Hey everyone,
I could use some advice on a financial situation with my boyfriend. I'm 23M from Mexico, and he's 24M from Australia. We've been together for a year, though we met during a vacation and have only spent that time together in person. Since then, we've maintained our relationship through FaceTime.
During our relationship, my boyfriend has covered more of the expenses, including gifts, helping with my credit card, buying me food, help with medical bills, ordering me Ubers, etc. I never take advantage of his help; he always offers, he said that’s he’s way of showing affection due the distance and I accept every so often as a last resort. He earns 3-4 times more than I do, I have an average job, so I can't afford to get him as many gifts or contribute as much.
We planned a trip to Mexico for my birthday in August. He used his travel points to cover his AUS-MEX flights. We booked two hotels. National flights, carr rental and other costs in advance.
Here's where I need advice: he asked me to split the total expenses for the trip equally, including the plane tickets (excluding his AUS-MEX flight) hotels, car rental, etc. This surprised me because, given our income difference and his usual willingness to cover more costs, I assumed we'd split expenses based on our salaries. He understands that our quality of living is very different.
I have the money to pay my half from my savings, but it would mean working overtime to replenish what I need for university. I don't want to be unfair, but I'm not sure if it's reasonable to split everything 50/50 in this situation.
Should I talk to him about it or just pay my half and move on? I don't want to seem ungrateful or create tension, especially considering all the expenses he's covered so far and the help he's given me with bills, and I can definitely work OT, is not about the money for me but about the equity of the situation. Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks!

I just came across these myths, Maybe they can tell us something about Luffy, Dragon, Teach, Imu and the One Piece.
Rahu (my take is IMU):
The tales begin in the "remotest periods of the earliest of time, when the devas and asuras churned the ocean of milk to extract from it the amrita, the elixir of immortality." - Svarbhanu, an Asura (demon) deceived Vishnu’s female avatar Mohini, posing as a Deva(god) to steal the elixir of immortality. Displeased, Mohini cut Svarbhanu’s head. Svarbhanu was henceforth referred to as Rahu (head) and Ketu (body), could not die, but his head was separated from his body.
Following this event, Rahu (IMU) and Ketu (Five Elder planets representing his torso, both legs and arms) gained the status of planets, and could influence the lives of humans on Earth.
Rahu and Ketu became bitter enemies with Surya (Sun - Sun God Nika or Monkey D. Luffy) and Chandra (Moon - Marshall D. Teach) for exposing his deception and leading to his decapitation.
Hanuman (hindu deity that inspired Sun Wookong):
When Hanuman was an infant, he was once left unattended by his earthly mother and father. He became hungry, and when the Sun rose, he believed it to be a ripe fruit. So, Hanuman leapt up towards the Sun with extreme speed. Vayu (Wind God) his celestial father, blew cold wind on him to protect him from the burning Sun. Coincidentally, Rahu (Imu maybe) was meant to swallow the Sun (Eternal Flame?) and eclipse it that day. As Rahu approached the Sun, he saw Hanuman (Nika) about to eat it.
Hanuman saw Rahu and thought Rahu to be a fruit as well, so he attempted to eat him too. Rahu fled to the court of the king of the devas, Indra (Lightning God), and complained that while he was meant to satisfy his hunger with the Sun, there was now a bigger “Rahu” (gluton) who tried to consume the Sun and himself.
Indra set out on Airavata, his divine elephant (Zunesha?), to investigate alongside Rahu, who retreated once more when he saw how enormous Hanuman had grown. Hanuman was playing with the Sun's chariot and reached for Rahu again. As Rahu cried out to Indra for help, Hanuman saw the Airavata and mistook it for yet another fruit.
When he approached in his giant form, Indra struck his left jaw with a thunderbolt and injured him. Hanuman began falling back towards the Earth when he was caught by Vayu (Dragon).
Furious over his son's injury, Vayu withdrew all the air from the universe until all the devas, the asuras, and men began to suffer and suffocate. They appealed to Brahma (Marshall D. Teach), who revealed the cause of their distress and accompanied them to the wind god in order to appease him. Brahma revived Hanuman, and the other deities took turns bestowing different blessings, boons, and powers upon him.
Rahu (Imu) represents power through deception.
Surya (Sun or Nika) represents power through honesty.
Hanuman (Monkey D. Luffy) represents faith.
Brahma (Marshal D. Teach) is commonly depicted as a red or golden-complexioned bearded man with four heads and hands and belongs within a trio with Shiva (perhaps Dragon aswell) - Destruction and Vishnu (Shanks?) - Conservation. He is also the son of Chandra (Moon) and represents Creation.

The Old Quarter

Bit of a long post but I thought this could be a cool idea and I wanted to share it:
Description:
"Even before the current troubles, the Old Quarter was a favoured haunt of vagabonds, vagrants and those with ill-intent. Nestled beneath the towering estates of Cathedral Row, the streets of the Old Quarter are a twisting and cramped warren. Constructed in the early days of the city, the Old Quarter was built haphazardly to accommodate the city's rapidly expanding population.
In recent times, the Old Quarter has become downright sinister. A permanent, sleazy fog hangs over the area and residents report a strange figure peering through their window at odd hours. The Constables abandoned the district soon after the current crisis began. The Huntsmen now patrol the main street and control a few key landmarks, including the power-station and the old jailhouse. But even they are loathe to venture into the dank passages where the light never reaches.
Tread carefully here Dr. and take care if you happen to hear tapping at the window..."
Explanation:
This is an idea I have had for a while about how parts of the demo area could be reincorporated into the main-game. I think that the main-game is far superior to everything in the demo but the cramped and winding streets of the demo area are still fun to explore and the feeling of being boxed-in really helps contribute towards a feeling of claustrophobia which isn't quite present in the open-spaces of the Market District.
Instead of collecting seals to open the manor in the town square, the Dr. would need to find several puzzle items to progress. These items would open the portcullis gate on the other side of the guard post in the demo. The Sylvian estate (manor from the demo) would serve as an optional area with heightened security which could be broken into. Other side-streets, alleys and passages which were only partly accessible in the demo would also be opened-up as would several derelict buildings. This would include opening up the play-space above the flooded basement where the monocle can be found in the demo.
The Old Quarter would serve as a prelude of sorts to the Cathedral row district. After sneaking through a factory/ warehouse complex, the Dr. would enter the lift to the Old Quarter and the section would begin in much the same way that the demo opens.
Note found before entering the Old Quarter:
“Sir,
As requested, we have sealed off the main routes into the Old Quarter and have set an automated sentry to guard the entrance to Cathedral Row. I have ordered our remaining forces to fallback accordingly. Let the Huntsmen deal with those creatures.
Constable Burlington.
“
Upon reaching the main save station-house from the demo, the windows would be heavily barricaded and the Dr. would instead be prompted to enter through a door which hangs open. In the main room of the safe-house the gramophone plays its soothing tune. Unlike in the demo, the house is devoid of huntsmen and, much like the lighthouse, a recorded message would play from the gramophone the first time it is used to make a save.
“Welcome to the Old Quarter Doctor. Our mutual friend informed me that you might pass this way but I regret that I \cough* will be unable to greet you in person. Help yourself to any supplies you find here. You will need them for what lies ahead. Before they left, the Constables destroyed every exit and left the Huntsmen to loot the ruins. The only way out is through the gate at the end of Stonehaven Road. But the lock is a fiendish thing and not easily cracked. I had a few ideas of how to get past it before *cough*… well it hardly matters now. I have barricaded this area as best I can but don’t forget: Lock The Doors and pray you never hear tapping at the window. Fare well Doctor. I hope your luck is better than mine.*
-William the Tinker”
Exploring the house, the Dr. finds the corpse of the owner beside which sits a key. The key is used to unlock and open the two doors of the safehouse. Beside each of the doors is a button which can be used to automatically seal the doors from the inside (think the safe room in Amnesia: The Bunker).
Also scattered throughout the house are a few food items, notes and a revolver with a number of spent casings. On the upstairs landing, in the room where there is a lootable cabinet in the demo, the unbreakable door is instead locked. The reason for this can be found in William’s diary which sits on his writing desk.
“I can no longer bear to look into that mirror she gave me. Sometimes I fear that it is not only my own reflection peering back. I have locked the accursed thing away and have cast the key into the sewers with the hope that there it will remain.”
To discover more about the Tinkers Lock, which is the primary obstacle of the district, the Dr. can read other pages in the diary and notes scattered throughout the house. On William’s writing desk there also sits a map which marks key places of interest in the district.
“I sit imprisoned by a mechanism of my own making. The lock is a fiendish thing. The three-digit combination is rewritten every sixty seconds, the only way to decode the sequence is by using a Graphite Cylinder. I had a spare but the Huntsmen confiscated it and are holding it in the Old Jailhouse as evidence. I believe that brute Fitzroy means to bring me to trial, though for what crime I cannot imagine. More difficult to obtain is the key needed to access the mechanism. Father Ulfred kept a copy … but none who venture near his church return.
There may be another way to open the gate but it is so dangerous as to constitute madness. The lock draws power from the two electrical substations on either side of the district. Disabling both generators is the first step. Then, theoretically, it should be possible to disconnect the lock by severing its link to the back-up supply. To do so, one would need to brave the labyrinth of maintenance tunnels beneath the streets. All while the entire district is plunged into darkness. It is suicidal folly, but without Father Ulfred’s Key I see few other options.”
The safe house from the demo serves as a base of operations through which further expeditions can be made into the district. The basic layout of the demo remains in that the player has the freedom to tackle the objectives in any order. However the area of the district is now expanded. Example, in the dock area, there is now an apartment before crossing the bridge where the Dr. can survey the area and learn patrols from a distance. Additionally, foggy streets leading on from the Dock will take the Dr. into the Western part of the district where the Western Substation sits alongside the abandoned butchery. Similarly, beyond the power station from the demo (the Eastern Substation) are more foggy streets which lead to Father Ulfred’s Chapel and the Clearview Lodging-House.
As in the demo, the Huntsmen control the main streets, the dock, the jailhouse, the Eastern Substation and have an outpost in the maintenance tunnels/ sewers as well as at the Western Substation. But a new foe prowls the dark and misty streets where the Huntsmen fear to tread.
The Peeping-Tom.
Appearing as an abnormally tall and slender gentleman in a top hat, these strange creatures stalk the Old Quarter. The Peeping-Tom (and the Old Quarter in general) take heavy inspiration from late-Victorian Whitechapel and the Jack-The-Ripper murders. The Peeping-Tom carries a large butcher’s knife in its left hand and prowls with murderous intent. Its face is ghost white and its tattered clothes barely cover an emaciated and skeletal form.
What sets the Peeping-Tom apart from other bestial enemies is that they display a form of crude intelligence and take care to harass and terrify their prey before striking. Additionally, the Peeping-Tom is sensitive to light and will become staggered from entering a well-lit area. This includes the light generated by the Doctor’s lantern.
In combat the Peeping-Tom is very damage resistant to bullets and slashes. However, removing the top hat of the Peeping-Tom (either by shooting or slashing it) reveals a spider-like insect nestled in the skull of the creature which can be shot/stabbed to instantly kill the Peeping-Tom. Flash-grenades are particularly effective against this enemy and a single flash grenade will vaporise the puppeteering-spider and thus kill the Peeping-Tom if its hat is removed.
In general, the Peeping-Tom moves in a slow and deliberate manner akin to the Divider necromorph in Dead Space. However, if the Peeping-Tom’ss hat is removed, its movements become erratic, and its attacks are faster and inaccurate.
After being staggered by a light-source, the Peeping-Tom will flee to a darkened area before trying to stalk the Dr. once more.
Another aspect of the Peeping-Tom is that they will attempt to unnerve the Dr. by leaning around corners and tapping on the windows of buildings the Dr. has entered using their long bony fingers. While they can exhibit this behaviour if the power-stations are still active, if the power is deactivated, the Peeping-Toms expand their patrols significantly and will harass the Dr. while he is in the safehouse. The Peeping-Toms can even enter the safehouse if the doors are left open&unlocked.
A crafty Doctor could even strategically deactivate the power to enable the Peeping-Toms to thin out the hunters and make certain areas more accessible.
Other areas and notes
In traditional Imsim fashion, notes scattered throughout the district (as well as conversations between huntsmen) would also fill in the lore and backstory of events which occurred prior to the Doctor’s arrival.
For example, the armoury in the central guard house would be locked and a note attached to the door would read as follows:
“You lot are welcome to continue wasting ammunition shooting the locals but you shall no longer be using my bullets to do so. The armoury is locked until further notice. Perhaps the scarcity will encourage you to find a way out of this mess.
-Captain Fitzroy”
The sewers and passages beneath the district would also be expanded. If the substations are deactivated then the passages will be almost completely dark, thus necessitating the usage of the lantern for purposes of navigation. Like the demo, the tunnels would be populated by the Crowmen. The dark tunnels would give them ample opportunity to stalk the Doctor and lie in ambush.
In the demo, there is also a sign in the sewers which refers to the Underport. This passage would serve as a way to link the Old Quarter and Underport together. The Dr. would be able to find a key in the sewers to the room in the main safe-house which houses one of the Countess’s mirrors for later fast-traveling back to the district.
No matter which method is chosen for tackling the Tinker’s Lock, the Dr. will have to venture either into the Maintenance-Sewers or the Old Chapel. The Chapel serves as a lair of sorts for the Peeping Tom’s and several would patrol the grounds and the adjourning graveyard. Father Ulfred’s Key would sit in a crypt area beneath the Chapel. The Dr. would need to drop into the Crypt and stealth/ fight past an aggressively patrolling Peeping-Tom to open the gate to obtain the key and escape the crypt.
There would also be expanded opportunities for tackling the Jailhouse. One of the cells could house a crazed huntsmen who, upon release, attacks everything in his path (including other huntsmen) thus causing a distraction and allowing the Dr. to steal the Graphite Cylinder from the evidence locker.
No matter how they chose to do it, overcoming the Tinker’s Lock would allow the Dr. to push on from the Old Quarter and access the towering estates of Cathedral Row.
Conclusion
With the game taking heavy inspiration from Victorian London, I do think that it is only a matter of time until we get a Jack-The-Ripper inspired segment and I think that incorporating some of the spaces from the demo could be an interesting way to do this. Additionally, so much work must have gone into designing all of the spaces and passages in the demo that I think it would be a bit of a shame not to see any of that architecture in the main game.

The primary criticism levied against Abby is that she is Joel's killer. TLOU had set up Joel and Ellie to be the main characters of the franchise and it was incredibly jarring to see a new character come out of the blue and quickly murder one of them, while irreparably changing the focus of the other. While a valid criticism, this post is not addressing this. It is instead aiming to analyse Abby's character and her choices throughout the story, and outline why they do not make her a "likeable" character.
To put it forwardly, Abby is a sociopath. While Joel is certainly not a saint, Abby is portrayed as somebody who is cold, uncaring and can revel in cruelty. Some of the most notable points highlighting this include:

1. She tortures Joel to death. It would be perfectly understandable if she had simply executed him on the spot, especially given the reveal of her backstory later. However, she undergoes the decision to draw out his pain and kill him in the most brutal and sadistic way possible. After blowing off his leg, she has Mel apply a tourniquet so that she can keep him alive and continue to make him suffer as she beats him to death. She is only stops because her crewmates eventually felt it had gone long enough. The implication is that she would have continued to torture Joel, including in front of Ellie, as long as she wanted. This action can be sympathetic to some, but there is no way it can in any way be viewed as moral or justifiable.
   
2. There is a revelation in the game's dialogue that she had previously tortured Scars to blow off some steam. This clearly demonstrates that her behaviour with Joel was not exceptional. She is somebody who regularly engages in this practice for her own satisfaction.
   
3. She sleeps with the partner of her best friend, who is pregnant. Mel had travelled with her to a remote part of the country while pregnant and risking the life of her child to ensure that she could support Abby. There was also a discussion of potentially starting a fight with Tommy's group prior to killing Joel, indicating that violence and a risk of injury and death were anticipated. Regardless of these sacrifices, Abby still allowed her own interests and desires to outweigh the trust and friendship of Mel. She grieved at the death of Mel and Owen but mostly at their loss. She did not display remorse over the fact that she had hurt Mel when she was alive.
   
4. Abby appears to take pleasure in the idea of slitting a pregnant woman's throat, specifically acknowledging that she is pregnant. This is just outright disturbing. It is almost universally accepted this is taboo, and there are even examples of animals in nature who know that there is something wrong with killing a pregnant creature. While one could definitely envision Abby killing a pregnant woman *in spite* of the fact that she is pregnant, the idea of her taking any pleasure from knowledge of this fact, even if out of spite, is horrendous.
   
5. Abby betrays the WLF, an organisation which she had become a key member and trusted companion of, in order to protect a stranger she had recently met, and decided that she wanted to protect. While it is understandable that she may have had moral hesitations to kill Lev, this may not immediately justify her killing off many of those she once considered friends and companions, and who had provided for her.
   
6. Perhaps most importantly, Abby does not reflect on how her newfound choice to protect Lev have essentially made her into a mirror of Joel. In choosing to become a guardian for Lev, she slaughters many of her own people because she protects the new person she has chosen to care about. Her journey to protect Lev strongly mirrors what Joel had done to protect Ellie from the Fireflies. Yet, in spite of this, Abby does not come to reflect on how her journey should make her more empathetic to the man who had hurt her. The main point of the game is empathy, but Abby's conscience is fully set on the idea that Joel is an unforgiveable, unrepentant murderer who took away somebody close to her, but that her own actions are thoroughly justified and immune to any form of scrutiny. She pays no heed to the fact that her actions may have just made many more traumatised Abbys. Additionally, while it would be surprising and probably unrealistic to see Abby wish she could take killing Joel back, she never once acknowledges how her actions traumatised Ellie the same way Joel had traumatised her. As far as she is concerned, she was always right to kill Joel, and any attempts by Ellie to do what she had done, even if for the same reasons, are wrong.
   

A combination of the above make Abby far too unlikeable. I believe that it there is a strong chance that many of these factors could be watered down or retconned in the new show, if part II is actually played by those working on the show who had no prior experience with the franchise.

1. Abby may not deliberately and slowly torture Joel to death. It is probably more likely that she will just bash him to death in a fit of rage. Alternatively, if this part of the story is kept it will be mitigated by other changes.
   
2. Any reference to Abby torturing random Scars will most likely be removed. Alternatively, it could be changed to killing Scars to blow off steam.
   
3. The sex scene will likely be retained (I have zero faith Neil Druckmann will let it be cut), but she will probably show more remorse for it.
   
4. This part will most likely be changed to Abby saying "an eye for an eye" or "so was Mel", as opposed to "good".
   
5. Abby will be highly hesitant at first to kill her own people, but will gradually become numb to it similarly to the game. This is arguably the most forgivable point (audiences miss this sort of thing all the time unless they want to pick on a story) so it probably won't be changed much.
   
6. There's a 50/50 chance this could be changed. In all honesty, given the events of TLOU Pt. II it feels almost as if the setup for some genuine character growth for Abby was made but eventually cut because of "executive decisions". It would definitely tie into the message of empathy that the game is supposed to invoke. However, once again noting Neil Druckmann and his tendency to make bad decisions out of spite, there's always the chance that this again could be missed.
   

These mark many of the arguments I noticed that people had made against Abby's character, and what could probably be changed in the show given how prolific they are.

While going to school full time, I’ve been working overnight shifts at a hotel. However, unlike all my other jobs, the stipulation that someone man the desk at all times means that when the coworker working the shift after yours calls out, you’re expected (read required) to stay until someone arrives.
Often, when this happens, management doesn’t try too hard to get someone to relieve me besides asking the person working the next shift after if they can come in earlier.
Today, a coworker called out, who was scheduled the same time I’m off. I have a reservation for an event with some friends a half hour after my scheduled shift ends that requires me to show up on time or else not at all. On top of that, I gave them my two weeks’ notice last week.
If I left the desk, there’d simply be no one here for a few hours, including during checkout time. It’s a full house too, and nearly half the guests are checking out today. How bad would it be if I just… left? WIBTA?

All, Need your guidance and help in order to set up an inter-site connection with Cisco SDWAN. I will setup SDWAN at the customer's site so they can access our resources, but need to make sure our network and the customer are isolated and also redundancy at both location . I'm considering the following. Please see the link and share your thoughts.
https://ibb.co/DpKSHDg

1. Clients in site A will be connected to EDGE A&B. 2. Clients in site B will be connected to EDGE C. 3. While maintaining the network separation between the SDWAN and customer infrastructure, IP addresses shouldn't mix. 

From the diagram:

• Site-ID should be identical across same site routers
• Every site facing LAN/Customer will have an IP block of /29.
• Each router will be part of VRRP Group 100, 200-> location A will use G100 and Location B will use G200 as their gateway.
• SDWAN Routes redistributed into OSPF so each Edges can share incase we lost.-> The redistribution of SDWAN routes into OSPF allows each Edge to share in the event we loss routers at a specific location, but we haven't assessed this especially the impact on the clients at Site B, whether traffic will still be routed to Edges A and B because of OSPF EX2 at EDGEC, or straight to the SDWAN fabric from EDGE-C.
• Customer traffic to be translated to our provided network's IP addresses when it exits the SD-WAN

Thank you all.

My last flat was unbearable.
I mean, you try having a family of 11 live above you, when half of them are under the age of 8. Also try having a pair of raging alcoholic neighbours on either side of you. A pair who were once married to each other. My eyes rivalled that of pigeons’ due to no sleep.
I lasted a total of 21 days. I know, new record huh? I just about shoved the keys back in the grubby hands of my landlord when I finally saw the lunacy inscribed on his face. No wonder the rent was dirt cheap.
So I was back on the road, not on the streets though. Luckily enough I started questioning the flat by day 8, looked around for another place by day 15, and made a decision to get the hell out on day 18. 3 days of packing and it was bye-bye.
My new place seemed all the better too: yes, the rent was more expensive, and yes, it only has 2 bedrooms. But at least it was a house, one where pesky neighbours were at least 5 metres away. On my right, at least. On my left? Their house - thankfully - couldn’t even be seen where I stood.
Parking my car, I skipped up towards my new house with my fresh set of keys. And on entering? Silence. Perfect still silence. Thank the Lord. I basked in it for a while before returning to my car, unloading some of my baggage. It took 3-4 hauls, but I managed to fit it into one of the bedrooms. Thankfully, the rest of my things were to be brought by moving vans in about an hour.
I envisioned what the house could look like with a few finishing touches.
“But first…”
I eyed the 2 rooms. “Mine!”
The room I had chosen to be mine gave a bright view of my own smaller garden, as well as a portion of my right neighbour’s house, but that didn’t matter much. The view in the other room would suck: just my car and some reeds.
I was just about done heaving some of my baggage into my newly-chosen room when the doorbell gave an obnoxious ring. I stood, fighting the urge to just run away into one of my rooms when it beeped again.
Reaching the door, I eyed out of the peephole to see nothing but an opaque whiteness. I guess the downside in this house is that the last tenant was a slob. I eyed some of the yellowing walls. Sighing, I opened the door.
“Hello! We’re your neighbours, Jack and Sally, and we live just there,” She motioned towards my right, “We came to introduce ourselves, and to let you know that if you ever need anything, we’re right here.”
She then shoved a basket full of biscuits at my chest, a motherly-smile stretched around her lips. She turned to leave, husband - clearly forced to follow her - in tow, when she turned around.
“Your name, dear?”
“Leen!” I shouted after her.
“Perfect.”
And perfect it was, I thought. Neighbours that respect their distance from you, and give you food? I eyed the delicious snacks in front of me. Definitely an upgrade.
Though it was at dawn the very next day that I woke up, shook.
~
See, I was just sleeping in my newly delivered bed when I heard it. Something that sounded like a bird, a huge caw, before it alternated into different pitches. Disoriented, I tried to wipe the sleep from my eyes in order to focus better. But it just made me more confused.
It sounded like a chicken.
As far as I know, this new place was not the countryside, nor farmland. So what? And why?
I stepped up to my window to take a good look outside. I wouldn’t keep a rooster in my home that’s for sure. Whatever it was, it was coming from…
My jaw dropped.
I closed my eyes and scrubbed at them harshly.
Please tell me why I opened my eyes and saw the exact same thing.
A man, on his haunches, face pointed towards the sky, was making rooster noises.
And he was on my neighbours’ garden. The ones I met earlier.
He looked absolutely demented. I wasn’t even scared then, just flabbergasted. I wasted no time calling the police at this disturbing nuisance.
When they arrived though, I saw my neighbours’ shoot straight from their house, speaking or…was it pleading? With the officers. What on Earth..?
Anyway, it was their problem now, so I went back to bed. I had a whole bunch of chores the next day, and had to get it all sorted before I returned to work.
Shutting my eyes, I wished for peace. And quiet, thank you very much.
~
At last, I woke up at 10 AM. By 1 PM, I had sorted my clothing into its respective drawers, and had decorated my bedroom walls, including a new golden addition. And now? I had food cooking on the stove. It felt satisfying, having cleaned up and now awaiting the prize of food.
I scrolled on my phone as I waited for the pasta to cook, before another ding turned my attention towards the door.
“Huh, what now?”
Unfortunately I hadn’t cleaned the peephole yet, so I had to open the door. There stood Jack and Sally. Or Sally and Jack. Jack looked lost. Sally stared deep into my eyes.
“Was it you?”
“Me? What do you mean?”
“That called the police last night?”
I recalled the past night, and gave her a thumbs up, hoping my smile was reassuring. “Yep, don’t worry, that lunatic will not be coming back ever again. He can go to the zoo if he wants to squawk.”
I should’ve taken the cue from Jack’s paling face, but Sally grabbed hold of me. “Listen here, okay? That man, the one you called the police on...” She trembled, “He’s my son! You can’t do that! He was not even on your property!”
My eyes widened. “He’s…your son?”
“Of course! How can you not see that?”
Nodding at her, I relinquished myself from the hold she had on my arms. “Okay then, sorry for the call. But I do have to mention something,” Jack started to shake his head behind his wife, but I ignored the little-to-say man, “Is there any way you can keep the noise down to a minimum? Honestly, your son has vocal cords of steel! It would wake the entire neighbourhood at this rate.”
Sally stared pointedly at me, then took a look around my house. “Very well.”
She grabbed her husband’s arm as she turned to leave, and I caught the slightest look of fear in his eyes before he was abruptly pulled away.
I dismissed it - and the sinking feeling - on discovering my very soft, overcooked pasta when I came back into my home though.
I managed to also do one thing before wrapping up: I cleaned out my door's peephole. Now I wouldn't have to open the door to know it's them. I'd just speak at them from the inside if they were to come back.
~
I woke, jolting out of my bed the very next morning, or night. I checked my bedside clock to see it was 3:50 AM. The cock-a-doodle-doo was breaking into my head. I grasped my hair in frustration, knowing that I didn’t have the madman’s parents phone numbers’ to call, or maybe scream at them. It was the exact same thing as the day before! Except…maybe…
I strained my ear.
It sounded a lot closer.
My hands, for some reason, became clammy instantly, and the urgent thumping of my own heart - the fragility of my own life - became all the more prominent.
I tiptoed to my window and peeked outside. Nothing.
I then slowly treaded to my spare bedroom, and pulled the curtains apart. Zilch. Nada. Though…
Almost as if under a spell, my head turned towards my main door. I…I could somehow feel it. Just to confirm though, I peeked out of the door-hole.
And with a slam, I collapsed in my new, dream home.
~
When I came to, I was lying on white sheets, and a bright white light hung over me.
A hospital.
I was in my own room, which I found odd. It was not like I needed it. But then a doctor walked in, followed by 3 other people, and it all made sense. Everything - blurs and sureness - melted into a perfect picture.
Sally, Jack, and their son.
He couldn’t be more than 17 really. Though he looked 37 a few hours ago. Face pressed against the glass of my peephole, mouth wide open towards it, eyes pointing in different directions as his face reddened and contorted.
I was deaf in one moment. Then came the COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO.
Of course I fainted. Who could blame me?
“Good afternoon, I’m Dr Lam. You’re in A&E right now. Are you able to tell me your full name and date of birth?
My voice answered the Doctor’s questions, but my eyes stared dazed at the youngster’s abdomen, not daring to reach his its eyes.
“Well, nothing seems to be wrong with you. You may have just been dehydrated. Did you have any headache or pain before you fainted?”
I replied in the negative.
“Luckily, your friends’ son had found you passed out, and ensured your speedy arrival to hospital, so I wouldn’t be worried about any damage.”
My eyes finally strayed, looking towards the ground. I held the nauseousness of bile down my throat. Following a brief check-up, I was allowed to leave.
And 2 people and a demon followed me out.
“Well, Leen, that should give you a lesson,”
Sally.
I turned towards the family, who stood in a 3 person arc. Only 1 managed to look away, equal parts shame and guilt. I don’t need to mention who that was.
“Don’t worry. You can look at me, I don’t bite: not now and not at dawn,” a strained voice whispered at me. “I promise, it’s only at dawn when I…when I…”
“Hush Dean, don’t work your voice that much. You’ll need to save it for later.”
I was still dizzy. That didn’t stop me from running half-hobbled to the taxi stand, where I begged and claimed to many that I would provide double payment if they were to take me to my house.
It took a while, but I managed to pack some of my clothes. There was no way in hell I was sleeping at that damned house again, not now, not ever. I called and booked at a nearby hotel in the meantime.
I was done packing necessities by the evening. Walking out of my house, I saw no sign of those three. I would have been relieved, had I not come face to face with than one thing: standing in my garden, leaning against my car. My breathing picked up instantly.
Dean
It stood with its back resting against my car. And It noticed me immediately. Seems like it was just waiting for me to notice it.
“Are you leaving?” It sounded almost sad, but I needed it to move away, or my only way out of there would be in jeopardy.
“For the night.” My answer? Almost smooth, but even I could hear the first shake in my voice.
It nodded though. “Okay.” And he moved from my car. I counted the distance. 1 metre. 2. 2.5-
It made a sudden dash at me as I - in flight response - ran frantically to the driver’s seat, locking the door. I came in half-squashed, my backpack still on my back. But I didn’t care.
Its face was pressed against the window.
“Mum is waiting for a person that will like me for me, not run away. You’re supposed to like me.” It said, matter-of-factly. It then wailed, and sunk beneath the car window.
I did not dare to sit up and see what it was doing.
I didn’t even need to though. The sound came a split-second later.
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO
Tears spilled from my eyes. My limbs felt weak. I couldn’t even breathe. It suddenly sprang up to the window. Eyes enlarged: looking at me and everywhere at once.
“I can actually tur-COCK- in the day too, but M-DOODLE- said it would be too much for you,” wheezing, it exclaimed again before adding, “but this is ME. Do you-do you, do you like me?”
With dead limbs I weighed my foot on the pedal, and jump-started the car to speed off. My head shook left-and-right in response, stomach heaving with nausea.
Human preservation kicked me into taking proper control of the car when I saw, out of the rear view mirror, Sally. This time with a rope, which locked around the creature’s neck before she tugged, drawing it into her house. At one point we locked eyes. And what do I mean by we?
Answer: the 2 of them and me.
It was honestly a miracle that I did not get into a road traffic accident.
I spent 3 days living in the hotel after that, my job long-forgotten in the aftermath.
By day 4 I broke down and called my older sister, asking to stay at her place for a while. Her house and area seemed fine the times I’d stopped over. I guess I clearly did not seem right though, as she many-a-time asked me what was wrong. My answer? Stress. She persisted, years of living together as kids helping her figure out my lies, though she ultimately gave up after a week. She knew it was something I didn’t want to share, and that I was safe now. That was enough for her.
For me? I guess at the time I so badly wanted to tell someone. Though it couldn’t be my sister. I didn’t want to cause any trouble. Nor see if she’d even believe me, or instead rank me at the same IQ level as her two 5-year-olds.
For a few weeks, I stayed with my sister and her family, reassuring both her and myself that I was fine. Thankfully, we worked together to find a small apartment. Next to a kids school too - bonus points. I now craved safety above all else. After moving out though, I realised I needed my belongings back.
So, who picked up my stuff from that cursed residence, you ask? The moving people. I called the police from a random phone booth first to head over to that area, emphasising on seeing some suspicious looking men, whilst I got them to collect everything. I did not dare to call the police on that family though. I would prefer if the link between me and them got cut, drawn and quartered.
So now I’m here, in an apartment which thankfully hasn’t shown any sign of insanity. Inspecting my belongings, I noticed that there was one thing missing.
My gold frame, used to encase my make-shift certificate - made by yours truly after her 21-day record from the previous apartment - was gone.
I felt somewhat miffed, but then I realised something.
Something which can maybe bring the light out in this whole situation.
I counted carefully. I broke my record.
With a grand stay of 2 days. Now that - that I don’t think I’d ever be able to beat.

So I (21f) was out yesterday with my friend. My mum was also out with her cousin and her best friend. My mums friend well call her Carly have been friends for 40 years and have never fell out. My friend was going to a party after we were out so my mum suggested that I come and meet her and her friends for drinks as she had booked a table at restaurant. I said maybe as I was up early for work the next day. After having some drinks with my friends I decided to go and meet with my mum and her friends. I get to the bar before them and it is extremely busy and there is no sign of my mum or her friends. I meet them and we try to go in and the bouncer is not letting us in. We eventually get in and go to the bar to show them our booking. There isn’t an empty table in sight. They get us a table and we sit. The seats are soaking wet and my mums cousin is basically passed out on the table. They ordered drinks and I didn’t want anything. I was getting to the point where I had already had a few drinks and was ready to just call it a night. I told my mum that I was going to head home and she said no and said I would be selfish for leaving. There was a big event on in the city I was living in so I could understand if she was worrying about safety but she said that it would make people think I didn’t want to be with her and her friends. I said okay and stayed. They got food and began eating it. After maybe fifteen minutes I said to my mum I’m going to head and get the train home and that my boyfriend was going to pick me up from the train station. She starts calling me selfish again and telling me how inconsiderate I am then proceeds to say to go home with your boring boyfriend then. She was being quite passive aggressive with me this whole time. When she made the comment about my boyfriend I had had enough and left. I was extremely upset. My mums friends Carly then phones me and tells me to come back as she doesn’t want me to go home myself. I walk back to the bar and she asked me what happened. I told her and we went back into the restaurant together. I sat with Carly and she said to my mum to stop being horrible. This is when everything blows up. My mum starts shouting at the two of us. Charley was saying that my mum shouldn’t have said that about my boyfriend. My mum had had a lot to drink and this was most likely a factor in her reacting this way. I never said my mum was horrible nor did I expect for Carly to say anything. I was just upset and wanted to go home. My mum eventually storms out the restaurant and Carly runs after her. Carly come back after ten minutes saying that she will have to get my mums cousin home herself and how she doesn’t know what’s happening. My mum phones me and tells me to come and meet her. I am extremely upset at this point as these are the two most important women in my life. I go and meet her and she starts shouting at me. She was asking me what I said to Carley and that they had never had an argument before. I told her I told carley what she had said to me. She denied it all and said I was lying. She then starts making personals digs at meant aren’t true or fair to say. My mum phones carley and carley and my mums cousin show up. Everything seems fine again they had a laugh and then my mum starts arguing again. She is now shouting in the middle of the streets. She is saying she hates me and that I was fake crying and that this whole situation was my fault. I was hysterical at this point. My mum won’t let me come home with her even though me and carley were trying to convince her to get a taxi home with us she refused. My mum ended up saying to carley that she was a shot friend because she did remember my grans death anniversary or my mum and dad 25th wedding anniversary (my dad passed a few years ago). My mum then storms off and I stay with carley. Carley wasn’t that bothered about the argument until now as she said my mum had too much to drink and everything would be fine in the morning. But now she was extremely upset. Carley has been through a lot with us she was there for us when my dad and gran died she still to this day stays over at our house sometime we go to her house for Christmas dinner. She is basically an aunt to me. I got home before my mum and told my little sister what had happened. She said to me to be the bigger person and that our mum probably just had too much to drink as my mum can lose her temper quite easily sometimes. My mum was walking home from the train station and asked my sister to come and walk with her. I asked her to ask if I could come too my mum said no she doesn’t want to see me along with some nasty words I won’t repeat. They both come home my mum slams a sore and just keeps yelling at me and telling me to F off. I told her I was sorry for leaving the bar and I asked if we could talk about it and she continued to yell at me. It is now the next day I am currently at work and honestly scared to go home. Can any recommended any advice as I genuinely don’t know what to do in this situation

It's past one on a Saturday night and I just finished and alcohol order. Seemed straight forward at first until the address lead me to an area with 3 hotels all right next to each other. I texted as I was pulling up asking which hotel and started my timer, before going with my first guess. As I walked up to the lobby trying to call them and I saw two women stumbling around in the parking lot but didn't think anything of it. After a few minutes I headed back to my car and just as I'm about to leave I finally hear back from the customer. It turned out to be the women I saw and in hindsight I should have cancelled the order right there. They started apologizing for not picking up and I scanned their ID. Before leaving one gives me a high five and says, "soft hand like trans 😵‍💫"
I hope she liked my rough leathery hand lmao (main job is landscape construction)

Hi!
Have you found yourself having some spare time and wondering if there is something you can do to support UNIS?
If yes, then help us with a simple tap on your phone and vote! 😁
Here is a list of on-going voting campaigns and their current status:

Winnable Purely by Fan Votes 🤳

KGMA Trend of the Year: Kpop Group (Monthly Voting - May):

Deadline: May 19, 2024 (❗️today, 23:59 KST❗️)

App Name	Current Place	Opponent
Fancast	1st - 54,577 votes	2nd - 21,025 votes

This seems to be the main goal of the fandom right now.
Judging Criteria (according to Fancast app): 1. Pre-vote (10%) - done, we lost. 🥲 2. Monthly vote (40%) 3. Main vote (50%) - main event will be held on November 16-17 this year.

UPICK (Rookie Artist of May):

Deadline: May 23, 2024

App Name	Current Place	Opponent
UPICK	1st - 6,325,785 votes	2nd - 6,257,302 votes

Don't vote today! Hold them till tomorrow!
Tomorrow (May 20), from 9PM to 10PM (KST), all voting points you use will be paid back 100% the next day. For more info, click here.
We are currently on a 3-month winning streak for this award.
The first 3 months were Elisia, Gehlee, and Yunha (in order).
It's Seowon's turn this month.

Includes Other Criteria 📊

34th SMA Rookie Award (Monthly Voting - May):

Deadline: May 31, 2024

App Name	Current Place	Opponent
PODOAL	1st - 306,300 votes	2nd - 70,750 votes
my1pick	1st - 49.34%	2nd - 40.30%
K-POP SEOUL	1st - 2,342 votes	2nd - 732 votes

Judging Criteria (as per last year's): 1. Professional judges and SMA Organizing Committee (50%) 2. Album sales (25%) 3. Mobile voting worldwide (25%) - monthly voting contributes to the main voting as per SMA's current front page notice.
As per F&F CEO, an extension of two more years will be considered if UNIS wins the "Rookie of the Year" award.
I have a feeling this is not the only one with an award of this kind though. Please comment below if you have information regarding other "Rookie of the Year" awards.

KM Chart (ROOKIE of May):

Deadline: May 24, 2024

App Name	Current Place	Opponent
Idol Champ	5th - 3.23%	1st - 55.73%
my1pick	5th - 2.84%	1st - 66.24%

Judging Criteria (according to KM Chart's website): 1. Voting (50%) - 25% on Idol Champ, 25% on my1pick. 2. KM chart data (50%)
This is a quarterly award, but it does give a physical trophy to the winner. It can motivate the girls if they get one.
Fan votes contribute as much as the chart data, so I think we have a good enough chance. What do you guys think? 😁
Did I miss something?
If yes, kindly mention them in the comments so I can include them on my next update 👍. Thanks!

Why didn't/couldn't Sidorovich, Barkeep and Sakharov recognize Strelok during SoC events?
This might seem like a plothole, but it actually isn't. Sid didn't know Strelok personally:
"Yeah, I've heard of a stalker by that name. Rumors is he's one of the few who went to the center of the Zone and made it back. Still, we got so many of these legendary stories about stalker heroes that I can't really guarantee anything. At any rate, I've never dealt with him personally. It seems he has his own trading channels. Anyhow, just ask the folks here in the Zone and you'll be sure to learn a lot more." Clear Sky confirms that his words are true, because during CS events it was Fang who had a business with Sidorovich and not Strelok.
Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/A4Pxgp.jpg https://snipboard.io/piHsac.jpg
Barkeep's dialogue:
"An experienced stalker as far as I know. He used to "work" through the northern exits from the Zone. He was hardly ever seen here but there are rumors that he took his group right into the center of the Zone."
Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/Y4EmM2.jpg
About Sakharov - There are plenty of possible explanations for the fact that he doesn't recognize Strelok, but the closest we have to an official explanation is included in the design document of the original storyline of the prequel, where it's said that Strelok's face was bandaged at the time:
"Strelok, whose face is still covered with bandages, comes to Sakharov and tells that he is planning a trip to the CNPP."
Of course, it's not really canon, but it still works.
Why won't military just bomb the Zone?
First of all, they already tried but failed:
"I can't really get into that - we've got some discipline in this place, after all. Our general Krylov certainly used to be a military man. I heard a few stories about how, just as the Zone formed, the government organized a military operation in here. They were sent to the very center of the Zone with an order to blow it all to hell with nuclear explosives. Can you imagine what that means? These guys were sent with no protection, no detectors, no information about what to expect in the Zone. Many perished in anomalies right off, and most of those who didn't were done in by an emission. The few survivors were left behind to die a slow death. General Krylov is one of those few. I don't know who he's pals with, but he hates the military ever since he and his buddies were sent straight to their deaths. He's got some connections in Spetsnaz though. Spetsnaz only got real men. Sometimes Duty crosses paths with them. That's pretty much it - consider it the abridged version." - Dialogue of Zvyagintsev
Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/HP1pVq.jpg
Second of all, it's obviously a very bad idea.
"Everyone who believes in the Monolith is completely nuts. They keep banging on about it but nobody actually knows what's in the center of the Zone. An invisible crystal that fell from the skies...ha-ha-ha! I reckon one of the secret labs blew up - I mean some stalkers used to work in a few of them. But, obviously, you can't bomb the Zone. Not only will the radiation spread all over the world, half of Europe would be flattened by the Zone's reaction. "Someone" has gone totally mad lately - I heard they're killing normal stalkers for no reason at all. How do you like that? Damn fanatics." - Dialogue of Random 100 Rads Bar Dutyer
Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/oWRgr0.jpg
Is the Zone growing?
Only SoC presents this idea. Neither Clear Sky nor Call of Pripyat mentioned anything about Zone's expansion. In fact, Hermann in CoP just said that Zone is evolving, while Loki directly said that it isn't getting bigger:
"They're idiots, that's what I think. I mean, why the hell would they want to destroy the Zone? it's not consuming precious resources or getting bigger... or anything. They could just sit there and study it to their heart's content - just think of how many scientific discoveries could be made... I mean, in the history of man-kind, no one has never been able to understand antigravitation, right? And in the Zone you've got ready-made antigravitation devices lying all over the place. It wouldn't hurt to kick their asses out of here, but it's too much hassle. By the way, don't be confused by our relations here at Yanov. We are at war... it's just that Yanov has been made neutral territory, if you know what I mean." - Loki
Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/UQ8ZEO.jpg
If The Zone is practically known globally then how come we aren't seeing other world governments trying to send people of their own to study it?
"Right... I seem to remember you asking me about something last night, though I can't recall... Ah, got it. You wanted to know why it's only our eggheads messing around in the Zone. Curious why the foreigners won't show up, even though there's enough stuff here for thousands of Nobles prizes... Alright, let's see. First of all, what the heck do they need coming down here for, when they can simply pay some of our guys and get the results on a silver plate? Second of all, they've actually been there themselves, and quite a lot of them, too. It's just that in the last two years these gringos have been badly scared of going into the Zone..." - Fragment from PDA entry called "The chronicles of egghead globalists"
"Ever heard about Station Thirty-Two? That's where they all bit the bullet. It was all quiet at first, pretty much normal... They'd be reading their meters, taking samples, poking their gear into anomalies... And then they all started going nuts. Every friggin one of them. Everyone slowly going off their rocker. One of ours, the one that retired eventually, told me about it... Some actually ripped their own throats open, other would smash their heads against the wall, and some would simply... Gun in their mouth and... And then the beasts started swarming all over them. Those few who were still sane enough barricaded themselves in the house. You get the picture, right? Dark night, all the local beasties outside, and people going nuts one after another inside. In short, in the morning those who still had it together broke out of there somehow. Went straight on, even got caught in some anomalies... Got to the Rotten Forest... But none of those who had been left behind have been found. they say loads of controllers were recorded in that area. that's how it was... Since then, no one goes anywhere near Station Thirty-Two, and the foreigners steer clear of the Zone... " - Another fragment from that entry
Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/ZEXgNy.jpg (Part 1) https://snipboard.io/gksjHB.jpg (Part 2) https://snipboard.io/Zc8W2G.jpg (Part 3.)
"There are always developments in the Zone, and they're always interesting. I already told you about Monolith - they're on everybody's tongue... Have you heard about a new major expedition into the Zone? Technically, they're environmental researchers from the UN, but that's just on paper. Sure, they got a couple four-eyed scientists, but just one look at all the others tells you they're seasoned fighters. No idea why they're here. Oh, and dig this: they're not using guides. Either they're being guided by satellite, or their mission is so secret that no one else could be let in on it. They seem to be approaching the Radar. I dunno how this will end, but I got a feeling it won't be pretty." - Dialogue of Hog
Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/oejv2a.jpg
What happened to Scar?
There can be many answers to this question. Scar's fate could have turned out in many ways - perhaps, if the brainwashing process failed, he became simply zombified; if it was successful, he could've died while being transported in the death truck; if this didn't happen, he had a clearly defined task to perform, and could die while trying to do it; if he survived, he might still be wandering around the Zone as an amnesiac.
It's also possible that he simply died during the emission, or was captured but somehow managed to overcome the brainwashing process and escaped from whatever laboratory it was taking place in.
Monolith's weaponry. How do they have so many guns?
It can be partially explained by a couple of things. First thing that should be noted is that Monolith before trilogy used to be different faction. It can be assumed that they already had decent weapons (I have another post which includes dialogues about older Monolith) https://www.reddit.com/stalkecomments/1ax5u7x/interesting_facts_about_the_monolith_faction/
Second thing is that even rookies know that they gotta get better equipment before going deeper into the Zone:
"For now I'm just gaining experience and saving up some coin. As soon as I have enough, I'll buy me a good shooter and armor, and head straight for the center of the Zone. Rumor has it some guys already made it there and found the Wish Granter. That's where I'm gonna go. And when I find it, I won't go wrong with my wish, you can bet on that!" - Dialogue of Cordon Loner in Clear Sky
Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/bqyuzA.jpg
And lastly, C-Consciousness Representative said "From the moment the Zone was formed, many people have tried to get to its center". Many people seem to think that Brain Scorcher only turns people into zombies, but it seems that it was also capable of converting them to Monolith:
"Brothers, as we were patrolling the outskirts of the Dark Forest we came upon an unfaithful loner. We did not kill him, seeing as he was already on his way to conversion, although he was still half-way in his animal state... Such is the wisdom of the Monolith: once again it revealed to us the true countenance of our enemies." - PDA entry called "A convert in the Black Forest"
Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/jC2MPJ.jpg
About their suits - there can be more than 1 answer.
It's interesting to point out that Monolith suit was located in lab X-18. Either the faction stashed them there, or they were here before. A possible explanation could be that such suits were used by guards of the secret facilities in the Zone before the 2nd disaster
I think this is important to point out too
"Stalker suit from the Monolith faction. The producer is unknown. Its protective properties are slightly worse then those of the PSZ-9a military bulletproof vest. Its structure is similar to the suit popular with neutral stalkers which combines a bulletproof vest and a radiation protection suit. It provides good protection from gunfire. Its level of anomaly protection is low due to the absence of an air" - Description of Monolith Suit
Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/XITJs4.jpg
"Stalker suit manufactured by "folk craftsmen". It is an effective combination of a light military bulletproof vest and of a rubberized fabric suit. It is reinforced with inserted kevlar plates and provides good protection from weak gunfire. All in all it is highly inefficient for carrying out deep raids and serious operations in the knots of the Zone." - Stalker Suit (Sunrise)
Additional proof: https://snipboard.io/zMGpqd.jpg
Lastly, Yantar loner NPCs in Clear Sky mention in their dialogue mention very interesting thing:
"I heard a whole faction went missing in the Zone. You ever heard of Monolith? Well, they used to protect the Zone from others, but they made a move towards the center right before the Emission. Nobody has heard from them since, but recently some real aggressive stalkers have been attacking from where the Scorcher is, killing everyone and asking no questions. I know because I saw them myself around the military warehouses, and I reckon they might be those same Monolithians who disappeared. It wouldn't surprise me, because their uniforms looked real similar." Other than a fact that Monolith faction of the trilogy had members from older Monolith who wore similar uniform, dead bodies of Monolithians in Clear Sky, that are scattered over the Zone very well could be the dead bodies of older Monolith faction

I thought I’d add a trip report for Universal Studios Japan as I found some of this detail was hard to find online (e.g. the opening time!) My husband and kids (aged 8 and 11) visited USJ on a weekday in mid April.
Tickets: All purchased through Klook without any problems. Printed at home to save the hassle of flicking through four passes on my phone every time. We bought the 7 Express Pass which was worth every cent. We also bought the Early Entry studio pass, designed to let us in 15 minutes early. That wasn’t entirely accurate, see paragraph below!
Entry times: We had read online that the park opens an hour before the posted time. Not today! The posted time was 9am, and we turned up at 8:15. The park opened at around 8:40. At this time, the regular lines and the Early Entry lines opened all at once. But it was still definitely worth buying the Early Entry pass, because the lines were much, MUCH shorter. If you’re using an Early Entry pass, just show the attendants when you turn up and they’ll direct you to the Early Entry lines.
Super Nintendo World: We had already reserved an entry time for Super Nintendo World at 10:50 through our express passes, but we didn’t want to wait. We checked the app as we walked in at 8:50, and we could get an entry time to SNW at 9:10. We went straight there, lined up, and they let us in 15 minutes early! We found the same for all of our express passes too: They would allow us in at least 10 minutes earlier. Perhaps it’s because it wasn’t a particularly crowded day (still crowded, but not a weekend or holiday). In brief, SNW is everything you’ve seen online, but so spectacular in person.
SNW power up bands: We bought these at the first kiosk, but should’ve followed the advice online and walked further into the area. There were power up band kiosks with no queues inside. We didn’t really get much value for money out of these: the kids had fun hitting the blocks and coins and interacting with them a little on the rides, but they couldn’t be bothered to wait in the long queues for the more elaborate games. There’s a big challenge which requires playing several games to collect keys to enter a boss level. It probably would have taken an extra hour or two, but we were ready to go on more rides.
Jaws: We went on this next, but there was no need for a fast pass as the queue was very short. It was entertaining enough despite being in Japanese. We would have preferred to ride the Hollywood roller coaster; our 7 express pass had that as an alternative to Jaws, but unfortunately it’s currently closed.
Minions Mayhem: This was the best 3D movie ride I had ever been on (until we went on Soaring at DisneySea!). Both are excellent. The intro videos have English subtitles; the main 3D movie ride didn’t, but there wasn’t much dialogue. Very fun, enjoyed by all. Walked past the other Minions ride, Freeze Ray Sliders, but looked like a version of spinning teacups, not worth the ever-lengthening queue times.
Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge: Probably our favourite ride for the day. It’s a combination ride / 3D movie / interactive experience with virtual goggles – worth every bit for the express pass, and worth the queue if you don’t have an express pass!
Yoshi’s Adventure: Very much a young kids’ ride and can be skipped! Even our kids looked bored. There are good views, but not much that you can’t see elsewhere. (As an aside, the two best views of the not-yet-opened Donkey Kong Country were found at the peak of the Flight of the Hippogriff rollercoaster, and on the Tempozan Ferris Wheel which we visited the day before.)
Flying Dinosaur: Our 11-year-old doesn’t like extreme roller coasters, but our 8-year-old was unsure as she has liked some bigger roller coasters before. We decided that my husband and I would ride it while the kids watched (and took videos, hilarious) and we could tell her afterwards if it was too scary. DEFINITELY too scary, haha. I love roller coasters, and I closed my eyes in parts. I’m so glad I did it, but it’s not for the faint-of-heart.
Jurassic Park meet and greet: We happened to walk past as the dinosaurs were coming out. Cute for the kids, but not worth structuring your day around. I wish the Jurassic Park log flume ride was open, but it’s currently still closed.
Waterworld: We queued for this 20 minutes before show time, but we needn’t have bothered, as the seating area was huge. They were still letting people in as the performance began, and none were having trouble finding seats. We could have chosen the front row, but we sat slightly behind the ‘splash zone’ so we wouldn’t get wet. Sitting higher up afforded a better view too, but views would have been good from anywhere. The plot was simple enough to follow without understanding Japanese – fun and good for a long rest for our already tired feet!
Hogsmeade: Utterly stunning, all of it: The shops, the food, the performances (singing frogs and magical beasts turned up regularly). We ate at the Three Broomsticks, which appeared crowded with a long queue, but with an app to order, it cleared quickly enough. There were plenty of empty tables out the back, with a view across the lake to Hogwarts! My kids had wanted to try butterbeer for so long, but it was sickly sweet, like bubbly maple syrup. It was quite difficult to find a place to dispose of the rest of the drink so we could take the souvenir cups home, but eventually we just dumped the contents in the bathroom sink.
Interactive wands: These were much better value for our kids, and they took part in five of the seven interactive spells before exhaustion hit at the end of the day. The first (wingardium leviosa!) was not being managed by staff, so it was hard to get it to work. It had about a 50% success rate. The later ones were all managed by very kind and patient staff (who also happened to speak excellent English) who allowed each guest to keep trying until it worked. It meant the queues were slow-moving, but most were short enough, and my kids were happy to wait while they watched others attempting the spells.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey: We were so excited for this one, but it scared both my kids a bit! The 8-year-old because of the giant dementors (both on-screen and big animatronics), and the 11-year-old because the chair actually tipped a really long way back and forward. She was worried we would go right upside-down, but we didn’t. It was a lot more intense than we had expected. I really loved it, but be careful if you have sensitive kids.
Flight of the Hippogriff: This is a pretty tame roller coaster, and I’m not sure why people would queue two hours for it. The kids loved it, though. One warning: my six foot tall husband had to be moved to the front row as his legs didn’t fit!
Minions Mayhem again: We noticed on the app that there was only a 10 minute queue for Minions Mayhem, so my husband and 8-year-old had another go. A 10 minute queue means no queue at all, as it takes 10 minutes to walk through and watch the intro videos. We checked the app, and all the more popular rides still had huge queues, so decided to call it a day.
All up, we were there from opening to 6pm, and were utterly exhausted by the end of it. Plan a quieter day for afterwards, if you can! And we were very jealous of the people staying in the hotel right by the park – in hindsight it would have been worth the extra packing and unpacking to shift to that hotel for the night before and/or after.

extends CharacterBody3D
var jumping = false var running = false var SPEED = 5.0 var JUMP_VELOCITY = 5.8 var sens horizontal = 8.2 var sens_vertical = 0.2 var running speed = 7.8 var walleing speed = 3.0
var gravity = ProjectSettings.get. setting(“physics/3d/default_gravity”)
@onready var visuals = $visuals
@onready ven camere_sount = 5 cenera wounth
@onready var anisation player = $visuals/animation/AninationPlayer
func _ready): Input.mouse_mode = Input.MOUSE_MODE_CAPTURED
func _Input(event):
if event is InputEventmousemotion:
rotate_y(deg_to_rad(-event.relative.x*sens_horizontal))
visuals.rotate_y(deg_to_red(event.relative.x*sens_horizontal))
casera_mount.rotate_x(deg_to_rad(-event.relative.y*sens_vertical))
camera_mount.rotation.x = clamp(camera_mount.rotetion.x, deg_to_rad(-50.0), deg_to_rad(38.0))
func _physics_process(delta):
if Input.is_action_pressed(“run”) : SPEED = running_speed running = true
SPEED = walking-speed running = false
If Input.is_action_pressed(“jumping”): gravity = JUMP_VELOCITY jumping = true
else: JUMP_VELOCITY = gravity jumping = false
var input_dir = Input. get_vector ("left", "right", "Forward", "backwards") var direction = (transform.basis * Vector3(input_dir.x, 0, input_dir.y)).normalized ()
if direction：
if running:
if animation player cument animation != (“run”)
animationplayer. play (“run”)
else:
If animation_player.current animation = (“walk”): animation_player.play(“walk")
visuals.look_at(position + direction) velocity.x = direction.x * SPEED velocity.z = direction.z * SPEED
elif jumping:
if Input.is_action_just_pressed("jump”) and is_on_floor(): animation_player.play("jump*)
velocity.y = JUMP_VELOCITY * delta velocity.y -= gravity * delta
else:
animation_player.current_animation != ("idle”):
animation_player.play(“idle”)
velocity.x = move_toward(velocity.x, 0, SPEED) velocity.y = move_toward (velocity.z, 0, SPEED)
This is the full code. idk what to move around in order for the code to work properly
the problem im facing is i cant jump while running or walking and in order for me to jump i need to hold down the action button for jump. im so friggin close this is a break through for me since i have no experience what so ever in game dev and ive only been working on this for a month. S.O.S i want to learn how to code jumping, walking, running, and crouching in order for me to move on to state machines help would be appreciated so i can learn what im doing wrong.

Why exactly is it such a terrible mess now? I mean when you look at all the problems in society and all of the negative things going on, etc. etc. Theres all of these things like the "friend zone" and "nice guy" and "bad boy" Blah blah blah and all that nonsense. Yet there are bars set in place that are holding us all back with all these so called things going on. For example. Say you really had the hots for a woman, and you'd love to tell her that if you had consent you would love to pound her hard in the nearest love hotel. Yet of course there are also many factors such as preferences, personality, what you have in common, hobbies, etc. What confuses me the most is how sometimes kindness is mistaken for weakness. Or being a good and decent person and instantly becoming positively obsessed with a love interest in a good way is misunderstood or shot down by rejection? There are very many factors in play here. What perplexes me is why things are in such a chaotic state in the first place. Shouldn't a man and a woman just love eachother because they truly like eachothers personality, looks, etc.? Why all the games? What the hell are we doing as a species or even a culture?
Everyone has their preferences, hobbies, career, ambitions, etc. Why is everything so divided these days?
Why can't we all just find love easily by being ourselves instead of being put into this stupid game of "what ifs" "friend zone" or any of the other balderdash and nonsense?
If you love someone for who they truly are, then the answer should be you would be willing to love them forever, even beyond death. Yet, society has deliberately divided the family unit and has also parasitically infected and divided people. We must all wake up and realize that True, Pure, Genuine love is indeed the way.
Why then, is dating in the modern era so difficult when in the ancient era people would just be with one another because they genuinely liked one another? I feel things these days are very out of touch and I'm just trying to provide a positive point of view on this subject. Everyone has their preferences, likes, dislikes, hobbies, skills, interests, etc. Why then does society insist on this stupid "game of love" or "love is a battlefield" When everything should be plain as day to be your genuine self? I feel there is a major disconnect in society and humanity in this era because many people have forgotten their history and as consequence repeated it. I do believe it is our responsibility to create a new era in which love is found more easily with those who would truly appreciate you.
For example. say there was a man who had endured psychological, emotional, and all kinds of other misfortune all his life. Yet, there was a woman out there who would sympathize with him and have compassion because either she too had been through the same thing or in many other potential ways was just looking for someone who she could relate to or understand? (as well as on intimate levels)"
I think that many of the things going on today in this modern era have inhibited progress and made things increasingly more difficult. We don't need lies, corruption, greed, or any of that nonsense.
What we need is peace, love, progress, genuinely taking care of the environment in the correct and ethical way. Not some electric vehicle that creates more waste and emissions to produce than just a vehicle that modestly runs on gasoline. I'm sure I may get hate for what I stated there but I don't care, this is an in depth discussion.
What indeed happened previously in history? Where did people lose touch? Where was the disconnect? What ever happened to two people genuinely loving one another for who they are rather than what "society" told them to do? Brianwashing needs to be made illegal to prevent further damage. I say this from the perspective that there is far too much heartbreak and sadness in the world. Love and happiness is the answer to that.
What do you all think? Please do share how you truly feel, as this is meant to shed light on what we must change in order to have a bright future.

Hey everyone, hope you’re all doing well. I (23M) recently got diagnosed with autism. I’m originally from Kochi, Kerala, and currently working in Chennai. This diagnosis came just a few weeks ago. After college in Chennai, I got a job offer from a company here, and since then, I started noticing certain things about myself. My team lead had a talk with me, suggesting I look into my well-being, and eventually, I found out I’m autistic.
I shared this with my dad, who lives in Kochi, and we realized he might also be on the spectrum. We’re planning a joint consultation when I visit home. Initially, my dad thought I was exaggerating, but after doing some research, both he and my mom agreed with me. So far, I’ve only discussed this with four of my friends because of the misconceptions about autism in India.
I haven’t figured out how to open up to the rest of my family about this. For a long time, I’ve been annoyed by certain things they do but kept it to myself to avoid causing a scene. They generally think I’m laid-back and mostly chill, though socially awkward. If someone disturbs me, I might react strongly, which has led to a few incidents. I come across as rude sometimes without meaning to, but they attribute it to social awkwardness. I also avoid texting, preferring long conversations over the phone or in person, which they just see as part of my character. And also generally VERY clumsily. But mostly positive and think good of me,
But I wanted to let them know that I am autistic, just so that in the future I can avoid any misunderstanding and fights. But after a recent event I am shit scared. So My oldest cousin got married to this guy back in 2018. But later turned out he had BPD and the shit that they talked and done to him is just appalling. The only person who were supporting him was my parents and a few cousins (There is no SA for DA, its just that my sister found him odd and after he was diagionised she just left him cold, like they have 2 kids with him, but still she just left him like she never knew him cause of u know misconption), My parent where like at least lets support him for his treatment but they were like NOPE. And the shitest thing is they got divorced by telling the court he was abscounding and did some shady stuff so they can be legally divorced but doesn't have to inform him because they got scared on how he would react. FFS they even denied to have the kids visit him. I ain't no legal expert but long story short they got divorced and the poor guy thinks she would come back to him with the kids after he gets his MH in order.
So after this incident I am shit on how to proceed, cause I feel something similar can happen to me. My parents also warned not to tell anyone about this. I have a cousin who is the US, she is my first cousin and the same age is me. We are pretty close so i was wondering starting from there, and she is from my mom's side of the family (the same one where the divorced story happened) and for my dad's side I have a cousin who lives in Bangalore, he is like very old, like his son is 4 years younger than me. But a very chill dude, I can rely on him. But I have no clue on how to proceed with this so if anyone who has a similar experience or any idea on how to do it, do let me know cause i have no clue on how to tell another person that I am autsitc.
Also thank you to everyone who took their time to read this very long post, sorry for that.

Destination Covered New Delhi – Agra – Jaipur – Goa

TOUR ITINERARY DETAILS

Day 01: Arrive New Delhi

On arrival Incredible Tour To India representative shall meet you at the airport to welcome you and transfer you to hotel. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 02: Delhi

Enjoy full day city tour covering Laxmi Narayan Temple – The Place of Gods, India Gate – The memorial of martyrs, Parliament House – The Government Headquarters, Jama Masjid – The largest mosque in Asia, Red Fort – The red stone magic, Gandhi memorial – The memoir of father of the nation beside these some other places to visit are – Qutub Minar Complex and Humayun’s Tomb. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 03: Delhi to Agra

Today we shall drive you to Agra. Agra is 205 kilometers away from Delhi and take 5 hours drive to reach. Arrive in Agra and check in into hotel. Later, we shall take you for a city tour covering -Taj Mahal – a poem written in white marble, the most extravagant monument ever built for love, Red Fort – a visit to the fort in ‘Agra’ is a must since so many of the events which lead to the construction of the Taj took place here, Itmad-ud-Daula’s Tomb – The tomb is of particular interest since many of its design elephants overshadow the Taj. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 04: Agra to Jaipur

Early morning, drive to Jaipur. The city is 235 kilometers away from Agra and take 5 hours drive to reach. En route visit Fatehpur Sikri (Old Deserted town of Mughal Dynasty) and its monuments which include Jama Masjid, The Buland Darwaza, Palace of Jodha Bai, Birbal Bhawan & Panch Mahal. Arrive in Jaipur and check into the hotel. Later relax in the hotel. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 05: Jaipur

Today morning we shall take you for a tour to Amer Fort. Take joy ride on Elephant (presently Elephant Ride closed at Amber Fort for the time being). Afternoon enjoy city tour covering City Palace – occupies a large area divided into a series of courtyards, gardens & buildings and a perfect blend of Rajasthani & Mughal architecture, Royal Observatory – An observatory with some rare qualities to its credit, Nawab Sahab Ki Haveli, and the Bazaar etc. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 06: Jaipur to Goa

In the morning, you’ll be transferred to airport to board connecting flight for Goa. On arrival in Goa met our representative and get transferred to your Hotel. Rest of the day is at leisure. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 07: Goa

In the morning, enjoy half day sightseeing tour of Old Goa. Evening is at leisure. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 08: Goa

Full day relax by the poolside/Beach. Overnight stay.

Day 09: Goa Departure

Morning is at leisure. In the evening, you’ll be transferred to the airport to board connecting flight for your onward destination.

Like most in here, I'm a die-hard fan of the series, played all the games, loved the show, but when 76 came out I originally was disappointed. Couldn't get into it, and that was actually the last ever game I pre-ordered. Was really negative towards the game for years. That being said, I came back to it this last month after the show release, and have been blown away at my second experience. The amount of added content, NPCs, events, locations has changed everything for me. The map itself is one of the best, if not the best in the whole series, and now exploring it with so much to do has been a pleasure. Haven't been addicted to a game like this in a while. It's truly an "adventure" game which has been a blast.

Hello, in my opinion Eclipsa was a pretty bad queen for Mewni and i'm going to show you why this is the case.
Ever since i joined the fandom, Eclipsa seems to be a fan favorite in the show, where people and the show see her as a 'misunderstood bad girl with a good intentions' or that she did nothing wrong for the most part at least.
And while i agree she was misunderstood and that she at least doesn't have any evil intentions this doesn't excuse her awful performance as queen especially in the aftermath of Conquer during her short-lived second reign.
Eclipsa's First Reign (300+ years before the main events in the show)
During her first reign she almost caused the collapse of the Butterfly Dinasty by running away from her kingdom(and her duty as queen and legal husband) with a monster, and not any monsters but The King of Monsters, who was known to eat and terrorize mewmans, her subjects. Yes, i know Globgor sucessfully changed and became a vegetarian for his love of Eclipsa but the mewmans and the MHC weren't aware of this fact. You can imagine how mewmans would feel to have as their king someone nicknamed 'Plucker of Limbs' or 'Crusher of Skulls' and he would still be a possible threat as he could at any moment revert back into his old ways without Eclipsa's support, as we seen in the episode 'Doop-Doop' Globgor likey was the one with the idea to have a mewman-style cake hinting that he still has those instincts inside him but i digress.
For all his faults, King Shastacan remaining as the King-Regent after being cheated on and abandoned by the Queen of Mewni understandably wanted nothing to do with the bastard(in royal succession term) offspring of Eclipsa and Globgor and thus he choosed to disinheret her in subtle way possible by swapping Meteora with a peasant mewman baby, he was the one likely who ordered the MHC with finding the replacement heir to the throne which they did in Festivia who was adopted by King Shastacan and MHC into the Butterfly family, again as subtle as possible in order to maintain stability and give the impression of continuance of the royal bloodline.
And another argument to justify this action, in the hindsight, the MHC were vindicated and proven right about their fear of Meteora the hybrid mewman-monster of the most powerful magic Queen and king of Monsters, considering how powerful she became in the season 3 final episodes and especially the finale 'Conquer', she almost caused the destruction of mewmanity and the Butterfly kingdom.
Eclipsa's Second Reign (Post Season 3 Finale after Conquer)
And now getting to her 2nd reign, after Star decided(sadly and unwisely in my opinion) to give the throne back to Eclipsa as she saw Eclipsa being the rightful queen(despite she effectively abdicating when she fled the kingdom the run away with the Globgor but whatever)
One of her first acts as queen was to move the capital to the Monster Temple as the Butterfly Castle laid in ruins after the Star vs Meteora showdown, which is understandable but she decided to keep it as the permanent capital and leave the Butterfly Castle, with so much prestige and history behind it in ruins which probably wasn't taken lightly by the mewman population who felt like their new queen(they already distrust and dislike) snub them for monsters, especially after naming the new capital 'New Monster Town'
This change symbolizing a change of focus away from mewmans and towards the monsters which again likely infuriated alot of mewmans, fermenting an understandable resentment towards Eclipsa the queen who they traditionally depend for guidance and aid.
Another awful act was confiscating the houses of mewmans and "returning" them to the monsters.
This is my opinion was one if not the worst decree done by Eclipsa, not only she expropriating homes mewman family used to live for generations but she let many of them literally homeless and basically to their fate, and you wonder why so many mewmans grew to absolutely despise their "Queen" who had only done them harm so far.
Luckily for the homeless mewmans, their ex-queen Moon who's actually a competent manager and ruler managed to create a small town our of her initial Yurt for her unfortunate former subjects who finally found a place of refugee and belonging even if they had a bit of a rocky relation initially.
Not only that but Eclipsa left former once prosperous towns in ruins(likely caused by Meteora's rampage) and their inhabitants homeless and destitute in 'Ghost of Butterfly Castle' without any plan to repair either by dispatching teams or using her magic to help. Again you wonder why so many mewmans continued to despite their queen.
Yet in another reckless act of of Eclipsa, while understandable from her perspective but very irresponsible was trying to free her controversial husband Globgor.
Thus potentially putting her mewman subjects at risk in case Globgor had desires for (understandably) revenge and straining relations with the other kingdoms who were already (understandably) horrified by the return of the 300 year old 'Queen of Darkness' and her Mewman-eating Husband who they heard so many dark stories and myths about.
She was basically inviting a coup against her by the MHC who didn't trust her to begin with and especially didn't appreciate her efforts to free Globgor who they fought hard to defeat.
While she managed in the end specially in 'Cornonation' to win the hearts of the mewmans who decided to come to her coronation event, this wasn't enough to convince the rest of the disgruntled mewmans to return, and as that wasn't bad enough, many of them took interest and joined Mina's radical movement to remove Eclipsa by force, while partially motivated by genuine racism against monsters, i think their biggest reason to rebel was due to their hatred and disappointment of Eclipsa's rule, which can be understandable considering her decrees.
In the end, while this doesn't justify Moon's decision to ally with Mina (an extremist and insane monster hater) which eventually led to the destruction of magic, Eclipsa pretty much made these conditions possible due to her policies and decisions, from abandoning her people in favor of monsters to refusing to mend ties with the MHC and prove them wrong, the finale could've been avoided if she was to put it bluntly a better queen, Eclipsa wasn't a bad person from the beginning to the end but she just wasn't a good queen for Mewni, and perhaps the throne being returned to her was a mistake, all things considered.

I (M42) and my spouse (F40)
I just had the shock of my life, and possibly the most dramatic upheaval imaginable. I'm scared, concerned and i wonder if anyone else has a similar experience. This is concerning my soon to be ex-wife. Not an easy read or even to type, but strap yourselves in. We were married for 13 years, had known each other for 23. She was a child that grew up in a war in her home country, and was effected by it more than she let on. During the last 4 years of our relationship, she started developing incredible anxiety and depression. She would become like an exposed nerve, and every perceived slight became something she would ruminate on for days at a time. We had some events in our marriage that were incredibly stressful. Our son was born prematurely, our daughter when she was born was also traumatic. She was always highly strung when i knew her. i was very much the calming influence to her and it was a role that developed in our dynamic. i would be her rock and safe place. Things started to change, and dramatically so. I travel with work and she would look after the kids. i would be home large parts of the year, but i would have to go away sometimes for 4 weeks at a time. When covid hit, we were both home for a better part of 18 months, and i started to notice things that concerned me. She began to become incredibly paranoid about neighbours. She was certain they were spyi ng on us somehow (even though they were 80, and not at all interested in us). This spiraled from the neighbours commenting on the length of our grass. It effected her, and she became fixated. Any new neighbours she instantly distrusted, and she believed they all spoke badly of her.none of it was true, but in her state of hypervigilance, she was misinterpreting signs. A strange look, or half glance was enough to make her feel unsafe and scared. This slowly devolved into her being fearful of being spied on in the shower, people who walked dogs the same time each morning past our house were doing it to spy on us, etc. I could see it was draining her, and making her very ill with stress so we discussed maybe going to therapy, which she did. During the years we were together, she had been on various anti-depressants to cope with depression. I always chalked it down to post natal depression and the stress being a mother brought to her, especially when i went away. She attended therapy, but would stop when it became uncomfortable. She then opened up to me one day regarding it. It turns out that she was molested as a child by a family friend, and had buried it. that coupled with seeing her childhood friend die from an explosion (which i knew about) had effected her more than we knew. The therapy seemed to make it worse, and since that point things took a massive nose dive. She was an incredibly bubbly, happy and cheerful person to everyone. or so i thought. She would sometimes drop the mask at home, and i could see the turmoil developing. I hate to admit it, but i was blind to it for many years. she had masked it from the very beginning. Her paranoia got worse and worse. she came off of her antidepressants and started using weed vape pens to be able to cope with the incredible anxiety. I watched her drift apart from me over the last two years, her kindness towards me vanishing and almost a resentment towards me. She would complain about the new house we had bought and that she hated it because of the neighbours. We discussed moving, but she realised in her more lucid times that the issue would follow her whereever she went. The last year together she would speak about moving to another country. I said i would, but after my parents, who are old, passed. i didn't want them to not see our children in their final years. We had grown apart, she had this strange push-pull dynamic with me. One day she'd love me and be this caring person, the next cold and distant. I tried incredibly hard to pull us back together whilst dealing with her delusions of paranoia that were still ongoing, but the more i tried (and at some points i was quite combative and forceful) to get her to communicate, the more she pulled away. There was hardly any intimacy, which i yearned for and would comment on. She would initiate it sometimes, but for me, i'm ashamed to say, i complained about it a lot. She would have sex with me on occasion, and then if we argued later say "i didn't really want sex, it was like rape". This hurt me to my core, and made me bitter about how we were. The arguments became worse and worse. She started resenting me for trapping her. That was her reality. i had trapped her in the relationship. It wasn't true, but she was upset i travelled with work and could escape when she couldn't. It was never escape for me, i travelled because i had to. Her and the kids were all i wanted to be with. Travel to me was a chore.
Slowly she withdrew more. The more i tried to help and talk, the more she withdrew. All the time she was still paranoid, and now believed the neighbours were spying on her with cameras in the garden. the "cameras" were garden lights.
After three years of constant paranoia and her anxiety, it was starting to effect me. We couldn't go out in the area as she hated the neighbours. Yet to their faces she was bubbly and happy, smiley and almost overly kind. Yet when we were alone, the mask would slip and all her thoughts about them would spill out. Our social life started to be affected,
Anything i said was misunderstood or taken in such a way that i was insulting her. If i said she was silly for thinking in a certain way, i was calling her stupid. Anytime i tried to logic something out with her regarding the neighbours (for example she believed they were watching her shower) it was dismissed. I actually showered and told her to ask if she could see me from the garden. She was confused when she saw she couldn't.
The delusions became worse, and she became more and more paranoid. The textured glass in the bathroom was the wrong way around in her eyes, so people could see in. The motion activated light at the bottom of the garden was a camera, for sure. things like this.She withdrew more and more. I had to go away on a work trip, and the day before i left she asked for a divorce. I was hurt, but said "we can talk about it when i get home" when i arrived at the destination i was working across the world, i messaged her. No response. I tried multiple times until eventually i got a text "The kids will be taken away from me, and i will be sent back to my home country" I rang my father who lived very close to us to find out what was happening.
She had asked him to take her to the police station. She said to report the neighbours for spying, which she did try to do. they obviously didn't listen. She was taken to hospital by my father as she was having a mental breakdown and behaving strangely. I told my boss i had to fly home as something was happening. he booked me the earliest flight and i flew back. I was arrested from the plane. She had accused me of Rape, Control and coercion and ABH. Things i would never do. I was arrested, questioned and told not to go back to my home or to contact her. In one day i lost everything. I was in shock and was an emotional wreck. Worst of all i was concerned and scared for my wife and kids. She blamed me for her emotional state. said i had caused everything and had abused her constantly for years. After a week of staying at my friends house, social services got involved as the kids were missing school. It turns out she was taking the kids to hotels because she was terrified of staying at home. The kids told me later that "mummy thinks men are after her" instead of telling any authorities this, she said it was because she was scared of me. Social services believed everything she said. I was under investigation for the allegations, although not charged. The investigations were ongoing for three months, and in that time i wasn't allowed to contact her at all. Unfortunately in my fear i contacted her repeatedly. She had me arrested for harassment, and i was charged and convicted. I wasn't ever abusive in the texts, but i did contact her a lot.
I secured access to my children through a rushed family court order. I also placed a block on her leaving the country without seeking my permission with the children, as she had taken my passport details to apply for the kids passports without my knowledge. I did this due to her erratic behaviour and i knew she wasn't stable. My father thought i'd over-reacted, but my ex was so good at masking she hid how she really felt even to him. Oscar level masking.
Looking back i realise how bad it was. She ran from her home country at 18 and always ran. she always wanted to move jobs if something went wrong. She would cut off long term friends in an instant if she felt any pressure form them. Her first instinct would always be to flee anything. Any littlle insignificant thing or slight would become something she'd chew over for weeks, often applying the worst case scenario that would then become her reality. The truth was she was constantly afraid. I think at the end i became something she was afraid of too. My determination to keep us together and keep her from falling apart became too much for her. I wasn't always kind and was exasperated a lot. I was too demanding on someone that was exhausted, anxious and clearly unwell. Unfortunately i didn't realise this until too late. I still see the children, but have zero contact with her. She filed a restraining order due to the harassment conviction which i will adhere to. I'm currently going through family court again to secure further rights. She applied for full custody and has said some very terrible untruthful things at court to almost destroy me and remove me from her life. I'm a broken man because of it all, but staying strong for the kids.
I hope there will be some sort of resolution in the future, but i realise that she's scared of me now as she is scared of everything. She told me near the end that she trusts nobody. This broke my heart. The court on the last visit realised that something wasn't right. they have ordered a investigation into our family, and it will hopefully be reported in June when we go back to court. Her medical documents have been re-visited and statements taken. My father witnessed some very strange behaviour and has reported it. We just have to see what happens. She has requested to sell the property we lived in, and i'm slowly watching the life we built implode. She also has asked for the order that stipulates the need for permission to leave the country lifted. June will be the crunch time.

Hello potential friends! I'm a cis gay man from northwest Ohio who was born and raised here but spent the last 15ish years in southern Arizona near the Mexican boarder. A lot of things have happened in the last year and it's made me realize that, while I have queer friends, I don't have any friends who are also gay men and as such there's a certain connection and understanding that I've been missing in my life. I'm sure we all understand how difficult it can be to find people to share multiple large aspects of your life and I'm hoping to find that here.
A few quick answers to what I assume will be common questions.
Career: I normally work in medicine but had a rare medical event of my own last year that left me unable to work temporarily and I am still on the mend. Hoping to get back to working soon!
Family: I'm currently living with an old friend from high school and her family while I recover from the above.
Marital status: forever alone, lol
Pets: 3 dogs. They are my world and they also have the combined cognitive function of a can of spray paint
Interests: - Video games: easily my biggest hobby. I'm a through and through Zelda fan oh and love most RPGs. Recently I've mostly been in to more comfy game or open world games. Common evening activities are Minecraft/modded Minecraft, Stardew valley, Skyrim, the Sims, core keeper. Though recently my closest guy friend and I have been hoping to try some of the spooky co-op games like lethal Company as he does love his horror games.

• Science: my forte is mostly in human biology but I'm also quite fond of tech and gadgets even if I don't understand them
  
• Books: I love fantasy and made a commitment to myself a few years ago to avoid anything with sad endings (the depression and anxiety have enough fodder on their own, thank you) so I've also been consuming a lot of gay romance
  
• TV/Movies: I'm actually really bad at this. I tend to watch the same things over and over as background noise while I game rather than consume new media. So... If you like watching the great British bake off for the hundredth time...
  

Music: I can enjoy most music but left to my own devices I tend to cycle between alt rock from the 1990s/early 2000s, soundtracks to musicals (currently obsessed with Hazbin Hotel), and crooners from the early to mid 1900s
I just realized how long this is getting so I think I will try to wrap up. I'm a nerdy gaymer just looking for similar people who want to have fun and be there for each other. As you can see I tend to be long-winded, excessively verbose, and stupidly sarcastic. Fair warning, I'm currently basically following an Australian time zone as my best mate lives in Melbourne and it's easier for me to talk to her this way so don't be surprised if I'm not conscious during the day. Hope to hear from some lovely folks soon!