A teacher at my school is a groomer. I see him talking to kids and he gets them to do things for him outside of school. I asked some of the kids about it and they said he's mentoring them, but he tells them weird things and is building relationships with them so that they will do things for him for the rest of their lives. One kid told me he met a guy at his house who graduated from our school a couple of years ago and still does favors for him. Basically he's having them do part time work for his home businesses and not paying them saying that he's "giving them experience" and "teaching them life skills". He gives them "homework" for "special lessons" which is really just regular work he doesn't pay them for. I think he might be a pedo too, but I don't know. The way he looks at girls creeps me out. I tried to confront him about it and he said there was nothing wrong with it. I insisted that he has to pay them or stop and he said if I didn't drop it he'd make trouble for me. He knows what he's doing is wrong and he doesn't care.
What can I do? Who can I report him to anonymously? I think if anything happens he might know it was me anyway because no one else seems to get what he's doing. I tried to explain it to the kids but sometimes he gives them extra credit so they want to keep doing it anyway. Is there anything I can do? I really hate seeing this happen.
I go to school in California.

Sorry I didn’t know where else to post this.
He’s american and we’ve been talking for a month now, friends on social media for years. Sometimes I think he’s sending me signs that he is disinterested but then he will send me something that makes me question it all over again.
Anyway, I have been trying to connect with him lately. He’s going through some stuff that I can’t really do anything about but I try to send him things to feel better like little stress relieving teas or medicine when he was sick. I don’t have a car and there’s a decent drive between us. But he talks a lot about Armenia, its rich history and sends videos to share about his culture and traditions. I’ve never had anyone do this before. And there seems to be no point other than sharing this part of himself since it seems he can’t (or won’t) connect in others ways.
Is this man interested in me? Do I have to pass an exam to date him?
I also found out (what promoted this post) today about how Armenians are Orthodox Christian and that’s where he goes to church. I am Christian nondenominational so this was a bit of a surprise.
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me.
Oh PS I am also autistic so I feel socially awkward a lot and you might see it in how this post was written.

Just throwing my thoughts out there, Spoilers for the Manga/anime!
So I like to divide them into 2 groups: Those who got screen time and those who didn't:
The group that got screen time:
Rayne Ames - The Sword Cane: The fan fave? Okay so he is basically Byakuya from Bleach and I fucking love him for it. Felt natural for him to take Mash’s side and his rabbit obsession is a fun and not overused gag. Plz just talk to your brother and stop overworking your self man. 8/10 solid dude.
Orter Mádl - The Desert Cane: Ngl when I first saw him I though the author really made Harry potter in this Wizarding world parody be the main antagonist huh? Thought his view were comically extreme at first but he kinda grew on me. Let's face it he has the best drip of all the Dvs. Now stop being a dead-beat brother to Wirth. 3/3 eyes.
Kaldo Gehenna - The Flame Cane: This man dead-ass never casts a single spell. Like the flame from his blade is described as not chanting a spell or something like that. I feel like he has a nice balance between badass DV moments and comedic gag ones… of those he has. Anime adaptation is probably gonna add more scene of him, right!? Questionable food taste/10
Ryoh Grantz - The Light Cane: Love the guy, hate the banana-ass looking hair. I feel like there is some lost potential here regaring the fact that Ryoh is the only confirmed parent/father, and there isn’t some line about him understanding the anxiety around shunning children that lacks magic power. Like I’d imagine the reason why is on the pro Mash side, is cause he wouldn’t let his own son having to grow up in a society were you either magic, or don’t magic and get executed. The manliest man that ever man’ed/10.
The group that did (but not enough)
Renatus Revol - The Immortal Cane: From what little we get he seem chill. Apparently the manga author had a backstory of him that didn’t make it in the story. Before he achieved his immortality he tried to sacrifice himself fro the woman he loved, hence the one scar on him. According to the fanbook: Bodies of deceased wizards leave enormous amounts of magical energy, so it is Renatus' job to make sure there is no theft at cemeteries. Sounds metal af, shame we don’t got to see any of it. 7/10.
Agito tyrone – The dragon Cane: Okay so what little we get from him in the story is; he is like the only religious guy and belives killing is a sin and actively hold a count on how many time he has sinned during the ‘final frontier’ battle. On one hand, why would he agree to take Mash’s life then? On the other why okay I guess he would be most pro execute Mash alongside Orter since magic is a gift from the gods. Oh and ALSO he is a an open masochist, and according to the fanbook his favorite type of opposite sex is married-women. I-THOUGH-HE-WAS-THE-GENTLE-GIANT-WITH-A-CUTE-DRAGON-TYPE-OF-CHARACTE10
Sophina Biblia – The knowledge Cane: Girl blocked Deliasters with a book. Go off Queen. Really would have loved to see more of her personal magic and in general let her have more screentime. I mean besides that it’s worth mentioning the trivia on her that mentions her nickname since her school days was "President". She has served as student president many times as she is very reliable. Makes me wonder what her reasons are for agree to Orter’s decisions. Like if she didn’t, I feel like she would just like Rayne, make it obvious she disagrees, also if both Orter and Ryoh were to bite the dust I guess she would be next in line to be the unoffical leader of the Dvs. 1/4 relevant female character in the story.
Tsurara Halestone - The Ice Cane: So what’s the secret under the eye-patch? Feel like it’s a Black Butler reference idk. I mean besides that the only interesting thing I can think of for Tsuara is the fact they dislike they personal magic and actively states so. Maybe if Mashle was a more traditional shonen battle series we would have gotten some arc/story around the fact that not everyone likes their personal magic and can’t do anything about it. And like Tsuara some types can inconvenience the mage to various degrees. Idk/10.
Tl;dr I wish [Insert character name here] got more screentime.

Something I was thinking about when I watched the final moments of the most recent EFAP was Mauler’s observation that the internet content creator landscape used to be different when AVGN clones ruled Youtube and his question of how that shifted into video essayists and commentary channels. I thought about that for a while and I thought of some reasons why the landscape changed that I would like to share.
Managers
Something that people might not be aware of is how many Youtubers have people managing their content in the form of things like setting up brand deals and other services that I am not familiar with. Some of them are very public about what they do, some of them are more private. The important thing is how managers worked in the past.
One thing that I liked about Machinima, ScrewAttack, and Channel Awesome that the creators probably didn’t like is that they forced the older creators to stick to a set schedule of uploads and some of them forced creators to follow a set formula. This meant that the manager would make sure that if a creator uploaded a video every Friday at 2pm, they would have an upload every single Friday at 2pm.
How would this work if the creator wanted to take a week off? Well, the creator would have to have a video to upload in advance. What if the creator wanted to spend 3 weeks on a super-duper big video? Well, they could absolutely do that, but it would be a passion project and they’d still have to follow the set schedule for regular uploads.
This created a content landscape that I actually enjoyed a lot as a consumer because it’s probably the way it should be for reviewers. Every week, or every day in rare cases, a movie reviewer would need to review a different movie, which meant that a reviewer might have to force themselves to sit through a movie they don’t want to see like Fifty Shades Of Grey to give it a chance to subvert their expectations and earn a glowing review, or dig deep to find a new indie movie to review to fill that quota if they really didn’t want to sit through Fifty Shades Of Grey.
The promise of Patreon and creators becoming more independent was that creators would exclusively make videos on topics they wanted to do, but I personally think that was the wrong way to go. I’ve maintained a position that I prefer it when content creators are encouraged, or even forced, to talk about things that they don’t want to talk about because oftentimes that’s when reviewers are most interesting. Some of my favorite Roger Ebert reviews were when he reviewed a children’s movie like Space Jam or Pokemon: The First Movie, and some of my favorite Zero Punctuation reviews are when he has to pick out a random indie game and commit to reviewing it regardless of what the indie game turned out to be, like when he reviewed Hell Pie.
What I think has happened is that the lack of managers has encouraged content creators to upload whatever they want, whenever they want, which has usually translated to videos about ‘easy’ topics, like videos about Disney movies, being uploaded weeks, or even months, apart, which has made the content creation landscape, at least for reviewers, a lot less interesting, and a lot less engaging.
It’s actually one of the reasons why EFAP has been losing my interest lately, because although they upload a stream every week the topics they choose are generally ‘easy’ topics because I genuinely think the hosts don’t have the ability to make an EFAP on something more obscure, or even just ‘difficult’ like Baby Reindeer, very interesting, or they just won’t do streams on those topics because, as Rags said: “This is our show, and we can do whatever the fuck we want.”
Honestly, my hot take is that I liked you better when you couldn’t do whatever the fuck you wanted all of the time. In fact, one of my favorite Rags moments on EFAP was when he clearly didn’t want to be involved with the debate with Twin Perfect.
Sponsors
I remember the Adpocalypse and how Youtubers transitioned to sponsors over relying heavily on ad-revenue. What that event transpired into is that audiences were far more accepting of basically any form of making money that Youtubers would use. Patreon became a very dominant part of Youtube, but sponsors also became extremely common and audiences would even cheer in the comment sections when creators would have their first Raid: Shadow Legends sponsorship.
Sponsors are what I want to talk about because I have seen Youtubers show that they have a bunch of videos on their computer that they simply aren’t releasing to the public because they don’t want to upload a single video without a sponsor on their main channel, as well as Youtubers having a second channel where they upload ‘slop’ content without sponsors that most of their audience is usually unaware of or isn’t interested in.
The problem is that the appeal for pretty much all content on Youtube is the personalities of the people creating the content, which is less about the actual personalities and more like “That’s an actual person doing what they actually want to do, that’s so cool,” but that is usually undercut by the presence of sponsors. The fact that Youtubers will sit on a video they made and not upload it unless they can get a sponsor to pay for it always seemed strange to me, especially for Youtubers where the image they present is “I’m just a normal, chill guy who makes Youtube videos for fun,” which needs the caveat of “Uhhhh, I’m actually really poor and if I don’t take this BetterHelp sponsor I can’t afford my rent this month. Please understand, I’m barely making any money on Youtube,” when a sponsor is included in the video.
As weird as this sounds, there are communities of creatives online that don’t expect to ever make any money putting hours, days, weeks, months, and years of work into a project. There are modding communities, bloggers, game developers, fanfiction writers, and artists that only want comments saying “You did a good job,” and Youtubers used to be that way, or they used to present themselves that way before sponsors became as common as they are now.
I don’t say this often enough, but I remember when Youtubers would make videos about not just random pictures on Deviantart, but on fanfictions and pornographic videos. They’d do those videos for things like clout, which is something that I don’t see too often on Youtube.
People might say that there are a bunch of Youtubers that talk about obscure media and Youtubers that make things without any expectation of earning money, which I say “Well, yeah, but that’s not what I’m talking about,” and then I’d point to things like AVGN’s Atari Porn video, and old videos where commentary Youtubers would branch out from their niche to say “Hey, just for fun, we’re going to check out this weird fanfiction story,” or how Yahtzee would include fun projects he created at the end of his Zero Punctuation videos, like how he’d dub over scenes in video games like Half-Life and Painkiller, or how he made a slideshow with Garry’s Mod that depicted a love story between Heavy and Medic.
What I’m saying is that a large part of what made Youtube fun was that not every video from an established creator with 100k subscribers needed to be monetized, or even created with the expectation of being successful or well-received by the community. There was a time when the expectations people had for, say, Jim Sterling was for a high-quality Jimquisition video to be produced and uploaded to the main channel once a week, and for the other days to feature a minimally-edited video where he showed himself trying out a game or reacting to a trailer on his main channel.
In the past I said that I would like it if EFAP would talk about comments and read fanfictions on-stream and I was mocked for it, but I stand by that statement because, although EFAP clearly doesn’t want to do it regularly, when they do read comments on-stream it tends to result in some of the best content because it showcases a side to them that I like. Instead of being totally normal dudes talking to each other about a movie they saw or reacting to a video, they have to use text-to-speech or read the comment using a silly voice or, well, use just a little bit of creativity when reading those comments out-loud.
What I’m kinda saying is that, yes, I think we all like professionally-produced content, and we all accept that sponsors for videos are necessary. But, like, I don’t like how for most successful Youtubers only the monetizable content, often with sponsors, is presented on the main channel, while the other content doesn’t exist, is uploaded to a secondary channel, or is locked behind some kind of paywall.
It just feels strange that these normal, chill, relatable people have gotten themselves into a position where they can earn real money, in some cases a lot of money, to stand in front of a webcam for 10 minutes talking about their favorite movies, chat with a group of friends, or even just play their favorite video game, and in quite a few cases they won’t do any of those things unless there’s a way to monetize it. Imagine how it looks to say “Well, I can’t talk about this cool fanfiction story I read on my main channel to my audience that enjoys my content about that franchise because I can’t get a sponsor for it.”
I wonder if Rags, a regular host of EFAP, appreciates the irony of him criticizing Chris Stuckmann for advocating that filmmakers “Get as much time and money as possible to make their films in the ideal circumstances and for the process to be easy,” when he’s in the position that he’s in where, on EFAP, he has as much freedom as he wants in the ideal circumstances to make money with EFAP, and it’s easy, yet he still will complain if he’s asked to step out of his comfort zone, even a little bit, on stream.
Insecurity
A while ago I had a theory about Cancel Culture which was that usually Cancel Culture is incredibly exaggerated by the audience of the people being canceled, and that most of the people being canceled are perfectly fine. The go-to example is the poor lady who made a joke about AIDS before going to Africa that got off the flight and got fired from her job due to her joke going viral. What people often don’t mention is that she got fired because it’s a terrible look for the company’s PR person to be involved with such a massive PR disaster, and that she got hired at another company a very short time later. Plus, like, she made a racist joke and people were calling her a racist, it wasn’t like she was targeted for absolutely no reason.
My theory is that people think that Cancel Culture absolutely ruins the lives of celebrities and influencers online because of their intense reactions to being canceled. An early example being Seth Macfarlane, who was mocked for his poorly-received hosting of the Oscars and who seemed incredibly bitter about it, making Cancel Culture a plot point in multiple episodes of Family Guy, talking about how bitter he was about it in interviews for years, and even apparently getting emotional support from his friends and family after the ordeal, even going as far as to ask celebrities to say “I liked what he did and I thought he was hilarious, and very handsome.”
What I’m saying is that I think that in the early days of content creation on Youtube the people making videos were more willing to appear on camera and embarrass themselves, like with Spoony screaming at a big gaming event on camera, because even though they were aware of Cancel Culture being a thing they weren’t going to be reduced to tears by someone saying “You’re totally cringe and annoying,” and even went as far as to incorporate those kinds of comments into their video because it was extremely easy content to create. You probably know what I’m talking about, where a creator would read out “This content creator is SOOOOOOO CRINGE,” in a video in a silly voice which you can’t really do as easily with “OMG, I love your content,” and make it entertaining.
That’s changed a lot today with content creators seeming to project an extreme amount of insecurity in every video they’re a part of, which gets even worse in formats like podcasts. It feels like every commentary creator is a chill dude that isn’t offended by anything and only wants to have a good time talking about things they like because, well, that’s what they need to be to avoid being criticized too severely, but they constantly allude to being a very immature and thin-skinned person that is mainly concerned about earning money, to the point where they’ll say “I’m not even having fun producing content at all.”
In college I remember one of my professors saying: “When you were high school kids you were insecure and weren’t confident in your abilities enough to volunteer when you were asked. You’re adults now, and when you graduate you can’t do that at a real job. Part of growing up is being confident in yourself, and if you don’t want to do that, you can always work in fast food where you never need to grow up, while the other adults in your friend group are becoming doctors and construction workers.”
It’s something that I realized with Youtubers which is that a decent amount of them started their careers young and never had to ‘grow up’ the way that my professor said that we needed to. Even with millions of subscribers you still see a lot of Youtubers struggle to commit to any statement they make, and I hear “I’m just a dumb Youtuber who doesn’t know anything and is stupid and socially-awkward and is fat and smells bad,” too many times from rich and successful people.
The thing is, when you’re a teenager, or you’re in your 20s, that insecurity is charming and relatable because you're trying to find a place in the world and discovering the role that you will fill in society. But, when you’re 30 and your role is “I tell people about the latest internet drama and make references to Spongebob,” or “I talk about Star Wars for hours at a time,” even if you make $2 million every day there’s likely a part of you that says: “I don’t like who I am. I don’t like what I do for a living. Yes, I’m rich, but I don’t like why I’m rich, and I don’t like my audience.”
I think that this insecurity leads to people trying to make their content more ‘mature’, but the way they do it isn’t by presenting themselves as a more confident person, or by making a clear separation between the personality in their content and their actual personality so that they can have a good work/life balance, it’s by creating the same content with very superficially mature elements. So, you end up with the video essayists of the past that gained fame by describing the events of a movie and then giving their opinion on whether they liked or disliked it doing the same thing but with quotes from smart people, like Socrates, and making conclusions like “Some people are gonna like this movie, some people are going to hate it. The important thing is that everyone involved with this movie tried really hard and had fun.”
The thing is, teenagers and 20-year-olds get value from a relatable person that comes across as an insecure loser who is too afraid to take a proper stance on anything to commit to a statement. When someone is actually mature they find more value in someone who is willing to do a good job and defend the job that they did, even if they’re like Neil Breen who thinks they did a good job but clearly did a terrible job. A 20-year-old might declare that Twin Perfect’s debate with EFAP wasn’t embarrassing because he was just being himself or something, but a 40-year-old might not tell Twin Perfect that the debate was embarrassing, but they would no longer respect him, and I imagine a lot of 40-year-olds don’t respect a lot of Youtube video essayists because of how eager they seem to be to engage in self-deprecation.
Conclusion
Despite everything that I’ve said, I do think that the content landscape on Youtube is generally ‘better’ than it was in, say, 2010. We weren’t getting a 4+ hour video by The Little Platoon about Rebel Moon, for instance, in 2010.
What I would compare modern Youtube and classic Youtube to is the 1970s movie scene vs. the 1980s movie scene, which Quentin Tarantino has labeled as “The worst period in movie history,” which the EFAP crew have pushed back on.
The thing is, in the early 80s we got Blade Runner, in the same way that nowadays we got the 4+ hour Little Platoon video, but the theatrical release of that film was famously sabotaged by the company that wanted Harrison Ford to provide voiceovers for the film that ‘ruined’ it, or at least, ruined the ending of the movie.
Throughout the 80s films were made which satisfied audiences more than films from the 70s did because Spielberg was producing hugely successful films that are still highly regarded, but there was also a bunch of shady practices going on and a bunch of notoriously poor studio decisions made in order to appeal to a wide demographic, such as the fiasco with Supergirl and Masters Of The Universe, or changing the ending of Brazil.
In the 1970s we not only got more challenging films, but there was also a thriving independent cinema scene that gave us Death Race 2000, Eraserhead, THX-1138, and Duel. There was also Jaws, Star Wars, and A Clockwork Orange, which were big-budget movies that took serious creative risks that paid off immensely which just wouldn’t happen in the 1980s, or would happen very rarely.
I think that I do prefer Youtube back in, say, 2015-2017 when it seemed like we generally got the best of both worlds, challenging content about a diverse range of subjects with production values comparable to what we have now.
To close this, I would like to include a paraphrased interaction I saw on a podcast featuring a pretty big Youtuber that I think illustrates why Youtube has changed in the way that it has.
Youtuber: Look, I don’t need to work as hard on my videos now because not every video needs to be an event. I just want to take it easy now, pump out a video whenever I feel like it, get paid by the sponsors, and then spend time with my family, is that so wrong?
Host: It kind of is. I know your audience of teenagers will be like “He just wants to spend time with his family, dude, have a heart,” but a lot of Youtubers, especially younger Youtubers look up to you for inspiration. If you’re in that position and your attitude is “I’m going to half-ass every video that I make from now on and if anyone calls my content lazy I’ll use my 8-year-old daughter as a shield against criticism,” that’s the attitude that a lot of young Youtubers are going to have. They’re going to half-ass their content and when criticized, they’re going to find their own excuse, like “I have a kid now,” or “I have to eat,” or something.
Youtuber: That’s not my fault, though. I never asked to be a role model.
Host: That’s not how that works. You don’t get to decide whether or not people look up to you, have expectations of you, and emulate your approach to content creation. You only release 2-3 videos a year, and with your status every video should be a major event, but instead every video is half-assed, as you admitted, and then you use your daughter as an excuse for why you don’t put as much effort into your content as you used to. I think you need to have someone in your life, like a friend, that actually makes you feel some shame for your content and encourages you to do better, rather than your social circle being composed of supportive people like your family and the people who pay you through Patreon.
Host 2: He did have that. He fired him two years ago, remember?
Host: Oh, yeah, you fired your friend, or made him quit, whatever the story was. Did that not make you feel bad at all?
Youtuber: Friendships end, that’s just life.
Host: That’s the attitude that I hate that comes across in your content. You can’t just brush aside everything and bumble through life, except if you’re an internet personality, apparently.
Host 2: It worked for the MCU.
Host: It’s not working for the MCU anymore, though, and it isn’t working as well for this Youtuber. It’s probably going to get worse and when he decides to do more work and make better videos, like he used to do, it’s probably going to be too late, or he’ll need to make really good videos to get the views he once did.
Youtuber: My videos are really good, though.
Host: You admitted to half-assing them.

Good ebening everyone.
Just was seeing if anyone has any reading or audiobook recommendations.
Things I've finished lately that id recommend are:

• Audiobook: the autobiography of Gucci mane
  gave some great insight into the life of Gucci mane. Enjoyed it.
  
• Audiobook: the naked soul of iceberg slim
  

This was pretty intense, but emotional at the same time. Enjoyed it.

• Book/graphic novel: Eight billion genies

Loved the concept behind this story. Got me back into actively reading comics again.
In progress ATM:

• Audiobook: maybe you never cry again

Went on a rabbit hole of Bernie Mac content after that katt Williams interview earlier this year. This is a great find, and also narrated by Bernie himself. So far , it's funny yet sad but worthwhile nonetheless.

• Book: Ask Iwata
  great insight into the life of former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. I suck at reading, so this is taking me a while to read. It's engaging though, nonetheless.
  
• Comic mini series: Avengers Twilight
  

Just read it. It's about to wrap up, but wow, one of the better things I've read this year as far as comics go.

Okay so, this might sound weird maybe not but I am still fairly new to Christianity, however I have always prayed and talked to god every day for most of my life. One thing I’ve always struggled with and still do even after reading the Bible consistently, is connecting with the father of the trinity. I’ve always felt more comfortable and close to Jesus, I think bc I know he was once human and experienced real human pain? I’m not saying god the father, doesn’t understand emotions bc he created us, so clearly he understands, but what I mean is, the father was never human. Jesus came into the world the same way we all did, and he suffered even more than what many people will ever know. And I think, knowing even Jesus felt forsaken by god is why I always feel the desire to go to him, and talk to him the most. I can say “you get it, you felt that way when you were human right?” I can’t do that with the father, I love all parts of the trinity ofc, bc they all make up who god is, but I’ve never been able to connect to the father the way I have with Jesus, and I’m scared that makes me a bad christian.
can anyone else relate?

So I have two rosters of models I'm working on. One is a Heretic Legion Naval Raiding Party and The other is a New Antioch List.
The Naval Raider list is as follows:
Heretic Priest with Heavy Armor, Trench Shield, Pistol, and Sword for 149. The with his tough trait he becomes nearly impossible to kill and his pistol and sword make him very threatening in close combat and enables him to move up to help his infiltrators and anyone moving forward.
Death Commando with Tartarus Claws and Pistol. He is just a nasty MF in general and if he can charge the right target he will wreak havoc early game with infiltrate.
Anointed with Machine Gun and Shovel for 160. The Machine gun is an absolute beast in this game. Three attack actions with 3 attacks each action. With a shovel you can start him out of cover and still gain the benefit of cover before moving him somewhere to shoot, being strong and having heavy armor means he can move and shoot and not have to worry so much about being killed easily.
Three legionnaires with SMGs for 195, these are the units just ahead of the Anointed, providing fire support from objectives/standing ready to move up and secure objectives.
Three troopers with swords and SMGs these guys are pushing the objectives and trying to link up with the infiltrators.
Three Infiltrators with SMGs and clubs. These guys will start hidden or in cover as much as possible, and focus on move>shoot>dash out of sight to preoccupy the enemy while the rest of the warband shoots n scoots into objectives.
Total: 1000 points
Overall I love this list because its loaded with SMGs which are very powerful with 2 attack actions and 2 attacks per action, the MG is well protected with armor and starting cover, the priest is hard to kill, and the commando +infiltrators puts a big Eff-you in the enemys face that they cant ignore, which means the rest of the warband is doing its thing freely.
The next list is the New Antioch Gunner list:
Lieutenant with Auto Rifle and Shovel for 115 puts a lot of fire power in cover at the start of the game
Sniper Priest with Heavy Armor, Sniper Rifle, and Shovel for 130 is a hard to kill killer
Two Mechanised Infantry with Machine Guns and shovels for 300 puts a TON of fire down range and they arent upgraded to full mech armor so theyre still mobile but hard to kill
One mechanised infantry with Heavy Flamethrower and Shovel for 145 to lead the way onto objectives and roast the enemies of New Antioch alive
Two Trench moles with SMGs and shovels for 150 provide a early game objective grabbing and killing, they will act as a fire team to overwhelm enemy units that are threatening
Four yeoman with bolt action rifles for 160, because its the every day joe schmoe that's gonna really win me those objectives and the bolt action rifle is the work horse of the Lord on the battlefield
Overall i love that this list brings a TON of fire power AND armor! i cant wait to finish this one and post it I think it's gonna look very cool. As an alternative to the two tench moles and 4 yeoman I could drop them and the shovels on the two MG Mechs and bring i five sword n shield Shocktruppers to accompany the flamethrow mech into combat

As the title says, We are in the grocery store and minding our own business located somewhere, USA (in Texas but willing to relocate as long as its in the USA only) and we end up bumping into each other physically, as I say I am sor.ry, our eyes lock and right then, we fall for one another and just get lost in the moment.
After a few dates, you learn that I am on disability for PTSD (non military) and you learn that I love animals and enjoy being a homebody more than being out in the public, and that I am a nonsmoker and don't even do drugs. (yes weed is a drug)
After a few weeks of dating, we end up getting into gaming together and I teach you games like fortnite, sea of thieves, fall guys, grounded, palworld. And we just spend nights gaming together and spending time together after a hectic day of just life.
After a few hours of gaming, we end up in the kitchen where we cook dinner together and then do the dishes together then snuggling on the couch or in the bed feeding each other spoons of ice cream while watching our favorite tv shows/movies before we fall asleep in each others arms.
We have a small apartment together in a small town but big city vibes with lots of things to do and places to go. You are very clingy and needy and constantly texting me through the day telling me you miss me and love me. we send cute feet pics to each other with the occasional toe wiggles while you're at work.
As you come home from work, I have a snack and drink ready for you and we sit on the couch and I rub and massage your poor tired sore feet and wiggle the little toes as you just lay there telling me about all the karens at your job and how they threatened to have you fired.
Anyway will wrap this up, if any of this sounds like it would be great, just shoot me a dm and lets chat. I prefer voice chat so must be willing to voice chat. and please no men, I am a cis male, looking for my one true love that fits me like the perfect socks on a cold winter night.

While looking at whale-related news today, the following article grabbed my attention: N.B. Liberal MP calls for loosened right whale protection measures to help fishermen CBC News
Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/n-b-liberal-mp-calls-for-loosened-right-whale-protection-measures-to-help-fishermen-1.7209306
Summary: New Brunswick Liberal MP Serge Cormier has called for a loosening of North Atlantic right whale protection measures to support local fishermen facing economic challenges. The current measures, implemented to protect the critically endangered species, include fishing gear restrictions and area closures. Cormier argues that these regulations are too stringent and harm the fishing industry, suggesting a more balanced approach. Environmental groups, however, emphasize the necessity of these protections to prevent further decline of the whale population, which is already critically low.
This is important news for us Canadian whale lovers. If you live in Canada, please urge your Member of Parliament to take a stand against this idea, and stand with the endangered North Atlantic right whales instead. I have included an email template below, which you can send to your electoral district's MP. Here is a link to a Government of Canada tool to find your local MP: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en
Here is the email template:
Dear Mr./Ms./Mx. [Member of Parliament's last name],
I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the recent proposal by Acadie-Bathurst MP Serge Cormier to loosen protection measures for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, as detailed in the following CBC article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/n-b-liberal-mp-calls-for-loosened-right-whale-protection-measures-to-help-fishermen-1.7209306
While I understand the significant challenges faced by our fishermen as a result of these protective measures, I firmly believe that the survival of this magnificent species must remain a top priority for Canada.
The North Atlantic right whale population is already on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 350 individuals remaining. Easing the current protective measures could lead to increased whale entanglements and vessel strikes, further threatening their survival. The consequences of such actions are irreversible and would tarnish Canada's commitment to biodiversity and environmental stewardship.
Additionally, Canada has legal obligations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to ensure the conservation and protection of marine mammals. Weakening these protections would not only endanger the right whale further but also compromise Canada's adherence to international conservation standards and agreements.
I urge you to oppose any measures that would weaken the protections for the North Atlantic right whale. Instead, I encourage you to advocate for alternative solutions that can both support our fishermen and ensure the continued survival of the right whale. These could include:

1. Investment in Whale-Safe Fishing Gear: Support the development and adoption of innovative fishing technologies that minimize the risk to marine life.
2. Enhanced Monitoring and Enforcement: Strengthen the monitoring of fishing activities and enforce stricter penalties for violations of whale protection regulations.
3. Collaborative Solutions: Foster collaboration between scientists, conservationists, and the fishing industry to develop sustainable practices that protect both the whales and the livelihoods of our fishermen.

The survival of the North Atlantic right whale is a critical issue that requires our immediate attention and action. I trust that you, as a member of the Liberal Party, will stand for the preservation of our natural heritage and oppose any measures that compromise the protection of this endangered species. Our actions today will determine the fate of the right whale and reflect our values as a nation committed to the conservation of our planet's precious biodiversity.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. I look forward to hearing about the steps you will take to ensure the right whale is safeguarded for future generations.
Sincerely,
[Your Full Name] [Your Address] [Your City, Province, Postal Code] [Your Email Address] [Your Phone Number]
Thank you to everyone who is participating in conservation efforts! I made the very same post on whales. Feel free to repost this on other subs dedicated to whales and conservation to protect our friends!

gonna be leaving a lot of context out of this one just in case, but yeah. 24f. title. i started actually living my life about two years ago thanks to a medical diagnosis that essentially cured my depression. before this, i had never worked, never dated, dropped out of school, etc. was basically a NEET.
cue 22. got my diagnosis, changed everything about myself, became an actual living person. here's where the issues began - i immediately started falling in love with every friend i make.
it's happened six times in two years. every time it goes like this: i get close to them. i realize i enjoy spending time with them. i begin to obsess over their actions (checking discord constantly to see if they've messaged, checking their socials to see what they've been up to, etc.). i ask them if they feel the same. they don't. contact either ends immediately or drifts off over time.
i have come to the conclusion that i have some issue akin to hypersexuality, but for romance. hyperromanticism, i guess. i simply fall in love with anyone who sticks around, and in time, for my life to be sustainable, i'll need to either cut everyone off if they don't love me back (insane behavior, get the grippy socks out pronto) or learn to love my friends without being romantically loved back. been trying the latter.
the latest girl really hurt. was a friend i met online who by some insane stroke of luck lived nearby. she invited me to her place. we got high. fucked. two days later, i was informed she wasn't in her right mind and the relationship needed to end. it's been weeks and i'm still obsessed, over a relationship that lasted less time than memorial day weekend will. i feel insane. therapy isn't helping. she made me a spotify playlist and i just keep listening to it on repeat (I know, not helping). this feels like hell, and I don't know what I did to deserve it. I just want to be normal.
that's all. thanks for reading. i wanna get better someday.
fuck BPD.

I want to quit university, everything it's an uphill challenge, I hate my career, it's just a waste of time and money, I don't care about the prospects, it is too demanding and they would never hire a mediocre engineer unless you are one of the rich guys with a valuable networking, or have to luck to be social enough to befriend these people.
Even if I manage to complete the career, requirements are too ridiculous that a degree worths nothing if you do not have a Master's Degree.
Even if my predictions prove to be false and the results are better.
I would still be a soulless living organism that could easily have an episode of awakening one day and commit actions that would have serious repercussions, actions that I would regret the rest of my life If Iever manage to live that long.
There is no hope in the future.
I will be a slave no matter what I do, a slave for nothing. As I'm an alienated of the system, I don't give a d@mn about status, about religion, about social life, even about family (marriage, kids)...
The only hope is to quit everything and attempt something different, to attempt what resonates with my heart and my talents.
To become a musican, a philosopher.
And chances are high I won't return to university as the only university that worths studying Music Production is completely out of my budget and if ever I could afford an scholarship the time had already passed.

I am obese and miserable. I need workout routine advice for this summer. My future depends on it.
I am a 17m who is at a height of 6’2 and weighing about 282lbs as of today. My horrendously unhealthy eating habits began since I was 9.
For eight years I have been binge eating to cope with stress and sadness. I’d consume approximately 4000 calories today and to make things worse I have lived a sedentary life style. I am also autistic which further exacerbated my anxiety which in turn causes me higher levels of constant stress.
Over the years I have gained depression and severe self confidence and inferiority complex issues. My confidence is at a point to where I refuse to walk outside without layers of jackets on me regardless of how hot it is outside because I can’t stand how disgusting and gross I look.
The fat mainly built up in my stomach / abdomen area and the added gravity has put a toll on my spine and caused it to bend inward which caused me kyphosis. The kyphosis has worsened my appearance due to the build up of a hump and gave me an incredibly abnormal posture.
The only thing that is keeping me from dying is the fact that I inherited my fathers metabolism so my weight essentially stabilized itself. But my metabolism will slow down eventually so starting a workout routine is urgent and vital if I want to have a future.
So I ask you guys this, what workout routine would be best for me, a 17m who’s 6’2, weighing 282lbs, suffering chronic back pain, and suffering from muscle weakness. I need a workout routine that can guarantee me to lose at least 50lbs by the end of October and also build up muscle.

So very, very soon, my grandmother will be turning 90. I am excited, not many people live until 90, even less without one of the many complications she has. I'm happy for her but I am still so scared.
She's been dealing with delirium since January 7th. However, when she came home around April 23rd, her cognition has improved an astonishing amount. I still can't understand why. My best guess, is simply just the delirium taking a long time to leave the body. The cause of her obtaining it, I still don't know. I wanted to post about it, but the first time it didn't get a lot of attention and I've been trying to find the words for it but still haven't.
She went to the hospital because she fell and has an L1 and L2 mild compression fracture. Thankfully it wasn't too serious, the doctors have confidence she'll recover well, her physical therapist says she's very strong, she doesn't even have to wear the brace that much either. I still get so anxious when she sits down a bit hard and when she tries to bend forward to pick up something though. And she has been getting stronger.
The reason why I'm scared is because I'm scared of the future. Now, her cognition is basically a day and night difference, but she still has hiccups. Most of it can be chalked up to her lack of education when she was a kid, and also the fact that old Hispanic women are INCREDIBLY superstitious. But she still has hiccups. Sometimes she still forgets my brother's name but most times she can guess it right. To be fair, he pretty much never spends times with her.
She still believes someone stole some money from her, which she believed during her delirium. She still gets sad about it and apparently other things were stolen too, but she doesn't react as badly as she did during the delirium. She would literally be so stressed out until she's red in the face and almost passing out. Screaming, crying, literally passing out, then talking when she's passed out and crying too. It was horrific.
Her cognition is still amazing though, her doctor and neurologist were so surprised by that. We told her today "you know your birthday is coming soon right?" And she looks at us with a big grin, and says "did you guys think I didn't know?" And starts laughing. She can recite bible passages very well by memory, though not 100%, still INSANELY impressive.
She is so much more clear, thinks so much more rationally, even when she's crazy tired or just woke up, she is still clear.
I'm scared of the future. I'm scared that she will get delirium again. And delirium can hurt the brain, and even if she doesn't have dementia, it could possibly increase the chances of it more. I'm scared of "jinxing" it. Like I tell someone "yeah her memory is so good" and then right after, she all of a sudden develops the delirium again.
I still remember the morning she woke up with that delirium. It gives me a sinking feeling in my chest when I think of it. Basically almost 5 months of hell. It was so horrible. I'm scared to go through that again. It's to the point, where if she says something that doesn't make sense, my heart starts pounding and I think "oh God no, the delirium's back."
Now, she tells me things that catch me off guard with how clear she is. She told me "we have dominoes to play with in that dresser next to my bed." And she's right. Haven't seen those dominoes in a year and I completely forgot about them.
She remembers the horrible rehab she was in, remembers my best friend and his family, remembers the woman she was friends with at the rehab, etc. During her delirium, she didn't say a single word about the rehab, but now she talks to us about it. Her cognition is frankly amazing. Even with the minor hiccups she has, it's still amazing.
I'm obsessed now with researching everything I can possibly do to make sure her mind doesn't slip again. Cleaning her very well whenever she uses the bathroom so she won't develop another UTI, giving her the most nutritious meals for her mind and body, encouraging her to read more, trying to exercise more, etc.
I know I should be happy now, I am. But I'm still so scared. When her memory started coming back, I thought "I used to pray for times like this" and now I'm praying that her mind doesn't slip again. That she will recover and get stronger than ever because I still have hope. Even after all this, I still do.
We plan to ween her off her Xanax since those are benzos and even then, they don't affect her that much. I'm still very iffy on the dementia "diagnosis" since that diagnosis was made back in June, when she was in that horrific rehab and the nurses there would just tell people, including paramedics she has dementia. Keep in mind, no scan or anything. And when you leave an 89 year old woman in a crap filled diaper, a UTI and a horrific bedsore, yeah, she's not gonna be the most clearest person.
I pray that all these complications will become less serious and her body and mind will recover, and stay recovered. I'm committed to making her as mentally and physically strong as I can. Her other physical therapist literally helped this lady who was over 100 years old, walk and even do a light jog, after years of her being so frail. I pray I'm able to do that for her.
Any advice for any of this? Thanks.

呪われたテクニック:ギャンブラーのガーディアン (Cursed Technique: Gambler's Guardians)

The Gambler's Guardians CT is a shikigami technique that employs the use of chance and a deck of cards to summon guardians to combat opponents. The user cannot choose which shikigami is summoned as the medium between summoning these shikigami is a deck of cards that the user always has. The user may withhold these cards to be used as a later date or to lead to the use of the user's DE.

Drawbacks Of Gambler's Guardians

1. Due to its unpredictability, you may not draw the right card for the situation or even be unable to summon a shikigami at all.
   
2. It's a very risky, yet powerful technique as the cards must physically be drawn for the shikigami to be summoned.
   
3. All the shikigami's main weakness is fire as they will become a pile of ash in a matter of seconds [as this is the main and almost only weakness for all the shikigami, it will not be repeated and only shikigami specific weaknesses will be mentioned going forward].
   

呪われた道具:プレイヤーの野望 (Cursed Tool: Player's Ambition)

The Player's Ambition Cursed Tool is a tool that is created directly from the user's CE. It is tied to the user's CE and can always be created again by the user whenever it is destroyed. The cards in this deck are extremely durable as if made of a titanium alloy while still retaining its flexibility. These cards can be very useful for other Sorcerers as the deck always has a full suit of cards [that never repeat until all have been used once] that can cause a lot of damage. As for the user, these cards serve as both the medium and a powerful offensive tool for combat. However, just like modern decks, two jokers have been placed. These two jokers are required for the user to activate their DE, if the user does not have a DE then these two jokers are used as diversions to trick or further damage opponents. When the shikigami is summoned, the card drops to the card and expands to the required size for the shikigami to exit the card as if it's a portal. Both the size and the body of the shikigami depends on how quickly it exits the card.

ギャンブラーのガーディアン:エース (Gambler's Guardians: Ace)

The Ace shikigami is a shikigami that helps smooth the flow of the user's CE and increase the user's CE output. The shikigami is in the form of a large skinny robed figure that bears the symbol of the card that is drawn [A spade for the Ace Of Spades, a heart for the Ace Of Hearts and so on]. Aceis quite physically powerful and smart as it will get very creative with its attack and almost never do something in the literal sense. The Ace is extremely lanky and has arms that almost drag on the ground on the floor. The boost from this shikigami lasts for a varying amount of time depending on which Ace is drawn. The Ace takes advantage of its long arms and powerful enhancement boosting abilities to quickly attack in swiping strikes from a distance. Ace is the manifestation of the user's grief and regret of indulging in their addiction as they have lost the love and warmth of those who were close, yet pushed away.

ギャンブラーのガーディアン:スペードのエース (Gambler's Guardians: Ace Of Spades)

The Spades variation of the Ace shikigami can be seen as the more base version of the Ace as it still retains all regular details aforementioned, but with the added detail of skin as white as snow and hands the size of a shovel’s blade. The enhancement ability aforementioned is not changed much as it still can enhance the flow of CE in the user and boost the overall strength of itself. Although it can now enhance the durability of different objects to the level of a titanium alloy.

Gambler's Guardians: Ace Of Hearts

The Hearts variation of Ace sees some very drastic changes when compared to the Spade variation. The Ace Of Hearts can be seen with the same snow white skin, but this time it seems to have brought red outlines where its nonexistent veins should be. These “veins” are visible all along its body. The Ace Of Hearts no longer smooths the flow of the user's CE, but instead is able to reverse some damages to both it and the user. The Ace Of Hearts takes advantage of this healing factor with its higher amount of agility, but this healing factor and agility come with the loss of strength. The Ace Of Hearts is much weaker and not suited for close hand to hand combat, but instead will use debris from the fight to throw at the opponents while at points jumping towards the user to heal them. The Ace Of Hearts is able to climb up buildings extremely quickly and is another very useful part of the user's chance filled arsenal.

Gambler's Guardians: Ace Of Diamonds

The Ace Of Diamonds is the more defensive variation and it will always put its life at bay to keep its master safe. It is much more bulky than its previous variations and uses this bulky-ness to shield the user with its body. The Ace Of Diamonds has the same snow white skin and the same blood red “veins”, but with the added factor of its major difference in size when compared to the other variations. The Ace Of Diamonds is also the most physically powerful variation as it can throw things like cars with ease, possibly even buses if it tried. This variation of Ace can reinforce its own skin to that of diamonds, at the cost of being unable to apply any boosts to others.

Gambler's Guardians: Ace Of Clubs

The Ace Of Clubs is the much more offensive variation of Ace as it trades away some of its high durability to gain more agility and muscle strength. Combining this increase in agility and muscle strength with its newfound aggressiveness and large hood, it can quickly apply large amounts of pressure onto anything as it mercilessly attacks the target. The Ace Of Clubs will also use it's surroundings heavily to apply further pressure, whether that be from grabbing and throwing the target into something, or picking up something and using it as a weapon.

Gambler’s Guardians: Two

These shikigami mainly focus on supporting the user as all of their variations focus on buffing their capabilities in some form, whether that be applying a protective CE shield over the user or simply healing the user. However, these shikigami are very weak and require something to protect them or else little value will be gained from summoning them. The shikigami almost look like [biblically accurate] angels about the size of a bike, the only difference is that they are made purely of the card they were summoned with, hence why their durability is so low and can very easily be shut down.

Gambler's Guardians: Two Of Spades

The Two Of Spades variation is [just like Ace Of Spades] the base variation of Two. The Two Of Spades summons two smaller shikigami that both can apply barriers of CE onto objects or even people. These barriers are not the strongest and can barely survive a single hit from something such as a grade 2 and above, but they can allow for some defense especially as it can tank at least a single hit which can potentially save the user's life.

Gambler's Guardians: Two Of Hearts

The Two Of Hearts variation allows the shikigami to be able to reverse damage to anything, but not the position [ex. If a wall was knocked down and shattered, these shikigami can reverse the damage it sustained to an extent, but not being it back to its upright position unless they somehow lift it back up] to a certain extent. No, these shikigami can NOT reverse death, the worst injury they can reverse on a human being or animal is a broken bone [unless the bone is completely shattered]. Anything more can potentially cause more pain for the user while killing the shikigami in the process.

Gambler's Guardians: Two Of Diamonds

The Two Of Diamonds variation can apply a much more durable shield than Two Of Spades, at the cost of its own speed and tapping into the user's CE reserves. This allows for a much stronger shield that can repair itself as long as the user’s CE reserves are full. These shields can survive multiple hits from a semi-grade 1 and potentially a few hits from a grade 1 sorcerer or curse. However, if the shikigami attempts to keep up the shield for too long, it will overload itself and burn up in a flash of CE. The CE used to summon these shikigami will be returned if this happens.

Gambler's Guardians: Two Of Clubs

The Two Of Clubs is the fastest variation of Two, but at the cost of its own durability. These shikigami often will apply a shield onto itself [rather than the user] and fly into a target to cause physical damage, taking advantage of its shield and speed. However, because it is so weak durability wise, so are its shields. Its shields cannot survive more than 2 hits from most sources without shattering. Even though these shields are weak, the shattering effect that happens when they break can potentially harm others [this includes the user].

Gambler's Guardians: Three

Three is a trio of shikigami that look similarly to the finger bearer cursed spirit, but Three are pure white with either black or red accents depending on which card was used to summon them and the symbol of the card on its back. They are also smaller than the finger bearer, reaching a height of about 4’4. Three is more so focused on being a supporting attacker to overwhelm an opponent, rather than taking the attention off of the user [with the exception of Three Of Clubs]. Three is very much average in all ways, but makes up for it with its speed, being able to quickly overwhelm a target.

Gambler's Guardians: Three Of Spades

The Three Of Spades is very fast and can even sneak up on opponents as it is able to dig its claws into objects and hold itself on ceilings or walls. Three Of Spades is very overwhelming as it takes advantage of its speed and strength to even break through walls to catch an opponent off guard, but will ultimately choose to protect the user even if it means death. Most of the time, Three Of Spades will stick closely to the user, but in a hidden position where they cannot be easily noticed while even hiding their own CE to an extent.

Gambler's Guardians: Three Of Hearts

The Three Of Hearts shikigami is the same looking shikigami, the only difference is that one of them specializes in physical attacks, one specializes in psychological confusion, and the last specializes in attacking the soul. The one that specializes in physical attacks is slightly above average in strength, speed and durability, but can grow claws on both its hands and feet to attempt to cause bleeding. The one that specializes in psychological confusion can release a gas that, if inhaled, will cause the victim to have hallucinations that could go from minor to severe depending on how much of the gas is inhaled. Finally, the one that specializes in attacking the soul is below average in physical strength and durability, but makes up for it with its speed and ability to cause irreversible damage.

Gambler's Guardians: Three Of Diamonds

The Three Of Diamonds are much more durable and physically powerful and the form they take represents that. They have a lot more visible muscle on them and the accents are less tattoos and actually are an unknown metallic material that is highly durable. This armour does not cover its whole body, but it does allow protection on the shikigami's arms, legs, and partially their chest. The armour is on these parts as it is a physical attacker rather than using some other ranged attack. The Three Of Diamonds are also a bit bigger than that of the rest of the variations of Three, reaching a height of 4’11.

Gambler's Guardians: Three Of Clubs

The Three Of Clubs variation can all merge together, forming a much larger and stronger shikigami, reaching the height of 5’8. Each summoned shikigami has a different part of the Clubs symbol on their back, when the three parts decide to form or the user tells them to merge, they become the powerful shikigami as mentioned before with the finished symbol of Clubs. More info on this combination will be stated below, for now information on Three Of Clubs will be talked about. The Three Of Clubs focuses more on hard hitting attacks, rather than stealthy ambushes. It loses its stealth, but instead it has a new merging gimmick and slightly increased strength and durability when compared to Three Of Spades.

Gambler's Guardians: Three Of A Kind

The Three Of A Kind shikigami is the result of when all three shikigami of Three Of Clubs merge together. The Three Of A Kind is very powerful and uses the same fighting style that the user does with the added benefits of a massive strength, durability and speed boost. The Three Of A Kind can apply a lot of pressure and can even revert back into the three separate shikigami it was before on command to dodge a potential hit from an enemy. However, the longer the shikigami are in this merged form, the weaker they will get as they have a time limit that is represented by the tattoo of the clubs on its back slowly fading from the top of the clubs down. It does slowly regenerate while not in the merged state and when it isn't even summoned. Trying to push past this state can allow a few extra seconds of strength, but ultimately will end with this shikigami to burn up in a flash of CE and the card used to summon it will be burned from the deck.

Gambler's Guardians: Four

Gambler's Guardians: Four Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Four Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Four Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Four Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Five

Gambler's Guardians: Five Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Five Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Five Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Five Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Six

Gambler's Guardians: Six Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Six Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Six Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Six Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Seven

Gambler's Guardians: Seven Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Seven Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Seven Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Seven Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Eight

Gambler's Guardians: Eight Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Eight Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Eight Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Eight Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Nine

Gambler's Guardians: Nine Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Nine Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Nine Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Nine Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Ten

Gambler's Guardians: Ten Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Ten Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Ten Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Ten Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Jack

Gambler's Guardians: Jack Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Jack Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Jack Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Jack Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: Queen

Gambler's Guardians: Queen Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: Queen Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: Queen Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: Queen Of Clubs

Gambler's Guardians: King

Gambler's Guardians: King Of Spades

Gambler's Guardians: King Of Hearts

Gambler's Guardians: King Of Diamonds

Gambler's Guardians: King Of Clubs

Extension Technique: Full House

This Extension Technique allows the user to overload their cards with CE, allowing the capabilities of the shikigami to be heightened [ex. More durability, faster, stronger, special gimmicks have a stronger influence, ect], but burning the card after being used. When this happens, the card is less likely to be pulled again or even just not even to be pulled from that deck ever again, forcing the user to attempt to artificially create another deck they can use from their CE.

Domain Expansion: Joker's Last Cabaret

When this DE is activated, both the user and the opponents will be placed in the midst of a casino filled with different cards flying everywhere extremely fast [fast enough to cut the skin on a human being]. As soon as one of these cards draws blood and they land flat on a surface [face down], the corresponding shikigami of that card will be summoned with the person the card had hit as their target. These shikigami will not target any other person until the original target is felled. Once that target is defeated the shikigami will explode into a flurry of cards, allowing for more shikigami to be summoned. The user can concentrate CE to slightly direct the cards into a target, but then these cards that were directed turn into blank cards that have no other use than as a physical weapon rather than an intermediary. The Joker cards will burn up after this DE is summoned, meaning this DE can never be used again unless the user can focus enough CE onto another set of Joker cards.

I was unable to do anything. I was looking around for a free shower - I planned on living in my car. In my search, I ended up at a community college. An administrator at the community college stopped me, talked to me, got my back story, and relentlessly encouraged me. He talked me into signing up for classes. I planned on dropping them.
And that was the start of how I went from looking for a free shower to UCLA. My only goal was to survive. The CC campus felt like home. I loved being wow’d by classes, to feel the excitement of academia, to try and progress. I liked that it was easy but hard enough to make progress. I loved the free food on campus too. I’m now in madly in love with and engaged to my favorite CC professor from there.
Now, I have been here a year. Depression returned once I got here. Never left. I have struggled to feel the excitement for academia I used to here. Got 3 quarters left. 3.9 GPA. Horrified by AI taking jobs and hoping I don’t make the wrong decision with that.
And that’s my story.
So.. I found the love of my life and got into a school I never could have dreamed of all in an effort to get my ass off my ex-husbands couch. Never be surprised by what an attempt at survival will do to you!

So I actually watched the first 4 episodes when they dropped, but I was very underwhelmed and decided not to post anything as I didn’t want to be negative. I didn’t dislike it, but I was definitely disappointed because I had very high expectations after all the press, the promo and what was being said by the cast and the crew. However, since then I rewatched the 4 episodes and I definitely like it more now after rewatching with no high expectations.
The things I had issues with:

• Pacing. I thought the pacing was all over the place. The episodes felt slow while the main romantic storyline felt rushed. We would have a fast paced scene and then a scene that seemed to drag would follow it. I feel like that happened a lot during these 4 episodes. I also think that splitting the season was a huge mistake as just when the show was starting to gain some momentum there was nothing else left for me to watch and based on the LW conflict and the side storylines they will cram a lot in the second half.
• Colin. I don’t understand why they decided to go down this route with the character. I haven’t read his book so I’m not sure how accurate it is, but I feel like in a romance show you don’t wanna find your male lead cringe and creepy and I’m sorry, but in the first 2 episodes he was borderline creepy. I know what they were trying to do, but it did not work for me at all. I feel like they could have shown him putting up a facade for the ton in different ways that don’t make him look so bad. I think the threesomes were absolutely unnecessary, but that seems to be a popular opinion. I just don’t get why we couldn’t just have the same Colin from the previous seasons with a bit more charm and oomph. He seems to be dropping the rake act now and hopefully in part 2 we can have the old Colin back somewhat.
• Penelope. Sort of. I kinda have mixed feelings about her character this season, but I did like her more than Colin. Why did we need to see her humiliated so many times? I just wish they stopped doing that. I’m sure we’re going to see her suffering enough when Colin finds out about LW, we don’t need to see her going through so many humiliations. Seeing her beg Colin to kiss her was painful. Also what was that balloon scene? Just move to the side lol.
• Benedict. I’d like to know what the point of this character is at this point besides fucking a different woman every season and looking happy in the background. I know he has a lot of fans, but I don’t get it. He is just so ‘there’ and that’s about it. I found his storyline the weakest and I’m not sure how it’s going to pay off and what the point of this is again. It feels like the script for Benedict is a copy+paste of s1 every season now. The woman he’s fucking this season is also just so meh. They also have absolutely no chemistry so that also doesn’t help. Their dance was very odd, her trying to be so badass or whatever that was supposed to be just came off as awkward and cringe to me. I don’t get the purpose of this storyline and honestly I’m not even curious to see what happens with them in part 2. Luke Thompson is completely wasted in this role.
• The Mondriches. This storyline was actually intriguing to me before the season premiered as I thought they’d be more involved with the main storyline with the other main characters, but that hasn’t really been the case so I’m wondering how this is going to pay off. I feel like every time we cut to them the pacing starts to drag and their storyline just doesn’t really flow with the show. But tbh I preferred seeing them over Benedict so there’s that. I feel like there has to be a purpose to this storyline and that there might be something more interesting happening with them in Part 2.
• Cressida. Meh. I don’t get why we need to have Cressida be some poor little mean girl who’s hiding some deep pain. Sometimes a bitch is just a bitch and that’s fine. Another storyline that I just didn’t really care for.
• Polin. Sort of. I feel like we needed more time with them. It feels like they barely had any scenes together this season. I know we’ve known them for the past 2 seasons, but we needed to see more than Colin falling in love after a kiss. That just felt so rushed to me. I wanted to see more of them interacting instead of Colin just staring at her and Lord Debling. Their first kiss was also incredibly disappointing. Not the kiss itself, I found it lovely actually, but Penelope begging him to kiss her was soooo not for me. I hated that. I don’t understand why we need to see Penelope humiliated so many times. I feel like the pacing of their romance could have benefited from a few more scenes of them together before the end of Part 1. But nope, I guess we needed to see Benedict fuck instead.
• The Queen. I’m actually struggling to even remember what she was doing this season. Forgettable storyline and also repetitive. I wish they figured out a different way to include QC in the story. I loved the QC spinoff and coming back to this version of her is just kind of disappointing.

A thing I'm unsure about for now:

• Violet and Lady Danbury. I’m not sure how I feel about this yet. I haven’t made up my mind about this storyline yet because I feel like I haven’t seen enough about it. It could end up in either direction depending on how they chose to develop this storyline. I just hope they don’t end up having a rift because of this brother business. I’m very much down with Violent finding someone though.

Now finally onto the positive stuff:

• Polin. Sort of. So I have mixed feelings about their romance. As I said, I had issues with not having enough scenes of them together. However, I did like most of what we actually got. The carriage scene was 10/10. I loved it lol, it was hot. Can’t believe Bridgerton is making me like a Pitbull song when I’m definitely not a Pitbull enjoyer to say the least. I also really liked Colin’s dream, I loved that it was his dream and not hers like it was probably expected. I also really liked their first kiss, it was lovely, I just wish it didn’t happen cause she was begging him for it. Other than that, it was probably my favourite first kiss on the show. I liked that we got to hear about them meeting as kids even though we didn’t see it. And yeah, I just wish we had more of them together interacting to make Colin falling for her feel less rushed.
• Penelope. Sort of. I actually kind of like that she’s petty and dissing Colin in her column lol, but I’m gonna need to see that conflict have a proper resolution in Part 2. I hope they do the LW storyline justice and they don’t rush it like they’ve done in the past in both previous seasons. I loved her new hair, clothes and she looked great. It was nice finally seeing her want to get away from her family and taking matters into her own hands. Her scenes with Lord Debling were fine, but since I know Colin is her endgame I didn’t really care much about him.
• Eloise. I liked Eloise so far. I was a bit annoyed by her last season, but so far I’m enjoying what they are doing with her. I liked that she kept Pen’s secret and that she obviously misses her and still tries to help her and save her from Cressida’s antics. She also seems to be reflecting on her friendship with Penelope and she’s realising that she hasn’t really seen her properly before and yeah I just like what they are doing with them despite the Cressida element this season. She’s also toned down her complaining and has learned to adapt without being unnecessarily rude while also being the same person as before. I liked that development.
• Francesca. I enjoyed Francesca’s storyline this season and I loved seeing her meet John. They were super cute. I have actually read her book and it’s my favourite among the ones I’ve read so this is extra special for me. I did think that we got a bit too many suitors and that I was starting to get bored of that, but then John showed up and I forgot all about it lol.
• The Featheringtons. I know that this might be an unpopular opinion, but I love them lol. Especially Portia. I just love the actress and think she’s great. Her lines are just so much fun and yeah I love this character. She’s not a good mother and person tbh, but I can’t help but find her incredibly entertaining. Her faces, her lines and yeah I just love her scenes. The daughters were great this season as well together with their goofy husbands. The 'inserts himself?' scene was one of the funniest scenes so far on the show for me. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but also enjoyed their plot last season even though I do think the one from this season is a lot more fun.
• Kanthony. I loved seeing them pop up for an episode. Them being all lovey dovey was nice, but I wish we had more interactions between Kate and the Bridgertons, but we’ll be seeing more of them in Part 2 so I’m hoping we’re getting that then.

So these are my thoughts and even though I was disappointed I did enjoy the season overall even if it seems like I have many complaints, it’s still Bridgerton and I just love the show. I feel like my thoughts would be much different with a full picture of the season and not just 4 episodes. I am sure that after Part 2 my feelings about it will be a lot more positive since the storylines will all pay off hopefully. I’m also hoping that they don’t do this split release in the future as I genuinely think it hindered my enjoyment of the season.

Quite a long one but feel the background is needed for context!
My (27F) ex (27M) broke up with me 9 months ago after 6 years together due to him wanting to work on himself and work on how to be happy with himself without relying on me to “cheer him up” During our relationship I encouraged him to seek therapy for his own quality of life as he struggled with his mental health somewhat regularly. He eventually did go to therapy in the last year of our relationship. Whilst the break up took me by surprise, I was in a weird way kinda proud of him for finally doing something solely for himself and his own health.
However he said he was sacred of loosing me completely from his life and that he wanted to still be friends. I agreed to being friends. I won’t go in to all the detail of what’s happened over the last 9 months, but I started going to therapy myself as I knew I needed to deal with the breakup properly instead my normal act of squashing it down inside me cause I didn’t know how to handle the emotions… along with needing to process everything else that’s happened to me in my 27 years lol. I also tried to be friends with him, however after 4 months of me feeling like I was the only one making any sort of effort to have a friendship, he ghosted me after agreeing he’d make plans for us to go for a coffee in the new year.
Now after many sessions with my therapist she brought up me possibly being autistic in the last two months. It was something I had started to wonder myself after relating a bit too much too often to folks online talking about their autism, so hearing a professional bringing it up who I also learned was autistic herself was a welcome surprise if I’m honest. Truly feels like that last puzzle piece fitting into place. Despite that though I still have imposter syndrome about it all… which brings me to my dilemma.
I haven’t told anyone in my life about me potentially being autistic. From therapy I’ve come to see I have been masking a whole lot even with those closest to me in my family and friends, so part of me feels they wouldn’t believe me and I’m also just not comfortable with having that conversation with any of them. The only person who I feel I ever really unmasked with (not fully but the most unmasked) and knows me the best is my ex. Despite everything that’s happened since the breakup (which I have many thoughts on… but I see it and my autism as two separate things) I have this itch in my brain to talk to him and hear his thoughts on me being autistic. Like looking back on our relationship can he see it? Almost like a third party opinion, as with the imposter syndrome, I can’t help but wonder have I somehow tricked my therapist to think I am as she only sees me for 1hr a week not my day to day life so how could she possibly know? 😅
All that to to ask… - have you told an ex about your autism and was there any benefit or additional insight you gained from that conversation? - am I being ridiculous thinking this is a good idea to try have a conversation on it with him?

Hello /SuggestALaptop! My sister is trying to decide whether to get a tower or laptop for a gaming computer, and we've been to the /buildmeapc subreddit and gotten some good help. I posted here about a month ago, but my sister had some delays in getting the money she needed, and since then, some of the recommendations that were posted have increased in price/are no longer being sold, so hoping to find some great responses now that we have the money and can buy the laptop ASAP!
We know a laptop that can run Baldur's Gate on medium settings will cost more than the suggest tower's we got from the other subreddit (about $750 CAD). We were just looking for some suggestions on laptops that can handle BG3 and how much they would cost, we're hoping to spend ~$1,000 for a gaming laptop.
Thank you in advance for any help, suggestions and tips, these subreddits are so, so appreciated and valued by me for the work they do!
Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase: $1,000 CAD
Are you open to refurbs/used? Sure!
How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life? Performance and Build Quality!
How important is weight and thinness to you? Not Important
Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. N/A
Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. Gaming
If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? Baldur's Gate 60fps medium settings
Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? N/A

Today I had my second session with my abusive dad and I’m starting to have second thoughts about this whole process.
The first session he was there for 5 min, had an adult tantrum about me, how I always blame everyone else and how I am being dramatic and left. Today he stayed and it was 1,5 hr, a lot what he did was ranting and dismissing, as usual when it comes to emotional things. It was really painful and it doesn’t help with my low self worth. He makes me feel as if this whole thing is us being equal and us being equally responsible for this situation.
Ex: he had a pretty heavy surgery last year and we were low contact due to the abuse in the past and to him leaving the session in the way he did.
I did not immediately come to him, I first checked in with what I needed and how I wanted it to be.
He blames me for it, said how much I hurt him with doing that how he could’ve died there and me not being there etc.
He doesn’t acknowledge or realize that he is the reason I did not run to him immediately due to his horrible behavior now and in the past.
So in therapy, instead of it revolving around me and holding him accountable for his words and actions, it’s this how can we make this relationship better both and it doesn’t sit right with me. Idm “working” on our relationship but this feels like so wrong? I don’t really understand why my therapist is encouraging and “entertaining” this idea and basically his behavior.
She has this believe that therapy isn’t forever and you have your family for the rest of your life so that it’s more valuable to try family counseling. I kinda agree but still it feels really messed up.
It reinforces the internalized neglect that it is indeed not a big deal, that I somehow owe him with things too while my mind is like wtf?
It’s as if the worst person on earth did something terrible and is then in a convo with the people whom he did horrible things to and instead of acknowledging, admitting he’s just being like “well yeah I had a bad sleep this week due to your cries so idk, we(you) should probably work on that too?”
Like, wtf??? Could someone explain why someone does this behavior? This isn’t normal right? Is this how family counseling in these situations work?