does your short story have to be plot driven or can it be character driven? my teacher kept saying it’s important to have a sort of twist ending. i’ve written a couple short stories in the past (not for english) that i was kinda hoping to regurgitate, but most of them follow characters having regular conversations and just coming to simple/quiet conclusions about stuff. i do have a couple ‘twisty’ ones i wrote for class but idk what to do if they don’t fit the prompt. can your short story be ‘quiet?’

Ok, so I (20M) have an older brother Oliver, (24M). Oliver had a kid pretty early (accident) and due to our culture got married to Sasha, (27F) and has a 4 year old, Lily. They both had to pretty much put their life on hold for Lily, Sasha having nothing to do with her BA in English Lit and Oliver working like 3 jobs.
Now that Lily is soon to start school so Sasha can finally do something with her degree, she wants to be a teacher so that means training and tests and programs, which means she can't really do anything with Lily in the meantime. Oliver took a few days off to try and give Sasha a grace period but eventually called me and begged me to help him. I'm on summer break so why not. Currently I'm staying at their house to help out with Lily. Problem is, I'm not just helping, I'm doing everything.
Sasha says finding a job is basically a full time job itself but even people with fulltime jobs can say 'hello' to their kid once in a while. She's not speaking to Lily pretty much at all, ignores her when she tries. I'm also doing most of her work around the house now.
I don't mind doing this for a bit but this is mildly concerning (at least to me) I mean if Sasha can't look at her kid while preparing for a job whats gonna happen when she actually gets one.
This came to a head yesterday when sasha made her daughter cry and then snapped her fingers at me to take care of it. I did it, because I was worried about Lily. But after I'd settled Lily I went back to Sasha and told her that her 'job' doesn't mean she stops caring about her kid. She called me an ass, said I had no idea about adult problems, I'm just a kid who can't even drink yet.
Idk, I'm not sure. She thinks I'm an ass but I don't think this is normal behaviour. I mean I don't have my own kid so Idk. AITA?

Hello, everyone. I'm looking for advice regarding a pretty complicated relationship issue I've been finding myself in. This isn't a throwaway because well, if my crush finds this—then I don't have to confess anymore!
On to the details. I (28 gay M; yes, the gay part is relevant for reasons you'll see) am an assistant language teacher (ALT) at a junior high school in Japan. Beginning in early May, some university students who are teachers in training came to observe and participate in lessons. One of them was a science teacher, but the other was an English teacher [22? M]. I got very excited about this, as I don't know Japanese well, and because of that, I haven't been able to make many Japanese friends during my time here. So, I relished the opportunity to make a Japanese friend.
We quickly found that we had similar interests. We both like English literature and video games, as well as traditional Japanese culture/festivals. I had assumed he was straight (as I usually always do when I meet someone new), but I still clung to a modicum of hope that maybe he and I could be something more, even though I return home to America in 2 months.
Well, I found out that he does in fact have a girlfriend. Not surprising, of course. Though, I suppose I'd be lying to say I wasn't a little disappointed. But anyway, I still treat him well and enjoy doing so. I'm fine with just being his friend.
Here is where the problem starts: I think—MAYBE—I found him on Grindr. I can't say for certain, as the profile image doesn't show his face, but the body sure looks like his. Also, the supplemental profile details match him, such as his age, etc. He even put his status as "Dating." I also saw that he had viewed MY profile, which clearly shows my face. So now he definitely knows about my sexuality (assuming the profile really is him).
I worked up the nerve to ask him if he wanted to hang out with me sometime, since I have less than 2 months before I have to leave Japan, and he said yes. We are planning to play games together a few weeks from now.
The problem I'm having is this: I desperately want to tell him that I like him. I know there's pretty much no chance of us being together since I leave Japan soon (or maybe he would be open to a LTR?), but I'm not sure it's the right move. I also don't want him to get offended by me. I respect that he has a girlfriend, and I don't want him to think I'm trying to break them up. Should I confess to him that I like him? Should I say nothing at all? I was thinking about saying something to him closer to before I have to leave Japan, maybe in the form of a handwritten card, or something.
Sidenote: as for the girlfriend, I don't really know anything about her. I also don't know their situation; maybe they are open about it. I've heard that Japanese people view cheating in a different light from westerners. I even know a Japanese man who is married, but his wife lets him sleep with other men (they married only for image and status). In any case, the issue of whether I should tell her about him being on Grindr isn't really what I'm here to discuss. I just want to know whether I should/shouldn't confess that I like him and how, if at all, I should do it.
Thank you!
**TL;DR;** : I, a gay man, like my coworkefriend (a male) who has a girlfriend—but who I also probably found on Grindr—and am wondering how/if I should confess my feelings for him.

The externals are literally over and I had random thoughts pop up on wether I did my IAs and EE right (My English teacher fucked up hard and I just realized this now).
Like leave me the fuck alone I'm done with this shit (ToT).

Hello, everyone. I'm looking for advice regarding a pretty complicated relationship issue I've been finding myself in. This isn't a throwaway because well, if my crush finds this—then I don't have to confess anymore!
On to the details. I (28 gay M; yes, the gay part is relevant for reasons you'll see) am an assistant language teacher (ALT) at a junior high school in Japan. Beginning in early May, some university students who are teachers in training came to observe and participate in lessons. One of them was a science teacher, but the other was an English teacher. I got very excited about this, as I don't know Japanese well, and because of that, I haven't been able to make many Japanese friends during my time here. So, I relished the opportunity to make a Japanese friend.
We quickly found that we had similar interests. We both like English literature and video games, as well as traditional Japanese culture/festivals. I had assumed he was straight (as I usually always do when I meet someone new), but I still clung to a modicum of hope that maybe he and I could be something more, even though I return home to America in 2 months.
Well, I found out that he does in fact have a girlfriend. Not surprising, of course. Though, I suppose I'd be lying to say I wasn't a little disappointed. But anyway, I still treat him well and enjoy doing so. I'm fine with just being his friend.
Here is where the problem starts: I think—MAYBE—I found him on Grindr. I can't say for certain, as the profile image doesn't show his face, but the body sure looks like his. Also, the supplemental profile details match him, such as his age, etc. He even put his status as "Dating." I also saw that he had viewed MY profile, which clearly shows my face. So now he definitely knows about my sexuality (assuming the profile really is him).
I worked up the nerve to ask him if he wanted to hang out with me sometime, since I have less than 2 months before I have to leave Japan, and he said yes. We are planning to play games together a few weeks from now.
The problem I'm having is this: I desperately want to tell him that I like him. I know there's pretty much no chance of us being together since I leave Japan soon (or maybe he would be open to a LTR?), but I'm not sure it's the right move. I also don't want him to get offended by me. I respect that he has a girlfriend, and I don't want him to think I'm trying to break them up. Should I confess to him that I like him? Should I say nothing at all? I was thinking about saying something to him closer to before I have to leave Japan, maybe in the form of a handwritten card, or something.
Sidenote: as for the girlfriend, I don't really know anything about her. I also don't know their situation; maybe they are open about it. I've heard that Japanese people view cheating in a different light from westerners. I even know a Japanese man who is married, but his wife lets him sleep with other men (they married only for image and status). In any case, the issue of whether I should tell her about him being on Grindr isn't really what I'm here to discuss. I just want to know whether I should/shouldn't confess that I like him and how, if at all, I should do it.
Thank you!
**TL;DR;** : I, a gay man, like my coworkefriend (a male) who has a girlfriend—but who I also probably found on Grindr—and am wondering how/if I should confess my feelings for him.

Perhaps you've already done something similar, if so lemme know.
In the first lesson of the school year for every class (elementary especially though. 3rd to 6th. I'm not at a JHS anymore) I try (and usually succeed) to get the JTE to do a lesson about "why do we study english?". It covers things like travel, future job opportunities, the fact that English is so widely spoken etc. I have spent a lot of time on it. It's predominantly in Japanese, but if anyone wants the slides I'd be happy to give them. I feel this is very important for students to be reminded of and especially important for 3rd graders who have only just begun learning English.
Towards the end of the presentation, I (or rather the JTE does for me) start talking about how it's ok to make mistakes. Or rather, it's important to make mistakes and not feel bad about them.
I've been thinking about an activity to do following this presentation (the presentation itself can take up the whole lesson depending on the JTE) that demonstrates to students that making mistakes is important and ok. My idea is:
The class versus the ALT. For ES 3rd graders this is essentially undoable because their English is too low. But say for example in a 6th grade lesson, the JTE holds up a card that says 赤い (red) in Japanese with a picture. At first the JTE says "how do you say 赤い in English? Talk with the people around you" and the ALT has to write the answer on a white board.
If the ALT deliberately (or inadvertently, depending on the ALTs level of Japanese) makes mistakes, it could help the students further understand that it's ok for them to make mistakes themselves in English. Class Vs teacher activities are great activities in general for so many reasons. Kinda like flipped classrooms. But harder with bigger classrooms.
Obviously the questions should get more difficult as they go. And the ALT should get increasingly worse. At first get "red " and other simple questions correct, but later say "graduation ceremony" when the answer was "entrance ceremony" or whatever. I also think it would give the ALT a chance to make a lot of funny answers if the JTE instead just held up a picture and the students had to say the English word and the ALT the Japanese word. Imagine saying ちくび(nipple) when the answer was 地球儀(globe). Or saying 椅子 instead of 犬 etc
One problem I can see is with a large classroom, you'd have to take the students answers from those that put their hands up. You couldn't divide the class into small groups when they are all against the ALT. And the students that put their hands up may be wrong. And if a student was wrong when most of the class had the right answer, they might feel bad or even better teased. Also I know we as ALTs aren't supposed to use any Japanese. But if our Japanese is incorrect, it reinforces to the students that they need to use English with us.
Thoughts and feedback much appreciated.

Perhaps you've already done something similar, if so lemme know.
In the first lesson of the school year for every class (elementary especially though. 3rd to 6th. I'm not at a JHS anymore) I try (and usually succeed) to get the JTE to do a lesson about "why do we study english?". It covers things like travel, future job opportunities, the fact that English is so widely spoken etc. I have spent a lot of time on it. It's predominantly in Japanese, but if anyone wants the slides I'd be happy to give them. I feel this is very important for students to be reminded of and especially important for 3rd graders who have only just begun learning English.
Towards the end of the presentation, I (or rather the JTE does for me) start talking about how it's ok to make mistakes. Or rather, it's important to make mistakes and not feel bad about them.
I've been thinking about an activity to do following this presentation (the presentation itself can take up the whole lesson depending on the JTE) that demonstrates to students that making mistakes is important and ok. My idea is:
The class versus the ALT. For ES 3rd graders this is essentially undoable because their English is too low. But say for example in a 6th grade lesson, the JTE holds up a card that says 赤い (red) in Japanese with a picture. At first the JTE says "how do you say 赤い in English? Talk with the people around you" and the ALT has to write the answer on a white board.
If the ALT deliberately (or inadvertently, depending on the ALTs level of Japanese) makes mistakes, it could help the students further understand that it's ok for them to make mistakes themselves in English. Class Vs teacher activities are great activities in general for so many reasons. Kinda like flipped classrooms. But harder with bigger classrooms.
Obviously the questions should get more difficult as they go. And the ALT should get increasingly worse. At first get "red " and other simple questions correct, but later say "graduation ceremony" when the answer was "entrance ceremony" or whatever. I also think it would give the ALT a chance to make a lot of funny answers if the JTE instead just held up a picture and the students had to say the English word and the ALT the Japanese word. Imagine saying ちくび(nipple) when the answer was 地球儀(globe). Or saying 椅子 instead of 犬 etc
One problem I can see is with a large classroom, you'd have to take the students answers from those that put their hands up. You couldn't divide the class into small groups when they are all against the ALT. And the students that put their hands up may be wrong. And if a student was wrong when most of the class had the right answer, they might feel bad or even better teased. Also I know we as ALTs aren't supposed to use any Japanese. But if our Japanese is incorrect, it reinforces to the students that they need to use English with us.
Thoughts and feedback much appreciated.

Hi guys,
Does anybody have any notes on English B text types? Our teacher did not provide us with anything so I am stuck, for all of my essays I get around 50%. On the same note, do you have any tips on writing English B essays?

MY ENGLISH TEACHER ATE A HOTDOG AND HAD TO BE WHEELED OUT OF THE SCHOOL BY THE PARAMEDICS FOR UKNOWN REASONS LMAOOO

About me: Im Lei. I am a bread winner of the family and my father is ill. Patong-patong na po ang utang ko sa OLA. Kailangan ko po ng pambayad. Isa po akong teacher na nagkukulang ang kita.
Service offers: English, Math, Science subject Graphic design Virtual/personal assistant Voice talent
Can offer NSWF. No face reveal (Audio, Picture and Video)
DM me

About me: Im Lei. I am a bread winner of the family and my father is ill. Patong-patong na po ang utang ko sa OLA. Kailangan ko po ng pambayad. Isa po akong teacher na nagkukulang ang kita.
Service offers: English, Math, Science subject Graphic design Virtual/personal assistant Voice talent
Can offer NSWF. No face reveal (Audio, Picture and Video)
DM me

About me: Im Lei. I am a bread winner of the family and my father is ill. Patong-patong na po ang utang ko sa OLA. Kailangan ko po ng pambayad. Isa po akong teacher na nagkukulang ang kita.
Service offers: English, Math, Science subject Graphic design Virtual/personal assistant Voice talent
Can offer NSWF. No face reveal (Audio, Picture and Video)
DM me

About me: Im Lei. I am a bread winner of the family and my father is ill. Patong-patong na po ang utang ko sa OLA. Kailangan ko po ng pambayad. Isa po akong teacher na nagkukulang ang kita.
Service offers: English, Math, Science subject Graphic design Virtual/personal assistant Voice talent
Can offer NSWF. No face reveal (Audio, Picture and Video)
DM me

In the spirit of the All-Stars season ongoing, I decided to share my character rankings for the first two seasons of Disventure Camp, starting with season 1 (despite it being remade after season 2). Now it's worth noting, since this season is a remake of Drama Total Adventura, I'm not going to bother making a ranking for both versions. Rather, I'll just briefly say what I think of each of them compared to the original version, which I will refer to as the "beta"/"original" version. If I have any time, I will also post my rankings for the Total Drama Rematch season later on. But I still have to craft my writeups + my opinions are rather fuzzy. I could even consider Total Dramarama down the line (totally not because someone triple dog dared me to do it HEHE). Also, I'm posting this as of midnight, so I will be going to bed right after and will respond to comments in the morning. Now onto the rankings
DC (S1) Character Ranking
14: Will (The Biggest Beta Male) - Just as much of a skrub as he was in the beta version. Thankfully he’s the first boot this time and gives Dan a bit more time to shine. But his relationship with Ashley is painfully lazy and one-sided, and only sours my opinion on him ever-so-slightly more. Luckily, he’s the only character I actively find cringe. And even then, he takes barely any screen-time. Though given how underdeveloped he is, that is arguably for the worse in some ways
13: Drew (He Drew Words, I Guess) - He's kind of like B but without the swag and big-brain moments. His notebook schtick was ok but didn't really stick out to me. He did make a contribution to the plot through Grett though
12: Dan (He’s a Character Alright) - He's a little better than his beta incarnation. But given he was a complete blank slate there, that isn't saying much. His friendship with Gabby was nice before it fell apart, and brought out some likable qualities in him. Though overall, he doesn’t do a whole lot noteworthy, and his character is pretty bare-bones
11: Jake (The Flawed Nice Guy) - While this version does a better job of exploring Jake’s negative traits, his positive traits just don't stick out to me. I don’t care for his bond with Miriam as much, and the aspect of him seeing the best in everyone is not all that prevalent, which is what I really liked about him. Like beta, Tom and Jake have virtually no real chemistry or reason for me to feel emotionally invested in them. Their conflicts are also unpleasant in a way that's just not fun to watch, and even downright painful at times. Though any issue I take with them from a writing-lense boils down to a very select few hiccups. And I do appreciate the more mature resolution to their plot, as opposed to just having them end up together romantically (take notes Jai- oh wait I haven’t talked about S2 yet). As for Jake himself, sure he can be annoying at times and has various flaws he needs to work through. But he still has a handful of reasons to be sympathized with. Though I like how at the same time, he is not just treated like a victim. In fact, it's a testament to one of the things I appreciate about this season in general. He is also given some pretty interesting and realistic flaws, and I like that he actually feels bad for his mistakes throughout. Nonetheless, I just can't bring myself to care for Jake as much as in the original version. Though I respect how he's written. Tom and Jake are like a better version of Gwent for me
10: Ashley (The First Character I Ashley Like) - Same as the original. She's not great, but she had a couple of nice interactions and a generally likable personality. And I really appreciate how rather than being the obvious good guy upon Fiore being exposed, her and Lill's lack of inclusiveness toward Ellie and Alec was acknowledged, which is both refreshing and a good reminder that everyone is selfish to different degrees in this competition-driven setting. Her relationship with Will sucks, but I don't really hold it against her
9: Lill (Good Intuition) - About the same as her original, except we don't really have a fall-out between her and Nick. As far as my thoughts on her go, it’s about the same deal as Ashley. I think they both made for good decoy protagonists. And I like that her and Ashley's friendship got expanded on a bit compared to the original
8: Tom (The Spy of All Time) - I low-key struggled to care about him for most of the season compared to his original version. And I think I partially blame this on his lack of a juicy rivalry with Grett. Though I suppose his relationship with Jake brings out a few likable qualities in him, and he also had a good challenge performance. On a random note, it kind of flew over my head in hindsight how incompetent he really was during his stint as a spy, even from the very getgo. I will say, he is pretty goated in the finale, from him saving the money from being stolen this time, to the way him and Fiore duping each-other with flags comes full-circle. The finale single-handedly brings him up a tier
7: Nick (Ah Piss Off!) - He's really funny during his elimination. And I like that despite being nicer at face-value, he's also emotionally immature and prone to getting really cranky, which are both interesting flaws that make sense given his background. The way it led to his early downfall was well-done, and it’s nice that he proved to realize the error of his ways during the finale. A pretty well-utilized early boot
6: Miriam (The Badass Boomer) - My opinion on her remains just about the same as the beta version. As I said with Jake, I somehow didn’t care for their bond quite as much as in the OG. Her voice in the English dub especially takes some getting used to. But Miriam is still pretty great nonetheless. She makes for a good underdog and has some amusing moments with her schtick as an old lady. Her being wiser and less prone to falling for people’s shady antics was also a nice touch. And I like how she also has a more cunning side, despite standing for good overall. I’m not too attached to her, but I’m fine with her as a winner
5: Gabby (That Vegan Gabber) - She has her moments. But I don’t know, she just doesn’t impress me like she did in the beta version, despite lasting longer this time. Maybe it could just be that Izzy (who resembles Gabby quite a bit) has also worn thin on me ever since I made my Adventure Camp rankings. Though I think the biggest thing that isn’t quite as prevalent with her here is her self-awareness and her attempts to control herself. It felt more present in the original Adventure Camp, and was a big factor in what made her endearing to me. It doesn't help that her voice in the English dub is especially grating, despite being fitting for her. And while I could solve that by just watching the Spanish dub, the subtitles are incredibly delayed there (skill issue I know). With that said, she is still pretty likable and has some funny and endearing moments. Gabellie is still just as fantastic as in the original version, and even gets expanded on this time. Her plot-line with Grett makes her easy to feel bad for, but also brings out some more likable qualities in her and has a very satisfying climax. I also really like how she (along with Tom) is implemented in the external plot surrounding the hosts (which is handled FAR better than in the beta version). I'm just glad they didn't go full-blown ‘That-Vegan-Teacher-mode’ with her. Despite not being quite one of my favorites this time, Gabby still remains a great character
4: Grett (A Pretty Grett Character) - I prefer her a little more here than in the beta version, even if she didn't stick out quite as much earlier on. But she gets a lot better down the line, especially when she joins Alec and Fiore, and also has some pretty cool tricks up her sleeve. Her backstory was handled far more gracefully this time (most notably her departure), and she also plays a good role in the finale
3: Ellie (The Quintessential Anti-hero) - I find Ellie interesting for just about the same reasons as her beta version. Though as someone who generally prefers her a lot more than Jake, I can’t get behind people who react to her episode 11 tirade by passing her off as this cool girl-boss. Now don't get me wrong, her “reason why you suck speech” is hilarious, and I understand why she blew up at Jake. But her rant was very emotionally-charged and had a lot of flaws from both a moral and logical standpoint. And it would've made Ellie far worse under virtually any other context leading up to it. Thankfully, in-universe doesn’t portray her in the right long-term-wise. And I really like how Ellie and Jake’s conflict is a more complicated situation where both sides have flaws but also some understandable motivations, allowing you to choose who you ultimately side with. Her background and reasons for wanting to win the money add a layer of sympathy to her. And her general journey throughout the game was also one of the more intriguing ones. Any writing issues I have with Ellie boil down to some minor hiccups here and there. Besides that, Ellie still remains a fantastic character
2: Alec (Terrible Dad, Amazing Character) - If Ellie is this season’s anti-hero, Alec is this season’s anti-villain. With that said, Alec is definitely one of the most intriguing characters of the season, both for individual reasons but especially for his main interaction. Him and Fiore are the most interesting and engaging dynamic throughout. They are a highly compatible strategic power-duo who even weaseled their way through some big odds stacked against them. Though on top of this, they have some pretty interesting personal interactions that solidify their ‘father-and-daughter-like’ bond. Individually, Alec is a morally gray character done very well. I love how apathetic he is when it comes to people who play dirtier, the main example being his reaction upon Ashley and Lill exposing Fiore. He’s the epitome of someone who has no problem resorting to playing dirty, but is a pretty decent guy outside of the game (although still morally flawed). He pulled some especially cool strats throughout, his bookworm tendencies proving very useful at some points (most notably the episode 9 challenge). He also has an interesting background with his familial and marriage issues. It's also nice that despite his flaws as a dad and a husband, he doesn't hold ill-will towards his wife, adding another layer of likability to him. As an added bonus, his moments of getting salty are surprisingly funny, given how much they contrast his usual demeanor. This especially applies to his reaction towards Fiore during his elimination. For all these reasons, Alec takes the honor of being one of the shining beacons of the season
1: Fiore (The Ultimate Evil Mastermind) - Fiore is honestly a good contender for one of my top favorite characters, if I were to make a tier list comparing both Total Drama and Disventure Camp characters. Everything about her is engaging. She's funny, she's a great strategist with some really cool moves up her sleeve, and she has an interesting background. Even when odds were stacked against both her and Alec, she was able to come up with a backup plan to twist things back in their favor. But there’s so much more to her than just her being a genius strategist. Her backstory provides a really good and nuanced message. Not only does it humanize and add a small layer of sympathy to her, but it also shows that despite being a child prodigy and an evil genius, Fiore still has her own internal problems. Deep down, there is a small part of her that wants to be accepted by others and wishes she wasn’t so morally corrupt. I really like how she just embraces her brokenness and focuses on her strengths and achieving her goals. Despite not being a person we remotely want to associate with, she’s surprisingly likable in a way and preaches fantastic advice on the kind of attitudes you should have when traversing life. To top it all off, she has a great snarky streak and has some lines that genuinely made me laugh out loud (especially when she was reading the names of the patreon supporters). Her and Alec’s fall-out was very well-done (not to mention hilarious), even if it was tragic. Bad English dub voice aside, Fiore is simply the absolute GOAT, and by far the biggest highlight of this season

Just wanna start with the fact that my main language isn't English so there's bound to be mistakes here and there and I apologize.
The story starts at school. This friend, let's call him A approached me because we had a dance group project. At the time I had no friends. There are people that I can talk to but just about school and others just ignore me. I was really lonely at the time. I found out that me and A actually shared some interests, he also told me that he's suicidal. Our first interaction was literally him asking me how it would feel if he jumped off the 3rd floor. I also struggle with suicidal thoughts which made me empathize with him.
He did some minor things that I chalked off like once I was at his house with other classmates and he gave me food even if I told him to stop, I also forced myself to eat even if I was almost puking because I felt bad. He also gives me random food at school which I do not want and has repeatedly told him but he sneakily puts them into my bag. I chalked it off because I thought that he cares about me I mean he gave me medicine when I was sick, listened to me vent and gave me a keychain of a character I like so it's all good right?
He confessed that he likes me and at the time I was confusing love and the fact that in reality I actually just wanted a friend who'll listen to my problems. I did lead him on at the time which I admit is my fault. I told him that I liked him back but I don't want a relationship because of many reasons. He also told me that he wants to continue studying and that he'll only ask me out after he finishes college and finds a job which I greatly appreciated at the time.
My first actual problem with him was when we were making a research paper together and I told everyone that we can't finish it in time because of our lack of resources and some mistakes that we made that require a lot of time. He then did the research entirely by himself. We were asking what we could help with and he's telling us that it's done and that we shouldn't help. He also cursed out a member because this member wants to help. I trusted him. He sent us the research paper file so that we can edit it but he printed it out immediately. I saw the paper. It wasn't accurate to our research, there were a lot of grammatical mistakes and there were so many errors which made me panic so hard. I did tell him that this is probably not gonna make the cut and he got offended. He passed it by himself and our teacher checked it and noticed all the mistakes as well and I told him that we could've avoided that but A just said how "at least we passed it in time". I was so furious but I realized that maybe I've been too hard and maybe he felt that I was being too much of a perfectionist which I admit, I am one. I apologized and I helped with the research but I felt like every time I tried to do it I wanted to kill myself. The others including me all worked hard but he disregarded our work. Another fault of mine here is I stopped helping because I thought he wanted to do it alone but he wants us to help. This research paper situation got so bad that I stabbed myself at school with a small knife. I don't know what to do. I don't know how I can help. He says that he wants help and then he curses us out for trying to help. I felt bad because he was my friend.
He also gets into my interests and has been competitive with me for no reason. He admitted this one himself. He told me that he wants to be better than me. I felt bad because I enjoy those interests and I expressed no desire to outdo anyone. I also told him and others how I'm really bad but I just enjoy playing them. I don't get why he enjoys kicking a dead horse so much. What enjoyment can he find by fighting someone who sucks and has no intention to fight anyone?
The next problem is that for context, I'm afab but I identify as nonbinary. I don't mind whether people see me as a girl or a guy and I don't really care about what pronouns people use for me. He made weird comments about how pretty I am and that I should wear a dress because I look good in it. He knows that I purposefully dress androgynously to align with my gender identity and that I felt uncomfortable with those comments. He told me that he supports me but has repeatedly made side comments like I should learn how to cook and that he'd teach me and I felt as if he was forcing me to be a girl even if he knows I do not identify as one. I thought I was just being a snowflake so I didn't mind it.
The biggest problem came when I asked him why he liked me and his reasons were so shallow. It's because he thought I'm cute and because he thinks I'm weird and another reason is because of my body, he told me that he likes girls that have big chests. I make the effort to wear loose shirts and he still fucking noticed that? He also confessed when he hugged me he uh... got turned on. (I was struggling with some personal issues at the time and I really needed a hug.) I can't believe that I became vulnerable with him and he just ughhhhhhh.
I self harmed. My grades went down. All my efforts went down the drain. I almost went to a bridge near me and jumped. But I ignored it. I ignored it and told myself that it's just because of stress about this school!
We ended up fighting because he'd always break my boundaries like touching my hands in public and I have to repeatedly tell him that I'm not his girlfriend. Or that he stalked my social media and my relatives for photos of me.
Addition: We also get shipped at school because we sat together. My classmates didn't give a shit abt me before and now they do because I'm with a guy? Luckily not all of them are like that and I made new friends who understand and respect me.
So on FB A's notes were all stuff like "shadows grow like my grudges towards you" or "you wouldn't have drowned if blah blah" and I know that's towards me.
I am not gonna say that he's an entirely horrible person because he helped me after all. He helped me with my issues and has listened to my problems. He did show an interest in the things that I played or watched before he started getting competitive. He also gave me gifts for my birthday and on other occasions and I feel bad because I don't have money to pay him back. Again, he noticed that I was sick and gave me some medicine and many more but I just can't stand him anymore.
So AITA? I think I'm just overreacting honestly.
Edit: Addition: He also made my new friend uncomfortable to the point that this friend stopped approaching me at school because he kept glaring at him every time when we're together.

In part because I’m really tired of some of the emotional trauma my paras have caused.
They are hired through an agency and although I’ve tried, they are poorly trained because they cannot take direction. One does not speak English and cannot follow simple directions in an emergency, sometimes caused because she cannot follow simple directions. She has smashed a child’s head in a door frame by accident and when I asked her (with modeling) to gently hold a child’s hand to keep her from taking off her clothes, she immediately goes into a full forced escort. Today this child was standing in her underwear a foot in front of the para. She did nothing. I tried to help her and do everything for her because I knew telling her to go to the nurse to look for shorts would be impossible with her language barrier. I came back and the student was standing in her underwear while the para just stood there.
There is another who will talk back and politely refuse to do anything. She will openly criticize and tell me she won’t work with 1:1s in rotation, tells me service providers don’t do their jobs, complains about us taking our preps if we are short staffed to the point of accusing my coworker of “just sitting in her room eating breakfast” (during her prep as she’s doing work). She makes recommendations to me about student placement (completely inappropriate recommendations).
Another one texted and popped into my IEP meeting today to ask me if my meeting was “not important” if I could come to the nurse to see about a student’s mosquito bites. I have been super kind to this para as she is older, protected her in so many ways she does not realize from my more aggressive kids (one who she says left her with a bad injury for weeks) and she made a snide comment about how I DO notice SOME things. She tells me “I don’t trust anyone with him” regarding a student who has been aggressive and will not follow instructions to ignore some of his behaviors, thus delaying any progress. Denies the student is starting to become aggressive to her. She causes a lot of behaviors without awareness but always makes a point to tell me how good the kids are when I go to lunch (I think to make me feel it’s me but it’s really because there are no demands and it’s free time) and how I need to be more stern while she herself is not able to deal with behaviors.
The district hires people with no experience. There is no behaviorist. The seasoned para yells at kids and tells them they are spoiled and “I know (last year’s teacher) didn’t let you get away with this!” While ignoring their token boards, refusing to make checklists like I asked because apparently, yelling at the kids “and I want a billion dollars!” Is a more acceptable behavioral plan. She’s been here for years.
Outsourcing paras to save $ is not the way. I think eventually these agencies will take over special ed, especially if you have 4-5 paras who don’t get paid well and just want to make it through the day doing as little as possible because it’s their second job. I am beyond frustrated. How do you explain ABA if you spend hours training someone (with 0 experience) only for them to tell you the kid did their entire program in 10 minutes?

Demographics: female, south asian, public high
Hooks: immigrant? low income family
Intended Major(s): physics with mathematics, if not literature
ACT/SAT/SAT II: test optional
UW/W GPA and Rank: we don't do gpa's or ranks at my school, but i've recieved the highest grade endorsement for 2 years and i'd estimate a 3.9?
Coursework: (school doesn't offer APs, honours or anything) biology, chemistry, physics, statistics, algebra, geography, english enriched, lots of online courses in physics, maths, art history etc as my school doesn't offer
Awards: none :/ have some badges though not sure if it counts
Extracurriculars:

• Student president: arranging all school events for 1600+ students like cultural share days, ramadan nights and more
• Mentor and tutor for junior in Maths, English and Science for 2 years (lots of hours)
• Co-leadecreator of school project that develops/teaches the large population of migrant students conversational English
• Co-president of Literature Club: editor of non-fiction column, host open mics and writing competitions, plan trips to the museum for school
• Gymnastics for 10 years: mostly as a hobby, got to perform for a sheik
• Volunteer at a charity store: raising funds for animal welfare by assisting with inventory, tagging items, serving up to 100 customers daily
• Independent research project (soon to be published hopefully ): analysing & compared exoplanet detection methods
• Child life club: Organised children's activities at local library gathering up to 100 children overall, led English workshops students at elementary
• some other ECs like writing letters to the elderly but i might just combine it as one with some other volunteer work

Essays/LORs/Other: like 7.5 or 8/10 for LORs as teachers might be very new to how it works, essays should be pretty good as i enjoy and practice writing a lot
Schools (all of these might be reaches):

• Bard College
• Bates College
• Bowdoin College
• Carleton College
• Middlebury College
• Swarthmore College
• Vassar College
• Williams College
• (not lac) University of Vermont

hi! my name is Jude/JJ!! i’m 19 and UK (Wales) based!
I’m super interested in literature, especially old literature, greek mythology, poetry! i’m happy to talk for hours and hours about our interests!! i’m currently in university for ancient history and i’m planning on becoming a history or english teacher once i finish my degree!
i’m also super happy to game with you, whatever you’d like! especially roblox, minecraft and other games like that! i will warn you that i spend most of my time on stardew valley though
i’m also really into music! i’m a musician (bass guitar) and i love anything country, folk, metal and rock!! but i’m open to all suggestions! i also love the gym and playing sports, specifically ice hockey! the cardiff devils are the best hockey team, change my mind
i’m into my english literature and old gothic stories such as frankenstein, the castle of otranto, carmilla, the turn of the screw, etc. however my favourite story is a farewell to arms by ernest hemingway! I’m a cat dad, i love animals in general but cats are my favourite!!
i’m on the sweeter side, i adore talking for hours about absolutely anything and sharing music, interests and other fun stuff with others!! and calling! i can do calls when i’m not busy
it’s lovely to meet you all!! my dms are open for everyone. feel free to message me <3