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(English is not my 1st language, sorry if I made mistakes) Hello everyone! I'm a 22 year old girl and I want to be a goalie soon. I don't have all the equipment yet, but I'm planning to buy it until the end of the year. I bought the pads, the gloves and the skates already (Bauer GSX). I tried the position once with equipment I borrowed and I really loved it, but I'm not athletic enough yet. There's a place near my home where I can go to some hockey practice for beginners when I'll get all of my equipment but I'm worried about this. I can skate but I can't stop with them, also I'm afraid to fall. I have no chance to take skating lessons until the season starts, but I go to public skates once a week for two hours. But the question is: is there any advice that you can give me? I work out at home, trying to gain some muscle on my legs and arms but I'm afraid that I'm not enough to do this. I just want to be a goalie as a hobby, because I really love goalies and it's my dream to became one, even if I'll be bad. Thanks for the answers 😊

The figures released recently regarding the US employment situation were pretty rosey, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly report signaling a gain of 339,000 jobs for May, but how does this compare with another less well known but perhaps more reliable government statistics that try and tell us something about the labor market.
First off, how dependable is this element of the report? Among a host of other challenges involved in understanding the household and establishment surveys that make up the BLS report (which I have discussed elsewhere) there is the fact that all data in these surveys are SEASONALLY ADJUSTED. This sounds like a means to take seasonal factors such as weather into account when calculating how many jobs were created or destroyed, but they're really a practice by which long-run averaging is used to disguise volatility in the figures.
The downside to this is that it can misrepresent the actual situation. Say the economy's been in a slump for a prolonged period and the average of jobs lost each month is -300,000. Then a number above -300,000 for a given month even if still negative at say -100,000, could still be counted as positive because it is above the average. The same goes for positive numbers; with an average of +300,000 jobs a month a number below that, say +200,000, could be ADJUSTED to show a less positive or even negative number. This is to some extent an oversimplification of the process but gets across the manner in which such figures are constructed. And the same sort of method is also applied to the unemployment rate and all other economic date from the government. So we can see how reliable much of this is.
In fact in the jobs report published for July 2021 this was stated outright when the bureau wrote “[s]taffing fluctuations in education due to the pandemic have distorted the normal seasonal buildup and layoff patterns, likely contributing to the job gains in July. Without the typical seasonal employment increases earlier, there were fewer layoffs at the end of the school year, resulting in job gains after seasonal adjustment. These variations make it more challenging to discern the current employment trends in these education industries.” (The Employment Situation July 2021 p. 3) https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_08062021.pdf I doubt very much their overall methodology has changed.
So think of it, some months when jobs are actually gained we see a loss and in some months when there are really losses we're told there are gains. A better if still imperfect measure of the jobs situation can be found in another measure in the BLS report called the Employment-Population Ratio. This number tries to compare the actual number of people with a job to the entire working age population of the United States. Unfortunately it fails to take into account the number of stay at home mothers, who actually are not in the labor force, but in our modern world this is such a rarity that statistically it shouldn't impact the overall data too much.
In this month's report the EMPLOYMENT-POPULATION RATIO FELL 0.1 TO A SEASONALLY ADJUSTED 60.3 That means jobs were actually lost this month not created and that 39.7% of people are without a job. If we subtract the about 11% of the population who are actually retired we get a jobless rate of at 29%, and without the seasonal adjustment used to massage these numbers they could be still worse. (The Employment Situation for May 2023 Table A) https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

This took place late 90's, when cell phones still charged calls by the minute so the use of pagers was still pretty common.
My GF at the time had a pager, and she would keep it clipped to her sun visor in her car when driving, so if it went off she could glance at it to see who was sending the page without really taking eyes off road, and see if it's worth pulling over. Being early summer and we were about 20, 21, life was all about social time those days.
At this time, well before the internet took hold, the popular hangout was the Shopping Mall. 200 stores, something for everyone, and it's where the masses of teenagers would spend their free time. Largest mall in the region so always a chance to meet new people or find people you hadn't seen in a while.
So as she pulled in on a Friday night to meet up with her friends, she saw an old friend from her neighborhood, someone she hadn't seen since middle school years. (he went down the pothead route, she didn't, they drifted but no hard feelings) So she stopped next to him, chatted for a few minutes, exchanged pleasantries, then moved on to find a parking space.
It was there, as she went to get out of the car, that she noticed the pager was missing. She instantly remembered he had leaned in to rest his arms on the window frame to chat, and remembered when he asked her about something that prompted her to reach for her glovebox, and he must've swiped it then. Feeling stupid, and knowing who took it wasn't hard to figure out, but good luck finding him again amongst the crowds.
She went home, and tried to deal with it herself. She knew where he lived, as during the conversation he had mentioned he was "staying with so-and-so" and she knew where that guy lived. She borrowed her older brother's cell phone, called me and told me where she was going, gave me the address. I headed there.
So she went to the townhouse complex, parked right outside their unit, walked up and rang the doorbell. She talked to the mutual friend's mother. Explained what happened. Lady seemed annoyed at the kid, said he was a deadbeat, and agreed to help. She paged her son, he called back, and she said they were on their way home right now.
So she sat outside and waited. 15 minutes, 30 minutes... I show up and park far away, but within a line of site. I wanted to back her up in case things for fucky but if she wanted to handle this the nice way, I'll let her do that first. (I think she thought she would confront him, he's say something like "it was worth a try" and hand it back?) An hour. By now it was getting late, was after 12 midnight. We waited until 12:30 when she calls me and says she needs to get some sleep, "let's just write it off."
But I had a feeling. So I told her to leave, to pull out of the complex, circle around, then pull back into the complex and park over where I was parked, then turn off her car.
She does, then comes join me in my car and we have a bit of a stakeout.
Sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed when not 5 minutes later the guys arrive. Her mother told them she was waiting, then told them once she left and it was clear to come home.
I asked her if that was the asshole's car, or the friends. We saw them get out and realized it was the asshole's car.
My plan quickly fell into shape. I told her to go home, get some sleep, I'll take care of this.
See, the car stood out. It was a beater car. It was blue with a silver back fender and back passenger door, replaced from an accident but never painted to match. It was heavily tinted, which is illegal but not really enforced unless police wanted a reason to pull you over. It had a loud system. Every square foot had a dent or a ding. There was a shitty add-on spoiler that was 3 sizes too large, and there were Jamaica flag bumper stickers on it even though he was white as snow. And he had these obnoxiously bright neon license plate frames.
You know the type, instead of buying a decent car wastes tons of money blinging out a piece of shit that constantly breaks down.
So I sit and I wait. 1 am, 2am rolls around. Most house lights in the area have gone out by now, including theirs. Not quite time.
3 am rolls around, 3:30... almost.
3:45, there was not a lick of movement anywhere. Now's the time!
I get out of my car, hunch down (just in case) and slowly work my way to his car. Pull out my screwdriver and quietly remove both the back and the front license plates, replace the frames, head back to my car, and drive home.
You see, the way the parking lot was, walking out of his front door you are looking at the driver side of his car, not the front or the back. And who, honestly, looks to see if there are license plates on your car when you go to get in it?
So it's now late Saturday afternoon, and a posse shows up at my GF's house, including a very large woman threatening to beat the crap out of her. She played it cool, said she had NO idea what they were talking about. They screamed that she stole his license plates because he had stolen her pager, and he even took out the pager and smashed it on the sidewalk as some sort of "revenge"
She laughed and said "I honestly have NO idea what you are talking about.. I don't really care about the pager, we already had the account moved to a new pager, that was was old and ugly anyway", yeah I came by to ask for it back, but it got late so I just got a different one. I don't care enough to make an issue out of it"
They continued to scream at her. Apparently he went out, the cops pulled him over for not having plates on his car, and he had to go to the police station and file a police/theft report in order to get out of a ticket.
She just repeated "I had nothing to do with that, so unless you have proof, you're about to be seeing the police again"
They knew they had nothing, grumbled and weren't sure how to react, so they gave a few more empty threats threats and left.
I let it sit. I gave it about 6-7 weeks, nothing more came of it, and everyone but me apparently moved on with our lives.
I guess they thought that was the end of it.
But I saw that visit and those threats as an escalation, so I reacted in kind.
Late summer I Again went back to his place. Again I found the car (it was really easy to spot), and Again I waited until about 3:45am, and Again I stole his (new) license plates.
Only this time I put his original plates back on.
And because the non-repaired side of the back of his car left a gaping hole in the wheel well, I was able to get my arm up in there and pop out the bulb socket for his left blinker, then I went on my way.
So even if he DID get into the habit of making sure there were plates on the car.. there were. And unless he was paying attention, the numbers would seem natural because he had them for years. But I'm not sure he even looked.
If the internet was a thing back then, hell if SCANNERS were a popular thing back then, I would still have the hard evidence which to this day I'd probably use as my phone's lock screen picture.
A little blurb in the local paper a few days later. A blurb that was proudly cut out and shared amongst friends, but sadly lost to the ages in 25+ years and countless apartment and house moves since then.
A little blurb the "police blotter" section.
About the arrest of a particular young man, who was pulled over for a malfunctioning blinker, on a car that was operating on stolen plates. He was charged with fraudulently filing a false police report, (claiming plates clearly in his possession were stolen) defrauding the Motor Vehicle Commission (a crime in this state) for fraudulently obtaining new plates, possession of controlled substances, and possession of drug paraphernalia, along with a host of traffic violations for having tinted window, failure to maintain vehicle, and a few other tickets. He was remanded pending bail and issued a court date.
Never found out if he posted bail, I'm sure his friend's mother didn't, and he had already been on the outs with his own family.
It was a good 5 months later when we were at the mall again, and she sees the large woman and a couple of the other people that came to her house that day walking towards us. We all noticed each other at the same time, I felt my GF tense up a little bit, but without a word those three just paused a second, turned, and went in a different direction.
Never saw or heard from any of them ever again. I guess my message was received loud and clear.

Part 24: https://www.reddit.com/Viidith22/comments/13taoss/my_roommate_is_slenderman_part_24_revised/
(Terry)
It had been a day or so and I hadn’t gotten a response from Megami. There are spurts where we don’t talk, she tends to be pretty accident-prone with electronics. Sometimes the frequency she’s singing goes haywire and fries it. But it had been a good five months or so since we last spoke. Taking a shot in the dark, I called Rachel.
“What is it, Terry?” She grunted, “I’m a little busy.”
“I need to talk to Megami, but she’s been MIA since the whole ‘Maerod’ situation.” My mind shot back to what Jones had told me, to watch out for “her,” momentarily questioning whether or not Dexter’s team had been dumb enough to keep her alive.
There was a pause, the line was silent. Then, a sigh, “Actually, I’ve had the same problem. I figured she just broke another phone, or was pissed at me for… Well, I’ll keep an ear out and let you know if I hear anything. What do you need her for?” She grunted again.
“Small mission.”
“Joseph?”
“Yeah.”
The line went silent again, then an exasperated sigh, “Good luck, be sure to bring The Doctor with you. You know how you can get.”
A flush of anger pulsed through me, but I took a deep breath, “Sure.”
She shrieked, “Oh shit!” The call ended.
I thought over the list of everyone, wondering what I was gonna do. I had actually intended to have Doc and Megami be the last two after Smudge, no one else would really work. Chad wasn’t right for the type of incognito mission we were doing, Abraham wasn’t available, Rachel and Sepratine just didn’t quite mesh with what we were doing, Megami was supposed to be the last one to fill out the party. I mulled it over, but I still owed David, the huuldefolk, a favor from the Maerod raid. I would’ve called Jacob, but he was in another country doing who knows what.
My phone rang as I stood, leaning against the couch, “Jones, something wrong?”
He chuckled, “Not in the least. You got your group together?”
“We’re one short.”
“No problem, bring everyone by tonight, we need to prepare on our end, and Dexter sent us a bit of backup.” He hung up.
I called up Doc and Smudge, telling them to be at my place and ready by the time dusk rolled around. Heading to the bathroom I downed my meds, trying to shake off a weird feeling that slowly crept up on me. As if something was going to happen when we got there. It was more than just a bad feeling, but a conviction, I knew something would happen, and it made me uncomfortable. One of the pills I took was supposed to ease it, but when it got that bad, it meant my brain had already determined some kind of outcome. It’s not a superpower or anything, more like enhanced intuition. It only happens when my brain has the information to go off of. But there’s a disconnect between my conscious and subconscious, so whenever something like that happens, I just have to wait for it to come to fruition.
-----------------------------------------
Stepping into the office, I looked around, “Where’s the new guy?”
Xavier looked up, baffled at the sight. Then Jones stood, walking over to greet us, the bags under his eyes less defined, “He’s in the back getting himself something to eat. Smudge, nice to see you again, you haven’t aged a day.” Smudge chuckled at that, “You must be The famous Doctor, I want to thank you for coming. I’m sure you’re a busy man.” He outstretched his hand, but Doc just gestured between Jones and me.
“You see, that’s how you should greet me. You really ought to get a notepad out, you might learn a thing or two about how to respect your elders.”
“If I remember correctly, I’m about 2,000 years your senior. When did you start your… questionable medical practices again? 16th, 17th century?”
Doc ignored me, angrily shaking Jones’s hand, “Nice to meet you, lad! Glad to hear somebody thinks highly of me, even if it is a meager thinskin.”
“Me and my dislocated fingers thank you for that.” As he brought his hand back, Jones uncomfortably pushed his fingers back into their sockets one by one. “So, who were you planning on bringing? You said there was going to be another?”
“Right, had my sights set on a Siren, she’s pretty skilled and can be silent when the occasion arises. But I couldn’t get ahold of her.” I paused, “Actually, you’ve got your ear to the ground, you heard anything about someone named Megami? It’s been a few months since we talked, I’m kinda worried.”
Jones was a mannequin, despite trying to seem calm, his eyes flicked to Xavier before shooting back to us. He leaned against his desk, reaching for his coffee mug several times, not looking away from us, before finally grabbing it, and raising it to his mouth.
I stared hard at Xavier, a few moments later, he cracked, “Look it was a life or death sit–”
My legs tightened, I could feel the meds pushing to the side as I grew, stepping over to him in two long strides. He threw out his hearing aid, grasping his one intact ear as he held himself up with his free hand on the desk, “You killed Megami! Tell me why I shouldn’t give you the same treatment!” Something grasped my waist, then each of my legs. They were trying to push me back. When I released a tentacle to shoot Xavier through the head, I felt a prick stab into it. I fell limp, shrinking back down instantaneously.
Much calmer, I looked at my surroundings, Doc stood over me, making sure I was fine, Smudge looked between Xavier and me, wondering how he should react. Then I saw Xavier, Jones standing beside him, and on the other side of the desk, just across from us, stood the blonde buzzcut, and scarred musculature, of a Texan soldier. “Fucking Tucker.” I chuckled with disdain, “Of course.”
“Wish I had my H.O.P.S. but unfortunately it was destroyed along with the U.S.P.M. You’re one terrifying son of a bitch when I’m not in a full suit of armor, I’ll tell you what.” Looking close, I noticed he was wearing one of the older exosuits they used to wear. It was clean, but there were scuffs in the black paint job here and there.
“The U.S.P.M is just a bad fucking omen at this point.”
“Hey, we didn’t kill Jeff, and we didn’t kill Megami. So why don’tcha chill the fuck out.” Tucker crossed his arms, staring at me.
Smudge let out a jittery sigh, “You know, Jane’s death wasn’t necessarily the fault of Jeff.”
I looked at him, “Are you really going to side with the thinskins on this one?”
“Terry, behave yourself. We’re only here for Joseph’s sake. After we’re done you can go wipe out the US government. But we’re here for a reason. Doctor back me up here.”
“I’m neutral in this, I don’t care much for anyone.”
“And yet you’re here to help save Joseph.”
He sighed, “Joseph is okay I suppose. But I’m here because Terry gave me a deal on a pixie a month or so back.”
Smudge and Doc continued their back and forth as I stared at Xavier, he stood upright again, fixing the aid back into his ear, “I don’t blame you, Terry, I’d kill me too. I even did. But at least wait till this is over, yeah? I wanna slip in one last good deed if I can.” He blinked tears back as he put on a ski mask.
“When we’re done, I’ll thank you, but you better hope we never cross paths again.”
“I could say the same to you… I could.”
The air was still for a minute or so, even Doc and Smudge had stopped their bickering. “Well then.” Tucker smacked his hands together, making a metal clink, “Y’all ready to kick some shit in?”
“How long is the drive? I’ll need at least an hour to recover.”
Jones answered, “Hour and a half to two, you’ll be fine. We’ve got guns in the van, all suppressed. I had a mutual acquaintance of ours send us a care package yesterday. Regardless, I say we should all keep our blood inside our bodies.”
Tucker joined in, “Speaking of, I managed to scrounge the materials to make up some of those SIOM rounds. I left them in the van, along with the last resort.” He winked at me.
Jones nodded, “We should be good to go then, you guys oughtta join us in the van, less conspicuous.”
I nodded, “Yeah, that’d make the most sense. I’ll be taking the lead when we get there though. Which reminds me, you never sent me the schematics.”
“Oh, yeah, I’ll send them over. Are you gonna have enough time to put a plan together?”
“Yeah, I already know how we’ll follow into the building. I was thinking Tucker at first, but without his suit, he’s basically just a liability.”
He rolled his eyes, “Yeah, we’ll see about that one.”
-----------------------------
As the van slowed, Tucker pulled on his combat gloves. He was decked out in full gear that I hadn’t really noticed till we got in the van. A flexible vest that was essentially a skin-tight long-sleeve shirt, meeting his wrists. His pants were tight and were made of the same fabric as his shirt.
We came to a complete stop as he slung his rifle around, clicking off the safety on his Bizon. Doc clapped his book shut, and Smudge stood.
“Alright, everyone up, we need to get to the gun cases.” Jones had come back through a door-sized hole connecting the back of the van to the front. He’d already pulled his mask over his face, the only color that came from him was his remaining eye and parts of his lips, only revealed by small, cut strips in the fabric.
We stood, sidestepping so he could get to the guns behind the seats. One by one we filed out the back.
Xavier hopped out the back, followed by Jones who stared at Tucker for a moment, “Did you uh… Did you put a new scope on this?” He raised his PS90 which held an ACOG and a suppressor.
“Oh yeah, it’s kinda like a thermal scope. But instead of heat it picks up… well I don’t actually know. But you should be able to see anything invisible or not.” Xavier inspected his own gun, “Sorry guy, I only had enough for Jones and me. You should be fine, but just cause you don’t got a fancy scope don’t mean you can go missing your shots. Them rounds’re expensive as hell.”
“Well, let’s get going, I’ve got the map down, I know how to get there. Second floor of their basement has the data. Unfortunately, we have no idea what security looks like, so we have to be cautious if we intend to stay hidden.”
Tucker spoke, “Just to be clear, you’re upfront, Jones is behind you, then the Doctor, then Xavier with me covering our asses.”
“Smudge is behind Doc, and while I’d like to have Xavier in the back–”
Xavier rolled his eyes, “Well I’d like to have you in back.”
Tucker sighed, “Anyhow, guess it works. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll have a huuldefolk I can put some rounds through. Release some of this tension.” He shot his gaze between Xavier and me.
“Well let’s head out. Smudge, you’ll be able to keep the cameras down right?”
“Based on what you said about their layout I should be able to, but I won’t be able to keep us hidden from the perception of the guards once we’re inside. There are far too many electronics I need to keep down so if we run into anyone inside the building, we need to kill them and hide their bodies to avoid being caught. I can’t keep the entire building down, so I can’t stop them from setting off an alarm if we miss anyone.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem.” Tucker lifted his gun.
“Let’s hope those sights are as powerful as you say.”
Before long, we were on our way. We’d parked some distance out so as to not draw any attention. Taking the lead, the only noise I could hear was the occasional snapping of twigs as we walked through a forested area. Despite having come in contact with the exoskeleton previously, it still surprised me how stealthy Tucker could be wearing it.
Breaching the treeline, I held up my hand. Surrounded by a gravel driveway stood a three-story tall modern office-style building. Men patrolled around the lot, all wearing tactical gear. Focusing on the shadows, I could tell there were hidden guards as well, those ones were wearing light, flexible clothing and minimal if any weapons.
“Smudge,” I whispered, waving him up with two fingers.
“Yes.” As he looked out, he seemed to understand, “This will be a tough one if they aren’t all humans. Seems like there are about 30 guards that may see us. If even one of them is around a five, I won’t be able to blind all of them from our presence. If Rachel were here we’d be able to determine such a thing, unfortunately, we don’t have her spiritual sense.”
“I might be able to help with that,” Tucker whispered from behind us.
“What kind of bullshit caused you to break formation without my asking.”
“As I said, these scopes can sense alternative forms of energy. I have a few frames of reference, I know what civies look like through this thing. Smudge, if you can point out all the hidden ones, I’ll be able to tell you what we’re dealing with.”
Smudge looked at me, then shrugged, “Alright, if you’re certain.”
---------------------------
“We’re good to go then? That was the last one?”
“So it would seem, that scope of yours ought to be reliable.”
“If we don’t get by, you have my full permission to do whatever you want to Xavier.”
Jones butted in, “I believe that’s up for me to decide. I still need him around.”
Smudge whispered at a frequency that’d set dogs off, “Enough bickering, you’re worse than when I have to babysit Chad and Rachel. Everyone get in formation, it’s easiest on me if we go in single file.” Getting back into position, he spoke up, “Sorry Terry, I know you’re leading, but, well you get it.”
I nodded back to him, “Everyone ready? No piss breaks past this point. If you have cold feet, just head back to the van.” I looked back to Xavier, to which he flipped me off, signaling me to start.
I wasn’t worried about the situation until we got about ten feet from the door. One of the two guards standing beside it looked over at us. I signaled everyone to stop, and the guy continued to stare. A few moments later, he shrugged, facing forward again, and we continued on through the door.
There was no one in the immediate vicinity, though there were several cameras pointed toward us, blinking.
Smudge said one word as he took a deep breath, “Break.”
Nodding, I signaled for the three of us up front to take the right wall, and the other three to take the left.
------------------------------
Once Smudge caught his breath, he stood back up, and we all got back into formation, right as a guard turned the corner. I shot a tentacle out, grabbing him by the throat and snapping his neck, all while bringing him closer so we could hide the body.
That was when an alarm went off, “FUCK! Keep the humans hidden, Doc and I can handle ourselves.” My brain froze time, trying to figure out what happened. Eventually, it clicked, heart monitors, a precaution not even Maerod took.
“Leave me out of it Smudge, I can handle myself too. You need all the focus you can get.” Tucker stepped up, aiming down sights.
The door bashed open before I could get my tentacles out. Turning, Tucker already faced the door, dropping people in one to two rounds a piece.
Turning back toward the dead body, I headed on, alarms blaring overhead. Bodies came and went. Despite how badly we’d apparently messed up the plan, I knew where the database was, and I refused to let anyone stand between me and it.
Each step I took was further than the last, “KEEP YOURSELVES SAFE, I’M GOING FURTHER IN!”
“Not without me you’re not!” Metal clattering rang out, “IMBECILE!” Doc caught up to me as I flung several bodies out of the way.
“Watch where you’re throwin’ em!” Tucker yelled out, “We shouldn’t split up!”
I was already at the staircase making my way down when something smacked across my face. Turning to my right, I saw a lanky man with his hands in his pockets. He was slouched as if bored.
“FINE, GO DOWN, I’LL MEET YOU THERE!” Swinging a tentacle at him, he made a popping motion with his mouth, the limb slammed into a wall. Shooting them all at him, he blew air out in a circle, then at me directly, lunging at me as he threw me off balance. He kicked me in the chin, then down on my head, knocking me to a knee. A second later I was thrown into the air, then to the ground.
“Damn man, you look like you could use a hand.” The strange man stood over me, offering me his right.
I took it, spinning him around, snapping his arm, and flinging him against the wall, where lay motionless. I stabbed him in the head, then the heart just to be safe. Scoffing at his arrogance, I headed down the stairway.
When I got down to the second basement floor, there were already several dead bodies strewn about. Everyone was hiding behind metal tables. Tucker injected Doc with something, sitting beside them was a heaving Smudge.
I put my tentacles away, and a sudden burst of gunfire came from the back of the wide-open office room. A few bullets hit me, but I was already too tall, they crumpled on impact.
“THEY GET AHOLD OF YOUR FORMULA!?”
“Fuck that’s loud, yeah, there was a leak a few months back! Doc ain’t doin’ so hot!”
“That’s, The Doctor, to, you.” He spoke each word with individual breaths.
Walking toward the guards, they panicked. With a thud hitting my chest, one of the men screamed, “We need you up here!” Looking down I found a pinless grenade, which I kicked, knocking one of the men unconscious. Bodies tumbled over one another as it exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. A few pieces stuck in my face, but I headed straight for the room.
“YOU’LL WANT TO GET BACK! SOMEONE IS COMING FROM DOW–” The ground gave out from under me, falling a few floors, I was kicked into a wall in a dark room, aside from the hole. Landing on my feet, I looked around, rubbing my side. I felt something wet, where I’d been hit. Then I saw who it was. A scaly humanoid, each scale tipped with a tinted blue, serrated prong. His shadow fluctuated, then its eyes sprung open, and a black mist shot me. I blocked with my tentacles, but they were cheese to a grater.
“Kenet himself breaking in here? Must think you’re hot shit!”
I grunted, springing off the wall, using a shredded tentacle to slam the scaly man with a table. Sure enough, the mist formed into a shadow-walker, same as Jacob. I slammed my fist into his face before he could react.
“I NEED SOME LIGHT DOWN HERE!”
But the scaled man already rebounded, swinging his pronged fist at my face. I managed to block with my arm, but it was getting stiff.
“DOC, I NEED YOU!”
I heard Tucker to my left, “He’s still recovering, close your eyes!”
Before I could tell him I couldn’t close my face, a clinking sounded, and I saw a small metal canister roll into view. A blinding light took over, banging nine times, each followed by a flash. Then several gunshots.
Accepting the pain to come, I grabbed the scaled man, flinging him into the ceiling, dazing him. The shadow-walker was already dead on the ground, three bullet holes planted in his skull.
“NICELY DONE!”
“Got any weaknesses on the other one? Never seen anything like him.”
“SKIN TRANSFORMATION, WE MUST WEAR HIM DOWN!”
“Lovely.”
The prongs tipping his scales had already shrunk considerably. Stumbling to his feet, he glanced down at the motionless skinwalker, “Goddamn.” His scales evaporated, leaving behind a hollow man, standing still, “Ju–”
Tucker put a bullet right between his eyes, “Didn’t have to ask buddy.”
As we turned to head back up the stairs, a thud reverberated from behind us. Turning back, Smudge lay, face first, and uncovered. He wore a full-body outfit ensuring no skin was revealed, but my concern was on whatever had dropped him down. Aside from the alarms, it was eerily silent. They landed on Smudge, hopping off, and kicking him into the wall.
The black suit was almost a fabric, but it was certainly mechanical. Parts at joints stuck out slightly, giving him mobility along with full body protection. At his neck, the material fluctuated, phase shifting at the slightest movement. The entire front of his helmet was a velvet red visor, the changed to a light blue when the light reflected just right. He had several weapons littering his body, including two hook swords, an unknown kind of pistol, a pump action shotgun, and a few others; all of which were as black as his armor.
I had to lean my head and chest down to avoid hitting the ceiling. I couldn’t move anymore, and Tucker looked a little nervous, “DOC! YOU ALIVE!?”
A German accent replied with a chuckle, “He was already dead.”
“Yeah, right.” Tucker said, “What’re you waitin’ for big guy?”
Shooting out my back, I held the odd man at tentacle point, Tucker readied his carbine, and the man retrieved his hook blades.
“Come, let me get this over with.”
Tucker stammered, “B-be careful.” He swapped magazines, “This guy is radiating like a human.” He fired a round, I felt it slide between two tentacles, and as it hit the man in the visor, an explosion errupted. I engaged, picking the man up by the leg, but before I could fling him, pain shot through it, the tip was sliced off. Tucker fired two more rounds, both exploding as they met their target, filling the room with a cloudy haze. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to move, but I felt like a turtle.
Suddenly, my leg ripped up, I held in place, stabilizing with a few tentacles, then smashed where a crack had formed on his visor, but he swung his other blade down, cutting it in half. A rapid succession of explosions slowly knocked the man back, and for the first time, he looked at Tucker, throwing one of the hookblades at him, it was angled for his face, but he snatched it mid air, then lunged at the man. He slammed the blade down on his shoulder, spinning it around and hooking the back of his arm, yanking him in, Tucker punched full force. In an instant, Tucker was against the wall, falling face first into the tile floor, leaving ceramic to crack the area around him.
The man chopped the last of my tentacles down as he approached me. When they were practically useless, he put the remaining blade away, pulling out the pump action shotgun. He shot me in the face six times before throwing the gun to his side. A small stream of black ooze dripped down my chin, and I had a hard time seeing anything in front of me.
“Damn, you’re one tough fucker, I’ll give that much.”
Pulling out his pistol, he proceeded to unload every round into my forehead, despite being ordinary metal, something about them kicked like a mule. When that gun was out, he dropped it, looking to his right, seeing where Tucker had dropped his gun.
“I wonder, how will you hold against explosive rounds? Not well?”
As he picked it up, I felt something prick my back, a familiar sensation made its way toward my heart, like organic WD-4D.
“You’re awfully quiet over there. Lost will to fight?”
“You’re an asshole!”
“Please, stop, I’ll shit myself.” He let out an antagonizing laugh, “You’re strong, but you’ve too much a stiffy going on there.” He let off a round into my face, nearly knocking me down, but I staggered just enough to stay in place.
“Wow, this has some nice kick to it, perhaps I’ll join the military after this.” He shot three more into my face, with each explosion, my skin peeled away just that much more, my brain rattled, but my limbs loosened.
By the fourth round, I regained some mobility, walking toward him. He stepped back, switching the gun to burst fire. I maneuvered around three bursts, only getting hit three times, each one in my torso. Those explosions seemed to boost the Doc’s serum, and I was able to grab the man by the head, crushing his visor with the palm of my hand. “You rely too much on your gadgets and luck. Neither will get you out of this.”
The helmet cracked, and blades shot out, slicing my fingers off. He pulled his remaining hook blade and slid under me. A sharp pain hit the back of my skull, then a cracking reverberated through my head. A metal clattering followed, and when I turned, the man stood there, shocked. He lunged back, throwing several kunai at my face, but I ducked them. With my full range of motion returned, I slung one of the tables at him, flinging him into a wall front-first.
Walking over to where he’d dropped Tucker’s rifle, I snagged it, and walked over to the man. He staggered back to his feet, a broken nose and a shard of ceramic sticking out of his eye. I held the gun to his forehead and fired, his head bursting like a pipe bomb.
I stumbled over to Tucker, dropping his gun beside him, and dropping to one knee. I smacked him in the face a few times, “You still alive?”
He rolled onto his side, “Kinda wish I wasn’t.” His face was covered in small cuts from the ceramic tiles, “Wish I’d had my Odyr suit, couldda kicked his ass. Fuckin hell what a dick.”
I sat beside him, “Hopefully he was their last line of defense, I think your gun gave me a concussion or something.” The room spun, my stomach on a Ferris wheel.
“Wow, the Doctor was right.”
I turned to the stairway, Xavier held Jones’s arm around his neck, helping him stand, “What happened, is Doc really dead?”
Tucker staggered his way to a standing position, “Nah, that stuff I gave him slows heart rate. He was too stupid to check for a full minute. He should still be alive, don’t worry.”
“And you two?”
Jones cleared his throat, “Smudge hid us, but he was worn down.”
Hearing that, I turned back to see Smudge, still laying flat. I stood, stumbling over to him, checking his pulse. It took a bit, but eventually, I felt a weak heartbeat. “DOC, YOU ALIVE UP THERE!?”
“I suppose!” He groaned.
“WE NEED YOU DOWN HERE! SMUDGE IS IN BAD SHAPE!”
A faint hint of a sigh made its way down the hole. I picked Smudge up, and moments later, Doc landed on the ground, a leg giving out from under him.
------------------------------------------
Some time passed, and we patched ourselves up as best we could before heading back up to the proper floor. Jones was able to walk on his own, but his right leg was in bad shape. I carried Smudge on my back, and despite Tucker’s several broken bones, he was walking just fine, occasionally stumbling from a torn tendon. As far as Doc went, the only sign he showed he was injured was his panting. Fortunately, we never ran into anyone else aside from the odd straggler, and we managed to grab the data we needed.
With the stressors passed, we laughed and joked, trying to bring ourselves back down from the adrenaline high. Exiting the building, I spoke up, “Xavier, I’m not going to forgive you, but I will thank you.”
He looked over at me, “To be fair, it was the Doctor’s idea.”
“That’s why I’m not forgiving you, anyone could’ve done it.”
“Oh, fair enough. Guess you could’ve done it too aye Doc?”
“That’s Doctor.” He let out an exhausted sigh, “In theory, but by the time I got around to it, who knows if Terry would still be alive. For a thin-skin, you did well.”
That’s when a limo pulled up through the gravel headed right for us, stopping just in time to not hit us, “Doc, wake Smudge, have him get you guys out of here. NOW!” I set him on the ground behind me.
“Well, I certainly hope he’s feeling up to it.”
“If not, you guys need to run.”
The back door opened, and a man in a suit stepped out. Pulling off his glasses, he tossed them in the back seat before closing the door and signaling the driver to leave. They couldn’t get away fast enough.
“Terry, son of Charles, I was under the impression you wouldn’t get involved with us. But after the Maerod incident, we decided we should implement additional security measures. Seems we should’ve invested more heavily into that. What was your intent here? If you had just called on Charles and told him about us, I’m certain he could’ve turned the entire building to mist.”
“If you know that, why’d you come to see for yourself, you can’t kill him. Or are you really that arrogant?”
The man laughed, “Because the alarm is still going off. If he had come, there would be no signal sending the alarm. You’re strong sure, but even three assassins managed to do this to you. Hence the difference between you mortals and us gods.”
“Didn’t realize living for 3000 years classified me as mortal.”
“You know, it’s interesting. Even after thousands of years, some still feel the need to attach themselves to this world. It’s as if they’re unaware of the insignificance of this world, this solar system, galaxy, supercluster, hell this universe! If you will live to see it all end, then what’s this part of it matter? They get animals to give themselves more meaning, call them pets. They feed the animal, water them, domesticate them, protect them. But they also prevent them from living in their natural habitat. Pulling the animal from where it belongs to give themselves a sense of purpose, it’s selfish wouldn’t you say?”
“Sure, I guess in a nihilistic sense.”
“So why are you here? To retrieve your pet? As I’ve said, there’s a transmitter in there, I saw what you pulled. Data on where your pet is. Why not just let him live in his terrarium?”
“He’s one of us now.”
“Due to your interference.”
“What are you really doing here!?”
“That’s the question of the day is it not? Quite frankly, I think Maerod was right to kill her. You’re far too attached to this world, though I suppose you are still a mere child. You could be so much more wise, and yet you refuse to allow it, you latch onto what’s been lost when you could focus on what you could have.”
“Sounds to me like you’re not quite past your own insignificance.”
He sneered, “Are you certain that’s your final answer?”
“I guess so.”
“Gods, the apple really does fall right to the roots.” The grass around him shriveled to dust when he charged me. Time stopped as the gleam in his eyes froze me, each fist pummeling me to the dirt, creating a deeper crater with each fist.
Then I was back in place, so was he. I’d never felt it so strong before, but I couldn’t deny the reality, he would kill me. Unlike Maerod, that man had absolute control over his soul, a feat all my attempts couldn’t achieve. All I could do was hold him off until I had an opportunity to slip out of his perception.
The grass around him slowly disintegrated, ready for his lunge, I leaped into the air, grabbing him mid-air with my tentacles and throwing him full force into the building. I sprung myself to the forest, latching onto a branch and engrossing myself in the tree, doing what I could to suck as much energy out. It wasn’t long before I was forced out. The tree crumbled to dust and I lept from it, charging the man with what little extra energy I had. He stood still, tanking four punches to his face. He kicked me back, nothing but a streak of blood running down his nose.
I lunged back searching for another tree. I found one a ways back, flinging myself at it, I fell into it and absorbed the tree’s power. I forced myself and found I could suck it out of other nearby trees. Until I was once again forced out, the trees crumbling in decayed mass, “You’ve gotten a bit stronger, Charles must be so proud.”
“What are you trying to achieve? Is losing your HQ really that important?”
He stepped toward me casually, “The same thing Maerod was trying to achieve, and really all the other gods in this disoriented country. However, no, killing you isn’t punishment for the damages, it’s for the audacity it took for you to do it. Entering my domain and destroying my primary facility? That takes balls, unfortunately, the rest was only a few inches.”
I tried to leap back again to gain a foothold, but all nearby trees crumpled to dust. Seeing no other way, I charged him again, but just as I came face to face, I spun and sidestepped, launching a single tentacle for the back of his heart, but on impact, it turned to dust.
“Unfortunately, the rest of you won’t be so easy to get rid of.” He turned, jumping, and once again, I met his bloodthirsty gaze. My skull cracked on impact, and when my head hit the dirt, a crater was left behind. He stood over me, “I’m gonna be on his shitlist for this one, but really, it’ll be worth it.” He pointed a finger gun at my head, and as the darkness closed in, three gunshots followed by a familiar light filled my senses, and when I could see again, his head was missing, the body still standing up-right, three bullet holes oozing blood at different angles...
I staggered to my feet, adrenaline keeping me awake. I looked around, seeing everyone but Smudge scattered around, “RUN! HE’S GONNA BLOW JUST FUCKING RUN!” I used my tentacles to move, sticking them in the ground and launching myself, then staggering to my feet. I headed in the direction the van was in, and a few seconds later, an intense blue light erupted from behind me, the shockwave hitting immediately after.
Part 26: Coming Soon!

Hi everyone. It’s been a hard week of fight for my cat’s life. She was 13 y.o. I got her when I was only 7 yo… It’s crazy that I don’t remember any minute of my life without her. The war has happened last year and she got very stressful trip abroad 12 hour by feet in the winter!!! I think this affected my baby so much. She had a kidney failure. About a week ago she started hiding under the sofa and stopped eating. I went to vet and forced her to eat every two hours. She even started feeling much better a few days ago, and I was so happy. But yesterday she was way too much vocal. At the night she started to yell and scream at me. Today she woke me up with a crazy crying, screaming at nothing, almost barking… I can’t keep my tears rn. Such a pain in my heart. I knew my baby was in pain. She was drooling. She started shaking and her eyes very dully and huge pupils.. She couldn’t move and hold hear head. We went to a vet and they told me that she is dying so we can only help her with euthanasia. I also signed up for cremation. I can’t. I just cant hold myself I am crying shaking and almost can’t breath I am in hysteric I can’t accept this. I am trying to comfort myself by writing this. But I can’t be in my flat. Everywhere I think of her. She was in every corner. She was with me all the time. Yasya was angry to everyone but she loved me. I felt so special to be her owner. Now I feel so weak. I can’t touch my second younger cat. In my mind only this day when she was almost barking. I can’t forget this. I blame myself. What can I do? I don’t want to be here. Pray for my sun. I would be grateful for any advice how to accept this. Going to get ashes in a few days and planning to put them at home.

Hi! I (16F, Ace WLW, Tamil American raised Hindu) am an ABCD born to an ABCD mother who would love to move to India and would fit in there and an immigrant father.
I ask this here because y'all are both Queer and Desis so both parts of my question might resonate here.
My father and I have a troubled relationship (he is married to his work and our main form of interaction is him yelling at me for something small like taking too long to find something in the fridge). Don't get me started on his parents (my Dadi and Dada), who were close to disowning him as is IIRC, and then disowned him when he married someone who he was horoscopically incompatible with (his cousin but they didn't care about that). Yes. It was a love marriage.
My mother, herself, isn't a very good parent. She projects a lot of her trauma as an "Ethnic" child in America and has turned me and my sibling (10 to 12 yrs old) away from our religion and culture. She won't let me change my last name to her maiden name (I don't know why but I believe it has something to do with my Dadi and Dada). Her parents (my Paatti (GM) and Thatha (GF) who are practically my second parents FWIW) are my world.
I do not know if, once I leave my home, I'll be able to adjust back to the household I'm in. I don't know how I'm supposed to look for a girlfriend if my Paatti thinks I'm gonna get married to a man. (My Dadi doesn't matter.) My mother keeps projecting religious views onto me and IDK how I'll manage to readjust to living in an overly Hindu household if I leave for college. I can't deal with the parent worship at all.
Now here's the other aspect of it. As a WLW I have no clue how to reconcile that with being Indian and I don't know how my parents will react. (Most likely it will be denial.) I don't plan on coming out to them. I do plan on getting married someday. I'll get legally married/married in a white dress (I have white dresses in my closet already) nicely and privately. Then, later, I'll figure out how to have a nice proper Indian wedding if we're both brides.
I don't want to cut off my parents over my wedding like what happened with my dad. I don't want to come out specifically because I can't deal with them telling me I'm faking it (I'm already allegedly faking my mental health and trauma too). I don't wanna go no contact but I don't want to be stuck with them. I want to be there for my sibling (and it's not just them... I try to be an akka/didi to everyone who needs it) but I do not think I could be an openly queer woman living in a family like mine.
Any tips on how to prepare for this? I'm leaving for college in two or three years probably.

Any time I'm having a day, good or bad to be honest, I think about whether a child would enhance or detract from the experience. This week, for example, I went to an exercise class and did some art a couple evenings this week, while my partner relaxed with the new Zelda game. This morning, I was able to quickly get a car issue taken care of at the mechanic around the corner and walk back home to my remote job. No kids to pick up from school or push around on a stroller. At lunchtime I went and got a coffee at the cafe in town and did some research on my laptop there, had a beautiful walk home outside unencumbered. Because my job isn't insanely stressful every day, and I don't have anyone else to clean up after, I can often keep the house fairly clean, do some laundry, or run small errands during the workweek here or there. If I need to, I have enough time in the evenings before or after dinner to do chores as well. I have enough time and mental energy to afford therapy for some personal stuff, and I am ok at managing my type 1 diabetes, and this year is the first time in my life I can really afford my medications and appointments, so I was able to refill my prescriptions and go to therapy this week too.
Later tonight, my partner and I have reservations at a nice restaurant for tonight to celebrate his birthday next week, and even though I forgot to plan it weeks in advance, it was no trouble to figure something out last minute, no stress about money, and I know once we are there it will be a nice relaxing time. This Saturday I plan to get some errands done, sleep in, ready book, and maybe go to a pub with my partner. My partner will spend most of Saturday making barbecue and most of Sunday spending time with his friends at his weekly game night. my Sunday evening, I'll meet up with the roller derby league I just joined and maybe go back into the art studio to finish up a project.
I cannot imagine having the time, money, or energy to be able to do all of this stuff for myself or together with my partner if we had children. He really wants them, and I think would be happy to do fewer things in tradeoff for kid's needs. But I get very bored very easily and feel isolated and understimulated when I'm stuck alone at home. If I could change anything, I'd want to make some local friends, travel with my partner more often, make progress in my career, and get more involved in social issues I care about so I can feel more connected and alive. I can't imagine doing well for 10+ years without making progress on any of those goals, or doing any of the things I currently love about my life.
I feel like maybe I'm just misunderstanding, & there's no way kids are really the death of fun, joy, freedom and meaning. That could just be my impression from watching my own parents, my mom especially. And from struggling alone with my health and finances for the past decade. I finally am able to feel like I'm becoming a stable adult and I'd be afraid to lose my peace and joy. But maybe I could do all that and share it with a kid as well. Still seems like a big risk that I'd be lonely, tired, broke, stressed, logistically overwhelmed, in chronic pain, and with additional health issues. I wish I could picture the child lifestyle in a happy way instead of in this fear-based way for my partner's sake.

Lemons. Some people enjoy them as a lemonade, others may even go as far as eating the whole thing. They also provide many health benefits. As long as they are in fact Lemons and not a knock off.
The town of Mayfair was known for its Lemons, The residents all wearing yellow to honour the fruit that gave them their large yellow houses and their large yellow sports cars. Everywhere you looked was yellow. Even the water was yellow. But surely someone was going to get fed up of this charade. And one unspoken rule of Mayfair was you could never leave.
But all that Mayfair is now is a decaying mass of peeling yellow paintwork, and lemons growing a green fuzzy coat.
One day an outsider who took a wrong turn drove through the obnoxious town. It was completely silent. He wondered if he had perhaps stumbled upon a movie set and being curious opened one of the homes front doors and took a look around.
Three people were sat around their bright yellow dining table, a bowl of lemons in the centre, piled high up to the ceiling like some sort of abstract artwork, Half eaten lemons in front of them. Their faces. Warped and twisted into a grotesque creature, their mouths twisted like twizzlers, lips split from the unnatural position. Their noses plugged with some sort of fleshy mass. Their eyes bulbous and leaking fluid. This was the same scene the man was met with as he explored the other houses of Mayfair.
The man was disgusted, and not entirely sure whether these were even people or perhaps some sort of Halloween props. As it would make sense if this was in fact a movie set. Before he left he thought it would be good to take something to remember this strange encounter. A perfectly cold crisp bottle of lemonade, and to his surprise it was actually lemonade, not a prop. He popped the cap open letting the cool sour elixir coat his throat.
But this was far more sour than anything he’d ever tasted. He began to pucker his mouth, the sourness now more like chemicals. His lips began to twist, splitting apart, his screams unable to exit his sealing mouth.
So next time you eat a lemon, make sure they didn’t come from Mayfair. As rumour has it they are still around.

I have a small home that is unlivable as is in Ohio. After I moved to PA in 2020 I am still unable to sell this home for anything more than approximately $20k when I still owe $42K. I tried 3 times to get "friends" to fix it up and buy it for what I owed but I only got a home now that is gutted. If redone it would be worth around $100-120k ( guessing on comps).
Right now I just want it gone. I am to the point that I want to just give it back to the bank and foreclose. I know that this would seriously effect my good credit, but I am at my witts end.
I would see a lawyer in Ohio, but I am 8hrs away from that home. Should I call the mortgage bank and ask for information on a short sale 1st? Should I contact my local banks and pay off my mortgage and then sell? Should i speak to a lawyer here in PA for adive? I am just losing money every month on mortgage, taxes, utilities, lawn care. My rate is 4.5% and I know if I get a loan now to pay it off that it would probably be a lot more.
This is causing me a lot of stress. Any advice will be welcomed! Thanks

I missed my last period and there’s a few reasons that could be, but it’s still making me so nervous.
1: Pregnancy?
I’m a 21 yr old women and shouldn’t be pregnant. I tracked my ovulation as being in the beginning of the month and my period was due towards the end. I’ve taken two separate pregnancy tests of different brands on different days and they both came up negative but were well within the time to be positive if I was pregnant. I still missed my period though. It was supposed to be during the last week of May.
2: Long term effects?
During my last period I had a retained tampon. It was stuck for 5 days until I removed it myself. I have attempted to make appointments with a gynecologist to get everything checked out, but it’s been a horrible process because I’ve never had one before. Most of them are booking appointments months in advance and didn’t seem bothered that I’d even had a retained tampon. I thought my vaginal health had returned to normal, no itching or smell at all. Then it came time for my period and it never came.
3: Illness?
Another concern is that I got sick with mono during the previous semester of college. During the stress and heat, moving back home from college this semester caused my mono to act up again and I had to spend several days resting. This feels like it could also be a bit of a reason for the delay because I was “sick”. All my mono does is make me sleepy and feel crappy though. I’ve had worse and it never changed my cycle. I do feel it’s worth mentioning though, just in case.
I had a little bit of pre-period cramping during the week my period was meant to be here, but never bled or had anything close to the usual experience. I’ve been scouring the internet for an explanation, but have found nothing and am beginning to get seriously anxious about it. Am I somehow pregnant despite the negative tests and using protection with my partner? Did the retained tampon during my last period throw off my cycle? Was it the being ill that changed things? Or a discombobulated mix of the last two?
I don’t know. I’m turning to Reddit and hoping someone has a similar experience or answers. If you’ve read all of this, thank you!

I got my 7 year old the Battle Academy box and we've enjoyed playing the game together.
More recently, I bought the Victini V and Gardevoir V battle decks to change things up a little. They seem pretty similar to the Academy decks while introducing Abilities.
Now I'm thinking about getting the league battle decks for even more variety. My understanding is that these will easily outmatch the decks that we currently have, so I was planning on getting 2 that can match up against each other.
So the question is, should I get the Mew and Origin Forme Palkia? They look like the newest ones. Would they match well against each other? Or I've seen the Ice Rider Calyrex and Shadow Rider Calyrex, would they pair well together?
Are there other league battle decks I should look at? This is just for playing at home, so I'm not concerned about competitive play. I would like something that is widely available.
Or would a Trainer Box be a good option for adding variety and learning to think about how to play?

I made a really great friend here in the firm. I will emphasize that I am a 32 y/o male and she is 30. Her and I have been pretty close the past two years since I joined the firm. We always kept a professional relationship. Nothing more then that. I am happily married. I want to emphasize this heavily.
We both got promoted and are going to DU together, and she told me she wasnt going to tell her boyfriend because he is very jealous. I told my wife because thats the communication we have. My wife also already knows of my co-worker.
Sometime around May I received a message on Facebook by her boyfriend threatening to “fuck me up” because I been “talking to his girl”. She has told me that her boyfriend is involved in gangs and sells firearms. I do not want to get involved in this.
We have a third friend in the group, and the third friend can also witness that I never once made a flirtatious move on her. It was always professional, but we did talk a lot.
This morning I told her I am ending our friend/acquaintance ship because I do not want to be involved in this trouble. She apologized for his actions and told me to just ignore it. I still decided to end our friendship.
Is there something I can do to HR about this?

I am considering homeschooling my four year old (also have a 15 month old) next year with classical conversations. One of the big things that intrigues me was the community that comes with the curriculum. As a mom who isn’t really sure this is something I can do, having that sort of built in structure, tutomentorship really appeals to me. I hear a lot of things about people hating classical conversations, it being unnecessarily expensive, or getting MLM vibes from them. I’m still doing my own research and investigations to see if their program would be a good fit for my family or not and trying not to let those statement color my view of this curriculum. What I am wondering though, is if there are any other sorts of curriculums out there that come with that sort of guided community that I should be looking in to and comparing with CC?
I feel like I want to do this, but with a traditional public school background, and a family who I know will criticize this decision, I am already questioning and doubting myself. I felt drawn to a classical education style because, especially for younger kids, being able to memorize and prove what they are learning felt like it would help me legitimize my decision. Charlotte mason seems like another approach I would really like but I worry I would have trouble quantifying my children’s learning and that would make me further doubt and have to defend this decision.
Another thing I liked was being able to start classical conversations at 4 in case I truly am terrible at this, I can still start my daughter in public kindergarten on schedule at 5.
This is why I am specifically looking for a curriculum with a community so I can help guide my teachings by learning from peers and help quantify my children’s learning by seeing it in action from other families.
TLDR; any other curriculums that come with built in communities similar to classical conversations for the especially nervous and doubting first time hopefully home school mom

My Mother is 73 years old and has spent the last 3 months in the hospital and skilled nursing care recovering from sepsis. I am her only adult child (40), fully disabled, and completely dependent on her income to survive. According to her care team, my mother has not been able to recover enough strength through physical therapy to be even partially independent, in that she will need assistance even getting out of bed to go to the bathroom. Because of my disability they are apprehensive (to say the least) about letting her return to our home, believing i will not be able to provide any care for her. There has been talk of forcing her to reside in a nursing home.
However, aside from what little SSI will provide me, i am completely dependent on her income to survive. If she enters a nursing home it is my understanding that Medicaid will take every last cent of her retirement pension to offset the cost of her nursing home care. While Medicaid would let me continue to live in our home, they will leave nothing whatsoever to continue to pay for it, to pay for our bills, food, living expenses, etc. Without exaggeration, this would literally leave me homeless and destitute, as i have no family or friends that would be able to assist me. I would literally be thrown out onto the street as a disabled person dependent on dialysis, among other things, which could very will be a death sentence.
I have retained attorneys specializing in this field, but no attorney can know everything, and they admit this is a very unique case they have never dealt with before, and are not immediately aware of how to proceed. I'm here to ask if anyone experienced with Medicaid can offer any advice, no matter how obscure or unlikely. Are there any exceptions, laws, processes, adjudication, non-Medicaid options that can help? I need to be able to retain at least a portion of my mother's income in order to survive, or enroll in some program that can provide income or assistance.
In a morbid twist of fate, if/when my mother passes away i will receive her pension plan as a disabled beneficiary in a special needs trust, which will leave me able to survive, but in-between now and that time, i am facing the situation described above.
I am in desperate need of help and advice, if anyone knows anything, has any ideas, knows of anything that could help, please respond.
P.S.
State of residence is Louisiana. Her pension provides too much to qualify for Medicaid outright.

I missed my last period and there’s a few reasons that could be, but it’s still making me so nervous.
1: Pregnancy?
I’m a 21 yr old women and shouldn’t be pregnant. I tracked my ovulation as being in the beginning of the month and my period was due towards the end. I’ve taken two separate pregnancy tests of different brands on different days and they both came up negative but were well within the time to be positive if I was pregnant. I still missed my period though. It was supposed to be during the last week of May.
2: Long term effects?
During my last period I had a retained tampon. It was stuck for 5 days until I removed it myself. I have attempted to make appointments with a gynecologist to get everything checked out, but it’s been a horrible process because I’ve never had one before. Most of them are booking appointments months in advance and didn’t seem bothered that I’d even had a retained tampon. I thought my vaginal health had returned to normal, no itching or smell at all. Then it came time for my period and it never came.
3: Illness?
Another concern is that I got sick with mono during the previous semester of college. During the stress and heat, moving back home from college this semester caused my mono to act up again and I had to spend several days resting. This feels like it could also be a bit of a reason for the delay because I was “sick”. All my mono does is make me sleepy and feel crappy though. I’ve had worse and it never changed my cycle. I do feel it’s worth mentioning though, just in case.
I had a little bit of pre-period cramping during the week my period was meant to be here, but never bled or had anything close to the usual experience. I’ve been scouring the internet for an explanation, but have found nothing and am beginning to get seriously anxious about it. Am I somehow pregnant despite the negative tests and using protection with my partner? Did the retained tampon during my last period throw off my cycle? Was it the being ill that changed things? Or a discombobulated mix of the last two?
I don’t know. I’m turning to Reddit and hoping someone has a similar experience or answers. If you’ve read all of this, thank you!

Rules:
Individual item pictures available by request
NO TRADES
PayPal ONLY. Buyer pays fees. Nothing in the notes other than Reddit username and shipping address
Shipping included unless otherwise specified
Prices are OBO. Don't like the price? Want to buy multiple items? Make me an offer!
Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/3LB5b54
1. Wolverine MTW - $690 shipped
https://imgur.com/M0RrjgG
This has been my work horse for the last 3 years and has easily been my favorite HPA rifle I've owned over the last 12 years. The gun is currently mechanically locked into semi only. Swapping the selector switch for a 3.5 position one (safe/semi/auto) will fix this.
Only issue is a snapped bolt release which is not needed unless using empty mag detection and stock Wolverine mags
Included:
Airsoft Parts

• Wolverine MTW 14.5"
• Gen. 2 Waterproof Trigger Board w/ micro switch trigger
• VFC Crane Stock (Tan / New)
• Amped Filtered Grip Line
• Big Dragon AAC M4-2000 Mock Suppressor (Foam Filled)
• PTS QD Sling Swivel (New)
• Modify Bucking
• Flat Hop Nub (don't recall the brand, maybe Namazu?)
• 6.03x363mm Steel inner barrel (Maybe Prometheus?)
• 4 200mAh 3.7v batteries (extras fit in the buffer tube)
• 2 spare hop up chambers
• 1 spare engine clip

Real Steel Parts

• Midwest Industries 14" Combat Rail ($215 new)
• BCM Gunfighter MOD0 Pistol Grip
• BCM QD Sling Plate
• Smith & Wesson M&P10 Ambi Selector (This mechanically locks the gun to semi)

2. Ninja 45/4500 Lite PSI Tank & Ninja 68/4500 PSI Tank Lite - $125 Shipped ea
Both tanks are freshly rehydro'd and are good until 04/2028.
https://imgur.com/BOk4bOp
https://imgur.com/HytioTe
https://imgur.com/aP8WYsD
3. Brand New LBX Woodland Combat Shirt (Large) - $38 Shipped OBO
A bit tight in the shoulders for my liking. Only tried on once at home and has been in my closet since.
https://imgur.com/NWY1fTg
https://imgur.com/FmjplYg
4. NEW Reversible DCU/Night Camo GORETEX Pants - M/R - $25 Shipped OBO
New w/o tags. Get your 90's larp on with these sweet night camo pants.
https://i.imgur.com/u6vez6p.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/Y5N2MNa.jpeg
5. New Magpul USA MBUS Front Sight - $15 Shipped
Brand new, taken off my AR.
https://imgur.com/KR8vQvS
https://imgur.com/fvhoyXS
6. TMC G2 DCU Crye Pants + Genuine Crye Gen. 3 Knee Pads - $55 shipped OBO
No tears, some stains around the knees from normal use. Knee pads are in excellent shape.
https://imgur.com/Q7BYk7s
https://imgur.com/VZgIfSN
https://imgur.com/LnlEljH

Hello! Thanks for reading this far, and thanks to u/MelasD for Amelia's universe! This chapter has some hardships for its characters, so if you want to skip the violent bits, I mark character transitions with ==***== or such to get back to our dragon in the making's story. Thanks for reading!
Scale of Vengance 3
As the procession of armed students, castle staff, and retainers like myself moved out of the comfort of the inner city, the mood darkened around us as we moved toward the docks of Last Anchorage. There were only cold stares at first, but then pieces of trash and cobbles torn from the road pelted us randomly from the gathering crowd. I saw my cousin Jotha fall, a bloody gash where his leather cap had been removed by a cobble’s impact.
“Shields up!” I shouted, straining to be heard above the growing riot. The Students formed a hedgehog formation which I joined, my Halberd joining the rest keeping the crowd at bay, and the cobbles and trash pelting us as often falling into their own ranks as ours.
“Damm them! You bring this on yourselves!” I shouted, my voice barely heard over the screams and roars of desperate, hungry people. I focused, tapping into my skill [Swordsmaster] I drew my bastard sword, Reliant. The faces of the students surrounding me paled, having an inkling of what was to come as I pushed out of the hedgehog to face the crowd. I was well known by the citizens of the city, so when I stood between the Academy students protecting the Palanquin carrying the dragon egg and the mob, silence fell.
“In the name of King Llywnd, disperse! Go back to your homes and families!”
A middle aged man stood forward “My daughter is dead, thanks to Llywnd!” He said, holding a cobble.
I walked forward, looking the man in the eyes “In truth, I lost my mother, and two brothers in defense of our city, I have only a single relative in all this world I claim, and he lies bleeding feet from where we stand. Go home. NOW!’
I roared the last, stepping back, just in time to intercept a cobble with Reliant thrown at me. The man in front of me turned to flee, but was held in place by the mob. And suddenly jerked, as he was ran through by one of his fellow rioters, dropping to the ground as the light of life left his eyes.
With that action, my restraint grew wings and flew away like a dragon riding a storm. To be honest, when my skill takes over, I enter what is called a Bloodwrath, where my [Swordsmaster] skill moves my body without conscious thought. I don’t remember what happened between watching that man die and reaching the docks, but we did arrive framed by the setting sun, and the mob was nowhere to be seen. That my clothes needed cleaning, and I smelled of offal and blood was not novel to me, but it stank all the same.
I took out my kerchief, and wiped first my face, then Reliant, checking it for nicks or cracking.
“My lady! You are back.” I turned to see Lady Kara, her daughter Lady Heather, and Princess Maria call to me from the ship’s deck as the palanquin traveled up the gangplank, somewhat worse for wear, carried not by the porters who left the castle, but by two pairs of the Academy Students. I’d hear the details later, but for now, I wanted to board, and set sail, the tide was turning and we needed to leave.
Later that night as the wind pulled us along, and the familiar creak of the ship riding the waves lulled me into a sense of my world shrinking, encompassing only the ship, the night sky, and the dark void of the sea I sloshed a bucket of cold seawater over me once again, trying to get clean and failing. I might not remember the events of the day, but the stink if it followed me yet as I once again lathered up, having used an entire bar of soap already.
I was joined by Lady Kara, the two person bathing area on this sloop was a luxury for such a small ship. The Andromite was a small ship, but sturdy and made good time, which was as good as her sisters speed, which would soon be used to hunt us down.
“How’s the Egg?” I asked Kara as she undressed, joining me in the artificial shower, fed by a belt driven by the ship’s motion.
Lady Kara looked serious for an instant and my heart dropped “It wasn’t injured, was it?”
She undid her braid as her hair moistened, us both lit by starlight, and a single lantern, it’s small flame shielded against the wind, but it’s wick short, to conserve the oil within.
“There is a problem. The egg is fine, very much so. It's more of a matter of how it looks that is the issue.” Kady Kara said as I passed her the soap.
She continued “You need to rest up, I think daylight may bring us some trouble.” She said somewhat mysteriously as I stepped out of the shower having rinsed off.
I put on trousers, and left for the hold, so see what had concerned Lady Kara so. I was somewhat surprised to find the egg sitting in the remains of the Palanquin. It was not the original pure Ivory, but crusted over in black scales like overlapping black armor. My breath was taken from me as I held up the lantern to examine it, and steeling myself against the influence of the void, I touched it, expecting to feel the influence of evil.
***==***
I awoke from having joined with the Time dragon in yet another setting. I tried to stand up, but I found my anatomy radically changed.
“Welcome! Glad you are awake, finally!” I looked to my right to see what the noise was about when my head smacked into the head of the Time Dragon, its black scales were at least familiar enough for me to not panic as I took in my circumstance as a two headed version of the Temperature Dragon approached me.
The dragon in question was altered greatly by it’s partner, not scaly like the Time Dragon’s head was, but smooth keratin flowing into a aerodynamic shape, it’s blue and orange coloring looking like flames lapping along it’s scales, going from blue in it’s front body to orange in its tail. It was a quite handsome thing all in all.
I also noticed that my own head was attached similarly to the Time Dragon’s body. Seeing the heads of the Temperature Dragon were similarly shaped, I used my tongue to explore my fanged mouth as my other head complained “Hey! Watch where you are swinging your head!” referring to me inadvertently having head butted it.
The Temperature dragon smiled with both of its heads “Welcome to the training grounds! Here we get to practice our powers without draining us!” It said, focusing its power on a stalagmite, turning it into first lava, then evaporating altogether as it turned into a gas.
“Neat trick.” The TIme dragon’s head said, before I felt something within me, and as I used my [Judge] skill I received a notification {[Judge] skill has been upgraded to [Draconic Judgement] Time Dragon has become a Time Dragon Embryo}
The thing I felt within me was the TIme Dragon restoring the Stalagmite, using time reversal. I felt it happening, but it was alien as to how.
“Hey?” I said looking towards the Temperature Dragon which looked at me with both heads.
“Yes?” It answered
“I can understand you, all I heard was a series of clicks when I met you before.”
The Time Dragon’s second head (I guess, they were identical) said “Before the merger, Lumm’ta spoke in her tongue, but now we speak only in the language of beasts and dragons after joining.”
“Oh” I said, before realizing something. “What do you mean by only? Can we speak in our native languages?” I asked.
My own second head concentrated, sharing a memory of being talked to by a knight, and understanding it, but not being able to talk back in return, or not being understood when they tried.
The Temperature dragon shared an internal joke, both heads chortling as one turned its head, and breathed fire in a full belly laugh.
My own companion sighed, the feeling an odd one as it forced air past my own throat as well. “So, what’s so funny?”
“I thought you were male?” One head said between giggles. The other said “I am pretty sure she was!”
I, possessing a dragon’s body was as naked as the beast I was, suddenly wanted to cover myself, and coiled into a ball, similar to how I met Cinder (My Draconic Half’s name) to hide myself from prying eyes.
My other head hissed like a boiling steampot “You used to be Female if I recall!”
“That is true, but your expression!” the Temperature dragon said before boiling over into laughter again.
Internally I reached for my other self’s mind, asking it
I thought-spoke to the Time Dragon.

The communication ended as I looked at the now recovering Temperature dragon who had laughed itself into having hiccups.
I said “Serves you right!” and as I stuck out my tongue, I felt my other head do so as well. Us both blowing the Temperature dragon a raspberry, when made us both laugh as well.

Hi, i am in the end. In march 2022 I got infected with Covid. I was 14 days positive. Covid turned into post and finally long Covid, including heart attack, air shortness and major depression. Further, I became dots under my skin of which we thought it was cancer but it was not. At my job they lost patience or told I would be playing sick. After couple of weeks I started to feel better, though problems did not move away in my job. So I started looking for a new one. In the meantime the old company got hacked which led to major problems for me since we had to use our private gadgets. After a few more days i got a job offer, accepted the offer, moved into a bigger place and started the new job - though exhausted from the hack. The first 2 months were intense but great. Then,Within 2 months, I got infected again with Covid. This time it was mild. Though afterwards I got weird swellings. The doctors supposed cancer. Turned out it was not cancer 5 weeks later. Then I became weird tooth pain. Doctors could not find anything. After two more weeks I went to emergency due to the tooth pain. They found out they my kidneys were highly infected close to stop functioning. They screened my body for 2 weeks to finde the cause.It turned out that I had a rare autoimmune disease called sarcoidosis. This caused also the swellings of which cancer was thought. I was furthered to death. After 3 more weeks at home I returned to the job just to get kicked out after 3 more weeks. Now I am unemployed since April and totally depressed since march. Everyday is getting worse. I accuse myself for getting sick and therefore losing the job. Getting psychological help and taking mirzapin for sleep. But I don’t feel better.

This was the conclusion of a series that was very controversial and a lot of people say the Kings were completely robbed. I will point out why that was not fully true, and that the Kings truly did have opportunities to win in spite of what the refs did and admitted.
Game 4: The Kings had a 24 point lead in LA. If they kept that lead, the series would've been 3-1 going into Game 5, and the Kings probably win in a backdoor sweep (4-1). Lose game 1, and then win the next 4. That was a chokejob which led to the Robert Horry buzzer beater and put the Lakers back into the series tied at 2 all.
Game 5: In all fairness, this is a game that the Lakers were unlucky, as that was the game where Shaq was great but only got like 1 FT attempt or something. This is an even worse feeling of how we feel about LeBron not getting enough calls, and it was a 1 possession game at the end.
Game 6 is one I will not dispute cause in theory shooting 27 FTs in 1 quarter does look pretty suspicious. Sac probably should've won that game
However, it was not like the series was over for the Kings. They had a game 7 at home, where they were 36-5 in the regular season, and had a complete chokejob comparable to teams like the 2018 rockets, the 2022 suns, and the 2016 Warriors. They shot 2-20 from 3 and 16-30 from the FT line. Meanwhile, Shaq and Kobe combined for 65 points which led to the Lakers victory.
So hearing that the Kings were robbed gets kinda annoying cause they still had chances to win. That's why you have to leave no doubt. They could've won in 5, and there's no talk of the controversial game 6.

6’3”, Ivy League Educated, working professionally in the East Bay. Former D1 football player with a muscular build and a thick BWC.
For the Brats:
There’s no greater sensation than putting a Brat in her place and getting her to submit to your fat dick. To all the brats reading this, I’m sure you’re all extremely full of yourself and so convinced that you’re hot shit. You practically think you run the world. All you have to do is show some attitude along with your cute looks and you get everything you’ve ever wanted. The entitled brat who only does what she wants is my favorite to break. After dealing with countless brats there is one common thing that can put any delusional entitled brat in her place, and that’s an intense pounding from a fat dick. Brats have a button deep inside their throats, pussies, and assholes that when you hit it with your fat dick it completely recalibrates their brain. If you want to break a Brat’s attitude pound her with a fat dick and watch how she becomes a submissive little slut. Brats love to feel the power of a man who’s physically much larger than them. Brats try to test people to see if they can actually put them in their place, and that’s why a brat loves to open her legs for a fat dicked domme who doesn’t tolerate their shit.
For the good girls:
Good girls will always have a special place in my heart. Their glowing smiles, can-do spirits, and helpful nature are just a few reason good girls get the best treatment. Good girls get spoiled in every possible way. Dinners, trips, gifts, you name it, they get it. However, good girls still get punished and pounded, and that is typically just how they like it. Good girls may appear to be completely innocent on the outside, but on the inside they’re desperately craving to be used and abused like a pretty little cum slut. So often in their lives they’re viewed as vanilla or traditional, but that shouldn’t mean they are disqualified from the kind of kinky sex even a pornstar would blush at. Good girls become the best servant sluts that are typically up to any task you present them with. There is something in a good girl’s DNA that makes them want to service any request, and for most good girls, the filthier the task, the more they love it. Good girls love when the guy their with flips the switch from spoiling them and worshipping the ground they walk on outside of the bedroom, to taking complete control over them and turning them into the filthiest whore possible in the bedroom.
For everyone in between:
If you don’t identify as either a Brat or a Good Girl, and you’re just a baddie in the Bay Area who wants some earth-shattering great dick in her life, than I’m the guy for you. I’ll take you out, and we’ll have a night of great conversation, dancing, and drinks before I take you home and present you with the BWC of your dreams. I’ll show you how great foreplay can be as I pin you down and kiss every inch of your body from your neck, down to your breasts, where I’ll caress your breasts and firmly suck on your nipples. Then, I’ll kiss down your torso, teasing your lower abdomen as I begin to rub and squeeze your thighs. Lightly kissing lower and lower down your stomach before I’m licking your sweet thighs and lifting your legs above your shoulders. Letting my hands and tongue lightly glide all over your body, gently teasing you before I feast on your gorgeous pussy and ass. Getting both holes nice and desperate before daddy’s tongue rubs both your pussy and ass raw, until you’re begging for my fat dick. Only when I’ve made you cum all over yourself from my tongue on your clit will I then fuck your face while you fondle my hung balls. Getting every inch of my fat dick all lubed up from your spit to get it nice and wet to go as deep in your pussy as possible. The deeper you get my BWC down your throat the more excited your pussy gets to feel my fat dick pound you with deep stroke after deep stroke. Feeling my balls collide against your pussy as I pick up the speed and start ruthlessly plowing your pussy. Putting one hand on your throat, and the other hand on your clit, just playing your body like an instrument. Getting you on the edge of a leg shaking orgasm as I spit in your mouth, and have you tell me how much you love how I taste before I make you cum all over my dick and have you clean off every drop of your delicious pussy juices before I stand over you and shower you with the fattest load of cum you’ve ever experienced in person.
If any of this treatment sounds appealing, reach out with your name, age, a few photos, and your favorite sexual position

Nothing wrong with the shop, it's a great place. I wanted to get a bit more hands on though with a modification I need to make to my acoustic. I need to file down the bridge saddle as my action towards the sound hole is pretty massive and I can't adjust the truss rod enough to compensate.
I don't know what I'm doing to make it level/even nor do I have a good equation to decide how much to take off, but I'd love to be a part of the process and learn/work instead of just handing it off. Does anyone do this as a hobby and have the tools to file down the saddle precisely? If you'd be willing, I'd love to have some help! Happy to bring some drinks or smoke to compensate for the time 😅
If all I need is some sandpaper and patience at home, feel free to be honest lol!