So me and my friend (both F16. I'm gonna call her Lia) were friends from primary school. Throughout our friendship we had people coming in and out, sometimes we got into groups etc. but it didn't bother me that much.
Things changed when we got into high school and got separated. At first we still kept good contact, sometimes hung out and played video games. She went to a different school than me so it was to be expected that she would meet some new people.
For the context, in my class I don't have anyone I could call a close friend, i also don't have anyone outside the school that I could hang out with.
And now back to Lia, after a few months, she started making new connections with people in her school but also outside of it because of her sister. At the back of the head it bothered me because she got so many new friends and I didn't, but I tried to forget about it also because I saw how happy she was to have all the new people that cared for her.
The problem started when she began posting photos with them or talking about them in a group chat. (There was also one tiktok, some trend about a person that you really care for or whatever, and it was her classmate. Tbh I was heartbroken.) After seeing how happy she was with them I started feeling left out. I think I also subconsciously began closing off and declining meeting up with Lia.
After some time we eventually met up and had a sleepover. Usually we talk a lot during it and tell each other our fears etc. so I brought up the subject. She was really understanding, also told me that I am actually the only person that she can fully put trust in. I also asked if she could potentially introduce me to some them and we could all hang out. So Lia asked one of her closest one there and she agreed. We didn't pick any time or date so I assumed they would ask me to hang out themselves, never happened.
I think it was at least two months since then, I still get some snaps when she is with her friends, I also listen to her problems that she has with some of them. Never met those people or even saw them.
The reason that actually made me write this post was yesterday that I asked her if is she would be down to play some video games today since we both have a free day. She basically said she won't have her computer with her because she is with one of her friends, which I thought she wasnt really close with but they have sleepover now?
To my knowledge she also has her own troubles and it's her first time so many people have liked her. Lia also doesn't want to stay home often for reasons so I understand that she goes out so often but still.
This whole thing makes me so jealous, confused and I don't know if it's her or my problem to find new people.

One of the most stressful periods of my career was starting my gym. For the first 6-months I woke up most mornings and threw up. Anxiety, my friend. Can’t live with it… can’t live without… nope, just can’t live with it lol.
Nevertheless, where I opened my gym was under a bar in a town where I had just moved. I didn’t know anyone in this town. I had no roots, no former coaches, teachers, friends or parents of friends, or any family except for my sister and her husband. On top of that this town only has about 7,000 people in total. Imagine a small, quaint town filled with people who grew up there for their entire lives and then some outsider kid comes in to challenge the local gyms and trainers in the area. That was the situation.
I remember early on one of my clients was the parent of a football player on the varsity team. She invited me to a dinner where the football coaches were going to be so I could meet them and hopefully cultivate a relationship. My background was in D1 college s&c before moving to this town and she thought I’d be a great connection for the team.
I had an idea that there was a trainer who worked with them, but honestly, I didn’t care. I was fighting for survival so who’s to stop me from throwing my hat in the ring! Haha
Anyhow, at the dinner this dude comes up to me and my brother in law (he started the gym with me). All snake like he said something along the lines of, “Hey, yeah this is a great place to meet some parents. Maybe you’ll get some clients.”
It was his way of saying “back off motherfuckers.” It pissed me off, but I knew he was threatened based off the fact he felt he needed to do that lol.
Fast forward 7 years and we are, hands down, the name brand training facility in the town. Funny enough, that trainer pays to bring his kid here to practice in a turf facility we have attached to our gym. Yeah, he pays me now 😂.
Sweet revenge in a tasteful manner🤌
Anyhow, I open this tiny 500sqft. studio below a damn bar. There’s zero foot traffic, I have no signs, and I’ve committed myself to paying $500/month of money I didn’t have for rent (at least it was month-to-month!)
Before I opened up I had the luck of meeting a successful businessman who started an online stock trading educational platform. Video courses on how to trade stocks, essentially. He got to know me a bit because I trained his sister at one point who was paralyzed on most of the right side of her body. We built a genuine relationship.
One night he had me and my wife over for dinner and he told me a couple of things that really gave me the encouragement to make the leap into running my own little business.
First, he said, “people perceive they can’t do things because of a lack of resources… money, time, energy, etc., but it’s often not the case… it’s a lack of resourcefulness.” (I will add on, however, there are for sure people in situations that don’t have the education or mentors or certain resources to get out of their situation. There are tremendously underprivileged people out there and I want to be mindful.)
But for many of us, his statement rings true.
This fueled me to become a relentless problem solver.
He also told me about something painfully simple called a GAP analysis. If you’re a business person, I’m sure you’ve heard of this. I’m not, I’m a coach who runs a business, but not so much a businessman (if that makes sense?).
A GAP analysis is a simple goal setting exercise. It actually served as my business plan which was a 3-month plan at the time. Not some long document predicting the future, just a short term goal setting exercise.
The way you do this is draw 3 columns on a piece of paper (horizontal set up works best).
On the left column you bullet point exactly where you are right now, how much money you make, what equipment you have, any marketing outlets you have or don’t have, and anything that pertains to the things you want to change moving forward.
All the way on the right side of the paper you write down where you want to be in 3 months.
For me, I wrote down I wanted 10 clients paying $300/month by May 1st of 2017. And I wanted my own facility where I could train people.
And finally, in the middle column you make bullet points and write down the “critical drives.” These are simply actions you can take to bridge the GAP between the left column and your goals on the right column.
It’s essentially, “Here is where i am, here is where i want to be, and here are hypotheses on actions I can take to get there.”
You’re not going to know exact actions to take. That’s where your creativity comes into play. Think… think… think! And write down actions you can start with to get some momentum going.
What I came up with were 3 things that seemed to work…
First, I got involved with the Chamber of Commerce. I learned that when a new business comes to town they will do a ribbon cutting ceremony and have the small, local paper do a write up on you.
I took advantage of this opportunity and tried to maximize it. When the ribbon cutting ceremony happened I videoed the entire thing. I then posted it on Facebook. I paid to have Facebook circulate the video in the local area and it made a “big” splash… or at least it got the ball rolling to let some people knew I now existed. This post gained a lot of momentum for me. The thing about momentum is that it slows down if you don’t throw some fuel on that fire!
Next, I contacted a bigger, yet still local newspaper and asked if I could write a guest column.
I wrote a few articles for them and built a relationship with the editor. Then, once I opened up my gym officially I asked for a favor. I asked them to do a write up on me opening my business. Not only did he help me with this, they gave me the entire back page of the paper with a huge photo of me sitting in my tiny little gym staring off into the future as if I were looking at my future achievements! I added that last part in, but for real I was gazing off into the distance lol.
This was HUGE for me as it helped more people learn about me. I didn’t get any direct calls just from that article, but it kept momentum going and built on what was already happening.
Lastly, I made a video for Facebook with me In my gym in dark lighting because I didn’t have all of my lights in yet. Just some 24 year old dude standing in a weird looking gym describing what I offer.
I made this descriptive video of my services and also how I was starting my business with something called “The Founder’s Club”.
This was a commitment to my members that the first 10 clients who joined would never pay a penny more and they would be locked into my lowest price for life… so long as they stuck around.
From 7 years ago I still have 4 of those people who train.
All of these things accumulated into me reaching the goal of having 10 clients at my own facility by the time I opened. I wrote these things down on February 17th, 2017. I was in a facility of my own by April 1st of 2017… and I had 10 clients by May 1st of 2017.
Fast forward to 2024 and I have 7500sqft. between 120-130 clients (among myself and other coaches), we have chiropractic, acupuncture, qi gong, meditation and last year we built a 3300 sqft. turf area. We rent it to teams and coaches who run sports lessons. It organically brings the entire town through our doors because the local youth sports use our facility all winter. Talk about a lead generator!
I often think we get caught up in the left and right column of the GAP analysis…
We feel pain and anxiety about where we are, we dream about where we want to be, but we don’t always put some words to paper and then follow through with those action steps.
Do you experience this with clients? How many know what they need to do, but struggle with the action part of it?
We often cripple ourselves before we even begin. At some point, you do enough thinking that thinking about it anymore isn’t worth it. We start to second guess ourselves and it stops us in our tracks before we start.
I just feel strongly that actions create ripple effects and continued action creates waves.
Hope this helps.

I feel disgusting and irredeemable for this. Almost every time I jack off I just look at random girls social media accounts. And there this one friend making app where you swipe to look through profiles and I jack off to the girls on there too. And I have taken screenshots before too when I wanted to come back to something which never felt wrong in the moment but it has recently hit me like a train and I have not been able to function properly. Now I always delete the screenshots eventually but back a few months ago when I wouldn't mind keeping them but I have since gone and deleted everything I could find. And I also would go on an app that was sorta like tiktok and jack off to girls there and save their pictures and videos and would occasionally jack off to said saved images and videos. I thought that this was normal behavior and thought nothing of this which I feel so stupid for now. And on one app made for making friends(but teens my age have basically just made it into a dating app at this point) I would always masterbate to girls on there too but I would also message some of the girls that I had masterbated to which feels wrong to me messaging girls that I would also jack off to. One of the reasons i would do this is there was no feature where you could save things like on most other social media apps so sending the girls a quick hey or something like that was my best option i guess and it didn't feel wrong then but it does now which makes me hate myself. I never said anything bad to these girls but it still feels gross to me. Was all of this wrong? Am I creepy? Was this sexual assault/harassment? Am I a horrible person? Please help.

Mary's Perspective
I'm nude, with my arms tied in a binder behind my back. I'm strapped to the left roll bar of one of the Queen Of Mean's Dune Buggies, secured above and below my breasts, at the waist, above my knees, and at my ankles to the roll bar with the sturdy but supple leather bindings her crew uses.
I'm panel gagged and hooded with a bondage ski mask. To the credit of the Queen Of Mean's crew, in concession to the hot day, it's a light, black canvas. Still holds the heat in, I miserably try to blink the sweat running down my face out of my eyes.
That bitch Mistress Daci is enjoying every second of it, deliberately driving over the roughest terrain, laughing when I'm jolted and bumped on my bondage post; telling me to shut up harshly when I let out muffled squeals and groans. I guess it beats the bitch suit, though not by much.
What exactly are we doing out here? What information I could gather, one of the first new episodes of the new season of Perseverance is going to take place mostly on the ground. Supposedly, Stellar Compact forces are mopping up stubborn pockets of N'Docc" and Amazonian warriors on a recently retaken planet, the scenes will include devastated woods and fields with possible hulks of war machines destroyed in the fighting.
Queen of Means crew are looking for places to secure Constance, Myself, and other extras during scenes. All I got from Miss Connor, is there'll be scenes of dead and dying slaves, tied to trees, posts and war machines, made up with gore prosthetics. According to her some of them will be unhurt or only slightly wounded despite being bound, and triaged to safety. I'm sure that won't be Constance or I, we'll have to wear the gore makeup and stay staked out the longest as dead slaves. The Triage scenes will be the shortest and easiest, reserved for the porn starlets and wannabes who suddenly want to volunteer for the surprise fetish hit show, not the likes of Bottom Slaves Mary and Constance.
Of course, according to the release material, both of us decided we're super submissives, and like being the lowest slaves, and treated as such, on and off the set. Technically we are volunteers, and could quit at any time. Realistically, we'd be broke and ruined, at least for a time, if we did. The contract I have with Master Henson, and Constance has with the Queen Of Mean, binds us to that as firmly as we' re bound to various objects throughout the day.
Constance actually does have more star billing this year, as Mistress Daci gleefully confided as she strapped me to this stupid buggy. She'll be Compact ace fighter pilot Rachael Willis, captured during a skirmish before the Battle Of Botany Bay.
The Amazonians have developed an experimental neural interface program that can read the brain's engrams of people's skills, and gradually teach and transfer them to people with a propensity for similar skills. Rachael will be the slave of a young Amazonian fighter pilot, played by Daci, of course. Despite her youth, her potential as a fighter pilot makes her a prime choice to take advantage of the computer's potential, and the exploitation of poor Major Rachael Willis. Though Daci's character is generally too young to formally have the honor of a Whipping Girl, she'll generally be treated almost the same. Except, since she's just a slave, and not a Whipping Girl, her honor as a Warrior won't even be remembered in the temple. She'll simply die a nameless, dignity less slave when they're done with exploiting.
Which is why she's not here, but in the Ready Room, being "trained" on her new role by Mistress Nora, Mistress Vasquez and Miss Connor. Yeah, she's not having a good time. Surely getting plenty of nipple flicks and slapped across the face with rolled up scripts by Mistresses Nora and Vasquez. Plus my Domme and the Hispanic girl like to yell and bluster in my face when they're frustrated with me. Yeah, I was in the Navy. Doesn't mean I enjoy being treated like that. Miss Connor, while usually cool and professional to even Constance and I, can be a first rate bitch when our slave asses piss her off.
I'd still rather be there than here. Mistress Daci, despite being a month shy of twenty, has been designated Top Domme by QOM for this expedition. The rest are new young recruit dommes, late teens to early twenties, eager to prove themselves, by "teaching" the only sub in this expedition, Bottom Slave Mary Williamson, almost age 26.
The Buggy comes to a halt abruptly, jolting me, making me "hmmph!". At Mistress Stoica's command, a young buzz cut asian girl, and even younger blue haired black girl, untie me and help me down with shocking patience. That evaporates as they frog march me to a tree, turn me around and force my back to it, then roughly rebind me to the tree.
The two dommes are dressed identically, White T-Shirts with "The Queen Mean"in Black Cursive font printed on them, a coiled bullwhip underneath. They're also wearing cutoff jeans shorts and black hiking boots. The two young mean girls shove and yell at their voluptuous blond slave girl as they tie her to the tree.
I'm tied the same way as to the Dune Buggy, above and below my bare breasts, at the waist, above the knees, at the ankles. Then the black Mistress smilingly straps my head to the tree, gleefully taking away even that small freedom from me.
The two of them get right up in my face on each side, berating me for fabricated infractions of QOM's strict rules for subs. Buzz Cut to my left, Blue Top to my right. They punctuate their tirades with nipple flicks and shin kicks, while I try to stay quiet and look attentive.
Then Daci says authoritatively, "Stop, Girls. You both have done very well. Mistress Daci want to talk to her thicc white baby girl, with big, juicy American ass." The two eager young apprentice dommes obediently back off to make way for their Top Domme.
I have to admit as she struts up to me she looks good, so sinuous, powerful, and authoritative. I'm bisexual and submissive, she's pushing all my buttons, despite myself, I'm sooo wet. She's wearing an old fashioned safari pith helmet, white button down shirt, white board shorts belted with a white web belt, and the same hiking boots as her two apprentice Dommes. It's all perfectly tailored to accentuate the slender blond girl's tomboyish yet alluring figure.
Her left hand fondles my right breast; her right and reaches around to grab my waist, like she'd pull me to her. Aggressively, like a man. If I wasn't tied to a tree.
"My beautiful little blond Yankee sweetheart, I so happy your Mistress Nora let me spend time with you, PAWG. I like my ebony slave, fuck her with strap, and make her eat my pussy and ass real good. But you baby, you so hot, I love being little thicc American girl's domme? I have confession to make, you make me wet, little PAWG." She gives an exaggerated "Ohhhh."
My Domme For The Days face is so close to mine I can smell the savory fruit flavored gum on her breath.Her left hand slides down from my breast to the cleft between my tied together legs. She manages to wedge her hand in enough to rub my clit, I shouldn't feel so hot well being so miserable and trussed up. But as much as I hate Mistress Daci, I have to admit she's a great lesbian domme. She knows just how to keep my subbie butt balanced between orgasmic joy and extreme suffering. Fucking bitch.
"Ooh, is my little PAWG wet for me, too? Don't lie, PAWG." Her sweet sensuous voice takes on a note of sterness. But it's no lie when I mmmph "Yes, Mistress Daci." through the panel gag.
Her hateful laugh "That good my little PAWG, because we going to play a little game, yes? We rub pussies and try to come together, sound fun, no? The trick is I have my belt around your neck, control your breathing. Just to make it extra fun for you. No?"
I'm horrified as she backs off from me, turns to Buzz Cut and Blue. "Janice, Anna, you scout around, take videos and pictures to show Miss Connor, later. You can find a place for a little fun together, but don't forget job! I entertain our little Sweetheart. Run along, ladies, now."
The two apprentice Dommes say "Yes, Mistress!" in chorus. They leer at me as they move off together, though seem disappointed they won't get to watch any of the fun. I, on the other hand, get ringside seats. I'd trade in a second.
My eyes lock on Daci as she pulls down her shorts, over her boots, carefully folds them, then lays them to the side. She pulls the belt out of it's loops and coils it in her hand smiling at me. As she advances on me, my eyes lock on her golden haired pubic thatch, for a moment it stands out to me glaringly, due to the angle of the sun...I'm about to be erotic asphyxiated by a slimmer version of me...
Sheila's perspective
It's a rough week, I have a lot going on. Dad's Cancer, mom bugging me about finding Sandy, knowing there are things I've never told her about our "employment" with Mistress Ari. I never will, if I can help it. Then my new ally, Lara. The glaring question, can I trust her? I'd say no.
I'd say no, except....her eyes when she asked me for some inside sister phrase to verify she was on the level, to both Sandy and I. I didn't see the ditzy porn starlet I and the girls "calibrated" a year or so back. The sad eyes of some wise and compassionate soul stared back at me, not the Lara Gupta I knew. Not even close.
When did that Ditzy bitch become a Mahatma, "Great Soul"? Did I even want to know? The world just spirals into greater weirdness.
But, speaking for the present, I have a show to run, the surprise Sci-Fi fetish hit, The Perseverance. When I started this project, I expected it to last, half a season, maybe. I signed on to hone my writing, and the hefty paychecks my man Davey was offering. Instead we're starting work on Season Three already.
I look at the four women sharing the ready room with me, from left to right.
Layla Vazquez, the beautiful Hispanic former Marine, who plays a similar character on the Perseverance, Sergeant Gabriella "Gabby" Perez, Acting Platoon Sergeant of the Marine Detachment on the Perseverance.
Tied naked to a chair, arms bindered behind her back, was the beautiful ebony former Domme Constance Anderson, now the lowest slave in QOM's crew. She was also wearing a black hood and panel gag, she wasn't expected to speak, just follow the direction of Mistress Nora and Mistress Vazquez. As I established clearly in our first meeting, my direction as well, as her overriding imperative.
To Constance's left, our brightly shining star Nora Jameson, aka Commander (Temporary) Dora Gail, Stellar Compact. The mousy, shy sub of a much older man had really blossomed on this project. Her Master essentially forced her into this project to boost her self esteem. It was hard to remember the poised, confident young girl in front of me was the same person. Watching her grow has been the best part of this project, for me at least.
Finally, sitting quietly to her Mistress's left, Sarah Ok Kim, aka Lieutenant ASSHO 304, Stellar Compact Navy. Like Layla, she'd been a real life Navy Officer, before being dismissed from service for a poor decision. She was now Nora's submissive, one of them anyway (Poor Mary), and the second most popular character after Nora.
Nora and Layla had been going over the script with Constance, Sarah quietly fetching coffee, water and snacks for the two dommes when they commanded her, otherwise sitting quietly to her beloved Mistress Nora's left. Nora usually had a hand on one of Sarah's thighs when she wasn't discipling Constance.
Constance wasn't happy about her starring role in this coming season. Can't say I blamed her. Daci had already gave her a tour of the cramped cockpit set she'd be sharing with her Romanian Domme during the Space Battle scenes. Cramped for Constance that is.
Daci's cockpit was spacious, comfortable and packed with sophisticated displays and controls. Her slave would be strapped behind her in a cramped, miserable space behind her Mistress. The only space allowed would be for clear shots of her ebony breasts and dark pussy. I knew Daci would maximize her misery and suffering with true wicked genius. So did Constance, she knew her Mistress's bully routine by now. If she wanted the payout QOM put in her contract, she had to endure it.
Yeah, she wasn't focused or teachable when Layla and Nora first dragged the poor arm bindered, hooded woman into the ready room. They'd strapped her to Mary's usual chair and bullied and badgered her for half an hour. Nora screamed in her face and slapped her with a rolled up script, while Layla flicked her big dark nipples and berated her as a failed domme. Sarah and I exchanged concerned looks at our friends' cruelty. But I decided to give them a half hour to make their point to her. At the end of it I held up my hand, Layla and Nora recognized that non verbal signal and immediately stopped.
"Constance" I addressed the hapless Ebony sub. I had her full attention as well as my two girls. "Are you ready to obey Mistress Nora and Mistress Vasquez and follow their directions and instruction for you?"
She nodded and mmmphed "Yes, Miss Connor." I addressed Nora and Layla. "Girls, as long as she's compliant and obedient, reign it in, I need you to prep her for her role, not ruthlessly terrorize her. You have leave to discipline her if needed, but remember I'm watching." I felt pride as both my girls met my steely gaze cooly and said "Yes, Miss Connor."
Since then all three girls were role models of Domme/Sub comportment. Constance obeyed and acknowledged her younger dommes instruction, acknowledging questions respectfully, and quietly listening to their direction as they went over her parts with her. My dommes were more gentle, touching her shoulder or breasts lightly to get her attention. They kept their voices cool and professional as they briefed her role to her. They even asked her if she needed water, and ungagged her so Sarah could hydrate her if needed with bottled water.
I run a tight ship, but a fair one. I demand obedience from subbies, Mary, Nora and Sarah can all testify to that. But I don't tolerate gratuitous cruelty, especially when it hurts our bottom line.
My pride in my girls was interuppted by a text from Master Dave. "Sheila, sorry to interrupt you lovely ladies, but I have some news that affects you, and possibly all of us. Arianna Cromwell wants to tour the set, apparently she's quite the fan. She also wants to check in on her "protege", you obviously Sheila, and meet our stable, presumably the main cast of the Perseverance."
"I'd like to talk to my three Alpha ladies first, then we can bring in Alpha Slave Sarah and Beta Slave Constance. My Secretary Miri can watch both of them until we decide to summon them."
I turned to my girls and cleared my throat. "Ladies." Four sets of beautiful eyes locked on me. "Master Dave has summoned all five of us. He wants to talk to me, Nora and Layla first. Slaves Sarah and Constance will wait in the reception room, Miri will watch them until their summoned. Mistress Nora, how do you want your subs to wait?"
Without hesitation, Nora says "Sarah can relax on the couch until summoned. Girl Constance will stand with her nose in a corner until she's summoned." I nodded my acquiescence to Mistress Nora's direction for her little subbies.
Layla and Nora untie Constance's bonds to her chair and helps her carefully to her feet. Nora collars her and attaches a leash, handing the end to Sarah.
We trudge solemnly to Davey's office, me in the lead, my two Alpha ladies behind me; Slave Sarah leading Slave Constance bringing up the rear.
Only then does my mind really start to process. I haven't talked to Mistress Ari face to face, since we shook hands on our deal and I turned my back on Sandy in that long ago room. Surely it can't be coincidence she wants to see me now, with the drama around freeing my little sis? The plot thickens.
https://www.reddit.com/BDSMerotica/s/oB7y0hJ1Mo Part 5

Hello, you lovely people!
This post is going to be a lengthy one as I want to be crystal clear about my needs, who am I looking for and what I have to offer so we don't waste each other's time and increase chance of clicking well! I am tired of getting played and want to create a meaningful bond with someone so reading my entire post is your first task! T . T
So who/what am I looking for? Definitely not a group of friends and/or people, even if it's a smaller circle, sorry! I am also not looking for a short-term fun. Due to chain of bad events that started in 2023 and continued till the march, I pretty much became a loner. I have two online buddies I sometimes hangout with and one irl buddy I meet up with like twice a month. People broke me to the point where after creating similar post some time ago, I chickened out after two hours and deleted it and now I've been hesitating to create this one for like 2-3 weeks now T . T
For two months now, I've been putting myself first and kind of went back to my roots which definitely helped me mentally. With that being said, I'd love to be someone's priority. I don't want to be your plan C or D if that makes sense. That's why I am leaning towards people that are on the lonely side, who aren't surrounded by dozens of people, friends, s/o, etc. Don't get me wrong, you can have friends and important people in your life, it is absolutely vital and healthy! I just don't want to get left behind on a whim for someone else as that happened before on a larger scale and hurt a lot.
All in all, I am looking for a kindred spirit. I love clingy/obssessive/possessive energy (as long as it's not going TOO deep into yandere territory, I can handle light yandere haha) and lots of random spam! Be it random messages, thoughts, memes, pet pictures, tiktoks - I will gladly receive them all and react! Even if I am away, offline or sleeping, having spam to get back to is always a nice feeling :3
Obviously, I can offer you the same and even more. I know how sad and lonely it can get. It's a dark place. I have a lot of attention to give out. If you need that and a lot of reassurance - I got you! As a fellow overthinker, I won't get tired of doing so!
Important notice, though. I do understand life gets busy, but don't message me if it's too busy for you. I don't want to wait two hours everyday for a response. I am definitely "If he wanted to, he would" person. I feel like in most cases there is no excuse to response decently if someone's important to you, but obviously I don't expect you to lose your mind over it and response when you're actually busy or need a bit of space! The same kind of goes for games, I'd love to actually play together on a regular basis, not once in a blue moon :c
A bit about me! I am a patient and accepting person with high mental health awareness so you can feel safe and not judged no matter what's going on in your life! I am a good listener and can be just that if you need to vent or offer advice or reality check on top of that. I'd like to think I am fun to be around? In a way that I am quick witted with my words and definitely on a silly side, especially in games! I also like all kind of jokes, dark humour included so we might have an issue if you're too sensitive. However, if you're not comfortable with some topics, I always ask people if they're okay with XYZ jokes before I make them! I enjoy both silly talks and stories about nothing and deep, meaningful conversations. I love talking about controversial topics as well! As for my interests, I like to say that I am kind of Jack of all trades. There are definitely topics I know/enjoy more, but the curious person I am, I simply love to explore and learn about everything so feel free to tell me about your passion if you have one! I've always been interested in everything concerning dreams and lucid dreaming as well as our subconscious. Other stuff I enjoy would definitely be languages, japanese/korean culture, creative process such as photo editing or video montage and as of lately - gym related topics!
As for activities, if I am not expanding on my interests, I mainly play video games; watch anime, korean dramas & variety shows; read books/ero-manhwas (yes, I am a fellow degen! T . T) and workout! I am down for doing any of those activities together. I've never had anyone I could talk about dramas with, let alone watch them together. Same goes for anime lately. As for k-dramas, I am finishing Doctor Slump right now. As for anime, I am watching these titles this season: Kaijuu 8, Konosuba S3, Maou Gakuin S2, Mushoku Tensei S2P2 and Spice and Wolf! My latest obsession is definitely Frieren, though, such a masterpiece! If you haven't seen it, what are you waiting for? Go do it! I can even do it with you, don't mind watching it again ><
Music is another vital part of my life. It's simply so much more for me! There's not a single genre I don't like and I love to explore new ones along with new artists and albums. Feel free to spam me with songs as much as you'd like! I obviously have favorites so some stuff I listen the most would be: Rock & Metal, K-Pop, J-Pop/Rock, House, Nu Disco, Jazz Hip-Hop, R&B, Indie & Alternative. Some of my favorite singers/bands are: Dreamcatcher, Le Sserafim, G-Idle, Arctic Monkeys, Gorrilaz, Queen Bee, Babymetal, Vanilla, Palaye Royale, Madison Beer.
My schedule is rather simple. I work only morning shifts monday-friday and usually am back home around 3 pm (GMT+2). I am basically available as soon as I finish lunch. Sometimes I do work remotely so it's even better then! I go to the gym on tuesday, thursday and saturday so I might be available a bit later on those days! Moreover, there's going to be holiday in my country this week so I won't work starting thursday :3
Time for main topic, though! Video games. I've been playing video games for like 20 years now, started back when I was too little to even properly use gamepad haha. I would sit down with dictionary and translate stuff on screen as I didn't know any english back then. They are big part of my life and I do play them everyday, that's why I am posting it here since I won't part my ways with them! I enjoy all kind of playstyles. I play competetive modes in online games, but mostly because that feel of progression is just nice? Makes you feel like you have some kind of goal, but that doesn't mean I take it dead serious and winning is the only thing that matters. Fun, laughs and silly situations are all I live for! Winning is nice, but you can be the worst player in the world and I won't even be toxic or blame you. I love to turn lose into laughs and enjoy silly moments! At the same time, I feel like games can be such a nice background activity for discussion, I really enjoy that aspect especially in more laid-back games! My favorite franchises are Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Persona/SMT series, Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear Solid!
Now, some important notes about games. My games' library is pretty big and there's dozens of games I enjoy playing. With that being said, I found my little peace in my schedule and what I play, so I'd love to meet someone who shares that as I wouldn't want to stray away too far from it.
My pemanent game I am always subbed to is Final Fantasy XIV. I am on Light, Phoenix. I am somewhat experienced player, but still have such a huge amount of content to take care of it's crazy! Currently finishing post-endwalker quests. I play the game everyday - sometimes more, sometimes less. I always login to take care of my crafting, gathering and marketboard in order to become a millionaire! Usually, I also do at least some roulettes, sometimes I do all of them. I enjoy all kind of content to be fair! Maps, collecting glamour, just hanging out or working on that gpose, extremes, PVP, savage raids - I actually want to learn some for glamour. I also just won house plot in limsa next to the sea! So it doesn't matter if you're experienced, returning, new or were thinking about starting the game, but was looking for a reason to do so - I can show you the ropes so let's have fun together!
My other main game I play a lot daily is Overwatch 2. I am fairly new player with less than 100 hours combined. I used to play it a bit when it was still OW1 and am enjoying it now. I play all roles, it really depends on what I feel like haha, but right now I am high silver on healer and low gold on DPS!
As I stated before, I'd like to focus on those two games, but at the same time I wouldn't want to deny great connection with someone awesome simply because they don't play those games. There are some other games I still enjoy playing quite a lot and would be down to play them, such as Dead by Daylight, Fortnite ZB, CS2 or Valorant. There are, however, games I'd always be down to play: Don't Starve Together, Baldur's Gate 3 (first playthrough), Sea of thieves (never played), Stardew Valley, Terraria and Minecraft!
Oh, I also enjoy gamba, so gacha games! I Play star rail, genshin and Brown Dust 2!
I also just want to mention that it's still about creating bonds so if you for instance don't play FFXIV but we click well, we can still hangout in voice chat and enjoy our own activities if we have some other stuff in common. I can do my stuff in ff and then we can play something else together and vice versa! Streaming stuff to each other included in the bundle if you like that!
Phew, that sure was a long one.. if you made it through - sorry and thank you! Please, only message me if you read everything and feel like you're the person I am looking for and my post is resonating with you! Keep in mind, it's okay if we try and don't click, not everyone does even if there are similarities and it's okay! I am an honest person so I will definitely inform you if it feels off. At the same time, I do not expect a lot of DMs to such a detailed post, but in case I am wrong, I might not reach out to everyone asap and am sorry in advance! As you can guess, I prefer quality 1 on 1 over quantity. If you're still interested, send me a DM, introduce yourself and share your reason for adding me! I won't reply to comments here or people recruiting me to groups.
Have an awesome day!

I guess I would have to say I am in the 'depressive' part of my life, depression. Years and years of depression in my family. Someday will all turn to zombies from the anti-depressants, little capsules claiming to solve your depression problems only worsening them when you stop taking them. Years of anger, jealousy, fear all bottled up, parts of it the 'not important' parts making it out of therapy, into your parents minds, the 'trust me's' that they tell you,only to get scolded on what you tell the therapist. Only to watch videos on your free time about families, being able to just blurt those 3 words, that were so hard to say but meant so much. The words I only heard on holidays or when someone had died. You pass by people. Judging them, not knowing their stories, underneath all that, you truyl just want someone of your own to only be yours and noone else's. But then, left again with your thoughts, the ones that chew at you, gnaw at your self confidence, like vultures to innocent dead animals. Thats the real reason people commit suicide nowadays, they're left with" their thoughts and noone else to comfort them. The only people they wanted, the parents that fell inlove the first time they hugged them. Only now being left alone, feeling how lucky you were. The guilty feeling of the teenage disgust in the shallow hugs of people you once knew. But then the warmness turns into disgust when remembering the remarks of body shaming.
​
Each shower. stung. like the words following, your fat but i love you, your fucking annoying, loose weight, but i love you, you hurt yourself because of me? pathetic, but. i love you. Tears blood, everything just to be happy for a moment. "your only 13, you shouldn't have anything to be stressed out about". 25 and still stressed out about the same things. Still dont know what to do with my life. I don't want to grow up and be the person i swore to never become, I promised myself to never ever drink. Swore to that, but the reason i dont drink is because my dad drinks. He's an alcoholic, though he doesn't admit it. He spends his weekends drinking all while "fixing cars" with his friends and blasting music @ 1 in the morning.
One time he was drunk and had told me to get him a beer, 10 years old. I went to the refrigerator, and opened the beer, dunk it out of the sink, filling it with water, hopefully showing my dad that if he drank this he would never drink beer again, once again 10 years old. he drank it, yelled at me, and so did my mom. At 11, my "best friend" had called me fat. Thats the first time I truly ever thought about suicide. That same year, another friend had showed me her "scars", were all scars shiny and looked like they were bleeding...? 8th grade eventually came, I finally had the courage to not have 11 year old me having that sentence scarred in my head, so I told my mom what my friend had called me. Getting ready for the comfort and safeness. "Maybe she was right, you should've listened to her". I was 75 pounds at 11. My whole life I was basically praised for being thinner, but now that I had some meat on my bones, noone cared. 9th grade was when I first had my first major depressive episode, my best friend had moved away when we needed each other the most, that's the month where I bottled my emotions up the most and when i couldn't take it anymore I had started to take my emotions out on my skin. 2 months reoccurring thoughts that never left me, again and again the refreshing feeling of letting it out. Month later, they found out, finally, was I going to get the help i wanted and a refreshing weight off my shoulders.
No, they somehow made it about themselves. "how could you do this to us" all that shit. Seriously. Years and years and yet, you you you. Theres no YOU in MY story, this is MY story, not YOURS. Who was there when I needed it the most, NOT YOU. I dont know when ill ever forgive, when ill be relaxed and free from the haunting thoughts. Everyday I find myself starting to turn into someone I dont recognize, I find myself judging people for things i used to be insecure of, I find myself judging my sister like my mother would judge me, a full circle. And yet I still turned out to be the woman I never wanted to. I don't resent you. I hate the person you made me. The one thing i wanted was to hear the words come out of your mouth. Im proud of you, im proud of the person you've become, we love you and your doing so good. Keep going we got you, every step of the road, ill support you. I love you Jocelyn for being youself and never letting my cruel words get in the way of your self esteem. A girl can dream. But theres no I in you.

Riddle: strawberry biscuits or tarts, a self help book, campus flat kimochi notebook
Ace: a fancy pack of cards, a cherry pie and a dr pepper soda since he gives those vibes
Deuce: a duck plush, blueberry jam biscuits and a schedule book to help him organise his studies
Cater: a phone charm, some of the avatar the last airbender fire flakes,
Trey: dad joke book, a new apron and a rolling pin
Leona: a lion plush with crown, a book on vice presidents and war generals (to show how you can still make impact without being king) as well as a pillow
Ruggie: crispie creme box of donuts, a jacket and sweater and a waterbottle
Jack: protein bars, a large water bottle and a thank you note for what happened in book 3
Kalim: an otter plush, a cookbook with simple recipes (so jamil can teach him how to cook and inadvertently make jamil’s life easier), sticky rice and mango dessert
Jamil: my mom’s curry (it is basically japanese curry), electric fly swatter, self help book
Vil: chanel no.5 , louboutin heels and a book regarding villains in pop culture
Rook: a new crossbow, neige and/or vil merchandise
Epel: a pair of crocs (to piss off vil), 5kg weights, macaron box
Idia: instant ramen packs, the yttd and danganronpa video games respectively, a pc
Ortho: (help me I am stuck)
Malleus: the how to train a dragon movie dvds, a notre dame miniature, matcha biscuits
Lilia: tomato juice, a jukebox, and a mickey ice cream bar for malleus
Silver: sound proof headphones, a knitted blanket, some chocolate
Sebek: instant hot cocoa set, megaphone, gps tracker (to find malleus)
please give me feedback on my gift choices and whether you want this for the parents siblings and teachers

I'm an international student about to graduate and go home. She (I'll refer to her as Kim) was an international student from the same country that is now working in the same city as me. We met in July through a mutual friend (Jack). Jack introduced me to her and 2 other friends (Olaf and Tiffany). We had dinner, went to my place to play games and talk at which point I developed a crush.
Jack had made plans to go somewhere else the next day with them and I tagged along to spend more time with her in hopes of getting to know her. The more I knew her the more I liked her.
We parted ways and everyone except me and her left the city. I tried staying in touch with her after but felt like she wasn't being receptive so I said it might be a good idea to cut it off before I get too hung up on her, this was around August.
I moved on with my life. Winter break (December) came and I went back home and in a conversation about marriage with my younger sister about my older sister getting married. Kim popped into my head. Something to mention Kim shares a last name with a family friend. I asked Kim what her father's name is to find out if they're related, turns out they are. And some how I felt like I got sucked right back into my crush. I opened the conversation with my family one at a time to see what they thought, they said give it a try.
I told Kim "let's do something sometime once I back in town" and she responded with "okk, I thought you left". Told her I have a semester left and it stopped there. A few days go by and I ask if she's free this weekend, no response. I go and talk to Tiffany(now on a different continent) and ask about what Kim might think of me and if she still talks to her. Tiffany agrees to help me find out and then spends a month without responding to me (I sent 3 messages to Tiffany over the course of the month) she responds with

 "Hiii! Hope everything is going good. So sorry i’m replying this late bas I had finals when I got back and only got to talk to Kim this weekend cause we were both busy before. I didn’t tell her anything directly bas from the vibe I got I don’t think you guys are on the same page or that she’s interested in that way. Sorry to have to say that but just want to be honest with you since you asked me to let you know. Not sure if I can help anymore bas of course let me know" 

Pretty definitive answer I'll be honest. Before I got the text from Tiffany by a day I got sick of waiting and asked if I could ask Kim for her opinion on something on that weekend. She said she was busy and couldn't do that weekend because of a test. (February)
It's been 3 months now. I'm leaving the country in less than a month. I feel like I want to send a text telling her how I feel but everyone seems to think it's a bad idea.
Should I try one last time?
TLDR: asked a girl out twice and got ghosted the first time and a I'm busy the second(3 months ago) . Should I try one last time?

I (22 Female) and my husband (22 Male) have been married 2 years (in May) and knew each other 9 months before our marriage. Yes, we are young, but I thought "when you know, you know." With that, I wasn't rushing anything of our relationship, but he was in the most charismatic ways that I didn't see that red flag.
As soon as we got back from our honeymoon, he and his family sat me down and told me all the struggles with some addictions he had growing up. It threw me off, but they assured me he was past it, and me being the naive young newlywed I was, I believed them. Those addictions haven't reoccured fully, but they happen in increments pretty consistently. He was into a lot of things I wasn't , and didn't know was really a thing, but I let it slide because I wanted to be the best wife possible. I dropped EVERYTHING as soon as we got married; school, sports, health, hobbies, etc. My only personality trait was being his wife... WELLLL few months later (didn't notice at the time) he started to shift, and couldn't keep up his Romeo antics as well anymore. So, he convinced me to become one thing he knew I'd always wanted to be. A mom. Now, I LOVE being a mother, but it was all apart of his plan of entrapment that I was not paying attention to.
Throughout the pregnancy he realized that I was even WORSE pregnant. Granted, I don't know many women that's enjoying EVERY OUNCE of pregnancy and feeling 100% 24/7. I also agree that I was a HANDFUL, but all I wanted from him was to be comforted and taken care of. What I received during this hard time as a woman was the COMPLETE OPPOSITE. He yelled, blamed, ignored, controlled, and tore me down CONSTANTLY. I almost left him for how bad it was. I was pregnant sleeping on the couch most nights because I didn't want to be near him, but only because he refused to "not sleep in his own bed no matter what is going on." In that desperate time, I got us a dog, which I SEVERELY regret! BUT I was desperate on making this marriage work so my son's father could be in his life. Don't get me wrong, this dog did help my husband change his tone with things, and leveled out the yelling for a while. Or so I thought...
In April of 2023 we had our beautiful son! It was a wonderful moment, and I also thought this was going to find a flicker to rekindle the love we had when we were dating. It did for a small time. Though, my husband didn't understand 1) how much time a woman's body takes to heal 2) I don't want guests ovehis family at our house of all hours of the day 3) I'm going to bond quicker with our son. Now, all of those things I believe to be common sense with giving birth, but apparently not. Those 3 things started our yelling matches back up and our fights. I was so exhausted and trying to heal, but also rediscovering myself. Which is a lot to handle as just one task versus it all together. He thought he could just keep playing video games with his friends 24/7, and that I was fine to do everything else with 0 sleep and only a week postpartum. As time went on, his friend also had a baby and his friend stopped hanging out with my husband as much to be a father AND a husband. Sadly, my husband didn't really take that as a lightbulb moment that you have to be both roles. So, as time went on we both just got distracted being parents that we fully entered the roommate stage.
We haven't left this stage, and it's not for a lack of trying, but with all that trying I'm burnt out. I know he says I start all the issues and fights because "he's not enough" and "everything is his fault." When, all I was doing was trying to fight for something I thought I was getting. Something I thought was worth fighting for, but no matter how many times I ask him to change something. With that being said, I'm finally coming to the terms that he won't. We have been going to counseling, but the finger is mainly pointed at me once we leave, and our counselor has a WAY too full schedule that we can't get in week after week. We are lucky to get in once a month. It's hard because I like her, and she has helped me see some ways I can change, and I have started to implement them. Though, the hard part is that my husband just takes the comments she's saying of: "I love your energy", "you guys are totally fine, just a few things to fix", "I can feel the love you have!", etc. Instead of the things she's asking him to seee and work on. Counseling was my last solution I had, and it seems to be a bust as well.
In conclusion I guess, my husband is a GREAT father to my son, but has no love or respect as a husband. He doesn't know how to treat women, whether it's me, his sister, or his mom(a trait passed from his dad). There are a lot of red flags I see now and in the past I wish I would have seen, or tried to shut down sooner. My husband is a pretty good manipulator when you first meet him. His parents always told him he's the smartest kid ever, and they easily bail him out of everything. They have pushed their way into our lives too much that I don't get a break AT ALL. They live around the corner from us as well. This post is a rant seeking for advice. I know that people aren't perfect, but I'm miserable, and tired of being manipulated. I believe a marriage can be worth fighting for, but both parties need to want it, and that's not my case. I have a million more things I could say, but I'm not ready to share them. I have been trying to fight for this marriage since it started, but I ran out of gas for it about 5 months ago, and now feel like I'm just being strung along. He hasn't fixed or tried to fix any of the things we've come together about; along with what the therapist has told him. He treats me like his mom and a child all at the same time. I just want to be happy, and I don't think it's with him. I can say I am in the falling out of love for him stage. Am I the Asshole in this marriage? AND Am I the Asshole for giving up too easily?

I’ve posted about my experiences so many times, but forgot a huge detail:
Sometimes I feel NAUSEOUS after waking up from nightmares, and a YouTube comment of a video of a guy feeling scared and nauseous at his job (dark restaurant by himself) and walked by a human face with big black eyes) the comment said that demons send out energy that cause nausea trying to possess you.
Because I’m so tired of retyping the same thing, I’ll just state the main symptoms:
Vivid nightmares: Has included seeing very clear and detailed, human-like beings, including an old man dancing around making surprised faces at me, mocking me for screaming in terror (screaming didn’t wake me up the first time) while my mom danced around in lingerie (at least the demonic old was fully clothed.
Another one was I was in my dark room (past house) and shined a light on this old man’s face. He had an unnatural, cartoon-like open mouth frown, white another guy was trying to remain hidden in the dark.
These were both nightmares where I woke up screaming at the top of my lungs, completely terrified, and felt like I was going to throw up, and seeing them stuck in my head and feeling like they were still there and I desperately prayed and read Bible verses.
Another was seeing this witch like creature (looked like Kamek from the Mario Bros. but with white human skin and black robe and hat instead of blue, definitely still had those huge glasses) LITERALLY PHYSICALLY INSIDE OF MY HEAD, like in my brain or my skull.
There was a black guy wearing a red top hat and, kind of like a musician dressed like Satan. I said “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” and he disappeared so instantly I didn’t even see him disappear, I just looked down and back and he was immediately gone, like he was never there.
Another this Wiccan girl (I guess) summoned a demon (that actually looked like a demon) for a board game that was supposed to help us get ahead in life (not a Ouija board).
I’ve had many other very strange, vivid, uncanny dreams, some not necessarily bad, but feeling like I left reality and forgot I existed, weird glitch in reality stuff.
Intrusive thoughts: Keep thinking about hurting others, emotionally and physically.
Seeing demonic monsters, very clear and detailed, while wide awake, but not through my eyes or ears, only in/through my mind.
When I was 13 or 14 I literally woke up, got out of bed, ran down the hallway (not in control of it) and ran to my mom to tell her something was wrong. I suddenly started barking in her face, screaming out of terror, and it stopped after calling out to God.
I’ve also had episodes of suddenly speaking gibberish, my hand getting stuck in the air.
I could literally become possessed and controlled again and the police would just yell at me to stop and tase me maybe shoot me, and they’d just label me crazy and/or a criminal.
I even felt demons fill the room when I tried to pray to God one time, when I was 13-14 going through that serious, what was either spiritual warfare or bad medication side effect, but I haven’t taken that one in over a decade…..
But something I’ve been forgetting to mention is THE NAUSEA after some of this nightmares.
It’s getting harder and harder for me NOT to believe in the spiritual.
Maybe I just haven’t been convinced enough to sacrifice everything (current and potential) for God, but I still feel very hesitant and unwilling to just accept God’s will and plan and commit to things like willingly staying celibate/virgin (I don’t even want kids, this cycle needs to end, and don’t really see marriage happening for me, but I’m not asexual and don’t want to remain celibate for life or until my 30s or 40s, I’m 28).
I don’t know if I’ve simply thought so hard and deep about everything, that I somehow dug myself into insanity?
I have smelled what seemed like sulfurotten eggs, and something knocked my water bottle down and then my Uber Eats driver was literally named “Jesus” (a sign?).
On the flip side, I heard chanting in my head that translated to “god of death” or “devil of death”, and right after that happened to check this account, and had a DM that I had 666 karma, which I did, and today I reached 666 notes on my phone.
Also my parents found a huge orb on our security cameras, literally floating up and over the roof like it knew how to/where it was going on.
I’ve had plenty of nightmares that literally take place in my room and this house too, I recently saw my grandfather (who is alive, so it can’t be his spirit) open my door (after barely opening it at first, then fully opening to reveal it with him) and jump on me on my bed, wearing a toga made out of a bedsheet, and his face was disfigured, like, off, like kind of a pointed face and his eyes were kind of staring off and up to the side, like he was looking at me but not looking at me at the same time).
Also my sister grew a penis and flapped it around in my face while my parents just stood and watched.
An unseen person dropped a baby carrier (in the old house) and it was crying REALLY LOUD, like it was being tortured. I looked to check it was ok, and it was just a doll, and cried even louder and harder.
And usually I don’t even notice hearing any sound in my dreams!
The orb was real by the way, not part of a dream.
I wake up with scratches too, and my wallet was standing up, half on top of my phone, half on the dresser, very weird position, couldn’t set it that way on accident, my cookies disappeared, and I heard a growl and the curtain seemed to scratch me.
This suddenly worse last September or October,just suddenly feeling terrified and reality warping, feeling something trying to take control of my body again.
How can medical science and psychology possibly explain this?
I’m sure I forgot some details, but it’s impossible to remember everything.

I just broke up with my girl and really craving for some love.
Im jumping back on dating apps and may end up talking to girls for a quick phone or virtual stuff and end up helping myself or looking at the videos of my ex and probably jacking off if not itll be twitter.
How do I stop? Im going crazy and feeling like an animal.
​

So, I have never made a post like this and I have considered it for a while, but here goes. Keep in mind, this will be a little scattered and I’m sorry in advance if it’s hard to follow. My sister, 29F, has been struggling a lot lately so I thought I’d post here to seek some outsider advice on her situation.
So, my sister, Amy, 29F, got married in July of last year to her husband. We’ll call him Sam. Sam is 25M. To give some context, my sister and Sam have been together for quite a while, and Sam has always treated Amy with respect and kindness; Something she really needed after everything she’d been through. We didn’t have the best childhood, she left when she was 16 to live with her bio dad, we’ll call him Tim. He comes into play later. So, a lot happened in those few years which made her become extremely depressed and distant. I understood. It was a tough time. Sam really came into the picture when she needed him. Their relationship was great from what I knew and saw and she seemed much happier. She started coming around more and even introduced him to the family. Let me point out, for context sake. I love my sister and the last few months she has been trying really hard, but she hasn’t always had the most drive or motivation to accomplish tasks, go to school, or think through hard decisions. She tends to make irrational choices, let the house become a mess, and other typical things that attribute to chronic depression. I can’t blame her. So for her to introduce someone to the family and start talking to everyone again, is kind of a big deal. She’s is gothy antisocial, but outspoken if that makes sense. This is where Tim, her father, and Mary, our mother, come into play. Tim, in my eyes, has always been a kind person. He never has a mean thing to say to me, and never has. However, the history between him and Mary is not pretty, but that’s a whole other story. Of course we all grow up hearing one sided stories. Tim has always been known to us as lazy, abusive, and a compulsive liar. I hate to say it, but it hasn’t been proven false yet. Of course our mom wasn’t a saint either, she had her demons. She was also chronically depressed and suppressing her emotions by working constantly. She was a nurse and anyone in that field can understand when I say she was gone almost every hour of the day and when she was home, she slept. This really contributed to the depression my sister faced and still faces today. She can’t seem to break free of the past and it’s honestly not all her fault. Trauma fucking sucks. So, in August of 2020, before Sam and Amy got married, our mom, Mary, got diagnosed with Stage 4 Brain Cancer. I was there almost every day. I fed her, washed her, took her to the bathroom, hospital visits, even became her power of attorney at her wish. Amy was aware of everything and so was Sam, but they didn’t come around.. hardly ever. This becomes relevant later. So, fast forward to January 2024. Sam’s mom, we’ll call her Christy, needs a place to stay. Christy is in her 50’s if I’m not mistaken, and she’s a heavy stoner, couch drifter, conspiracy theory type. No hate, I love a good blunt and some conspiracy theories. But Christy is lazy and a phrase I like to call a dependapotamus. In other words, she’s a leech. She moved in to my sister and her husbands place, which is a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom tiny little apartment under the condition that it was only a few weeks TOPS. My sister has 2 cats and so much stuff you can barely move around. She has been working on getting it cleaned up, but taking it a little a time per my advice so she doesn’t become overwhelmed or defeated. So, Christy stated when she moved in that it was only for a few weeks until her house at the Valley, her family land, is going to be done.
She’s been there since January and the recent update from Christy is this: “I’m thinking about moving my mattress in and I’ve been saving to pay your rent.” Okay. So, if you don’t see the issue with this, let me explain. Sam and Amy got married in July, our mom died in June (wedding was already pre-scheduled, it was a beautiful and touching ceremony), and she moved in in July. They’ve been married less than a year, Amy has barely been able to grieve as she is in college and works full time, and doesn’t have the house to just her and her husband. She has expressed constant grief to me about Christy and she seems to be at her breaking point. She has talked to Sam and Christy multiple times about her plans and it’s always brushed off with, “Oh well, just waiting on them to finish up at the Valley.” Or Sam telling Amy that she is overreacting and he is going to support his mom either way. Okay, valid. Let me also state that Christy has made comments like, “You can never take care of my baby like I can.” Or “You don’t know how to take care of your house.” Or comments like “My baby boy only.” Or doing things like buying ounces of weed then swaying she has no money for her new place to be finished. Or smoking “on the porch,” but keeping the door open and blowing the smoke directly into the apartment. Let me point out she does clean up after herself, but that’s about it. I understand Sam’s perspective as my fiancé said it would be very difficult to put a man in this position, but he should be taking up for his wife. Which I agreed. There’s a line and to me it seems like Christy has crossed it. Amy isn’t comfortable in her own home and doesn’t feel supported by her husband. She’s my sister so, of course, I’m going to be slightly biased but I really am trying to see both sides and offer solutions to her. I don’t want to see them divorce over this and I don’t want this to damper my sister’s progress. She’s doing amazing. About to enroll full time in the university I just graduated from last May. I really want the best for her, but her husband doesn’t want to work, but would rather sit at home and play video games and hang out with his mom. He isn’t supporting her, and overall in my opinion doesn’t seem to be elevating her in any way.
I’m so sorry for the book, I’m even positive I’m missing quite a bit, but I would love some advice on this situation. Maybe some comments will help her. And I ask that you please don’t comment divorce unless you have something constructive to say. She doesn’t want that and she’s made that clear to me. Thank you all in advance! God Bless. -CurlyGiraffe

I feel disgusting and irredeemable for this. Almost every time I jack off I just look at random girls social media accounts. And there this one friend making app where you swipe to look through profiles and I jack off to the girls on there too. And I have taken screenshots before too when I wanted to come back to something which never felt wrong in the moment but it has recently hit me like a train and I have not been able to function properly. Now I always delete the screenshots eventually but back a few months ago when I wouldn't mind keeping them but I have since gone and deleted everything I could find. And I also would go on an app that was sorta like tiktok and jack off to girls there and save their pictures and videos and would occasionally jack off to said saved images and videos. I thought that this was normal behavior and thought nothing of this which I feel so stupid for now. And on one app made for making friends(but teens my age have basically just made it into a dating app at this point) I would always masterbate to girls on there too but I would also message some of the girls that I had masterbated to which feels wrong to me messaging girls that I would also jack off to. One of the reasons i would do this is there was no feature where you could save things like on most other social media apps so sending the girls a quick hey or something like that was my best option i guess and it didn't feel wrong then but it does now which makes me hate myself. I never said anything bad to these girls but it still feels gross to me. Was all of this wrong? Am I creepy? Was this sexual assault? Am I a horrible person? Plessis help.

TLDR: my brother keeps leaving at night and we're concerned for his safety. His counselor seems to be making things worse. Advice welcomed.
My brother (18) has been struggling lately and I feel helpless and suck so I'm looking for advice. To be honest I don't know the majority of what he's going through, he's not one to talk about these things and I haven't asked about it beyond asking if he's doing okay, but these past couple of weeks (or maybe months) things have gotten worse.
I know that he deals with dark thoughts. He naturally questions everything about the world, usually in a good/philosophical way, but he's gone down spirals wondering what his purpose in the world is, what's his worth, and questions about God and morality. I know his brain keeps him up at night, for as long as I've known bed time has been very hard for him. To elaborate more, his questions about God are a lot of times very good and inquisitive and get us thinking and talking. We've had great conversations and he's done a lot of research into the bible and other religious texts.
Now I'm getting into territory that I know very little about as all I know about this is from clues I've picked up, but I think he's been struggling with a porn or maybe another addiction. I'm not going to dive into why I think this, but I know that whatever is happening here is not something he wants in his life. He's fighting some sort of internal battle.
Recently (maybe the last few months), his harmless questions have felt more hostile, like he isn't looking for an answer but an argument or something, not sure how to explain it really. He'll ask our mom something (they talk a lot about this stuff) but when she answers he gets like angry/offended and it dissolves into a weird argument between them. It always ends in them resolving it and his attitude is very different by then, but these weird argument-discussions have become more frequent.
Now to why I'm as worried as I am. He's been going to counseling for a few months now but I think it's doing more harm then good. He'll talk about what his counselor says sometimes and it sounds like he's fueling these internal battles rather than giving my brother tools to help him in his day to day life. My brother in constantly distracting himself from his mind and my mom encouraged him to start counseling so that he can learn how to deal with his brain, but it sounds like all my brother and his counselor talk about are his addiction and how he needs to stop that to be saved. From what I've heard, there's a lot of talk about God and how my brother just needs to stop sinning. My mom has suggested things like a consistent bedtime schedule, exercise, and mindfulness but my brother (and seemingly his counselor) is sure that he basically needs to pray more and "be better".
Our family is Christian but our parents have always been open to discussion about religion and have never been the "faith fixes all" type of people. They believe that faith is important but you should also take action when dealing with something. My mom went to counseling a couple years ago and learned to apply things to her life. That helped her with a lot of stuff she was dealing with and that's what she's been hoping for with my brother.
For the last few weeks my brother has left the house at night. Sometimes it was after a sideways conversation with our mom but sometimes it's seemingly randomly. He's destroyed his phone twice and doesn't have one now. Everyone in the family has been worried about this but it makes sense to want to go for a drive to blow off steam/calm down thoughts. But he visited me at work one of these times (I work nights in fast food) and he was acting really off. He works there too and our coworkers were asking me if he was okay because even they could tell that he was acting weird. He's usually good at pretending he's fine, usually I or our mom are the only ones who notice when things are off. He reveled recently that he considered ending his life one of the nights he left.
He left again tonight. It was a really good day, we couldn't get to church due to crazy traffic so we did a family Costco trip before going home (he always loves shopping together and is really goofy). We did a soda taste test to see who liked Coke or Pepsi better since none of us are big soda people and we weren't sure. He and I watched a show together that we have been absolutely loving. But then without saying anything he put a blanket and some clothes in a bag and walked away. He did it sneakily but our sister saw this and told the rest of us. He didn't take his car, he's letting our mom hold onto the keys due to concerns for his safety (last time he left we were very worried that he might hurt himself so we looked for him and found him driving way too fast). My mom and I weren't sure if we should approach him if we found him because he got mad at us last time for not leaving him alone, but our aunt and cousin (who he is very close to) went out looking for him instead of us and he let them take him to their house to stay the night.
Basically he keeps leaving and it's getting more frequent. We are afraid for his safety and his counselor isn't helping. My mom is trying to get him to see another counselor but my brother really likes his current one and is angry that my mom doesn't seem to. He might be up for seeing two counselors though, his current one and a new one (which is what my mom suggested from the start btw).
I feel like everything is happening around me and I can't do much about it. My brother wants to pretend everything is fine but the elephant in the room is becoming to big to ignore. He isn't up for discussion like he used to, he just gets mad if you suggest an idea different from his. I don't know what to do. I've just been trying to be there for him and spend time with him but I feel so helpless and powerless as things get worse. I wish he would talk to me, I don't deal with the same level of darkness as he does but I've had thoughts of self harm/suicide before and I can understand at least some of what he's going through. I want to give him a hug but I know he would just push me away. I'm so scared that he'll hurt himself.
Sorry this is so long. Typing it all out has actually really helped me process my feelings. If you have any advice please let me know. If it seems like I or my mom are doing something wrong them let me know. My mom has been watching videos and reading all sort of books trying to figure out how to help but I think that my brother doesn't want to hear anything she has to say. Maybe we can't do anything until he's ready to be helped, idk.

I have struggled with a profound fear of being seen my entire life. It has ruined my career and my social life. When my first novel was published, all I felt was embarrassment, even though it was well-received.
I haven't been able to write for the last seven years because I'm afraid someone will read what I write. I have a phenomenal therapist, and the last two years of doing Internal Family Systems therapy has helped me so much. In order to face my fears, I decided to launch a YouTube channel recently. (It's literary criticism with a true crime twist.) I don't expect it to get big, and it's probably better for me emotionally if it doesn't. I just want to dip my toes into being seen in the world and have nothing terrible happen. (Yes, my therapist knows and approves.)
Here's where my ndad comes in. Movies have always been his passion, especially golden era films. He knows a tremendous amount about how the studio system worked then, and he's taught film. He raised me and my sister on film, bought us a video camera and taught us to make out own movies. Even when my relationship with Dad was really hard, like when I was a teen, we could go to the movies together. Hell, we were in different states for the Oscars this year, so we Zoomed the entire ceremony together.
Anyway, my father's narcissism is the type where he wants me and my sister to be extensions of his glory, so when we do something he likes, he wants to get involved. To my surprise, he has decided that he loves my channel. He sent me quotes from the videos that he felt were worth writing down (does anyone else's boomer parents do this?) with little complements. It was sweet, and I thanked him. I even asked for ten minutes of his help to film a little segment for the third video, and I credited him under a family nickname
I guess he was flattered, because now he LOVES the videos. Of course, I know how this goes now, and so do you. His involvement in the production - which was previously limited to him holding the camera for a 15-second bit - is now paramount. Yesterday he said he needed to talk to me about my third video, and I thought, Okay, here it comes, the other shoe!
He said, "Your glasses are often crooked in your videos. Is there a way to straighten them on your face?"
I burst out laughing because A. I thought it would be so much worse, and B. My glasses sit crooked because one of my ears sits higher than the other by about a quarter of an inch. I think fixing it would require surgery.
I thought I'd gotten off easy, and my boyfriend and I laughed about it. That's when the email arrived. Now, keep in mind, Dad lives next door. (My partner and I live in one half of a duplex. My parents live in the other half at various times throughout the year, sometimes together, sometimes singly. They have a second home near my sister.) My point being, he didn't have to type all this up. We see each other multiple times per day. We had brunch together a few hours before I received the email!
The email contains a list of issues he sees with my videos. Complaints about turns of phrase I overuse. Framing recommendations. Backhanded compliments. A few real complements. He ends it by referencing the nickname I gave him in the credits. He says he looks forward to being called that nickname by a fan that the two of us will one day meet at an awards banquet for independent filmmakers. (This will never happen, by the way. I make two-hour-long literary criticism videos. The grandiosity he's applying to me-as-extention-of-him is downright oppressive.)
It's there a gentle way to disengage him from my project? I'm not actually planning on running the channel indefinitely, and I'd like to feel like I can do what I want for the life of this project. That's part of the growth I was hoping I would get from this, to trust my own instincts and judgment. Although, learning to manage Dad in artistic areas would also be well worth learning.
I'm thinking of responding, "I'll consider it. Thanks." What do you think? Too abrupt? Too avoidant? I'm open to suggestions here. I really do love my father and value the relationship we have. Yeah, he shook me when I was a baby and threatened to break my legs so I'd never walk again when I was nine, but he's old now. He's quit drinking. The more I understand narcissism, the better and easier our relationship gets. I know it doesn't get better for most people in our position, but it did for me and Dad. So please remember, when you make your suggestions, that this is a relationship I'd like to preserve. Thanks in advance.

I’ve posted about my experiences so many times, but forgot a huge detail:
Sometimes I feel NAUSEOUS after waking up from nightmares, and a YouTube comment of a video of a guy feeling scared and nauseous at his job (dark restaurant by himself) and walked by a human face with big black eyes) the comment said that demons send out energy that cause nausea trying to possess you.
Because I’m so tired of retyping the same thing, I’ll just state the main symptoms:
Vivid nightmares: Has included seeing very clear and detailed, human-like beings, including an old man dancing around making surprised faces at me, mocking me for screaming in terror (screaming didn’t wake me up the first time) while my mom danced around in lingerie (at least the demonic old was fully clothed.
Another one was I was in my dark room (past house) and shined a light on this old man’s face. He had an unnatural, cartoon-like open mouth frown, white another guy was trying to remain hidden in the dark.
These were both nightmares where I woke up screaming at the top of my lungs, completely terrified, and felt like I was going to throw up, and seeing them stuck in my head and feeling like they were still there and I desperately prayed and read Bible verses.
Another was seeing this witch like creature (looked like Kamek from the Mario Bros. but with white human skin and black robe and hat instead of blue, definitely still had those huge glasses) LITERALLY PHYSICALLY INSIDE OF MY HEAD, like in my brain or my skull.
There was a black guy wearing a red top hat and, kind of like a musician dressed like Satan. I said “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus” and he disappeared so instantly I didn’t even see him disappear, I just looked down and back and he was immediately gone, like he was never there.
Another this Wiccan girl (I guess) summoned a demon (that actually looked like a demon) for a board game that was supposed to help us get ahead in life (not a Ouija board).
I’ve had many other very strange, vivid, uncanny dreams, some not necessarily bad, but feeling like I left reality and forgot I existed, weird glitch in reality stuff.
Intrusive thoughts: Keep thinking about hurting others, emotionally and physically.
Seeing demonic monsters, very clear and detailed, while wide awake, but not through my eyes or ears, only in/through my mind.
When I was 13 or 14 I literally woke up, got out of bed, ran down the hallway (not in control of it) and ran to my mom to tell her something was wrong. I suddenly started barking in her face, screaming out of terror, and it stopped after calling out to God.
I’ve also had episodes of suddenly speaking gibberish, my hand getting stuck in the air.
I could literally become possessed and controlled again and the police would just yell at me to stop and tase me maybe shoot me, and they’d just label me crazy and/or a criminal.
I even felt demons fill the room when I tried to pray to God one time, when I was 13-14 going through that serious, what was either spiritual warfare or bad medication side effect, but I haven’t taken that one in over a decade…..
But something I’ve been forgetting to mention is THE NAUSEA after some of this nightmares.
It’s getting harder and harder for me NOT to believe in the spiritual.
Maybe I just haven’t been convinced enough to sacrifice everything (current and potential) for God, but I still feel very hesitant and unwilling to just accept God’s will and plan and commit to things like willingly staying celibate/virgin (I don’t even want kids, this cycle needs to end, and don’t really see marriage happening for me, but I’m not asexual and don’t want to remain celibate for life or until my 30s or 40s, I’m 28).
I don’t know if I’ve simply thought so hard and deep about everything, that I somehow dug myself into insanity?
I have smelled what seemed like sulfurotten eggs, and something knocked my water bottle down and then my Uber Eats driver was literally named “Jesus” (a sign?).
On the flip side, I heard chanting in my head that translated to “god of death” or “devil of death”, and right after that happened to check this account, and had a DM that I had 666 karma, which I did, and today I reached 666 notes on my phone.
Also my parents found a huge orb on our security cameras, literally floating up and over the roof like it knew how to/where it was going on.
I’ve had plenty of nightmares that literally take place in my room and this house too, I recently saw my grandfather (who is alive, so it can’t be his spirit) open my door (after barely opening it at first, then fully opening to reveal it with him) and jump on me on my bed, wearing a toga made out of a bedsheet, and his face was disfigured, like, off, like kind of a pointed face and his eyes were kind of staring off and up to the side, like he was looking at me but not looking at me at the same time).
Also my sister grew a penis and flapped it around in my face while my parents just stood and watched.
An unseen person dropped a baby carrier (in the old house) and it was crying REALLY LOUD, like it was being tortured. I looked to check it was ok, and it was just a doll, and cried even louder and harder.
And usually I don’t even notice hearing any sound in my dreams!
The orb was real by the way, not part of a dream.
I wake up with scratches too, and my wallet was standing up, half on top of my phone, half on the dresser, very weird position, couldn’t set it that way on accident, my cookies disappeared, and I heard a growl and the curtain seemed to scratch me.
This suddenly worse last September or October,just suddenly feeling terrified and reality warping, feeling something trying to take control of my body again.
How can medical science and psychology possibly explain this?
I’m sure I forgot some details, but it’s impossible to remember everything.

Ok, to start off, I am a big fan of you Charlotte and I watch your videos almost every day. I have been watching for about a year now and you are so funny!
OKk, let’s go. I go to a private Christian school, which is pretty small, about 500 people go there in total (it goes k-12). So in this schoo,l everyone knows everyone pretty much. In my family, I (16 f), my siblings, and two of my cousins go there. Me and my siblings came to this school this year but our cousins have been going here since kindergarten. The girl I’m referring to we will call Sarah. Sarah is in my sister’s (13 f) grade and doesn’t really have many friends now, though she used to. Sarah also has a twin who we will call Sandra. Sarah and Sandra were adopted when they were like 3 by a family who goes to the church that runs the school and the couple has 5 biological sons and the younger of the two is like 6 or 7 years older than them. The two girls were in a situation where their biological parents were neglectful, resulting into Sarah having a burn scar on her face from getting boiling water spilled on her face.
When me and my sister came to the school we were her friend but now her and I are rethinking it. She seems very narcissistic, hypocritical, and ungrateful in my opinion. My sister is friends with all the girls in her grade because she’s really sweet and nice and she doesn’t like to get caught up in all the drama, she usually tries to stay neutral because most of it all is stupid. So, Sarah, at the beginning of the year, had 3 friends in her grade not including her sister. The three friends, my sister, and we will call the other two Haley and Cassandra, would always sit together at lunch and me and my cousin (12 f) as well as my best friend (15 f) sat with them. But about 2 months ago Haley and Cassandra decided not to be friends with Sarah because they felt she was a bad influence as she is very disobedient to her parents, 90% of her conversation is about suicide and death, she causes a lot of drama, and she curses in large amounts. Sarah got really mad about that and proceeded to do small things to poke at them and get them to retaliate like stealing their usual seats at lunch. She would also gossip about them. Me and my sister found this unappealing but we brushed it off because she overreacts a lot. A few weeks later my sister decided to sit next to a friend other than Sarah in a class and Sarah got mad at her for that and wouldn’t talk to her for days and proceeded to talk crap about her for it and was saying that Haley and Cassandra told her not to be her friend anymore and Haley and Cassandra were conspiring against her so that she would have no friends. This was not the case. My sister sits next to Sarah in another class and that class was the only one that they had free seating so she decided to sit with a friend she doesn’t sit with in any other class for once. This was a glaring red flag to me and my sister and it pushed her away when there was nothing between her and Sarah. Later other friends of my sister’s (I’m tired of giving them names so it’s gonna be other friend from now on sorry guys.) told her why her and Sarah aren’t friends anymore. This is the story. So, last year they were friends and everything was going well and then Sarah suddenly told them that she couldn’t be friends with them anymore because of her depression. She said that she was too depressed and couldn’t be friends with them anymore because of her mental health. The friends told her that they still wanted to be her friend but Sarah said no, they couldn’t be friends. Because they still wanted to be friends with her, Sarah said they were discrediting her mental health and saying her mental health wasn’t important, which isn’t the case at all. When me and my sister heard this it was disturbing and it sealed the deal for my sister.
So, my sister is no longer friends with Sarah, and I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be friends with her, it’s really emotionally exhausting to be around her and she feels like a narcissist, but I can’t help feeling like an AH for wanting to not be her friend. I don’t want to invalidate her depression because, obviously depression is real, I have experienced it, but I just don’t feel like it’s a reason to push away your friends. Also, my best friend and Sarah are close childhood friends and I’m worried that if I’m not Sarah’s friend then it will create a divide between my best friend and me.
So, AITA for not wanting to be Sarah’s friend anymore?

At the time, I was sitting on the side of the road, on the outskirts of town, across the street from a dive bar that reeked of desperation and depression. And the only reason I wasn’t inside was because I had just been thrown out.
Let me back-up. I’m not gonna tell you my name, but if you live in or near Las Vegas, chances are you’ve heard of me. The king of the strip. The luckiest man in the luckiest city. The guy you want at your table. When I was a kid, it seemed like a harmless quirk; always hitting the ladders and missing the chutes, the perfect draws in Candyland, something for my parents to wow their dinner guests with when there was a lull in conversation. It was around middle school when I realized I could use my luck to my advantage. My school got bit hard by Magic the Gathering fever and while everyone else was doing their damnedest to craft the perfect deck, I was the one who was winning by drawing the perfect card at the perfect time. Made back my lunch money a few times over that year.
College wasn’t my thing, but neither was staying in town; at that point everyone knew to not play any games with me because I’d always end up winning. But I had bigger ambitions. I had gotten a taste for being the victor and now I was hungry for more. So when I turned 21 I hit the road, with a whole new world of unsuspecting people just waiting for me. Hustling isn’t exactly a difficult science; you pretend you don’t know what you’re doing, fold a few hands, then when they raise the stakes and propose a few big money games, you wipe the floor with them and move on to the next town. I lost a few teeth along the way to some sore losers, but with the money I was making it was never too hard to pay for dental work, ice packs, and aspirin.
But that wasn’t enough. I was ready to go big. And the glitzy lights and siren song of jackpots drew me to Las Vegas. Yeah, cliche place, but when you have my luck, the old adage “the house always wins” doesn’t mean jack. That’s when I started making real money, putting my luck to good use full-time. Every pull of a lever, push of a button, throw of the dice… it all came my way. Sure, I got a bad hand or a crap throw often enough, but by the end of the night I always left with more than I started. First few months I was there, I got dragged into back rooms to be interrogated by a bunch of stiffs in tight suits more times than I could count. They were convinced I was cheating. But they never found anything on me: no extra dice, no hidden cards, no cameras, nothing. I told them the truth; that I was just lucky. They didn’t like that answer, but with no proof, they would send me on my way, telling me not to come back for the day. I learned to pace myself: switch up where I was gambling each night, don’t win too much, stop when the dealer was starting to sweat.
Even with those restrictions, I was making more than enough to not just survive, but thrive. Got a nice little penthouse at the top of one of the hotels, spent my days gambling and my nights partying. Slowly, people started to learn my name, follow me around, and want to get close to me. They all were hoping to sap up a little bit of my luck. And the crazy thing? They did. When I was at their table, suddenly everyone’s hands were coming up in their favor. I watched grown men fight over the chance to sit at the slot machine next to mine. I wasn’t just a great gambler, I was the great gambler. The guy who got whispered about when I walked by. The Luckiest Man In Vegas. Hell of a title.
In the back of my mind I always thought one day my luck would peter out. I wasn’t expecting it to be so dramatic.
It started at the poker tables that morning. You know how unlikely it is to get four 2-7 offsuit draws in a row? But there they were, taunting me. The casino always gave me free drinks when I hit a cold streak, but the taste of defeat wouldn’t leave my mouth. Bad day for the tables, I figured, and moved onto the slot machines. Didn’t hit a single payout for an hour. I was starting to sweat; was this some kinda prank by the casino, rigging the games to take me down a peg? Even the lowliest gambler doesn’t have a day this bad. Insulted, I took my business down the strip.
But the next casino didn’t fare much better either. Snake eyes, 0s and 00s, couldn’t hit 21 to save my life. I began to hear the whispers; some of my regular hangers-on, worried that their cash cow was having a dry day. They started moving to other tables, hoping not to catch whatever dark cloud was hanging over my head. After I got two sevens and a lemon, I decided my day would be better spent in bed. It’d give my luck a chance to recharge.
When I swiped my card on the key reader and the light flashed red, I knew something had to be up. I stormed straight down to talk to whoever was working the front desk; I knew them all by name, so getting this sorted out shouldn’t have been a problem. So imagine my surprise to see some new girl behind the desk who didn’t believe me when I told her what was happening. She told me the system said I hadn’t paid my rent that month; I told her I had dropped the check off a week ago, like I always do. There was no record of it in the computer though, and she trusted it more than she trusted me.
Things went south quickly. I suppose I could have just waited for a shift change to talk to someone I actually knew, or given them a call to get this sorted out. But I was already having a bad day, and her attitude was pissing me off. So maybe reaching over the counter to grab her by the hair wasn’t the smartest idea, but the way those two guys the size of tanks grabbed me and threw me out of the building wasn’t called for if you ask me.
I was making a mental note to start looking into a new place to stay when my cell phone rang. It was my bank, telling me that there had been a lot of “suspicious activity” in my account, and that my cards were being frozen until they could sort it out. I definitely turned a few heads on the street with the string of obscenities I screamed into the phone, but I’m pretty sure they hung up on me halfway through; I would have checked, had I not thrown my phone to the ground and shattered it. I checked my wallet to see how much cash I had on me to make it through the day; I really shouldn’t have been surprised to see an empty space where the neat stack of 100’s usually sat.
The rest of the day was kinda a blur; attempts to contact anyone I knew were met with dial tones and busy signals, and in the mood I was in I got stopped from entering all my usual casinos because they said I “looked like I was there to cause problems.” Can’t say I blame them, but it wasn’t doing my demeanor any favors. Do you have any idea how pathetic it is to ask tourists for a little cash to spend at a gas station slot machine? They all thought I was some poor sap in way too deep, rather than the celebrity they should have been treating me like. By the time the sun went down, I had made my way out of town and plopped myself down at the aforementioned dive bar, and their one lowly, pathetic penny slot. I had found a penny in the gutter outside. This was it: the end of this horrible day, the clouds clearing, the path back to being on top of the world. I put the coin in and pulled the lever.
Watermelon. Bananas. Bell.
I stared at the machine. I swear, those stupid little symbols were laughing at me. I saw red, reared my hand back, and punched the machine as hard as I could; next thing I knew, a few of the regulars were hauling my ass out the door and across the street, throwing me into the ditch and telling me to stay out.
And so there I was. Luckiest man in Vegas, sitting on the side of a road. Everything I had in life, gone in the span of a day. No idea on how to get back to where I was… or even if it was possible anymore. My luck had finally run out, and it had run out hard.
That’s when I heard her voice.
“Whoof, you look like you’re having a rough day,” she said.
“Lady, you have no idea how much I don’t wanna talk right now,” I said back. I expected that to be it; people were quick to move on in this city when it was clear you were in no mood. Instead, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.
“Aw, don’t be like that,” she cooed. She had the tone of someone who wasn’t used to consoling people, but was trying her hardest.
I looked over at my visitor; she had on a sparkling red dress like she was headed for the fanciest club in town—odd given how far we were outside the city—and a matching red derby hat with a wide brim and feathers sticking out the side. You know those old ads you’d see for Vegas with some perfect-looking woman dressed to the nines inviting you to come throw your life away? She looked for all the world like she had just stepped right out of one of those, but with a sincere smile that somehow clashed with the rest of her look.
“What do you want?” I seethed, looking her up and down.
She sat down beside me.
“So, um,” she said, casually scratching the back of her head as she searched for the right words. “I don’t know how to tell you this—”
“Oh my god just say it and go away,” I snapped at her.
She nodded. “Alright. I’m… Lady Luck.”
Judging by her reaction, she noticed my eyes rolling. “Cute nickname. Tell me what you’re selling, so I can tell you no and to fuck off.”
“No seriously! I’m her.” She leaned forward a bit, staring me down intently.
This lady wasn’t gonna leave me alone, I figured. “Alright,” I said. “I’ll humor you a bit. Prove it.”
“Uh…” she mumbled, glancing around. “Kinda hard to prove luck… Oh!” She pointed at the bar across the street, where four people were exiting, three of whom looked like they were about to collapse and one who was clearly ready to end the night. “Okay, see the guy in the gray shirt?”
I nodded. “Designated driver, I’m guessing.”
“Good guess,” she said. “And he’s gonna get rewarded for that.”
Two of gray shirt’s friends had already been piled into the car by him, and he was struggling to get the third to follow suit. Like a cartoon, the friend fell straight down to the ground, leading to a world-weary groan from gray shirt. Just as he was leaning down to help his friend up, a truck passed by with its brights on. As the light hit his car, there was a momentary glint from around the driver’s seat. Abandoning his friend, gray shirt reached towards where the glint was; when he pulled his hand back, I could see the tears in his eyes as he held his clenched fist close to his chest.
“The hell…” I muttered.
“Alonzo lost his wedding ring six months ago,” she said, happily leaning back on her hands and surveying the scene. “If his friends hadn’t decided to go out tonight, if he hadn’t been selected as the designated driver, if Marty hadn’t fallen out of the car at just that moment, if that truck hadn’t driven by at that moment, he might have never found it.” She gave me a sheepish grin. “I’m really proud of this one! Love it when luck can give someone a story to last a lifetime.”
Everything she was saying was absurd. But the way Alonzo was cradling his hand, carefully placing something onto his finger, a smile brighter than any of the lights in the city… I was in enough of a terrible mood to buy it.
“Alright, fine, whatever. You’re Lady Luck. So what?” I said. “You come here to gloat? Brag about ruining my life?”
“Nah, I don’t like bragging,” she said. “I wanna apologize. I’ve been watching, today’s been way worse on you than I expected it to be.”
“Expected?” I looked her dead in the eyes. “You knew this was gonna happen?”
“Well, yeah,” she said matter-of-factly. “It’s my whole job to know. But I figured I owed you an explanation.” She turned to fully face me, sitting cross-legged like she was a teacher in a kindergarten class. “How do I put this… everyone in the world has a set level of luck when they’re born. It determines how likely forces beyond your understanding will intervene to make something happen, for better or for worse. Follow me?”
“No.”
“Yeah, didn’t think you would.” She mulled something over in her mind, trying to find the right words. “Okay, so someone is born, and their luck is ‘zero.’ That means anything in their life that comes down to luck is just that: luck. Complete random chance. But if someone has, say… ‘one,’ maybe they’ll be a biiiiiiit more likely to end up with positive results. Or if it’s ‘negative one,’ a bit more likely to end up with negative results.”
“So our lives are determined by stupid video game stats?” I scoffed.
“Not everything in life; in fact it’s only luck. It’s kinda an intangible, a mystical thing, you know? There’s nothing you can do to increase or decrease luck, it just is.” She gave me that sheepish smile again. “Sorry, I’m really not used to explaining this to people.”
“I can tell.”
“So here’s where things get a bit more complex.” She held her hands out in front of her, trying to diagram something that wasn’t there. “There’s only a set amount of luck in the universe. New luck can’t just be conjured from nothing, it’s gotta be distributed amongst everyone and everything. When someone dies, their luck is spread out among the rest of the world; when someone is born, everyone gives them a bit of their luck. So in general, things stay pretty stable. Got it?”
“I think so?” My inflection reflected my confusion. “Lot to think about, but everyone just has their own luck. Got it.”
“Annnnnnd this is where you and I come in.” She continued to smile; it was starting to get to me. “I’ve been doing this job for a looooong time. I’m good at it, but think about how many living things have ever existed. Having to balance all that luck is tough! And, well… I was bound to make a mistake eventually.”
At the word ‘mistake,’ I felt my eye twitch. “What do you mean, mistake?”
She put her hand on my shoulder like a guidance counselor telling a student they’d never make it to college. “Look, I’ll be blunt: you were born with waaaaaay too much luck. You ended up with more than a city’s worth.”
Hearing her say it was like a gut punch and an eye opener all at once. “Sonofabitch,” I mumbled, looking up at the sky and taking it all in.
“What, are you surprised?” she asked.
“Nah, it just… hits different when you actually hear it from someone.” I didn’t say anything for a minute; I just gazed at the stars above me. She went quiet too, giving me the space I needed. Once I was ready, I had to ask the next obvious question. “So, why today? I’ve been lucky my whole life, and then you come by and take it all away from me in a snap? Just wander on in and treat me to the worst day of my life?”
Her smile faltered; she shifted uncomfortably, clearly not thrilled at the prospect of answering the question.
“Well?!” I shouted at her.
“That’s why I’m apologizing!” She shouted back. “I only noticed the error today, so I had to correct things. And the best way to do that is to rip the bandage off, metaphorically speaking. Take all that extra luck and distribute it among everyone else. But yeah, considering the day you had, that was probably a mistake on top of another mistake, so I owe you an apology. This one is on me.”
I wasn’t sure how to react, but I certainly wasn’t feeling positive about her apology.
“‘On me?’” I said through gritted teeth. “That’s all you got for me?”
“I know I’m not good at this, but I can count the number of people I have had to apologize to on one hand, so please cut me a little slack,” she said.
“Cut you some slack?!” She winced when I shouted. “You ruined my life, then expect me to forgive you? Give me my goddamn luck back!”
“I can’t do that, it wouldn’t be fair to everyone!” She stood up; I quickly jumped up to meet her there. “But the worst of it is over now, you’re basically at zero from now on. I’m already having to break a rule to set things straight, do you know how much worse it would be if I—”
“Zero’s not good enough!” I grabbed her by the lapels of her dress. “You give all of it back right this fucking instant!”
“Let me go!” she yelled.
I saw red. Before I knew what I was doing, I drove my head forward; there was a sickening thud as our heads made contact, and she went down immediately. Blood started to trickle down from her forehead, the same color as her dress. I went into auto-pilot and dropped down.
“GIVE IT BACK!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as I curled my hands into fists and drove them down into her face. “GIVE ME MY LUCK BACK!!”
Over and over and over, I brought my hands down on her. With each hammer, I felt something more give; another vicious crack, another splatter of blood, another tooth flying to the side. By the time a minute had passed and my senses were returning to me, the woman under me was unrecognizable; a red pulp of blood and bone that would make a medical examiner run from the room in horror. I breathed heavily, staring down at what I had just done, at the lifeless figure below me.
And then… she was fine.
She didn’t magically heal herself, her body didn’t reform and attach itself back together, there wasn’t even a spark or a sound. One moment she was a corpse, the next she looked as pristine as she was when she had come to me minutes ago. She stared back up at me, a mixture of annoyance and disappointment on her face.
“Seriously!?” She yelled.
My only reaction was to fall back, trying to process what I was seeing. She casually stood up and brushed dust off of her dress.
“I-I-I, I’m—” I stammered.
“I APOLOGIZED! I was genuinely sorry for what I put you through! I was trying to make good, and you ATTACK me?!” She put her hands on her hips like a disappointed parent. “See, this is why I don’t like talking with people; you’re all such assholes!”
“B…but…” was all I could get out. She reached down and took me by the shirt, pulling me up to my feet. The smile was gone; there was an intensity burning in her eyes.
“Fine. You want your luck back? You got it!” she said. “Boom. It’s yours again, congratulations. But you know what? You only get it for one more week. Then, it’s over. Got it?!”
I wasn’t about to argue with her. I nodded. “One more week, one more bad day, then all this luck stuff is over. Got it.”
She shook her head. “No. I gave you the chance to do it all in one day, and you decide to get all violent.” The smile returned; this time, combined with the look in her eyes, it terrified me. “You thought I ripped the bandage off badly by doing it in one day? Let’s see what happens when we do it in a minute.”
She shoved me away and turned to leave. I hit the ground, the dust kicking up around me.
“W-wait!” I said, scrambling back to my feet. “Can’t we—”
She was gone. There was no indication that anyone had been there besides me. I looked around frantically, but other than the bar across the way, I was alone.
I’m not sure how long I stood in silence, but eventually all I could do was turn back towards Vegas and start walking. No sooner had I done so then the street lit up and a truck pulled alongside me. The driver rolled the window down.
“Heyo, need a lift into town?” he asked. I nodded, and he pushed the door open and patted the seat.
“Thanks,” I muttered as I sat down.
The moment I closed the door the pitter-patter of rain echoed outside the car, turning into a near-torrential downpour in seconds.
“God damn, it’s really comin’ down!” the driver laughed as he turned his windshield wipers on high. “I usually don’t take this road neither, but my usual route’s backed up. Lucky I came this way or you’d be soaked right now, huh?”
That word rang in my head and I nodded again. “Yeah. Lucky.”
When he dropped me off at my hotel, one of the usual workers was at the front counter. He offered me a sincere apology about the mix-up earlier, said that the new girl hadn’t been told about me yet, and that they found my check behind a desk in the back. They left me champagne and a free gourmet meal for the trouble, but I left it out and collapsed into bed. The next day I went to the bank, where I was greeted with another apology; a clerical error was to blame for my cards being frozen, but now everything had been restored. They even increased my credit limit as an apology.
Things returned to normal for me. The dice were hot, and the hands were hotter. My luck was back. I should have been ecstatic.
But I wasn’t. I was empty.
I’ve been in a haze since then. Because every time I hit a jackpot, every time I get a win, every time someone hands me a free drink, I can see her. Out of the corner of my eye, she’s standing there, watching me with that same smile. But when I turn to look at her, she’s gone.
That was seven days ago. I’m sitting in my penthouse right now writing this. Over the last hour, the lights outside my window have faded, leaving the strip looking an eerie black. There’s no noise either. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard Vegas quiet.
A few moments ago, I heard a soft knock at my door and a woman’s laughter.
Lady Luck has come to collect.

For years, it felt like the social media landscape didn’t change much.

New apps came, new apps went, and the last one to really make a dent in the market was TikTok back in 2020.

But in the nine months since billionaire Elon Musk bought Twitter, there has been a flurry of activity — multiple copycat apps have been released as users seek an alternative as the bird app changes under new leadership. The latest rival, Threads, was launched by Facebook-parent Meta and got a stunning start earlier this month.
CNN broke down some of the biggest and buzziest social media platforms — how they work, who they’re for and who runs them.

Facebook … when you’re looking for community (or used furniture)

With more than 2 billion daily users around the world, it’s tricky to describe the stereotypical Facebook user. Some come for Facebook Marketplace, which lets users buy and sell everything from vintage furniture to used cars. Many others come looking for community — whether that’s photo updates from their great aunt’s bridge night, or online groups dedicated to new parents or people navigating health challenges. But some of those communities have created serious issues, including groups that have spread vaccine misinformation or those that used the platform to help organize the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack.

Instagram … when you’re looking to feel envious

What started as a photo-sharing app for friends has morphed into a place where the goal is apparently to try to make yourself look hotter, more fun and more well-traveled than everyone else. Whether you’re looking at “lifestyle” tips from influencers, sponsored fashion or home décor content or photos from your high school crush’s summer Italy trip — it’s all there. That culture can make the platform fun and inspirational, but it’s also raised concerns about the app’s impact on users’ mental health, especially for young girls.

Pinterest … when you’re looking for inspiration

Pinterest lets users easily search for and organize visual-heavy inspiration on a wide range of creative topics. Planting a garden? Planning a wedding? Renovating an old home by hand? This is the platform for you. Pinterest has also been rolling out features to let users shop directly from their feeds.

TikTok … when you’re looking for entertainment

TikTok is no longer just an app for dancing teens, but many people still scroll (and scroll, and scroll) the shortform video app when they’re looking to be entertained. The platform serves up zippy videos on everything from news and book recommendations to comedy and “get ready with me” style makeup tutorials, and sometimes content about conspiracy theories or solving crime.

Snapchat … when you’re looking to chat with friends

Snapchat is generally known as the platform young people use to exchange quick, real-time photos or messages with their friends or family. The photos and chats disappear by default, so the app feels more ephemeral than other platforms designed to help users cultivate an online persona (although some parents and lawmakers have raised concerns about the safety for young people of an app where content disappears). Snapchat is also known for popularizing face-altering filters.

YouTube… when you’re looking for something to watch

The original video-based social network, YouTube has over the years brought the internet hits like “Charlie Bit My Finger,” “Keyboard Cat” and “David After Dentist” and launched countless influencers’ careers. YouTube has in recent years worked to crack down on various forms of misinformation, although it recently rolled back a policy that had prohibited election denialism content. The platform is now trying to take on TikTok with its “YouTube Shorts” short video feature.

Nextdoor … when you’re looking for info about your neighborhood

If you want to gossip about the neighbor who refuses to cut their lawn, advertise a garage sale, seek help finding a lost dog or ask for tips on where to send your kids for summer camp, Nextdoor will be helpful. The platform lets users connect with other people in their immediate geographic area — but please, be nice.

Discord … when you’re looking to play the same game with your friends

This free text, voice and video chat service is known for its popularity with teens and video gamers. The platform, which feels sort of like an evolution from early AOL chat rooms, now hosts community forums for everything from union organizers and hiking groups to meme enthusiasts and people interested in the metaverse. But Discord has also received attention for its dark side, including issues like racist memes, sexually explicit content and, recently, being the site of a major leak of US classified documents.

Twitch … when you’re looking to watch someone else play your favorite games

Imagine YouTube, but where every video on the front page is a live feed of somebody playing a video game. Countless streamers compete for your loyalty on camera as they crack jokes, respond to their viewers’ text chats and try to pull off the most exciting plays. The platform, which has been known to host a politician or two, also promotes video streams devoted to music, art, sports, and cooking.

LinkedIn … when you’re looking to network

Long gone are the days when LinkedIn was merely a place to publicly post your resume and update it only once every few years when looking for a new job. Now, the platform is a place for users to post career updates, share news and, for some, to pontificate on their thoughts about remote working, how to raise venture capital or how to choose the right candidate to hire. Beware of the occasional CEO tearfully discussing their company’s layoffs.

Truth Social … when you’re looking for right-wing political commentary

This alternative, Twitter copycat platform backed by Donald Trump launched last year as a way for the former president to reach his fans after being suspended from mainstream platforms in the wake of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. The platform remains largely populated by Trump and his associates, as well as other far-right political and media figures. The app also features a range of spammy advertisers, hawking things like a “free guide” for “US Dollar Doomsday” or “purple liquid” that “burns body fat like crazy.”

Reddit … when you’re looking to learn about niche subjects

Billing itself as the “front page of the internet,” Reddit is one of the few remaining social platforms that still feels like a giant watercooler discussion. The platform offers up a veritable smorgasbord of topics users can either flit between casually — a cute chinchilla video here, a literary discussion there — or follow down a deep rabbit hole. Its communities are self-managed, relying on volunteer users to make forum-specific rules and to moderate content. Lately, however, Reddit has alienated some of its users with some unpopular business decisions.

Twitter (aka X) … when you’re looking for what’s going on (for now)

For years, Twitter was a central hub for real-time news. It was a place for ordinary people to read and engage in conversation with celebrities, business leaders and other newsmakers. But the platform has been upended since billionaire Elon Musk bought it last October. He has made a series of controversial changes and policy decisions — such as cuts to staff and restoring accounts of previously banned users, including some neo-Nazis — that have left many users and advertisers seeking alternative platforms. Most recently, Musk did away with Twitter’s iconic bird logo and replaced it with “X” branding.

Threads … when you’re looking for musings from your favorite influencers, celebs and journalists

The latest Twitter competitor, Threads, was launched by Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta. The platform looks a lot like Twitter, with a feed of largely text-based posts — in addition to photos and videos — where people can have real-time conversations. The app attracted a stunning 100 million signups within a week of its launch, although usage has slowed somewhat since. But unlike Twitter, Threads says it doesn’t plan to lean heavily into news content and an influx of Instagram influencers has given it a tamer vibe.

Bluesky Social … when you’re looking for an alternative to Twitter

This Twitter copycat app, backed by Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, calls itself a site for “microblogging.” It looks nearly identical to Twitter, albeit without key features like hashtags and direct messages. But the app runs on a decentralized network, providing users with more control over how the service is run, data is stored and content is moderated. The app is invite-only, so its audience and feed remain limited, but it gained early traction from public figures looking to spend less time on Twitter, including Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and model Chrissy Teigen.

WWE Smackdown - April 26th, 2024 - WDT Promo Ratings

NOTE: Won't be doing my long ass winded write up for Smackdown this week because I'm busy, so it'll just be dot points and ramblings. If you're pissed off or mad at the scores, let me know in the comments and we can have a civil discussion.
Paul Heyman Backstage interviewed by Kayla Braxton Recap and Thoughts: • Roman isn't eligible for the draft, because he withdrew himself. • Fine segment, and just a good explainer as to why Roman isn't the number 1 draft pick. • I'm telling you all now: Roman is coming back as a face, and Heyman's been setting this groundwork for the past two weeks now. • Heyman did well here to also sell the idea of the first round draft picks, which was admirable, as he made Carmello's first round draft pick feel like more of a big deal. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 2.5 ⭐
AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes Location: In-Ring Contract Signing Recap and Thoughts: • Um, this sucked?
• I was really worried that after Mania we'd just get a generic nothing filler feud for Cody for what is ultimately a B-show in Backlash, and that's exactly what we're getting.
• What is the story here? AJ won a tournament to get this title shot, and in this segment he just paid respect to Cody's dad. There's really nothing to sink your teeth into with this feud from a story perspective, and I don't think anyone is under the impression that Cody is going to lose on his first title defence.
• Well performed by both though, although, I haven't found AJ to be a good promo since he was with the OC back when COVID started. Hot take: AJ and the Good Brothers were hilarious in 2020. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 2.5⭐
Cody Rhodes, Triple H and Carmelo Hayes Location: In-Ring Recap and Thoughts: Everyone was complaining that there were no major changes in the draft, but Triple H said the following words: "As those GM's sit in the back in those war rooms pondering their next step, they have to understand that it's just as much about protecting the roster they have as it is bringing in the roster that they want."
Triple H pretty much said "Hey, this Draft isn't going to be too extreme, and there's not gonna be a lot of big changes."
I don't really mind if there's not big changes, but don't sell the shit out of this Draft if the changes are going to be entirely minimal.
Carmelo comes out, and you have to remember that for many, this is their first time seeing Carmelo. For transparency, I do not watch a lot NXT. I see some clips of NXT stuff, and I vaguely follow some of the storylines. Some would argue this would mean I'm not qualified to comment on him, and sure, I get it. However, you have to consider that - again - this is the first time many are seeing Melo, and they have to treat this as his debut introduction to a new main roster TV audience. First impressions count.
In this segment, his promo was fine. I'm sure that'll piss off some die hard NXT heads who have followed him and his Trick feud, but, again, this is the first time many are seeing him.
All we saw in this segment was someone extremely capable and confident within their promos. He did his "Melo don't miss" schtick, which - from what I've seen - is probably the most boring part of his whole character. Cody pretended to forget his gear, and they set up a match.
I saw comments saying Melo came out and cut an INSANELY GREAT promo, but yeah, sorry gang, this was fine at best. I would say: do not allow your hype to see your fav being called up from NXT to blind you. If you think this was some 5/5 star making introduction, I dunno what to tell you. Go back and watch Cena's famous Ruthless Aggression debut and tell me how it compares. And yes, I understand that may be a little unfair as that promo has the benefit of hindsight and context of Cena's now winding-down career.
I will say this: having an NXT star debut in the first round draft and have him immediately face off against the champ is a very smart move. This cannot go unmentioned.
Either way, don't get me wrong, I like Melo and I can't wait to see what he does on the main roster. I'll say this: he's sure as shit far more charismatic than Bronson Reed.
I'll say this segment is worth watching, because who knows, maybe in two years time we'll look back on this segment and see it in Melo's highlight reels. Should you watch?: Yes ✅️ ⭐ RATING: 3.0 ⭐
LWO and Legado Del Fantasma Location: In-Ring Recap and Thoughts: • As tired as I am of this story, I maintain that Santos is the best part of it. He's a good promo and the way he's developed his character is great. Specifically, I appreciated how he's maintained this line of not being a liar, and tonight he proved that. He's a heel, but he's honest. It's an old trope, but an effective one.
• Carlito sold this like shit. This was so clunky. While the footage played on the tron, Rey was glued to the screen. He didn't turn to look at Carlito once. As soon as Carlito's on that tron, Rey should've turned to look at Carlito for effect.
• I laughed at the tape. It was so stupid to see the logistics of Carlito's plan: Carlito beat Lee up, leaves through the door, and then immediately comes back to pretend like he stumbled across Lee. Very funny to see.
• Dragon Lee is an idiot. If you watch the footage, it makes no sense as to how Lee couldn't see that it was Carlito. "Oh, if you watch the video, you'll see Lee never saw Carlitos face!". Yeah, no. Use your brain. This was stupid. Carlito could've at least worn a fucking mask or something. This just made Dragon Lee seems like an absolute clown. I love stupidity and backstage mysteries in wrestling, but this was not good. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 1.5 ⭐
Tiffany Stratton, Nick Aldis and Bayley Location: Backstage Recap and Thoughts: • I let out an audible chuckle at "Tiffany Epiphany". I'm sure she's used this line in NXT, but it's new for me.
• Happy to see Tiffy get more air time with new women being built up.
• Happy to also see Bayley bring back the "Ding Dong". Would love to see Bayley bring back her Thunderdome era "Ding Dong" character, but with a face twist. Should you watch?: Depends ↔️ ⭐ RATING: 2.75 ⭐
Paul Heyman, Solo, Tama Tonga and Kevin Owens Location: Backstage Recap and Thoughts: • Love the way Solo is inheriting Roman's traits, waiting for Heyman to open the door for him etc
• Why has Solo started talking like Stevie from Malcolm In The Middle?! Solo has begun speaking with this specific intonation where he is doing extended pauses, as if he's gasping for breath between each word of his sentences: "Give me ... all ... the details."
• As funny as this is for me, I'm not mad at it. Solo's doing well in this new role, and I'm not any less excited to see how this unfolds. Should you watch?: Yes ✅️ ⭐ RATING: 3.25 ⭐
Bianca Bel Air, Jade Cargil, and the Kabuki Warriors Location: Interviewed by Kayla Braxton on the ramp Recap and Thoughts: • Kayla asks about Bianca and Jade vs Kabuki in France, Bianca hopes Jade will be drafted to Raw and talks up Jade.
• I don't care about this feud at all because I don't care about the women's tag belts, and no one should care about those belts. WWE has never given us a good reason to care about them. Again, retire tag belts and just make a mid-card women's title.
• Kairi and Asuka come out and hold the belts in Bianca's face, yelling at her in Japanese, Jade comes out for back up, and yeah, they kinda just stand off. Really boring stuff.
• The best part about this segment was when it was interrupted by Tonga, Solo, KO and Randy. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 1.5 ⭐
A-Town Downunder, the Street Profits with B-Fab Location: Backstage interviewed by Byron Saxton Recap and Thoughts: • The Street Profits are backstage wondering where Bobby Lashley is.
• B-Fab finally got her name on the name plate. Took them long enough.
• Byron Saxton appears and doesn't actually ask a question. He just says they don't know the Profits draft destination, and seems to be there just to remind them that they've got a tag team title match.
• Bobby Lashley appearing behind Theory and Waller scaring the shit out of them was funny.
• Fine segment, simple exposition stuff. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 2.5 ⭐
Karrion Kross and Diet Judgement Day Location: Backstage Recap and Thoughts: • Backstage we're reminded Karrion Kross exists as he talks to the camera and says there's more random acts of violence.
• He takes the camera man to see AOP beating down on New Catch Republic, and says it doesn't matter where they're drafted. They will continue these random acts of violence until they get what they want. He fails to mention what they actually want. Maybe he mentioned it last week? I don't remember. Does it matter? Probably not. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 1.5 ⭐
Kiana James Location: NXT PC Recap and Thoughts: • We get a package explaining who Kiana James is, which is great, because I don't have any idea who she is.
• Her gimmick is that she's a business woman.
• She is interviewed by Jackie Redmond and Kiana says that it means the world to her, she's filled with gratitude, she's proud of her work in NXT, and is ready to show Raw that she's in the 1%. HBK congratulated her, and yeah.
• I felt this was really weak. We've gotten some terrific "introduction" vignettes in the past month, specifically for Bron and Jade, so this felt a bit meh. If I'm meant to be excited by Kiana James, this segment didn't really do much. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 2.0 ⭐
Nick Aldis and Teddy Long Location: Backstage interviewed by Kayla Braxton Recap and Thoughts: • Kayla asks Nick how he feels about the first night of the draft. Aldis says he's happy about Smackdown's selections. He says we have to turn our attention to Backlash and announces some matches: Bayley v Naomi v Tiffy in a triple threat, while Teddy Long appears to announce the Bloodline vs KO and Randy Orton.
• Just a match announcement segment. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 2.5 ⭐
TL;DR / Show Notes: • It's a new era. It's a new era. All new eras and no play makes Jack a dull boy. It's a new era. It's a new era. Did you guys know that it's a new era?!
• I love how in the Raw draft war room, they had just gotten the top of the Raw announcers table and stuck it to the wall.
• Solo has started speaking like Stevie from Malcolm in the Middle.
• This was a really boring episode of Smackdown. The Draft pick segments occupy a lot of TV time, so we didn't really get a lot of room for promos.
• While people are unhappy about there not being many draft changes, I'm not too mad as Triple H's explanation made perfect sense to me there.
• Since I've started these reviews, this might be the lowest rated episode on average overall.
What do these numbers mean? These star ratings are based off a combination of factors. Some of these include, but are not limited to: • The content of what the wrestler is saying • Their delivery of what their saying (acting) • The story surrounding the promo, and whether the promo furthers the story, or creates further intrigue/resolve for the greater story • The location, production value • A crowds investment
0 Stars: Dog Shit Bad 1 Stars: Do better 2 Stars: Fine - right down the middle. It served its purpose, but was neither phenomenal or terrible. It just was. 3 Stars: Good 4 Stars: Great 5 Stars: All-Timer Hall of Fame Promo
Should You Watch? Yes ✅️ - If you can't catch the whole show, go out of your way to watch this. Depends ↔️ - If you can't watch the whole show, you can give or take this segment. If you're particular invested in the superstars in this segment or the overall story, it might benefit you to watch. No ❌ - If you can't watch the whole show, don't bother going out of your way to watch this segment.

WWE Smackdown - April 26th, 2024 - WDT Promo Ratings

NOTE: Won't be doing my long ass winded write up for Smackdown this week because I'm busy, so it'll just be dot points and ramblings. If you're pissed off or mad at the scores, let me know in the comments and we can have a civil discussion.
Paul Heyman Backstage interviewed by Kayla Braxton Recap and Thoughts: • Roman isn't eligible for the draft, because he withdrew himself. • Fine segment, and just a good explainer as to why Roman isn't the number 1 draft pick. • I'm telling you all now: Roman is coming back as a face, and Heyman's been setting this groundwork for the past two weeks now. • Heyman did well here to also sell the idea of the first round draft picks, which was admirable, as he made Carmello's first round draft pick feel like more of a big deal. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 2.5 ⭐
AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes Location: In-Ring Contract Signing Recap and Thoughts: • Um, this sucked?
• I was really worried that after Mania we'd just get a generic nothing filler feud for Cody for what is ultimately a B-show in Backlash, and that's exactly what we're getting.
• What is the story here? AJ won a tournament to get this title shot, and in this segment he just paid respect to Cody's dad. There's really nothing to sink your teeth into with this feud from a story perspective, and I don't think anyone is under the impression that Cody is going to lose on his first title defence.
• Well performed by both though, although, I haven't found AJ to be a good promo since he was with the OC back when COVID started. Hot take: AJ and the Good Brothers were hilarious in 2020. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 2.5⭐
Cody Rhodes, Triple H and Carmelo Hayes Location: In-Ring Recap and Thoughts: Everyone was complaining that there were no major changes in the draft, but Triple H said the following words: "As those GM's sit in the back in those war rooms pondering their next step, they have to understand that it's just as much about protecting the roster they have as it is bringing in the roster that they want."
Triple H pretty much said "Hey, this Draft isn't going to be too extreme, and there's not gonna be a lot of big changes."
I don't really mind if there's not big changes, but don't sell the shit out of this Draft if the changes are going to be entirely minimal.
Carmelo comes out, and you have to remember that for many, this is their first time seeing Carmelo. For transparency, I do not watch a lot NXT. I see some clips of NXT stuff, and I vaguely follow some of the storylines. Some would argue this would mean I'm not qualified to comment on him, and sure, I get it. However, you have to consider that - again - this is the first time many are seeing Melo, and they have to treat this as his debut introduction to a new main roster TV audience. First impressions count.
In this segment, his promo was fine. I'm sure that'll piss off some die hard NXT heads who have followed him and his Trick feud, but, again, this is the first time many are seeing him.
All we saw in this segment was someone extremely capable and confident within their promos. He did his "Melo don't miss" schtick, which - from what I've seen - is probably the most boring part of his whole character. Cody pretended to forget his gear, and they set up a match.
I saw comments saying Melo came out and cut an INSANELY GREAT promo, but yeah, sorry gang, this was fine at best. I would say: do not allow your hype to see your fav being called up from NXT to blind you. If you think this was some 5/5 star making introduction, I dunno what to tell you. Go back and watch Cena's famous Ruthless Aggression debut and tell me how it compares. And yes, I understand that may be a little unfair as that promo has the benefit of hindsight and context of Cena's now winding-down career.
I will say this: having an NXT star debut in the first round draft and have him immediately face off against the champ is a very smart move. This cannot go unmentioned.
Either way, don't get me wrong, I like Melo and I can't wait to see what he does on the main roster. I'll say this: he's sure as shit far more charismatic than Bronson Reed.
I'll say this segment is worth watching, because who knows, maybe in two years time we'll look back on this segment and see it in Melo's highlight reels. Should you watch?: Yes ✅️ ⭐ RATING: 3.0 ⭐
LWO and Legado Del Fantasma Location: In-Ring Recap and Thoughts: • As tired as I am of this story, I maintain that Santos is the best part of it. He's a good promo and the way he's developed his character is great. Specifically, I appreciated how he's maintained this line of not being a liar, and tonight he proved that. He's a heel, but he's honest. It's an old trope, but an effective one.
• Carlito sold this like shit. This was so clunky. While the footage played on the tron, Rey was glued to the screen. He didn't turn to look at Carlito once. As soon as Carlito's on that tron, Rey should've turned to look at Carlito for effect.
• I laughed at the tape. It was so stupid to see the logistics of Carlito's plan: Carlito beat Lee up, leaves through the door, and then immediately comes back to pretend like he stumbled across Lee. Very funny to see.
• Dragon Lee is an idiot. If you watch the footage, it makes no sense as to how Lee couldn't see that it was Carlito. "Oh, if you watch the video, you'll see Lee never saw Carlitos face!". Yeah, no. Use your brain. This was stupid. Carlito could've at least worn a fucking mask or something. This just made Dragon Lee seems like an absolute clown. I love stupidity and backstage mysteries in wrestling, but this was not good. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 1.5 ⭐
Tiffany Stratton, Nick Aldis and Bayley Location: Backstage Recap and Thoughts: • I let out an audible chuckle at "Tiffany Epiphany". I'm sure she's used this line in NXT, but it's new for me.
• Happy to see Tiffy get more air time with new women being built up.
• Happy to also see Bayley bring back the "Ding Dong". Would love to see Bayley bring back her Thunderdome era "Ding Dong" character, but with a face twist. Should you watch?: Depends ↔️ ⭐ RATING: 2.75 ⭐
Paul Heyman, Solo, Tama Tonga and Kevin Owens Location: Backstage Recap and Thoughts: • Love the way Solo is inheriting Roman's traits, waiting for Heyman to open the door for him etc
• Why has Solo started talking like Stevie from Malcolm In The Middle?! Solo has begun speaking with this specific intonation where he is doing extended pauses, as if he's gasping for breath between each word of his sentences: "Give me ... all ... the details."
• As funny as this is for me, I'm not mad at it. Solo's doing well in this new role, and I'm not any less excited to see how this unfolds. Should you watch?: Yes ✅️ ⭐ RATING: 3.25 ⭐
Bianca Bel Air, Jade Cargil, and the Kabuki Warriors Location: Interviewed by Kayla Braxton on the ramp Recap and Thoughts: • Kayla asks about Bianca and Jade vs Kabuki in France, Bianca hopes Jade will be drafted to Raw and talks up Jade.
• I don't care about this feud at all because I don't care about the women's tag belts, and no one should care about those belts. WWE has never given us a good reason to care about them. Again, retire tag belts and just make a mid-card women's title.
• Kairi and Asuka come out and hold the belts in Bianca's face, yelling at her in Japanese, Jade comes out for back up, and yeah, they kinda just stand off. Really boring stuff.
• The best part about this segment was when it was interrupted by Tonga, Solo, KO and Randy. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 1.5 ⭐
A-Town Downunder, the Street Profits with B-Fab Location: Backstage interviewed by Byron Saxton Recap and Thoughts: • The Street Profits are backstage wondering where Bobby Lashley is.
• B-Fab finally got her name on the name plate. Took them long enough.
• Byron Saxton appears and doesn't actually ask a question. He just says they don't know the Profits draft destination, and seems to be there just to remind them that they've got a tag team title match.
• Bobby Lashley appearing behind Theory and Waller scaring the shit out of them was funny.
• Fine segment, simple exposition stuff. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 2.5 ⭐
Karrion Kross and Diet Judgement Day Location: Backstage Recap and Thoughts: • Backstage we're reminded Karrion Kross exists as he talks to the camera and says there's more random acts of violence.
• He takes the camera man to see AOP beating down on New Catch Republic, and says it doesn't matter where they're drafted. They will continue these random acts of violence until they get what they want. He fails to mention what they actually want. Maybe he mentioned it last week? I don't remember. Does it matter? Probably not. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 1.5 ⭐
Kiana James Location: NXT PC Recap and Thoughts: • We get a package explaining who Kiana James is, which is great, because I don't have any idea who she is.
• Her gimmick is that she's a business woman.
• She is interviewed by Jackie Redmond and Kiana says that it means the world to her, she's filled with gratitude, she's proud of her work in NXT, and is ready to show Raw that she's in the 1%. HBK congratulated her, and yeah.
• I felt this was really weak. We've gotten some terrific "introduction" vignettes in the past month, specifically for Bron and Jade, so this felt a bit meh. If I'm meant to be excited by Kiana James, this segment didn't really do much. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 2.0 ⭐
Nick Aldis and Teddy Long Location: Backstage interviewed by Kayla Braxton Recap and Thoughts: • Kayla asks Nick how he feels about the first night of the draft. Aldis says he's happy about Smackdown's selections. He says we have to turn our attention to Backlash and announces some matches: Bayley v Naomi v Tiffy in a triple threat, while Teddy Long appears to announce the Bloodline vs KO and Randy Orton.
• Just a match announcement segment. Should you watch?: No ❌ ⭐ RATING: 2.5 ⭐
TL;DR / Show Notes: • It's a new era. It's a new era. All new eras and no play makes Jack a dull boy. It's a new era. It's a new era. Did you guys know that it's a new era?!
• I love how in the Raw draft war room, they had just gotten the top of the Raw announcers table and stuck it to the wall.
• Solo has started speaking like Stevie from Malcolm in the Middle.
• This was a really boring episode of Smackdown. The Draft pick segments occupy a lot of TV time, so we didn't really get a lot of room for promos.
• While people are unhappy about there not being many draft changes, I'm not too mad as Triple H's explanation made perfect sense to me there.
• Since I've started these reviews, this might be the lowest rated episode on average overall.
What do these numbers mean? These star ratings are based off a combination of factors. Some of these include, but are not limited to: • The content of what the wrestler is saying • Their delivery of what their saying (acting) • The story surrounding the promo, and whether the promo furthers the story, or creates further intrigue/resolve for the greater story • The location, production value • A crowds investment
0 Stars: Dog Shit Bad 1 Stars: Do better 2 Stars: Fine - right down the middle. It served its purpose, but was neither phenomenal or terrible. It just was. 3 Stars: Good 4 Stars: Great 5 Stars: All-Timer Hall of Fame Promo
Should You Watch? Yes ✅️ - If you can't catch the whole show, go out of your way to watch this. Depends ↔️ - If you can't watch the whole show, you can give or take this segment. If you're particular invested in the superstars in this segment or the overall story, it might benefit you to watch. No ❌ - If you can't watch the whole show, don't bother going out of your way to watch this segment.