Hey all!! So I am a Baptist studying Presbyterian theology and I am finding the paedobaptism view to be pretty convincing. However here are a couple things that I do not understand.
If we are supposed to baptize our children before they have faith then why does Philip tell the Ethiopian Eunich in Acts 8:36-37 that before he is baptized he first MUST believe in the Lord with all of his heart.
(36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What prevents me from being baptized?” 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”)
Secondly, I hear a lot of Reformed people say that if we do not participate in the Sacraments in faith that those same elements bring judgement upon us. Obviously this is more clear Scripturally about the Eucharist but I have heard Reformed people say it about baptism too. It seems to contradict itself a bit since a baby cannot understand what is going on and have faith.( I do believe God can give faith to an infant but generally I think a baby would not go through a baptism with faith)
It seems a bit confusing to me but I have an open mind and am interested in hearing y'all's thoughts!

I have known him since I was 13. Now 31F. He was 15. Now 33M He got with a girl at 17 and they have been together since and got divorced in 2022. They have 2 toddler boys. They both seemed like really good people, he was a firefighter paramedic and she was a paramedic. I got with my ex husband at 17 as well, who ended up being the firefighters best friend along with our daughters God Father. My husband passed away in 2022 and the firefighter also divorced his wife. Him being my daughters God Father, we were in frequent contact. I helped him through his separation and divorce. We ended up seeing each other while he was still with his ex wife. He talked me into it because she was having an affair with her boss for the past year plus. That they have both cheated etc. I already cared alot about the firefighter, I have known him a long time, my husband's best friend, my daughters God father...we found comfort in each other after the death of my husband/ father of our preteen daughter and the firefighters best friend. At the time I was severely depressed and barely remember alot during that time frame. After already falling in love with him I found out about alot of concerning things to which he had an excuse for every one of them. He cheated a few times and went to Asian massage parlors where they had sex etc. He had regular sex during 3 visits and 2 blow job's. The parlor got raided and shut down though. Him and his wife decided to work it out but he only admitted to hand jobs. I didn't know for sure but had a feeling he had a sex addiction of some kind. Or porn addiction? Anyway him and his ex separated, it was a nasty divorce. Me and him ended up together. He told me he loved me, im the best hes ever had etc...he claimed to hate his ex..talked about all the bad shes done...completely victimizing himself. There were alot of weird things happening...I eventually found out 7 months later that he was using me as a rebound and wasn't over his ex. I had feelings before but he denied them. We broke up, he didnt say much of anything when i asked why were breaking up, i had so many questions, he had very few words, he leaves my house and as soon as he gets in hi car to leave, he calls his ex, told her we broke up, asked how she is able to move on and be with someone new after 13 years. She seemed happy with her boyfriend and said she just let the past go and moves forward. That her new man makes her so happy and finally has all she's ever wanted. (I didn't find out about this until later) The next day he calls me claiming he finally figured out what he wanted and has finally let her go. I was so confused. He said he doesn't know what happened just that after the 3 hour conversation he had with her he finally realized he wasn't in love with her anymore. I didn't immediately take him back but eventually I did. 2 moths later we get a home together. He worked 1 week on 1 week off shifts in a town 5 hours away. One day I used his old phone so my toddler could watch cartoons while I used my phone to watch my show. We were in er all night and laying in bed. We hadn't set tvs up yet, still moving. Instead i handed my daughter my phone and i used his, i had an instinct to check his phone, he was acting weird and emotionally unavailable. When he was with me he seemed like he was in love with me...there were definitely some emotionally unavailable times and i often felt like sex with him was objective..when asked he claimed hes just going through a rough time due to child custody and divorce and best friend dying. Also I cleaned out his car for him before he left and found a black shirt with a circle of shaded white stuff at the bottom, like he had sex with his shirt on and hit it from behind and the female juices got on his shirt. It didnt look like a males cum, but female juices. I also found viagra in his center console and mens balls fragrance spray and lube. When i asked him about it he said he hast been with anyone but me and he doesn't know, and that the pills etc was from him bringing that stuff for us, which didnt make any sense to me, we already had lube and the pills shouldn't be in car if for me, we have sex in our house...i just shrugged it off because i thought there was no way he was cheating on me, i am way out of his league and satisfy all of his sexual fantasies or so i thought...his ex didnt do anal and barely had sex with him. He had only been with 1 girl before his ex and the 4 asian prostitutes he hired. So i was new for him...I dont mean to sound conceited but I am good looking and his ex was unhealthy and overweight with an ugly personality. He is also overweight. I fell in love with his personality. But This was the first time I have ever looked through his phone. I went to his internet history and found he was compulsively looking up Asian massage parlors, the reviews, rub maps, prostitutes, massage porn, painal, (which is anal sex thats hurting the female) etc...I felt my heart drop into my stomach. .I called him and asked him, he eventually claimed he went to 2 massage parlors and nothing happened. The last parlor visit was the day before he got off his week long shift, which after that he had sex with me and we went to go look at our first home together with his kids and mine. The other was a couple weeks before the last one when we were online searching for a home together. He was on shift hours away, we were sending listings to each other. I looked into what he said, the Google maps, phone history, txt history, call history, bank history etc...I found alot more. Then he admitted to attempting to hire a prostitute the same day I decided to give him another chance. This is his story, who knows the truth. I see in his bank history he tried hiring many prostitutes, which most don't look like they worked out. This one he claims he messaged her, they sent pics back and forth and he asked prices and location, and what all she does. He asked for anal, she said yes and to buy lube. She said to pay in gift cards and meet at hotel. It was 1am and everything was closed so she suggested 24hrwalgreens and apple gift cards. So he said he got off phone with me to go to sleep, (what he told me) then he went to walgreens, bought $250 worth of apple gift cards and some lube then headed towards the hotel she told him to meet her at. He claims he went inside and sat in the lobby and waited for her to come down. Says she asked him to verify gift cars through this app before she can come get him to make sure they are real. His GPS has him there for an hour and a half. He said he spent that time trying to figure out the gift card verifier. He said it kept coming up with an error and wasn't working that he re did it a bunch of times and nothing. He said he then got a bad feeling and left, said he got down the road and decided he came this far might as well see it through so he turned around and went back, he dont know for sure but the prostitute may have told him to come back in text when he left he dont remember. So he got back, sat in the lobby and continued to try and figure out the gift card verifier again. He told the prostitute via text its not working and apparently she was trying to help him and said " are you putting in the correct number?" He said he then got irritated and sent a picture of the gift cards in his hand with his thumb aiming at the scratch off bar code then realized he just sent her the numbers so now she has all the money without having to work for it. So after he apparently kept trying and finally left because he started to think it was a sting or something, he had a bad feeling. Then he said he tossed the gift cards in the console in his car and went back to the station, put the gift cards in the leg pocket with velcro of his EMS pants. Went to his room, put his gym shorts on, laid down, beat off then went to sleep. The next day started researching Asian massage parlors and went to one. He said nothing happened there either. It later came out that he tried to have sex with her but she wouldn't. Said at the end she tossed a rag and oil on his lap and left the room, then later said she held the rag for him to cum on and he beat off and came on the rag she was holding. After his shift was over he drove the 5 hours home, picked his boys up on the way. I asked what happened to the gift cards and lube he bought at walgreens. The first thing he said was he thought about giving them to my daughter because he has android and has no use for them but decided against it then later he said he forgot the apple gift cards in his ems pants and washed them, when he pulled all of the clothes out of the dryer he noticed these white cardboard paper like pieces and realized it was the gift cards. As for the lube, he claims he put it in the big pocket attatched to the back of his driver seat and when he got home and got the boys out of carseats they had gotten into it and were both covered in lube. Which makes me wonder how they opened it etc thinking back if it was brand new..All of this took a couple months of us talking and him "finally telling the truth" he kept lying. After putting everything together from his Google timeline location, internet history, bank history etc I found out he went to multiple massage parlors etc. He claims he just tried to hire prostitute where nothing happened and he went to 2 massage parlors where nothing happened except him taking care of himself. He said he can't remember what happened at the other places. He remembers going to the ATM to withdraw hundreds of dollars multiple times but can't remember actually going. He remembers planning some and driving there but can't remember anything after. Just more lies kept coming out. Eventually after he got space and time from his ex, he started to actually fall in love with me. He started actually trying in our relationship etc. He is doing very good now. We are happy for the most part. He claims he was just messed up after divorce and didn't want to accept he wasn't over his ex who got pregnant with another man's baby 2 months after they separated. Said I was his peace and the only thing that made him feel better. He came clean about alot. Told me deep secrets. I found concerning things in his phone history. Paraphilic things... His Ex told me some things he did. He explained them to me. At the fire station, he would wait for certain females to say they are going to shower, then he'd say "let me use bathroom first " then he'd adjust the blinds to where he could go outside and watch through window. Come out, sit down a few minutes then go outside and video record them getting naked etc and taking a shower. It was a stand up shower with no curtains. He'd also stand out there and Jack off. He did this with multiple woman over the course of working there. He emailed the videos to himself and put them in a junk folder where his wife finally found them. She supposedly deleted them. He would still jack off to them. He also used his wifes best friends phone and went to her photos, found her nudes and took pictures of them secretly, his wife found those too...
When we got together, we talked alot. I helped him understand his actions etc. He wants to be a better man. He has a really good heart, also alot of trauma. His Ex wife did him very wrong and he has mommy and daddy issues. Being with her his entire adulthood..the way she treated him I believe contributed to his actions. He's been amazing. He quit masturbating, quit looking at porn, he has been communicating better, I have a parent app on his phone, please no judgment. There's more to this story, too much to explain. I do want to work it out with him though. When he was grieving his divorce, he acted out doing those things. After getting through it, he's been near perfect for 10 months now. He got help for awhile then stopped due to finances but is willing to continue. He thought all men were like that. His step dad was awful with how he objectifies women and obsessed over sex. He was oversexualized since he was 3. They let him watch porn, bought him a pocket pushy that resembled a woman with a butt, boobs, butt hole and vagina. Porn magazines...a child!? He is learning how to be a good man and is proud of it. He tells me when he has bad thoughts and we talk through it. He quit everything. I am so proud of him. However now I'm having trust issues, it's causing arguments which is causing him not to communicate as openly... Is he hopeless? Please no judgment. Need advice. Neither of us have any family, just each other. I don't believe he's telling the truth about the massage parlors and prostitutes he saw during his week at work, he says he is but it don't add up to me. We are doing great but I can't move forward knowing he's been to like 6 massage parlors but only remembers what happened at 2. His lies kept coming out, first nothing happened then weeks later story changed to the lady told him to take care of himself and handed him a rag and oil. Then weeks later it changed to the lady held a rag next to his dick while he jacked himself off into it...he claims nothing happened at the other one...he tried for sex at both and claims he can't remember what happened at the others. As for the prostitute, he's sticking to the story above. I got this info little by little because his stories never made sense so I kept bringing it up, obsessing over it, going through the facts over and over...but there's nothing I can say. He doesn't remember apparently. He won't change that answer no matter what even though his bank statements. Maps etc say he went to other places, he claims he forgot what happened. How do I move forward with that...I can't. This traumatized me. I need answers! I was good to him! I took care of him and his 2 toddlers after the separation, I babysat so he could work, I was there for him. How can he be so evil...he says he was just severely depressed. He's so different now and has been amazing for last 9 months or so...no masturbating, no porn, communicating, honesty etc...I love him. What do I do? I can't let this go. I quit asking him because I get absolutely nowhere and it's mentally exhausting explaining to him how his story doesn't make sense. If I do somehow prove it doesn't make sense he either adds something simple that he just remembered or he says he forgot. When I initially asked him it was still fresh...but he claims he told me everything he remembers. It's funny because usually when people don't want to be fully honest they will at least admit to stuff that there's clear evidence on. He didn't even do that. He denied the evidence first and only admitted to 1 prostitute and 2 Asian parlors. Then after going over all proof, bank statements, location history, internet history, phone, txt etc...and his little ATM withdrawals he made every week he went to works withdrawing hundreds of dollars each time...and our texts added context to what was going on during that time, we would talk like all day via txt and phone. Then he admitted he remembers looking another one up, talking to me etc..but doesn't remember what happened after he got there. And he forgot everything about all the others. For a man that did nothing but look up massage parlor porn, reviews, locations, stories etc and prostitutes in his area compulsively all day and night when he was awake on shift...plus he was in a city that is notorious for massage parlor prostitutes, there was a movie made about it...with a bunch of free time...and a bunch of money...it doesn't make sense...but he swears on everything he can't remember...he didn't then and now when I ask, since it's been 9 months he uses that as excuse..."your asking me to remember something that happened like a year ago?!?! I didn't remember then and it being almost a year ago I really don't remember now?!?!" It's just so convenient...the gift cards and lube...both trashed and destroyed, nothing but him jacking off with massage parlors, sitting in lobby for 1 hr and a half waiting on prostitute before finally leaving because of a bad feeling, and can't remember the rest. How do I believe this??? I'm just so messed up over all of this. Please any advice? He really has changed and wants to be a good man. But if he can't be honest about what happened, he hasn't changed at all.

I want to share a real experience that I had about 7 years ago. This might not be as interesting as it could be, because its real. Im not trying to make things up for the sake of entertainment, I just want to get this off my chest, as it was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life.
Around the age of 19 I was disqualified from the military due to a medical disqualification. I wasn’t too sure what to do with my life since this was a lifelong dream, I felt very lost. I did a lot of soul searching during this time, studied many religions and philosophies. At some point I got in to occultism, law of attraction, meditation and finally, astral projection.
To keep it short, I started meditating to attract in to my life the things I wanted, and I also started to practice astral projection. After a few weeks, my aunt started to come in to my room, scared, and began to question what I was doing. I told her I was meditating quite frequently, some times up to 3h a day, why was she asking? She told me that something very weird had just happened in the house, in fact, for a few days now, several weird things had been happening.
She told me while they were watching tv the front door of the house unlocked itself, and the door had just been slammed open. They told me things had been falling off counters, and my uncle was seeing things from the corner of his eyes. She didn’t ask me to stop, she actually seemed intrigued. My aunt is into crystals and all kinds of groovy-doo stuff.
I kept this going, I wasn’t able to astral project yet, but I was able to get parts of my body to leave (as weird as that sounds). I was able to “remove my arm from my arm”, its a very odd feeling to describe. It feels like your arms is paralyzed, yet another one you can fully manipulate and feel is coming out of it. I was also able to do this with my right leg. For those who are not understanding what astral projection is, it means leaving your body. Im not sure if your soul leaves your body or if you project it mentally, all I know is its very real. Im not here to persuade you one way or the other, but its thing. Supposedly you are able to soul travel by doing this.
In any case, a couple weeks go by and my uncle and aunt need to be gone for a couple days, and I have the house for my self. So what do I do, have a girl over like any normal dude would? No, I meditate and try to leave my body, by this point im obsessed.
For the first time I fall a sleep while meditating, and what proceeds to happen is one of the most traumatic and terrifying things to ever happen to me, who am I kidding, its by far the most terrifying experience of my life and it haunts me to this day. This is the part of the story I dont like telling anyone, because they dismiss it as a nightmare or “its just sleep paralysis bro”. I dont care what you decide to call what im about to tell you, if you want to label it as fake, it was more real than life to me.
I have astral projected a few times, I never saw anything very interesting other than my own home, freaking out my dogs and mostly what I do Is fly over lakes, factories at night, the city. I can never do it for very long, I have not mastered it and nowadays I avoid the practice altogether, although it happens involuntarily still from time to time. What I experienced in this instance was different, it felt more physical, it felt more real, and I was attacked by God knows what.
I wake up, laying flat on my bed, facing up, arms wide open and legs spread apart. The TV is on, the show ink master is running. Its night, but the room has a natural light to it, almost like a full moon. I see a shadow in the corner of the room, I try to get up but I cant move, im paralyzed. I start being able to move, but I feel heavy, like trying to swim underwater. The shadow gets closer to me, and then crawls ontop of my body. (This is embarrassing to say and I normally leave this part out of the story) this thing, proceeds to put its hands between my legs and press and squeeze…you know. I feel immense physical pain, there is actually something griping my body and really hurting me. I try to scream, but I cant.
I start saying -“the power of christ compels you” over and over, but it does nothing. My back starts to bend in an arch and im slightly levitating over my bed, everything is happening very silently. Which allows me to hear loud footsteps coming from the kitchen. While this is all happening, a man walks from the kitchen in to my room. I can barely see or look, but he is a middle aged man wearing a suit, looks very old fashion. After several attempts of asking, my words finally come out -“who are you?”. The man standing in the corned of my room states -“my name is Lucer”. I then ask, concerned -“Lucifer…?” He states -“No, Lucer”.
The painful back arching and floating continues for a while, when suddenly, it stops. I fall on my bed, and its suddenly daylight, ink master is still on and I can hear birds chirping. I never woke up from this, like waking up from a dream, it simply stopped and I was still awake.
I spent the entire day looking things up online, trying to make sense of what happened. When it came night again, the same thing happens again… this entity or what ever it is, grips me the same way and hurts me. You gotta understand the pain is very physical and excruciating, I can feel its hands and fingers, and this time im very pissed off. For one reason or another, this time im not afraid and I start trying to strangle it. I start asking it get me out of my body so I can murder it, and suddenly, it all stops, just like that.
After this second episode, it never happened again. From time to time, I am still attacked by an entity that looks like me, and am forced to fight it, but these are more like vivid nightmares, nothing like the situation I just described. I quit meditating, I quit trying to astral project, and this situation never happened again. I still involuntarily astral project in my sleep sometimes, but its very uneventful. I dont see other entities or have bad or good things happen, I just float over a lake near my house and enjoy the view for the most part. Maybe theres more I could share, but I think I have share enough, thanks for getting this far. I never found out who Lucer was.

• for those who have asked if the Lucer entity was helping or not. I have no idea, i’ve spent years trying to figure out who that was and looking through my ancestry to see if it was a relative, nothing. His energy didn’t seem negative at all, but neither did it seem be benevolent. It didn’t seem like he was involved in it in anyway, seems like just someone passing by that saw all of this happening.

Esra Uyrun was a 38 year old woman who vanished after leaving her home in Clondalkin, Ireland on the morning of February 23rd 2011. Despite extensive campaigning from her family and police searches, no trace of Esra has ever been found.
Esra and her husband, a man called Ozgur, were originally from London but had moved for work. The couple were of Turkish descent and had a large, close-knit family. Ozgur had been offered a position in Dublin and although initially reluctant, Esra agreed to the move and they both relocated across the water to Ireland. Esra found employment as an administrator for the same company that Ozgur worked for and quickly settled into her new life. Soon after the move, Esra was delighted to discover that she was pregnant with the couples first child, a boy called Emin. However, in October 2010, Esra's father passed away. Esra was deeply affected by his death and flew back and forth to London on numerous occasions to grieve with her mother and sister. In early 2011, Esra suggested to her mother, Neriman, that she could visit her in Ireland as a change of scenery might be good for her. As her mother wasn't in good health at the time, Esra had also invited her mother-in-law to make the trip alongside Neriman. With the invitation accepted, Esra booked the plane tickets for February 24th and began preparations for their arrival.
On February 22nd, a neighbour reported seeing Esra putting trash bags outside and made a joke about why she was spring cleaning in February. It was stated that Esra responded, explaining that she was preparing for her mother and mother-in-law's arrival and that she was very excited. She was described by this neighbour as appearing 'happy' and 'in high spirits'. On the morning of February 23rd, Esra left the family home at approximately 7:15am as she had wanted to grab some supplies from the local shop before returning back home again. Her husband needed to use the car at 8am for work so she promised that she would be right back. According to Ozgur, she stated "You know what, if you're going to take the car it's cold. I don't want to go out with the baby so I'll just go and pick up a few bits I need and I'll come back, you have the car and then I don't have to go out again." As the family only owned one vehicle, he agreed and she departed the house. This was the last time he ever saw Esra alive.
When she failed to return, he grew concerned and contacted the Garda later that day to explain his fears. However, they told him it was too early for them to do anything and to wait as she would probably return home soon. Ozgur waited, but when she still hadn't returned by that evening he filed a missing persons report and provided Gardaí with their car licence plate. He then explained the situation to their family back in London. The following day, Esra's mother and mother-in-law boarded their flight and came over to Ireland.
The first break in the case came at 11pm on the 23rd, the same day that Esra vanished. Her car was found, parked up in Bray Head, a popular cliffside walking area around 30 minutes drive from her home in Dublin. Strangely, her purse was found locked in the boot and contained €60, her driver's license and bank cards. Within 48 hours of Esra's disappearance, Gardaí told her family that they were treating her case as a suicide based on the location her car was found in. Bray head was a popular suicide spot due to its tall cliffs and somebody that entered the water in the area, would very likely never be found. In addition, her phone had last pinged in the same area before being shut off. However, Esra's family didn't believe this and strongly suspected that foul play was involved. They stated that she had been very excited for her mother's arrival and that she was in good form in the days prior to her disappearance. Additionally, her sister stated that Esra had asked her to bring some ingredients over from London that she couldn't find in Dublin which wasn't something that somebody who intended to take their own life would do.
CCTV footage emerged shortly after and this is where things started to get a bit strange. The first footage shows Esra's car at a roundabout at approximately 7:50am on the morning of the 23rd. However, she had left the house at 7:15 and the roundabout was only 3 minutes drive from her home which left around 30 minutes unaccounted for. Furthermore, her car was driving in the opposite direction of her home. Her car was captured again on CCTV, entering the car park at Bray head. In the footage, the car be seen driving erratically and almost hits another vehicle. Curiously, after entering the car park, it immediately drives back out again and then returns back to the car park. The vehicle is seen doing this several times before driving back into the car park and driving out of sight, hidden by the cameras blind spot. Additional footage shows a woman leaving the car park around 2 hours after Esra's car was parked. She can be seen looking back multiple times and appears very anxious. However, the footage is such poor resolution that it could never accurately be determined that this woman was Esra, and her family have expressed their doubts about the person actually being her. They also stated that Esra was an anxious and timid driver and that the manner in which her car was being driven wasn't at all her driving style, which led them to believe someone else may have been driving her car at the time.
In early 2012, one year after Esra vanished, her sister Berna had returned to Dublin to put up posters and speak to the press. However, after putting a poster up in a local chip shop, the owner ran after her and handed her a set of keys that belonged to Esra, identified by a photo of her with her son on it. He explained that they had been handed into the store around December and that he had decided to keep hold of them until he could return them to her family. This was baffling as her car had been found over 30 minutes away and the keys would obviously have been needed to drive it there, although they were never found at the scene. However, it was revealed that Esra had actually lost a set of her keys in August 2010 and so this could explain why they were handed in. However, this hasn't been officially confirmed.
It's now been over 13 years since Esra went missing and no trace of her has ever been found. Her husband and son returned to England shortly after her disappearance so as to be closer to their families but they never gave up hope. Esra's sister, Berna, stated recently that their mother has fallen into poor health but still clings onto the hope that she'll get answers. Her brother also suffered a heart attack that she feels was brought on by the stress of her disappearance. She explained, "My mum has had a stroke, she's had cancer. She's holding on for dear life and news to be quite honest with you. My brother had this massive heart attack. Although he doesn't talk about it, it all stems from stress. I try and keep it strong for the rest of them." The family has continued to appeal, year after year, for new information but have received nothing. The Garda have also stepped down the investigation and have stated that they'll only restart the search if they receive credible information. Despite these setbacks, Esra's family still continues to push for answers but unless new information is brought to light or remains are found, her case remains unsolved with no definitive answer to what happened that cold February morning.
Sources: https://m.sundayworld.com/crime/irish-crime/sick-troll-demanded-35k-for-information-on-missing-dublin-woman-esra-uyrun/a677533272.html
https://www.thesun.ie/news/12232846/sister-missing-woman-heartbreaking-admission-hope-breakthrough-dealt-blow/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9286735/The-doting-mother-one-popped-shops-never-came-back.html
https://shows.acast.com/themissingpodcast/episodes/esra-uyrun
https://m.independent.ie/regionals/wicklow/bray-news/sister-of-missing-esra-uyrun-say-they-no-longer-celebrate-christmas-theres-always-an-empty-seat-at-the-table/42252672.html

So to give an example of what I mean: Monsterhearts 2e does not usually give you a negative number to add to your roll for doing something 'wrong.' It will always either give you a bonus or a resource. When you have a condition it gives other people bonuses or resources when they act against you, but it does not "punish" your character. Even triggering your darkest self does not provide mechanical disadvantages, it is all narrative consequence.
Mechanically I think this is the best possible way to do a PVP oriented game, it means that even a player who has gotten absolutely swamped with conditions will still be able to act meaningfully against the other players. You are never so beaten down that you have no hope of catching back up.
Contrast this with something like Masks which, in addition to having the ability to shift your labels down to a lower number, will also add a -2 to certain moves when you have conditions marked. Obviously Masks does this to encourage scenes between players to help clear these conditions or to 'fix' labels, different game different priorities, but in my experience Masks' way of doing things is a little more common right?
Usually if you're doing something hard, or unusual, or with a status, games will represent this with a penalty of some sort to your roll. Are there other games more like Monsterhearts that lean into rewards for playing to type instead? I know Exalted's stunt dice are in the same vein and they felt similarly fun to me when I played with them.

"Some days, I really don't like being a superhero."

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[You walk onto the rooftop. You see Luke Arling, A.K.A. the hero Streak, in his civilian clothes sitting on the edge of the roof halfway through a six pack of orange sodas. Luke hands you a soda as you take a seat next to him.]
Now, don't get me wrong. Beating the baddies, helping people, fighting the good fight, I'm always down for. I've also been doing this for a couple of years now, and I know that sometimes the bad guys win one, and people get hurt. Those days definitely suck, but that's the gig. Gotta take the good with the bad.
But sometimes, it feels like I'm the only normal guy out here, relatively speaking. Most heroes are either in life-or-death mode twenty-four-seven, on a gloom-and-doom carousel, or kind of an asshole. If I had a dollar for every time I had to meet someone for a team-up on a windy or rainy rooftop in the middle of the night, I'd have to start putting it on my taxes. And they always do that thing where once they're done with the conversation they'll just disappear.
Side note, I can go from Miami to New York City in about thirty minutes, give or take. Yet, I still have no idea how I lose track of some of these guys. No joke! One time, I had to team up with Spades for a high-profile villain situation. Reminder, he has no powers, he's just peak human, really smart, and has a bunch of cult money. While his cop buddy was doing his spiel, I kept my eyes on Spades the entire time, and the second, the SECOND I blinked, dude was gone! Drives me nuts!
You also can't trust some heroes. Not in a "they might be secretly evil" kind of way, more like "they are WAY too ready to put a bullet in your back" kind of way. I mean, I get it. It was for the greater good, it was a time-sensitive situation, and you knew I'd probably survive it, but a heads up before injecting me with a poison would've been nice, Alchem-bee! Had me tasting copper for two weeks! And don't get me started on--
[One Rant Later]
--and some of these guy's backstories are just...just too sad, man. I mean, It's not unusual for heroes to have a little baggage; the best ones do, but you get to listening to 'em after a while, and maybe it's just me, but I'm less sad about what happened to you, and more surprised that you're still alive! Not only that, but you chose to become a hero! If I went through half the stuff some other heroes have been through, I'd have burnt the world to ash and taken Haven and Hell along with it. Spiral went to therapy for about a month. Seasoned vet-level hero therapist, and at the end of it, the therapist had to temporarily shut down her practice because she needed therapy.
Now, I'm not perfect either, I'm no ray of sunshine, always smiling and junk. I've fought a few heroes. Had a couple of bad days after a loss. I mean, I got my powers after my sister's professor went nuts from testing on himself and blew up the school. Now, I sometimes phase out of reality if I'm not paying attention. I've died twice and had to be told about the second time months after it happened, and I think two versions of my future self started some sort of multiverse war, which is concerning, to say the least.
But...I dunno, maybe I'm the odd man out. Maybe after all that's happened, the fact that I still see myself as just a guy trying to help is weird. I run around the world in a white and red jumpsuit with goggles powered by an energy that no one can understand. In two years, I've been through enough superhero drama and shenanigans that some heroes think I've been around for waaaaay longer, but somehow, I don't let it get to me. I dunno how I do it, I just do. I bet some guys think I'm some kind of psychopath, an emotional time bomb waiting to go off, just one bad day from--
[Notification pops up on Luke's phone. As he reads it, he begins to grin ear to ear.]
Oh. My. God! This is the best thing I've ever seen in my life! Have you seen this yet?!
[Luke holds the phone up to your face.]

MAGS (GF): Guess who's baaaaack?
Mutant Fish have been seen battling various cybernetically enhanced primates on Dandi Beach, located on the west coast of India. Sources in the area believe that this is closely involved with an explosion at a near by abandoned banana factory. The few bananas recovered before battle have been confirmed to emit a strange kind of radiation. Luckly, the beach was closed for cleaning due to...

Oh, you know this has got Maniac Macaque written all over it. I knew he survived the volcano collapse somehow. You can never keep a weird villain down for long!
[Luke starts texting Mag back before running off in a flash of light for a few seconds, returning in costume.]
Hey, I ape-preciate you letting me ramble for, like, four hours. I *peel-*ly needed this more than I thought.
[Another notification pops up]
Aw, Carp! Utopic's there! Guy's a wooden board, he gonna waste a primetime pun situation! Look, I gotta split, but next time you swing through town, lunch is on me. Just no shrimp. No pun, I just can't stand the taste of 'em.
[Luke races down the side of the building. You look off into the distance, seeing a streak of white light speeding into the horizon.]

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"Some days, I really LOVE being a superhero!"

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Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story!

If you have any COMMENTS, CRITIQUES, or CRITICISMS, please don't be afraid to let me hear 'em (as long as they're CONSTRUCTIVE (or COMICAL)). Also, if you have some spare time, check out ToonTales for more stories like this one.

Stay safe, Drink Plenty of water, and be kind to yourself and others.

ToonMan, AWAY!

Written: 06/10/2024

I’m getting married in less than 2 weeks!! And I’m finalizing and ordering the seating chart today. We decided to go with a U-shaped table layout around the dance floor with long wooden tables. This means that there are a few odd couples who are sitting next to each other but technically at a different table number. We are doing place cards/assigned seating.
My original plan was to display the seating chart on the cocktail hour patio by the doors that will lead into the reception, so people can check it out during cocktail hour or on their way into the reception. But I don’t want people freaking out for an hour thinking they’re not sitting with their partner. Would it be best to display it in the reception space or would this be annoying/cause a bottleneck?

In a quiet hospital room, bathed in the sterile glow of fluorescent lights, sat a young girl, her delicate features etched with pain. Her oval face, once vibrant with laughter, now bore the weariness of illness. Beside her, a young man with rosy lips and eyes that held a lifetime of sorrow, gently held a spoon filled with bitter medicine.
"Darling, take your medicine, be a good girl," he murmured, his voice tinged with desperation. The girl's eyes, large and bright like stars, gazed at him with a mix of defiance and longing.
"It's too bitter, hmph!" she retorted, sticking out her tongue in playful rebellion. "I won't take the medicine unless you sing me a song!"
The young man's heart clenched with a mixture of love and sorrow. This routine had become their daily ritual, a testament to their shared struggle against an unseen enemy. With a tender smile, he began to sing, his voice soft yet filled with unspoken pain.
As he sang, memories flooded his mind like a torrential downpour. He remembered the first time they met, the innocence of their love, and the dreams they once shared. He recalled their first kiss under the moonlight in Paris, the world fading away as their hearts beat as one.
But reality was cruel. Five years ago, their world shattered when the young man was diagnosed with a severe heart condition. Doctors spoke of heart transplants and slim chances of survival. It was then that the girl, his beloved, made a decision that would change both their lives forever.
She offered her heart, not in metaphorical terms but in a literal sense. Her selfless act of love saved his life, but it also plunged him into a world of torment. He couldn't bear the thought of living without her, yet here he was, alive but not truly living.
The doctor, a figure of authority and clinical detachment, observed the scene with a mixture of compassion and helplessness. "You know," he said to the nurse beside him, "five years ago, this boy received a heart transplant from his girlfriend. She gave him her heart, thinking it would save him. But it broke him instead."
The nurse's eyes welled up with tears as she watched the young man sing to the empty space beside him. The room echoed with his haunting melody, a poignant reminder of a love torn apart by fate.
In the midst of his song, the young man's voice wavered, a tear slipping down his cheek. He looked at the vacant space on the bed, where his beloved used to be, and whispered, "I'll love you for a lifetime, even if it means living in this endless agony."
The hospital room, once filled with hope and despair, now lay silent and empty. Only the young man remained, a tragic figure trapped in a cycle of longing and loss. And as the echoes of his song faded into the sterile air, the world outside carried on, oblivious to the heartbreak within those walls.

Idk if anyone feels the same, probably but I just want to vent about this and hopefully see other people feel the same way. I found out I was autistic when I was a child, but I just got the label and no explanations so I didn’t know what it meant for me growing up. Got diagnosed with adhd this year. I always felt different growing up, which makes sense because I was different. However I was able to mask better, was more social and was able to connect with neurotypicals and neurodivergents pretty good.
Now I am an adult and honestly I’ve never felt so different compared to other people. Feeling so weird and different from neurotypicals is normal, but I feel like every autistic person I meet has so much more energy and social skills compared to me. I recently joined an online group with alternative people which I was so excited about because I don’t really make friends in person, and with my anxiety it feels better to have online friends. Some of them talked about how they were autistic, which made me so happy. But overtime I realized how they had so much more of a personality and joy and just really know who they were and how to act and I just felt, weird I guess. I have no idea who I really am or how to act or how to really live in this world. It’s like every day it just gets more confusing to me.
I’ve been trying to figure out if this is a burnout thing, audhd or maybe something related to me having trauma apart from my audhd. I know more people feel this type of disconnect from others, I just don’t understand why that is the case and how to battle this loneliness because I love having online friends but feeling like this makes me even more depressed and drained. I’m tired of being the odd one out

I'm trying to play this game by doing runs with a finite group each time to see how the story unfolds when I only ever have the same party for the whole thing, so I can see what type of story unfolds and to make each run that much more uniquely different.
First run I went lawful good Padlock and ran with Gale, Astarion, and Shadowheart - making Shadowheart my one and only boo.
This run I'm going chaotic neutral Bard with Wyll, Lae'zel, and Karlach. I thought I could play a little fast and loose (which was accurate for my character) by romancing Lae'zel for a bit before turning my eyes to Karlach.
Once K was in my party and I got to act 2, I rushed straight to Dammon to get the second upgrade to her engine. This was probably the biggest mistake, because unbeknownst to me I had several long rest cut scenes backlogged - including Lae'zel making her confession to me. So when Karlach wanted to get close the same day that I upgraded her engine, that night's cutscene was actually the Lae'zel show...
I begrudgingly turn down Lae'zel to keep my eyes on the prize, but now I seem to NEVER get any dialogue or cutscene options with Karlach... and all of the stories I've read about the bug with her romance has me thinking that we're just going to drift apart and I'll be left alone without my muscle mommy, and no way to revive what I had going with Lae'zel :(
Now I legit have very little desire to even finish the game as a lonely bard who blew his chances with the two spiciest comrades in the game.

Please excuse me for asking, but I have anxiety, so I don’t know if I’m overthinking this.
I go to see a new dentist (recommended by an acquaintance). I guess he is in his mid/late 50s. He is an associate, in what I believe is a corporate owned practice.
Dental practice is mixed NHS/private, in a slightly less affluent area. I see him as a private patient. My home address is in a slightly more affluent area.
I have quite bad teeth due to long term health issues and have some gold crowns.
First appointment, I mention some issues I’ve been having with my teeth, he does the examination and X rays.
He suggests one crown needs to be redone, soonish.
There is another possible crown replacement, but he seems less concerned about and asks what I do for a living.
I just mention what I previously studied (I don’t work due to health issues).
He seems concerned that getting two gold crowns could be expensive. Asks if I have a rich husband (????) and smiles. I didn’t reply bc I was a bit taken aback by this question.
After some talk about teeth, I get up to leave and he says I can stay, it’s ok, he has plenty of time until the next patient.
We talk more about teeth and then he starts talking about when he was a student. We have a chat, we have some things in common, it seems friendly and polite.
I slowly move towards leaving, but he keeps chatting away, so I stay bc I feel rude to leave immediately.
Eventually, he says “oh, you’ve brought back memories of when I was young, before XYZ, divorce…” etc. Who mentions they’re divorced to their patients?!?!?
At some point during this appointment, I think he squeezed my shoulder randomly.
After leaving, I look at the treatment plan and based on the practice’s fee list on their website, he seems to have slightly under charged me for some things and also quoted a slightly lower price than I would have guessed for the crown. Their crown prices are listed as “from £700”, but that is presumably for the simplest teeth, in the cheapest material (not gold) The tooth is quite posterior, so probably quite difficult to work on. His quote is not much more than that.
Maybe he’s just a nice dentist and I’m reading too much into this, but the Comments about rich husband and being divorced seem a bit odd. He also seemed very keen to keep chatting, even though I tried to leave a couple of times. (I’m used to other dentists who want to get out promptly).
Maybe he is just lonely and likes to chat?!
Is the practice in such a rough area that getting two gold crowns is really unusual or what? Why would this require a rich husband? I don’t get it.
Dentists, does this sound normal?
(I’m in my 30s, dress very casually/modestly, no jewellery, no makeup, hair is basic in a ponytail, not wearing anything that looks expensive. I don’t look particularly rich or attractive).

I’ll be a groomsman in my brother’s 2nd wedding coming up in a month. I’ve only met his fiancé once so I don’t know how intense or relaxed she may be but I do want her to have a great wedding day.
On my family’s group thread, my brother, the groom, and his fiancé asked all the men to buy specific white tennis shoes, no-show socks and hem our pants above the ankles! Some jokes were exchanged about the odd look and I thought that was the end of it because this brother has always been a jokster at the expense of others (sometimes cruelly) so I assumed I could ignore it.
However, he created a new message thread yesterday for only the groomsmen and reminded us that his bride-to-be is dead serious about seeing our ankles. Seriously?
The fiancé apparently works in fashion so I googled the look and I guess she’s in love with this ‘shrunken schoolboy’ style, as one NYC designer calls it.
When I was fitted for the rental suit, I talked to the tailor and they laughed saying, 'We never hem that high but when you pick up, we will make sure they are standard (straight with no break).'
After I communicated this on the groomsmen thread, a longtime family friend & groomsman suggested altering my pants at the ceremony with clothes pins and an iron! This is starting to sound like Bridesmaid dress drama.
I’ve bought the white tennies which are not my size or style. I can buy no-show socks which I will probably never wear again. But if I draw a line at the high-water pants look would I be an Ahole? My dad and other brother are in the wedding too and both feel the same way. Please advise.
If race/culture info helps with advice: This will be an interracial wedding which is nothing new for my family as we currently have a couple interracial marriages with several biracial children & grandchildren. In this ceremony, the bride’s family will be mostly black, the groom’s will be mostly white and our families will be meeting most of us for the first time. I only mention this because I know styles vary between cultures. Pristine white tennis shoes, for example, are important in some circles. The bride and groom asked the guys to not wear the shoes before the ceremony to avoid any scuffing.
Edit: spelling

This is an excerpt from a thrilleaction book im writing with a lil m/m enemies-to-lovers side plot. This happens way farther down the line but I got impatient and wrote it now😔
“Do it.”
We both fumed but grabbed the others hand. This was so fucking stupid.
“Okay, now, start by saying something you admire about the other person.” She said slowly.

Great. “I admire the fact that you are ignorant about your own stupidity.” I beamed at him. He tightened his grip on my wrist, clearly not pleased. He should be grateful I didn’t outright call him the dumbest person I’ve ever met. I used every ounce of resistance in my body to hide my wince.
“I admire the fact that your so insanely arrogant your probably think it’s confidence.” He snickered at me.
“Excuse me? I’m the arrogant one?” There is NO way he just called me arrogant when the literal ego lord was standing right in front of me.
He snarled “Yeah you, dipshit.”
I dug my nails into his hands, “Rich coming from you, fuckface.”

Nyka stepped in between us, pushing us away from each other. “Okay, okay let’s not fight, both of you calm dow-“

“BOTH OF YOU GROW THE FUCK UP AND STOP ACTING LIKE KIDS!” We both flinched, and turned towards Rayna who looked like she was about to explode.
“We are not wasting more time because you two assholes can’t put your differences aside for a single fucking minute and work together. I’m over it. Your wasting everyone’s time. Get over it, or get the fuck out of here.”

Shit. I looked at everyone else and they were all silent, basically agreeing with Rayna. Goddammit. It’s not my fault Walker’s such an ass. I glanced at him to see him looking at the others with a guilty look on his face. He sighed.
“Fine.” He huffed out. “Sorry.”
Sorry? Did he seriously just apologize? I really don’t wanna say it back but that’d make me look like the real ass.
“Sorry.” I clipped back. He rolled his eyes.
“Okay.” Rayna tried again. “How about, you give your opinion on the others work on the field?”
We both glared at each other, clearly not wanting to do this but there was a mutual decision to just suck it up.
He let took in a deep breath.
“Your not totally ass with a gun.” Gee thanks. I racked my brain for something to say back.
“Your uh.. aim could be worse.” He stole a sharp glance at me, then tightened his grasp on my hands again. Guess he didn’t like the compliment.
“You have solid gun control.” I snapped my head up at him. Well, that was not expected. I didn’t think he’d actually say something mildly nice.
“You can defend yourself.” Eh, I think that was good enough. I don’t want to say something too nice and have him hold it against me later.
“Your acceptable with a sniper.
“Your okay with your fists.”
“Your pretty good at scheming.” He turned his head away.
Shit, uhh
“Your pretty good at protecting others?” I don’t know why it came out as a question. God I sounded stupid.
He looked at me, a bit wide eyed. “You work well under pressure.”
“Your kick boxing is almost impressive.”
“Your kinda cool with a knife.”
“Your martial arts are cool.”
“Your stealthy when you need to be.”
“You pretty athletic”
“You’re really smart.”
“Your pack a punch.”
Fuck, my hands were starting to get sweaty. I had a weird feeling about this. He went silent.
“You have… Long lashes?”
What.
Wait a fucking second.
Shit.
Um.
“You…” I cocked my head to the side, observing his face. “have fluffy hair?”
This was getting so akward.
He tapped his finger on my hand nervously.
“You have long fingers.”
“You’re tall.”
“You have clear skin.”
“You have white teeth.”
He glanced at my face then looked away.
“You have a cool eye color.”
Fuck fuck fuck
“You uh. Have nice dimples.”
Kill me now.
“You have soft hands.”
“You have pretty eyes.”
“You have cute freckles.”
There is no fucking way my face was burning up. No fucking way. This can’t be happening. I don’t know why him saying my freckles were cute is having this big of an effect. No no no
“You have a nice smile.” I think that’s a safe one. Type shit your mom would tell you.
“You-“ he paused, as if debating whether he should say this or not. “…smell like sweet vanilla?” His cheeks went a little pink.
I think I just might melt into the floor.
🤭🤭I wrote the rest of the scene in the other mls POV, lmk if anyone’s actually interested in the rest.

Synopsis: Markus is summoned from Earth by evil beings looking for a 'weak and primitive' creature to use as sacrificial entertainment. What they got instead was a human. Immediately after arriving, Markus awakens to an ability so rare, so powerful that it makes every god on Firellia desperate to recruit him as their new champion.
Learning to control his innate mastery over mana, Markus will devour the very essence of any monster, demon, or god that dares get in his way, determined to never lose his freedom again.
——
First Prev Next Patreon
Markus had been about to pass out when he felt a pair of hands around his chest hoisting him back to his feet.
“Good fight…” Drathok whispered into his ear, before turning to bow to the audience.
[D Grade Life Mana Absorbed.]
In the couple seconds of contact they’d shared, Markus had received some energy from Drathok, probably just enough to stop him from going into shock. He was still bleeding profusely, but at least had enough left within him to keep his own heart pumping, to stand and breathe without falling apart entirely.
“Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests, please, give it up for my new champion!”
The excited roar of the crowd only swelled, as did the boos that came in tandem. Markus’ new fans drowned out his critics, their cheers only heightening as Drathok aimed a single finger at the one goblin cowering in the far distance of the arena, being pelted with litter and food from above, and with a blast of eldritch power, blew half the creature’s chest out.
Markus watched as it fell to the floor, dead, executed with impunity, struck down by Drathok’s unfeeling hand.
Perhaps it was a mercy to kill it like that. Markus wasn’t so sure. It had surrendered. It had fled. It would have died in the arena eventually regardless.
None of this mattered right now, but he clung to the scene unfurling before him regardless. As he watched the creature stumble and fall, eyes dead before it hit the ground, a flash of lightning shot in his periphery, and Drathok pulled them both away.
When they reemerged from the teleportation, it wasn’t in the usual summoning chamber, but rather, a different room in a different setting.
They were still below the arena, Markus was fairly sure, but the room they found themselves in was crazy. A long table stretched alongside twenty seats on either side, the furniture old, yet wooden and bespoke. The walls around them were ancient stone that looked to have survived eternities, barely marred besides the slightest discolouration, and to the left of this long table, a wall that had been stripped away almost entirely, revealing through the empty space a large chamber that shone light on a vast dungeon that existed so unassumingly below the colosseum.
It looked almost to be its own world, its own ecosystem. From this vantage point, staring out from the hollowed wall, Markus could see a vast, impressive central hall, complete with market and smithy and tavern and holding pens for monsters and beasts alike, alongside paths further on that wound down into the fiery beyond, an orange glow emanating from further down the way that only seemed to glow brighter the further Markus stared.
In the centre of everything, a procession of creatures were being led to a distant dungeon, manacled and chained, prodded with sticks by unruly guards as they led their captives to a destiny that was surely both horrific and undeserved.
This place was evil. It was beyond reproach. It needed to be destroyed.
“Enjoying the view?”
Markus flinched at the words. He turned to face Drathok, immediately slumping his shoulders.
Shockingly, almost unintelligably, Drathok produced a chair for him. He didn’t conjure it with magic, or even use any magic to pull it. He grabbed it, he dragged it, and he placed it behind Markus.
Markus tensed up by instinct. His entire body was burning with pain, adrenaline, exhaustion, and Mana Poisoning in equal measure, but this was a trick. Something would happen to him if he sat down. He’d be tortured again, or berated, or punished, or have to endure some new torment entirely. He just knew it.
He made to protest, but Drathok shoved the chair into the back of his legs and forced him to sit down. When his behind hit the seat, Markus realised he couldn’t muster the energy to get up again even if he tried.
At least the chair was comfortable enough. It was pretty hard, but it sure beat the shit out of laying against the wall of his cell.
“You’ve impressed me once again,” Drathok said, pacing before him as he spoke, brushing his embroidered finery. “I know not why you were without a weapon, and I consider you both foolish and insane to have attempted such a thing, but I cannot deny your results.”
Markus attempted to wipe the sweat from his face, bringing his face down to avoid moving his arm too much, but only succeeded in smearing blood against himself. He sighed, summoning his best face.
Markus smirked, as if he were unaffected by anything in the world. “Were you worried you were gonna lose your best earner for a minute there?”
“My best earner? Please,” Drathok scoffed. He leaned in, narrowing his brow. “Were you worried you were going to die, Markus Brown?”
“And get away from all this?” Markus gestured with his right arm, though the motion fell flat; he was barely able to lift it. “Why in god’s name would I want that?”
“A good question. I’d have killed to be in your position, once.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I suppose I have killed to that effect.” Drathok snapped his fingers, and a small imp appeared before him. The same one that’d brought him to his cell after his first fight.
“What’s up, boss?” the creature asked. It sounded female.
“Carting me back to my cell already?” Markus asked coolly, as if he weren’t falling apart at the seams, as if he didn’t care what happened next. Maybe he didn’t. He was so tired.
“Not yet,” Drathok answered. He turned to the imp. “Bring food. Bring a healing drought, too. A strong one.” He turned back to Markus. “Are you partial to any food in particular?”
Markus scarcely resisted the urge to spit at his captor, if only because he thought he’d end up dribbling on himself instead. “What is this? Your idea of a reward?”
“This is simply hospitality. What do you eat?”
“...”
Drathok tutted, lightning zapping across his fingertips. “Bring out a spread. I’m sure our purse-lipped friend will find something he enjoys. And don’t forget the potion.”
“Got it, boss,” the imp saluted, flashing away not a moment later.
“Apologies. The power to heal is not a gift I possess. I’d load you up with more mana, but in your state, it might kill you.”
“Why are you… being nice to me?”
Drathok blinked at him, as if he were confused. The characteristic grin on his face faltered a touch. “When have I ever not been courteous towards you?”
“I don’t know…” Markus’ voice was a drawl. He could scarcely keep his eyes open anymore. “How about when you enslaved me, or when you cut my finger off… or when you…”
“Gave you a chance to serve a purpose greater than you ever imagined?”
The words snapped Markus back to focus. He jolted in his chair, offended by the sentiment. “How is killing monsters to satisfy some sad loser’s bloodlust any kind of ‘purpose’. It’s fucked up.”
Drathok stewed on his words for a moment, then smiled once more. “I agree with you. Arena bouts are characteristically ugly. They satisfy a base desire that sits in the deepest and darkest recess of a creature’s heart.
“That said, your combat is excellent. Untrained and sloppy, yes, but the brushstrokes are teeming with emotion, it spills out from your spirit as you defy your limitations. That is why they wager money on you. Why they cheer when you win.”
“And you think that’s a great purpose?” Markus sneered. “That it’s worth kidnapping someone from across galaxies for?”
“Purpose is a means driven by the individual as much as it is drawn by fate. The advancement of my purpose comes at the reshaping of others’. To be greater than I was before, to serve my purpose? My actions were necessary.” He pointed a clawed finger at Markus. “To deny the fate I imposed upon you, you acted out of necessity. I may have given you a chance to be something more, but you took it upon yourself to be greater.”
“Ah, gee. When you put it that way, thanks.”
“Survival isn’t your purpose, though, no. Neither is entertaining a crowd. Gods of Firellia wish to enlist you, Markus. Gods!”
Markus’ eyes were closed. He tried to shut Drathok out of his brain, but it was difficult to drown his voice out.
“To think what different a life you might’ve lived only days ago is astounding. I worked for eighty years to get to where I am now, and I’d not be surprised if you eclipsed my strength in three.”
“What’s it matter?” Markus groaned, annoyed he’d been drawn back into the conversation.
“Excuse me? What does it matter?” Drathok was silent for a moment, as if he were attempting to process. “Power is everything. It’s the only thing that matters.”
Markus’ eyes remained closed. “I think I’d rather have freedom than power.”
“Power is freedom.”
Neither of them spoke again for a time. When the imp reemerged with the food, she’d forgotten the potion, and Markus didn’t stir. A couple minutes later, she came back with a small red vial and a shower of apologies.
As Drathok’s command, she popped the vial’s cork and administered the potion, bringing it to Markus’ dry lips and tilting the vial upwards.
As soon as the taste hit Markus’ tongue, his eyes shot open. It tasted almost identical to an energy drink, perhaps with a bit more of a kick to it.
Perhaps it was his mind playing tricks on him. Maybe it was a mention of his previous life, mixed with a side order of delirium.
Either way, Markus drank greedily from the potion, taking it from the imp that proffered it to him and downing it in one long gulp.
He looked at the imp properly for the first time as he returned the vial to her. She was perhaps three and a half feet tall, her body thick but muscular, whilst still carrying the obvious marks of femininity.
“Satisfied, boss?” she asked, turning to Drathok. “Sorry again for taking so long.”
“Enough of that. You may leave us, thank you, Lexi.”
She nodded, vanishing not a moment later.
“She seems pretty fond of you,” Markus said, pointing where she’d just been as the potion ran its course through his body. Immediately, he found he could move his right arm much easier.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t she be?”
“Well…” Markus stayed his tongue. Did he want to pursue this line of conversation?
Drathok’s smile faltered once more. He was silent for a moment, clearly in thought. “Who was it that came to collect you before your fight?”
Remembering the experience only served to sour Markus’ already shitty mood further. He’d been clinging to the aftertaste of the potion, finding a faint sense of nostalgia, escapism. Being reminded of how he’d come to be in this fucked up state hardly helped with his daydreaming.
Still, with the way Drathok was pressing him, eyes unblinking, he felt he couldn’t lie. “I don’t know his name. He had a scarred, wrinkled face. He was pretty loud, too.”
Markus omitted details. He didn’t want Drathok to know what had happened. If there was discontent amongst his workers and Drathok didn’t realise it, that might be something he could use in future.
“Did the imp that collected you do or say anything that you found troubling?”
Fuck… now he was being put in a position where he had to lie. Sure, he could spill on what happened, but what would it accomplish? He’d get that jailer in trouble, rightfully so, but Drathok would be paranoid after. Perhaps he’d watch Markus more closely, too, fearful something might happen to him otherwise.
He hadn’t seemed concerned at all until now. Markus knew how to lie about this shit, though. He’d spoken to teachers before, guidance councellors, social workers. The lie was incredibly well-practiced.
He kept his face square, shaking his head once. “Everything was fine. Nothing bad happened. He was just a bit abrasive, that’s all. Seemed like he was in a bad mood, maybe.”
Drathok studied Markus for a time, tilting his head. Behind his eyes, a faint glow burned. “That’s it? If he’s the reason you arrived with no weapon, that you almost died, then tell me. I’ll let you cut him to pieces. Tear out his eyes if you’re feeling merciful. One treacherous imp is of no importance to me.”
“Nothing happened,” Markus lied. “He told me I was fighting goblins, and I decided to try out my new powers. I was feeling brave. If I’d known there were so many, I might’ve reconsidered.”
“I see.”
“And why are you trying so hard to be friendly with me now, anyways?” Markus deflected, circling back to a previous thought. “Now that I’ve got gods falling over sideways to recruit me, are you scared I’ll outgrow you and come back here for revenge? You already said you think I’ll be stronger three years from now. Where was this attitude when I said I didn’t want to fight for you? I think what you said is ‘I own you’.”
Markus was panting a little by the time he’d finished, staring at Drathok as once again his hand sparked a bright blue. He wondered how right he was, if he’d perhaps touched a nerve of some kind.
“No god would ever give you leave to kill me.” Drathok rolled his eyes. “If you haven’t noticed, they all frequent this place, and I’m the main proprietor. I’m not afraid that you will do anything. I simply wish to give proper thanks to you.”
“If you really wanna thank me, then let me go home.” Markus snarled.
“Home?” Drathok laughed, almost as if he couldn’t help himself. “We all have to play our part from time to time. I’d rather not play the part of owner right now, however, so if you could refrain from asking impossibilties of me, I’d appreciate it.” He spread his arms, a gesture of magnanimity. “What’s something more realistic that I can give you… Money? You can find places to barter and trade here. How about I give you a stronger weapon to make use of?”
“How about a bed,” Markus interrupted, his voice cold and unfeeling. “If you’re gonna make me risk my life in this shithole, you could at least let me get some good rest afterwards. Sturdy bed, good mattress, nice comforter. Fluffy pillows.”
“I really doubt you’ll be here much longer,” Drathok said, combing his head as he spoke. “Would you not prefer something you could take with you after?”
“I’ll take a weapon too if you’re offering. The bed’s what I really want though. I can’t get a wink in that cell.”
The two locked eyes for a moment. Markus thought Drathok might deny his request for a moment, but eventually, the demon nodded.
“As you wish. I’ll have a bed delivered to your cell within the hour. As for the weapon…” Drathok waved his hand, and in a flash, he’d summoned a silvery coin that seemed to glow in the darkness, made of a metal Markus didn’t quite recognise. Drathok handed it to him, and the coin took on a light red hue. “Take this to the smithy below. Have the blacksmith refine a weapon of your choosing with it. Metals like this bring out unique properties within a weapon. You should find it to be valuable.”
“Neat,” Markus said, taking the coin and pocketing it.
“Perhaps you’ll opt to actually take such a weapon with you to future bouts, presuming you don’t get bought out first.”
“How do you know I’ll receive an offer I even like?”
“It’s in your best interest to,” Drathok stated simply.
Markus narrowed his eyes. “Meaning?”
“Meaning that your display earlier was either a result of excessive hubris or was an ill-conceived attempt at rebellion. Your contract compels you to fight in earnest. It doesn’t say you can’t stack the odds against yourself first.”
Drathok gestured to the food around them, all of it piping hot and untouched, consisting of various meats, cheeses, vegetables, and what looked to be something similar to a cake. “I brought you here to show thanks to you, but also to broker an understanding between us.”
“And what is that understanding?”
“That your value diminishes greatly if you die. If you wish to keep rejecting offers, feel free. It only drives your price up further. But you will accept one eventually. And soon. With each fight that passes, the value of my hold over you depreciates.”
Markus grabbed a slice of hot, salted ham and began to munch on it. “And that’s my problem?” he said between bites.
Drathok growled, his throat rumbling with heat. “It very much can be your problem. For everything I hold the power to give, I can take just as freely. I’m happy to make your stay here easy, pleasant, so long as I feel you’re trying to secure a good deal for us both. I’m willing to give you a little longer.”
Drathok leaned forwards, his voice dropping to a whisper. “But if I get even a hint that you’re attempting to spite me, that you’re refusing to cooperate with these proceedings simply to try and fulfill your contract, I will make your life hell. I will make you wish for the hopelessness you felt when you first arrived here. I will squeeze every drop of joy and hope from your spirit and make you beg for death.”
“Gotcha,” Markus nodded, munching on an egg as he spoke. “Make a deal soon or you’ll torture me, blah blah blah. You could’ve just led with that.”
Drathok stood. Electricity radiated through his entire forearm. He weathered a sigh. “Enjoy your meal. Enjoy exploring this place. Find an imp if you become lost.
“And Markus? Torture isn’t the point. Make a deal, or you’ll die here alone.”
With that, Drathok left, and Markus immediately dropped the food he was holding.
He wasn’t hungry, despite how little he’d eaten lately.
No. Instead, Markus felt determination.
He wasn’t stupid. He picked up as much food as he could carry, loading it onto a plate and taking it with him as he walked his way back to his cell, taking things like bread and cheese over meat, stuff he thought would last longest. No guarantee when he was next getting fed, after all.
When he eventually found his way back to his cell, his bed was already waiting for him.
He tested it out. It was as comfy as it looked, perhaps moreso. Compared to any bed he’d slept on in his life back on Earth, this was a massive leap in quality. It felt like he was sat on a cloud that’d been stolen from heaven.
And yet, even in the aftermath of the most grueling fight of his life, Markus didn’t feel the urge to sleep. He sat upright on his bed, watching as his recent injuries very slowly began to close.
He still couldn’t move his right arm fully, and his legs felt numb. Ember’s healing would’ve been useful right about now. He wondered where that dog had gotten off to.
More than that, Markus wondered how likely it was that he’d encounter a deal good enough to take in the coming days.
He wondered if anyone could offer him what he truly wanted.
He drew out one of his two remaining Essence Stones as he considered the notion, attempting to drain away as much of the excess mana that he could, planning to allocate whatever skill points he needed to right after.
He had four level-ups to go through, 32 skill points to spend, and a whole bevy of other notifications to deal with. He’d do it on his way to the blacksmith.
As Markus reduced his Mana Poisoning, he started to consider Drathok’s words more deeply. Would he feel the need to make such threats if he were confident Markus would do what he wanted, or even to bribe him in such a manner?
Markus didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to be fighting for his life and he didn’t want to incur Drathok’s wrath. He didn’t want any of this.
And yet, this determination he felt was unshakable. There was a feeling within him that transcended his own concerns, his fears, that pushed him solely in the direction of defiance, that made him want more than anything to tear down any prospect that demonic asshole had of a happy outcome.
He didn’t just want to ruin his deal and deny Drathok’s payday. He wanted to ruin his life, tear this whole operation down around him, and destroy this sick institution once and for all.
Eight more fights… Markus wasn’t thinking about it like a checklist, like a list of trials he had to get through in order to earn his freedom on his own terms. No. That’d be too simple, and Drathok would never allow him to go through with it if the demon could help it. He’d do everything in his power to deny Markus that.
So rather… eight fights was a timer. Markus had that time to find a means to destroy his contract, to escape this fate, and to end Drathok’s hold over him.
First, he needed to become powerful enough to do it. Drathok had said power was everything. That power was freedom. In this situation, he was likely right.
But power wasn’t just levels or stats. No amount of grinding alone was going to get him where he needed to be in time, not if this was the path he wanted to commit to. What he really needed beyond anything else was information. That and allies, plus enough mana stored away to take out a powerful enemy, or at least have a halfway decent shot at it.
Time to get a lay of the land. He’d meet who he could, learn everything he could about Drathok, this arena, and the world beyond, and start amassing resources and strength towards his final goal, no matter how lofty it might’ve been.
From now on, no compromise. No matter what. Not again.
First thing’s first, get a new weapon, and find a good place to use it.
//
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A/N: Hey! Thanks for reading! We're starting to kick off the training wheels on this story, stay tuned and enjoy Markus' first taste of freedom! Tons more to come!
If you wanna help support me and this story, or you just can't wait for the next chapter, the next eight chapters of this story are available right now on my Patreon!

Okay I'm trying to figure things out I work my fience and our two kids and a baby on the way are trying to find some kind of help we have moved from Delaware to north Corina lived in hell for a couple months got offered a place with a family and they acted like they were their to help us but in reality their not their slowing using us takes all our foodstamps then tells us we need to make our own meals now after they took it all and saying their electric is going up when we keep everything but a tv off they scream at our kids left and right when their kids are doing the same thing as them we pay rent every month and now our car went up now we're paying like a extra $150 for gas and all I'm trying to do is get our own place but every time I turn around we're being charged something I just need some help some information of what we can do or some kind of help something we're loosing it and they won't even let us use their address

I know this is a snark page but the comments with Kass being jealous of Kenn I am not surprised, when she was pregnant a couple of years ago the excitement to bring in a baby as the first great grand baby, and grand baby was probably alot for her then losing the baby, and for her sister to get pregnant and take that title, many people around the world have probably had this happen the only difference is that their life’s are plastered all over, although we don’t actually know what is going on between them I think it’s a topic that shouldn’t be snarked as heavily as it is, personally I think it’s pretty understandable to be upset over that, just the way Kass acts around it isn’t.

TW: SA
I need some input from people I do not know. I have been professionally diagnosed with OCD and I am not sure to what extent this mental crisis is the result of rationality vs my OCD
I have two therapists who have both labeled this and ocd thought. However, just because it is an ocd thought doesn't mean it isn't true (I can obssess over the sky being blue, but that doesn't mean it isn't blue).
Ok so background. I am skipping a lot to keep this shorter than it was in the first draft and readable, I am happy to provide more context in comments. If you want any more details/context on the relevant details or relationships here lmk.
I'm a college student who has twice been diagnosed with OCD. 2 years ago, I was in a friend group made up primairly of women (I'm a man). We used to party together and all that jazz. Anyways, long story short I wanted to be a good friend to them (well i said that, it was honestly more about my self-validation than anything though i didn't realize that until later). In order to be a good friend, I would try and talk to them about what they were going through. But this led to me being overbearing. This, coupled with some other greivances (i used to make very repetive jokes, i could be a bit annoying, bad at reading body language, and projected my own insecurities) led them to gradually pull away from me.
This hurt. I spent months agonizing over why they were pulling away, which my obsessive nature worsened and I went on a downwards spiral. Eventually it culminated in a huge fight between us where I was acting like a lunatic and was clearly in the wrong. Because of this fight and the way I acted we are no longer on speaking terms. That is entirely my fault, they wanted a more distant friendship but my own insecurities and very unhealthy headspace led me to see that as "offering me scraps" and as a pittance rather than what it was.
After this fight I spent a year in that headspace of hurt and anger. Eventually I broke out of it with lots of therapy and drugs, and I came to better understand what had happened and how it was largely my fault.
I have grown a lot since those days. But ever since the anger faded, there was space for new emotions. Emotions like guilt.
During this fight I learned a lot about their perspective and why they had been pulling away. However I was very angry, and cause I am a big guy and they're smaller women, they were a bit freaked out. I obviously didn't want this, so I asked if I had ever made then feel unsafe.
That's when one of the women told me that once, when we had been partying, I was black out drunk. She lived across the hall from me and we were partying in her apartment so she took me back to my place. When i am drunk I get very loose and have sometimes picked people up and spun around just for fun. I suspect that is what happened next. While she was trying to help me get to bed, she said that I threw her onto the bed. At that point she said "ok I have to get out of here" and left. I do not know that for certain though but I suspect I was joking around while drunk, which I have done while less drunk, but like... I can't assume that right?
I was obviously horrified and immediately apologized. It is easily the worse thing I have ever done and I deeply regret it. To this day I am horrified I did that. I haven't gotten that anywhere near that drunk since and I never will because I never want to do that again.
Now, because I was black out, I have no memory of the night. So I don't actually remember doing this, I am just going on what she told me. And because we are no longer on speaking terms I cannot ask for more details. But the fear has crept into my head that she didn't tell me the full story. What if it was more than what she said. What if I am a r*****? What if I assaulted her and she didn't tell me cause I was angry and she was scared how I would react? Or some other reason (denial is a common tactic for survivors of SA, one of many reasons that this crime is under-reported)?
What if I am a monster and don't even know it? I have no way of verifying that I am, or that I did what I fear, but I also don't know. I mean what I do know is bad enough already but what if it's even worse? How do I even go about figuring that out?
I mean to my memory, we have never had sex. We never were in a relationship, never kissed, never any of that (as far as I an aware). I am speculating based on the implication of what I know I did (which is bad enough itself, and completely inexcusable) and assuming she didn't tell me the whole story.
As a result of our fight and the guilt I felt, I have spent the last two years self isolating. No parties, talking to few people, etc. My therapist thinks that this thought and the guilt I feel is my OCD tricking me into self isolating and continuing to be miserable. But if I did what I fear, I deserve far worse. I should be in prison right? She thinks engaging with life and other people scares me and I am using this as a way to avoid engaging with life and changing out of my isolated status quo
I can't ask her because we aren't on speaking terms and it would be wrong to force the potential victim to relive their trauma just to assuage my fears right? What matters here is right and wrong.
Can alcohol turn someone who finds SA and violence against women and the innocent abhorrent into an abuser or a victimizer? I was very drunk, to the point of being unable to form memories. Obviously I am never going to be that drunk again, but the future doesn't change the past
I have no idea how to talk about this with anyone. I mean how do you even broach the subject? "Hey mom, do you think I am an abuser?" Plus my parents in particular suck, and would likely write it off as "boys being boys" or whatever. They can't ever seem to hold me accountable for things i do that hurt other people. So I turn to you guys, strangers on the internet, how do I know if I'm a monster?

About 2 weeks ago my oven started acting up and won't bake anything, but somehow the stovetop still works. Have to wait on a part to fix it and Mom's birthday is in a couple of days. I've looked all over for gluten free cakes with no luck (Mom has Celiac Disease so I can't get her a regular cake). This is what happens when you live in a small town, I guess. Even though I have gluten free cake mix and frosting too. The best I can do is make her gluten free pancakes until the oven's fixed, which will take some time. As for why I can't make her a cake at a relative's house, my family are all busy people, and I don't know them well enough to be welcomed to use their things.
I think Mom will understand since we both live under the same roof, so she's been dealing with this too. That and I'll definitely make her a cake when the oven works. Until then, we'll make do with what we can cook on the stovetop.

Hi there, so...
I had the Mirena inserted on July 7, 2023, before that I used many other contraceptive methods, hormonal implants and different pills, and since that day I have had some blood leaks. The doctor told me that this would be normal for the first 3 months, that the body takes time to get used to it but that after this period the leaks should stop, but they haven't stopped.
What I think is odd is that these leaks don't happen all the time, only when I have sex with my boyfriend (penetration), every time I start bleeding, not a lot, but enough to bother us a bit and we have to be careful not to get things dirty etc.
And the leaks aren't cyclical, if there's penetration every day I'll bleed every day, and I repeat, not a lot, just a bit during the act.
He thinks he might be hurting me, or moving the small leg (for the removal) but I don't feel any pain, so I don't think that's it...
Has anyone experienced this? Is it normal with mirena? Am I doing something wrong or should I do something specific for my body to adapt to it?

{Leather and Lark by Brynne Weaver} MF contemporary, serial killers, marriage of convenience, enemies to lovers, grovel
I almost DNF this pretty early on because the nicknames for each other really grated on my nerves. I had a break and went back to it, and enjoyed it a lot more. Once they got married and there was a bit more forced proximity, and less nicknaming, I liked it better.
The reason for the marriage of convenience was pretty tenuous. The plot was fine although not that interesting; the "big bad" wasn't really built up to much. There's not that much blood and gore, which was fine with me.
The romance was fun; I liked the grovel and acts of service from Lachlan, especially reading to her over the phone to help her sleep. He's pretty possessive and there are a lot of “my wife” comments which are sexy for some reason. I think the enemies part of the story went on a bit too long, and he had to work hard for her forgiveness
There was some good spice including a remote control vibrator used in public, choking, ass play. There's some degradation which I often don't like, but she specifically asked for it and so I was fine with it plus there were safewords - for me this was a big improvement over the previous book.
I listened to the audiobook, duet narration which I love and this really comes into its own in the spicy scenes. Unfortunately I felt the production of the audiobook was overall not as good as Butcher and Blackbird. As someone on here pointed out, it was recorded separately rather than together in one studio and it made such a difference. Especially whenever a female character laughed and there was a pause between “she giggled” and the sound, it just sounded so forced.
I feel like the author tries to replicate what we liked about Butcher and Blackbird but didn't hit the mark. There is far less violence/gore. The trigger warnings are there to try to hype you up that it'll be similar. But the pizza and beer thing happen very early on and for no real reason, with characters we don't know yet. It felt shoehorned in, just so they could have that TW and compare it to the ice cream and the pegging is only in a bonus scene
Anyone else have thoughts on this book? Did you think it was better or worse than B&B and why?