Wherein is related what befell Don Quixote as he was going to visit his lady Dulcinea del Toboso.
Prompts:
1) What did you think of Sancho’s desire to be famous, regardless of how he is represented?
2) What did you think of Don Quixote’s discourse on the pursuit of fame?
3) What did you think of Sancho’s argument, that if it is renown you are after it is better to be a saint than a knight?
4) Do you think the two will finally meet Dulcinea, and how will that meeting go?
5) Favourite line / anything else to add?
Free Reading Resources:

• Project Gutenberg
• Standard eBook
• Librivox Audiobook

Illustrations:

1. “Blessed and praised be the almighty Allah!” cries Cid Hamet Ben-Engeli at the beginning of this eighth chapter
2. Don Quixote and Sancho in the field again
3. The Pantheon
4. The great emperor Carolus V
5. Castle of St Angelo
6. we had better turn saints immediately
7. With these, and other discussions of the same sort, they passed that night and the following day (coloured)
8. the second day they descried -
9. - the great city of Toboso
10. At the sight of it, Don Quixote’s spirits were much elevated, and Sancho’s as much dejected
11. they tarried among some oak trees near the town
12. the time appointed being come, they went into the city

1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11 by Tony Johannot / ‘others’ (source) 2, 12 by Ricardo Balaca (source) 7, 8 by Gustave Doré (source), coloured versions by Salvador Tusell (source) 10 by George Roux (source)
8 happens to be the picture I used for the footer (old reddit) / background (new reddit) of this subreddit!
Past years discussions:

• 2021-07-01
• 2022-07-01
• 2023-07-01

Final line:

Till that hour came, they tarried among some oak trees near the town; and the time appointed being come, they went into the city, where things befel them that were things indeed.

Next post:
Fri, 24 May; in two days, i.e. one-day gap.

Hope this is a good sub for this but I'm looking for recommendations/people's experience with wetsuit thicknesses. I'm a competent swimmer but only really swim in a pool or in the sea when I'm abroad in a hot country and I'm looking to start doing a bit of sea swimming this summer in the UK. I'm not looking to train for a triathlon although could be interested in some openwater swimming events for fun only. Not competing.
In terms of distances, I'd like to do around 1.5 - 2k swims to start with but might go up to 3K eventually. In a 25m pool I can do 1.5k in around 24 minutes so I'd probably be looking at up to 45 minute swims. The times of year I'd like to swim at would have sea temperatures ranging from around 12°C - 18°C in the UK (53°F - 64°F).
I'm a bit lost with what wetsuit to go with though. My body definitely runs cold and I generally feel the cold a lot quicker than others. Last summer, I did hire a 5mm wetsuit to go surfing for 3 hours (18°C/53°F sea temperature). I was absolutely fine and this was easily warm enough. Without the suit, I had board shorts and a rash vest and was too cold to continue after 15-20 minutes. The only concern I have with a 5mm wetsuit is that I'm not sure how I'd get on with swimming as there would be a lot more movement.
I've been looking at 5/4/3 wetsuits but it seems like there are more options with 5/4 wetsuits. How much more freeing/flexibility would I have with a 5/4/3 and what thicknesses would you recommend for 45 minutes at 12°C/53°F? Also brand or wetsuit recommendations are greatly appreciated. I've gone down a load of rabbit holes in surfing and sounds like a wetsuit isn't going to last more than a couple of seasons, even the best ones. Although the people there seem to use their wetsuits nearly daily. I'd probably get maybe 20 uses out of it per year so would assume it would last way longer than a couple of years?
In terms of budget, I'd like to pick one up around £100 or under £150. But since I'm not going to be growing any time soon, would be willing to spend more if it's a worthwhile investment and will last me years to come.
TLDR: Looking for wetsuit recommendations (thicknesses and makes/models) for sea swimming 2K, up to 45 mins in the water at 12°C/53°F

Does anyone else notice new cones just placed all over Bloomfield? No parking effective tomorrow 5/22/24 through 5/16/25. Yes, 25. Is this real? How is that real? Entire blocks of parking? Anyone have any more info?

I starting showing OCD symptoms at age 10. It started with booby trapping the doors in my bedroom because I was scared my stuffed animals would open the closet door and kill me. I grew out of that but it turned into lock checking. Then it grew into stove dials and outlets. Then I ended up with a bunch of security cameras in my house.
Most of my issues are regarding physical safety and security. I obsess about house fires and burglary mostly. When I started seriously dating (about 10 years ago), I realized I would eventually get into this mindset (around the year and a half mark) of trying to prove my partner doesn't love me or has reservations about me. They don't do anything wrong, but I can't get it out of my head. I ask for reassurances when something causes me to feel that way but it it's hard for me to believe them and it doesn't actually stop the awful feelings I'm having.
Right now I'm in a relationship with my best friend. We were best friends before I confessed to having feelings for him and he quickly reciprocated. We've been together for two years now and honestly, I don't think either of us could imagine not being together.
He's done absolutely nothing wrong in this relationship. He cooks dinner every night and he gives me all the quality time/physical touch/acts of service in the world.
The issue lately has been me. I had in my head that we'd already be engaged at this point. I am appreciative that we haven't rushed into that because I know it's good for us and I want us to go into a very stable healthy marriage, but it's starting to give me intrusive thoughts that he has reservations about me. I'm constantly noticing things that hurt my feelings or make me doubt his integrity then forcing us to have these deep conversations. We've had a few fights just in the last 30 days because I can't let things go without trying to do 20 questions to establish if he has reservations about me. I'm just constantly thinking to myself, "Am I too crazy? Am I not attractive enough? Do you not love me as much as you loved your ex?" It doesn't even matter what he says, my OCD is just wanting me to dig deeper because I think he's hiding something. Mind you, this man is literally within arms reach pretty much 24/7 and treats me great. I don't want to push him away but I feel stuck in this cycle of being insecure and needing reassurance over and over again. Especially while my insecurities are trying to pick apart his integrity. He's mentioned once that my mental illness was a little bit of a reservation but then he has also admitted he was very close to proposing while we were in a vacation once.
Prior to the past few months, my OCD was the best that it's ever been. I feel like living in an apartment, working from home and having him beside me 24/7 has made my OCD feel completely managed (aside from an extra check with the front door whenever we leave the house). I'm obviously needing to get back on meds but I'm shocked that I'm only now realizing that these relationship insecurities I've had in multiple relationships is just a form of my OCD. I told my boyfriend about this and he said "well obviously it's your OCD". I'm glad he recognized it but I don't want to keep giving into it and causing us issues.
I mostly just wanted to post to see if anyone relates or if most people here mostly question their own feelings.

When I first got laid off 2/22/24 I got a lot of scammers trying to get me while I was confused.
But here's the weirds thing - I applied for a job via LinkedIn and this guy - with a slightly different email domain than the company I'd applied to - told me I was a viable candidate, put me through the paces, had me respond to a 15 technical questionnaire (which took me hours). Now I'm somehow hired without an interview and he wants my PII.
How did he get my application info? The actual company has that role on their website. I eventually applied directly, not via LinkedIn, and received a very different conformation email.
I asked ChatGPT to invent 15 questions for my role and they were the same/similar. Fuck me.

F20, 115 lbs, 5’4, history of anxiety, depression, and cyclothymia. Family history of hypothyroidism, depression, and paternal vascular dementia (my grandfather had it). Severe health anxiety that started about 10 months ago. I used to take anti depressants and mood stabilizers but haven’t been able to continue them in the last year or so due to my psychiatrist retiring.
I’ll try to keep this as short as possible, but I’ve done a ton of googling and research and keep coming up empty. I’m wondering if anyone has seen this “presentation” of symptoms before.
About ten-ish months ago I started having memory problems- I had word finding difficulties, severe headaches, and I lost things all the time. This was unlike me as my memory had always been sharp in highschool. I began to worry that I had a brain tumor, but I got a CT scan and the results were “unremarkable”. Since then I have had health anxiety relating to ALS (full body twitches, bad memory, etc) but that eventually went away after a few months. According to my boyfriend, my bad memory is episodic- it’ll be alright for a few weeks and then become bad again. With each episode, however, it seems to get worse.
I was ok-ish for a while but recently, my memory has been dreadful - I have short term memory issues. I can’t remember what happened a few seconds ago. I misplace and lose things frequently. I forget what tasks have to be done and often have to ask people to repeat themselves. I’ve started to lose the ability to do complex tasks.
-I struggle with hear, reading, and writing, specifically with words and complex sentences. I frequently mis-hear words or don’t really hear what people are saying to me at all. I see their mouth moving, I know they are saying something, it’s just not registering in my head. I usually have to ask them to repeat themselves. Today I thought people were saying completely different words than they actually were (car instead of club, etc). I struggle with writing. My hand writes things I didn’t ask it to, like today it wrote “where” instead of “like”. It adds strokes to letters that I write or completely misspells the word. I usually write something phonetically similar like write instead right or tight, or they instead of the, so on and so forth. I’ve forgot how to spell simple words I’ve been spelling for years.
-I’m seeing things, but not really seeing them, in a way. It’s like I see things half way. For example, at work, someone gave me their rewards card and I scanned it like it was an item. I was confused as to why the item wasn’t coming up and then realized it was a rewards card and not an item. It’s like my brain sees the barcode, but not the rest of the card and doesn’t recognize that it’s something separate that needs a separate procedure. Another example I could give is that I left a drawer partly open because that is what we do with till drawers once we take the money out for the night. But the drawer I left open wasn’t a till drawer, it was an actual drawer. It’s like my brain saw drawer and immediately thought to keep it open. Kind of like my short term memory isn’t working so my long term memory steps in. My eyes always feel glazed over, like I’m half way between seeing and my vision being hazy. Almost like I can see things clearly but my brain Is seeing them as fuzzy and not really recognizing what’s in front of me.
-it feels kinda like I’m in a dream. I have a hard time expressing myself, and I have word finding difficulties frequently. I often say things without thinking because I know I’m supposed to say something but my brain doesn’t recognize what yet. I’m confused often. It doesn’t feel like I’m fully “there”, like I’m on autopilot constantly and I don’t know how to shut it off. Even after 12 hours of sleep, I’m exhausted. I often can’t recognize how much time has passed.
I tried to find answers for these symptoms and the only answers I could find to memory and word problems was dementia or Primary progressive aphasia. I’m especially worried about the writing and spelling as these don’t seem to be a common symptoms of any mental health disorder. Any advice or even guesses would be truly appreciated.

[this does not constitute any investment advice, just purely my own opinion]
just like an on-going war, there will be days where it gets easier, and there will be days where it is the toughest. the toughest days of these battle was on 14 may 2024 to 17 may 2024.

• 14 may: volume 1.57B, 10.31% short sale ratio
• 15 may: volume 1.35B, 11.34% short sale ratio
• 16 may: volume: 1.14B, 13.19% short sale ratio
• 17 may: volume: 1.31B, 14.76% short sale ratio
• 18 may: volume: 701.67M, 8.35% short sale ratio

notice how the short ratio kept increasing, and until 17 may, it was at the highest. that was also the day where the price went to a high of almost $4, then down to $1.
logically and technically speaking, if this war has to fail, it already would have on Friday after-market hours. Prices would have just wane off, leaving the late buyers high and dry, losing their money. And this whole episode will just go down into history quietly without anybody mentioning about it again because it is embarassing.
However, prices short up after-market hours. this tells me there are renewed interest in the stocks. whatever share that is being sold, could have been bought up by a new buyer. hopefully a wise one, because a new and wise buyer would have strong holding power.
The price attempted to sell off again on monday. But to no avail, as soon as it reach the low of $1.20, it got scooped up quickly. Again, this indicate buying sentiment at low prices still exist. Otherwise, the price would have crash through.
Right now, Tuesday, there is a strong support at the $1.20 - $1.25 range. After 4 days of selling by shorties, the Short Interest has increased from 95.xx% to 96.78%. That means a new increase. This would mean that the short squeeze, if it does materialise eventually, is getting nearer and easier. Because with increased short interest, it'll mean that there are less float. With less float, less capital is required to buy them all up and stash them into your war chest and hold. When finally there is no more float around, it is here where it starts cracking. Prices gets bidded up very very quickly due to the limited supply.
Imagine this, you went to the market and bought onions from every stall. now, you own all the onions and nobody else has it. since now u've all the onions, you can dictate the price you want to sell at, and watch the uncles aunties cry when they buy the onion from you at sky high price. T_T
Also, data do not lie. my data from my broker consistently shows that, at the end of each trading session the S and M trade size are showing net outflow consistently over the past few days. There is only 1 group, the XL trade size that is consistently showing net inflow. that is the group that is giving me the confidence to hold.
From technical pattern perspective, there is a strong support zone at $1.20 - $1.25 range. Selling truimphs for monday and tuesday, but has weaken. as you can see, the slope sliding down is less steep. This is accompanied by the data where short sale ratio decreasing, and short interest increasing. Also in the daily chart, we've formed a ascending flag, and we are reached the tip-end of a triangular flag. On Wed or Thu, I would be expecting a sharp breakout on either side.

So boyfriend and I have been dating for 2 years. It’s been very good and we are very much on the same page with our future and what we want, house, kids etc. We make over $250K per year and equally split, we work very hard career wise and being financially set was important for both of us. Boyfriend and I have lived separately throughout our relationship but I’ve put in my notice to leave my apartment July 1st. Plan is to move in together, either at his or move into a rental home temporarily until we buy a home together. Id be happy to buy right away but I’m also fine to wait another year and experience living together first.
Here’s where it gets interesting- boyfriend has younger sister that moved in with him in September. She hasn’t been successful holding a job in the past, has some serious mental health issues (depression, anxiety, PTSD) has no education and has a 65 lb dog. Originally this situation was temporary to allow her to get back on her feet - look for a job or apply to a diploma program or something to get ahead in life. We were thinking by March she should be able to move out.
Here it is almost June, sister just started a minimum wage job working 15-20 hours a week. She has no savings and spends whatever money she makes on vapes, cigarettes, junk food and dog supplies. She pays no rent nor does she split groceries that my boyfriend and I have supplied since September. I help buy dog food and fill her car with gas, etc. I’ve done what I can to improve her life and make sure she was welcome and comfortable, as I spend a lot of time at my boyfriends and truly wanted to help her feel less stressed financially so she could focus on what she wanted to do for work or school. I would chat with her all the time about opportunities or programs. She spent all of winter not working and not leaving the apartment, severely depressed. We paid for her gym membership and took her with us whenever we could etc. I really feel that we did all we could to help her out. She has a therapist and medication and social supports, etc. I don’t see her being able to be successful on her own any time soon, the rental market in our area is expensive and a minimum wage part time job is not going to cut it. Also many rentals do not allow a larger dog.
I’m wondering what to do here. This sister situation has been a huge roadblock in my relationship with my boyfriend and our future and our chance to move forward. They live in a 2 bedroom suite, so there isn’t really room for me to move in, nor do I really want to in the current situation. It’s tight and honestly I’m so used to having more privacy and space at mine. I really crave one on one alone time with my boyfriend and we have sacrificed it so much to make her feel welcome and help her life improve.
My boyfriend and I are both financially ready to buy a house and move forward but we are now tied to being financially and personally responsible for this sister. The parents are struggling financially and health wise so they cannot take on this daughter of theirs. We have decided she and the dog are moving with us in this next chapter of either renting or buying a house.
I do recognize this situation may improve when we all have more space and maybe a basement for her to have her own area. However, I do not want to become resentful for a dependant I did not ask to be responsible for? I do not want to be resentful for not having the opportunity to live alone with my boyfriend and work on our relationship. I want a family and I also want to fully enjoy this next chapter of life we have both worked and saved for so long for!
How do I best set boundaries or a time frame to help this sister move on and live independently?
I fear we have made it to comfortable that she has no desire to pay her own rent or groceries, let alone live a full filling life of her own.

I am in need of some advice on breaking up. I've never had to break up with someone before and am unsure of how to hopefully go through this process. For reference, I (M28) and my partner (F26) have been together for 7 ½ years and reside in Texas.
I'm not sure how much detail I need to go into, but I am willing to answer any questions for advice.
I bought a house (without her) about 3 years ago. She moved in the same day I did, along with her friends, animals, and kids (not per my permission). They've since left but have left a considerable amount of damage to the house along with the damage my partner's animals have done. Probably will end up costing me 15-20k to repair.
Ever since her friends moved out, I've noticed inconsistencies with how she talks about her and the stuff she does around the house. It's honestly nerve-wracking, then she will treat and speak about me like I don't do most of the cooking, cleaning, and bill paying.
Since she had moved in, we have had several conversations about helping out around the house. I used to clean every week, but it would return to the state it was in the next couple of days. Now, I don't mind helping pick up after her, but not if I'm doing the cleaning by myself a majority of the time.
During our conversations, I discussed how I was not content with how little she helps out. I would 50-60 hours a week to her 40 or less. I don't expect her to do everything, but to just help or just pick up after herself. However, within these 3 years, we've had about 5 conversations about her cleanliness and lack of help. She showers maybe once a week and wears the same underwear (I only know because I do the laundry on my 1 day off) brushes her teeth only if she is going out which is about twice a week or less. We had agreed on splitting/alternating chores for it to only fall on me. Now, I will say that after the conversations, she will improve for a week or two just to fall back into her normal habit. She also leaves food out. As much as I hate, I've even let the sink fill up when it is her turn, but I end up doing it. I'm fighting a battle with cockroaches since a few weeks after she moved in because of this.
Also during our conversations we have talked about our bedroom life. She used to give me head just because saying she enjoyed seeing me get off. Since she has stopped, and since she has moved in, I've also stopped going down on her because of the.. well, I think you can imagine. She has complained about it when I would ask for a head, and I would respond with that she needs to shower more before I do that. For reference I shower every day after work because of my job. I also brought up that she would get mad when I would decline intimacy because she does it a couple hours before, but need to get up in a couple hours for work (4-5am), but I wasn't allowed to complain that she always tells me no when I tried to initiate during the day. Not to mention, the duration between acts has increased to about 1-2 months imbetween acts.
I guess in all, I'm tired of paying most of the bills, doing most of the chores/cooking on a constant basis while also working 50-60 hours and trying to start a business. I feel like she is holding me back. Not to mention pur decor style, money management, and child wants are complete opposite.she is into old stuff and is a maximalist. She constantly spends her money as soon as she gets it (generally on Amazon), which generally leaves me with the bills. She also wants to have kids (4+), adopt, force exchange, and foster care on top of the kids, and I'm not even sure if I want kids, let alone with her.
We live in Texas (as stated above), and we aren't common lawed. She tells everyone that we are married, but when they call me her husband, I shoot it down. Her name is not on the title, nor did she put any money towards the initial payment process.
I know I want to do this now. It's been on my mind for a while (other circumstances that made me think she just may not be the one). I am just unsure how to go about it.
She has 2 cats and 4 dogs (1 dog I would probably keep because she only listens to me). I don't think she has anywhere else to go, let alone a place to put her animals. I don't think she could find a place to rent that would a) allow all the animals to be in her price range c) because of her poor money management.
I hate to be the dick in this relationship, but I can't take this anymore. Especially with her gaslighting and manipulation that has taken me 7 yeats to recognize as what it is.
Please, any advice would be great. Im desperate..
TLDR: Relationship of 7 years (28m 26f) in Texas. She is very unhygienic with poor money management and lots of animals (that have left me with about 15-20k in repairs). I'm not sure if she has any other place to go, but I need her gone for my sanity and well-being. Please advise.

Why are you enlisting in the army?
Because my parents (Mother, Gen X) are not allowing a "20 year old Male that has been out of high school for "2" years & That is only working a part time job at Publix and is or not in any type of full time job (which i was but decided to quit *A connection job my parents put me on to by a friend *The Boss* which i immediately & automatically got but i burned the bridge by NCNS and ruined a reptation.) or in college (went twice, commuted Aug 2022, Stayed on campus Aug 2023) to live in there household as in "Adult". "The only people that can live for free and worry free are children" "We have NO more "Children". I have 2 older brothers (Oldest in his 30"s Married, 2 Children) , Middle (Late 20's pushing 30) No Kids, Living life & then there's me the Youngest (20 Years old, No type of motivation or idea of what i want in life sincerely, Hate how this is "Life" & how you really gotta feen for yourself as a person. I don't talk to my brothers fr we all got our own lives going on to the point its hard to have a update & that's just how its always been. Growing up they weren't around & i was the youngest so it was just me, they were already passed this stage of life when i was just coming up in my middle school - high school era. Today my parents found out that i no longer worked for the job (Warehouse $19 hour pay Full time) that they put me on too & that was definitely the dealbreaker. I was told as im typing this sentence at 5:32 PM "Tomorrow morning (May 22,2024) "We are going to the military requiting place and signing you up and that's your only option" or you have to go.. I was basically told that I can longer stay at my Parents home anymore & that now I have to depend on myself.
Why did you quit the FT $19 a HOUR warehouse Job?
Off rip on Day 1 i hated it, I knew i wasn't gon last long. Common sense would think $19 hourly pay as in MONEY (GOOD PAY) would be motivation to keep the job or to just deal with it but for me it was more then just money. Thats why from my perspective its different cuz i didn't care about the pay, I worked my 2 weeks and quit before i even saw how my pay check looked. it was just the job i did not like or feel a good fit for me itself. At 20 years old i was the youngest person in there. Everyone else were in there Late 30s , 40s & even 60s stating they have been there 27 years and more. That also was motivation for me because i was looking at it as like "I'm just trying to make money & build myself up, pay my bills, get me a new car, stack bread etc" but for everybody else yall got to "Pay bills, take care of yall family's, take care of yall kids & all these extra necessity that i don't have", so im looking at differently.
But as days went on and time started to progress i slowly felt irk. I slowly hated this lifestyle. The having to get up in morning at 5:20am Mon-Fri, Being in a loud hot ass warehouse all day, barley having breaks & just the environment in general. i just couldn't see myself doing that particular warehouse job for the rest of my life. (my first warehouse job).
During my 2nd week (last) Prolly Monday 5/13/24 The Connection "Friend" which was my boss that my parents put me on to said that one of the workers who was training me said i wasn't getting the job down pack correctly & my boss proceeded to tell me i have until Friday to get it down or they will have to let me go. i felt sum type of way cause i was seriously doing the job to the best of my capability and in the process i was still fairly new & learning. He also proceed behind closed doors to call my mother after our conversation we had and told her what was said as well.. I Only knew this because right after maybe 8 minutes after are convo i decided to take my 10 minute break & i get a message from my mom asking "Hey how's work going?" then i call her and she tells me...That he called. So in my head im frustrated because what does my Work business have to do with Personal life/ My mother being involve?? & Im not in middle school or high school, so why are we calling parents? Like Am im not a Young "Adult" in the "Real World" workforce?? I felt like that was weird to me off rip specially when i was told that "Work business is Work business.
I felt very Unentitled. Every time i would get off work i wouldn't know what to do after which I also always felt drained and foggy like i didn't have a life outside of going to work. I hated the way i felt.
Those were brief reasons on why i Ultimately made the decision to call it quits but in reality my reasons dont really matter its just the fact that i quit the job.
But now im back to square one figuring out what my next step is.. My plan
Either the service or being kicked out the choice is mine. I never was interested in any type of military role, it was never something i saw nor wanted to do. Since i was told that would be were i could be headed i did decided to do sum research on the process of how enlisting works and etc.. I didn't plan on taking that route personally. I know atp in my life the decision is indeed mine and i have to do whats right for and i think the military route is also not a fit for me. So now i have my 2nd option, Leave home.. Leave living with my parents just like college. Not having to worry about anything but myself, Having the independence lifestyle. It all sounds good but i know thats a huge step into the "Adult' life and just my life in general.
Im a 20 year old male, with no car, a part time job at publix, just got kicked out my parents house, & need guidance on what should i do?
open to all feedback please

What the title says :)
Went to change my g7 sensor this morning and noticed that the needle was completely bent. I had one more sensor left in my monthly supply besides the bent one so I used that one as it wasn’t damaged and figured I’d send a technical support request to replace the bent one. Figured I have 10 days with the new one so hopefully I’ll get a replacement before then and be fine. Nope, 7 hours after inserting that sensor, it straight up just fell off. I moved my arm to grab a blanket and as I did so I felt the pain of a needle and realized it was literally hanging off my skin. So now I have no sensors left.
Called Dexcom support and the wait time was 50 minutes so I’m waiting on a call back now. Just had to vent a bit.
However this is my first time ever needing to call for a replacement. Are they pretty good about replacing failed sensors?

I made this post the other day however have had another player drop out with potentially another one, I am looking for an additional player. MUST have a microphone.

As a heads up The first session is tomorrow Thursday 22/05/24 11AM AEST (I know it may be fast and I apologise)

Welcome everyone!
I'm a relatively new DM who has had some very brief experience running as a DM during my highschool years and have recently become engrossed back in the world of DnD. I have been experimenting over the past several months with running a game with some old friends and have been having a blast, due to the long gaps between sessions I am setting up a second campaign alongside my homebrew world of Altaria!
The game is going to a traditional medieval fantasy/classic adventuring tale within the lands of Altaria, with a focus on political intrigue and consequences between kingdoms which can be influenced by the players and their actions. A focus will be on role play. I am continuously updating the lore of the world with new organisations and locations. For your commitment I will always try to create a handcrafted map or battlescene for the session.
I have 2 friends who are already keen to join and am looking for another 1 players to join along.
Session Outline
I plan on running a D&D campaign via a mix of Foundry VTT and discord. The sessions will run most likely every week, Due to my employment in emergency services my roster is constantly changing making setting a specific/regular session difficult and will require everyone to be slightly flexible.
I will try to have sessions set up every week or 2, most likely on Wednesdays or fridays, session start times ranging from ~1100-1700 AEST. Depending on everyone's availability. the Session length itself I am aiming for is ~4 hours with a break in between.
I am planning on having this be a long-term campaign if you do not believe you can commit please reconsider applying
New players are most certainly welcome! If you need I will help guide you both with setting up characters, teaching you rules and how to use the programs.
World Setting/Description
Discovering Altaria, a continent veiled in mystery and allure, marked a pivotal moment for explorers from the old world. Millennia ago, these adventurers first set foot in what is now known as Wavecrest, but it was the fertile expanses of the mainland that truly captivated their ambitions. Cities and towns emerged along bustling trade routes, flourishing rapidly and soon overshadowing the initial settlement on Wavecrest. The burgeoning civilizations reached heights of prosperity previously unimaginable, until the world was shaken by the "Great Evanescence." Communication with the old world abruptly ceased; ships that set sail to reconnect vanished into the void, sparking fears of a catastrophic demise of the old continent or the wrath of divine or malevolent forces.
In the ensuing chaos, the Eldorian Empire rose to prominence, leveraging its control over fertile lands and the allegiance of migrating nobles and craftsmen to establish a new order. This era of uneasy peace, upheld by Eldoria's military dominance, persisted for centuries. However, complacency and neglect, coupled with the earth-shattering discovery of a new mystical metal, Atherium in the Mountains of Last Ridge within the provence of Verdantia, set the stage for upheaval. This arcane material, promising wealth and power, ignited the flames of envy, particularly in the eyes of the waning Eldorian Empire main counties. The empire's attempts to monopolize Atherium sparked a fierce rebellion by the now new Kingdom of Verdantia, plunging the realm into a devastating conflict known as "The Great Sundering." The war raged, reshaping landscapes and redefining borders, with neither side securing a decisive victory.
The stalemate was broken only when the combined forces of Stoneshield, the Timorian Realm, and Wavecrest intervened, presenting an ultimatum that ultimately led to a grudging peace. In the treaty that followed, Eldoria relinquished control of the western territories, paving the way for the formation of the "Three Leagues," to manage distribution of Atherium through the continent, while Verdantia gained the right to retain control of Atherium production and retaining its new found sovereignty. Although peace has prevailed for five years, unease simmers as reports of raids along the kingdoms' borders escalate.
Amidst political tensions, the presence of magical and monstrous beings adds layers of complexity to the realm. While sightings are rare in civilized areas, the increasing frequency of such encounters has prompted many to form adventuring groups or guilds. Magic, revered for its power, remains an uncommon and dangerous art, commanding respect and fear in equal measure. Those who dare to underestimate its potency often face dire consequences.
In this intricate tapestry of alliances, rivalries, and arcane mysteries, Altaria stands as a realm teeming with potential adventures, challenges, and untold stories, waiting to be discovered by those brave enough to venture into its depths.
Rules
18+ content is allowed within reason - Gore and NSWF are allowed. However, nothing extreme eg. sexual assault, rape etc.
No PVP, Exceptions depend on the situation and both parties must consent.
Be respectful towards myself and other players, Try to be a team player, do not steal or ruin the game for everyone else (that includes fudging roles)
No meta-gaming, please try to put yourself into the mind of your character. try not to yell out at other players during their turn.
Let me know if there is an issue, dont let it brew. whether it be from something I'm doing, or if it is another player. This is a game where we are all trying to have fun and I will try to make it the best I can.
Ultimately the rules are up to my discretion, I may make a decision in a situation that is not strictly allowed for either comedic value or for the fun of the game (TLDR Rule of Cool)
Please try to show up on time for our sessions, I know life can get in the way. If something does occur or you have another event please let me know beforehand. if you frequently do not show or respond I will take it as a sign of your disinterest and remove you from the party. I will give you fair warning before this occurs.
Know your characters abilities and how they work, if you are new again I can run through it with you before the session.
DEATH RULES - I am going to take inspiration from Critical role regarding death rules, if a character dies there is going to be a chance that they stay dead. They are able to be revived however it will be both an expensive and laborious process with a chance of failure! (remember retreat is always an option!)
I will not be fudging roles, I believe that the game becomes much more enjoyable if there is a chance of failure, creating suspense and risk.
RP will be a key element of the game, however you can't justify a blatantly evil action as "its what my character would do"
Pay attention when playing, I am putting extensive effort into creating this world and game for you, this includes in combat try to have your turn prepared before it reaches you.
Applying
Righto almost done with the wall of text :P, if you are interested either message me on reddit or my discord name (Runieman),
Maps
Continent of Altaria - https://inkarnate.com/m/wo08p2/
Continent of Alaria Political - https://inkarnate.com/m/qgrEDA/
Descriptions
World Description - https://inkarnate.com/m/RlJlQM/
Eldorian Empire - https://inkarnate.com/m/wo08Ve/
Kingdom of Verdantia - https://inkarnate.com/m/O7GGm7/
Three Leagues - https://inkarnate.com/m/oy0vLk/
Timorian Realm - https://inkarnate.com/m/X7gwvQ/
Stoneshield Dominion - https://inkarnate.com/m/ZV0bxQ/
Petty Kingdom of Wavecrest - https://inkarnate.com/m/Vmqv73/
The Whitevale - https://inkarnate.com/m/KwOwmQ/
Thanks for reading!

I am hoping someone can help me out with this. It seems like it should be a super easy thing to do, but I can't seem to figure it out. I am starting to think that I don't fully understand how the investment funds in my 401K work. I had assumed they were basically ETFs, and that if I googled the name of the fund I would be able to figure out what the stock ticker is for it. But every time I try to do it for any of the funds I have access to, the share price is different than what Voya says it should be. So that makes me think I am not looking at the right thing. One thing I did notice is that Voya refers to it as price per unit, not share. So maybe there is a conversion in there I am unaware of? Here is the break down, there are 4 funds I am currently investing in. All of them have a unit price listed as of 5/20/24. I will list them below. If anyone has any idea what the ticker is for any of these, or another easy way I can monitor them I would really appreciate it. I am trying to avoid using the Voya app unless I need to make changes because the thing is a hot mess.

• State Street S&P 500® Index Non-Lending Series Fund Class A - 479.786060
• Jennison Large Cap Growth Equity - 63.232800
• BlackRock Emerging Markets Index Fund F - 12.048214
• State Street Global All Cap Equity Ex-U.S. Index Non-Lending Series Fund Class A - 22.048515

Ideally, I would like to be able to just add the tickers for the above (if they exist) to a watchlist on my TOS account so I can just see how things are going at a glance. Any help or other suggestions would be appreciated.

TD;LR my (25f) partner (29m) has been unemployed for nine months and relies on me financially but has given no indication of marriage or leveling himself up.
my partner and i have been together for almost four years (four years in june). our relationship this past year has been horrible. bad fights, him leaving etc. he’s been laid off three times since we’ve been together and for the past nine months i’ve paid 100% of all living expenses.
in the beginning of our relationship he definitely paid for most things but i always helped with groceries dates smaller bills etc. so it’s never been completely on him. i’m at my breaking point right now. i’m very serious about money and i also want to be someone’s wife. he has a gambling problem (used to be casinos, then sports betting, now it’s trading memecoins) where he can and has lost thousands of dollars at a time. he’s also made thousands of dollars at a time. that said, in NINE months he hasn’t paid a dollar towards any of our shared living expenses. i’ve sent him so many job recs, offered to make intros with my network, etc and he hasn’t done any of it. i work at a startup so sometimes im literally working 12 hour days; ive brought up how it feels like i have no support and that it could also just be him cleaning or cooking because i do all of that too (and honestly i would prefer me doing this if he had a literal job :/) and he gets angry and says he’s carried the load for so long…. i genuinely feel like it’s sexist and he refuses to see the effort and the monetary constraints im under. when he’s left i feel like he’s only come back because he’s broke. he’s asked me to pay for his vapes and i even paid off his overdraft on top of our regular living expenses this matters because well he made 10k last night and hasn’t expressed how he intends to help at all. i feel taken advantage of and like i can’t bring up money without him redirecting to another time i got upset or overreacted about something in the past or he’ll make jokes about bankruptcy etc which i find frustrating. he doesn’t come on to me either and is literally just on the computer 24/7.
how do i approach this??? am i wasting my time??? he literally never talks about the future and i just feel sick giving my literal dollars and effort to someone im not married to and like im a placeholder being taken advantage of by an adult child. what do you recommend? am i not being supportive which he’s said?

My college friend really needs help and has for about 10 years. Despite trying a lot of tactics to help her, she just isn’t interested in sobriety or therapy. The past few years she seems to be devolving into what I can only describe as alcoholic rambling, general madness, and randomly lashing out.
When she calls me, it typically goes something like this: she tells a story or talks at me, reminisces about the good old days, remembers something that upset her, yells at me, says she loves me, reminisces again, and then I try to exit.
I think it would help me to have a few terms to describe her behavior and maybe mine too… My husbands friend was a total jerk to me behind his back for years and no one believed me. Understanding what “gaslighting” is helped me frame that behavior and be able to talk about it!
So that’s why I’m posting and would so appreciate any comments.
—-—- here’s the long version:
My friend is a 37-year-old living in a rural area with her parents and grandmother with dementia since COVID. My friend is an alcoholic, workaholic, and has ADD. She also really smart, funny and social. Shes amazing at her job in sales/recruiting and really defines herself by it. Her parents are both alcoholics, kinda conspiracy theorists, and often mean to each other (yelling in the background, belittling, hiding things from eachother, etc). She feels obligated to help with her grandma and is kinda resigned to change nothing. Clearly the environment is bad and rubbing off on her.
For example, last week she called me frantic and crying because her dog killed a bird. She talked for about 30-45 minutes, jumping between the current bird and other bird stories, of which there are many. I barely uttered a mmhmm the whole time. Eventually, she asked what’s up with me. I mentioned that I’ve been depressed and struggling to find a job, which is putting stress on my marriage so overall I’m feeling really low. Since she’s in recruiting and knows my work history, I asked if she knew of any job openings. She then launched into a story about how competitive she is with her coworkers and how it’s all a game to get the biggest commissions on placements but those are for engineers. So I take that as a no and by the end of her monologue she was back on the topic of birds. I tried to exit the conversation, and she said to call her the next afternoon if I wanted to talk about job hunting and she may have ideas.
The next day, I called her, optimistic to see the side of her that shines and hoping for some jobs she can refer me to. Instead she pulled up my LinkedIn profile and started telling me what I should change. Which wasn’t want I wanted but sure if that’s her approach she’s the expert. Then she became critical, loudly laughing at my picture, saying my hair was covering part of my face and I looked like a villan, untrustworthy. She’d never hire me based on that photo. She was kinda manic laughing as I was kinda tearing up (I’m aging and avoid photos so I thought the one take by my hairdresser was a high quality headshot and my hair looked cute). Okay sure I’ll change it. The critique wore on roast style with the justification of this is just tough love, the way we talk to each other is unfiltered and she just always around guys.
She brought up networking and remembered introducing me to a coworker, Sally. I said I didn’t remember what ever happened with Sally because it was two years ago. To which she got very heated, accusing me of dropping the ball and never following up. She started screaming, how she put her neck out for me and I couldn’t be bothered. I tried to talk her down and eventually hung up. I later checked the old email thread and saw that I had followed up with Sally, but she was going on vacation, so it didn’t go anywhere. My friend kept calling and texting, so I eventually picked up. I told her I didn’t mess up, and I didn’t want to be spoken to like that. So she apologized for yelling. Then she went back to criticizing my LinkedIn, pointing out a spelling error and calling me stupid. I told her I wasn’t in a great place and that her feedback style was hurtful.
She then veered off into a story about how she loves me and has saved the letters I wrote her. I cut her off, saying that while I appreciate it, those notes aren’t relevant to this conversation and let’s focus on job talk. She got upset, saying I don’t value our friendship and was using her just for a job so fuck you blablabla…
After a few more hours of texts and calls, I let her know I’m going to prioritize my own feelings and block her number but I’ll check in with her in 3months. I’ve tried to support her but also keep my distance but I need to be firmer in enforcing that. I’d say forever but that feels like canceling her when I know she needs help. ——- Rewriting this, feels as long and draining as that conversation was so I’ll stop there.
All of this to say, what kind of pattern is that? Is it something she’s doing because her parents do it to her? Am I crazy to keep picking up her calls? I feel like if I had a name or terminology to unpack all these conversations it would be easier to process them.

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