How to get donations from companies to help with a family reunion

First of all maybe this is written awfully but I just don't know from where to start and I need desprete help. I (16F) my boyfriend (16M) we knew each other since 8th grade but we started getting close back in March 2024. him and I have been dating for good two months and let me tell you the amount of shit we had to go through to just date were uncountable from fighting my crazy Psycho ex who SA me which I kind of didn't move on from plus his mum finding out Abt our relationship and threatened to call my mum also she tried to manipulate him into thinking I am playing him and I am dating two guys at the same time. It was horrible, really bad era that I would never wish to go back to. And Bec of the trauma my late ex caused my mental state probably isn't the best plus I got a lot of issues like I get really stressfed, anxious and worried over any minor inconvenience, I need attention and love 24/7 and lastly I get really moody at times but I still try to be my best for him...we are really great couple and I know it's pretty early to judge but the things we went through were not easy nor little, at least that's what 16 years old think. Through my relationship with him most of the time I am the needy and clingy one in the relationship but today It was the way around which scared tf out of me right away. Today morning he texted me and said that he might not be responsive Bec he got issues at home, I knew that a long time ago, his family issues are real bad. His parents fight all the time, they never were a great match. Moving on, him and I talked a lil bit through the day, we were texting in TikTok, we were laughing, happy and yk everything is fine (kind of) then he randomly went like "can I ask u favour?" I didn't reply right away cause I didn't notice the notification (I didn't take long like a min or less) then he send another text saying "sweetheart are u there?" I was confused asf, I texted back and asked him what is it. He said "please never leave me" that stabbed me and anxiety hit me, what's going on? What is happening??? I asked him if he is okay and he said he is fine. I didn't believe it so I kept asking more questions and that's when he gave in and told me everything. He said his father hasn't been constantly at home and he hasn't been home the last 4 days, however, today early morning at 4 am to be exact he tried to sneak in to take some of his stuff. His mother woke up and his parents talked for a lil bit then for some reason she opened his backpack and fucking saw protections and sex related medicines. Her only response to that was screaming her oldest son name which is my bf, he woke up went running to her and saw both of his parents standing in their bedroom. The moment his father saw him he closed the door but he could still hear them fight. His father admitted that he got married secretly to a second wife, he also have intentions to have kids with that woman and his only excuse for cheating and abounding his three children is that he didn't feel loved through this marriage. He kept telling her Abt how hot and perfect his new wife is which brought my boyfriend's mother into tears, he also told her his grown ass used to watch porn Bec she left him deprived. I was honestly left speechless when my boyfriend told me Abt the whole thing, he will have to take care of his younger siblings (they are twins 10f and 10m) and also his mum. His father absence means that he have to fill that rule at fucking sixteen. Fucking sixteen, he didn't even make it to college yet. I am scared for him, I don't know what to do. I comforted and assured him that I will take care of him but i can't help but cry for him, I am really weak and fragile..I want to get stronger mentally to take care of him but I don't know how. Please someone help me and give me tips. I need that.

Warning: abuse
At 19F in the middle of active alcoholism 3 years after my mom went to jail for murder for hire, I was a SW (looking?) for a SD? - while out at a bar I got approached by a 43M that I found attractive and very charismatic. Thinking we’d end up having “fun”, I returned the honest sentiment of attraction. We stayed together 2.5 years after that. He was a Chemist who laughed and made light of everything, his alcoholism and drug addiction became apparent from the beginning, but not to the extent that it got to/really was.
Like all relationships, things started out fun, a very Glee movie summer-like love, very free-ing. He was a Doctor of chemistry and worked in the oil field prior to my meeting him, because of his living situation and luxury cars he seemed like he was doing well. He never was any type of SD. The night I met him, we made eye contact and never looked away. Our chemistry, pun intended- was like nothing I’ve ever experienced.
I’m the youngest, not the smartest nor prettiest. I quit my jobs because I simply didn’t want to work sometimes, I made a lot of mistakes and I’ve been in the receiving end of family based bullying and school bullying, SA, R@p€, abandonment and trust issues, I’m bipolar, I practice/d SH, depression, GAD… things of the human condition that make it feel like I’m faulty.
This man was the first person that ever sat with me and listened to me vent to the extent that I did the first tight we spent together. We rarely had sex, but we shared breaths as we slept, (he inhales my breath as I exhale his breath, vise-versa and so on and so forth) to keep it brief and give example. He’s the most intimate partner I’ve ever experienced.
I notice others micro expressions and cater to their benefit if it seems they are troubled or asking for help.
I’m having so much trouble these days accepting the fact that I’m never going to meet him again. Specifically because he was so attentive and catering to my needs. He knew immediately when I was masking. I’m so confused and perplexed about the feeling of not having anyone in my life that has that interest in me. I felt so understood. That’s been my first and last experience with feeling understood like that.
He drank from morning to night nonstop. Together we became aware of what alcoholism was. Brown urine, blood, pain… regret that then led to arguments, accidents, threats, drugs, danger, fear turned to bonding, helping each other, trying to get better, failing. Trying again. Do it all over again. Fail. Again and again.
We managed to get sober a few days. His parents loved me. I understood and loved him. He hadn’t been sober for that long and trying for a long time. He was doing better, that’s what his mom would say.
Every relapse got harder, more dangerous medically and physically as well as economically.
Sleep deprivation was torture I hadn’t experienced before. I would be awoken with yelling because of delirium, anger and he would degrade me so badly. Use that bond we had against me, my own experiences turned against me he’d repeat the insults I shared with him to me. Yell those at me. Then love bomb. Then threaten me and my family with guns. I lived in fear when he blacked out. Felt lonely because with all of the yelling, smashing things around, being stared at by neighbors crying, being called an idiot dumbass in front of people and them witnessing me at a low point and then, agreeing with him? No neighbor knocked after crying and yelling to see if anyone was ok or dying. Public shame feels so. Fucking. Lonely. Isolation doesn’t help.
He stopped functioning. His body started giving out. I loved him. Took care of him cleaned his wounds after falls, his body after incontinence. He literally shed blood, shit and tears, regret and asked for forgiveness when I cared for him in his sober state.
In return, I’d receive non stop verbal abuse if I didn’t stop and do what he wanted me to at the time he wanted me to and how he wanted me to. If I didn’t give him my attention he’d end up getting it by threatening my family. And he would! Fight my brother and go after him with loaded guns. So there I would go do what he said. Forced to ride in a vehicle, with him locking the doors, blasting Phil Collins yelling at me. Driving erratically, dangerously. And I’d be so fucking scared of crashing. Just imagining the police report, “f19 dead alongside 43m after drunk reckless driving”. He’d speed in traffic so I couldn’t really jump out the car. I’d end up just drinking to numb the fear.
I had enough and attempted to sleepies forever by taking a sweet deadly cocktail of whatever handful of pills I could get my hands on. We had plastic gallon moving boxes filled with narcotics- he was a pharmacist too. I told him I was going to KMS he said go ahead, so I attempted and I filmed it.
From the setting up the phone in that closet, the one I color coordinated for him, his button-ups and suits in those dry-cleaning bags that hadn’t been opened since leaving the laundry shop… I watched my su!c!d€ afterwards. Out of morbid curiosity. “What a dumbass!” was what he said when he found me. I won’t go into detail of the full video but chest compressions hurt a lot, 10/10 would not recommend. And EMS left the AED stickers on my chest 🤷🏽‍♀️
After that 24hr watch, an awkward taxi drive to a crisis clinic that was understaffed and left me in a room by myself for two hours and walking in public with those see-through paper hospital clothes. Embarrassment is a light expression. When I was taken home, I didn’t have keys, or phone, or anything. Just my discharge papers and my cut vomit stained pajamas in a biohazard bag. - I lived in a gated neighborhood with key-fob-entry-only. I was fucked and waited what seemed like 4 hours for anyone to help me but no one showed up until HE did WITH MY BROTHER. The one who was threatened with a gun, that brother.
JFC the amount of insults, “what a fucking dumbass, what were you thinking? You’re a fucking idiot!” To summarize in the friendliest way. I was dressed in a see through hospital gown, I went straight to the shower, didn’t have the energy to get dressed when they kept just YELLING at me. INSULTING me- I had enough and wanted to defend myself. That’s when my brother pulled out his phone and started filming me pleading with them to let me sleep, calling me crazy, threatening to “show the family how fucking crazy you are!” - I threw my phone. Broke the microwave door. More insults, while still filming me, I was ordered to, “clean it up” - and at that moment. Completely detached, I did.
I put my brother on the soon-est bus to Mexico and sent him to rehab after 2 hell filled weeks of him living with us because he was so fucked in alcoholism he was homeless. To this day I don’t know how I did that.
I managed to leave my ex. 2 weeks later I receive calls from worried friends. Ryan was missing.
After investigating, (calls to police,hospitals, checking out the “usual” spots) - turns out he went to a Circle K looking for Peroni after the liquor store wouldn’t sell to him, tripped on the steps, hit his head on the pavement, STILL MANAGED TO PURCHASE ALCOHOL, left, got into a fight, and somehow miraculously ended up in his apartment where he tried to shower, fell face forward towards the water tap, (which left a softball sized bruise on his right eye and fractured his nose) he then tried to walk towards the kitchen? Passed out in the living room leaving blood all over the walls, puddles on the ground and the biggest blood clot stain on the floor ( we had to get crime scene cleaners). He apparently had a fit where he trashed the apartment by throwing my things, my plants, bottles of crown… anything. Everything was trashed when I found him in the apartment. I counted at LEAST 20 bottles of crown. He was so fucked up we thought he had been assaulted.
COVID hit and hospitals were in full lockdown. As an “essential worker” I could travel to the hospital to see him, and because someone somewhere said I was his wife/fiancée I was the ONLY one allowed to see him.
I snuck behind friends and family’s backs checking in on him at the hospital. Singing The Carpenters songs, wearing his favorite perfumes, reading Bill’s Story (IYKYK), playing Phil Collins. The whole 9 yards.
The last time I saw him, he was in Physical therapy/Rehab. He ended up moving back to his parents in California. Then February the next year, on Valentine’s Day - his mom let me know he passed.
She grieved very much attached to me. It was one of the saddest things I ever had to help someone through - alongside helping her son go through alcoholism.
I became a CNA as a tribute to helping him during those hard sober times where his body gave out. Helping others like that, bathing them, diaper changing, g-tube cleaning, hygiene essentials…
The classic grief started with what-if’s. Etc. it’s been hard lately because all my family is against him and his family resents me for being the only one with access to his medical records during COVID. I’m in a relationship now and our therapist told me to “put a break on it”. Recently. My mental illnesses keep getting worse and I feel like no other has taken such interest in me as much as Ryan did. He was so observant. So in-sync with me. And he was so shitty to me. He’s like the sweetest tasting radioactive flower that once was and will never be. And I’m grieving. And it’s so lonely out here.
I don’t know. I’m not suicid@l, I’m medicated and 4 years sober. It’s been hard and it’s getting harder to understand. I feel neglected and lonely. Anything helps please.

The water washed over the side of the boat and made a drizzle that clung to my face as I turned to wipe it away. The sea was too rough around the boat to see much, and the clouds had come right down to my level, blotting out what the sea had not. The ship was heading towards deeper water, and between the rain, the mist, and the boiling fog, the ever more distant coast was a blur.
The storm had brewed up late in the day and had taken it’s time to reach the fevered pitch it was displaying presently. The sea was rising so high, it would block the view to land, making it impossible to see what was happening ashore. I should have been asleep in my bunk moored in the harbor, but instead, at this late hour, the boat and I were fighting this storm for survival.
As each wave passed, my vessel would glide into the valley behind, the walls of water on all sides stretching vertically to merge with the sky. Just as soon as the previous wave receded, a new mountain of water would present itself directly, forcing the little boat to again climb high up a watery slope. The ship would crest, giving me a glimpse of the rough and tumble ocean scape ahead, just before diving down into another valley.
Even so, I was happy to brave the weather, as the alternative was unthinkable. If this poor little vessel were to be smashed on the rocks with only me and my salt water soaked clothes to survive, I would count myself lucky. Clinging to some slick, slime covered boulder until the storm passed and the sun came out the following morning. I would fare better than my fellow villagers who were caught unawares by this impromptu disturbance. Some of whom had surely been swallowed up in the mist.
When I was young, my family lived in a small coastal village on the north side of White Rock island. Our old, whitewashed house rested on a small rise just south of the harbor. If you stood in the living room and looked out north through the plate glass window, you could see the harbor stretch out into the ocean beyond.
Each of the various boats in the harbor had a faded splash of blue or red or yellow color around the pilot house. Some had flags fluttering in the breeze. Aside from the windowed superstructures, they were all the same shade of white, stained with rust, barnacles and other imperfections. Each ship was unique in it’s own way, but only subtly so. Viewing them from afar, it was hard to notice, as they all looked the same.
I never really left White Rock, unless you count the time I went off and joined the Navy to fight in the war. I was foolishly excited to join the Navy. I believed the propaganda posters plastered all over town. I had no idea the horrors I would experience as an Engineman on a destroyer cruising through enemy waters. But that is a different story for a different time.
I attended school on that island. There was a small population, hardly big enough to justify a school, but we were very isolated and it was more difficult to travel to and from the mainland to attend school. There was only a handful of students of all ages and we had classes together in a one room schoolhouse about a mile east of our home on the hill. All of those people I went to school with are also still here on the Rock.
When I returned from the war, the reception was warm. I soon caught up with old friends and settled into a routine. I was able to recruit a few of them to help my brothers and I crew the Schooner which had patiently waited the several years I was absent. She is a 45ft ketch with a main sail, a foresail and a jib to help with tacking. We can unfurl a fisherman’s sail high above the main in open waters to add some speed. We carry nets and crab pots amidships, along with a small tender up under the fly bridge. My ship also has a 200hp diesel motor used for trawling and harbor travel. There are two holds and fully loaded, she can carry a good 20,000 pounds of fish. We have only ever filled her up about halfway on a week long journey. My Brothers, my childhood friends, and I make a jolly crew, and I am mostly thankful for the time I spend with them.
My Father was a mechanic and he worked on many of the smaller fishing boats in the harbor. He never left the island much and we did not own a boat growing up. The old timers would sit around, outside his workshop, playing dominos and telling tall tales. If I was not busy with chores, I used to love to listen to the tales the grizzled old fishermen would tell me as my Father worked on their dilapidated boats.
There were some common themes to these tales, and it didn’t take me long to understand that they were mostly bluff and bluster. They would recite fairy tales about mermaids and deep sea monsters. They would talk about long lost islands that were shown on no maps. There were stories of buried treasure and lost civilizations. All good fun and light hearted, chuckles and good natured ribbing all the way around.
Then there were the stories about the mist. The old timers would hush up and become reticent when this topic was broached. They would look over their shoulder as if paranoid someone or something was watching. You could feel a shiver run down your spine just at the mention of the mist, The air grew heavier, all of the color draining out, becoming more pale and dense.
The mist, from the stories, was a thick gloom that would originate somewhere out in the water and slowly drift into town with the wind. On days when the mist would visit, you could see it forming miles out in the distance. Getting thicker as morning grew into midday. At some point in the early afternoon, the old timers would say, with a shift in the wind, that thick soupy darkness would start to creep towards the island.
This was a warning to all of the inhabitants to get indoors, batten down the windows and doors, and camp out in the cellar until dawn. The mist can see as if it has eyes, they would say. The mist could hear you breathe, as if it had ears, they would say. The mist could pick you up and take you away, as if it had hands, they would say. And to speak, yes, the mist could speak as if it had a voice. The mist could convince you to leave the safety of your home and go on a journey. The mist could trick you into thinking a small child was outside and needed help. “Help me” the mist would sigh. “I am soaking wet and I am only 5, please let me in so I can get warm. It’s so cold out here…”
As entertaining as these stories were when I was a kid, they were just that, stories. Time passed, people came and went. The old timers faded away along with their boats. As I grew older, I was more and more concerned with ever more adult things and stories of spirits and water sprites were trivial. Fairy stories and tall tales didn’t pay the bills and I had a life to live.
My Father died in an accident when I was only 15. He was working on a trawler that had run aground just south of the entrance to the bay. The engine had failed and the boat had drifted into the rocks. My father was aboard when there was an explosion. He was burned over most of his body. We would visit him daily at the doctors house where he lay, suffering, in a delirium. He lingered for the better part of a year before passing on.
My Mother was devastated and she was never the same. We moved out of that old white house into another owned by my Uncle. I felt like I had to provide for her and my younger brothers. I soon found myself working as a hand on my uncle’s fishing boat. I learned the way of the sea, and would spend more and more time offshore. Each time I returned, I found that my Mother had grown more distant. She was spending more and more time with my Father in the great beyond and didn’t have as much to give to the real world. She was surrendered to a fantasy and soon she was unable to return to reality. Some call it dementia. When she passed, I was alone with my Uncle and my Brothers.
As a crew, and as a family, we had some great adventures. We travelled far and wide. We visited many a strange port and I held company with many a beautiful lass. We crewed my uncles boat, the Majestic Spirit, until he was too old for the work. When he decided to retire, he gave his boat to me. Now my Brothers, my friends and I ably vie the sea, aboard the Maj, in search of fame and fortune.
All this so I can describe to you my current predicament. You see, this morning started off like normal. After waking and eating my breakfast, I had strolled down to the docks to get an early start on some maintenance to the Maj. I had been putting it off for the last week. We had a long cruise coming up, planning to sail to the South Onda Straits, and I wanted to repair the fore hatch coaming before we set out.
As I descended the hill to White Rock Harbor, I noticed a dark gloominess miles off in the distance. Remembering the old stories made me feel uneasy. I told myself to ignore those old fairy tales and focus on the task at hand. I put my head down and walked faster.
As I arrived at the Maj, I noticed the gloom was thicker now. It was visibly rolling and changing color from gray to black and all shades in between. There were faint flashes of light from deep within. “Is that lightning?” I asked myself. Apparently I had spoken aloud as another fisherman, Phillip O’Perry, who owned the adjacent trawler, had overheard me as he jumped down onto the docks from the deck of his boat. “It’s the mist a’formin.” He said as he walked away. “I, for one, plan on getting drunk on Rum this ‘even…locked away in my cellar with wife and babes. I suggest you do the same.”
I hadn’t felt that chill since I was young. “Don’t be silly Phil!” I yelled back. “Fairy tales and sea shanties are fun, but they don’t put food on the table.” “Suit yerself” he said over his shoulder as he rounded the corner. “You’ll have a new story to tell either way tomorrow”. “if you live.” This last he added while sticking his head back around the corner he had just passed. A devious grin from ear to ear on his face, he said“Good luck to ya!” and then he was gone.
The white rock saved me.
Part 2 to follow soon! :D

TLDR at the end
F28 with Ovarian Cancer I am really struggling with medical negligence not just from one doctor, but multiple. Just an FYI this is a long post about my overall experience since getting diagnosed with cancer and learning I have an underlying autoimmune disorder(s). I’ve been dealing with a lot of discrimination because I’m young and “healthy looking” and doctors constantly dismiss me or discriminate me for some reason and I’m tired of it. I’ve been sick and disabled since last November and I had a great job and was running my own business but lost everything because of negligent doctors and cancer.
I originally posted this on legaladvice because I thought maybe I had a case but at this point I don’t even know if I have a case or not and I’m starting to just accept that this is how this shitty system works. Anyways I thought I’d at least share my experiences with the medical field in the US specifically in LA California. I imagine I’m not the only person who has gone through this and that many people who are struggling with disabilities face these kind of obstacles when navigating the healthcare system here. I’ve had to learn how to advocate for myself and I only hope that my post and experience helps those struggling with their health.
In order for me to advocate for myself I’ve had to basically become just as knowledgeable about my condition(s) to get the proper care. I’ve had to fight for my diagnosis and proper treatment and had I not been looking up my symptoms, possible diagnosis, lab work results, I may have died or came to the verge of it had I fully trusted any of the doctors I’ve come into contact with. Always do your own research using trusted resources and have someone with you who can help advocate for you when you can’t advocate for yourself. Not only am I dismissed for being a female but also for being young and healthy looking despite having serious debilitating symptoms.
For two years I was seeing a rheumatologist for an underlying autoimmune disorder(s) like SLE OR MS and was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Primary immunodeficiency, dysautonomia, fibromyalgia, CIDP and still being investigated for more issues.
In November I decided to go on a LOA because my flares were starting to become more frequent and severe. My psychiatrist was the one who filled out the LOA paperwork for the time from Nov-Dec because I was hesitant to ask my Rheumatologist. I was told by my rheumatologists office that filling out LOA paperwork was $300 out of pocket and at the time I didn’t have that money so my psychiatrist signed it because I was also struggling with my mental health and family issues that time.
I was supposed to go back to work in January but at the start of the new year I got really sick and my flares started to ramp up again so I had to request a new LOA. My psychiatrist couldn’t help me with my LOA paperwork anymore because it was more health related now and told me to go see my rheumatologist. I was still hesitant because of the fee and then when I was about to see my rheumatologist again and get my bloodwork done I got a surprise bill from the lab where I get my bloodwork done for $400 after insurance. They wouldn’t let me get additional tests until I paid the fee and I couldn’t see my rheumatologist until I had my bloodwork done. I made an appointment with my rheumatologist anyways but the soonest I could get wasn’t until after the LOA deadline in March. I also couldn’t get any disability benefits until that LOA form was filled out by my doctor so I had no income to pay for any of this.
I ended up in the Emergency Room on 2/16/24 a little over a week before I needed to submit the forms for LOA and at this point my employer was threatening to fire me for failing to provide the LOA paperwork. I tried explaining the situation to one of my managers but he wasn’t having it and didn’t care.
When I went to the first emergency room I went in for multiple serious symptoms, they knew I had an underlying autoimmune disorder causing the flares and that I had surgery 3 years prior to remove ovarian cysts on my right ovary. I told the emergency room that I had a lot of abdominal pain across multiple areas, I was really weak, fatigued, dealing with vertigo, migraines, blood in stool, persistent bloating, frequent urination, appetite loss, rapid weight gain, insomnia, tachycardia, high bp, neuropathic itch/ polyneuropathy and my symptoms were to the point where I was losing my ability to walk. My partner was holding me the entire time so I wouldn’t fall.
The emergency room did a bunch of tests that included a basic blood panel, physical exam and a CT scan of my abdomen. They didn’t find the bleeding but instead found that I had a complex 14cm tumor on my right ovary which they deemed a dermoid cyst.
When they gave me the news they officially diagnosed me with a “dermoid cyst from birth” even though I countered their diagnosis and told them that was impossible because I had surgery 3 years prior. The doctor didn’t backtrack at all, just stuttered and continued to discharge me because it “wasn’t an emergency” just because I wasn’t bleeding out despite all of my serious progressing symptoms.
I angrily left the ER knowing it was utter BS and deep down I knew it was cancer because of how sick I was. I could literally feel I didn’t have much time but because I looked young and healthy and my basic blood panel didn’t throw up any huge red flags at them even they dismissed me and misdiagnosed me. I wasn’t even given anything to manage the pain.
I even told them I was already on a medical leave and that I’ve been really sick but that it was getting bad and I couldn’t see my rheumatologist. However I didn’t know about the tumor until then. I told them I needed help with the LOA paperwork too and had they admitted me I would have been able to get an extension and still have my job and benefits. I could have started treatment sooner and received disability pay but instead was forced to continue living with this pain. It was so large that I was at risk of torsion rupture and necrosis, Not to mention permanent nerve damage.
The next day I called up every gynecologist I could to see where I could go for the soonest appointment for an ultrasound. I found a doctor who took me as an emergency appointment a few days later and he confirmed it was most likely malignant and that I needed surgery ASAP. I talked to him about my LOA situation too because I was running out of time and I was too disabled to work. He also refused to help me sign my LOA paperwork because according to him, “ovarian cancer can’t cause systemic symptoms and you’re going to need to wait until surgery before I put you on leave”. I told him I had an underlying autoimmune disorder that I think is being exasperated by the cancer and I was just dismissed yet again despite needing someone to physically help me walk so I don’t fall. He also didn’t give me anything for the pain I was in.
I had to turn in my LOA that day but because of this I was forced to resign my position or face getting fired and becoming un-hirable so I had to quit. In quitting I lost everything, benefits, stocks, my job, my health, doctors. I’m now in debt with multiple cc going to collections because I haven’t been getting an income since January and I’m just starting chemo so I have no idea when I’ll be able to work again. I don’t know what to do here. I was going to try to settle my debt but with what money?? I might be forced into bankruptcy for 7 years now.
After I lost my insurance I applied for medi-cal but something with my application in there system wasn’t right and it was in a never ending pending limbo state(Took about two months to actually sort it out and I only sorted it out that quickly because my friend works for medi-cal). I tried waiting it out for two weeks, calling them sorting it out and doing it right by the system but every day I was getting sicker and weaker and I felt I was running out of time as I was bed ridden at this point.
Two weeks later I went to a different ER because at this point I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat and I started getting migraines after doing anything. I was miserable from enduring all the symptoms and never ending anxiety and mood swings of possibly having an autoimmune disorder like SLE, MS and ovarian cancer.
The second ER I went to finally admit me for emergency surgery after a full day of being in the emergency room and they confirmed it was in fact a tumor. It also grew to 20cm by that point. By this time the tumor had already ruptured and twisted my ovary. The entire time I was there though it was a battle. I had been living with this for so long that I was perceiving my pain as a 6 when in reality I had nerve damage and the pain was likely higher. I seemed calm at first but anytime someone came in trying to tell me I was fine I couldn’t hold it together and would start crying because I was at my breaking point. I was suffering and no one was taking me seriously. I had to make it a point that because of the misdiagnosis from the last hospital, I lost everything and was in a position where I couldn’t get any care because of the issue I was having with my medi-cal application. It would’ve been months before I found a PCP, got referred to specialists, confirmed it was cancer, and scheduled a surgery. At one point during my time in the emergency room, the head of the ER came to me and literally told me, “I want to help you but you’re going to have to SELL it to me”. After that I kept having to tell them that my pain was like an 8-10 and that the pain meds weren’t working. They put me on gabapentin which didn’t really do anything for me actually. But then they started giving me morphine and while it helped tremendously I also found out that day that I either have an allergy or a sensitivity to morphine.
Anyways now to my current situation. I started chemo about two weeks ago and my current oncologist is also being negligent.
I found out the other day that she blindly prescribed a medication for nausea that interacts with a medication that I was already on. The interaction is known to cause arrhythmias apparently. During my first week of chemo I was taking both meds and mentioned that my chest had been feeling heavy and I had pain. I was told it was steroids. It continued and then one night as I was falling asleep my heart started to pound really hard for about 10-15 seconds. I told my doctor about it and again steroids.
That same day I went to pick up a prescription and just happened to ask if anything interacted and that’s when I found out that it was a major interaction and I literally could have died had I not luckily already been titrating off of the offending medicine. I stopped taking those meds and immediately the chest pain stopped and I haven’t had an episode like that since.
I am freaked out and don’t want to continue my care with her due to her negligence. This should have been a conversation at minimum and she didn’t even tell me she prescribed it let alone double check for interactions(she had the list of my current medications). I just got a notification from my pharmacy that it was ready. I also didn’t know about the interaction when it was picked up because my mom picked it up for me and she doesn’t speak English very well.
I talked to my care teams assistant and told her I wanted a change of doctors because I didn’t trust her after this and she said she was going to put in the request. They called me yesterday though and said they weren’t going to switch me because I had already started treatment. They refused to switch my doctors despite everything that’s happened even though she literally almost accidentally killed me. I am livid and don’t want to continue with them but they’re giving me no choice but to continue seeing her.
I already set up an appointment for a second opinion but that’s not for another two weeks before the appointment and I don’t want to interrupt the treatment.
I have a rare type of ovarian cancer with a high grade tumor. It was a germ cell tumor called an immature teratoma. They said it is stage 1 but because I had emergency surgery, the tumor had already ruptured, and everything was rushed I don’t feel this is an accurate diagnosis because I have pain in all of the surrounding areas where the tumor was pushing up against. (I also mentioned this to my oncologist but instead of running tests or anything else I was given a psych referral for anxiety because I have an adhd & bipolar diagnosis even though I’ve been stable for years and I wasn’t overreacting in this case). The tumor was exasperating all of my autoimmune symptoms and causing me to be in a never ending flare so my body has been heavily damaged. Im becoming disabled at 28. I have so much anxiety with doctors now because I’m traumatized from my experience with them dismissing me and discriminating against me. Like I’m young so I “must be able to tolerate more”. I have to constantly look up my lab results, medications, conditions, because of how much negligence and dismissal I’ve been dealing with over the years. I’m scared I’m going to die from something preventable and not cancer at this rate.
TLDR: F28 w/ ovarian cancer and pre-existing autoimmune disorders struggling to get care, proper diagnosis, treatment, negligence by multiple doctors, losing everything. US health care system is incredibly difficult to navigate and we need to constantly advocate for ourselves to get proper care in this for profit healthcare system.

It's been a feeling I've had for a long time. I know logically that it doesn't make sense and that things don't work like that, but it's happened too much. Especially on or around my birthday. I've had a friend fall and need stitches on my birthday, I've had one get accidentally set on fire going too close to a tiki torch. I was essentially kicked out of a school I went to because of my disability (long story, it was a private school so we weren't really sure what the legality of that is, and didn't want me going somewhere they died want me even if we could force them). I've had the typical experiences of being forgotten by family or friends, invited people to parties or hangouts nobody came to.
But my luck isn't only bad on my birthday, at this point things have gotten comically bad, one thing after another before I've even had time to recover. A pet recently had to be put down, his brother was showing signs of the same issues THAT DAY. And he's had to have 2 surgeries already that I really can't afford, and literally less than a day after the surgery it looks like it's back and I'm crushed that I spent a grand of money I don't have begging and pleading to help him because I can't lose another so soon, and it was all for nothing. I've had a series of failed relationships, including a long term girlfriend who started dropping L-bombs and then ghosted me completely, I went on a couple dates after that, even ones I thought went really well and poof, they ghosted me too. And one of the people who ghosted me ended up pulling some cruel prank on me a while after. I started seeing someone recently I really liked, and despite us working really well together there a re other complications that make it pretty clear we will never be a thing. A friend brought me out to distract me from the BS? I drop my phone and the screen shatters while we are out. I scheduled a tattoo as a birthday gift to myself before my second pet started having rapidly spreading health issues that I knew were going to cripple me financially, and I have someone who's helping me with that but won't be able to for a while, the day I was gonna get the tattoo it had to be canceled for unrelated reasons qnd pushed off, she already made the design and set asside a day for my appointment so I'd hate to cancel know, especially when I really really wanted this one thing for myself, but id hate to just keep chucking expenses on my card.
Oh and it gets so much better, I come to pick up some food from my mom today, who tells me my dad probably has cancer. He's getting the tests done tomorrow and they're saying that even if it is cancer it's a very slow moving one, but he's already in his 80s...
I legitimately feel cursed, I feel poisonous, like anything that makes me happy just keeps slipping through my fingers small or large, and all I do is bring suffering to the people around me, weather it's directly because seeing all this shit keep happening is causing them pain when they can't help, or honestly sometimes I feel like my luck is contagious and bad things start happening to people's who try and get close to me.
I had a confrontation with my girlfriend who ghosted me after like a month had passed to air things out and she basically admitted that she doesn't really have an excuse, that she loves me but my feelings can be catchy, and she's got too much going on in her life right now to be able to handle my pain amd need for support on top of that, and was too cowardly to tell me this and face the facts.
I couldn't even bring myself to be mad. I was just numb. I feel cold and I feel alone, like everything is on my shoulders and it's all on the verge of falling apart if not actively doing so. It's never enough. People keep telling me I'm so strong for managing all of this but I'm tired. I don't want to be strong anymore. I just want to be happy. I just want to feel at peace and have SOMETHING in my life that I don't think is going to crumble at my touch.
It's been plaguing my mind. I know it doesn't make logical sense but I just can't shake the feeling that the universe is out to get me, or that I'm being punished for something, the idea that I'm being punished for trying to be happy or thinking I deserve to be keeps coming up. I know it does make logical sense but every time I think I've reached my limit or found SOMETHING to enjoy about life some other huge curveball heads my way. I'm just so tired and I don't know how much more of it I can handle.
I know I have certain privileges and advantages others don't, I know there are people out there with far worse lives than me but that doesn't change how burnt out and empty I feel. I feel like I have nothing left in me and I just keep being squeezed for more and more, i keep pushing, keep trying, but what choice do I have?

Any insights on how to help a newly relocated American settle in to Hong Kong?
I am from Hong Kong, but moved away for university and been abroad in Canada and US for 15 years. I’m no stranger to moving internationally and not fitting in. My American husband now moved to Hong Kong, and I’m watching him struggle a bit. He’s been here at least 8 times as a visitor but now we are trying to get a flat, enroll our kids in schools, open accounts and it’s hard watching him be so disappointed and infuriated by locals and everyone around him. He doesn’t have friends or family here like I do. It’s been less than a week since we moved, but he’s a bit set in his ways and feels nothing makes sense and then gets mad at the systems. He doesn’t speak any Cantonese and it’s a steep learning curve for him to live outside of his comfort zone.
Any pointers from expats who have successfully moved to Hong Kong and been okay with it? Specifically from an American POV…it’s a big contrast and Americans tend to feel they are right or the best country in the world hahahaha. It’s a bit entertaining to watch as I’ve always considered my husband as a flexible person but this move has shook him. I’m giving myself and others more patience as I’m relearning the lifestyle in Hong Kong.

1. Amazon Store Rent
First, let's talk about the monthly rent for an Amazon store. Registering an Amazon store is free, but using a company registration instead of a personal one is recommended. This approach is safer and has a higher approval rate. After registering, you can choose between an Individual account and a Professional account.
Individual Account: This account has no monthly fee, but you'll pay Amazon $0.99 for each item you sell. It’s suitable for sellers who are just starting out and have lower sales volumes.
Professional Account: This account costs $39.99 per month, but you won’t pay a fee per sale. This option is more cost-effective if you sell more than 40 items per month.
Recommendation: If you’re just starting and your sales are low, opt for the Individual account. As your sales increase and you consistently sell more than 40 items per month, switch to the Professional account to save on per-item fees.

1. Product Selection Tools

Choosing the right products to sell is crucial for the success of your e-commerce business. Fortunately, there are several tools available to assist with this process, each offering unique features to help you make informed decisions.
Popular Paid Tools: JungleScout and Helium10
JungleScout: Priced at $49/month, JungleScout is widely recognized for its comprehensive suite of tools designed to help sellers identify profitable products, estimate sales, and analyze competition. Its features include:
Product Database: Allows you to filter products based on various criteria like price, sales, and competition.
Product Tracker: Helps track the performance of potential products over time.
Keyword Scout: Provides keyword research and optimization suggestions to enhance product listings.
Sales Analytics: Offers insights into sales trends and revenue estimates.
Helium10: At $79/month, Helium10 is another powerful tool that provides a wide range of functionalities for Amazon sellers. Key features include:
Black Box: A product research tool that allows you to find profitable niches.
Xray: A Chrome extension that gives you a quick overview of product performance metrics directly on Amazon.
Keyword Research: Tools like Cerebro and Magnet help you discover and optimize for high-ranking keywords.
Listing Optimization: Features like Scribbles and Index Checker ensure your product listings are optimized for maximum visibility.
Free Tool: 4SELLER
4SELLER: For those who are looking for a budget-friendly option, 4SELLER is a free tool that offers a robust set of features to aid in product selection and management. It includes:
Product Selection: Assists in identifying profitable products by analyzing market trends and competition.
Inventory Management: Helps track inventory levels, forecast demand, and manage stock efficiently to prevent overstocking or stockouts.
Supplier Finder: Aids in locating reliable suppliers, which is essential for maintaining product quality and consistency.
Why Product Selection Tools are Essential
Using product selection tools is vital because they provide data-driven insights that help you make informed decisions. These tools can save you time and reduce the risk of choosing products that may not sell well. They offer features that allow you to:
Identify Trends: By analyzing market data, these tools help you stay ahead of trends and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
Evaluate Competition: Understanding your competition is crucial. These tools provide detailed analysis of competitors' products, pricing strategies, and sales performance.
Optimize Listings: Well-optimized product listings are more likely to attract buyers. These tools offer keyword research and listing optimization features that improve your product's visibility on e-commerce platforms.
Manage Inventory: Efficient inventory management ensures you have the right products available at the right time, which is crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction and maximizing sales.
Whether you opt for a paid tool like JungleScout or Helium10, or a free option like 4SELLER, leveraging these tools can significantly enhance your ability to select profitable products, manage inventory effectively, and optimize your listings for better performance.
3. Initial Stock Costs
Purchasing your first batch of products involves a significant initial investment, and the amount required can vary widely depending on the type of products you choose to sell. Here’s a detailed breakdown of what to consider when estimating your initial stock costs:
Factors Influencing Initial Stock Costs
Product Type and Price: The nature of the products you choose to sell will greatly influence your initial costs. Higher-priced items tend to have less competition but require a larger upfront investment. Conversely, cheaper products are more budget-friendly but often come with higher competition.
Quantity: The number of units you decide to purchase initially is another major factor. A common recommendation for new sellers is to start with 200-500 units. This range allows you to test the market demand without overcommitting financially.
Calculating Initial Costs
To estimate your initial stock costs, you need to multiply the quantity of units by the purchase price per unit. Here’s a simplified formula:
Initial Stock Cost=Quantity×Purchase Price per UnitInitial Stock Cost=Quantity×Purchase Price per Unit
For instance, if you decide to buy 300 units of a product that costs $5 per unit, your initial stock cost would be:
300 units×$5/unit=$1,500300 units×$5/unit=$1,500
Typical Budget Ranges for New Sellers
Low Budget: If you’re starting with a tighter budget, you might opt for products with a lower purchase price. For example, if you choose items costing around $2 per unit and purchase 200 units, your initial cost would be $400.
Moderate Budget: A more common range for new sellers is between $1,000 and $3,000. This allows for a balance between purchasing a reasonable quantity of units and managing the risk of unsold inventory. For example, buying 400 units at $5 per unit would total $2,000.
Higher Budget: With a larger budget, you can consider higher-priced items that might have less competition. For instance, purchasing 300 units at $10 per unit would result in an initial cost of $3,000.
Why Initial Stock Costs are Important
Understanding and planning for initial stock costs is critical because it ensures you are adequately prepared for the financial outlay required to launch your business. Here are a few reasons why this is essential:
Market Testing: Buying an appropriate number of units allows you to test market demand without over-investing. This way, you can gauge the product's popularity and adjust future orders accordingly.
Cash Flow Management: Proper planning helps manage your cash flow effectively. Ensuring you have enough funds to cover initial stock costs, along with other expenses like marketing and shipping, is crucial for maintaining business operations.
Risk Mitigation: Starting with a moderate quantity of units helps minimize the risk of unsold inventory, which can tie up capital and lead to losses. It’s better to start small, analyze performance, and scale up gradually.
Carefully estimating and planning for your initial stock costs is a vital step in setting up your e-commerce business. By understanding the factors that influence these costs and budgeting accordingly, you can make informed decisions that set the foundation for a successful venture. Whether you have a limited budget or can invest more significantly, strategic planning will help you manage risks and maximize your chances of success.
4. UPC Codes
UPC stands for Universal Product Code, a standardized barcode used by retailers, including Amazon, to track products. Obtaining UPC codes is a critical step in setting up your products for sale. Here’s a detailed explanation of why you need them, where to get them, and the associated costs.
What are UPC Codes?
Definition: UPC codes are unique identifiers assigned to products. Each code consists of a series of black bars and a corresponding 12-digit number that can be scanned by barcode readers.
Purpose: These codes help retailers manage inventory, streamline the checkout process, and track sales. For e-commerce platforms like Amazon, UPC codes ensure each product is uniquely identifiable, reducing errors and simplifying logistics.
Where to Buy UPC Codes
Official Source: GS1: The Global Standards 1 (GS1) organization is the official provider of UPC codes. Purchasing from GS1 ensures the authenticity and uniqueness of your codes, which is crucial for compliance with Amazon’s policies.
Why GS1?: While there are third-party sellers offering UPC codes at lower prices, these codes might not always be unique or compliant with GS1 standards. Using GS1 guarantees that your UPCs are globally recognized and legitimate, preventing potential issues with listing products on Amazon.
Cost of UPC Codes
Initial Purchase: GS1 sells UPC codes in packs. A pack of 10 UPCs costs $250 initially. This upfront cost covers the registration and issuance of the codes.
Annual Renewal Fee: In addition to the initial purchase cost, there is a $50 annual renewal fee. This fee ensures your codes remain active and your registration with GS1 stays current.
Breakdown of Costs
Initial Cost: For a pack of 10 UPC codes, the initial cost is $250.
Annual Renewal: The $50 annual renewal fee applies every year to maintain your codes.
Example Calculation:
If you purchase a pack of 10 UPCs, your total cost for the first year would be:
$250 (initial cost)+$50 (annual renewal fee)=$300$250 (initial cost)+$50 (annual renewal fee)=$300
In subsequent years, you will only pay the $50 renewal fee to keep your UPCs active.
Why UPC Codes are Important
Inventory Management: UPC codes play a crucial role in inventory management, allowing you to track stock levels accurately. This helps prevent stockouts and overstock situations.
Product Identification: Each UPC code is unique to a specific product, ensuring that Amazon and other retailers can correctly identify and catalog your items. This reduces the risk of listing errors and mix-ups.
Compliance and Credibility: Using GS1-issued UPC codes ensures compliance with Amazon’s listing requirements. This adds credibility to your listings and prevents potential issues that might arise from using unauthorized codes.
Efficiency and Automation: UPC codes facilitate the automation of various processes, including checkout, shipping, and inventory updates. This enhances operational efficiency and reduces manual workload.
Investing in UPC codes from GS1 is an essential step for any e-commerce business aiming to sell on platforms like Amazon. The initial cost of $250 for a pack of 10 UPCs, along with the $50 annual renewal fee, ensures that your products are uniquely identifiable and compliant with global standards. This investment not only helps in effective inventory management but also enhances the credibility and efficiency of your business operations.
5. Shipping and Distribution Costs
Shipping and distribution costs are critical components of your overall budget when selling on Amazon. These costs encompass various fees and charges that ensure your products reach Amazon’s warehouses and, ultimately, your customers. Here’s a detailed breakdown of what to consider and how these costs can impact your business.
Components of Shipping and Distribution Costs
Shipping to Amazon’s Warehouse: This involves the costs of transporting your products from your supplier to Amazon’s fulfillment centers. Factors influencing these costs include the size and weight of your products, the shipping method, and the distance between the supplier and the warehouse.
Packaging: Proper packaging is essential to protect your products during transit. This includes boxes, cushioning materials, and labeling.
Inspection Fees: To ensure quality and compliance with Amazon’s standards, you might need to pay for product inspections before they are shipped.
Import Duties and Taxes: If you are importing products from another country, customs duties and taxes will apply. These costs vary based on the product category and the country of origin.
Estimated Shipping Costs by Product Size
Small Items: For smaller products, shipping costs are generally lower. On average, you can expect to pay around $4 per unit for shipping.
Mid-sized Products: For larger or heavier items, shipping costs increase. These costs can range from $8 to $12 per unit, depending on the specific dimensions and weight of the products.
Amazon FBA Fees
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) Fees: Once your products are in Amazon’s warehouse, the company handles storage, packaging, and shipping to customers. Amazon charges FBA fees for these services, which are based on the size and weight of the product.
Small and Light Items: FBA fees for smaller items typically range from $2.92 to $6.13 per unit.
Larger Items: For bigger or heavier products, FBA fees can be higher, reflecting the additional handling and shipping costs.
Breakdown of Costs
Shipping Costs to Amazon’s Warehouse:
Small items: $4 per unit
Mid-sized items: $8-$12 per unit
Amazon FBA Fees:
Small items: $2.92-$6.13 per unit
Larger items: Higher fees depending on size and weight
Example Calculation
If you are shipping 300 small items to Amazon’s warehouse, with each unit costing $4 to ship and an average FBA fee of $4.50, your total costs would be:
Shipping to Warehouse: 300 units×$4/unit=$1,200300 units×$4/unit=$1,200
FBA Fees: 300 units×$4.50/unit=$1,350300 units×$4.50/unit=$1,350
Total Shipping and Distribution Costs:
$1,200 (shipping)+$1,350 (FBA fees)=$2,550$1,200 (shipping)+$1,350 (FBA fees)=$2,550
Why Shipping and Distribution Costs are Important
Budget Planning: Understanding and accurately estimating these costs is crucial for budgeting and financial planning. Unexpected expenses can significantly impact your profitability.
Pricing Strategy: These costs need to be factored into your pricing strategy to ensure you maintain healthy profit margins. Underestimating shipping and distribution costs can erode your margins and affect your competitiveness.
Customer Satisfaction: Efficient shipping and distribution are key to timely delivery and customer satisfaction. Using Amazon FBA ensures reliable and fast shipping, which can enhance your seller ratings and lead to repeat business.
Operational Efficiency: Managing these costs effectively can streamline your operations and improve cash flow. By optimizing packaging, negotiating better shipping rates, and accurately forecasting demand, you can reduce expenses and improve efficiency.
Shipping and distribution costs are a significant part of your overall expenses when selling on Amazon. By carefully estimating these costs, including packaging, inspection fees, import duties, and Amazon FBA fees, you can better manage your budget and pricing strategy. Understanding these costs helps ensure smooth operations, enhances customer satisfaction, and supports your business's profitability and growth.
6. Inventory Storage Costs
Inventory storage costs are a critical consideration when using Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service. These fees are based on the size and quantity of your inventory stored in Amazon’s warehouses and vary throughout the year. Here’s a detailed breakdown of these costs and their implications for your business.
Amazon’s Storage Fees
Amazon charges monthly storage fees that depend on the size category of your products (standard-size or oversized) and the time of year. The fees are higher during the holiday season (October to December) due to increased demand for warehouse space.
Standard-Size Storage Fees
January to September: $0.83 per cubic foot
October to December: $2.40 per cubic foot
Oversized Storage Fees
January to September: $0.53 per cubic foot
October to December: $1.20 per cubic foot
Calculating Storage Costs
To estimate your storage costs, you need to know the cubic footage of your inventory. Here’s how you can calculate it:
Cubic Footage=Length×Width×HeightCubic Footage=Length×Width×Height
Once you have the cubic footage, multiply it by the applicable storage fee rate.
Example Calculation for Standard-Size Products
Let’s say you have 500 units of a product, each measuring 1 cubic foot. Your storage costs would be:
January to September: 500 cubic feet×$0.83/cubic foot=$415500 cubic feet×$0.83/cubic foot=$415
October to December: 500 cubic feet×$2.40/cubic foot=$1,200500 cubic feet×$2.40/cubic foot=$1,200
Example Calculation for Oversized Products
If you have 200 units of an oversized product, each measuring 3 cubic feet, your storage costs would be:
January to September: 600 cubic feet×$0.53/cubic foot=$318600 cubic feet×$0.53/cubic foot=$318
October to December: 600 cubic feet×$1.20/cubic foot=$720600 cubic feet×$1.20/cubic foot=$720
Why Inventory Storage Costs Matter
Budget Management: Accurately estimating storage costs is crucial for budgeting and financial planning. These costs can add up, especially during peak seasons, impacting your overall profitability.
Inventory Turnover: High storage costs can incentivize better inventory management practices, such as maintaining optimal stock levels and ensuring a higher inventory turnover rate. This helps in reducing long-term storage fees and minimizing the risk of overstocking.
Seasonal Planning: Knowing that storage fees increase during the holiday season can help you plan your inventory levels more effectively. You might choose to stock up on faster-moving items or reduce slower-moving inventory before the fees increase.
Cost Control: By understanding these fees, you can implement strategies to minimize them, such as reducing the size of your packaging, negotiating better storage terms, or using other fulfillment centers if necessary.
Strategies to Manage Storage Costs
Optimize Inventory Levels: Maintain a balance between having enough stock to meet demand and avoiding excess inventory that incurs high storage costs.
Seasonal Adjustments: Plan your inventory levels based on seasonal fluctuations in storage fees, ensuring you minimize costs during peak periods.
Efficient Packaging: Use packaging that minimizes space without compromising product safety. Smaller packaging reduces the cubic footage and, consequently, storage fees.
FBA Inventory Management: Use Amazon’s inventory management tools to monitor and adjust your stock levels based on sales data and forecasts.
Inventory storage costs are an important aspect of selling on Amazon using FBA. These costs, varying by product size and season, can significantly impact your business’s profitability. By accurately estimating these fees and implementing strategies to manage and reduce them, you can optimize your inventory management and control expenses effectively. Understanding and planning for these costs will help ensure a smoother and more profitable operation.

1. Platform Commission

When selling on Amazon, it’s essential to account for the platform commission, known as the referral fee. This fee is a percentage of each sale and varies by product category. Understanding these fees is crucial for pricing your products and calculating your profit margins.
Amazon’s Referral Fees
Amazon charges a referral fee on each sale made through its platform. The percentage varies depending on the product category. Here are some common examples:
Electronics: 8%
Beauty Products: 15%
Books: 15%
Clothing and Accessories: 17%
Home and Kitchen: 15%
How Referral Fees Are Calculated
The referral fee is calculated as a percentage of the total sales price, which includes the item price and any shipping or gift wrap charges.
Referral Fee=Sales Price×Referral Fee PercentageReferral Fee=Sales Price×Referral Fee Percentage
Example Calculations
Electronics: If you sell a gadget for $100, the referral fee would be: $100×8%=$8$100×8%=$8
Beauty Products: If you sell a skincare product for $50, the referral fee would be: $50×15%=$7.50$50×15%=$7.50
Why Platform Commission is Important
Pricing Strategy: Knowing the referral fee helps you set your product prices appropriately to ensure you cover costs and achieve desired profit margins.
Profit Margin Calculation: Understanding the commission allows you to accurately calculate your net profit after deducting all fees.
Category Selection: The commission rate can influence your decision on which product categories to focus on. Lower commission rates in certain categories might lead to higher profitability.
Competitive Pricing: Factoring in the referral fee ensures your prices remain competitive while still being profitable.
Impact on Different Product Categories
High-Commission Categories: Categories like beauty products and clothing with higher referral fees require careful pricing to maintain profitability. High fees can significantly impact margins, especially for low-cost items.
Low-Commission Categories: Categories like electronics with lower referral fees can offer better profit margins, but these categories might also have higher competition.
Strategies to Manage Referral Fees
Optimize Pricing: Adjust your pricing to ensure it covers all costs, including the referral fee, while remaining attractive to customers.
Product Selection: Consider the referral fee when selecting products to sell. Products in categories with lower fees might be more profitable.
Bundle Products: Creating product bundles can help increase the average sales price, potentially offsetting the impact of the referral fee.
Platform commission is a significant cost factor when selling on Amazon. By understanding the referral fee structure and calculating these fees accurately, you can make informed decisions about pricing, product selection, and profitability. Properly managing and accounting for these fees ensures your business remains competitive and financially sustainable on the Amazon platform.
8. Advertising Costs
Advertising is a crucial component of your e-commerce strategy, driving visibility and sales for your products on Amazon. Effective advertising can help you reach potential customers quickly, but it requires a financial investment. Here’s a detailed breakdown of advertising costs, strategies, and their impact on your business.
Types of Advertising
Amazon Advertising: The primary form of advertising on Amazon is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads. These ads appear in search results and on product detail pages, allowing you to target specific keywords and audiences.
Sponsored Products: These ads promote individual product listings and appear in search results and product pages.
Sponsored Brands: These ads feature your brand logo, a custom headline, and multiple products.
Sponsored Display: These ads target audiences both on and off Amazon, helping to re-engage shoppers who have viewed your products.
Off-Amazon Advertising: To broaden your reach, you can also advertise on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. These platforms allow for targeted advertising based on demographics, interests, and behaviors.
Budgeting for Advertising
A typical budget for new sellers on Amazon ranges from $700 to $1,000. This budget should cover various advertising strategies, including PPC campaigns and social media ads.
Cost Breakdown
Amazon PPC Ads:
Sponsored Products: These are the most common and can cost anywhere from $0.10 to $2.00 per click, depending on the competitiveness of your keywords.
Sponsored Brands: These ads generally cost more per click due to their higher visibility and brand promotion capabilities.
Sponsored Display: Costs vary but can be effective for retargeting potential customers.
Social Media Advertising:
Facebook Ads: Costs typically range from $0.50 to $2.00 per click, depending on targeting options and competition.
Instagram Ads: Similar to Facebook, Instagram ad costs range from $0.50 to $2.00 per click, with the advantage of visual storytelling through images and videos.
Example Budget Allocation
Let’s allocate a $1,000 advertising budget across different platforms:
Amazon PPC Ads: $600
Sponsored Products: $400
Sponsored Brands: $150
Sponsored Display: $50
Social Media Ads: $400
Facebook Ads: $200
Instagram Ads: $200
Why Advertising is Important
Increased Visibility: Advertising ensures your products appear in front of potential buyers, increasing the likelihood of sales.
Competitive Edge: With many sellers on Amazon, advertising helps you stand out and reach customers who might otherwise not find your products.
Sales Velocity: Effective advertising can boost your sales velocity, improving your product rankings and increasing organic visibility over time.
Strategies for Effective Advertising
Keyword Research: Use tools like Amazon’s Keyword Planner or third-party tools to identify high-performing keywords for your PPC campaigns.
A/B Testing: Continuously test different ad creatives, headlines, and targeting options to find the most effective combinations.
Monitor and Optimize: Regularly review your ad performance data to optimize your campaigns. Adjust bids, pause underperforming keywords, and allocate more budget to high-performing ads.
Leverage Social Media: Use Facebook and Instagram to build brand awareness and drive traffic to your Amazon listings. Engaging content, such as videos and customer testimonials, can enhance ad performance.
Advertising is a vital part of your e-commerce strategy on Amazon and beyond. Allocating a budget of $700 to $1,000 for advertising can significantly enhance your product visibility and drive sales. By utilizing Amazon PPC ads and leveraging social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, you can reach a broader audience and increase your chances of success. Effective advertising requires continuous monitoring and optimization, but the investment can lead to substantial returns in terms of sales growth and brand recognition.
9. Returns and Refunds
Managing returns and refunds is an inevitable part of selling on Amazon. While they can impact your profitability, understanding the associated costs and implementing effective management strategies can help mitigate their effects. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the costs and considerations involved in handling returns and refunds.
Amazon Return Processing Fees
Amazon charges a return processing fee that varies depending on the product’s size and weight. This fee is applied when a customer returns a product, and it covers the cost of handling and processing the return.
Standard-Size Products: Fees for standard-size products are typically lower due to their smaller dimensions and weight.
Oversized Products: Fees for oversized products are higher because of the additional handling and storage space required.
Example Fee Structure
Standard-Size Product Return Fee: Approximately $2 to $5 per unit, depending on the specific dimensions and weight.
Oversized Product Return Fee: Approximately $5 to $20 per unit, depending on the specific dimensions and weight.
Additional Costs of Returns and Refunds
Restocking Fees: Amazon may charge a restocking fee for certain returned items. This fee is deducted from the refund amount and can range from 10% to 20% of the item’s price.
Return Shipping Costs: In some cases, you may be responsible for covering the cost of return shipping, especially if the return is due to a defect or error on your part.
Product Condition: Returned items that are not in resellable condition may need to be disposed of or liquidated, leading to additional losses.
Why Returns and Refunds Matter
Customer Satisfaction: Efficient handling of returns and refunds is crucial for maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction and positive reviews. Poor management can lead to negative feedback and damage your seller reputation.
Cost Management: Understanding and anticipating the costs associated with returns can help you better manage your budget and pricing strategy, ensuring you account for these potential expenses.
Inventory Control: Effective return management helps maintain accurate inventory levels and reduces the risk of overstocking or stockouts.
Strategies to Manage Returns and Refunds
Clear Product Descriptions: Provide detailed and accurate product descriptions to reduce the likelihood of returns due to customer dissatisfaction or misunderstandings.
Quality Control: Implement rigorous quality control measures to minimize defects and errors that could lead to returns.
Customer Service: Offer excellent customer service to address issues promptly and potentially resolve problems without necessitating a return.
Return Policies: Establish clear and fair return policies that balance customer satisfaction with protecting your business from excessive costs.
Example Calculation
Let’s consider you sell 100 units of a product, with an average return rate of 5%. Here’s how you can calculate the potential costs:
Product Price: $50 per unit
Return Rate: 5% (5 units)
Return Processing Fee: $3 per unit
Restocking Fee: 15% of the product price ($7.50 per unit)
Return Shipping Cost: $5 per unit
Total Return and Refund Costs:
Return Processing Fee=5 units×$3=$15Return Processing Fee=5 units×$3=$15 Restocking Fee=5 units×$7.50=$37.50Restocking Fee=5 units×$7.50=$37.50 Return Shipping Cost=5 units×$5=$25Return Shipping Cost=5 units×$5=$25
Total Costs:
$15+$37.50+$25=$77.50$15+$37.50+$25=$77.50
Handling returns and refunds is a necessary aspect of selling on Amazon, and the associated costs can add up quickly. By understanding the fees and implementing strategies to manage returns effectively, you can minimize their impact on your profitability. Clear product descriptions, stringent quality control, excellent customer service, and well-defined return policies can all contribute to reducing return rates and associated costs. Efficient return management not only helps maintain customer satisfaction but also supports better cost control and inventory management.

1. Miscellaneous Expenses

In addition to the primary costs associated with setting up and running your Amazon business, there are several miscellaneous expenses that can significantly impact your budget. These costs, while often overlooked, are crucial for creating a professional and efficient operation. Here’s a detailed breakdown of these potential expenses and their importance.
Graphic Design for Product Listings
Importance: High-quality graphics and well-designed product listings are essential for attracting customers and conveying professionalism. Poorly designed listings can deter potential buyers.
Costs: Hiring a freelance graphic designer can cost between $50 and $200 per listing, depending on the complexity and the designer's experience.
Services: Graphic design services might include creating product images, infographics, and enhanced brand content (EBC) that highlights your product's features and benefits.
Professional Photography
Importance: Professional photos can make a significant difference in how your product is perceived. High-quality images help build trust with customers and increase conversion rates.
Costs: Professional product photography can range from $100 to $500 per product, depending on the number of images and the photographer’s expertise.
Services: This may include standard product shots, lifestyle images showing the product in use, and detailed close-ups of key features.
Virtual Assistant (VA) Services
Importance: Hiring a virtual assistant can help manage various tasks, such as customer service, inventory management, and order processing. This can free up your time to focus on strategic growth.
Costs: VAs typically charge between $10 and $30 per hour, depending on their skill level and the tasks they perform.
Services: Tasks handled by VAs can include responding to customer inquiries, updating product listings, managing social media accounts, and handling administrative duties.
Other Potential Miscellaneous Expenses
Subscription Services: Tools and software subscriptions for keyword research, inventory management, and sales analytics can cost anywhere from $20 to $200 per month.
Legal and Accounting Services: Professional advice for legal and tax matters is crucial. This can include incorporating your business, trademark registration, and tax preparation, costing several hundred dollars annually.
Packaging Design: Custom packaging design can enhance your brand image and customer experience. Costs can range from $100 to $500, depending on the complexity of the design.
Marketing and Promotional Materials: Additional marketing efforts, such as email campaigns, social media ads, and promotional giveaways, can also add to your expenses.
Example Budget Allocation
Let’s break down a potential budget for these miscellaneous expenses:
Graphic Design: $150 per listing for 5 listings = $750
Professional Photography: $300 per product for 3 products = $900
Virtual Assistant: $20 per hour for 10 hours per month = $200 per month
Subscription Services: $100 per month
Legal and Accounting Services: $500 annually
Packaging Design: $300
Marketing and Promotional Materials: $200 per month
Annual Costs:
Graphic Design=$750Graphic Design=$750 Professional Photography=$900Professional Photography=$900 Virtual Assistant=$200×12=$2,400Virtual Assistant=$200×12=$2,400 Subscription Services=$100×12=$1,200Subscription Services=$100×12=$1,200 Legal and Accounting Services=$500Legal and Accounting Services=$500 Packaging Design=$300Packaging Design=$300 Marketing and Promotional Materials=$200×12=$2,400Marketing and Promotional Materials=$200×12=$2,400
Total Annual Miscellaneous Expenses:
$750+$900+$2,400+$1,200+$500+$300+$2,400=$8,450$750+$900+$2,400+$1,200+$500+$300+$2,400=$8,450
Why Miscellaneous Expenses Matter
Professionalism and Trust: Investing in professional services like graphic design and photography enhances your product listings and builds trust with potential customers.
Efficiency and Focus: Hiring a virtual assistant allows you to delegate time-consuming tasks, enabling you to focus on growing your business.
Operational Smoothness: Subscriptions to essential tools and professional legal and accounting services ensure your business operates smoothly and compliantly.
Brand Building: Custom packaging and marketing materials contribute to a strong brand identity, which can lead to increased customer loyalty and repeat business.
Miscellaneous expenses, while sometimes overlooked, play a vital role in the success of your Amazon business. By budgeting for high-quality graphic design, professional photography, virtual assistant services, and other essential tools and services, you can create a professional and efficient operation. These investments not only enhance your product listings and customer experience but also free up your time to focus on strategic growth, ultimately contributing to your business's long-term success.
Summary
Setting up and running an Amazon business involves various costs that need careful consideration to ensure profitability and efficiency. Here’s a summary of the key cost components:
Product Selection Tools: Essential for choosing profitable products, with popular tools like JungleScout ($49/month) and Helium10 ($79/month). Free alternatives like 4SELLER also provide valuable features for product selection and inventory management.
Initial Stock Costs: Depending on the product type and quantity, initial stock costs can range from $1,000 to $3,000. Starting with 200-500 units is recommended to test the market without overcommitting financially.
UPC Codes: Necessary for product tracking, these should be purchased from GS1. A pack of 10 UPC codes costs $250 initially, plus a $50 annual renewal fee.
Shipping and Distribution Costs: Includes fees for shipping products to Amazon’s warehouse and Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) fees, which range from $2.92 to $6.13 per unit. Shipping small items might cost around $4 per unit, while mid-sized products could cost $8-$12 per unit.
Inventory Storage Costs: Monthly fees for storing products in Amazon’s warehouse vary by size and season. Standard-size storage costs $0.83 per cubic foot from January to September and $2.40 per cubic foot from October to December. Oversized storage costs $0.53 per cubic foot and $1.20 per cubic foot during these periods, respectively.
Platform Commission: Amazon takes a commission on each sale, typically between 8% and 15%, depending on the product category. For instance, electronics have a referral fee of 8%, while beauty products have a fee of 15%.
Advertising Costs: To drive visibility and sales, set aside $700-$1,000 for advertising. This includes Amazon PPC ads and potentially social media ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Returns and Refunds: Handling returns incurs costs, including Amazon’s return processing fee, restocking fees, and return shipping costs. These fees vary based on product size and weight.
Miscellaneous Expenses: Other costs include graphic design for product listings ($50-$200 per listing), professional photography ($100-$500 per product), and virtual assistant services ($10-$30 per hour). Additional expenses may include subscription services, legal and accounting services, packaging design, and marketing materials.
In total, you'll need at least $5,000 to start an Amazon FBA business today. Plus, you'll need to spend a lot of time managing your store and optimizing your product listings. This includes continuously monitoring your sales performance, tweaking your advertising strategies, and keeping an eye on competitors to stay ahead in the market.
By understanding and planning for these costs, you can effectively manage your Amazon business, ensuring it remains profitable and efficient while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction.

It was an early morning in the Border Collie Household. The sun was just beginning to peek through the curtains, casting a warm glow into the living room where Mackenzie, Minnie, and Little Mack were sitting, looking rather bored.
Mackenzie, the eldest of the three siblings, let out a sigh as he tossed his stuffed Bilby, Billy, up in the air and caught it repeatedly. "I'm so bored," he grumbled, glancing over at his younger siblings.
Minnie, her bright eyes filled with mischief, grinned mischievously. "I know! Let's go bug Mom and Dad until they play with us!"
Little Mack's face lit up at the suggestion. "Yeah! That sounds like fun!"
“Alright, alright. Let's go see what they're up to." Mackenzie said as he placed Billy next to Bandido and lead his siblings out of his room and to the kitchen.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Hunter and Queen were in the kitchen, having just finished the coffee they made a couple of minutes before.
“Honey?” Queen called.
“Yeah babe?” Hunter asked.
“What’s your stopwatch say?” Queen asked. Hunter looked at the stopwatch on the table next to them.
“12:22.” Hunter said. The two of them looked at each other for five seconds and then smirked.
“Three...two...one.” They both counted down. As they reached "one," Mackenzie, Minnie, and Little Mack burst into the kitchen, their faces filled with excitement.
"We're bored!" Minnie declared dramatically, throwing herself onto one of the kitchen chairs. “Can you play with us?”
“I don’t see why not.” Hunter answered as he turned to face the three. “What game do you wanna play?”
That was the thing. They didn’t exactly know what they wanted to play. Queen glanced at Hunter with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"I have an idea," she said, her lips curling into a playful grin. "How about we play... Smoochy Tag?"
“Smoochy Tag? Now THAT is a game I haven’t played in a long time.” Hunter said with a laugh.
“What’s smoochy tag?” Little Mack asked.
“It’s like normal tag, but you have to smooch someone to tag them. When you tag them, they help you tag the others. It’s really fun!” Mackenzie said as his tail wagged a bit.
“I’ll be it first. Mackenzie, can you pick a number between one and ten?” Queen asked. Mackenzie paused for a moment.
“Seven!” Mackenzie said happily.
“Seven.” Queen repeated, then she smirked. “Six…Five…Four-”
Realizing she was counting down, Hunter and the kids took off running. Hunter opened the front door and ran out of the house with the laughing children. Queen reached one and then grabbed her coffee mug.
“I’ll just finish this first.” She stated while also putting Hunter’s mug in the sink.
After a couple of seconds of running, the four of them stopped for a moment and looked around.
“We need to hide.” Hunter said as he looked around.
“But where?” Mackenzie asked. That’s when they heard a door open, they all turned to see Bandit standing at the opening.
“Oh, morning Border Collies!” Bandit said with a wave.
“Morning Bluey’s Dad, can we hide in your house?” Mackenzie asked. Bandit raised an eyebrow almost immediately, leaving Hunter to clarify.
“We’re playing a game and Queen is it.” Hunter told him.
“Say no more, c’mon in.” Bandit said almost immediately, opening the door a little bit more for them. The four Border Collies ran inside and Bandit closed the door, looking through the peephole.
“Sorry to involve you in our game Bandit.” Hunter told him. Bandit turned to him and waved it away.
“No worries, we do that to our neighbor Pat all the time. Looks like karma finally caught up.” Bandit said, he then walked away from the door. “What game are you playing?”
“We call it smoochy tag.” Hunter said, that’s when the doorbell rang. Bandit walked over to open it and saw that no one was there.
“Huh, no one. Weird.” Bandit said before closing the door and walking back to Hunter. “What’s Smoochy tag?”
“Basically a cross between tag and playing zombies, but a kiss is how you tag the others.” Hunter answered. The doorbell rang again. Bandit opened the door and looked around this time, again, seeing no one.
“Kids playing ding dong ditch?” Hunter asked. Bandit closed the door and walked back over.
“Probably.” Bandit said as Chilli walked into the room.
“Who’s dinging the doorbell?” Chilli asked.
“Probably the kids.” Bandit said. That was before he saw Bluey and Bingo hiding Mackenzie and Little Mack somewhere in the living room, and then hearing the doorbell again. “Okay, definitely not the kids.”This time, Hunter walked over to the door to open it, and when he did, Queen grabbed his arm and pulled him outside.
“Gotcha! C’mere you!” Queen smirked as she attempted to pull him into a kiss. However, Bandit and Chilli grabbed Hunter to pull him into the house, joining the game.
“Not so fast!” Bandit said as he pulled Hunter into the house. Chilli also pulled, whilst chuckling.
“It’s not gonna be that easy.” Chilli told her. Queen continued trying to kiss Hunter, but Hunter was pulled away and Chilli got a cushion to poke Queen back out of the house. “Out, out with ya.”
With Queen back out of the house, Chilli closed the door. Chilli wiped her brow with a ‘phew’ and looked at Bandit.
“What was that all about?” Chilli asked.
“It’s a game called Smoochy Tag.” Bandit told her.
“Sounds fun, I’ll ask the kids if they wanna play.” Chilli said as she walked to the living room. Bandit looked at Hunter with wide eyes.
“Run upstairs, quick.” Bandit told him. Hunter nodded and ran upstairs with Bandit. Chilli walked to the living room where she saw Bingo hiding Little Mack behind the plant.
"Hey, Bingo," Chilli said with a warm smile. "Are you and your new friend playing Smoochy Tag too?"
Bingo looked up from her hiding spot with a wide grin. "Yeah, Mum! We're helping hide Little Mack from his mum."
“Well guess what, your dad and I are playing too. But I need to know the rules first.” Chilli said as he kneeled down to Little Mack’s height. “Can you tell me the rules?”
Little Mack got out from under the table and began to explain the rules of the game.
“It’s like normal tag, but you have to smooch someone to tag them. When you tag them, they help you tag the others. Mackenzie says it’s really fun.” Little Mack answers. Chilli tapped her chin.
“Smooch someone, like this?” Chilli asked, placing a kiss on Little Mack’s forehead. Little Mack giggled.
“Yes, exactly like that.” Little Mack said.
“Good. Looks like we’re helping your mom now.” Chilli said, revealing she made herself it when she played the game. Which also meant she that Little Mack was also it. Much to the four year old’s playful disappointment.
“Aw bugger.” Little Mack said. Then both of them turned to Bingo. She quickly turned around to run.
“Quick, let’s get her!” Chilli exclaimed as she and Little Mack ran after her. The moment they were out of the living room, Bluey and Mackenzie ran out from behind the couch and ran to the backyard where they got cut off by Queen.
“Going somewhere?” She teased before running after them. Bluey and Mackenzie playfully screamed before running back inside. Queen ran after them and was gaining on them pretty quickly. She would’ve caught up if it wasn’t for Minnie running in front of her, running away from Bingo who was also running away from Chilli and Little Mack. Switching targets, Queen grabbed Minnie and kissed her forehead.“No!” Minnie exclaimed while laughing. Bingo was gonna run past, but Queen grabbed her too and kissed her on the forehead as well. Now the only ones left were Mackenzie, Bluey, Hunter and Bandit. Bluey and Mackenzie were seen running up stairs. Upstairs, the hallway presented several doors, providing ample hiding spots. Bluey gestured excitedly to the linen closet. "Quick, hide in here!" she whispered urgently to Mackenzie.
Mackenzie nodded, running into the closet with Bluey. Bluey closed the door, while Hunter and Bandit veered into the Heeler bedroom just as they heard footsteps approaching. Inside the linen closet, Bluey and Mackenzie huddled together, barely able to contain their giggles. Bluey put a finger to her lips, motioning for Mackenzie to stay quiet as they listened to the footsteps draw closer. They held their breath as the footsteps walked towards them, stopped, and then walked away from them. Allowing them to let out a sigh of relief.
In the bedroom, Hunter and Bandit were both were under the bed, and practically arguing with each other silently.
“Find your own hiding spot!” Bandit whisper yelled to him.
“I don’t know this house! This is the best I can do!” Hunter replied. The two of them where still arguing when Queen and Chilli walked into the room, and from the footsteps abruptly stopping, they more than likely got found out.
“You think they heard us?” Bandit asked. Suddenly, Hunter’s ankles were grabbed and he was yanked out from under the bed. Bandit’s wrists were grabbed and he was pulled out as well. When they were out, they realized that the other’s wife had pulled them out. Bandit was pulled out by Queen and Hunter was pulled out by Chilli. The two ladies looked at each other, smirked, nodded and switched locations, kissing their husbands to tag them.
“And then there were two.” Hunter said as he stood up looking out in the hall.
“I heard whispering in the closet before walking in here.” Chilli said as she pointed to the linen closet. Queen and Hunter started to walk towards that door and counted backwards from three before opening the door and seeing….nothing.
“Huh?” Queen questioned. Inside Bluey’s room, Mackenzie and Bluey were sneaking back down the stairs and was making their way to the playroom. On the way there, Mackenzie accidentally bumped into one of the dressers and knocked over the lamp. Mackenzie was fast enough to catch the lamp before it could hit the ground.
“That was close.” Mackenzie said in relief.
“He’s downstairs!” Little Mack exclaimed, having heard him. Mackenzie put the lamp back and he and Bluey ran out to the backyard. Little Mack was the first to go outside to try and catch at least one of them. Minnie ran outside too and both were going straight for Mackenzie, who was not too keen with getting caught so he kept dodging and juking them like he was playing a game of rugby. Bluey on the other hand was running from Bingo and ran right into Bandit who picked her up and kissed her on the nose.
“Gotcha Bluey!” Bandit told her. He then looked at Mackenzie who juked Little Mack and made him run into Minnie. Mackenzie was gonna run back inside, but Hunter was guarding the door. “Let’s get em Bluey.”
Mackenzie turned around and Queen was blocking his path back.
“Where’re you gonna go now mate?” Hunter asked him. Mackenzie looked right and saw Bandit and Bluey walking towards him.
“Going left!” Mackenzie said as he ran left. He was gonna run down the left side of the house to go to the front yard, but the moment he ran around the corner, Chilli was right there. Mackenzie turned around to run again, but he was grabbed by Hunter, who jumped over the railing the moment he went around the corner. Mackenzie laughed as he was caught, squirming playfully in Hunter's grasp.
"Nice try, buddy." Hunter chuckled before planting a kiss on his son’s forehead, ending the game. “Man, you’re getting faster kid.”
"You're not too bad yourself, Dad." Mackenzie replied, his tail wagging happily. "That was so much fun!"
"You did great, champ," Hunter said, ruffling Mackenzie's hair. "But all that running around has made me hungry, lets go get brunch.”
Mackenzie's stomach growled in agreement, and he nodded eagerly. "Yeah, brunch sounds awesome!"
Chilli and Bandit looked at each other and then nodded before turning back over to the Border Collies.
“Would you like to stay for Brunch?” Chilli asked them.
"That sounds lovely," Queen replied with a smile, glancing at Hunter for confirmation.
Hunter nodded, returning the smile. "Yeah, we'd love to stay. Thanks for the invitation."
Chilli beamed. "Great! Let's head to the kitchen then. I'll whip up something delicious for all of us."
“Allow me to help.” Queen said as she and Chilli walked upstairs to the kitchen. Hunter and Bandit played with the kids to keep them occupied. s they all made their way to the kitchen, the Border Collies chatted happily, their laughter filling the air. Hunter and Bandit found themselves engaged in a playful game of catch with Mackenzie, Bluey, Minnie, and Little Mack, while Queen and Chilli worked together to prepare brunch.
In the kitchen, Queen and Chilli shared stories and laughter as they cooked, enjoying each other's company. Queen expertly cracked eggs into a bowl while Chilli chopped vegetables for an omelet. The aroma of sizzling bacon filled the air, making everyone's stomachs growl in anticipation.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Hunter and Bandit continued their game with the kids, tossing a ball back and forth and dodging around the furniture. Mackenzie's tail wagged furiously as he chased after the ball, his laughter echoing through the house.
As brunch neared completion, Queen and Chilli set the table with plates, utensils, and glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice. The tantalizing smell of food wafted through the house, drawing everyone to the kitchen.
With everything ready, they all gathered around the table, exchanging smiles and stories as they enjoyed the delicious brunch together. Plates were filled with fluffy omelets, crispy bacon, and buttery toast, and the conversation flowed effortlessly as they savored the meal.
Later on, Queen and Chilli were playing with the kids as Hunter and Bandit were on the balcony watching them as they played, drinking some soda as they watched.
“Made quite the first impression you know.” Bandit said to Hunter, who chuckled.
“Sweet as, Bandit. You know I was a bit skeptical about the move but now...” Hunter responded, watching as Bluey playfully managed to tackle Mackenzie to the ground. “..I think I made the right choice.”
“While I don’t doubt that mate, I’m sure we’ll see.” Bandit told him.
“Yeah…we’ll see.” Hunter replied. Soon, it was time for the Border Collies to head home and the Heelers waved goodbye to them as they walked off.
“You know, I think I like our new neighbors.” Chilli said to her family.
“Will they be back to play again?” Bingo asked her dad. Bandit smiled and watched the Border Collies walk off.
“We’ll see.”

I grew up in a very emotionally turbulent household. Both my parents were hot heads, and demanded compliance from my siblings and I. Towards the latter half of my years in high school, things got particularly bad. My Sister and my Stepmom had a large falling out after years of rising tensions, and my Sister moved out to my Mother's house, which was in a different city. My relationship with my stepmom had becomed intensely strained as well, as I became less scared to fight back when I was being punished unfairly. Fights broke out almost every day, and I was in a very bad place. This was someone I was very, very close to, you see. She was the mother figure in my life. So the constant arguments took a large toll on my mental health. Slowly, things improved throughout my senior year, and I graduated and moved out. Through all the arguments I knew that she still loved me like a son. Through everything, all of the problems, I knew she was just trying to parent in the best way she knew how. So I forgave her, and now I'm closer to her than ever. My sister, however, never forgave her. They haven't seen eachother in years.
A month ago, my stepmom tried again to talk to my sister. I remember she said she wanted them to go get ice cream and to discuss the past and move forward; to have a productive conversation. My sister said no, again. My stepmom had been crying after I told her, at a loss of what to do. She just wanted to see her again; after all, she was what she considered one of her children. She had been devastated that she had been cut out of my sister's life despite her many chances to make her love for my sister known. Me and my stepsister helped her come to terms with the situation, as even after the things she'd done, she didn't deserve to feel like that. She's only human, and despite how she has come across in the past, she is an incredibly emotional person.
The Terrible Little My doesn't have a plot that lines up with my little narrative about my stepmother, but it teaches a very valuable lesson to the people who watch it that, given the story I've just told, runs very deep with me. It tells the tale of Little My, who one day wakes up and decides that nobody can stop her from doing whatever she wants to do. She steals the bread basket and doesn't give it back, and indirectly hurts Moomin by scaring him so he falls down a hill. Little My deserts the scene, not wanting a confrontation, because she knows she's too blame, but is scared of the consequences of what she did. This rings true as she stands up on the hill and initially grimaces, realizing the real damage she might have caused. So she ditches the scene, desperate to not be confronted. Everybody else is quick to incriminate her, and for a couple days, nobody bats a second glance to where she might be after she just up and left (besides Moominmama, that is), and instead all share a collective "Good riddance" feeling towards Little My. After hearing Moomin essentially say she won't be forgiven and doesn't have a place in the Moomin family anymore, she lashes out one last time and leaves again ti hide out with Snufkin. She's deeply hurt by the notion that she's not a welcome component of the family anymore, and believes it wholeheartedly. She believes she's been completely exiled, and that nothing she can do will change that.
This story is brought to an end once Moomin sees how horrible he made Little My feel, to which he happily invites her back to the family and forgives her for what she did. This is the lesson of this episode that I feel is very important for people to know. Deep down, we're all only human, who are capable to making mistakes, grave ones. We will all probably hurt the ones we love at some point another, and we can't change that. But what is important, that is episode helps demonstrate, is that we should all know that forgiveness is always an option. Nobody should ever have to feel disavowed from the others that they love because of a mistake they have made. Everyone is deserving of forgiveness, and when forgiveness isn't granted, that will strike a very deep chord in the very fiber of someone's being. That's deep pain that nobody should ever have to experience; the pain that my stepmom felt when my sister refused to see her.
And that's why it's my favorite episode of Moomins, across all adaptations. With how I can take the lesson shown here and apply it to my own life, this episode feels like it hits very close to home for me.

My husband and I were high school sweethearts and got married very young (I was 19), but more on that later.
For now, backstory: we both come from rather toxic families and are both black sheep. The difference being I realized early on and my husband, being very sweet and naïve at times, didn’t realize his until I started pointing it out. My intentions were never to alienate his family, however, I’ve never liked the way they treated him. Especially his mother’s side.
One of the biggest examples that comes to mind was how he worked over the summer for his Aunt one year before we even met, and instead of giving the money to him, the money was given to his mom‘s parents who kept it in an account “for him“ that he couldn’t access. Later, they bought him a car with it, but put it in their name. When I found out, I immediately pointed out that that was kind of messed up, it’s nice that he got a car, but that money should’ve been given to him and at the very least the car should have been in his name. But as he usually does, he chose to see the bright side of things, so for the most part he was just happy that he had a car. Fast-forward a year or two, and he was driving up most weekends to visit me in college when he wasn’t working (about 1 1/2 hours each way, so not very far by Texas standards), when his grandparents decided that they didn’t like that and they tried to stop him, but that argument didn’t last very long and they relented. It wasn’t until they started telling him that he couldn’t visit his dad using the car that things really got dicey.
And it’s not like his dad lived very far, he lived in the same neighborhood as his mom, and in the same neighborhood that we had grown up in. And this time they would not relent, they absolutely despise his father. The divorce was messy and even though neither is completely blameless, she definitely had the worst offenses. Just trust me on that. Since then, it’s like she never learned how to be an adult and has been a perpetual 16-year-old, always complaining about everything and with her parents always holding the purse strings (though you could argue it’s always been that way, her parents paid for her schooling to be a dance major and she never did anything with that, they defended her bad decisions during the divorce, paid the mortgage on her large house afterwards, and even now after expressing how much she doesn’t enjoy being around her parents, she refuses to leave and still lives with a family member).
Anyways, after his grandparents threatened to take away the car (which he used for work as a pizza delivery man and obviously his mom didn’t stand up for him) if he tried to visit his dad, he let his dad know and I helped him move out of his mom‘s house that night while she was at work. It made him terribly unhappy at first, especially to leave his younger siblings behind, but he knew what they were doing was wrong, and he was over 18 and thats simply a line you don’t cross. His dad baught him a car to use.
It should be noted that he likely would not have said anything to his father or moved out if I hadn’t pushed him to, and that’s probably why a good portion of his family aren’t really big fans of mine. Even several years after we were married and possibly even to this day, they think I make all of the decisions in our relationship and force him to do what makes me happy even if he doesn’t want to, which of course is not the case, we discuss and agree on every major decision. When I was pregnant with our son, our first child, we were at his dad‘s mom‘s house and I was often sitting and asking him to get things for me and the like and he ended up going to get food with one of his sisters and she literally told him that she didn’t like how I was constantly asking him to do things and I wasn’t doing anything for myself. The pregnancy was very hard on me, I LOST 11 lbs and had to work the whole time and had no paid leave, so yes I tried to relax as much as I could. These are just a few examples of their behavior, his mother and her parents are also often emotionally and psychologically manipulative and abusive, comparing him to his cousins which they often consider “more successful“ especially since he decided he didn’t want to be a doctor and wanted to work in a lab instead, and anytime he tries to argue back with his mom she does the whole “I guess I’m just a horrible mom“ thing. Something I am very well familiar with in my own life. Needless to say, I am not the biggest fan of his family.
I did one year of my university before I decided it wasn’t the right path for me and about that time he was about finished with community college and was looking to go to university next. He ended up getting excepted into the university that I had gone to, but didn’t really want to move into the dorms as someone who was older than most freshman, but also couldn’t afford an apartment on his own. So we decided that we would get married and move up there together, we were already engaged as he proposed to me on my 18th birthday. It was the perfect set up as being under the same roof as my mother again really sucked.
I don’t quite remember why we decided to get married three months from that point, it was kind of stressful. But during that time him and his mother had another huge falling out, of course with her parents being on her side, and the deal with the car was still fresh in everyone’s minds. After that I didn’t want her at the wedding, or her parents, and while it did upset him a bit(notice a trend? He is very sweet and has a tender heart and is a recovering people-pleaser) he agreed that it would just be unnecessary drama.
It was a very small wedding as my parents gave me $2000 and I used half of that on a weekend honeymoon and the other half to cover the cupcakes and the photographer (who was an old friend of ours from high school). My youth pastor who at this point also knew my (soon to be) husband was the officiant and graciously let us use the foyer the youth building free of charge for the ceremony. This was a small neighborhood church so the room wasn’t very big but we weren’t inviting a ton of people so we were fine with it, especially since it was mostly windows and it was pretty nice especially since we didn’t have to pay for it. We ended up inviting both sets of my parents, my sister and her small family, and my little sister and my mom‘s parents. (note the parents, siblings, and my closest grandparents) In the end, after his mother begged, we did end up letting her come, and then of course his father came and his siblings and his father‘s mom. (Note the parents, siblings, and his closest grandparent). Our closest friends were there which was 6 people, and then my small group from church had spent the night decorating the foyer for the ceremony so of course they were invited too. The numbers were slightly skewed in my favor as both of my parents have remarried, my sister was married with 2 kids, and both of my grandparents were still alive at the time. So yes, technicality he had less people there, but he told me that he didn’t mind after I pointed this out to him back when we were talking about who to invite. And his family really didn’t like this. We both have large families. Only mine was scattered to the four winds and his lived exclusively in Texas. If his mom‘s parents hadn’t been treating him like dirt I happily would’ve invited them too, and seeing as I didn’t even invite my step sisters who had been in my life since I was two, I didn’t think it would be appropriate to invite his cousins, especially since the room was plenty full as it was. Again, he understood and was OK with all of this.
In the end, it was very sweet and small and the reception just took place at one of our favorite restaurants.
To this day, he still catches flack for more of his family not being invited, especially is mom’s parents, and we are always told by third parties about things his family say about us and especially me. (one of them even called me a gold digger, even though at the time was working at Domino’s. His mom told us she was the only one who “stood up for me” in that moment, but the best response she could come up with was “my son doesn’t have money“).
I have no qualms about what we did. We have since moved halfway across the country, recently celebrated our 8 year anniversary, and are very happy. The things they say still weigh on us though, so I was hoping to prove a point with this post.
So, are we the assholes for not inviting most of my husband’s family to the wedding?

Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugou and All Might get nice little endings and all (we've set to see the epilogue, but now that the antagonists are defeated, and Midoriya no longer has One For All, just like when the story began, it's pretty clear that the story is over other than epilogue stuff), but what about the rest of the cast?
lets look at the other classmates, AKA, the supporting characters of class 1-A. what resolution have they gotten..? well, none. "the story of how we all became the greatest heroes" yeah sure, whatever. I like the idea of it, but that didn't happen, not really. but well, they're all skilled, so now that the All For One and One For All are basically both dead Quirks, the future of the Quirk world does look bright for the ONE YEAR STUDENTS that will be inheriting this world from the Pros... or does it? does the world really look bright, or will those same institutions lead to the very same downfall?
lets look at the villains.
Spinner was, in the end, given the fate of some kind of extremely inappropriate, far-right interpretation of the BLM movement, and i the end, had the brain of a wild beast with little intelligence and a monstrous appearance, which comes off as the 'true nature of Heteromorphs', even though that's not true at all. nice representation of POC, Horikoshi. you portrayed black people as horrifying idiotic monsters. like what?? he had multiple Quirks put in him, so he's most certainly dead, if the brain damage didn't make that obvious enough. that sucks. and having Rock Lock, a BLACK MAN be the one watch his fate is just so insulting.
Toya is burned to pieces. I wanna say they'll find a way to heal him, but at the very least, his nerves are probably all burned. He'll be lucky if anything jaw and below can move anymore if he DOES live. and then what? instead of rehabilitating him, they'll throw him in Tartarus like every other problem child, refusing to give him any help. At most, Endeavour will be able to use his Number 1 Hero status to force the government to let him and his family visit him once a month at most. oh joy.
Himiko Toga, the little girl who functions as a neurodivergent + queer allegory in the story who, after some amazing development with Uravity.. has been set up so that she'll have to (likely already has) killed herself in order to save Uraraka with her blood.. great, just great. rest in peace the most well written female character in the entire story.
Shigaraki is dead. he never got to conquer his groomer. by the time he realized what he wanted, it was too late. he faded away into nothing. the institution that failed him is still there. the government is going to be praised for all that's happened by the Heroes' hands and the Heroes themselves couldn't even save one sad, scared little boy who was used for the wills of an older man till the very end. rest in peace the best written male character in the story.
so, none of these characters who deserve justice ever got justice. at most, they were redeemed right before they died. what the hell is Horikoshi trying to say about abuse victims? "they'll turn out evil in the end, and before they get the chance to turn over a new leaf, they'll kill hundreds then die, making their lives worthless in the first place. hopefully things will improve in the future for the oppressed, oh well."
OH, THANKS HORIKOSHI. truly the uplifting message that superheroes teach us: you can't save anyone, even when in the end, they're screaming, begging to be saved. so beautiful. I'm glad to know that all the best characters in your story couldn't be saved, couldn't be redeemed, couldn't be helped and then released into society again.. in the end, the black and white notion of 'heroes and villains' wins over, and the government and military who violate hundreds of conventions every day (this is explicitly stated in universe, too) are our friends! just great! :D
I fell in love with this series as a kid back in 2016 when the anime season 1 came out. this ending sucks. all I can hope is that the epilogue finds a way to bullshit the plot into Toya and/or Toga surviving and getting to live a happy, stable life in society again. but that probably isn't going to happen. (I'll be very happy if I get to eat my words).

I'm done, I give up. My wife of 21 years and I are not compatible, not anymore. We have 2 children, one about to graduate, one about to be driving age. I think/hope they're old enough now. I'm not perfect, far from it, I'm overweight, and can be lazy. She's tougher to describe, she's a good mother, she tries to do what she thinks is right for them.
At the same time, she's a functioning alcoholic, has bad financial judgement, and sometimes bad judgement in general, and can be pretty nasty to me. The past few months have been bad, sex doesn't exist, we hardly talk unless it's about coordinating responsibilities, she doesn't even say goodnight to me any more she just goes. My older daughter has even noticed and called us out for being disfunctional.
She cheated almost 10 years ago, I would have left then if it weren't for the kids. I swallowed my pride, went to counseling, and buried it, our kids don't know. I never fully forgave her, I've never trusted her since. We've had a lot of disagreement on how to raise our kids, I've always wanted to prioritize academics, she's always undermined that and put competitive cheerleading first. About a year ago I put my 9th grader into an after school remedial learning program. The kid was still counting with her fingers, tutoring and working with her wasn't working. Naturally my daughter rebelled, but my wife told me I was unfair and made me the villain. A year later my youngest borderline hates me for forcing her to do it, I've finally agreed to let her stop, at least she understands arithmetic and basic algebra now.
Right now trying to figure out how to pay for college for the older one is the straw that is breaking my back. 6 months ago it was obvious we didn't have enough saved, and also obvious we would get no financial aid. Our income is too high and we don't live within our means. The same tactics and fighting (see below) got me into a house bigger than we need, and a car payment bigger than we should have, that have spread us thin. Combine that with probably $10k spent on cheerleading annually, and several thousands more spent so she can accompany the team at competitions. I apparently have no spine, because despite objecting to all of it, I've been steam rolled every time.
Back to college, my daughters gpa was barely enough to get accepted, no academic scholarships, no scholarships for cheerleading either. My daughter was thinking nursing school, then a BS, then grad school for PA or NP. my wife convinced her she needed the "college experience" whatever that is. My daughter was looking at big D1 schools with high academic reqs that wouldn't even accept her with her gpa, and I tried to gently explain reality, my wife made me the asshole and said essentially I was mean and full of shit. Then she focused on other big schools without considering cost, I tried to explain reality again, it turned into a big family wide fight where my wife again made me the asshole, and cheap and selfish, that we would "figure it out" and I was just selfish and didn't want to pay. Fast forward to now we finally get the total package from her university of choice. Our 529 savings is enough to pay for 3 semesters. We are still short $100k to get her a 4 year degree. She also wants another 2 years grad school. She keeps saying we'll figure it out, she even enlister her mom and sister who are supposedly going to contribute $10k/year (I doubt that much would actually happen). That's still $60k short plus grad school. We have another daughter who graduates in 2 years. This plan puts my older daughter in a bad position to finish what she's about to start, puts our finances in chaos, and screws over our younger daughter and our ability to help her. 2 other schools offer her targeted undergrad and even masters program she wants for about 1/2 that. Going to community for a year and getting a 3.8 gpa would get her a $14k merit scholarship from her school of choice every year, taking $42k off the total cost for the remaining 3 years.
My wife won't take no for an answer and I won't give in this time. Our last conversation ended with me telling her that if she could find a financial planner who could explain to me how this could possibly work and that it makes any sense at all that I would acquiesce. Her last comment to me was that she would just sign the parent loans on her own. That was this morning, she hasn't said a word to me since.
I can't live like that anymore. I'm done. I don't want to even be in a room with her, let alone share a house and bank account. I haven't told her, I've heard enough horror stories about accusations, PFAs, hiding assets, etc.
I have no support system, no one who could give me advice on even what ducks to get in a row. I don't know how to interview an attorney, or what questions to ask. My mother is somewhat estranged, and I wouldn't rely on her advice even if we had a great relationship. Neither of my brothers would be good for advice either I think. No one in my family that I can think of has ever divorced, even my brother's wives parents are all still married. My wife has a huge advantage here, pretty much everyone on her side has been divorced at least once.
Like the title says, where do I start? Is there a divorce for dummies?

Warning this story contains sexual assault, i wil not be describing this, there is also mention of mental abuse (i don't really know what to call it, i'm sorry)
My ex-boyfriend(27m) Jason and i (26f) have been broken up for 4 years, yes, we broke up during the pandemic however it was a long time coming. We stayed friends, as we have a lot of friends in common and frequently meet up. Over time i have come to a conclusion that i don't want to be near him anymore and need help or advice on what to do with our mutual friends.
I''l give you a bit of history. We were together for 4 years, so when we were about 17-18. Both of us have a tumultuous history and when we met, we bonded over that. It is important to the story i share a bit of my history, i was sexually assaulted when i was a child and had kept it to myself until i was about 17, my healing proces started around the same time(i have ptsd). Jason went throug an abusive relationship, this is all i'm going to say as it is not mine to share. Both of us needed help, we held on to eachother, i became what he needed. He tried to help but i guess he got lost. He manipulated, sexually assaulted, raped me and made me believe i was at fault for it. He compared me to his ex, who was always compared to a contolling monster, it made me feel like i was one. He counted the amount of days we didn't have sex to say that he was great for not cheating, reiterating that he is a great person for putting up with my trauma and problems. I don't want to say i was a perfect person, i can only imagine it is difficult to have a partner with my baggage. I'm also not saying it was all bad or that i think he is a monster but he left me with more trauma than i started with. Even though i only came to this realisation after we broke up.
When we broke up we decided that we would stay friends, after al we never fought. I've know my friends since i was about 12 years old, Jason became a part of that friendgroep when we started dating. My friends are my family, they are amasing people, who i never want to lose. Jason is a guy that will let you feel if he thinks you of lesser intelligence. He has people in our group where he thinks himself better because he is more intelligent. In my opinion he takes whatever he reads and accepts it as his own opinion, he often does not speak in nuance or his own expirience, or with enough reliable sources. For example he thought it was not hard to get a vasectomy for woman, or at least just as hard for men with just as much consequenses. (idiot) Please don't take this as fully true, i might just have short sight where he is concerned.
Let's get to where i need help. Around Christmass this year a couple in our friendgroup broke up, it was a rough time for them and they leaned on their friends for help, obviously. It got heated cause one of them was moving on with a different person from our group while the other wanted to hold on to their relationship. At one point jason needed to take a step back, because he cound't handle being in between the two camp, which i understand, one of them was going throug heavy mental struggles.
When he decided to take a step back from the situation i reached out to him, to check up on him, cause i knew he sometimes struggled with this kind of stuff. In the last couple of years we never really talked, i really stuggled with being "nice" , this is in quotation cause i can be quit passive agressive towards him. i see his red flags more than others maybe?
We started talking about how we handled our break up and how it was easier for us cause of the pandemic, we didn't need to see eachother. He started to talkabout maybe dating again soon and i playfully, not really playfully give him advice. I quote 'Maybe don't count the days you don't have sex, comparing them to you're horrible ex, just some advice haha' he immidiatly confirmed the dick move. This started a conversation where he admitted and apologized for raping me and abusing me, his words. He admitted to being abusive! I cound't believ it, i never thought he would realise what he did let alone admit this to me. I can't tell you how relieved i was, i never talked to anybody exept my psycholigist. I din't feel like i had the right to tell our friends cause WE decided we were friends, i didn't want to come off as a scorned ex, i didn't think they would believe me. Maybe they would think i was just seeing the bad things and exagerating. After the converstation we decided to meet and have a face to face conversation. A lot of crying and me saying it to his face that he raped me during our 4 year relationship i felt drained. He also gave me 'permission' to talk to our friends about it.
Before i wanted to share with them i needed to breath again, in my life i go though shit and i need moment to just be able to really relatavize things. Just two days after our conversation he texted to meet up again, he needed tot talk to me... I panicked and immidiently said yes, i thought he was going to take everything back and say i overeacted, that i was at fault, which i was definetly not. We met, he wanted to know what i meant by guilt.... WTF, what do you mean? Guilt, yes you are guilty, you did this, maybe not with violence but i said no, you did it anyways, dickhead. No, he wanted me to tell him i don't think he is a rapist now, or i don't think he is a monster. And while yes, i don't think he is a bad guy or a monster, he was to me in that time. He might have changed. I think he did, he's admittance is prove of that. Let me tell you tho i yelled at this man, why do you need me to help you deal with this, you did this to me and now you want to play victim to me. Poor you, you raped me? I told him to leave me alone, that i needed him to not involve me in this cause i can't. Again he is making me feel bad because something that happened between us harms him.
It has been a month and last week was the first time i told my girlfriends, who are part of this friendgroup, what a relieve. They told me in no uncertain terms that they believed me and that i get to make decision in if i'm comfertable with him around me, i love them. They both have reached out to me if i need totalk about it they are here for me. They have also expressed disgust haha.
I'm not planning on not sharing what happened between us with my friends, i always felt like a burden by sharing but i need support and i'm learning that they want to be there for me. A couple of others know and they are also there for me, whatever i need.
Now here is where i need your advice. I don't want my friends to feel like they need to not be friends with him. I decided that i don't want him near me anymore, the way that second conversation went really striked me the wrong way, i'm done with him. Now i know he is not a monster, he is a different Jason to me than he is for the others. He was a best man at the wedding of my bestfriends, he was there for them when they have had a difficult time, i don't want them to feel ike i want them out of their lives for me. A lot of us view our friendship as family, i don't want them to lose that. What do i do? How do i handle this? I need help, i need any advice you can give me.
Thank you for reading, also English is not my first language, i appoligize for any weird mistakes.
Again thank you.

(On mobile so sorry if the format is weird.) Long story short, I (22F) am stuck. Like, stuck stuck. My Mom (50’sF) has been unemployed for a couple of years now, and in the beginning I agreed to pay for all of her bills until either she or my brother got a job to help me out because what 20 something wants to give their entire paycheck to their mom? Well that’s exactly what I’m doing. She has lymphedema, and that’s not her fault but my family has spent thousands of dollars on equipment and treatments to fix it but she gets demotivated and stops trying after awhile, it’s to the point she struggles to get in and out of the car. Meanwhile my brother (20M) does nothing but play roblox all night and talk to his friends on discord. Sure he helps around the house sometimes but every time my mom picks me up from work (no car. Tried saving but my mom got into bankruptcy debt so all of it went to that. Which I’m also paying for and I guess she goes to jail if I stop.) she complains about how her legs are getting worse and it makes me so frustrated because your unemployed son is right there! Let him help you, I’m at work literally all day and can’t do anything about it. I did in the beginning, but if I’d kept doing it we would’ve been homeless by now cause I’m the only one out of the three working. I tried showing my bro how to wrap her legs but he always had an excuse not to do it. Anyways, that’s not even the big issue- my girlfriend (24F) wants me to move in with her, but she’s about 21 hours away by car and I have no idea what to do. I’ve always dreamed about getting out of here- my bros always been the favorite and I know that my mom only started being nice to me because I’m funding her lifestyle. Would I be a bad person if I just left? It would be a rug pull sure but everyone here is extremely religious and don’t think I should move out until I’ve got a husband or whatever. Not to mention my coworker has vacation in November and is counting on me to cover his shift but I’m just so tired. At this point it might just be easier to kms. Any advice would be helpful, please. I’m supposed to be moving in June. I love this girl, and I want to go there so bad but will I even be able to live with the guilt? Am I a bad person for even thinking about it? I’m so tired. I keep begging for help but I guess I have to save myself, if I can. I don’t know what to do.

Played survivors:

• Matías Recalt (Roberto Canessa): He calls Dr. Canessa “Robert”. Although they don’t resemble each other physically (other than having big noses), they do have similar personalities. Matías could not cry on set, his emotions were kind of blocked (his father had passed away very recently), but Roberto says he was never able to cry in the mountains either. Matías is also headstrong and would sometimes do things his way instead of the way Bayona asked for him, which was very Canessa of him (1).
  
• Agustín Pardella (Fernando "Nando" Parrado): He calls Nando his favorite hero and feels that he has taught him a lot about resilience, and makes him want to become a better person (2). He considers Nando a friend, someone with a lot of emotions and warmth, which he had to block in the mountains. Rather that portraying the “superhero” that the media has often painted Nando as, he focused on getting to know him as a person and bring his humanity onscreen (3).
  
• Agustín Della Corte (Antonio "Tintín" Vizintín): He and Tintín had already met before, since Tintín used to be the president of the Uruguayan Rugby Union, and Della used to be part of the national rugby team (3). They hugged when they met for the movie for the first time (4). tThey met a lot of times, and he got very interested in what Tintín felt in each moment, the emotional details, which is exactly what the survivors wanted. Him being a rugby player helped a lot. Tintín feels that he was able to capture a lot of the essence of what he lived in the mountains. The first time Tintín watched the movie, he didn’t know how he felt about it, because it transported him to the mountains (2).
  
• Felipe "Pipe" G. Otaño (Carlos "Carlitos" Páez R.): His mother made him read The Society of the Snow when he was younger, so he was more familiar with the story that the average Argentinian. He guessed that he was playing Carlos Páez before the roles were revealed because of his age, physical traits, and what lines he they made him read. He not only Carlito’s book, but also the ones written by his parents. He also watched a lot of interviews with Carlitos (3). He went to Carlitos’ house and met his family. They texted a lot during the process of filming, and still text semi-regularly (2). He also relied on Pablo Vierci on set for details of his personality (3).
  
• Tomás Wolf (Gustavo Zerbino): He didn’t only get close to Gustavo, they had a barbecue together, and he always answered his questions (3). He also got close to Lupe Zerbino, a daughter. He played in a football (soccer) match, Zerbinos vs Canessas (Zerbinos won). Zerbino still shows him support in social media, even liking more political posts (5).
  
• Esteban "Kuku" Kukuriczka (Adolfo "Fito" Strauch): He read the book as soon as he got a clue of what the movie was about. At first, they talked at the hotel for around three hours, then he went to his home and met his family, they could empathize with each other (3). Fito and his wife recently went to watch one of Kuku’s theatre performances (2).
  
• Francisco Romero (Daniel Fernández): They talked a lot. The first time they met up alone, it was in a hotel. Daniel had a lot of love when talking to Fran. Fran feels like he would have played a similar role/made similar decisions in the mountains. According to Chori Segura, Daniel is physically a lot bigger than Fran irl (4). From Daniel, Fran takes away temperance, listening to others, being able to put the group first (3).
  
• Rafael Federman (Eduardo Strauch): When they met, Eduardo gave him his book as a gift. He would always answer Rafael’s questions (3). Eduardo always received him warmly (2). Rafael took the exit sign of the plane as a souvenir from set, same as Eduardo irl (5).
  
• Andy Pruss (Roy Harley): He got his information from the books and interviews. But also from talking to him, and how he sees himself in the mountains, 50 years later, what he did right and what he did wrong, specially about not being able to keep his emotions in check, which ended up affecting him a lot (3). Roy took him out in his car to see the places where he grew up, where he studied, his childhood house. Roy also went with Andy and his parents to the beach (2).
  
• Juan Ignacio "Juanicar" Carusso (Álvaro Mangino): Álvaro as a character had never existed in the other movies, so he felt a lot of responsibility playing him. Álvaro took him home and personally taught him how he used to crawl with a broken leg. He would always answer any question he had (3). Álvaro and Margarita also took some of their family to set, for the hospital scenes (2).
  
• Simón Hempe (José Luis "Coche" Inciarte): Once his participation got confirmed in the movie, he bought the Society of the Snow and another book about the event, on a whim. It ended up being Coche’s book (3). He feels like he bonded with Coche, since day 1, almost like a grandfather. He also got close to his family, specially his (now) widow, Soledad (2). His death was very hard on Simón (3). They talked a lot, at his house, by phone, on set. They got close enough that Simón could show up to the Inciarte household unannounced (2), and Coche called him his “favorite actor”(2). Coche personally coached him on set for the rescue scenes (told him to remember to smile) and in the hospital (him and Soledad still remembered very clearly how their reencounter was). Soledad says that the movie was something that gave Coche energy despite being ill, and that watching it made him proud. He once met some friends of Coche by chance, and they shared pictures and memories of him (3).
  
• Valentino Alonso (Alfredo "Pancho" Delgado): When they first met by themselves, they couldn’t look at each other in the eye. Pancho is still very affected by what happened, and Valentino wanted to transmit the emotions (including impotence for nor being able to convince Numa to eat enough to live) that he could still see in him, but also fears the movie broke him a bit too (2). According to ML Berch, his manners are similar to Pancho’s, also him being very good at talking while still being reserved (4). Pancho told him still considers Numa his life’s biggest friend (3).
  
• Esteban Bigliardi (Javier Methol): Javier had already passed away (2015) by the time the casting started (2021). He got his information from reading books, watching interviews. He got to know that Javier, despite having a hard life, had a very strong spirit, passion for life, compassion. He asked the survivors about him, and they would say that Javier was love (3).
  
• Rocco Posca (Ramón "Moncho" Sabella): For the last round of casting, they sent him a video of Moncho, and he says that he nurtured himself with it, he felt like Moncho (3). They became really close, and he talks to Moncho informally, as a friend, on Moncho’s insistence (2). They talk a lot on the phone (2). Rocco feels that they formed a kind of connection, that he got some of his energy. Their families stories are a bit similar (ie. Moncho helped his father in the fruit market stall, while Rocco’s uncles did the same on the other side of the river, in Argentina), and also he would get certain feelings or trains of thoughts while in character, that he would later discover were similar to Moncho’s own in the mountains (3).
  
• Luciano Chatton (Pedro Algorta): They met alone at least once in Punta del Este, in 2021. They walked together, and Pedro asked him if he had read his book. He had, but hadn’t finished. They ended up talking for about 4 hours. He doesn’t want to talk a lot about Pedro, because what he says may be different from reality. Pedro seems to still carry wonder and timidity from the mountains. (2)
  
• Agustín Berruti (Roberto "Bobby" Francois): He too is from Tacuarembó, part of the Uruguayan countryside. He went to Bobby’s house. Bobby said that he didn’t have any idea as to why they sent him there, because he wouldn’t be able to help him with anything. So they drank wine and talked about the countryside life instead (1)
  

Played Victims

• Enzo Vogrincic (Numa Turcatti): He didn’t get to meet Numa’s twin, Leonardo, as he passed away in 2009. But he did meet Daniel Turcatti, another brother, and his children. He was given a tour of the Turcatti’s childhood home, and Daniel would recall different anecdotes in each room. Numa would have absolutely hated being a protagonist. The survivors and Bayona say that he resembles Numa in the fact that he would constantly bring himself down for not being good enough (1)
  
• Fernando Contigiani (ArturoNogueira): After the dinner with the survivors, he was taken to the Nogueira’s house and had a big tea time with them (3). They also accompanied him during the whole process of the movie. Arturo’s siblings, Gabriel and Selina are very thankful towards him, say their family is open towards him, and think Arturo would have liked his work. Cristina, another sister, says he helped her close her mourning process. He was the first person Selina called after she watched the movie for the first time (2).
  
• Benjamín “Chori” Segura (Rafael "El Vasco” Echavarren): His biggest source of information were Rafael’s sisters, Daniel Fernández helped him a lot too, since he held a lot of love towards Vasco while in the mountains. He tried to see what all three sisters shared, because Rafael could have had those same things too (4). The first time he met the Echavarren sisters, they asked if he would be their brother, and he answered that he would try. They hugged and cried, they laughed and talked for hours. The sisters have both said that they love Chori and that having him is like having their brother back, somewhat (but that Rafael was more shameless) (2).
  
• Paula Baldini (Liliana Navarro): She was able to talk to a sister, a friend, and her daughters (3). The most emotional part of filming was meeting the Methols daughters in the airport, since she was dressed exactly as their last memory of her. They all cried, and thanked her a lot (5). Male Methol says that the movie helped her picture the mother she didn’t get to grow up with (1). The other children also say that the movie helped them close the cycle (3).
  
• Diego Vegezzi (Marcelo Pérez del Castillo): He says that he got a lot of who was Marcelo from the Society of the Snow book, and also from "Del Otro Lado de la Montaña", the book written by the families. He had the same role as an empathetic leader in his family, the team and in the mountains (3). When they first met him, the survivors gathered around him because he looked so alike Marcelo (6). Stella, sister, says that what she saw in the movie feels like the Marcelo she knew, that his death onscreen brought forward the feelings she had bottled up for 50 years, and that the movie remembered that the 16 that made it back did it so because of the 29 left behind (1).
  
• Blas Polidori (Gustavo "Coco" Nicolich): He relied a lot in Coco’s letters, since they have so much of his personality (3). He mostly talked with Álvaro, also nicknamed Coco, the younger brother. They met at his office, alongside an acting coach. They talked about what Gustavo’s essence was, their family, their parents, how them, as a family lived the tragedy. Álvaro tends to leave supportive comments on Blas Instagram from the Nicolich family business account, he says that Blas could bring Coco back in his last moments and was thankful for it, even if he saw him suffer (2). He also keeps contact with Álvaro´s daughter, Coco’s niece, Pauli (3).
  
• Emanuel Parga (Sgt. Carlos Roque): Roque’s family didn’t want to talk much with the production, because they were still angry and felt disrespected because of his portrayal in Alive (1993) (3). He got in contact with Alejandro, Roque’s son, and also people from the Air Force. The first time he met Alejandro, they couldn’t speak, but they cried and hugged, it felt like two friends meeting again after a long time. He promised that he would honour his father, bring his dignity back (2). Roque’s sister got in contact with Ema only after the release of the movie, and was both relieved and happy with it. She liked that they portrayed the love he had for his job (3).
  
• Felipe Ramusio (Diego Storm): He had played rugby as a kid. He got in contact with Diego’s brother, and also a family friend. The survivor that helped him the most was Carlitos (very close to Diego, even named one of his kids after him), who invited even him to his house. After the movie, the family contacted him again and congratulated him (3).
  
• Alfonsina Carrocio (Susana "Susy" Parrado): She mostly talked to Nando. He was very descriptive on how she was injured, what she could and could not do after the crash, how Liliana would take care of her (3).
  
• Santiago Vaca Narvaja (Daniel Maspons): He was welcomed to Daniel’s nephew’s house with tea and chocolate. He keeps contact with the Maspons sisters, specially with Rosario, the eldest. They showed him a lot of love. She thanked him for helping her understand what happened in the mountains. He does not resemble Maspons in personality, since Daniel was very shy and not very talkative, and had to learn to have a silent presence (3).
  
• Juandi Eirea (Juan Carlos Menéndez): He did play rugby for 15 years, which helped him with characterization. The Menéndez family didn’t take part in the movie production (3).
  
• Federico Aznárez (Enrique Platero): His father trained in the Old Christian’s gym as a kid, so he had always had a big connection to the story. He re-read the books after being cast. He got in contact with Roberto Canessa, before the casting even finished, and they talked for about 30 minutes in Dr. Canessa’s workplace (the hospital), mostly about how their life were before the crash. He phoned Roberto before the last round of casting, because the books had very little information about Enrique, and Canessa invited him home to practice his scenes, and also to talk a lot about Enrique and his family. Netflix wasn’t able to contact the Platero family, so Gustavo Zerbino did it instead. They had a barbecue with Enrique’s nephews and nieces, who knew very little about him, and Fede asked Zerbino a lot of questions, with some chime-ins from the Plateros (3). He later got in contact with Martín Zerbino (son), Juan Pablo Nicola (son of the Nicolas, who passed away in the crash) and, alongside Juani Eirea went to the Valley of Tears in February 2023, where they left letters for Enrique and Juan Carlos (2).
  
• Jerónimo Bosia (Franciso "Panchito" Abal): Netflix was not able to contact the Abal family, most of them had already passed away. After the movie release, a step sister sent Carlitos an audio message, which got to Jerónimo through Pipe Otaño, talking about how she could now understand that Pancho didn’t make it back so that some would be able to (3).
  
• Agustín Lain (Carlos Valeta): They told him that he resembles Valeta in his looks and his youth (3). It’s unclear who “they” are, if they were survivors, Vierci or Valeta relatives.
  
• Lautaro Bakir (Julio Martínez-Lamas): He got to meet the family while filming, which was something very impactful for him. He met a sister while filming at the airport, him in character with a beard. He got most of his information by what Pablo Vierci and Zerbino told him. He was not a rugby player, but was a big fan of the Old Christians and would always participate in the chants (3).
  
• Lucas Mascareña (Fernando “Flaco” Vázquez): He met Teresa Vázquez, a sister, and her family when they saw him characterized at the airport, and hugged him without saying anything. They recognized him, and could see both his eyes and facial expressions that he played Fernando. A friend of el Flaco says that Lucas’ acting brought him back (2). Fun fact, the actor is a commercial pilot.
  
• Federico Formento (Daniel Shaw): He was initially unable to contact the Shaw family, so he got bits and pieces from the books. He eventually met with Miguel Shaw, Daniel’s brother, after Pablo Vierci got him his contact, while they were filming the Uruguay scenes (3).
  
• Francisco Bereny (Felipe Maquirriaín): Sandra Maquirriaín (sister) was involved in the process of the movie (1). I could not find any interview with him.
  
• Toto Rovito (Alexis Hounié) and Julián Bedino (Guido Magri): Although they do have interviews, I could not find footage of him talking about whether he met the families of who they played, or if they talked with the survivors about them.
  
• Louta (Gastón Costemalle), Maximiliano de la Cruz (Lt. Col. Dante Lagurara): Although they have speaking roles, I could not find interviews with them talking about SOTS.
  
• Pablo ??? (Dr. Francisco Nicola): To Juan Pedro Nicola, son, seeing him acting at the airport was magic, like seeing them again (1).
  

Did not board the plane:
- Fran Burghi (Alfredo Cibilis): He couldn’t meet Alfredo due to schedule conflicts (3).
Sources:
1) Behind the scenes documentary/Netflix interviews
2) Actors and personal Instagram accounts
3) Interview by Moobys (YouTube)
4) Interview by Fangirleando y Chismeando (YouTube)
5) Juanicar’s livestreams
6) Society of the Snow book (newest edition)

This is a copy/paste of a post by a fella over on Discord. TL/DR: How do we get new young players into ASL in numbers that will sustain the hobby?

First of all, I think it is important to acknowledge that bringing in new players is a problem faced by all board companies.
In the last year, since becoming involved with ASL and the ASL community, I have been struck by one thought. And that is in 20 years. I am not sure who I will be playing this game with. At winter offensive this year I made a joke that I was one of the youngest guys in the room and I am 42. I am not trying to sound Ageist, but we need to acknowledge the fact that our player base is getting older and bringing in new younger players seems to be a major hurdle.
If you look at the bolt action and Games workshop model, they are both very different but very effective at getting new players into their hobby. I think we should take an in-depth look at what these companies are doing to generate interest in their games.
Bolt Action, in particular, is one of the fastest growing tabletop games in hobby shops right now. This shows real interest in the gameification of World War II. That means there are plenty of potential ASL players out there. War lord works with sponsored liaisons throughout the country to host, gaming sessions, and teaching sessions at game shops all over the country.
I think it would be effective to try a similar method, though it might crowd the World War II gaming space at game shops. If not this then some real thoughts should be put into some sort of game shop outreach.
Again, I do not want to sound ageist here, but with the average age of the ASL community a little bit older, I don't know of many current ASL players who would want to spend an afternoon in a game teaching starter kit two new players. Teaching requires a certain personality in some people are great at it and some people don't care for it.
I think an effective means to doing this would be to find and sponsor some younger players to go out into the community to help drum up new players. These liaisons could be called recruiters or liaisons or outreach coordinators or whatever you wanted to call them. And while there are some people that would definitely donate their time to the hobby, sponsoring people could help them justify prioritizing their time to the hobby.
This is definitely a big pill to swallow for game companies that are already operating on razor thin margins as it is. And the return is not always so easily quantified immediately. The other giant pill to swallow is that a newer, younger, player crowd comes with different values and ideals, and while all of us can agree that we want to keep socioeconomic/political discussions out of the ASL space we have to be willing to accept people with different values at our game tables. Obviously there is a much larger discussion about this that I'm not going to get into but if it wants to entice new players has to be open to new players. (of note I have never experienced anything other than being genuinely welcomed into the player space since starting to play ASL)
I think taking the game to veterans functions or museums or museum battleships are a great way to get people interested and can get new players that aren't necessarily gamers interested into the game. These events should continue and I'm always excited to hear about them.
Ultimately, if we want new players, we have to go to where the players are.
I also believe the rulebook could be simplified in someways.
Often I hear full ASL players complain about how the starter kids have made charts for every piece of ordinance, and other rules simplifications. Whereas the full ASL ordinance chart is a convoluted mess when you look at it for the first time.
Why not re-organize information to be easier to grok? Let's do the work for the players and make starter kit style ordinance charts for the full game by nationality. Let's make information easy to find.
ASL is in an environment where its competition our games that are just getting easier and easier to learn and play. Then we show up with an ASL textbook (as my girlfriend lovingly calls it). So let's take a look at how we display information, how charts are organized and how rules are explained and see if we can make it easier.
I am so very glad that people like Neal Ulen and Ben Harsh are making videos that focus on starter kit content. The step-by-step programmed learning system of starter kit is very effective and should continue on.
For all of the full ASL players out there they do not like to play starter kit because they would have to unlearn tactics, those people are not great ambassadors for the game and the game system. If someone wants to play starter kit full ASL players should consider playing as most starter kit players will eventually make the leap into the full game.

So, that said, how would you bring in newer, younger players into the fold?

Apologies for the long ranty post but I honestly don't know what to do. I've had quite a tremendous "career path?" "Job path?" and amount of experience so far. Annoying its either getting overlooked or assumed to be lies (I've literally had to whip out photos in interviews). I hope someone reads this has been in a similar situation or points me in a direction i've never thought of. Yes, I've been to a professional resume-guy.
Male, Nearly 40; elder millenial. I started my professional life in a data-center transferring videotapes after school; which lead to a job on set in film doing data management [cards off camera, obsolete now]. Eventually the industry got so saturated with new grads that I was getting overlooked for contracts because they had a degree and I did not. Never been a great networker.
Additionally, a lot of "normal" job interviews at regular companies for AV type roles [identical job to what I was doing on set] ended with 'we love your experience but HR requires a graduate'.
SO... at great expense... I got myself a Bsc fast by doing trimester. Geography and geo-spatial analysis (no idea what to do, but like maps; wanted out of media, so went with it) with minor in resource management. Going back to school at 30 sucked, not looking to repeat that at 40.
Got lucky; Got a a great job working in aerial LiDAR but requires 100% travel. (being a tour guide during re-school really paid off here). The job itself is 80% the same as I was doing for data-management in film, but with LiDAR sensors instead of film cameras.... and like in film, over the past 5 years this job has been increasingly watered down to the point any new grad can do it (and they are for 15/hr). The company I work for got bought a few times and now are playing games in hopes I [and other legacy hires] quit for, as a work-friend put it - being "too expensive". There is no upward mobility at this company; managers have been here 20+ years and scared for THEIR jobs. We are a sole-product contractor.
What I've been looking for, in the past year:
GIS: most direct from current role, but now everyone I interview with wants compsci and code tests.
Ground survey: pays 15/hr, requires an expensive license, and has high turnover for a reason.
Terrestrial LiDADrone LiDAR: Everyone I've talked to is one-man-band and not able to provide enough work/income.
Datacenter: Well experienced but the few callbacks want a masters compsci and a code test to change rack units ....for 15/hr.
Aviation purchasing / part management. - 90% of my day to day right now is dealing with this flavor of airplane problems. Just have no idea how to break into it as my official role. It seems to be behind an AME license.
I've had many interviews that go no where or terrible [min wage] offers from most of these positions. Everyone wants a different list of certifications specific to that particular role. I have considerable skills and experience from my quite varied past jobs. I guess I'm not really understanding why I've been having such problems finding something that pays a professional wage despite having all the school and experience that should earn me that by now?
I have no idea what to do next; no idea what the next step is... All the callbacks have dried up in the last few months. Wondering if anyone on here might read this and have better ideas? Please post any career paths or job titles you think might work for me.
If you think going back, again, is the best option, please... post the course and why you think that degree would be a worthwhile investment in 20 years.
Thank you for reading... I hope the reddit hive mind can help crowdsource something I never considered.
TLDR: Media background with geography degrees and direct experience unable to find new work that pays more than min-wage. IDEAS?!

Im planning my first tour ever, I’m doing it solo and using a single speed. Im 20 years old, and broke as shit so this will be a budget tour. Im also interested in potentially flying somewhere on the west coast for a tour instead, California/Oregon coast, Napa valley trail…
I will be doing it bum style, or whatever way is most affordable ie. a tent with the odd motel, hotel or hostel.
I wont have a lot of time, maybe a week or so sometime in the next couple weeks or the end of summer, August/September.
I just came out of a major depressive episode and looking for my calling in life. I want to see things I haven’t seen before and explore the serene beauty of the world. For now, that will have to be somewhere relatively affordable.
As for gear I only have my cheap single speed/fixed gear aluminum road bike, the skill of some camping trips and the will to make it all happen. I will try and make some content from this in order to journal/capture my life but, hopefully, just maybe I can help fund at least a little bit of the trip through content/donations.
I really would like some advice. I might even stay at the destination and try to find work… who knows. Im young, not in school and have very little obligations. I don’t care about living this perfect, financially fulfilling life. I just want to get out there and figure it all out later.
Id rather be homeless in paradise than rich in hell.
A month ago I was content with ending my life, I realized that nothing mattered. Life was meaningless, and that if death is certain might as well make the most out of this nonsensical illusion we call life. That my friends, is where this idea has come from.
I will make art, content and blogs. I will live how I want, until I no longer see the benefit in life.
Where should my adventure start?

Hey everyone !
I’m thrilled to finally share something I’ve been working on for the past four months - RepoFlow! It’s a new repository management platform that’s super easy to use and designed to make your life simpler. Think of it as an alternative to existing repository management solutions, but with a fresh approach.
So… Why RepoFlow?
• Clean and intuitive interface
• Effortless repository management
• Easy and fast package search
• Supports npm, Maven, PyPI, NuGet, and Docker packages
Looking for Your Help:
I’m seeking alpha testers who have experience with existing repository management platforms. Your feedback will be crucial in helping me refine RepoFlow to meet real user needs.
Who Would Be Great:
• Individual developers or DevOps pros
• Representatives from companies interested in trying out a new platform
• Anyone with experience in this area and willing to provide feedback
Why No Landing Page?
I don’t have a landing page up just yet (coming soon!), so I can’t share a link right now. But I’m eager to connect directly with those interested in testing RepoFlow.
How to Get Involved:
If you’re interested, please comment below or send me a DM. Let me know about your experience with similar platforms and why you’d like to test RepoFlow.
Thanks so much for your support! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts and get your feedback 😊

I (28f) am seeing a longtime friend (28m) of an ex (27m). I'm unsure if we're doing anything wrong or if it's all just too complicated.
I (28f) started talking to an old mutual friend (28m), let's call him Scott, of an ex (27m), let's call him Logan, from high school/early undergraduate. I broke up with Logan after about 2 and a half years of dating. The breakup was not mutual and he had asked me to marry him a few weeks prior. I ended up calling things off because he was becoming physically abusive and controlling and we were moving too fast for our ages. The relationship was toxic and I know I didn't help to alleviate any issues we had. We would get into spats often and I had horrible anger management back then. He isolated me from my friend groups and even his own at a point. His parents bought us a house in a larger city. I say "us" but it was always meant for him. It was one of those "we were already looking for a house for him but since you're dating, you can both live there and start a family," type of things. Long story short, it was a lot of developing and conflicting things happening in the span of our relationship. This was about 9 years ago. I started dating someone else about a year later but that didn't last for similar reasons, and he was a lot older. Logan had found out about that and harassed me for the entirety of that relationship, not knowing it was just as bad as my relationship with him. Cops wouldn't listen when I wanted to file a report and didn't even want to look at the evidence I had, text, phone record and emails. It was just all around bad.
Now, I'm finishing up my post baccalaureate and I started chatting and going on dates with Scott for about a month. Scott was friends with another guy I dated for an incredibly short time in high school before Logan and was part of Logan's friend circle. Scott and Logan have been passive friends for years and are still in some amount of contact. Scott had no idea about Logan's treatment of me as he went to college in another city before coming back to town and nobody told him. I doubt many of his friend group were even aware, which I don't blame them. So, its just that extra layer of removal from the situation. We talked about their closeness on our first date and he assured me that they were never that close. He even informed me of him hearing about something similar happening with someone Logan dated recently. So, he wasn't all that surprised, but he doesn't know the full extent either, just bits.
Where I'm concerned if there's a line being crossed is that Scott is pretty close to Logan's best friend (m28), let's call him Bobby. Bobby and Scott still talk and even hangout when they can, but Bobby is still very close to Logan and always had been, even when Logan is in a totally different city. Scott and I have been taking things slow, but we are both realizing this may end up as a long-term relationship but we're still feeling things out. Scott knows he's going to have to sit Bobby and other friends, from the old group that he still talks to, down and tell them that we're dating, when things become official. It's still too soon to do that, but we felt it best to discuss the possibility of him having to do that. I've told Scott that I don't want to come between him and his friends. He's made it clear that he doesn't care but I don't want him to be isolated from his friends like I had been.
I really like Scott. He seems to really like me too. Things are still new and fresh so they could sour but we both hope that doesn't happen. We are doing our best to communicate with each other and share our needs. We plan on continuing to see each other and even more during the summer, we're both educators, and know if that goes well, then the talk will have to happen. But, are we crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed?
I didn't get many answers when i posted on rrelationshipadvice. However, Scott is starting to have doubts about the relationship. We've been spending more time together and even started little traditions. Nothing big but just starting series together and trying new restaurants together. He told me that during the quiet and slow times when he can start acknowledging or seeing us as a couple that he can't help but think about his relationships with Bobby and his other friends. He mentioned that he has gone on vacations and trips with Bobby and Bobby's friends and often those vacations include Logan because they're so close. They're planning to take a trip next month and Logan will more than likely be joining them. I told him that I wouldn't go with him because of Logan and I wouldn't stop him from going. I also told him that he can't unknow what he's knows about Logan. He agreed that he doesn't know how he'll feel when he sees Logan again but he knows if Logan finds out that we're dating he will cut off all ties with him and Bobby will follow him, Logan. He said it may cause a kind of divide between the friend group over his relationship with me. I reiterated that I don't want to come between him and his friends. He asked if I would be hurt if he ended up ending our relationship and I was honest with him. I told him that I would be hurt but that shouldn't make him want to stay with me. He needs to decide that for himself. I told him he needs to think it over and really decide for himself where he wants to take this. It's only been 2 months so it wouldn't be a huge deal, in a time sense. I just really like him but now I'm starting to have doubts with how much of his life is reliant on these guys. It could just be because it's me but I don't know that for sure.
We met up this past week and had a talk. He was ready to end things but he seemed to not want to say it. When I asked why, he said it was indeed because of his relationship with Logan. He made it seem like it wasn't a super close relationship at first but now it's sounding like it was close enough for him to feel some amount of guilt. I told him I was more hurt that he was choosing to continue a friendship with someone who actively hurts women, as I'm not the only one Logan has hurt, but the other woman didn't seem as hurt, if that makes sense. I also told him I didn't blame him because they were friends longer than we were seeing each other and that I know everything is complicated. We kept talking and he started voicing more that he wants me in the picture and hopes I can win his friends over. He asked if I could ever make amends with Logan and I said "no." I explained why, which was a lot of what the reasons why we broke up in the first place, but I wasn't explicit with what exactly happened. I didn't want to share because a part of me felt like it was still not the place to do so. He asked me if I could wait until he gets back from his trip and sees if 1) Logan shows any remorse, 2) See Logan period, and 3) See if Bobby would be adult enough to see why he wants to date me. He wants me to be his girlfriend but has said he needs a break until he can do all of those things.
Any advice?

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait, between varying interests and having to make this entire act from scratch rather than just giving it an update, this portion of my DCU definitely did take longer to make than most! But I’m here, I’m ready, let’s get right into it!
As usual, here is the lineup for this concluding act to my first chapter of the DCU:

1. The Flashpoint Paradox (Film);
2. Hawk man and Hawkgirl (Film);
3. The Birds of Prey (Film);
4. Cyborg Season 2 (TV Show);
5. The Justice Society (Film);
6. Aquaman: The Last King (Film);
7. Superman: Warworld (Film);
8. Teen Titans: Judas (Film);
9. The Brave and the Bold 2 (Film);
10. The Supers (TV Show);
11. Wonder Woman: Odyssey (Film);
12. Batgirl Season 2 (TV Show);
13. Batman: The Red Hood (Film);
14. Justice League Apokalips Part 1: War (Film);
15. Suicide Squad: Operation Apokalips (Film);
16. The New Gods (Film);
17. Justice League Apokalips Part 2: Crisis (Film)

And without further ado, here we go:
-The Flashpoint Paradox (Film)
Protagonists: The Flash, Batman (Thomas Wayne) Antagonists: Reverse Flash, Flashpoint Aquaman, Flashpoint Wonder Woman Side Characters: Cyborg, Flashpoint Superman, Nora and Henry Allen, Lois Lane, Rebellion, Atlantians, Amazonians Cameo Characters: Superman, Batman, Jason Todd
Plot: Barry Allen had done the unthinkable. He ran fast enough to break through the time barrier and save his mother’s life. But would the butterfly effect be worth it? Nora Allen was alive, but the world Barry knew before was dead, replaced with one unfamiliar to him. Bruce Wayne is dead, Metropolis was almost completely destroyed, and on top of all of that, the friends he had once known were were fighting a war that could spell doom for the entire world. Can Barry keep this new universe together? Or will a haunting shadow remind him why you should never change the past?
Setting: Central City, Metropolis
Mid-Credits Scene: On a faraway planet, a stolen relic called the Regeneration Matrix is regenerating a figure back to full health from their coffin. When the process is complete, the figure awakens and sits up in his coffin. He looks around, revealed to be Superman back from the dead, asking where he is. A nearby medical robot gives him a simple answer, “Warworld.”
Post-Credits Scene: Focus is put onto the Wayne Family graveyard, panning over numerous graves. Eventually, the focus is directed to the grave of Jason Todd, though the grave is dug up and the coffin underneath is empty. Nearby, a figure is limping through the cemetery, revealed to be Jason Todd, who is leaving his grave and heading towards Gotham.
-Hawkman and Hawkgirl (Film)
Protagonists: Hawkman, Hawkgirl Antagonist: Hath-Set Side Characters: (Idk I’m not very up to date on their lore lol) Cameo Character: Doctor Fate
Plot: Carter Hall and Shiera Sanders are two ordinary individuals with no connection whatsoever. That is, until an enemy from the ancient past makes his return to remind them of how they are bound. The two hawk-people must now work together to break a dark cycle they are forever caught in, and along the way, remember who they were meant to be in lives past.
Settings: New York, briefly Egypt
Mid-Credits Scene: Having survived the cycle for the first time, Carter and Shiera enjoy their momentary peace at home. However, a man who calls himself Doctor Fate appears before them and requests their help. He tells them a threat of considerable proportions is on its way to Earth, and he needs their assistance to defeat it. They ask for time to think it over, to which Doctor Fate gives them, but warns them that time is running short.
-The Birds of Prey (Film)
Protagonists: Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Black Canary, Huntress, Katana Antagonists: Joker’s Daughter, Sons of Joker, the Joker Side Characters: Francine Charles, Commissioner Gordon, Renée Montoya, other characters’ respective side characters Cameo Characters: Oliver Queen, Batman, Jason Todd
Plot: Batgirl has spent months getting her team into line, but they are finally ready. Black Canary, Huntress, and a new girl calling herself Katana, under Barbara’s leadership become a new, fierce superhero team called the Birds of Prey. Their first mission? Bring down the Sons of Joker, and learn their connection to the Clown Prince of Crime himself. But will the new team be able to work together? Or will Barbara crumble, and bring her team with her?
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: Within her hospital room following being shot and paralyzed by the Joker, Barbara is visited by a man while she sleeps. This man is revealed to be Jason Todd, who apologizes for Barbara’s fate, blaming Batman for another failure, though he guarantees this one will be his last.
-Cyborg Season 2 (TV Show)
Protagonist: Cyborg Antagonists: The Brain, Monsieur Mallah Side Characters: Silas Stone, Sarah Charles, Beast Boy Cameo Characters: T. O. Morrow, The Grid
Overall Plot: After much grief between his friends and coworkers Superman and Nightwing, Cyborg finds himself disconnected from his friends and begins taking justice across the world into his own hands. But when he faces a threat that he finds himself unable to defeat alone, he learns to open himself up to those around him, and share his pain so that others may help to fix it.
Episode One Plot: Cyborg seeks to solve the problems of people around him his own way, which leads him into the heart of a rogue H.I.V.E. operation calling themselves B.R.A.I.N.
Episode Two Plot: Cyborg launches his own investigation into BRAIN, but finds Beast Boy as an interference when he tries helping his friend out.
Episode Three Plot: Trapped on an unknown island, Cyborg must rely on the help from his friend Beast Boy when his systems shut down and they seek an escape.
Episode Four Plot: BRAIN reveals itself to be ruled by a robotic organism called the Brain, which reveals its plans for world domination to Cyborg.
Episode Five Plot: Attempting a search for the Brain’s supposed doomsday device, Cyborg uncovers a large conspiracy tying the Brain back to the invader Brainiac.
Episode Six Plot: In the season finale, Cyborg learns to let his friends in as he stops the Brain from continuing Brainiac’s work and controlling the world.
Setting: Central City, various other places
Mid-Credits Scene: After defeating the Brain, Cyborg leaves his computer running on an AI program he created called “The Grid.” When he leaves, a string of green code merges itself with the blue code running on the screen, turning a large portion of it green in the shape of a skull.
-The Justice Society (Film)
Protagonists: Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, the Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Mister Terrific, Wildcat, Stargirl Antagonist: Despero Side Characters: Respective side characters (I’m lazy, sorry lol) Cameo Characters: Adam Strange, Vandal Savage
Plot: For the past few years, Doctor Fate has sensed a presence of tremendous power threatening to invade the earth, and now that presence has finally arrived. Despero, a conqueror from the stars with unlimited power, has arrived on earth, yet the Justice League is spread too thin and too far to help against the incoming threat. Fate realizes that he will have to assemble a new team to defeat Despero and stop his invasion, a team he has spent the better part of the past few months gathering.
Settings: Various cities
Mid-Credits Scene: Following their victory and return home, the Justice Society are confronted by a mysterious man called Adam Strange, who teleported himself to them to warn of a new incoming threat, and claiming that they have come for Carter and Shiera.
Post-Credits Scene: Far away, mysterious soldiers locate a tomb and open a single coffin resting inside. Out from the coffin springs a large man, who attacks the soldiers before asking what year it is, and who they are. They answer that it is the 21st century, and they are here to welcome “the Savage,” to the new age, to which the man laughs maniacally.
-Aquaman: The Last King (Film)
Protagonists: Aquaman, Aqualad (Jackson Hyde) Antagonists: Black Manta, Starro Side Characters: Mera, Orm, Garth, Arthur Jr., Atlanteans Cameo Characters: Jesse Hyde
Plot: At last, Black Manta’s final revenge has come. For years, he has been plotting, researching a way to exact his vengeance on Aquaman following so many failures. At last, he has found it, enlisting the help of an ancient beast from the stars named Starro to help him destroy Atlantis and claim the title of its dark king. But when both Aquaman and Manta find that the new conqueror seeks control and destruction of everything they know, new alliances must be forged to bring peace to Atlantis once and for all.
Setting: Atlantis
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his sacrifice to defeat Starro, David finds himself in an ocean-like afterlife, where he meets his father Jesse for the first time in years. David apologizes for his actions, and his grief, to which Jesse forgives him, and the two embrace once more.
-Superman: Warworld (Film)
Protagonist: Superman Antagonists: Mongul, Ultra Humanite, Mongul’s Champions (The Teacher, the Mother, the Orphan, the Darling, and the Unmade) Side Characters: Kryl-Ux, Otho-Ra, Osul-Ra, Thao-La Cameo Characters: The Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, Lois Lane
Plot: After being killed by Doomsday during the Brainiac Invasion, Superman has found himself brought back to life via a lost Kryptonian Regeneration Matrix located on the distant planet Warworld. Once he is awakened, Superman is quickly introduced to the harsh, gladiator-like lifestyle of the planet, run by its cruel ruler: Mongul. Superman must now put his strength and will to the test as he battles and chooses his way through a cosmic adventure like no other, all in an attempt to return home and rescue the people of the desolate planet.
Setting: Warworld
Mid-Credits Scene: On Earth, in the Fortress of Solitude, a similar Regeneration Matrix has finished the body that was meant to be Superman’s, but a new force has taken it over. The Eradicator declares himself Superman, and seeks to prove itself as the ultimate Man of Steel.
Post-Credits Scene: Lois Lane is walking out of a shop with a coffee in hand, when she notices a red and blue figure flying through the sky. Her, and many civilians, rush to the city square to see the returned Man of Steel, only for him to turn his face and reveal a half-robotic one underneath.
-Teen Titans: Judas (Film)
Protagonists: Red X, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, Kid Flash, Donna Troy Antagonists: H.I.V.E. (Namely Adeline Kane and Damien Darhk), Deathstroke, Terra Side Characters: None Cameo Characters: Blue Beetle, Aqualad, Bumblebee, Arsenal, Rose Wilson
Plot: Following the supposed death of Nightwing, the Titans have mostly disbanded to follow their own paths. But when the villainous mercenary Deathstroke returns to the scene to exact revenge for his son’s death, the young heroes must unify once again to put an end to H.I.V.E., before they are all killed. But with a traitor in their team, and a thief who feels all to similar to the team’s dearly departed leader, the Titans find themselves lost in a conspiracy that leaves them unsure of who to trust and who not to.
Setting: San Francisco
Mid-Credits Scene: With Grayson alive and returned to his rightful position as team leader, Starfire asks him if things will truly be back to normal. Nightwing tells her no, that the events of the last few days have opened his eyes to not only be more careful, but also to increase his efforts to better train the next generation of superheroes. He shows her the new rebuilt tower, labeled Titans Academy, with a good few new recruits already waiting outside.
Post-Credits Scene: After being sent to prison, Slade is confronted by his daughter Rose, who has come to visit him. She shames him for his act of violence against the children, claiming that he has brought dishonor to their family. He retorts, saying that he did it out of love and mourning for Grant, and that she should be ashamed for not doing anything. The two leave with a disagreement and hatred for one another, Rose pulling out a tracker to the Titans Academy, as well as a mask she intends to wear for the trip.
-The Brave and the Bold 2 (Film)
Protagonists: Green Arrow, Black Canary, Arsenal Antagonist: Cheshire Side Characters: Respective side characters (who I still don’t know cuz I don’t read their comics lol) Cameo Characters: Batman, Ra’s Al Ghul, Shado
Plot: Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance, now betrothed to one another, have their life set. Marriage, money, and the skills to defend themselves and their city against any who may dare seek to soil it. But as new faces good and bad come into play, the super power-couple must be more strategic with their approach to crime-fighting if they want to preserve the good of their city, before all hell can break loose.
Setting: Star City
Mid-Credits Scene: Following news coverage of Green Arrow and Black Canary’s heroics against Cheshire, a woman far across the world catches wind of the report and prepares her weapons. She gears up, leaving her hideout as Shado now makes her way to Star City.
Post-Credits Scene: Observing the chaos and failure of his wild-card protégé Cheshire, Ra’s Al Ghul has a confrontation with Batman, where the Caped Crusader warns Ra’s to put an end to is theatrics in Star City. Ra’s tells Batman he has no more interest in Star City, having failed twice, but he warns Batman to keep out of his affairs, or else Gotham may be the next place the League of Assassins visits.
-The Supers (TV Show)
Protagonists: Supergirl, Steel, Lois Lane, Superboy Antagonists: Cyborg Superman, the Eradicator, Livewire, Parasite, Intergang Side Characters: Jimmy Olsen, Martha Kent, Lex Luthor, Perry White, Kat Grant, Steve Lombard Cameo Characters: Superman, Hal Jordan
Overall Plot: Superman is dead, and Metropolis is in the hands of new saviors now. Since the Man of Steel was killed by Doomsday, there have been those like Steel and Superboy who have risen up to take up the mantle the Kryptonian left behind. But others, like the Eradicator and the new “Cyborg Superman,” have taken justice in a more violent direction. But is the Man of Steel really dead? And how do the new imposters tie into his return? As Lois and Supergirl team up with new heroes to investigate, they are led down a rabbit hole of resurrections and revenge, one that will leave them with dark answers they may not be ready for.
Episode One Plot: A funeral is held for Superman following his death, but in mourning, the Man of Steel seems to have returned, losing his cape and donning new Golden goggles.
Episode Two Plot: As Steel makes his presence known, he comes into conflict with the the new Superman when debating the fate of a villainess on the run. Meanwhile, Lois begins investigating the appearance of the new Superman, but her investigation is cut short by the appearance of a brand new Cyborg Superman, claiming to be the real hero returned.
Episode Three Plot: Superboy, a clone on the run, makes a name for himself in Metropolis as a younger, cockier hero missing the values of the original Superman. Meanwhile, Lois takes the time to talk with Supergirl, sharing with her the suspicions she has on the new Supermen.
Episode Four Plot: Lex Luthor has prepared a gala to announce his new plans for Super-Police to defend the city following Superman’s death. But when the new Supermen finally clash in a confrontation to debate letting Luthor live and killing him for his crimes, the public finally get a chance to decide who their saviors are.
Episode Five Plot: Declared the true savior of Metropolis, Cyborg Superman is put to the test when he faces a new threat: the Parasite. Meanwhile, Lois and Supergirl enlist the help of Steel to investigate the truth of the Cyborg Superman.
Episode Six Plot: In one last act to prove himself, the Eradicator attacks Cyborg Superman, dying in the battle. However, Cyborg Superman’s victory is short-lived, as Lois, Supergirl, and Steel out the truth behind him and the deceased scientist Hank Henshaw.
Episode Seven Plot: Furious with his reveal, Cyborg Superman goes ballistic, assaulting the military and claiming the means to destroy half of the country in a nuclear attack.
Episode Eight Plot: All bets are off in the season finale as Lois, Supergirl, Steel, and Superboy race to stop Cyborg Superman’s plot for nuclear destruction. A race that only becomes more definite as the real Man of Steel finally returns from the dead to save the world.
Settings: Metropolis, Smallville
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the mostly failed nuclear attack, Hal Jordan returns to Earth to find Coast City in ruin, the only city nuked in the attack. He grows angry and mournful, showing the first sign of losing himself to darkness.
-Wonder Woman: Odyssey (Film)
Protagonist: Wonder Woman Antagonists: Circe, Cheetah, Hades, various mythological monsters, Furies Side Characters: Hippolyta, Artemis Cameo Characters: Zeus, various other gods, Steve Trevor
Plot: After decades of living among man and acting as their hero, the consequences of Diana’s actions have finally caught up with her. The sorceress Circe has been freed, and has destroyed Diana’s home of Themyscira. She has now partnered with the Cheetah as her disciple, seeking to delve into the Underworld to free Hades from the deepest depths of Tartarus. Diana must now travel through the rings of Hell and battle through a gauntlet of beasts and enemies to stop their plot and prove herself worthy of being called Wonder Woman.
Settings: Themyscira, the Underworld
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the near-escape of Hades, with involvement from Cheetah, the Old Gods of Greece meet to determine how they handle this matter moving forward. Ultimately, Zeus decides that the mortals of man’s world have become too dangerous, and declares war on the mortal realm and those who may defend it.
Post-Credits Scene: Following her redemption in the Underworld, Cheetah returns to the old wrecked base she had been frozen inside of during World War II. She explores deep inside the frozen lair, eventually coming across a large chunk of ice that had gone undiscovered until now. And within lies Steve Trevor, perfectly preserved for over 80 years.
-Batgirl Season 2 (TV Show)
Protagonist: Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) Antagonists: David Cain, the League of Assassins Side Characters: Oracle (Barbara Gordon), Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, Robin Cameo Characters: Red Hood
Overall Plot: Barbara Gordon has been shot and paralyzed, leaving Gotham without a Batgirl... temporarily. When the League of Assassins makes good on their threat and comes to Gotham, a young assassin by the name of Cassandra Cain tries to prove herself as the greatest assassin the League has ever known. But when she fails and finds herself deserted by the League and her own father, Barbara sees a light in her and shows her she has the power to be a great hero instead.
Episode One Plot: The League of Assassins make their way into Gotham as a young Cassandra Cain tries but fails to break into Oracle’s clocktower.
Episode Two Plot: Feeling shame for her failure, Cassandra is lifted up by Barbara, who convinces her that she is capable of being a hero instead.
Episode Three Plot: Cassandra begins her first night of patrol in Gotham as the new Batgirl, but meets resistance when Batman denies the presence of a new Batgirl.
Episode Four Plot: Determined to prove herself, Cassandra follows Batman on a mission to stop a potential assassination, during which the two open up to one another.
Episode Five Plot: Cassandra gets her first taste of a sidekick team-up as she and Robin work together to prevent a terrorist attack from the League of Assassins.
Episode Six Plot: Stakes are high in the season finale, as Cassandra re-confronts her father and seeks to stop the League’s plans for destroying Gotham, by any means necessary.
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: Feeling disdain for the destruction caused by the League of Assassins, Jason decides it is time to enact his plan and take Gotham for himself, no matter the costs.
-Batman: The Red Hood (Film)
Protagonists: Batman, Robin (Tim Drake), Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) Antagonists: Red Hood, Bane, Joker Side Characters: Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Oracle, Nightwing, Catwoman, Lucius Fox, Harvey Bullock, Renée Montoya, Mayor Krol Cameo Characters: Darkseid, Azrael
Plot: Bane has arrived, and with him comes the Caped Crusader’s darkest days. Bane has seized control of the city and vows to both break the Batman and ruin everything he holds dear. However, he finds rivalry in the criminal underworld, as a new figure called the Red Hood emerges to take Gotham back his way. Batman is now caught in the crosshairs of a dark beast of destruction and a vengeful ghost from the past battling for control of the city, and with the Dark Knight losing his grip more and more each day, people wonder if the city really needs vigilantes.
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his identity being revealed and being imprisoned, Bruce sits in his cell as the tv showcases news coverage of another alien invasion occurring in Metropolis. He stares with fear as he watches Parademons swarm the city, followed closely behind by Darkseid himself, finally come to Earth.
Post-Credits Scene: Following the supposed end of the Batman, a hooded figure on a rooftop swears an oath to a mysterious force. As he stands up, he unsheathes his sword and reveals himself as Azrael, prepared to carry on the Batman’s legacy at any cost.
-Justice League Apokalips Part 1: War (Film)
Protagonists: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan and John Stewart), Cyborg, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Shazam, Steel, Superboy, Teen Titans, Justice Society, Lex Luthor Antagonists: Darkseid, Desaad, Kalibak, Granny Goodness, Grail, Apokalips Army Side Characters: Various (too many to list lol) Cameo Characters: Orion
Plot: The apocalypse has come. After years of planning and waiting, Darkseid has finally arrived on Earth, his invasion active and his plan clear: find the Mother Boxes and destroy all life in the universe, starting with Earth. The only obstacle standing between him and the Anti-Life Equation is the Justice League, who must unite one more time to defend Earth from the ultimate evil. But with a threat as powerful as Darkseid, do they have any hope of saving the world?
Settings: Metropolis, Apokalips, other cities
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his victory and upcoming conquering of the universe, starting with Earth, Darkseid’s actions are monitored by a man flying his way through space. He grows dreadful at the god’s actions, and activates an alert signaling the “New Gods” to unite.
-Suicide Squad: Operation Apokalips (Film)
Protagonists: Amanda Waller, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, Killer Frost, Rick Flag, the Thinker, Parasite Antagonists: Granny Goodness, Female Furies, Grail Side Characters: Few to none Cameo Characters: Batman, Flash
Plot: Darkseid has won, and now the Earth is doomed to die to the forces of Apokalips. However, there is one person left on Earth with a plan to save it: Amanda Waller. Recruiting her team of convicts, she plans a mission to cripple Darkseid’s main military output and steal back an invention of great importance: the Cosmic Treadmill. It’s a Suicide mission like no other, and this time, nobody is certain to be making it out alive.
Settings: Metropolis, STAR Labs
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the shaky mission, Waller meets with Batman and the Flash, presenting the treadmill. Batman thanks her for her mission, saying he has a plan to bring the disappeared Justice League back and save the world.
-The New Gods (Film)
Protagonists: Orion, Big Barda, Mr. Miracle, Bekka, Lightray Antagonist: Steppenwolfe, Black Racer Side Characters: High Father, Drax Cameo Characters: Darkseid, Batman, Flash
Plot: Taking place centuries before the events of “Justice League: War”, the New Gods are a powerful race of galactic beings who rule the universe in place of the Old Gods of mythology. However, when a misguided tyrant god named Steppenwolfe goes on a mad quest for his dark master, the New Gods must search for the ancient Mother Boxes and retrieve them before the darkness can find them and kill the universe.
Settings: New Genesis, other planets
Mid-Credits Scene: In the present, the remains of the Justice League and Argus formulate a plan to take the world back from Apokalips. However, they are interrupted mid-plan, as the New Gods arrive, saying they wish to help... and kill Darkseid.
-Justice League Apokalips Part 2: Crisis (Film)
Protagonists: Protagonists: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan and John Stewart), Cyborg, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Shazam, Steel, Superboy, Teen Titans, Justice Society, Lex Luthor, New Gods, Suicide Squad Antagonists: Darkseid, Desaad, Kalibak, Apokalips army, Black Racer Side Characters: Too many to count lol Cameo Characters: None
Plot: At last, the conclusion to the first chapter of the DCU has arrived. With the Earth in ruins and the core Justice League lost in time, all hope seems lost. That is, until Batman and the Flash come up with a plan to save the world. With the Cosmic Treadmill, they seek to travel throughout time to recover their teammates of the Justice League, and put a stop to Darkseid once and for all. Will they succeed, or will Apokalips rule the universe in the end?
Settings: Metropolis, various locations throughout time