Respect Slayer

Slayer: "Very nicely done. You haven't forgotten your manners, I see."

Zato=1: "Naturally. One: No matter how grim the situation, eliminating the target comes before all else; even preserving one's own life. Two: One must hone their skills so that killing comes as naturally as breathing. Three: It is not will, nor pride, nor victory, nor death that truly decides a battle, nor is it the ability to manipulate or dominate others. The most important thing in life is, of course..."

Both: "Dandyism."

Themes: XX Xrd
Slayer is the last of a race of immortal vampires who, long past his adventurous days, enjoys spending quality time with his wife and quietly roaming the world. A charming and refined gentleman, Slayer is an extremely powerful fighter who enjoys passively observing the goings-on of mankind and occasionally "meddling" in others' affairs, often offering advice to all the other characters. Above all, Slayer pursues a life of dandyism, leading a refined and leisurely life of casual luxury and an adherence to stringent standards of class.
In the 1990s, Slayer formed the Assassin's Guild, initially to supply him with a regular stream of fresh blood, but also to punish those that the law couldn't reach. Upon meeting his similarly-immortal wife Sharon, however, Slayer grew disinterested with the Guild and stepped away from it, creating a vacuum of power wherein Zato=1 was able to take over. By the time Guilty Gear XX rolled around, Slayer was roaming the world, seeking to fight enemies and allies alike one last time before he retired and left reality entirely to he with the rest of his kind. In some arcade endings he rekindles his love of combat and starts a new Guild, but this is generally non-canon.
Though he has a number of vampiric abilities and his millenia of experience could lend to expertise on a weapon, Slayer enjoys fighting with his fists and raw strength. Despite this relative handicap in a world of blades and magic, Slayer is far and away one of the strongest characters in the entire franchise and is rarely seen struggling, let alone being meaningfully stressed in a fight. Although he is occasionally frustrated by the lack of challenge others are capable of presenting him with, he is ever graceful to those with whom he fights, offering them congratulations for a good performance.
Signature Moves
Special Moves

• Mappa Hunch - Slayer charges forward with a powerful punch. In Accent Core, Slayer can also feint with this move.
• Bloodsucking Universe - Slayer takes a bite out of his opponent, stealing their health.
• Dandy Step - Slayer sways backward and forward suddenly. Dandy Step has a number of powerful follow-up attacks to catch opponents who try to retaliate.
• Footloose Journey - Slayer uses his shapeshifting cape to attack in the air.
• Undertow - Slayer swells his arms with blood and claws downwards in a heavy swing.

Overdrives / Force Breaks

• Dead On Time - Slayer flies across the screen with a devastating punch.
• Eternal Wings - Slayer ascends upwards suddenly, catching his opponent with the force of his jump.
• Straight Down Dandy - Slayer suddenly dives out of the air past his opponent.

Instant Kills

• All Dead - Slayer punches his opponent into space, reciting a beautifully dandy haiku for them as they fly away.

As Instant Kill animations are potentially canon, I'll include them as feats but will mark them where appropriate.
Feats
Mouse over a feat to see its source. Non-Canon story feats are included for completion's sake, but will be marked to tell them apart.
Please note that due to the difficulty of tracking down quality translated sources for some of the older games and media, many of these clips will be presented in the form of fan-translated scripts. Other sources (like the light novels) may be missing entirely, as they have never been translated and I can't read Japanese.
It's also worth noting that Slayer has never been seen actually going all-out, so none of this RT should be considered his top end capabilities.
Vampire Abilities

• Slayer can drain the blood of an adult woman in seconds, leaving her body flat and weightless
  • Accent Core +R Version
  • For the record that's Sharon, Slayer's wife, who is similarly immortal and easily recovers from being drained
• Slayer's cape can form objects and be used to attack
  • Slayer can also send it out to send messages to others
  • Slayer can phase himself and others into his cape for easy travel
  • Accent Core +R Version
  • It might also let him teleport
• He can also grow wings and fly
• He seems to be able to mentally manipulate his severed limbs after losing them
• Appears out of a shadow
• As an immortal vampire, Slayer is ageless and has lived for at least 2000 years
  • Since he doesn't age, he only visits special places every few years so that nobody notices it
• Doesn't need to eat
• Just kinda chills on the ceiling to watch the Assassins work
• There is another reality that Slayer's kin have gone to which Slayer can also go to when he wishes to leave Earth - While these events aren't canon, Slayer's ACR story revolves around him leaving the world so it's safe to assume this place's existence is canon.
• Can detect nearby humans

Strength

• [Instant Kill] Punches his opponent into space
  • [Instant Kill] Accent Core +R Version
• Kicks a giant Gear into the upper atmosphere
• Blows Bedman back a huge distance and destroys one of his frame's arms, all with just the shockwave of a punch
• Clashing with Bedman causes an explosion that leaves a huge fissure in the ground between them
• A missed punch causes a big explosion
• Beats Sol Badguy with Mappa Hunch and Eternal Wings
• Clashes with Order-Sol
• Fights off an entire army of Gears, destroying a town in the process
• Holding back, Slayer effortlessly beats the shit out of Zato=1
• Holding back, Slayer drops Millia Rage in one punch
• [Non-Canon] Destroys a facility with his fists

Durability

• Doesn't give a shit about being stabbed through the chest
• Rapidly regrows his severed arm without issue
• Takes a combo from Sol Badguy and laughs it off
• Quickly recovers from a punch and Gunflame from Sol
• Trades blows with Potemkin
• Easily parries Eddie's Executor
• Takes Faust's Going My Way
• Zato=1 is instructed to fight as if trying to kill Slayer, and Zato eventually has to stop fighting or else he would be annihilated
• Even while Slayer is holding back, all of Millia's attacks don't do anything to him
• It's "beyond Millia's power" to kill Slayer
  • A bunch of characters don't actually defeat Slayer when they defeat Slayer, he just decides to stop fighting
  • Even when KOed in game, Slayer just kinda chills on the ground and isn't knocked out
• [Non-Canon] Takes attacks from a clone of Justice
• [Non-Canon] Takes attacks from I-No
• [Non-Canon] Takes sword slashes and a point blank cannonball from Baiken
• [Non-Canon] Lets Zappa beat him up to vent S-Ko's anger so they can talk

Speed

• Effortlessly dodges Zato=1's attacks, including his Instant Kill move
• Effortlessly blocks Millia's strikes and dodges more "without moving"
• Freely teleports short distances
  • Accent Core +R Version
• Easily dodges Eddie's Invite Hell
• Jukes Order-Sol's Gunflame midway through a move
• Can block attacks by waving his hand really fast

Miscellaneous

• Anticipates Bedman's teleportation and catches him off-guard after he comes out of it
• In the span of a conversation with Slayer, Millia is unable to find any vulnerabilities in him
• Since he's an extremely old vampire, Slayer has "old world knowledge" that most nobles do not
• Slayer is rich as hell
• Notices a trap and goes for it anyway

Noteworthy Scaling

• Sol Badguy RT
• Potemkin RT
• Baiken RT
• Bedman RT
• Millia Rage can block a large number of attacks in rapid succession

"I remove my clothes / Devoid of reason and thought / With my alien"

It should be in the style of Spyro/Crash Bandicoot, where the game is a recreation of the original using modern game design and modern aesthetic appeal.
For the look, though. So Rush had a unique thing going for it. It had the player be a 3D model, but everything else was a sprite. Making Sonic and Blaze pop but also letting the world look appealing. This, in turn, makes the bosses stand out due to them being 3D Models too.
To keep that charm but have it work for a modern console, Have the whole thing be 2D hand-drawn animation. I would say like the remake of Wonderboy (Which do check out; the entire game is traditionally animated, and it's beautiful. You can also switch between old NES Image/ Chiptune Music and the new look/Orchestral with a button. ) The benefit is that this is a design style that ages like wine. Look at Wario Land Shake It. That game is 15 years old. It is about three generations behind. The only thing that tells you it's age. It is the fact that being a Wii game, it's standard definition.
The tricky part would be Bosses. A solution would be the Paper Mario route, where the model is 3-D. However, its animations and assets are hand-drawn. This will allow bosses and things like the adventure ocean mode to stay. While not using 3-D models that would stick out jarringly.
Now the fun part. The extras!
Due to the games being recreations minus visual upgrades and noticeable changes needed due to the lack of a duel screen. I'm just going to skip over that. A fun remaster includes extra stuff to incentive beating the game again.
I'm a sucker for the cast, and I think they would be perfect as playable options after a criteria is met. Once a character is unlocked, they can be played in any level that has been beaten. Unless I clarify their gameplay style, assume it would be similar to Sonic/Blaze minus the Boost. All of them should use the boost meter in unique ways. Here's how it would go:

• Group A: The Classics Tails, Amy, Big, and Knuckles.
  • They would be unlocked after Rush.
  • Tails: Plays like Sonic, but his Boost Meter is now a flight meter. You can use the button to propel yourself upwards drastically. He would have a lower top speed, and the trick system would fill his gage slower. Also, he would have a slow descent.
  • Amy: Not quite sure, but incorporate her hammer.
  • Knuckles: He can climb and glide like he usually does for his Boost Meter. Have him be able to rocket in whatever direction he is facing like a torpedo.
  • Big: slowest, but to make him still fun. He can use his Fishing Rod as a tether mechanic to swing across gaps and attack enemies. The boost meter determines how many lines you have to work with.
• Group B: The Dream Era Shadow, Rouge, Omega, and Cream.
• They would be unlocked after Adventure.
  • Shadow: Obvious Sonic clone, but his Boost would be Chaos control instead. Allowing him to pause time for as long as the button is held.
  • Rouge: Knuckles clone, but she has a faster gliding speed/lower climbing speed. Her Boost would be the ability to rocket upwards, similar to Tails.
  • Cream: Tails clone, but slower with a faster glide-like decent. Her Boost would be calling Cheese to create a shield around her, protecting her from all obstacles, including pitfalls. It would require a full boost meter and acts like a consumable. (I'm trying to think of something worth using but not broken)
  • Omega: He can Boost, but his Boost would work the opposite of Sonic and Blaze instead of being a meter that goes down. It goes up with the idea that if you overheat him. You can't boost again until he completely cools down and significantly slows.
• Group C: The Modern Crew. Charmy, Espio, Vector, and Silver.
• Unlocked after beating Colors DS (yes, I count it as a Rush title)
  • Charmy: I'm still determining. I want it so he can fly indefinitely but so he's also not broken.
  • Espio: Ability to walk/run up vertical walls without a slope. The boost trigger would be a grapple. Unlike Big, there is no limit to the length. However, it acts as a consumable. Meaning the player would only have at most 2 for consecutive use.
  • Vector: His Boost trigger will be a mid-air dash in any direction. It can be charged using the meter. The longer it's charged and the more the meter is used, the farther he'll go. It can be charged mid-air. I will also add that he can freely swim in the water and won't lose speed.
  • Silver: Blaze Clone but slower and with a more extended hover. Short Boost gauge, but can be used mid-air without falling.
• Group D: The Hidden Gems
• Secret Characters that would require challenges or outside thinking to unlock: Marine, Jet/Wave/Storm, Metal, Whisper, and Tangle.
  • Marine: I don't know; I really don't care about her. Fans of her would like the chance to use her. She can freely swim without losing speed.
  • Jet/Wave/Storm: Direct clones with only looks being a difference. All unlocked at once. Gameplay would be an infinite snowboarding gimmick. To avoid soft locks, they would be able to dismount. They would be very slow. They are slower than Big off their boards. Boards will increasingly get faster if they do not hit an obstacle. The boost button instead acts as a break.
  • Metal Sonic: Sonic clone but with Omegas boost gauge instead.
  • Whisper: I should clarify that in the Color Levels. Any character can use the wisp stuff. It's not a Sonic-only thing. Whisper, however, can fire her gun in any level to recreate a wisp action. It would require a full gauge, but the player can select any wisp action.
  • Tangle: Her Boost trigger would resemble Vectors but instead act as a slingshot. It can go further and charges faster but can't be charged mid air.

I've been playing all three games for the first time and I'm having a lot of fun.

Idk if anyone else has put this forward yet, but I keep seeing people say that Fuches wanted John so bad because he wanted to protect him, or because he wanted to just really hurt Barry, or he wanted to be the one to give John back to Barry.
I think all of those are great, and Fuches is so wonderfully mercurial that I believe all of them at different moments, but I was convinced that Fuches initially agreed to meet Hank and John because he wanted to have a do-over kid that he could basically pretend was Barry 2.0. He says he wants to kill Barry earlier in the season, but he's so dispassionate and almost bored by it. Fuches as "The Raven" has never really gotten over Barry's betrayal; instead, he's accepted his attachment to Barry and the grief it causes him, but is actively seeking out other connections to replace it. It's important to note that he's still terrible about it so I wouldn't call it progress or really positive growth, but it is the most change we've seen happen for anyone in the show.
He's still Fuches, he has a woman and a kid again and a whole bunch of friends, and these people all are witness to the violence and don't super care at the end of the day, making them seem pretty perfect for his needs. But they're ultimately placeholders. He's bored and detached and (for Fuches) almost too emotionally stable to give the impression that he cares. We know he's changed, but he hasn't changed much- it's like he's just finally committing to trying something different.
When he finds out that Barry's back, he's interested, but guarded- I think he was absolutely still planning on killing Barry, and that this time he could have potentially done it, had it not been that he immediately found out in the same breath that Barry had a son. And just like Gene, one little opportunity to get something he wants is all it takes for Fuches to ditch his character growth detour, and he leaves his little weird family and hauls his small army over to Hank's, seemingly not even really concerned about Barry, because he's there to take John with him and do it right this time as a guardian. Fuches is absolutely justifying it to himself on some level as wanting to protect the kid, because he desperately wants to see himself that way, and I don't know that he'd really call himself a parent, either. But it's clear that he continues to harbor guilt and anger over Barry, and taking care of John is the closest Fuches will ever get to being able to undo it. He planned on taking John with him permanently, for selfish reasons, even if he wanted to believe he was noble for it.
It helps build the parallels between Fuches and Barry, too- they both see John as a chance for redemption, they both lie about their pasts and how they use violence, and they're both desperate to keep him going forward, because on some level they seem to both see being a father as innately redeeming, no matter how bad you are at it. Barry is right back to thinking of himself as redeemed until he loses John again. Fuches lets the change we've seen happen off screen stick, and he willingly lets John go, knowing that he will not be redeemed by starting over. It's a rejection of the "starting now" moment and it almost acts as a guide for Barry later, even if he fucks it up. Just such a good show the whole way through :)

"Me? Just a bed of no consequence, made for removing obstacles."
Shortly after two siblings were born, it was discovered that they were too smart for their brains to handle, with just them being awake running the risk of causing them to overheat. Put in a coma to prevent this, they made use of the dreamscape they found themselves in, only for the two to lose each other. The brother, known only as Bedman, set out to find his sister. Coming into contact with a person named Ariels, the contemporary embodiment of the Universal Will, and worked with her to create the Absolute World, a mass extinction event which would lead to the rebirth of a whole new humanity, allowing him to bring life back to all those he killed in the process. In doing so, the two created a complex sequence of events, using Bedman's incredible strength and intelligence to ensure their plans were seen through.

Legend

Move - Guilty Gear Xrd Gameplay
S-A - Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- Arcade Mode
S-S - Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- Story Mode
R-A - Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- Arcade Mode
R-S - Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- Story Mode
Strive - Guilty Gear -Strive- Another Story: Departure
In Strive, only Bedman's bed appears. While it acts in accordance to his wishes, it is never explicitly stated whether it is acting entirely on its own, if it's Bedman possessing his bed, and if the latter is true how much of its abilities can be attributed to either. To play it safe, all feats from Another Story will be listed under the Bed's section.

Fighting Ability

• Decommissions Potemkin while holding back^S-A
• Axl says he doesn't stand a chance against Bedman^S-A
• Is unsure whether he can break Sol Badguy while going all out, but gives him a close fight^S-A

The Bed

Strength

Striking

• Deflects Ramlethal's projectiles with its head^Strive
• Hits several people away^Strive
• Punches Baiken back, hitting her into an armoured individual and causing both to skid back a distance^Strive
• Damages the top of a train^Strive
• Punches stone ground and has its hand move through a large amount of it to get behind Slayer^R-S
• Clashes a punch with Slayer's, the strike creating a large shockwave around them and creating a large canyon between them^R-S
  • This was done with under eight percent of his power^R-S

Clashing / Blocking

• Clashes with Venom^R-S
• Parries a sword swing from Leo^S-S
• Has an extended clash with Baiken before making her skid back a short distance^Strive
• Clashes with before disarming Sin, who moments before deflected a large flying metal structure^Strive
• Blocks Slayer's punch, creating a shockwave around them, before cutting off his arm^R-S

Other

• Holds a person in the air^S-S
• Stated to be destroying everything in his path while attacking the Zepp base^S-S

Durability

Blunt Force

• Hit by a number of Gabriel's punches, which he claims will pulverise anyone within eight meters regardless of their speed or defensive ability, with its hand only starting to crack at the end^S-S
• Struck out of the air and back by Slayer's cut off arm^R-S
• Slammed into the ground hard enough to break it, though this incapacitates the bed^S-S
• Sent flying back a huge distance by the air displacement of Slayer's punch, slamming into a large amount of stone to break off smaller pieces and throw up a huge cloud of dust, though this does break off an arm^R-S
• Clashes a punch with Slayer's, the strike creating a large shockwave around them and creating a large canyon between them^R-S

Slashing

• Blocks a strike from Robo-Ky^R-S
• Blocks a slash from Chipp, skidding back a short distance after rushing towards him^S-S
• Unaffected by slashes from Chipp and Johnny^S-S
• Skids back a distance, seemingly breaking the ground where he was first hit, after behind hit by Leo^S-S
• Parries a slash from Leo, though this starts to crack the bed's hand^S-S
• Run through by Baiken's sword and is seemingly unaffected^Strive

Other

• Unaffected by Zepp Soldiers' weapons^S-S
• Appears to briefly be caught in an energy field before teleporting out^R-S
• Hit by an explosion from Robo-Ky exploding, with this knocking Bedman out of his bed^R-S
• Levitates immediately next to Bedman's sister when she was creating an area which would grind normal people to dust^Strive

Speed

• Teleports to dodge Gabriel's ranged punch^S-S
• Teleports away from Slayer's dashing punch despite him trying to hit Bedman^R-S
• Blocks an attack from Robo-Ky despite being unable to sense him^R-S
• Blocks Chipp's slash after he dashed in front of a charging Bedman^S-S
• Flies to catch the compartment of a train Baiken's standing on^Strive
• Briefly dashes FTE^Move

Physical Abilities

• Swaps whether its arms end in hands or spiked wheels at will^R-A
• Can extend the spikes on its hands^S-A
  • Does this to an individual spike^S-S
• Shoots the spikes from its hand with enough force to pierce into Robo-Ky, replenishing them shortly after^R-S
  • These create explosions when hitting a cliff face^Strive
• The arm stretches a great distance underground to get behind Slayer^R-S
• Has the bed itself turn into a spike wheel and rapidly spin to attack enemies^Move
• Creates an energy buzzsaw from the bottom of it^Move
• Can throw his head to act either as a boomerang, hurting opponent on the return trip as well, or so he can teleport to it^Move
• The head contains an alarm clock which can damage nearby foes^Move
• Rolls forward on its hand wheels^R-S
• Rocks back and forth^S-A
• Can appear as a regular bed^Move

Other

• After performing certain attacks known as tasks, leaves a symbol floating in midair where they were used reflecting them. With his Deja Vu move, an echo of himself using that move appears from the symbol, capable of hitting an opponent^Move
• Charges an energy beam which tears up the ground and takes out Slayer, Venom, and Millia^S-S
• Appears to use some kind of projectiles to destroy a large amount of spread out beacons^S-S
• Creates several energy bubbles around Bedman's sister to try and hold back her power through unclear means^Strive
• Can manifest a sheep of dark energy which, after a delay where it's a rough mass of energy, appears behind an opponent before stunning them on contact^Move
• Can hover in the air^S-S
• Puts Faust under 'some kind of hypnosis'^S-S
• Quickly regains an arm after it was broken off^R-S

The Man

Dreams

• Brings others nearby into his dream world^S-S
  • Does this from an unknown distance to bring people to the Nightmare Theatre, allowing Bedman to hold them there and fight them^S-A
• Intrudes on and takes over other people's dreams by being physically close to them^S-S
• Easily goes from a dreamscape with other people in to another area where he can contact his client^S-S
• Creates a landscape instead of the usual white void of the dream world, and claims to be able to make any wish come true there^R-A
  • While he can create a variety of phenomena, only killing a person has any lasting impact on the waking world^R-S
• Can kill a person in his dream from a great distance away, causing their waking body to collapse dead^S-A
• Creates an exact duplicate of a dog from the real world^S-S

Teleportation

• Teleports into a stage inside his dreams^S-A
• Dodges an attack by teleporting right behind his attacker^S-S
• Teleports into the air to dodge an attack^S-S
• Disappears from a ranged punch, and several seconds later reappears behind his attacker^S-S
• Teleports That Man away^S-S
  • He sealed That Man away in a dreamscape^R-S
• Teleports onto and around the Zepp airship base^S-S
• Presumably teleports Slayer, Millia, Venom, and himself a great distance after defeating the three^S-S
  • This distance is said to be between Illyria and close to Uighur^S-S
• Requires more time to prepare when teleporting longer distances^S-S

Physicals

Given Bedman is controlling his bed, all reaction speed feats from above can apply to him.

• In a dream, holds a person up by their neck^S-A
• Appears to briefly be caught in an energy field before teleporting out^R-S
• Hit by an explosion from Robo-Ky exploding, with this knocking Bedman out of his bed, before getting struck by a massive energy attack from Venom. He's conscious afterwards, but significantly worn out^R-S

Other Abilities

• With his Theatre of Pain Instant Kill, brings his opponent to a theatre where they watch a film of their nightmares, giving them a 'bad end' as Bedman watches on^Move
• Reads people's mind moments before they attack to assist with blocking or evading attacks^R-S
  • Can't read the minds of robots, with him not being able to sense Robo-Ky's presence^R-S
• Appears in-person as a distortion in the air^R-S
• Observes events occurring from a distance through a dream through unclear means^S-S
• Creates a barrier around That Man, with him being unable to break free on his own^R-S
• Jack-O' Valentine believes he's always asleep as, when he's awake, his mind overheats due to his physical memory being unable to keep up with the speed of his thoughts^R-A
• After taking a significant attack and waking up, Bedman creates a field around himself and Ariels which negates all of the latter's attacks, though (be it due to finally draining all his energy after Venom's attack, the stress of being awake, or a mix of both) he turns to stone and crumbles shortly after^R-S

Other

• Willing to kill a dog^S-S
• Breaks the fourth wall^S-A

Other

• Had all of his records erased through some means^R-A

"Ha ha ha ha, did I just raise some more questions? Two? Four? More? Exponentially more? Ha ha ha ha, oh, I'm sorry. To be frank, I'm a bit nervous. After all, even if I go all out, I may not be able to break you. That word, 'break'...being unable to break you, you are 'unbreakable'...that strikes me as arrogant. All things have a beginning and an end. But 'unbreakable' suggests an object has flouted those laws; discarded its natural limitations. Culture, civilization, everything humankind has created...even the idea of God. Destroy the laws, destroy the things the laws allow. Doesn't that seem unfair? Like how thinking too hard about something makes it MORE difficult? Instead of giving hope you take it away. We might as well discard 'morals' entirely! Anyway, I detest long conversations."

My partner (F) and I (M) recently adopted two cockapoo puppies (14 weeks old) and are worried about the possibility of Littermate Syndrome. It had been mentioned to us in passing that this was a thing that could happen, but both the breeder and the vet reassured us that it wasn't a big deal; even reassuring us when we took them in for a checkup after bringing them home, where we outlined several red flags we had noticed in their behaviour.
Four weeks have passed since we brought them home and while some things are getting better, others are getting worse in a hurry. Both have settled into the home and seem comfortable in the space, but the way they interact with each other and with us is starting to become a problem.
The two puppies practically refuse to eat and have not only bad separation anxiety from each other, but also when either me or my partner leave the room for any reason. Walks/leash training have been a huge struggle and both dogs are showing different problems when it comes to normal training. One is always too hyper and distracted to focus and the other is always disinterested and mopey. We preemptively mentioned this to the trainer we are going to be taking our puppies to next week, and the first thing they mentioned was that Littermate Syndrome could be a problem, so they wanted us to enroll them in separate classes.
... and then tonight happened. Out of nowhere while my partner was out on an errand, the puppies started aggressively attacking each other in the pen we put them in for shared play time, and then attacked me when I went to go break them up. They didn't hurt me, but they certainly tried to bite and scratch at me aggressively.
I don't know how to move forward now. Any advise would be appreciated.

Question:
What is a character you don't use in game, despite their overall power (DPS, support utility, ease of use, ease of build, etc.), for a reason that isn't petty yet personal.
Example:
Alhaitham is a character I don't have, don't really want, but I acknowledge how strong he is.
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Make no mistake, when Alhaitham is given his time to shine, he is a FUCKING disgustingly strong powerhouse of a unit. His triple-dipped EM scaling (Spread, A4 DMG buff, EM motion value in the skill & burst), coupled with his high reaction potential, makes his damage shockingly high.
A F2P build with Iron Sting and 4P Gilded; assuming no limited 5 stars like Nahida or Baizhu, or support weapons like Freedom Sworn or the Key; can net an average of 23k per projection attack, with every odd projection attack being 32k, and every even projection attack being 13k.
These projection attacks are also AoE and it's kind of wide, meaning he's able to do this damage to both bosses and regular mobs, and the rate of application also makes him a good driver for Fridge or Nilou Bloom teams since the same stat driving his DPS also drives Bloom reactions.
Couple that with a surprisingly modest ER requirement (never more than 140-170% in his optimum teams since you'll want 2x Dendro anyway for the resonance and most of the Dendro roster's good at generating particles), and you have a DPS who's well oriented to Dendro playstyles.
He does his job and he does it well, without much investment really needed to get him off the ground. He's got flexibility in his team comps (any Dendro and Electro units can work well with him outside Dori or Sara, and even they aren't so bad that it's enough of an issue to tell you to never use them together). He's got a lot of vertical investment to make min maxing him worth it (103k projection attacks are a theoretical ceiling against regular mobs using his best team). He's all around a very, VERY good unit. Proper play with him makes him achieve higher DPS than Tighnari or Nahida, he's THAT strong.
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All that said, I don't want him . . . mostly because I play Quickswap and prefer not to spend longer than 10s on a unit at any given time. Legitimately the only reason I don't want Alhaitham is because some of his optimal rotations are in the 14s+ category which I'm not comfy with. He does more damage than Tighnari with his best rotation, but I can complete Tighnari's rotation in like 5s. That's really it. I think Alhaitham is incredibly powerful, but he's just not a character I'd ever use.
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What about you guys? Thoughts?

Respect Baiken

I humbly ask, I humbly ask: though 'tis sudden, where doth lie Hell? Whilst the demons laugh, the people weep. Since it doth lie outside the bounds of virtuous deeds, I shall undertake the task of felling the Netherworld. For I am a vulgar samurai of lowest rank. I have not intent of dying the honorable death of a warrior.

"You're still gonna stand up? Well, it's your choice... But if you stand up, that means you're ready to die."

Themes: GG X XX Xrd -STRIVE-
At the very beginning of the Crusades between mankind and the Gears, the nation of Japan was destroyed by the commander Gear, Justice, and those of Japanese descent—amongst whom were Baiken and her parents—were placed in colonies for their protection. However, while she was still a child, Gears raided the institution she was living in. Small and weak, Baiken could do nothing to stop the attack, and could only watch the chaos around her. During the raid, she lost her arm and eye, and witnessed the horrible deaths of her parents, who gave their lives to protect her, as well as her friends.
The massacre was the work of the Gears, but what was etched into Baiken's memory was the image of a man surrounded by dancing flames and his creations. She became acutely aware, even in the absence of evidence, that he was an enemy. With an unfading memory of the event, Baiken vowed to search for the true identity of That Man and exact her revenge.
After years of wandering and searching (sometimes with her close friend Anji Mito), Baiken found I-No and pursued her in the hopes that she'd lead Baiken to her target. It worked; Baiken found That Man and attempted to exact her revenge. Despite her continuous attacks, Baiken was unable to harm him; when she stopped trying to attack him, he simply apologized to her and prayed that someday, when his life finally ends, her anger will fade. All Baiken took from meeting That Man was confusion and distress, which made her question herself: Should she seek revenge, or look for a new way of life?
She didn't come to a decision until she met Delilah, the sister of Bedman. Furious with Happy Chaos for putting the pieces in motion that led to her brother's death (similarly to how he set That Man on the path that led to the death of Baiken's parents), Delilah heard Chaos was in America and was dead-set on finding him and killing him. When she asked Anji for help, he sent Delilah to Baiken in the hopes she could help. While their relationship was initially frosty, Baiken saw herself in Delilah, and saw her path of revenge leading only to ruin and death. In helping Delilah, Baiken saw the flaws in her own path, and they agreed to give up their goals of revenge together.
Signature Moves
Special Moves

• Tatami Gaeshi - Baiken stomps her foot to kick up a tatami mat. While not very flashy, this is one of her core abilities.
• Youzansen - Baiken whirls a number of hooked blades from her sleeve in a wide circle.
• Azami - Baiken parries the next few blows to strike her. This has a number of powerful followups.
• Suzuran - Baiken dashes forward suddenly. This move allows Baiken to access Azami followups without parrying anything.
• Hiiragi - This version of the parry simply has a judo-like throw after a successful block.
• Kabari - Baiken throws out a grappling claw, which she can follow up with a quick slash. Alternately, Baiken can throw a rope to tether herself to an enemy to force close-quarters fighting. In previous games this move had a number of angles and follow-up attacks. Kamaitachi in the first Guilty Gear accomplishes something similar, but in a more limited fashion.
• Youshijin - Baiken sends her opponent into the air with a spade-shaped blade.

Overdrives / Force Breaks

• Tsurane Sanzu-watashi - Baiken attacks the opponent with several deadly slashes. This is her most common Overdrive across each game.
• Kenjyu - Baiken harnesses the power of gun.
• Metsudo Kushoudou - Baiken launches grappling hooks past her opponent, and uses that to pull her forward into a powerful kick.
• Baku - This move has several followups, each assigned to a button. Once used, Baiken turns off that opponent's button for a short time, preventing them from using any moves assigned to it.
• Tate Shunmaku - It's her Guilty Gear 1 Instant Kill, but it's a super now.

Instant Kills

• Garyou Tensei - In addition to being one of the sickest Instant Kills in all of Guilty Gear ever, this is Baiken's classic finisher.
• Tate Shunmaku - This is similar to Garyou Tensei, but is from Baiken's first incarnation as a secret character in Guilty Gear 1.

As Instant Kill animations are potentially canon, I'll include them as feats but will mark them where appropriate.
Feats
Mouse over a feat to see its source. Non-Canon story feats are included for completion's sake, but will be marked to tell them apart.
Please note that due to the difficulty of tracking down quality translated sources for some of the older games and media, many of these clips will be presented in the form of fan-translated scripts. Other sources (like the light novels) may be missing entirely, as they have never been translated and I can't read Japanese.
Cutting Power / Skill

• Destroys a giant Gear arm
• [Instant Kill] Cuts in a wide area around her target
• Slices a leaf into multiple pieces at a distance, seemingly with a single strike
• Slashes a piece of paper quickly and sheaths her sword in an instant
  • Here it is in Xrd
  • [Non-Canon] Here it is animated by SNK in Samurai Shodown
• Rapidly slashes a falling leaf
• Easily cuts through several enemy warriors

Strength

• Matches Bedman's bed in strength for a while
• Trades blows with I-No
• Trades blows with Anji Mito
• Trades blows with Bridget
• Fights evenly with a Phalanx 9 unit
• Stabs Bedman's bed
• Holds onto her sleeve chain despite significant pulling stress
• [Non-Canon] Clashes blades with Ky Kiske
• [Non-Canon] Knocks Slayer back with swords and her cannon
• [Non-Canon] Clashes with Robo-Ky
  • [Non-Canon] The fight goes poorly for Robo-Ky
• [Non-Canon] Defeats and kills I-No

Durability

• Takes a hit from Bedman's bed and seems more or less fine
• Trades blows with Anji Mito
• [Non-Canon] Takes a Mappa Hunch from Slayer
• [Non-Canon] Blocks a blast from a Justice clone
• [Non-Canon] Blocks attacks from Chipp Zanuff
• Stands inside Delilah's high-density information bubble with very little significant pain, whose pressure destroys her eyepatch and which Faust states could grind an ordinary person to dust

Speed

• [Instant Kill] Moves and strikes an opponent too fast to see
• Does it again
• Rapidly slashes a falling leaf
• Slashes a piece of paper quickly and sheaths her sword in an instant
  • Here it is in Xrd
  • [Non-Canon] Here it is animated by SNK in Samurai Shodown
• Tags I-No with Kabari
• Fights evenly with Ky Kiske
• [Non-Canon] Tags Chipp Zanuff

Sleeve Weapons
Baiken's right sleeve, in lieu of a flesh-and-blood arm, contains a number of hidden gadgets and weapons, including:

• A grappling claw on a chain
  • This can also be thrown closed as a huge mace
• Several roped grappling hooks
• A flintlock-style rifle
  • A similar gun shoots a large firework explosive
• An extremely long segmented blade that can wrap around foes
  • This can also be done with rope
• Several large, hooked blades
• A big damn cannon
• A metal claw on a chain
• Yet another claw on a chain
• A wide blade on a chain
• A bladed fan on a rope
• A large bell on the end of a rope
• [Non-Canon] These hidden weapons can launch from her sleeve with enough force to embed themselves in a stone pillar
• The chains for the hidden weapons are also absurdly long and durable to pulling strain

Miscellaneous

• Ky Kiske calls Baiken's technique "flawless"
• Baiken's blade, named Regret, is the strongest blade Nagoriyuki has seen
• Can channel her ki in a ball of explosive pink energy
• Can detect the "aura" of others
• Notices Answer hiding nearby and calls him out

Noteworthy Scaling

• I-No RT
• Bedman RT
• Ky Kiske blocks a bullet at extremely close range

Inquisition! Judgment! The Law of the Emperor! Vengeance unleashed inevitably throughout the lowest levels of Hell! Pay respects to the Palace of Yama. Pay respects to the Palace of Yama.

so for a while i've been developing a Hack and Slash game that is also a survival game, and recently i have been feeling some motivational issues so for the last week i decided to catch a break from developing that game to organize my thoughts and all of that and everytime i catch a break i work on a small side project
now this time for the last 4 days i have been making a FNAF Fan game that is a Hack & Slash game where you play as Springtrap with AAA graphics in UE5 and i finished the first level with enemies/boss etc... (tho without in game cutscenes, i wanna add those when i am almost done with that game so i can search for voice actors) and released a first Alpha
now the thing is i really really REALLY REALLY REALLY wanna continue working on the next levels and also keep planning the story, cuz so far i only have the first 2 levels planned and have script for cutscenes for only the first level, plus when i started developing my big Hack & Slash / Survival game it was too early so for a long time i wrote a temporary combat system to practice animating and VFX and in March this year i revamped the entire combat and its going fantastic and seeing how i was able to get a really good looking combat (like no joke in the FNAF game i animated everything and it looks really good so my animating skills improved a lot) this early on in like 4 days (sure it doesn't have a lot of comboes cuz its a side project, i also wanna keep scale for a side project as well, don't wanna waste too much braincells on a side project) comes to show that i have improved quite a lot (guys if your skills in certain aspects are bad, keep practicing and don't give up, YOU GOT THIS!!!) and because of that i REALLY REALLY REALLY wanna keep working more on the FNAF Hack and Slash especially when even now a week later after taking the break and 4 days after starting that game i still don't feel like returning into may big Hack and Slash / Survival game i really wanna keep working on the FNAF Hack and Slash game
so is it ok if i will take more time on working on my FNAF Hack & Slash fan game and not touch "Survive and Slash" for longer? and in the meantime organize my thoughts, think of what last few bosses should i add to Survive and Slash (i currently have 8, 6 in the overworld and 2 in special stages, i need 3 more in overworld and 3 more in special stages excluding the 2 final bosses) and think of more enemies for the different biomes of the map and also think of where to continue in the survival mechanics that i only started adding very recently

I feel ducking pathetic. Like why do I care so much about someone who left me?
Why do I find myself randomly checking her insta? Seeing she posted something new or her followers go up is like a punch in my stomach. I’ve never been this way but here I am… like a ducking pathetic person.
It hurts for me to think she’s talking to other people within a month. That life is so much easier without me. Maybe she meant what she said by saying “I mean nothing to her and she feels nothing for me”.
How can one move on so quick? How can one forget someone else so easily? How can one make me feel so much pain?
I feel so fucking lame for being this way. My mind is ducked rn. I want her so bad but I can’t go back.
Im human, I wished I mattered to her.
Also, please don’t say that she’s already got someone else lined up as a replacement. My mind goes here due to my own insecurities. Every person has their own experiences, for me I know She hasn’t done anything to break my trust this way. Again, my brain goes this way due to my own insecurities as opposed to her past actions

So backstory I 15 female have a best friend 15 male, who almost a year ago started dating a girl who we were both in a friend group with. ( CONTEXT: most of this story is based from when we were all in grade 9)I personally tried my best to make them feel supported by their decision of dating each other even though there was a chance their breakup might have the chance of harming the friend group. So for a bit of context my best friends ex was my friend for around a year before I introduced her to my larger pod of friends. But when she joined this group I began to feel a bit of a push from other friends and a few of them began to leave me out of plans and I would see that they did this because they posted it on their stories with many people who I thought I was close with yet never received an invite. Yet this girl almost always did. She dated one other guy from my friend group at the start of the semester only to decide that he was moving to fast for her. She decided she didn’t want to be with him after multiple nights for about a week I stayed up late to try and help her go around not hurting him, now that relationship wasn’t completely pubic and only myself and another friend knew about it at the time. She also asked me to write her break up speech she was going to send to this guy, which I did with the thought that I could put her word nicer than she would. After a couple months she told me she was starting to have feelings for my best friend, I had no romantic feelings for him so I encouraged her to go for it thinking that it was a good interest for them both.(IMPORTANT DETAIL, my best friend had never had a girlfriend until he dated his ex) They ended up getting together a few days after we went to a school dance on the 21st of June in 2022. A few more people in our friend group decided to date until eventually I was the odd man out. 2 of my closer friends got girlfriends within a week of each other and I never even heard about it from them, I was told by my best friends ex who decided to rub it in my face that she knew and I didn’t. Everyone in my friend group hadn’t really talked to me for a week or 2 which was not like them, so I was aware something was going on that I didn’t know about. I decided to take things into my own hands and go to a soccer game I knew they will all be at. And low and behold when I arrived they were all there and very surprised to see me. The relationship between my best friend and his ex was not a cuddly seeming relationship, and most definitely not what this girl was expecting from the relationship, they dated for 2 months hugged only once just before she broke up with him and never kissed each other, they had also been on only 3 dates and he was away for soccer for a couple weeks while they were dating. The end of august this girl decided to call it quits on their relationship and break up with my best friend. Her words to me were he wasn’t the boyfriend I was expecting. I told them both when the relationship ended that I cared for them both and even though they had broken up I would prefer that they did not ask me to pick sides or make anyone else in our friend group uncomfortable, to which they both individually agreed. I checked in on them in person to make sure they knew if something was bothering them they could talk to me, both of them thanked me but never reached out for help of any kind. I was slightly bothered by her sudden choice to break up with him, it bothered me more cuz it surprise my best friend and hurt him, not that he would ever admit to that but it did. We tried to continue doing plans as a friend group but ultimately that was made clear that it wouldn’t work, we went to the mall just a few days after school started and brought my beat friend and the ex along thinking that they would be ok hanging out with everyone else. My best friend did his best to allow everything to remain civil and decided to act friendly towards his ex as to not make everything awkward for everyone else. But according to her he was only trying to win her back and show her that she made a mistake breaking up with him. I tried to calm her down and said he was only trying to be friendly and he had no intentions on forcing her into a relationship she no longer wants to be in. She still didn’t agree with what he was “ attempting “ to force her back into but eventually left it alone. We decided that it was best to not push for them to hang out seeing as she didn’t like his “pushiness”. Not to long after we stared high school, this girl decided she liked someone else and soon she pushed him into our friend group. She did date this guy but for less than a week and then complained for a long time that it was awkward for her to have to be that close with an ex. I kept brushing it off and she eventually left it alone. I have friends who sometimes live for starting drama and one day my friend decided he was going to start drama and tell my best friends ex that everyone still thinks that she likes him with how often she talks about him. She denied it and ended up storming out after my friend kept pressing. After that she didn’t speak to me or a female friend of mine. This struck me as odd, my best friends ex and this girl were very close since the day they met, but now the ex was ignoring us. You may think she was ignoring everyone who was present for my friends drama staring but no just me and my female friend. A few weeks later we went off on Easter break and when I came back the ex tried to pretend nothing happened and act as if we were friends again after she spent multiple weeks ignoring me. I decided I was done with her mood swings and did my best to ignore her and keep my distance. She didn’t bother me for months and I was perfectly fine with that. That’s led us up today where she is spreading rumours about me saying I’m trying to steal her ex boyfriend from her. Keep in mind she has a crush on her ex that she liked at the beginning of last semester. I haven’t told my best friend about this. But she is consistently trying to make me out to be a bad person, I am not extremely bothered by her rumours, but it’s still very annoying to hear her talking like that about me, and acting as if she is a child. I think it would shake her up a lot to see me and my best friend ( her ex ) as a “couple”. The only thing is is that telling anyone but myself and my best friend allows there to be a large chance of someone spilling the truth. I know my best friend would go along with a fake relationship with me to get back at his ex for all she has done to us both but I don’t know if I’m being to petty and should just let it go.

https://imgur.com/a/2BYBtK5
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Good afternoon folks,
Up for sale are a bunch of pops that I had accumulated over the years. Unfortunately I've gotten out of the collecting game for quite sometime and I think it's time to part ways with what I have. Hoping someone can appreciate these they way I used to.
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All pops will come in soft plastic protectors with the exception of Syndrome and Conan O'Brien (1) which are in hard plastic protectors. Willing to provide more pictures upon request, just be reasonable and patient if you request multiple pops.
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Willing to make deals for those purchasing more than one. I'm trying to be generous with pricing since I'm mainly looking to clear these out so I am open to offers within reason.
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PRICES (INCLUDES SHIPPING):
Stranger Things:
Eleven Underwater 422 - $35
Upside Down Will (ThinkGeek) 437 - $40
Steve (With Bandana) 642 - $35
Mr. Clarke 476 - $20
Eleven With Eggos (Chase) 421 - $35
Vampire Bob 643 - $35
Eleven (With Electrodes) 523 - $20
Max (Costume) 552 - $115
Dustin (Snowball Dance) 617 - $40
Demogorgon (Chase) 428 - $25
Dustin (Brown Jacket) 424 - $25
Joyce (Biohazard Suit) 526 - $35
Hopper (Chase) 512 - $40
Max 551 - $50
Hopper (Biohazard Suit) 525 - $30
Ghostbuster Mike 546 - $20
Ghostbuster Will 547 - $40
Ghostbuster Lucas 548 - $15
Ghostbuster Dustin 549 - $15
Eleven (Elevated) 637 - $20
Jonathan 513 - $60
Dustin & Dart 593 - $40
Bob (In Scrubs) 639 - $25
Nancy 514 - $70
Dart (Chase) 601 - $25
Steve (With Sunglasses) 638 - $40
Brenner 515 - $20
Eleven 572 - $35
Barb 427 - $25
Joyce 550 - $20
Billy 640 - $70
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Stranger Things 2-Packs
Eleven With Eggos / Mike (some front box damage and no soft protector) - $20
Upside Down Eleven / Barb - $30
Billy & Karen - $120
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Bob's Burgers
Tina Belcher 76 - $40
Louise Belcher 78 - $40
Buttloose Tina 104 - $40
Bob Belcher 74 - $35
Teddy 103 - $50
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Conans
Conan O'Brien 1 - $160
Conan as Spider-Man 09 - $45
Superman Conan 05 - $55
Stormtrooper Conan 06 - $75
The Flash Conan 11 - $40
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Breaking Bad
Gus Fring 166 - $125
Jesse Pinkman 159 - $65
Walter White 158 - $95
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The Rest
Syndrome 18 - $160
McLovin 177 - $65
Ron Swanson 652 - $45
Ron Swanson 499 - $15
Master Chief With Energy Sword 11 - $50
Donald Trump 02 - $100
Adam 492 - $35
Anders 493 - $15
Blake 494 - $30
Skipper 161 - $65
George-Michael Bluth 117 - $20
Meg 379 - $20
Crash Bandicoot (Chase) - $20
Sheldon Cooper 11 - $25
Bob Ross 524 - $20
Kip 206 - $40
Deb 207 - $20
Chef 388 - $25
Notorious B.I.G With Jersey - $15
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I hope that's all of them listed lol. Look forward to speaking with you all.

while everyone is playing aether gazer i finally started to actually get into PGR. i had the game since it launched globally but never really "played" it outside of doing summons and a few missions every other day. but after seeing the famous alpha bury the light video and with the announcement of the pc client i finally decided to jump in
Im enjoying the game alot so far. it almost feels like a normal action game sometimes. PGR is a rare gacha in which i actually have to really focus on average combat. in most other gachas you just put on auto and you win for most of the content but with pgr im damn near fighting for me life with some of the bosses, modes, and some story stages.
all the characters ive used so far are genuinely enjoyable. my main gripe with honkai impact was how alot of the older characters where not fun to play to me at all. and the game would usually force me to use those characters in story. in PGR i find that even A rank constructs are a blast to play and almost feel like s rank ones lol.
PGR also makes me want to get better at the game in a way no other gacha has. like i genuinely want to master the combat and style on bosses and what not. it reminds me on how i feel about devil may cry and bayonetta. i actually want to increase my skilll level in the game.
i also adore the character designs. one that i have to give a shoutout to is Qu. she looks so badass
one gripe i have so far though is that the stamina system is kinda beating my ass. i have no problem grinding for hours but i really cant when i gotta be stingy with my serum usage. im sure that would probably go away later down the line.
im on chapter 8 and the story is meh so far but i heard it gets better at around this point.
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So ya this may be a honeymoon phase but if i get tired after putting alot of hours in it having fun then i think it would be worth it in the end. also REALLY looking forward to some of the new characters because from looking at gameplay videos, they all seem cracked.

I’m new to the sub and the fandom and I’m in my first play through of the second game and I was wondering on this app do people hate or dislike or even like Abby.
I’m on Seattle day 1 with Abby and overall I thinks she okay she’s not a bad character I just find her boring. Maybe that’s because I’m just on day one idk I just find her boring. Does she get less boring as I go on with the days or does she pretty much stay the same ?
(I don’t mind the spoilers so spoil away, it doesn’t really bother me)

I’ve (M37) been dating (F31) for about five weeks. It progressed pretty fast and we were going on two dates per week up until last weekend. We had sex on our 2nd date btw.
Things were going well until last weekend. I noticed a sudden change in behavior. She began taking longer to respond as well as responding with less. I pulled back. Went 3 days without initiating contact. I decided to write her a special message telling her that I hadn’t realized we were seeing each-other a whole month and that I appreciated her and our time together. She responded then thanking me for the message and that she was having a good time too. We chatted about making plans to get together this weekend and it seemed like the rhythm was back. I sent her a couple of friendly messages to poke a laff, and she responded that that I’m cute but corny. I replied that I didn’t think she was into corny, which she replied she wasn’t but it was okay. After that I didn’t reach out until the day we were going to have our date, about 3 days later.
I picked her up to take her out. It was going okay and I gave her a couple of casual kisses. After finishing our dinner I attempted to kiss her on her cheek one more time as we were getting up from the table and she pulled far away. She said I was being too affectionate. I was really embarrassed and felt bad. She said that she doesn’t like how much I try. She claimed that her prior relationship was similar and that her ex had noticed that it was month to month. Well, I respected her wishes and pulled back on holding her hand and initiating touch. At my apartment we watched a movie. She snuggled up to me and held my hand. It was nice but also weird. I somewhat assumed that she would be sleeping over but offered to take her home or let her stay, but she said she had to do something at home. On our way to her house I asked what she was doing the next day and she said she had plans alone. At this point I wasn’t surprised that she didn’t want to see me or make plans. Not long after I mentioned an event next weekend that she might be interested in. It was also an open invitation. She didn’t express much interest.
I asked her to let me know if she was sleeping with someone or if she planned to because I wouldn’t want to risk catching and STI or playing unsafe. She agreed and I told her I wasn’t, as well as I wasn’t planning to date anyone else.
Here’s where I’m lost… she told me not to read too much into it and that it’s just the way she is. She could tell I wasn’t feeling great and asked me about it. I clarified that I wasn’t. I told her in the car that if she lost interest in me or she’s just not attracted to me anymore, just to let me know. I’m completely fine just being friends only.
She just kind of nodded. She kissed me on the lips, said “I’ll talk to you later?” I said yes. She got out of my car and walked to her home.
I’m feeling empty. I think the right thing to do is to pull way back and not initiate any messaging. I’m also planning out a breaking off message. The question is, is this the right move for me? And if so, should I wait a week? I would tell her I appreciate our time together and really enjoyed it, but that I don’t think we are compatible romantically and ask if she wants to be friends only.
I really do like her but I don’t feel good right now.
Thanks for reading.

I think my boyfriend is a covert/vulnerable narcissist, or at least shows a lot of signs. For context: he’s M29, I’m F23. I’ve been closing my eyes for a lot of it the last 1,5 years, holding on to good memories, which is mostly from the beginning (now that I think about it, it might have been love bombing) or days I’m just ignoring the way he treats me instead of trying to talk to him about it.
Every time I try to explain the way I feel, he finds a way to turn it around on me. For example: I would say I need more intimacy in our relationship and he will start a discussion on why I “need” so many things and not just accept him, how I always make him feel he’s not good enough. It’s always a battle trying to have an emotional mature conversation with him, and most of the time I end up feeling worse than before and will just let it go.
Some bad things that happened: I was pregnant after 6 months together (not planned, we always used protection), and he panicked and told me he couldn’t do it. We were planning on living together a few months later but he said he wouldn’t if I kept the baby. This sounds really really bad, but he made me feel empathy for him by being vulnerable to me and explaining how his mother left him when he was little and he had to work on it in therapy before he would ever become a good parent. Which sounds fair and I praised him for it. But it made me completely forget about the fact he actually told me he would leave me if I kept the baby. I was just there for him, and every time I tried to talk about my feelings about the pregnancy, the love I already felt, he started having a panic attack so I dropped it and comforted him. It was all about him. Unless I just cried, then he would hug me. After a few weeks I was so tired and anxious, that I just gave in and had an abortion. Also because I felt my child would deserve two loving parents, and I didn’t feel confident in him being there. It sucked. I fell into a despression, and he just started working non stop, and in his free time going out with friends. At points I would get so angry at him for not being there for me when I needed it the most and I said some hurtful things (not proud). I got so anxious (still am). I don’t feel safe anymore in our relationship. When I was pregnant and decided to for the abortion, I asked him to start therapy soon, so he could get help for his childhood trauma, and also so I would feel more safe with him being there in the future if anything like this happened again. He understood, but it’s a year later now, and he never did. The few times I brought it up, he got angry and told me “my therapy is my process so it’s not your business when/how I do it”. And this is just a part of it.
Some other examples: he had contact with his exes sometimes (which I’m fine with if they are friends, I’m also friends with an ex) but I found out he never told them about me? He talks it down by saying they barely talk so it sounds weird just dropping me in their basic small talk conversation.
He also had a female friend, who he went on a trip with along with other friends, and they apparently told eachother they were attracted to eachother but nothing could happen because they have relationships. This was already a big no for me, but the worst thing is he didn’t even tell me about it, I had to find out after he came back and was very secretive with his phone, and after a week I checked his phone when he was in the shower (I know it’s wrong) and found out he had really deep text conversations with her daily. When I got upset, he still didn’t tell me anything other than he’s not in love with her. After a few weeks when I asked him more detailed questions, he told me the story of their flirting and their conversation on the trip. He still told me I made a big deal out of nothing. Afterwards he apparently stopped texting with her, because “our relationship is more important to me”, but he did change his password (and changes it every few days) without telling me.
Last example (I have so many more but it’s long enough already): his best friend for 10 years is a girl, and I really connected with her the first time we met. We have so many similarities and we really clicked. So sometimes we text/call and we met up once for cocktails and had a lot of fun. The last few weeks my boyfriend started hinting that he doesn’t like us having contact, but won’t really explain why. Last week he saw her and he told her he feels weird about us having contact with me, and he feels it makes him pull away from the friendship a little bit. So he asked her to stop having contact with me. I only know this because SHE told me about this. She says maybe we should have less/no contact for a while, until he feels more calm about it (I get it, because she doesn’t want to lose her best friend of 10 years). She also asked me to not tell my boyfriend she gold me this. But I can’t do that, because I want to be open with him and also confront him about doing this behind my back, without communicating with me at all. I told him that the way he puts his anxiousness about our contact on us, instead of dealing with it, or having a normal conversation about it, makes me really anxious and I thought it made her anxious too (considering she didn’t want him to know she texted me). Now all he wants to talk about it how it hurt him that I “talk down” on THEIR friendship by “stating” he makes her anxious. And also my friendship with her doesn’t matter because I “barely know her”. The blame shifting and gaslighting is real. It makes me so confused.
Being with him has been wonderful at times and a hell most of the time. I don’t even recognize myself anymore, the angeapathy I feel towards him at times, even though I’m normally a very empathetic caring person. But I’m done sacrificing my peace for him. I’m just looking for advice on how to break up with him, because everytime I try he says “here we go again, you say this every month, you’re so manipulative” (which is true, but he always lures me back in by being overly sweet after) and “we’re working on our issues and we love eachother, it’s really not mature to give up now” and it just gets to me. He doesn’t take me seriously at all when I try to break up with him and it ends in me trying to explain myself over and over until I’m really tired and sad, and he’ll say all the right things and hug me and say we’ll be okay. So please, sweet people of reddit, how do I break up with him? I’m just so done being so emotional and feeling so unimportant, unheard and unseen all the time.

Things that will change
• designs • relationships • backstories • setting

Had a couple bits of underperformance this year leading to some stats being worse than I had hoped, so I'm pretty nervous about the application process. Be as honest as possible!
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Demographics: (Indian) Asian Male in California (Nearby Sacramento), IB magnet school (title 1).Intended Major(s): Electrical Engineering, want to do masters in roboticsACT/SAT/SAT II: 36 ACT (36E,36M,35R,36S), 1570 SAT (770R 790M)UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.96 UW/ 4.56 W, School does not do rank but I take the most challenging classes.Coursework: - IB Physics SL (7), IB Economics SL (6), Enrolled in IB Bio HL, IB Math HL, IB English HL, IB Spanish SL, and IB Chem SL. (Full Diploma) -AP Calculus BC (5), AP Physics C Mechanics (5), AP CSA (5) -Calculus 3 and Differential Equations this summer at community college, Linear Algebra in FallAwards: - USAPHO Honorable Mention - AIME 1x (Hopefully 2x next year) - Recipient of Lemelson MIT Grant - Global Innovation Challenge International Finalist - FTC Dean's List Semifinalist 2x - FTC worlds Qualifier - Science Olympiad: Multiple gold medals at state & national level invitationals Extracurriculars: - Researched Reinforcement Learning (2022) (published as first author) - Software development intern at Intel (2022): Developed visualization system for digital circuit representations - Personal project: Work relates to perception systems and drones - NASA Intern (Project Leader) (2023): Work relates to perception systems (somewhat confidential) - Software Networking Intern (2023): Worked with a startup to evaluate connection systems and optimize signal trafficking through Machine Learning - Robotics Team captain & build lead - Science Olympiad Team Captain - President of Math Team - Vice President of Astronomy Club - Volunteer: 400 hours working with girl scouts to teach robotics, 200+ additional hours on other education programs with misc. organizations Essays/LORs/Other: Good/strong essays (still working on them lol), hopefully strong LORs from Physics teacher who coached me in science olympiad for 5 years & Spanish teacher who likes my "moral character" and considers me the "tech guy" of the school.
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Schools: ED CMU, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Berkeley, Cornell, Gtech, Upenn, Purdue, Umich Ann Arbor, Harvey Mudd, UIUC, JHU, Princeton, USC, UCLA, Columbia, Yale, Olin, Rose Hulmond, ASU

As the title states, I (18ftm) just found out that my (now) ex (17m) has been cheating on me for around a month with his best friend (17f).
Our relationship was good for a long time. We occasionally got into arguments, but we quickly got over them. But after about a year of being with him, our relationship started to spiral. He would get violent and break my stuff. He never laid a hand on me, but that was enough to scare me into not making him mad. He would blame his mental health and extensive trauma on the way he treated me, but refused therapy and medications that would have possibly helped.
Now I know what you’re probably thinking. Why did I stay in a relationship that seemed like it was going nowhere? Why did I put up with the abuse?
I’m a survivor of childhood abuse and have been working through my trauma with my therapist for the last few years. I was so focused on my past that I didn’t realize what was going on in my relationship. He managed to take advantage of my weaknesses and use them against me.
Yesterday I had a really bad gut feeling because his best friend has posted something on her snapchat story. Basically someone was asking her who her boyfriend was, and she said “I don’t want to say but his first name starts with an R.” I texted one of my friends about that, and about the fact that my boyfriend was constantly ditching me to see her, and they said that it seemed very suspicious. I checked his instagram DMs, and sure enough, he was telling her that he loved her and wanted to cuddle with her and wishes he was with her.
So I decided I wasn’t going to let myself be walked all over any longer.
I called her, told her that she must think I was stupid for not being able to find out, and told her to never contact me again. I then lost my collective shit on my bf.
I put a roof over his head, food on his plate, and clothes on his back, and this is the thanks I get? I wasn’t going to sit around while he drug my name through the mud. So I texted all of our mutual friends screenshots of his conversation with his best friend.
Of course that didn’t go over well. So he called me and started telling me that I was pathetic and “just a quick fuck.” And told me that he hopes that my very ill grandfather died right in front of me and that I get raped by my ex again.
I decided to tell everyone he hangs out with, told the people he was living with, told his girlfriend’s mom, and told my whole family. And given everything that he has said and done to me, he has lost almost everyone.
Moral of the story, don’t cheat on your partner kids, or they may just ruin your life.

Dual casting in Skyrim is completely fucked.
If you’ve played an Illusion character, you’ve probably run into the infamous “Dual Cast Bug,” where spells that should work when dual cast simply fail. For example, if you dual cast a level 5 Calm spell against a level 9 Bandit, it should work–unless you have the Dual Cast Bug, in which case it won’t. This happens in all modded setups, and it happens a lot, but it’s most noticeable in Simonrim because I balance heavily around dual casting.
The biggest problem with troubleshooting the Dual Cast Bug is tracking it down. At first, we were able to identify a few big mods that caused it. Strange Runes causes it, Footprints causes it, Survival Mode and Survival Mode Improved cause it… As the list of mods that caused it got bigger and bigger, it got harder and harder to believe that individual mods were at fault. Then, I released Blade & Blunt 3.0, which was super, super, super awesome… and also caused the Dual Cast Bug in an extremely reproducible way.
The good news is that, with a way to finally reproduce the Dual Cast Bug reliably, 100% of the time, we were able to track down the source of the bug. Basically, any time that Cast(), RemoteCast(), or AddSpell() fire while you're holding a dual cast spell, when you fire the spell, the game will treat it as if it were single cast. If you’re a modder, you probably just had to do a double take and read that sentence again, but yes, it’s really that bad. The worst part is that it’s basically impossible to make gameplay mods without using Cast(), RemoteCast(), or AddSpell().
At its heart, the Dual Cast Bug is very simple. When you dual cast a spell, the "IsDualCasting" flag is set to true. However, whenever a spell finishes casting, that spell sets the "IsDualCasting" flag to false. This means that if you are currently dual casting a spell, and then another spell is cast (or another ability is added) to your character while you are casting, the game will no longer recognize that you are dual casting. So, for instance, Blade & Blunt 3’s DLL adds a spell to the player when they move while sneaking, in order to drain their Stamina. If you sneak, charge up a dual cast Illusion spell, and then begin to move, the Stamina drain spell will tell the game you are not dual casting anymore, and so the spell will act like a single cast spell when you release it.
This bug basically makes dual casting unusable in some modded setups, and it’s pretty insane that it hasn’t been more widely known until now. The worst part, in my opinion, is that the mods that are “causing” the dual cast bug aren’t doing anything wrong. Fortunately, po3 is a goddamn wizard and just fixed it. You can find the fix here, and it’s compatible with all game versions except for VR (VR support is going to be handled soon).
This fix should be included in all Skyrim load orders and mod lists as the issue is extremely common and will often cause problems in the background without you even knowing.

So I am looking at leaving company A for company B, less money, but more chance for growth
If I get asked “why do you want to leave company A?”
How do I respond?
The truthful answer is that there is bad blood between myself and management over a personal issue that I needed time off for but wasn’t allowed. I am forced to skip breaks as well.
Reasons for joining company B are genuinely true, I have seen them train people (on the job) in the job I would love to do (seen the training trucks - I want to do HGV driving) in my current company, they say they offer it, but I have never seen it. Plus the negative reasons behind leaving company A i hope are different in company B