Cox cable near me

There’s this guy at college who’s gorgeous. Of course i can’t show a photo but he’s got a great body: a big chest, big arms, great face. He’s good looking and has a gymbro body. And well, i find him very attractive. He goes in the same class as i do.
I was in a relationship the past few months so i wasn’t really interested in pursuing this, but now i am single and i really want to approach him. We have exchanged a few looks while in class but we have never properly interacted.
I wanted your advice on approaching him because i don’t have much experience flirting and, while i consider myself cute and good looking, i am not near to have a great physique like him. Also, he is very active on social media where, of course, a lot of guys follow him and like his posts, etc etc.
Just to clarify, him being unbelievably hot doesn’t make me think he’s out of my reach or something like that, but i’m not really very active on social media and i have basically zero experience in approaching guys i’ve never talked to from an app, and the fact that he has a pool of guys on instagram drooling over him makes me a little insecure.
He’s really just a light crush, but i would really like to give it a shot, so, if you have some advice for me, drop it here please haha

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Archeological digs involving The Builders are always risky.
Will you discover an autonomous factory complex, missing only some parts production? Will you just find another one of the strange orbs they seemed to worship? Will you be killed by their automated death systems?
Or will you just discover an empty facility with KILROY WAS HERE and genitalia scrawled on the walls?
Every Builders dig should be approached with trepidation.
The Builders hated everyone and their works show it. - Archeology Student Lecture, 2381 Current Era
It's frustrating. We know what The Builders looked like. We have found plenty of remains.
There are species who existed when the Builders existed, and archeological evidence shows that at one time they were allied with or at least knew of The Builders.
But none of them will speak of them.
Yes, the Builders have been gone for tens of thousands of years, but what manner of beings were they that even today the reclusive Treana'ad and Telkan refuse to speak of them? What manner of beings were they that the Lanaktallan refuse to answer questions regarding The Builders.
What happened?
And who did The Builders hate so much that they created such terrible works? - Thoughts of Previous Galactic Eras, 1738 Current Era
If your archeological dig involving the Treana'ad, Telkan, Lanaktallan, or other mostly peaceful Forerunner races ever finds evidence of The Builders I have one and only one piece of advice for you.
Run. - Archeology Student Lecture, 1862 Current Era
What the researchers and archeologists will not tell you is simple: the ruins and relics of the Forerunner race The Builders are of vital interest to every star nation.
Their weaponry was esoteric and strange. Somehow they made obsolete kinetic weaponry viable on the battlefield against such things as the Precursor Autonomous War Machines. They were militarily overwhelmingly powerful.
Superweapons that have ended entire wars that had raged for centuries have been unearthed in Builder ruins. These were semi-functional weapon systems, of limited use, that required vast resources just to move into position, power up, and deploy.
Yet their great power ended wars.
Those weapons should be used, deployed, to protect existing star nations. To ensure their primacy in this galaxy now and forever!
The faint-hearted and cowardly researchers, scientists, and archeologists warn every being to stay away from the ruins of the Forerunner race The Builders.
What secrets, what power, are they keeping for themselves? - Extract from the mobilization to the Dust Wars, 2273 Current Era
The horror.
The horror. - Last transmission. The Dust War. 2281 Current Era
(❂‿❂) Doki Doki Doki (❂‿❂) - Garbled Transmission, 2279 Current Era
The Atrekna forces reeled back from the onslaught as even more aerospace fighters crested the horizon, crazily piloted at less than a hundred meters above the ground. They dropped their stealth, the battlescreens erupting to full power and exploding the tops of trees. Weapon pods deployed and phasic seeking warheads slashed out at the Atrekna forces.
gitcha gitcha gitcha gitcha crackled and snarled along phasic frequencies as the missiles's warbois jumped up and down and shrieked in glee.
Atrekna servitor positions were hammered by the rockets, the point defense systems already down and destroyed. The servitors huddled down in their trenches, foxholes, and bunkers, holding tight to their weapons and hoping they'd survive the rocket attack.
The stealth fighters swept over the Atrekna lines and long cigar-shaped munitions dropped from the bottom.
Tesseract-compressed spooky particle FOOF enhanced napalm erupted in a long line, filling trenches and foxholes, covering bunkers, reinforced command emplacements, and fortifications. The FOOF-N devoured all the oxygen, ripping it out of the bunkers and emplacements, the heat spiking into astronomical temperatures hot enough to slag even battlesteel.
The stealth fighters engaged their systems and vanished even as the Atrekna leadership caste shrieked at them.
STOP DOING THAT, LEMURS!
Two of the stealth fighters didn't turn back on their stealth, just suddenly spinning and dropping from the sky, hitting the ground and exploding.
The ones in stealth, one suddenly dropped from the sky, exploding when it impacted the ground.
The Atrekna knew that they had not caused it.
Well, not really.
The effects of the De-Evolutionary Regression Attack were still moving through the Mad Lemurs of Terra.
Not that it was happening fast enough to help.
A trio of Atrekna turned as another Atrekna stumbled from the wreckage the trio was hiding in. It was holding its stomach and the others could see purple blood on its robe. It made a keening noise, the psychic emanations from it nothing but pain, fear, and agony.
It stumbled over to them, two of the trio eagerly looking forward to dragging the wounded one off and implanting larva in it.
Once it reached them it looked up.
Its eye fell out, revealing a red lensed camera.
"Fuck you, asshole," it said, it's psychic 'voice' heavily accented.
And exploded.
On the plains, the armored vehicles that the Atrekna had sent their servitors out in were being destroyed by a combination of close air support, enemy armored vehicles, artillery support, and infantry support. The enemy forces swept aside the Atrekna forces with no more effort than it took them to reload their weapons.
Across the super-continent, it was a disaster.
There had been weeks, months of quiet, during which the Atrekna that had fled a losing fight against the Mad Lemurs had counselled the others in just what kind of forces that Mad Lemurs could build out of seemingly nothing.
Most of them had been ignored. A fifth of them had been assassinated with half of those actually used to host larvae. Very few had listened to the survivors of what had been a terrible battle for possession of a planet.
During those weeks, the Atrekna built up their forces for a counter-attack. Replicating their troops over and over.
It had started suddenly.
A massive Ohm class slavespawn had slowly crawled from a damaged gate. The gate had been online since the Attack of the Living Dead Lemurs and the machinery to shut it down had been chronoshifted to be slightly out of synch.
Unfortunately, the Atrekna crew had brought a single Lemur imprint with them.
It had killed them all.
Now, the controls were just out of reach for the rest of the Atrekna. They couldn't shut down the portal, but they could alter its vibrational frequency just a little bit to make it unappealing.
Then the Ohm Class Slavespawn had moved through the gate, which had collapsed with the crack of displaced air. The mass of the slavespawn had proved too much for the damaged and unmonitored mechanisms, which had failed. The slavespawn had the coloration of a lost section of the Second Spoked Offensive, and it showed its age by its size and the strange crystal growths down its back and on its head, just above its multiple eyes.
The Atrekna knew now that the Ohm Class Slavespawn crossing reality and onto the planet had been the real start of what was happening now.
The slavespawn had moved to a large herd, slowly munching its way across the huge supercontinent. Once in a while a smaller slavespawn, still immature, would break away from the herd and hunker down, slowly munching away.
The Atrekna now knew those were not slavespawn.
They had been small lemur outposts.
Finally, the herd had reached the mountain chain that made an X across the supercontinent. They had, one at a time, pushed forward and into the huge stagnant fresh-water inland sea.
Except for the one with the crystalline growths.
It had stopped at the edge, munching on the algae and flora at the edge of the inland sea sized forested swamp.
Smaller slavespawn kept surfacing from the water and crawling out of the inland sea to cluster near the ancient Ohm class slavespawn.
The Atrekna noticed it had not moved in some time and sent a trio of Atrekna out to encourage it to move, since the crystalline growths seemed to interfere with Atrekna commands to its dim mind.
When the Atrekna reached it was when everything came apart on everyone.
The Ohm class slavespawn flickered and vanished to reveal a low, sloped wall armored building of Substance-W. The smaller ones flickered and vanished, revealing other buildings, including fusion generators pulling fuel from the inland sea's mineral rich water.
The three Atrekna had time to scream before the point defense systems ripped them apart.
The smaller Ohm class slavespawn that had peeled away from the herd flickered and revealed themselves to be more facilities.
Every facility put out strobing flashes of chronotron jamming. Hidden temporal stabilizers spun up to full power.
Missiles launched from hidden launchpads and concealed mobile launchers. Jets launched from buildings. Lemur troops crawled out of heavily armored and armed bunkers to attack Atrekna positions. Armored vehicles and warmeks left buildings to attack Atrekna forces.
In less than 24 hours the entire super-continent was engaged in warfare.
By hour 51 the Atrekna realized something they had never thought possible.
They were losing.
They stepped up their temporal replication and concentrated on eliminating the annoyingly effective lemur temporal jammers.
At first it looked like it was working.
Then the lemur's tactics revealed another strategy.
Atrekna that returned from failed missions, always wounded, would suddenly explode or have spinning and howling sawblades and knives erupt from their flesh as they attacked other Atrekna. Examination showed that the Atrekna corpses had been filled with robotics and strange lemur devices.
The second time the bodies erupted into even smaller robots, all armed with sawing knives and spinning sawblades, making a loud screeching noise, the Atrekna would stand off and destroy the fake Atrekna with explosives.
Then the fake Atrekna would just explode. Or release a cloud of poison gas. Or open its mouth and breathe out a cloud of stinging insects that would then nest in the body of any paralyzed Atrekna. Within a week, the insect attacked Atrekna would get up and start staggering around, the yellow and black insects crawling in and out of sores, looking for more Atrekna to breathe bees on.
The Atrekna could do nothing but shriek STOP DOING THAT, LEMUR! and try to come up with a counter.
Except, every counter, the bedamned lemur just added new tactics to its arsenal.
Within a week, the lemur owned nearly 22% of the supercontinent, not counting the X of the mountain ranges. Possession of the mountain ranges let the lemurs cut off each section of the X from one another.
With horror, the Atrekna realized that while the lemur was attacking the entire front, it was pushing hard on the smallest section of the X, tasking the majority of its forces into pushing back the Atrekna in that location.
The lemur intended on owning part of the X where it could operate with impunity.
The Atrekna responded by boosting their efforts to reinforce that region. All of the other regions began putting more and more resources into defending that X.
That's when the attack from the massive planet-spanning ocean came. Fast attack craft, amphibious landings of tens of thousands of lemurs, offshore bombardment by wet-water naval ships that just seemed to be a buoyant shell wrapped around more guns than was reasonable.
The Atrekna were getting a master level class on combined arms.
They weren't liking it.
They weren't doing well either.
There wouldn't be any 'see me after class' for the Atrekna, and they knew it.
The Atrekna ordered their space vessels in to provide orbital support.
The damnable lemur launched space capable craft from the middle of the massive ocean, on the opposite side of the planet from the Atrekna.
The lemurs held the high orbitals. Made landings on both orbital bodies and dug in hard.
Then counter-attacked the space forces.
One group of Atrekna, tasked with examining wreckage and bodies of the lemurs noted something strange.
They were fighting the same thirty lemurs.
Yes, there was slight differences. A few scars, some tattoos, maybe hair and eye color, but deep level phasic examination showed that the bodies were the same lemurs.
Over and over and over.
But they could not detect any temporal replication.
The other Atrekna scoffed at the idea.
The Atrekna were wrong.
It wasn't thirty different lemurs.
It was one.
WELCOME BACK, COMMANDER.
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My ex and I stopped seeing each other in January of 2022 after about 10 months of dating. We stopped dating because of religion. She and her family were religious, I was not. That seemed to be what she was looking for at the time (idk if this is still the case or not, I presume it is). I did no contact for about 7 months, so I reached out to catch up and just be friendly -- our breakup was not messy by any means (she was an important part of my life and my first gf). She would message me on instagram here and there after that but we didn't really talk so much. At the time, I was traveling for about a year she messaged me again while I was traveling and it turned into us talking and reconnecting again. We would talk on the phone for hours, fall asleep on facetime together, sext, you name it. At a certain point, it felt like we were talking just as much as we were when we were together, if not more.
​
This went on for about 2 months straight while I was traveling. After about 2 months our conversations waned down and this was also around the time I returned to the US and am back in the same city as her - we have not communicated since.
​
Her Birthday is coming up and I am conflicted on what I want to do. On one hand, I want to be the romantic I am at heart and send her flowers, dress up, and go to a nice dinner -- but maybe that's too intense. Perhaps I just send the flowers or invite her to a coffee (we haven't seen each other in person for over 1 year). I'm also curious where she stands. Is she still only after religious guys, is she not? She also found a religious guy who she dated after me and she told me he ended up abusing her.
​
Secondly, I'm worried about the consequences of doing something like this. I've had pretty hard time getting over the break-up. I've thought about her almost every day since. When we were talking and facetiming over the past couple months was finally when I had stopped tripping over her.
​
I don't know what I want and I don't know what my expectations are. For 1, I do like her as a person but I also recognize that the girl I knew is not for me, we are quite different individuals but a good couple if that makes sense? I also don't even know if I'll be staying in this city and living here in about a week. When we were facetiming she had asked me what my feelings are around dating in general and if I'm looking to date again (in general) and I said that's a conversation for in-person, lol.
​
Anyways, I am looking for advice for those of you wiser than me.
​
TL;DR: My ex and I broke up because of religion. Went no contact for nearly a year, we started talking again almost every day for the past 2 months. Her birthday is coming up and I don't know what to do

I have been an avid video game player for the past 21 years, starting with the Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, followed by the Xbox 360 just prior to the release of Halo 3. My experience also includes a bit of PC gaming, primarily in the form of playing Runescape on my family computer between 2006 and early 2007. For several years, I devoted several hours each day to playing Halo 3 and Runescape, with little regard for academic performance or social engagement. At the age of 14, I achieved completionist cape on my first Runescape account, having achieved all 99s and 120 dungeoneering, with nearly 500 days of gameplay logged. I subsequently sold this account in late 2012 after the release of Evolution of Combat, as I preferred the game's older mechanics.
After taking a break from gaming, I returned in 2013 to play Old School Runescape, where I achieved top-100 player status with several 99s, before selling this account in 2014. While 10th to 12th grade were productive years for me, marked by improved physical appearance and dietary habits, my subsequent years were characterized by an absence of personal development or professional growth. I have never held a job or pursued post-secondary education beyond high school, nor have I taken steps to improve myself over the past seven years. My family, who are relatively wealthy, have urged me to seek employment, but I have been dismissive of their advice.
My daily routine centers around personal indulgence, with no regard for the consequences of my actions. I have not left my house in over seven years, except for doctor appointments and the occasional family gathering. While I initially viewed this behavior as a phase, I have come to realize that it has persisted throughout my life. Despite my lack of ambition, I have always been a well-behaved and mature individual, never causing trouble for my parents or getting into any kind of mischief.
I am not particularly fond of gaming, especially given the current state of AAA game development and the associated business practices. Furthermore, I lack interest in esports, except for some competitive play during the Halo 2-3 era from 2005-2011. As one of the many individuals who have become ensnared in the world of gaming, I find the widespread popularity of streaming and YouTube content somewhat unappealing. After indulging in it for several consecutive years, I no longer wish to participate in it. While there are certainly individuals who have leveraged their passion for gaming to achieve great success and even earn a livelihood, I have personally never felt that such a lifestyle would be a good fit for me.
Recently, I acquired a $5,000 gaming setup by selling in-game items for real-life money within MMOs, only to find myself questioning whether I truly enjoy gaming. While I am certainly interested in computers, my focus is primarily on computer networking and database management for businesses. Despite my ambition in these areas, I have yet to summon the necessary willpower or direction to pursue such interests, as the comfort and ease of my current lifestyle has remained quite appealing. Although I used to game for 10-20 hours a day, I now find no enjoyment in playing since every major end game loses its interest within just a few months or years. However, back then, the time I spent gaming did not bother me much because I knew the game would be worth it years down the road, if that makes sense.
Overall, I feel that gaming is not a worthwhile pursuit for me, given my lack of interest in it and my desire to pursue other areas of technology. Although breaking free from my gaming habit and transitioning into more productive pursuits has been challenging, I remain optimistic that change is possible, and I am willing to put in the necessary effort to achieve it.

​

Roll	Result
1	Answer the call. It comes soon.
2	Your gut will soon tell you to do something that contradicts reason. Follow reason.
3	You must drink of the poison well and eat of the spoiled pantry.
4	A wilting lineage droops to shadowy lows. What the rotten fruit begets chokes out the tree of its birth.
5	Seek the Egg of Stone; Face the Dragon!
6	You will find the answer to a long, mysterious riddle in your family bloodline buried between two oak trees, west of the village you grew up in.
7	Torch and candle, wax and wick, in the hall of fire, move right quick!
8	Look for the priestess, she will bring salvation.
9	Your actions have had unintended and unforeseeable consequences, and have placed into action the final piece of that which now approaches you. You are the harbinger of your own death
10	If you believe in telekinesis, raise my hand. The fortune teller then proceeds to raise their hand.
11	You can either have a meaningful death or enjoy old age, but not both.
12	A Fall is Coming; Winter Just Round the Bend; Enjoy Spring; Summer Shall Bring An End!
13	Trust not the travelers numbering odd.
14	Do not cross the mountain!
15	Cross the Mountain!
16	Greed is a poor man's compass, and I see gold and riches in your future.
17	Beware, for the Great Gyre is Nigh; The Slouching Beast Will Soon Arrive!
18	Every failure is a rung in your ladder. Climb on.
19	Your deeds are the seeds you sow. Harvest is coming.
20	A path of death lies in your wake.
21	The path less traveled is paved in gold.
22	Your wealth will grow but your friendships will suffer.
23	You will soon have the opportunity to help someone strong in their time of weakness.
24	(1d10) Stars Mark the Path!
25	When the dawn will come at the birthday of the mother, rats and snakes will devour all hopes.
26	Poor fortune for ye, unless you confess your guilt to the willow tree.
27	Follow the flight of birds, never in winter, always returning.
28	And through the drifts the snowy clifts Did send a dismal sheen: Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken The ice was all between.
29	Your luck is a shame until you trade with your mate who has one of the same.
30	A single wolf is slaughtered by many enemies that surround it. Let this be a warning sign of danger that is preventable by the pack.
31	The shadow of the dragon is an omen, but coming of the wolf is the sign.
32	Lay not your head in the barn animals' bed, for the headsman soon calls.
33	Keep a Candle Burning; Lest The Dark Take Even Your Fears Away.
34	As the hermit emerges from hiding, darkness shall soon emerge as well.
35	That which you hold most dear will turn against you and lead you to ruin
36	Jump the Broom; Dance above the Blades!
37	The Moon Shines Brightest to Those in Her Favor.
38	Great deeds are done by those who are scared and foolish deeds by those who are not.
39	Left at the stream, at the face look right, crawl through the dark, and you will find the light!
40	A figment in blue will cross your path tomorrow. You will know it when you see the sign. You must turn around 4 times and speak the following words:
41	Steel your heart for darkness ahead. Your betrayal has already happened though you do not yet know it.
42	Fools will take great heed of your words. Use this to your advantage.
43	You will be presented with one of your deepest fears. Overcome it or perish.
44	Never bring upon yourself the wrath of the chicken. You may think this a metaphor, but it is not. Their beaks are sharp like my toes.
45	The treasure you are looking for is in the fruit.
46	Fair weather does not bring a rainbow.
47	Someone you remember, someone you forget, someone with a favor, another with a threat.
48	Your greatest challenge is within, not without.
49	The fall of slow rain upon the barren field will lead you to the house which shelters your destiny
50	For one wish to make, it'll be more wish to crumble.
51	The rope with which you climb may also hang you if you are not careful.
52	Cloak in the water. The man is crying. Let the leaf falls and everything will be fine.
53	Beware! Blessings from above may actually be curses from below!
54	Swords Shall Pierce Thine Heart; Pin Thy Love Lest It Be Lost.
55	Salt thy wounds, relish the sting, sweet is the knave, and bold is the king.
56	The thoughts you have had but not put into action are leading you down a path to your own undoing
57	When the leaves fall from the trees so too shall the stars fall from the sky.
58	Not all the frogs are in the pond, beware of them.
59	Build Not Houses of White Stone.
60	Between silver and gold, choose evil's bane. Between fire and chill, the lady's kiss.
61	Thrice will call the raven, heed its warn lest the fourth cry your dirge.
62	Three Crones Shall Visit Thee and Thier Lights Shall Reveal the Truth of What Thou Doth Seek!
63	A shrewd and very attractive fortune teller has put a curse on you. I will remove it for an additional sum.
64	The face of the one you seek is thus- a busker at dawn; a composer at noon; a patron at dusk; a maestro under the stars.
65	The truth will come from a child's toy. The lie will come from a weapon.
66	Beware the men with gills. Speak not to the sea or the southern wind.
67	Don't trust the song of the birds.
68	Poorly-dresed skanks like you will die alone. Naked, and alone. (Works best in an arctic setting, or not.)
69	Never lick a horse in the mouth, they bite.
70	Watch for a nobleman in red, for he is a devil in disguise.
71	Travel five days with the silver star at your heels, then cross the raging river. There you will come to realize your true self.
72	Don't move when the night song come, or you'll gain something you don't want, and lost something you wanted to keep.
73	Your hands will taste of orange in the near future.
74	The gears turn long after the machine has been broken. He who built it cannot mend it. He who holds it cannot carry it. He who finds it cannot speak it.
75	Beware of the blinding red light. If you see this light, you must flee. It will only bring you death!
76	Do not heed advice from one with whom you would not trade places.
77	Gold, Silver, Copper; Never in the Opposite Order!
78	Find the woman who gives birds their song.
79	Let Not Cold Enter Your Heart, For Then Only Love Can Drive It Out!
80	When you are done, the spirit haunting will pass over you.
81	Speak Not The Name Unspoken; They Listen, Always.
82	Trust the twin with no siblings, but abhor the lone child.
83	In the high plain there's a dark moon. Don't follow the light.
84	A copper for the maid, a silver to the beggar, and a gold for a lonely tune, may the vault of riches open to you.
85	You will be an old man/woman by the time your quest is complete.
86	You Must Seek the Leaf that Grows Not On Any Tree!
87	Take something old, give something new, doubt something red, trust something blue.
88	Begrudge not the thieving monkey, lest you take its place in the tiger's jaws.
89	The mother has disguised herself. Her babe is lost and will not return. She will nurse no other.
90	Listen to your fear, it may make a good point.
91	Someone you trust is plotting against you.
92	Gaze through the cracked window, and only then will you see clearly.
93	A dragon will give you a jewel. Beware the generous miser.
94	Spill Forth a Dram for the Lost; Make Merry in the Name of Those Who Pay the Highest Price!
95	Do not trust your thoughts. They will hinder your victory.
96	One for the fire, two for the clouds, and three for the knights.
97	Your nights will grow colder still, to match the heat of growing fires.
98	An ancient empire will rise from the waves along with ancient secrets.
99	A helping hand will come from an unlikely place. Trust it at your own peril.
100	Caution and prudence are luxuries afforded only to those with time on their side.
101	Today was possibly the most important day of your life! Congrat.. oh... you missed it... tsk tsk tsk... What a shame... A do-over, then! Tomorrow you will wake up and it will be today. Make sure you return or that decree will stay. k, Bye!
102	Seek ye the good behind the bad and beware the bad behind the good.
103	A song contains a wish. Only the name will answer.
104	The poison of the moon lies only once.
105	Only when the lovers are reunited can the curse be broken.
106	If you never fall you aren't moving fast enough.
107	A fortune most cold if you do as you're told.
108	Near the montains, there is a grey falcon. Look at the eyes, and you'll die. Look at the tail, and you'll be rich.
109	Your legacy depends not on what you do when you succeed, but rather what you do when you fail.
110	The light will be in the shadowest darkness.
111	The wisest men envy the grave.
112	The black sky will shield you from your enemies. Travel by night.
113	Sphinx of Black Quartz, Judge Thy Vow.
114	Your money, here, have it back. The fortune you've asked me to read, never shall I speak of it in this life or any hereafter.
115	Beware the snake's venom, not its bite.
116	You will find common purpose with an enemy and turn them into an ally.
117	What you have lost will never again be found.
118	Beware, young mouse, for the lion is thorned.
119	There be dragons in ye head. Make sure to feed them.
120	Three Coins Must Ye Pay; Three Prices Dear, Secrets Thrice Revealed, 'ere The Light of Day.

Initial list built by d100. See it here.
List Contributors: u/dndspeak, u/MakingReady, u/flail_snail42, u/Kaohatl, u/MrNPC5e, u/Barnesy1301, u/DinoTuesday, u/koboldforhire, u/MaxSizeIs, u/VeryGayLopunny, u/archDeaconstructor, u/HarshMillennium, u/PandaPugBook, u/junkface81, u/supersnes1, u/Enth528, u/PumpkinSpiceAngel, u/haffathot, u/PlopsMcgoo, u/SeaPen333, u/plunkystarship, u/EuSouAFazenda, u/FlyingHorseduck

Throughout the last few years, I have made numerous attempts to document the events that followed my 17th birthday. I haven’t been very successful: memories elude me like butterflies through my bare hands, and what I do manage to catch dies on its way to the page. As time passes, my recollection has continued to fade, and that scares me. I believe my story deserves to be told, and I think I owe it to myself to tell it before I lose it forever.
When I was 16, my grandfather gave me a letter. This was not necessarily the beginning of my story, but I am starting with it for the simple reason that it has already been written.
Dear Abby,
I’m writing you this letter to say goodbye. I’m not expecting to die before you read it, or anything like that - no need to rush downstairs and call an ambulance.
I just have a feeling, of a sort. Maybe it’s a premonition, or maybe I’m just recognizing a pattern. Whatever it is, I just know that sometime soon - maybe tomorrow, maybe next year - you are going to go off somewhere, and when you do, I will die. No sooner, no later. I’m not saying it will be your fault - I’m not going to die of a broken heart from your absence, if that’s what it sounds like. It will probably be a heart attack, maybe a stroke, it could even be an accident. Again, it won’t be your fault, and you don’t need to stay on my account - I’ve already lived many long, happy years, and I don’t have any business sticking around for much longer.
I am writing you this goodbye as a letter so that you will have it with you when you decide to go. I doubt I’ll be given any warning before you leave, and frankly, I don’t want it. I know you don't like goodbyes, and neither do I. If you come to say goodbye before you go, then once you leave I will die sad and alone, knowing how terrible the ordeal ahead of you will be. Instead, please just take this letter with you. You can read it again on your way, and I’ll be able to die in blissful peace and ignorance.
I wish you would stay. I used to think that if your Grandma Abigail and I loved you enough, it might keep you from that awful place. I know now that it was a futile hope, but I still implore you to stay away from it. You’ve endured more pain than most kids your age, and while I won’t say that this place is worse than what you’ve been through, it carries a different type of suffering - one that is unrelentingly malevolent and sadistic.
I've seen enough signs for me to know there’s probably nothing I can say or do to keep you here, but if you find yourself in a situation where you have a conscious choice to stay or go, please stay. You’re a bright girl with a long and happy life ahead of you, no matter how grim things seem right now.
I figure this is the part where I should gush about my feelings. I’ve never been much for feelings, but I do okay with stories, so I’ll give you one of those instead, and I hope you’ll get what you can out of it.
I think I always suspected what you had ahead of you, but the first time it became real for me was about twelve years ago.
When you were four years old, I would take you to the park in our neighbourhood almost every day. It wasn’t much of a park, but it was what we had, and you seemed to like it well enough. You might have been too young to remember it properly, so I’ll fill in some of the details. At the entrance of the park, there was a nice little playground with gravel surfacing. It had some monkey bars, swings, a slide, and a sandbox. There was a nice bench attached to the frame that held the gravel in, and I would sit there and watch you do your thing. I wish I had been spry enough to join in, but even back then I couldn’t move around very well. A kid ought to have a father who can keep up with them, and I’m sorry that I was all you got.
Behind the playground, there was a field with enough room for kids to play soccer, which they often did. You wanted to join, of course, but the kids there were quite a few years older than you, so instead you’d sit on the swingset and watch them. There was a nice pair of siblings, brother and sister - I think they were twins - who would sometimes kick a ball around with you when a game wasn’t in progress. I met their parents once or twice; they didn’t seem too remarkable, but evidently did a good job. That’s not particularly relevant, but I figure it’s never a bad idea to remind you that a little act of kindness can stick around in someone’s life for a long time.
The soccer field was surrounded by a treed area. It was mostly evergreens. I have it in my head that spruce trees are the ones with the short, dense needles, and pine trees have long, soft needles. If that’s correct, then these were spruce trees. There were a few leafy trees mixed in there as well - ash and aspen, probably, the type you’d expect to see in our city. It was more of a thicket than a forest - it couldn’t have been larger than a city block in total area - so I didn’t think anything of it. There certainly wasn’t enough room for anything to be lurking in it - the thought that it might not be safe didn’t even cross my mind.
When there were other kids around, you’d often run through the woods and play a game called “forest people.” I’m not sure what the game entailed beyond a lot of hollering and waving sticks around, but it seemed like the kind of good-old-fashioned fun that kids these days don’t get enough of, where the only rules are the ones you make up and you don’t need any fancy toys or equipment. I would say “it’s just like when I was a kid” except that wouldn’t really be true.
You used to brag to me that you and “Wormy” had come up with the game, and that all the other kids loved it. That’s all I ever heard about this “Wormy” character - it seemed like he was an imaginary friend of some sort. The idea of imaginary friends has always put me off a little bit - I'm not sure if it’s normal for a parent to worry that their child’s imaginary friend might actually be a real-life child predator, but I sure did. I scoured the trees to make sure there weren’t any signs that someone had camped out there, and I asked around to see if there’d been any vagrants in the area - nothing turned up. I felt a lot better after you showed me that “Wormy” was what you called the worms and caterpillars. You’ve always been a creative kid, and I hope you never lose that.
One day, you and I went out to the park with a bucket of sidewalk chalk that your grandma had just bought for you. There was a coupon for chalk in the supermarket flyer, and she had a bad habit of buying just about anything when there was a good deal on it. You were so excited about the chalk, though, that it seemed to be worth it.
You started out by drawing on the sidewalk next to the park, but then a couple of kids your age showed up, and you all ran off to play “forest people,” taking the chalk with you. I don’t know if you still remember that day, or if it left an impression on you, but I just want to say that I’m sorry for the way I acted. If you don’t remember, you and your friends came back out of the trees with your faces covered in tree sap and coloured in with white chalk, sporting big grins. I immediately picked you up, with strength I didn’t know I still had, and hauled you home. I made you scrub your face until all the gunk was gone - it must have taken an hour - and threw out your sidewalk chalk. I don’t think I spoke a word the whole time.
You were just a kid - a perfect, precious kid - and I should not have made you suffer for my issues. You couldn’t have known how viscerally horrifying it was for me to see you with your face painted like that. I should have let you know how I was feeling - I wasn’t mad at you, I was terrified for you. At the time, the fear seemed irrational, so I was embarrassed about it, and that kept me from telling you how I felt. That night, I laid awake and cried uncontrollably. I almost never cry, as you know. It took Abigail hours to calm me down, but if it was up to anyone other than her I think I would have been inconsolable for weeks. She gave me a very stern talking-to the next day, of course, and you got extra dessert for a little while after that.
In retrospect, I think the severity of my reaction was appropriate, though I should have handled it differently. If anything, that day should have affected me even more. I still took you to the park after that, and still let you run around in the trees. You started spending time alone in there, as well. I always made sure to keep an eye on you, of course - the thicket was small enough that I could see almost all of it from my bench - but I still wish I was more careful. I know there’s something to be said for giving children some freedom, letting them make mistakes, and not being a helicopter parent, and I know things probably wouldn’t be much different even if I’d kept you out of the forest, but even so, if I could do it over, there is no chance I would let you anywhere near that park.
Two months after the chalk incident, I happened to fall asleep at the park while you were off in the trees alone. Now, I know a certain amount of narcolepsy tends to come with advanced age, and I’m not immune to it, but I was sure that I could always keep myself awake when I needed to. I had never felt myself close to nodding off while watching you before, and if I had any inclination that I might fall asleep, I would not have taken you to the park without additional supervision. I firmly believe that my error was taking you there in the first place, not inattention. The things I dreamed there all but confirm it, in my view.
I woke up sharply and suddenly, as though something had shaken me awake. Awakening to the sight of the forest was profoundly unpleasant - moreso when I realised I couldn’t see you. The first instinct of any normal parent would be to call the police or search the vicinity, but I got up and sprinted towards the thicket without a second thought - the thicket that was visibly empty. If sitting on the bench instead of playing with you allowed me to save all my energy for that moment, then it was worth it, because I tore through those trees faster than I could have as a young man. Branches whipped past my face as I ran deeper and deeper into the forest. What struck me in that moment was how terrified I was for myself. You were in danger - maybe lost forever - and yet I still felt this horrible terror as if I was plunging into an abyss, and every fibre of my being screamed for me to turn around and save myself. I am ashamed at how hard it was to suppress that feeling and continue onwards.
I began to panic when I saw a creek snaking through the forest in front of me. I turned to continue along the creek’s edge, but found myself hesitating. Again, I was filled with selfish concern for my own life. At that point, I was convinced that you were already gone. Did I really need to throw my life away? I could turn back instead, and live the rest of my days in peace. I am terribly ashamed, but those were the thoughts that crossed my mind at the time. I stopped for almost a full second before I started again along the creek’s path.
I finally caught up about five minutes later. You were standing in the middle of a clearing, ringed by birch trees. Your head was tilted upwards, watching and listening. I kept my gaze towards the ground and put on a burst of speed towards you, grabbed you and slung you over my shoulder - you didn’t resist - and took off in the direction I came.
It only took a minute to cover the distance to the park and leave the forest behind us. I didn’t look back or slow down until we reached our house.
That was the night that we got a call from the hospital saying your Grandma Abigail had passed away. It happened while we were at the park - she had suffered a heart attack while at the grocery store. The hospital had been trying to reach me while I was out, but my cell phone didn’t start ringing until we got back to the house. It feels wrong to mention this without saying more about it, but I’m going to leave it there anyway.
I know it’s in poor taste to state the moral at the end of a story, but in case it hasn’t come through clearly enough, the moral of this story is that I am so sorry for all the ways I’ve failed you, but I love you more than anything, and there’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do to keep you safe and happy and healthy.
I love you, Abby. You’re a wonderful young woman, so brave and selfless and smart. It’s hurt me so much to see all that you’ve been through in the last few years, but I’m so proud of how strong you’ve been, and I know your Mom and Dad and Grandma all feel the same way. I promise that things will get better, even if they have to get worse first.
I wish I could tell you more about what’s out there. I tried for a few years to write an account of it, but I just can’t seem to dredge it up. I can remember a collection of feelings, facts, and vague ideas, but no proper memories. I’ve been putting what I can on paper when it comes to me, and I’ll attach my notes to this letter.
Feel free to talk to me about any of this if you’d like, I’ll be around as long as you are. Just remember not to say goodbye, and please don’t talk about wanting to leave or when you might do it - if you go, just go.
Love,
Grandpa Peter
For the record, I never blamed my grandfather for anything, not even the chalk. I knew what kind of man he was, and he never broke my trust. I knew that if he made mistakes there were usually reasons behind them.
In the months after my grandfather gave me the letter, I talked with him a few times about his life, what he’d been through, and what he thought I might go through. I think I might write those conversations down next. I don’t have recordings or anything like that, so I’ll have to write from memory. I think it’ll be a good exercise: my writing, someone else’s story. I hope that might help me feel more comfortable with finally sharing my own story.
It seems I lost the sheet of paper that was attached to the letter, where my grandfather wrote down those notes he mentioned. I wish I had it, as it would be helpful to have a little more than just memory to go on.
I can’t promise that I’m going to write more, since this was just the easy part. But I hope that I can.

hi guys, I REALLY WANT TO EAT PEANUT PANCAKE!!!!! the only few times i managed to buy peanut pancake was at random large hawker centres far away from my neighbourhood area, i really really need help right now because have worse memory than my grandmothers xiaomi flip phone and i have no idea how to find one near my house since u cant just search it on google maps like bubble tea. Im sorry but I really cant find any other way to find a peanut pancake shop so asking here is my last resort!!! If there are any kind souls who are willing to share their knowledge of peanut pancake locations please help me, I really want to eat peanut pancake, please help!!! please dont ignore me, i really really want peanut pancake please

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I have no friends, the one friend I had ran off with someone, and has ignored me ever since.
I have dreams of a girl that actually cares about me, and recognizes the pain I feel being alone.
I'm feel that I'm being pressured by my parents to actually have a future of going to college and play sports, but I don't feel that I actually have motivation to do so.
I have a dream, but thats nearly dead. To be a racecar driver.
I just had a mental breakdown before I posted this.
I act like I'm fine to everyone, but I'm not.
I'm not seeking professional help, i want to fight this myself, but...
I just don't know

(You can also find this story and the previous parts here.)
The months of October and November came and went as if they were words in a passing conversation.
Irving and Enterprise celebrated Halloween together. They watched some poorly made horror movies and ate candy. They knew that Malcolm and Oklahoma were busy giving candy to the destroyers for trick-or-treating.
Malcolm had a black covering on with glow sticks on him. He claimed he was going as a wireframe 3D Model. Oklahoma dressed as a pirate, with an eye patch over her eye and a pirate’s hat.
Soon it was November, and with it came Thanksgiving. Irving and Enterprise decided they would host it. They invited Samuel, New Jersey, Malcolm, Oklahoma, Warren, and Arizona.
The group was thankful that they could be together for Thanksgiving. They were excited about Irving and Enterprise’s wedding and the birth of Malcolm and Oklahoma’s child.
Soon, December came around, and with it, Christmas.
Irving and Enterprise were busy decorating their dorm for Christmas. She always tried to have a Christmas tree up in her room.
Irving received a call from Malcolm.
“Hey Mal. What’s up, man?”
“Hey Irving, do you guys want us to host Christmas? Oklahoma’s making cookies and we would love to have dinner. We already invited Warren, Arizona, Samuel, and New Jersey.”
“Yeah, do that. Enterprise and I will be there.”
“Alright. See you guys soon.”
Irving turned to look at Enterprise. His fiancée was wearing a Christmas outfit. Irving was wearing a green Christmas sweater with Grim wearing a Santa hat on it.
“Malcolm and Oklahoma are hosting Christmas this year. You going?”
Enterprise nodded her head, and they made their way outside.
It was snowing. The shipgirls were playing in the snow. Snowballs hit Irving and Enterprise. Irving turned around. They saw Archerfish and Fletcher throwing snowballs.
Irving, always willing to have a bit of fun, threw some as well, with Enterprise joining him. Irving made a snowball.
“Batter up!”
Irving threw the snowball. It hit Archerfish. Soon, the four threw snowballs at each other.
After a few minutes of throwing snowballs. Irving and Enterprise realized they were running late for Malcolm and Oklahoma’s Christmas party. The snowball fight had covered their coats in snow.
“Sorry, but we don’t want to run late for a party. See you guys later!”
As they were walking, Enterprise stopped. She blushed as she realized they forgot something important.
“Irving, we forgot the presents.”
Irving facepalmed. He realized he and Enterprise were in such a hurry to get to Malcolm and Oklahoma’s Christmas party; they forgot the presents.
The couple walked back to their room and got the presents. They walked to Malcolm and Oklahoma’s dorm, presents in tow.
Malcolm opened the door and saw Irving and Enterprise.
“Irving! Enterprise! We’re so glad you could make it!”
Oklahoma looked at both Irving and Enterprise and saw they were both covered in snow. Her belly had become rounder, as she was six months pregnant.
“How did that snow get on you?”
Irving smiled.
“Impromptu snowball fight. We got ambushed.”
Oklahoma sighed and shook her head.
“At least make sure your coats are not on my carpet. They were already a pain to clean without being pregnant.”
Irving and Enterprise took off their coats to hang them up on the coat rack in the hall.
Irving looked at the photos that Malcolm and Oklahoma took. There was a photo of Oklahoma on a horse, with Malcolm behind her. There was also a photo of Oklahoma in her wedding dress and Malcolm in his pink and greens. He knew that this must be their wedding photo. The last photo on the wall was a photo of Malcolm and Oklahoma on their honeymoon in the Dragon Empery. They were in front of a beautiful red building.
Oklahoma looked down at her belly. She was six months pregnant and was showing. Her back would often hurt, but Malcolm would always be near to help her out. She knew that she and Malcolm had a surprise for everyone at the party.
Oklahoma heard a knock on the door. She opened it and saw that it was her sister, Nevada.
“Ho! Ho! Ho! Sister!”
Oklahoma smiled. She knew that her sister always loved the Christmas season.
“Is it alright if I feel your belly?”
Oklahoma nodded. Her teeth clenched up as Nevada placed her hand on her belly. Nevada stopped.
“It’s alright. Your hand is just cold.”
Nevada nodded and put her hand on Oklahoma’s belly. She felt her baby kick against her hand.
“I suppose that this is baby’s first Christmas?”
Oklahoma nodded.
“I know you are excited to become an aunt in a few months.”
Nevada smiled as she made her way to the living room where Irving, Enterprise, and Malcolm were sitting.
Nevada smiled at Irving and Enterprise.
“Congrats on the proposal, you two. I know next year is going to be exciting!”
Irving and Enterprise smiled. They knew Nevada was excited about the two big events that would happen next year.
Nevada sat down on the couch to watch television with Irving, Malcolm, and Enterprise.
Malcolm got up.
“Hey Irving, can you watch the door? I have to help Oklahoma with the cooking.”
Irving nodded and got off the couch.
As soon as Irving reached the door, the doorbell rang.
Irving opened the door to see Warren and Arizona. Arizona was wearing an Arizona Cardinals sweatshirt. While Warren was wearing a Christmas sweater with a snowman on it.
“Hello you two, Merry Christmas!”
Warren and Arizona nodded and entered the room.
Irving continued his duty of being the doorman when he heard the doorbell ring again.
Irving opened the door to see Samuel and New Jersey. They were wearing matching red flannels.
“Glad to see you guys could make it.”
Samuel and New Jersey nodded in unison. Oklahoma came out of the kitchen with a tray full of cookies.
“Here you guys go! I hope you enjoy them!”
The group thanked her for the cookies and ate some of them. Samuel smiled.
“These cookies are excellent!”
Oklahoma joined the group and grabbed a couple of gingerbread men.
“Sorry. The baby wants some gingerbread men.”
The group watched an old Christmas special. Enterprise and Irving were lying in each other’s arms, as were Malcolm and Oklahoma, Warren and Arizona, and Samuel and New Jersey.
Enterprise turned to look at her fiancé. She whispered in his ear.
“You know, the stop-motion puppets used to scare me as a kid.”
Irving smiled.
“I’ve never seen this before. The animation is honestly impressive.”
Irving saw Malcolm and Oklahoma both had a hand on her belly. He saw they were smiling in each other’s arms.
The Christmas special was something that the base would play every year. It was York’s idea to play it for the base. It was an odd space opera Christmas special that felt like an acid trip after some time due to how much would just happen within a few minutes.
Soon, nighttime fell. Oklahoma looked at the group.
“You guys want to open the presents?”
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Malcolm got up from the sofa.
“I’ll get it!”
Malcolm opened the door.
“Commander?!”
The Commander took off his hat and nodded.
“Yes. It’s me. I figured I would stop by to pay both Oklahoma and Enterprise a visit, as I know they will be very busy next year.”
Malcolm nodded as the Commander made his way to the rest of the group.
The Commander took a seat on the couch and put his presents under Oklahoma and Malcolm’s tree.
Soon, the group began opening the presents they had given each other.
Oklahoma got mostly gifts that she would need once her baby was born, including baby clothes and toys for the baby.
Nevada got a calendar for the new year with horses on it. She also got a box set of classic western movies.
Malcolm got some things for the baby, including a book about what to do as a first-time father.
The gift that Irving got her surprised Enterprise. It was a beautiful silver necklace.
“Thank you, honey. I love it.”
Warren and Arizona got some clothes. Arizona got a perfume that smelled like oranges while Warren got a cologne that smelled like blackberries.
Samuel got some clothes as well. He also got a new sweater that was purple with a crocodile on it.
New Jersey got some band t-shirts and a juicer.
“I know you like fruit juices, so I got you a dresser.”
New Jersey had given her a blender.
“I had a feeling you would want to make your own baby food, so I got you a blender.”
The Commander got a bottle of scotch from Irving.
“It would be perfect for all the toasts you’ll have to make next year, Commander.”
After they gave all the presents out, there was one present left.
It was in indigo wrapping paper and had “To Louie/Joey: From Mom and Dad:” written on the tag.
The mysterious name puzzled the group. Oklahoma smiled at the group.
“So, as all of you know, I’m having a baby in March. A while ago, Malcolm and I got the baby’s gender. We decided that if the baby was a boy, We would name him Louis, and nickname him Louie. If the baby was a girl, We would name her Josephine, and nickname her Joey.”
The group nodded. This was the name and gender reveal.
Malcolm addressed the group.
“Inside the present, there is a pacifier. If the pacifier is dark blue, it’s a boy. If the pacifier is bright pink, it’s a girl. Are you guys ready?”
The group nodded in unison. Oklahoma took off the bow.
Looking at each other, Malcolm and Oklahoma both took off the top of the box.
Oklahoma pulled out a pacifier.
It was dark blue.
The group clapped and cheered. Irving got up to hug Malcolm. Malcolm and Oklahoma were having a little Louie.
“If you guys want, you can also call him Lou.”
Oklahoma got up to embrace her husband as they kissed on the lips. New Jersey, thinking quickly, took a photo with her phone.
The Commander pulled out the two last gifts.
One was for Oklahoma and Malcolm, and the other was for Irving and Enterprise.
The Commander smiled.
“Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.”
Malcolm and Oklahoma were the first to open the gift. They smiled with joy.
Inside were two Christmas ornaments. One said “Our first Christmas” on it, with a man and woman hugging.
Oklahoma noticed the Commander must have had it custom-made for them, as it was her and Malcolm.
The second ornament said “Baby’s first Christmas” on it. They cooed at the ornament as it was technically Louis’s first Christmas.
Enterprise and Irving opened their gift.
Inside were two things. They were a letter in an envelope and a Christmas ornament.
The ornament looked like the one that Oklahoma and Malcolm got. Only it was Enterprise and Irving hugging with the words “Our First Christmas.” written on it.
Irving opened the letter. His jaw dropped.
Inside were two plane tickets with the date of early February written on them.
Enterprise read the letter.
“Dear Irving and Enterprise.”
“I heard that someone was getting married.”
“I also heard that someone always wanted to go on a honeymoon to the Sardinian Empire.”
“Inside are two first-class tickets to the Sardinian Empire.”
“Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and congratulations on your marriage. May it give you never-ending joy for years to come.”
“SKK”
The group cheered for Irving and Enterprise. The Commander had paid for the plane tickets for Irving and Enterprise’s honeymoon.
Irving and Enterprise hugged each other.
New Jersey, ever ready with her phone, took a photo of the loving couple.
Irving looked outside. A Blizzard had hit the base and had snowed them in. Oklahoma smiled.
“Don’t worry. You guys can crash here for the night until the blizzard lets up.”
Irving and Enterprise fell asleep next to each other on the couch.
This was one of the best Christmases that Irving and Enterprise ever had.

I was playing The Show 23 for a few days & everything seemed normal, then I had a breakout game in DD conquest mode (15 runs, 20 hits) After that, hitting became near impossible for me. Got shut out twice in a row in my next conquest games & only scored one run the next game. I’ve played for the past 24 hours and nothing has improved. My AB’s that are timed good now mostly have weak contact. It’s now an endless sting of pop ups and weak grounders for me.
I tried switching from dynamic difficulty to beginner, I’ve even played with the sliders to try to adjust difficulty. But after I had this great game, it’s just become impossible for me to get hits.
Is there any way to reset difficulty settings? It just feels like something in my game got messed up.
Thanks!

We just put in new flooring in our house: medium pile carpet in about 60 percent of the house and the other 40 is laminate.
I live in the U.S.
I’m a short gal that doesn’t want anything too heavy so am leaning towards a canister. I do most of the vacuuming.
We have two corgis so there is lots of hair everywhere.
Budget is ideally around $900-1100 (or under).
The closest dealer near me is Stark’s Vacuums. I’m leaning towards a Miele or Sebo, they carry a few models of both.

While this post may be a bit long, I appreciate it advance anyone who takes the time to read it for an anxious person like me, and even a quick comment goes a long way. Apologies in advance as many of these "concerns" are probably just over-thinking and just need a straight answer - - but this community has been very helpful in the past so figured I'd post here for y'all's honest replies.
First off, we are a young couple. Mid-20's and from downtown Chicago. We are both fairly attractive, good builds and not overweight. She is bi, and while I am not interested in sexual contact/penetration with another man, I'm not freaked out by the mere sight of another penis or seeing a man's naked body near mine, etc. As of now, we're looking to start experiencing other people/couples in the means of a FFM threesome, parallel play, or even just a hangout/drinking that involves some easy games that maybe involve kissing, etc.
My question/concern #1 has to do with our age. As a young and (at the risk of sounding egotistical) attractive couple, are we more "in demand"? Will it be hard to find young people/couples like us who are interested in these kinds of things...is that community of people more older? We would be probably most/only comfortable with other females/couples in their 20's, earlv 30's like us. Is that an immediate barrier that we drop?
2 is just, what's the best way to jump in? Other than having a conversation deciding yeah we wanna get freaky with another person (s), what's a good first concrete step to take? I often see people just saying "go to a sex club" with no other help offered, but idk, that seems pretty intense for newbies like us just trying to dip their toe and start to try something. Sometimes people suggest apps...but which fit our needs for a young couple in Chicago?
3 is just safety. Can meeting up with other people like this be dangerous for sex trafficking, etc.? Is there anything to know other than just general "be smart" ideas? Thanks in advance to any kind stranger who takes a second to respond. All the best.

So I'm a 23 year old female and about a year and a half ago I was at my appointment for my pap smear, where they swabbed me to test for yeast infection/BV. I didn't have any symptoms of either, I didn't express any concern about having either, and during the pap smear the doctor said my vagina looked completely fine, so I'm not really sure why they swabbed me for yeast/BV. Anyways, a few days later they called me and told me I tested positive for BV. This was surprising to me because I didn't have any symptoms and I also had never had it before. They put me on the metronidazole pills, which I took following the directions on the bottle.
About a month later, I experienced a BV symptom for the first time. I developed a smell. It wasn't fishy, and it wasn't like a foul smell or anything, but it definitely smelt off. But that was the only symptom I had. No abnormal discharge, no itchiness, no pain, etc. So I went back to the OBGYN and they swabbed me again. The test came back positive, again. I was feeling frustrated because this was never something I had a problem with. I have one sexual partner, my boyfriend, we're both really good about hygiene, and I had never tested positive for BV until they randomly decided to test me during my pap appointment. I don't put any fragrances down there, I wash the "outside" area (like the labia majora) with the Dove fragrance free soap bar, and the areas closer to my actual vagina hole just get cleaned with water. I wear cotton underwear a majority of the time and I don't allow my boyfriend to touch anywhere near my vagina until he's washed his hands & cleaned underneath his nails.
Feeling frustrated after testing positive for a second time, and now at this point having a smell down there, I let them put me on another round of metronidazole pills in hopes that I just needed one more round to kill off the BV. Boy, was I wrong. In the past year and a half since then, I have continuously gotten recurring BV. The only symptom I ever get is the weird/off smell. I've been on the metronidazole pills multiple times and I've also been on the gel version multiple times, yet it always comes back. It'll go away for about a month or so, but it always comes back. I got sick of having to continuously take the medication for it, and I also got sick of constantly having to step away from work to keep going to the OBGYN for them to re-swab me & re-prescribe me every time, so I eventually started using boric acid suppositories. I will say that those have worked better for me than the medication the doctors would put me on for it, but it hasn't cured it completely. It will come back after a few months, and then I use the suppositories again to get rid of it, and repeat that whole cycle.
I guess I'm just curious about two things: 1. Has anyone ever had a similar experience where they didn't ever have any BV symptoms until AFTER they were put on medication for it? And 2. Any suggestions on how to actually cure it so it stops coming back?
Thank you in advance, and thank you for reading my long post!

Let me start by saying I am not a PC expert by any means. I have been searching for a new PC and found this R14. I have been looking into the model and it seems to be a good deal price wise, particularly with the 3080. My main concern has to do with cooling; I am worried that even with the "advanced" liquid cooling it still will not cool the CPU nearly enough. Can anyone who has a R14 speak to this? For everyone else, does this seem worth it or should I look elsewhere?
Link here: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/gaming-and-games/alienware-aurora-ryzen-edition-r14-gaming-desktop/spd/alienware-aurora-r14-desktop/wdr14aur30h?configurationid=c3735341-a453-49ed-b887-95f9e5021347#techspecs_section

I’ve just kinda started getting into this game, my friends are rapidly getting better at this game while I feel like I’ve hit a wall, every time I lose I just get upset and frustrated, and it peaked tonight when I got so angry I uninstalled and nearly cried out of pure frustration. I truly want to get better but I just can’t play this game with how angry it truly makes me.

I was originally going to post this in AITA because I wanted maximum punishment, but I didn't realize they had a rule against violence in the comment. So I'm posting here to just get some opinions.
I'm going to try to add as much detail as possible without identifying info, but on mobile so near with the typos.
I'm currently in the second trimester of my pregnancy. The night I found out I was pregnant my husband physically assaulted me (obv. not for that). He gets very jealous and thought I was cheating, he just doesn't handle it well when he can't monitor my comings and goings, but Jesus I'm too focused right now on raising my children and keeping the house together the thought of adding another manchild into my life is laughable. My husband travels for work and I work from home as a tax preparer (so been busy) and we have not seen each other except maybe a few weeks in between once the protective order expired.
Husband keeps saying he wants to do better, but we have a long history of emotional abuse. This was the first time he laid his hands on me and it has reasonably shaken me. I've never considered myself someone to just take the abuse for so long, but as anyone in my position knows there are so many variables including other children in the home.
I told him he had one chance to fix this. Get the help he needed. That we were never going back to the way things were because it's not who I am and chalk up my short term doormat status to having an infant during Covid etc.
On his last trip I discovered he planted recording devices around the home, and a gps tracker on my car, and opened a storage unit where he put a bunch of his stuff in there. He keeps turning the blame for the deterioration of our marriage on me lying to him, despite me calmly and consistently explaining that the lying started when I was constantly protecting myself from his abusive behaviors. He would literally yell and call me names just because I spent too long on an errand, so yeah, I'd lie about where all I went and how long it took etc. Bt I have never lied about anything out of malice.
Well I had planned to tell him and do a cute gender reveal thing with him when he got back from his latest trip, but he continues to threaten to leave and just isn't stable and secure so I keep changing my mind to not telling him. But fuck if he wasn't a dolt he could probably start seeing it. I can't physically hide it much longer. Just glad for the late spring so I can keep wearing hoodies.
I guess I just keep thinking to myself, if he really is just an abusive asshole with no intention of getting help, why complicate the situation more atm. I'm trying to give him space to start counseling in earnest (he's gone to a couple sessions) and see how he does more to help me out with the household labor, before giving him an out.
I believe if I told him the following options might occur, one or all in order.
1) Continue to accuse me of cheating as we don't have sex often, but hey, NYE counts and it only takes once apparently.
2) Use it as an excuse to guilt me into "letting him back in" emotionally/intimately as he's currently been staying in the guest room when home for short stints between work.
3) Using it as an excuse to not get help because he can refocus his efforts on preparing for another child instead of working on himself.
4) He's going to tell a lot of people I don't want knowing that I'm pregnant because he can't keep his mouth shut to others about our issues and it could affect my job.
I just want him to focus on not being abusive. He admits to me that he treats me worse than a dog and doesn't want to do that anymore, but it's been such a short time to see if he's going to actually make any changes.
I'd rather be alone than with an abuser.
I'm struggling though because another part of me says, dude, you can't just not tell someone you're going to have their baby. He's going to notice sooner rather than later, and is his anger over that worse than the alternative.
Please be gentle Reddit. I have a lot on my shoulders and I'm trying to do what is best for my children and my mental health too.
And for those who just say leave him, I'm literally just there. I am angry and will never tolerate his treatment again. So it's likely going to end in divorce anyway because a leopard doesn't change its spots. Just doing my due diligence for my children's sake.

I 'm probably cope-posting, owcirclejerk go nuts
The more I play this game the more frustrating I find Widowmaker as a hero, I'm no game dev obviously but to me it seems there's just no way to balance her properly as in higher tiers she has near infinite value to instakill any squishie from an unchallengable range, but in low ranks with less competent players she's often hailed one of the worst heroes. With a lack of a second tank to go harass her dealing with a competent Widowmaker often just feels like "Do not go anywhere she is or even could be looking" otherwise you risk instant, un-counterable death as most characters - the only reliable way I can think to counter her is to have a *better* Widow on your own team.
Her presence in the match is nearly always frustrating for at least one team. A bad widow is basically useless and her team will beg her to swap but playing against a good one is wildly unfun due to one-shot kills and being forced to play hide and seek with her all match. When Overwatch released she wasn't nearly as oppressive but the whole scope of the game has changed - people have had almost 7 years to mechanically improve at the game so her skill floor has raised substantially for a LOT of players, exponentially as you climb through the ranks. Personally I feel that I'm playing Widow nearly every other match, and being support main (yes I know, victim complex etc etc) it's genuinely something that is sucking the fun out of playing for me as there's hardly ever anything I can do about her. This game to me has always been about matchups and counterplay, it's a very intricate dance of abilities and movement etc to out-play your opponents. Widowmaker basically shits all over that because unless you get lucky and match a bad widow, your options are to basically spend the entire match hiding from her or pray that your DPS can out-Widow theirs - and if neither of those work, enjoy being instantly sent back to spawn from across the map
I'm sure that a lot of people will just say "get better" or "skill issue" or something like that, but I genuinely want to know how others feel about her as a hero, she feels wildly out of place to me but a rework seems impossible due to how integral being a sniper is to her character. Making her unable to one-shot would destroy her pickrates and have her performing even worse in lower ranks. Improving her in any way would make her even more oppressive and prevalent in higher ranks. She just seems to be a walking catch-22 to me

I saw Sweeney Todd yesterday. It was my first Broadway show and it was incredible and I already want to see it 10 more times because it's my all time favorite musical. Problem is I live on the opposite side of the country so that is very not feasible for me!
Since I'm so new to Broadway and how shows run - how likely is it that Sweeney will tour? I know recent revivals like Funny Girl, Company, and Into the Woods toured/will tour. I luckily live near a major city that often gets tours so I may have another chance to see Sweeney again if it does tour, but just how likely will that be?
ETA: I also know that the current Broadway cast won't follow but I don't care about that haha
Thank you!

Hi all, I'm hoping to get some constructive feedback/advice for an issue we're having. The daughter in question is almost 4, not yet diagnosed but we suspect ASD, verbal but not really conversational.
I'm a stay-at-home mum and we have always dealt with parental preferences and me being the default parent with both of our kids (oldest is 8). Our youngest has actually always had a great relationship with her dad though; I think going into lockdown just before she turned 1 really helped solidify their relationship at a critical time.
However, the last month or so she has become possessive to a point that it is just becoming unmanageable. She wants to be attached to me as much as possible, doesn't want anyone else to come near me, and screams at her father or sister for talking to me. If her dad tries to pick her up, more often than not we'll end up with a full meltdown that only stops when she's in my arms and can press her face into my neck.
Earlier today, she was calmly eating a snack at the table with her dad and I, and he told her he loved her and she immediately started screaming and sobbing. Last night she was having a hard time and from the other room he said, "Oh bubby!" in a sympathetic way and she immediately ran to me screaming "NO! I'M *YOUR* BUBBY!"
We tried doing some fun one-on-one time with each of the kids last weekend where she started out with me and then we switched halfway through and she had time with her dad and that went fine, but didn't help anything once we got back home. Hubs has suggested me going away for a weekend which, don't get me wrong, sounds amazing, but I just don't want to cause trauma and make things worse. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas.