Opening lines for speeches

I’m a simpleton
I don’t need much
Not one for prized possessions
And the grandiose adventures of others
I’m totally content
Sitting at home
Listening to my records
Recording new songs
Writing new material
I really am a simpleton
And I do reign supreme
I enjoy the tranquil atmosphere
I provide for myself
Carefree, open, creative
The air is thin and I can move freely
Which I need at this point
I’m a simpleton it’s true
No possession means half as much
As the special bonds I make with individuals
I find it hard to open up
Still to this day I have never told my story
My complete story to anyone
And really, isn’t that just sad?
That in all these years, not one single person
Has been willing to give the time
Hell that’s all it would take
Just time, just sit and listen
Let me get everything off my chest
Once and for all
But no it.. it isn’t to be
I’m a simpleton
I read between the lines
Then I create other lines
That aren’t even supposed to be there
And make up negative narratives
In my mind…
Yes I know it’s wrong
And I’m changing my ways
But some are embedded in my DNA
Those habits are harder to break
And I am just a mere simpleton
Trying to find my way

So I recently started seeing someone who's NP is ACE. They are into kink stuff and were encouraged by their partner to seek that with someone else. We have been talking for a couple of weeks and have been exploring our compatability in the kink area. They had supposedly told their partner about that dynamic with us but they happened to see my name on their snapchat as daddy. It started a whole thing for them where the person I was seeing offered to have their NP read all our messages. There were photos mixed in with those too so I'm assuming they were allowed to see all that as well.
I never consented to that and it was mentioned so casually that they did that. I am NB and honestly deal with some body dysphoria. Sometimes in kink spaces I open up more and feel more comfortable with it. I knew their NP prior to this but we had never shared a space like that.
How much of a line is that to cross in a poly space? I've been enm for awhile now but am newer to straight up poly. I feel like you don't just casually show other partners pictures and texts that have been sent in private though.

Names changed for anonymity. My friend Sara (now 23) got married early as she unexpectedly got pregnant at 19 and had her second child a year later. During her first pregnancy, her then-fiance Tom (now 27ish?) cheated on her with her sister Molly (then 17). She forgave him for whatever reason. I believe it was because she still had hopes for a better future, and believed that their marriage would turn things around. This went well until her second pregnancy, where, low and behold - Tom cheated on Sara again with Molly. That's where Sara drew the line and settled for the unfortunate realization that she'd want a divorce. Unfortunately she's financially dependent on Tom, so she's still sharing an apartment with him and the kids. She forgave both of them again. Don't ask me how. She broke contact with Molly a year ago, and now they're all even and friendly again.
Now hear me out, I'm a very timid person. I hate openly talking about my negative feelings and dislike towards people, because it never seems justified enough to me. This time however, I was absolutely exhausted. While casually talking I kinda dropped the bomb that I dislike Tom and Molly and think they are assholes. The cherry on the shitcake that made me say that was when I found out that Sara has to sleep on the couch, so Tom and Molly can sleep in their former bed. Just imagine your husband fucks your sister and then you have to take the couch because he needs to keep fucking her in your bed?!
That's where I was absolutely phasing out and bewildered at the sheer audacity.
Anyways, Sara didn't like that and told me it's her sister and her ex-husband, and she chose to forgive them. After that I just told her that I could never, but I'll support her not matter what.
Now I feel like an asshole and what I did what out of line. What do you guys say?

Good morning everyone. As most of you may already be aware, last week I have decided to end things with my husband of 7 years. He moved all his belongings out last week, and I have been living in my apartment by myself. When I first met him 7 years back, we were both over the moon and we had gotten married just 3 months after dating. Things were amazing for a while, but shortly after we began to have a lot of problems. Mistakes were made of course, but we had tried to work through them as we both still loved each other very much. For 6 years, I supported his heart failure and took care of him. Paid all the bills, etc only up until last year when he was finally awarded money for his disability by the government.
Things just got really bad between us. Countless fights, screaming, stress, everything. I had realized that I fell out of love with him years ago, but was too afraid to speak honestly. And so the vicious cycle of fighting, tears, anguish, and sadness continued for years. We became roommates so to speak. I would work, come home, eat, and we were sleeping in separate rooms for years. I was too afraid to speak up and say anything. I became an empty, lifeless shell devoid of human emotion, and I barely recognized myself anymore. It was the most horrible feeling. I thought this perpetual cycle of madness was going to continue on infinitely. My mental state was fucked at this point.
So we continued on, I came back to Reddit...again as some of my followers know I had quite the history of coming and going. (Now you know why). I started to post characters again for fun, not really returning to full time sliders as it's a lot of work, but rather just sharing some fashion and faces I thought looked good. This simple thing made me feel happier despite how much pain I was dealing with internally. I made my first post here several weeks ago, and that same night I received a PM from a complete stranger that was really nice. It was a simple message, but it made me genuinely smile. Probably the first real genuine feeling I had felt in a long time. And something inside of me told me to respond. And so I did. And instantly my conversations day and night with said individual were the only thing I looked forward to. They brought me solace and happiness that I never knew I could even feel again. I really have came to know this individual really well and it turns out we both have very similar situations. It was the absolute most real and unreal thing I could fathom. At some point I questioned if this was real, because surely this was something that my subconscious just cooked up. I wouldn't have put it past it, as I was already so screwed up from a culmination of everything that had happened and everything currently going on. But I found myself rereading all of the conversations recently and the first time I heard his voice, I think I said something to him along the lines of "Oh my god, you're real."
And we continued talking every day and night since then, and I told him everything. Like...my entire life story. Fucking flood gates were open and i couldn't stop. I was one hundred percent completely open and honest with him and I've never been able to do that with anyone, not the man I was married to for 7 years....not even myself. He accepted me completely, flaws and all. And I realized that I was falling in love with him. That I do love him.
I had to start being honest with myself and those around me before it got to the point where I completely lost sight of myself. My marriage was already in shambles prior to this, and it was going to end regardless, but once he entered my life, I knew I had to speak up.
And so when I told him I wanted a divorce and asked him to move out, he tried to give me the ultimatum of I could stay in the marriage or I can continue talking to "dipshit". And I was seething and seeing absolute red. I chose Josh. And I told him that I never expected to fall in love with him, but I did. I told him he needs to leave because regardless of whether I had fallen in love or not, this was already and had been already long over. And so he packed his things and calmly left. I was expecting him to punch a hole through the apartment wall as he had done in the past. Because I was so used to the fighting and screaming. The calm departure threw me off. But once he left, I fell to the floor hysterically crying from a mix of so many emotions. I was alone. I was relieved. And I could finally start healing.
And to Josh, who I know will read this, but probably not comment...I love you. You mean more to me than you could realize and I can't wait to meet you in June. ❤️
And to my soon to be ex who won't be seeing this. These are my final words, because writing is my life blood, the very essence of my being:
Torture crawls and scrapes its claws, through my dampened corridors. Each lonely passage stinks of flesh, a labyrinth of echoed death.
Steel my darkness; absorb its pain, syringe despair just like cocaine. Hooked by your spell and through my heart, you scored my veins with kisses tart.
Liquid regret sucks from my skin, seeps through the dungeon deep within. Living, dying, dead existence, shallow stone, sinking resistance.
You said your heart was my true gift, but through cold eyes I sensed a mist. I saw behind your two-faced mind, your scheme to control clearly defined.
Etched realization chilled my soul. How could your love be lifeless coal? Was evilness pursed on your lips with every single deadly kiss?
Did you desire to burn disgust, upon man's love with poisoned bust? Was there ever somewhere deep within, a piece of love wrapped in thin sin?
Your eyes were blank, no love lived there. An empty book, full of blank stare. So now I write my final note, To tell you my love is revoked.
A heart like yours has only hate. A sprite disguised with angel bate. No longer will your tricks deceive and leach the energy from me.
So read these words from me to you, our love is dead so we are through. My heart's immune to your black spell, your love unreturned to rot in hell.

40F female looking for chat buddies. Platonic only, I’m in a relationship.
Single mom of 3 kids. I work long/irregular hours.
My social life is unfortunately my kids' activities and work.
Looking for chat buddies that don't mind if I can't message for a day or two.
I really like to learn about different cultures and food. I enjoy hearing about mundane, everyday activities. I like to read both fiction and nonfiction. Lover of all kinds of music. I really like to hike and camp as well.
Open to on-line chatting, snail mail, and email.

I was talking to a guy for almost 8 months until he found out his best friend had feelings for him too. I was dropped like a hot potato and it hurt extremely bad because I grew to trust this person after having my heart broken for the first time by an ex who ghosted me. He wanted to stay friends but I called it off because I couldn't bear it.
I feel like this is a trend in my life where people genuinely seem to like me at first, but later down the line something changes and they aren't interested anymore by the time my heart is invested. It hurts so much and this has really been bothering me and hurting me.
I keep checking my messages to see if he texted me, I have been praying and writing and crying and thinking about telling him how he hurt me and how much it has affected me, but I don't think that is the godly thing to do. Plus, I know he is not thinking about me anymore so why am I spending so much energy and time thinking about him.
It hurts to feel rejected and picked over to someone smarter, thinner and prettier than me when I was already feeling insecure in the first place. I have felt this way all of my life. This guy at first made me feel like he loved me and wanted me and talked about marrying me and all of these sweet things he wanted to do for me. I believed him. It took me a while to grow to trust him because at first I kept my heart guarded, I wish I had kept it guarded a little more because now my heart is broken open and I have to patch it back up again.
The worst part is when I sent him my final goodbye message he didn't even read it and said "If you feel like reaching out in 10 years please do you have my number" which didn't offer me much closure. It feels like he wanted to keep the door open for future communication which is confusing to me. I have autism so I don't know if he meant it as an empty gesture or if he really means it. It sure isn't helping me trying to move on.
I feel angry. Is it ok to feel angry?

I (F19) have been dating my boyfriend (M22) for 8 months now. Two months ago, I discovered my worst nightmare when I decided to go through his phone.
When I went through his phone, I not only found masses of porn but also pictures of his ex (F21) and her being on his ignored friend requests on Snapchat (meaning he’d removed her, but she still had him added). I’d checked this before because we’d previously had issues with his ex, but she wasn’t there, so it was recent. He also had a call to her on Valentine's Day. After some prying and a ton of lying from him, we actually talked about it. He said he only sent food for the cat and that he’d stop the porn. A few days later, I gave him an ultimatum: - Stop communication with her, only send food for the cat. - You don’t need to save pictures of the cat with her in it. - No more porn.
He agreed and promised to follow these conditions.
After this, when I looked at his search history, it had been deleted, so he only had two days of history. I asked about it after a few weeks, and he told me this was because of “my birthday presents being on there” and how “he doesn’t want me to see since I checked before.” Even though none of his lies lined up with when I checked, I ignored it.
Now, I’ve found him searching for porn again. He told me it’s just from an open tab. I don’t believe him, but he insists that he didn’t watch porn and that he’s followed the ultimatum. I still can’t believe him, and I’m not sure if I should stand my ground and leave or stay and work things out. Because of his past of lying, I feel like I’m walking into a trap. But i also feel like we have so much potential because i love him dearly.
I know a lot of people are going to get upset that I’ve checked his phone, but he told me he was fine with it and open to it, and I wouldn’t have a problem if he checked mine.
For additional information:
He and his ex were married, dated for 4 years, got matching tattoos, and had a stillborn.
At the start of our relationship, he led me to believe he was someone who never let exes back no matter what, someone who got rid of them the second they messed up. So, to find out he was still contacting her was shocking. I would’ve understood given their situation with the cat and the stillborn. It’s just the way he’s made himself seem, only to be lying the whole time.
I did not know about them being married or having a stillborn until a few weeks in. At that point, I felt I was too deep into the relationship to throw away what we had. He told me he was “too scared to tell me” and he “wanted to wait until the right time,” which I can understand.
For a few weeks after, he was being funny about giving me his Instagram, so I made a new account and found out he’d blocked me on it. I also found out he was still following his ex and she was following him. This stopped once I confronted him and he followed me instead.
Another few months later, I found provocative pictures of women on his Pinterest saves. He obviously just said that he saved them because they dressed like me, which some did, but out of the 15 pictures, only 4 did. The rest were just women in underwear.

How old are you? What's your gender? Give us a general description of yourself.
I'm 19y/o. I would say Im a calm person, unless when im tired or when someone angers me. Im the balance between energetic and no energy person. I dont like sticking to one opinion because it feels like im limiting myself, so i guess im open minded. I dont really care about what people think of me unless its about my attitude or if i hurt someone unintentionally. i cant watch kdramas that r js typical, it feels so shallow and cringy. I also like psycho analyzing people. I also overanalyze someone's actions towards me. When i talk about a topic, i mostly talk the generality of it, but sometimes i think about every possible details which makes it hard to commit to one, for example: let’s say someone says you choose your own reality, in a way i get what they mean but i also think abt ppl who actually cant choose their reality. Drake and kendrick dissing each other, my brother asked me whose side im on, which i honestly dont give a crap, because its not connected to me neither i dont care who they are, feels insignificant to waste my brain cells on that thing. I also dont like rude people, like i get you have a painful past but that doesnt excuse how you treat me, i deserve to be treated like a normal human being. The line between right or wrong is kinda hard for me, i think theres no right or wrong in reality, its just based on people’s values and morals. Which ofc i do have.
Is there a medical diagnosis that impact your mental/compartmental stability somehow?
not that i know of
Describe your upbringing. Did it have any kind of religious or structured influence? How did you respond to it?
im not religious but i do believe there is some force that does things
What do you do as a job or as a career (if you have one)? Do you like it? Why or why not?
im an architecture student, so far i like it, designing a specific building for a specific person to suit their needs and comfort, how they would function inside it, my fav architect is antoni gaudi bc his works, every building's detail has a function or a meaning to it, which is not just existing but serving it's purpose
If you had to spend an entire weekend by yourself, how would you feel? Would you feel lonely or refreshed?
for right now, i would feel refreshed bc semester just ended and i need to restore my sanity, but if im feeling energetic then i would rather spend it with my friends,
What is your relation with movement and your surroundings? For instance do you prefer a sport or outdoors event? If an outdoors event what is it? And why? If not what type of activities do you tend to engage i?
im not really good at sports, but i do like running it makes me happy i dont know why, i like doing stuff that requires my brain like puzzles, sudoku, video games, movies with complicated plot
How curious are you? Do you have more ideas then you can execute? What are your curiosities about? What are your ideas about - is it environmental or conceptual, and can you please elaborate?
honestly depends of what mood im in, but since im an architecture student i tend to touch every material, and be curious about the function of the elements. i like listening to interesting takes on life or anything, that is different from others, but generally idk if im curious or not. im not sure if this considers as curious or not, but i like thinking about life, what is the purpose of humans, why they act selfish or why they act like a bitch generally, trying to find an answer to anything.
Would you enjoy taking on a leadership position? Do you think you would be good at it? What would your leadership style be?
i like leadership positions, i like being in control, i like being organized, i think i will do a perfect as a manager lol. when im traveling with my friends i always do the bookings, transport, almost everything
Are you coordinated? Why do you feel as if you are or are not? Do you enjoy working with your hands in some form? Describe your activity?
im kinda clumsy but i have great reflexes, i dont really pay attention to my surroundings like if im traveling in a group and some stranger says something i only find out after my friend tells me about it. i like painting, it feels so calm
Are you artistic? If yes, describe your art? If you are not particular artistic but can appreciate art please likewise describe what forums of art you enjoy. Please explain your answer.
i like painting, bc i like blending colors, it just feels so free yk. i like listening to music, i listen to almost every genre based on my mood that day, i rly wanna learn how to play on a piano
What's your opinion about the past, present, and future? How do you deal with them?
i dont think about the past, present, sometimes future but lately i stopped worrying about the future instead just making plans, i mostly just think about anything that doesnt really involve time, i be thinking about life, people, or any concept, or just making my own opinions
How do you act when others request your help to do something (anything)? If you would decide to help them, why would you do so?
i like to help even if doesnt benefit me, but if its something absurd then fuck no, im a straightforward person you see, if i dont want to help i js straight up say sry cant help
Do you need logical consistency in your life?
define logical consistency
How important is efficiency and productivity to you?
It is important to me, im more work first, play later person. ive been thinking lately, i thought i wasnt a competitive person but during the process idc if im not the best or worst, but at the result i actually do care, i want to be better, idk why it contradicts, the process and the result
Do you control others, even if indirectly? How and why do you do that?
mostly to gain something for myself, when i want something i plan like a scenario in my head of how they would react and what i would say
What are your hobbies? Why do you like them?
is it weird that i realized i dont have any beneficial hobbies, ex: playing video games, drawing, im not consistent at anything, i start something and drop it
What is your learning style? What kind of learning environments do you struggle with most? Why do you like/struggle with these learning styles? Do you prefer classes involving memorization, logic, creativity, or your physical senses?
i like organized teachers, i also like teachers who talk in an interesting way, like connecting the subject to real life or anything interesting. i like teachers who talk in broad sense and not yappers. im really bad at memorizing things, i try to understand rather than memorizing, i like my design classes because u can create something meaningful and good as long as its serving a purpose
How good are you at strategizing? Do you easily break up projects into manageable tasks? Or do you have a tendency to wing projects and improvise as you go?
before i start doing any project first i break it up into simples things then start doing it
What's important to you and why?
i honestly dont know, as most people say happiness, its not for me, i dont think i know the meaning of true happiness, i dont really feel happy i just feel calm, my main purpose in life isnt being happy, im fine with not being happy. but i do wanna live without worrying about anything
What are your aspirations?
i want to be a good architect that will change my city to a better one, but first i need the power in order to do so. i want to be smarter and more knowledgeable and skillful
What are your fears? What makes you uncomfortable? What do you hate? Why?
i dont like selfish people, but at the same time in try to understand their angle so its kinda hard for me to js say wow shes so selfish bc there r so many perspectives spilling in my head that makes it hard to contribute to one (it happens always, but im working on it). I dont like people who dont try to understand the other person. I hate rooms without windows because it feels so uncomfy, mostly because i need to see the sky to live, if no sky then i feel trapped inside it
What do the "highs" in your life look like?
no worries, like talking to people
What do the "lows" in your life look like?
see the worst in people
How attached are you to reality? Do you daydream often, or do you pay attention to what's around you? If you do daydream, are you aware of your surroundings while you do so?
as i said i dont really pay attention to my surroundings, sometimes im in deep thought but would really call it daydreaming. When im meeting someone i dont see their outfits but more of what kind of person they are
How long do you take to make an important decision? And do you change your mind once you've made it?
i do pros and cons, consequences, if its risky but worth the result then im doing it
How long do you take to process your emotions? How important are emotions in your life?
for now i feel numb, i dont rly care about anything right now prolly bc i didnt sleep for few days doing my project. but i do think its important to open up to someone or tell them what u didnt appreciate about their actions towards you, and communication is the key. but i feel uncomfortable opening about my depressive thoughts because it feels like im asking for attention, but i do say it straightforwardly about questionable actions done towards, bc some people think youre okay to mess with, so if u shut them down at low there wont be high
Do you ever catch yourself agreeing with others just to appease them and keep the conversation going? How often? Why?
not really, im not a people pleaser, but sometimes i dont really want to argue i dont agree i just say "i see", since that sentence isnt agreeing nor disagreeing
Do you break rules often? Do you think authority should be challenged, or that they know better? If you do break rules, why would you?
depends on the rule, if its messing with my values then i first think about the consequence, if its mild then fuck the rules
What is the ideal life, in your opinion?
having the power to change things
Please ask me questions

Hey there!
Not 100% sure if this is the best place to ask but I figure it's at least adjacent so might be a good place to start- it's starting to get a bit warmer where I'm at and I'm finding my plush bathrobe is a little too hot for the weather. I'm thinking about splurging for a light robe or kimono of some sort, something cute and comfortable that's mostly just for modesty around the house.
I've been looking at some of the shorter silk kimonos on here and they look pretty nice but they're a bit on the pricier side. This isn't necessarily a deal breaker but I'd like to keep my options open if there are good alternatives that are less expensive. Does anyone have recommendations for anything along these lines I might be interested in?

All Players must be 24+, all characters 18+
Hello! I am looking for a roleplay partner or two to rp with. I play in 3rd person ONLY, paragraph style (3-5+ per post) though my starters can be longer than that! I play POC's for my mains, but NPC's come from all types of backgrounds. I reply at least 4x a week or more if I am not too busy. I enjoy open communication and OOC (though it is not a requirement). Love to world build. I only do F/M pairings with me playing the F role. And play via Discord.
For my partners I prefer semi-lit partners who can write 3-5+ paragraphs per post (3rd person pov), who also enjoys playing nps and contributing to the plot. I don't really care what gender you are in rl as long as you play the M role. I would like someone who can reply 3x a week at least and is open with communication. Don't rush me as I will never rush you.
The Prince & The Pirate Queen
Yc is the crown prince of a holy kingdom who was content with his life as he was next in line to take the throne. Everything was going as it should, he was engaged to a beautiful woman, he had the support of his father and his people. He thought all was well, but it seems his half brother has other plans. His brother hired assassins to dispose of him. Luckily for him the assassin didn't do a good job and missed his vitals before tossing him into the sea to die.
All hope is lost, until he ends up getting pulled up on a ship. On the ship of the cutthroat pirate; Madam Black. Known for her pitch dark hair and eyes. A Ruthless pirate of the sea and skies.
She's none too happy about having someone from the royal family on her ship and tells her crew to toss him back. But desperate the prince tells her if she lets him stay on the ship until he can fully recover he will show her the way to Eosphia. The island of treasures that she had been looking for all this time.
They draw up a contract and agree. But both of them may be hiding a much bigger secret.
Mid to high fantasy, romance, can be as dark or light as we like. More discussions in pms.
Arranged marriage:
The southern territory is known for having monsters on its borders, its harsh winters and its black diamonds. The jewels are rare and controlled by the Duke of the territory, much to the royal family's dismay (and everyone else in the capital). They can't stand the thought of the “barbarians” having something over them. So they devise a plan to arrange a marriage between the “hidden” princess and the southern Duke.
The Duke is unable to refuse. So the two are we'd and he brings the princess to his territory. All this time she did not utter a word, but once they arrive, she smiles at the duke and ask for a contract Claiming to know how to take care of 3 of his problems (One being able to retrieve the ashes of his sister from the noble who killed her) and in return she wants him to protect her for 5 years and then she will give him a divorce since she knows he doesn't want to be married to her.
Will it all be worth it? Or is there something more sinister at play?
Mid fantasy (magic stones and weapons, few people with actual magic). Can flesh it out more in dms.
If interested dm.
I can provide writing samples if needed.

Hi guys! I have an open boil for the first time in years. It’s already popped, hasn’t filled back up, and is basically a gaping wound in my bikini line. Currently taking Spiro, two weeks of Doxy, washing with hibiclens, and applying clindamycin. I’m planning to go to a lake this weekend and need opinions on wound dressings! I think I’m going to do this tagiderm: https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/nexcare-pad-transparent-dressing,-2-3/8-in-x-4-in/ID=prod392539-product Not gonna keep it on for multiple days, will probably change every day and wash with hibiclens.
Need opinions on if I need to keep it moist? Like a neosporin type situation (I know that’s not good to use, I just mean if anyone has alternatives)
Any advice is welcome, thanks!

All Players must be 24+, all characters 18+
Hello! I am looking for a roleplay partner or two to rp with. I play in 3rd person ONLY, paragraph style (3-5+ per post) though my starters can be longer than that! I play POC's for my mains, but NPC's come from all types of backgrounds. I reply at least 4x a week or more if I am not too busy. I enjoy open communication and OOC (though it is not a requirement). Love to world build. I only do F/M pairings with me playing the F role. And play via Discord.
For my partners I prefer semi-lit partners who can write 3-5+ paragraphs per post (3rd person pov), who also enjoys playing nps and contributing to the plot. I don't really care what gender you are in rl as long as you play the M role. I would like someone who can reply 3x a week at least and is open with communication. Don't rush me as I will never rush you.
The Prince & The Pirate Queen
Yc is the crown prince of a holy kingdom who was content with his life as he was next in line to take the throne. Everything was going as it should, he was engaged to a beautiful woman, he had the support of his father and his people. He thought all was well, but it seems his half brother has other plans. His brother hired assassins to dispose of him. Luckily for him the assassin didn't do a good job and missed his vitals before tossing him into the sea to die.
All hope is lost, until he ends up getting pulled up on a ship. On the ship of the cutthroat pirate; Madam Black. Known for her pitch dark hair and eyes. A Ruthless pirate of the sea and skies.
She's none too happy about having someone from the royal family on her ship and tells her crew to toss him back. But desperate the prince tells her if she lets him stay on the ship until he can fully recover he will show her the way to Eosphia. The island of treasures that she had been looking for all this time.
They draw up a contract and agree. But both of them may be hiding a much bigger secret.
Mid to high fantasy, romance, can be as dark or light as we like. More discussions in pms.
Arranged marriage:
The southern territory is known for having monsters on its borders, its harsh winters and its black diamonds. The jewels are rare and controlled by the Duke of the territory, much to the royal family's dismay (and everyone else in the capital). They can't stand the thought of the “barbarians” having something over them. So they devise a plan to arrange a marriage between the “hidden” princess and the southern Duke.
The Duke is unable to refuse. So the two are we'd and he brings the princess to his territory. All this time she did not utter a word, but once they arrive, she smiles at the duke and ask for a contract Claiming to know how to take care of 3 of his problems (One being able to retrieve the ashes of his sister from the noble who killed her) and in return she wants him to protect her for 5 years and then she will give him a divorce since she knows he doesn't want to be married to her.
Will it all be worth it? Or is there something more sinister at play?
Mid fantasy (magic stones and weapons, few people with actual magic). Can flesh it out more in dms.
If interested dm.
I can provide writing samples if needed.

So. I 18F got my with my 18M partner nearly 2 years ago.
Now for a little background my partners mother is incredibly toxic. Ignored her sons mental health, blamed others for his problems and multiple times tried to ruin her sons father's image to me when we started dating.
I'm a very open and out there person, and was taught by my family to express my feelings and not hide. So when I saw my partner hiding his feelings and hiding his issues I told him to stop. To start seeking help and confide in me. Which in turn then turned into him snapping and shouting his true fears and anger at his family when they bugged him.
They then blamed me for his mental health being in the ground and tried to make him leave me, but he chose to stay. Further down the line I had to save him from suicide a couple times or harm. This made them hate me more as I asked them many times to help him and said things like he was faking it to it wasn't my business.
Eventually things died down a little. They still told him to leave me but it never worked.
Then last year my mother passed away very abruptly, my partner is a first aider but also someone I need, so I called him to come support me. His mother then told him and his step dad I was FAKING until she was outside and saw ambulances.
This made a huge wall between our families.
Things were still tense but died down, later in the year around September time, he moved in with me to escape his family and so we could see each other more and see his family whenever plans where made. Now my fiance is a very introverted person, and rarely makes plans and if he does he usually forgets or cancels. Which often ment he didn't see his family. (They also made no effort to see him) So since Nov ’23 up until yesterday they fought with him.
Telling people I was controlling him and never let him out. When I was actively trying to do the opposite even taking him to my own family outings to include him.
How the issue that's made me make this post.
On our 18th birthday in April we had a small fight as I'm very off with alcohol and don't really like it. He however likes to drink on occasion. We had plans but he went behind my back and planned a small get together when we got home from our plans with his family. Without me. I was upset but understood. I asked him not to drink much as I have a fear of vomiting and couldn't help him if he was drunk. He made a promise to me to be home by 10 and not be drunk. After ignoring me on both and coming home at midnight we fought but sorted the issue. However his mother hated I was messaging him for info. Called me a liar and controlling, saying he wasn't drinking and why does it matter where he is. I struggle with anxiety to an extent my partner made me get life360 so if I was worried I could check. And I had proof he was at a bar and he even showed me he was. Which I showed her and told her as his partner I'm not wrong to want to know he is ok. As I said we as a couple had already sorted the issue, she hadn't.
Over the past few days she's been telling him your coming home ECT ECT.
After the birthday issue I chose to go no contact with her, and if she's was adamant about speaking to me it would have to be in the presence of my father as she's made threats to hit and choke me. Well yesterday she called to say he's coming home now if buts or maybes and that she wanted to speak to me. As I said I didn't want to speak with her. So she threatened to come to our house. We told her no but she still came.
She shouted at my partner for nearly an hour to come down, to drag me to her to chat, even going as far to say I abuse him, speak for him and control him, threading to call the police and say I was abusing him.
As 18 year olds home alone I was scared, I called my father for advice and was told "either you call the police or I will and I won't hold my tongue" (references the threats she's made to me) so I did, the police came and took a statement and left.
Now this morning his mother basically said you have chosen to cut me off. (My family have said it was just a blackmail message) Saying she won't be there and how there relationship is over.
He was upset but told me it wasn't my fault but he did wish I just spoke to her.
His best friend who also doesn't like me for the "controlling" reasons. Has now told his gf who was also my friend that I've ruined him ECT ECT and she's now dropped me.
I've tried for almost 5months to avoid fights and I still ruined his mother, best friend and my friend. By not speaking.
I don't really know what to do I just wanted this off my chest.
It's highly likely any of the people from the story may find this.
Apologies for formatting and errors , on mobile and dyslexic. + Stressed fast typing.

Sick p0rn videos wherein dudes slap and punch women concussions are traumatizing, stories of domestic violence are traumatizing, but worse is stranger-violence on women (like the recent NYC trend of black psycho dude(s) punching white women randomly, with legal impunity), but the worst of the worst is police violence toward helpless defenceless women, and boy oh boy is there plenty in that category, and they too have legal impunity.
Makes one physically sick to think of how traumatized these women must have become of law-enforcers, of saying no (punching women if they resist arrest is very legal and encouraged and taugh to all cops as training), of touching strangers, of being drunk in public, of flirting with the wrong dude while drunk, of men in general, and even more sickening is the knowledge that they'd forever be brain-damaged and basically on a set path toward slow and painful death, and the most blood-boiling is the fact that these psychos never face any consequences.
Majority of cops are domestic abusers themselves, in fact, cops were the ones who resisted illegalizing domestic violence in the 80s the most when it was illegalized; majority of cops are psychopaths; there's literally no reason, none, zero, nil, whatsoever, to believe that cops serve the people, neither economical (they get their salaries regardless), nor judicial (cops effectively have impunity), nor moral (only psychos are attracted to job-openings for cops, the way things are).
Likewise, women who feel safe in public, in people's presence, assuming they're there to protect them, are wholly mistaken too; random street assaults on women are very legal, samaritans punished, and chivilry long dead.
Likewise, there's no reason for a woman to feel safe in a domestic setting either, because domestic violence is universally legal too (as in, the punishment for it is a slap of the wrist, if at all), and the numbers haven't changed much; it's still as prevelent as it was before.
Richard Wrangham's work on Chimps and human evol psychology is very disturbing and pessimistic too; there's literally no hope of things ever changing. Democracy is the root cause of all evil, but at least under it, there's the illusion that women are cared for and protected for, at least it sustains the fantasy of women being treated as first class citizens with basic human rights (all a lie); once the democratic house of cards built on fiat-fiasco collapses, like that Iranian girl-reddittor's prophesy, we'd be back to square one, the west would resemble the Islamic states like it did a few centuries ago, feminism would be long dead, feminists witch-hunted, and women would lose all their rights.
Trapped in a cycle of being angry, mad, sad, daydreaming of changing the laws, fixing the mess, realizing that it's never gonna happen, being depressed, feeling helpless, powerless, searching for some silver lining, binging on theoretical back-and-forth arguments, imagining an alternate society, daydreaming of changing the laws and fixing to mess to reach that alternate way of things, only to be depressed again, over and over and over.
If I could I would go undo all these memories, all this online trauma; funny that nude pics and videos are generally censored and blurred all over the internet, spoilers tagged and marked as such too, but these highly disturbing mentally traumatizing videos circulate mainstream freely as though a normal part of life, as though uncensored boobs are more dangerous to society than a sight of a woman punched and knocked out with her nose bleeding! Not surprising; we're descendants of psychopaths; most of kids' cartoon shows are pretty violent and vile too, and these kids are allowed and feel thrilled to watch boxing/wrestling matches, and with all this equal-rights-equal-fights nonsense, watching women knocked out by men is only a natural step forward; a sick desensitized society of psychopaths.
Regret is the worst feeling ever, and helplessness even worse... No way out; none.

After much work, I finally got a system running without issue (knock on wood) where I can pass a GPU, Ethernet device and NVMe disk to the guest. Obviously, the tricky part was to pass the GPU as everything else went pretty easily. All defvices are released to the host when the VM is not running it.
Hardware: - Z790 AORUS Elite AX - 14900K intel with integrated GPU - Radeon 6600 - I also have an NVidia card but it's not passed through
Host: - Linux Debian testing - Wayland (running on the Intel GPU) - Kernel 6.7.12 - None of the devices are managed through the vfio-pci driver, they are managed by the native NVMe/realtek/amdgpu drivers. Libvirt takes care of disconnecting the devices before the VM is started, and reconnects them after the VM shuts off. - I have set up internet through wireless and wired. Both are available to the host but one of them is disconnected when passed through to the guest. This is transparent as Linux will fall back on Wifi when the ethernet card is unbound.
I have two monitors and they are connected to the Intel GPU. I use the Intel GPU to drive the desktop (Plasma 5). The same monitors are also connected to the AMD GPU so I can switch from the host to the VM by switching monitor input. When no VM is running, everything runs from the Intel GPU, which means the dedicated graphic cards consume very very little (the AMDGPU driver reports 3W, the NVidia driver reports 7W), fans are not running and the computer temperature is below 40 degrees (Celsius)
I can use the AMD card on the host by using DRI_PRIME=pci-0000_0a_00_0 %command% for OpenGL applications. I can use the NVidia card by running __NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1 __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia %command% . Vulkan, OpenCL and Cuda also see the card without setting any environment variable (there might be env variables to set the prefered device though)
WINDOWS:

• I created a regular Windows VM, on the NVMe disk (completely blank) when passing through all devices. The guest installation went smooth. Windows recognized all devices easily and the install was fast. Windows install created an EFI partition on the NVMe disk.
• I shrank the partition under Windows to make space for MacOS.
• I use input redirection (see guide at https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PCI_passthrough_via_OVMF#Passing_keyboard/mouse_via_Evdev )
• the whole thing was setup in less than 1h
• But I got AMDGPU driver errors when releasing the GPU to the host, see below for the fix

MACOS:

• followed most of the guide at https://github.com/kholia/OSX-KVM and used the OpenCore boot
• I tried to reproduce the setup in virt-manager, but the whole thing was a pain
• installed using the QXL graphics and I added passthrough after macOS was installed
• I have discovered macOS does not see devices on bus other than bus 0 so all hardware that virt-manager put on Bus 1 and above are invisible to macOS
• Installing macOS after discovering this was rather easy. I repartitioned the hard disk from the terminal directly in the installer, and everything installed OK
• Things to pay attention to: * Add USB mouse and USB keyboards on top of the PS/2 mouse an keyboards (the PS/2 devices can't be removed, for some reason) * Double/triple check that the USB controllers are (all) on Bus 0. virt-manager has a tendency to put the USB3 controller on another Bus which means macOS won't see the keyboard and mouse. The installer refuses to carry on if there's no keyboard or mouse. * virtio mouse and keyboards don't seem to work, I didn't investigate much and just moved those to bus 2 so macOS does not see them. * Realtek ethernet requires some hackintosh driver which can easily be found.

MACOS GPU PASSTHROUGH:
This was quite a lot of trial and error. I made a lot of changes to make this work so I can't be sure everything in there is necessary, but here is how I finally got macOS to use the passed through GPU: - I have the GPU on host bus 0a:00.0 and pass it on address 00:0a.0 (notice bus 0 again, otherwise the card is not visible) - Audio is also captured from 0a:00.1 to 00:0a.1 - I dumped the vbios from the Windows guest, sent it to the host through ssh (kind of ironic) so I can pass it to the host - Debian uses apparmor and the KVM processes are quite shielded, so I moved the vbios to a directory that is allowlisted (/usshare/OVMF/) kind of dirty but works. - In the host BIOS, it seems I had to disable resizable BAR, above 4G decoding and above 4G MMIO. I am not 100% sure that was necessary, will reboot soon to test. - the Linux dumped vbios didn't work, I have no idea why. The vbios dumped from Linux didn't have the same size at all, so I am not sure what happened. - macOS device type is set to iMacPro1,1 - The QXL card needs to be deleted (and the spice viewer too) otherwise macOS is confused. macOS is very easily confused. - I had to disable some things in the config.plist: I removed all Brcm Kexts (fro broadcom devices) but added the Realtek kext instead, disabled the AGPMInjector. Added agdpmod=pikera in boot-args.
After a lot of issues, macOS finally showed up on the dedicated card.
AMDGPU FIX:
When passing through the AMD gpu to the guest, I ran into a multitude of issues: - the host Wayland crashes (kwin in my case) when the device is unbound. Seems to be a KWin bug (at least KWin5) since the crash did not happen under wayfire. That does not prevent the VM from running anyway, but kind of annoying as KWin takes all programs with it when it dies. - Since I have cables connected, kwin seems to want to use those screens which is silly, they are the same as the ones connected to the intel GPU - When reattaching the device to the host, I often had kernel errors ( https://www.reddit.com/NobaraProject/comments/10p2yr9/single_gpu_passthrough_not_returning_to_host/ ) which means the host needs to be rebooted (makes it very easy to find what's wrong with macOS passthrough...)
All of that can be fixed by forcing the AMD card to be bound to the vfio-pci driver at boot, which has several downsides: - The host cannot see the card - The host cannot put the card in D3cold mode - The host uses more power (and higher temperature) than the native amdgpu driver I did not want to do that as it'd increase power consumption.
I did find a fix for all of that though: - add export KWIN_DRM_DEVICES=/dev/dri/card0 in /etc/environment to force kwin to ignore the other cards (OpenGL, Vulkan and OpenCL still work, it's just KWin that is ignoring them). That fixes the kwin crash. - pass the following arguments on the command line: video=efifb:off video=DP-3:d video=DP-4:d (replace DP-x with whatever outputs are connected on the AMD card, use for p in /sys/class/drm/*/status; do con=${p%/status}; echo -n "${con#*/card?-}: "; cat $p; done to discover them) - ensure everything is applied by updating the initrd/initramfs and grub or systemd-boot. - The kernel gives new errors: [ 524.030841] [drm:drm_helper_probe_single_connector_modes [drm_kms_helper]] *ERROR* No EDID found on connector: DP-3. but that does not sound alarming at all.
After rebooting, make sure the AMD gpu is absolutely not used by running lsmod grep amdgpu . Also, sensors is showing me the power consumption is 3W and the temperature is very low. Boot a guest, shut it down, and the AMD gpu should be safely returned to the host.
WHAT DOES NOT WORK: due to the KWin crash and the AMDGPU crash, it's unfortunately not possible to use a screen on the host then pass that screen to the guest (Wayland/Kwin is ALMOST able to do that). In case you have dual monitors, it'd be really cool to have the right screen connected to the host then passed to the guest through the AMDGPU. But nope. It seems very important that all outputs of the GPU are disabled on the host.

Adobe Reader crashes upon opening a secured PDF (i.e., in the title line is says SECURED). This happens for all secured PDFs and is reproducible. I have tried repairing, and un-installing and re-installing and it doesn't fix the issue. My version is up to date (2023.006.20360). I have turned off Protected View (Preferences>Security (Enhanced)) as suggested elsewhere to no avail. I can't find out how to solve this issue. These PDFs open in a web browser without any issues. Has anyone experienced this? Any solutions? Help!

Don't ever become a TL for Walmart, the pay isn't worth it. I was a FETL for 6 months before stepping back down. Besides rude customers, and lazy coworkers here's why I stepped down after only 6 months.
My second day on the job I was working 10-7. We were in a remodel at the time and the closing TL called out. SM comes up to me before I go to lunch and tells me I have to stay to shut down the SCOs on the grocery side at 8. As well as take all the money out and dump it in the recycler as the closer had called out. I told her I didn't know how. She told me the coach was coming at 8 to help. Even though the coach didn't know how to do it. Coach had to call opening TL and to this day I don't think we did everything right.
Back in October a customer made a threat to my associate at the service desk / money center after she refused to do transaction with expired ID and I backed her up. Call for backup from management and let them know we had been threatened and they took their sweet time getting up front. The guy had already left by the time they got up there. Mostly thanks to other customers being there and telling him he needed to leave.
Day before Christmas Eve had a guy wanted to pay a bill. No account came up when I put in his number. Started getting rude when I tried putting him in as a new customer and asked for his ID. Other TL came over as he started getting more and more rude and had the same problem with him. He left and a couple hours later. I was heading outside to check on the parking lot. Guy pulls up in a car and gets out of the passenger side. Guy lets me know he's got his ID. Once he's paid his bill he is coming to find me and hit me.
Find AP associate and let him know. Let's Coach that wasn't mine but up there helping with lines, as well as SM know what was going on. Coach helping us out talks to the guy and he openly admits to threating to assault me once he's done. This coach forces me to help him and then acted like I had done something wrong.

As the title says I am in the market of upgrading from my m2 air to a pro model. I am starting a full time instructor position at a college and looking to find the right model for my needs. Currently my m2 is the 16GB RAM and 512ssd model. My job will require lots of tabs open, some decent storage, ability to edit videos and upload them and I need the ability to be able to connect to two external displays (which is where my air m2 comes short). Is the pro overkill for me? Should I look into the M3 air because it now supports two external displays? From the M3 line, which is recommended for my needs?