Starting off I am currently 22 AMAB. I have never had any ties to my gender as it never really mattered to me, though there was nothing innately male in the things I did, unlike my older brother. A lot of my childhood was failing at mimicking him. Whether that be hating sports or clothing options or whatever. I did tend to get fairly jealous at how my sisters were able to express themselves as they were born but wrote a lot of that as to discomfort and the growing hate I had for myself.
Fast forward, there was a period of time in 2021 when I started questioning my gender due to the ever-present, "I wish I could be more feminine", "I wish my clothing options were as cute, vast, and expressive", "The friendship circles I see my female friends have seemed so much more appealing than the toxicity in all the male groups I see". So I talked to my then girlfriend(ex) about it and she took me out clothes shopping and gave me a no-pressure situation. The euphoria I got from doing my makeup alone at night and not needing to prove or show it to anyone, and the comfort I got from where women's clothing both made me happy, but sad at what I might have to accept. When thinking about social implications, family, my future career...I put up endless walls to say why it was a bad idea to entertain the Idea of being transgendered. I chalked a lot of the feelings up as "I grew up with a lot of other traumas and depression, you aren't trans, you just want to create a form of control in your life".
After the relationship, I gave up on all of that side of me until the past month or two as I don't have a support system that I inherently trust(Not only that but the loss in trust due to what caused our breakup), but I don't know if this is just some fantasy of wanting to change my gender. It never made sense because I didn't hate being male necessarily within its core aspects, I just constantly wondered if I was something else, and had a euphoric experience when I finally tested it out during the time in 2021. The two sides of the coin plus the innate fear of having to deal with any implications from friends and family that hold me back from telling anyone anything, including my therapist.

I'm 38F, and have two best friends who are also friends with each other (36F, 41M). we've been friends and lived together on and off for the past 20 years.
the male of our friend group, let's call him J, has a hard time making friends outside of the two of us. he's had very few other long-term friendships or relationships aside from us. the only other one was a fiance he had from 2015-2020 who passed away in 2020 from cancer. he took it very hard and we became his main friends/support once again following.
he began telling us about 6 months ago that a very young girl (21/F) at his job kept flirting with him and telling other coworkers she was interested in him. he shut it down initially by telling her he would not get involved with coworkers. then he flat out told her she was not his type, and that he was also still not over his grieving. he told us about it all and we all had a laugh. few weeks goes by and we hear nothing more. then he informs us that she let him know she'd be quitting her job there for a better job and that "now they can hang out!" and she invited him to a bar crawl. since I was gonna be out of town that week, he agreed to go. since then, he has hung out with her maybe 4 times that we know of, he doesn't have a whole lot of free time so this is actually a lot for him. but he is also talking to her on text messages nonstop daily. he tells her not only his own personal business but myself & other friend's business as well. he went from saying he was weirded out by this young girl's interest in him and their lack of common ground, to basically trauma dumping on her and putting her on some pedestal when he barely knows her. when he's angry at either of us, he tells us she's a better friend than us. he barely knows her and she barely knows him.
we told him from the beginning and now that we felt it was kinda weird and inappropriate. my now adult kids see him as father figure and this girl is in the age range of girls my kids are dating. he also has stepkids from that last relationship who are this girls age. today we tried to talk to him about how he's been acting toward us since this girl came along. he got defensive and hostile. other people have mentioned the age difference too and how could he possibly be relating this much to someone so young, not just us. we brought it up again and he actually tried to lie and say she was 26. He already told us she was 21 and other friend, B, looked her up and saw on record that she's 21. clearly if he felt the need to try to lie about the age, he also does realize it's a bit odd even though he pretends it's not.
so I guess my question is- what would you think is an appropriate age range for friends of a 41 y/o man? do you think we should leave him alone about it?
also I'd like to add- before I met them both and we became a trio of close friends/roommates, he knew B first already because he dated her when she was 16 and he was 21. back then she was mature for her age and her parents didn't care, but now that we are older- we have pondered if it was odd on his part and how even if you think you're mature at that age, you actually still have a ways to go. he has never really thought it was inappropriate, in fact if it's mentioned he'll do this childish kinda teehee taboo reaction about it.

hello all, if you’ve been following my posts for a while now you know that i’m(F21) in a very much so sexless relationship. Today we had sex today for the first time since May 1st- she(F19) says we had sex but in reality it took me more time to figure out where the hole was than the sex actually lasted (in my defense, i’m NOT a man (we’re lesbians) and i went from keeping my strap in my nightstand to a shelf in our closet to collect dust.) You all may be wondering why the sex barely lasted and well thats because once i finally established a rhythm, she stopped me and ran to the bathroom saying she had to throw up. that made me feel so much more worse about myself than i previously did (due to the constant rejection of sexual advances). that situation also convinced me that i’m really no longer attractive to her and also made me wonder if im even attractive to anyone else… because this girl got sick just from having sex with me. she apologized and i told her it was okay but now that i’m thinking about it, it stings. upon her returning, she also asked if i wanted to continue multiple times but i turned her down. i just felt too disgusted with myself to continue, its like the second we stopped and i pulled it out, i was turned off. how do we fix our relationship? we realize that we need too but how do we start?

The necropolis was gorgeous, for what it was. Its white outer walls hiding the darker Victorian Gothic interior. The tech that was hidden in the walls though was able to move bodies in their caskets from a designated place in the necropolis to the "viewing area" as the necropolians called it. This was where I waited for my, for lack of a better term, escort to take me to the mortuary. Since science has grown surprisingly fast our abilities for forensic sciences have also grown, and that's to whom I was headed. (S)He was an, unusual (wo)man to say the least. An expert in their field and about as learned as a doctor, if not multi-doctorate. If you ever asked them why they never pursued an actual doctorate, they would get angry and act all prissy while saying that going to school would've slowed them down and all they needed were the basic certificates for their work. The reality though, revealed to me during a drunken bout, they just never liked school and believed that it ultimately stunted a person's growth and ability to question the reality around them, that everything that you need to learn is already in books and in some form or another in digital content online. They were brilliant, if a little wacky. About five minutes after I had arrived and was sitting down in the viewing area, a little box rolled up to me making a couple of beeps to let me know to follow it and immediately started rolling towards the wall opposite of where it came from. When it looked like it was about to hit the wall, a hidden door opened up by the casket viewer, inside was a set of stairs leading down into the darkness. Stepping through the doorway I became acutely aware of sounds seemingly coming from all around me suddenly. It really is impressive, as though I just stepped from a tomb to a busy workshop, the sounds of gas escaping pistons, whirring, and clanking chains flooded my ears. I continued down the stairs following my helpful little box, which despite its size and shape would suggest was actually quite nimble on the stairs. It seemed to have wheels that would extend down to the next step as the edge rolled over it and once the back of the box was clear of the step it would drop back into its squat position, hiding its wheels as quickly as possible. It continued to do so the entire way. The box seemed to notice me watching it and made a kinda shrill whistle and its undercarriage light went from a comfortable yellow to a, is that... Peach? Is it blushing? My god I think it is! I let out a small chuckle and my little blushing box stopped dead in its tracks mid-step, its light suddenly going white, almost blinding me from behind and lighting up the hallway for a split second. Luckily both of my feet were solidly on a step so I didn't take a tumble or anything, but I couldn't help doing anything but laughing harder. After a second the little box crept up behind me and continued down, its status light continuing to show pinkish. I followed it slowly, the chuckle slowly dying in my throat as we reached Ceriths office. Well "office" was being nice. Morgue, mortuary, both of these fit just as well. Cerith was, for the most part, a recluse. We reached the door and the little robot continued through a little hole in the wall. I waited a second and knocked. "Enter!" Came the voice on the other side. I opened the door and stepped through. Along one wall set doors that normally housed the dead waiting to be processed. One out of dozens were open, its occupant missing from its silver slab. The middle of the room was brightly lit from a single overhead light. In the middle of the circle of light stood a figure, long Raven colored hair bound in a single braided ponytail, the rest of them bound in medical examination garb. They seemed to be engrossed in the corpse in front of them. The little robot rolled up next to Ceriths feet and made a little chiming noise. "Thank you Tabitha. That'll be all," said a voice that was neither male nor female from beneath the mask. Just sort of in the middle. "Tabitha? Never knew you to be sentimental," I said gently, the chuckle in my voice making itself clear. "I see you still find even the darkest things funny," Cerith quipped back. "My line of work Cer, you take the laughs where you get them. Look who's talking anyway, you're usually elbows deep inside someone 25/8. Even you have a seriously fucked up sense of humor." That got Cerith laughing, sounding like thunder and the whip crack of lightning at the same time. "You've got me there Julius," Cerith said after his laughter subsided. I think he suits him today. Which is both a good and bad sign. When Cerith is acting like a man, it usually means some grim news, but they are going to try to make it seem like not a big deal and laugh a lot. Plus they almost never call me Julius. Something was wrong. Very seriously wrong. As this realization hit me I got this odd tingle in the small of my back. Like someone had put several freezing needles under the skin and into my spine, something I'm familiar with from the anima-games from the cyber sphere. Halos: Divine Retribution If I remember right. Those Angels were sadistic bastards. I shuddered at both the memories from the game and the shockingly similar feeling I was experiencing. Dread, that feeling is dread my friend, the quiet part of my mind whispered to me. "Cer, what's wrong bud," I asked. He didn't say anything. For a long time. After a few minutes I was about to ask again, but then he spoke. And what came out will haunt me, quite possibly till the day I die . "This ones temporal lobes are gray matter. Nothing even close to being coherent. Just. Dead neurons. And he's not the first." Gone was the jovialness of the past ten minutes. This was Cerith the whisperer. In an almost dead tone they continued, "the others didn't fare nearly as well as this one. Most of the brain is intact here, which means that if they didn't deliver a massive shock or something similar to fully kill him he would have possibly lived as a vegetable with memory issues, but that's not what I'm looking for in this one here now. Now I'm trying to figure out what else the others had in common with him, and so far that's brought up all but naught. Well this one has a bit of liver damage. But that's about it. So Mr John was a drinker. Not much there." When Cerith is "whispering" the best thing to do is just let him be. But I couldn't help but prick my ears up at mentions of others with similar wounds, and the fact that this one had liver issues.... "Cer. You said... CERITH," I finally snapped out and caught his attention mid ramble. "Thank you. You said liver problems. But nothing similar to the others? No drugs? Alcohol? Not even a synth brain-pattern? You checked Everything?" "Well let's see, John here was a drinker that's for sure," Cerith said his hands never ceasing their work as he started to put 'John' back together seemingly satisfied that he found nothing else, " Mr Lombardo in chest 3 had cocaine mostly, and Mr Lei in chest 9 had opium. Although to tell you where it came from for both I'd have to do a molecular analysis and see what it compares to. Other than that, no. Absolutely nothing connecting any of them. As far as I can tell they are all unique cases completely separate from each other except for the damages to the brain. And I only found this by accident. During a routine scan I happened to look at the screen as it passed through the brain and noticed an odd density in his temporal lobes. Just slightly higher than normal. Hell to be honest with you it had the density of a fresh cutie, you know those little oranges?" I nodded, and he continued, "Right of course you do, who hasn't? Anyways it's just super dense compared to the surrounding tissues, and I take a sliver probe and drop it in like you do. And when I turn the damn thing on to look at the neurons the area all I see are dead cells packed on top of one another. Not natural decay death, but forced to die. Most of the cell walls were torn open like they had blown up from the INSIDE. That's when I called you." He finished up with 'John' putting the final few perfect stitches in place and sealing him up for good. Once he seemed happy with his work he called out to his seemingly empty morgue, "Grom I'm done! Can you put Mr John Doe here back in his room? Number 11 if you please." He turned away from the body on the table and removed the giant rubber gloves that went to his elbows. He walked into the dark calling out over his shoulder, "I'll be back in a sec I gotta scrub out, want a drink? I have beer, whiskey, vodka, I might have some Cognac somewhere, and bourbon. Your choice, just call out what you want and Tabitha will be there with it. Also have a seat! We have much to discuss." With that he disappeared from both sight and sound in the dark. It was a neat trick I have to admit, and it had something to do with how he had his morgue set up. Even the giant war machine that was Grom was absolutely quiet unless you managed to catch him through the gloom. I thought for the longest time the reason why I could never catch him sneaking around was from some sort of stealth program put into place, but when he goes up and down those stairs he's as loud as can be. So it was definitely not his program but the way the morgue was built. I'm confident in saying that because when I turned back to look at the table, or rather where it was, there was now a chair that looked like it had just grown out of the floor and the body was gone. Also the thought of something as big as a fridge just sneaking up on some poor combatants and snapping their necks as quietly as he walks in the morgue just gives me the heebies. As I sat in the chair a thought occurred to me. Considering how advanced the morgue seemed to be it would make sense that it had some sort of AI or integrated computer. "Computer?" I had been here a million times but I'd never had a chance to think about it nor try anything. But not even a second after I had said anything a response came. "Yes Detective Julius. My name is DANNA. Or Dynamically Actualized Neural Net AI. How can I be of service?" The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, slightly feminine and breathy, all service but no sex. Honestly I was just surprised that it worked. "DANNA, I was just wondering if I could take a look at the files that Cerith had mentioned? If it is as bad as they claim I think I might need to know anyway. Also if you can get those blood works done for me I'd appreciate it. Also something with whiskey or rum would be amazing." "Of course Detective. I will have Tabitha bring it shortly. And how would you like the information to be displayed? Desktop or dynamic?" That piqued my interest. "Dynamic please." No sooner than I had said a series of screens blinked into existence in front of me. It was some sort of Holographic display. I reached out and touched the display and was surprised that I got stopped by something. It was hard but surprisingly I found that I could push into the screen with my finger if I pushed hard enough. It kinda felt like... Oobleck. I also found that by pinching the corner I could pull the screens closer or further from me. I even found that I could grab individual pages of the reports off the screen and hold it. It felt like a thin sheet of plastic and responded like both a tablet and a singular document. If I switched pages the old one would appear back onto the screen and the next would pop onto it. This was about as slick a set up as I had ever seen and whistled my appreciation under my breath, I'm definitely going to have to ask Cerith about where they got DANNA from. "See something you like, big boy?" A very DEFINITELY female voice said in my ear from behind, soft and throaty, screaming come hither. I felt small dainty hands gently caress the tops of my shoulders before slipping down the front of my chest, pulling me back into the chair that I didn't realize I had been slouching in. "You know better than that, Jules. Your back is important and slouching will destroy the muscles and cause some to atrophy." The voice left no room for argument, and left me more than a little bit flushed. I closed my eyes and dropped my head back as far as it would go, the back of my head hitting something soft and warm, stretching my neck and back out. "Damnit Cer I thought you were scrubbing out, not completely changing." I hadn't realized it, but at least an hour had passed from when I started playing with the computer and working with the files if the clock on the computer was to be believed. "You looked like you were pretty into it so I decided not to disturb you. Plus you know how much fun it is for me to tease you like this. Especially after, well these..." One hand waved at the screens in front of me. The small hands' nails were painted the darkest black and almost made them blend into the void that existed outside of the screens. "I do Cer, and that's part of the problem, we both know that it's never going to happen. Least of all for you." She laughed a little, a clear beautiful sound and the body beneath my head bounced slightly telling me I was against her stomach. "Still I know you enjoy these little moments," she said, the pressure on the back of my head disappearing and was replaced by the voice right by my ear again as she whispered, "especially when we both know that's not at all true." At the last words she nibbled my ear gently. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her, in spite of my baser instinct rising to meet her VERY juicy insinuations. But for as long as I've known Cerith and as many times as we have both been VERY drunk, they have NEVER cashed in. I just assumed that it was a quirk of theirs. "Anyways," she said standing back up, "what are you thinking so far about the files? Spooky, right? Like I said, nothing that I can see connects them." Her hands gestured in front of me in an approximation of a shrug. She then clasped them together, wringing the knuckles and effectively trapping me in the chair and back against her abdomen. I scrubbed my eyes with my fingertips acutely aware of the growing headache that suddenly made itself known. "Your right from the medical side. I can't see everything you can, of course. I don't have near the knowledge that you have," which is true being that Cerith is at least 200 years old. I never asked directly, the old adage still holding about women and their age. Still though her answers to certain questions would lead one to believe her being her first adult car was a Bing Cherry 2201 Firebird GT with white walled hover trim and chrome accents. From pictures that I could find it looked like a slick piece. Looking back to the screens I couldn't help but feel that itch again. I couldn't explain it. That prickly feeling of ice needles again, this time in the back of my skull. As much as I'd hate to admit it. I think Cerith is right. I sighed heavily before saying "send me everything. I'll open a new case file and have the team start working on it first thing." She made a happy noise and bounced slightly, clearly satisfied with my decision to take it on. I reached out and to my left and a glass was placed gently into my hand by Tabitha. I hadn't even realized she had come over while I was working and was now ready for that drink. Room temperature rum and cola. The drink went down smoothly enough considering I drained the glass in one gulp, during which time I finally got a good eyeful of Ceriths current form. Or rather the underside of part of it. From what I could tell she was wearing a black T-shirt. That was it. I put the glass back down, it's job done without moving my head and said, "What a lovely view Cerith. I'm guessing you chose this to try to get a rise out of me?" I couldn't lie though it was affecting me, but I couldn't let her know that. Not when she's like this. Otherwise she'll continue to tease me till she leaves me with the absolute worst case of blue balls this side of the City. Her hands came up and cupped my chin almost lovingly, and her voice said "Of course Detective. Do you not approve? Or would you rather I change back to my medical examination form? Or something else?" Her words dripped with implied sex. I groaned, loudly, and said, "This is fine. Jesus Cer." Before we could continue our most scintillating of conversations there was a sudden PING! And DANNA said, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's a message for you Cerith. It says 'If you can get to the department Cerith, do so. We need you to explain your paperwork. And if Detective Julius is still with you have him come in too.' signed the Chief. Would you like to reply?" 'shit, I forgot the morgue kills all signals,' I thought to myself as I stood up gently (regretfully) prying myself from Ceriths grasp with a, "duty calls. Need a lift?" I stretched gently, the scales in between my shoulders clicking appreciatively for the stretch, and turned around to notice she was indeed, just wearing a black T-shirt that hugged her voluptuous figure closely. The scales in my back clicked shut in surprise. Cerith let out a small cute chuckle, "I see after all this time I can still surprise you," she said blowing a kiss my way, reminding me of a little Gothic pixy. I rolled my eyes away from her and willed my scales to relax. I grabbed my jacket off the back of the chair, slinging it on and clicking the neck clasp shut under the cord that connected my scales to the unit in my head. I was awarded the cybernetics upon completing my training and getting all my licenses to have them. The force had allowed me to customize it, I had chosen top of the line. A dual unit with custom built AI. The individual scales were ceracoated titanium microprocessors all running in both series and parallel, and could move to expel heat or react. The main unit was the same except it was one solid unit that replaced a chunk of skull. Once that was done I zipped up the front of the leathers and ran the scales through the racer setting. They clicked and flattened against the outside of the jacket, securing it to my back. I shrugged making sure it was comfortable. "I'll take the fact that you're only in a t-shirt you'll be along shortly?" "Certainly detective." Her voice was filled with dismissive submission... And sadness? I looked back at her and noticed her makeup was gone. Or had she had any on in the first place? I gave myself a mental shake. There's no way. This was Cerith, veritable goddess of the necropolis. I put the last few minutes away for review later. Chief called. I have to go. On an instinct I thought long dead, I reached out and squeezed her hand. I felt a slight squeeze back. And then she let go with a, "Go on, be a good detective. I'll be along shortly." I left with Tabitha as my guide. Before Cerith disappeared into the darkness I thought I heard her whisper, "please don't leave." My scales raised in a saddened response. I couldn't be sure I heard her right though. If I heard her at all. I reached back and stroked them, knowing my ai probably heard her, and knowing it could feel me touch the scales. After a few seconds the scales settled down. 'I know buddy,' I thought to the AI. It couldn't respond like usual AI. The force thought that was too dangerous. What if it went rogue? What if it tried to kill the host and take over? The list went on and eventually they decided the basics were ok. When I got my unit one of the first things I did was jack it into a diagnostic to see what kind of hardware I was dealing with exactly because manufacturer specs from real use are sometimes different with AI if the bits and bobs are in place. When I did, all I got on the screen was 'Hello?'

Kimchi: Hey, you there. Yeah, you reading this. If you want to know about boring human stuff, go here An Introduction To The Book That Is Me : ASMRScriptHaven (reddit.com) . If you want to know about more fun cat stuff... and... I guess... other fun human kinds of stuff... even though humans aren't nearly as fun as cats, go here Masterlist for edgiscript : ASMRScriptHaven (reddit.com)
Edgiscript: Kimchi.
Kimchi: What? This is what you said to do.
Edgiscript: Not like that. Now they're going to think this is actually part of the script.
Kimchi: Whaaaaaaat? No. Humans can't be that dumb, can they?
Edgiscript: They're not dumb. But your format is all wrong.
Kimchi: Pfft. Whatever. It gets the job done and it's more fun that your boring-ass method.
Edgiscript: Hey!!!
Kimchi: Well, it is. You can't blame me for that.
Edgiscript: Look, you... all right, fine. The intros are usually pretty boring. So then, just get everybody to the script.
Kimchi: Ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is really cool, because it stars me and my cute, little, adorable hubby. It starts out all spooky like because he doesn't know what's going on, but come on, nobody could be scared of me for too long, now could they? I mean, look at these cute little ears and tail.
Edgiscript: Kimchi, it's a script. They can't see you.
Kimchi: Maybe you can't. Anyway, the really, really, really, super-cool thing about this series is that each piece was written to work completely on its own. Well, maybe you need the 1st one to set things up. But then it doesn't matter. You can do any pieces you want after that in any order you want. And you don't even have to mark them as being a part 2 or part 3 or anything like that. You can just treat them as one-offs and see if your listeners make the connection. Each chapter is its own self-contained story. Some require multiple voices, but each one is its own thing.
Edgiscript: So, if you think series don't do that well, you can do any of these chapters without treating them as a series.
Kimchi: Duh. That's what I just said.
Edgiscript: I know, but... (shuffling his feet in the ground.) I just wanted to be a part of what you were doing.
Kimchi: Awww, edgi, you're so cute. Come here and sit beside me.
Edgiscript: But, I....
Kimchi: I SAID SIT DOWN!
Edgiscript: Yes, ma'am.
Kimchi: And now, on to part 1. Enjoy.
-------------------------------------------------------------
(And now, the Real Script.)
Title: Play Time

Part 1

(Slow footsteps. Sounds of night time.)
Kimchi: (From nearby. Spooky and mysterious. Singsong voice calling out.) Where aaaaaare you, human? Come oooooouuuut.
(Still spooky and haunting, but no longer singsong.) I know you’re here. I can smell you. I’ve been hunting you for a while now. Did you know that? Did you know I’ve been stalking you for weeks?
I’ve never had the opportunity to catch you until now. You’ve never been alone before. Is that because you knew I was watching? I wonder.
But this time you chose to wander through the woods back to your house. Is that because somebody slashed your tires? I wonder who could have done that? (Giggles creepily.) Maybe someone that wanted you out here all alone so she could have you all to herself. And now you’re aaaaaaaaaalllllll mine.
(Singsong.) So come on ooooooooooooouuuuut.
(Footsteps pick up the pace a little.)
You’re walking faster now. I can hear you. I see you like to play. Good, that makes this more fun. It’s so satisfying to catch prey that’s actually trying. When your prey knows there’s no chance and gives up, it takes away all of the thrill of the hunt, and I looooooove the hunt.
Your smell is so intoxicating. I’m going to love sinking my teeth into your neck.
I was hoping you wouldn’t bother calling for an Uber. After all, your apartment was so close, and you’ve walked these woods so many times during the day. You know every branch, every rock. Don’t you? You felt so safe walking this way. In fact, you even avoided possibly running into some very bad people in town by going this way.
I wonder if you thought they might have slashed your tires and were fooling them by taking this route. Bet you didn’t know that something else haunted these woods. But now you do. And now you’re beginning to realize that you can’t get away from me.
(Footsteps begin running.)
Ah hah. Now you’re finally running. Yes! Gooooood. That gets me so excited. The chase is on.
You know you’re fast. You run regularly. You work out. You’re healthy and strong. You believe you can make it. Go on, little prey. You can do it.
(Giggles creepily.) The thing that’s chasing you can’t be faster than you, can it? It’s not racing towards you right now drawn by your breathtaking aroma and your delightful sound, and now…
...your beautiful sight. Yes. There you are. You can’t see me, but I can see you.
Now, the real fun begins. Should I just take you, or let the chase go on? I want you so badly, but I also love the chase, and I never get to chase anything anymore. Nothing comes through here at night. I think they’re afraid of me. Nobody wants to play.
But you do. You came into my woods because you love to play, don’t you? Admit it. The chase thrills you too. Your blood is pumping. Your heart is racing. You feel so alive.
But not for very much longer now. No, not very long now. You know the end is near. Your home is so close, isn’t it? You have only a little further to go and you’ll be out of the woods and close enough to other people that I won’t be able to catch you. There’s hope. Hope you’ll make it. So, I guess this game is finally over. You’re MINE!!!
(Sounds of a tackle.)
Hello, little human. You’ve made for such an exhilarating prey. I loved this game very much and I want to thank you for your part.
(Pause.)
Yes, I said, “human.” You see what I am now. You see my teeth. You see my ears. I’m a cat-girl. Or rather, I am the hunter and you are my prey. But now the chase is over and you’re mine. Any last words before I finally… heh heh, finalize our… courtship?
(From now on Kimchi is sweet and endearing, not creepy and menacing.)
(Confused.) Whoa, whoa, whoaaaaaaaa!. Human, what are you doing? When I asked if you had any last words, I didn’t think you’d scream for help. What’s that all about?
(Pause.)
WHAT!?! Eat you? Of course I’m not going to eat you. Why would I eat you?
(Pause.)
Yes, I said I was going to sink my teeth into your neck, but not like that. Humans taste… well, I don’t know what humans taste like, because I’ve never eaten a human. But I’m sure they taste disgusting. Blech.
Do human girls eat their men when they catch them? I suppose that would explain why the number of marriages is dropping.
(Pause.)
Yes, marriages. That’s what I said.
(Pause.)
What do you mean, what’s that got to do with this? That’s got everything to do with this. I’m marrying you.
(Pause.)
No, I’m not proposing marriage.
(Speaking slowly as if the listener is stupid.) I’m ma-rry-ing you.
(Normal.) Right now. That’s what cat-girls do. We find ourselves a hubby, (Smiling.) that’s you, (Normal.) we catch them, and we make them ours. I’ve caught you. You’re mine. That’s how it works.
(Pause.)
Of course you have a say in this. That’s why I asked you if you had any last words. Isn’t that what the humans do? As the ceremony is wrapping up, they like to say, “I do.” Right? I was letting you say, “I do.”
(Pause.)
What do you mean I made it sound like I was going to kill you? Who says, “Any last words” before killing somebody?
Oh, come to think of it, you may have a point. I didn’t think of it that way.
(Pause.)
And I also said, “The end is near.” I meant the end of the chase, not your life.
Sorry about that, but whatever. It’s irrelevant because I’ve caught you and you’re mine. All I have left to do is attach this collar and tie you up and then I bring you back to my place for all of the love and affection I can provide.
(Giggles.) There’s your collar attached. Now, the humans will see that you’re mine. I still have to mark you with my scent when we get home so other cat-girls will know to keep their grubby little hands or paws off of you. That’s where biting your neck comes in.
(Pause.)
Yeah, I’ve got human looking hands. Some cat-girls have paws. It’s kind of like how some humans have black hair and some are blonde or red. It just happens that way.
Now, do you mind putting your hands together for me? That would make it easier on me to tie you up.
Thank you. Keep them like that.
(Pause.)
Am I worried somebody will stop me? You can’t be serious. Why would I be worried about that?
Wait. You don’t already have a mate, do you? I was certain you didn’t. I told you I’ve been stalking you for weeks now.
(Sniffs all over him.) And I don’t detect any scent of girl on you.
(Sweetly.) I just smell cuteness. (Giggles.) And Cheetos.
Ok, I’m done with your hands. Now turn around please so I can wrap this around you and finish these knots.
(Pause.)
What? You meant I might be doing something illegal? Of course I’m not. This was voted in by you humans several years ago. By a wide margin, I might add.
Cat people just decide on who they want and they take them. According to your human laws, I only can’t take you if another girl has made you hers. Those are your rules, not mine. Personally, I might fight a girl for you if I thought she wasn’t good enough for you.
We used to chase only other cat people, but you humans are the ones that said it was ok if we included you as potential mates. And I’m so glad they did, because you are the cutest, most adorable little man I have ever seen, and I’ve just made you mine.
There, I’ve got your legs all tied too.
(Pause.)
Yes, yes, I know I keep calling you “little” and I’m actually smaller than you, but it was supposed to be affectionate. A term of endearment. You’re my cute little baby. See? Like that.
But us cat people are so much stronger than you humans and so much more athletic. I can pick you up easily like this without a struggle. And now I can carry you back to my place. It’s not far. See, it’s right over there.
(Pause.)
Right. It’s that pile of leaves. It’s very cozy. I gathered all of the leaves myself.
Let me just put you down so I can finally shower my new little hubby with all of my love and affection. Let me start right back here on your neck.
(Kisses and nibbles.)
Yes, I told you I have to mark you so the other cat-girls will know to keep away from you. I’ve got to kiss you and nibble you back here too in order to really get my scent on you.
(Pause.)
Yes, now you get it. That’s what I meant earlier when I said I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into your neck.
(Pause.)
Yes, I thought you’d like that.
(Pause.)
I didn’t know you thought I was going to eat you. I thought all humans knew about cat people mating rituals. No wonder you screamed when I caught you.
I’m sorry, hubby. Can you forgive me for scaring you?
(Pause.)
Oh, that’s right. I haven’t told you who I am yet. Sorry. I was just so excited with the hunt and finally catching you that I forgot.
My name is Kimchi.
(Pause.)
Yes, I know what it means. A nice, old Korean lady gave me the name after she took me in when I was very small. She was wonderful to me. I called her mom. She fed me and gave me a nice place to sleep.
(Pause.)
Yes, I liked staying at her place. She was a magic lady.
(Pause.)
Uh huh, there are too magic ladies. Did you know that she could make it rain inside her house with warm water. Can you believe it?
(Pause.)
Yes, a shower. That’s what she called it.
(Pause.)
What? You have one too? Are you magic too?
(Pause.)
What do mean, that’s common among humans? Really? You say you have a shower at your apartment? And a stove where we can heat our food? And a bed like the one I used to sleep in at mom’s house? That sounds wonderful.
I’m so sorry. All I have are these leaves. But at least I have a beautiful night sky to sleep under. It’s very romantic, don’t you think?
(Pause.)
Wait, you’re saying we could live in your apartment? You’d really let me stay there?
(Pause.)
Well, yeah, you’re my hubby and I’m your wife. Awwww, I love hearing you say that. Say it again.
(Pause, then squeals with glee.)
Ok, I’ll carry you to your apartment.
(Pause.)
Of course I have to carry you. How else will you get there all tied up?
(Pause.)
Oh, no. I couldn’t untie you. You might get away from me.
(Pause.)
What do you mean, “Exactly.”
(Sad.) You want to get away from me?
(Pause.)
(Understanding.) Oh, you think I sounded sorry that the hunt was over so soon. You’d like to let me do it again.
(Suddenly very excited.) Wait, WHAT!?! You’d… you’d let me hunt you again? Really, really, really, really, really? I get to chase you and catch you all over?
(Concerned.) But wait. You were scared the first time. Why do you want me to chase you again.
(Pause.)
Well, yeah, you probably would enjoy it more if you knew ahead of time that I wasn’t going to eat you.
(Pause.)
(Excited again.) And you say you’re really good at hide-and-seek? Oh, ho, ho, hoooooo. Challenge accepted.
(Flustered from her excitement.) Now… I just need to undo… these knots… and… Oh, screw it. I’ll just bite the ropes apart. There. They’re off.
(Realizing.) Oh, wait. I just cut my ropes. Now I’ll have no ropes to tie you up.
(Pause.)
That’s ok? When I catch you, you’ll just come with me. And you’ll never take off your collar so everybody else knows what’s going on because I am your wife, after all?
(Squeals.) I love it, I love it, I love it. I knew you were beautiful, but I didn’t know you’d love to be chased.
Ok, are you ready? Then, ready, set… no, wait, wait, wait.
(Kisses. Giggles.) Ok, now you’re ready.
(Pause.) No, I’m not cheating by marking you up with my scent. I’m just so excited.
I’ll give you a five minute head start to make it fair. And when I catch you, we’ll go to your apartment and have showers, and hot food, and a bed.
(Pause.)
(Ecstatic.) And you also have more string to play with? GO! Go, go, go, go, GO! Hurry! Run! Now! The quicker you run, the quicker I can catch you and we can go back to your place. Now run.
(Pause.)
Oh, I caught the best mate in the world. I’m going to love him sooooooo so much.
(Pause.)
Has it been five minutes? I don’t know. I never figured out how to tell time. It’s been long enough. Oooooooh, look out, hubby. Here I come.
Part 2 coming soon.

TLDR: had a conversation with an ex stripper and then had some thoughts about where legal lines exist.
So I am going to keep this short or as short as I can
I went to a local strip club in an undisclosed city/state, not Vegas, and made a post about the experience detailing the dancers, the atmosphere, and the cost for entry and food. I DID NOT pay for, ask, or accept extras, nor did I get a private dance.
$20 for 3 1/2 minutes is a tough sell
Anyway, a few days later I get a message from a girl who used to work at the club and we began to talk a bit more.
One thing lead to another and she had suggested she do a private dance for me at the cost of what a private box at that club would cost. She also suggested that if things go well she’d like to work her neck muscles and be on her knees. Directly she did not say what she meant, but any idiot could figure it out.
She also offered to do a show with toys and orgasm for me.
During this conversation she sent me a photo of herself semi nude and one of her butt. Yes she was of legal age, 27.
I said I’d be willing to entertain the dance, but want to avoid the legal issues that come with the things she was hinting at.
We discuss when I would be back in the area next, but she slowly started to move away from the dance idea and then I suggested we just go to dinner, talk, and just enjoy a good conversation without expectation of anything afterwards.
She agreed and we ended the conversation that until the next day.
The next day we talked some more and then she back tracked on the whole dinner idea and said she wouldn’t be able to control herself and lets her genitalia do the thinking in most cases.
She went to further suggest I just go back to the club and get the private room for an hour and ask for what’s on the menu. Then ghosted
For added context I did look at her profile which was 2 years old, posts about BDSM with some shots of her vagina out for all to see, and a lot of commentary about her days of stripping and experiences with customers.
I don’t believe this would be the behavior of a UC Cop and I’d expect them to be a bit more pushy to get someone to break the law, correct? But my thought here and question here is was her idea for using toys legal or not and had I hired her to privately strip for me where does that legally cross a line?
I see venues and businesses that hire out women for private strip shows, so that is legal correct?
Navigating all of this gets confusing and hard to determine what constitutes as what. I’ve done some research, but detailed information is not as present as the lawyer search hits are.

I only just discovered that this was a thing so it's nice to see i'm not the only one.
I worked a remote job for many years and after long relationship ended i got curious and did a lot of travel and it was shocking the difference between the dynamic between the women in my home country of Australia and those abroad. Since then have exclusively dated women from abroad both while traveling for extended periods and at home. I am seeking a long term partner and have had a couple of great relationships that didn't pan out amongst other shorter but just as rewarding encounters.
I came back to Aus as the pandemic was kicking off and I don't know if this is frowned upon and not in the spirit of ppb but Australia has a huge migrant population and also a vast amount of people study here from abroad. I have met a lot of wonderful women from other places here who I felt were genuine and not visa hunting. A lot of them were also high achievers and intelligent but had excellent grounding / moral compass from their upbringings and were of course well traveled.
I still like to take extended trips but have found meeting foreign women at home just as rewarding for those who maybe have jobs that don't allow or other constraints. I like that they are here on their own merit too so i don't feel any obligation as far as their living arrangements if it gets serious.
I just wanted to mention the two recent experiences I have had this year. One was a Filipina and I also tried dating an Australian girl for first time in years...
So this filipina was cute as a button, highly educated completing a masters here and also working. Her attitude was so different to western girls and she always wanted to take care of me bringing food, affection and also sexually she did her best to ensure i was taken care of. The way she was made me want to step up to try my best to ensure she had everything she needed and treat her right with lots of love and care. It's all the small things I tell you! people think PPB just want a maid or to have some sort of power over their partner but I just loved how it was so reciprocal.
Then i should mentioned this Australian girl. Playing games with me from day one, saying things just to try and get reactions out of me, almost begging to be constantly complimented which was a turn on in itself. Her texts were also super passive aggressive and if i didn't play the game she'd mention oh some guy at work was flirting with me etc like i would be outraged. She was a perfectly lovely person to hang with but i got this feeling like it was a one way street. She wanted to be worshipped but she was so uncaring and cold why would i? She also seemed to think every guy she met or knew was madly in love with her but she was a pretty average person. I just thought her attitude stunk. really hot and cold.
I don't even know why i'm posting but there are so many great girls out there who aren't the spoilt brats we have here in Australia. Im not surprised when i see such i high number of interracial / international couples here in Melbourne. It makes me laugh because i have a lot of female friends and they are always the ones that comment on it when we are out with snide remarks. We are friends so obviously I think they are awesome company, funny and cool but they have the same attitude and wonder why they are single in their late 30's / early 40's now desperately trying to hunt down a man to shack up with or have kids.
I believe in equality for men and women 100% but i also think we are different creatures and theres nothing wrong with that. Being vilified by western women for being a straight white dude blows.
Finally I would say my favourite destinations have been in Asia by far due to the cost, food, proximity to Aus and wonderful people of both genders. Vietnam, Japan and Thailand are honourable mentions. Although with Thailand I stay clear of BKK or Resort towns.
My first post but i look forward to following the sub. I'm at the stage where i really hope to lock someone special I can marry and build something with so i like seeing so many genuine posts also.
Excuse the poorly written post i just typed my random thoughts on the matter. If i've made any blunders that aren't allowed here i'm sorry in advance!

I feel so stuck on what to do. I met my friend in college back in 2019. When I met her we became friends instantly. But with that I learned about her horrible childhood trauma. Her parents came to the U.S. illegally and they are still here without status and how her uncle r*ped her until she as the age of 17. As her friend my heart was so broken for her and I knew life isn’t easy on her.
Both her and I changed a lot since college as one does. I met my fiancé and she has a boyfriend. Her and the boyfriend are a match made in hell. The stuff she tells me makes me really not like this guy. She would tell me how they always argue, she claimed he cheated numerous of times, how he is forcing her not to take birth control and they have unsafe intimacy, when they argue he always screams at her to “shut the f*ck up”. The guy seems like a complete loser. Even with all their issues she always looks past it or just forgives him. There are many times that I would plead for her to break up with him and it just never happen. Then she would say something like “you know I’m just learning from this all”.
She has also spent $2,500 on his birthday and Christmas gifts. She always just buys him stuff. Whenever we’re out she ends up buying him expensive clothes or food. I do buy clothes for my fiancé if I find something affordable that I know he’ll like. But most of this girls paycheck goes to buying her boyfriend stuff. She is in constant financial hardships because of it. She even sends DoorDash over to his job every time it comes time for lunch.
With all of the horrible stuff she has told me. She asked me if he can come to my wedding. I’m only having 50-60 people it’s going to be very cute and intimate. Plus the times I’ve tried to meet him it never happens. My friend would always say she wants to double date just for her to back out when I try to make it happen. The one time I almost met him she was dropping off food for him. She insisted on parking a block away from his house and keeping me in the car. I told her it seems weird to park a block away from the house and she decided to move the car closer. But she made me stay in the car and it was very awkward to say the least. So I don’t know how I can invite someone to my wedding that I’m not allowed to meet.
I also feel like she’s so self observed. I was going through a rough patch. My fiancé and I had to do long distance for a bit due to having to apply for a K1 fiancé visa. It was really hard on me not being with him and I went to such a dark place. Luckily I’m doing better now and we got approved! So my fiancé comes back in late August. I tried telling my friend how hard it’s been on me but somehow the conversation always goes back to her and her life.
I don’t know what else to do. I feel like my friend is just going down a dark hole. I tried suggesting therapy to her and she told me “it’s white people shit” so she wants no part in it. I feel so frustrated and upset with myself that I can’t help her. But I don’t know what else to do. I get so disgusted whenever she mentions the boyfriend and the relationship. Even if they are doing well (she reminds me constantly how well they are doing) I can’t be happy for her because of how horrible this man is. I don’t know what else to do to help her and I just feel myself growing apart from her. I miss the friend I had back in 2019 and I don’t know how else to get her back.

So I (24M) relaunched my hinge a few weeks ago with moderate success. Getting some matches with some cute girls I'm actually interested in meeting up with. The convo goes well on the apps, I ask if they want to go out, they usually say yes and I give them my number. They message me, we coordinate a plan to meet up and leave it at that. When I text them the day before to confirm or even when it's an hour before to triple check, I've gotten bailed on for whatever reason. One was "sick" one just said "I'm not really feeling like going, can we go another night" despite me saying I have a very busy schedule and set aside time to take her out. I usually take this as non interest and express that I'm a busy guy and won't be able to for a bit, which is true. I kind of put the ball in their court to see if they're actually interested in going out with me, and they usually don't show much interest so I just move on.
Do I need to be texting them more, flirting between the planning of the date and the actual date? I don't want to get to know them over text, I feel like the point of a first date is to figure out if we vibe and go from there. And I feel like the apps are to get a date planned so we can meet up. Wtf am I doing wrong? It's extremely frustrating to have nothing working out 5 girls in a row. I'm not even terribly upset about the girls themselves but fuck, can a guy just get a fucking date?? What the fuck.

I'm 20 years old and my girlfriend is 19 years old we just went to a Hyundai dealership 1 week ago to look at a 2024 Elantra N. This is one of her dream cars a car I've been hearing about for over a year. And a car we both had our eye's on so we wanted to test drive it. The Salesman was practically chattering his teeth along with higher staff I assume because it was taking a while to get in the car. But after running my girlfriends credit and filling out a form of information they let's go on a test drive down the street and back. The Sales Manager comes into the dealer behind us ultimately trying to negotiate a sale without even introducing himself as a Sale Manager. I had to read this title on his name tag. This Sales Manager made my girlfriend extremely uncomfortable by saying comeback with "daddy so he can help you get this car." This Sales Manager went on saying this about 10 times repetitively leading with "daddy" in different phrases. Some examples that he said are "talk to daddy when you get home so you can get this" , "beg daddy for the car and he will help his girl", "daddy loves his girl and will spoil you". "I'll talk number with daddy bring him in here." "Give daddy a big hug when you see him" I was about to blow steam out my ears. This guy was a full on weirdo let me tell you. The Sales Manager also goes on to demonstrate how she should persuade her dad into getting her this car by giving a salesman a long hug infront of us.

 The Salesman In a uneasy kind of tone also asked the Sales Manager why is he hugging him. The Sales Manager goes on saying "well I didn't want to hug her in front of him" as in ( Me her boyfriend) and the result of that would of lead this guy to a very bad day. This Sales Manager is in his mid to late 50s I assume. A real oddball kind of guy we both had a serious bad feeling about him. The Sales Manager finally disappeares after this with a last comment saying "comeback with daddy so we can talk some numbers." Speaking to my girlfriend as he walks away. We then were lead to a desk with a salesman to get a ballpark number on the Elantra N and the car was marked up 3k over msrp + taxes as a market adjustment charge. I was ready to leave the dealer after what just happened screw the car at this point. The result of this happening caused us to leave the dealer. This situation has really bothered my girlfriend to the point were she was balling her eyes out that someone would speak to her this way and that she couldn't say anything about it because she was extremely uncomfortable. 

This Sales Manager didn't even acknowledge that we might be able to pay for this car out right if we really wanted to. He just assumed we couldn't because we are younger which is unacceptable. We never went back nor plan to but this has really effected my girlfriend and me to this day. Any suggestions if I should take some kind of action or just let it be at this point.? We haven't told anybody about this.
The Dealer is Healey Hyundai Fishkill/Beacon NY Eddie Rullo Is The Sales Managers Name

Context: I love wicked, I saw it twice in the late 2000s, I’ve spent countless hours singing along in the car with friends, and like many ppl who love wicked I was a theater kid. Over the last decade and a half, my tastes have evolved and I enjoy media with a more critical eye. This is not the same as a negative or cynical eye. I have also gone from being *the* musical theater kid to being very much an ex-musical theater kid. And so with the movie coming out I was curious how wicked would hold up for me.
Last night I watched a bootleg. It was pretty good resolution considering, but I think it being a bootleg helped strip away the spectacle to lay bare its structure and quality. And its quality is very inconsistent, both in story and in songs.
For every soaring character moment like Elphie and Glinda grappling with their lives taking them in conflicting directions, there is moment of nauseating fan fiction cringe like the needless fate of the two male leads (a change from the source material that cheapens the show AND wiz of Oz by extension). For every interesting (if underdeveloped) political idea, whether Elphie’s life of underground sentient-rights/Animal advocacy or the the shift of Morrible and the Wizard seeing Glinda as a valuable political asset, there are countering moments where the characters and themes are uselessly undermined in favor of the absolute lamest of conveniences, like the green bottle reveal and the super unclear switch in power dynamics between Glinda and morrible. And why, at the end, must Glinda never know? She would be the perfect ally to them, it makes no sense why they’d keep it from her.
The story quality is truly like an upside down bell curve where it’s either transcendent or the most cringe cheugy bottom of the barrel storytelling.Structurally, act 1 is way better but is nearly back to back songs. It’s almost an opera. Act 2 has a better balance of dialogue but it’s so rushed and the story feels held together with twice used tape.
Same with the songs. Let’s be real y’all. A lot of these songs sound ugly. And so many of them are needless hindrances to the characters and story.
No One Mourns the Wicked - the crowd’s lines are weird and cringe, but glindas parts are very high quality. Could use a rewrite.
Dear old shiz - keep as is. (It’s lucky it’s short.)
Wizard and I - keep but cut the “unlimited” sections since nobody recognizes the reference to over the rainbow anyway unless it’s pointed out to you.
What is this feeling - it’s cute, but adds nothing to the story and is a time suck. Cut.
Something bad - cut. My god cut. Missed opportunity for a dialogue break + develop Dillomond as more than a plot device and have song-less scenes with Elphie and DD be a recurring more grounded storyline. It should also have been meaningfully continued in act 2 when they’re both on the other side of the law, not just the reveal in the palace.
Dancing through life - sorry yall but this song doesn’t cut it. Dancing as a metaphor for laziness? But Dancing isn’t something lazy people do? It doesn’t make any sense, it’s too vague but also too specific (“down at the ozdust”). And like… he sings about valuing his life (“because dust is what we come to”) but in fact it’s the opposite - he takes it for granted and is willing to waste his life until he falls in love with Elphie. The song doesn’t fit the character, or the analogy, and it’s also way too high-school-musical. CUT.
Popular - keep as is.I’m not that girl - keep as is.
One short day - cut and Make it a background score. Or at least Trim it down to the “dress salons and libraries” part, ending with “it’s all green.” Make it a more direct and concise counterpart to “merry old land of Oz”
Sentimental man - CUT.
Defying gravity - keep as is.
Thank goodness - keep as is.
(Missed opportunity for a reprise of popular here)
Wonderful - make it half as long.
As long as your mine - its fine but doesn’t add anything. Cut.
No good deed - keep but get rid of that truly stupid fiyero storyline I mentioned earlier. Would be way more interesting if this was restructured to her trying to save her sister pre-cyclone.
March of the witch hunters - CUT.
For good - keep as is…. But what the hell is a “sky bird”? Lame phrases like that hold it back a bit.
Finale - eh just parse it down to a for good reprise.
They’re not going to do this, but I wish they give Wicked the Grease treatment for the movie and replace all the weaker songs with better ones or fix with structural changes.
TLDR: upon rewatch, wicked is half soaring and half mega cringe, with far too many ugly songs.

Ok, as an elementary special education teacher (not teaching in my daughters’ district) I am in need of some advice to help my daughter, almost 10 in 4th grade, to deal with some mean girl behavior at her school. For background, my daughter gets straight A’s in school and always has, does her best to get along with everyone (at home can be a tad bossy with little sister at times), gets great marks in school for her behavior in class and towards others, and has quite a few close friends. She is constantly reading whenever she gets a chance and devours books. She is very musical, plays ukulele and takes lessons outside of the home, and plays cello in the school orchestra. She is super into theater and has done local theater since kindergarten as well as scored the role of the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz in this years 4th and 5th grade drama club show at school. She loves to sing and is in many school clubs including inclusive ones like Best Buddies. I know, I know, she sounds like the perfect kid, but we’ve worked really hard to make sure we are raising her the right way. She is also a huge eco warrior and cares deeply about lots of things. She can give me a hard time at home because she’s a 10-year-old girl, but overall, I couldn’t be prouder of what an amazing person she is turning out to be.
She had casually mentioned to me about this one girl we will call Virginia. She said they were in gym and were practicing balancing tennis balls on racquets while walking and high fiving the other kids. Virginia gave her a high 5 and then immediately said, “Ew, I didn’t know that it was you.” I told her to ignore the behavior as some kids thrive off of making other people feel bad. I asked her if she had done anything to this girl to make her feel that way and she said she couldn’t think of anything because they’ve never even ever had a conversation other than having to work together in partner groups at school in math.
Last week, she mentioned that her, and this other girl, we will call McKenzie, were saying some mean things on the school bus, or else she thought they were talking about her. I again told her not to feed into it as she knows she hasn’t done anything to them, and she couldn’t be 100% sure they were whispering about her. Virginia is supposed to be her seat partner on the bus and has never sat with her. She told me she never said anything to her bus driver about it because she didn’t want to make it worse.
All week, I’ve asked her if things are continuing and she said no. But tonight, as she was getting ready for bed, she let it out that the girls overheard my daughter talking to her good friend “Addie” who lives up the street and is in 5th grade, about my daughters upcoming sleepover for her 10th birthday. They began to hound Addie and ask her if she was really going to go to go to her sleepover, if she was really friends with her, if it was just a pity thing, and if she really actually likes my daughter. I told her that that was crossing a line and they were dipping toes into mean girl behavior and maybe some light bullying.
She also said there was a strong perfume scent on the bus earlier this week. Some kids were complaining about it and the girls blamed my daughter and tried to get others to join in. She is really worried about looking like a tattletale and/or making it worse.
My advice was for her to go to her teacher who she trusts, and ask for time to talk to her about it alone away from the girls (Virginia is in her class). Then, when they talk, let her know what’s happening and how she has been trying to ignore it and deal with it herself but that it’s getting to be too big of a problem. I told her to explain how this has started awhile ago and that she doesn’t know why they’re targeting her as she has no relationship with them at all. They’ve never been in her class until last year. I told her to let her teacher know that she isn’t looking to get them into trouble, but that she wants the comments/mean behavior to stop and she needs help facilitating a girls circle to have the conversation.
My husband wants to have me reach out to the teachegirl’s parents, but I think my approach is a better first step as our daughter needs to advocate for herself and mean girls are something she’ll have to deal with her whole life. This way it’s at least documented if it continues.
Thoughts? Advice?

I saw a clip in a compilation on youtube at some point that featured either a tiktok or short of Sodo. Rather, it was a girl who had made a Sodo shirt and he reacted to it during the ritual she wore it at. It was such an adorable moment to see him so proudly pointing to himself to, who I think was, Aether. Could have been Phantom though. He also interacted with her a bit iirc. He also ran his finger across his chest, gesturing to the shirt's "SODO" lettering as if to say "It's me B) see? see?!"
I have been rewatching all the compilations in my history to try and find it again without any luck. I have also gone to google to try and find evidence of the interaction or shirt but got nothing. My terrible memory recalls a blackletter type font in gold on a white shirt- possible crop top? I could be wrong here but I'm giving whatever might help someone recollect it. Anyone know of this clip?

I'm 20 years old and my girlfriend is 19 years old we just went to a Hyundai dealership 1 week ago to look at a 2024 Elantra N. This is one of her dream cars a car I've been hearing about for over a year. And a car we both had our eye's on so we wanted to test drive it. The Salesman was practically chattering his teeth along with higher staff I assume because it was taking a while to get in the car. But after running my girlfriends credit and filling out a form of information they let's go on a test drive down the street and back. The Sales Manager comes into the dealer behind us ultimately trying to negotiate a sale without even introducing himself as a Sale Manager. I had to read this title on his name tag. This Sales Manager made my girlfriend extremely uncomfortable by saying comeback with "daddy so he can help you get this car." This Sales Manager went on saying this about 10 times repetitively leading with "daddy" in different phrases. Some examples that he said are "talk to daddy when you get home so you can get this" , "beg daddy for the car and he will help his girl", "daddy loves his girl and will spoil you". "I'll talk number with daddy bring him in here." "Give daddy a big hug when you see him" I was about to blow steam out my ears. This guy was a full on weirdo let me tell you. The Sales Manager also goes on to demonstrate how she should persuade her dad into getting her this car by giving a salesman a long hug infront of us.

 The Salesman In a uneasy kind of tone also asked the Sales Manager why is he hugging him. The Sales Manager goes on saying "well I didn't want to hug her in front of him" as in ( Me her boyfriend) and the result of that would of lead this guy to a very bad day. This Sales Manager is in his mid to late 50s I assume. A real oddball kind of guy we both had a serious bad feeling about him. The Sales Manager finally disappeares after this with a last comment saying "comeback with daddy so we can talk some numbers." Speaking to my girlfriend as he walks away. We then were lead to a desk with a salesman to get a ballpark number on the Elantra N and the car was marked up 3k over msrp + taxes as a market adjustment charge. I was ready to leave the dealer after what just happened screw the car at this point. The result of this happening caused us to leave the dealer. This situation has really bothered my girlfriend to the point were she was balling her eyes out that someone would speak to her this way and that she couldn't say anything about it because she was extremely uncomfortable. 

This Sales Manager didn't even acknowledge that we might be able to pay for this car out right if we really wanted to. He just assumed we couldn't because we are younger which is unacceptable. We never went back nor plan to but this has really effected my girlfriend and me to this day. Any suggestions if I should take some kind of action or just let it be at this point.? We haven't told anybody about this.
The Dealer is Healey Hyundai Fishkill/Beacon NY Eddie Rullo Is The Sales Managers Name

The title is a bit clickbaity i know. There is no end of marriage in this life, or failure of it as it is a covenant with God. Perhaps failed relationship is better suited
I debated whether or not to give the backstory, however I feel I will, but first where things are now.
6 months ago my wife asked to for seperation. She wanted "Freedom & Independence" and didnt want to live together anymore and felt that she had been pressured by her Catholic College and family into getting married in the first place (not me but the sacrament). She had been kicking around religious life, but that was more due to her lack of better options as she had struggled with SSA in her life.
We talked, alot and roughly came to the understanding that we would revisit this when our last child was out of the house (we have three all 8-11). She had also wanted to have her "own space" and wanted to build a small tiny house in the backyard where "everything would be how she liked it".
Background
She had relationships with girls in her teens, then a boyfriend who she described as having raped her. I am still struggling to understand what this means exactly as she has given different accounts that vary from consent but then regretted after to more of a consent after relentless asking.
This set her off into full SSA relationships. She then went to a very Orthodox Catholic college but was looking for female connection of that sort. She ended up pulling in her roomate and best friend who then at the end of the first year contacted her mother about the relationship and how sorry she was for being involved, but that she (my wife) needed help.
There was some intervention, praying over her (mother is very charismatic) and then she was ok for awhile. She then was on Catholic SSA support groups but then used that to find people to have emotional long distance relationships with. She had a bunch of SSA relationships during this time. Still struggling with this and her faith she leaned towards religious life, like i imagine alot of attempting to be faithful SSA Catholics do. If i cant be married then i guess its priesthood/sisters. While she was praying at one point she asked God for a sign of where shes supposed to go. she then saw a famous saint holding flowers, but not the same flowers they are normally depicted with. She realized this was her sign.
We met and during the course of the courtship I wasnt the best Catholic, I was just getting back on track in living my faith and realized i needed to seek out women who were going to help me on the path and not drag me off, or let me drag myself off (hold me to account). She always liked a purple so those were the flowers i always got. We had long discussions about the future and she was very honest in that she wasnt sure she was called to marriage. she was still figuring it out. Her mother asked if the sign was given yet, and it hadnt.
That same day of the call with her mom I ended up getting, for no reason in my mind, a different set of flowers. ones that matched perfectly the type and color her sign had been. After that she was convinced. We began to plan for marriage and did all the marriage prep. Talked alot about her past, was told it was in the past and not anything she struggled with anymore and that marriage is forever no matter what.
Throughout our marriage I readily admit i wasnt the best husband at times. I was always trying to find extra ways to make money and develop a business i could run so that, in my mind, I could set our lives up around what we wanted to do, have our own schedules, travel with the kids whenever, etc. I focused on that alot. I spent many if not most nights working on that. She was neglected. She did however all during that time say supportive things, saying i need to keep going, i believe in you, etc etc. The feelings of neglect were never brought up by her (now I can see it very clearly and feel terrible about it, wish i could change it)
At the same time i was dealing with things from the war and secretly drinking those nights as well. I didnt go out. I didnt cheat or anything i just drank to forget. About 5-6 years ago i realized i couldnt control it like i thought i could and stopped completely and then i realized that i had been taking her for granted and neglecting her. I stopped my projects and began to actually spend quality time together. Things were really good. She was also going through therapy to deal with her past and that had brought things up, she had started drinking as well, but we were both moving towards good things. She got pregnant and then things really got perfect.
We were close, spent nights out together, talked, she started to talk about wanting to be more feminine, grow her hair out longer than shoulder, wear dresses etc. I was amazed and thankful to God that he had helped her get in touch with her feminity in a deeply maternal way.
Then....we lost the baby.
We had miscarriages before, and its not to make it sound routine, but from our experiences in the past I knew she would want space, take up the slack, keep up with the housework, do things that made her feel appreciated etc. I did that. I think i gave her too much space. She began to spend more and more time with a friend (Female) go out late, drink, etc.
I very bluntly asked if anything weird was going on she denied it. I began to have more and more panic attacks as I was completely convinced my marriage was over. She continued to deny it, but never stopped spending more and more time with this person. Obsessing over everything in her life and her marriage, her problems. Husband is out of town she needs to stay there until late because other girl doesnt like being alone in the house, husband is back, she needs to go out because the friend is having marriage issues. They start smoking weed together and things get worse and worse. Finally she comes back from a "girls" weekend and breaks down admitting "you are right, i am attracted to her" and "I dont know if i can stay straight for you"
We talk alot, when it comes to me saying they cant hang out anymore she then quickly reverses course and its no longer repentance and needing to change, but "not wanting the devil to win....not wnating to lose another friendship" and wanting to bring her friend "into the church". I was told I was putting all the blame on the friend and that wasnt fair.
Looking back i realize i should have drawn a line in the sand. I should have done alot of things differently but i cant change that now.
The friendship and the obsession continued. The bringing the friend to church was BS as she told her about the rosary for one night and then after that just more weed smoking (its better than drinking and its natural....)
Then finally im heading to a retreat at a monastery and i get a call that they arent friends anymore, she sad. Im happy. Ok i think, we can finally put this behind us. By the time im heading to the airport after the weekend shes back as friends.
Fast forward some months and then she has to talk to me about how shes never been comfortable with physical intimacy (marital act) because of her past and she doesnt think she can handle being pregnant ever again (understandable to a degree) so shes not sure she can be physically intimate anymore. I say outwardly that If i need to do this for her I can manage whether its months or years, sure. inwardly im thinking this is just another step in the wrong direction, but im still praying. Im still trying to maintain hope
Then something happens i dont know what. Her friend is moving and is getting a divorce soon afterwards but they had a fight and got blocked on everything. My wife is distraught, basically shuts down for 2 months. I have been over those two years basically doing everything in the house. from laundry to meals to cleaning. She does some things, but i do the vast majority. I do it so she can see i care, but she doesnt care. We had been in counseling during this time, but she would say things, we would talk, she would say its working, but it wasnt she was lying and holding back.
After this friend left. she ended up finding a new one. Same MO. mentally wonky, isolated, no friends and then they became inseparable. within a year im completely zonked mentally and spiritually i cant handle it and it comes to a head. She breaks down about how her losing the old friend hurt her so bad because there wasnt "closure" which in my experience with her and other friendships just means long talks until they are friends again. She talks about how they were making all these plans and were going to raise the kids together because we werent working (hard to work on the marriage with that going on i would think?)
So thats a light outline of the background and now back to beginning. Asked for separation and now were just "co parenting" under the same roof.
My greatest fear and what advice im seeking is
i worry heavily about the souls of my children and what a divorce (civil i know theres no such thing in the eyes of God) would do them. I see it kids everywhere. Is it better to maintain a facade for them or will the realization down the road scandalize them out of their faith? Will a separation now scandalize them out of the faith?
Is allowing them to grow up in a home where Mom/Wife is gone constantly to "hang out with her friend" going to scandalize them in their future relationships, because for my daughters if they are with any man worthy he wont tolerate that (what does that say about me right?)
So im left with two options, which i dont know which to pick? I care about the faith and souls of my kids and wife, which is best?
1) Continue the facade and chance scandalizing them in the future where they lose trust in the faith i tried to pass along to them and about marriage in general? Give them the wrong example of how a marriage is supposed to be with her as an example of womanhood?
Will my steadfastness in trying to hold the marriage together in hope for reconciliation in the future be a good example of what marriage is for them or just a scandal to avoid? or God forbid repeat?
2) Allow the separation and the fantasy land of "independence" that she dreams of show its true face and that all that lies ahead is barely scrapping by because even in the best alimony imaginable she couldnt afford to keep the house and pay the bills, we barely do together now.
Will my "giving up" scandalize them in the same way
to answer any questions you may have

1. i have talked to a priest about this, i am in contact with a counselor at our diocese that is very orthodox about the situation
2. She says her current friendship isnt "like that" ie like before which infers even more so that I was right about the last friend. She doesnt acknowledge that emotional affairs exist or understand proper boundaries between say a friendship and the emotional nature of a romantic relationship. It seem she thinks as long as nothing physical happens its basically all Kosher. I think growing up with SSA makes it hard as you are attracted romantically to girls but also friends with them so those proper boundaries are never formed mentally as the perversion of SSA is deep.
3. I know marriage is forever. regardless of what the other person does. There are no grounds for annulment as there we both consented fully at the time of the sacrament. She is in the process of the rewriting history of our relationship to sound more like she didnt have full consent "i was pressured...." perhaps to make herself feel less culpable for the present or perhaps in misplaced compassion to give me an "out"

Thank you, Pax et Bonum

(Longish post) I’m 20 F and have thought of myself as being straight and maybe demisexual. I don’t have a lot of experience but any romantic/sexual experiences I’ve had have been with men. I’ve had many people assume I’m lesbian because of the way I dress (I sometimes like to dress very androgynous).
In the past year, I’ve had several sexual dreams about women. In one dream I was a man, but the others I was myself. Does this mean anything or is it just my brain having its fun? I don’t watch porn that often but if I do it’s only straight and vanilla stuff.
I get nervous around pretty women. It doesn’t feel like I have a crush on them (I’ve only had a crush on like 2 people my whole life) but when a cool or pretty girl talks to me I get nervous, is it cause I’m flustered or insecure or what? I get a little nervous when a cute guy talks to me but not as much as when a girl does.
I have a nonbinary friend presents very fem. I thought they might have liked me but I recently found out they have a girlfriend. When I found this out I was disappointed. I can’t tell if I’m just jealous because I’m single or upset cause they don’t like me. Which is weird because I’ve never seen them in a romantic way. Is this just normal relationship jealousy and I’m overthinking?
I have another nonbinary friend who is AFAB but very androgynous and I’ve found myself being really jealous of their appearance. What does this mean? I like being a girl but I sometimes wish I looked like they do.
I feel something whenever I see androgynous/gnc women, but I can’t tell if it’s attraction or jealousy. I don’t feel this way with gnc men.
Is this all regular things that straight cis people think? Or does this mean I could be queer?

I will provide some context here! I (24m, 25 in June) want to reach out to a girl who is 21f. We were classmates in a college course this past semester and I have really grown fond of her. I didn't want to say anything over the semester to no make anything weird and to respect her education. Now class has been over for almost 2 weeks and I feel as like I may have missed my chance to message her.
The other part that is hard is that we never exchanged information. I was able to find her Instagram by searching her name. Is that weird, or stalkerish? I feel like that's kind of what social media is for, but for some reason it feels weird to me. Although I would appreciate it if it were the other way around.
Also, we are apart the whole summer. She is back at home, and I am in town until I leave. We wouldn't likely cross paths when we return to school.
I will say, I know my mind is looking for any reason to not message to avoid what I believe is inevitable. But I also know, nothing can come of this if I don't send a message. I guess what I'm looking for is a little advice on if I should actually message her or not. Would you find it weird? Is there too much of an age gap? Am I blowing this out of proportion?

The Weapon is essentially Cortana’s replacement in every single possible way.
She looks like, sounds like, and does everything Cortana does, except she acts much more naive. Other than blatantly being Cortana’s replacement, I hate her naivety so much. First off, I get its to introduce newer players to aspects of the Halo universe, but it gets to the point where you just get annoyed sometimes. That’s actually endurable though.
What isn’t is her throwing a freaking tantrum. Chief is always ready to delete her if he needs be so they end up with a second rampant AI like Cortana, and he is absolutely justified in doing so, Cortana literally subjugated the whole universe and even before then, it’s Cortana who’s the whole reason anything even happens in the Original Trilogy. If you have any AI who can do what she does and thinks the way she does, it is absolutely imperative you DO NOT let them be on any side except your own.
So Chief is always ready to delete her if need be, and she constantly says she’s fine with that… constantly. I’m not kidding. So what happens when Chief activated the delete and it doesn’t work. The Weapon, the super advanced AI designed to take out Cortana and then be deleted, throws a childish tantrum. She can’t believe that Chief would dare try to delete her at the first sign that she might be compromised. Bitch do you not understand what your entire reason for existing, THAT YOU HAVE BEEN AGREEING WITH, is?!
Not to mention that an AI acting this way is an obvious sign for concern. Last time this happened in Halo, Cortana was going freaking rampant, not to mention that The Weapon was in contact with Cortana before the game even begins, so whose to say she wasn’t corrupted by her. Obviously this isn’t the case in the story, but the way the characters just brush this moment off infuriates me so much because of what it’s supposed to mean in the Halo universe.
Your equivalent to the greatest human AI ever made is throwing a temper tantrum after you just tried to do the one contingency to prevent the bullshit that put you in this situation from happening again.
Also her little snap thing is stupid. Cortana did it once, it’s not a character trait of Cortana and it’s stupid she figures it out that way.
OH YEAH! She didn’t know she was a copy of Cortana. YOU HAVE BEEN LOOKING IN CHIEF’S VISOR THIS WHOLE GAME. HOW THE FUCK DIDNT YOU KNOW. YOU LOOK JUST LIKE HER!!!
She also has an emotional breakdown due to that revelation… for some reason. Like… she knows she’s made to kill Cortana… but the fact she’s a copy of Cortana makes her breakdown… and it’s not because she’s like, “I gotta kill someone who’s basically me.” It’s because “Cortana is a terrible person, so what if I’m a terrible person.”
It’s also implied in the ending she wants to take Cortana’s name. Why would that be a good idea. Cortana is remembered as the tyrant who took over the Galaxy and blew up the Brute Homeworld. There is no situation where being a blue hologram girl named Cortana will benefit you at all.

I 22F have been continuously blocked my my first love 22M. For the sake of this, I'll call him Branson. We first met in the 7th grade. We went to a private Christian school. I had been there since kindergarten. I first started to have feelings for him in 8th grade. He's tall, smart, and incredibly kind. He would always stand up for me when I would get bullied. In 9th grade, I finally had the courage to express my feelings. I asked him to the homecoming dance. I asked him as friends, but everyone knew I liked him. He started to have feelings for me at that time. We started spending more time together. We went to the dance and had a magical time. After that, we sat next to each other in Spanish and Bible class. He would rub my leg under the desk and complement me. One time, he took me into an abandoned IT room that was only used for storage. I was developing depression and was having a rough time. He told me to drop my backpack and that I needed a hug. He held me, our heartbeats fading into one. And the, he lowered his hand to my ass and held it for a moment. I had never been touched like that before, and as you can imagine, it's very frowned upon in that religion. He told me he'd always be there for me and that he'd never leave me. That was the moment I knew I loved him. At least, love that a 15 year old girl could understand. We were very affectionate for weeks until my bully saw him touch my leg in Spanish and called him out on it. He never touched me again and broke things off with us. I was broken. Fast forward 4 years later, I'm engaged to my ex-fiance and about to graduate. Due to other issues, I left that school and lost contact with him and many others. Bur right before graduation, we got back in contact. We cleared up many misunderstanding between us and rekindled our friendship. We were nostalgic about the old days and our young love. Fast forward months later, my wedding was called off and my engagement was about to dissolve completely. I had still been messaging Branson at that point. But 3 days before I officially left my ex, Branson disappeared. No explanation, no goodbye. Nothing. I wondered what happened or what I did to make him block me. And none of my friends knew either. I still hold some love for him to this day. But Fast forward to yesterday, 4 years later. I opened a new Instagram account for my books I write. He came up as a suggested account. I wasn't blocked on this account. I thought about it for a long time, but I came up with what to say. Pretty much, I asked if he could just explain what I did wrong and why he blocked me. It really hurt when he left and threw away our friendship. But a day later, he blocked me again. I'm pissed off and very hurt. He obviously didn't grow up enough to realize I deserved closure. What could have possibly happened? What did I do wrong? Any advice?