Cute ways to tell someone you miss them

Play ranked sweats, y’all force everyone else you que with too thoroughly enjoy two seconds of gameplay cause you’re random queing with no way of effectively playing, or communicating, then because there’s an unreasonable amount of you hot droppers, as soon as someone leave due to that dumb experience you just forced upon them, they que up to another amazing seconds of gameplay. Just play ranked, play with your peeps, then drop hot, not worth every random you meet them complaining about how everyone “splits” hot about you turn the sweat off in random Q

I have been told more and more recently in the past year by various individuals on their own volition on separate occasions that I should get tested for Autism. I have told majority of the people that I did not really care to get one because I feel content with who I am, and whether I am autistic or not personally does not bother me knowing. I have had to go through a lot in my life to be where I am at today enough to feel remotely comfortable being or acting like myself (to a certain extent) to where it is not something I think I would find myself spending the extra money on. Because if I have it or not it does not change me as a person. But I have been thinking about it more recently in the past month because my mentor and even my own partner has suggested a few times that I should do it. And my boss now recently implied that I might act different than the other students in my lab that I work with, and has not directly asked but edged closer to asking a few times.
I think the truth is that I feel insanely guilty and even to some degree ashamed.
My sibling has been diagnosed with autism at a very early age and growing up along side them I had to witness the struggles they went through. Predominantly, encounters with other people. — I have had to watch people say such ignorant and disgustingly hateful things and watched them carefully interact around the world they live in because of it. Both within the churches that we used to attended together as children and their ignorant teachings in regards to autism, schools that were entirely oblivious on what to do with children on the spectrum and their ignorant behavior on how to teach someone who is neurodivergent and assume what they are or are not capable of, and just so many vial people who had no drop of humanity in them and acting horrifically. And my largest guilt is that if I do get diagnosed is the fact that I was never publically shamed or teared down like they were (at least, never to that extent). They are the strongest person I know and never let anyone did or said stop them. I admire them deeply. But for that reason I feel like it would almost be unfair of me. And I don’t really entirely know how to word it any other way than that.
I also know a lot of the people in my life (not anyone I mentioned previously) that have only brought up traits when they are using it to shame or make funny of me with on. And some of them I don’t understand personally how it is a sign of autism or not (most frequently I get that I’m too enthusiastic and overly curious about everything by my friends). I am used to people making fun of me, so it’s not something that bothers me presently. But it makes it harder now to hear someone tell me that I act autistic and not understand if they mean it genuinely (like the way I believe currently the people in my life are doing) or they are saying it because they are embarssed by me by my actions, or I am not socially acting the way I’m supposed to (which never seems fair and is just disgusting behavior to so). But now I can’t tell if it’s someone’s negative stereotypes or if I actually do act a certain way; and I can’t tell when people are making fun of me or not in those moments. And it makes me uncertain why people are saying what they are saying and what they mean.
Example, my former best friend who I ended up stepping away from three months ago for personal reasons on our last day together brought up when we were walking together to my professor’s office hours that she thought I might by a psychopath because I had no emotions (but a few moments before this I had cried in front of her because we had not seen each other in awhile and I was so overwhelmed with emotions and being so relieved to see her), and then proceeded to follow up with she thought I might also be autistic. At first, I thought she was being genuine for both, but I told my sibling who didn’t think so, and then she apologized the next day. And it sort of broke my trust in her. Because I thought she was the one person I could rely on. So how do I know if I actually act autistic or people are saying it to either be cruel.
Example, I get very loud when excited and the more excited I am the more unaware of my surroundings I become. I will openly cry, shout, and like find a way to express my emotions, when I talk I often move my hands expressively with my words if I’m comfortable with the person or sound like I’m on the verge of tears. I was at waffle hours and so happy to be surrounded by so many people I loved that I was too enthusiastic. I had multiple people tell me directly after that they think I was on the spectrum.
Another thing, I’m worried that maybe I’m not. And then if that’s not the case, I’m worried that how I act and operate is may misconstruing and (while I know this isn’t true) that I’m lying to everyone with how I present myself (that maybe I’m making myself act this way. But I acted this way before people pointed stuff out. I just feel somehow now that people are pointing things out maybe I’m misleading people). And I’m also worried that I’m feeding stereotypes by what people say
Example, I used to cup my hands around my neck when deeply stressed, but the moment someone pointed it out while I was in middle school and screamed at me saying, “What. Look at you. Are you autistic. Stop acting- ”. And I immediately stopped after that day even though it was something I did before they said it. But now I have doubts if maybe I picked it up and just started doing it more and more. But now that I’m in college I’ve found myself more deeply stressed and having the desire to cup my hands around my ear or neck, and the only thing I can think (like I did it last night) was maybe that I’m acting.
Also, a part of me wonders if I just picked up habits from my siblings. I feel a lot of how I act can be explained by other diagnoses I have like GAD, relgious based OCD, social anxiety, and others. So I am not entirely convinced I am.
And another part of me is just scared and I don’t know why. And even because of my parents. They are deeply loving but have told me they did not think I was capable of college because my mind was broken and I’ve never known what that meant or implied. And I know anyone with autism is not broken or incapable from getting a higher education, I see my sibling. They are the most smartest fucking person in the entire world. And never for a second do I view it that way. But I wonder if maybe something is different with me. And while that’s not bad. It still scares me. And even for at research people started treating me differently this past semester. And I was told that “ditzy people can’t go into medicine [or go as far]” or teach. And it made me feel lost. Because even if I’m not autistic something about me makes people say that to me.
I hope this does not come off as rude or offensive in any way. I’m just struggling with how to think about this and needed advice. And just felt too embarrassed to talk to anyone in my life. I may remove this later.
— —
I couldn’t find anywhere to add this, but I did want to say. Now that I am in college I feel like the group of people I am with now I can openly act like myself. And I have never had such relief to not worry about how I’m perceived. And these are the people who think I should get tested. But like, I’ve never been able to talk to people as enthusiastically as I am right now. And I am realizing that people are interested in stuff that I am, and that I do not have to force myself to like stuff or pretend that I do to relate. It’s been my largest struggle. And I’m really glad to have met these people. I’m still not sure I will take the test, or if I have it, and I apologize if any of my wording is bad, I struggle with knowing if stuff I say should or should not be said.
— —
I’m not good with following up. I’m not sure if anyone will see or respond to this, but I needed to write it out. (Anyways I hope you all have a nice day).

Hey there game theorists, I was wondering if anyone could check out my theory on poppy playtime? Specifically who we are playing as in the game as it still hasn’t been confirmed 😊
I think we play as doctor white. In the handbook, the ingame owner of the book is someone with the initials P.W who is a biologist working for playtime co. P.W must’ve been an important individual considering that he was aware and most likely involved in the bigger bodies initiative. Not only that, he must’ve had access to the orphans in playcare. In chapter 3, there’s a VHS tape of Miss delight telling the class that Samuel lee was chosen to be “adopted” however we as the audience know that it was for the bigger bodies initiative. Anyway, it’s doctor white who is present in the tape and chooses Samuel. The calendar at the end of the handbook shows that P.W would get new playcare schedule as well as know when new orphans would come in. Therefore, he was very aware of the procedures concerning the orphans.
Now I maybe reaching but the voice of the experimenter in the VHS tape, where a child wanders into an area where the orphan Kevin is, sounds oddly similar to doctor white in the previous VHS tape - I don’t know I need more evidence for this tho…
Also, in the handbook, there’s a report filed by P.W where catnap had killed a couple of playtime co employees. P.W notes that these employees were also his friends and he does not want to see anything bad happen to anymore employees. In chapter 1, we are summoned to come back to playtime co factory as there are supposedly missing workers still at the factory. We go back to help our employees who may still be alive however we must have survivors guilt considering that we were not at work on the day of the hour of joy. We were remorseful when our employees died in the catnap incident and we are remorseful that our employees all went missing when we missed a day of work and never knew what occurred. Poppy also mentions that we were “tortured” when we worked at playtime co.
Maybe P.W was not only the bad guy - as he must’ve been part of the experiments and almost all the encounters with the characters shows them to not be very fond of us. But also a somewhat good naive guy, who was following orders as it was his job to conduct experiments. He must’ve been a playtime co ”puppet”. The next point I’m about to make isn’t one that really holds any validity or reliability but I just have to say it. Doctor white is the only character so far that has 1/2 of the initials of P.W 😂 (sorry about that). I don’t know maybe I’m wrong but I was thinking of all of this for a while now. Thank you guys ✌🏼

Is this guy a narcissistic pervert or not
First of all i’m not an english speaker so if i make some mistakes while writing this, sorry. So i left my last relationship a year ago, it was an abusive relationship..the guy was beating me and was also very rude with me (rude comments about me, my body, cheated on me). So when i got out of this relationship I just wanted to focus on myself and stay single for a moment, but 7 months after I got a new job and I’ve met a guy. I instantly got a crush on him and i could feel he got the same thing for me. We couldn’t explain it but we were just attracted to each other we were always laughing and trying to find any excuse to talk or spend time together, but weeks later i found out he was only 17 (i’m 21) and that he had a girlfriend so i was kinda shocked. Physically i couldn’t tell he was this young because he do look older and by the way he was acting with me i didn’t even thought that he could be in a relationship. When i asked him about it he didn’t deny but i just got more and more cold around him and something between us was broken. Then eventually i’ve quit my job for other reasons and we didn’t speak for a while, then 8 months later he made a comeback and told me him and his girlfriend broke up. We started to talk and see each other again and the feeling between us was back again. He told me that he wasn’t really looking for a relationship but he said « if it’s for you i want to try » and i was like okay same and i asked him multiples times « are you over your ex if youre not it’s ok we can take our time » but he was like no i’m really over her she cheated on me blablabla. I just fell for him blindly, i told him everything that happened to me with my ex so he could understand why I could be so hesitant in this relationship and he understood. I was full of attentions for him and i could feel he was giving less to me but I was like it’s okay he is young and by the way that was a big issue for me because i couldn’t imagine a future with someone this young but he was constantly reassuring me and made me feel loved and in security. Anyway 2 months later i found out he was texting his hex begging her to comeback while telling me he wanted to go on a trip with me this summer. When i found out he told me that he just texted her to get revenge on her but that he don’t really want her back…when i was ready to forgive him i found out he was texting another girl who was « just a friend »…this was like a month ago, he kept send me messages to ask me to forgive me and that he’ll change then all of a sudden he was like « i’m not sure of what i want i’ll let you alone i’m sorry » but he still text me tell me that he think of me…what does it mean? is he really lost or is he just trying to save me for later ? maybe he is too young too immature ? should i just block him? but hes hot tho, need some advices

Long story short, a bit over a year ago I went through one of the toughest heartbreaks of my life. I (26M) and my then partner (22F) ended our relationship cause she exhibited avoidant tendencies. I won’t go too deep on it, but she still wanted me in her life after the breakup (she said we had one of the deepest connections she’s ever had, and I felt the same), went cold, I tried to at least talk things out but she didn’t wanna hear it so we’ve been no contact ever since (she still snoops through my socials from time to time though, even now).
I basically had my life crumble due to other things (loss or my job, family health, etc.) and I had to pick up the pieces all by myself. I remembered how I felt when I found out that she started dating someone new barely 3 months after we broke up. Everyone I speak to about the guy say that it is a textbook rebound to fill the void I left behind, and that in the long run they won’t last. I take it with a grain of salt, but man do I feel bad when I say that I wanna believe them. I remember how much it stung because I thought that this girl was the one.
I know my story is not the worst one out there, and there’s people here who have it worse than me. I don’t wanna discredit any of y’all… but I gotta tell ya, I felt so bad I lost 10 pounds in the span of a week out of refusing to eat properly. All in all, it was a combo of everything that I had to endure that summer, the heartbreak she gave me was just one of the reasons of my depression.
Cut to a year later, I’m dating someone new (long distance, and yes long distance sucks), I’ve graduated from my acting school and now I’m in an accelerated program to become a nurse and combine that with acting. I think that I’m finally getting control back out of my life. I won’t lie, this week was VERY stressful with exams, but then I get a notification on my phone two days ago.
My phone reminds me that it was her birthday cause I had that saved in my contacts, and it felt like a stab in the heart. Maybe it’s from the stress of long distance, or maybe it’s from the stress of exams, but I feel stuck where I’m at right now cause my classes are difficult as hell and I can’t be with the woman who currently holds my heart because of that degree plan. I remember how much pain I had to endure, all that I had to suffer to get to where I am, and I can’t help but feel like I would love to get her to at least be accountable for what she did.
I don’t know if I’m asking for too much either. In my life, I’ve had 3 people who are more severe avoidant than her actually reach out to apologize to me (2 of them past lovers, 1 of them is my best friend), so I KNOW that reaching out is possible. I also know that not every avoidant is the same, just like how not every person is the same. But with everything I went through, I can’t help but ask myself (and you guys): even if I have worked hard on myself this past year to get where I’m at, is it wrong to still want to hear an apology from her after all this time?

I've been reading a couple of these stories and thought I'd share one of my own. (From like 10 years ago, so all wrapped up now). Sorry for the length, I want to get all the context in, plus tell the story of one of the best campaigns I've been in (horror story aside).
To set the scene, we started with a fairly regular group of 3 players plus a DM, playing twice weekly. We'd just finished a campaign and were swapping DM's. The new campaign was a dark fantasy 'dying world' campaign, and we were asked to come up with lv1 characters, and a reason we'd be on a carriage travelling to [LARGE CITY]. The other important thing to mention was that the DM was introducing homebrew rules to 'Upcast cantrips', allowing an increase in area and duration for each spell level you spent on the cantrip.
The three of us take turns introducing our characters:
There's the Wizard, who is huddled up in his cloak, huddling around a held Firebolt spell to stay warm amidst the wind-driven snow. The wizard occasionally pulls out a locket with a sketch inside and looks longingly at it before tucking it away again. He states that the reason he's travelling to [CITY] is to see if there's a powerful priest there who can help him with something he refuses to elaborate on further. What little we can see of his skin appears to be human. (Human Wizard, his goal is to revive his dead family and fiancee) He's played by 'A'
The next character is an awkwardly shaped humanoid wrapped entirely in black leather with a plague doctor mask. They move with an odd gait and will step away from the party to eat. When they speak, it's with a variety of different voices for each phrase (like playing back a recording), but mostly an old male human voice. A snuck peek when they partially took off their mask to eat reveals a couple of grey feathers. (Kenku grave cleric, a wizard's familiar awakened through a magical mishap. Their goal is to find their master (who unbeknownst to the character had died in a plague before the character awakened)). Played by 'B'
My character is a pale figure dressed way too lightly for the weather we were encountering. His face is mostly human, but a lot of the extremeties are elven in nature, as if someone had started shaping a human, then slowly decided they actually wanted to shape an elf after all. He speaks very deliberately and winces at the sight of the open flame the wizard is huddlling against, or when he touches the iron handle of the carriage before putting on gloves and trying again. (LE Half-elf warlock, lawyer and errand boy for an evil fae holding court in the shadowfell. My goal is to collect some children that my patron has been promised in the city we're heading to.) In exchange for not being able to lie or touch cold iron plus, an aversion to heat, and being bound by any promises I make, the DM had given me the ability to withstand natural cold without discomfort due to my backstory. (Being sold to the fae by his parents, and being warped by the shadowfell as a result of growing up there.)
Session one is roleplay heavy, and we spend the session helping get this caravan along the snow-covered trail and to a church that's meant to be a waypoint on the journey. Something seems odd about the priest, and we get ambushed by some cultists that have made their home in this church, a quick combat to wrap up the evening, and the session ends with us discovering a trapdoor down to some catacombs below the church, as the priest flees below. We all level up to level two.
Before session two starts, we get two new players asking to join. One is someone the DM and I were friends, but not close friends with from school (We'll call him 'D') They tend to be rather headstrong and get very into characters, but only really build a certain kind of character (reckless martials). The other is known to the DM and both the other players, and has finally managed to get his schedule in order and wants to play (We'll call him 'E'). We're down a player, and both of them have plenty of D&D experience, so we welcome them aboard with a heads up that they might not be able to join immediately in the session, as we want to slot them into the campaign organically, rather than just have two random people show up. The DM does some behind the scenes work, and sets up a reason for them to be in the church basement (The cult captured them previously and is saving them for some sort of sacrifice).
Session two opens up with us heading down into the basement to the church, fighting some more cultists and rescuing the two new PC's. An Elven noble of some sort (rogue), as well as a fire Genasi (Monk?). We unshackle them, and hand them their stuff back from the now dead cultists. They mention that the priest ran past them into the next room, so we take a short rest and get ready for another combat with the last of these cultists.
D's impatience and penchant for reckless behaviour gets them immediately killed, as they rush past all the remaining cultists to engage the priest, who promptly downs them, and we can't get to them in time to stabilize them. We eventually win the fight, only for the blood spilled to summon a demon. Whoops! Turns out this is what the PC's were being saved as a sacrifice for. In no shape to fight, I use my lawyer skills to bargain with the demon to buy us time, with us agreeing to talk and settle terms tomorrow. We hit up the cultist's library to see what we are dealing with, and our new elven friend deciphers their texts from an ancient elven dialect. Due to a translation error, the cultists had actually summoned a fragment of the elder god of entropy. Double whoops. The DM calls session two there, while we figure out what to do with this information over a long rest above.
D seems to be a little annoyed by having their character die in the session they're introduced, but mostly takes it in stride.
During the week, I've got this on the mind, so I'm messaging the DM about possible deals (I want this in writing, as I'm going to try and rules lawyer the hell out of it, but don't want to blindside the DM, only the god fragment). Unbeknownst to me, the DM is working behind the scenes with D as well, trying to help them fit their next character into the story. They can't quite work it out so we do our next session without D.
After our long rest, we discuss exactly what we want to do with this thing in the basement. We agree to make a deal with it, and spend most of session 3 bargaining with it. It wants to destroy the world eventually, but agrees to grant us wishes in exchange for us working to empower it enough to take on other immortal elder gods, as it takes immortality as a personal offense. We get its mark burned into us as a sign of our pact, and level up again from a rush of power from the pact. We also learn a ritual to contact this god. My wish is to delay the destruction of the world by several thousand years, and the destruction of the shadowfell by several million years.
The rest of session 3 is us making our way to a small town on the way to [CITY], while the DM shreds a whole bunch of his previous notes (he expected us to fight this thing). The DM is all for our new direction though, as he feels it's way more interesting than his previous plans.
Between sessions, the DM and D finally figure out what their new character is going to be, a black dragonborn (and a second cleric, I think.)
We arrive at the town, and find an innocuous spot to contact our new patron. They tell us to get stronger for them, and that there's a nearby treasure trove from an ancient wizard war that they'll lead us to when we're powerful enough to survive the guardians. Until then, they tell us to take sidequests to boost our power. They then call out D's new character who's hiding and watching. They offer D's character a wish in exchange for serving them, but D refuses, stating that they want to grow stronger on their own, but they are interested in the treasure trove and will reconsider later (albiet in a gruff, argumentitive manner). New party member in tow, we set out to do a few sidequests and dick around town.
The next few sessions are just odd jobs around town that net us a bit of gold (Fighting dire wolves and helping a druid properly reincarnate). I spend a bit of time warning important people of the impending threat, then using encode thoughts to store those memories in my patron, so the god can't read those thoughts when we talk to it. We all hit level 4, and I ask the DM if I can homebrew a Snow/Ice variant of Shape water for my new cantrip, which we work out over Discord. D's character seems to be a little distant from the rest of us, but is very useful. There's also a bunch of RP moments, where A seems dedicated to his new patron, B spends some time learning new phrases to copy back, as well as asking everyone if they've seen a wizard around. I make a bunch of deals with people, and make sure to treat them exactly as they've treated me (in accordance with the laws of hospitality).
Finally, the god deems us ready to face this dungeon, and gives us directions to a cave. We spend several days traversing frozen tundra to get there, and have been using my new Shape Snow/Ice cantrip as a bootleg Leomund's tiny hut, forming ice shelters for us to rest in every night. We finally arrive at the cave, and hit level 5 from the trials we faced on the way, only for it to be blocked by a boulder. We contact our patron, who manifests, casts disintegrate on the boulder, and marches into the cave. We follow it down through the cave, dodging traps, and arrive at a massive cavern containing an ancient city. The god is fighting a giant crystal snake, and detonates it using a power word, before fading away and telling us to take a specific item from the library in the centre of the city. Thanks to darksvision, someone makes out several human figures just standing in the street.
We decend into the city, and as we walk, magical street lights light up, revealing the figures to be mummies, who wake up when the light shines on them. After a brief fight, which I only survive thanks to my newly learned Tomb of Levistus, we then loot a magic ring from the bodies, and learn that several of us have been afflicted with mummy rot. The cleric agrees to prepare remove curse the next day, but we're just going to have to deal with it for now. Some tinkering with the ring discovers that it turns the streetlights off, which will prevent the mummies from waking up. This makes traversing the city way easier, and we make our way to the library we are looking for, while picking up the gems that are littering the street (the remains of the crystal snake).
Once we are inside, we are met by a librarian construct of some sort. It leads us to the artefact the god is looking for, as well as leading us to books on the topic of our choosing. We each pick up a book (except for D, who is looting more of the fallen gems from the crystal snake), then start making our way out of the library.
This is where the horror story begins.
I decide that the librarian would make a fantastic gift for my archfey patron, and start trying to put it in my bag of holding. E (the rogue) takes objection to me basically kidnapping a living being (understandable), and a lengthy argument ensues. A (Wizard) tries to convince us that the argument isn't worth it, while B (cleric) and D leave. The DM, starts a timer unbeknownst to us, while we continue arguing over the construct. There's a bit of metagaming as C keeps intefering in my efforts to capture the librarian, but we largely keep it IC and amicable.
8 minutes later, the DM's timer goes off, and he asks D what he wants to do now he's out. D says that he'd like to turn on all the lights in the city, waking up all the mummies. OOC, there's a round of WTF are you doing, and the DM asks if he really wants to do that.
IC, we look at each other, and ask who has the ring, before realising either B or D has to have it, as we don't. D then explains that they'd got bored (IC, and possibly OOC) of waiting for us to finish arguing and left at the start of the argument. He'd then turned the lights on "In an attempt to force us to stop arguing and leave the library." The DM's timer was how long it took for him to get out (He'd sent a private message to the DM) He didn't seem to think that there was anything wrong with what he'd done.
To clarify: He'd deliberately woken up an entire city of mummies while we were still in the middle of it because he'd got bored. The fight with three mummies earlier had almost killed several of us, and we were still stuck with Mummy Rot. Now there were literally hundreds of them converging on us thanks to D.
Somehow we all make it out. A casts fly, and flies out, I use my last spell slot to give me an hour of invisibility, which sort of works against the mummies, and E makes some insane stealth rolls to avoid being seen.
A, E and I are absolutely pissed (both IC and OOC) by this murder attempt, and want to repay D for his 'kindness'. D doesn't seem to think that he'd done anything wrong, as "that's what his character would do". A getting out first, ritual casts Leomund's Tiny Hut, excluding EVERYONE. About an hour later, E and I get out of the cavern and back aboveground. I use Shape Ice to form another one of my ice shelters, while the DM rolls for the weather. He rolls a 99, which means that one of the worst blizzards ever seen is bearing down on us. It's so bad that my character is starting to feel cold for the first time in decades, despite his boon from the winter fae. I get the outer shell set up just in time, have an evil idea and start working on inner compartments for people to heat as they wish. (This isn't too unusual, as my character hates fire and warmth, while other people seem to need that for some reason). I also offer to stay up to ensure the integrity of the outer dome.
The DM takes time describing the severeity of the storm. Utter white out conditions, you can't tell land from sky, and the snow keeps piling up on top of the shelter to a depth of about 10m (32ft). Everyone else starts sleeping, starting on a long rest. Once D's character is soundly asleep, I seal off his portion of the shelter from the rest of us, and thaw a hole in the roof above him, dumping 10m of solid snow on top of him.
The DM pauses for a bit, and says that should instantly kill D's character, but as it's a PC he's going to get to try a saving throw. D is absolutely pissed as well at this point, as I've just tried to kill his character. I explain that this is what my character would do. I'm simply repaying one murder attempt with another. D then says that he'd like to use guiding bolt to blast himself free. The DM says that it won't neccesarily work, but to make some rolls. Several spells and rolls later, and D's character is free, but is now out in a blizzard with no shirt, no spells and 3 levels of exhaustion. Basically a death sentence, but D's character isn't dead yet, so there's maybe an out he can fudge, depending on how everyone feels. The DM does call the session there though, as everyone's tempers are high from the attempted murders, and he wants to give everyone time to cool off before D starts a fight.
Next session, D isn't there, and the DM says that he's talked to D about what happened and why things ended up the way they did. He also mentioned that tempers got a bit high in the previous session, and that rather than a full session, we'll talk about what boundaries people have, where we want to take the campaign, and do a little wrap up from the fallout of last session.
D is still saying he's keen to make another character and join again, but the DM is now thouroghly vetting his characters to make sure he doesn't make a character that would do something similar again. I don't know quite what D and the DM said to each other, but after several weeks (and multiple character rejections), D stops trying to suggest characters and gives up. Later, the DM mentioned to me that D had asked to play basically the same character again about five times.
I know that I'm not exactly innocent here, and was part of the problem, but wanted to share the story anyway. If you'd like, I could tell the story of the rest of the campaign. (It involved my warlock rules lawyering a god, as well as killing the world.)

Pretty much me and this girl have been in a “talking stage” for about 4 months now which is the longest I've ever talked to a girl without locking in and dating her. One night I sent some stupid text her cause I felt like she wasn't feeling us as much even tho we just had went on a really nice date that day. The text read something like “are you talking to other guys” she said “wdym” I said “like in a flirty way” and of course it's a yes and all we have been to her is some little fling or something she tells me she's not ready for a relationship but still wants us to be together. She wants to explore the waters and talk to other guys besides me and I really like this girl so of course I said okay to it as long as I could talk to other people too and trust me I tried to talk to another girl. she was a very pretty girl too but I just feel so guilty about it and It doesn't sit right with me so I don't get how she can just do that and it's not like she gives her body out like that I know her past and she's a pretty good girl but I don't get why after this long of talking and going on dates maybe about 3 times a week spending some nights with each other she wants to just keep talking and not date and she says she doesn't know when shell be ready to date. (We did state we could talk to other people but if we were to hangout with them to end things with the other person first). Am I just a sitting duck till she finds a new man to make her happy. And she doesn't want me hanging out with this one girl Ella who has a boyfriend who would be with us and is literally just a friend to me I've known her for like 3 years and I'm not allowed to talk to her but there's also a lot of good but it feels like all lives because whenever I say something I don't like like I dont want you talking to other guys i get hit with the “were not dating” I feel lost cause I feel so much but she acts like she likes me but couldn't care less if it ended right now. I want to try to make things work with her so bad but I don't know if it's worth it sometimes

Went clubbing with a few friends the other night. This guy approached me thinking I was cute. We start talking and hitting it off and it goes well. He’s cute and seems nice. I’m quite drunk (he is sober as he was planning to drive home) and offers to drive me home to my house if I’m not feeling well or if I want to go to his. I like this guy’s vibes so I said I want to go to his. We get in his car. He opens the door for me before we get in. He is holding my hand the whole ride to his house (around 35 mins). We reach his house and he gives me a change of clothes to feel more comfy. We sit and talk for a bit more about random and trivial things as he drinks some wine and then things escalate and we take it to the bedroom. After we cuddle and talk about more random things. He asks what I want for breakfast tomorrow morning. Whats my favourite food. Etc. Next morning comes and I have a slight headache from my hangover and I ask if he has panadol. He says no and offers to quickly go to the shops to get some for me. I tell him its fine I’ll just put up with it. I get changed into my clothes from the other night and I start getting ready to leave. He comes up from behind and hugs me and buries his face in my neck and we both giggle. He asks if I’m feeling awkward and I say a little (as this the first time I’ve done something like this and I haven’t been intimate with a guy for quite a while and also the courage from the alcohol has worn off). I ask if last night was ok and he said yes he loved it.
He drives me home (45 min drive) and is once again holding my hand the whole way and squeezing it every once in a while. We talk some more and he asks what my ideal type is. I can’t come up with an answer so I ask him. And after saying a few traits he says something along the lines of “basically you” and I get super flustered so I forgot how I responded. He asks me what my hobbies are and I ask him his. He says he likes driving and I agree. And then he says “Maybe I can take you for a drive sometime?” I say yes I would love that.
We arrived at my house. We exchange our contact details.
A day goes by and neither of us had reached out. I realise that I can’t stop thinking about him and how nice and safe he made me feel. So I text him “You still wanna go for that drive with sometime?” At night and he responded in the morning “Hey” “Of course haha” “When are you free” and I respond “Sat and Sun this week works best for me” and he still hasn’t responded and it’s been a day. He is older than me (I’m turning 20 and I’m pretty sure he is 26 if I remember correctly). I am a big overthinker and so my mind is racing back and forth and I feel like I’m crazy. I hope he responds in the morning. He is probably busy right? Maybe figuring out his schedule? Are 26yr olds not big on texting? Maybe he lost interest in me? It was a one-night stand after all so he probably did. I can’t help but think of the worst.
Opinions anyone? Honesty only
Anyways I just felt like I needed to get that out. Thank you to those who read this all.

So after all these years of attempting to replicate my old friend’s abuelo’s salsa, I have just NOW thought to look up the inevitable subreddit for salsa! And I tell you I am so happy to be here.
So the question is the title. I try my best to get a good roasted char on the tomatoes, the garlic, and peppers, but I often find I have a hard time getting a nice deep flavor. She didn’t use any dried pepper that I know of, and of course hers will always be better (with how minimalist her recipe was), but I’ve noticed with just a quick scroll on this subreddit that they’re popular to use and I’m curious about them!
The loose recipe I have for roja is:
Tomatoes
Garlic
Serranos
Jalapeños
Habaneros
All roasted until cooked and charred
Blended with a touch of water and salt to taste
Her salsa always tasted so fresh, so clean, full of flavor, always a little different, yet always so damn good.
I’m willing to bet that half the time I make it (honestly a few times a year), the quality of produce I have access to probably isn’t hitting the mark. That is one thing I’m sure that is affecting my batches, and how trivial it can sometimes be to get a deeper flavor.
I figured perhaps you guys would have some suggestions and tips. I personally like my salsa pretty damn hot, but i know the level of heat I know and love salsa to be is way beyond what anyone casually expects and I like to be able to share it with a large group of people.
Also… I love you guys. I love this sub. Hell yeah.

I wanted to write you a letter, not because I expect you to respond, but because I needed to write it for myself. I hope that’s OK. Since we broke up, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about myself, about you, and about our relationship. There are a lot of good memories I cherish: mosey, hikes, doodles, my first Christmas (!), adventures, moments I really felt connected to you. There are also some harder memories now. I have a few things to share if you’re willing to listen.
That day, you said, you really tried, that by spending more time together, introducing me to your family, going on trips, you hoped your feelings would grow and that they didn’t. I’ve thought a lot about that.
For me, feelings, grow by talking, by sharing our fears, excitements, anxieties, and uncertainties. I know that isn’t easy for anyone. We both struggled with it at times. One day, you said you wanted to go slowly, but not why or what scared you. One day you deleted dating apps. One day you said you thought of me as your girlfriend, but I didn’t ask how I felt or tell me how you did. One day you said you didn’t think fellowship would be a challenge for us, but you didn’t tell me what you thought might be. One day you said you didn’t feel enough romance towards me. We rarely shared how we felt about these things or about our relationship. We had so much fun together, to me such a natural connection, but vulnerability wasn’t easy for either of us. I didn’t know your fears, hesitations, excitements, and uncertainties. I’ve learned that there’s a lot of growth and strength that happens when you share those things. In a way, I’m doing it now.
It was me, too. That’s what I was trying to apologize for that day in the park. I didn’t always share my fears or excitement either, and that’s a lesson I’ve learned. I was afraid, because I thought it might scare you away. And I think maybe it did. In February, we were dancing, laughing, close. Then I told you how I felt, my fears, my excitement. And I wonder if you lost feelings When I said that I had them. If you realized that it could mean change, commitment, vulnerability. And maybe you felt like that shouldn’t be scary with the right person. Maybe you’re right, but maybe you’re wrong. To me, I think it’s always that way, especially as we get older and have been hurt in the past. And maybe it should be. It’s a huge leap. You told me once that for you love is certain, but maybe it is putting all of yourself out there in the face of uncertainty.
Maybe this resonates with you, maybe it doesn’t. Maybe you just really didn’t feel as strongly as I did about you, and that’s okay (really). But I think we can both agree that we kept each other at an arms length for a long time, and didn’t let walls down until close to the end. Maybe you think that if it was the right person, it wouldn’t feel like that. Maybe you’re right, but maybe you’re wrong. And that’s why I’m writing this letter:
It would be a loss if you didn’t more people into your life. Because you are really, really special. I told your dad that when I met him. You are kind, empathetic, and thoughtful. You are smart and funny, and s it would be a loss if you didn’t more people into your life. Because you are really, really special. I told your dad that when I met him. You are kind, empathetic, and thoughtful. You are (very) smart and (very) funny, and (sometimes) hard to get to know. You deserve so much love, whatever that looks like to you. You told me once that one of the things you admired about me is that I could talk to anyone – a master class, I think you said. That comes from putting myself out there in the face of uncertainty it comes from trying to be vulnerable. And it landed me here, writing this letter because I care.
Trying isn’t going out to dinner or on a camping trip. It’s about understanding our feelings and working through them together with the people who care about us. It’s about sharing. It’s about recognizing and confronting our fears, not just pushing past them.
I am grateful for the time that we shared the experiences that we had together. I wrote this letter for me, but also for you. I hope it doesn’t cause you any discomfort. This isn’t me trying to guilt you or trying to get back together. This is me having thought a lot about how I can grow from this and how you might too. If you feel like writing a letter back, I would be open to hearing your thoughts. But if not, that’s OK too. Know that this is coming from someone who wants to see you happy, and that there are no hard feelings (really) from my end. My hope for you is my hope for me: that we say how we feel, that we let people see our vulnerabilities and let them show us theirs. You deserve to love and be loved in a way that is raw and imperfect. I do too. I’ve learned from this and honestly, thank you.

Hi everybody, I work at an international secondary school in Vietnam and I'm wondering what college professors expect of freshmen students when they join a city college or 4 year university. For context, I teach social studies. Mostly AP Psychology and 11th-grade psychology in addition to US history and world geography as needed.
I always tell my students, "You should learn ... because your college professors will expect it from you." But is it really though? I finished my undergrad about 10 years ago so I'm not sure if the expectations are still the same as they were for me. When I look at the behavior of my students, I find a lot of it to be unacceptable and do my best to correct it.
A group of my 11th to 12th grade students were so bad with copying/pasting online sources and using Chat GPT that I did my last unit of the year entirely tech-free to eliminate the possibility. Their final was all paper-based and there was no way to cheat.
Some of the things I see in the students are:

• Not being able to read long texts
• Trying to hack assignments/take shortcuts instead of doing the work
• Constant distractions from devices

These are the things I tell them will be expected of them in college:

• Being ready when class starts (like on time, in your seat, before the class starts)
• Being able to take notes by hand
• Properly citing sources
• Communicating issues when they arise, not waiting until the last minute

I'm guessing that a lot of students are checked out in class when they come to university. There are probably a few students who sit in the front of class and are actively engaged while the rest of students sit in the back of the classroom watching Netflix, messaging friends, or doing whatever assignment is due next for another class.
So my big question/TLDR is this: What are the best things high school teachers can do to prepare students to do well in university?

First_Previous_Royal Road_wiki
Allready, chapter 25 half way, to next milestone!
Almost made an error, for the next chapter and opend up a gigantic pot hole. Good I found it before tomorrow.
___________________________________________________________
Saphine blocked Mors' way, defiantly putting both hands on her hips and giving him a stern look.
"What do you mean nothing? I talked to Orth yesterday, and he was not his usual self. After I asked him, he said it was nothing, but I'm sure it was something YOU did." She spat.
"Because I'm a commoner?" Mor asked with a dangerous tone.
"Yes, exactly. There can never come something good from a high noble like Orth mingling with a commoner like you." She huffed.
"You know nothing," Mor growled. "Get your facts straight, and then come talk to me again, and don't use that snotty tone with me!"
"You dare?!" Saphine began.
"Yes, I fucking dare! First, I had to deal with the oh-so-great Ranbor who trampled all over me, and now that I'm finally free of his torment, you show up and do the same!" Mor shouted over her.
"I just want some time for myself without you condescending nobles. You think you are so much better than the common rabble, but honestly, I am beginning to think you are much worse, and maybe..." Mor continued.
°STOP! Don't say anything more! You will only get in trouble again.° The human interrupted Mors's tirade.
Mor took a deep breath.
"You know what, never mind," Mor said, annoyed, and just left.
Saphine stood there stunned for a second at the ferocity of the commoner. What has happened? She thought to herself.
"You shouldn't treat your comrades so poorly." A suddenly appearing Snow told the girl.
"What would you know?" Saphine countered.
"I know this one is done with being held down. He wants to move on his own path, a path none of you would ever understand." Snow continued on.
"I don't understand?" Saphine said.
"I know," Snow replied and followed Mor, leaving Saphine stunned again.
"What is going on?!" Saphine shouted into the corridor.
Snow quickly caught up to Mor and followed him quietly.
"Don't you want to ask me what's going on?" Mor said quietly.
"Not my business," Snow answered.
"Thank you," Mor told her.
"Don't mind it," Snow said.
Mor let out a deep sigh.
"I found out that the nobles kept at least one secret from us, commoners..." Mor said.
"And you think they might keep a bunch more," Snow said, and Mor nodded.
"What if they only think of us as disposable pawns while keeping their influence and power intact," Mor said.
°Yeah, this is probably it. Orth and Clare are probably rare exceptions from that, ° the human said.
"I understand. You fear that if this gets known among your kin, there might be a conflict brewing." Snow said.
"Yes, and I don't know what I should do about it. Should I keep quiet, or should I talk?" Mor said, and Snow nodded.
"Quite the conundrum." She said.
"Yes, what would you do?" Mor asked.
"I will not answer this. It is for you to decide. But you need the power to follow your convictions anyway." Snow said.
"You're right. I can't do anything if I'm powerless." Mor said.
°Why is she helping you so much? This goes way beyond being "thankful," ° The human asked.
"Why are you so helpful to me?" Mor asked, and Snow smiled.
"I'm here as part of the "kin-ship", but you are the only one, except the chief, who doesn't view me as the stupid barbarian. You give me the respect that kin deserve from each other and are humble. Also, I can see the soul of ice in you. It just makes me want to help you." Snow explained.
"The soul of ice?" Mor asked.
"Yes, you struggle to overcome yourself every day anew, trying to become the best you can. We ice-kin are respecting that." Snow answered.
°I get it. Your hard work is paying off now.° The human said.
°I don't.° Mor said.
°In short, out of all the soul-kin, she can relate to you most and, therefore, is willing to share her techniques with you. She probably also knows that no one at this school would want to learn from someone outside the soul-kin, no one except you.° The human explained.
"You are helping me because I listen to you and want to learn from you?" Mor asked Snow.
"Now you understand, if you offer respect, you will get it in return," Snow said again, embracing Mor for a second.
"What's up with all this embracing?!" Mor asked, flustered after he was let go.
"I told you it's how we show that we trust someone," Snow said.
"How did you end up with something like this?!" Mor continued.
"Simple. When you live in ice and Snow, warmth becomes a valuable resource, but it also makes you vulnerable to attacks on your back, so sharing your warmth with someone else is a sign of trust", Snow explained.
°Makes sense.° The human said.
"I get it," Mor said, somehow feeling better after this hug.
They walked the last distance to the classroom in pleasant silence. Snow stayed with Mors's class the whole day, and after the final lesson was over, they both walked to the training room.
"Snow? What's that armor of yours? I have never seen anything like that," Mor asked.
"I told you about our coming-of-age tradition, right?" She answered, and Mor nodded.
"After you have slain your monstrosity, you bring the body back to the village. There, it will be processed into food, armor, and ammunition." She pulled out an arrow. "The fins on the back are feathers of a flying monstrosity." Snow explained further.
°That´s cool!° The human said.
"You are eating them?° Mor asked, surprised.
"Yes, we can't let anything go to waste, and fruits are not growing where we live. Therefore, we need to hunt the monstrosities regularly or starve. Also, we need to keep their numbers low because we don't have as strong a protection as many other kin, unlike your floating cities or the underground cities of the stone-kin. Getting used to your food is not that easy. At least you have some nuts, or your food wouldn't be filling for me." Snow explained.
°Told ya.° The human said proudly
°You didn't, though. You said they were eating right and not they would eat mostrosities.° Mor countered
°It is the same thing! Meat is good for your muscles.° The human said.
"But if you hunt them for food, why make clothes out of them?" Mor asked.
"I told you, nothing can go to waste. Also, the material keeps many of the original properties, so it is resistant against cuts and even protects a bit against magic." She explained.
"Is this why, Ranbors fire couldn't hurt you?" Mor went on.
"The loud idiot? No. I blocked this one's attacks with my daggers after imbuing them with power." Snow said.
"Meaning, you can fill those crystals with magic and then block other attacks?!" Mor asked, and Snow nodded.
°This will be so much more helpful than we thought at first!° The human celebrated.
°Yes, we need to learn this technique and get our hands on some of those crystals.° Mor said.
°Then we can do a two-in-one, saving energy for later and using it as a shield in the meantime!° The human said, and Mor agreed.

Belonging
It was a brisk winter night as the Little Light floated across the snowy street. This place, according to records in the City’s databanks, had once been a metropolis of human life. People and Exos enjoying their lives and living as free as could be. The Golden Age tech that was once so abundant here was now nothing but scraps scavenged from the Fallen and pieces decimated by the Darkness. This place was just another dark reminder of the torment from the Collapse.
The night drew darker as clouds shifted overhead and the once light snowfall shifted into a frosty blizzard which shook the Little Light’s shell as it failed to fight against the wind. This was no place for his Guardian. Nothing belonged here anymore.
Just up ahead, across the street, the Little Light saw a skyscraper still mostly intact. The vibrant designs and name on its side had faded from recognition centuries ago, and while he could easily research what it used to be from some old data files the City maintained for historical purposes, he found no reason for it. By this point, it didn’t matter and he didn’t care. All that mattered was finding the Guardian he belonged to. Centuries had passed since he’d first started this journey and after watching a hundred others find their meaning, he was left thinking he would have to leave Earth to find what he was looking for.
He had heard the tales about others who left the relative safety of Earth to find their Guardians. They hitched rides with scouts going on missions to other planets, and were left alone to find their match. Sometimes they returned, but most of the time they didn’t. Either they were dead from whatever darkness that lay in wait, or they were still searching and hoping they chose the right planet. He didn’t like the idea of being abandoned somewhere like Venus only to discover he had made a terrible mistake.
As he floated into the building, he was greeted with the all too familiar sight of skeletons and exo frames strewn across the floor, buried in snow. Beings who were once the inhabitants of this place and had likely spent their last days in terror. Many sets of bones were interlaced with each other and it was apparent they had died huddled together. Whether it was to maintain warmth during a blizzard like this one, or to comfort one another in an uncertain time, he didn’t know. But what he did know was his Guardian, however unlikely, could be in the building, and since he couldn’t leave until the snow storm died down, he might as well start scanning the remains.
One.
It was a depressing task to take on. One by one he scanned each set of bones and was disappointed by the lack of Light each one of them possessed.
Seven.
He thought back to when he was first constructed from the Traveler’s Light and the job of finding his purpose seemed so exciting and hopeful. He was determined to find the one he belonged to for decades, not out of duty to what was left of Humanity, but because he wanted to show the world how great his Guardian was. He could feel it in his inner workings.
Thirty-four.
None of the corpses here possessed the ability to wield the Light. There was a gaping hole in the floor above him that extended all the way to the roof and he passed through it. It was dark on the second floor, and what little light the moon had offered through the clouds had been snuffed out as they shifted once more. He turned on his flashlight and looked about the room. There was nothing. A quick lap around the floor showed there were no remains in any room at this level. The Little Light moved on to the next floor. Then the next.
There weren’t any signs of skeletons or Exo frames until the 27th floor where he found an auditorium full of them. They lay haphazardly in chairs and scattered on the floor. A bright light emitted from his eye, and he began his scans again.
Thirty-five.
Over the course of the centuries he had spent scanning bodies, the feeling of loss he experienced had shrunk. The Collapse was ages ago and all these people died shortly after the Darkness arrived in the system. He no longer felt sad for what happened. There was no point in it since he could not change anything even if he wanted to. It was his duty now to find his Guardian so that they could stop something like the Collapse from happening again by using the Traveler’s Light.
Seventy-Seven.
He had just scanned the last of the bodies sitting in chairs and was moving towards the front of the auditorium when the building shook. Chunks of concrete fell from the ceiling and crashed to the floor. To his left, the entire exterior wall crumpled away and dropped to the street far below.
I guess this building isn’t as stable as I thought. I should leave.
But before he could act on that thought, something stopped him. Pulled at him more like. He turned around to face the stage and saw another pile of bones and metal. He floated to it as a steady stream of concrete rained around him.
Was this it?
On the stage, there were two broken Exo husks laying next to each other. One male and the other female. Their fingers interlocked with one another. As he got closer, he felt a strong connection to the male. The Exo wore a suit of light armor and in his other gauntleted hand, sat a silver and blue hand cannon. The Little Light hovered above the Exo. On his chest piece there was a name which was largely unreadable, the only part clearly distinguishable was the number at the end: ‘4’.
He was glad this Exo didn’t have a name. If it was in fact his Guardian, like this strange feeling had suggested, he wanted to be the one to name him. A reward for his long search. This Exo was now with who he belonged and he wanted the world to know it.
A pebble fell from the ceiling and pinged off the Little Light’s shell. He dipped in place and was brought back to the current situation. The skyscraper was about to collapse and if his Guardian was still in it when it did, it would be a pain to retrieve him from the rubble.
I hope this works.
The Little Light scanned the Exo on the floor and prepared himself for his first resurrection. His shell exploded into a loose sphere of Light and he felt the Traveler pierce his being. It was a power he had only dreamed of using until this moment. So much energy and life seemed to engulf his shell and he began to wonder about the great things his Guardian would achieve.
He focused on the husk laying on the stage and with a great effort, projected the Light he held into the lifeless being. The Little Light watched as pieces of the Exo’s face that were once missing appeared. Corrosion that had accumulated over the centuries since his death dissipated into thin air. The color of his metal exterior returned to reveal a short, thick, bright blue fin on the top of his head which contrasted his otherwise black frame. His eyes activated to show a pair of energetic orange lights. He sat up.
It worked! After all this time I finally found the person I am able to spend an eternity with!
“Hello!” He said to his Guardian for the first time, “I am-”
THUNK
The Exo screamed as he made eye contact with the cube and swatted it out of the air. It tumbled to the ground in a heap, bounced, and rolled off the stage.
“Ow…” The Little Light slowly elevated itself off the floor as it returned to its Guardian, “Can you please refrain from doing that?”
“What are you Cube?” The Exo said as he scoot backwards.
“I’m a Ghost. Well, I’m your Ghost now. And you are my Guardian. I’ve been looking for you for longer than you can imagine.” The Ghost inched closer to his Guardian. He rotated his back half on its axis.
“Looking for me? Why can’t I remember my name?” The Exo pressed his hand to his head in a fit of confusion.
“Indeed! You were dead but I brought you back! As for your name, well that’s because of the resurrection process. Guardians don’t remember anything about their past life really. I don’t know what your name was, but I’ve always called you Iden in my head.” The Ghost moved in close to his Guardian and stopped in front of the number on his chest, “I guess that would make you ‘Iden-4’ since you’re an Exo.” He looked back up to make eye contact.
The Exo looked at him and the look of confusion grew. It had to be weird for him to come back to life and see a floating cube talk to him. In fact, he knew it was confusing, he had the dents to prove it. “This will all make sense when we get back to the City,” He said in reassurance.
The Exo stood up, and as if by habit slid his iron into place at his side. His gaze drifted from the floating cube and to the female Exo laying on the ground as he noticed her for the first time. He stared at her for a long moment before asking, “Who is she?”
“I-I don’t know.” The Ghost rotated to face her as well before looking back to his Guardian. Whoever she was, they both knew she had been important to Iden previously.
“What’s your name?” the Exo asked softly as he turned away from the woman.
“Whatever you want it to be. I wasn’t born with a name. None of us Ghosts are. Our names are something our Guardians give us. Any ideas?” The Ghost bobbed forward in a show of anticipation. There was a pause as the Exo thought. “Ordis!” He snapped his fingers.
“Ordis? As in ancient French for ‘computer’?”
“Yeah! That’s it.” The Exo put his hands on his hips and smiled as if he was proud. An orange glow illuminated from his mouth.
“You sure call it as you see it.” the Ghost muttered in semi-disappointment. His Guardian was apparently not imaginative.
A slab of concrete fell from the ceiling and crushed the far side of the stage. The two flinched as the sound of snapping wood startled them into a fight or flight mode. Another section of roof fell and another.
“This building is coming down.” the Ghost said, panicked. “We need to get out of here.”
“Where’s the stairs?”
Another thick chunk of concrete fell loose from the ceiling and fell right where Iden was standing. The Guardian reacted on instinct, leaping to the side off the stage, and rolling over a pile of bones. The concrete fell on top of the Exo woman, through the stage and broke the floor creating a massive hole in the auditorium.
The floor continued giving way as if creating a sinkhole that was going to consume the entire room. The floor under Iden gave way and he struggled to grasp something to keep himself from falling to the bottom. A piece of rebar stuck out from where his foot had been and he just barely managed to grab a hold of it as gravity took him. When the building stopped shaking, he was finally able to pull himself back up into the auditorium with ease.
“There’s no time for the stairs Guardian. You’re taking the short route.” Ordis said as he floated to the hole in the exterior wall of the room.
The Exo followed him to the ledge and looked down into the cold winter night. The blizzard had died down in the time since Ordis had first entered the building. Now everything was covered in a layer of snow.
“You want me to jump?” The Exo was shocked and terror filled his voice. “That’ll kill me!”
“But at least you’ll be outside.” Ordis tried to reassure him.
“Outside?” His voice was full of more panic. “That doesn’t solve the problem of death!”
“Why are you hesitant? You were just dead and I revived you!”
He caught the Exo in confusion again. He could tell his mind was racing as he tried to think of another way out.
“Look,” the Ghost floated in front of his Guardian as he tried to level with him. “I resurrected you. Remember? I can do it again and again so long as the Traveler gives us Light.”
“The Traveler? You’re connected to it?” What remained of the floor behind them began to sink to the ground far below.
“Yes. Now look. You can either jump down there, die, and let me revive you again.” He turned and faced the ground hundreds of feet below them, “Or you can wait until this building collapses on itself and make me have to dig through tons of concrete to revive you.” They turned to the sinking floor behind them. The groaning of metal and foundation echoed through the night.
“Those are some terrible choices.” The Exo said, frustrated as he faced his new reality.
“But they are your choices now because you’re alive again.” Ordis paused and lowered his voice, “If you trust me, please choose the easy path.”
The New Light turned to the ledge again and looked down. Everything was white and it made judging the distance to the bottom pretty difficult. Ordis hoped that fact was comforting to Iden.
The Guardian shook his head in apparent disbelief, took a few steps backwards, sprinted for the breach, and jumped.

Like the title says, my wedding is exposing my family and their selfish ways.
Fiancé and I originally wanted to get married at my mom & dads beautiful property in a backyard style wedding. A week before my dress shopping trip with my mom & sisters, my mom was so nasty to me for not inviting my young niece(who is not into that sort of stuff, to be fair none of them are). She called me on the phone and made sure to tell me what an ignorant asshole I was for not just adding a spot to the $150 reservation for dress shopping, champagne, sweets and food.
She totally ruined the experience for me right up until the day. I pushed all of that aside and had a wonderful time.
At that point I decided I would NOT get married at her house and allow her to do that to me over my wedding that we are paying for in-full, again.
We booked a historic venue that only allows 72 person maximum; which has been tough on us and the guest list because we both have large families, but genuinely wanted an intimate setting - 72 feels like a lot.
His family has been amazing! Helping with all the small details, they are genuinely interested in how it’s going and want to help! His mom offered to go to my dress fitting. 💕
My family on the other hand - it’s all about their plus ones, their wants, needs and their drama! I’ve had family members block me and stop talking to me because we are also not inviting children with such a tight seating arrangement. Oh, also! People have been telling me they will just show up with their plus one..
None of my immediate family - mom, dad, sisters have asked how wedding planning is going, or even have shown any interest in helping (I would never expect financial support), not even a “hey, can I help you do this or how is it going?”
We went on a girls trip (that I planned, and fronted money for things) for the bachelorette- my sister on the flight home let me know she didn’t have fun (the only girl trip we’ve ever been on, that went really smoothly, everyone else had a blast!), proceeds to tell me how her NEW bf was talking crap about the groom the first and only time we’ve met this guy! I’ve been with the groom for 12 years, my sister met this guy 3 months ago, then asks if he can come!
I’m baffled.
Invitations went out with the number of spots reserved for the guest(s) invited - I got a call this morning, “well I’m not coming if my plus one can’t come!”
FINE! Don’t come.
I feel like I’m working for my guests instead of it being about my fiancé and I..
And to be fair, I get why people want a plus one at a wedding.. but the people invited are all close family and friends and their plus ones are not even married, just current love interests.
I’m just feeling tired, my poor fiancée keeps saying he can’t wait for it all to be over, because of the manipulation coming from my family.
It’s almost comical.
Have other brides experienced this type of behavior and how did you deal?

I have a childhood trauma history, and in my childhood, it didn't even occur to me to try to think about what was happening. I recently saw a tiktok where these small children were writing letters to people who hurt them, and some kids wrote about one of their parents, going on about how much their abusive, neglectful, or hurtful behaviour affected them and how it makes them feel.
IDK if it was because both my parents were messed up, or if it was just my personality or illness, but I realized as I watched the tiktok how as a kid I never even tried to conceptualize what was going on. My malignant mother tormented me in my existence, my father was ultra absent. I never once thought "how does that make me feel?" let alone did I have the thought "my mother screams at me for blinking the wrong way." I therefore never got help for what was happening as I literally was blank about everything, and was severely withdrawn - probably, in part, as a way to try to prevent triggering having thoughts about my situation.
Unsurprisingly this mindset also applied to psychotic thoughts or functioning difficulties. I couldn't read properly as a child and instead of telling anyone I just manically read for hours a day so that I found a way to adapt (I had to read books largely backwards so i could understand what was happening). I developed a delusion that I was being controlled and was fused to particular teachers of mine (whom I'd then become terrified of) by grade 7, but it didn't even occur to me to try to conceptualize what I was doing or how it made me feel. The only visible warning sign was my childhood night-time paranoia where I'd stay awake crying because I was convinced someone was going to kill me and my family in the night, but my parents assumed that was normal.
By 14 I was totally mentally gone and neither my reality nor the real reality felt real, but again, I had no actual thoughts about it. I was enamoured by my secret fusion delusion, isolated from everyone/hardly spoke, developed a severe eating disorder, but flew under the radar at school because I could get good grades without studying and despite the cognitive issues. Ofc my parents didn't care one bit and had a conviction that I was intentionally out to get them by being unwell.
By 18 I was really messed up but persisted in my inability to conceptualize my experiences. So when I went to get help for the eating disorder at a residential, I was immediately slapped with the BPD label (and major depression).
Since I had zero conception of my inner experience and due to my feelings of being controlled by the thoughts of others, I just got confused and assumed the assumptions being made was some sort of conspiracy going on (classic), which freaked me out and I thought they must know things about me I didn't. But ironically I once again could't even put into words my belief that "there's a conspiracy going on." I'd literally just entirely blank out mentally for a moment when faced with it, like any coherent thought about the matter was being ejected from my mind.
So they took all my strange reactions as proof I had severe BPD and that DBT would be the answer. I got the notes back and my affect was either blunted or constricted for every single day for my three months there? I'd constantly isolate myself and was socially inappropriate. No one thought the check that out? DBT largely didn't help, expect for the interpersonal skills, as I couldn't understand the activities. I didn't have an conception of my mental processes, so any activity involving them was like reading a different language that made no sense. Then they took that as me "resisting" the treatment and they weren't happy.
I then had a psychotic break at 24 and finally was blabbing about the delusion, as it took me over, but the delusion was plausible. I thought I had autism, and I developed a thought disorder, but I was adamant it was because of the autism, and somehow everyone believed it. I even got diagnosed with it in an assessment because the psychotic symptoms looked like autism superficially and I lied because I was delusional. I guess everyone believed it because there was always obviously something wrong with me socially. So my one clear chance at getting help was a total flop.
Then it's just been one overt, consuming delusion after the next. It all came to a head at 27 when I was so far into a delusion I was fused and controlled by someone I knew that I started to see a psychologist and couldn't help but begin to frantically tell him all about my beliefs of being fused to this person and how it defines my entire life experience. I was shaking and terrified (like almost crying due to fear) whenever I spoke about it, which really threw me off because I thought I liked being one with the person? But unbeknownst to me it was a delusion of persecution all along. I was entirely convinced this was all real at the time.
The psychologist finally told me what I'm talking about is a delusion, and it felt like some part of me within my mind "woke up" slightly upon hearing that. Like in my memory, when I said that something that was me within a long tunnel in my mind became aware of the situation, and it suddenly realized it couldn't tell what was real from what wasn't. I called my GP immediately after, in horror, and got on an antipsychotic. I then stopped talking about the delusion entirely (mistake).
The AP slowly took away the delusion, which was horrifying. I was able to identify my delusions throughout my life retroactively; equally horrifying. But at that point my then-psych thought the delusion I had talked about was just some attention-grab since I stopped talking about it once he told me it was a delusion(?) So I didn't even think to try to talk about the horrific experiences involved in finding sanity for the first time in my life, nor did it occur to me to say something to him about his assumption (again, assumptions really confuse me).
So yeah, FML. When I was a teenager the cognitive issues weren't as bad. My memory was screwy, my ability to learn was impaired, etc., but my mind didn't feel damaged. By 18 it was too late, but I rehabilitated myself by doing a philosophy degree, as I was talented at logical argument. Didn't help with my memory (though it did help with my inability to read), but I was able to excel in philosophy. It took everything I had to do this. I'd be bedridden for days from stress hangovers and somatic illness after an exam. I'd have to OD on stimulants every morning just to get by (like downing liters of coffee and adhd meds), then I would have a few hours where I could manically do schoolwork, but I'd be bedridden for the remainder of the day mentally blitz. Took me six years to get my degree, but I got honours.
But now, since the illness has just kept progressing, I'm even worse. Thankfully I fixed the worst of my stress management through brute force, but from 25 to now my logical reasoning - the only thing I had - has tanked due to the psychosis worsening. I really struggle to write a philosophy paper now, whereas I was getting A+s in my early 20s. My memory is way worse too. I used to be able to at least remember little things like the number my car was parked in at a parkade for when I went to pay or appointments. Now I miss things all the time and have to take pictures of anything like a parkade number. I've been driving around in an unregistered car for four years cause I can't manage to renew it.
I feel like at any point in my past if I had just gotten an intervention I'd have been OK, because I evidently was really good at adapting and had talents. Instead it was assumed that because I have someting to show, I must be exagrettating? I've been in therapy consistently for years and it's always turned into abusive therapy as the therapist assumes my negative symptoms are a bad attitude which they then confront bluntly and without explaining themselves, I then get confused and dissociate, and then they take that as a cue to escalate their approach, to the point where they're forcing assumptions onto me that aren't even close to what's true. I eventually get angry and then that's all the more proof they are right.
Anyway, fuck this shit. I'm going to go away to a specialized treatment center and at least hopefully get answers and an actual treatment plan.

I work in the office for my boyfriends (we'll call him Tom) landscaping business. I handle all the typical office stuff, while he goes out & manages job sites, crews, etc. In Mid-April, we had a few French drain installation jobs going on. We called Miss Utility & had the utilities marked, but Tom still hit a Verizon line at all 3 job sites because they're buried so shallow (like 1-2" underground). We've hit Verizon lines a couple times before & have the customer call it in, it gets fixed & all is well. This time, Tom was trying to be nice/helpful & called Verizon for the customers. Now Verizon has opened 3 damage claims that they keep me calling about. Tom keeps telling me he's not paying them because they burry their lines like 1-2" underground. He also says that "I don't have an agreement with Verizon, nor did I ever sign any contract with them for them to send me a bill." We're also not sure why we've never been charged before, and never had a customer tell us they were sent a bill. The total for all 3 claims is $1,590. It's uncomfortable when Verizon calls, and I have to act like I don't know what they're talking about but I'll have Tom call them back (knowing he's not going to call). What do you think is the best way to handle this, aside from just paying them. How far will Verizon escalate these claims? What's the process here? I firmly believe that a good dispute is better than ignoring it, but I'm unsure of the best way to dispute, or if I even have a leg to stand on. Hoping to hear from anyone who has dealt with this before, or maybe a previous/current Verizon damage claim employee if there are any here! Thanks so much!

Well, beyond the FBNXT World Heavyweight Title remaining ever so slightly cursed, we had an amazing show live at the NRG Stadium, with Clash of the Champions seeing some of the best collide in phenomenal matches across each of FBNXT's weight classes. Where Discovery was clear proof of concept, this show was the promotion showing what it can do with some lead-in, and what a card it was - so, without further ado, let's see who came out on top at Clash of the Champions!
FBNXT World Heavyweight Title: Code Blue (c) vs. JOHN
We started off the show with a huge showdown between hometown boy Code Blue and the Misfit, JOHN, over the FBNXT World Heavyweight Title. Much like the title match at Discovery, this was a major opportunity for both men to do what they haven't been able to achieve before; Code Blue said that a defence here would officially crown him champion after a technical win over Travis Crowley, while JOHN had the chance to finally win a World Title after coming inches away at BTE V. They both fought tooth and nail, but JOHN simply out-gritted the champion, putting him down with a decisive (JOHN doesn't have a finisher listed, so I'm making an executive decision and saying it was a lariat) to win the FBNXT World Title, setting a crazy first-time-ever record in the process. Standing tall with the title, JOHN becomes the first person to hold titles in three different companies at once, with the FBE Pure Title, IWF Brass Knuckles Title and FBNXT World Heavyweight Title to his name. Houston was naturally disheartened to see their hero fall, but they lit right back up as JOHN snorted a rail off his new hardware. Props to the new champion!
JOHN def. Code Blue by forfeit to win the FBNXT World Heavyweight Title
Clusterfuck Invitational for the King of Spoiler Chat Crown
Next up was an invitational battle royal for the King of Spoiler Chat Crown, a match that eventually came down to Mark Steel and Maxxx Cleavage, two icons of the chat. With Steel planning a coronation alongside his ally Hunter Maguire, and Maxxx planning a coronation on a makeshift stripper pole at Denny's, both men had plenty to fight for - but Mark Steel came through with a dominant performance, putting the boots to one of FBE's most popular characters before dumping him right over the top rope to become Spoiler Chat's new king, ensuring nobody can make fun of his wrestling takes for the next two days before everyone unanimously decides to disregard this great achievement. All Hail King Hefty.
Mark Steel (8) def. Maxxx Cleavage (0) to become the King of Spoiler Chat
All Japan Hostages Segment
Next up was a Tag Team Open Challenge issued by Apeirogone and Kaze Tanaka, now known together as the All Japan Hostages. Nobody answered out of sheer pants-shitting fear, and because I'm in charge, we're gonna declare it a forfeit win over everybody in the division as a result. We really make it look easy.
Guy Fawkes vs. Spiral
The following match was a contest between Spiral and a returning Guy Fawkes, with both men striving to take advantage of the power vacuum on the roster to get a foothold in the Middleweight division. It was a hard-fought bout, both men putting their best foot forward, but Spiral put in the performance of a lifetime to pick up a fairly lopsided win over a well-established returning name. With something of a streak going in FBNXT, and his own one-off event coming up on fbcompany in the future, Spiral's got the division on notice - but there's still a lot of climbing to do before he can dream of reaching the top. With both men putting on an exciting one here tonight, where will we be seeing both of these competitors in July?
Spiral (7) def. Guy Fawkes (1)
Cactus Mike vs. Happy the Clown vs. Jason Beggs
The next contest was a hotly anticipated triple threat match between three big-time performers from the days of FBE, with former FBE TV Champion Cactus Mike, former FBE World Champion Happy the Clown and former FBE Pure Champion Jason Beggs locking horns at middleweight. We've seen Happy in IWF lately and saw Mike pick up a win on Discovery, but for Beggs, this was a return to the ring, putting him on the back foot early against two hardened competitors. However, he eventually managed to turn the tides in his favour, the three-way chaos giving him enough of an opening to pick up a major win over two huge names. With the victory occurring at Middleweight, and the division's first champion being a long-term dream opponent for Beggs, it seems like his next goal could be clear - but the question still remains as to what happens for him in the immediate future, and whether we'll be seeing Cactus Mike and Happy the Clown on FBNXT's next show in July.
Jason Beggs def. Cactus Mike and Happy the Clown by default
FBNXT World Cruiserweight Title: Corey Youngblood (c) vs. Dr. Logan Wright
The fifth match of the night was a rematch over the FBNXT World Cruiserweight Title, with Corey Youngblood defending his championship against a man many argued he robbed at Discovery in the form of Dr. Logan Wright, someone all too familiar with the Cruiserweight style. Logan certainly made for a formidable opponent against Corey, with both men having shared plenty of history across promotions, but Corey left no room for questions this time, the champion notching his first successful defence of the Cruiserweight gold to officially put any doubts behind him. What's next for the Doctor after coming up short twice in the pursuit of the championship, and what's next for Youngblood now that the road ahead is no longer marred with any lingering possibilities? Regardless, congratulations are in order for the champ.
Corey Youngblood (6) def. Dr. Logan Wright (2) to retain the FBNXT World Cruiserweight Title
FBNXT World Tag Team Titles: Joshua Epps and Misery (c) vs. Tequila Inc (Corey Youngblood and Sebastian King)
Well, I'll tell you what's next for Corey - a tag match alongside Sebastian King, the reformed Tequila Inc vying for the FBNXT World Tag Team Titles held by the formidable tandem of Joshua Epps and Misery. Once again, the tag division put on a closely contested banger, the momentum shifting with each passing moment as Tequila Inc fought to overcome one of their members already being worn down, and Epps and Misery sought to compete with Tequila Inc's well-established chemistry between the ropes. After plenty of instances that saw each team come within milliseconds of their goal being attained, the loss was eventually foisted upon... neither team, with both Tequila Inc and Epps and Misery holding on until the final bell. While this means that the championships remain with the current titleholders, it's clear that they won't be too happy with this result as two of the most clean-cut, honorable members of the roster. Similarly, it won't sit well with the challengers, especially as Corey was pulling double duty - would things have gone differently if he hadn't been defending gold of his own earlier in the night? Even with that question in mind, Epps and Misery are very much deserving of their dues, walking out still the FBNXT World Tag Team Champions.
Joshua Epps and Misery (4) and Tequila Inc (4) fought to a draw, meaning Epps and Misery retain the FBNXT World Tag Team Titles
FBNXT World Middleweight Title: Apeirogone (c) vs. Thaddeus Hemmingway
Finally, we come to the main event, where the Franchise returned to the ring to take on his former Consigliere for the FBNXT World Middleweight Title. Following in the tradition established at Discovery, both men went out there and threw bombs, Thad clearly having not missed a step in what was supposed to be the twilight of his career. However, putting down the Infinity Ace is a tall task for even the Franchise, Ape managing to take home the win and retain the gold in a fantastic bout. Months ago, the former double champion Hemmingway was intending to retire, but after this one, two things are certain: if this is it for the Franchise, he couldn't have gone out in more of a blaze of glory, but if it's not, FBNXT's in some damn trouble, something the Infinity Ace seemed acutely aware of as he clutched his gold to his chest in the aftermath of the bout. In his post-show address, Ape promised the Houston crowd that unlike their hometown boy, he'll be successfully defending the gold until he's in the ground before leaving the ring to the Franchise, one of the best to ever do it.
Apeirogone (6) def. Thaddeus Hemmingway (2) to retain the FBNXT World Middleweight Title
That was Clash of the Champions! Thank you to everyone who took part and made this great show what it was. With a new World Heavyweight Champion, some exciting names climbing up the ranks and three blockbuster title bouts to close the show, there's a lot to digest here, but thankfully we've got until July to do so. There're two shows in the interim, one in IWF and another one-off in FBC, but FBNXT will be returning with a vengeance in a month's time, so please message me to take part in another one of these stellar cards. I'm hoping to get everyone exactly the placement they're looking for, and that's a lot easier if people confirm well in advance. Either way, be sure to look forward to it, as FBNXT heads to Unified Korea for their third show, once again with every FBNXT championship up for grabs!
While I can't wait to see you all there, until then, all I can ask is that y'all stay... healthy and sane! FBNXT F-F-F-F-FOR LIFE!!!

We made the decision that I’ll be a SAHM for our baby and IF I can find some passive income - cool. I agreed to take in a friends baby, thinking “Hey I’m already doing this why not?!”
As things got closer to the agreed upon date to start watching this munchkin the mother asked me if I’d agree to take a lower wage than already agreed upon. The couple were the ones who suggested this wage, not me. I had signed a very very detailed contract stating that I’d be paid X amount weekly amongst other details.
The mother asked me to accept lower wages because they’re going without to afford my services which made me feel so so so guilty because I don’t want to put anyone out! Especially when it’s a friend ! When broken down hourly the agreed upon rate was 8.75 an hour … so to accept less would have been just mind boggling.
My personal thoughts were that by watching their baby I’d be stuck at home M-F unable to go meet friends for walks or getting out to run errands etc . I’m pretty secluded to the house .. which I don’t mind but not for less than 8.75.
Also, I’d be giving up my husbands only day off that we could go do anything together.
This is my last baby who loves contact napping, I started getting tearful thinking “I won’t be able to do this once I start watching the other baby too”.
It was agreed upon M-F 8-4. We signed a super in depth contract . 350$ a week Then Mom changed it through a text asking to pay less because they’re going without to afford me but also acknowledged that the 350 is 8.75 an hour…. Then she mentioned that she will be picking baby up at different times each day and will let me know that morning when she will be picking up. So I wouldn’t be getting the agreed upon wages either way based off this change . I personally feel like letting me know that am what time she will be picking up is kind of rude as I have two teens who will want to have summer plans and my own family to make arrangements for . Knowing every am is kind of unpredictable- and not what we agreed upon. I couldnt shake how guilty I felt based off the remark about them having to give things up, it definitely changed our friendship. I also was really put off about wanting to pay less than the agreed upon amount WITH all the changes accompanying it too. I ended up telling her that I’d watch the baby until she found something else but that the whole thing made me feel really guilty and uncomfortable. I can’t change our day/ make plans every day, and with giving up my husbands only day off it’s not worth less than 8.75$ an hour .
She opted to have someone else help her and is looking for a nanny but through group chats she has expressed how hard it is to work from home with him home too and feel like she needs to do everything. Knowing she is struggling makes me question if I’m an asshole. I feel like I bailed and left her stranded … and as I haven’t found any passive income I’m beginning to regret my choice . I just don’t know if I’m TA here …

i know my opinion is exactly that, my opinion, and i can get if people are justly disappointed and worried how some LLs are going to be delivered
but as someone who enjoys the wacky shit that GW never expanded on (khuresh, ind, cathay and vcoast), AND as someone who kinda accepted the fate TWW might have when the layoffs and “future of warhammer” leaks happened, i’m excited to see that CA thinks they can afford to fit bold and controversial content like they did with tretch, cylostra, and yuri.
i’d like to believe that if the leaks are true, it meant that ToD was a success and they now have more plans for the game. it’s not like they’d throw out the devs responsible for ToD’s success, and it’s obvious that CA has been listening to the community across discord, youtube, the forums, and this sub due to their responses lately.
dechala being flc doesn’t mean slaanesh wont get a dlc. they still have the obvious mage lord and melee hero needed, and with nurgle getting three lords and this sub’s loud, worrying desire for Egrimm, i have faith CA has more plans for slaanesh and khorne
four upcoming cathay lords can be worrying at first but here’s another hot take: i’m fucking sick of the dragon siblings. they’re all the same character to me and yuan bo was an uninteresting power house. to me this is the first fucking dlc cathay is getting (esp with how SoC is still mediocre) and it’s a NEW OGRE and TIGERMAN? ogres already have a small pool of interesting characters (sorry, they’re all different flavors of the same character, kind of like maneaters 🤔) and tigermen gives me the closest thing to an order beastmen (at least until monkey king) if you want my take this is the best thing that can happen to cathay to make them interesting
i can MAYBE be upset about the lack of chaos content, but bros, let me tell you something-every major content drop warhammer 3 has had came with content for chaos. launch, CoC, CDwarfs, SoC, and ToD brings us to 16 new lords, and reworks for the og 3 (and if we really want to push it, WH2’s last content came with taurox and reworks for the beastmen) we have been EATING with the chaos content, i can wait for another slaanesh based character and another red angry melee lord 🤷‍♂️
elephant in the room is kislev, undead, lizard fans.
sorry fam