Go devil parts diagram

Just trying to understand how this all works. I admit a lot or all of these questions/comments will sound very green, but please be kind.
I understand the basics that higher interest means higher interest payments on a variable mortgage for existing holders, lower mortgage approval amounts for potential buyers and so logically people won't be able to afford houses at current/2022 price levels.
But people still need a place to stay. And we have low supply of houses in the market. People aren't selling and are holding on to their houses so wouldn't that just result in a slow market and not necessarily a price crash? Just the slightest murmurs of a rate cut brought house prices and demand back up in the spring before the rate hike yesterday. Doesn't this show that there were still people out there who can afford to buy a house even at these price and interest rate levels?
Also, banks seem to be doing everything in their power for people not to sell or go under through extending amortization to crazy amounts..I know on renewal this will likely reset but for the bulk of mortgages taken out in 2020/21, rates will likely be slightly lower at least in 2025/26. We also have loads of immigrants coming in and being a recent immigrant myself, I know many of these economic migrants have the money and the means to buy a house with the money they bring over.
House prices might fall in other parts of Canada but in areas like the GTA or GVA, I'm not sure I see a crash happening.
TL:DR: Trough a combination of increased immigration, low supply, and bank policy, I'm not sure house prices are going to crash. Help me understand why I'm wrong.

Hey there!
I’m not sure what to say here, but I would love to make a new friend! I’m from the nyc area, been here all my life and would love someone new to chat with, and if you’re from the area then maybe hang out with!
Some of my interests; I love to read, mostly thrillers, mysteries, and biographies about bad people (they have the most interesting stories, who needs another Theodore Roosevelt story,) I looooove hockey and football, let’s go devils and giants, I love music, mostly indie rock, rap and some niche genres but I’m open to listen to anything and everything, playing my guitar and bass is so much fun and I love to see friends and family and go out for a drink.
I hope you’d like to chat, and even if you don’t particularly care for any of my interests I’d love to be friends, I’ve been told I’m pretty darn good at small talk do message me about whatever, whenever, hope to hear from you soon!

The Forgotten Family
By Vision-Quest-9054
With trembling hands, Liam gingerly lifted his father’s reading glasses off the surface of the small upstairs office desk. He knew he couldn’t keep his father, Gordon, waiting very long lest he fly into another rage. Gordon’s request was simple: retrieve the glasses within ten seconds or face the consequences. With his arms stretched out before him and both hands cupped together, holding the reading glasses, the pale-faced twelve-year-old boy descended the narrow staircase. “It’s all right,” He reassured himself. “It’s just a few steps down. I won’t fall this time.” Liam took another cautious step. And another. The musty odor of rotted wood and decay permeated the air with each creak of wood. The last five steps were in sight, giving the boy a sign of relief. The relief was short-lived when Liam’s left foot fell upon a small wet slippery patch of mildew, throwing him off balance. With a shriek, the boy painfully tumbled down the staircase and onto the main hardwood floor. Dazed and throbbing with pain from head to toe, Liam slowly raised himself up from the ground to meet his father’s furious gaze.“You careless little shit! Look what you’ve done!” Liam’s father, Gordon, pointed to the broken glasses on the dusty wooden floor. “You never take care of people’s possessions! You’re wreckless…!” “It was an accident!” Liam attempted to plead with him only to be sharply interrupted. “No, it wasn’t; there are no accidents in my home! I do not tolerate carelessness!” Gordon grabbed Liam by the ear and dragged him outside to a wooden shed in a barren corner of the backyard. “This will only hurt a little!” A smile formed across Gordon’s olive-skinned face as he tore off Liam’s shirt and seized a horsewhip before lashing out. “Please. No.” The boy pleaded in a weak sobbing voice as he hugged a nearby tree and forced his eyes shut. His cries of pain echoed to heaven as the whip tore into his bare flesh. To distract himself from the pain, he reminisced of the good past times when his mother was there to watch over him. There was also the soft, comforting nature of his sister, Marija (Maria), who was always there to console him amid physical discipline. His mother and father had been divorced for some years. Unlike many abusive fathers and husbands, Gordon was not an abuser of drugs or alcohol. Because of this, Liam had difficulty identifying the root cause of his father’s violent temper. He wasn’t sure if it was a form of mental illness or a history of intergenerational abuse. He recalled the time when Sonja, the wife, and mother of the family, was forced to leave. Liam remembered her tearful departure from their home. By their old countries’ laws, it was required for a father to retain custody of his children in any divorce proceeding. The loss of Sonja was a devastating blow to Liam’s morale. Tearfully gritting through the pain, he asked himself why these laws remained mandatory, for he did not understand the court ruling in Gordon’s favor. Why was it upholding such archaic separation policies? He longed for his mother’s touch, warmth, comfort, and protection from harm.
When the flogging was finished, Gordon put the whip in its place near the shed and glared once more at Liam. The boy fought back the tears in his eyes as his heavier middle-aged father seized him by the shoulders and pushed him against a tree. Liam winced as his lacerated skin clung to the bark. “You’re staying outside! Toughen up and stay put. That should learn ya.” With a grunt, Gordon wiped the sweat from his jet-black hair and mustache before shuffling back into their small, dilapidated home. Liam staggered forward to gather an old, dirtied shirt strewn across the tiny backyard to replace the previous one Gordon had just torn from him. Though It was one of his father’s more oversized shirts, it would have to suffice against the freezing crisp evening air. Struggling to fit himself into the dirty rag amidst the painful sting of his open back wounds clashing with the cold breeze, he shifted his woeful gaze towards his once vibrant family house. The house was practically a cottage, with only three main rooms. The tiny office space located in an upstairs loft was Gordon’s space. Beside his desk lay a small cot for him to rest upon. Liam and his sister, Marija, shared a filthy blanket on the hard floor near the main entrance. The last room was the kitchen. There was a broken outhouse behind the cottage for toiletry usage. The family had lived an impoverished lifestyle ever since Liam was born. Sonja managed to work for a minimum wage, while Gordon could not hold down a job due to his violent outbursts in the workplace. Once their mother was separated from the family, living conditions deteriorated even further. Food and clean water became ever more scarce with each passing day. Liam and Marija’s misery, including inadequate food and shelter, was compounded further by their father’s physically abusive nature. Once their mother was forced to leave, the beatings became almost routine.
“Are you okay?” Liam flinched as a familiar voice abruptly ended his thoughts. Marija’s soft gaze met with her brother’s. The ten-year-old girl’s blonde hair shifted in the breeze as her gentle blue eyes welled up in tears. “I’m not okay!” Liam choked as he, too, broke into tears. The siblings shared a sympathetic embrace until Liam broke the silence. “We have to get out of here.” “Oh no! Don’t do it!” Maria begged him frantically. “ You know what Father would do to you if you tried to do that. Last time when you tried to run away, the police caught you and brought you back here. Father was outraged! I thought he was going to kill you!” “I know,” Liam began. “But we can’t stay here forever. You must come with me! I can’t go alone.” Marija gave him a skeptical look as he continued. “We have to stay together, Marija, even if it means running away! We can’t go on living like this.” “No, I won’t do it.” She refused. “Father will really punish me. He will do the same to you.”
A foreboding memory entered Liam’s mind at that instant. Yes, he remembered it all too well. The flight from home, the missing person report filed by one of the ‘good neighbors’ to the local authorities, the manhunt, Liam’s capture, and the agonizing torment inflicted upon him by his father as a reward. As if reading his mind, Marija shuddered with fear. “Father spoke of the many punishments I would suffer too if you ran away again. Just think of what he’ll do if he catches both of us. The neighbors in our village keep watching us. They wait for us to move because they always side with father. They always hated us just like they hate Mother for leaving Father behind.” “Shit.” Liam cursed while banging his clenched fist against the dirt ground. Marija put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I guess you’re right.” He conceded. “If we ran away, the police would bring us right back.” “Let’s go gather some firewood,” Marija suggested.
The brother and sister’s crunching footsteps through the fallen leaves broke the silence of the quiet forest as they ventured several meters beyond their property. The outer layer of the forest was ripe with dead branches strewn across the forest floor. A shard of dried brittle bark was perfect for kindling. Gordan had returned outside to keep watch over the children. Perched in a rocking chair, he smiled as he struck a match against the sole of his shoes to light a cigar. With a few puffs of smoke into the dusk air, he reclined in his seat while maintaining a menacing gaze. Peering over her shoulder with bundled sticks in her arms, Maria shook her head. “Father will always watch us like a hawk. I could never run away.” The cold crisp air stung Liam’s cheeks as he gathered firewood. The sound of trees shifting and shuffling in the slow breeze juxtaposed with dark overcast clouds provoked an almost disquieting ambiance. A growing sense of dread slowly worked its way into Liam’s chest. “Why should this evening be any different from any other typical evening?” He thought to himself.
Darkness had fully set in. With a sigh, Liam looked into the fire they had built; it's radiating luminescence gave him a sense of comfort and warmth. It did not cause harm unless touched. Rather than fear or rage, the entity was known for its stoic nature against adverse conditions. To him, it was almost like a distant friend. “You and I, we are alike.” Liam struggled to divert his focus towards the flames, away from the rippling pangs of hunger in his belly, the sight of Gordan greedily finishing a cooked fish fillet, and his sister shivering in the breeze. “No food, no shelter, and no clean water for you for the rest of the night!” Growled Gordon as he approached the doorway of the cottage. Marija nervously followed him since she was allowed to sleep inside that night.
Liam shivered in the cold night air as Gordan shut the door with a bang. Starvation was nothing new to him. The small family was forced to fast from meals almost every day intermittently. Liam closed his eyes and shielded his face against the frigid air with both arms. Despite being exposed to the harsh hands of nature, he knew he would not be subjected to his father’s excoriating demeanor or his brutish chastisements in this temporary environment. Here, in the presence of nature, he could find a place of refuge. Finally drifting into a dream state, he found solace in his temporary departure from the real world. The visions he saw contained imagery of long-past memories almost forgotten, memories of his mother, Sonja’s intervention in times of distress. These visions were often interrupted by an overshadowing figure, a creature of practically enormous proportion that lacked any distinguishing features upon its form. It was initially difficult to decipher this being’s nature and purpose. The creature was truly amorphous in its appearance and was solely defined by a malevolent blackness that composed its entire form. It descended upon his parents with incredible swiftness and agility. The being enveloped Gordon, transforming his outer appearance to that of a raving madman, foaming at the mouth. His eyes changed from black to gray, then to a reddish-blue tint. Overcome with a fit of rage, he attacked Sonja with a stone and proceeded to bludgeon her to death. Liam pleaded for Gordon to stop but to no avail. The specter departed from Gordon and approached Liam with a summoning voice. “There is nothing left. Take refuge in me.” Though petrified with horror and trepidation, Liam found the tone of its voice alluring for reasons unknown. In its inhuman voice, he found purpose, however incredulous that may have seemed to him at first. Liam had witnessed this recurring nightmare since he was three years old. The increasing frequency of this dream coincided with his father’s growing cruelty over the years. He hypothesized that this nightmare was, in fact, a cruel joke played upon him by his subconscious mind, given its constant interaction with the outside world. Its poor interpretation of his adverse social environment was quite unreassuring at best.
The sharp crack of a twig caused Liam to jolt awake from his near-unconscious state. He sat upright to observe his surroundings. Squinting throw the darkness, he could make out the silhouetted figure of his sister in the moonlight. Marija rushed over to Liam and sat by his side.“I brought you some food.” She said in a soft low voice. “Where did you get it?!”Liam inquired. “I stole it from a neighbor’s house.” She explained. “Don’t ask me how I did it! Just take the food that I brought you.” Marija dropped a small sack next to Liam and hurried away. Liam unwrapped the food sack to find a loaf of bread, an apple, a baked potato, a vine of grapes, and a small slice of cake. Overcome with relief and hunger; he eagerly ate every bite. Finishing the meal, he turned on his side to feel a soft blanket beside him. “Bless you, Marija.” Liam thought with a smile while unfolding the blanket and wrapping himself in it. The overhead moonlight slowly faded behind the oncoming black clouds.
The following day, Liam awoke with a sudden jerk. Gordon was holding Liam by the arm. “Happiness and warmth all night, huh? When I gave her strict orders to stay inside, your sister brought you food and a blanket!” The older man cried out in anger. Gordon back-handed Liam across the face and dropped him. He marched into the cottage and returned with Marija, dragging her by the hair. The girl begged, pleaded, and screamed as Gordon threw her delicate form up against a tree. “Stealing?!” Gordon roared as he grabbed Maria by the wrist. “Mrs. Jacevich told me that she saw you taking food in her kitchen last night. This is what I raised? You are lying, thieving little bitch! You were told to stay inside! You will both pay the price!” Pinning Maria down to a tree stump with his elbow, Gordon snatched up a nearby rod and pointed it at Liam. “I’ll deal with you in a minute.” Gordon raised the rod and struck Marija in the face twice. He pivoted towards Liam and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. Gordon continued striking Marija with the rod again and again as she screeched. Griping in pain, Liam supported himself with his hands and got up off the ground. “Stop!” He shouted, running towards Gordon. With a quick fist swing, Gordon struck Liam hard in the jaw. The boy lost his balance and collapsed to the ground again. Still determined, Liam charged forward a second time. Gordon swung the rod, knocking Liam off his feet a third time. Blood trickled down Liam’s face as he staggered to his feet, his wounds throbbing. The excruciating sensation of burning pins and knives coursed through his body. Through the pain and disorientation, Liam could vaguely make out a terrifying manifestation; Gordon’s pupils’ color began to alter into gray, black, blue-tinted red, and a plethora of illusory shades and tones he had never seen before. No. It wasn’t real. The disorientation was causing him to visualize images that were not there…
Gordon stood tall and began laughing like a madman. “The price for your crime will be paid in full. God damn you both!” Liam stared in horror as Gordon tossed aside the rod and drew out a long sharp knife. Raising it above his head, he trained it upon Marija’s throat. “Never again will you burden me and the people of our society. You are not my flesh. You are worthless! To hell with you both.” This couldn’t be his father. For the first time in his life, this man was threatening murder. Whatever was happening, it had to be stopped. A whistle in the wind and a whispering command inexplicably restored a vital amount of physical energy to Liam’s body. Up! Save her life. Extirpate the threat. The transcendental experience lasted for but a second. Channeling his hatred alongside this newfound energy into strength, Liam made one last desperate charge forward. Gordon’s mouth dropped as Liam managed to catch him off guard. Slamming into his thighs, Liam pushed Gordon off balance into a backward summersault down a small knoll leading into a neighbor’s yard. Recovering for a minute, Gordon partially rose to his knees before coughing up a mouthful of blood and collapsing to the ground. Liam staggered backward in shock at what he had just seen. The long knife’s handle jutted upwards as the red blade remained buried in Gordon’s chest. The last expression on Gordon’s face was one of horror and disbelief as the life slipped out of his eyes.
Liam climbed up the hill to meet Marija as she sat on a tree stump, crying hysterically. “It’s okay,” He said reassuringly. “It’s all over.” Liam held her in a total embrace before stealing one final glance over the hillside. Mrs. Jacevich emerged from her house to see her next-door neighbor’s lifeless body. She puckered up her lips and screamed before turning her frantic gaze towards Marija and Liam. “Help! Help! Murderers! Murderers!” The women cried out and pointed in their direction. Within seconds, neighbors were rushing to the scene. “Let’s get out of here!” Liam snapped. Hand in hand, the siblings hastily fled into the woods.
“Let’s rest first.” Suggested Marija. Knowing that they had been traveling by foot for hours, Liam nodded in agreement as he sat down on a nearby rock. “All right.” The two sat quietly for a moment watching the birds sing in the conifer trees. “Why did Mrs. Jacevich accuse us of murdering father?” Said Marija taking a breath. “You know that Mrs. Jacevich is father’s biggest ally, right? They might have been having an affair. It’s her word against ours. We won’t stand a chance. Our country has no fair laws.” Answered Liam. Hello. I’m here. Follow my voice. A message softly whispered through Liam’s mind. “Did you hear that?” Marija nodded in surprise. “Yes, I heard it too.” Keep moving forward and go left. A bit unnerved, Marija anxiously glanced at her brother. “Liam, I don’t think we should follow it.” “Wait.” He interrupted her. Listening attentively, Liam experienced a euphoric sensation manifesting in his mind and heart. “It’s telepathy. And I think it might have been the voice that helped me stop Dad from killing you!” “What?! No, Liam! This isn’t right!” Marija seized his arm in a panicked act of protest. Her brother gently but firmly took hold of her hand to lead the way. “Marijah. Please. You need to trust me on this. Would I ever lie to you?” Marija shook her head reluctantly as she followed her brother’s lead. You’re almost there. After circumventing a cluster of shrubs and spruce trees, they came upon a clearing. Before them was a vast hillside complete with a paved road and five medium-sized houses interspersed along the roadside. Dirt pathways interloped between each house and the main throughway. The two looked on in sheer astonishment at such a scene. “I’ve never seen a paved road before,” Liam commented. The telepathic voice continued its instructions a second later—the fifth house along the road. You will find me there…
A sizeable white home with a single gable and double-paned window rested atop the roof, which loomed over the approaching children. The yard was small but adequately spaced for a vegetable garden. The front porch railing was a contrasted yellow meringue. A thin, familiar blonde-haired woman smiled at them from the front porch. “Mom!” They both exclaimed in unison. Marija and Liam hurried into Sonja’s outstretched arms. “Is it really you? How is it possible? How did you reach us?” Liam was rambling excitedly. Sonja smiled again as Marija buried her face into her mother’s long wool dress. “You will find out soon enough. In time, you will know. I am just so overjoyed to see the two of you for the first time in years. You’ve both grown up so fast.” Between tears and laughter, mother and children continued their embrace. Sonja’s face fell saddened at seeing gashes and scratches on Liam and Marija’s faces. “My God, what has Gordon done to you? Both of you come in.” Sonja ushered them both into the Fourier. “I need to give you both medical attention and food. Ladies first.” She took Marija by the hand and led her into a small bathroom. From the corner of his eye, Liam noticed the same grey-blueish-red tint that he thought he saw in Gordon’s eyes. Another sign caught his eyes: a small trail of black soot leading into the main bedroom. The smell of mildew emanated across the halls. Liam shook his head in disbelief. “This can’t be right,” He thought to himself. Smelling mildew, mold, and rotting wood in a poorly maintained house was typical. However, this home’s interior showed no signs of deteriorating organic matter.
Sonja and Marija stumbled out of the bathroom slowly and methodically. Though Marija’s wounds had mysteriously vanished, her eyes were notably different. Her once vibrant blue eyes appeared to have an absence of color. Everything about her seemed different. Her pupils had faded from blue to gray and now dark black. Sonja’s eyes mimicked a similar pattern. She smiled and beckoned for Liam to come forward. “It’s time we have a look at those scrapes and bruises on you.” Liam took a step back. “Who are you?” Sonja tilted her head slightly and responded in a calm tone. “Liam, it’s mom. I’m here to help you. Are you all right?” He took another defiant step back. “No! I can see right through you just like I started to with Dad. Who are you?” Silence ensued as Sonja’s smile quickly faded into a disquieted expression. “Your eyes are different. Her eyes are different. Who the hell are you? What have you done to Marija?” Liam demanded once more. At this, Sonja’s tone shifted to a firmer one. “So now you see who I am. Unfortunate.” “Where’s my real mom?” Liam shouted. Sonja tilted her head once more. “She once lived here. She inherited the house from your dead aunt. But I have claimed her mind as my own. She and I are one, just as your sister shall be.” With a swift stroke of its hand, the being impersonating Sonja drove an incorporeal blackened hand through Marija’s head. A brilliant flash of light was immediately followed by Marija’s lifeless body crumpling to the floor, her eyes now pure white and devoid of color or pupils. Liam cried out in disbelief. “This can’t be real! You tricked us. It was a trap! You stole my mother and sister’s minds. You destroyed who they were!” “No.” The entity began. “They were absorbed. Did I not save you both from a tortuous existence? I cannot absorb you if you are deceased. Your mind must be whole when I consume it. The world will seek you out. It will destroy you. I provide refuge from the world.” Liam backed himself to the entrance door. “No,” He objected. “You must have been the cause of father’s madness. It all makes sense now. Maybe you were the affliction, the sickness. You destroyed my family.” “Your presumption is correct.” The being interjected. “However, your parents invited me in. They made a covenant so that their lives would see improvement. Every time they relinquished an ounce of willpower, I became stronger. The world offers you no hope. The void is your refuge.”
Within seconds, Sonja’s human form disintegrated into ashen soot and mildew. A dark, amorphous mass emerged from her place. Within seconds, it fully enveloped Liam’s head, torso, and legs as he struggled and kicked with every fiber of his body. Each desperate act of defiance the boy made was countered by the entity’s overwhelming vigor and might, which facilitated An intoxicating atmosphere, one that offered no respite, a blinding trajectory devoid of light, and a suffocating preternatural aroma poised to extinguish even the sanest person’s consciousness. The entity had lured his parents into a false state of comfort and hope, only for these emotional beliefs to be extirpated upon the revelation of the entity’s true nature. With his final parting thoughts, Liam wondered why so many men and women in the world could be seduced by the lies, deception, and feelings of despair that satiate this otherworldly being’s appetite, but most of all, how many more souls would unknowingly make a covenant with such an entity? Regarding those who embrace its false promises, their fate is sealed: In nihilum.

For context, my sister (22) and I (28f) do not get along and can barely stand a 5 minute conversation. A lot of this is built up resentment between the two of us as I’m the older sibling who had to raise the younger siblings and she’s the younger sibling who doesn’t like being told what to do. She started to resent me during her teenage years and that hasn’t changed much since then. She is the kind of person that throws a fit on other people’s birthdays and always wants to be the center of attention.
I graduated with my MBA last month, and invited my family as I’m the first person in my family to graduate from college, let alone a graduate degree. I had asked my sister if she would want to come rather than insinuate and she said “ of course!”.
Well the day came and my partner was busy helping me get ready so I asked my family to pick up coffee for us if they were already going. My partner and I got to the venue a bit late because we got lost and during that time my sister was calling me non stop to tell me she had our coffee. By the time I was able to answer I was stressed and answered the phone in such a tone with a very upset “ WHAT?!”. Well that set my sister off and once I actually arrived at the front of the venue she started cussing me out. I did apologize to her and explained to her that I was overall stressed, we got lost, my signal was going in and out, and was very hungry. She was upset that I had picked up the phone in an angry tone and then started to yell at me about how I am in general. Like I said we have a very tough relationship and a lot of it is just personality differences plus her own mental health issues that she doesn’t want to deal with. She then went inside to my family and said that I was upset with them ( I wasn’t) and I started getting calls and texts asking if I wanted them to leave. At this point I was just extremely stressed and sobbing after being yelled at for 5 minutes by my sister and having my family upset wanting to leave. My partner’s parents showed up at this point and were trying to calm me down so I could head inside for the ceremony.
Things went relatively smoothly from there but my partner and I are now talking about getting married. We have been planning this for a bit and are most likely just going to do a civil marriage down at city hall. They have an option to invite a small group of family members which I would like to do but I don’t really want to invite my sister. At this point, i feel like she’s ruined enough for me and has a lot of anger towards me that it wouldn’t be enjoyable. TBH I’m still mad at her about my graduation and feel like for the most part she ruined the experience for me. But I’m not sure if it’s worth it to hold onto that anger from my graduation and not invite her.
Edit: to include how I approached her after my answering the phone.

On the 911 tape, at 11:39 a.m., Klebold can be heard saying to Evan Todd, "You little fucking fat piece of shit."
I've always wondered if they had a specific issue with Todd, given that he was into sports. That comment sounds pretty personal to me. Todd's interview with TIME Magazine is full of what seems like a deep-seated resentment for the TCM and he sounds extremely proud of the fact that he treated them like crap, which makes it seem like he was one of the people they specifically hated.
Excerpt from the article linked above:

"Columbine is a clean, good place except for those rejects," Todd says of Klebold and Harris and their friends. "Most kids didn't want them there. They were into witchcraft. They were into voodoo dolls. Sure, we teased them. But what do you expect with kids who come to school with weird hairdos and horns on their hats? It's not just jocks; the whole school's disgusted with them. They're a bunch of homos, grabbing each other's private parts. If you want to get rid of someone, usually you tease 'em. So the whole school would call them homos, and when they did something sick, we'd tell them, 'You're sick and that's wrong."

Homophobia in Littleton? Pshhhhh. (And it wasn't Eric and Dylan who grabbed each other, that was Joe Stair and others).
I wouldn't be surprised if Todd's name is one of the hit list redactions that has yet to be deciphered.
I also find it interesting the way Todd tells people he was "the first person shot in the library" when he was never shot. He was shot at, and got wood splinters in his eyelid.
Old news, but I was going through some documents and this whole topic just makes me wonder why it's even legal to put teenagers together in a high school environment.

I know it's short notice, but the group I was going to run for tonight had to cancel, and I've spent a good chunk of the day prepping this, so I figured I'd see if anyone on Reddit was interested.
Never played D&D before but have been wanting to try it out? This is your chance!

• Starting at 9:00pm CST tonight (about 1.5 hours after this post goes up), I'm going to be hosting a session for complete beginners. The first part of the session will go over the rules of D&D 5e and everything you need to know in order to play, and then afterwards we will conclude with a short single-session game so you can get some practical experience. This is intended to be a hands-on D&D tutorial more than anything else.
• I'd estimate 2-3 hours, but it could be longer or shorter depending on a wide variety of factors.
• We will use Owlbear Rodeo for our maps, DnD Beyond for character sheets (you'll need to create an account), and Discord for voice. Webcam not required.
• Beginners only, preferably people who have never played at all.
• 18+ only, simply because I'm 33 and playing with minors can be awkward.

If you're interested, comment here with your Discord or send it to me in a private message. Thanks!

Hey everyone I'm 23 and I took a break from stacking silver in early 2021. I have been working on stacking gold and TBH mostly fiat (along with having a rough 2022 in general so not really thinking about PMs). I took a break when I had roughly 60ozt of silver in my stack.
So just in the last few weeks I said "man, I have too much fiat" so I bought a few coins, some 40%, and a few rounds at my new LCS. And then I decided to pull the trigger on my first big bars... 2 kilo bars from SD bullion. Along with my first 1oz gold coin (a Britannia). None of the biggies are here yet. Probably the heaviest 2 weeks I'll ever have. I just wanted to drop about 4k in PMs so I kinda split it even between silver and gold but for my regular buys I'm going back to mostly silver.
I was SHOOKED by the premiums on ASEs and 90% junk silver (I should say constitutional at those prices). So now I like the way Brits and Phils look, both esthetically and for stacking, so I'm buying those instead. I even considered selling my ASEs and buying just Britannias but I don't think I'll do that. I only have like 15 or 16 eagles, I think I'll see when/if premiums come down and it will make for a great story on how it took 8 years or whatever to fill a tube of eagles. Also I'll be stacking more generic silver, mostly bars (10oz and kilos) and a few 1oz rounds. I'm also halfway trying to finish some tubes I never filled. 50% Canadian dimes, cull silver dollars, and 80% Canadian quarters.
My other goal is to get to over 4oz of gold but the way I want to do it is 1 full, 2 halves, 4 quarters and 10 tenths. I already have 9 tenths and 2 quarters and I ordered the 1oz brit today. So I'm already over half way there (or will be when I get my ouncer in). I know 4 ounces of gold is like baby weight for most of y'all but it will be just the beginning hopefully. After that I might pick up some old gold or I might just try to fill tubes of modern bullion, who knows.
I also love the fact that WSS seems to have turned into mostly a meme sub. They were part of the reason I took my break, the increase in premiums that they caused was awful. I severally disliked them (not supposed to hate anyone), I remember mentioning something about a 1/10oz gold coin I had bought or was looking at and one of them commented something like "that's not going to do anything, save up for a 100oz bar, apes strong together" and that was when I said "I don't need reddit or YouTube to stack, I'm just going to buy my gold and enjoy it all by myself". Just seeing it kinda normalish is very refreshing.
If you actually read that thank you! I just never thought stacking would have changed in what seemed like such a short period of time.

YOU’VE DESTROYED ME. I LOVE YOU.
The End.
No, but wow. Over the past few months I’ve tried to enter the world of historical romance, but no matter what book I read, I just couldn’t get into it. I love period dramas and movies. I devour them. I love balls and yearning and hands barely touching and pretty dresses and white floofy shirts. There’s just been something about the literature side that hasn’t really clicked for me (YET!!!).
But then {Convergence of Desire} happened.
Thomas. Tom. Tommy. Him going from neutral passiveness to crying and having internal meltdowns because he’s so in love with Harry was everything. And I loved how his infatuation with her wasn’t sexual, or at least didn’t begin as anything sexual, even when he began to desire her physical form. This feels even more important because of Tommy’s relationship with sex and how he craves it like an addict.
His entire day would be made if she made eye contact with him. If she smiled at him? Check his pulse he may have flatlined.
There was a part where he compared being beside Harry to like resting under the shade of a birch tree, and that was very beautiful to me. Because when we’re introduced to Tommy, he’s very much a go-go-go person. He can’t sit still and be alone with himself or he’ll drown in his anxiety and sadness. He has to be drunk, or going out riding, or visiting brothels every waking moment.
So to find solace, companionship, and friendship in Harry was momentous.
And then Harriet. Harry.
I know everyone is sick and tired of the emotionless robot trope when it concerns Autistic characters. And I know there are some readers who would peg her as such and nothing else. But Harry felt truly alive and feeling, it just took to learning who she was to read all those cues. There are many aspects of Harry I relate to, and I found it refreshing. To see her masking, to feeling frustration over not understanding social cues, her special interests; it was nice to be seen.
Anyway. I loved that Harry never changed or got some weird and insulting “cure through love” and had her entire personality warped to fit a conventional happy evening. Harry was Harry throughout. And I liked that her character development wasn’t about changing who she was but giving her new worldviews that aided in her mental and physical health, which in turn helped her better interact with those in her circle of trust.
I loved her and Tommy’s relationship. They felt like friends before lovers and I really, really loved that. I loved that they had chemistry and genuinely liked one another as people. They were just so lovely!!!!

Hi all,
Just wanted to come on here and talk about how hard this condition can be sometimes. It can be so isolating when you maybe only have yourself and your partner who understand the reality of it. I feel so guilty sometimes for not being able to give my partner PIV or for having such a low libido. It is hard being the cause of so much pain, sadness, and frustration for somebody that you love so much. I hate that I’ve interrupted our relationship with a need for things like dilators and counselling. It can be hard to silence the thought that my partner deserves better.
Some days I am able to rationalise things and explain to myself that this is something that will take time to recover from, and that’s ok. But other days I wish I could wake up cured or go away for a trip and come back better. It can be overwhelming to keep on top of all of the possible treatments, and waiting lists, and options. I’m grateful to be in a place where I can seek treatment but it’s a big change to go from nothing to lots of things. It is so frustrating to be unable to do something that many people consider to be a basic human function. It is frustrating to feel pain again and know that you haven’t quite made progress. I also struggle with the change in libido from being someone who didn’t have any issues a few years ago, to where I am now. It hurts me that there aren’t enough words on the planet to explain to my partner that they are wanted and I do find them attractive, but vaginismus gets in the way. None of this is because of them.
It’s shocking when this condition starts to affect other parts of your life. Like maybe your self esteem or your mood. I find it frustrating how much of a part vaginismus plays in a lot of things.
Sorry for the rant, does this resonate with anyone?

I am in high school and it sucks. I'm in choir and that sucks too. I've been singing since I could talk, so I'm good at singing, but I hate it. I don't mind casually singing with friends or in public - I actually get lots of praise when I sing and it's fun! But I can't do it at huge events.
Anyway, I have a solo in this next concert and I'm terrified. I've been practicing so hard but I have stage fright and don't want anyone there but my friends and my mom!
Moreover, I also have an awards ceremony next week, where I am being recognized for my performance in chemistry, anatomy, biology, English, and Spanish, and I don't want anyone there either!
My dad and partner his tried to ask me when my choir and awards events were, and I tried to blow them off by saying I didn't know when the dates were. However, they literally REACHED OUT TO MY SCHOOL and asked and now I'm fucked because I saw that they bought tickets for both events.
My dad's partner was super dramatic about me winning all those science awards because she's a doctor and was like "OMG you did way better than I did when I was in HS!" It's super, super awkward - they started dating like 2 years ago and she acts like she's known me forever. This should not be allowed.
I tried to email my choir teacher to let me back out of the solo and/or ban my dad and his partner from the event, but she told me to quit being dramatic and just practice more. I don't know what I'm going to do for the award event either; it's too awkward to reach out to the principal and ask. I'll just fake sick or something.
Anyway, I'm in this weird situation where I did freshman year of high school in the southern part of the state - I loved it and it was easy to excel, and then my mom's work moved up north and I had to transfer schools where it's a lot more rigorous and competitive. I'm still doing well, but man is it a LOT of work.
I asked my mom to please let me move back south and live with my aunt and she said no. Like at least back south I get to avoid my dad and his partner. I don't even know what to do. My life just sucks.
For context, I was born and raised in the southern part of the state, and then did 1st year of HS there. Then mom's worked moved north, to the same city as my dad/his partner's residence, so I had to change schools too.

AITAH, I (18f) am so mad at my friends. We (they are all 18f as well) work together and this is the summer before we all go to college. I've dated a little in high school but nothing serious like them and they think I need a summer fling before I go to college. Idky they think this but it's become their mission for the summer.
There is a guy (37m) we work with that I've told them I dont. They keep trying to get me to talk to him because they say we have a ton in common which after going out with him, I admit we do. We are both into the same kinds of podcasts and like reading fantasy novels. We are both into bowling, darts, pool and euchre. So they were right that we have a lot to talk about. But he's way older than me and he's chubby and he has a weird eye.
They keep telling me I'm being superficial and that if I give him a chance, he and I would get along and have lots of fun together.
The part that makes me feel like IBTAH is that when I did hang out with him on the blind date I did have a good time and we are going to see a comedian we both really like and I'm going to be his euchre partner for a league he's in and I'm kinda excited to hang out with him just as friends though. Idky they think I'm going to fall madly in love with him or something and it makes me really mad.
I'm just ranting at this point but i feel like if I told them I didn't like him then they should have respected that and not set me up on a blind date. But idk, AIBTAH?

I married my high school sweetheart. You know how proud I was to always say that? Our wedding was on our 7 year dating anniversary, and we’ve obviously been married since.
The first seven years, magical. The storybook type of love, and I’m not exaggerating. It was flowers, once a week. Cleaned and folded pajamas on a clean bathroom counter after work. He even use to lay things down over puddles for me to walk on, so I’d never get my feet wet.
And I did my fair share of things for him, too, but I just remember being so taken aback for years because I am a child of generational divorce. The last people to stay married in my family were my great, great grandparents, and here I was with a guy who I could trust to help me end that, and never once have I taken him (or that) for granted.
But after we got married, things started changing. He hasn’t bought me flowers once- it’s been nearly three years. We sort our laundry now, and he only does his. Forget the things over puddles for my feet, he won’t even run errands with me anymore.
The other day we were casually talking about divorce. I say casually because his best friend is currently going through a divorce, so we were talking about that, and he said something along the lines of ”It’s too much to start over with someone else.”
Half the time, he sleeps on the couch. I try to get him to come to bed, but he says he prefers it. I left this afternoon to run errands, went to give him a kiss. He dodged it. I said ”I’m going to these stores, I’ll be back soon, let me know if there’s anything you want while I’m out, I love you.”
He said nothing. So I just left.
And it’s heartbreaking.
Part of me wishes we never got married, because after our wedding he really had the 180, and it makes me confused, and concerned, and heartbroken. Because we both have changed, don’t get me wrong, but the difference is I don’t think I could ever change enough to not love him.
I’ve tried to talk with him. It gets no where. I’ve tried going above and beyond, it gets no where. I’ve talked to him about counseling, he shrugged it off.
Every day for the past three years, I have felt like I’m being tolerated by the person who I love and who used to love me.
And I don’t know what to do about it.

My dad and I both live in South Carolina. I am the only child of my dad who is on his death bed at 77 years old. Next closest relative is a niece. He has amassed a decent amount of money in his bank account. He does not have a will, trust etc as honestly he was not a part of my life until we reconnected a few years ago when he was diagnosed with cancer. He does not have any POA or executor.
On his bank account though he has me listed as POD. Talking with his bank I will only need to bring a death certificate to transfer all the money to my own individual account. Seeing as he's been in the hospital the past 5 month he's likely amassed a large hospital debt. If he dies and I go claim the money as POD can hospital debt collectors come after the $ in my account?
Also worth noting he is a disabled veteran from Vietnam War and agent orange is what gave him the cancer he states. So I'm sure VA will be having to pay alot of his hospital debt if not all.
Lastly the last assisted living facility he was at would let him sit in his shitty diapers for hours despite him calling the nurses. I got him out of there quick and to the hospital because this caused bed sores which caused infection he still has not recovered from after a couple months. Could I sue the care facility for this, their reviews on Google state this has happened to multiple people there, I sent care about getting money out of them but something needs to be done about the facility.

So I've been thinking for a while if I should document some of the history I had with my ex who I was with for almost 10 years. Partially to shed a light on warning signs that I was too naive to notice and also to ask advice on how others got over their experiences and deal with any problems in new relationships that bring back those feelings.
For record I did go to my GP who referred me to counseling sessions. Unfortunately those were only 12 free sessions on the NHS and the therapist I was assigned just kept referring me books to read and "homework" such as saying out loud 3 things I'm happy about in my life before bed... Often she just talked about the lack of funding from the government and such.
So I finally left my ex in 2016 ish, I was on antidepressants, occasionally beta blockers for the panic attacks and birth control, all of which made my mood go up and down like a rollercoaster. I was absolutely miserable and one day it just kind of hit me that I have to leave, it's me or this forever?
We started dating when I was 20/21 and he was 5 years older than me. We met because of an online game and he worked with my older brother. My brother gave me his in game character name incase I needed help. I started chatting to him in the game and he came to see my character, he showed me around and it started like that. I was going away for a weekend to a youth group camping event and he joked wasn't I going to ask for his number to keep talking and so I did. During the weekend I met someone my age at some of the events and had a lot of fun with, we had similar jokes and I thought he was really attractive. We added eachothers emails to keep in touch and so I texted the game friend to say I was sorry but I met a really nice person I was interested in. He instantly replied some comments about how it was just a crush, did I even know if they liked me back. Was I just going to throw away what we had for a guy I met over 3 days. I thought about it and I felt so guilty. I decided to stick with him and have minimal contact with the other via email. Years later when Facebook became a thing he did add me there and I accepted thinking nothing of it. We still didn't message or anything. One year he wrote "Happy Birthday Hope you are well!" To which my guy wrote a very rude/sarcastic response something like "she's great I'll tell her you said hi", so he deleted his post didn't message again.
When I got back from camp we arranged to meet up in person for the first time ever and we went for food/coffee the usual. I will mention that I was pre warned by my brother and wasn't really supposed to be talking to this guy outside of the game, so for the first few months of our dating we kept it hidden until I was found out resulting at an angry brother waiting at the train station for me and telling off my guy in public saying he should know better and was told to stay away from me.
I told my mum about it later that day and honestly she didn't really care, and said it's normal for my age, and so we began to date properly not hidden. This guy was my first proper boyfriend and my first everything really.
In the beginning it was fine, we had good times. I did have to deal with his ex who was trying to become my best friend and go out shopping/partying with which I thought was too strange so obviously never did. I then found out she was calling him in the middle of the night crying asking him to take her back. So he ended up telling me that they used to be Engaged and how she cheated on him and so he broke everything off. Now the first red flag, he told me for his revenge everytime she would start dating a new guy he would get in contact with her, ask how she is, act really caring and charming. He would convince her to come over and then sleep with her so that she would feel so guilty she would tell/end her relationship. She thought they would get back together but instead he laughed in her face and tell her to get lost. Apparently this happened multiple times before we met.
Over time I came to realise because of this he could be very jealous, paranoid and had a bad temper, he would throw and smash plates, punch walls. Second red flag he "accidentally" locked me in his house while he went to work one day. I didn't really have anything to do or eat. In the past he did joke with me that if it was allowed he would lock me in his house and never let me leave. I never was sure if this was some sort of joke or a genuine accident.
His ex lived in the countryside and enjoyed the thrill of outdoor sex because no one was really around. Because of that he also enjoyed it. And so when we started getting a bit more serious he would force that on me. Once he met me early in the morning before I had work, it was a nice walk but then he got very handsy. It was ok as we were behind a lot of trees, but then he brought me to a bench and got me to sit on his lap with his hands down my trousers/pants, all while people were passing by. I kept my eyes closed the entire time and thought for sure someone would tell us off. A few times he would touch me on busy trains/buses, we went to an abandoned warehouse and a house. Sometimes there were kids hanging around spray painting or breaking things. In the house he told me to give him a blow job, I tried to laugh it off and say no thinking he must be joking. Instantly this made him angry, he didn't talk to me for a few minutes and then started to tell me things like "a good girlfriend would do this for her boyfriend" and so I ended up absolutely sobbing but doing what he wanted. A different time in the warehouse he wanted to do anal, and again I said I didn't want to, and again the guilt tripping and saying he would be really quick and no one would see, and feeling guilted I gave in. He finished inside and we left. I didn't realise till I had a shower later that day that because of being outside and not having access to lube I was very tender and sore in the area. This basically went on, and sometimes I would lie and say that I really needed to pee just to get out of having sex in public. Even at home he would often pressure me to doing things I didn't like, I have a bad gag reflex so honestly didn't enjoy going down on him, plus often I didn't like his smell or taste. If I asked him to wash it he got very angry at me and would say how it loses sensitivity and doesn't feel as good. Over time he withdrew going down on me because I wasn't "being a good girlfriend" and honestly I didn't mind.
Around 4 years or so into the relationship I made a new friend in work and she invited us to her birthday in a room booked in a night club. It was supposed to be couples and masquerade themed. My guy didn't want to go with me because it seemed boring and he had no interest in meeting my friends. He went out of his way to arrange our gay friend to go with me so I wouldn't be alone and would have a guy with me. On the night of the party the friend came over while I was getting ready and we had some drinks, my ex then changed his mind and decided to come. This wouldn't be a problem but he also said it was ok that his scummy brother comes along (that's another story) he had promised me that the brother wouldn't be in the booked room and he would stay downstairs in the main club with him. But in they came. I was annoyed because his brother was being really inappropriate with my friend, saying he would take her in the bathroom and show her a good time. He was taking photo's up girls dresses/skirts and asking for girls numbers everywhere (he had a gf and I was also warned by my ex not to be alone with him) my guy ended up not speaking to me for the night because I was annoyed that he wouldn't remove him. When we got back to his house he wouldn't let me go home and told me to shut up and go to bed. I sat on the bed sobbing that I just wanted to go home and he laughed and laughed in my face pointing at me. When I tried to leave he lifted me by my coat, breaking the buttons and my necklace and threw me against the wall. In anger I lifted a photo frame of us and smashed him over the head, in retaliation he punched the wardrobe right beside my head and broke his little finger, I ran out of the apartment. I sat on the curb outside crying because I didn't know how to get home. After maybe half an hour he came out and took me back inside. He told me to please go to sleep and just leave in the morning. After that event we broke up for maybe 5/6 months. I started to feel lonely and stupidly started talking to him again.
After this we moved in together. We rented a house where he was originally from but was much further for me. It resulted in me having to get a train and bus to work everyday or come home. His reasoning was there were no houses for rent where I lived. At this time I worked a pretty crap sales job, I made minimum wage and only worked 16 hours a week. So giving half of my money to him to cover rent/food etc and buying my train and bus ticket left me with £10 a week to my name. I was further away from my friends (who he didn't like me spending time with, they were bad influences) I had a male friend that I grew up with and I viewed him like a brother. He told me I had to cut contact with him as I wouldn't like it if the role was reversed (even though he had several close female friends) he spent his time trying to get me to be friends with his friends, and I didn't get them, they were all older and we had nothing in common. Once he asked one girl to spend the day with me shopping or just anything because I had no friend's. I was so embarrassed when he told me. The fact I couldn't go see my actual friends when I wanted and was alone already made me feel sensitive. It also didn't help that early in our relationship he told me he had only ever slept with his ex before me, I then found out he had actually slept with a few of these other female friends for various reasons. One had a fight with her bf and got into his bed wanting a hug and crying which apparently escalated. One apparently climbed ontop of him while he was sleeping when his house mate had a house party etc. One was single at the same time as he was and they thought why not see. That's what I was told anyway.
The town where he lived was dying and had very little going for it. Apart from the nice scenery walking my dog I had nothing to do. With this going on I began to fall into a slump. I worked, came home and slept. He began getting irritated if was sitting/sleeping on the sofa after work as his pc was in the living room and he said he felt like I was always watching him. I made the small room upstairs into my own little space with my computer to play games on and sometimes he would sneak really quietly into the room to try and see if/who I was talking to online. I ended up going to my GP to talk to someone and that turned to my first experience of antidepressants and beta blockers for my panic attacks. This cut down my sex drive immensely, and he would often argue that I "just lay there" or wouldn't do anything for him. I was applying for jobs with no luck. I went to speak to an advisor and they actually said "have you ever considered getting pregnant?" I ended up taking 2 weeks holiday in my job so I could adjust to the pills as I was feeling ill. I temporarily moved back home to learn to drive as maybe that would help me. I ended up getting a new job in a kitchen in the city centre, meaning I was getting my first full time job and would only have to get a train now. My ex told me to stop the driving lessons as I no longer needed them, and just move back as I had money now. And I did.
In my previous job all women worked in the store. In this new job it was a lot more mixed, I was the only female chef but I got a long with mostly everyone. I met my best friend here and we were in a small friend group of 4, our manager jokingly named us the breakfast club because we were all so different. My female best friend, our gay friend and a Romanian guy who was still learning English. We became really inseparable and would often plan day trips, cinema, dinner's and nights out. We had a group chat and constantly talked and sent memes. I felt happy having friends again. Over time my guy became extremely paranoid, he didn't want me working or spending time around other guys. He told me men are like hungry wolves and you can't trust them, and how he had worked in McDonald's when he was young and everyone slept with everyone etc. I finally had money and friends and he wanted me to quit. I loved the job and the people and often if anyone had to go home sick/hurt I always offered to stay to close. This also didn't help with the paranoia. It got to a point that I had to send him my new work schedule every week and had to have a "good reason" for doing overtime.
As time went on he started to accuse me of cheating on him. If I went out with my friends or even to visit my parents he would tell me (if you're fucking anyone tonight then don't bother coming home). This got more and more frequent and he began smoking and drinking a lot more. Often I would come home from work late at night and instantly be yelled at. There was another incident where he punched the wall again re breaking the finger, he couldn't play guitar anymore and said it was my fault. At this point he was roughly 31 in our relationship and began a friendship with a work colleague who was 18. I never met her once, and he would often go on nights out with her and her friends. The few times I woke up in the night and he wasn't home I rang him panicked thinking is he ok. He would answer "what?" When he came home that would be another argument that he's a grown ass man and can look after himself and I shouldn't be worried about his safety. This continued and some nights I began sleeping on the sofa because I couldn't stand the smell of the smoke and I was afraid to be yelled at while he was drunk. He came home once with every button on his shirt broken that I bought him for a birthday and said a guy did it for a joke and leave it at that. One night he blew up at me resulting in me having a panic attack and I actually felt like I would die. I couldn't breath and my face started to change colour. When he noticed he finally stopped yelling and started slapping my back and squeezing me. I sat on the floor and sobbed and said I was going back home. We didn't talk again properly for about a month, and then he sent a message saying he needed to talk/apologize. I went back to listen to what he had to say and somehow by the end he was saying he loved me and I need to come home. I didn't get a word in before it turned to him taking off my clothes to have "make up sex" and before I knew it I was back. We planned a holiday away for a week, to reconnect and try and have some dates again. It was mostly really great. We did have a minor argument because he was actively telling me how hot this very young looking Spanish girl was, and during one of the days he made me have sex by the glass doors leading out to the pool at our apartment. But when we returned home it was just as aweful. In our time together I learned he hated having his photo taken and put on social media. So I only took 3/4 photos, a few nice ones of him standing looking out at the beach etc. But that was suddenly an issue that I hadn't plastered his holiday pictures all over my Facebook etc. We went straight back to the old routine, being accused of cheating.
At this point we'd been together a long time. Constantly family members asking when we would marry and all my friends starting families. Maybe it was the fear of missing out but suddenly I wanted the same. I spoke to him about marriage and he was very clear it's something he doesn't ever want (you don't need a piece of paper with permission to be with someone) one night I got home from work and he had hand written and framed his own wedding certificate saying Mr and Mrs such and such and said "there you go!". The talk of a baby was also quickly shut down with the reason being "if you have a kid then you always have to be a part of that person's life if it doesn't work out".
At this point I don't even think it was entirely the antidepressants. I didn't even want to touch him. He made me uncomfortable, always walking on eggshells. He stank of cigarettes and beer. I constantly had to clean the house. Around his desk there would be piles of beer tins and used tissues... We were eating take out everyday apart from my 2 days off work. I started putting on weight and he was wanting more money towards rent and food etc. He was still going out with 18/19 year old girls to parties etc. This went on for another 5 months until one day it hit me that "this is it" and if I don't leave something bad will happen . My friend group at work generally noticed I wasn't ok. My best friend started to tell me that I'm being gas lit among other things. And that I needed out, and finally I was able to tell him it was over. We cried a lot and parted ways. It was hard because I had to go back to gather my stuff in multiple taxis or a van. Sometimes I needed his help as I had given the key back or items were heavy. On one occasion he asked how I was and then touched my belly saying I had lost a lot of weight...His eyes started watering and he went to the garden to smoke. About 20 minutes after this as I was gathering my stuff the younger work colleague came by (apparently they had plans to order pizza and watch a movie) this is also the first time I ever saw her and didn't even get a hello or anything, I guess it was an awkward first meeting.
He didn't tell his family I left him. Some months later his brother saw me at a club with my work friends and text him along the lines of he'd finally caught me cheating. He then told the family and his mother was apparently very disappointed. I doubt they know how everything went though. He did also message me to tell me this and asked me to tell him truthfully had I cheated/had I slept with any of the work guys since breaking up..
He moved to live in another country. Sold all of his items on gumtree etc, including some of mine. I had a large gas BBQ that my mum gifted for our house, when I asked for it back he tried to say I already had it, then said it must have been stolen.
He also messaged me a year afterwards trying to say he had made a huge mistake and would I be willing to move in and try again... Of course I said no. Again in 2020 ish he messaged saying he had a weird request. He wanted to become friends again as apparently no one knew him like I and he stupidly pushed me, his best friend away. He didn't want me to remain angry at how he treated me etc. Again I declined saying I don't know if that would ever be something I would feel comfortable with and also that I'm dating someone and that's not fair on him.
I haven't had any contact since then.
I'll never truly know but I honestly feel like he cheated on me because of how hellbent he was that I was doing so to him. The whole thing has left me with some bad trust issues. I don't want to be the paranoid girlfriend not allowing partners to go out or have female friends etc.
Apologies for the lengthy post and thank you to anyone who takes the time to read. I do feel like I've forgotten some things, or a bit too personal for here and I feel like this is so long already!

So to sum it up, I'm 34 and for the past five years I've worked retail at a big box hardware chain in the Midwest. I don't know if I hate my job, as I do love some aspects of it, like helping people find what they need and providing good service and its something that I've been highly rated on as I work relatively well with the customers, which I find is a big deal because I've never seen myself as that much of a people person. I also don't mind some of the other mundane tasks, but I guess on some level its the people.
The guests are one thing, but not too bad, but I guess I just am not big on all my coworkers. In my department most are good, but one of my managers is a bit mean and erratic and a lot of the part timers are kind of simple. They are nice, but would rather talk, and seem to not know how to do basic things. I get it that some are older or still in high school, but its almost as if they don't care and it doesn't help that they just say literally the same thing every day. It doesn't help too that I feel like some of the full time coworkers are only there because nowhere else would hire them due to personal issues or other things and it just gets me down because it makes me wonder if, like them, I can't do any better.
I did use to teach. I taught history for a year and special education for two years after a few years of subbing and working at a grocery store after doing quite well in college until student teaching (which I struggled in, though still passed) but I hated teaching. What made it worse is that I doubled down, getting a masters to get my Special Education endorsement, but ended up not getting it and hating teaching. It didn't help that I was in really odd situations as my first job was in a very rural Catholic School, which had some good things, but was still a place I struggled, though I wish I'd been able to stay as my job was basically cut, and I probably wasn't going to be back anyway as I struggled with management and such.
However, I lucked out and got a teaching assistant job at a small private school for severely disabled kids over the summer and then got a job at a Reservation school not far from where I went to college and close to some friends. However, the school was a nightmare. I was put in a high school alternative room, that basically was just a holding place for the worst troublemakers and of course I struggled, but I was fortunate to move to an elementary classroom, but still struggled when it came to management and apparently I didn't ask for help enough.
Eventually I left early and again was back at retail. As always, I didn't mind it as I could talk to people decently and was well liked, even if I had some issues like being distracted. I also was lucky that while teaching I'd met my wife (we met through a religious dating site, and now we've been together nearly seven years, married for five and now have a daughter) and I also got a full time retail job and here I am today.
Anyways, I guess I feel like I've just wasted my chances. I've found out I have anxiety, and have always known I have a tendency for depression. I also have recently been getting treatment for my ADHD. While I was diagnosed when I was young and was on Ritalin for a time, my mom took me off for some reason and also was big on having me try to make good habits on my own, and at times it did work and when it did she'd say how proud of me she was and how I could do things myself (for the record, my mom is not an anti-psych or anti-medication or anti-vIax, though like many had concerns about side effects, and also is big into a whole mind over matter mindset can be good sometimes) and while I struggled more in high school getting B's and C's I did well enough to get A's and B's in college and graduate with honorable mention.
However, I always felt like I just chose teaching because I liked history but didn't think about what else I liked and felt like I wasn't good at anything else. I remember thinking about accounting in high school and journalism, but felt I wouldn't be good at either, though I was a bit interested. Granted I was into band and theater which were fun and thought it might be fun to act but never thought of it as more than just a hobby. In college too I had many times where I wanted to switch my major but I worried that I wouldn't be good at what I tried so I stuck with education. It didn't help too that I often worried that I wasn't good at anything and would end up in a dead end job.
Looking back, I feel like my anxiety kept me from trying things and my adhd made me unable to focus. Even now, taking ritalin, I feel like I can focus on daily tasks at hand, but I don't have an overarching interest. Sure I guess I have some hobbies. I like to hike. I bike sometimes though as of now I have a broken ankle to the brakes giving out on my mountain bike and having to crash into a set of stairs. I also like taking pictures, and trying and even making my own craft beer. I also like some computer games, but I also feel like most days I just sit, play phone games, work and don't really don't have much hobbies or interests or career interest that would help me in any field. There are times I'd like to see if I could be something like an accountant or sell insurance or even try and see if I could go into a trade job (preferably carpentry as I feel I'd do okay at that) or even getting my masters and doctorate to teach college, but otherwise I feel like I just don't have anything that screams out to me. I honestly just wish I had a better job and could make more so I'd be secure (though my wife does well as a school psychologist, so that helps) and just feel better about myself. Right now I just feel like all my mental health problems and stupid choices have lead me to having a lower level job.
So what can I even do? I truly don't know. I just feel like I'm not focused enough, even if I've improved with help for my ADHD, and I am pretty intelligent, but it just feels like I don't have whatever it is to be more successful. Like I'm a man who just couldn't focus and just ended up being stuck where in a place that isn't terrible, but isn't the best either. I guess I just want something more but don't know what and don't even know what I want and that's what worries me. Like at best, all I know is that my goal is to provide for my wife and daughter and that's not too hard but I also do want to find either a better job or one that makes me happy.
Thanks and sorry for the text wall.

Like when some one says, "have a great rest of your day." What would be the word/s for the part of the day that already passed? I always want to reply, "but fuck the (WTW) of my day.
Another example would be, "are you going to finish the rest of your food?" What would it be for the part of the food that was already eaten?

Introduction

Petrine is often an overlooked villain due to the fact she is underneath both Ashnard and Black Knight in terms of Daein's hierarchy and power. Most people notice how ruthless she can be as that is quite apparent but often overlook how cunning she is. She is often referred to as the same archetype as Narcian and Valter, the crazy evil general you must fight before late game which makes her come off as less competent than she truly is.

Chapter 5

Petrine is introduced after Daein fails to capture Princess Elincia and while it is ambiguous it is implied, she will execute the leader for his failure. This shows she's very ruthless, arguably to the detriment of Daein's army as fighting to the death isn't always better than a tactical retreat. However, it is Daein army's motto, and we know Ashnard is Daein's leader so one can argue she's compelled to obey his orders and is arguably being more ruthless than she otherwise would be.

Petrine: “What? What did you just say? I think I must be hearing things. I thought you said, “They got away.””
Dakova: “Ge-General Petrine. I am deeply ashamed. By my honor…”
Petrine: “Honor? I care nothing for your pathetic honor. Have you forgotten the Daein army’s motto? Success or failure, life or death. Hey, you! Get this trash out of here!”
Daein Soldier : “Yes, ma’am! Move it, you.”
Dakova: “W-wait! General Petrine, have mercy…”
Petrine: “Dog’s breath! I’m surrounded by worthless imbeciles. Ena!”

Anyway, Petrine is quick to ask Ena for advice on where the Greil Mercenaries are heading. Once Petrine is told they are heading to Gallia, she quickly takes the initiative to hunt them down. While this could be reckless compared to waiting for Ena to gather intel. However, one could argue this is actually smart despite her arrogant overconfidence due to the fact they must be defeated before they arrive to Gallia.

Petrine: “Tell me which way we should move to catch these mercenaries and the girl.”
Ena: “…The Crimean capital, Melior, is already under King Ashnard’s control…The remnants of the Crimean army are neglible…Which means the only place left for the princess to turn is south, to the kingdom of Gallia.”
Petrine: “Hah! So the girl, like her dead father before her, seeks the friendship of those hairy devils, eh? What an absolutely stupefying world we live in.”
Ena: “If she gains sanctuary in Gallia, capturing the princess will become that much more difficult….The mercenaries she has escorting her are a powerful group, not one to be taken lightly. I will gather intelligence on them as quickly as…”
Petrine: “It’s not necessary. I will head up the pursuit of our wandering princess.”
Ena: “General Petrine, you will go…yourself?”
Petrine: “If we know where the princess and her band are headed, there’s no need for subtlety. I’ll just hunt them down and kill them. Mercenaries? Hah! What’re they to me? Remember, I am General Petrine! No matter who I face, I have never failed, nor will I ever! Ha ha ha…”

​

Chapter 6

So Petrine had already taken the initiative of sending scouts to track them and figures out they are making their way through the forest in Crimea near Gallia. We learn how Petrine was angry with Ena being her tactician, but she still ended up asking her for advice in the previous chapter which goes to show that despite looking down on her allies, she gives them a fair chance.

Daein Soldier: “…And that’s when we lost track of them. I assigned a squad to pursue them and returned so I could give you this report.”
Petrine: “Understood. You may step down.”
Petrine: “So Princess Elincia is making her way through the forest to Gallia…Ena!”
Petrine: “It appears your advice was sound. Well done. You have earned my praise.”
Ena: “Thank you.”
Petrine: “When the king assigned me a tactician, I wondered what I had done to lose his trust. When I saw it was a young girl,I burned with anger at the king’s judgment. Still, it’s worked out better than I had expected. Keep up the good work.”
Ena: “Of course.”
Petrine: “Now then, it’s time for the hunt to begin.”

Soren forms a plan to send Greil, Shinon and Gatrie as an elite diversionary force to distract the Daein army waiting for them at the edge of the forest which could allow the main force to cut through the weakened Daein force that is guarding the point of exit.

Greil: “Hold it right there, everyone. We’re coming to the edge of the forest. Form up. Combat positions.”
Titania: “I don’t suppose our Daein pursuers were willing to let us just slip away.”
Soren: “There is no doubt that they will attack again. Without knowing their numbers, it is difficult to advise a course of action.”
Greil: “Take your best guess, Soren. With the limited information we have, what is the best way to proceed?”
Soren: “…Some of our group cannot fight. If we are caught, we’ll have a difficult time defending them and attacking the Daeins. I propose we separate into two groups: a small fighting force to engage the enemy and buy the main group some time, and the rest of us–who will escort the princess to Gallia at full speed.”

​
However, the plan fails due to the Daein army being concentrated in the location where Ike's force emerges preventing Greil from distracting them at a different point. Petrine being the overall commander of these troops as well as promising to begin the hunt must have been able to deduce where the main force would emerge allowing her to foil Soren's diversion strategy. In summary, she shows that she's good at predicting the movements of her enemy.

Ike: “So they’re waiting for us after all…”
Soren: “There are…more of them than I’d imagined there would be. I thought they would have been spread out across the forest border…I didn’t expect to see so many in one place.”
Ike: “Do we rethink our strategy?”
Soren: “No, we’ve already split up. It’s too late to reconsider now.”

​

Chapter 7

Ike is looking for his father in a fort but ends up getting ambushed by Daein soldiers. Soon after, Petrine shows up and orders Ike to give Elincia up or die but good thing is that Ike had already managed to send her to Gallia by the end of chapter 6 although she doubts he's telling the truth.

Petrine: “Ha ha ha…Found you at last. You provided more entertainment than I thought you would.”
Ike: “Who are you?”
Petrine: “Me? I am General Petrine, and my arrival marks your doom. Lament your fortune,dear children, for all hope is lost. You will not leave this place alive.”
Soren: “Petrine…of the Four Riders of Daein?”
Ike: “Do you know her, Soren?”
Soren: “If she’s who I think, then she’s one of the four generals who are King Daein’s most trusted confidants. She is said to wield a flame lance of terrible arcane might.”
Petrine: “Ha ha ha…You’ve heard of me? Why, I’m flattered. I’ll try to make this easy on all of you. Give me the princess, and do it now. If I roast the girl along with you curs, I won’t be able to present her head to His Majesty.”
Ike: “Sorry to tell you this, but the princess isn’t here. She’s been in Gallia for quite some time now.”
Petrine: “What…nonsense is that? Do you expect me to believe you? There’s no way mercenary scum like you could get past my troops!”

Soon Greil shows up and calls her out on her arrogance.

Greil: “They say that blind arrogance sows the field of its own destruction. Something tells me they were talking about you.”
Petrine: “Who–“

He challenges her to a one on one duel which proves to be too tantalizing as she does like to fight against strong opponents even though she was smart enough to know it was a ruse.

Greil: “You said your name was Petrine, is that right? Listen up. This place is nowhere near big enough. There’s not enough room for a true contest between the two of us. I’m going elsewhere. You coming?”
Petrine: “Do you actually think I’m going to fall for such a simple ruse?”
Greil: “You and I, we’ve got more power than the average person. We don’t come across a chance like this too often. I’d like to flex my muscles without any distractions getting in the way. You?”
Petrine: “Ha ha…You really do know how to sweet talk a girl, don’t you? All right, I’m coming.”
Greil: “Over here.”

Greil was right that Petrine was too arrogant but despite Petrine being on the verge of defeat, it sounds like she has a plan to turn things around.

Petrine: “Dog’s breath! Who are you, man? You look like a common sellsword, but you fight like a demon!”
Greil: “What’s wrong? Ready to surrender?”
Petrine: “And admit defeat? Me? Dont’t be absurd…”

​
Well Petrine's reinforcements show up and box the Greil Mercenaries in which shows why she was so confident in taking on Greil. She had a contingency in place in case Greil proved to be too strong which goes to show while she can be quite arrogant, she thinks ahead.

Daein Soldier: “Here they are! Over here!”
Ike: “Blast. Enemy reinforcements! Father! Let’s get out of here! There are too many–“
Greil: “…Looks like I’ve got no choice.”
Petrine: “Ha ha ha ha…So now, the tide has turned, hasn’t it?”
Petrine: “All troops, attack! Kill them! Kill them all!”
Greil: “Hm…Looks like our luck’s run out.”
Ike: “Father!”
Greil: “You have to survive this, Ike. I’m not going to lose you, not in this place. Are you ready?”
Ike: “Yes, Commander!”
Petrine: “You’ve nowhere to run. Curse whatever gods you hold, for they have abandoned you!”

Granted, she did end up getting her army ambushed from behind by the laguz foiling her strategy. Granted, originally she did not anticipate that Elincia had already gotten away to Gallia to call for help, let alone fast enough for Gallia to mobilize troops and reach them in time.

Ike: “What was that?”
Daein Soldier: “B-b-beasts! Gallian beast soldiers!”
Daein Soldier: “R-r-run! We’re going to be torn to shreds!”
Petrine: “Stand your ground, all of you! Don’t panic! I will personally slaughter the first man to turn his back on the enemy!”
Daein soldier: “Noooo!”
Daein Soldier: “B-b-beasts!”
Petrine: “Pfeh. Worthless cowards, one and all.”
Ranulf: “Attention, Daein soldiers! Leave this place at once! If you do not comply immediately, you will face Gallia’s full strength!”

​
To her credit, originally she did not know that Elincia had already gotten away to Gallia to call for help, let alone fast enough for Gallia to mobilize troops and reach them in time. Even Ike was surprised at Elincia and the laguz showing up despite him knowing that Elincia had reached Gallia.

Ike: “Princess Elincia…Why did you return here?=”
Ranulf: “The princess came and requested Gallian aid for your mercenary company. That is what brings us here.”

Petrine shows a lot of bravery and is willing to continue the fight even when her underlings flee which may sound dumb but that's Ashnard's orders. It goes to show he's more of a brute than she is. Anyway, much like how the Greil Mercenaries were saved by the laguz, Petrine is saved by the Black Knight and he promises to convince Ashnard to explain her retreat.

Petrine: “Threaten me all you like. It’s not going to frighten me off. If I leave, His Majesty will have me executed. I’d rather die here in battle, with my honor intact.”
Black Knight: “Withdraw, General Petrine.”
Petrine: “The Black Knight…”
Black Knight: “As for your king, you have nothing to fear. I’ll explain things to him. Take your men and go.”
Petrine: “Tsk! All troops, fall back!”

​

Chapter 19

When Ike invades Daein, Petrine decides to hire Naesala to fight alongside Daein to counter the invasion. She pays part of the cost upfront while promising to pay the rest afterwards, striking a balance between Daein's interests and Kilvas' interests. This shows she's good at making deals with a cunning potential adversary like Naesala, who managed to outwit Morris, one of Daein's commanders. All of this goes to show she too is quite pragmatic and cunning.
​

Naesala: General Petrine, Kilvas will always stand at Daein's side... As long as we receive our payment, of course.
Petrine: If gold is all it takes, then may our friendship never end. See to it that your performance warrants such consideration! Homasa! Come here!
Homasa: Yes.
Petrine: Work with King Kilvas and put a stop to Crimea's army. No screw ups! Or else!
Homasa: Leave it to me, General.
Petrine: I will not suffer another failure, King Kilvas. You must finish them, and do so quickly...Are we clear? Arrr! I am sick to death of being made a fool by that Crimean floozy and her pathetic band of sellswords!
Naesala: And the remaining portion of my fee?
Petrine: Don't worry, we have it ready. You'll get paid when the job is done.
Naesala: As long as we're clear on that point, everything's settled. Well then, I'm off.

​
This shows she's good at making deals with a cunning potential adversary like Naesala, who managed to outwit Morris, one of Daein's commanders, into creating an enemy with Begnion so that he can steal both of their treasures while they fight amongst each other.

Norris: Grrr...Look at this mess! I paid you good money to help me outmaneuver everyone else and catch the Crimean princess's ship first. Everything seemed to be going exactly as we'd planned. But now, we're being attacked by a squad of pegasus knights! We're flying no flags! We've stripped our armor of any crests! They should have no clue who we are! Why are they attacking us!?
Naesala: Call it a miscommunication...One of those unfortunate misunderstandings that seem to happen now and again.
Norris: You deceitful...King Kilvas! I wouldn't be surprised if you'd planned this treachery from the start!
Naesala: Such unkind words! You wound me. I would never intentionally lie to you. And as proof, I bring good news. I have it on unshakable authority that the ship that just sailed up alongside Begnion's carries the Crimean princess.
Norris: Oh...But unless we can break through the Begnion ranks, there's nothing we can do...
Naesala: Would you care for some assistance?
Norris: And what would it cost me this time?
Naesala: You learn quickly, my friend. Let's see, you'd be receiving my own royal assistance, so...double--no, triple rates. ---------------------------------------------
Naesala: We should take advantage of the confusion of battle to help ourselves to the cargo. These humans seem interested only in fighting their fellow men. If they can't be bothered to defend their treasure, I think it fair to say they've lost their claim to it.

​
Naesala does betray when Reyson talks to him which does foil Petrine's plan. However, Naesala does forfeit his right to gold. Furthermore, Naesala only betrayed her because Reyson joined Ike's army and because Naesala needed to make up to Reyson for selling him to Oliver. Petrine is not privy to these two facts so its not like she made a blunder due to oversight/miscalculation on her part.

Reyson Oh, yes! Friends! In fact, we're such good friends that you sold me to that foul, bloated man!
Naesala I didn't really sell you! Besides, I planned on rescuing you right away. You were just impatient and flew away on your own, so--
Reyson Are you blaming me?
Naesala No, no! Well, maybe... I mean...It was I who was in the wrong. On all accounts.
Reyson ...
Naesala No one was hurt in the end. Come on, smooth those ruffled feathers. All right?
Reyson Leanne is alive.
Naesala Yes, Tibarn's attendant told me. That's wonderful news. When he sees her face, I'm sure King Lorazieh will begin to feel better at once. Things are really looking up, aren't they, Reyson?
Reyson ...I suppose that... If you hadn't deceived me and taken me to the forest... We might not have discovered her... So, I will forgive you. Just this once!
Naesala Reyson! Oh, that's--
Reyson WITH...conditions. Will you accept them?
Naesala ...What are they?
Reyson Pull your troops from this battle. Now. And never again enter into combat against your fellow laguz.
Naesala Oh, come now, Reyson. That's asking too much--
Reyson What will you do, then? Will you continue to fight the Crimean army to which I'm in service?
Naesala Very well. You win, Reyson. I'll leave and take my soldiers with me. However, I cannot say what the future will bring. I have the fate of my nation to consider after all.

Chapter 20

Once Ike's army approaches Talrega, Petrine forms a clever yet devious strategy to slow him down and exhaust the army. Also, this shows she understands how much of a threat Ike is and isn't going to underestimate him unlike a lot of other villains who only lose because they underestimate the heroes and toy with them.

Shiharam Yet, that's... General Petrine! If we do this thing, Daein will suffer.
Petrine It's for the good of the country. Besides, it's only one territory! Stop mewling like an old woman.
Shiharam I hear you, and yet...If the goal is merely to stop the Crimean army, this is not necessary. The strength of my troops will suffice to--
Petrine The last idiot who told me that ended up on a corpse pile! Now listen to me, and listen well. No matter how passionate you are when you tell me you'll defeat Crimea, I'll never pin my hopes on a bunch of foreigners. All you have to do is stop their forward progress. That's all. My plan will accomplish this.

The strategy was the flood the area which turned the ground into mud making it hard for ground units to traverse the terrain. What makes the strategy even more effective is that Shiharam's army is mostly wyvern knights who fly so it doesn't impact them as much as Ike's army.

Bengion Soldier General Ike! Sir, we've got trouble! The road ahead is blocked by water!
Elincia What? How can that be?
Bengion Soldier Perhaps a local river has flooded. The whole region is soaking wet.
Ike Is the road completely impassable?
Bengion Soldier No, sir! We can move forward, but the water's turned the ground to mud. And the water is still flowing at a tremendous rate, sir! This is going to cut back our speed dramatically.
Soren This is the work of Daein. They thought to impede our progress in order to gain some time for themselves. And they've succeeded.

​
While Ike certainly wins the battle, it has slowed him down due to him distributing his supplies to the refugees of Talrega who have lost their homes in the flood along with the fact it was a hard fought battle due to the terrain conditions.

Ike: Soren. Take a portion of our supplies and distribute it among the locals.
Soren: What? Are you serious?
Ike: Our opponent is the Daein army. We've no quarrel with these people.
Soren: Ike, I know you feel for these people, but this is war! We don't have--
Ike: I don't know what it will accomplish, Soren. But, moving on without lifting a finger is something I cannot do.
Titania: I understand. I'd rather regret something I had done than regret taking no action at all.
Elincia: I would like to help, too. Perhaps I can aid the injured.
Soren: ...Idiocy...
Petrine: Well, that's that. We gained some time by flooding the river, but it won't hold them for long. I knew that foreign cur was useless... It looks like the decisive battle will be fought near the capital.

​

Chapter 23

Petrine makes a last stand on the bridge that connects Daein and Crimea. She has modified the bridge with traps which makes it hard for you to advance. A lot of people complain that the bridge chapter is annoying due to the pitfalls but that's the point, Daein is supposed to be annoying to fight. It's also good for psychological warfare as it can cause panic in the army as many soldiers get trapped. This psychological manipulation is made even more potent when Petrine orders her army to kill off the enemy one by one, thereby making the enemy troops panic as they are picked off one at a time.

Petrine: So they're finally here, are they? Has the work on the bridge been finished? And your answer had better be yes!
Daein Soldier: Y-yes, General! Do you think it will work?
Petrine: Sometimes the simplest of traps offer up the best results. Lure the enemy in, and then finish them off one by one. Got it?

​
Petrine sends Haar to flank the enemy from behind once Ike's army has been lured in thereby effectively sandwiching his army on a booby trapped bridge.

Petrine All right, Haar! Time for you to go to work.

​
Haar ends up defecting when Jill talks to him but Petrine anticipates this and has a bunch of her henchmen fight alongside Haar to keep tabs on him which goes to show she anticipated Haar defecting. This goes to show she has great predictive capabilities and plans far in advance.

Haar: The ones responsible for General Shiharam's death, are the Daeins. I pretended to return to the fold so I could get close to General Petrine...I'm just waiting for my chance. But I think they may be on to me. My unit's a bunch of tough guys who serve as Petrine's watchdogs. Plus, I've been ordered to charge the Crimeans head-on. It's Daein's way of killing two birds with one stone.
Jill: Don't do it! Come fight by our sides! If you're looking to kill Daeins, then we share the same goal!
Haar: Jill... I, um... I don't trust Crimea anymore than I do Daein. I'm sick to death of serving countries.
Jill: Captain...
Haar: Still... I can't abandon the daughter of the man to whom I owe so much... Guess I'm changing sides again.

​
Now Petrine does lose the fight but one of the reasons she loses is that at last minute, Lucia decides to ambush Petrine's army at the edge of the bridge in Crimea when Ike's army also gets near the edge, this pincer proves to be too much. There is no shame in losing to the combined efforts of Lucia and Ike when Lucia herself is a great tactician and we all know Ike is a brilliant general who has a brilliant strategist at his side.

A unit is near the end of the bridge
Lucia: Is that the Crimean army? ......................................... Two turns later
Lucia: Are you ready to fight?! Are you ready to die?! We must give our all to protect Princess Elincia!
Crimean Soldier: My fellow Crimeans! Now is the time we stand and fight for the life of our homeland!

​

Conclusion

While Petrine may have failed to prevent Ike from reaching Crimea, she does show to be a formidable general regardless and her failure is made even less bad when you consider most of Daein's soldiers were in Crimea. Three of the four riders of Daein are fought on Crimean soil as well as Ashnard himself. Daein's best soldiers were in Crimea) and they were more numerous too.

Overcoming many hardhsips, Ike and company finally arrive in theDaein capital of Nevassa. However, much to their dismay, King Ashnard is nowhere to be found. According to intellegence reports, the king is in Crimea's capital of Melior, preparing to wage war against Gallia. In addition, at least half of the Daein army, including its most elite forces, remain unharmed and at his side.

Petrine might be arrogant and reckless, but she does take the threat seriously and plans accordingly.

TW /// Mild Discussions of S*icide/Self-Harm
I (20M) have just been in what I consider to be a consistent state of decline for at least the last year and a half. Without going too lengthily in-depth into my story, I transferred colleges and then eventually dropped out after dealing with severe anxiety and depression, don’t really have a direction in my life, don’t really take care of myself (used to train for powerlifting, lost almost 40lbs since due to bad appetite and poor regiment, hygiene, etc.), and I have a good support system who encourages me to get help but I can’t be totally honest with any of them. I have been in and out of therapists and trying different psychiatrists and medications for this entire process and I haven’t really felt a change. I stay up late dreading starting the next day, take as much time as I can to myself, lost essentially all interest in the things that bring me joy, and am horrible and rude to the people around me.
I think I am experiencing some level of dissociation because I put on a front and tell people I have a plan or some direction to move in to move away from the topic because in reality I give up on all fronts. I don’t want to try anymore, I don’t want to get up to work, do something I enjoy, eat, interact with anyone, I just want to go away.
I know I’m running from my problems, and I know I’m not being grateful enough for the situation I am in, I try to be aware of my privilege every day, but to be honest in my head, I just don’t want to try anymore. I would rather just end my life then have to continue waking up like this regularly. I’d rather let my relationships with those who love me fall apart just to get away, I feel like my head never fucking stops. I’ve never harmed myself severely or attempted suicide, but I definitely have destructive tendencies, I’ve written a note on 2 occasions (I know, no follow through even for that), and suicide is pretty much constantly on my mind from the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep. I’m sure saying this makes me sound like a selfish piece of trash in itself, but I haven’t been able to express this to anyone, period. And I guess if I’m here looking for something it means there’s still some part that doesn’t want to give up, whatever that may be.
I guess I’m just curious if anyone has felt like this before. Should I tell my doctors all of this? Are they going to admit me into an inpatient facility for thinking like this? Is more direct treatment like that something I need with these kinds of thoughts? Curious to see if anyone has anything for me. I know the insight is very vague, I’d be open to elaborating on more of the in between if anyone wants. Much love to everyone ❤️

She keeps disappearing when I go near her! I can’t land a single hit. Idk how to defeat her, I’m in the mission trying to find the norns and I’m stuck on her part. Any tips?

Leonard watched as a hand burst out of his (formerly prize-winning) lawn.
To the left, he saw a torso struggling to climb out of a second hole, stuck fast by the hoop in its trousers.
Another seemed to be having trouble breaking through the lawn's crust and was tunnelling through the earth instead. Leonard watched as his pride and joy turned into a zig-zagging maze of turfy humps.
Every bloody year.
"I'll do it, shall I?" Leonard snarled at a tight-lipped Belinda. He stormed outside.
"Oi!" he shouted, waving his arms. "Get off my lawn!"
The tunnelling clown finally burst free from its earthy prison. Its face was a mess of rot and muddy greasepaint.
"Graaaaack," it said reproachfully.
Leonard gave it a hand up.
"Look," he said. "Bugger off."
"Graaaaack," replied the zombie clown and dove back into its tunnel.
"Belinda!" Leonard shouted. "They're listening to reason!"
Something was being forced through the tunnel's opening. It used to be matt-black, but it was now corroded with rust. BROIL KING was stamped on the lid.
"No," said Leonard forcefully, angling his voice towards the tunnel. "I've told you –"
He managed to leap out of the way just in time. The barbeque grill burst through the ground, splattering Leonard's house with football-sized clods.
"ARGH!" Leonard screamed in frustration. He stomped back inside to find Belinda thawing pigs' brains in the sink.
"It's a good compromise," she said, the way she did every year. "They've never noticed, and then they'll leave us alone for another 364 days."
"COMPROMISE?" Leonard exploded. "We shouldn't need to compromise!"
"Well, the estate agent did warn us…"
"Yes, yes," said Leonard. "The house is built on old circus ground."
A sheet of paper slid through their letterbox and plopped on the mat. It bore a word written in scarlet greasepaint. It said: GRAAAAACK.
Leonard looked outside. Twenty zombie clowns were facing the window, simultaneously gesturing for Leonard to join them. BROIL KING was smoking nicely.
"Lovely, we got an invite," said Leonard. "Belinda, bring the brains!"
•••
"Graaaaack."
"Fascinating," said Leonard.
"Graaaaack."
"Uh-huh."
He was bored out of his mind. For clowns, this lot were as funny as haemorrhoids. The best part had been when the Clown Chef's jaw had fallen onto the grill. The zombie had hilariously flipped it like a burger.
Leonard sidled up to Belinda, who was deep in "conversation" with a Pierrot-type.
"This party blows," said Leonard. "I'm going next door."
"Graaaaack?!"
Belinda flapped a distracted hand, making an apologetic face at the Pierrot. Who wasn't getting the benefit, as it now had its face buried in a bowl of charcoaled brains.
Leonard hopped his picket fence onto next door's lawn.
"Not now, Leonard, unless you want to help!" yelled his new-ish neighbour, Roger. He was trying to cut a kilo of cocaine into lines for two dozen zombie lawyers.
"Oh, this ground used to belong to an old law firm," said Leonard. "Didn't the estate agent warn you?"

Me (22f) and my e-crush (also 22m) have been talking for a couple of months after meeting online. I have a profile with a small following where I post some what racy pictures and silly tweets. Through out my life although I’ve always been flirty and free spirited, sex has never been something I looked to engage in. Not to say that I’m saving myself for marriage or anything like that, but i just never felt comfortable being physically sexual with another person— until recently at least. Me being Demi-sexual is also a big part of why, and most guys never really believe me when I say that I’m a virgin …Or they make it a weird fetish thing.
Either way i decided not to make it a big deal this time, and opted not to inform him of this fact. The part where I think I really messed up was where i implied that I HAD had sex before. Not outright said it but he definitely assumed so.
We finally decided to meet up, and I flew out to his state. I’m staying at his house where he lives with some relatives. We had sex, and though there were some moments where the pain was rlly bad, I managed to conceal it, and over all the experience was really nice. I washed up in the bathroom and didn’t notice anything amiss. When I got back into bed it was really dark, so I just fell asleep. The next morning though, he confronted me about some blood he found on his sheets and asked me if I was on my period. My blood completely ran cold ! I fumbled over some explanation that I had no idea where the blood came from, and denied it all. He just stared at me kinda confused and concerned, and asked me if he hurt me last night. I told him no and he nodded and went up to go wash the sheets.
I felt so mortified, i ran right after him and finally just explained that i was a virgin, and I’m sorry for getting blood on his sheets.
He seemed incredibly surprised and asked if I was serious. He got really silent after and although he didn’t look mad he seemed a bit off. He asked me why I lied, and I replied that I just didn’t want it to be a big deal. I don’t know if that was the right thing to say or not because now he’s been very distant since then and kinda shut in his room gaming. He was kissing me lots this morning, but now I feel like he’s being cold. Was what I did really that bad to make him hate me ?
Please can someone tell me how to fix this or how I should have communicated ?