Good opening line for online dating

I'm buying my first house! Found a great local builder, and I'm finalising the details very soon. It'll be on rural land, semi shaded, and will get very hot in summer. I'm looking for advice on particular appliance choices for caravan/tiny homes, and also further advice on kitchen/living layout (primary area, around 2.5m*5m). I'm living solo 29m with my dog, so I don't need anything big.
Main requirements is obviously energy efficiency, but in particular I'm looking for items are quiet (preferably silent) as possible, as they'll be in an open area in-between the my bed and study (which I use to record audio). I've included some links of models I'm looking at.
These are my current appliance design choices:
Refrigerator: Schmick Quiet Energy Efficient 10 Star Bar Fridge - Model HUS-BC115-SS. I found via this review when looking at Dellcool absorption (which is good tech for silent operation, but very energy inefficient). From what I've seen, the Schmick is a quieter option, and the size of around 100L is perfect for myself.
Freezer: Ideally 70-90L seems like a good capacity. Considering layout: where would I place an upright model, or maybe a chest freezer that could double as a countertop. I haven't been able to find any reviews on quiet sound levels for the freezer. I considered placing it outside, but it'll be way too hot climate.
Dishwasher: Doesn't have to be quiet, just water and energy efficient. 45cm slimline options seem ideal, but are relatively pricey to the standard 60cm models (due to demand I presume). Otherwise I'm also considering this benchtop model, and looking for placement ideas how to integrate it within the kitchen bench/joinery.
I appreciate the perspective from others who live in caravans/tiny homes in relation to these choices. Let me know if there's a better sub that'll be able to better answer appliance-specific questions.

i didn’t lose a loved one to death but it feels like he died. i have talked to a few people about this and i’ve been told that im grieving but i don’t know if i should call it that. i wanna share my situation and would like to know what you think
i had this best friend, i’m 22 and he’s 20. i met him two years ago, he had a boyfriend back then who i met and got along with really well (this is relevant to the story) and we became really really close about a year ago and started calling each other best friend. our friendship was so pure, so close and so genuine that it felt like we knew each other since we were kids. we both mutually built this safe space for the both of us, we were there for each other on EVERY joy and every hardship of our lives during our friendship. he came to me crying many times, and he hates crying to people. i wiped so many tears off his face and i did it without asking for anything back. we texted each other all day every day, we saw each other and hung out many times during the week and always had sleepovers at my place on fridays. i loved him so much, still do, but lately i’ve been feeling like im falling in an endless hole on the ground, feeling more and more disconnected from my life as time goes by.
he’s really attractive. and all types of people always want to approach him with all kinds of intentions. especially older men, like over 30 and 40 years old with obvious intentions. it’s something that always bothered me, I for one hate when older men approach younger guys or girls so i have never even thought of having a friendship of any kind with an older man. it’s not the case with him though, he said to me that he can get something good with these types of connections with older people and that i was sexualizing him or sexualizing the situation. it was a disagreement that we always had, but it was fine, we just never hung out together with older guys because i don’t like it. our friendship was fine. a few weeks ago he told me about the existence of some 45 year old man in his life, he asked me for advice on his CV which i gave, then he compared my advice with the advice that one friend of his gave him and noticed that they were complete opposites. i sarcastically asked if his friend was 50 years old and he said no but he is 45 to which i replied what i always said about older men. it was fine, nothing happened.
so almost a month ago, on a sunday, we went to the gym and usually when we worked out on sundays we would stay at the mall for a while, eat, hang out and talk for hours until night time. that day tho, he invited that man over without asking me or telling me at all, which made me VERY uncomfortable ever since the second that i saw him. man it just makes me fucking uncomfortable seeing a grown ass man with a really young guy who isn’t even legally allowed to drink yet. i just think this man is fucking sick in the head and he’s a predator. anyway, i was really uncomfortable and you could tell by my face. he obviously noticed, and my friend noticed it too. i ended up leaving because i was really uncomfortable, i told my friend that he already knew i didn’t like older men approaching us so i was really uncomfortable and wanted to leave. when i was leaving he walked outside with me and told me that he was seeing this man as a potential partner for a serious relationship, which made me even more fucking sick to my stomach. he knew in that moment that if i didn’t like that man as his friend, i was never going to like him as his boyfriend. i left and we talked some things over text, we agreed that he would never invite him to hang out with me again, which was fine with me. i emphasized to him that i know he has his own life and can date whoever he wants, and that i just don’t agree with the decision (i literally don’t like the fact that a fucking 45 year old is approaching him and using his money, car, presents and manipulation to have a “relationship”) but i would always be there for him to support him whether it works out or not. it was fine and we kept talking normally the rest of the sunday, monday, tuesday and wednesday. on wednesday night he stopped seeing my texts. he saw my texts on thursday night, but didn’t respond. i waited a couple days and texted him, he didn’t reply. i called and he didn’t answer. then he replied to my text saying that he was disappointed in me and wanted time to distance himself from me. he said “i needed to change” because my face that day was so judgemental that the man might have felt despised and that “someone tried to give me a bad name and it all leads to one person” this made me assume that he thinks i was speaking bad about him? which i never did!! i asked him to please explain what was going on and said that he didn’t need to explain anything and that if i was so sure that i didn’t have anything to do with anything at all then i shouldn’t be worried. i tried to have a conversation but he refused, and said that he would be back but right now he doesn’t feel fine with me, that one of the reasons was that he’s trying to build a relationship with someone that he cares about and i wasn’t on his side, to which i replied that it’s not true because i literally had said that i support him no matter what and that i care about him, to which he then replied that i was trying to manipulate him. what???? he then stopped replying at all.
i waited a few more days, wrote him a lengthy message apologizing if anything i did or said made him feel bad, because it wasn’t my intention but i really wanted to talk things over because i felt like there was a misunderstanding and i also didn’t know wtf happened because just a few days before everything was completely fine, we never spoke about the old man again so i was genuinely confused… then he blocked me. i tried calling and obviously he didn’t pick up.
all of this has made me feel really shitty because it’s like he threw our friendship in the garbage for a man??? he said that i was trying to manipulate him? what??? and he treated me so bad, he was so cruel to me with the way he said things and i genuinely don’t understand what happened. i have had so much time to think and it was probably that 45 year old man who manipulated him and put him against me, he obviously didn’t like the fact that his new young boy’s best friend doesn’t like him at all. it makes no sense that on that sunday and the following days everything was fine, but suddenly he wanted to stop talking to me.
i feel so sad because our friendship was genuinely so cute, so pure, it was such a safe space, so much that i kinda caught feelings, i let him know but he didn’t feel the same so it kinda just died there and he said he never wanted to lose me as a friend. he also knows im introverted, and have a hard time talking to new people (which happened with his previous boyfriend who is our age, but then i kinda warmed up to him later and got along really well), so i genuinely mean it when i say i don’t understand what happened. he was never like this to me, he was always open to conversations. and the fact that he just easily left me has broken my heart into a million pieces. i feel like he doesn’t care what im feeling, i feel like i lost the dearest relationship that i had with a friend and it was all so sudden, with no explanations, that it feels like he died or vanished from the planet, ive felt so empty, so lonely and i never feel lonely… i’ve tried to distract myself but nothing works, i feel worse with the passing of days. i cry every day. i don’t know what to do, i feel such a void inside me… it’s so hard to explain.. it’s been almost a month and i feel worse now. i’ve tried to contact him every week and he never responds. i’m so sad and frustrated, i know friendships can drift apart when someone starts a relationship, but there’s a difference between that and completely abandoning your best friend and having 0 emotional intelligence or responsibility. i’m so sad, so angry at that fucking predator because it feels like he ruined my life, and so tired of feeling like this.

I'm looking into building a new deck and wanted to try a more control style since I tend to run extremely low if any interaction in my other decks. I want to build [[Sen Triplets]] but I've read all the hate online they seem to get and I would definitely like to play this deck at my LGS (haven't played there yet since I'm just getting back into magic and busy with school for a few more weeks). I had an idea to build an artifact control deck with [[Sen Triplets]] as the commander and if people very much don't want to play against them, have [[Sydri, Galvanic Genious]] in the 99 as a backup. Is this a good idea or is just playing control in general not going to be wanted around regardless?
To clarify, I plan on running 10-15 counterspells and single target removal combined, around 2 wipes and no stax other than a few pillow fort stuff like [[Propaganda]] and [[Norn's Annex]] although it's worth mentioning Sydri has some nasty combos with giving cards like [[Caltrops]] deathtouch or [[Aetherflux Reservoir]] lifelink. I do have infinite combos in the deck currently since I want to make sure I can end the game consistently since this is the first time I'm building control, but I also like big spell type win cons like [[Rise of the Dark Realms]]. The deck is meant to be high powered casual at maybe a level 8, but I also feel pressured to make it stronger to end the game quickly if I'm winning to avoid the toxicity and time wasting this type of strategy usually makes as much as possible.
Do I need to cut the Triplets all together? What other changes should I make? Do you think this deck is a good idea or too toxic to ever be played with either commander?
Current decklist: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/_yqh3nUoGEueUPkwvyYJcA
(Sydri is the main commander online but id prefer to play Sen Triplets if possible)

I'm looking to get another bike for no other reason besides desire. I have a vintage 1994 Bianchi currently and I use it for commuting to school. I want another bike to use for shopping trips, but mainly as a dedicated winter bike. I'm not a cyclist, I just enjoy riding bikes, so I don't wear cycling gear when I go out.
My two options are a Shogun 600 road bike and a Specialized roll elite low entrance bike. Both in good condition, the Shogun is 100 dollars and the 2 year old specialized is 50 dollars less than a new one because the seller is an ass. Still negotiating price. But which one seems better? I really want a step through frame but I can't find a bike with a low frame that also isn't single speed. I'm open to any recommendations.

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Hi everybody. For context, I (32 F) became friends with a guy (28 M) online last year. We've been really close to each other. We would call each other everyday, talk almost non stop and just in general really supported each other. Until Feb of this year hit. And he suddenly stopped talking to me as much, we would go days without even a text and when I would ask him if everything is okay, he would say I'm overthinking. I confronted him because it wasn't sitting well with me, this change. It hurt me deeply because I thought I did something wrong. The very same guy who once told me he hopes that if we ever fight, we talk things out and stay friends now says that its okay if I leave if I want to. All the things he said before he takes back. He said he is stressed because of some stuff in his work and personal life and he feels burnt out. I understand that. I totally do. But the thing is that he's felt like this before too. But I've never seen him react like that. He told me that energy change in an interpersonal dynamic is normal. Then how come I'm the same since day 1 but he has changed? I've been stressed out too. They've been so many days I've cried myself to sleep because I'm so overwhelmed with life. But never have I projected that onto him like this by changing the way I am with him. So distant, so cold. It hurts me a lot. And I analyzed myself a lot. I was wondering why this was affecting me so much and I realised that I think i have feelings for him. And I hate it. I just want to be friends because I'm in that space right now where first of all, I don't think it would be possible to date him because he lives far away, second, I don't think he even likes me that way and third, I'm in my single not ready to mingle era. What do i do? How do I get rid of this feeling? Is it really normal to have an energy change like this or there's just something wrong with me? Because I don't change. I've never changed. I'm still the same. Please help.

I dont know how this is going to be recieved on here. I am trans, and I know some people feel a certain way about that. I don’t know if this is almost “Am I the asshole 🤓” type post, but I am looking for advice.
I have this coworker. At this point, we are friends. Good friends! We hang out, talk on the phone, go out to eat go get fast food, go out to drink, go to his house, smoke and talk, etc.
The first time I met him, I had the biggest crush on him. He was everything I was looking for. He’s cute and was so weird and so funny and my speed. So, I felt him out. Tried to catch a vibe. I tried not to see anything through some hopeful lense, especially the closer we got. I didn’t want to embarrass myself, get my feelings hurt. So, I kept just feeling the vibe. Then I started to hear things, but he clarified to people that, yes he has kissed a couple boys, but he doesn’t know how he feels about it. So, I settled it in my head. Ba! Done. No mas.
Then, he got just… so! unbelievably! comfortable! Dont get me wrong, If you make a little flirtatious joke, I’ll match the energy! men, women, anyone inbetween. It’s a joke. But this guy, takes it so far and just with me. He has best friends, guy friends, who get a dick joke, straight man behavior type “gay” for shits and gigs.
Everyday, I come in, clock on, and I get a little “well hello there, gorgeous!”, “hi there my beautiful boy”, “welcome in, chico suave!”
Just two weeks ago, I was clocking on, apron on, and he loops his finger behind the bow of my apron string and tugs me back. I like “????” and turn around to this foo holding the end fuckin slowly untieing it as I turn around. and he goes “I’m takin it off you” just mad cheesin.
He’s given me money, to which he said hed be really hurt if I didnt take it. In a little note about getting a tattoo I said I wanted a few weeks back. It was because I told him that we were good friends and that id he there for him, through what he was going through. Apparently it made him cry. He gets me gifts of things he knows I like, that reminded him of me.
When we go out, whenever I try to pay, he will physically bring me closer to him, get me all wwe twisted up, and grip tf out of my hands to stop me. Like phew take it slow on the daddy behavvior, buddy. lol.
He talks about a lot of stuff with me, which is what friends do. But, he calls me at 2 am to see what Im up to, if I want to talk. He usually does.
He lives in my skin, nearly. He’s always wanting to hug, to be right behind me, bro just exist as close as possible, shoulders touching at work, when were out. Wanting to sit in a swinging bench at a bar and sit shoulder to shoulder.
He will come up to me and just “remind” me how beautiful I am. Like..c’mon.
It was at this time , I said, yanno what, fuck it! I need to know. I made up a guy. Toxic. I know. Said I didnt know if he was interested. Read back his behavior. I thought it was obvious, but thats not really I guess how to go about it LOL. He said that’s how he would show he is interested. Asked a few more questions and said “yeah, that dude has feelings he just needs to be confronted”.
So, now there is this girl. He wants to talk about her with me. How she has a man, how he doesnt know i she will commiy. She ended up being a girl at work. Some 19 year old. She was always loud and proud about hating women LMAOO ignoring the girls becuase “girls are drama, I can only be friends with guys.”
Now, I get him in trouble apparently when I go to HIS HOUSE. But the same cant be said about our OTHER guy coworker.
He brings her in when I am working and I admit, i get a little sad.
I want to tell him I dont want him to really talk him to talk about her with me; their ups and downs, how she wont give him a straight answer, dump him, come back, want a fuckin restraining order to be able to fully break up?? be okay again?
Is that mean? Am I a bad friend for that? I dont think I really want to hear about it, but I dont know how to do that without giving it all away. We work together, once thats out, its out. If I make it weird then, thats it. I dont know what to do.
Again, Im sorry if this isnt the right place? or if Im out of line.

i didn’t lose a loved one to death but it feels like he died. i have talked to a few people about this and i’ve been told that im grieving but i don’t know if i should call it that. i wanna share my situation and would like to know what you think
i had this best friend, i’m 22 and he’s 20. i met him two years ago, he had a boyfriend back then who i met and got along with really well (this is relevant to the story) and we became really really close about a year ago and started calling each other best friend. our friendship was so pure, so close and so genuine that it felt like we knew each other since we were kids. we both mutually built this safe space for the both of us, we were there for each other on EVERY joy and every hardship of our lives during our friendship. he came to me crying many times, and he hates crying to people. i wiped so many tears off his face and i did it without asking for anything back. we texted each other all day every day, we saw each other and hung out many times during the week and always had sleepovers at my place on fridays. i loved him so much, still do, but lately i’ve been feeling like im falling in an endless hole on the ground, feeling more and more disconnected from my life as time goes by.
he’s really attractive. and all types of people always want to approach him with all kinds of intentions. especially older men, like over 30 and 40 years old with obvious intentions. it’s something that always bothered me, I for one hate when older men approach younger guys or girls so i have never even thought of having a friendship of any kind with an older man. it’s not the case with him though, he said to me that he can get something good with these types of connections with older people and that i was sexualizing him or sexualizing the situation. it was a disagreement that we always had, but it was fine, we just never hung out together with older guys because i don’t like it. our friendship was fine. a few weeks ago he told me about the existence of some 45 year old man in his life, he asked me for advice on his CV which i gave, then he compared my advice with the advice that one friend of his gave him and noticed that they were complete opposites. i sarcastically asked if his friend was 50 years old and he said no but he is 45 to which i replied what i always said about older men. it was fine, nothing happened.
so almost a month ago, on a sunday, we went to the gym and usually when we worked out on sundays we would stay at the mall for a while, eat, hang out and talk for hours until night time. that day tho, he invited that man over without asking me or telling me at all, which made me VERY uncomfortable ever since the second that i saw him. man it just makes me fucking uncomfortable seeing a grown ass man with a really young guy who isn’t even legally allowed to drink yet. i just think this man is fucking sick in the head and he’s a predator. anyway, i was really uncomfortable and you could tell by my face. he obviously noticed, and my friend noticed it too. i ended up leaving because i was really uncomfortable, i told my friend that he already knew i didn’t like older men approaching us so i was really uncomfortable and wanted to leave. when i was leaving he walked outside with me and told me that he was seeing this man as a potential partner for a serious relationship, which made me even more fucking sick to my stomach. he knew in that moment that if i didn’t like that man as his friend, i was never going to like him as his boyfriend. i left and we talked some things over text, we agreed that he would never invite him to hang out with me again, which was fine with me. i emphasized to him that i know he has his own life and can date whoever he wants, and that i just don’t agree with the decision (i literally don’t like the fact that a fucking 45 year old is approaching him and using his money, car, presents and manipulation to have a “relationship”) but i would always be there for him to support him whether it works out or not. it was fine and we kept talking normally the rest of the sunday, monday, tuesday and wednesday. on wednesday night he stopped seeing my texts. he saw my texts on thursday night, but didn’t respond. i waited a couple days and texted him, he didn’t reply. i called and he didn’t answer. then he replied to my text saying that he was disappointed in me and wanted time to distance himself from me. he said “i needed to change” because my face that day was so judgemental that the man might have felt despised and that “someone tried to give me a bad name and it all leads to one person” this made me assume that he thinks i was speaking bad about him? which i never did!! i asked him to please explain what was going on and said that he didn’t need to explain anything and that if i was so sure that i didn’t have anything to do with anything at all then i shouldn’t be worried. i tried to have a conversation but he refused, and said that he would be back but right now he doesn’t feel fine with me, that one of the reasons was that he’s trying to build a relationship with someone that he cares about and i wasn’t on his side, to which i replied that it’s not true because i literally had said that i support him no matter what and that i care about him, to which he then replied that i was trying to manipulate him. what???? he then stopped replying at all.
i waited a few more days, wrote him a lengthy message apologizing if anything i did or said made him feel bad, because it wasn’t my intention but i really wanted to talk things over because i felt like there was a misunderstanding and i also didn’t know wtf happened because just a few days before everything was completely fine, we never spoke about the old man again so i was genuinely confused… then he blocked me. i tried calling and obviously he didn’t pick up.
all of this has made me feel really shitty because it’s like he threw our friendship in the garbage for a man??? he said that i was trying to manipulate him? what??? and he treated me so bad, he was so cruel to me with the way he said things and i genuinely don’t understand what happened. i have had so much time to think and it was probably that 45 year old man who manipulated him and put him against me, he obviously didn’t like the fact that his new young boy’s best friend doesn’t like him at all. it makes no sense that on that sunday and the following days everything was fine, but suddenly he wanted to stop talking to me.
i feel so sad because our friendship was genuinely so cute, so pure, it was such a safe space, so much that i kinda caught feelings, i let him know but he didn’t feel the same so it kinda just died there and he said he never wanted to lose me as a friend. he also knows im introverted, and have a hard time talking to new people (which happened with his previous boyfriend who is our age, but then i kinda warmed up to him later and got along really well), so i genuinely mean it when i say i don’t understand what happened. he was never like this to me, he was always open to conversations. and the fact that he just easily left me has broken my heart into a million pieces. i feel like he doesn’t care what im feeling, i feel like i lost the dearest relationship that i had with a friend and it was all so sudden, with no explanations, that it feels like he died or vanished from the planet, ive felt so empty, so lonely and i never feel lonely… i’ve tried to distract myself but nothing works, i feel worse with the passing of days. i cry every day. i don’t know what to do, i feel such a void inside me… it’s so hard to explain.. it’s been almost a month and i feel worse now. i’ve tried to contact him every week and he never responds. i’m so sad and frustrated, i know friendships can drift apart when someone starts a relationship, but there’s a difference between that and completely abandoning your best friend and having 0 emotional intelligence or responsibility. i’m so sad, so angry at that fucking predator because it feels like he ruined my life, and so tired of feeling like this.

rant ko lang. super kalat na kasi sa bahay puro mga bagong gamit na naluma na at mga bagong gamit na alam kong maluluma na di magagamit. naiinis ako na puro online shopping nanay ko ng mga gamit na di nya magagamit at di namin magagamit. dami nya binibili na para samin na hindi rin naman kasya samin or di namin gusto talaga kaya nasasayang lang. hindi nya pinapamigay mga gamit na di na nagagamit. lahat nakatambak sa bahay, yung isang kwarto ron sa loob ng bahay literal na naging bodega na. nakakainis kasi wala talagang balak nanay ko na linisin yung bodega na yon. gusto kong linisin kaso sa dulo naiistress lang ako kasi di ko rin alam ano gagawin sa mga kalat na gamit. sinasabi ko naman sakanya na wag bili nang bili.
i appreciate her for buying things na alam nyang gusto namin. pero practicality wise all in all, hindi kasi okay mag online shopping. size palang pag di na sumakto sayo di mo naman mababalik yung item. madalas hindi ko rin naman style yung binibili nya (di naman ako nagpapabili, which is i appreciate pero mas lalo lang ako nasstress kasi hindi nga magagamit)
ewan nakakapagod lang magalit at makonsensya at the same time. minsan overpriced pa mga binibili nya eh cheap naman material. ang bilis nyang mauto sa mga ganon. nakakapagod.
ang akin lang eh pag tumanda na sila't nawala samin maiimbak tong mga unused gamit. nakakapagod talaga at nakakainis isipin. kahit ilang beses sabihan. ayoko rin naman magalit kasi syempre mahhurt nanay ko. ang dali dali para sakanya magsplurge ng pera habang ako halos lahat ng essentials sa buhay tinitipid ko para makatipid ang pamilya. nakakainis! mukha nang basurahan yung bahay. sana naginvest nalang sya sa mga good quality na bagay tutal marami naman pera tatay ko na nassplurge nya. ang mema talaga.

He added me on Facebook I thought he was cool we worked together over a handful of times. I added him back I feel like it’s good to have coworkers info or social media for shift coverage or something. He starts texted me on messenger about stuff then asks if I was still dating my boyfriend. I told him yes. He says too bad I was hoping you were single. I send a picture of me and my boyfriend together told him we’ve been together for over a year now. Then he says, too bad I can’t show you a pic or what I would give you.
He’s older than me. I’m not sure what to do in this situation as he is a coworker and I may see him around again. Should I tell my bosses, just block and delete his number. Just leave it alone?

Sorry for how long this is about to be. Me(20m) and my girlfriend(20f) have been dating for 6 months now and we are both very much in love. She is one of the best parts of my life and there are few things that make me as happy as she does. She’s very physically affectionate, always kissing, hugging, clinging onto me, it’s great, but we also know how to create space when needed. We met in college where we have next to all of our classes together. Since getting closer we’ve been able to build a strong relationship with lots of honesty, trust, and openness; even when it’s ugly. We spend lots of time together, go on plenty of dates and do sweet things for each other. Our relationship is almost ideal.
One thing I have struggled to be honest with her about however is my dissatisfaction with our sex life. For context her and I are both coming from two very different places in terms of experience. I have a pretty extensive sexual history whereas she was a virgin when we got together, having only dated and messed around with women. We didn’t actually start having sex until pretty late into our relationship. Knowing she was very inexperienced and likely intimidated by the prospect of sex, I established that I wanted us to go at her pace so she’d be more comfortable. This resulted in several months of me doing foreplay for her only without anything in return. To be fair I was fine with this and never put up a fuss as I don’t really need it as long as she was satisfied. I was also operating under the assumption that we’d be having sex at some point down the line and therefore was willing to wait. We discussed having a conversation about sex early on but she either forgot about this or neglected to bring it up as months passed before we had the conversation. We only ever had it after my asking if she remembered us talking about it. The conversation itself only really amounted to her asking if I had condoms, which I assumed meant she wanted to try having sex.
For more context I put a lot of pressure on myself in the bedroom. Not trying to sound like a douche, or talk myself up, but I like to ensure that my partner has a very satisfying experience. I’m always sure to ask and communicate about what does and doesn’t work for them both during and after the act. Given how much I was doing for her at the start of the relationship I became very familiar with her body and how to satisfy her in those ways so I assumed sex would be a cake walk. When we did finally have sex it seemed fine, she finished, but I didn’t really feel any spark or passion as I didn’t feel I was getting much from her until the end. I wrote that off as first time awkwardness and looked forward to the next time. This however, was the start of another issue. We would often go a week or two without having sex. In the course of our six month relationship we’ve had sex a total of 7 times which to me isn’t entirely satisfactory, as I’m used to a higher frequency but I figured she just needed time to get used to sex with a male. The second time we had sex was pretty bad and I beat myself up for it quite a lot, feeling like I was at fault for her not being satisfied and the overall lack of passion. I desperately wanted a redo and would only get the chance a couple weeks later when we were on vacation together. The sex then was great, almost night and day compared to what we’d been doing. I figured we’d finally gotten in a good rhythm and she’d gotten used to the feeling of sex, having had it three nights in a row. However we soon returned to going weeks without having sex with one another. I was totally baffled and eventually decided to talk to her about my confusion with our situation. We’ve always been very honest about what we do and don’t like in the bedroom, so I told her I was unahppy with how infrequent sex had become and the overall lack of spontaneity in our sex life. She assured me she enjoys it and has been wanting to be more active as well which confused me, but I brushed that aside excited at the prospect of this issue being resolved. That brings us to the most recent time we’ve been together. It was, again, terrible, there were moments she said where she was feeling good but overall the experience seemed more painful for her than anything. This has really thrown me for a loop as I thought we’d gotten over this hump. And yes I know everyone has their off days but adding all this up I just feel a general dissatisfaction and with a core aspect of our relationship. Sex has always been a very important part of my life, relationship building and even self expression, silly as that sounds, and I worry I may have to give that part of myself up if I continue in this relationship. The prospect of losing her over something as trivial as sex in the context of our wonderful relationship really tears me up inside. I love this girl so much but we just can’t seem to make it work in the bedroom half the time. I’d keep talking to her about it but everyone I do I worry that she’ll feel pressured to put on a show for me, and then who’s enjoying that? I also feel as if it makes sex seem like a bigger deal than it actually is everytime we have to have sit down talk about it. I’m just not sure what to do, any help would be appreciated.
TLDR: me and my girlfriend’s sex life has been very touch and go and I’m worried it’s because we are sexually incompatible. I’m not sure how to deal with this.

So me and my boyfriend have been dating for almost a year now. He’s great and we have so much in common. Recently though I’ve just been kind of sad in the relationship as he has a very good family relationship while I do not. He spends a lot of time with his family and does everything with them. He tells his mom everything and is very close with his siblings. He lives at home and is dependent still. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with this cause we are very young. Me on the contrary do not talk to my parents often nor live with them. I work and support myself. His family has been very nice to me and i’m grateful for it, but i can’t help but feel almost jealous and sad sometimes by how his family dynamic is. He gets to go on these fun vacations and travel, while I stay in the comfort of my home cause I can’t afford to keep up with the things his family does. Specifically his family is going to lalapalooza for his birthday and it’s something i wish i could go to so bad. I feel like any person would be but this is my bf so i fell it’s different. Anytime they talk about plans at dinner I always sit there feeling out of place. I don’t mind living a simple life by any means I’m grateful for what i’ve been given. I just feel bad for being jealous of my own boyfriend. I don’t wanna be jealous or sad. I just wish I had half the family he has. I’ve voiced my concerns and he says it’s not a good mindset to my jealous and he can’t really understand cause our situations are different. So is this something i can work through?

Normally when I play 2k I solely play MyCareer offline but this year I decided to try out online and it was very fun and challenging but now after about a few weeks of playing I've noticed it is very hard to move up in plates. I normally don't care about this but I've realized the plate you have significantly impacts your ability to find games as higher rated plates will just leave your city/rec lobby once they see you are a black/bronze plate. While there are definitely quality players who play well at this level, many of them also deliberately take bad shots, don't play defense, or just flat-out throw games if they are not touching the ball every possession.
I'm not pretending that I'm great at this game, or even good at the moment. I'm bronze and I have a 2-way sharpshooter and while I can consistently play great defense, it is way harder to time my releases and I'm only shooting about 45% from the field and 40% from 3.
My question is for the players who weren't always good at the game, how did you progress? Obviously you get better the more you play but the problem seems to be that there is no matchmaking of similar ranking/skill-level in 2k. This combined with the fact that the game punishes you for losing, leads to a lot of the higher rated players teaming up and beating the others. It can get frustrating as a solo online player who does not have many friends that play 2k.
Is there a mode online I'm not aware of that matches player of similar skills level? If not I can imagine I'll be stuck in this purgatory where I'm trying to improve playing rec/city matches but keep getting crushed by opposing teams of vastly higher ranked players.

TL;DR: My first relationship ended after 2 years, filled with family drama, mental health struggles, and constant fights. Despite my efforts to make things work, including sacrificing friendships and financial stability, my partner became distant, compared me to others, and eventually admitted to hanging out with someone else. I made mistakes too, struggling with bipolar disorder and inadvertently causing harm by involving others. Now, I'm devastated, experiencing panic attacks, and desperate for advice on coping with this heartbreak.
This a long rant and just want to let my heart out.
My partner (F20) of 2 years broke up with me and it was my very first relationship. Things were rocky for us due to various factors including horrifying incidents like we both come for conservative families and were caught being alone at my house, also had serious fights over various issues. I am clinically tested for Bipolar Disorder (mild) and she for ADHD (severe). We were from same high school, even lived near and used to go for same coaching. At first she hated me but eventually fell in love and asked me out. I was already in love with her and it was dream come true. We had a fairytale story for about 8-9 months when the caught incident happened resulting in fights between both families who btw were extremely good with each other before finding out about us. We both were strictly warned never to contact each other ever again but we still did. We both moved for college in same city. I had opportunity to go another prestigious college in far away city, but me being a fool opted for subpar college close to hers. It was traumatic for us both so 2-3 months went in recovering from family fights and we were again having good time. She befriended a girl who was extremely toxic and used to give her ill advices, my partner being immature used to blindly listen and cause issues between us. I also have a female best friend from school as well whic we have completely platonic relationship but she hated the fact that I had her as a best friend as there were rumors of us being a couple in middle school. For my partner's sake I cut off with the best friend and almost everyone she had issues with, I was in deep love and didn't wanted to make her upset and lose her. She always has been a extreme introvert with minimal to no friends and very toxic abusive family. I was with her when she was having the worst time including mental and physical abuse by her parents over studies, college and future. I always encouraged her to make friends, no matter gender and spend time with them.
Almost a year later on my bday she had a dress up party at her college and I had exams. She wished me at midnight, again in morning and that's it. Whole day there were no texts, no calls, no nothing. I was highly upset as I was expecting a surprise as I previously mentioned I had cut off everyone so only one I had was her. Way past 7 PM I got text from her she is leaving from college campus to go to her private hostel, which had path from a slum area infamous for mugging, rapes, etc. I advised her to take another longer but safer route and go in group. She said yes and didn't had any contact upto 9 PM. I contacted her another friend who told me my partner had left at 7 itself... It's been 2hrs no contact with her, also she had not taken the long route and went the infamous one. I sent numerous texts and dozens of calls only to get a text message at 9 - 930 that she was busy having shower and later had a call with her mother. I scolded her for being so irresponsible. She got upset, wished me happy birthday once again and went to sleep. I cried all night and next day decided to end things with her and sent a text addressing the same. She cried whole day and I got call from her various friends and I explained them the situation. Later I agreed to talk to her. I was expecting a apology but she didn't say anything and was making puppy sad faces. It really pissed me off and I started raging out. Also the dress up she wore for the event in college was little revealing (office formals but very tight ones) and in fit of rage said "You went dressed like a w***e", I agree it was way out of line and I regretted instantly. Said sorry multiple times but it offended her a lot.
We fit rough patch after that and had tough 2-3 months. I was confused, I blocked her but used to end up unblocking and talk with her. She had suicidal tendencies and one day ended up drinking entire bottle of cough syrup. Also she revealed to me about her past, where one of her family member had tried to touching her inappropriately. Although I was very angry, I immediately went to meet her and comfort her. But still we had tough time for a month. Then I got a call one day from her friends saying she hasn't been eating much and fainted. I had food poisoning with extreme painful stomach, but I still went h to her traveling 2 hrs on 2 buses and took her out to eat. Where she just had teary eyes and no words were spoken. I left like that but I realised I can't live without her, can't see her sad, can't let anything happen to her and her being so much sad is proof she feels bad, she won't be able to express in words but she feels it, we reconciled following day. After that things started getting normal. Even her toxic friend started showing her true colors and my partner cut her off. All was well and good until she befriended a new friend who has a rich boyfriend who used to pamper her in materialistic as well as other ways. She started comparing me with him.
We used to meet at my home and it being 40-45 min travelling time I used to drop or pick her up, and she used to use cab for one way travel. She used to complain how I don't do both, pick up as well as drop. We used to meet only on weekends and were physically active. She had a high sex drive resulting in 1hr to 1.5 hrs of lovemaking which would drain me out and was too tirying to drop her and come back. But I always used to pay for her cab as well as her other needs like clothes, food ordering etc etc. Her family used to send mere money and I used to spend on her being myself not buying anything or at times skipping meals, just for her happiness. Even send medicines, buy heating bag for period cramps as well as paying off her credit which overall used to consume 30-40% of my monthly budget. Which I never complained or felt bad, seeing her happy made me happy.
But in Jan of this year I got really depressed regarding studies, her fighting behavior as well as family issues. It led to affect my body physically as well and I got IBS. I was admitted in hospital for 3 weeks at my hometown and resting for next 2 weeks. Almost 1.5 months I was away. I was back for my midterms and went to pick her up from the station as she was home as well. She embedded up paying 100x times more to cab for just dropping her from main area to little out. I was upset and scolded her for being so irresponsible and wasting money. She didn't talk with me all the way to home and was silent as well when we reached home. Later we talked and had lovely time but while dropping her off the morning issue came up again and she was quite the whole time. Despite having pain in stomach I had gone to pick her up as well as drop and she being silent bothered me. I dropped her half way to her dorm and booked her a cab to go. Please note it was a populated metropolitan square with 500-600 people passing by and not some dark road. Also I made sure she sat in her cab and went home. I came back and didn't wanted to talk with her. I had to go back to my hometown for further treatment, but it had gotten worse and was admitted again. She had her exams so I never bothered her with details but I had to take high dose multi vitamin injections which were painful as bullet and of wrongly administered can cause extreme pain. And unfortunately one time it got wrongly administered and I had screaming pain, also it was her last day of exams so I just messaged her call immediately after exam which was approx at 3-4 PM. She said ok but didn't text until 7-8 PM. I asked where she was, she just said she was hanging out with friends and came back now and I being in pain said things like, when you will suffer same and your loved one will ignore you, you will understand and blocked her. After a few days I contacted back and never ever I had seen her talk the way she was talking. Extreme rude, careless and right up saying I don't want you. Your illness causes all pain.
I was devastated and tried apologising and making up. She was firm and wasn't budging. This went for few days and she ended up telling she has been going out with some guy, just 2 of them. She admitted it's just friends and nothing else. It was hurtful and cause my IBS to worsen, I was admitted back at 3 AM crying and crying.
I remember , on her birthday I had planned whole day out. Movies, parks, restaurant and various surprises, but she being introvert and lazy chose to stay home with me and order in. And now being so excited to go out with him was shocking for me. Also she started playing video games which she never had interest when I used to tell her to join me.
Also she used to waste a lot of time on social media and YouTube resulting in no studies. I advised her to delete social media to focus on studies. Which used to cause fights. I myself never had any social media except Reddit.
A few things to consider:
She has extreme high temper
She does extreme overthinking
Also always assumes I blame her for everything
And most importantantly, she thinks she is the only one with problems in whole world and other's problems are menial
I got back to the city and tried visiting her, calling her but she didn't wanted to meet. I literally felt my soul leaving my body. Shivering, crying, sleepless nights, and when slept, nightmares. Even had panic attacks and everything. I texted her million times apologising, begging her, literally*
But she just was straight up rude.
I finally planned a big surprise. I cooked burgers for her and her friends from scratch. Drew a drawing of her. Sang her favorite song as well as a self written song begging her to dont let me go or else I will die. Letter explaining my love to her, as well as promise to change according to her. Follow everything she says, never say hurtful stuff, and never do anything she doesn't like. Completely change myself. Also added a bouquet and some care stuff and sent to her yesterday. She said all this was mental torture for her. And she didn't wanted to meet at all. I was deeply upset and just ended up saying suicidal things and went away. Even ended up cutting myself on hand a bit. But she ended up coming to meet me but straight up said I don't want her. She has lost all love for me and never ever want me in my life ever again. And left.
I have been crying all night and even had 2 panic attacks.
Please note:
My behavior was main reason as well:
As I mention I am Bipolar, I used to end up blocking her for days on end just to avoid me saying anything hurtful to her.
I once in my depressive episodes ended up contacting her toxic friend and telling her some of the things, which she ended up telling everyone in their college completely destroying my partner's image which I regret a lot.
Also my female best friend, I used to tell her everything (nothing intimate... But sharing appropriate things) and my partner used to hate it. I stopped doing that immediately but she held a grudge till now.
And I ended up involving a lot of people in this because she had blocked me everywhere and I was desperate for someone to convince to meet me in person and talk it out.
This has been like a truck smashing my out of nowhere and I can't recover at all. Especially with no one to talk and just crying and crying.
People who went through first heartbreaks, or whom you thought was your the one, literally planned entire life with that person, please help me get through this.

I'm currently planning on become a patent lawyer with a chemical or biomedical engineering background. This of course isn't 100% as there i could also possibly end up trying to go to med school or get a PhD, or even trying to break into IB, but the current plan is IP law. I am planning on majoring in Chemical or Biomedical Engineering with a minodouble major (depending on the university) in something more fun like economics, political science, history, etc. With that being said, here are the pros and cons
Rice Pros happy undergraduates residential colleges top 10 bme department i have undergrad research basically lined up MD Anderson i have family/family friends in Houston I could intern a lot at the Baker institute for public policy research as well very nice grade inflation received scholarship so its about the same price as GTech collaborative atmosphere cons not great econ department i don't love houston closest well known law school is in austin Cornell Pros dat ivy league status and prestige cornell is a well known ivy league law school feeder produces a crap ton of NSF scholars nice campus i know a few students there negatives most expensive school on the list, and i heard they only increase their costs as you go on pretty bad grade deflation in the engineering college can't realistically double major ithaca is literally in the middle of nowhere everyone says people are depressed there (idk how true that is) there is like no collaborative culture, everyone seems cutthroat i don't want to have to watch my back 24/7 for four years Johns Hopkins positives arguably greatest med school in the world tons of research opportunities technically the highest ranked school in this list very good foreign relations department Negatives baltimore everyone says its depressing i didn't apply to BME, and its nigh impossible to transfer into BME, so I would be in the ChemE department, which isn't really a chem e department so much as its a bme reject department everyone and their mom there is a premed university seems not to care about undergrads i have heard about a fair amount of grade deflation second most expensive school, not much cheaper than cornell no law school UT Austin pros visited and vibed with the whole thing seems super fun, Austin is fun in general very well regarded Chem E department law school on campus i heard once you start to attend if they like you they shower you in scholarships and make you in state somehow negatives pretty pricey for now, tentatively more so than rice very big school, easy to get 'lost' among everyone else obviously doesn't have the same name factor as the previous schools i have heard of some pretty bad GPAs coming out of UT Austin engineering Georgia Tech Pros any engineering you do will be top notch negatives there is nothing non STEM offered here Atlanta pretty bad grade deflation similar price as rice for much more non-personal treatment it seems to me like they don't care much for undergrads everyone there is kind of a industry obssesed engineer no law school, or even med school really (idk if you would count emory) Minnesota Pros arguably best chem E department here great scholarship that gives me in state, if not more could probably negotiate the scholarship higher Cons no-one hears Minnesota and thinks 'wow this guy is crazy good' its not really that great at anything beyond chem e tbh networking will be a lil mid Local State University pros ik for a fact it would be fun most of my friends are going there i would basically already know everyone i have significant ties to the university and would receive very nice 'baby' treatment i could easily be one of the best in my class basically free to go negatives no-name university ranked way worse than even top 100 pretty strong greek life presence wouldn't have competition which might lead me to not do much i would basically be required to get a graduate degree if i plan on doing anything beyond working for like chevron phillips i would be made fun of forever and ever i might get depressed idk

I'm currently planning on become a patent lawyer with a chemical or biomedical engineering background. This of course isn't 100% as there i could also possibly end up trying to go to med school or get a PhD, or even trying to break into IB, but the current plan is IP law. I am planning on majoring in Chemical or Biomedical Engineering with a minodouble major (depending on the university) in something more fun like economics, political science, history, etc. With that being said, here are the pros and cons
Rice Pros
happy undergraduates
residential colleges
top 10 bme department
i have undergrad research basically lined up
MD Anderson
i have family/family friends in Houston
I could intern a lot at the Baker institute for public policy research as well
very nice grade inflation
received scholarship so its about the same price as GTech
collaborative atmosphere
cons
not great econ department
i don't love houston
closest well known law school is in austin
​
Cornell Pros
dat ivy league status and prestige
cornell is a well known ivy league law school feeder
produces a crap ton of NSF scholars
nice campus
i know a few students there
negatives
most expensive school on the list, and i heard they only increase their costs as you go on
pretty bad grade deflation in the engineering college
can't realistically double major
ithaca is literally in the middle of nowhere
everyone says people are depressed there (idk how true that is)
there is like no collaborative culture, everyone seems cutthroat
i don't want to have to watch my back 24/7 for four years
​
Johns Hopkins positives
arguably greatest med school in the world
tons of research opportunities
technically the highest ranked school in this list
very good foreign relations department
Negatives
baltimore
everyone says its depressing
i didn't apply to BME, and its nigh impossible to transfer into BME, so I would be in the ChemE department, which isn't really a chem e department so much as its a bme reject department
everyone and their mom there is a premed
university seems not to care about undergrads
i have heard about a fair amount of grade deflation
second most expensive school, not much cheaper than cornell
no law school
​
UT Austin pros
visited and vibed with the whole thing
seems super fun, Austin is fun in general
very well regarded Chem E department
law school on campus
i heard once you start to attend if they like you they shower you in scholarships and make you in state somehow
​
negatives
pretty pricey for now, tentatively more so than rice
very big school, easy to get 'lost' among everyone else
obviously doesn't have the same name factor as the previous schools
i have heard of some pretty bad GPAs coming out of UT Austin engineering
​
Georgia Tech Pros
any engineering you do will be top notch
​
negatives
there is nothing non STEM offered here
Atlanta
pretty bad grade deflation
similar price as rice for much more non-personal treatment
it seems to me like they don't care much for undergrads
everyone there is kind of a industry obssesed engineer
no law school, or even med school really (idk if you would count emory)
​
Minnesota Pros
arguably best chem E department here
great scholarship that gives me in state, if not more
could probably negotiate the scholarship higher
​
Cons
no-one hears Minnesota and thinks 'wow this guy is crazy good'
its not really that great at anything beyond chem e tbh
networking will be a lil mid
​
Local State University pros
ik for a fact it would be fun
most of my friends are going there
i would basically already know everyone
i have significant ties to the university and would receive very nice 'baby' treatment
i could easily be one of the best in my class
basically free to go
negatives
no-name university
ranked way worse than even top 100
pretty strong greek life presence
wouldn't have competition which might lead me to not do much
i would basically be required to get a graduate degree if i plan on doing anything beyond working for like chevron phillips
i would be made fun of forever and ever
i might get depressed idk

Yet another three months away from this sub... I swear if anyone of you know me, I'll be surprised at this point. Anyway, here ye go!
Also, to any of you that actually like my stuff and want more of it sooner, I'm happy to say that I have more time set to this more than ever before! So, buckle up cause I'm going to be posting as much as I can with the best quality I can provide!
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Notice: This story is about to humanity, but they are introduced much later into the narrative.
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First: Chains of The Veiled : humansarespaceorcs (reddit.com)
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Never has the light of hydrogen fusion felt so cold. Our orbit was all but a few thousand kilometers from the surface of an infernal furnace of the vacuum in which we trek. A star which functioned at the location for a galactic travel hub. Hundreds of Warp Gates, all orbiting the start so closely in order to provide themselves with the necessary power. Warp gates which were suspended in place by solar sails constantly utilizing the photons emitted to remain in their orbit so low to the star. It was a complex machine which could maintain a perfect orbit around a healthy star, all with the powers that such suns provided. A genius of engineering and physics that allowed all species of the Galactic Assembly easy travel and access to countless other worlds. These gates were the lifeblood as much as they were the backbone…
And so close to us was a Hubgate, crumbling at the seams. Torpedoes from the black craft struck at crucial hardpoints. The force causes the gate to collapse down into the gravity well of the Solar mass, no longer able to maintain its stable orbit. It was a rapid collapse due to the mass of the star itself, leading the structure and any left inside of it charing beyond the point of ashes. From the screens of the bridge, I watched from rear facing cameras as the very means of what provided our salvation crumbled. Any that might have been behind us either were left to the perverted mitts of those black fleet scum, or flew head first into the stars, incinerating almost immediately.
We were thousands of lightyears from the Fulkari territories, but despite the distance I could still hear the ongoing screams in the back of my mind as I knew chaos continued to boil in the distant void. The tension from our near death encounter began to slowly fade, as adrenaline began to lessen within the blood streams of everyone present on the bridge. There were several that collapsed from the built up stress from the previous engagement, sobbing and mumbling sighs of relief followed in tandem with the first one to collapse…
The first being Kazzi, in all of her tearful state. She collapsed onto her knees just off to my side, eyes glazed over with a sense of realization. Reality ramming down a mallet upon everything she had and lived for. Her life, her reputation, her home, any family that couldn’t have escaped in time, it was all ashes. Entombed behind lightyears of travel which we could no longer reach. We saw on the other end of the warp gates that Black fleet torpedo craft were sent to destroy each gate that connected to each hub star. Along with any allied gates, effectively isolating the remaining Fulkari colonies to a bitter end, and a shallow, yet radioactive grave.
She knew all of this, and even more that I couldn’t even begin to try and understand. I never knew who she was all that well, only basing my perception of her based on stereotypes. I could only envision her as a sort of rich snob who constantly needed to remind others of her worth in order to actually feel like it. However, for once I saw something that made her seem like much more of a person. Terror, and loss, emotions which swirled all throughout the visage of a woman who just lost everything to mechanical nightmares.
All she had was this ship, and whatever money she had left her bank saved up. Whilst it was likely a lot given her position as an executive, no amount of money could ever repair a broken life so extreme as that. That I know, a healthy family is a priceless artifact that’s difficult to part with when the inevitability of death claims them. A state of being wrought so soon by forces from a dark beyond. That Black Fleet, whatever it is, has caused so much unnecessary suffering. It’s just like the Foretold and how they were destined to ruin everything. Vile creatures that just refused to die, as if they were evil incarnate. A force of the natural world that just couldn’t die out despite all of their harmful tendencies.
I watched the emotion in her face amalgamate into something of pure sorrow. Tears poured from eyes which beamed despair… She was left a mumbling mess, struggling to compose what little she had of herself. I sighed, moving away from my terminal. I walked up to Kazzi and enveloped her in a hug. She showed no resistance at my advance, and actively moved to return my gesture in kind. However, Kazzi seemed to be doing so instinctively rather than consciously, as she remained in this state of glazed horror. I did my best to comfort her in what was clearly her darkest hour.
A transmission was received on our comms unit, and the closest person did their best to respond. Clicking on the accept button, a repeat message played on loop. An almost robotic tone flooded the bridge, “This is Admiral Gesvolt of the AGN. To any and all vessels who can hear this message, we have just received the alert regarding the collapse of the Fulkari warp network due to outside parties and malicious forces. Should you be refugees from this assault upon the Fulkari, redirect your course to the Core. Station 68 shall be awaiting you for processing and interrogation…”
The message seemed to repeat over and over, and it seemed that fleeing to the Core was indeed where we were fated to arrive. The Core, a Solar system that was discovered outside of any territories owned by other races, as neutral space, it functions as the Galactic assembly’s home system. A place of commerce and political power. A center of federal power unlike any other. The Core functioned as a headquarters and organizer of many things, one such included refugees from any kind of tragic incident. And this was no other. The message was broadcasted upon all channels, so it was impossible for anyone to not catch wind of the event. Information travels fast, quick like any travel through a warp gate…
As my mind wandered, Kazzi poked at me as I hugged her. With the general understanding that my physical contact wasn’t as comforting as it initially was. I let go of Kazzi, and let her get her bearings. She struggled to stand upright, “Please… take us to Core… I need to go lay down for a minute.” She kept her gaze away from me, turning from the bridge to go to her personal quarters. I didn’t want to take risks with her, but she likely needed some space. I didn’t lose a single person on this ship during the escape, and I don’t plan to now. Stay strong Kazzi, just a while longer…
Still, we had somewhere we had to be. People that we had to take to receive the care and assistance they properly needed. Walking back to the Helm controls, I began to drive the ship across the Hub star. Nearly one thousand warp gates were all present, each one leading to another Galactic Assembly member's homeworld. The Territory of the GA as an organization exceeded 100,000 star systems, and we were encroaching upon the system which functioned as its heart. The warps gates that we passed were all basic in their construction, but the one which we encroached upon was ornamented extremely, with an almost regal appearance. One that signified importance and power.
I had the ship orient itself to follow the recently reopened refugee lane. This was a section of the warp gate which was devoted to quick and easy access into the Core, following a space lane to station 68. These kinds of lanes were rarely ever opened, and were mainly active during tragedies or wartime. Given the context, this specialized lane was opened for both reasons. I brought the ship to follow others in a line. Each ship which found itself traveling through this lane was one which managed to escape the attack, with some worse for wear. I could see sections of other ships which were shot off, still active with doors leading to those blasted portions sealed shut… It was concerning to see how many of these ships suffered such blasts. How many people were sucked out into the void during the escape? A question that I didn’t want answered truthfully. We followed a route map which was sent to us, one which all of the refugee ships were meant to follow to station-68.
The station itself orbited the system’s second planet, one of the many ecumenopolis bodies of the Core. It was a large station, utilized as a sort of residence for Refugees until another unit of housing could be constructed to accommodate those that needed help. Agricultural bays were all over the massive pillar of a space station, this provided plenty of self sustainability to victims of all kinds. Which was very helpful for me. After all of the chaos unfolded behind us, I needed something to distract myself from all the traumatic stress, and a good hearty meal was definitely the way to go about it.
One aspect of the station was the sheer amount of docking bays or refugee vessels. This was a standard feature, as it made it easier and more effective at offloading massive amounts of people onto the station. I oriented the Yacht towards one of these docking bays and contacted the automated dockyard systems regarding entry. When the link is established I begin to request permission to dock. “Attention Dockyard, this is the private yacht Prestigious Vow requesting docking to offload refugees that we have on board…”
I waited for a response from the master computer, before receiving a confirmation almost immediately. “Prestigious Vow you are clear to dock. Please align with bay section-28 to begin offloading” spoke an automated response over the comms. It made sense why they were resorting to Automated directors, the influx of sudden refugees would warrant quite the reaction, and using the system to streamline the process would be most effective. Handling Numerous ships like they were as of now would be nightmarish for the standard operating tower to organize. Flying over to the designated section of the station, I found drone guides flying out to meet us.
Using drone guides to assist with docking ships was a common practice across all of GA space, and made it to where more organized dock movements occurred, resulting in little to nothing in terms of station related accidents. The disk-like drones blinked as they went about assisting the vessel latch into the drydock appropriately. With a shift in movement, I could feel the buckling of momentum as the magnetic locks kept us firm in place as the walkways began to fold out from the station bay. A few arms folded out of the section of drydock that we were parked in, and moved to attack itself to the ship side where the entrances to the yacht’s airlocks were. With everything in position, I received a notification from the station’s systems to open comms for their announcement to the crew and passengers. I pressed the confirm button to permit the station system access to the shipwide speakers,
“This is an informant message to notify all refugees, all civilians are steer clear of the airlock units. Station staff shall make they’re way to assist with retrieval of refugees and any critically injured state. We shall assist with offloading all passengers to a waiting area to receive lodging until further notice. Compliance is an order as we seek to help you in this unfortunate time.” spoke the automated communicator. I sighed, feeling a sense of relief washing over me as we seemed out of the storm. At least, for the little moment that we had. The people that were operating the bridge sighed with a similar disposition to my own. And went to take the lift down from the bridge to the lower decks with the airlocks. They all made their way onto the lift, but I made no such indication of following. I knew that I needed to check up on the Fulkari who rightfully owned this ship.
Kazzi was likely unstable, and needed someone to help her with the revelation, and the likely possibility of there being nothing left. I can’t imagine the struggle that the Fulkari are currently suffering. She and I aren’t so much of friends to mean that much, but as of now I’m all she has. I walked out of the bridge, through a small yet luxurious hallway leading behind the lift, Turning the corner, I walked up to one of two doors. One which led to the captain’s quarters, and the other which was designed to accommodate the VIP. I walked to the VIP room, as this was the room which Kazzi likely made her abode upon the vessel. I sighed, and lifted my hand to knock upon the door.
I received nothing in turn…
I knocked a little louder, yet still didn’t hear anything. Concerned, I opened the door to see Kazzi wallowing on her floor-bolted-bed, curled up as she looked out of her room’s viewport along the back of the bridgetower. She remained still, motionless in her fixture much like the star of the Core. From her view, she had a prime view of the city planet in which we orbited, and the star which peaked beyond its horizon. An ethereal sight to be sure, but something that did little to ease the Fulkari’s current condition.
Not once has an encounter with Kazzi ever gone so cold like now. In which I felt so sorry for the woman who had it all, only to lose it instantly… It was surreal, as everything seemed to be as of recent. The evacuation, the attack… the destruction not just upon the warp gates, but whatever devastation continued in the severed reaches of the Fulkari. And I had no doubt in my mind that Kazzi was trapped on her own. In that head of hers was swirling doubts and thoughts which plagued her subconscious.
Trauma was a gate that locked a victim deep within their minds, unable to pass due to not having a key at their disposal to open that impasse. It keeps them still, with unyielding strength in the bars which were cold to the touch. A lock so complex held her there, one which could take her time to break on her own. But too much time to make any significant progress. She was someone new in this new stage of vulnerability. And The Kazzi I knew seemed to die beyond that warp gate, with this new person taking her place. I knew that Kazzi, now matter who she was now, needed someone to break her out. I was the only one she currently had, and I needed to take the mantle of responsibility and give her the love and care she needed to brave through this nightmare.
I walked up and went about setting my four legs to loaf upon her bed, leaving me in a position where I was pointing directly at the window. I turned my forebody to look at her for a moment, before looking back out the window with her. Despite my homeworld being one covered in frigide oceans and stormy seas, breaking the ice was something of a challenge given the sophistication of our situation. The atmosphere hung heavy like the death tolls which were yet to be counted. Despite my attempts to do so, it was Kazzi to speak in this thickened atmosphere that permeated not just her room, but the entire ship itself.
“Why?” She uttered, almost eshaberated with that single word. That single word which seemed to draw so much strength to utter. “Why would those… things attack us?... wha-... What even were they?” She wasn’t expecting any answer, those abominations were all still a mystery after all. But at the same time my mind was made up on what I figured to be the truth. Whether that be the case or not. I took a moment to waver on whether or not I should tell, but even if it hurts, it’s best to rip off a band-aid while you still can. “Foretold,” I stated, confident that what those machines were was a culmination of effort from whatever surviving Foretold might exist. Her head lifted up to where it was level with the floor. She looked dead straight before turning to look at me like I was Insane.
“What?... wha-that’s not possible; That war wasn’t even over a decade ago. There’s no way that they could’ve survived, let alone build such a force within such a small amount of time.” Kazzi made a fair point, based on the average decade in the Galactic Assembly, there’s not enough time to build an armada of such magnitude. “But at the same time who else could it be?” I said, “The technology that the black fleet utilized was relatively primitive despite the prowess of those… horribly terrifying robotics. Their ships were flimsy when hit with the Fulkari main weapons, breaking apart nigh instantly. There are many ships in the GA, but not built like the ones used in that black fleet… Only the Foretold vessels fit those kinds of makes, swarms of steel meant to drown out anything in their path with sheer volume. I know you think I’m insane for thinking this, but who else in the galaxy could manage to travel through an FTL method that the GA has never developed?”
“I-... I don’t want to believe that’s true… It can’t be… It had to be someone else, powerful like the first of the GA, those who can master a realm of the Universe we don’t know of. After all, those religious Foretold didn’t have such advanced technology like that…” I listened to her, and could only sigh. “A lot can change in a single decade Kazzi…” I said, “Whether or not I’m right is up to you to decide, but at the same time it’s up to me to see to it that I help you.”
“Get to the point…” She muttered, throwing me for a loop all but for a single moment. I sighed, trying to ease into a more tender disposition. I wasn’t one for such buddy-buddy interactions. Such things weren’t common amongst my own kind. I simply scooted over and placed a paw upon her shoulder, a gesture she initially shivered at… “look, I’m not going to pretend I understand the feelings that are permeating all about you right now. But I’m here for you. I intend on providing however much support you need. I doubt you want to talk about it, but take your time. I’m willing to help you, it’s up to you if you’re willing to let me.”
Kazzi… spoke nothing in response, her head hanging low. I couldn’t see her face, with her keeping it hidden from me. I didn’t say much else after that, simply letting the atmosphere that seemed to radiate about the room, hoping that maybe the intensity would fade with time. Awkwardness was a radiation all in itself, one that you could never truly cure or forget. I knew that nothing could save her from the sorrow of losing her home, but I can do whatever I can to ease the wound that the blow caused into something manageable. Mentally, I knew she wouldn’t be able to recover. Frankly I’d be more concerned if she wasn’t like this…
Despite the silence, I could hear some sort of whimpering from the Fulkari woman… as she scooted closer to me. She simply moved to lean against my side, letting herself recollect herself mentally and physically. Kazzi… wasn’t a strong woman. Fulkari weren’t physically bulky, being very thin and lanky in their builds. Kazzi also wasn’t as mentally fortified as I was. She never had the unfortunate fate of being dragged into the military to serve. She never faced the grueling horrors of war like I had to.
But then again my people, the Hystravics, were a near polar opposite of the Fulkari in countless ways physically and culturally. It’s almost laughable how comedical our differences were, like brain versus brawn, pretentious versus proud… Night and day, we had little to nothing in common, but in the end we were all we had at the moment. At the lowest points, we’re all the same, and the walls we built from flawed societies crumble in turn. Presenting the true you, at your most vulnerable. I never considered Kazzi someone pleasing to associate with due to her lustrous and flaunting lifestyle. Evil, greedy corporations and all that stigmatism…
But seeing her in this way, in a light which shines only during the darkest hours, it presents a new way of viewing another. One which can lead to bonds forming no matter the divide. One which rarely ever shines, but surely does so brightly when it decides to. Kazzi was someone who hid behind her status, because she was afraid. I could see it in her eyes that she was beyond terrified. Implications were all but fact, and the truth was as easy to say as curses when near blackout drunk. Did her status provide her a comfort that she never had? What was her life before I met her? What was her fami-...
A question like that was best not asked so soon…
I held her close, staying silent and giving her all the time I was willing to provide. I was willing to stay as long as I needed to. I moved to wrap my arm around her, keeping her close and providing her the moment she needed to recollect herself into something relatively presentable. She breathed erratically as I felt tears flow against my fur. Everything that was happening felt so surreal. Everything that shouldn’t ever occur happened all at once. The last war occurred only to prevent everything that was happening… all those lives lost just to suffer another cruel fate wrought by those scumbag foretold… if everything that happened was to occur again, then I know for a fact that we of the GA shall crush them for this crime…
After a while of sulking and shivering at my side for what felt like several minutes, Kazzi began to recollect herself after a long and powerful session of crying, one which allowed her to release all the built up emotion bottled from the events. I was caught in the floodgates, being washed by a tsunami of pain from a woman who just lost everything worth more than any bank account… more than any credit could ever amount to her. Her home, in which she was raised and lived all her life. With family and friends alike… riding upon success and building a name for herself. Something that now meant nothing. But she seemed to start coming to terms with her new existence. For better or for worse…
“Kovvak?” She muttered, in a vocal range that I was just able to receive. I responded with a simple, “Yes, Kazzi?”
“Is fate the one we face, because of the actions we’ve taken? Was the last war… really worth it?”
…
“Believe me Kazzi, I’ve asked myself that very question for years now. I’ll tell you when I finally get the answer” I retorted. It was a thought which plagued my mind ever since the last of the enemy ships fell silent in their drifting through the void. I’ll never get my answers on whether or not it was worth it. Guilt tainted my mind due to the conflict, despite my hatred for those we fought. I wasn’t stubborn enough to deny that there were wrongs and rights to both sides of the war. But war was never about who was right, only who’s left.
I could hear a grumble, something which sounded like a roar. There was no beast where we were though, only a monstrous appetite of a hungry Fulkari. I shot up, surprised to hear such a rumble from the relatively skinny Fulkari. I chuckled seeing her flustered at her sudden show of hunger, as she went about blushing a flush purple of embarrassment at the sound. There were still some tears in her eyes as she turned to apologize directly. “I-I’m so sorry about that!” She loudly spoke in the aftermath of her little roar. I chuckled, finding it understandable and simply waving her down over the whole thing. Fulkari required plenty of energy considering their remarkable metabolism and usage of a wide amount of nutrients, and given the chase it was no doubt that Kazzi needed something to chew on. I decided to offer a suggestion to the Fulkari woman. “What do you say you and I go and get something to eat? Talk about where we go from here? We need a path to walk after all…”
…
“Sure thing” she said, with a soft and heartwarming smile.

Anybody else notice everything we put together for ourselves as men, they tear it down by making it out to be something of either evil intent or for 'not real men'?
Passport bros - how it started and its true meaning: men apart of it just wanted to experience dating somewhere else and had nothing but good intentions and just wanted to start a family and were even willing to learn new languages and integrate into a new culture respectively, etc.
Passport bros - When mainstream media got a hold of it: SOME shitty western tourists were always doing shitty things in other countries BEFORE and AFTER passport bros even became a thing, but they group them all together in order to associate it with something negative in order to control the public perception so they see it as a sinister movement and since it involves men no one even questions it.
Mgtow - how it started and its true meaning: men just wanting to find happiness and fulfillment without the need of a partner through hobbies, activities, etc.
Mgtow - When mainstream media got a hold of it: Evil Misogynists.
Video Games - what it really means to men: Being able to immerse ourselves in a new world, having fun and creating memories with friends and family, feeling of accomplishment when you get better at it, etc.
Video Games - When mainstream media got a hold of it: It's for men to rehearse their homicidal fantasies and bring them to reality, it's for losers, basement dwellers, not for real men, etc.
I'm starting to realize that anything that involves us finding any sort of path that doesn’t involve the benefit and/or approval of western society/media/women, it’s automatically bad even if what you’re doing is not harming anyone. And if you don’t comply, you’re shamed, insulted, and/or laughed at and it’s completely socially acceptable as long as your gender is male. We’re harshly judged for everything we do and don’t do, and I’m honestly tired of this.

I'm currently planning on become a patent lawyer with a chemical or biomedical engineering background. This of course isn't 100% as there i could also possibly end up trying to go to med school or get a PhD, or even trying to break into IB, but the current plan is IP law. I am planning on majoring in Chemical or Biomedical Engineering with a minodouble major (depending on the university) in something more fun like economics, political science, history, etc. With that being said, here are the pros and cons
Rice Pros happy undergraduates residential colleges top 10 bme department i have undergrad research basically lined up MD Anderson i have family/family friends in Houston I could intern a lot at the Baker institute for public policy research as well very nice grade inflation received scholarship so its about the same price as GTech collaborative atmosphere cons not great econ department i don't love houston closest well known law school is in austin Cornell Pros dat ivy league status and prestige cornell is a well known ivy league law school feeder produces a crap ton of NSF scholars nice campus i know a few students there negatives most expensive school on the list, and i heard they only increase their costs as you go on pretty bad grade deflation in the engineering college can't realistically double major ithaca is literally in the middle of nowhere everyone says people are depressed there (idk how true that is) there is like no collaborative culture, everyone seems cutthroat i don't want to have to watch my back 24/7 for four years Johns Hopkins positives arguably greatest med school in the world tons of research opportunities technically the highest ranked school in this list very good foreign relations department Negatives baltimore everyone says its depressing i didn't apply to BME, and its nigh impossible to transfer into BME, so I would be in the ChemE department, which isn't really a chem e department so much as its a bme reject department everyone and their mom there is a premed university seems not to care about undergrads i have heard about a fair amount of grade deflation second most expensive school, not much cheaper than cornell no law school UT Austin pros visited and vibed with the whole thing seems super fun, Austin is fun in general very well regarded Chem E department law school on campus i heard once you start to attend if they like you they shower you in scholarships and make you in state somehow negatives pretty pricey for now, tentatively more so than rice very big school, easy to get 'lost' among everyone else obviously doesn't have the same name factor as the previous schools i have heard of some pretty bad GPAs coming out of UT Austin engineering Georgia Tech Pros any engineering you do will be top notch negatives there is nothing non STEM offered here Atlanta pretty bad grade deflation similar price as rice for much more non-personal treatment it seems to me like they don't care much for undergrads everyone there is kind of a industry obssesed engineer no law school, or even med school really (idk if you would count emory) Minnesota Pros arguably best chem E department here great scholarship that gives me in state, if not more could probably negotiate the scholarship higher Cons no-one hears Minnesota and thinks 'wow this guy is crazy good' its not really that great at anything beyond chem e tbh networking will be a lil mid Local State University pros ik for a fact it would be fun most of my friends are going there i would basically already know everyone i have significant ties to the university and would receive very nice 'baby' treatment i could easily be one of the best in my class basically free to go negatives no-name university ranked way worse than even top 100 pretty strong greek life presence wouldn't have competition which might lead me to not do much i would basically be required to get a graduate degree if i plan on doing anything beyond working for like chevron phillips i would be made fun of forever and ever i might get depressed idk

Hi! I'm a first year at IITM and me and a couple friends are gonna be starting a podcast soon. We'll be talking about JEE, college life, philosophy and give dating advice. We aren't planning to give techincal advice for JEE like how many hours you should study per day, which chapters to focus on etc, etc as there are already too many idiots doing that online. But we'll rather just talk about our own JEE experiences, what worked for us, funny coaching experiences, life after coming to IIT, etc. And we even have plans to bring guests like the top AIR's, seniors and council members to give their perspective on life and stuff. What else would you suggest that we talk about? Is there anything else that you would like us to discuss about exams?

It's a long one. Grab snacks.
I used to get along with my MIL. I've been with my husband for over 6.5 years, married for almost 2 months, and we have a 10 month old baby boy. I used to see her regularly as I have a beauty business and she would get one of my services every fortnight. We would talk and talk and have many things in common. She would tell me about the drama with her oldest son (I've never met him) and how his SO didn't like her and the family and always had an "issue." He hasn't been in contact with them for 10 years now since he got married and has 3 children now that his mother and siblings (besides 1 who he shares a father with) haven't met. My MIL says she doesn't acknowledge he's her son anymore.
Since we started trying for a baby in mid 2021, I started noticing the little comments here and there. Maybe it was myself being sensitive, but she would say things such as "don't have kids, they ruin your life". She has 5 kids (4 technically since oldest isn't her son apparently anymore). I don't think she's a maternal person - she's not nurturing or kind or empathetic. We struggled to fall pregnant. It took 1.5 years with medical issues between. When we finally announced I was pregnant, I was met with "See, I told you to relax!!" It didn't sit well with me since this was never the issue of why I couldn't fall pregnant, but I never said anything because I pick my battles and always was conscious of her saying this other DIL of hers had an issue with things they said and "she always complained." My MIL also invalidated the longevity of us trying to conceive: "It wasn't that long".
There were a few things my FIL said here and there, such as implying a caesarean isn't giving birth and it's the "easy way out". I find his views on many things to be from the 1950's, but tbh they're both like that. If I'm not cleaning or cooking everyday, I feel incredibly judged by them.
They also have issues with my BIL's fiancée. We get along great, we have similar parenting styles and a lot of things in common. Since I came into the family, I always heard them making fun of her for her parenting which I always found odd since I always thought the way she did things was normal... which always made me feel that if I were to have a child with their son, I'd be their next target.
Examples of what they would mock her out would be if they could only come before or after their daughter's nap time, that would be mocked "wE cAn OnLy CoMe AfTeR nAp TiMe". Or when my BIL's fiancée was standing next to the spa watching her daughter, they would speak about it like she's being too much watching her daughter in water. Little things like that. Also my husband's ex-girlfriend told my BIL and his fiancée about all the things the family had said about them (after my husband broke up with her, she liked her so she obviously felt a sense of loyalty to let her know what had been happening), so they have always known from early on they've been bitched about.
Since we had our son:
- I gave birth in a private hospital and they made comments about that
- when they came to visit us in hospital to meet our son, my MIL commented about the windows that didn't open: "it's so women can't jump out after having a baby" and kept implying ?joking? a baby is awful
- I had a pretty traumatic birth and my husband was definitely affected by it as he had to press the emergency button for my OB. When he was retelling the story to his family, my MIL said "really? Birth is easy" .. she loves to invalidate me
- they don't like they weren't able to kiss him when he was a newborn up until recently when we let them know they had permission but they are not allowed to kiss him on the mouth (I'm sure they don't like this either)
- FIL complained to BIL and his fiancee "I can't even kiss my F'ing grandson".. these two words should never be in the same sentence and I'm grossed out by his attitude
- MIL likes to make comments such as "we didn't do this and my kids are fine" (ok but are they?), "we just let babies sleep", "we just put the baby in their room and walked out and listened for them" .. I have access to the baby camera I bring over for my MIL on my phone and she does not watch nor listen out for him as I've seen him crying and standing in the cot for ages while she's doing god knows what..
- SIL was holding our son and put his rude finger up, to which I told her off and she said "it's a rite of passage"
- SIL and her husband smoke and I let them know they can't hold our son after smoking and must put a new top on and basic hygiene to which my FIL called my husband up disagreeing with it and my SIL said it's "preposterous"
- in laws booked a trip to a different state the same weekend as our wedding, assuming the wedding was a month later. They just never bothered to check the date before booking. Lucky they had booked it the day after. MIL said she would've still gone (apparently joking?)
- I told my MIL my husband was sad his father refused to say a speech at our wedding. He finally ended up doing one, telling my husband I "bullied him into it" which I did not.... and then in the speech they have pen edits of adding me into it and my BIL's fiancée told me later that they were asking around for a pen during my parents speech
- we visited my BIL, his fiancée and daughter for Christmas under the notion that only my parent in laws were also attending. 2 x SIL's and kids also rocked up without saying anything, so my BIL's fiancée ran around quickly sorting their Christmas presents out. At this wonderful family visit, smoking SIL held our son after I had seen her plain as day smoke outside before coming inside, to which my husband asked her if she had smoked, she said no, I told her I saw it, she shoved my son at me saying "alright then" with attitude, and the family left the house 10 minutes later apparently "angry"
- my MIL takes care of our son weekly (at the time was looking after him at our house because her aircon wasn't working in the summer) and I saw on the cameras out the front of our house my SIL had stopped by and was holding him, so it was safe to assume she had smoked already that morning and disregarded our boundary once again. I asked my husband to say something to which he called my MIL??? and asked her if SIL smoked, she said "She didn't smell like it but she wouldn't be disrespectful"... YES she would?
- my family have been very nice to my in laws, but in laws still liked to mention to my BIL and his fiancée they "can't keep up with her family" ... not sure what this means but my family are normal and undramatic and kind so they're probably insecure my husband loves my family
- my sister invited them to her son's 1st birthday party as a gesture of "we are all family since we share a family member" and my FIL never said hello to her or her partner.. none of them said hello to my sister's partner which I think could be racism since he's of a different ethnicity and I always hear them saying racist "jokes" (not about him, in general, but I tell them off - I haven't heard one for a while so probably behind my back now)
- MIL looked after our son at our house. When I came home, she made a point of telling me "I changed his clothes because they were dirty from CRAWLING around on the floor"
- telling our son who was in his playroom that's fenced in and trying to escape "don't worry, at NANNY'S house you can go WHEREVER you want to"
- my in laws went on a small overseas trip the past week, I had to ask my MIL about a month ago when were the dates so I could sort my son out with someone else or daycare. Her response "Oh I didn't even think of that". I understand her life doesn't revolve around looking after her grandson but damn what about if the day before she still hadn't told me
The reason why they tell my BIL and his fiancée their issues and not me or my husband is because they avoid confrontation for the longest time until they decide to blow it all up. That is why they're telling my BIL and his fiancée these things because they've been holding back for YEARS and had a long conversation with them late last year. Nothing got fixed, they were nasty to my BIL's fiancée, such as my FIL yelling at her, both gaslighting her, bringing up irrelevant things, getting mad because she doesn't parent her child the way they like.
They got annoyed at her for "bringing up the past, stop dwelling on it", but then they would bring up the past? BIL's fiancée's past issues were "my family member overheard MIL and SIL speaking shit about me at our daughter's 2nd birthday party at my house" whilst my in laws past issues were "You took our son away to live in your hometown which is an hour away and frankly too far for us to drive and not worth to see our granddaughter who doesn't even know us because we only see her for birthdays/Christmas/Easter".
My sister is happy to have my son every fortnight so he can also spend time with his cousin whilst I'm at work, so my MIL will only have him every fortnight. I see MIL on Wednesday when I drop him off so I'm going to let her know and see if she complains to my FIL and then will see if he calls my husband up. If anything happens, I'll just put him in daycare because my sister can't take him weekly. I don't think they will say anything though because my husband is a lot more defensive than my BIL, he's their golden child and they wouldn't want to ruin their relationship with him. I don't want my FIL near my child unless I'm present. The way he spoke to BIL's fiancée disgusted me and if he can yell at her, he can yell at me and I don't know what he would do in front of my child.
My husband's stance on everything?
"She was just joking"
"You don't know my mother's humor"
"Why don't you say something?"
"I don't know what annoys you"
I'm very aware this is a husband issue. Working on it. BIL's fiancée said BIL used to be the exact same, until he realised what his family are really like. He is LC now. Older brother and his wife are NC. It's nice because BIL and older brother are now back in contact, but in laws hate this and feel betrayed. How dare BIL see his brother? Appalling. My husband refuses to get back into contact with his older brother because he doesn't want to hurt his parents feelings, and only will see him if they see him. Sigh. Enmeshed feels like an understatement.
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Title: Dive into the Depths of Uncharted Stories
Greetings, fellow storytellers and thrill-seekers! As the moderator of scarystories, I've noticed a spellbinding trend among our community - the power of stories. Stories hold an inexplicable allure that sweeps us into unknown realms, awakening emotions we didn't even know existed. Today, let's embark on a thought-provoking journey as we explore the essence of stories and their captivating effect on our imaginative souls.
🌒 Stories as Portals to New Worlds 🌘
Imagine a rusty key unlocking the doors to unexplored territories, each story revealing an uncharted realm of possibilities. Often, we find ourselves entranced by the plot twists, the eerie atmospheres, and the lurking shadows that dance between the lines. Stories transport us to different dimensions, offering an escape from reality or an opportunity to reflect upon our own lives.
📚 Enclosed Within the Folds of Pages 📚
Within the depths of books, our imagination takes flight, soaring high among the clouds of suspense. Each turn of a page holds the promise of uncovering new horrors or experiencing spine-tingling revelations. These words, etched by imaginative minds, gracefully weave together a tapestry of emotions that leaves us gasping for breath.
💫 The Ghosts of Memories 💫
True terror lies not in the darkest corners of our world, but rather within ourselves. Stories have the uncanny ability to awaken dormant fears, spinning ghostly webs of memories long forgotten. They remind us that monsters do not merely lurk beneath beds or in shadow-filled corners; they haunt our minds, leaving us forever penciled into their terrifying narratives.
🔍 Behind the Veneer of Reality 🔍
Our existence is seamlessly interwoven with myriad realms, unseen even to the keenest eyes. Stories serve as gateways, cracking open the shell of the ordinary to reveal fantastical undercurrents flowing beneath the surface of reality. The lines between the known and the unknowable blur, urging us to question the nature of our perceptions.
💡 Stories as Reflections of the Human Psyche 💡
We are, at our core, wandering travelers seeking purpose and truth. Stories act as mirrors, reflecting the depths of our own desires, fears, and vulnerabilities. They relay warnings, teachings, and countless facets of the human condition - shared experiences that shape us, persevere through generations, and ignite the flames of wisdom within us all.
💬 Join the Storytellers 💬
Now, I invite you, brave scarytories community, to step forward and share your own spine-chilling tales. Let the ink of your words dance upon the pages, weaving narratives that push the boundaries between reality and imagination. Dive into the enigmatic depths that stories offer and spark conversations that chisel away at the barriers of our perceptions.
🔒 Adeus, but do not shy away from the Shadows 🔒
As we conclude this haunting exploration into stories, let us leave with an open mind, for even the darkness holds endless secrets. Be wary, dear readers, for within the gentle whisper of a story, the truth may stir, its tendrils stretching towards the light. Remember, the scariest stories are the ones that linger, the ones that invite you to venture further, to delve deeper into the caverns of your own imagination.
So, unleash your creativity, embrace the unknown, and share the tales that haunt your thoughts. Together, we shall delve into the abyss of stories, eagerly unraveling the tapestry of our collective fears and fantasies.
Happy storytelling, my friends.
[MOD]