Birthday gift for guy i am dating

Hi everyone! This is my first post on Reddit, trying to be specific so I hope it’s not too long...
I have inherited the following gear from a deceased relative: Nikon D3300, Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 VC, Sigma DG 70-300mm f/4-5.6, and Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 (which I don’t use). I’ve been using it for a few months now, quite regularly and in many different situations, along with quite a bit of reading. While I have to improve at composition and post-processing, I’m reaching some of the limits of my gear, namely low-light performance.
I regularly shoot family/friends events like birthdays, and some religious events, mostly in buildings with bad-mediocre lighting I can’t do much about. This is all handheld, plus I often can’t use the (inbuilt) flash for several reasons. I use the Tamron in those cases: max aperture, shutter at 1/60 (or 1/30 in extreme cases) and auto ISO regularly hitting the defined limit (3200, higher gets really noisy)... PP does help (I sometimes do it), but photography is just a hobby or a help/service, so I would like to start with better low-light performance at the capture level.
Therefore, I am looking at faster lens(es) in the short/medium range, like up to 100mm. I’m aiming for 1.8 or even 1.4 aperture, but I’m a bit confused about which lenses would be most relevant to invest in, since I would like to keep it below let’s say 600 € (I’m in France, and yes I will buy used).

1. I’ve gotten used to the comfort of the Tamron’s range. I know fast zooms are heavy and expensive, but I don’t think I will be satisfied with only primes. On the other hand, looks like no zoom (at a reasonable price) can beat the 1.8/1.4 aperture of primes.
2. If I take an APS-C lens (which makes sense right now), I’m struggling to get rid of the fear that IF I EVER get a full-frame it will become rather useless.
3. If I get a (crop?) mirrorless one day, would a DSLR crop lens work on it? Guess it depends on the brand and other details...

I believe the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 EX DG HSM would be a great zoom, more affordable, lightweight and versatile than e.g. the Sigma 50-100mm F1.8 DC HSM Art. However, on APS-C the range of the former would start at 36mm (did I get this number right?), and I know I would miss out on the wide angle. I could add the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM Art, but given its price (and weight) I wonder if it wouldn’t be smarter (and cheaper) to get one or two f/1.4 or 1.8 primes in that range. There’s also the cheaper Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM, but it would overlap with the 24-70 range and the aperture is the same. Maybe f/2.8 will already be a great improvement from the Tamron (esp. after some zooming) and I don’t need to aim higher...
What do you guys think? What approach would you suggest? And, more importantly, what specific lenses (primes or zooms) can you point at? Brands, models and their versions, etc. I prefer to spend a bit more if it’s worth it btw. Macro (small flowers) is also a + but not decisive.
TL;DR: What combination of fast lenses (primes or zooms up to ~ 100mm) would you suggest for good low-light performance on a Nikon D3300, in a budget of ~ 600€? First time purchasing gear.

I have this female friend who is part of a male friend group. My friend tells me that guys are generally quite insensitive and she tells me not to take anything they say seriously but recently, i met this group of guys at her birthday party and they were very polite and cordial to my face. However, I cannot stop being paranoid that they are talking shit about my appearance behind my back.
I was probably the least good looking person at my party (im being objective by the way because my friend is one of the popular kids and most of the people there were popular) but the guys kept pointing to me and whispering. It made me feel kind of sick to be honest because I know for a fact that i was the least attractive person there and they were definitely not attracted to me because there were really some genuinely good looking girls there that could be models.
From the stories my friend tells me of them, it does sound like guys do talk shit about girl’s appearances a lot. Is this true? Or am i being too paranoid

I don't know if it's very obvious by now after the entire kissing video but I have something to share.
Akshay Kumar's son Aarav is indeed gay. My girlfriend went to the same school as him (Oberoi International) and they were from the same batch. They even had the same friend circle. It was very evident that Aarav is gay and almost everyone knew about it in their group but even though it was obvious to people who met him, he had directed his close friends to keep it on the low and not let it out.
He had a girlfriend in school but they were speculating that he only dated her to not make it obvious before he came out of the closet. He broke up with her in about a few months.
My girlfriend threw a birthday party at her house and he was there too. I have met him and it seems kinda obvious when you meet him (not trying to stereotype but it was just a gut feeling or maybe because my girlfriend had already told me about it so I kept noticing things he did). From what I remember he is not much into sports and he hates cricket too. He loves shopping and has a collection of his own branded clothes. "My son buys second hand clothing" is just bullshit, he loves thrifting branding clothes and he has thrifter in 2 digit lakhs. In general, he's a good guy, he didn't have a lot of attitude towards anyone at the party but I have heard from his friends and my girlfriend that he was very egoistic in school.
The entire friend circle is not that close after school and also since he left the country for higher education. But everyone knew it and had to keep shut about it because he had directed them to.
That's about it.

Hi everyone, I need some advice. My boyfriend 26M and I 23F have been dating and living together for around 2 years. I have always been a very easygoing person, while I obsess over my own actions and what I say external stresses don’t bother me as much. I realise not everyone is like that and that people have different things that make them worry. That being said my boyfriend seems to put a negative spin on absolutely everything, it is really starting to drain my energy, but then I feel a bit heartless because maybe I’m too easygoing and should worry more. For example we are meant to be going on holiday for my birthday next week, he has said we will not have a nice time we will only have an ‘alright’ time because he hasn’t saved enough for it. I would understand if he had tried to save but this boy has been buying himself jewellery, me jewellery I specifically asked him not to buy and to save the money for the holiday, shoes, clothes and bags. Now he is miserable because we haven’t got as much money to spend as he hoped (this is not bothering me at all, only how he is going on about it after he caused the issue). Every time I call and ask if he’s alright or how his doing his response is ‘yeah I’m alright, but I’m not’ then it’s the given half hour to an hour of moaning about nothing or problems he’s created for himself which is really just starting to drive me crazy because at some point he has to be responsible for his actions and the consequences of them. Nothing is ever his fault or responsibility it’s always that the ‘devil is out to get him’ ?!? Im religious myself, but we have full power over our actions and he never seems to be able to accept that and stop moaning. These are not the only things he’s miserable about, just the ones annoying me the most at the moment. Am I being a total birch? Someone please let me know. Ty
TL;DR
My boyfriend is negative about everything and it’s making me miserable.

Chatting up this girl, here comes the weekend arranged throughout the week to meet up and just fuk around. Obviously when the time comes she’s not up for it. Hungover from last nights birthday event yada yada
saw her later in the night post on her Snapchat story that she’s hanging out with her girl friend. We haven’t even met yet hence first date but curious to know if I should let this slide. Tbh She seems cool my type but I don’t care that much haven’t met her yet and can move on
Or am I just tripping cheers

Hi I just came across a novel, chosen by the moon novel by izabella W. Its on pay by chapter websites, I've opened and read a few chapters but I can't seem to find any free version or chapter version anywhere. Please help. If anyone has read it I'm willing to take spoilers. Here's the advert I found below of it on Facebook.
Lycanthrope species is a disgusting race. And I, Delan Riley, am nothing more than a human scum in their eyes never expected those species would turn my world upside down. Since when the lycans managed to penetrate our town, like in the early 1900's we have a hierarchy, upper class = the lycans, middle class = mated humans, and lower class = the normal humans, who were basically considered scum. I endured their torment day after day, vowing to run away from them one day, until that day came and everything changed.
Dylan POV "Humans," I scowled at the principal's words from tannoy. "The Alpha twins will be celebrating their birthday tomorrow, as such, festivities are in order." Oh great, the Alphas twin children. Adrian and Arya are the worst lycans alive. I swear just because they are the alphas kids they literally get away with everything. If their birthday is tomorrow, then the wolves are going to be worse than ever. "All students will be present to greet them, two lines will be made, with humans on the left and the lycanthrope on the right. Any mated human will be at the front of the line for their year, you will all also be in order of your school year. That is all." Chat broke out the minute the tannoy was finished. "We haven't had a school gathering since the alpha king visited three years ago, before his sons coronation." Nick was right, the last time we all gathered like that was for the king and queens visit, when he decided to let the world know that he was to renounce his title to his only child, son Josh. "That sick bestard, he wants to make sure everyone is there so those idiot twins can find their mates." Yes I was mad, my fists connected with the table in front of me once more as I thought about how disgusting the situation was. You see the twins will be turning 17, so it's very possible someone in our school could be their mate, finding a mate is sacred to a wolf, the minute they say that one word your fate is sealed. They will turn your mind, morph you into being a lover of their kind, and then you'll give in.

That won't happen to me, I'm growing old to see the world as it once was, and I'm going to choose who I'll be with. No one will take that dream away from me.

Once dinner was finished, I just wanted to sleep. I'd had a very long tiring day, I quickly sat down on a small stool my mother kept in the storage closet and removed my shirt while my brother Freddy sat at the table to do his simple homework. It wasn't long before my mother came in with a large bowl of warm salt water and some cotton, this was going to sting I just knew it. She was here to help me with the wounds caused by wolves yesterday. She slowly began to unwrap the bandage from around my torso and slowed down drastically when it came to the final layer, I felt it peel off every wound and my fists clenched in pain. "Jesus!" I heard my mom exclaim once the dressing was completely removed. The air on my back was nice though and I sighed as my arm covered my once again exposed brests. "This is more than 15!" I began to hear sniffles coming from her and sighed turning round to look at her face, only to notice tears streaming down it. "Mom I'm fine, it's alright." She shook her head. "It's not alright, I'm your mother I shouldn't let these things happen. I'm so sorry. Your father would have..." here she goes again. Every single time something happened she'd always bring up dad, it really annoyed me because no matter how much we all wish he was here, he just isn't. My father was kiled by THEIR kind, almost 5 years ago when they actually managed to take over. When the lycans managed to penetrate our town my father rose up with some people from the neighborhood, to defend our livelihood, it was futile to say the least. We lost many people and I watched as my dad was ripped apart by two fully shifted wolves, I ended up shoting him to stop his suffering before they dragged me to the courtyard, i was the person to receive the first lashing of the town when I was 12! The wolves have been pretty strict with me since that day. "Stop being stvpid!" Was I harsh? Definitely! Did she need to hear it again, absolutely. "Dad is dead, we don't know what he'd do because he never knew this life. He never knew this world." I know what he'd have done, most likely attacked the guy who held the whip and got himself kiled in the process. "The best thing you can do for me, is stop crying and help me, next time don't insist on helping if you can't handle it." She began to wash my open wounds with the warm salt water causing loud winces to leave me, I knew it was necessary to prevent infection, but my god it hurt like a betch. "Some of these are really deep Dylan!" She sniffed again and my eyes rolled in my head. "I told you, I'm fine, just wrap me back up so I can get to bed." My mom was obviously more impacted by my injuries than I was, I suppose that always the case though. When it's happening to you, you've just got to get through it but when it's happening to someone you love, you just want to take their pain away. She quickly placed a fresh bandage around my waist and chest and wrapped it tightly for compression. The bowl of water that was used was now red in color, I guess from the blood my back was dripping with. "Can you keep your head down please? At least just this week. You can't take any more lashings." I simply nodded before standing up away from the stool, I walked over to Freddie and ruffled his hair in affection. "Good night squirt." He giggled and fixed his hair slightly. "Night Dilly." I smiled walking upstairs to my little bedroom, as soon as I was inside i shut the door and flopped down on to my bed on my stomach and I took a minute to cry to myself at the pain in my back, what my mom did was important but it hurt, not that I'd ever tell her. My hand covered my mouth quickly to muffle any noise I might be making. I couldn't tell anyone, I had to be strong because more and more people were crumpling these days, and my mom would break if she knew how much I was suffering. Sleep followed me shortly after, she was right though about me needing to keep my head down for the time being, I could not take another lashing! After a long night and an even longer morning, we were all finally stood in the hallway at school waiting for the twins to arrive. "Mine!" Everyone that was stood in the hallway tensed up, as we were seniors, me and Nick were stood towards the very back of the human line. All the mated people were situated directly opposite their wolf mates in their years. We stayed silent and still as Arya walked down the hall and stopped directly in front of Nick. His eyes widened in fear, unsure of wether to look up or keep his head lowered. "Look me in the eye, mate." He glanced at me slightly as if asking what he should do. "I said, look me in the eye." He slowly moved his eye line up to look at her face. I took a glance myself to see her eyes pitch black with lust. "I... can't... I mean... erm." Before he was able to mutter anything else, two wolves from opposite, grabbed him out of the line and dragged him behind Arya. "Hey!" My head shot up before I could stop myself. My mouth also forgot its place as I jumped out of line. Everyone's head shot to me as my eyes widened in realization at what I'd done. Adrian, the other twin, walked up to me before punching me right in the stomach, I doubled over instantly. Feeling the sting in my slightly healed back. "I know you... You were publicly flogged only two days ago." God I hate this guy. "I also have it on good authority, that you openly spoke out against our rules and regulations in yesterday's class." My head shot down the line slightly to see Erin, looking a little frightened, her mate, the beta to be was looking at her, nodding his head in reassurance. "You traitor, you grassed on your own kind?" I yelled at her before feeling a fist connect with my cheek. My head whipped to the side from the force, while my class members gasped. I'm so done with this treatment, right then, I wasn't in charge of my actions. My fists curled up and my stance became a lot more defensive. My head snapped up to the alpha to be, and I looked him in the eye. "You don't know the meaning of the word disrespect." I suddenly hurled my fist towards his head, which he easily dodged, but my foot came up and kicked him instead. He stumbled backwards from the force with wide eyes. "You... you Actually hit me!" He didn't even sound annoyed, more shocked. Everyone in the hallway was watching, waiting for the alpha to do something but instead he simply stood up straight, regaining his composure. "I think everyone should get back to class." He began to walk away, following his sister when I called him back. "What about Nick?!" "Simple, He's my sisters mate. He now belongs to her." Argh, he's not an object. "He's not her property." A chuckle left his mouth, before turning his back to me again. "All humans are property." A short while later everyone made it to science class, our teacher Mrs Mathews is mated to the lycans pack doctor, she also now has a four and two year old with him. She was one of the first humans to be cohered into a false relationship. "What were you thinking young lady?" I rolled my head at her before looking at the empty seat next to mine. Nick was with that stvpid wolf girl right now. Being changed, I'm so angry it's ridiculous. "I was thinking, this guy is being a prick. Did you hear him? 'All humans are property.' It's bull shet." I looked up and the whole class looked at me like I had three heads. Talking shet about wolves is one thing, but talking about an alpha is punishable by death, attacking an alpha is an even worse offense. There was then a knock at the door and in walked Erin and her band of mated bestards. "Sorry we're late Mrs." "Erin, how are things between you and bata Monroe?" She blushed, the traitor actually blushed at the mention of his name. "He spoke to me last night about trying for a baby. We need a good strong boy to take over as beta." I scoffed looking at her as she took her seat. "You guys are actually pathetic, why can't it be a girl? Those mutts are basically Neanderthals" I voiced my opinion and saw all the shocked faces around me. Calling the lycans mutts, is the same as them calling us scum. After lesson had ended the entire school was called into the hall for assembly. This is where any human who has been found to have broken the rules were punished, usually 10 lashings were goven out or something similar. "Welcome to the school assembly, congratulations to the alpha twins for finding both your mates. Now on to the business at hand, as the 5 year anniversary of the new world is coming up, we have been informed that the alpha king will be visiting our district next week, this is very exciting news. We want you all to look your absolute best, she wolves and mated females will wear exemplary dresses made by seamstress. Male wolves and mated men will wear tailored suits. Anyone who doesn't comply will be reprimanded." The Alpha King?! No one has met him yet, he took over the throne three years ago when he turned 18. He really didn't make any appearances though, great, this month is going to be a nightmare. "As for the humans, you will be given a new uniform to wear for the visit, these are to be neatly ironed and worn to the highest standard. As for the following humans, based on your attitude this past week, you will be coming to the front and facing punishment. Tony summerset?!" Tony's head shot up as he looked around, he was in the year below but he shared my views when it came to the lycans. He slowly walked up to the front of assembly, almost instantly his top was t0rn in two and he received 10 lashings. A girl named Kara was next and she too received 10 lashings. A few more people went up slowly accepting their fate then suddenly my name was called. "Dylan Riley." Inside I was terrified but I simply shrugged my shoulders, I guess I did kind of expect this. Although I'm not sure if my back can take any more damage. "You attacked an alpha, correct!" His eyes bored into mine as I bowed my head submitting to his authority. "Technically, no." Everyone in the school gym looked on in fear, as my head moved to the front row of the wolf side. Adrian sat, with a werewolf girl in the year below, her name was Jana, I guess he found his mate. Nick and Arya were no where to be seen though. Adrian gave me a shrug as if to say he didn't tell, before smirking at my comment. "He hasn't officially taken the alpha title yet, so he's just..." i looked at the principle and noticed his eyes black and his claws out, he was in what lycans call a half shift, triggered when the subject has become angered. He turned to two security wolves and gave them a nod, Almost immediately i was forced onto my knees, my arm was slammed on a table and held in place by one wolf, while my body was held in place by the other. "Ok, I don't think this is needed, I have alpha blood, a stvpid human girl can't hurt me." My head snapped to Adrian who had stood up in front of the school to stop what was happening. "Nevertheless, humans need to know their place." With that the pressure on my arm increased as our principals hand pulled my sleeve up before a long claw punctured my skin. The searing pain shoting from the fresh wound had my eyes scrunched and my fist clenched, I bit the inside of my cheek hard instantly tasting blood, however no sound left my mouth. He continued to write, using my skin as a canvas and his claws as a marker, it went on forever, my vision blurred slightly at one point as I turned my head away. After minutes of torture, he was done and the pressure on my arm eased, instantly I snatched my arm away, hissing through my teeth at the pain. I was about to scurry off stage, when I was roughly grabbed yet again, my arm being held in the air by the principal while my feet were inches off the floor, blood dripped from the wound and the pattern he had made was on show for everyone to see. Loads of people gasped, even the wolves looked slightly horrified at what had happened. "This is what happens when a human decides to speak out. I can promise, anyone who so much as says one word about our way of life, will have the same punishment." My arm was starting to seriously ache from being held in the air for so long, and the lack of blood flow to my suspended arm was causing me pins and needles, still I refused to make a sound. I held the tears back and I bit my cheek harder causing more blood to fill my mouth. "That's enough Bradley!" Adrian growled, he was still stood up and looking at the scene in front of him. His eyes hard as he stared at the principal a low warning growl erupted from his chest which had the head teacher gulping, he quickly let go of my arm causing me to crash to the floor. A small cry left my mouth as I hit the hard floor. Immediately I scrambled away, my foot just missed the high step leading to the stage and I fell, waiting for the impact of the ground, but it never came. Two strong arms wrapped around me catching my weak body causing me to look up, my eyes widened as I noticed Adrian had caught my falling form. "This isn't part of the human punishment program!" Adrian growled causing me to tense in his grip, I pushed him away from me before fixing my uniform top. The room was deadly silent, taking in the scene in front of them, while I stole a glance at my forearm. Carved into my skin by his devastating claws were two words, words that would most definitely scar my body for life. 'Human scum' "Lessons must be learned, she received lashing merely two days ago, and clearly it had no effect on her." Another growl left Adrian's chest as he stepped on to the stage, I wasn't bothered though, you would think I'd be ashamed but I simply smiled slightly. I fixed my sleeve a little so it wouldn't rub on the fresh wound before speaking. "It doesn't matter," the whole room looked at me shocked by my attitude. "I would rather be labeled human scum, than have any resemblance to your kind. I'm proud of what I am, how many of you can say that?" After my amazing little speech, I walked right down the middle between the humans and lycans and out the door. No more compliance, I'm going to get away with as much as I can without getting into too much bother. There will come a day when the lycans power will fizzle out. When it does I'll be ready, I'll be waiting for the day we take our world back. As for the best part about my plan...

No one can stop me.

"Ouch, not so hard." I seethed as the school nurse cleaned my new wound with antiseptic. "If you had of just kept your mouth shut, this wouldn't have happened." I turned to my right looking out the window at the few clouds that were floating in the blue sky. "Like I said, I'm proud to be human, and now everyone knows what I am." I clenched my fist together as the nurse began wrapping a bandage around my forearm. It had been a good few hours since the incident in the hall, and I had been forced to come to the nurces office after I had tried to clean my wound by splashing it with water from the tap, it also refused to stop bleeding. "You are impossible. Can you please just try and stay out of trouble? For one day, that's all I ask." Our school nurse is a wolf, she's one of them. However she hates the way they treat us mere humans, she thinks we should all just live in peace with equal rights. Like that would ever happen. "All I've done is stay out of trouble, but you are just going to humiliate me anyway, so what's the actual point?" "The pack were discussing a public execution, Dylan. You need to walk on egg shells from now on, not just for you but for your family as well." No ones been publicly executed in over 4 months, I'm flattered they're considering it. They only execute people who they believe are the biggest problems to society. "Well then... I'm flattered." I chuckled, before looking at the patch job. 'Huh, not too shabby.' I quickly stood up from the human nursing station and pulled the sleeve of my shirt down covering the evidence of ever being hurt. "This is serious!" I just gave her a blank look before leaving the room. On the way out I heard her call back to me. "Please just think about it." I gave a clipped nod as I walked away wondering how I'm going to tell my mom about this. Later in the evening... "Dilly why you say that?" Freddie looked up at me with a mouth full of bread. "Don't speak with your mouthful!" My mom scolded him as a bashful blush made its way to his cheeks. "Sowwy mommy." His reply was muffled as he swallowed the last chunk of food. "I said it Freddie, because it's the truth. The wolf race are a pathetic excuse for..." my mom cut me off with an extremely stern look. "Dylan! They have ears everywhere, one more word out of you and it's your room." I scowled, my hatred for the Lycan kind growing stronger as each day passes. "What more can they do to me, lash me? Beat me? Brand me? They've ran out of options." I stated slamming my hands down, then severely regretting it as sharp pain shot though my wound. "What was that?" My head shot to regard my mothers worried expression. Her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were dull and judging as she looked at me. "Nothing, it was nothing." I quickly took my plate in my hand and began to walk to the kitchen. "I'm not really hungry, and I have homework to do!" My mom caught hold of my forearm causing me to drop my plate suddenly, I watched it slowly fall before shattering on the floor. I retracted my arm quickly and turned to Freddie. "Stay there and don't move until it's cleaned up ok sport?" He just nodded with wide eyes, I turned back to my mom and noticed her curious stare on my arm. Her grip shifted to the other side as she turned it around before pulling my sleeve up. The bandage was showing and a bit of blood was seeping though after the wound had been disturbed. "What the hel happened?" My moms eyes widened as she began to fumble with the bandage. Before she could unravel any of it I snatched my arm away. "I had an accident at school. No big." I began to gather the large pieces of the broken plate up ready to put them in the bin. "What did you do Dylan?" She looked at me with pure worry and only then did I realize what the wound must look like to someone who didn't know. "For gods sake! I didn't do it to myself! I got publicly punished at the assembly alright? It's no big deal." Her face dropped instantly and she stepped towards me, causing me to step backwards. "Mom, I'm ok. So back off will you." "What did you do? I've never known them to cut someone's arm as a punishment." Her shock and accusation was evident in her voice and I sighed heavily. "I spoke against the alphas son." I may have hit him too, but I wasn't going to divulge that part to her. "It's not one big cut, mom, it's a brand, 'human scum' carved onto my arm." "They've branded you now too?!" My eyes rolled at her hurt tone as I went to get the dustpan and brush. "You're so much like your father." A sigh left her mouth as she spoke, running a hand through her hair, while I quickly swept up the little pieces of the broken plate. "You've had a new uniform delivered. It's laid out on your bed. Dylan, Please just try and stay respectful in the future, I don't want my daughter to be completely mutilated. Although you're not far off." "Gee, Thanks." I then walked over to my little brother Freddy before blowing a kiss into his neck and hearing him giggle. "So sport, how's school going?" "It's ok." He shrugged before going back to coloring a dinosaur picture in. "Well that's good, stay out of trouble, ok little man?" Heading upstairs and into my room, my thoughts wandered to the permanent graffiti scar very slowly healing on my arm. Disgusting beasts. Think they own the world because they're faster, stronger and can shift. Pah. If you ask me they are not all that.

The second I walked into my room my mouth dropped open. On my bed was some grey pants laid out neatly, which wasn't the surprising part, no, what shocked me was the grey high neck no sleeved button down shirt, every single set of uniform had sleeves except this one. They've done this on purpose those, mutts. They want the world to see my arm and know what a disgusting creature I am. They want the world to know that I, Dylan Riley, am nothing more than 'human scum'.

During the last week, I've been horrible, in class I've been loud in voicing my views, I've insulted at least everyone to some degree, I didn't care about the consequences, and I certainly didn't think about them. I haven't seen Nick at all since he was claimed, and to make matters worse today was the royal visit. Oh yes, werewolves and mated humans alike were spending every waking minute preparing themselves to meet his royal majesty, king of the wolves. Unclaimed Humans however would rather stick pins in their eyes. "Dylan, get down now... you're going to be late." She was right, I was dawdling this morning, I really couldn't be bothered today, I gave myself one last look in the small mirror and sighed when my eyes met my newly uncovered brand. It had bad bruising around the letters, and was still extremely tender to touch, it was definitely healing now though. I made my way down the stairs and came face to face with my mother who was seeing to Freddie, she was helping my brother get his coat on when she turned to me. "You ready sport?" Freddie nodded his little head at me and smiled while I quickly slid my shoes on. "Just Remember, the alpha is bad enough, Dylan, please, please don't do anything to anger the king." My mother stopped us from walking out the door to tell me something she had been telling me continuously for the last couple of days, it was almost as if the entire human population of our district was expecting me to do something stvpid. "Try and have a good day." I rolled my eyes but nodded, even I know not to push the king, he could kil me in the hallway like it was nothing. In fact I plan on staying out of his way for the entirety of the day. "We will see you tonight mom." I stated before me and my brother began our walk to school, his little hand clutched my own tightly as we went. Usually Nick would be with us, as he lives next door, well he used to, now he's residing in the main pack house. I quickly dropped Freddie off at his school and watched him get the wolfsbane neutralizer before walking into him building giving me a small wave before he went in. With my new scar on complete show, and my figure being complimented by the skin tight shirt I was wearing, I sauntered down the street to school, I gave my name and year in and took the wolf's bane neutralizer injection with no problems at all. It was finally getting into school that the problem occurred. Walking through the halls I was met by many looks, some of pity some of disgust. You see every single non mated human in the school was wearing a long sleeved version of the uniform I was given. All the Wolves and mated couples were scattered around in fancy floor length dresses or tailored suits. As I turned the corner I noticed a couple, now this couple happened to catch my eye the most out of all of them because it consisted of Arya and Nick, eating each other's faces off. "What the hel!" Nicks head shot to me as his eyes widened. He too was dressed in a tailored suit, a navy blue tie hung on his neck to match Aryas dress. Why was this happening all the time? It's always my friends that get completely brain washed. I shook my head in disbelief before turning my back on him. I heard his fast footsteps behind me as I rounded the corner. "Dylan?!" He ran right in front of me, stopping me in my tracks, making me drop my bag off my shoulder and almost causing me to bump into him. "Let me just explain..." "Has she marked you?" I mean you could almost see it in his eyes, she had marked him, and knowing the way life goes he's probably even mated with her. "Actually... Don't even answer that." I aggressively picked my bag up off of the floor and stormed off down the hall. "Dylan, just listen to me, Erin was right, it's so hard to resist your soulmate, and Arya is actually ok once you get to know her." I just kept walking, he caught up to me walking beside me but it didn't matter, I completely ignored everything and everyone. 'I'm so not in the mood today' getting into class was good though, I said hello to Mr Foley and took my usual seat. Nick sighed then took his bag off ready to sit next to me, but I snapped before he had the chance. "Traitors and mated idiots sit on that side of the room." I didn't look him in the eye as I pointed to a seat right at the front of the classroom on the opposite side. His eyes widened as he turned his attention back to me. "You can't be serious Dylan." I gave him a blank look before grabbing my book out of my backpack, I placed it on the desk then began to write the date on the top line. "I've sat in this seat for as long as I can remember." I ignored him, his voice sounded sad and shocked. "Dylan? Wait! What is that?!" Before I could react Nick had grabbed hold of my branded arm and turned it to see the letters. "Oh my God! What happened?" I snatched my arm away from him and shrugged as I continued to write in my book before grabbing my water bottle out of my bag. "The principal happened, it was my punishment for speaking out against Adrian and Arya. I wear it with pride." He just held a complete look of disbelief. "You spoke out against them?" I shrugged, what did he think I'd do. "It's no secret that I despise this stvpid new world and the mutts that control it. You were my friend, I wasn't going to let them just take you without saying something, although that is exactly what you seem to have done. Enjoy the view from your new seat!" "Don't be like that, Dylan, I'm your best friend, I'm sorry about your arm, but..." my eyes rolled inside my head at my friends words. "Anything with the word 'but' in, isn't an apology, it's a rationalization." I took a drink of water from my bottle and kept my eyes facing forward, ignoring his every attempt to try and talk to me. "Dylan?.. Dylan?... Do you know what? Erin is right, if you push us all away you won't have any friends left." He huffed before walking over to the empty seat and sitting down, I could feel him glancing up at me every now and again but I didn't respond. "Good morning class, please settle down." He looked at me then at Nick and frowned, we've never sat apart, we were friends before the new world even began. I just shook my head telling him to forget it. "So... as you know the king will be arriving in a short while, but until then lessons will go on as normal." Its funny seeing teachers in the same uniform your wearing, mr Foley and his wife are the coolest. Human teachers and doctors only have slightly more respect than we do. Because of Mr Foley's status him and his wife have better access to food and drink, Mrs Foley is cool, sometimes she even makes sure mr Foley brings some in for me. Ya know, coz I'm their favorite student. It's not in a weird way, it's just they were friends of the family before the new wold took effect. Mr Foley and my dad were buddies from high school, so it goes without sayin really. "All the mated humans will be at the front of each years line again, after that you will all be placed in status, Nick, as your mated to Alpha Arya, you'll be at the front of your line. Dylan as you have been branded..." his voice trailed off as he looked at me. "Yeah yeah, I'll be at the back of the line behind everyone. I get it." I huffed, moving my sight towards the window once more. "I am sorry." I turned to face Mr Foley again, he looked genuinely upset and that look of pity wasn't something I wanted to see. I gave him a clipped nod then turned away again. "Anyway, on to the subject matter, 'Of Mice and Men, page 64, Nick why don't you start us off with the reading."

"Of course sir." Nick began reading the book but I switched off, today is going to be a long day. After almost an hour and a half of reading comprehension, the bell chimed signaling lunch. I shot up and out of the classroom before anyone could say anything. Today, I was avoiding drama like the plague.

I wandered the corridors straight to the lunch hall. All the people I would normally hang out with we're all mated so I grabbed my lunch quickly, and sat down at the end of the human table. Let me lay the lunch hall out for you. On one side of the room you have two long rows of tables, with simple benches that make it look like prison, on the other side of the room you have multiple round tables with fancy chairs. Yup you get it. The humans sit at the prison tables and the wolves and traitors sit on the fancy tables, they get fancy food, fancy drink and most importantly they get pudding. what I would give to have some pudding. "Dylan can we just talk?" Nick quickly took the spot next to me as he set his lunch tray down. I looked at his food which had been placed on a ceramic, circular white plate. God that looked good. I sighed knowing he was going to talk anyway. "Fine, you have two minutes." I used my fork to take a bit of pasta off his plate and shoved it into my mouth. God that was good. "After I left school, I was taken to the pack house with Arya, and I really got to know her. It took a few days for me to finally accept being with her, but ever since life has been ok, and the sax... well that's a whole other story." Eww, I didn't need that mental image in my head. "I'm glad your happy." I stated before deciding I had no appetite. His face held shock before he sighed in relief. "That means a lot Dylan, I mean you know that your opinion matters to me." I cut him off before he could say anything else. "I said I was glad your happy. I didn't say I approved of what you've done. You've basically turned into one of THEM, I can't ever forgive you for that." He looked hurt, but I couldn't care less about his feelings. He placed his hand gently on my arm and went to open his mouth when a growl sounded out. All heads whipped to where it came from, Arya was stood holding a glass of soda and a plate, she was looking right at me and Nick and I would totally be dead if looks could kil. Nick quickly retracted his hand, his whole face fell and you could see sorrow flood his irises. "You sit with me now, get away from that, that... scum!" Wow, Nick was such a lucky guy. NOT. "You heard her. Get away from me, go sit with your new friends. I'm happy for you, and I understand where your coming from, but don't come up to me again and pretend you didn't betray your own kind. Don't pretend you didn't betray me." I shoved a little bit of food into my mouth before standing up and walking out of the cafeteria, leaving my tray on the table. I was walking through the hallway to the classroom, you see I decided to spend lunch with Mr Foley in his room, when I happened to hear voices in the corridor. "Is it wise for her to actually be present when the king arrives? Surely she could be placed in the dungeons, it might actually teach her some respect?" My principal was speaking to the alpha of our district, huh, if I stayed and listened do you think they'd notice, maybe they could smell me?! "Everyone is to be present, if the Riley girl does one thing out of line she will be dealt with severely, child or not. That girl has been a blight to the district since day one, she's dangerous, if she puts one hair out of place I will personally break her into submission." Oh shet, they were talking about me specifically, and they mentioned the dungeon, that's not been used in months. Normally I would have listened in more but something about the entire situation didn't sit right with me, all of a sudden, I was on edge, and simply wasn't interested in the slightest in hearing how my misery was to be enhanced. I backed up slightly before turning around and bumping head first into one of the hottest man I had ever seen. I lost my balance immediately and fell straight on to the floor letting out a small grumble in the process. His eyebrows knitted together quickly and his breath hitched in his throat as he looked upon my fallen state and gasped. "Mate!" He whispered, his eyes fixated on mine. Now, I had seen and heard that many times to know what that means, I gasped before taking a step back. 'No, no, no, no, no. This can not be happening.' He growled slightly before stepping towards me. Oh Shet!

I will try to summarize briefly. For my birthday, my friend gave me a Papillon puppy. It’s the most wonderful gift I could have received. But. I think I can't be happy about it and I don't love it. Maybe I don't even want to love it. A long time ago, I had a Doberman who was the apple of my eye. I adored him, but considering my elderly grandparents, I had to give him up. He ended up with my best friend and is in a good place. I visit him sometimes. I thought I had gotten over it, but it seems I haven’t. I've been crying for two days because every time I look at the little Papillon, I remember him. I miss him terribly and I am extremely ashamed that I don't love the new puppy. I’m not the type who thinks only big dogs are real dogs. I love them all. But involuntarily, I think I became a Doberman person and imagined that in the future, I might have another one. Now I can't decide whether to keep this little Papillon, as I'll probably come to love it anyway (not sure right now), or to give it back and wait, who knows how many years, for the right opportunity to have a Doberman. I feel ungrateful and miserable. I don't know what is right. I don't want to hurt my friend's feelings either (who, by the way, supports me in everything and regrets not thinking it through (although it's not his fault)), and I know that if I give this puppy back, it will hurt as well. Don't know what to do...
Sorry for my broken english & long text.

Hi. 🥹 Me (f22) and my boyfriend (m22), We have been dating for 4 years this year. And i really loves our relationship. Things never change, it just me being emotional and overthinking all the time after he got into college for master, and i busy myself with work. Im a kindergarten teacher anyway. Long time ago, we ldr. We lived 333km apart. And we met 2020 when i got into new college and same semester with him. Things so good when out first year of couple, and so on. And i already knows his attitude, his life, his personality and so on.
Long short story, I always feel so emotional, overthinking, sad and also feeling that he want to leave me but he didn’t. He don’t likes when im overthinking, he will said that he just want me and not anyone else. But sometimes, he doesn’t understand my needs when i want reassurance. 🥲
He also busy with his new assignment, project for his new studying master. But i maybe want his attention all the time..Am i the problem? For me, i found it really normal that we not chatting with each other for a week but he keep sending me tiktok videos or meme to me sometimes. And i found its okay. But sometimes, i found is sad. 😂🥹
Im afraid i cant focus on my work as a teacher when he study for his Master class. And maybe, i being too needy and clingy all the time after we sleeps together at my house and im being super clingy baby at him. And when he needs to go, i cry like a crazy person.
is this normal that im likes this or just him being a ‘cool guy’ that loved his girlfriend but doesn’t care about his girlfriend feeling. 🥹 When i told my friend, she said that he just being a cool guy, likes nothing gonna happen to him. And i know he don’t want to cheat on me. My instinct so good tho.
*sorry my english so bad!😭

[check my other updates for some context]
i failed by 4 points. i have to redo the entire year over ONE CLASS, and get another 100k into debt. i worked so hard to make friends, and after finally starting to get close to others, WHICH TOOK SO MUCH EFFORT, it seems all of the connections i made are as good as gone. i broke up w my partner bc i was made to feel absolutely unlovable and worthless, and they already moved on to dating others while im in the dust. i gained 40 pounds from the stress over this past year, so i cant even leave the house without feeling like a monster. i cant help but blame myself for all of this, and its true. but i dont want to be a self pitying sad sack either, i want to do something about it.
everyone else is traveling with friends and enjoying their 20s but i cant help but feel like the biggest garbage fire on the planet. my family is worried im going to hurt or kms (even though ive put on a tough face and havent been sad around them) so i cant even let them know how badly i feel or else theyre gonna freak out. theyve already been pressuring me to move back in with them and sacrafice the independence i was JUST able to experience at 23, and im worried i wont have a choice anymore. i barely had any friends from before med school, and i imagine less now bc i got so busy with my studies, i couldnt keep up. i feel like the worst person on the planet.
i dont know how everyone has this work study life balance figured out? i cant for the life of me! i dont have anyone to talk to, and no support system i can trust outside my cousin, and she has enough on her plate already... plus im ashamed to admit how much of a loser i am to her. i do want to die. but id feel guilty if i did, because my family is already dealing with alot of stress so i wouldnt want to add to that. not sure if you guys read my other posts but this downward spiral has been a long time coming. im sick of it. i want to turn things around but i feel so hopeless. i dont think anyone is going to read this, and i dont think ill ever share it w my loved ones. but honestly i dont think people turn to reddit unless theyre at that point. no where to turn, no where to go, no one who cares, even here in the void. i wish i was medicated again, but i havent been able to afford it. but maybe i can start somewhere...
here's what im thinking: im going to start by hitting the gym daily, now that i have time to do so. and im going to continue studying all summer to prepare for my retake exams, and my singular retake course. i have meetings all next week to get re-registered which is annoying but nessecary. i just hope i can post an update in a few months that isnt so pathetic, and have my life turned around by then. my birthday is coming up in august and im so scared im not gonna have anyone around me who cares that i exist. just like the past few years. but maybe thats what i deserve... i dont know. i gotta make a change now because this is driving me crazy.
do you guys have any suggestions to help me make the most out of this situation?? or at least to help with self esteem and self worth issues??? bc honestly the bad thoughts have become dehabilitating and im worried im going to relapse into a very dark place. thank you guys for taking the time to read this big word blob, and im sorry if its just me ranting or complaining. just had to get it out somewhere haha. im going to start my morning now and try to make the most of this summer. just bc i cry myself to sleep and first thing when i wake up DOESNT MEAN I GOTTA WASTE MY DAY DOING IT TOO 😂 bye for now, and any advice would be much appreciated!!

Ok so first things first, I am well acquainted with abuse and abusers, grew up in a very abusive family, except for s*xual abuse I went through everything else with them, of course this led me to see abuse as normal behavior, most kids bullied me, some close friends took advantage of my spineless behavior, and later on, I had abusive romantic partners.
Not all of them were, of course, but the ones that were I can think back and see the red flags I missed, eventually I went to therapy and kind of learned how to see them better, all that stuff.
Then comes my last ex. He was, well, great. He was attentive, kind, generous, his family welcomed me as a new addition from the first day, it all seemed too good to be true. The thing is, with other abusers, this façade would soon collapse, they weren't able to sustain it for long, but my ex seemed to really be like this, the only shady thing I can think of his past self it that he's always been very secretive about his emotions and repressed them way too much.
After about a year and a half of dating, several things happened, quarantine was one of them, my mental health decline was the other. I tried meds for the first time, it backfired and left me su*cidal for months, I had agoraphobia and went back to being terrified of people. That's when the silent treatment and refusing to get intimate with me and all the arguing began. His point was that he was okay with supporting me with my mental health stuff, as long as it got better and not worse, I tried to explain to him that sometimes things do get worse and there's nothing I can possibly do about it, he would get angrier and say that either I got "cured" or he would leave.
You can imagine how fragile I was back then, terrified of my friends,of going outside, I went back to my mom's house because of covid and had to deal with her abuse again, he felt like the only person I could trust. Even if I knew everything he was saying about mental illnesses was plain wrong, I chose to stick with him because he genuinely sounded like he wanted the best for me.
But everything only got worse, of course, his own life got harder, he was a sheltered kid that never worked or lived on his own, I on the other hand have been working ever since I was 17, we moved in together and you guessed it, it got even worse.
He was doing an unpaid internship where he would mostly observe others work instead of doing something himself, I worked part time because I wanted a little break from working 7am to 4pm for so long, so he was basically living off me and his parents, I also did most of the housework because he'd be there for so long, he didn't even have to, but he was there all day. Not only he never thanked me but he would belittle me for working part time and criticized my cooking, he was a picky eater and was used to his mom adapting to him so I had no idea this was a thing, he hated all veggies and everything that wasn't basically soup or meat and rice/potatoes. We both got folic acid deficiency from this btw, so I'm not exaggerating.
At some point my brain just gave up, I was so incredibly exhausted all the time, physically and mentally. Thank goodness I had the decision to go on a solo vacation with friends after being isolated for years and that's when I realized how badly I was being treated, by being around people who didn't treat me badly. This was last summer, as soon as I got home, the first thing I did was trying to talk to him, and knowing he wouldn't be reasonable, I knew I would have to leave him.
At this point we hadn't gotten intimate in over a year, he refused sleeping with me and would only talk to me to berate me. We argued very often, he was angry all the time, I was on edge all the time, I constantly had panic and anxiety attacks, he would treat me specially bad during these, and when I begged him for a hug sometimes he even hit me.
This was almost a year ago and I'm still broken. My memory is broken, my cognitive functions are half there, I am numb most days, can't feel a thing, not good nor bad, just can't feel, no matter what I do. I am incredibly depressed and don't have the will to do anything. I found someone great who is supportive and amazing in more ways than I can count, found great friends and rekindled friendships I left unattended because of my ex, and still I can't be there for them, not really, because I am not really here most of the time, went to therapy but can't yet afford trying EMDR (will be able soon, after I move from here) and I can't learn anything more from my therapist, it's also expensive. I quit my job and am living off my savings and unemployment, went back to one of my hobbies he used to belittle and criticize so much, I've been hired for collaborations right away and I am in several projects and I can't give my all and feel like I am disappointing people and most importantly myself all the time.
I miss the old me so bad, the one that's trapped beneath this impenetrable armor, and even though things have gotten kind of better, I hate being this fragile, quiet, soft person, when I used to be the polar opposite, I have nothing against quiet and soft people, I love them, it just feels wrong for me.
It took me a lot of work but before dating this idiot for almost 5 years, I got to be this extroverted, fun and warm person that had a million friends and was incredibly energetic, I used to be super physically active, went to a lot of social events, I had so many hobbies and was starting to carve wood. He took it all, and I have no idea how.
As I said at the start of this post, abuse is my whole life. No matter how much my family told me I sucked, they never took the fun out of things for me, if anything, it gave me that spark, that "I'll do what I want!" inner Cartman. No matter how much I was bullied or belittled by others, it never broke me, I was pretty much used to it. But this guy did.
Whenever I talk about toxic relationships with friends or people I meet, it's always kind of the same, "oh we were not compatible at all and refused to accept it haha" or "they were abusive from the start I just didn't know how abuse worked!" but I haven't found someone that went through the same thing as me, someone who's ex was perfect and then became abusive and disgusting, I left a lot out of it for the sake of brevity but his political views and overall morality changed a lot during all this.
I don't know how coherent this is, kinda need to vent , thanks to whoever read it at all, good luck with your own struggles ♥

Hello everyone,
I'm a data engineer early in my career. Despite my relatively low years of experience, I specialize in DevOps and automation. My work includes data modeling, ETL, server maintenance, IaC, and more. However, my experience with frontend development is limited to using Streamlit, a Python library for building dashboards. While Streamlit is excellent for quickly creating functional apps, it has limitations.
Currently, I have a Streamlit app that allows property management staff to input data via a tablet while walking around a building. The app, however, has several issues due to its limitations. It needs to work reliably in poor-network conditions, ensuring data is stored locally until a connection is available. Losing any manually entered data would be a significant waste of time for the property management team.
I am considering rebuilding the app using React, primarily to implement it as a Progressive Web App (PWA) with client-side storage via RxDB. I chose React because of its streamlined component-based architecture, which appealed to me. I have a basic understanding of JavaScript and have been studying React on weekends for about three months. However, I don't have experience with HTML or CSS.
The app I aim to build will be a single-page CRUD application. It will display a styled table of data alongside forms. Users will select details about their location in the building, input notes, and submit the information. The notes will be recorded with the date, and the user will move to another section to repeat the process.
The table will be indexed by location name, with columns for various tasks to take notes on. The table values will be dates of expected completion, styled to indicate status (green for done, red for not done).
Given my experience level, how long do you think it will take me to build this app? Any recommendations? Thanks guys.

I’m F26 I started dating a guy three years ago. He’s perfect - very affectionate, always wants to spend time with me, mega generous etc etc. But our sex is a problem. A few months after our relationship started he told me he's not fussed about sex and said he’s never felt a passionate/animalistic desire for anyone- including me. He hasn’t had much experience and says he occasionally watches porn. I have a very high sex drive.
We’ve talked about this over and over. It’s been three years and nothing has changed, even though he says he’s trying to meet me im the middle..I've tried to be patient and supportive, I don’t want to break up over this but at the same time I feel like I’m suppressing my needs.
Every time I initiate sex I am rejected, it’s always on his terms (and that’s rare) . when it does go well it just feels unnatural, he's never orgasmed in fromt of me either. In the past I’ve never had complaints about sex or the way I look, but this is making me doubt myself, feel embarrassed and feel very anxious and not fully connected to him. I’ve had a history of abuse and an ED so it’s taken me a lot to fall in love with him but.. now I really don’t know what to do - any advice?
TLDR: my boyfriend’s never been interested in sex, but is perfect otherwise. I feel like I’m suppressing my needs but don’t really want to break up

I was in a relationship with my ex bf for 7 months, and I thought everything was going perfect, at the beginning of May we made plans to move in together, his idea, and we were so excited to spend the future together. Anyways a week before my birthday, May 19th, he said he needed time alone and that he didn't want to burden and drag me down. I told him that he wasn't a burden and that I needed him, but he said he couldn't drag me down still. On my birthday he texts me happy birthday, at 12 AM, and I asked if he was ready to see me again and that it wasn't healthy to be ignoring me. He then broke up with me, saying it was not my fault at all, and that he just couldn't be with me but still wanted to be friends. I was too hurt to say anything but thanks for telling me. He then said 30 minutes later he didn't want to talk anymore, and blocked me on Instagram where we normally talk. Two days later I texted him because I needed to know why, and he started blaming me and said I was using him and did some stuff that hasn't sat right with him. I didn't want to argue with him because I didn't get anything from him in the relationship besides what I thought was love and now looking back was just tiny spurts of attention. He's with this other guy now that he always hung out with and I just feel so hurt. Whenever I think about him I feel like my anxiety is stabbing me and I get nauseous, and all I want is him to comfort me. I wish I could've done things differently and I wanna move on but I can't stop thinking about every little interaction we had and what I could've done better

Hi guys, I have a question and just want to see if I’m the only who feels this way or if my thoughts are even accurate. I went on my first solo trip out of the country this year and I loved it !!! I was able to do exactly what I wanted and how I wanted without any complaints or interruptions. I’m planning my next solo trip but I can’t get over the thought that I feel like some people are looking at me like I’m a loser with no friends bc I choose to travel solo. I will love to travel with others but it’s always a money issue, baby sitter issue & other issues that I understand but now try to avoid. I’m also single and not dating right now so I don’t have a boo to travel with lol . I know it takes a lot of courage to travel solo and I should admire that about myself but I just can’t get over the thought of being judged. It sucks because I try to live my life for myself but I just can’t get over the way I’m viewed by others. I also think social media has a lot to do with it because everyone is always posting on trips having a great time with friends and here I am on my trip posting pictures alone.( still having a gd time just alone)
Am I the only one ? Are people really viewing me as a loser ?
Btw I’m a 29f and was also planning on solo traveling for my 30th bday. Is this strange ? Idk maybe I’m overthinking
Thank you in advance for taking time out your day read and reply if you’re able

I know this is a no brainer but I have holiday plans with a friend. There's this guy I've known since 2020. I used to have a thing with him. I call it an imaginary relationship/talking stage. We were never official and I get red flags (player type, all this trauma, so manny toxic exes). But overall I think he's a cool, nice funny guy. I never liked any one that much. i think because it was my imagination/fantasy that I'd like him more than guys I've known in person. He would FaceTime and audio call me almost daily. We drifted and stopped talking entirely.
I invited him to my holiday plan in Bali with my friend. So far it's a yes and a maybe. And it makes the trip even more exciting. I might meet him in another state for a few days, then he can stay with us in the condo we're staying in for a beach. He has family there so he offered a place by the beach his uncle owns but I rejected it because stranger danger. I'm excited over the idea of sharing a room with him, spending time with him in that shoer weeks time. Cuddling him. But I already have a sketchy internet dating experience.
despite knowing him for this long and having been in love with the ixea of this guy ... my gut feeling screams stranger danger. I don't actually know him. What if I get rped over and over abducted killed?!
Maybe get separate rooms? Take it slow. And if he seems like a decent person ... ask if he wanted some company? I'm tempted to sleep w him LOL. But I don't I don't know if sharing a room with him straight away if a good idea. but I don't want to make the mistake of on the first few day/date and feeling easy/prostituting myself which has happened once and I wish I hadn't gone for it. Turns out I can't control myself next to boys I like. My reasoable mjnd tells me sus him out first then on the last days ask if he wanted some company.
I don't want to put my self in danger or do something I'll regret. So be, plan B? Get separate rooms and sus him out? Otherwise if we don't get along we could kick him out to stay in his uncles condo. Jokes. I really want him to stay with us and get to knkw the real him, spend time with him. I accepted years back that the odds of this becoming a real long term relationship isn't very realistic lol
We don't even know if this plan is actually going to end up happening. The holiday as well. But I hope it does! I am excited!

I've had my Samsung Galaxy s10lite for about 5 years now, and it still does the job. I'm a power user who often watches shows/ youtube videos or plays video games. I also like nature photography. The main problem I've been having is the battery. When I reach ~20%, it starts to drain much faster than usual. The last 5% disappear in minutes. Other minor inconveniences include no 5G and only 60hz refresh rate.
However, since the s10lite has a 4500mph battery, it still works almost the entire day and only gives out towards the evening, where I'm at home anyway. So, while it's annoying, it's not a dealbreaker (yet).
Recently, I've been thinking about treating myself for my upcoming birthday with a new phone. However, I was disappointed by the specs of the Samsung Galaxy s24, as its battery is literally only 4000mph, and it is 0.5 inches smaller than my current phone. The 0.5 inches aren't a dealbreaker (I thought my current phone was already too big), but still, for the price, I would expect a significant upgrade. So anyways I kept looking and came across the s24ultra which in my eyes is the significant upgrade I've been looking for, however I am not sure whether the $1300 price tag is justified yet since my s10lite still works.
I also do not need a pen or a larger phone. I just want a normal phone that is a significant, future proof upgrade from my current one.
What do you guys think?

I am 27F turning 28, just wondering how y'all are finding partners especially 25yrs and above working. I have a really busy schedule & work on weekends and I hardly have time for social events. I have been single for 2yrs now and I want to start dating. The truth is I don't know how to go about it because I don't attend events , I go on solo dates but I'll carry a book, I don't talk to strangers koz hii Nairobi you don't know if NI trap. I have been approached Kwa streets but I don't respond. Now my life revolves around home & work. How do you guys do it? Dating sites?

Going into childbirth, I (thought) I was prepared for everything, but I realized I had not prepared myself for a possible unplanned c section. I had looked up all the tips and tricks for vaginal birth but I wish I had prepared myself more for the possibility of a c section.
My due date was 5/9, and during my 40w appt, my cervix was still quite hard and barely dilated even 1cm. I was scheduled an oral induction on 5/11. I went into L&D, got the induction. pill, was monitored for an hour then sent home to see if anything happened. I went about my day as normal, got some very small contractions but nothing close enough to go back to the hospital. The next day, I went back to get checked again and got yet another pill, another hour of monitoring and then sent home again. I was so impatient at this point 😪. I really thought I’d have my baby by then - it was 5/12 and Mother’s Day and thought my baby was just waiting for that day, lol.
Again, nothing happened. We went back the next morning and this time was just fully admitted into my delivery room. I had only dilated 2cm at this point and my cervix was barely softening. So they gave my the inserted induction pill this time and I sat in bed waiting. About 4-6 hours later, I was progressing a little bit but still not enough, so they chose to do a Cook’s catheter plus a foley ballon. Wowee those were uncomfortable to feel being put in. After this, I started dilating to about 5cm but my water hadn’t broken yet. A couple hours later, they chose to break my water for me and had me on the peanut ball to keep my progress going. By around 8-9pm, they gave me pitocin through IV, then the contractions really started kicking in. Those contractions were so hard to breathe through but I managed a few hours until I asked for some morphine so I could get some sleep. I got about 3-4 hours of sleep until it wore off and I awoke with such pain from the contractions again. The nurse gave me more morphine but it wasn’t doing anything at this point so I asked for the epidural. It was 5am at 5/14 at this point (also my birthday🥳).
Epidural was much easier than I anticipated. The hardest part was staying still and hunched over while I was still actively getting contractions about a minute apart. I finally got numb and got more sleep. I woke up and in the late morning/earlt afternoon I had progressed to about 6cm. I got up to 7cm with that dang peanut ball still between my legs until the later afternoon then I started getting a fever, so they gave me some Tylenol. By 8pm, I started getting the labor shakes, uncontrollably shaking and could barely speak. At this point, my midwife looked at me in the eyes and said that this was going on for too long and that it would be best to try and get a c section since I had stopped dilating at 7cm, and baby’s head was looking up, making it harder for her to drop and would be harder for me to push out. My husband and I talked it over and with a lot of tears, I finally said yes and they prepped me for surgery.
I get into the surgery room and they start prepping me and draping me, etc. Right before my husband comes in, i start to feel super hot and flush; I managed to flag down a nurse and told her i was feeling really hot and itchy in my face. Turns out I was having an allergic reaction. My husband walks in and i can immediately see in his face that I looked unwell. He talked to the anesthesiologist and he ensured him if be better as soon as I got Benadryl, but it would make me drowsy. I was in and out of consciousness after this and everything felt so hazy. I remember my baby being born and crying after hearing her cry and seeing her face. I remember my husband sitting next to me holding her and holding her face to my face. But it was all a blur. After they closed me up, I was wheeled to the recovery wing and finally got to hold my baby girl and breastfeed her before going to my PP room.
We ended up staying for 4 days in the hospital after getting PP preeclampsia and my BP getting elevated. Fast forward to today, I’m almost 3 weeks PP and baby is healthy and so am I, but damn I really never expected my birth to be so traumatic and so long. I am so grateful to be alive along with my baby being so healthy. I couldn’t have done it without my loving husband. And now I share a birthday with my baby girl!!! 5/14/24
To all my c section mamas, we are such warriors and it is unbelievable what we go through to finally be able to hold our babies. If you made it to the end of this post, thank you so much for reading🤍

Hey guys, I would appreciate some thoughts/opinions on this.
Preface: In my day to day work I am Java Dev using hibernate. I resented it at first (too much magic), but it kind of grew on me and I recently started to really appreciate it mainly in the following sense: When modeling my domain I can go full java-first, completely ignoring that my model is backed by a RDBMS, that is - code my model as if there were no DB, slap the right annotations on it, (make a few compromises here and there) and get going. It even forward engineers the ddl for me.
So in scala world it seems to me that the accepted approach is to separate the model from the persistent model?
Here is why I think that: - the libraries I found map rows to case classes, but usually no built in support for inheritance, sealed trait hierachies, ... - no support for one to many aggregation - bad support for nested case class, especially if they occur multiple times
Here is a sample of how I would model an invoice if there were no database
scala case class Invoice( ... senderName: String, senderAddress: Address, // general purpose case class to not repeat myself recipientName: String, recipientAddress: Address, status: Status, // some sealed trait with cases like e.g. case Sent(when: LocalDate) positions: List[InvoicePosition] ... )
I feel like I either - have to compromise A LOT in modeling my domain if I want to close to zero hassle with db libs out there - have my db access case classes be separated from the domain and do alot of mapping/transforming
Any experiences, or hints? how do you handle this in your apps

This may upset some people. In fact I can count on it.
I only wrote this for 1% of you. For the rest, please disregard it.
A Different Game:
I'm not sure if I can explain this. I don't think that I totally understand it myself, but that's ok.
Long term fasting isn't about food, but you already knew that or you wouldn't be attempting a long fast.
This may not pertain to everyone that does a long fast. Maybe it won't pertain to any of them.
You may not know who I am, or of my situation. That's ok. I'm just some guy in a sub-reddit.
For me the battle is more important than the weightloss. Fasting can tear you down right to the core. It can lay you open and expose vulnerabilities that you didn't know you had.
That can be a good thing if you are ready for it. When you've faced something that stripes you down, you only have two ways to go. You either stay broken or you rebuild a new you.
Fasting isn't a team sport. The rebuilding process is a solo journey. You will face family and friends that mean well. You will face people on reddit that have watched a few videos of someone that thinks they know about fasting.
The fact is that after your first long fast, you have experience, they have hearsay.
Repeating what somebody else said about something that very few people have experienced is easy. There are way to many armchair quarterbacks.
For all intents and purposes they are standing on the sidewalk watching the parade go by.
We need to respect those people. They believe what they are saying. They don't mean to drag you down. They just don't understand that the game we are playing is nothing like the game they are playing.
Respecting them doesn't mean letting their opinions effect you. We leave their words to them. We step outside of their world.
We are outside of the box thinkers. We learn by doing, not by reading, watching, or listening.
In short, we cut our own path.
Long term fasting will cause you to question everything about your past, present, and future.
It will make you question yourself to the point that you lose the belief in your fight.
Don't be mistaken. This is war. You will fight battles every day of your fast.
TV commercials, concerned family members, concerned friends, people in the fasting reddit, all of these and more, are all battles. Each battle takes your energy to fight them.
We all have a limit as to how much unintentional abuse that we can take.
Remember, we are playing a different game. We aren't better than them, it's just a different game.
To succeed we close off there words. We smile and nod without telling them they are wrong. Their rules don't apply. Remember, ours is a different game. We need our energy for other challenges, tougher challenges.
Once we're in a long fast our mind will scream at us. It doesn't Remember why it stored the fat. How could it. We don't live in a world where using fat for energy is part of the equation.
We know the truth. Fat is fuel. Combine that fat with electrolytes and vitamins and your body has a built in smorgasbord.
You will face many days where you question whether it is worth it. Days when the scales aren't moving, and you are constantly thinking about your comfort food, can push you close to your limit. If you aren't confident and forward thinking it can break you.
We play a game that is much like chess. Our move is the result of a strategy that we decided on several moves ago. We don't make in the moment decisions. We know the obstacles but we don't care because we set this strategy in motion days before. Today is temporary. It is here and gone in the blink of an eye.
Tomorrow. That's how we win today's battle. Our mind is already in tomorrow. How can we giving in today if we are already in a tomorrow frame of mind.
Our battle is intense. As with chess, sometimes we have to sacrifice a pawn, maybe even a knight. We do this by skipping a family gathering or a superbowl party if they fall within our fasting plan.
I've missed Easter, Thanksgiving, my birthday, my mom's birthday, mother's day, and 4th of july cookouts.
This game requires sacrifice. The weightloss is great. I've lost 240 pounds, but that is irrelevant.
Our true opponent is our mind. Nothing else can matter. In truth, nothing else exists. We stand alone. Alone against family, friends, and armchair experts.
On one fast, I was on day 56. My mind was done. I didn't think I had anything left in the gas tank, but I've faced things in life that totally wiped me out. I knew there is always just a little more left if we reach deep.
I held on. My mind was screaming. I couldn't hear anything but, "give in, it's over"
I dug deep. I went to my room. I just wanted to go to bed. I climbed on my bed. I couldn't climb under the covers. That would take too much external energy. I knelt on my bed. I rocked back and forth for three hours. I was sobbing uncontrollably. My body was shaking from the depth of those sobbs.
I made it. The tears ended. The rocking ended. I collapsed on my bed and slept for hours.
I faced one of the hardest challenges in my 55 years on this planet.
That victory is mine. Nobody can take it from me. Believe it or not several people from this fasting community tried. They told me that I was lying. They said I got lucky because I didn't die. They said I would cause someone to take their last breath.
I didn't care what they said, and I don't care now. The victory is mine. Any time I struggle I look back on that morning. I remember the intensity. I fought so hard, and I won. What challenge can I face in the future that could compare. The answer is, nothing. Nothing I will face can hold a candle to that day.
I've faced some extreme challenges. My girlfriend passed from cancer while laying in the bed beside of me. My mom went to prison when I was little. Our friend was murdered. One of our friends came over after he had been shot. We were robbed at gunpoint. None of that compared.
Even Marine Corps boot camp paled in comparison to that day.
We face intense situations while fasting. This may sound bad but I hope you can experience that. I can't think of anything that could ever take me down. I look back on that day and it empowers me. With that memory I can tackle any opponent.
We play a different game. Don't forget that.
99% of people on here won't get it. Many will condemn and down vote this.
I'll say it again, we play a different game. They won't get it and thats ok.
After you face your demons. After you make it out the other side, there is nothing left to compare.
Our battle may be different but the final outcome is the same.
We win.
After that challenge,
we win because that's all we know.

One of the greatest thing that I am proud of myself is my skills in Indesign and Photoshop. though I am a medical student, I got myself in the club of my college that involved in making magazines. It was a great experience for me. There I learned about team work and necessary photoshop and Indesign skill for making magazines. It was the most amazing experience that I still cherish till date. I remember me and my fellow designer talking about the type of magazine cover that we will make. It took us almost 3 months to make the cover of the magazine that everyone loved.
I was so much enthralled that I even opened fiver account thinking that people will give me photos to edit. Its been 4 years but I haven't got any offer. Anyways the new skill is what I cherish upon besides my daily practice as a medical personnel. It was great experience that helped me grow and divert my attention from the daily chores of medicine studies that sometimes overloaded my mind. That's it thought I will share my experience. You guys can too if you have something like this in your mind.