Bruce drop em off

We had talked with a couple who we’ve dealt with before. Told us they were coming to our town for some event that was held there and definitely would love to play. They showed pics and we chatted. Their hotel was only 5 minutes away. Absolutely no reason why they couldn’t have us over. Everything was very enthusiastic and about the day of they never told us their room number, dropped out of the kik chat, and just disappeared off the face of the earth. A month later they were making their rounds on kik and messaged us saying that they thought we weren’t all that serious about playing because of some words said about my wife not feeling well or something. Anyways we bring them back into our group chat that we have with a bunch of other couples who are like us and within our geographical part of the country. So we have some extremely difficult to get tickets to a very popular event and they so want to go because it is in their town. They are extremely enthusiastic and excited at the event and the foursome. We are excited too! We both are sending pics and videos to each other and we even exchange phone numbers! A few days before they start doing the same stuff and leaving kik again. They won’t answer their phone, texts, or kik. We ended up giving their tickets away (we could have sold them at a high price as these things were going for), but instead we found someone who actually wanted to go. Anyways, we’re now at the point of never ever giving flakes another chance. We are more than aware that there are guys who wish that their wives would do this with them and just pretend, but this nutcase takes it as far as he can before chickening out. Never give a flake a second chance!

It's mobile Monday so here's a pointer or two on how to score some great adventure games, and where to follow them. Twitter is a mobile monday focus, so you can see an assortment of games in progress, but not all are adventure. We like farming sims, but again, it's trending away. So can we just recommend the big fish app? Just searching it on your mobile will turn up ten or twelve games hosted by them off the drop - many of which are free, and DLing the app with do the same.
Like your adventure on the go? That's a great way to do it - bonus, all of their games have a hints button so you never get stuck.
Ex: Frozen Beauty from 4Friends Gaming
People bash Point and Click adventure games- and there's a reason for that. If you're not careful, you might wind up playing a seek and find that *maybe* has a storyline. If that's your jam, great! But a lot of us see the potential in the storyboard interface, the options for mini-games, for art and character development, and for more than just an immersive plot.
If you've run into anything from me before, you know that I love fairy tales- so this is definitely a biased review. The art of explaining Zeitgeist to society started with the Brothers Grimm and never stopped being popular. Things that make no sense, divorce, debt, celibacy, human slavery, are all dressed up in the popular frippery of the current times and cheerfully recounted to small, impressionable children. It's hilarious.
So a fairy tale mashup is a natural win. Toss in enough clever puzzles and I'm hooked. Living Legends is a great series and Frozen Beauty is exactly what it sounds like- light, fun and interesting. You even have a clueless sister to blame every failure on, which makes for a constant sense of superiority as you're thwarted at every turn. The hints button helps, although I hate to skip a puzzle entirely.
Follow Snow White's journey - backwards - and save your sister from an evil queen by beating mini games, the usual puzzle combos and the occasional seek and find screen. With lovingly hand drawn art and a great storyline movement style, it works on either you phone or PC - you can take it with you on the go.
For your phone or PC, with Big Fish's usual winning formula.
Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0BjN4KX4WU&list=PLzUVFtoYb6_LWxoRd-f-TxaPWQLkNL-Gf&index=40

Thank you to u/Far_masterpiece_7739 for proofreading and suggesting edits
this is my first story on NoP and hopefully my first good one, excuse the dates, i just put the date i went to the fair i describe in the story and put it in the year the main story takes place, for reference this is meant to be before the bombs dropped.
​
Memory transcription subject:Talik, Venlil exchange program participant
Date[Standardised human time]:13.05.2136
As My exchange partner and I stepped out of his house and into his car I was quite unenthused about where we were going. We were headed to a steam fair, yes an actual real life steam fair, this is something a yotul would enjoy, and I was no mere uplift.
[2 hours later]
It took half a spheking paw to get here, ugh, at least it was a chance to listen to more of that wonderful, though oddly named, human music, of the metal genre, my current favourite song being full circle by Five finger death punch, an odd and very predatory name, but it seems the same is true for a lot of human music. As we pulled into the seemingly random field there was an old man, in what my human had told me was a hi vis jacket, making strange hand gestures at us that my human somehow understood, we drove into another field, this one full of semi orderly rows of many different types of cars, we then got out and walked through the long grass towards a green booth of some kind in front of a small also green bridge, there were two middle aged human women in the booth, after my human paid £10 we were allowed in, at first it was less than impressive to our left was a man in an oddly coloured suit and purple top hat on a large stage, in front of us was a large empty area fenced off with rope, and many older vehicles were off to our left along with some “bouncy castles'' as my human had explained to me before and several stalls selling various items.
We went over to the left, past the stage and several food stands that smelled absolutely incredible, we made our way to a large horizontal wheel that suspended five other horizontal wheels that each had three sets of seats suspended from them, my human decided this would be a good way to “break me into it”, I decided against pointing out the very predatory language, and agreed to go on, my human gave the ride operator £3 and we both got on, my human being the bigger of the two of us had to sit next to the padded wall likely to reduce the effects of inertia, after a short wait for it to fill up, the ride started to play some music and slowly spin each the top one spinning the opposite direction to the others, the ride slowly got faster and after about a minute the operator announced, over the PA of the ride,that it was “time for turbo mode” and to “squish your partner”, and so I did, I allowed myself to slide across and bump into him at speed, I hit him harder than I intended, and apologised, he said nothing and simply pushed against the centrifugal force pushing us into the padded wall and moved us both to the opposite side of the cart, and laughed saying that he barely felt my impact “of course you didn’t, you have the most messed up physiology I have ever seen” I laughed out smiling in spite of myself.
After the ride stopped we moved past a giant vertical wheel, that my human called a Ferris wheel, and a large tower with a slide running around the outside, called a helter skelter my human said, and on to what my human said was one of his favorite rides ever, the swinging boats, from where we stood they looked quite tame, something was wrong, my human was an “Adrenaline junkie” as he and several of his friends had called him, meaning two rectangular boxes with seats in them just hanging there was clearly not all there was to the first steam powered ride I had seen at this steam fair, as we ascended the stairs to get on I saw an old man in amongst many valves, levers and gauges, my human paid the man £3 and one other person was on the ride with us, we were at one end and she was at the other, she smiled at us and laughed at my concerned face after my human gave some obscure hand sign, I should really learn the human hand, face and head language, just then I noticed a sign that read “all riders do so at their own risk” I was now very worried, I didn’t say anything though as I knew that my human would never intentionally endanger me, just then an ear peircing screeching sound started, causing me to Jump in fright, we were then told to hold onto the netting behind us and put our feet on the bench in front of us, then the box we were in started to swing, and I realised what they would do, after about [20 seconds] we were swinging so far that the box, or boat as my human had corrected me several times now, went from horizontal to vertical, with every swing, my human and the other one on the ride were smiling and laughing with each other while i firmly closed my eyes, my human noticed my discomfort and spoke, as softly as he could to be heard over the sound of the rushing air, comforting me and making sure i was ok, and trying to lighten the mood with a small joke here and there, eventually I felt brave enough to open my eyes and see the open sky on the other side of the netting, then we swung back and i was looking down at the human female smiling comfortingly at me, then i felt the air rushing in my face as we swung back and i couldn't help but bleat in surprise, this caused both humans to “awww” simultaneously quickly followed by the human female saying “jinx” and them both laughing, this time i joined in too.
About a minute later we were off of the ride and i felt like the ground was moving under me for a few seconds after i got off, right next to the boats was a small booth with several confectionaries on the rear wall and several very old looking weapons on the counter, there was a human mother helping their child to aim one of them at the confectionaries and then a small pop was heard as a cork flew from the end of the weapon and i saw a small pink cuboid with a green being called a dragon(that looked like if someone recoloured an Arxur and made it more square) on it, labelled “CHEWITS” fall backwards off its shelf, the woman running the stall then collected the tube from the trough at the bottom and passed it to the child who ran off happily, with his mother in tow. My human decided to challenge me at this game, I foolishly accepted and quickly wasted £15 of my human's money to only glance at a very large tin of biscuits, my human on the other hand had hit all bar 1 shot and we now had several boxes of confectionery.
The next ride we went on was called “THE SUPER SKID CARS” according to the sign above the ride entrance. My visual translator had a hard time with that one due to the very odd font. My human said he used to love riding these with his mum when he was a child, and that he was somewhat surprised such an old machine was still in service, (frankly I was surprised any of these machines were still in service at all). My human told me that these were a precursor to “waltzers” and said that based on my reaction to the boats it may be for the best if i watched first, i agreed, as my human was about to get on, he saw one of his friends, she was called Summer and she was a very lovely person, once you got past her shell of self loathing depression and their exchange partner, Janak was her name, after the two of them had hugged, we collectively decided that the humans should go on and we would watch to decide if we wanted to join them the second time, so my human and Summer went on together, the ride worked by a large central wheel spinning with several carts facing inward being pulled around by it, with a break pedal that would slow the cart enough that it would rotate about its hinge to the point that it was facing the direction it was traveling, when you then let go of the break it would fling the cart around at high speed to face the other way and repeat, all the while a human song was being played quite loudly, the one playing while our humans were on was dancing in the moonlight, our humans were singing along, and quite loudly, until the ride sped up causing summer to scream slightly and then laugh with me,Janak and my human , as they were flung so hard that they bounced back and forth several times, this continued for a little while more with Summer squealing in delight at every swing, my human singing and laughing along all the while.
After summer got off we all walked back around to the food stalls, where Janak and I had the leaves of a lovely vegetable called a lettuce, according to Summer, slices of a purple vegetable with white stripes in rings through it, called a red onion, according to summer, this prompted me to ask why it was called a red onion if it was purple and white, both humans looked at me and laughed at that, before my human said “sometimes human names are very on the nose, and other times, not so much, don’t worry about it.”, all while laughing, our meal was then wrapped in a thin-ish flat disk of strayu, I asked how humans had strayu in large enough quantities to sell like this, so soon after meeting us, this caused summer and Janak to laugh and my human to look confused, Janak explained that the humans had many different types of strayu, called bread apparently, and that they developed it independently and much, much earlier on in their cultural evolution than us, he also said that it tasted, different, not necessarily bad, but definitely not the same. The humans had chosen a bratwurst hot dog each from a german food stall, run by the british catering company, whilst mine and Janak’s was from a greek stall, also run by the british catering company.
After eating we went up to the stalls to the right of the entrance, where, my human bought a new wallet, and I bought several human confectionaries, at the end, there were several very primitive cloth tents, with people walking around in clothes that were very clearly not of this century, and they all carried weapons, such as knives, swords and axes. My human got quite excited at this and went over to speak with a group wearing helmets, chainmail and animal skins with jewellery woven into it, they had a table full of axes and swords with shields around it and spears poking out of the ground nearby, one of them holding a Dane axe!, after a lengthy conversation with a few of them we walked away with a card containing contact information, so that my human could join their re-enactment group. The central area was now host to two humans on motorbikes performing stunts and various tricks, while an announcer spoke to the crowd, as we walked down the backside of the central ring and towards the boats again we saw several small and quite slow steam engines making their way in our general direction, after we passed them I saw a dog, a truly fearsome beast tied to the front of a colossal steam engine, with, what i assumed to be the engine’s owner nearby talking to a woman with another dog, after we passed them we decided to have a go at the plate smash stand, Janak, summer and myself did terribly but my human hit every shot bar one, then we kept on moving, Janak and I had decided to go on the “THE SUPER SKID CARS'' with our respective humans. IT WAS A HUGE SPECKING MISTAKE!!!! A few seconds in, I was clinging to my human’s arm crying, he was holding me, softly stroking my head and speaking soothingly to me. About a minute in, i was able to open my eyes and sit there, still clinging to my human, as he continued to hold me, i noticed that he too seemed to be on the verge of tears, although i suspected for a different reason, after a while i got used to the speed, and asked my human to start swinging us, he did and i screamed in delight, it was so much fun, we sung along to a song i don't know the name of and moved so fast, i could feel my stomachs shift and shake around inside my body, after the ride finished i was so high on adrenaline that i felt like i could do anything, the same could not be said for Jamak, he looked utterly petrified and on the verge of throwing up. We returned to the shooting area and this time we only spent £5 each and i missed every shot, but it was fun, my human only got a tube of CHEWITS this time, but we still had fun, we then made our way back to the ferris wheel, we all went on and once we reached the top we stopped and i thought that something was wrong, until i looked down, now i'm braver than most venlil but this height was insane, however i now knew why we had stopped, a man and his son were getting on, however as i leaned back it caused our seating pod to rock back and forth, this made me freeze in terror as i pictured us falling and going splat on the ground below, and then we were moving again, and then we were on the ground, but we were still moving and then we were high in the air again, after this cycle of up and down had repeated another three times we finally got off, my whole body quivering with the after effects of terror, Jamak was clinging onto Summer’s arm and refused to let go as she lugged him around.
We made our way back to the boats and we all decided to go on, all except Jamak of course, at least he had let go of summer by now, this time i kept my eyes open the whole time and several of the other humans on board were screaming in delight, it was hilarious, my human, summer and i were all laughing, and as the boat slowed down, my human let go of the netting and put his feet back down, then the operator told him to put them back up and to keep holding on, so he put his hands up to hold on again and as he went to put his feet back up, the boat sped up again leading to my human hanging vertically and as we came back down, summer an i tried to hold him in place and check to see if he was ok, but he just wouldn't stop laughing, after the ride had stopped and we had gotten off, he finally stopped, and loudly exclaimed “DID YOU SEE THAT, IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME, HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!” this prompted summer to loudly exclaim “suicidal cunt, your going to give me a heart attack one of these days!”, this caused him to chuckle again and say “you’re one to talk aren’t you? And I'm way more likely to have a heart attack than you, genetic disorders, remember?”This went on until we reached the car parking field, where we went our separate ways, i was buzzing the whole way home as we listened to even more music and chatted, once we arrived home my tiredness hit me like a stampeding mazic and i fell face first onto the sofa.
When I woke up my human had bought me a glass of apple juice and was sitting next to me with one of his dogs on his lap, the large German shepherd Labrador cross breed, named Leela. She was huffing happily as my human rubbed her stomach. It had taken quite a while to warm up to the large and loud beast, but now she was a brilliant addition to my little herd and I can't imagine living without her here.
“Thank you, for the day out, it was wonderful, and I’m sorry for the way I acted about it this morning.”
“That’s fine, I had fun, and it seems you did too, that’s all that matters, that we both had fun.”
“You're the best friend a venlil could ask for, you know that right? I love spending time with you Oscar, even if you don’t love me, just know that I love you…. sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Hey, hey” Oscar said, softly, as I started to cry. “Just because I’m aromantic, doesn’t mean I can’t feel love, just not romance, I still love you, just platonically, now come and give me a hug, you silly sheep!” He said happily.
“I'm not a sheep, you stupid ape!” I responded jokingly, feigning indignation.
“I love you oscar”
“I love you too, Talik, now let’s get some dinner, we have to go back to work tomorrow.” and with that he stood up, finished his apple juice and walked into the kitchen.

Hello everyone,
I have an issue that is bothering me and I am hoping someone can help me. I am having water drops from my evaporator coil come down inside the air intake box randomly. I am saying randomly because it does not always do this and the water dripping is not in one single spot. Also it is not a lot of water however it is enough that I noticed it once it happened one day.
Background:
2021 had a whole system replacement of my A/C with a Trane
I live in central Florida
The air filter instead is located on the air intake vent instead of under the the opening of the evaporator coils on this model. I have never had an ac designed like this but was told at the time of installation it will allow the changing of the filter to be easier.
System was service a few months ago and a diagnostics done. (No clogged drains, the water is dripping outside fine, the coils are not frozen, no visual issues were found.)
The house is cooling without any problems.
There are no water leaks that can be seen around the bottom of the unit itself.
Technician feedback: The coolant looked low about a pound. Fan may need to be increased in power (he was not able to make the adjustment while there). Suggest a leak test be done which I have been putting off just due to the funds.
In the mean while I have put puppy pads down on the bottom of the intake box and weighed them down for when the random water drops fall they do not wet the installation in the intake vent.
I also timed the how long the fan ran after the outside unit shut down and it was approx. a minute.
Can anyone provide me with any insight to this issue. My brother and I have been talking and he is wondering if it is a fan timing issue (not running long enough after the outside unit stops to pull all the water into the drain pan.) Our second guess is it is not a ac issue but normal humidity condensation that is usually not seen. Due to the location of the filter being typically under the coils and not like this unit which is on the vent itself. Again this does not happen every time the ac is running and is more like to happen during high humidity days I have notice.
Thank you for your time and feedback.

I (24f) work overnights at Amazon, I work most nights only taking the one day off they require. My car is in the shop with a busted transmission and will be for a couple more days but should be out by the end of the week. Hopefully. My mom has been borrowing my granmas truck to come pick me up everyday but is always 2hrs late or more. I'm frustrated that I have to sit and wait for hours after working my butt off and she says it's unreasonable for me to expect her to be there at 5am. Am I being ridiculous?
I live an hour away from work with my grandparents, my mom(46f), and my son(4m). My mom doesn't work, and hasn't had a job since I was 8. I dropped out of high school bc she wouldn't work, we didn't have any food in the house and the rent wasn't getting paid. I gave her all the money I was making and she was turning around and giving it to her boyfriend. When we got evicted from that apartment she dropped me off at my grandma's and I didn't see her again for another couple years. She ended up in jail somewhere in Texas. My gran and I drove down there to get her and she's been living with us since.
Things were going good, she got clean and turned herself around it seemed like. We moved and got a place together, supposed to go 50/50 on the rent but soon she just stopped paying. I signed the lease with her so I was stuck in place and honestly just happy to have my mom back so we worked out an arrangement that I wouldn't have to pay her to watch my son anymore and in turn I'd just cover the rent. But then I was paying rent, utilities, food, her kratom, her weed, her cigarettes, everything. Things weren't sustainable and now we're back at my grandparents.
I don't want to deal with her anymore but she's the only person I have to watch my son, overnight childcare doesn't exist here and I don't have the money to put him in daycare anyways. So my mom watchs him while I work and then comes and picks me up, and I'm buying her food, cigarettes, whatever she needs that day.
Since my car has been in the shop she's been giving me a ride. I don't have my license yet and my gran (understandably) won't let me drive her car without one. I have my permit and am working on taking the test but need my car to do that.
Every single day for the past two weeks she's been late, once leaving me to sit here for 5hrs. We've been arguing about it and she makes me feel bad for being upset but this is something she's always done. I used to go home with my teacher because they couldn't leave with me alone at the school but my mom just wouldn't show up. She says I'm being impatient and that it's hard for her to get up in the mornings.

AITA – M25, I've been in a committed relationship for 7 months now. Despite being in a long-distance situation, we make it work! We manage to see each other once or twice a month. We're genuinely happy together, and the honeymoon phase hasn't ended yet. I'm deeply in love with him. We have a 5-year age gap and we're complete opposites, but it's a good balance. He brings rationality and logic to the relationship while I tend to be more emotional and romantic. Essentially, we're crazy about each other.
The situation is that I have a mental condition called dysthymia, and I've recently started treatment. The medications I'm taking are quite potent, and I'm advised not to consume any substances while on them. However, during my last appointment, my doctor said it's okay to drink alcohol within limits. So, I did, and due to the medication, I got extremely drunk very quickly. I was hanging out with a gay friend of mine. My boyfriend knows about him, and our relationship is purely platonic. However, since I live alone, I sometimes feel lonely. Last night, under the influence of alcohol, I texted my friend after he dropped me home, expressing a desire to cuddle with him. My intention was purely innocent, and I told my boyfriend about it today. Surprisingly, he was fine with it. He said as long as it remains platonic and there are no feelings or sexual involvement, it doesn't count as cheating. He reassured me that I shouldn't worry and that it's normal for friends to cuddle because it provides comfort, and we're all human beings. Besides, I didn't actually end up cuddling with my friend. So, nothing actually happened. However, I can't shake off this feeling that I've betrayed the love of my life. I love him so much.
So, please, gaybros! Can you help me out? Am I the asshole in this situation?

I was trying to play Elden Ring but every time i moved my mouse it caused huge fps drop. So I searched for a solution. I came across this reddit post. From which i decided to change the mouse polling rate. I couldn't find a program specifically made for my mouse so i find a third party one from github. I did everything it said in the correct order but my mouse doesn't work anymore. When i connect it to the pc, its lights turn on for about 10 seconds then go back off. Other mice work fine. it is just this one i tried on.

Introduction:

When it comes to exploring the vibrant city of Delhi or embarking on a memorable journey with a group of friends or family, hiring a tempo traveller is the ideal choice. Tempo travellers offer convenience, comfort, and affordability, making them a popular transportation option for both local and outstation trips. If you're in Delhi and looking for a reliable tempo traveller hire service, look no further! In this article, we will highlight the key benefits of tempo traveller hire in Delhi and how it can enhance your travel experience.

Convenience and Flexibility:

One of the major advantages of hiring a tempo traveller in Delhi is the convenience and flexibility it offers. Whether you're planning a sightseeing tour, a weekend getaway, or a corporate outing, tempo travellers can accommodate a large group of people comfortably. With spacious seating arrangements and ample storage space for luggage, you can travel with ease and without worrying about cramped spaces or multiple vehicles. Additionally, most tempo traveller rental services provide flexible pick-up and drop-off options, allowing you to customize your itinerary according to your needs.

Comfortable and Well-Equipped:

Tempo travellers are designed to provide a comfortable journey for passengers. These vehicles come equipped with plush and adjustable seats, air conditioning, and ample legroom, ensuring a pleasant travel experience even during long journeys. The interiors are well-maintained and clean, providing a hygienic environment for passengers. Some tempo travellers also offer entertainment systems, such as LCD screens and music players, to keep you entertained throughout the trip.

Experienced Drivers:

When you hire a tempo traveller in Delhi, you also benefit from the expertise of experienced and professional drivers. These drivers are well-versed with the city routes and are trained to prioritize passenger safety and comfort. They ensure smooth navigation through congested traffic and take care of all the driving responsibilities, allowing you to relax and enjoy your journey without any stress. Moreover, the drivers are knowledgeable about popular tourist attractions and can provide valuable insights and recommendations to make your trip more enjoyable.

Affordability and Cost-Effectiveness:

Tempo traveller hire in Delhi offers a cost-effective transportation solution, especially when compared to hiring multiple cars or using public transport for a large group. By sharing the cost among the passengers, you can significantly reduce your travel expenses without compromising on comfort and convenience. Additionally, most tempo traveller rental services provide transparent pricing and offer various packages to suit different budgets and travel requirements.

Conclusion:

Tempo traveller hire in Delhi is an excellent choice for individuals and groups looking for convenient, comfortable, and affordable transportation solutions. Whether you're planning a family trip, a corporate outing, or a sightseeing tour, hiring a tempo traveller allows you to travel together, enjoy each other's company, and create unforgettable memories. With its convenience, flexibility, comfortable interiors, and experienced drivers, a tempo traveller ensures a hassle-free and enjoyable travel experience. So, the next time you're in Delhi, consider a tempo traveller and embark on a journey filled with comfort, joy, and adventure!

Within the past year or so,I have been interested in learning other languages. First it started with me trying to learn some Spanish, and now I’m trying to learn ASL. I like learning ASL and sometimes I even do it at school durning lunch. I would just sign random things to my friends despite none of them knowing ASL. I don’t know, it was more of like showing off to them. One day during third period, the girl next to me dropped her pen. I picked it up and asked if it was hers. She signed yes and then signed thank you. I know that she isn’t deaf or mute, and I’ve never seen her use sign language before. The teacher was talking, so it could have been her maybe just trying not to disrupt the teacher? The other thing though is that I’ve seen her whisper to people when the teacher was talking, but honestly I don’t know. I think she probably saw me using sign language to my friends and took it as a sign that I was deaf or something. I don’t know what I should do or if I should do anything about it.

Traveling to Belize the beginning of December 2023.
Looking for recommendations on where to stay. 3 nights one area and 4 nights the other.
All about balance.
Jungle to the sea
Hiking, exploring and adventuring to lounging, chilling and doing nothing.
We love to try local restaurants, street food and fine dining. Breakfast is a favorite.
Paddle boarding, kayaking, hiking, walking, biking and swimming/floating.
Not big drinkers or into long tours. Would love a bioluminescent tour, Mayan sites, possible private island drop off..
All travel options are fine golf carts, water taxis, planes, etc
Lazy rivers, blue lagoons, lakes
Overall any non tourist recommendations would be awesome! Living life off the beaten path while always being safe. We usually wake at sunrise 530-6am and are in bed by 12am.

I understand the premise of this sub, however I can’t really wrap my head around it much. I always thought that I was pretty stingy with my money, only buying things I know will last years etc.
Yet there’s people in here that won’t even put their heating on?!? If you’ve got enough money to still be saving on the side, why would you put yourself through not having the things you want/need to make life easier or to just have an easier life in general.
I used to live pretty much an off grid farmers life for a while, and that is pretty cool as you’ve always got something to do, but living in suburbs and pretty much having the same lifestyle seems crazy to em, I think I’d go a bit mad personally!
Just for some reference, I have a regular house (rented) that’s a bit too small for me and my family, I still have things like a relatively new TV, a gaming computer, MacBook for work, and I’m writing this from an iPhone.
I do consume quite a lot, however I also save A LOT. Now I know I’m America minimum wages are very different and cost of living is probably just as bad as ours in the UK right now, but basically all of this leads to some questions.

1. Are you actually comfortable with the way you’re currently living?
   
2. Do you ever want for more?
   
3. What would happen if something unforeseen happened and you had to spend a vast majority of the money you’ve saved for retirement?
   

I hope you don’t see this as a dig, as I’m using this as more of a ‘have I got/given/keep giving myself too much?!? 😂
Thanks for your time guys 🙂

I've never felt so lost in my life.
I keep running in circles in my mind about what I want to do in life. About me: I'm 25, spent almost two years working on my PhD, and dropped out. I have a master's in psychology (non-clinical) and no prior work experience. I finally got the courage to drop out of my PhD because I decided that I would like to go to law school and be a lawyer.
At first, I started applying to legal assistant positions to get my foot in the door at a law office. I wanted to work for a couple of years and give myself a break away from school so I would be mentally prepared for law school. I've applied to around 30 places and gotten 4 interviews. I haven't heard back from any of them yet, but I probably will this week. But 2 of the 4 places I've interviewed with, after looking at cost of living, would be almost unlivable because they don't really pay a wage I can live off of alone. I guess that's what you get when you have no paralegal certificate and no law office experience.
I then thought about maybe going back to Walgreens (my previous job before my PhD) because I actually liked working there. If I went back to Walgreens, I could live with my grandmother, save money on rent, and work on this paralegal certificate (if I can't get a legal assistant position immediately). But I also could just study for the law school admissions test (LSAT) instead and wait to apply to law schools.
People also ask me all the time "Why don't you become a therapist?" And as said earlier, I didn't get a clinical psychology degree. I would have to go back and get a certificate in counseling of some kind. I'm also kind of aversive to being a therapist because you have to deal with clients that say they want to help themselves, but they don't actually take the steps to do so. Appointments can be a waste of time, for all parties involved.
But I also thought about going into human resources, but that probably might also require a certificate.
To summarize, here are categories of directions I'm interested in taking:
WORK EXPERIENCE: 1. Walgreens (Pharmacy technician) 2. Legal assistant
CERTIFICATES/TESTS: 1. Addictions counselor 2. Career counselor 3. Paralegal 4. LSAT 5. Master's in counseling 6. MBA
CAREER PROSPECTS: 1. CounseloTherapist of some kind 2. Paralegal 3. Lawyer 4. Human Resources
Also, I don't want to go into the medical field or data science. I really want to help people in some way.
Thanks!

Since the upcoming release of WB/DC's "The Flash" has caused quite a stir on here and other sites maybe it's time we all place our bets. Instead of constantly fighting over who is or isn't astroturfing this sub with pro- or anti- "Flash" rhethoric let's just put the cards on the table once and for all.
How much is "The Flash" going to make world-wide?
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Some data for the movie: Years in production: 2018-2023 Release Date: 06.16.2023 Budget: $220M Directed by: Andy Muschietti (It: Capter 1&2) Produced by: Barbara Muschietti & Toby Emmerich Starring: Ezra Miller (Barry Allen / The Flash / Black Flash), Michael Keaton (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Sasha Calle (Kara Zor-El / Supergirl), Michael Shannon (General Zod), Antje Traue (Faora Ul), Nicolas Cage (Clark Kent / Superman; cameo), Ben Affleck (Bruce Wayne / Batman; cameo), Nikolaj-Coster Waldau (Hot Dog vendor; cameo), Jason Momoa (Arthur Curry / Aquaman; cameo; rumored), Temuera Morrison (Tom Curry; cameo; rumored), Henry Cavill (Clark Kent / Superman; rumored; cameo), Gal Gadot (Diana Prince / Wonder Woman; rumored; cameo), Christopher Reeves (Clark Kent / Superman; digitized double; rumored; cameo), Helen Slater (Diana Prince / Wonder Woman; digitized double; rumored; cameo), Adam West (Bruce Wayne / Batman; digitized double; rumored; cameo), Grant Gustin (Barry Allen / The Flash; cameo; rumored), Teddy Sears (Hunter Zolomon / Jay Garrick; cameo; rumored)
Pros for the movie: - Long awaited release after years on the bench. - appearances of legacy characters (can be seen in the spoilers within the "Starring" bracket). - positive online reactions from fans & celebreties like James Gunn & Stephen King. - positive messaging on online forums.
Cons for the movie: - Follows a string of WB/DC bombs in The Suicide Squad ($168M WW against a budget of $185M), Black Adam ($393M WW against a budget of $200M) & Shazam 2 ($133M WW against a budget of $125M). - The last film starring the title character made $657M against a budget of $300M despite following the box office successes of Wonder Woman & Suicide Squad. - The very public scandals of it's lead actor (abduction & physical abuse). - mixed messaging regarding the movies redundancy within the larger picture of the DC Universe by producer James Gunn. - aggressive guerilia marketing strategy. - the cancelation of it's finished spin-off movie "Batgirl" by WB executive David Zaslav in order to "cut costs".
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note: if you have anymore pro- and con- reasons I'll add them as we go along with the posts.
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View Poll

Hi everyone, I seriously need to get off kratom asap, it is ruining my life at this point and controlling everything I do.
Is there anything I can use to curb withdrawals in the process of quitting?
I take... 8-10g per dose about 8 times per day. I know, it's fucking insane that's I've let it get this out of control, yes I have an addictive personality but I need to get off kratom for my health and my relationship.
Withdrawals set in around the 4hr mark after my last dose, 6hr mark withdrawals are brutal, like debilitating brutal. They only get worse from there, I'm down to absolutely struggle through cold turkey if I need to, but I'm guessing most would advise to taper, what would be a good starting point and how much / how quickly to taper my dosages?
Are there any OTC meds or neurotropic substances that would help me curb the withdrawals or at least make them a lot less painful? I've done the oxy withdrawals before, definitely worse but the kratom withdrawals are an extremely extremely close 2nd.
Thanks everyone and have a great day, any help, feedback or advice would be fantastic!
PS. If you ever see yourself raising your dosage or frequency of dosage, fucking drop the spoon and throw it away, just stop right there it will only get higher.

The latest hardcore race news is really disappointing to me. Is playing the closed beta an unfair advantage? Not really. The people that got invited were content creators, people that interacted with the community and/or promoted diablo4, and a bunch were given out randomly. Those players are the one dedicated enough to actually try for a race to max level, whether that's healthy or not is a different topic but the point remains. Here's a list with a hard pill to swallow.
Did you kill Ashava solo or without dying? Do you currently have 10+ builds routed, based on if you do or don't get specific drops? Do you have enough free time to play at least 16h a day for the full early access? Do you have a group of people willing to feed you gear, gold, and other resources? Did you level to 25 many many times during all the betas (20 for slam) for routing and speed?
If you can't say yes to all of the above, you weren't a consideration for the race regardless of if it starts early access, or season start. With a curve ball added in, do you know 3 other people who can meet all of those as well, and are willing to play with you? If not, you're not a candidate even if you meet all of the above criteria. I can't imagine how hyped some creators were for the race, only to have the rug pulled out from under them because a bunch of people crying on reddit. It's also concerning to me because I'd rather blizzard balance the game based off their internal data, compared to who can cry the hardest on social media. I'm sad I can't compete, but the truth is I'm not willing to put in 80h of grinding in the first 4 days so watching it would be more fun anyway.

I have to admit, I wasn't took big on what Cold Steel 1 and 2 when I played them. CS3 felt like they took what I mostly didn't like about 1 and 2, and decided to make things better.
First and foremost the graphical overhaul is definitely welcomed. Everyone looks so much better in here. I know 1 and 2 were for the PS3 but the jump in graphical fidelity here to PS4 era graphics is definitely much, much better. And how the battlefield just uses wherever you're standing on and transitioning into it feels faster than before. Though there's pretty heavy frame drops when i was in the Isthmia forest - I thought my 3060ti can handle it but maybe not?
The music, I felt I liked the earlier ones better, though there are still some bangers in here. Step Ahead is one of my favorites in this game and ranks pretty high for me. Spiral of Erebos is kinda taking the first intro and making into a full song that loops. The Juno theme is also a banger.
Gameplay wise, I really like the idea of Brave Orders, potentially game-deciding big moves that strengthens your team in different manners depending on the use case. And not to mention Break, which is also pretty cool, though with the master quartz you can have some pretty stupid combinations like doing huge amount of damage when the enemy is in a break state or applying ungodly amounts of ailments. The battles kind of simplifies to breaking the enemy and then doing your big moves on them while they're in break state.
Story-wise I can't help but feel the subtitle might as well be called "The Further Suffering of Rean Schwarzer". Of course he's now called as a hero, he suffered with the result of the Northern War (no thanks anime - which I did finish) which caused him to limit his use of Spirit Unification, but even as an instructor, you get the feeling most of the things aren't under his control and each time shit hits the fan Lectcher comes to tell him to deal with it because the government said so.
One thing I do want to point out is how the early 3 chapters were laid out in almost formulatic fashion. New field activity > Go to new place > Ouroboros does something > Rean tries to call for Vali... > That won't be necessary > Ouroboros does something crazier > Government tells Rean to deal with the mess > Rean does things with old class VII > Deal with Ouroboros and call Valimar. Also not a big fan of sending the branch campus students who had no experience, all over the country just to deal with Ouroboros is kinda irresponsible.
Which I say "mostly" because while it's kinda formulaic, there are subtle changes. Chapter 1 Rean didn't let class VII do anything when it became serious, but chapter 2 he asked them to join, but only if Juna is back mentally. In chapter 3 they are already forming two separate teams to take back Juno. So there's a definite change in mindset for Rean and co where the new class VII students weren't good enough, but eventually they caught up to the old class VII and can hold their own.
This game also expands a lot more on the Erebonia tale with some new wrinkles. The curse is introduced, it felt slightly handwavey - all of their past actions were almost solely attributed to the curse (including Ash who was definitely attributed to the curse), but it also explains why Erebonia is so intent on conflict moreso than other nations in the continent.
Back to Rean - I feel like the last chapter just makes him suffer way more. Yeah they killed the dark dragon, but how things went after felt so wrong. Also learning how Osbourne's family made him the man he is now and how it tied into Rean. How George is not pronounced as George anymore, Angie disappearing after chapter 3, the reappearance of Azure Siegfried with seemingly no past memory. That's a lot of things to take in, really. And of course how the egg came to be, how they wanted to stop the calamity but eventually Rean was the one who did it, though obviously it's part of the plan. He had no choice (or rather he didn't even get to choose).
And how Osborne just Osborned all over Rean in the end is well...typical Osborne, I suppose.
As for how new characters go, the new class VII is definitely quite endearing. Juna has a strong affinity for the correct moral compass and is definitely hugely inspired by the SSS and Crossbell. Kurt seemed a little rude at first and was unsure of himself, though I don't think at this point he's at any level near his relatives, he found a right role for himself. Altina basically starting off as a robot that can't think for herself and discovering emotions is heartwarming. Ash wasn't so likable as he was pretty brash, but even though his delinquent-ish attitude is still around, he's definitely softened up. Musse I personally am not a fan of as much - her endless teasing of Rean and wanting him to be her husband and how she is a million steps ahead of everything felt...wrong. Thus far I only know that she'll be the one taking over as the new Duke Cayenne, but how she's so smart felt...fake. I'm not sure how to word it properly, unfortunately.
Aurelia is one of the highpoint of the game, how she commands the school and also doing what she wants at her own pace is definitely quite cool. She's also kinda broken to play as, with her cameo in Juno. Michael is a stoic military guy but eventually he just lets Aurelia do as she pleases because he knew he can't control her. Seeing Randy is also a plus, though it's kinda unfortunate I don't get to use him at all. Towa here is more of a side character than before, though you can feel that partially she's there because she knew Rean needs support.
Cedric and his new main campus buddies aren't all that interesting either. He kinda felt like Patrick in CS1, but with an ulterior motive (that is to get into his robot). How the main campus just decided to become his lackey, even though the two named ones were slightly more interesting, even with how all it happened at the end is kinda meh - don't they have their own conclusion that shit was going to hit real hard with the giant egg and Ouroboros behind them?
That's way longer than what I planned, sorry for being ranty and having my thoughts all over the place. CS3 is definitely so far the higher point of the series in here. I enjoyed my time with the game, probably starting from chapter 3 with trying to take Juno back (which also incidentally is the prologue which Falcom likes to do now it seems). Going to go to CS4 starting later this week and can't wait to see the end of the Cold Steel arc.

This is a transcription only of this
SECOND WESTMAN INTERVIEW
Tim W
Faith W
Haverhill, New Hampshire
Telephone: xxx
(noted as 2006 in handwriting)
Tim and Faith Westman were interviewed relative to their knowledge of certain events that occurred on February 9, 2004 concerning the disappearance of Maura Murray. They were interviewed by telephone with both of them on the line at the same time.
The Westmans indicated that at approximately 1900hrs on February 9, 2004, they were working inside of their home office. They heard what sounded like a "thud or thump" coming from the front of their residence. Both went into their kitchen to look out the window that faces Route 112, now known as Wild Ammonoosuc Road to see what had made this sound. They observed a dark colored vehicle (no further description by them) off the road facing west or toward Lincoln, New Hampshire. The rear of the vehicle was very near or adjacent to a tree with the driver's side of the car on the wooded side and the passenger side on the road side. Both Westmans cuold see the interior light of the car come on and subsequently go off several times as they watched the vehicle.
It was their opinion that the car had been traveling eastbound, when it left the road, struck a tree and came to a rest facing westbound. Both noted that the road was dry at the time of this accident with no ice, black ice or snow which would have caused the vehicle to go off the roadway. They also noted that a couple of days after this incident they observed the tire tracks in the snow left by the car at the time of this accident. It was clear to them that based upon these tracks the operator successfully negotiated the severe curve in the road, but for reasons unknown drove straight off the road. They could not offer any explanation for this collision.
The Westmands noted that at some point the emergency flashers for the vehicle also came on.
After the Westmans watched this car for a few minutes, B Atwood, one of their neighbors, drove by and stopped at the collision scene. He was one of the local school bus drivers and was in fact driving a large yellow standard school bus at this time. He said the bus stopped facing easy (the opposite of the parked vehicle) at which time Atwood opened the door of the bus and behan to speak to, the Westmans later learned, Maura Murray. Maura at this time had gotten out of her car and was speaking to Atwood from across the top of her vehicle. The Westman recalled that Atwood spoke to Maura for only 1-2 minutes. After this conversation, Atwood left and drove the school bus back to the house where he parked it as he usually does.
The Westmans said that Maura did not get into the school bus with Atwood, nor did Atwood get out of the bus when he spoke with Maura.
Both of the Westmans said that a couple of minutes after Atwood and the bus left they saw some activity outside of the car and believed it was Maura walking around her vehicle. Tim Westman said he could see a small light near Maura's face and thought she was smoking a cigarete. He later learrned that Maura did not smoke and that the light he saw was probably a light from her cell phone. Another couple of minutes passed when both the Westman's noted they saw no further lights coming from Maura's vehicle.
Another couple of minutes went by at which time the Westmans saw a fully marked Haverhill police car coming from the west and parked near the scene. They observed the police car because it had its blue emergency lights on. Another couple of minutes went by when the officer assigned to this police car came to their front door. The officer asked where the female operator of the car in question was. Both Westmans stated they did not see Maura leave the area, but noted that she if she walked from the collision scene, she had to walk eastbound. They noted that had she walked westbound they would have seen her. The officer also noted that he came from the west and did not see her along his route.
The Westmans noted it was 5-6 minutes in time from when atwood left in the school bus to the time the Haverhill police officer arrived on the scene.
The Westmans stated that soon after the officer left their residence, the local fire department, EMS staff and other local and state police officers arrived at the scene of this collision and began to search for Maura. Both Westmans also noted that the morning of the 10th both of them looked their property over and found no footprints in the snow to show where, if or how Maura left the accident scene. They said there certainly was enough snow for a person to leave footprints in the snow and none were ound by anyone in the immediate area of where Maura left her car.
They did note that it was possible that other vehicles drove by the scene where Maura was parked, including when she was speaking with Atwood. They were clear, however, that no other vehicls stopped at the scene, only Atwood.
It should be noted that both the Westmans and the Marrottes did not like Atwood. They described him as "weird and peculiar" but declined to further document what "weird and peculiar" was.

Previous Chapter Table of Contents
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As we approached the front door, Aunt Freya turned to the dogs and said, “Jax and Apollo, wipe your paws,” in a firm but gentle tone. To my amazement, the two giant dogs obediently raised their massive paws one by one and wiped them on the towel hanging by the door.
Once their paws were clean, Aunt Fraya opened the unlocked door and led us inside. I first noticed how cozy and inviting the house’s interior was. The walls were painted a warm beige color and adorned with various paintings and photographs. The living room had a comfortable-looking couch and armchairs, with a coffee table in the center. It looked almost exactly how I remembered it the last time I was here. The only noticeable difference was the three dog beds by the door, and the pictures were newer, with people I barely recognized.
The dogs escorted us inside, one ahead and one behind me. I got a distinct feeling they didn’t trust me yet. But at least I wasn’t their chew toy.
I heard someone running towards me as I put my bags on the floor beside the coffee table. Suddenly, I felt a pair of thin arms wrap tightly around my waist. For a second, I freaked out, but I looked down and realized it was my cousin Julie! “John! I can’t believe you’re here!” she exclaimed, still holding me tightly.
Somehow shimmying and squirming, I hugged her back, feeling genuinely happy to see her for the first time in years. “Hey Julie, good to see you too. It’s been too long.” I replied, grinning.
After a few more seconds, Julie let go of me and stepped back to look at me, then suddenly punched me in the stomach. “Yeah, cause someone was too busy to visit or gone when we came to visit!” she said, smiling as I rubbed where she punched me.
I couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed at the compliment, but I smiled back nonetheless. “Well, I needed to do those projects...and trips...” I trailed off, realizing I was making excuses. “Anyways, I’m here now, so it’s all good. Where are Jake and your dad?”
As I finished speaking, I heard a voice from around the corner. “Hey there, John! We’re in the dining room!” It was the unmistakable booming voice of my Uncle Paul.
I turned to my aunt, and she said, “Let’s go say hi to everyone.”
Still standing beside me, the dogs seemed to understand her words and began escorting me toward the dining room. Aunt Fraya giggled as she walked ahead while Julie was hanging off my arm. She couldn’t decide if she wanted me to drag her or if she pulled me.
As we walked, I couldn’t help but notice the well-behaved dogs acting like my guards. They walked beside me, occasionally sniffing at my feet or hands but never pulling ahead or breaking stride with Julie and me. I was starting to wonder if they were familiars instead of pets, but my cousins being non-magical would be hard. It was clear that my aunt had put a lot of time and effort into training them.
It wasn’t far to the dining area, and as we rounded the corner, I saw my Uncle Paul sitting at the head of the table with a big grin on his face and my cousin Jake sitting with a frown. “John! Good to see you!” he said as he got up from his chair, walked up to me, and gave me a firm handshake followed by a big hug.
I hugged him back with one arm since Julie didn’t release the other. “It’s good to see you too, Uncle Paul,” I said with a smile.
Letting go of me, Uncle Paul took Julie off me as she protested and turned to Jake, saying, “Don’t be rude, son. Say hi.”
Jake got up and, with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, walked up to me and said in a frigid tone, “Hey, John. Long time no see.”
Uncle Paul shot Jake a disapproving look before turning back to me. “I’m sure you are tired as all. I know I’m always wiped when coming to visit you guys.” Turning to his kids, he said, “Well, come on then, you two go show John to his room.” Turning to me, he added, “The guest bedroom is all set up for you. Feel free to stay as long as you want,” gesturing for us to follow.
I followed Jake and Julie, but then I remembered forgetting my bags. I told my cousins, “Hang on!” and walked quickly to where I left the backpack, bag, and the box Dad gave to give to Aunt Freya. I heard hurried paw steps behind me as I grabbed them and returned to my aunt. “Here you go. Dad asked me to pass this along for you.”
Aunt Fraya responded with a pleasant smile, “Thank you, dear. You have some time before dinner, so rest up a bit. I’ll call up when food is on the table.” I nodded and walked quickly to catch up to my cousins waiting at the stairs.
As we walked towards the guest bedroom, I couldn’t help but notice the dogs walking alongside us again as if they were our escorts. It was both amusing and worrisome at the same time. I was starting to feel like the dogs didn’t trust me. I will just need to try to buy some treats and bribe them.
Once we arrived at the guest bedroom, Jake stood by the door as Julie excitedly started chattering and pointing out all the little details that she and Aunt Fraya had worked on to make the room comfortable for me. “And here’s your extra blankets. The door locks cause the dogs like to roam sometimes, and here’s the WiFi password,” she said, handing me a slip of paper.
I looked confused at the paper. “WiFi? What’s that?”
Jake laughed for the first time. “You are practically an alien in this world. This is going to be amusing.”
I felt hurt, but I was glad we had something to discuss. “Yeah, I really am. But that’s kinda the point of this experience.”
Julie asked to hang on for a min and slipped out of the room, the dogs parting just wide enough for her to slip past them in the doorway.
I looked at Jake. “Dude, come on. We grew up together. What’s up?”
He sighed, took a few steps to the bed, and plopped on it, leaning against the wall, feet dangling over the edge. “We did, but recently I realized just how different we are. It makes it hard to be comfortable with someone always so loaded for bear.”
I looked confused at him and put my bag and backpack on the bed next to him. “What do you mean.” as I sat on the chair.
He sighed. “I mean magic. You are from a world of power, and I’m from a world of Mundane.”
I scrunched my nose. “Don’t say that. It’s not nice. And I would never do anything to hurt you or Julie or your parents.” I glanced at the dogs in the door, wondering if I should extend my promise.
Jake smiled softly. “Yeah, I’m sure not on purpose.” He paused and frowned. “But to be honest, my college rejection letter also came today. And I was sure I could get into my first choice and didn’t bother applying elsewhere.”
I looked confused at him, but Julie tore back into the room before I could respond, somehow slipping between the two dogs. “Had to steal mom’s phone. I’ll explain what WiFi is, you Luddite.”
“Hey, be nice! Don’t call him names!” Jake yelled at Julie.
“I don’t know what that is, so I’m not offended.” I shrugged.
“I don’t know either, but it would fit.” Julie chirped as she sat next to John on the bed. “WiFi is what you use to access the internet.”
I pulled my own phone out. “Oh, how do I do that?”
Julie froze. “Well, now I must go slip this before I get caught.”
From somewhere in the house, Aunt Freya’s voice, “JULIE ARIEL SMITH! Give me back my phone!”
Julie looked worried as she tore out of the room through the parting dogs to the roaring laughter from Jake and me. After laughing, I said, “I’m not sure what that means about college rejection, but I’m sorry you are going through that. I just want things to be as normal as we can. Like we were when we were kids.”
Jake briefly looked at the ceiling, thinking, “Nothing changed. And I’ll figure something out eventually about college. For now, let’s just have fun.” With a smile, he got up and said, “I’ll give you some breathing room as you settle in. Let’s catch up when we get time sometime.”
After Jake left, I waited a second to see if the dogs would go. Instead, they lay down, blocking the doorway in a way that would make me move them to leave. I sighed and turned to the bags on the bed.
I unpacked my backpack and bag, placing my clothes in the drawers. They were dimensional bags as well. So I could bring everything I could need, so I only unpacked what I would need for the next week or so. I noticed the dresser was empty except for a few spare blankets and pillows at the bottom, so I took the opportunity to spread out my clothes and organize them.
I left most of my magical equipment in the backpack. I wouldn’t need anything but my wand, the summing bracelet still on my right hand. The only thing I took out was the scroll my parents gifted me. I put it on the table, admiring the intricate design and the fine craftsmanship. I was sure they had spent much money on it, so I wanted to take care of it. Not that these were very delicate, but still.
Next, I took out the gifts I had brought for my cousins from my bag. I hid them in the drawer on the table, so they would be a surprise for later. I wanted to wrap them into something, but I would have to give them as is.
I decided to check out the rest of the room. I went to the dresser and pulled open the top drawer, which was empty like the others. Looking around the room were several pictures and paintings. What was surprising to me was that they were very still.
Curious, I turned to the two doors in the room. One was clearly a closet, and that’s the first one I walked up to and pulled open. It was a good size, with plenty of space to hang clothes and store shoes. I put my backpack and bag in there to ensure they stayed out of the way.
I then turned my attention to the other door. I opened it slowly, unsure of what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find a clean, well-maintained bathroom with a shower, sink, and toilet. The towels hanging on the rack smelled fresh. I vaguely remembered how to use this shower from the last time, and I hope it won’t be a problem.
Feeling satisfied with my new living quarters, I returned to the desk and sat down. This seemed like the perfect time to tell my parents I was safe and at my Aunts house.
I pulled my old scroll from my pocket. It was much simpler than the new one my parents had given me and was meant more for local communication. It wouldn’t have a powerful spell circle to reach my parents or friends. But it did have all the imprints and contacts from them.
I conjured the wand and pointed it at the new scroll on the table. Using the transfer spell, I could transfer my friends’ imprints from the old scroll to the new one. All three items glowed pale, and it only took a moment. Soon I saw their names appear on the new scroll, indicating they were successfully added.
As I was admiring my handiwork and ensuring that every name I wanted was transferred, I suddenly heard a voice next to me. “Was that... magic?” Julie’s voice made me jump up in my seat, my heart racing, my hand shaking holding the wand, sweat beading on my brow. She was maybe 2 feet away from him, standing just outside my field of view.
At my threatening gesture, the dogs in the doorway growled. But Julie looked at them and said, “Shush.” they did.
I steadied my breathing and said, “Yeah. I didn’t get a chance to transfer information from my old scroll to my new one.”
She pointed at my hand. “Is that a wand? Can I hold it?”
I breathed and willed the wand back into storage. “Not right now. Maybe a bit later. I can show you some tricks and magic.”
She looked disappointed but said, “Okay.” Walked over to the bed and sat down. “Mind if I hang out here for a bit?”
I shrugged. “Do you mind if I write a quick letter without distractions?” She nodded, so I sat at the table, folded the old scroll, and put it aside. I moved the new scroll closer to myself, used the quill that was part of the package, and selected my parent’s imprints.
I concentrated on the quill and started writing the letter to my parents. Since this was my first time, the quill took a few tries to obey me. In glowing letters on the scroll, I wrote about how I was safe at my aunt’s place and succeeded in making it there. I also mentioned that I had transferred the imprints of my friends onto the new scroll and that I was going to try to contact them soon. And reminded them that they could always reach out.
As I finished the letter, I read it over to ensure it said everything I wanted. Satisfied, I closed my eyes and focused my energy on the sending spell. After a second, I opened my eyes as the words on the scroll lifted off the page and folded into an owl.
The owl flew straight through the wall and into the night sky, heading towards the enclave where my aunt picked me up from, which must be the nearest relay to here.
“Wow. That’s so cool.” Julie whispered from the bed, and I turned just in time to see her cover her mouth.
I smiled and said, “Yeah, magic is pretty cool. But so is your technology. I’m going to need all your help to figure it out.” And I pulled out my phone.
She looked excited. “Oh, of course, your sensei will teach you everything.” But before she could do anything, I heard a high-pitched barking bounding down the hall outside my room.
Then a tiny fur ball jumped over the two dogs and bound towards me with the fury of a starved hellhound ready to eat. I conjured my wand, but fore I could do anything or the little hellion reached me, Julie nimbly plucked him mid-jump and held him like a baby on its back. The little beat instantly calmed down and let out a happy little whine of pleasure. The two dogs in the doorway growled their disapproval.
Julie whispered, “It’s okay. He’s a friend. No eating, my cousin.” Holding him out towards me, she said, “Sparky. Say high to John.”
Sparky wasn’t convinced of my status in the family and gave a menacing high-pitched bark and a growl. However, she stopped when Julie brought him close to herself and smacked him in the nose softly. “No!” She held him out, and this time he let out an almost friendly bark.
“Nice to meet you, Sparky,” I said, not letting go of my wand.
I breathed a sigh of relief as she brought Sparky close to herself. Sparky licked her face, and Julie giggled. I was horrified for a moment when she let him down. He landed softly on his tiny feet, made a circle, and then turned to me. For a second, I thought he would attack me and prepared to defend myself, but I had Nothing to worry about. He walked up to me, sniffed my feet, then pranced back to Julie, tongue lolling and tail wagging.
Julie laughed as she stroked Sparky’s fur. “Don’t worry, he’s harmless. He just loves to bark.”
I chuckled and replied, “Well, I’m glad to hear that. He’s pretty cute, actually. When he’s not acting like an angry furry volleyball of doom.”
Julie smiled and said, “Yeah, he’s my little buddy. He’s been with me since I was a kid. Well, I guess like 4 years now or so.” Looking at me, she asked, “Do you have any pets?”
I shook my head. “No. My parents have familiars. But when I wanted a pet, my parents told me I was immature. Then when I was mature, I didn’t have time. When I have more time, I’ll probably get a pet.”
She thought momentarily and said, “I know your mom has the owl cat. And your dad has a giant three-headed dog. I guess I was expecting you to have at least something. Maybe a cat or a dog. Or maybe something more exotic like a dragon.”
My eyebrows shot up. “A dragon? That would be cool, but they’re pretty dangerous and, you know, illegal. They are very endangered. I mean, I guess a petite dragon would be an option. But they are a lot of work.”
She looked convinced. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe you should stick with a cat or a dog, for starters.”
I laughed and glanced at the dogs in the doorway who were sitting at attention. I looked back at Julie and realized her eyes were fixed on the wand in my hand. I could see a mix of curiosity and fear in them. With a jolt, I remembered what Jake had said earlier about magic being power. I started to feel self-conscious and put the wand in storage again with a small flash of magic. Julie blinked hard and looked away.
I looked at Julie with concern as she picked up Sparky, held him close, and took a deep breath. “What’s wrong?” I asked gently, noticing the nervousness in her body language. I had no idea what I did to scare her like this.
She hesitated for a moment, looking down at Sparky on her lap. She patted him for an uncomfortably long silence before finally whispering, “I don’t know how to ask this, but... can I do magic?” Her question caught me off guard, and I wasn’t sure how to respond. She looked up at me, and I could see the fear and uncertainty in her eyes, and I wanted to reassure her.
But I couldn’t.
I took a deep breath. This was going to be a delicate conversation. I had to break the news gently. “Julie, I’m sorry to say this, but only those born with magic can use it,” I said, my voice low and even. “There are two species of humans. One with magic and one without. You know how there are different kinds of dogs?” After she nodded, I continued, “There are a few different kinds of humans as well.”
Julie’s face didn’t change. “So, I can’t do magic? You are sure?” she asked, her voice quivering.
I shook my head. “I’m afraid not,” I said, trying to sound sympathetic. “It’s just the way things are. But don’t worry, you can still do plenty of amazing things without magic.”
She looked like she was about to say something else, but we heard a voice from the door before she did. “John, food is ready.” Turning, I saw Aunt Freya. “Julie, don’t forget to wash your hands before coming to the dinner table.”
Julie didn’t say anything but turned with a smile to her mom. I got a bit of whiplash from her emotional swings but didn’t say anything. She dropped Sparky to the floor and walked out the door. She paused at the door and said, “Let’s talk later.”
The big dogs parted to let her through but moved back together. Sparky walked up to the dogs, barked shortly and jumped over the big dogs, and followed Julie.
I grabbed the gifts from the drawer I hid them in and decided to just give them as is. I walked to the door, but the dogs didn’t budge. After a second, I cleared my throat and said, “Excuse me?”
The dogs looked lazily at me but didn’t leave. I heard Aunt Fray’s voice from somewhere in the house. “Jax, Apollo, leave John alone. He’s a friend.”
The dogs growled, got up, and trotted away from the door.
I said, “Thank You,” and walked behind them, letting them lead me to the dining room.
​
Previous Chapter Table of Contents

Shein watched from the sidewalk as the two humans shook hands before stepping back a few paces from each other.
The stocky one drew a bastard sword with a fat bellied tip. Calmly proclaiming.
"Drake is a better swordsman than the scourge."
The other, much thinner human, drew a long, thin Rapier and donned a chainmail glove. Softly rebuking.
"I believe the scourge is a better swordsman, to first blood?"
The stocky human nodded, a playful grin on his face.
"Try not to take one of my eyes out with one of those wild thrusts you're taught"
The thinner human smiled back, returning a quip of his own.
"As long as you don't try and take my head off, with those wide swings of yours."
The two nodded in agreement.
Then they clashed.
The rapier jabbed at the stocky human's cheek, the stocky human twisting out of the way as the bastard sword's tip flashed inches away from the thin human's throat. The thin human countered by leaning back, throwing a left hook with the chain mail glove. The stocky man ate it, parrying the rapier that whipped for his side before retaliating with a kick to the chest that sent the thinner man stumbling back with a laugh.
They engaged again, the bastard sword swept upwards as the rapier swished down at an angle. The two blades met and the heavier bastard sword pushed the rapier aside, the rapier redirecting the bastard sword slightly away from the thin man's face. Locking the two chest to chest. Each other's blades locked at the cross guard before they broke away.
The rapier thrusted, the bastard sword cleaved through the air.
A line was cut on the stocky man's cheek just as the tip of the bastard sword opened up a small, two inch long cut across the other's sternum.
The two humans felt their injuries, saw the blood and smiled. The stocky man sheathed his bastard sword and extended the hand he'd touched the cut with, blood on his fingers.
"Good work as always Thomas, you're getting quicker with that needle of yours."
Thomas smiled and shook the stocky man's hand with his own bloodied one.
"I can say the same Gary, that blade of yours is getting harder and harder to redirect almost took my nose off with that upward swing."
Gary smiled and gave a hearty laugh before clapping his friendly rival on the back.
"Let's go get a beer and compare notes then. Tangling up my sword guard with the basket hilt? Brilliant idea."
The two human's voices faded into the usual burble as everyone continued on with their day. Taking a moment to watch Gary and Thomas's weekly duel was a common past time in the forge district.
Shein stopped by a food cart manned by a cephalopod, who was selling fried octopus.
"Hey Tignak, get any confused tourists today that accuse you of cannibalism?"
There was a sound like a dozen suction cups being pulled off of one another, the cephalopod's version of laughter. The vendors voice appearing in her head after a small pulse that she could accept or deny access to.
"A few, they seem to forget I'm a terrestrial squid and not a deep water octopus. Besides, if I tasted anywhere near this good, I'd just lop a few feet of each limb off, fry it and sell it. They'd grow back in a day or two and I'd save a ton on groceries."
Shein laughed with Tignak, imagining the sight of him casually frying the end of one of his own tentacles.
"I don't doubt Tig, speaking of which. I'm visiting my old man and you know how much he loves your cooking."
She felt Tig's smile in her mind even though the octopus's face was completely unreadable. Just a very large eye staring back at her.
"Of course, you know Frank and I go way back, have these on the house."
Tig took a few fresh squid, whacked them against the table to kill them instantly before starting to fry them up. It only took a few minutes for the many armed food cart manager to cook and box up a half dozen fried squid. Shein took the box gratefully and bowed her head to Tig.
"Thank you Tig, I owe you one, if you need anything you know how to reach me."
The cephalopod gave a salute with an unoccupied tentacle.
"No worries Ms. Stein, please visit more often, I enjoy our little chats."
Shein smiled and turned to walk off, using her nimble tail to drop a twenty credit piece in Tignak's tip jar. It had been awhile since she'd last seen her dad, her job took her to some pretty far away places for long periods. But whenever she knocked on his door, that tired old mouse always answered with gusto.
Shein plodded her way down the main street, picking up some small material samples from the local smiths for her father's experiments. As she neared the warehouse her father had converted into a machine shop and living quarters. She knocked on the door rather roughly, hearing a pneumatic hiss on the other side and the impact of metal against flesh.
Without a second's more hesitation, Shein ripped the door open, concern etched across her face.
"Shit! You good doc? that sounded like it hurt!"
The old mousian was laughing, a bruise on his furless cheek where Ferrick's new arm had punched him with pneumatic assistance. Ferrick knelt by the laughing mousian, a concerned look on his face as he swept his now gunmetal grey hair out of his eyes.
Doctor Franklin Neville Stein simply patted the cyborgs still intact upper bicep, chuckling as he scratched one of his tattered ears.
"Ah! consider it a function check my boy! That was barely at ten percent power and it knocked me flat!"
Ferrick looked down at his new arm and began chuckling with the mad doctor before pulling the much smaller mousian to their feet.
"Doctor's orders, unrefusable! Good work on the arm though, if that was ten percent I can't imagine what fifty or a hundred would've done."
Dr.Frank nodded, the maniac glint of a mad scientist coming to his eyes.
"With the newly improved valves and better seals, you could punch a hole in starship armor at seventy. One hundred and you might just punch through the entire ship!"
The two old galactic adventures laughed together. Before shein cleared her throat.
The two men slowly, guiltily turned around as Shein gave them both a dirty look, hand slipping away from the handgun she kept at the small of her back. She pointed at her dad.
"We've discussed this dad, stay out of range of your own machines when you're working on them."
She glared at Ferrick who sheepishly looked down. She did take a bit of pride in that, she was the only person he feared pissing off.
"And you! I told you not to let him work on your prosthetics while they're still attached! Do we need to have another Icarus scenario to deal with?"
Ferrick mumbled back sheepishly.
"We only leveled the warehouse once..."
Shein slapped her palm against her face, dragging it down in exasperation before simply saying.
"Leveled it? Yeah you've only done that once. However, you two have burned it down, shot bowling balls through the walls, created a miniature sun that bathed everything in lethal amounts of UV radiation after the containment field lost power. Or that time it got sucked into the warp because you two couldn't get it through your thick skulls why we dont open portals to the warp in atmosphere. You're extremely lucky neither of you got sucked in with it."
Shein took a deep breath and let it out slowly before setting the box of fried squid on the metal dinner table. The two old veterans of intergalactic conflicts hanging their head in shame after being berated by a journalist. Then Shein started snickering softly before saying.
"I love you both, but seriously, when you two get together they seriously consider evacuating parts of the forge district in case one of your guy's experiments goes away. Again. Anyway, let's eat, I'm hungry."
The two old men smiled at each other and gave a chuckle before joining Shein at the table. Shein was munching on the fried tentacle of a squid when ferrick turned to her father.
"How's the artificial blackhole coming along?"
"Swimmingly, it just stabilized last night and is ready for observa-"
The two men were distracted from their conversation by Shein slamming her head into the table. Her voice muffled as she stated.
"You two are the dumbest fucking geniuses I know. Dad, please for the love of God, get rid of the black hole."
Dr.Frank sheepishly looked between ferrick and his daughter. Ferrick shrugged as if to say.
'might as well be honest old man'
Clearing his throat Dr.Frank sheepishly replied.
"Sweetheart, it's a black hole... The most I can do is keep it stable until it runs out of energy."
Shein looked at her father.
"And how long will that take?"
Her father grimaced.
"More... More than two hundred and fifty thousand years give or take."
Shein just groaned as she lowered her head back to the table. Quietly muttering to herself.
"How can they be so smart yet so dumb at the same time. Thank God neither of them care about intergalactic domination."
Ferrick turned back to Dr.Frank, a smile creeping onto his face as he overheard Shein's mumblings.
"So how's the manifesto going Frank?"
"FOR THE LOVE OF FUCK YOU TWO, JUST BE NORMAL FOR FIVE SECONDS!"
The exasperated reporter cried out. Sending both Ferrick and Dr.Frank into howls of laughter as she finally realized they were fucking with her.
"You two are insufferable. One of these days you're going to give me an aneurysm with your antics."
She chuckled and shook her head.
"Glad you didn't actually make a black hole dad."
The two men's laughter suddenly stopped and they shared a glance.
Shein pinched her nose and sighed defeatedly.
"Scratch that, I think I just had one. I'm going home before you two summon some eldritch horror or something."