I was addicted to junk food for about 10 years and I am finally turning it around and trying to lose weight. I just struggle with letting go of certain treats I used to love eating, despite my body not agreeing with them anymore as I age.
Ice cream was my dessert of choice, but I have become less tolerant of dairy and the high amounts of sugar in the last few years. I've been good about avoiding ice cream for the most part, but I occasionally miss it and buy some even though it much makes me feel bloated and gives me a headache pretty much every time I eat it now.
I know I should just simply stop buying it altogether, but it's a little hard to let go. I think I am more attracted to the IDEA of having ice cream than actually having it now. I feel this way about some other unhealthy foods/snacks and I occasionally eat them and almost always physically feel like crap afterwards and am reminded why I shouldn't have bothered eating them in the first place.
The main problem is, since I am getting better at not eating these things as often as before, I think I forget just how bad they make me feel when I last ate them, and I make the excuse of, "We'll, it's been a while. I think I can treat myself to that thing I used to eat all the time."
Does anybody else have this issue? What are some suggestions for overcoming this? I'd ideally like to take most treats/snacks/desserts/junk food off the menu entirely so I can save money and not consume so many calories and sugar. What are things I can replace ice cream and other snacks with? Thanks in advance!

So perhaps this is a combination of things, my age (33), my attention span (increasingly low), my lack of available free time, etc. but I've noticed that my appetite for games with narrative driven elements has run dry. I basically can only bare to play score chasing games that have that addicting "just one more" feel to them. They are so perfectly accessible and for moments when you want to play a game but you don't have time to sit for a 2 hour story session before the game becomes fully available to you. When I was a kid I needed worlds to be constructed before me I needed hack and slash with splashy effects. I demanded the graphics be masterfully woven of the highest number of polygons available to the hardware of the time. But now I just want tetris on my couch. I want to play flappy bird until my hands fall off. I want to play panel de pon on an infinite loops. I want gameboy game and watch collections. This was one of the main draws to why I am now a playdate owner, this thing is perfect for my use case.
around a year ago I received a steam deck and with the help of emu-deck decided to put every game I ever looked at and considered to be something worth playing on it and quickly realized a library this vast is not practical to sit down in front of at the end of the day and be able to actually choose something to play. It's a great library to have when you inevitably want to go play "that one ds game I remember liking" but ultimately as a kickback library Death by 1000 choices even with careful curation of my tastes. So I purchased a miyoo mini plus and decided to limit myself with a very small sd card and place only the "best" games on it. I started to notice that all the games I frequented were games with short sweet game loops that need no instruction or narrative to play. I'm curious if anyone else falls into this precise category as well as I do lately. I see a lot of developers making games that have quite a bit of narrative and storytelling for this device and adding it in games I feel would be much better without it I feel like it misses the point of a device like this altogether. Just curious if I'm alone in thinking this.

I managed to get izanami in 20 pulls and choosee lingguang in the free event but i have no idea who to choose in this one now.
Also 2nd question but is there anything like light cones or weapons for characters and does izanami need one?

So idk if it’s just previous news or whatever but I’m not new to dbd and I know how to play the game, I have over 150 hours on survivor so I decided recently I’m gonna start playing killer, after playing most of the free killers I decided to buy skull merchant to play along side the spirit (however she is irrelevant to this post), I really don’t see the hate for her, her drones are kinda dogshit and I barely use them or just aimlessly place them for the points, I just mainly use my ears to listen to footsteps or whines to find people.
I just would like to know why there was there or still is so much hate for her?

Hello all,
First of all, I understand the purpose of this sub-reddit is to help the betrayed and I am the primary betrayer in the relationship I was in so I am sorry but I need help.
I need advice mainly from people who have stayed in their relationships and are successfully recovering, though I welcome anyone's opinion.
Backstory: Warning it's 5 years of history pretty much so it's long. I am 24M, she is 26F - will call her Anna. We were childhood acquaintances and we reconnected back in 2019. She was with her ex boyfriend for 4 years living abroad and they had broken up that year. I was in a relationship (though a dying one) at the time as I did not really feel much anymore for the person and was mostly worried about their mental health until they cheated and left me. We connected quite well and became friends and I became interested in her (I also had interest before but she has a bf). I told her this at some point and she was not interested and we stopped hanging out though we kept on talking. At the of 2021 we reconnected once more and I was seeing someone casually. I developed feelings for Anna again but she was also seeing someone else so nothing transpired until one day she kissed me. I handled that poorly as I never told her I was with someone else and also did not try to have a serious discussion about it. We then proceeded to be on and off sometimes as I was often torn between the safety of the other person and the fact that I wanted to be with Anna. At some point, I managed to fully cut off the other person and was trying to be with Anna. This did not work too well and I still had feelings for the other girl so I was intimate with her a few more times throughout the duration of the year of 2022. On this year, Anna and I officially got together as well. I never told her anything until one day she went through my phone and found out everything. I panicked and lied to cover it up still as I had finally gotten what I wanted but the truth came out when the other girl approached us and told Anna the truth (I was also lying to this other girl). From this time, I tried to get Anna to stay with me and we've been together (as best we could until this last week). It was not pretty at all and things took a turn for the worse recently and it truly feels like we cannot speak to each other.
Questions:

1. I understand I'm a total piece of shit, and I shouldn't have lied to either of these women (not to mention I did not wear a condom with either of them which is dangerous to their health) - so should I actually try to be with Anna? I believe I have changed and I am aware I can be faithful to a woman (I've not cheated before).
   
2. Am I a selfish prick because I can't help but get defensive when all our discussions (even if I'm calling her out on a poor behaviour) revert to 'everything I did' and how I'm selfish and don't care about anyone but myself? I truly can't help it, idk how to be okay with these discussions.
   
3. I suggested we break up as from what I can see and hear from her - she desperately wants out but lacks the courage. I think taking a little time apart will do good but I am fairly sure I want this woman for the rest of my life as I am now, more than ever, aware of her faults but I think I can live with them. So with that in mind, would it be selfish to reach out to her in a month or so and ask her how she feels and what her outlook on us is now?
   
4. How should the betrayer really act to the betrayed? What does the betrayed truly need to be able to trust again?
   

Feel free to ask or say anything, honestly I'm just looking for insight.

Date: 06/05/2024

Reading time: 9 minutes, 1873 words

🪖 Military

Syunik governor: Russian border guards leave Nerkin Hand village

Russian border guards leave their positions in the vicinity of the border-straddling Nerkin Hand village in the Syunik province. The Russians also left their outposts in several other areas where they were deployed during the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

ArkaAm

Minister of Defence of Armenia had a brief conversation with the President of Bulgaria

Suren Papikyan engaged in a brief conversation with the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Rumen Radev, during his working visit to Bulgaria. The Defence Minister was taking part in the "HEMUS 2024" international exhibition.

Armenpress, Suren Papikyan attends "HEMUS 2024" international exhibition in Bulgaria, The delegation led by Suren Papikyan left for Bulgaria, Papikyan left for Bulgaria, Armenian Defense Minister goes to Bulgaria, Armenian Defense Minister attends “HEMUS 2024” international exhibition in Plovdiv, Armenian Defense Minister off to Bulgaria for working visit

Moscow warns Armenia against leaving Russian-led defense bloc

Armenia could ruin its military ties with Russia if it continues drifting towards the West, according to a senior official in Moscow.

PanArmenian

Armenia will be represented at EUROSATORY international Defense & Security exhibition for the first time

Armenia will be represented at EUROSATORY, the world's number one land and air-land Defense and Security exhibition, which will be held in Paris from June 17 to 21, 2024. The “Armenia” pavilion will house a delegation of companies that are members of the CCI France Armenia and integrated part of the Armenian military-industrial complex.

Armenpress, Eurosatory 2024 to welcome Armenia for first time

🏛️ Politics & Government

3 participants of the Tavush movement protest near the MFA were arrested

3 of the 5 people who are being prosecuted for hooliganism were arrested, and 1 was placed under house arrest. The Investigative Committee reports that on May 31, during the protest of the "Tavush for the Motherland movement in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 3 were arrested.

CivilNet

Discussions on tax sector improvement held under the leadership of Prime Minister

A consultation was held under the leadership of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The discussion specifically addressed the turnover tax system, existing problems, and possible solutions.

Armenpress

Arayik Harutyunyan meets with the delegation of the "Open Government Partnership" Initiative

Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister's Office and Open Government Partnership-Armenia Coordinator Arayik Harutyunyan received the delegation of "Open Government Partnership" Initiative. OGP is ready to continue supporting the implementation of the reform agenda of the Republic of Armenia.

Armenpress

Armenian, Slovenian legislators address the security situation in the South Caucasus and Europe

The delegation led by Alen Simonyan met with the members of the Committee on Foreign Policy of the Parliament of the Republic of Slovenia. The interlocutors exchanged ideas on democracy, freedom of speech, the current challenges against human rights, touched upon the security situation in the South Caucasus and Europe.

Armenpress

Lithuania to provide 100,000 euros to Armenia for flood relief

Republic of Lithuania will provide humanitarian aid of 100,000 euros to flood-affected regions of Armenia. Lithuanian Government approved Eur 100 000 in humanitarian aid to Armenia, affected by recent devastating floods.

Armenpress, Lithuania to provide 100 000 euros in humanitarian aid to flood-affected Armenia

There is a plan to build a new hospital in Yerevan - Avinyan

Yerevan authorities are in discussions with international partners regarding the project to build a new hospital. Mayor Tigran Avinyan says within 3 years, all polyclinics will be thoroughly repaired and brought to a proper appearance.

Armenpress

Russian Federal Council ratifies CIS free trade agreement on services and investments

The agreement creates a predictable framework for trading services and investment among EEU member states, including Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The agreement was developed in compliance with the decision of the Council of Heads of Governments of the CIS on the Free Trade Agreement.

Armenpress

Moscow confirms readiness to support Yerevan-Baku peace process

Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan held talks in Kazakhstan on May 10-11. The parties agreed to continue negotiations on the open issues where differences still exist.

Armenpress, Galuzin: Moscow confirms its readiness to support the reconciliation of Yerevan and Baku, Moscow confirms readinrss to support reconciation between Yerevan and Baku – Deputy FM, Moscow says ready to support Yerevan-Baku reconciliation

Armenia voted in favor of the UN resolution on the right of return of displaced refugees from Georgia

The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution confirming the right of return of all displaced persons and refugees to Abkhazia and Tskhinvali. Unlike previous years, Armenia voted for the resolution this time. The document reaffirms the "unacceptability of forced demographic changes, emphasizes need for unhindered access to humanitarian activities.

CivilNet, For the first time, Armenia votes in favor of Georgia resolution in UN

Armenia responded to Azerbaijan's proposals regarding the peace treaty. MFA

Armenia has responded to Azerbaijan's latest proposals regarding draft peace treaty. Azerbaijan forwarded the last proposals regarding the project to Armenia on April 26. In an interview given to Al-Jazeera on April 30, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated that Azerbaijan still shows reluctance to refer to the Alma-Ata Declaration.

CivilNet, Yerevan sends amended draft peace treaty back to Baku

Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development presents new environmental and social policy project

The Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD) has developed draft Environmental and Social Policy (ESP) and operational procedures for its implementation. The document includes 10 environmental and social project performance standards that define requirements for the conservation of biodiversity, prevention of environmental pollution, efficient use of resources, protection of public health and safety. The EFSD is a regional financial mechanism with a volume of more than $9 billion.

ArkaAm

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister: Armenia avoids diplomatic, defense cooperation due to pressure from West

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin says Armenia is no longer interested in cooperating with Russia's Foreign and Defense Ministries due to pressure from the West. The two countries have not met since November 2023. Russia and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan remain in touch anyway.

ArkaAm, RA has stopped showing interest in relations with Russia in terms of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, which is the result of pressure from the West. Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation

National Dialogue on Tax Justice, Improved Compliance, and a Renewed Social Contract for the SDGs

The UNDP in Armenia held the first National Dialogue on Tax Justice, Improved Compliance, and a Renewed Social Contract for the SDGs under the UNDP’s Tax for SDGs initiative. Participants stressed the essence of fair and effective tax collection for raising the revenue needed to deliver services to citizens.

Armenpress

Snoop Dogg's Yerevan concert possibly set for August this year

Well-known rapper Snoop Dogg's concert in Yerevan may take place in August of this year, announced by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan in the National Assembly. The minister said they are waiting for the proposals from the concert organizing company.

Armenpress

An initial shipment of fuel arrived at the Ayrum station by rail from Georgia

An initial shipment of petrol and diesel arrived at the Ayrum station by rail from Georgia. Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia wrote about this on his Facebook page.

Armenpress

Several highways closed across Armenia

A partial collapse occurred in the pedestrian section of the bridge near the village of Getapnya in Ararat region. The Vanadzor-Alaverdi-Ayrum-Bagratashen highway is accessible only to passenger cars. The bridge leading to the villages of Khashtarak and Lusahovit is closed.

Armenpress

Biden to meet with Zelensky in France and at G7 in Italy

US President Joe Biden will meet with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in Normandy, France, this week and then again at the G7 meeting in Italy. Biden will "have an engagement with him to talk about the state of play in Ukraine," says White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

Armenpress

Modi claims victory in India parliamentary elections

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to retain power as his party-led NDA secures 293 seats in the 543-seat lower house of India’s bicameral Parliament. Opposition coalition of 28 parties, I.N.D.I.A. (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) secured 234 seats. The Congress, which is part of the opposition bloc, won 99 seats compared to 52 it won in 2019.

Armenpress

Nikol Pashinyan sends a congratulatory message to the Prime Minister of India

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan congratulates India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on election success. He writes: "I am pleased to note that in recent years we have jointly succeeded in bringing the friendly relations between our peoples to a new level"

Armenpress, Armenian PM congratulates India’s Mori on election win

Turkey condemns Uruguay’s recognition of Armenian Genocide

Turkey has condemned a newly passed law in Uruguay that recognizes the Armenian Genocide, TRT reports.

PanArmenian

💵 Economy

Armenia’s reliance on Russian remittances drops as Ukraine war reorders regional economies

Armenia's reliance on remittances from Russia is dropping sharply as the war in Ukraine upends traditional economic ties across the region. Remittances to Armenia last year amounted to roughly $1.7 billion, representing about 7% of the country’s gross domestic product. The vast majority of those transfers came from Russia.

CivilNet

🧪 Science & Technology

Switzerland provides 500k francs, group of specialists to help Armenia recover from flood

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) sent a group of civil engineers and technical specialists to help the country recover from recent flood. Heavy rains flooded Armenia’s northeastern provinces Lori and Tavush on 25 and 26 May, causing the Debed, Aghstev, and Tashir rivers to overflow their banks.

ArkaAm, Lithuania to provide 100 000 euros in humanitarian aid to flood-affected Armenia

“Artificial Intelligence” course introduced in 16 Armenian schools

In cooperation with the private sector, an "Artificial Intelligence" course was implemented in 16 schools in Armenia last year. Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan presented the report at the NA Standing Committees.

Armenpress

⚽ Sport

Match officials appointed for a friendly match between Armenia-Kazakhstan

Friendly match between Armenia and Kazakhstan will take place on June 7 at 20:00 in VazgenSargsyan Republican Stadium. Goga Kikacheishvili is appointed as the match Referee, Assistant Referees will be David Akhvlediani and Davit Gabisonia. Ashot Ghaltakhchyan is the 4th official.

Armenpress

Armenia and Georgia to jointly bid for 2029 Youth World Cup hosting

Armenia and Georgia will jointly bid to FIFA to host the 2029 FIFA World Youth Championship.UEFA confirmed the support for the joint bid of the two countries. The representatives of the national federations exchanged team shirts during the meeting.

Armenpress, Armenia, Georgia submit joint bid to host 2029 FIFA U20 World Cup, Armenia, Georgia to submit joint bid to host 2029 FIFA U20 World Cup

Celebrity Chef Mary Sue Milliken to visit Armenia for a culinary diplomacy program

Mary Sue Milliken will visit Armenia June 7-13, 2024 for a culinary diplomacy program focused on sustainability and food entrepreneurship. She will be joined by Lenora Marouani, chef/co-owner of Barsha Wine & Spirits, and Barsha Restaurant in Hermosa Beach. Chef Milliken has competed on “Top Chef Masters” and co-authored five cookbooks.

Armenpress

Pashinyan proposes 4 conditions for riding a bicycle with Him

Nikol Pashinyan proposed 4 conditions for riding a bicycle with him. The Prime Minister of Armenia said he will gladly organize it. The conditions include a bicycle, not politicizing, and return to work at 7 a.m.

Armenpress

Donations to Armenia:

Himnadram
ServicemenFund
Armenian Wounded Heroes
ArmeniaFund

I've only been camping for the last year. I go with my son to family campgrounds, and I pretty much know what to expect. There will probably be kids up early crashing their bikes outside my tent. There will be obnoxious people playing loud music and screaming along while being wasted until the late hours. I don't really complain about the generators that are running past curfew. All this is annoying, but it's part of the expectations (unfortunately) when going to the county park campgrounds near me and I don't really complain.
BUT
What I draw the line at is having to use a restroom with feces all over the toilet seats and floors and even on a sink. All the toilet paper pulled out and stuffed down into the urinal. And I don't really blame the (likely min-wage) staff for not wanting to clean the restrooms which were totaled by 3pm on Saturday morning until I finally complained to the main office at 8am Sunday. People, have your fun, but for the love of all the is good and right in this world please treat the restroom with at least some modicum of respect. Fortunately this was the first time I had to deal with this situation, and on the plus side of things my son is now thinking more seriously about backpacking as digging a cat hole is no longer such a terrible idea.

Smooth brain shower thought here, tear me and my ideas down if I got a premise wrong.
DFV came back amidst a paltry breakout. I think it went from $13-14 to over $17 in a week. Closed above 17 the Friday before the Sunday night that DFV returned. So the trend reversal was already happening. Maybe it would’ve run regardless of his tweets.
Later that week, GME would hit $80 in a pre market session. Regular trading hours high was somewhere in the 60s. As expected, price was crimed back down under $20 after DFV returned to his home planet.
Over the next few weeks, we observed a mystery whale purchasing Jun 21 $20 calls 5,000 at a time. The price was right around $20 as the purchases were occurring. Even though IV was out of control in general, close to the money calls typically have lower IV compared OTMs for the same date and ticker.
I believe this WAS the shuffle. DFV baited the MMs / SHFs / Prime brokers into a fake shitty sneeze 2.0. They thought the week of tweets was to pump the market (main grift) just to get a short-lived run up. As expected, they countered with the usual short & distort. Whereas the real grift was making sure share supply was at an ALL TIME LOW, borrow costs and FTDs at ALL TIME HIGHs. “Oh nooo price back to $20, what ever will I do” /s JUST KIDDING 12MM SHARES WORTH OF CALLS
Now literally all he has to do is sit back and exercise calls - “fine I’ll do it myself.” I strongly believe that is what contributed to today’s price action. I predict we’ll see a GME Yolo update in the coming days with a reduced call position and corresponding increase in share position.

So for context, my name is Ryan which means 'Little prince', and my father named me that because his name was Rex, meaning 'King'! I've always wondered if there were other parent/child naming 'combos' that work similarly, so feel free to post your ideas/names with their respective meaning.

ALL CHARACTERS ARE 18+
"Healing comes in waves, and I'm allowed to feel every rise and fall of my tide." -Alex Elle
'After a long and stressful day, I yearn to be held. To be cherished. To be lovingly tucked into bed by someone nearly old enough to be my mother. Well, maybe not THAT far but enough of an age difference to give us a certain motherly dynamic.
You've always been there for me. I love the way you smell as you hold me close in bed at the end of every night. I love the way your silky, sexy robes hug your curves as you climb into bed.'
Hi! I have an idea for a gentle, wholesome, cuddly, DETAILED RP between a younger man and a much older woman. Something about an older woman taking control without being too cold or mean about it just sends shivers down my spine in the best way possible.
I'd love for this to mainly be a slice of life kinda deal, heart to heart talks, all that stuff. Maybe we could include snippets of their day-to-day lives in it i.e. doctor's appointments, therapy appointments (for him), clothes shopping, etc.
I'd put his age around 19/20/21. She's MUCH older. We can go over her exact age in chat. But the age gap is a VERY essential detail in regards to their dynamic, how she treats him, and how she approaches him. I also have backstories in mind for both of our characters. I will have to warn you, his backstory is quite dark. If that's an issue for you then I'll try to be as flexible as I can but I feel like it's essential for his character.
I would love to discuss the details further in detail with all you fine people ❤️.

Evening all, i really need some advice/nerves settling
My beautiful baby daughter was born on Friday evening, and everything about the birth was perfect. However, since this it seems to have all gone downhill. Monday afternoon we were admitted into A&E with high levels of jaundice, which was heart breaking. She was left to sit under Phototherapy lights for hours on end, 25 in total, with minimal contact from us. She was screaming and crying for a lot of this time and we couldnt do anything to help that, as she eventually had to be placed under 2 lights and was given a feeding tube. This was obviously horrendously traumatic for me, and i ended up sleeping on a hospital floor for 2 nights.
The main issue however, is that since the treatment our baby seems to be rather lethargic and struggles to wake up, even with a lot of pushing for her to.
i have no idea how normal this is, for it to take a baby around an hour to wake and even then not fully open her eyes? Shes responsive to touch, and reacts accordingly, along with feeding at least 20 minutes every 3 hours...
is it usual for a baby to keep her eyes closed so much and to be so sleepy?
or could this be to do with her treatment or energy expenditure through screaming and crying all night?
im just at a loss, right now

I will be covering the whole series so SPOILERS obviously
I'm probably going to get downvoted a lot for this.
I have played through the whole series and I can say that this whole series is written unbelievably poorly. And I'm not going to sugarcoat and just say that I straight hate this franchise due to its insanely poor writing.
Now allow me to mention to start that I do not hate anyone for liking Danganronpa. You are free to enjoy it for whatever reason. It's the fact that it's so popular that I am making this post.
I originally had no intention of engaging with the fandom or this series in general as I'd have preferred if I could just forget about this series and move on but it just lives rent-free in my mind due to its many issues. But my anger towards this series has died down recently and I thought it would be good to see a different view on things. I find it hard to believe that a series as seemingly half-assed as this one could be so popular that perhaps there's something I'm missing about the appeal of it.
So I will go through my issues with each game and DR3 and I'd be happy to hear anyone's arguments against my criticisms or just how you felt differently about some things than I did.

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

So starting with DR1, I thought that it was a fairly decent game actually, I had no issues with it at all. That is until the final chapter.
I was quite engaged in the mystery of the killing game. Why are these students here? What is wrong with the school? What's happening in the outside walls? Who is the mastermind? And after putting in about 9-10 hours to play this game, my reward for it is "Evil teenage girl convinces millions if not billions of people to destroy global society for shits and giggles. Oh, you want to know how such an absurd scenario is remotely plausible? Uh idk."
And then the cherry on top, I am given a villain that I feel nothing but pure disgust and hatred for and they decide to give her exactly what she wanted.
THIS IS NOT THE FACE OF SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN BEATEN
"IT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!!!!" IT'S NOT REALLY A FUCKING PUNISHMENT IF YOU ENJOY IT, NOW IS IT???? FOR GOD'S SAKE SOMEONE FUCKING STOP HER, THE LAST THING SHE DESERVES IS TO DIE ON HER OWN TERMS.
Now I get that there are stories where the villain wins but in those stories, we're usually not expected to act like it's a good thing. Now I'm left with nothing but disappointment and frustration when I'm supposed to be happy that the remaining characters can finally be free. I don't think having that disconnect between what the player feels and what you want them to feel is a good thing.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

Regardless I decided to move on to DR2 with the hopes that it'll have a better ending. It did in fact. I quite enjoyed the story for the most part. They still didn't elaborate on any of the world-building of DR1 to make it not frustratingly terrible, which I was not happy with at all, probably the only thing I really hated about the writing in this game. And I was left pissed off and depressed after what they did to my beloved Mikan and Ibuki, but I'm trying to make my criticisms as objective as possible so I'll leave out my personal feelings on things as much as I can.
However, now my issue is with the trials. I don't know if I'm just stupid or if this is an actual issue considering I can't find any posts talking about it. But too many of these Nonstop Debates felt like pure bullshit. Too many times it felt like the truth bullets never contradicted any of the statements forcing me to use trial and error and fail constantly over and over again. And then when my attempts at trial and error finally get the right statement Hajime shits out the most bullshit absurd explanation out of now where and yet I was expected to figure it out. Everyone should have died by the first or second trial if Hajime wasn't omniscient.
Granted I don't remember enough of the game to give more than one example so take that as you will. However, that example would be in Chapter 2 where they're trying to figure out how the victim in the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case was killed, and the answer? Ibuki randomly throwing out the guess that a swimsuit filled with gravel was used as a blunt object. What? How did Hajime think this was absolutely the only correct answer? Even Ibuki herself admitted that she was just saying random bullshit.
Maybe my being dumb could have been a reasonable explanation if it wasn't for the fact this was only a serious issue I had in DR2. This was rarely an issue in DR1 and V3 and when it was I usually felt like an idiot when I solved it. So, I can't just pass it off as only being a me problem.
Junko's defeat was also a lot more acceptable this time around.

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

Good game actually. I really enjoyed this one. The fact that it's a spin-off means that it's disconnected from the previous games' writing for the most part. Plus I loved Komaru and Toko's relationship and their dynamic was super cute and funny.
Unfortunately, it's like this series is allergic to doing things right. They go ahead and sexualize the sexually abused grade schooler.
"I assure you, dear player. Showing off this little girl's panties is essential to the plot." - Kazutaka Kodaka, 2014
As much as I enjoyed this game, it's hard to have any respect for a game that does something so disgusting. What the hell were they thinking????

Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy

Do I even need to explain? It seems that people here already agree that this show wasn't good anyway, but I suppose I'll do it anyway.
Future Arc
Let's cover the better part first. I'm a bit conflicted on this arc. On the one hand, it's actually pretty decent but on the other hand, it doesn't do anything too interesting. I was hoping to see an exploration of the state of the world, how the Future Foundation operates, the life the surviving DR1 cast members have made thanks to them and a follow-up on what Nagito had planned for Monaca, but instead it's just yet another killing game, granted this one works differently than the others but when you're able to tell a whole new story using a whole form of media, did you have to do the same thing again?
Other things that I liked were the way they handled Kyoko's death. It was emotional and showed off how much she cared for Makoto. Loid Forger Munakata, Seiko, Kizakura and Sakakura were all interesting characters that I really liked.
Despair Arc
I'm not going to hold back, I fucking hate this shit so much. I've never been so pissed off at a story in my life, Jesus Christ. This is comically bad, my God,
Let's get the obvious out of the way. The fucking brainwashing. Fuck off. All this time waiting for them to flesh out their shitty world-building and all they give me is a fucking cop-out. I guess all that talk from Junko about being the Ultimate Analyst and manipulating the DR2 cast into becoming the Remnants of Despair was her just lying out of her ass. Oh and of course even the brainwashing nonsense doesn't explain how she got the whole on board with bullshit either. She just has whoever she brainwashed fuck up Hope's Peak Academy and then only a couple hours later, Kizakura is watching a broadcast of a city that looked like it got fucking nuked into oblivion. How????????
https://preview.redd.it/45mhvwwp5t4d1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=09d5c63cf64b89d4d111ba917ac9ede147e77ffa
NOBODY, BECAUSE IT SHOULDN'T BE FUCKING POSSIBLE
Let's also talk about the fucking Tragedy, this oh so terrible murder is just people inexplicably turning into complete psychopaths because some random girl claims she has dirt on them and threats. This could have worked if we had any idea what these people care so much about that they're willing to murder people over or have some conflict about their predicament but they don't, and it just comes across as them just turning a switch in their head to turn psychotic and move the plot forward.
Another fucking moronic thing was Sakakura's "fight" Junko. We get left on a cliffhanger where he's ready to confront Junko and then at the start of the next episode, we see the Ultimate Boxer on the ground beaten by a fucking scrawny little girl with a bat. The best part was that they had to have this fight happen off-screen as if even the fucking writers themselves knew that Junko beating this guy would be too fucking dumb and impossible to write logically. So they off-screened her magically beating this giant hunk of a man because they need that to happen for the plot to advance the way they need it to. Then they had the fucking balls to have Junko say she didn't even need to exploit his weaknesses.
Ah, and then there's the fact that all of the death and destruction Junko would cause could have been completely avoided if Sakakura wasn't afraid of being called gay. Is this a fucking joke? Am I mistaking a comedy for an actual serious mystery/thriller or whatever the fuck this garbage is supposed to be? She seriously succeeds in shutting him up by threatening to reveal that he's gay for his friend. I barely remember this fact from when I watched it. When I heard it get brought up I had a hard time believing that was what actually happened, I hoped that was some misunderstanding, but nope, I watched that scene again and that's exactly what she fucking blackmails him with. They don't use the word "gay", "homosexual" or anything directly but that's all that I can infer from the subtitles.
Whether he's even gay or not, would it even matter after he outs her as being an evil piece of shit that tried to destroy Hope's Peak Academy? Regardless of whatever proof she might have, would anyone even believe anything some fucked up teenager has to say after that? Especially something as lame as a fucking gay accusation. Genuinely, what the fuck is going on anymore. Who the fuck wrote this slop? I hope they got fucking fired for this.
I swear to God, someone has a thing for Junko with the way everything is basically handed to her on a silver platter. SHE'S A FUCKING HIGH SCHOOLER, SHE SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO STEAMROLL EVERYONE THAT SHE COMES ACROSS.
Imagine my fucking surprise when I found out that the Future Arc and Despair Arc have completely different writing teams.
Hope Arc
Ok. It's finally over I can calm down now.
I really enjoyed the Endgame portal scene ass return of the DR2 cast. I also found the ending to be a rather nice conclusion to this, albeit terrible story. I just wished they didn't bring back Kyoko. They didn't have to do that after giving her such an emotional send-off. I love you Mikan but there's no way you should have been able to cure her when she was poisoned for that long when it clearly killed everyone else almost instantly. Just felt like a weak attempt to appease fans with a 100% happy ending.

Danganronpa 2.5: Nagito Komaeda and the World Vanquisher

It's pretty good, yeah.

Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

THEY FUCKING RETCONNED ALL OF THAT DUMB SHIT AS NEVER EVEN BEING REAL. YYYYEEEEAAAAHHHGGGG! BRAVO KODAKA!
But in all seriousness, the game was pretty enjoyable. I loved that Kaito and Maki actually got to have a genuine romance by the end. Another thing I liked was the subversion of expectations that for the first time ever, Monokuma was denied the satisfaction of an execution thanks to Kaito. That was honestly, incredibly satisfying to watch. Godspeed you magnificent bastard.
Unfortunately, this series isn't done fucking me over yet because Kodaka has delivered divine retribution upon me. I had the misfortune of playing this on PC where the A and S keys are swapped for the QTE segments and the QTE segments only. Every trial ends with a broken and frustrating conclusion. If there is any gameplay segment that you should never fuck up the controls for it's THE GOD DAMN QTE SEGMENTS.

Other Thoughts

Another Issue I have is the way the theme of Hope and Despair is written. It feels like it's written in such a childish, black-and-white manner. Could it have killed them to explore that theme in a way that goes beyond:
"Hope is boring and lame, despair is fun and awesome"
"Nuh uh, hope is actually good and despair is evil and fucked up"
and then the villain fucking dying.
It feels too much like it's written for children but they added lots of blood, swearing and sex jokes to make it seem more mature than it really is. I just feel like there could have been ways to make things more interesting like exploring why people would choose to go along with Junko's ideology. Killing is also talked about in the most black-and-white way possible as well. Sure, killing people is definitely bad, but the Future Foundation is fighting a war, one where they're fighting an enemy that wants nothing else but to cause as much suffering as possible, killing is an unfortunate necessity. Anything to make it seem more complex.
Another criticism I've heard is that the games never let you discover the mystery of the story for yourselves. The characters just mess around and die, until 90% of the mystery is revealed by the villain's monologue in the final chapter. It would be much better if the biggest twists were left till the end rather than everything all at once. Personally, this didn't bother me when I played the games but it is a valid criticism to bring up.
I also feel like my issue with Junko being so OP could have been fixed if she had a foil. Perhaps an Ultimate Hope character before Makoto earned that title, who would have given Junko some kind of resistance against her. A concept I've already gone a bit too far brainstorming that it feels more real to me than the real Danganronpa. But that kind of schizo posting can be saved for another post.
Please let me know your thoughts, because despite my deranged diatribe on the Despair Arc I'm here for a civilized discussion.

Hey everyone! Its been a while, but we finally managed to get a session done, and therefore I have an update for all of those who are interested in the story of Muv-Luv: Conative so far! If you haven't read the first part yet, you can do so here: https://www.reddit.com/MuvLuv/comments/1cmfzk6/a_recount_of_my_ongoing_muvluv_ttrpg/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
To be honest, I was planning to do a few more sessions before posting an update, but this session turned out to be a pretty major one. I had gone into this one with the goal of getting all the player characters, Lloyd especially, into the loop of the larger plot. I got more than I bargained for, as it turned out. So, here's your recap!

SESSION 7:

It's been a few days since the incident at the shores of California, and the Wild Stallions have once again arrived back at Yokohama base. Dana is letting out her frustrations of being betrayed on a sandbag, Alexander is sleeping off the stress, and Lloyd is helping the Stallions destress after the incident via good ol' reliable: drinking.
Colonel Gil interrupts Dana, and the two have a small talk. Dana and him soon head into his office to discuss what to do with the squadron coming forward. The two conclude that, at the very least, the first flight (the party) should be informed on the true purpose of the Wild Stallions. Dana is sent to collect them.
At the Yokohama bar meanwhile, Lloyd is partying with the Wild Stallions in order to keep morale up. Chiyoko, not drinking due to her being underaged, is noticed as being still upset. She says it's due to the incident, with her not getting why anyone would attack other people when the BETA is the greater threat. Lloyd lays it out simply to her: some people are just assholes who'll fuck over other people for their own goals. This frustrates Chiyoko, but Jason and Nairi agree with Lloyd. They all agree it's probably an inside job from the Americans, but Jason has Lloyd not say that out loud. Dana arrives and also agrees, and then tells Chiyoko and Lloyd to meet at the designated briefing room. Lloyd is sent to collect Alexander.
Alexander is awakened by Lloyd, and the Command Officer and Executive Officer of the Stallions discuss squadron morale, as well as speculate on why exactly the Americans would do this. Lloyd asks Alexander if he wants him to look into these matters, and Alexander agrees, as long as he's discreet. Unknown to Alexander is that Lloyd would take these orders with GUSTO.
Arriving at the designated briefing room, properly sound proofed to maintain secrecy, Colonel Gil and Dana let the other party members in on what the actual purpose of the Squadron is.
The Wild Stallions are not a squadron made to show co-operation between different nationalities and TSFs in one squadron, no. They are, in actuality, a secret support group to the United Nations "Alternative IV" plan, serving as the plan's defense against external threats, human or otherwise, as opposed to Special Task Force A-01 serving as the project's main squadron. They then reveal who they believe to be the perpetrators on the attack on the convoy: the Alternative V party.
Alternative V is then explained to the others as America's back up plan to Alternative IV. What is this plan? Utilize the highly destructive G Bombs throughout the Earth to hopefully destroy the BETA threat. Of course, due to the presumed mass destruction of this plan, some humans will be placed on Colony ships and shot out into space while the rest stay and fight. The group agrees this plan, while maybe being the best shot at decimating the BETA, is utterly insane, and it cannot come to pass.
Alexander asks why they can't come out with their suspicions that Major-General Campbell ordered the attack on the convoy to the UN. Despite the fact there isn't any real solid evidence, the Alternative V party would work to suppress the information, and it'd make the already tense political tensions across the world even worse. Not to mention the plan is officially approved by the UN.
Gil then asks if the rest of the squadron should be informed on this. Dana and Chiyoko agree that yes they should be, while Alexander and Lloyd disagree. They are dismissed, being told to talk it over as Gil himself must think about it.
Chiyoko is clearly stressed about all this, and the others help calm her down and explain their reasonings. Alexander told Chiyoko back in the briefing to trust in their higher ups as soldiers, which made Chiyoko go quiet. Despite this, Chiyoko states that she trusts the Wild Stallions, and wants Alternative IV to succeed.
The group agrees that the rest of the squadron should be training instead of lazing around, and Alexander is chosen as the one to break the news as the squadron leader. After all, the Captain has to look strong for his subordinates. Lloyd, however, says he has somewhere to be and is let go.
This is where the fun begins.
Walking around the base, Lloyd notices professor Kouzuki Yuuko and decides to follow her. It's here Lloyd meets his match: a person who can see through him and bullshit just as hard as he can (as well as the fact she's a canon character). The two trade some words, with Yuuko cheekily wondering why he's following her, and soon peeks his curiosity before leaving to the lower levels of the base; somewhere Lloyd doesn't have access to. Thus begins Lloyd's infiltration, disregarding the fact its a friendly base and he is on their side.
Undeterred by the elevator, Lloyd locates a maintenance room and disguises himself as one of the maintenance staff before opening the maintenance elevator and climbing down the elevator shaft. He then locates a vent, and enters. Playing MGS3's "Caution," Lloyd soon comes across a record room, and decides to start his investigation there. However, he fails his awareness check and fails to notice someone else was in the room with him! Acting quick, Lloyd takes the butt-end of his knife and knocks out a young woman, a researcher, before making it look like an accident and stealing her key card. Reading through some of the files, Lloyd barely understands the "Quantum Causality Theory", something to do with different worlds, as well as the fact progress on Alternative IV seems to be slowing. Something also catches his eye, that being a "Unit 00". Thinking this is a robot, Lloyd decides to not quit while he's ahead, and enters the vents just in the nick of time as someone enters the room. Soon coming across a recreational area, Lloyd decides to actually start there and begins walking through the halls of the restricted area. How? The tried and true "pretend you're supposed to be there." This barely works.
He soon comes across the professor again, and decides to investigate the room she had exited. Being a smaller office room of sorts, Lloyd searches her desk and finds her research journal, and reads through it. It once again is stated how progress is slowing down, and shows that the professor has done some... questionable things for the project. Lloyd keeps the journal and begins following her again. He follows her to another room, and enters, only to be met with a gun. Luckily he had expected this and already had his own gun drawn. Kouzuki expresses surprise on how quickly he got here, having expected him to certainly get curious, but not actually somehow infiltrate and follow her to the room they are in now. Noticing something behind her, Lloyd asks what it is. Moving aside, Lloyd is shown a blue tube containing what seems to be...an actual human brain inside. This brain is introduced as none other than Unit 00. Lloyd then succeeds his awakening test, and is then flooded with a weird sense of Deja Vu as he could swear he's been in this room, albeit in a more intense situation involving armed guards. Shoving this feeling down, Lloyd asks if it's a real human brain, and Kouzuki confirms. She explains that this brain, Unit 00, is vital to Alternative IV, and will serve as humanity's way to understand, and therefore effectively strategize, against the BETA. Lloyd then asks if she volunteered, and Kouzuki confesses that she is actually a victim of the BETA. Lloyd then meets the assigned ESPer of the Alternative IV program, Kasumi Yashiro, and asks if she was planning anything for the Captain, seeing how she mentioned the Colonel had told her about his sudden outburst of skill that happened during the defense of Niigata. Kouzuki denies this, and Lloyd rolls his second critical failure against her. She states how she may be more interested in him, and how she'll be watching his flight.
Lloyd concedes, handing back her journal while telling her to reach out to him if she needs anything done for Alternative IV. Kouzuki agrees to this, and Lloyd is escorted by Kasumi out of the restricted area. After having a quick vomit outside on account of the flood of seemingly real memories that never happened, Lloyd soon meets back up with the Stallions who are currently being made to run alongside the Yokohama Base recruits, being yelled at by Alexander and Jinguuji Marimo. Dana asks how Lloyd's field trip was, and Lloyd says he'll fill them in later.
END OF SESSION.
And that brings us to an end to this update! I hope you enjoyed it, and please feel free to let me know if you noticed any errors regarding lore and what not. I cant remember everything, after all! See you all next time!

TW: Cancer, Surgeries
I started transitioning at 18, I didn't get hormones for 2 years. I had top, and then hysto/oophorectomy. I wonder since then after removing my ovaries if it was my subconscious just taking over to survive.
I had very bad periods, in the hospital. Multiple times ambulance came thinking my appendix erupted. I would become paralyzed and lose my ability to see. I was having ovarian cysts, that would pile up and then eventually explode. At 15 I was given a few unsavory options. A. Have a baby, it could help solve the issue. B. Have 3rd stage cancer and husbands permission, and be in my mid late 30s.
We put me on birth control, and a nerve blocker. While it kinda helped. It went from monthly to every other month. Around 17, I got very involved in the queer scene and I was more demi-guy. I felt lots of pressure from my new found family to be fully transmale, as I presented masc. I did, and began the journey. Main goal in mind is getting a full oophorectomy. Still having terrible problems. Hormones stopped my period. But I still would get these attacks. Refusal to look for endometriosis lack of listening. Only time I got somewhere was transitioning and that was pulling teeth.
Forward to feeling comfortable in my skin, I liked when strangers found me like a cute girl though. I was like I am a femboy, I just rock my looks. Also I was in a LDR relationship 4 years. Before my bottom surgery we broke up.
After my surgery, I was told I had ovarian cancer. That while I choose to have a full oorpho they felt it was so beyond logic to leave it. They would would've removed it. That basically one side as basically rotting away, in 3-4 years I would've been likely dead cause it was spreading. My periods every other month, it seemed it was cause one side stopped working all together at 15. Approx. There was so much torsion around some eggs that got stuck. Like a tootsie roll.
That no one listened to me, or even tried to help. That if I didn't transition, I would've died. Afterwards, I felt like I missed this life I could've had. That I feel such a lonely life. I'm afraid saying I'm he, but have to say no I'm ftm not to scare others, then I'm too much a girl for gay men, but too much of guy for the straight, and I think bi men are more of a unicorn stereotype. Plus I'm in school to be a teacher, no idea how hiring a transguy is going to go. Even though I'm in the Bay Area, of CA
I wonder, did my body went into survival mode. Convincing myself, yes you are a man. If you're not trust me you're going to die. Now it's been a year, and I haven't felt anything about being a guy. I feel fem, as if it was a protection from everything. I felt good in my transition because my body was killing me less? That associating the physical to the pathologic.
I'm just confused, because now being a guy isn't protecting or healing something. I feel like I'm back before I started puberty a super girly girl. Like over and over, am I not trans? Just autopiloted my life and those around me into getting the surgery I needed with no other options. I really lived as a guy for 9 years. But I'm terrified to tell anyone because last thing is giving right wings more fuel in detransition prop. Where I can express to my other friends, I think I lied to myself and others about being trans- just in the need for survival like some animals do. I am only convinced now that I pretended to be trans to get healthcare- and i am just harming the community?
So right now, I'm back in the closet cause I don't want- I'm not strong enough. I've been introducing myself as female to new people.
No I'm not gender fluid/NB that I know. I don't think this is really venting, but more of falling apart. My friends and family, my basic info is all changed. But all I think about is, if I was given the surgery before I discovered what trans was, at 15. Would I ever of transitioned?

Alright, lets go!
Im gonna list some things I'd rewrite about the lore
* There are good witches and bad witches, the bad witches are the ones that made cookies to eat them. The good witches (Like the personality witches from Witches Castle) wanted to give life to the Cookies and let them have their own world. I feel like this could really give more light on the witches and how WL reacts too the truth! Like, she's seen the bad witches do their work, and she got no closure from the good ones.
* Oh yeah, speaking of WL, SHE AND DE DO NOT GET SOUL SPLIT THAT WAS BULLSHIT AND IT MADE NO SENSE. The tomb is a fake made by Shadow Milk, after all, he's the Beast of Deceit for a reason! Also Elder Faerie is alive and happy :3
* I always saw Sea Fairy as the mother of the Gem Mermaids, from which she made them out of the sea's jewels, so it made NO SENSE WHY SHE LEAVES THEM FOR HER MOON WIFE! Like, I'll rewrite Sea Fairy so that she actually does her job and doesn't go as far as she does
* One thing I was confused about was how Mystic Flour was in a cocoon when it was CLEARLY stated by Elder Faerie that she got stuck in a tree. So! I came up with a better idea, the beasts are separated into different prisons, and can get full powers back only if the prisons are destroyed and the Beasts get their Soul Jams back. Burning Spice lies in the Great Destroyers Tomb, Shadow Milk is trapped in the Silver Tree (Cause its a reference too the Tree of Knowledge), and Mystic Flour hid in her cocoon (To avoid punishment)
* Pastry Cookie joins the Cookies of Darkness after learning the truth
* Stormbringer & Mystic Flour knew each other before Mystic Flour became corrupted. But Mystic Flour betrayed her and the other weather deities. Stormbringer slashed Mystic Flours Soul Jam into the corrupted and purified form (AKA the Light of Resolution), and Mystic Flour sent the dragon as payback.
* Smoked Cheese and Burnt Cheese are brother and sister. (YES, I HEADCANON SMOKED CHEESE AS TRANSFEM, DO NOT COME AT ME) Burnt Cheese tries to reason with Smoked Cheese but she's too far in her anger towards Golden Cheese. Golden Cheese reasons with Smoked Cheese and understands her anger and doesn't paint her as a villain. However, she's imprisoned for her crimes still and didn't get away with her plan scot free
I could go on but we'd be here forever.

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Yanni’s long black tail swayed behind her while she observed Emberlynn’s daughter with a tilted head. Ravyn was just as fiery and combative as the mistress had claimed. If she wasn’t muttering expletives under her breath, she was leaning on her palm, drumming her fingers, sighing, sipping her tea like a disobedient kitten.
I see nothing of the mistress in this woman, Yanni thought.
“Take a seat, then,” Ravyn said, gesturing to one of the chairs.
“I will stand,” Yanni said, clasping her hands in front of her and resting them on her lap, as was customary for Emberlynn’s servants. “It is more comfortable for me.”
Ravyn raised a brow. “Mou ii.”
Ravyn was a strange person. Never had Yanni heard such words. She pondered their significance, bookmarking the event in her mind in case a topic of conversation would be necessary later.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but you caught me at a bad time,” Tristan admitted.
Yanni shook her head. “Please, tend to your companion. If you require me, I shall be right here.”
“Thanks.”
“Really, I’m fine,” the one named Destiny said. Tristan kept a firm hand on her shoulder and offered her consoling words. The man of Shi Island was just as graceful as Yanni had imagined. As to be expected of an island which prided itself on service. “I’m sorry if I gave you a scare.”
“I just want to be sure you’re alright,” Tristan said as he pulled her closer beside him.
This young man so readily professes his concerns. Yanni struggled to remember the term she’d heard a man use before. Was it… to wear one’s sleeve on their heart? She briefly imagined Tristan happily tearing the sleeve from his shirt to gift wrap his own heart and hand it to Destiny, who in turn cheered.
Yanni nodded to herself, humming. Yes. That was it.
“Wind told me how to find you,” the blonde catgirl said. She took to the opposite side of the one named Destiny, leaning her head against the crook of Destiny’s neck. “I was worried.”
“Lara, I’m okay,” Destiny insisted. “Really. I promise.”
Yanni watched Ravyn, and Ravyn watched the room. Her violet gaze met Yanni’s, then returned to Tristan and his companions, then came back to her.
“What are you doing?” Ravyn asked.
“I am observing,” Yanni said.
Ravyn frowned. “That’s kinda creepy. Can you come back later?”
“My sincerest apologies, but Mistress Emberlynn made it quite clear that I am to obey Tristan’s commands and no other. I hope you understand.”
Something between a groan and a gag escaped Ravyn’s lips, and Tristan chuckled.
“Actually, I was hoping you might be able to help me with something,” Tristan said, standing up.
He was short for a man and smiled much more in one day than she had ever witnessed with Cailu Raloquen. But Tristan carried a strange charm that Yanni struggled to put into words. Each word from his mouth was selected with care, and his face was incredibly expressive. He reminded Yanni of Emberlynn and her associates. Charismatic, intelligent, eloquent. Whether or not her assumptions of him were true, however, remained to be seen.
“I am at your service,” Yanni said, bowing at the waist.
“Would anyone in Zhuli be able to help me become a [Wizard]?”
Yanni blinked. “Yes, Tristan. Emberlynn has many [Wizard]s under her employ. If you would wish it, I will go to her immediately and relay your message.”
“That would be amazing.” Tristan reached forward. “I hope we’ll make great allies.”
Yanni observed his hand, noting how clean it was. His nails were perfectly clipped and trimmed, his skin smooth and soft and devoid of scars or wrinkles. No calluses or rigid edges to be found.
“Uh, is something wrong?” Tristan asked.
Yanni smiled and gently placed her fingers in his palm before shaking, using only the top half of her hand. “Nothing at all. I will go to the mistress at once.” She freed her fingers from his grasp, offered another curt bow, then exited into the hallway.
What fascinating people, she thought. At last, I have a chance to prove my worth to Mistress Emberlynn. I will see to it that she is properly represented.
Yanni strolled through the hall, rose up the stairs, and entered Emberlynn’s discussion chamber. She heard Emberlynn’s ragged coughs as she entered, closing the door behind her and marching to the room on her left. Emberlynn had a rag to her mouth while one of the handmaidens tended to her with a cool towel.
“Mistress Emberlynn,” Yanni said, bowing.
Emberlynn took three short breaths. “Yanni.”
“Pardon my intrusion, but Tristan has asked that he be trained to become a [Wizard].” She folded her hands and set them in her lap.
Emberlynn nodded, taking her time to reply. It was always like this. The handmaidens had grown used to it by now, but it still pained Yanni and the others to see such a powerful woman brought low by illness.
“I will see to it that he is trained by Alia.” She coughed, then steadied her breathing while a second handmaiden rubbed her back. “I will have her meet him later tonight. I would suggest you show them the rest of Zhuli in the meantime.”
“Of course,” Yanni said with a bow. While she had never undergone the test herself, Yanni had witnessed a [Wizard]’s training enough to know that it could only be practiced during the evening, when the stars were out and the magic of the moon was at its strongest. “I will return to him with haste.”
“Wait,” Emberlynn said just as Yanni’s hand reached the doorknob. She regarded Emberlynn over her shoulder. “Please protect my daughter. She may not show it often, but she has a kind heart. Knowing that she’s still alive gives me warmth.” She smiled. “I would hate for Sophia to grow up without a mother and a sister.”
Yanni nodded, then exited the room. The door clicked behind her, and she returned to the main room, where Sophia was running circles around Ravyn.
“Come on, let’s play!” Sophia giggled. “I can run, and you can chase! You can chase!”
“I don’t think—” Ravyn started.
“Squaaawk, chase Sophia, chase Sophia, squawk!” the bird on Ravyn’s shoulder—her familiar as Yanni understood it—encouraged. While Ravyn referred to the bird as Bally, she had also caught wind that it was short for Ball Gag.
Is a ball gag supposed to be something? A gag and a ball.
Yanni was familiar with gags. She knew of the gags which were jokes and playful jabs, and the gags used to silence those who tried to assassinate Mistress Emberlynn. The image of a catgirl choking on a ball and falling on her side dead played in front of her.
I must be misunderstanding something. I will ask Ravyn at a later time.
As she had earlier, she mentally bookmarked the event to use in conversation later.
“Ravyn’s getting tired, Sophie,” Ravyn groaned as Sophia spun her sister around by her hand.
“I run! You catch!” Sophia said. “Three, two, one, go!” She darted away in an instant, disappearing into the corridor behind her.
Ravyn put a hand on her hip, sighed, and then chased after her sister, disappearing into the same hallway.
How endearing.
Yanni descended the stairs and returned to the room earlier to see that Tristan and his remaining companions were still there, enjoying cups of tea. “I bring fortuitous news. Lady Alia will be your [Wizard] instructor.”
“That’s great!” Tristan said, rising to his feet. “Where should I meet her?”
“It will be here,” Yanni pointed at the floor. “However, such training cannot begin until evening has set, so you must wait. Mistress Emberlynn insists that I accompany you through Zhuli until then.”
“That sounds like a great idea.” Tristan smiled at Destiny and helped her to her feet. “Let’s go walk around. Get some fresh air.” He looked over her shoulder at Lara next. “You too, Lara.”
Lara blinked, then smiled. “Okay.”
A hint of blush colored Destiny’s cheeks. Her hand trembled in his, though it was so subtle that Yanni wondered if she had imagined it. “I-I would like that very much,” Destiny said.
What a fine young man.
“Yanni, will you lead?” Tristan asked.
Yanni smiled. “I would very much like that. I can show you some of the finer places in Zhuli, if you so desire.”
“I’m sure you could. How about you take us to some of your favorite places instead?”
Yanni found his request strange. Few men ever wished to know what catgirls thought. Burying personal needs was necessary to ensure a proper society. It was for the greater good. Yanni fully accepted, and agreed, with such things. It was best to leave such concerns behind to avoid burdening the man. The field of battle was where words truly mattered, when anyone’s life could be lost in a moment. Tristan was so unlike Cailu Raloquen, who barked orders and commanded the obedience of those around him.
However, Yanni was not upset by Tristan’s words. “I would be happy to show you.”
“Great! Thank you so much. I’m very grateful for Emberlynn’s time and hospitality. I’m not sure how we would get through this without her and Ravyn.”
“Mistress Emberlynn is a wise woman,” Yanni said. “I hope that your conversation bore fruit.”
“I think it did. We’ll just have to see how things pan out from here.” Tristan looked at Destiny and Lara. “In the meantime, though, I think we could all use a break.”
“Shall I fetch Lady Ravyn as well?”
“Noooooo,” Lara said with an airy voice, shaking her head. Of all of Tristan’s companions, she was the strangest of them all. Her voice was soft and light and many of her words had an almost musical lilt, as if she were reciting them just as they popped into her head. “Her mom needs her here. That’s what Wind tells me.”
Yanni blinked. “Wind?”
“Wind talks to me. So do the other Elements. But Wind loves gossip, so she talks to me the most.”
Did I hear that correctly? Does this fully grown lady believe she can speak to the Elements? Sophia had claimed as much, but she was just a kitten.
It was a thought to ponder on later, but Yanni did not wish to insult Tristan.
“A wondrous gift,” Yanni said as she pictured a gust of wind spinning Lara around as it yelled gossip into her ear. Yanni’s ears flicked back, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “You will need to tell me what Wind thinks of me sometime. I very much value the wind. Even as a little girl—”
“Wind is here right now,” Lara continued, “but she says she… erm, doesn’t really like you.”
Is this Lara’s way of telling me that she dislikes me? “That is a shame. Perhaps we will grow to respect one another with time.”
“She doubts that.”
Tristan scratched the back of his neck and averted his gaze. “Why don’t we get going? Daylight’s burning.”
“Yes, let’s!” Destiny said.
Tristan smiled, leading Destiny and Lara out of the room. Lara followed behind him, humming an offbeat tune while Yanni brought up the rear. Lara occasionally glanced back at Yanni, her expressions becoming more difficult to read with each glance.
Did I do something wrong to earn her ire?
It didn’t matter.
Like most thoughts, Yanni tucked and filed the idea into a fold of her mind where it could be easily retrieved, then followed Tristan and his Party out of Emberlynn’s estate and into the streets of Zhuli.
My first real Party with a man. I will not falter.
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I’m gonna also describe myself too and reference some of the questions that are in the rules to make this more indepth.
What i think i am: INTP
About me: I’m 19F but i consider myself agender and I just don’t really talk about it unless someone i’m comfortable with asks me. I am extremely introverted but I consider the friends I have to be my family. I need lots of time with myself though but i also love doing wild shit here and there when my social battery is really charged but it can go out quickly though. i also love spending alone time with my friends without much talking involved. i am very artistic/creative and i love plushies, toys, mostly story based video games bc i struggle talking in voice chats but i’m also still open to playing online games like splatoon (my favorite). creativity and fiction i try to make part of my every day life to escape the real world. i am very open minded but i believe in a few things that will never change such as letting people express themselves as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone for example.
upbringing: i have a good upbringing/childhood financially, but emotionally/mentally not so much. my mother and father were “dating” (my dad was cheating and barely took care of me. he doesn’t care about anyone really but himself). I’d say in elementary school is where they stopped dating. they made them breaking up my problem a lot. my mom was/IS very emotionally abusive, controlling and was too involved in my life. it’s worse since i’m older regardless of some “good times”. i’m inflantized at home and feel like i barely had any time to grow up mentally and have been trying to learn on my own. as a kid and now i got a lot for christmas, birthdays and in general. i don’t really like a lot of my family and never did growing up. i was always playing games or in my toy room playing with dolls/toys and creating crazy ass stories as a kid to escape. - this has caused me to enjoy being alone and seperate from them when i get the chance to. i’m a firm believer of regardless of the role u have in my life i do NOT have to like you or be around you if you’ve done me wrong. i love my friends more because of this.
medical issues: depression, anxiety disorder, ADHD. definitely some other unknown things. these effect me because i feel like it makes it difficult to execute my creativity and created some unhealthy habits. which makes my depression 10x worse. i feel dumb and incapable a lot of the time.
my future: i want to be an independent and strong person who doesn’t need too much help but will ask if needed. i would like to live alone somewhere either in the middle of the woods but close enough to where the people and to be able to do activities still. i love the city but i’m unsure if i would live there but i do love visiting. i want both a borzoi and a maine coon or any cat to live with and take care of. i do NOTTTTT want kids at all. would love to be a fashion designer, influencer or anything surrounding fashion i want to be involved in. i know we need doctors and used to want to be a surgeon but i wouldn’t be satisfied doing anything else unless it’s creative.
random facts/interests: fashion garfield, five nights at freddy’s, franbow, i LOVEEE monster high, legend of zelda, telltales twd, any kind of music, drawing/ANYTHING artsy, story based video games, learning to play guitar, would like to learn how to skateboard. overall i want to learn how to do everything that’s fun and creative. i like standing out to the point i kind of create unhealthy expectations for myself only. also was in an emotionally/controlling abusive online relationship that i don’t want to talk about bc it’s embarrassing lol.
i am also perceived by a lot of people as reserved, shy and innocent? but i do not really view myself as innocent and feel as though saying that takes away from many of my negative experiences. my friends however know that with them i am the complete opposite. i talk to myself A LOT, 24/7, even in public sometimes. i love helping my friends and don’t mind them talking to me about anything they need.

So, for more context, I'm using this account bc I don't want to be linked to my main. I'm genuinely at a loss of what I want to say or do. So the friend I'm talking about in question, for her privacy, I'll call her M. M has had a history of doing certain morally destructive behaviors. She's very clearly mentally unwell and me, another friend we will call him C. My BF has been trying to help her and guide her to the right path, with her mental health. So, about nearly 5 or 6 years ago, she was R*ped. She told me when we started becoming closer as friends in high school. We had been friends since junior year. We are 20+ now. She said it happened at a small party and she was very intoxicated and she thought something was put into her drink. She was lying down in a dark bedroom.
Assuming from her not feeling well, being intoxicated and possibly drugged. M said she vaguely remembers someone of board stature getting on top of her and the guy well..ya know the rest. But she had later figured out it may have been this guy we will call him B (Another thing she was also dating B at the time of this happening). She was pretty 1000% positive it was him bc of how big he was, and she said his body type matched up from what she could sort of remember. Obviously, they separated. Now she never told me about her getting a r*pe kit done. I never knew any info about that until very recently. I had asked her about it and why she never told me, and she said that she "didn't find it important or it mattered" at the time. Given the trauma of some things. BUT she did get it done, and it was said on file that the DNA most likely matched to B. He was never jailed, tho.
Here is another thing. When she went to her mom to get it done.( She was minor at the time of this happening so her mom helped her) M came to me one day saying after all these years just to find out it wasn't B. According to her, her Mom had forged the DNA test and put it as B. Why? Bc apparently, her mom never liked B when they were in a relationship together at the time. Pausing. My main question was, if it was B, why was he never convicted or jailed? How did she forge a DNA file or paperwork? M says now that it was possibly someone else and not B. She told me she tetraced that night of the assault and she believes she knows who it is. I had asked her who, and she said, "I don't really want to say right now if that's ok." I understood, and I didn't want to make her uncomfortable.
I never asked her about it again. All of this to me, thinking about logically just sounds really weird, and I'm not sure how to feel about these stories. Recently, tho she said she had met up and talked to B. My initial reaction was, "Why in the hell would you do that?" And she said she wanted to get his side of things. Pausing again. My thing, let's say B didn't do it, ok? Why would you want to talk to someone who you accused of r*ping you? Idk it just doesn't make sense to me. B was willing to talk to her, and I suppose they exchanged sorrys and grievances with each other. She told me that all that happened and nothing more was said. M said they were gonna be strangers to each other after they talked. I told her that's a good idea bc inviting someone who you thought assaulted you would be fucked up right? Anyways. I have now found the joy of knowing they are now in a relationship together.
To me, she basically lied to me about the whole "we will be strangers to each other" thing. They definitely keep talking on the phone after that day. Idk how to feel upset? Sad? Anger? Frustrated? Confusion? She hasn't said anything to me about it, and she is usually pretty talkative about her relationships. I think she definitely knows I'm not okay with it at all she's definitely not talking about out of guilt. I know that for a fact. Look, I'm not trying or wanting to condemn her. I'm writing this out of concern on what I should do. I don't want to lose my friendship with her.
We always had good times. But her behavior.. it's just not right. I know deep down she's not happy and she hasn't been for a long time. Before she was with B, she was in another relationship that wasn't the best, and she barely left anytime for herself. She pretty much immediately started dating another guy, which is B. Anyways, what do I do? Should I not say anything and just let it ride? Ask me any questions if something doesn't make sense. I'm willing to answer. Thank you. Sorry for any typos.