High school graduation gift bag ideas

I made a previous post on here but right now I have someone who wants money from me or else they’ll send my photos to all my followers. I told them I’d have money next week and I’d send it to them they want 360. I’ve been doing thinking of what to do and I’ve made some plans idk if I should follow through. For one I went on Fiverr and messaged some people who are in digital forensics and gave them all the information and one guy said there was nothing he could do while another guy is still seeing what he can do. I didn’t pay just asked them questions.
On another hand I wrote down a detailed paragraph kind of threatening them saying I hired a digital forensics team and contacted the fbi. I am 18 but in this paragraph I lied and said I was underage so they were in possession of that stuff. Right now I’m a senior in high school and my last day is Friday so I’m thinking I just wait until then to block them and deactivate so I never have to see anyone again (except graduation) in case they send my photos. I’ll also make a story on my Instagram telling people block them

Hello everybody.
I used to play MTG a lot when i was in high school, and i used to be pretty decent (rarely was not high placing at FNMs, would win them quite frequently) and overall i was a very competitively minded player.
Well, now im an adult, and i finally have the disposable income for the hobby. but i want to play to win, and to compete. problem is, i have absolutely no idea what the pathway is to high level magic anymore, and it seems like its gone through lots of changes.
I'm struggling to find info on this. What should i do if i wanted to get to an RCQ or, god willing, a pro tour?
what formats should i focus on? is it even that viable anymore? i hear lots of people complain about how wizards destroyed the path to pro magic, but i still see large tournaments. i guess i just need some guidance, as someone getting back into the swing of things.
Thank you!

A little disclaimer before I get fully into it: This was my first real, long term relationship so a lot of things still don’t make sense to me, but I will try my best to explain everything clearly and fully.
Me (19M) and my boyfriend (19M) got together in February of 2023. We met through our job, and even before dating we were good friends for about 6 months prior. During this time in my life, I had just turned 18 and was struggling heavily with my self image, self worth, and the idea that a relationship was even a possibility for me. In fact, I would say i was struggling the most with relationships and men in general. When my boyfriend came along it honestly seemed too good to be true. We hit it off instantly, got along very well, and shared a lot of the same morals and values when it came to dating. Except for when it came to sex, but i’ll go more into that later.
For the first few months, I would say the dynamic worked out well between us. Then, he moved out of his parent’s and in with his best friend and her family, which consisted of her mom, dad, and brother. Since the beginning of the relationship, I wasn’t too crazy about his best friend. I do care about her and have empathy for her, but for lack of better words, my boyfriend kind of let her walk all over him. This seemed to get worse after they started living together. And, it became apparent that they did not see eye to eye on most things and wanted different things out of their living situation. She would get jealous anytime we wanted to spend time together alone, and often times would not let us be alone when I was at their house. This eventually was talked about between them and i will say, in the regards of giving us more space, she did back off. However, their living situation was still toxic. They would have disagreements, but ones that would never be talked about or worked through. In turn, my boyfriend would talk/rant to me about her, and I always agreed with his POV, but that was the end of it. He always said that it’s extremely hard for him to confront people due to his own anxieties and past trauma. I 100% understood this, as I struggle a lot with confrontation too, but when it came to the point of his friend putting stress on our relationship/on me and I would talk to him about it, he would say he understood but nothing would ever be done about it. I could’ve very well spoke up for myself against her, but I was terrified that he would be upset with me and it would cause problems for us. I know that’s unhealthy now but in the moment it felt like I just had to get over it.
Then, around OctobeNovember last year, his friend’s mom ended up kicking both her daughter and my boyfriend out over a very small misunderstanding involving transportation. It was one night that I was taking him home from work, and her mom thought she had to pick him up, so we both showed up to get him. She absolutely flipped out over this and used it as justification to kick him out. Then when his friend tried to defend him against her mom, she kicked her out too. She ended up going to live with her current boyfriend and mine came to live with me. At this point, I had moved about 45 minutes away from our hometown with my dad and step family. I was (and still am) working in said hometown, because I do like my job and most importantly the people I work with. My boyfriend could’ve gone back to live with his parents, but honestly, neither of us wanted that. In hindsight, that’s what should have happened.
Up until this past April, everything was okay with our situation. We were living and working together full time and considering he didn’t have a car or his license yet, I was his source of transportation. Something shifted inside of me though. I found myself not being excited about his presence anymore and also not having sexual feelings towards him anymore, which is highly unusual for me. I felt like I had hit a wall that I couldn’t climb over in the relationship. In that moment, I chalked it up to being a “simple” change in feelings and that we were just growing apart. This did not go very well when I told him. I didn’t expect it to, but I know that he wasn’t even trying to fathom how I felt in the situation and ended up being pretty hurtful about it. The first night after it happened, we had a lengthy conversation over text where he was essentially saying that I ruined him and broke him and that I couldn’t possibly have loved him like I said I did since I was doing this. He also said, and I quote, “You built me back up and made me believe I was finally having the life I deserved and then you destroyed me and left me worse than when you found me”. This of course made me feel immense guilt but I knew it was coming from a place of hurt and I didn’t let it weigh me down too much. He also said that I would never find a friend in him and that this was goodbye, and blocked me on all social media and my phone number. Even though I was the one to break up with him, this still hurt a lot because I did and still do very much care about him.
The next day, he reached back out and apologized for how he reacted and asked me if we could try space instead of a full-on break up. I agreed to this because the relationship really did mean everything to me and I genuinely loved him. I did make sure to tell him that I couldn’t make any promises about my feelings returning but that I would try. And I have. Since then, we have still been working together, just not on the same schedule as before, and he is staying with his parents back in our hometown. We still text on the daily because we both made the agreement that we didn’t just want to go back to strangers. We mainly just talk about work and life and what not, but not much has been said about our specific situation on either end. We both agreed that we needed space. We both also agreed to not really see each other outside of work because we both know it would just complicate things even more, especially if we were to still act like a couple and even more especially if we continued a sexual relationship. This brings us to current day.
It has been about a month of space now and although it’s hard to admit to myself, I don’t want to be back with him. After I’ve had time to think everything over, I’ve realized that I may have put up with more than i deserve/disregarded my self and my feelings for him. Sex was honestly not that important to him, but it always has been for me. It’s not all that I care about of course, but I found myself being told no more often than not. I found myself suppressing my true sexual feelings for him in order to comply to what he wanted. I am also the type of person who likes to try new things, and he was almost always opposed to it. For a while I told myself this was the right thing to do in order for us to work out. With all this being said, our sexual relationship was good and we both enjoyed each other in that way, but it was just very inconsistent.
I also now feel like we just started to want different things out of the relationship. We both needed our own personal space which was impossible at the time, considering we lived and worked together on the same schedules and I was his transportation to and from work and also to hang out with friends when he wanted to. We also have conflicting love languages, as mine is primarily physical affection and reassurance while his are more along the lines of quality time, gift giving, and sharing his interests. As far as the love languages go, I knew early on that they were not the same but I thought we had come to a place where they could coexist. I know now that it was starting not work out that way, and I think he felt the same too although I’m not 100% positive as I found it very hard to understand him and his feelings sometimes, as did he with me.
Like I said previously, he struggles with confrontation. Any time I had an issue with something he did that would upset me, it was usually met with silence and a simple apology or “I don’t remember that/That’s not what I meant.” It seemed like he was taking things as a personal attack rather than trying to understand where I was coming from. One specific moment sticks out to me. One night after work, his best friend wanted to see us before we went home, but she got off of work later than us , which meant we would have to wait around for that. I was very tired due to a long busy day and just wanted to go home as did he, but we stayed and waited anyways because he was afraid of her reaction had we not. I did not respond to this well, and I told him straight up that she walks all over him and that I felt he was not considering how I was feeling about the situation either. All i got in response was confused silence and a simple “I’m sorry.” I was not satisfied with this, and after telling him so, he said how he doesn’t know what else to say/doesn’t know how to communicate how he’s feeling. I ended the conversation there because I could see that I was getting nowhere, but I was still very visibly upset. After we left to go back home, he wouldn’t talk to me and just fell asleep on the drive. This caused me to start crying and after he realized and I reiterated my feelings, I was met with a little more compassion and “i’m sorry”s but then the conversation shifted and no more was said about it on either end.
There were also multiple times that I knew that I had upset him over various things, because he would start acting different (short responses, dirty looks, spending more time on his phone etc). But , when I would ask him what I did, he would just say that he’s fine and to not worry about it. For example, on Valentine’s day this year, I made a very inconsiderate joke about his size (even though it wasn’t true). I was trying to be funny and we both knew I wasn’t being serious, but it still was wrong. It did affect him and eventually he opened up to me and we talked about it, and i apologized profusely and all was resolved. But before that, his demeanor and attitude towards me completely changed and he was treating me very differently. Before we talked about it, I was unaware that the joke I had made was the cause of it, but he told me that he was upset about something I had said but told me it was fine and that he’d get over it, while still treating me differently. I didn’t respond to this well because I knew I had hurt the person I loved, and wanted so desperately to resolve it and make sure it never happened again, but until he brought it to light I was stuck in an intense self-hate/guilt trip.
I will say I don’t recall him ever using any of that against me, but communication is extremely important to me and I just wasn’t getting it. It was like , we always were fine together until the more serious issues came about (differences in intimacy desires, communicating our issues with each other , etc.)
It’s worth mentioning that I also struggle with self image/self worth, and a lot of anxiety/uncertainty. I forgot to include it earlier, but another reason the space is happening is because we lost ourselves in the relationship. We still don’t really who we are or what we want from life. I was constantly preoccupied with how he was feeling and how my actions affected him, and he was constantly preoccupied by turning to me for comfort and safety. I don’t blame him for that though, as I know that we have to fully love and know ourselves/know what we want first before making a commitment to someone else. That’s why I struggle so much with knowing if I’m making the right decision or not. I’m also scared that once I tell him, he won’t want anything to do with me anymore similar to how he reacted the first time. I will forever be grateful for the love that we shared and all the good he showed me and would rather have him as a friend than nothing at all, but I don’t know if that’s the reality. And if it’s not that’s okay and I know that, but I haven’t accepted it. I just want us both to be happy in life and live to our full potentials even if that means it’s not together. If you made it this far I’m sorry for the novel but thank you for taking the time to read. I may be the asshole here and if that’s the case, I will do better and I will make the right decisions. I just need a little insight. Thank you again for anyone who took the time.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSetuFJ3mbftlunCgT7ygRjX59zEm-CmimhSPMMX87-wmNxVyQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
Hi everyone,
I’m working on a business called Internify, a platform designed to help high school students find valuable internships that align with their skills and interests. As someone who benefited greatly from internships during my high school years, I understand the impact these experiences can have on a student's future.
I need your help! I’m looking for detailed feedback to ensure Internify truly meets the needs of students and parents.
Take our survey and provide your best feedback for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card!
What’s in it for you?

• Influence the Future: Your detailed feedback will help shape a service that provides students with meaningful internship opportunities.
• Get Rewarded: The person who gives the most valuable and constructive feedback will receive a $100 Amazon gift card!
• Quick and Easy: The survey takes just 5-10 minutes to complete.

I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions. Thank you for your time and support!
Best regards, Internify

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSetuFJ3mbftlunCgT7ygRjX59zEm-CmimhSPMMX87-wmNxVyQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
Hi everyone,
I’m working on a business called Internify, a platform designed to help high school students find valuable internships that align with their skills and interests. As someone who benefited greatly from internships during my high school years, I understand the impact these experiences can have on a student's future.
I need your help! I’m looking for detailed feedback to ensure Internify truly meets the needs of students and parents.
Take our survey and provide your best feedback for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card!
What’s in it for you?

• Influence the Future: Your detailed feedback will help shape a service that provides students with meaningful internship opportunities.
• Get Rewarded: The person who gives the most valuable and constructive feedback will receive a $100 Amazon gift card!
• Quick and Easy: The survey takes just 5-10 minutes to complete.

I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions. Thank you for your time and support!
Best regards, Internify

cross-posted from GradSchool and what it says on the tin.
i just graduated undergrad in anthropology with a focus in archaeology last december. i have a plethora of research experiences, and i'm in the field right now taking part in a prestigious field program. i had a good undergrad GPA (3.6) and i believe i'd be able to get good LORs. here come the problems:
i was an online student. i didn't do a thesis in undergrad. i wasn't in honors courses, and i don't have many written pieces to submit for writing samples. i moved close to campus in my last year to take part in in-person research once i realized i wanted to go grad school, but i finished up my degree online which made me ineligible for the honors college -- and therefore an undergrad thesis.
i think i could get into a decent phd program, but i'm not fully confident that i'm ready especially since i really haven't attended real, in-person classes in 4 years. i am an archaeology student, but i never took chemistry, or human osteology, or geology. i feel like i missed so much in undergrad that would be aided by taking a master's. plus, i would love to take part in a publication or two and do some conference presentations.
i know people usually say a terminal master's is a waste of time if you know you want a phd, but i just feel like i missed so much..... and i know i could technically teach myself chemistry and geology or whatever, but i missed out big time on lab *classes*. i know how to handle myself in clean and wet labs thanks to my research experiences, but i have next to no practical knowledge beyond the extremely niche things i learned working with archaeology grad students.
i don't know. what helps is that my online undergrad was fully paid for by my job (which is why i took this option, and also the fact that i didn't realize i wanted a phd until halfway through my program), so i have VERY little student loan debt from undergrad, so that would make the hit from taking on paying my way through my master's hit a lot less.
bear with me, i'm a first gen student, which makes navigating all of this so much harder.
i realize that cohort sizes have shrunk dramatically since covid and highly qualified applicant pools have increased sharply. i know i'm a good, competitive student, and that usually terminal MAs are a waste of time, but with my situation and the aforementioned application issues, i am very conflicted. please let me know what you all think.
and because it matters, my specific interests are geochemistry/geochronology/stable isotope chemistry as it informs paleoclimate and paleomobility.
thank you for your time.

I'm reaching out for some advice/guidance regarding my job search situation after a challenging last year or so. I guess I start by saying that this will be a long post.

1. I finished a contract job early last year. After spending a significant amount of time on the resume (first time i did so largely on my own, took a better part of a few months trying to figure that out). I started applying online around the summer and I was getting interviews, but it didn't go anywhere (got close twice, getting to the third round, but still nothing).

Long story short, It got to the point where this year, i needed to move back in with family because i didnt want to go into debt. Now, there telling me to apply to the CRA and do the situational judgement test, and then everything will be fine and you could apply to any job.
Ignoring how incredibly competitive those roles must be, there's likely a high probability that I don’t have the years of experience for that (have basically around 2 years in several roles) that I dont see, with my employment gap and despite me doing volunteer work right now how even if i do the situational judgement test, that it could be remotely worth the effort.... Is this in any way realistic? Anyone familiar with what the process is actually like applying for jobs at the CRA?

1. My interviewing skills are weak. I've made careless mistakes as I look back on some interviews i've done. I've thought about going to the university i graduated from and asking for help, however, I always felt that interview prep was more suitable after getting the request for the interview from the employer, meaning you have a few day notice at best.

Each job description/job your applying for is different so your preparation will be different each time. Is there a place any of you went to in order to get help with interviews? Has general interview preparation worked for you?
I've practiced with family/friends before many times, but it hasnt really helped because the issue is and its hard to explain, but its hard to simulate an actual job interview with people your familiar with because the nerves aren't there for me.

1. At this point, I view advice like "apply online", "keep applying" given my unemployment gap is longer then a year, that advice feels like a wasted effort right now, I've tailored and altered my resume slightly, changing job titles, the beginning profile summary so it aligns better with jobs i've applied for so many times, I have so many different versions of my resume saved on my computer.

I had finally decided last month, to change my strategy and given that I had to move back in with family, I looked more toward volunteer work, as an easier way to cover up an employment gap, and an easier way to gain work experience right now. I started a non-paid volunteer role last month (thankfully, no interview required, just orientation process). This felt like a realistic option, but its a non-paid volunteer role. That very obviously wont work long term, and thats why I'm looking for general advice here on what to do next.

1. I've contacted agencies. Robert Half, Recruiting in Motion, Altis Technology are the ones where I have actually get responses back. However, i guess it comes back to the interviewing skills issue where maybe I'm just not showing enough energy during those calls. Which is why, going back to #2, If anyone has tips or resources that helped them improve their interview skills beyond practicing with family and friends, I'd greatly appreciate any advice you can offer.
   
2. I'm also signed up with YMCA's Employment Services through Employment Ontario. I recently did that, so its to early for me to say whether they'll be any benefit from it.
   
3. In terms of networking, I went through a significant amount of mental and physical health issues during my time in university. One of my regrets during that time was not being able to do, what your supposed to during that time which was network/build connections. I was in no shape to remotely think about working and doing school work at the same time. I tried that once during the summer time one year and I was really struggling , and I was only doing 2 courses during that semester. I’m far better now compared to before, but its more that, now that I’m out of school. I’m not sure where to start with that. ________________________
   

Thank you to anyone that might have took the time to actually read all of that. For some reason, I feel better after writing it.

Hi everyone,
I’m working on a business called Internify, a platform designed to help high school students find valuable internships that align with their skills and interests. As someone who benefited greatly from internships during my high school years, I understand the impact these experiences can have on a student's future.
I need your help! I’m looking for detailed feedback to ensure Internify truly meets the needs of students and parents.
Take our survey and provide your best feedback for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSetuFJ3mbftlunCgT7ygRjX59zEm-CmimhSPMMX87-wmNxVyQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
What’s in it for you?

• Influence the Future: Your detailed feedback will help shape a service that provides students with meaningful internship opportunities.
• Get Rewarded: The person who gives the most valuable and constructive feedback will receive a $100 Amazon gift card!
• Quick and Easy: The survey takes just 5-10 minutes to complete.

I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions. Thank you for your time and support!
Best regards, Internify

For context (without doxxing myself):
I am a very average law school student GPA-wise. In fact, I fall near the lower end of the "middle."
I don’t come from wealth, nor is anyone in my family connected to attorneys. I was always taught, from high school through undergrad, that it's all about who you know and network with. Thus, I’ve been building relationships with people for a very long time. I always told myself that if I ever got the opportunity to be invited to an interview, I should make the most of it (I think the hardest part about getting a job is just being invited to sit down).
Well, this spring, like all of us 1Ls, I started applying to jobs. I knew my GPA wouldn’t be discouraging, yet it wouldn’t be what grabs an employer's attention. Everything is solid on my resume. Instead of going through my career services office, I decided to cold email firms and reach out to attorneys I met at law school networking events, and even those I networked with prior to law school.
To my surprise, I was invited to a few interviews with some firms, both big and boutique, that I really liked. Ultimately, both of these firms offered me very well-compensated jobs, and I ended up going with the niche firm because I felt really welcomed, and the job they offered wasn’t only for the summer but indefinitely.
When I was called into Career Services, I explained to them the job offers I had received and informed them about the path I was going down.
To my surprise, their happiness for me was met with some skepticism. They even made a comment about how they were shocked I got offered these jobs with my GPA, and started to question if I was connected to any of these firms in a way. “Wow, they are really going to pay that much?”
To be fair, I am shocked myself and I am truly grateful to be in this position. But the office just seemed really annoyed that I kind of undermined the whole idea they push that grades correlate to how well you are compensated for your first job.
I hope this comes off that I am being humble and I’m excited/grateful. But I am kind of salty that career services (along with some of my peers) feel like this was just handed to me, and they are being passive-aggressive. Just had to vent this out…

i’ve just graduated high school and now im going to try and make more money and work better hours should i go with in the warehouse qtd or erp?

I sat in our dark bedroom, the computer screen glaring with a harsh, white light. A banner flashed before my eyes: “Seek wisdom by understanding yourself.”
“Chloe, check this out,” I called over my shoulder to my girlfriend playing The Sims on her laptop.
She glanced up, her brow furrowing in confusion before giving me a bemused look. “What the hell are you looking at?” she asked.
“It’s some cult,” I replied, unable to hide my fascination. “I fell down a rabbit hole and found this local place downtown. It's a derivative of Aleister Crowley and Golden Dawn bullshit.” I pointed to the Google Street View image of a dilapidated storefront in an ethnic shopping center.
She smirked, a hint of amusement in her eyes. “I never pegged you as the religious type.”
“Check this out,” I continued, clicking through the site. “They have some photos.”
We spent some time going through the albums celebrating various solstices. Most were taken in an odd room with black and white checkered floors, adorned with Egyptian pseudo-artifacts, bathed in the glow of red and purple lights that transformed the scene into a surreal dreamscape.
The people certainly had an alternative vibe. Tattoos were plentiful, but other than that they looked like they came from all different walks of life. Many of them looked like they had their fair share of bullying in high school - no shortage of that. But most of them looked relatively normal aside from the occasional piercing.
One photograph in particular caught my eye. A woman, sitting in a bright red room, sat on an altar, holding a staff in her right hand, wearing nothing. A man was kneeled before her, his arms tied behind him, rope anchored to the ceiling. They were sliding a knife down his back, a small trickle of blood dripping to the floor.
“Damn,” Chloe started. “She’s butt-ass naked.”
“You wanna go?” I asked. “They’re having a get together tonight.”
“You know what, fuck it. Why not? It’s not like we’re doing anything.” she replied.
“Good,” I smiled, standing up. “Because I already ordered an Uber.”
She sighed before opening a drawer and pulling out a small pipe. “I’ll go, but i'm not going sober.”
It was a cold, shitty Seattle winter night. We got dropped off in the parking lot and spent a few minutes looking for the storefront. We finally found it next to a dog groomer and Pho restaurant with some pun for the name I can’t seem to remember.
We entered the shop, which consisted of two narrow isles separated by wood shelves barely big enough for me to fit down. We spent some time looking at the various items, my attention diverting to a vial of elk blood. I remember wondering if they were even allowed to sell this without some type of medical certification they definitely did not have while Chloe shuffled through a bowl of mix and match crystals.
“Can I help you?” I heard a woman say from the back as she emerged from a beaded curtain. She was a short, overweight woman wearing what I could only describe as a sports bra and hula skirt.
“Hi, uh,” I stuttered. “I’m George and this is Chloe. We’re here for the… winter solstice celebration?”
“Oh, goodie! Newcomers!” she said with an out of place, overjoyed expression as she clapped her hands. Chloe and I laughed nervously.
“The door is in the back, but you can come through here just this time.” she said with a smile, arm holding the beaded curtain open.
We walked through a dark hallway, somehow more cramped than the shop, into a rather large room. A gaggle of people were huddled in the back, which Chloe and I quietly shuffled into.
A bearded man paraded around the room, white robes and red headdress cascading into a cloak, knuckles adorned with several large rings gripping a spear, held vertically in front of him. Behind him, another bald man, white robes and yellow cloak, followed behind, white sleeves crossed over his chest.
I glanced at Chloe’s bloodshot eyes, THC clearly flowing through her system. I gave her a knowing look, as if to say Having fun yet? She returned a slow smile.
Without warning, the entire crowd clapped their hands together over their heads as a woman in blue robes walked past, waving a censure leaking white smoke. We awkwardly followed to match the group.
The blue curtains on the back wall opened to reveal an older Asian woman sitting perched on the altar I saw in the photos, again, completely naked. And before you ask, no. She wasn’t attractive. It’s never the ones you hope it is. The red robed man kneeled down and softly kissed her knees.
I glanced back at Chloe. Her smile was so big I was afraid she was going to laugh at any moment. I pinched her on the side and whispered into her ear “Do. Not. Fucking. Laugh”. Honestly, I think I just made it worse. Her face turned beet red as she bit her cheeks.
The ritual went on for another half hour or so. They must’ve said “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law” at least a dozen times.
We were getting kind of bored and were ready to leave before the woman in the blue robes wandered in with a caged chicken.
"No fucking way" I thought. Surely enough, the man in the yellow robes held the chicken high in the air, before slitting its throat and draining blood into a large metallic basin. The man winced as the chicken flailed violently, scratching up his arms, before eventually succumbing to blood loss.
One by one, each person there stood between a white and black pillar saying love and intention in Greek before eating a piece of something, taking a sip of blood, and saying “There is no part of me that is not of the Gods.”
Chloe and I hung back, and politely declined when our turn came. Once all was said and done, they busted out some alcohol and started celebrating. We slipped out into the street, bursting out laughing. After we finally collected ourselves, Chloe whipped out her phone and showed me she took dozens of pictures of the ritual.
We laughed our asses off the entire way home. First thing she did was open her laptop and post the pictures on Twitter, tagging the lodge with the caption “me and the boys chilling right now”.
We returned to the usual rhythm of our lives. I went to work, conducting meetings and answering emails, while Chloe went back to her classes. A few days later, Chloe checked her Twitter and saw that she had gained a few thousand likes. The whole ordeal became a running joke between us.
I would eat fruit snacks and sip on my soda, saying, “There is no part of me that is not of the Gods”. A few weeks later, we had mostly forgotten about it, except for the occasional recounting as a funny story to regale our friends.
One night while Chloe and I were spending our evening the usual way with me on the computer and her on her laptop, I felt her furiously tap my shoulder while staring wide eyed at the window. Confused, I took my headphones off and walked over, pulling back the curtain to reveal 6 people standing in black robes and animal masks watching us from the hillside.
“What do we do, should I call the cops?” Chloe whimpered.
“No, they’re just a bunch of larpers. They’re not going to do shit! Just trying to scare us.” I said angrily as I closed the blinds and hopped back on my computer.
Chloe sat there for a few minutes in a tense pose with her arms folded together. She went to double check the door was locked, before we continued our night as normal.
The next day I got a text from Chloe frantically telling me to come home immediately. When I arrived, there was a squad car parked outside our building. I ran up the stairs to see two officers standing by Chloe in the doorway. I nearly shouted asking what was going on. They lead me inside to show me a massive black symbol drawn on our wall, a six-pointed star made from one continuous line.
We finished our police report and they told us they’d get back to us if they find anything. I’ve been robbed often enough to know that means they’re going to forget about this before they’ve even gotten back into their squad car.
Furious, I stormed over to the shop and banged on the window. The hula skirt woman came over and cracked the door open just enough for me to see one of her eyes.
“What the fuck do you think your little posse is doing!?” I screamed at her. “Breaking into my apartment like that!? You all are fucking psychos!”
“I haven’t any idea what you’re talking about”, she said with a sly grin.
“Oh, yeah?” I said pointing a finger in her face. “If anyone tries any shit like that again I’m going to burn your goddamn shop to the ground, do you hear me?”
She looked at the ground, clearly nervous. I have never blown up at a stranger like this but I could tell my threats were working.
After a moment of silence I stormed off again, back towards home.
“You meddle with forces you do not understand!” she called out from the shop.
I picked up a glass bottle from the sidewalk and chucked it, smashing against her shop window, forcing her to close the door and disappear into the shadows. I’m not particularly proud of how I behaved in this moment, but unless you’ve had someone break into your home and draw shit on the walls, hold on to your judgment.
The next few days passed without so much as a peep from them. Chloe and I began to relax, convincing ourselves that the cult had been scared off. Life seemed to be returning to normal, and the unsettling incident became just another story.

My father gave me his gold Day Date as a med school graduation gift over 20 years ago. I love the watch but have been considering swapping the dial for the past couple of years. Currently it's the champagne dial, I'm curious what other style dials do other people like for this watch as I haven't had a chance to see many in person.

AITAH? Help please! Me 50 yof and fiancé 47 yof began dating in the fall of 2019. We emotionally connected night one. 2020 was the year of COVID so we couldn’t go out much and spent many days/nights together and every weekend alternating homes due to high school age children in her home and each our own home responsibilities. We live 1 hour 45 min apart but work some days in similar city. Later 2020 she had a stroke and I was there for her and the kids day and night. In the fall of 2020 she proposed. I’m was elated! Very early 2021 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and began the fight of life with treatments ending the end of that December which like an idiot I worked through as I wanted to keep my job. I learned that hard lesson not to ever do that again. We never left each others side and she took tremendous care of me but due to cancer treatment, my low immunity, and COVID still in swing we did spend more time in my home. She somehow maintained both places for us and took care of me. We enjoy the same things and loved spending enormous amounts of time together. Due to past experiences I was not the most open nor was I one to bring up past crap to discuss but she liked and needed that discussion. I began learning to trust and open up more and more with her. We never fought with the exception of a few of her drinking excessively episodes which would become very verbal and an attempt to be physical once but would not never remember any of it. This was obviously a red flag for me and I needed to know that I knew it wouldn’t keep happening so I became not excited about getting married just yet and shut down some. The drinking no doubt became way less but I was uneasy about it still. 2022 I was still dealing with my body, mind, emotions and everything that goes with cancer recovery. I wanted to recover yesterday and just wasn’t there. Also when I had returned to work I was given an extra heavy load which I wasn’t ready for. I was utterly exhausted day and night and found it hard to have a whole lot of conversation about much of anything. I just wanted rest. She would give me articles to read about dealing with cancer, recovery, and such but I didn’t find it relevant to the situation. I went into treatment with a strong fighter mentality and it was finally over! I just needed to feel better. I knew her emotional needs weren’t being met and said things like “please give me more time to heal” which turned into “I can’t heal fast enough for you but I want to badly.” We went on vacation for the first time that summer which we both needed greatly with all we had been through. A communication issue arose and each of us not feeling heard which drinking me decided to walk a long distance back to the hotel while trying not to interact with her. We finished the vacation and had some good times but there was still clearly some raw distance feelings going on. When we returned I left and later when I ask if she wanted all her things and did I returned them. We did continue to talk and were able to resume our relationship. We had talked of moving in together for a long time even before cancer but it was on hold due to one child still being at home and deciding to stay local for college for awhile. We began what we now know to be anxious, her, avoidant, me, vicious cycle. We both knew we were in a bad place but not understanding or knowing how to talk to and with one another which turned out to being me talked about more than with me I felt including strangers on vacation. November 2023 we went to a therapist returning also in December but hadn’t gotten very far with him just yet then with holidays didn’t fit in another session. To late sadly. There were more hurt feelings of her feeling dismissed and me being shut down, we weren’t able to communicate effectively and I didn’t feel safe doing so related to the anxious attachment behavior. She would have a few beers often and the thoughts of would it be to much again were always present for me. She didn’t but it didn’t take away my fear. The anxious attachment reaction to yell and all that goes with it would push me to shut down not feeling safe to talk and the more I shut down the more anxious she became. At the end of the first week of January 2024 I left again. We didn’t speak for 3 weeks until I began reaching out endlessly to reconnect and return to the therapist. We both said the first week apart was like a relief. The second and third week I spent researching any books I could find to understand what was going on and how to repair us which is were I learned about anxious avoidant attachment. I sent the audible book to her and she also went through it. We then reconnected face to face mid March, talking every day, attempting to heal our hurts, and spend time together again. It was so beautiful! I have worked extremely hard to understand my past behavior, take responsibility, ask for forgiveness and talk about how I should have and will now do things differently. We both have. In April she had a set back and withdrew saying her feelings for me weren’t there yet but we would continue talking and date. I am ok with that as it takes time to rebuild trust, heal hurts, and love again and I’m willing to give her all the time she needs. I did learn in April during the midst of our few weeks apart she had a rebound encounter which we talked about and I forgive and will forget because I love her so much and want a life with her. Next thing I know I’m thrown into the friends only zone with the desire to keep talking and texting and eventually spend time together doing things. A couple weeks ago I seen at her son’s graduation she had someone with her (different from the rebound I’m told but both rebounds UAF!) and was being affectionate with. I’m devastated. We have each continued with the therapist separately. I have dug deep within myself to learn and grow and have expressed everything I know to her. She has also made progress learning and growing but says she’s still hurt and can’t get past me leaving and while she acknowledges her anxious behavior and my avoidant cycle, it’s merely that I left. We were not in a healthy, productive place, no ability to effectively communicate before and now we can. I remain to have an unconditional love for her and desire us to be together. She didn’t like when I brought up the word unconditional. How can someone say they now understand, give and accept forgiveness, yet remain apart but desire to remain close friends and spend time together? I admit I’ve not seen or experienced a healthy love life but unconditional to me means just that, e figure it out and grow together. I’ve tried to me angry but I simply can not be that way, it’s not who I am, nor her. Here it is mid May and in a week we fly out of state together for my family’s graduation. She still wants family which I fully don’t understand and request she not plan on being part of family picture that are planned. I’m sure that hurt but shouldn’t we draw a line somewhere? She’s not comfort coming to other family events like baseball games and such saying she isn’t comfortable staying in the other room due to distance of work yet planning to stay in my hotel room next weekend. IF she even goes (me saying this not her). FYI the flight is non refundable. I’m an emotional wreck daily and don’t know how to move past her.

it’s about an ex. didn’t ever communicate what bothered her and would always make excuses when asked to meet. she blindsided me and I haven’t figured out what went wrong 10 months post break-up. she most likely checked out of it much earlier hence the excuses? sounds cliché, but left me at my worst, literal rock bottom and never bothered to send a sorry or take care text. It has been in my head all this time.
She’d get really flattered by compliments from this guy friend of hers ‘S’ who she was in high school(12) with (i was a +2 pass out then). she’d talk about him a lot with me too and i thought they were just friends it didn’t occur to me that she might like him, until she said she “predicted” he liked her. she started being distant from me. that guy wrote a long ass paragraph as a parting message on their last day .
some weeks after we parted she posted a series of picture wirh that guy(don’t know when the pictures were from) in her alternate instagram. it was a farewell post, he was headed to US for his undergrad prolly. she had a bunch of hearts, and lungs, and hand heart emojis that she’d never used to anyone else. she’d use the 🫶 often but never those. that post sent me deep into a spiral which has struck me till date.
i’ve always wanted to believe that they had no such thing and were just friends but the way she got distant and he came into picture tells a different story. and this has fucked my mind till date. i assume i’d rather be in peace if i knew it for sure they were a thing already instead.
she had the time of her life touring while i could barely lift myself. i feel so pathetic of the state i was in and cry to it till date.
Reconnected with her a month and half back hoping for a closure (and an apology for ending it abruptly) but got a “i’m speechless”, invited her to a ceremony hoping we could be friends but she couldn’t come. would only reply for the sake of reply when texted. can’t really unfollow her again since i’ve already done it multiple times but seeing her social media activity(likes on reels) is a daily reminder that she’ll never be mine anymore. we’re both in distant colleges, she’s an year younger. can’t stop reminiscing about the good times we had and i know for sure that i’ll never bond that well with anyone.
i’m so confused all the time, always switching from being content with it, to raged, depressed, to regretting reconnecting with her and being vulnerable time and again. it’s as if i’ve put myself on a lower hand situation by acting on all these impulses instead of fucking sticking to No Contact.
I still really love her but hate her at the same time. She has no idea how much I went through. I’m also vengeful. It also feels over for me in all possible ways because I couldn’t ever find out on what grounds she broke up with me. I feel helpless and heavily betrayed although i’ve made a lot of progress physically, mentally and emotionally. It feels as if all this progress is a waste, because she’ll never look back and has already moved on (prolly is with that guy i don’t fucking know)
could it be her friends influence? can say that she wasn’t very fond of me in front of her friends.
sorry for mentioning details that might seem petty. i’m definitely not at peace, else i wouldn’t be posting this either. please be kind, all i want is insights on what might’ve happened and help me move on. it’s not getting any better for me. she’s 18 and i’m 19 for the age group reference.

Most of my kids high school group is going up to Folsom Lake for senior cut day this week. The ones that don’t feel like going to the lake or trying to figure out something else to do that doesn’t involve drinking.
Ideas? tia

what it says on the tin.
i just graduated undergrad in anthropology last december. i have a plethora of research experiences, and i'm in the field right now taking part in a prestigious archaeology field program. i had a good undergrad GPA (3.6) and i believe i'd be able to get good LORs. here come the problems:
i was an online student. i didn't do a thesis in undergrad. i wasn't in honors courses, and i don't have many written pieces to submit for writing samples. i moved close to campus in my last year to take part in in-person research once i realized i wanted to go grad school, but i finished up my degree online which made me ineligible for the honors college -- and therefore an undergrad thesis.
i think i could get into a decent phd program, but i'm not fully confident that i'm ready especially since i really haven't attended real, in-person classes in 4 years. i am an archaeology student, but i never took chemistry, or human osteology, or geology. i feel like i missed so much in undergrad that would be aided by taking a master's. plus, i would love to take part in a publication or two and do some conference presentations.
i know people usually say a master's is a waste of time if you know you want a phd, but i just feel like i missed so much..... and i know i could technically teach myself chemistry and geology or whatever, but i missed out big time on lab *classes*. i know how to handle myself in clean and wet labs thanks to my research experiences, but i have next to no practical knowledge beyond the extremely niche things i learned working with archaeology grad students.
i don't know. what helps is that my online undergrad was fully paid for by my job (which is why i took this option, and also the fact that i didn't realize i wanted a phd until halfway through my program), so i have VERY little student loan debt from undergrad, so that would make the hit from taking on paying my way through my master's hit a lot less.
bear with me, i'm a first gen student, which makes navigating all of this so much harder.
thank you for your time.
EDIT: i realize that my field makes this a little more subjective: cohort sizes have shrunk dramatically since covid and highly qualified applicant pools have increased sharply. i know i'm a good, competitive student, and that usually terminal MAs are a waste of time, but with my situation and the aforementioned application issues, i am very conflicted. please let me know what you all think.
and just because anthro is a very broad field, my specific interests are geochemistry/geochronology/stable isotope chemistry as it informs paleoclimate and paleomobility.

I’ve never done this before so bear with me. Backstory – I M35 and my brother M23 have a big age gap so we grew up in very different lifestyles. We have always been close, and I loved having a little brother when I was younger, but we didn’t really become close friends until he was near an adult. When I say that we grew up in very different lifestyles I mean that I grew up with my parents getting divorced, and my mom marrying a new person my step father. Soon after that my brother was born. I always wanted a little brother, just ask my little sister lol. He was really the glue that kept me wanting to be around, and be a part of the family as I was not always the best behaved teenager especially with my stepfather. As I grew and my stepfather did we also became close. Looking back now we can both admit our faults for him inheriting a 12 year old and being a first time parent to me also having my bio father still around. My younger brother was always the glue that made me want to have a better relationship with our family. My brother has never known anything else besides the family unit that we still have today. I left the area to go to college, and chose to follow my passion for a career which unfortunately put me in a situation where I was struggling financially and moving a lot. He went to the local college and lived at home. He wanted to be a lawyer, and didn’t want to leave home.
Now when it came time to add people to our family (spouses) we also went different routes. I wanted to wait til I was in a financially stable point in my life before I proposed to my girlfriend (now wife), and my brother got married very young to his high school girlfriend just as he was graduating college. I only bring this up because they got engaged not long after we did, and before our wedding. He told me and my fiancé at the time about it, and we were very surprised. Not because he was going to propose, but because he had never lived anywhere except out parents house even thru college, and his girlfriend at the time also never didn’t live under her parents roof. That’s really where this kicks off. My brother was suppose to graduate and go to law school anywhere he wanted with my parents support, but he was feeling pressure from her family. Everyone tried to tell him to take his time, and no hurry to get married. This is opposite of his girlfriends family who all got married young including her siblings (most divorced as well), and they were feeling the pressure so they got married right away. My wife who has meshed super well with my very large family was a little annoyed at this, but I reminded her that my brother was one of the sweetest people, and means no harm whatsoever. She agreed as she had a very good relationship with both of my siblings. The first issue that came up was apparently my fiancé not asking my brothers girlfriend (soon to be fiancé) to be one of her bridesmaids. Nobody expected her to be asked apparently except her and my brother. He on the other hand was my best man. My wife however is a very loud, outspoken, and relatable person who wears her heart on her sleeve so she fit extremely well in my big Italian-American family. My brothers wife however is the opposite, very quiet and could be a little awkward around big loud groups, which my family is. They had very little relationship, and my wife has a very small friend group so we had a small bridal party to begin with. So its not that they didn’t get along I just wouldn’t call them friends. After our wedding where my parents were extremely involved in every decision we made there was a contrast, and the first time where we noticed an issue. My brothers wife would never talk to my mother, and would leave her out of a lot of the wedding planning, which was hard for her because my mother and stepfather were fronting the bill. She would only communicate thru my brother, and caused a lot of tension with the family. Also during this time my sister was very pregnant, and thru my brother again was being made to feel very bad for missing the wedding because she had just given birth 2 weeks prior to the date. So there has been tension for the past couple years stemming from this, and a similar situation with their baby shower after they welcomed their first child. My mother, and my sister were very hurt, but never wanted to cause issues with my brother and his wife. The other tension stems from them making decisions with no regard for the outcome. Everyone tried to tell them not to get married so quick (they did), everyone told them to just wait til he was done with law school to buy a house (they did), everyone told them to not have kids until they were in a better place (they didn’t), and my parents have been helping them financially to make sure they survive. This has caused my parents to push back their retirement plans, and they don’t really get to see their grandson as much as they would like, because they have become much closer to his in-laws.
Now to the recent happenings, me and my wife decided that we wanted to start trying to have kids, and we struggled to do so. My wife was having previously unknown complications that made it hard for us to conceive. This was a struggle, but we worked together to make it happen. What made this all the crazier was that we found out she was pregnant the day after I had just gotten a new job. Crazy story, but I had to move immediately and leave my wife behind to follow in a couple months. We told everyone because we were so excited, and facetimed all of the family together to tell them. Similar to what my siblings did when they had their children, and my sister was also getting married and my wife was a bridesmaid so we did not want to steal any of their thunder during their wedding. There were little issues leading up to the wedding between my sister and my sister-in-law including them not liking their table and requesting my sister move them two days before the wedding. Because they were both bridesmaids and different personalities they butted heads a little bit, but nothing big. That is until I overhead my sister-in-law talking shit on my wife to some family friends, which pissed me off, but I didn’t make it a big deal. My wife was hurt, but not surprised. Also in the week of the wedding we found out that we were having a little girl (the first one), and everyone was very excited. Especially my wife. We didn’t make a big deal about it, but had an amazing time at my sisters wedding. Because of me having to travel back to work we left early the day after the wedding. What we didn’t know was that my brother and his wife were going to announce their 2^nd child the day after the wedding. We didn’t know, and they did a very elaborate announcement for my parents and my sister. What I got was a text message the next day to just let me know. My wife was extremely hurt by this, and I chose to confront him about it. Its hard enough for my wife to be by herself, pregnant and away from family, but she truly does view my family as hers. I chose to confront my brother about it, and what I got was a very half hearted apology, with petty shots about us not telling them we were having a girl but that was not the reason according to them that we were not included in the announcement. Now everyone is picking sides, and fighting about it. AITA?

I am graduating from school in less than a month, and my music teacher was really special for me. I want to make her a farewell gift: A book, but Im not sure which. She is also a German teacher, so Im looking for something that a teacher in music and German could be interested in.

My daughter is a junior, playing high school volleyball. A senior that graduated, recently, was involved in an auto accident, while under the influence of marijuana and alcohol. She was also driving under a suspended license for a previous DUI charge. She drove the wrong way on bridge, struck an oncoming driver and killed them.
During the season, and after this happened, her varsity coach called the girls to a huddle before a game, and stated that they wanted to dedicate the game to her former teammate. "Let's win this one for Aubrey." They girls all looked perplexed as they knew the former player just killed someone. As a parent, why would you dedicate a game to a player that is about to be convicted of aggrevated vehicular homocide under a previous dui suspended license? What message are we sending our youth?
The AD did not know this occurred, and board members were told, and appalled. So far, nothing has happened because it is the MO of the Superintendant to sweep everything under the rug.
Thoughts on this?
-Gabe

My mother has over 10+ autoimmune diseases and she's always sick and in pain but she still gets through. A few months ago, she suggested that I get a summer job because there will be a car available for me at the house (I just graduated undergrad and I'm starting my master's in the fall) and so I decided to start searching for a job because I don't want to be a bum all summer like I have been my entire life. Every single summer I fall into a depressive episode, don't wake up at good times, barely eat, don't work out, never leave the house, etc. But this summer I wanted something different. So after getting the inspiration to apply for jobs, I scored 3 different ones. I decided not to do the first one because I'd be working 24/7 (literally) and it wouldn't be great for my mental health and the pay sucks. I got a second job offer where I would be out in western America for 3-4 weeks, then I'd be in my home state about two hours ish away for another 4-5 weeks. After wanting to do the second job, I told my mom about it and she suddenly said I don't need to work and that she doesn't want me to go and that it wouldn't help my career. I was so confused because getting a job in the first place was all her idea. Then I got another job offer that was significantly closer to home, would help with my career, and I could stay home for the summer and I thought it would be great because I could use the car, but then she said she's not willing to let me use the family car for a job. Then, when I started considering staying, I had a few requests, (1) that I could use the family car to go to the gym and that I would pay for the membership and gas, and (2) that I can use the kitchen appliances to make my own food (they're new and my parents don't allow me to use the stove for anything and only they're allowed to make food but they work remotely in their offices all day so I don't really have time to get either of them to make me food. I learned this from staying home for a few weeks this winter when we got the new appliances). So after requesting those two things, she said no to both and that I should cope with what we have at home. So then I decided I was going to take the job out west because I need to stay on this upwards slope I'm going with my mental, physical, and emotional health.
This weekend, it was my graduation and a week or so before my mother said she didn't want to go and that she wanted to go on a trip because her anniversary is later in the week of my graduation and that I was basically being selfish for not choosing to take a trip for my graduation. Some context, we were planning on going on a trip to Europe for years but then a year or so ago my mother said it wasn't going to happen and so when she asked if I wanted to go to my undergraduate graduation or go on a trip I chose my graduation because I never got a real high school graduation because I graduated in 2020 during the pandemic. So, this past week, she was upset with me about this and she had gotten sicker and so I told her not to come because (1) she doesn't want to come and (2) she's sick, but she decided to come anyways and I am very grateful she did. Fast forward to today, my mother texted me saying that she's not doing well and she wants me to stay home this summer and not do the jobs I have lined up so she can get a break (from worrying about me and financially, even though she said she'd not paying a dime to get me to my job or to help me with my job). She's been coughing a lot and I think it's because she has a respiratory infection from a medication she started taking that could cause a side effect of a respiratory infection but when she went to the doctors they couldn't determine what was wrong with her.
I'm trying to think of I'm leaving anything out... Well for one, I'll be home for the next 2 weeks and then I'm going out to the job out west for 3-4 weeks and then I'm coming back to our home state to work the second part of the job but I won't be living at home. Also, I can't just drop out of the job because (1) I signed a contract, and (2) the company paid for my flights out west and back and the tickets are non refundable and I may want to work with this company next summer.
All in all, I don't know what to do. I know she's not doing well but if she dies I will truly regret it, and if I don't do this job I will regret it, probably fall into a depressive episode, will lose weight (which has been an issue and I'm finally a healthy weight now), and I won't be able to go anywhere because I'm not allowed to drive the car except to run errands for my parents. Additionally, my sibling just graduated grad school and my mother is wanting them to come home too even though they're in the process of starting their life in another state as well... My sibling coming back to our home state is a whole 'nother story with countless issues that I don't want to get into.
All in all, what should I do? I don't think she's going to die, but I don't want her to get sicker worrying about me. But I need the freedom to workout, work a job to be productive, to not fall into another depressive episode, and to experience life in a state I've been wanting to go to ever since I was a kid. But I also do care about my mother and she's worked so hard to provide for me and my sibling and I don't want to be selfish. But for how long will I be stuck at home during the summer, not having any freedom, before I become a real adult and have to live my own life? I just want to experience things while I'm still young but I also don't want to lose my mother. I may be overreacting with how bad her health is but she never asks me to stay home, but I've always been home for the summer.
Any advice?