel super unimportant and like I don’t matter. I want to be with someone who values me and my achievements and vice versa.
Another one is he seems to ignore me or tell me to move on when I’m upset. Examples:
1-I felt ignored at a restaurant. We barely spoke while eating and I just got a little in my head and he says I “looked visibly upset” and he just decided it was best to not engage / check in as he didn’t want to make a scene.
2-I once told him I get nervous when he tailgates people and he got pissed at me stating “I am a very good driver I’ve been driving for years and have never had an accident”
In a recent incident he’s admitted to acting (or getting??) upset when I was upset as he feels it’s the only way to get me out of a funk
I feel like there is no space for me to need him emotionally.
He also doesn’t really like my cooking, the food I like, we have very different lifestyles, he hates the sports I like he even dislikes public transport ….which I love. This imo should be immaterial but it ends up creating fights …
We’ve discussed these things but it always ends up in a long drawn out conversation where he explains to me why I’m wrong for the way I’m presenting / seeing things etc. (I find t hard to believe uve i have been the one wrong every time we’ve fought since we met ….) but equally I’m the one who’s been single for years prior to this so maybe I’m an awful person to be with & just disillusioned that anyone would want to spend time with me …
Thinking logically I am sometimes starting to feel like he may not value me for what I have to offer - the little gestures, the caring actions, it just all goes over his head … and is probably wasted energy. I care for him and outside of these fights I love how he treats me but guess I’m wondering:
1-Is this normal in a relationship?
2-How can we get past these silly little fights?

GF broke up with me
So Ima just spill the beans
My girlfriend (24) and I (M26) broke up today. I felt and knew it was going to come, eventually, and she’ll be the one calling it off. The reason was because of me sending an angry voice note to her where I was yelling. Yesterday afternoon she mentioned if I wanted to go to her friends bday party at some club. I was on the fence about it since I’m low on funds for the week but said yes. She spoke about it before to where she said she didn’t want it to be awkward with the her friend which their is some tension between them. She said maybe you could come and just be with me. I’m not a club guy so I said I rather spend the money on a personal outing for you and I and she replied by saying but this is a me and you thing.
So while I was in class she’s texting me saying if I’m going or not since I would have to send some money. Then she said she was anxious of me going because there was a time where I slid in her friends DMs. I’m not really sure if I ever said something explicit. Perhaps I did maybe reacted to her stories with heart emojis and said hey. It was just me being wanting to talk to a female and perhaps one thing leads to another but I never thought of her as a potential gf. Also there was this one time where I was drunk and blurted out her friends name while we were on FaceTime. I was lying down and wanted to yell out my gf name but Idek how I yelled out her friends name. But to my defense I wasn’t all nor do I think of her friend AND her friend also shared the same name for my bartender that night so idk but still also not thinking of my bartender.
I was upset she brought this up. I know feelings like that don’t go away overnight but that was in the first month of us dating, and obviously we weren’t talking when I tried hitting up her friend. We were dating for 6 months so far. I also told her not to worry that. It’s pointless why are you feeling that way. And she got mad saying that I was saying her feelings was pointless. I also said what’s the difference if you’ll be shaking ass with her guy friends around there to if I’m there or not.
Last night I got drunk and she didn’t want me to call her because of something going on in her household but My heads was in the clouds and was so drunk I kept calling her even thought she said not to because of the whole situation going on. She said she was overwhelmed and that’s all I got and I just wanted her to tell me what was going thinking it was about me still. At this point I’m still calling her and thinking it was about me till she got mad texted me what was going on and was pissed at me. Saying not everything is about you. Regardless of the matter I still managed to be on my bs and say so do you want to be with me or not. I told her stop fucking play with me.
I really loved her. I feel like it sucks since it was always going to be me being the reason she leaves. I always felt like I wasn’t good enough for her. She is more established than I. I’m just getting my life together. She once said me not having a license is an issue because she doesn’t want to drive all the time. She said she wasn’t sure if she wanted to present me to her parents because I’m a boy that doesn’t have his shit together. She was always just saying how this relationship been stressful and she’s been trying despite the factors of me talking to her friend and me not having my life established with my unwise decisions. I’m looking back at the texts of last night and I really wish we could work this out but I know she’s never coming back. I want to fight for her. I wanted a future with her. I wanted her to be my wife. What do you guys think?

I just finished my first year at my school and it has been terrible every step of the way. The school environment always feels so… uncomfortable? i don’t know if that’s the right word but it’s just uncomfortable and suffocating, but maybe because it’s a conservative PWI and i’m about as far away from that as you can be. This last semester has totally kicked my ass in particular, and my mental health spiraled which lead to a really bad depressive episode and I almost failed all my courses (I didn’t, though; my GPA is above 2.5 and I know I can raise it this next semester). I know I am a little to blame, but i still feel uneasy every time i think about having to return there. There’s other factors as well, but this isn’t the post to unpack all of that. The point is, the thought of going back this fall has me spiraling really bad.
However, I don’t know if I should transfer, or just bear it until i finish my 5th year (I’m doing a 5y masters program). My best friend that I made this past semester is so wonderful and amazing, and i want to stick it out for her + the club we’re in is so kind to me as well. All of my professors are literally wonderful, and the students in my major are so nice. If I transfer, I’ll have to redo a shit ton of courses just to catch up because my major is a bunch of one credit courses that I doubt will transfer so I’ll probably have to do an extra year. I’m also scared that if I transfer everything will get worse than it has been (less friends, worse grades, worse environment, etc.) I’m in therapy this summer to hopefully address my mental health issues, and I KNOW that I can bring my grades up with the extra support from therapy. I should be able to succeed, but I still hate the school and don’t know what I should do.
I go to a pretty small school in VA, and right now i’m considering transferring to GMU, JMU, or Temple. If I transfer, it would be for next spring or next fall. GMU is close to home, so I’m a little hesitant since I would have to live at home/commute and I don’t exactly have the best relationship with my parents, but I’ll worry about that if i get accepted, since transferring is more competitive than freshman.
Any advice/wisdom is appreciated. Thank you!

Hey everyone, this is my first time posting on Reddit. I really just need a space for unbiased advise and a place to rant.
For context I’ll start from the beginning. It’ll be a long story, so thank you in advance to anyone who actually takes the time to read this.
4 years ago, I met my now husband, and he had just obtained full custody of my SD6 at 2 years old. Since the day I’ve came into both of their lives, I have stepped up to take on full time care of her and be a stay at home parent. When I came into the picture BM was on drugs, in and out of jail and having hallucinations that she was verbal about. She was granted supervised visits every weekend. For the first year my husband handled all exchanges and after awhile BM and I became cordial and comfortable enough for me to be involved in them due to my husband switching jobs and not being readily available for the outlined times created in the original custody agreement. Most of the time it was SD’s grandparents doing pick up/drop off, which they are cool people. So it was pretty simple. At that point, I was staying home caring for my SD full time, taking her to doctors appointments, working with her learning and development (I went to a 2 year technical school for early childhood education and obtained my CDA), bonding with her, taking her out for socialization, doing every “mom” thing, but as a step mom. I have always tried my hardest to be humble and know my place as a step mom, I’ve allowed room for bio mom to have a say in the day to day, birthdays, video chats, school events (when she started going to school) and BM never wanted much to do with it until about a year ago. We have encouraged BM to take SD to appointments, and she either forgets or bails last minute. I’ve never gone out of my way and claimed myself to be mom, I’ve never asked SD to call me mom, I’ve kept constant respect in reguards to BM despite her ~very poor~ behavior towards me and my entire household at that.
BM has expressed a lot how she wants more time with SD within the last year, but there have been multiple times where people in our area have came to my husband letting him know of her trying to buy drugs again (with proof), her hanging out with the wrong crowd, and her just being inconsistent with her daughter. My husband and I have been very transparent with her about how if she would pass a hair follicle test that we would be happy to arrange that for her and my SD (which is the condition outlined in the custody agreement). There was even a point in time where my husband and I offered to pay for her to go take one, which she declined.
Fast forward to now. BM has now obtained disability checks for her drug induced schizophrenia, has a place of her own and is in a “good”(?) relationship with another man. My SD came home crying to me today asking where her daddy was (he was still at work) so that her mommy could apologize to him and they could get back together again, to which BM didn’t intervene very much or at all (she just stood there crying too saying “remember our conversation we had earlier!”). SD comes home often and tells me about all of the photos her mom has on her phone of my husband and her mom together and how they frequently look at them. I’ve never really gave it toooooo much thought, because they are her mom and dad afterall, so I think is great she has photos of them. But then she will tell me about how her daddy stole a piece of her moms heart and stole her away from her mom. Or how it makes BM really sad that BD won’t “allow” SD to spend more time with her.
I can’t help but feel as though BM is pushing these adult feelings on to my SD. She has never once came home crying like that or has ever entertained her mom and dad getting back together. Our life as of now, has been all she has known since she was 2. I will add that my husband and I had another child together a year ago, which has been an adjustment for all of us, but she has seldomly expressed jealous behavior and really enjoys the role of being a big sister. I am really stuggling navigating this situation, where I feel like I am almost being disrespected by BM and that my SD is being emotionally manipulated into resenting her dad and I. SD’s life there is a lot different as we share different parenting styles in our home. We have structure and boundaries here and she doesn’t get that at her mothers (visits are held at BM’s parents house). She has full access to an iPad there (which we don’t allow in our house), she isn’t encouraged to eat meals and comes home starving from their house (they buy her McDonald’s for dinner every weekend unless they are going to a cookout), they buy her a new toy consistently every weekend, and overall very lax with her. Which that’s great, that’s her parenting time, she can do as she pleases. From a kid’s perspective, that’s a whole ass dream!!!! But I don’t have the means to do that here and frankly I feel it’s my job as a parent to set healthy boundaries and structure.
I am really the main caretaker in this situation with SD and my own biological child. My husband works very hard long hours to obtain the nice/frugal life that we live in this shitty economy. I want bio mom to be successful and I want the best for her, but I can’t understand the way that she handles her feelings and expressing them to my SD. It’s a lot for my SD to handle and it really overwhelms her.
Ultimately the ball is in BM’s court, to take a drug test, which like I said we have been very transparent that in the custody agreement that is what’s outlined for her to be able to obtain unsupervised overnight parenting time. That’s what my husband and I feel most comfortable with, anyway, in the sense of protecting SD from a toxic environment and inconsistancy. I’m sorry if this post is too long. And if you read all the way thru your gods favorite. Because I’m fucking struggling.
I will always be here for my SD no matter WHAT, and I could never talk poor of her mother to her. Even if sometimes I want to. No matter what I am encouraging and validating SD feelings and expressing them to me and her father in a healthy way and being open to conversation. It was never my intention to take motherhood away from bio mom. You can lead a horse to water but ya can’t make it drink the water. Anyone know what I mean? Maybe? Idk. Someone help😭 I struggle badly with anxiety and I’ve highly considered therapy to help me navigate parenting in this situation. I guess this is the next best thing until I can get that help.

this is going to be long. i don’t think i can capture the whole situation without some backstory. i’m doing my best to keep it brief.
let me start off by saying that my mom was a teen mom and i (23) am the oldest of her children. my biological father is not in the picture and he hasn’t been since i was very young. my mom always encouraged me to be comfortable in having no contact with him despite the fact that he was my father. if he treated me poorly, i shouldn’t have to put up with him. my mom married again, i got a younger sister out of that, and she divorced that man and is now with a man that is the father of none of her children. he has three kids of his own that he has always blatantly valued more than us. he always considered us ‘bad’ kids. especially my brother as he was the only boy in the house. this is no secret. its something we’ve brought to my mom’s attention ever since they met. something she even used to acknowledge. they’ve been together several years, probably since i was around 8 years old.
i’m from the south and they’re very classic conservative. as a kid i had a real problem with their homophobia before i even realized that i was queer. we used to get into horrible screaming matches over the things they said because at the time, they didn’t know they were saying these things about me. i think that’s the reason so much of the nasty things they said stuck with me for so many years.
fast forward to 2019. i moved with my boyfriend (who i feel it’s important to the story to mention is trans, but had not yet begun the process of transitioning when we first met so he was not out to my mother) she saw us as lesbians. i think this upset her because before i met my current boyfriend, i had been with a cis man.
in 2020, i lived with my boyfriend as well as his parents. they are much more open minded than my family. when covid came around my mom was quick to deny it. and that was not surprising to me in the slightest, it didn’t even really phase me. i didn’t act any different toward her, i just remember feeling lucky not to live there at the time because i was considered high risk. i also lived in an area of mainly people over 60. i do not want this to turn into a covid debate, but i feel that it’s crucial to what happened.
in november of 2020, i felt comfortable enough to visit her. we talked on the phone about it for months leading up to the visit and she made it very clear that she and the rest of my family that lived in her house had no problem wearing a mask for the few months leading up to my visit. this was really important to me as my step dad is a cop. he interacts very closely with people every day.
so when we visited, my mom had planned for all of us (myself, my boyfriend, my mom, my step dad, my younger sister, her friend, my older step sister, her husband, her toddler, and her newborn) to cram into a van together and go look at drive through christmas lights. we wouldn’t all fit legally in the same car and the lights were kind of a drive away, so my boyfriend had driven my mom’s car and my mom had driven the van. we stopped at a gas station close to our destination in order to pile into the van.
that’s when my step father and step sister went into the gas station without wearing masks. i felt lied to and disrespected by my mom so i admit that i was upset and probably wasn’t using the kindest tone, but this is not something i would ever cut contact over. i didn’t even want to argue about it.
i expressed that i was no longer comfortable cramming into a car with all of them after i’d discovered they had not been taking my concerns seriously. my boyfriend and i were going to drive my mother’s car back home and the rest of the group would continue on to see the lights. my mom was pissed off, but it wasn’t like her normal pissed off. i assumed it was because this was the first conflict we’d had since i moved out. still, i was sure she’d get over it.
the real problem started when my younger sister also expressed that she didn’t want to go. but her reason was vastly different from mine. she didn’t know that she would be forced to sit next to my older step sister’s husband (we’ll call him brad).
brad is not a nice person. he has a history of having sexually explicit conversations with minors. my entire family is aware of this, and he was still allowed to live in my mom’s house for almost a year. my younger sister once woke up from a nap on the couch to him standing over her. when he realized she was awake he just walked away without saying anything. he was eventually kicked out of my mom’s house because he masturbated in her dining room while my younger sister was in the kitchen. my older step sister caught him on camera doing this. they are still married now.
my younger sister expressed that she didn’t feel comfortable sitting so close to brad in the car. it caused a massive fight in the parking lot of this gas station. it ended with my step father trying to physically drag her out of the car. he was not successful, but my mom was so pissed off by this point that she decided to cancel the plans entirely and drive her car home with all of us in it. she drove like a maniac the entire hour home.
when we got back to her house, i immediately ran to gather my belongings. i intended to take my sister to our grandma’s house. i believed that what my step father had done to her was not acceptable. as i stomped into the room i was staying in i yelled to my mom that she was acting like a crazy fucking bitch. seems inconsequential but trust me it’s important.
i was in the bedroom gathering up my things when i heard my little sister saying “get off of me! get away!” i panicked and ran into the living room. i assumed she had been yelling at my step father so i was surprised when he caught me at the door and shoved me against the wall. their living room has a half wall, so i couldn’t see my sister. i panicked and struggled against my step father. i broke away from him once but he pushed me back again. he held me there until my boyfriend came out and physically put himself between us.
when i got away from him, i ran to my sister. her neck was red like someone had been grabbing it. i asked her what HE did to her. i still assumed it had been my step father. my sister just looked at me like she didn’t know what to say.
my mom was still standing there, just staring at us. i grabbed her shoulders and yelled that she was going to have to wake up and realize what was happening if she wanted to ever have a real relationship with any of us. she said “take your hands off of me.” and i did. i took my sister’s bag and grabbed her hand and walked toward the front door. my mom blocked us. she said she would call the police on me for kidnapping if i took my sister. my sister stood there and begged me not to leave her. how could i?
my mom had my sister’s phone and refused to give it back to her. we ended up just leaving it. i took my sister and we went to stay the night with my grandma. in the car, my sister told me it had been my mom who she was yelling at. my mom choked her into the couch because my sister had insisted that she was leaving.
the next day my sister’s biological father (who she lived with at the time) picked her up from our grandma’s and i went back home early with my boyfriend.
despite the fact that she let us stay with her, my grandma was not on our side. she was of the opinion that we should’ve just done as we were told and none of this would’ve happened.
my sister’s dad took her back to my mom’s house and made her apologize. she got her stuff back after that.
now four years have passed since then. my mom and i slowly started to communicate again but it has only been at a surface level ever since. i knew we couldn’t talk about such an intense topic without being in person. and it would feel wrong to bring it up on a visit. i moved back to my hometown last summer with the hope that i could really work out the issues between myself and my mom. my younger sister moved in with me when i moved back as she had graduated the same year.
we hadn’t really talked about what happened. i felt so bad for her having to continue to live in the environment that i didn’t want to ever bring it up. but now that we live on our own, it came up naturally. we both realized that we needed to talk to our mom about our problems in order to ever have a real connection.
so we did. we invited her over and did our best to talk things over. i knew my mom was not the best at taking criticism but i genuinely didn’t expect what played out.
i tried to bring up the things they said to me as a kid. things that made me feel wrong in my identity and made me feel like it would be easier for everyone if i just disappeared. she denies ever saying anything negative about gay people ever. she says that she has never ever said anything worse about gay people than that she doesn’t agree with them. that was definitely not all. just before i moved out i expressed to my step dad that he’d traumatized me with all of his anti-gay rhetoric. constantly calling me a faggot. dumb shit like that. his response was “obviously not enough.”
then i brought up how badly she hurt me that day. how i felt she’d chosen her husband over her children again. i couldn’t understand why she would think that choking my sister was okay. or her husband pinning me against the wall was okay. and then she told me it was because i was ‘charging into the room’ to beat her up.
i have never in all my years ever laid a finger on my mother. i adapted to that household by being agreeable and doing what i was told. the only time i ever stepped out of line was when it came to human rights. i was young and naive and i thought that if i could just say the right words i could make them understand. so those were the battles i chose in my childhood. i NEVER once threatened or even thought of hurting my mom.
she claims that when i heard my sister calling for help, i charged into the living room screaming at my mom. she claims THAT is when i called her a crazy fucking bitch.
i was quick to reassure her that i never ever wanted to hurt her. that it wasn’t even a thought in my head. that i hadn’t even known that SHE was the one doing anything to my sister. that i hadn’t even made it two feet into the living room before my step dad threw me back.
she doesn’t believe me.
she just says that it’s not about what she believes, it’s about what she witnessed. that she witnessed me planning to hurt her.
i know that i am not that kind of person. and i am not comfortable being around someone who would accuse me of such violence.
i explained my side of the story again and again and her only response was “no, no, no.”
my sister expressed that she felt it was wrong mom had choked her. my mom said that it was my sister’s fault because she wouldn’t “stop running her mouth” and refused to “sit her monkey ass down”
she ran out of the house shortly after this. we didn’t get to finish talking about much. i went into the bathroom to finish my panic attack alone and she called me. she said on the phone that if we were to talk, i would have to stop accusing her of things. to me, it seemed that she was accusing me of trying to hurt her. even in the face of being told it simply wasn’t true. i couldn’t articulate that point very well in the moment, though.
on this phone call she also said “you’re not going to tell me i have problems. you think YOU don’t have problems?” and i told her that i know i have problems that im just able to acknowledge that without lashing out. i told her that i hope one day she sees what i mean but i just can’t keep putting myself through this. i told her i loved her and then i hung up.
my mom also texted me that night in 2020 when everything happened. she said she felt wronged because i had called her such a horrible name. and i apologized then and there for calling her a crazy fucking bitch. her response was that she didn’t feel she had anything to apologize for herself. she has never said anything about feeling threatened by me until we confronted her a few days ago.
how can i deal with this when my entire family (aside from my younger sister) has normalized abuse? how can i move on without feeling like everything i did was wrong? im very firm in my story, i even have journal entries from the day it happened. therapy sessions. texts to my boyfriend’s dad from 30 minutes after everything happened. my story has never once changed and has never once hinged on what i THOUGHT might happen.
not only am i firm in my story but i am firm in my opinion that their actions are unjustified. especially toward my little sister. i just can’t shake the doubt. i don’t know if it’s the small part of me that still holds onto everything they instilled in me or what. i was just hoping for some advice i suppose. thank you for reading all of this.

I’m sorry this is so long. I’d love to hear what you think.
We’ve been together for 3 years. Moved in together after 7 months during the pandemic. I’m the first girlfriend he’s lived with.
Shift in behaviour — I find he has changed a lot since we’ve become more close but I’ve stayed consistent. When we first met, he was a lot more positive and interested in me. He rarely asks me questions now and challenges many things I say. He is a lot more negative and judgemental of both me, my family and people we encounter. I didn’t think it was a terrible thing, more that he’s gotten comfortable with me. But I do feel a shift has taken place in the past 2 years. And sometimes the lack of positivity toward me feels disrespectful too. Lots of immature jokes, scoffing at things I say, speaking down to me or in a passive aggressive or condescending tone about the smallest things or even about things that clearly matter to me but not to him.
Emotions difficult — He has been transparent that he “struggles with empathy” since the early days. I remember noting that as a red flag but I thought maybe he was being flippant. He was not. I have tried many times to bring up our lack of emotional depth and he’s rarely responded well. It usually turns quickly into a defensive debate. Lots of “I treat you great.” “Sorry you think I’m such a bad boyfriend” types of statements that then take us away from the point. I am left apologizing for bringing it up. We never check in emotionally. He cannot name his own emotions aside from good or bad. He does not ask questions about my emotions. I am a very emotive person. I cry and I feel really deep (sometimes painful) empathy. I find he just stares or watches me when I’m upset or crying. He never asks questions, he rarely knows how to comfort me. His best way to support is to tell me it will pass. Which is helpful but not to the extent I was hoping.
Trauma doesn’t exist — Lastly, I have dealt with stuff in life that I know has had an impact on me. I am trying to figure it out and unpack it through reading, online research, and therapy. He has told me that he doesn’t believe childhood or young adult difficult experiences should have that much of an affect on you. I have told him about the situations and he barely asked about them, he barely showed interest, he’s never checked in on them or acknowledged situations that would clearly be triggering since. In fact, he’s even made a joke here or there that has been in relation to them. He had a pretty unstable childhood with a lot of parental neglect so it’s hard for me to see aspects of his life that could be improved by addressing them. And it’s invalidating to see his eyes glaze over when I reference mine.
I’m no peach — I have my issues. Like I said, I’m a very emotional person. I also struggle with anxiety at times. I’m currently going through a very depressive episode and have even shared with him that I have felt suicidal lately. He hasn’t tried to talk about it with me at all. He hasn’t tried to help. He offers bandaid unhealthy solutions like watching TV or eating out. It feels like he thinks it’s not real and is an inconvenience.
About a year ago we were watching Jerry Macguire and there’s this scene where he tells the woman that he thinks he’s only with her because of how much he likes her son. I remember my partner turning to me and saying he felt the same way regarding me but he’s staying for the dog. Since then, he’s apologized for the joke but man.. he sure does give our dog a lot of tenderness, compassion, and attention.

We’ve been besties for 6 years now, and as of like 2 months ago I’ve started having feelings for her. Honestly I have no idea what triggered it. I’m not going to get into the details, but I told her I had a crush on someone and she ended up guessing it was herself. She said she didn’t have the same feelings but wanted to stay friends and I agreed. For context we’re both bi. For the past 3 weeks after she found out things have been understandably awkward. It was actually really hard for me since she’s my one best (really only) friend, and I didn’t want our friendship to be permanently damaged. She has a bunch of other friends (not really mutual) which made it feel like I needed her a lot more than she needed me. Currently things are still a little off, but yesterday we skipped class and hung out by the river and things felt much more comfortable. So here’s the problem: I still have feelings for her. Now that I’ve stopped worrying as much about our friendship my mind has steered back around. If you know the feeling you know the feeling, I wish I could go back to just liking her as a friend but it doesn’t work that way. Now I’m starting to give myself false hope by telling myself stuff like she was just too nervous to tell me in the moment or she just isn’t ready to be in a relationship yet. How do I go about dealing with this? I’ve had crushes in the past but this feels way different. There’s this anxious excitement in me every time I think about her. And no, I can’t take space from her because she is still my best friend and I would literally die of depression. Do I tell her I still feel the same or would this be risky since our friendship is just starting to feel normal again?

So the title is a little misleading. For one thing, I'm not really a germaphobe, at least not in the way most people would probably think. I don't flinch when someone near me sneezes, I don't avoid highly trafficked public places, and I'm not constantly cleaning. In fact, I'm a bit of a slob. That being said, "germaphobia" is the simplest way I can think of to describe my specific quirks. Ultimately, this story is all about how I treat my wedding ring.
So, I (33M) am married to a wonderful wife (28F), and I wear a wedding ring the same way most people do, on the third finger of my left hand. And, there are certain activities that I do, where I will remove my ring. That, by itself, isn't that unusual. Lots of people will remove their jewelry when doing exceptionally dirty tasks, gardening for example. But I take it a bit further than that. I'll remove my ring to clean the dishes, to sift the cats' litter, if I have to handle raw meat while I'm cooking, to scoop ice cream, to go to the restroom or to shower, changing our little one's diapers, and many other activities that most people wouldn't consider "dirty", but in my mind are. It's not really germaphobia, since I don't have any qualms about doing these things, I'm not squeamish about these tasks or anything. I just feel the need to take off the ring first, out of paranoia that it'll be damaged or sullied in someway that can't be easily cleaned.
This absolutely infuriates my wife. She works on a dairy farm, and is literally elbow deep in manure most days, so she doesn't really get my gross feeling with these things. When it comes to the things that annoy her, removing my ring is right up there with leaving dirty socks on the floor or not folding laundry for days after taking it out of the dryer. Early into our marriage, when I was not yet used to wearing the ring, I would take it off to go to the restroom, and forget about it. I would leave it on the counter or something. When she'd notice I wasn't wearing it, she'd get upset. A sign of disrespect, she'd call it. But, in time, I got used to wearing it, to the point where now I feel naked without it. I'll still take it off to do these "dirty" things, but I almost never leave it anywhere anymore, and on the rare occasion that I do, within ten minutes my hand starts to feel weird, and I have to go back to retrieve it.
Well, about a week ago, I had quite a bit of cleaning to do. I work days, and my wife works nights. It's rough being on opposite schedules and not seeing each other much, but it's the only way we can make sure someone is always at home with our baby. On this particular day, he was apparently more demanding than usual (teething), so my wife didn't get any of the household chores done that day. This isn't unusual, chores are usually split 70/30 or so, with me doing the bulk of them anyway, so this day wasn't special. Anyway, I had a cranky baby on my hands for most of the night, after a long shift at work, and when I finally got the kiddo to bed, there were the chores. This meant several of those "dirty" tasks lined up for me back to back. I put the ring inside my pants pocket and got to work.
Two hours later, I plopped on the couch to relax, as I had been on my feet for about fourteen hours at that point. I pulled out my phone to listen to our favorite reddit story teller for a bit, and before I even got halfway through the first story of whatever video it was I was listening to, I had fallen asleep. Around 4am, my wife comes home. She wakes me and I, still half asleep, shamble on into bed with her without a second thought.
The next morning, I wake up with a jolt, suddenly aware that my hand is bare, and when I check my pocket, the ring isn't there. I'm freaking out. I wake my wife up, who, understandably is not happy. She's had about three hours of sleep, and here I am waking her up to tell her that I did one of the things that annoys her most. I express that I'm worried if our little guy finds the ring before we do, he'll just eat it. Because that's what babies do, find something new, into the mouth it goes. She didn't get up, instead just made several passive aggressive comments about how I clearly don't want to be her husband if I can't keep the ring on, or how the marriage doesn't count without it, or how I'll just have to carry our baby in my arms all morning to ensure he doesn't get his hands on it, wherever it is. I'm not sure if she wasn't thinking clearly because she was half asleep, or if she was attempting to make jokes, and the grogginess in her voice just ruined the delivery. Either way, it was unhelpful.
Now, I did find the ring, between the couch cushions. From the time I woke up to the time I found it was maybe twenty minutes. So it ended up not being a huge deal. And several hours later, when my wife actually woke up for the day, we had a conversation on the matter, so we could resolve some things. But, she wasn't any more understanding of my fears in that conversation than she was when she was asleep. She chastised me for losing the ring, saying I should never have taken it off to begin with, that my ability to forget about the ring, no matter how tired I might have been, was evidence of how little I really cared about her or our marriage. Her comments ranged from calling me stupid for thinking that sifting cat litter would irreparably damage a gold band, to claiming that if I really loved her, I'd sooner let the ring be destroyed than willingly remove it. She then said her job puts her ring in far more risk of damage than anything I do with my ring, she asked if something happened to her ring, how I would react. She was kind of all over the place. As for my side, I tried to explain that I loved her just as much, with or without an expensive hunk of metal on my finger, and that I was just trying to keep the ring safe. I even made the joke that the real symbol of our love was the signed marriage license we had submitted to the state when we got married, and that was the thing we should be selfishly protecting. She more or less blew me off on each point though. I couldn't really press the matter either, as I had to leave for work. And that was the end of it. We never really got a satisfying conclusion to the discussion, and now it feels like too much time has passed to bring up a minor disagreement from over a week ago. So, the problem is just on hold for now, I guess. Until the next time I forget the ring somewhere, then we'll just rehash the whole thing again.
On the one hand, she's probably right. I'm so worried about protecting the ring from getting damaged or dirty that I risk it getting lost or stolen. On the other hand, she knows about my weird quirks, how I feel about dirt and grime, and saying "get over it" isn't really a helpful response. Plus, I'm left handed, I wipe myself with that hand. Is it really so wrong of me to maybe not want to wipe my ass with the symbol of our everlasting love?
What do you guys think? Am I being disrespectful by removing and almost losing the ring? Or is she being unreasonable by suggesting my habit of removing it is a problem? I don't think it's worthwhile to bring it up and start an argument now, but it'd be nice to have some other perspectives for when and if this happens again.

I don’t know when but you will get over them. For me took half a year to really get over my ex. I used to be like a lot of you hear, desperate and depressed convinced that my ex would come back eventually- that I needed them. Most likely they won’t come back, but someday you won’t really want them anymore. You’ll think back to the relationship and see it for what it was, and won’t have a rose tinted look into it. Personally on my journey, I realized that my ex was emotionally abusive to me which helped me not want to be with him ever again, or ever see or speak to him again. Though, when we first broke up, I couldn’t leave my bed because I was so heartbroken and all I wanted was to be with him again. All this to say, you will be okay. It may not feel like that’s true, and maybe you’ll read this post and think “bullshit”, but in reality there’s more people out there who will be better for you, who you will love more, and who will change your life in ways your ex never did. You are important, special, and full of possibilities. Just because your last relationship didn’t work out dosen’t mean that you’re doomed to loneliness forever without them!

Hey Everyone! I came to realize pretty quickly that I did not have as much of this chapter planned out as I thought I did. Which explains why it took a little long to come out, but in the end I managed to create something that I was satisfied with. You may notice one key change, being that Oukirii’s Companion no longer has a defined name! You’re free to name it whatever you wish.
(Completed Chapter 2s: Thearnt, Taland, Pascal, Harmony, Crowson, Asherah, Oukirii)
Next Chapter 2: Orlando the Starseer
Oukirii the Hunter, Chapter 2: Recommended Level 26
——————
(The Journey So Far…)
Events along Oukirii’s first hunt created damage in her family.
Her father came to realize that she had no intention of become a strong hunter on her own.
Even if she knew that, Oukirii couldn’t answer the question “Then what do you want to be?”
One evening, she had a dream of world’s destruction. A prophet came by the following day and told her of the beasts she saw that night.
Oukirii volunteered to hunt the beasts down, in hopes that this journey would reveal her true purpose to her…
Oukirii and Her Companion set foot in Evercold. The first thing Oukirii notes is the cold air of the snowy region. “You alright boy?” She crouches down and pets her companion on the head. It makes a joyful cry. “Hansel should be around here right?” Oukirii continues “He probably knows where we should go to look for Snow Gem!”
She takes a few steps forward, “This town is— very different from Oakbright…” Oukirii looks down. “Alright, Let’s go find Hansel!”
You’d be prompted to look for Hansel

• Travel Banter: My Nickname (Oukirii and Orlando) “Hey Kirie.” Orlando tries to get her attention. Oukirii freaks out and Orlando apologizes. Oukirii goes on to explain that her dad always called her Kirie. “That Dimitrius man, right?” Orlando asks. Oukirii tells Orlando a bit more about her father, before finally saying to him “You can call me Kirie if you want to.” Orlando makes sure that’s alright with her, and Oukirii says that it’s perfectly fine.
  
• Travel Banter: A Roaring Sword (Oukirii and Crowson) Oukirii notices Crowson and asks “What are you doing Mr. Crowson!?” He tells her that he’s just giving his sword a polish. Oukirii says “It’s shinier now, you did a good job!” Crowson goes quiet. “I’ve heard it roar through the air when you swing it!” Oukirii continues. He replies “It does do that. Now let us proceed.” Oukirii wonders what the hurry is for, Crowson tries to come up with an excuse, and settles on using the cold weather.
  

“Heave Ho Suzie!” Someone’s voice calls out. Blanche, the owner of the Beast Ranch would be pulling on a large wagon filled with heavy crates. She’d look over at Oukirii.
(Blanche’s Dialogue will change depending on if you’ve visited the ranch prior. “You look familiar”/”Who’re you? A hunter?”)
Blanche would go on to explain that she’s here to pick up supplies. She notices Oukirii’s companion and hands her a bag of food before grabbing onto the wagon again. Suzie would give Oukirii a nod as they leave.
As Oukirii puts away the bag, She notices Hansel standing near the path that Blanche and Suzie went along. Oukirii runs over to Hansel and tells him that she’s ready to take on Snow Gem.
Hansel is glad to hear it. He would tell Oukirii that this beast has been terrorizing the citizens of Evercold for a long time. “Hunting Snow Gem is not only important for our own sun-saving mission. It’s for the relief of all these people right here.”
“Well I’ll have to do my best then!”
“I believe in you Oukirii. I really do.”
Oukirii would walk away from Hansel and you’d head further into town. Oukirii suddenly hears the sound of someone shouting “No, Not again!” Her companion points his nose in the direction of the shouting and a curious Oukirii runs over to find a girl standing outside of her home. She asks if something’s wrong and the girl tells her that she lost a book she borrowed from the town’s library.
Oukirii volunteers to help look, the girl just laughs loudly “It’s nowhere I can find, best of luck to you kid!”
“Hey!” Oukirii shouts. “I’ll find that book… Just you wait…”
Before leaving, she asks for the girl’s name. She answers “Valerie, why do you need to know?” Oukirii says that it’s just in case she wrote her name in the book. “Suppose I– Fair point?” Valerie responds.
You’d Entreat Valerie’s Book from a customer by Evercold’s Night Market.

• Travel Banter: Valerie’s Missing Book (Oukirii and Asherah) Asherah remarks that Valerie must be extremely forgetful. But it’s hard not to feel bad for her. Oukirii says that it’s a good thing they showed up when they did, “Right, Helping people.” Asherah says. “Let’s just hope this pays off somehow.” Oukirii tells her that it will pay off in some way, Asherah asks “Do you believe in that sort of thing?” Oukirii says “Of course I do! Well— not if you don’t believe enough with me!”

Oukirii returns to Valerie and hands her the book. Valerie acts surprised as she flips through the pages. She sighs and puts the book away, saying she needs a tea break, she invites Oukirii to join. Sheaccepts and the two would enter Valerie’s home.
Oukirii’s companion lies down on the floor. Valerie apologizes for acting like she did, and Oukirii forgives her immediately. She notices some tools on the wall and asks what those are for. Valerie says those are for her toolsmithing job. However, she wonders if that job is something even worth continuing. “Just doesn’t feel like my ‘right thing’.”
Oukirii gets to thinking. Being so young, she doesn’t fully understand what Valerie is saying. But she gets a better understanding by connecting it to finding her own purpose. It's hard to tell if she did the “right thing” by fleeing to complete this mission…
A Flashback occurs, A young Oukirii sits waiting in the living room while her mother and father try to make her look her best. The door opens, and somebody walks inside. Antànor Solana, Oukirii’s Grandfather. Dimitrius happily greets him, Antànor doesn’t say anything, But does the same to his son. He shakes Catalina’s hand and pats Oukirii on the head while facing away from her. He and Dimitrius walk forward, chatting about their hunts. Oukirii tries to shout something to her grandfather, but he doesn’t hear her…
After she and Valerie finish talking, Oukirii says that she’s off to hunt a beast. She describes Snow Gem to Valerie, who says “I’ve never heard of anything like that before…” Valerie tells Oukirii to wait up and grabs a hatchet from the wall, she says that she’ll be coming to hunt this thing too. She won’t let someone like her fight a beast unsupervised.

• Travel Banter: Dance Lessons (Oukirii and Harmony) Oukirii is lost in thought, Harmony gets her attention and offers to let her try out something new, Dancing! Wondering if it will help her find something to be passionate about. Oukirii doesn’t know what to think, Harmony talks with her about what it would be like to be a dancer. Oukirii says that stardom doesn’t sound like something she wants to strive for, but thanks Harmony for talking to her about her purpose in an uplifting way.

Road to Deepshiver Cave, Danger Level 26
As Oukirii and Valerie walk, The ground begins to shake. They stop and stand still, Valerie asks “Did you feel that?” Oukirii wonders if the rumbling came from Snow Gem. Suddenly, the ground cracks underneath them. Sending Oukirii and her companion falling underground.
Oukirii is lying on the ground in a patch of snow. Her companion tries to wake her, Oukirii jolts up and looks around. “Thank the sun! Where’s Valerie?” Oukirii stands up after petting her companion. “This… Snow Gem… It must be…” She shakes her head.
Deepshiver Cave, Danger Level 27

• Travel Banter: Rough Landing! (Oukirii and Taland) “Agh…” Taland sounds in pain. Oukirii asks if he’s hurt. He replies “Who, Me? Not at all. It was like landing on a pillow! I did pull a muscle, but I’m more worried about you little sis.” Oukirii wonders “Huh? I’m not hurt.” Taland is ready to accept the answer until he points out her shivering. “You must have snow on ya still.” He teaches Oukirii to shake the snow out. Before they’re both ready to continue on.

Further into the cave, Oukirii would run into Valerie. Who is revealed to have taken the normal way in. Slightly further to the end of the tunnels, They get their first look at the “Snow Gem” beast. A large quadruped creature with blank eyes and a strong shell covered in ice and snow. Oukirii is shaken at the sight of it. Valerie calls out “What is that thing!?”
“Stand back Valerie!” Oukirii and her companion step up, ready to confront the beast. “This is what I was made for… I won’t let you bring destruction to this world! Come on Snow Gem– It’s all over now!!”
BOSS: Snowradillo
(Boost Dialogue: “Here goes nothing!”)
Valerie dashes in and finishes off the beast with a large chop. It creates a strong wind as it fades away into nothing… “We did it!” Oukirii quietly says “That’s one down…” Valerie asks if Oukirii is alright, She says that she doesn’t know and explains that “I… I wish I could have known more about it. They say a hunter is supposed to read the hearts of all creatures they hunt. Is there something wrong with me?”
“Read the heart of it or not, you hunted that thing like a champion! Maybe you’re not looking in the right place kid, you could consider the idea of being a traveling hunter…”
“A traveling hunter?” Oukirii asks. She gives it some thought, before her companion reminds them that they need to head back to the town.

• Travel Banter: Church of the Sacred Sun (Oukirii and Thearnt) Oukirii asks Thearnt how different the Sacred Flame religion is compared to her own. Thearnt says that she was wondering the same thing. The two of them would have a long discussion about differences in their beliefs and customs. Draefendi being a god in one and a legendary hunter in the other, The Sun is believed as a spiritual concept while Aelfric is believed as an actual being, and how both religions have different things the followers shall and shall not do.
  
• Travel Banter: My Bedtime (Oukirii and Pascal) Oukirii is proud of her victory against the beast. “You did great.” Pascal congratulates her. Oukirii excitedly asks him if she can stay up later than usual now. Pascal tells her that he isn’t the one in the position to decide that, “Most of the time you’re knocked out early anyway.” He says, followed by silently thinking ”That’s when we usually go drink…” Oukirii pleads that she can stay up longer if she tries. Pascal tells her that he can talk about removing her suggested bedtime.
  

In Evercold, Oukirii and Valerie run into Hansel again. Oukirii tells him of the good news, and asks “Does it matter now if we take down the other two? That dream had three of them together, if one is gone then–”
“It doesn’t work that way Oukirii…” Hansel replies “Destruction could still spell even if only one was still around… Our mission was to take down all three. The next target will be Red Spirit, I’ve found this creature to be in Redwater.”
Oukirii accepts to continue the mission and keep seeking her purpose. She and her companion excitedly leave town towards the next adventure.
Hansel and Valerie watch as they leave. Valerie says “I hope she finds her purpose out there. But there’s something I don’t quite understand. She seems like she doesn’t want to be strong. But then, why accept a mission that requires her to fight powerful monsters?”
“She wants to prove herself capable, and it’s a job only she can do. I’m grateful that she did accept, Otherwise the fate of the world might still be uncertain…”
(Ending Text)
Oukirii succeeds in her hunting of the first beast. Snowradillo of Evercold.
Two monsters remain as a threat to the world.
She keeps her heart optimistic, yet still finds herself troubled. With no definite answer to the question of her purpose…
With the guidance of the sun, Oukirii sets out to Redwater.
And prepares for a confrontation with Red Spirit…
——————
Oukirii the Hunter: Chapter 2, End.

Hi all, So I'm a college student and I'm staying with my parents for the time being. I usually don't like staying with my parents because of their views on literally everything. Both of my parents are upper middle class but they're in the higher echelon, not quite rich but they have more money than most workers (it makes them really out of touch with other people but that's another convo for another time). Anyways today my mom came downstairs and said that she wanted to hire a Philippine OFW to do work around the house (in an almost proud, gloating way). Both she and my dad work all day so the house is under managed. I saw them with the application to apply for a domestic worker today. I got really upset at her and told her that a lot of human rights violations happen to Philippine OFWs (see this article) and that it's basically a crime. She got uncomfortable and laughed at me. I demanded that if she were to hire this person she at least pay them $14 an hour (this is what I *thought* the minimum wage in our county was until I researched it, its been upped to $16 an hour). She laughed even harder at me and got uncomfortable, which tells me that she had no intention to pay this person *at least* minimum wage. I told her that if she actually went through with bringing someone from overseas to work for less than minimum wage this would be a crime and I would report her to the labor bureau. She tried to justify it by saying that she "was going to bring over one of her cousins" which is a common justification and loophole for bringing over domestic workers and underpaying them (see excluded employees here). When she saw that none of her excuses were getting through to me she got really defensive, kept laughing uncomfortably, and went "fine, I won't do it. I shouldn't have brought this up with you." I saw her and my dad with the application so I feel like they're going to go behind my back and do it anyways. I don't like this at all and I think that someone could essentially become a live-in slave if my parents went through with this. I already did my research and have the number of the labor bureau of my state so if they went through with it I *would* report them. Also my parents are genuinely racist so I don't think that they would treat this person very well if they were to bring them over. I just want to make sure that this doesn't happen at all costs and make sure that they don't go behind my back. Is there anything that I can do? Does anyone have any advice? I'm not beyond getting my parents fined or sent to prison, I literally do not care, I hate that they'd treat another human this way and think it's okay. I also didn't know what other sub to post this to and thought this sub might be best. Thank you for reading this far!!
tl;dr My family wants to hire a Philippine OFW which I am not on board with because its illegal, how do I make sure that they don't go behind my back and do it/what can I do if they *do* illegally hire and underpay an OFW?

This is my first ever reddit post, I’m not really a reddit user and I don’t know how to use it. Honestly just looking for opinions.
Sorry for writing about something so minimal but last weekend, my best friend (21F) and I (21F) hung out and she showed me her new vape system. She was telling me about how it’s small and the pod is top of the line in the “vape industry” (idk what to call it). We both had the same systems before, but she bought her new one about two days before we hung out.
Now today, I figured my old system was, well, getting old so I wanted to get what my b.f got or at least something similar. I texted her asking what hers was called and where she got it, and she told me not to get the same one as her. I tried my best to find a different one I liked, but I genuinely only found interest in the one she got as it’s small and cute. So, I got the same one but in a different colour.
She followed up with me a couple hours later to ask what I ended up getting, and I told her I got the same one. You could just tell she wasn’t too happy (her responses were “bruh” and dry), and when I asked if she was upset, she explained that she was because she enjoyed having something different and how everyone has the same system nowadays.
I apologized of course, since she did tell me beforehand not to get the same one, but I didn’t think it’d be THAT big of a deal since it’s literally just a vape lol. So I guess my question is, AITA for getting the same system as my b.f? I don’t want to seem like a copycat, and I truly didn’t have any negative intentions picking the same system as her. I just find the whole thing immature imo. She’s being dry and overall not responding to me anymore, but I don’t want to be on bad terms with her because of this (even though it literally sounds stupid lmao)

Ah where to start lmao. Like most people in this reddit I’ve struggled with the pain of having a tarsal coalition basically my entire life. I’ll start from the beginning and am only going to use my experiences and tell y’all my options so take everything I say with a grain of salt because again it is my OPINION.
So to trace back how I got my tarsal coalition if I were to guess I specifically remember twisting my ankle very very bad in PE in elementary school. I was always a very athletic kid and I remember just limping my way through school and playing kickball and everything else basically on one foot for few weeks and eventually the pain went down and I had no other indications of anything really bad. I played travel baseball, and basketball as well as various outside activities all the way up through middle school. I really noticed the pain occasionally on elementary school after running the bases really hard and fast and then noticing I would be in pain afterwards but that would be it, completely bearable and about a 3 on the pain scale so noticeable but bearable. I really started to get bad pain when i was in 7th to 9th grade. 7th grade I stopped playing baseball and switched to basketball full time. Basketball being a very lateral side to side sport, I am guessing that is why I started getting worse pain. I remember days after 2 hour practices or playing and coming home and having pain about a 6-7 on the pain scale. So in 9th grade after my parents took me to a doctor to see what was wrong because I had just twisted my ankle really bad and was having extreme pain while juggling being on my feet for my job I worked at, playing basketball, and playing football all in a week, I was diagnosed with a tarsal coalition. Keep in mind up until this point I was still able to play basketball at a high level and was not having the pain hinder my play too bad. athens only time the pain was unbearable was after being in my ankle a lot and I would come home in tears because I wouldn’t be able to even put wait on it or just sit with it still without it having pain. Yes it would have been nice for more mobility in my left ankle but I was managing fine enough and it was just an annoyance and lingering concern at this point after excercise. Anyways after being diagnostic with tarsal coalition we started looking at treatment options. The first one was I had a plastic insert made for my shoes that was molded to my foot to try to limit the side to side lateral mobility and keep those bones from rubbing against each other. This insert into my shoe I found very helpful and did alleviate the pain in everyday walking but did nothing for playing the high impact sports. I did not wear the plastic insert in my basketball shoes when I played because it caused pain when I played because of the lateral nature of the sport and I also did not wear it in my cleats when playing football. I also started going to PT to try and increase ROM about 2-3 times a week. This I will say did no help and if anything doing the PT excercise yes gave me more range of motion but just caused me to be in pain afterwards. In 10th grade I was getting recruited for basketball and quit football to pursue basketball full time along with working out in the weight room. The more basketball I played, the more pain I started to feel afterwards everyday. I was popping 4 ibuprofens before games to manage. At this time I started to also notice that after excercise the more sitting still and letting it rest, it would tighten up more so I would think of it as just getting through whatever I had to for the day and keep it moving and then managing the pain afterwards. There were some days where the pain was excruciating and then my coach suggested getting steroid shots. So my junior year, my best year in terms of pain, I got a shot. The shot getting it in was extremely painful but those next 3-4 weeks were the most normal I ever felt. I was able to play and not have pain afterwards as well as play on the court without pain at a very high level. Eventually the steroid did start to wear off and the pain slowly came back to where it was beforehand after about 3 months. Then my senior year of high school I started going to a different PT and their treatment was much different and this is where I learned the best way to manage the pain. Thought my senior season immediately after practices and before games I would go in for “treatment” which would be the compression boots, massaging on the leg and foot, and ice bath immersion. This really made me be able to play a lot better and while the pain was still there it was so low it was almost not noticeable. At the end of senior year I twisted that ankle so bad I had to wear a walking boot for 3 months. At this point I decided I wasn’t going to play in college so I got surgery my senior year summer going into college. I did not get a fusion because I still wanted the mobility to be able to play sports and do the physical activities I wanted to. So they removed the coalition and replaced it with tissue or muscle out of thigh. I was in a hard cast for like a month, I really can’t remember how long to be honest, and then was in a walking boot for a couple months while going to PT to strengthen and get ROM back. After about a year I started to play physical activities again and it was like I was restarting with a new coalition again. Pain after physical activities but now I learned how to make it very bearable to where I am today. Whenever I play a sport or know I am going to have pain as soon as I’m off my feet I immediately ice bath or full submerge my foot in ice water for anywhere from 5-20 minutes. Doing this has really helped a ton because my belief is it immediately reduces inflammation and then as soon as I take it out I massage it and work on range of motion. I found that the next day the pain was almost at 2 max. Even after doing lots of physical activity and doing it again the next day, as long as I ice it the pain isn’t bad. Of course I know the pain won’t ever go away but for me it’s mostly about making it bearable to do the things I love. Eventually I think I will get a fusion but I am currently a personal trainer and a basketball coach and I don’t really have bad days unless I don’t ice my foot after being on it. I will get a fusion later in life once I’m able to give up playing basketball and completing in sports as hard as i can because eventually I would like to walk and do normal things without worrying about pain the next couple days and going through a recovery if I do. But for now I’m managing and enjoying the things I love. Getting a fusion would only mean giving up doing something I love but one day I have accepted that I will have to. If you read that all feel free to message me or comment and I can answer any questions y’all have. I wish I had a community like this earlier because like you all know it is hard to deal with the pain after doing normal things most people can do and also having to explain to them what’s wrong with you and by you have pain.

Continuing on with my first watch, just got to the part where Shinobu kills the sister demon. From the jump, Shinobu gave me the creeps. I'm watching the dub so I cannot speak for how she comes off in the original sub, but the way the actress voices her in the dub is so unsettling. She has this sickly sweet voice that you just KNOW is a facade for a woman who is remarkably deadly and who enjoys being deadly. Like, she lowkey gives off serial killer vibes. Like she would kill everybody in the room if she knew there would be no consequences. This may be me being hyperbolic and just trying to get my point across of how scary she comes off to me. That one scene of her running through the woods with Tomioka........ she was already creeping me out.
When she first snuck up on the sister demon, I immediately knew that the demon was up shit's creek without a paddle. This girl was not Tanjiro, I knew that this wasn't going to be some compassuonate heart to heart type shit. That entire scene put me on edge cause I knew the switch was going to switch with Shinobu, it was only a matter of time. And when she started explaining to the elder sister demon of what she would need to endure for them to be friends in that sickly sweet voice.........
The way this show showed off the prowess of both her and Tomioka was perfect. But her scene hit a little more for me due to the weird psychological shit she has going on.

Somewhere between 90 and 95% of openers I get are either "hi" or "hey." So literally anything else puts you sonewhere in the top 10%. Even "HEY ASSHOLE! would at least be memorable. So I wouldn't sweat it too much; the bar is set really low.
If you're really insistent, though, it's thd same sort of stuff women want in an opener, just with waaaayyyy less competition. And if you can somehow prove you're not a scammer while you're at it, even better.
The opener I start with is usually something easy to answer and invites a thoughtful response. Such as, "What is your go to karaoke song?" or "What's your favorite thing about living [insert city]"? or "What's your favorite way to spend a Sunday afternoon?"
I usually get the conversation started and then if he doesn't match my energy, I unmatch.
One of my favorite opening lines I got from a guy was “Hi there! Let me know what you think of the following:
A white picket fence house, a couple dogs, some nice cars, maybe a boat for weekend trips to the lake, and we can do that for about 5 years until you get sick of me. After that we divorce, I let you keep everything, and we’ll call it a good time!”
Made me laugh and for being an introvert who struggles immensely with conversation this helped relax me instantly.
The online dating world is vast, with a plethora of apps to choose from. However, according to a study by Statista, one outranks them all when it comes to finding love: Bumble. The app, known for letting women make the first move, has since expanded into a networking platform for building both friendships and professional connections. But if you’re still interested in using Bumble for its original intent, you might be wondering how to go about answering all those Bumble prompts, of which there are over 40 to choose from. Here, we’ve rounded up ten of the best Bumble prompts, plus example answers. So fill out that profile, pick your preferred zodiac sign to date (it’s Pisces, right?) and watch the notifications roll in—before you know it, you’ll be needing a spreadsheet to track all those dates.
How Do You Write a Good Bumble Prompt?
The best way to write a good Bumble prompt response is to be honest, specific and positive, according to experts. If you leave your profile generic (or worse, empty), you’re not giving dates enough information to work with so that they can start a conversation. So, focus on being clear about what you want (without being a negative nelly) and don’t be afraid to throw a little humor in there, too. After all, laugher is proven to help us relax, and when we feel at ease, we’re more comfortable sharing about ourselves and learning about others.
The Best Bumble Prompts and How to Answer Them

1. Perfect First Date...

This Bumble prompt is a great way to let potential matches know what you’re expecting, so be specific. “Drinks” is not going to cut it. Instead, write out a little itinerary—it doesn’t have to be incredibly detailed, but it should give someone an idea of what you enjoy. Maybe it’s a picnic in a park. Perhaps you lean towards the classic dinner and a movie, or you love art museums, comedy clubs and bookstores.
What you can say:
Catching a flick (sci-fi or rom-com) followed by dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. If the sky is clear, we’d drive up to Griffith Park and have a little La La Land moment.
Picnic in Central Park and then a ride in a rowboat—you’re doing the rowing, of course. We’d top it off with ice cream and maybe a bookstore jaunt.
We’d eat our way through Smorgasburg in Brooklyn and then sit on the pier looking at the Manhattan skyline as the sun sets.

1. I Get Way too Excited About...

Behavioral scientist and author Logan Ury advises that a successful dating profile makes it easy for someone to start a conversation with you. Use this prompt to talk about something you’re passionate about. Restaurant openings, golf, Bluey, painting, opera, rock climbing, cooking, Paris, Marvel...whatever you can’t stop talking about goes right here. Don’t worry about appealing to the masses—the right person, who might also love these things (or just love how much you love them), will come.
What you can say:
Paris in the springtime. I took a gap year there and love going every April to see the cherry blossoms, and one day I’d love to do a tour through Provence to see the lavender, too.
Rock climbing. I’m at the climbing gym at least twice a week and love going bouldering once a month with my club. If you haven’t seen Free Solo, you’re missing out.
Broadway shows. Every year, my dad and I spend a weekend in NYC marathoning every single musical we can get tickets for. I’ve seen Phantom of the Opera five times and yes, I’m crushed that it’s closing.

1. A Pro and Con of Dating Me...

Stay away from the “beige flags” here. Ury has previously explained that beige flags are clichés, and the whole goal here is to stand out. So be honest and own both your pros and cons, all while finding a way to keep it lighthearted. Debbie-downers aren’t good first impressions.
What you can say:
Pro: I’m a great baker, so you’ll always have fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. Con: I’m definitely a planner and being spontaneous can be hard, but I’m working on embracing last-minute adventure.
Pro: I’m on the pulse of the restaurant scene and always have great recs. Con: I can’t stand the MCU. (But I’ll make an occasional concession.)
Pro: I’ll never ask you to TikTok dance with me. Con: I can be slow replying to texts—but I’m working on it!

1. A Non-Negotiable...

This Bumble prompt is important because it can be your deal breaker, however, avoid being super negative. We all have our icks, but as dating coach Lindsay O’Brien has told us, you don’t want to spiral on a list of things you don’t want, because it can imply emotional baggage. (That’s not a bad thing and a lot of us have it—it’s just not something you might want to spill in the “handshake” phase of dating.) Use this prompt to reveal qualities, values and even shared dreams/goals you’d like the person to have.
What you can say:
Great communicator.
You like and are conversational about art, books and travel.
You think living abroad for a few years sounds like an ultimate bucket-list adventure.

1. My Real-Life Superpower Is...

This one can be a lighthearted icebreaker or a lean more serious. Whether it’s a quirky talent or your favorite quality about yourself, share it. Just, as noted above, stay away from the clichés.
What you can say:
Making conversation with strangers and putting them at ease.
Cooking for a crowd.
Somehow always managing to win the Broadway lottery.

1. After Work You Can Find Me...

Here’s another Bumble prompt that can show not just your interests but how you spend your time. If you’re a budding cocktail connoisseur, maybe your future date will find you at the latest trendy opening in the city. If you love art, you might be taking advantage of museums’ free admissions nights before heading home. Tell potential matches how you want to spend your time, so you don’t waste time getting to know people who aren’t interested in those things.
What you can say:
Curled in bed with a book—I live for murder mysteries, Jane Austen and fantasy novels.
At a concert; I’m obsessed with alternative rock and country music.
Baking cookies while watching the latest season of The Bachelorette.

1. I Promise I Won’t Judge You If...

Now is not quite the time to get serious with a heavy hitter, so use this prompt to get silly and show your sense of humor, while potentially revealing your own eccentricities in the process.
You totally trip over nothing on the sidewalk, because I do that at least three times a week.
You haven’t read Pride and Prejudice, as long as you promise to watch the Kiera Knightley version with me.
You have zero sense of direction. Me too.

1. Favorite Quality in a Person...

Here’s a chance to cast a reel for the good traits you're looking for. Again, diving deep is key, so try to avoid things like “nice.” A lot of people and things are nice. Elaborate on what you want to see in a nice person.
What you can say:
The way he/she makes eye contact with the people they speak to, making them feel seen and heard.
Remembering important dates—birthdays, anniversaries—and celebrating them.
Prioritizing others’ needs first, while still having healthy boundaries.

1. I’m a Great Plus One Because...

A lot of your answers to Bumble prompts will be serious. This one is a chance to be less so. Flaunt your funnier side and tell them why taking you to a company party, wedding, family or other social event will be a good time.
What you can say:
I’ll totally stick by you if you’re the wallflower.
I can talk about literally any subject.
My dance moves can’t be beat.

1. A Review from a Friend...

We want to know what other people think, so now’s the time to reel in a friend and have them give you a review. It’s always interesting to see how we are perceived by others, and as your profile is filled with prompts that you’ve answered from your own perspective, calling in a review will give potential matches a look into who you are that highlights qualities you may have glossed over.
What you can ask your friend to talk about:
Your personality traits that they like.
A favorite memory together.
Five reasons they would date you.

1. My Favorite Quality in a Person...

Time to pull out your dream list of a person’s best qualities and...ask for them. (Gasp!) As dating coach Lindsay O’Brien has previously told PureWow, it pays to be clear up front so that the right people can find you. Just make sure to keep it positive, because listing the negatives (ex. Someone who doesn’t [insert quality here]) can suggest relationship baggage. “For example,” she says, “If you don’t want someone who is sarcastic or critical, you can say, ‘A sweet guy makes my heart melt.’”
What you can say:
A sense of humor.
Planner extraordinaire.
Thoughtfulness.

I (24F) have this coworker (mid 20-something F) who I am not particularly fond of. She is a book lover which is fine but personally I always feel like she is talking down to me because of it. The first day I had worked there she introduced herself at my desk and was talking about something she was reading and was asking what I like to read. I told her in a humorous but mostly true way something like "Oh I haven't really read a book since like senior year of high school" She just looked at me almost with pity.
Later on, she would start requesting me books to read but I just declined, and it soon turned condescending. She would say stuff like "I don't know if you've heard of the cat in the hat but it's a really good book!" She would say she was joking but it didn't feel like it.
I've been working there for a few months now and last Friday some of us had gone out together and she was there. I was a few drinks in and she was talking about Moby Dick and I just blurted "I read Moby Dick!" because I had before. She asked when I read it I told her a few years ago I listened to the audio book. She was like "Okay so you didn't readdddd it".
We got into a little bit of an argument over it even though it was all so stupid but she ended up saying to me "No guys are gonna like you if you have to lie to them about things as simple as reading". Ummm what??? What I said to her in return may have not been my kindest words I'll admit but I said something like "Look I know that you really really want to, but you can't fuck a book." She didn't even say a word to me she just left. I felt really bad at first but now I don't think what I said was even that messed up. I have been getting texts about it from some of my coworkers, I still haven't talked to her or seen her, and I have been kind of nervous she would tell our boss. So AITA?

I’m unsure of what I’m really feeling, depression has been a constant in and out for me these past few months, every time it gets better, it eventually gets worse. I’m not really sad, just stuck in this numbed endlessness, trying to live through it day by day. But this pit in my stomach is growing bigger and stronger each day and I’m not too sure how to deal with much anymore apart from ignoring it the best I can and trying not to touch any alcohol, it’s getting harder and I don’t really know what to do about it anymore, I feel like darkness has surrounded me, and I don’t even recognize myself anymore. I feel like I lost a piece of my personality and I’m just this empty soulless corpse doing the same thing every day expecting it to get better, but I don’t even know who I am anymore. Thanks for anybody reading, I wish you the best, I guess I just wrote this to feel heard in some way or another, articulate how I feel somewhere.