Volvo turn off start/stop permanently

What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.

Valve games, indie steam games, Dreamcast/neo geo emulation, and maybe try a few newer games.

What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?

1,000-1200

When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.

Maybe in 2-3 months. I want to work a few weekends so I don’t pull out of savings for it.

What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc)

Everything excluding: monitor, keyboard, mouse. I will be gaming on a tv mostly.

Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?

Florida, I prefer not to import parts.

If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.

n/a

Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?

No OCing unless the motherboard offers a simply “turn off/on” feature.

Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)

I’d like the motherboard to include the newest version of Bluetooth and WiFi. I have fiber internet so a 1gb Ethernet would be nice.

Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?

I do like those corny RGB lights, but the cheapest case is probably the better.

Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?

no preference but I’d imagine a 64-bit copy.

Extra info or particulars:

(Pt. 1) An additional thanks to u/An_Insufferable_NEWT for letting me borrow one of his characters.
...And now for the conclusion.
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= = =
​
Evelra swore. They had come here to uplift humanity from barbarism, not let the powers that be enable humanity’s worst elements while the selfsame Noble cunts indulged in their own pubescent masturbatory power fantasies. Fuck this. She thought to herself with a growl and flicked her comms channel to all units.
​
“All forces, this is Captain Evelra. The goddess-damned governess’s private militia have opened fire on the civies. Arrest those brother-fucking [bastards] on sight before they can fuck this mess up any further!” She barked over the comms, a bit of local English slipping into her words. She couldn’t call them stiffs; the latter had more class than this.
​
“Capt, we’ve got three APCs in militia markings barreling down the road in front of the Governess’s mansion from the west. ETA 30 seconds. This is about to get messy.” Prex’s voice cut in with a false calm lent by years of experience.
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Evelra could feel the material of her suit creak as her hands briefly tightened into hardened fists. “All west side Pods converge on Pod 7, support Lieutenant Eleynor. Eastern Pods, evac the civies. And Prex? Keep the late arrivals occupied. Don’t let these fuckers get another shot off.” She growled, her Second giving a brief click of acknowledgement over the comms before switching channels to give orders of her own.
​
Turning back to face Isaiah, Evelra reached a hand down to grab the elder by his medical exoskeleton and hoisted him to his feet. “Looks like the Governess ran out of patience. Get your people out of here, we’ll deal with this.” She explained brusquely, jabbing one finger towards the eastern side of the boulevard. She could apologize for womanhandling him later, right now every second counted.
​
The moment she was sure he had his feet under him, the marine captain let go and tried to move on Eleynor’s position with all due haste. “Out of the way! MOVE!” Evelra shouted as she strode forward, the sea of humans doing their best to get out of her path. Already, people were starting to scramble as panic spread like wildfire. She could hear the cries of terror and confusion all around her; shouted orders from the protest organizers and her own marines were almost inaudible against the din as they tried to control the chaos.
​
As she neared pod 7’s position, a horrifying scene unfolded before her. In the shadow of the buildings, at least a dozen of the protesters were currently on fire. Harsh yellow and orange flames rose from the flailing figures to form hazy gray clouds of smoke that hung heavy in the air. Even more humans were covered in burn marks and charred clothes. One woman just sat there, trembling and numb from shock as she stared her bloody arm; the melted remains of her synthetic shirt peeling away with boiled skin. Amidst the chaos, the other protesters were doing everything from trying to help the wounded and burning to running in panic and terror; the latter creating a solid wave of bodies in front of Evelra as they stumbled over one another to flee the danger.
​
From out of sight, she saw one of the Governess’ militia-kitted thugs go flying; only to watch them get back up and charge in to fight whom Evelra assumed to be Pod 7. Shil’vati might be stronger, but when equally equipped, outnumbered and against human reflexes she knew that fight wasn’t going to end well for her girls if the rest of the western Pods didn’t reach them soon. Then, one of the militiamen stepped forward towards the crowd.
​
As he strode boldly through the mayhem, Evelra could only watch while one of the protesters tried to confront him; the tide of humans preventing the marine captain from intervening. Inaudible words were exchanged, the protester shouting something as they gesticulated wildly. The Governess’ thug merely responded with two swift strikes of his rifle butt, first to the gut, then to the back of the head, the other man dropping like an anchor. In the distance, out of the corner of her eye, she numbly noted that the rest of the governess’ thugs had arrived and were using their APCs as cover between them and the Pods under Prexith’s command.
​
Evelra felt her gut sink as the militiamen shouldered his rifle once more, stepping out of the building’s shadow to take aim at the crowd. “EVERYBODY DOWN!” The marine captain roared as she planted her feet and pulled her sidearm in one smooth, practiced motion. Drawing a bead on the Governess’ thug, the panicked crowd tried to clear out of her way; but there were just too many people. She wasn’t going to make it in time. No, no more. Not-
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The militiaman’s head disappeared.
​
A split second later, the now infamously familiar thunderous crack and echoing roar of a large bore human chemical ballistic rifle rolled over them as the corpse spasmed on its feet; a shockwave visibly rippling through the suit it was wearing. “SNIPER!” Somebody bellowed. It might have been her, but in that moment she honestly couldn’t tell. As the headless body crumpled to the ground in a fountain of red, the same gun roared out again… and again. In the distance she could see two sudden sprays of red splatter up the sides of the Militia APCs, one right after the other.
​
The echoes of gunfire galvanized the crowd into a further panic, a stampede of human protesters slamming into Evelra in their attempt to get away from the violence. For a moment, the marine captain thought she was going to get dragged under by the wave, but then they rolled past her, leaving her staggering into the clear. With the screaming of the crowd now behind her and her ears still ringing from gunshots it was oddly quiet once more, save for the groans of the wounded.
​
Not letting herself fall into the lull, Evelra kept moving forward only to nearly gag at the smell as she approached the corner of the building. Like a Blue Grail left in the summer sun for a week, the air was heavy with a putrid smoke, reminiscent of the scent of death itself. Quickly sealing her helmet, she took a shuddering breath of fresh air before looking up just in time to see a pair of the Governess’s thugs get bodily tackled into the pavement by Eleynor. The rest of treasonous Militia were either surrendering or trying to run like the Deep-Minder itself was behind them as more Marine Pods came charging around nearby street corners.
​
Watching the last treasonous bastards eat pavement, the marine captain strode up to the Militaman’s corpse and picked up his blood-stained rifle. Quickly turning the weapon over in her hands, Evelra took one look at its settings and nearly threw the gun away in disgust. Medium power, maximum dispersal. Against even the most basic of modern armor, such settings would be practically useless; but would make for a decent, if imprecise, fire starter. Which is exactly what they’d done. Of course, leave it to the humans to figure out how to turn the most basic of weapons into a tool of terror. She thought bitterly, adjusting the beam spread back to something more logical before strapping it’s sling to her harness.
​
Now properly armed for anything else the Deep-Minder might decide to throw at her, Evelra flicked open her wrist-mounted omnipad, the integrated AR display in her helmet seamlessly linking to it. A couple quick taps later and the captain had an outgoing call. As the phone line rang in her ear, she tried not to tap her foot, every second feeling like ten.
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“911, what’s your emer-”
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Before the woman on the other end could even finish her sentence, Evelra interrupted her. “This is Captain Evelra of the Imperial Marines, 4032nd company. We have at least a dozen, I repeat, at least a dozen critically injured burn victims at the corner of 3rd and Main. I need emergency Medivac for the critically wounded.” She barked into the mic.
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There was a momentary pause on the other end accompanied by the sounds of a physical keyboard before shortly being followed by a muffled “Fuck.” Evelra shifted impatiently as one second dragged into the next. “Is something the matter?” The marine growled.
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“Ahh… No ma’am.” The other woman’s voice was uncertain for a moment before steadying back out. “Just bypassing some red tape. Consider it done. ETA, ten minutes.” She said with a thermocast firmness. Evelra briefly considered hounding the woman for what exactly she meant by ‘red tape’ but decided against it. She sounded confident in her statement and ultimately there was nothing else Evelra could do about it at the moment.
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“I’m going to hold you to that.” The marine captain growled before hanging up. One down. Looking up, she glanced over the growing crowd of Marines. Already, some of her girls were pulling out medkits and burn patches as they moved to help injured protesters; her AR display highlighting their ranks and names.
​
“Sergeant Quixana!” Evelra barked over the din.
“Ma’am!” The medic shouted back over one shoulder, barely looking up from the burn victim she was currently treating.
​
“We have civilian medivac for the burn victims inbound, ETA ten minutes. You have command over Triage. Anyone in critical condition they can’t airlift out is your responsibility. Clear?” She commanded, watching the Governess’s thugs like a shark as her girls disarmed and secured them. At this point, Evelra honestly didn’t expect them to try anything else; but as always with humans, one never quite knew what they’d do.
​
“Affirmative!” Quixana replied. Taking a moment to ensure the woman she was treating wasn’t in immediate danger, the medic ushered another marine over to help and began shouting orders of her own. Two down. Satisfied that the situation was under control, Evelra keyed into her comms again.
​
“Prex, Sitrep.”
​
A couple moments later, the other woman’s voice came to life in her earpiece. “After the gunshots went off, the little fuckers started stumbling over each other to try and surrender. What in the Deep just happened?” Despite the horror around her, Evelra gave a short, mirthless chuckle. “Seems a certain… somebody decided to more than just ‘play’ at being security. And seeing as I still have my head, they’re not a complete bloodthirsty idiot.”
​
“You certain it’s… them?” Prex asked, a hint of dubiousness in her voice.
​
“Given that there’s one of the Governess’s thugs sans their head while I still have mine? Yeah. About as certain as I can be. Fits what little we know about their M.O.” Evelra shot back.
​
There were several long moments of silence before her subordinate let out a low whistle. “Make that three. I’ve got two more over here. Definitely explains why the little Turoxes were so fucking panicky. What now Cap?”
​
“How many of your Pods do you need to secure your prisoners?” Evelra asked.
​
“Less than half. They’re more terrified of stepping back into the sights of that sniper than anything else, I think.” Prexith snorted, a dry hint of amusement in her voice.
​
“Take as many as you think you can spare from guard duty and go arrest the Governess. Alive. Though preventing her from causing any more damage takes priority. Clear?” Evelra’s voice was firm, the unspoken message clear. Try not to kill the bitch if at all possible, but ice her tits if she’s going to make this a problem.
​
“As a laser lens. Prex out.”
​
When the line clicked dead, the marine captain took a deep breath and tried to center herself. Now came the hard part.
​
Politics.
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= = =
​
Evelra stopped outside the governess’ office and took a deep breath to steady herself. Within two hours of getting the fiasco under control, one Agent Lohun had arrived… along with three Pods of Death’s Head Commandos. Upon giving him her report, the petite male had thanked her and politely requested that she remain in her quarters until further notice. The marine captain had known better than to try and test those particular boundaries. It was only now, three days later, that she’d been summoned once more.
​
In spite of the not quite lockdown state that was currently in effect, word still traveled. Her orders to arrest the governess had been upheld and the bitch had been transferred out to some Interior facility goddess knows where. A minimal local press release had happened; condemning the governess’ actions and requesting cooperation with the authorities as they investigated the incident. Things were still tense, but the daily gathering of thousands of protesters had dwindled to a hundred or so of the most stubborn.
​
With a little shake to clear her head, Evelra opened the office door and stepped through. Behind the governess’ massive polished wooden desk sat Lohun. The petite male was almost comically out of place; his simple take on the Interior uniform clashing with the room’s ostentatious opulence. Rumor had it that since he was investigating the room’s previous owner, he’d simply co-opted the office rather than bother to set up another workspace elsewhere. Looking up from his omnipad and what she assumed was a proverbial mountain of reports, the Agent gave her a tired nod of acknowledgement.
​
“Good. You’re here. Please, take a seat Captain D’saari.” He said, gesturing to a much simpler chair in front of the desk. Wincing internally at his usage of her long-abandoned family name, Evelra complied and settled into the offered seat in silence as she tried not to look at the silent woman in the corner with the three-eyed skull mask. Lohun gave his omnipad one last glance before setting it down and letting his carefully focused gaze settle onto her.
​
“Six deaths.” He stated simply, letting the fact hang there in the air for a moment. “Only half of which were not the aggressors in this situation. That could have gone much, much worse. A job well done Captain.”
​
Evelra gave an awkward shrug. “Without the… unsolicited fire support it would have been. My girls just did the mop up.”
​
Lohun hummed, double-checking something on his omni-pad. “About that. The audio logs between you and your second indicated a certain familiarity with this assumed insurgent sniper, yet I can’t find any combat reports that you two share featuring any opposition with this kind of firepower. Care to explain what I’m missing here?” He asked calmly, a polite smile on his face; the Commando in the corner shifting her weight slightly.
​
Right. That.
​
A bundle of nerves did somersaults in her gut as she felt her throat go dry. “Ah, yeah. About… one local year ago we had a human male turn up dead. Clear signs of abuse. Autopsy report indicated he had both Nightfel and Viagra in him at the time of death. I had my suspicions, but the ensuing investigation never turned up any evidence.” The marine captain grimaced, scratching at one tusk with her thumbnail. “A few months later, A pod on a routine patrol got ambushed. All three of their heads were blown clean off. Big gun. I think you can guess what we found when we cleared out their belongings.”
​
“Nightfel and Viagra.” Lohun said cooly, his face grim.
​
Evelra nodded. “Yeah. The Governess covered the whole thing up in the name of keeping the peace. Released a statement that the young man’s murderers had been found and executed while redacting my report.”
​
Briefly adding a few notes on his omnipad, the Interior agent gave her a careful look. “Why didn’t you report this breach of protocol to the Interior?”
​
“Because it worked.” Evelra sighed. “Approval ratings ticked up, minor incidents went down. Didn’t hurt that I also publicly doubled down on mandatory etiquette training for my girls. I’ve seen enough of the Empire’s bureaucracy over the years to know better than to stir up the seabed over something like this. Justice was served, even if it was in a less than ideal manner.”
​
“And what about the young man’s family?” Lohun pressed, his gaze tightening.
​
Coughing slightly to clear her throat, Evelra looked away as she felt her cheeks heat up. “Officially, they were given the same story as everyone else. However, I… I may have taken one Shel to visit their home and correct that mistake. They deserved to know.” She finished quietly, leaning forward in her chair to look down at the ground. Anywhere but at the male in front of her.
​
After several agonizingly long moments of silence, the marine captain glanced up to catch sight of Lohun slowly starting to nod. “Good. That’s good. We can work with that.”
​
At his words, Evelra let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. In response, a ghost of a smile pulled at the edges of Lohun’s face. “Yes, you can relax now. You’re here to help me fix this mess, not to have your tits burned off.”
​
Evelra bobbed her head, eager for the change of topic. “Gladly. What can I do?”
​
The ghost of a smile on Lohun’s face broadened slightly, hovering on the edge of a smirk. “Simple. You will be taking over as the Local Governess.” The marine captain felt her jaw go slack as the Interior Agent calmly continued along as if he was discussing something as simple as dinner reservations.
​
“Of course, there’s a plethora of steps to take along the way. In recognition of your service to the citizens of the empire, you will be promoted two ranks to Lieutenant Colonel and discharged with full honors. We’ll then need somebody to fill your current position. One Sergeant… Prexith Van’sar, your current second, should do nicely. With her service record she's certainly earned herself a commission, I think.” He scoffed in amusement, shaking his head at some distant thought. “Deep, her accolades are almost as impressive as her penchant for avoiding promotions. It’s my hope though that continuing to work with you should be enough to dissuade her of that particular tendency.”
​
Lohun finally took a proper pause, as if he was only now taking in her shock. “Is something the matter Captain D’saari?”
​
As Evelra heard him refer to her by her family name again something inside her broke. The sheer absurdity of it all was just too much, and a noise of amusement escaped her mouth. It started as a snort, before growing into a full-on barks of laughter as Evelra shook her head in disbelief. “I- I’m sorry, but you want me, the legally disowned, stiff-sprung cunt to be a local governess? Goddess, you all must be getting desperate if you’re willing to dredge up the cast-off chaff of the noble houses.”
​
Lohun merely quirked an eyebrow at her before briefly consulting his omnipad again. “So that explains the three separate attempts to change your last name… aannd probably why all three of them never went anywhere.” He let out a small humph as a flicker of distaste crossed his face. “An easy enough fix.”
​
“Goddess. You’re serious.” Evelra muttered as she slumped back in her chair, trying to process the implications. “Ok. Why me?” She asked, throwing a hand wide.
​
The Interior agent’s gaze focused in on her as he leaned forward onto the table, steepling his fingers. “Because Captain, over the past three days I have spent an exhaustive amount of time interviewing and interrogating people to get a better handle on what happened and why. Your name came up just as, if not, more frequently than the governess’s; and rarely in a negative light. From both Shil’vati and humans. Deep, even some of the ones that looked like they wanted to spit in my face refused to speak ill of you. Do you understand how goddess-damned rare that is?” Lohun finished, his voice raised and projected, not quite reaching an actual shout.
​
Evelra was sorely tempted to argue. She’d spent most of her adult life trying to get as far away from the nobility and politics as she could, as nothing good in her life had ever come from them. Then her conversation with Isaiah flashed through her mind. Fuck. The marine captain let out a disgusted groan of frustration as she rubbed her face with one hand. “Alright… but how?” She asked, her brain fervently grasping at straws. “I mean no offense, but… isn’t that a little outside your authority as an Interior Agent?..”
​
Once more, a slight grin pulled at the agent’s face. “Ah yes. Perhaps some reintroductions are in order. Independent Investigator Lohun Vey’elquiese of the Empress’s own and an Agent of her Interior. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Evelra?..” He said smoothly, letting the end of his sentence hang as he leaned across the massive table to offer a petite fist.
​
Oh.
​
For one long moment, Evelra’s brain short-circuited. The petite little male sitting across from her answered to only perhaps a dozen people in the entire Empire, and had the authority to make individuals such as system governesses simply disappear. Of course, abuse of said power carried the death penalty, not that one of the Empress’s own handpicked agents were likely to make that kind of mistake. Suddenly, the three pods of Death’s Head Commandos accompanying him made much, much more sense.
​
After a couple seconds of slight panic, her brain caught back up and she processed the question he’d carefully interwoven into his reintroduction. Taking a moment to think, she settled on her answer. With a slight smile of her own, she reached out her hand to tap her knuckles to his.
​
“Van’sar. Evelra Van’sar. And the pleasure is all mine Investigator.”

I’m (26F) married for 11 months to a person (28M) I chose. I was brought up in a family where my father was mostly away. My mother was very young when she conceived me, she was a teen. So you can realise the trauma i might have been through. To give an idea, after turning 15 I came to know my mother was r**ed by my father. So I’ve my own struggles coping with all these. I developed anxiety, co-dependency. My past relationships didn’t help either. A 7 yr relationship ended because of my ex’s addiction problem. So I really struggle with believing people, or their intentions with me.
However, a year ago I decided to marry a person I’ve known for over a decade. He was a friend and when things turned romantic I was head over heels for him. The transition was so smooth. There was no awkwardness. But the red flags I ignored was love bombing, him turning away just a few months after we got together. I also saw a controlling side of him. He can get very possessive and angry. He’s very rigid with what he believes in. If I’m being honest I didn’t take much time exploring our relationship. I had good faith in him as he has been an amazing friend, our chemistry was spot on. But he has this cycle where he will get angry at the smallest things i.e me being upset/distant. And I’ve believed for a long time I cause his anger. I’ve tried to mend my “ways” like limiting my alone time or not becoming silent and addressing the issues. But nothing seems to help. His pattern is always the same, he gets angry, he screams at me, he says very hurtful things, he blames me for his actions but then he APOLOGISES!! Admits he was wrong and promises to never do this again. But this cycle doesn’t stop.
To give an idea, A few days before we got married, he pointed out how my family wasn’t doing anything “special” for him, which really hurt me. As I had to sacrifice a lot, and had zero demands from him. I was very understanding about the whole situation and all I really wanted was to marry the love of my life, that was my only focus. And so the most expenses in my wedding was done by my family. I bought him expensive gifts with my own money, I also shared the hotel booking cost with him for our nuptial night. Even if you keep these financial responsibilities aside, our whole wedding was planned and executed to every details by me only. I had just gotten into a job but managed to do do it all in less than 3 weeks. And after we got married, my father paid every expense for me to be with him in a foreign country where he is pursuing his masters. I did all the research and paperwork, whatever was needed. And i did all of these HAPPILY for him. I didn’t expect an extravagant wedding or gifts from him. We didn’t even get to go on a honeymoon. And I was understanding about every single thing.
But during that argument, just two days before our wedding, he got a little handsy with me for the first time. Grabbing my face/neck, telling me how he is to blame for giving me so much “courage” to disrespect him. Simply ‘cause I told him he was small minded for even thinking like that. Because I was very hurt by it. It seemed like he was taking all of these for granted. And since we got married this has happened atleast 4 times. He has promised to see a therapist for this, because he too believed he needs it. But it’s been weeks and he doesn’t make effort. Tonight I brought it up and he told me how hard I am on him, How much I hurt him, How I’m not doing enough for him.
I’m not in a good headspace to write but if I summarise my abusiveness-

1. I am toxic as in I become silent when I can’t emotionally cope with a situation.
   
2. I give silent treatment that can be hurtful.
   
3. If he uses sentences like “you’ll never change” “you are so hard on me” “nothing will make you happy” I get extremely triggered and my reactions can be ugly. I get very confrontational and I get really angry too.
   
4. If we fight I always bring up previous issues (that still haven’t been resolved).
   
5. I jump to conclusions very easily. I use sentences like: I will leave you if this continues. Or that I will go back to my parents. Or you’ve ruined my life.
   
6. One time I during our fight I got scared that he might hit me, so I pushed him, hit him in the chest telling him to get away. But he hadn’t really hit me. And this made him cry uncontrollably. (But I’ve never repeated it and I will never again do this to a person I love so wholeheartedly.)
   
7. Whenever he starts shouting I try to leave the room this causes him to hold me down.
   

I have really been trying to acknowledge and minimise my toxicity to make this work. But I hardly ever start a fight or even If do I don’t make things nasty. I always hope it will go as a normal conversation where I’ll be heard and understood. And if not I won’t be abused at-least. I’ve really tried to communicate things to him instead of going silent but it seems like that causes more argument.
30 mins ago I was uncontrollably sobbing and looking down from the terrace in a trance thinking of jumping off.. simply cause I am not being able to process. I know tomorrow morning I’ve to patch things up with him and accept his apologies and move on. And things will be good for another week too until it’s not. I’m going crazy trying to figure out where I’m wrong? It’s like no matter what I do or say can be turned against me. And all the pain and hard work I go through seems meaningless.
Note: I’m in a foreign country with him and I don’t have health insurance. So I can’t access therapy or seek professional help if I want to. I’m supporting myself with a small job since he’s a student. So don’t suggest psychiatrist or therapy for me. We also can’t go into couple counselling. Please share your valuable opinions/suggestions on what to do.
Tl;dr: Even though my husband has anger issues who gets angry for the smallest thing and sometimes gets a little handsy, I am still unsure if I’m playing any role to cause it. I don’t react loudly like him but I get distant. I give silent treatment. I try to wake up and leave mid-argument if he starts shouting. I bring up previous issues in fight that haven’t been resolved. I jump to conclusions and threaten to leave him when things turn ugly between us.

Poorly Hidden
First Prev
There were very few things to do in quarantine.
Alex had spent his last two days sleeping as much as he could. There were six movies available to watch and nothing else. His techs steadfastly refused to tell him anything about the outside world, which was standard procedure. Nothing that would get him riled up, as Shawn put it. That sort of riled him up.
Aside from sleeping, the only thing that broke the monotony was meal time. First he would get scanned and then one of the nurses would drop off clean scrubs and a steaming hot bowl of nutragel in the small airlock. In the morning it tasted sort of like a cinnamon roll. The lunch nutragel bore some resemblance to chicken soup and the dinner nutragel was similar to but distinct from beef stew.
Nutragel was easily more dissatisfying to eat than anything else a dispenser produced. It provided everything he needed to live and made things easier on the scanner, but lacked any other redeemable features. Freedom could not come soon enough.
So he thought.
Being released was nearly as strange as being brought in. Shawn gave him his marching orders - There’d be a representative from the Civilian Pilot Program waiting for Carbon and him once he was out of the secure portion of the station, and said his goodbye before turning the airlock on. It cycled automatically around him and he walked from the quarantine room down the hall to the patient elevator. Even before the doors opened, he could smell the cleaning chemicals. A minute later his eyes were stinging and his scrubs smelled like something that would denature a prion, but it did deposit him in front of the first human he’d seen since the day he arrived.
The nurse behind the counter was not operating under the same conditions, and seemed pretty bored by his arrival. He pushed a bag with Alex’s name on it across the stainless countertop, and pointed out where the changing rooms were before turning back to his terminal.
There was technically a shower in the quarantine room. One of those dry ones that used ultrasonic waves and a vacuum. It allegedly did the job. The changing room had a real shower, towels, and the most generic little bottles of soap and shampoo Alex had ever seen. Even if everything was a little threadbare, this still felt like luxury. It had been longer than he cared to think about since he’d gotten the chance to take an actual water shower, and he was not going to skip the opportunity to wash the stink of chemicals off his body.
Once again clean, though looking a bit scruffy from nine days of stubble growth, he donned the same clothing that he had been brought in with, now so thoroughly decontaminated it appeared a shade lighter than it had started, and immediately sat down in the waiting room.
Carbon arrived about fifteen minutes later, slightly damp and visibly exhausted. While she did perk up when she spotted him, a brief flash of a smile tamped down as she glanced over at the attendant operating the elevator to the rest of the station. Alex followed suit, keeping it professional as he requested access to leave quarantine.
Once alone in the elevator, a brief look of longing may have been exchanged.
“Oh. It’s real.” Alex murmured to himself as the doors opened to the main deck of the small station, the smell of cooked food wafting through the air as they stepped out. They had arrived just in time for breakfast. He inhaled deeply. “I think they have bacon. And pancakes? You’ll like both of those, I’m sure.”
“Pilot Alex Sorenson? Shipmaster Tshalen?” An older man wearing a button down shirt and nice slacks stepped forward before Alex could determine which way to go to get to the food. He smiled affably, extending his hand. “Dae Yeong, I’m with the CPP.”
Alex barely kept his shit together and shook his hand. “Oh yes. We were told you’d be here.” He didn’t manage to keep the disappointment out of his voice, though.
Dae gave Carbon a short bow, which she returned, and he handed them both new CPP access badges. They were clearly labeled PILOT and ENGINEER respectively, with photos. Alex grinning like he’d won the lotto, Carbon straight-faced and looking a bit like she was getting a mugshot taken. It wasn’t necessary on the quarantine station, but they’d be needing them for access in secure areas elsewhere. “If you both don’t mind, we should be departing for McFadden station immediately. Traffic is already bad and there’s a lot to do.”
Alex did mind, but he kept it to himself. It was a short walk to the hanger, and they quickly found themselves wedged into the back of a four seat transport. It was an inexpensive but serviceable civilian model with CPP branding all over the outside. Mr. Yeong kept his hands on the controls even though the short jaunt to McFadden station was likely to be entirely autopilot.
“I still cannot believe it is so large.” Carbon leaned over as far as her seat’s safety harness would allow, whispering to him as the station grew on the main screen, already lined up with one of the bays on the docking arc. Parking lot speeds were strictly enforced this close to a structure, they were still 30 minutes from actually coming aboard.
“Third largest in system, twelfth in all of human space.” Alex suppressed the urge to make that joke, keeping his voice down too. It was probably pointless, Mr. Yeong was just over an arms length away in the pilot’s seat and could easily hear them. It still felt sort of conspiratorial, almost fun.
“I am aware of that, but I do not know why.” She shifted back into her seat properly, ears twitching as they pressed into the headrest. Carbon had curled her antenna over her shoulder, preferring that to crushing them between her back and the seat that had not been made with that particular biological difference in mind.
He shrugged. “They had to make room for all the old spacecraft in the Exploration museum.”
Carbon straightened up and looked at him, perplexed. “A museum?”
“Uh huh.”
“You put a museum in space? In a station that some of your most advanced spacecraft are based from?” Carbon was starting to get that tone that said she may be offended by the very idea being discussed.
“Not me personally, no. But it does seem like a reasonable place for it.”
“I did not mean you specifically, Alex. I meant as a species. Space is not a reasonable place for a museum, no matter the subject.” She was adamant about that, a finger
“Space is the perfect place for a museum about space exploration. That was the jingle they used during construction.” He cleared his throat and sang, off key. “Space... is the per-fect place.”
Mr. Yeong chuckled quietly.
Carbon’s jaw set and she huffed with frustration. “Your species is so cavalier about so many things. Space is dangerous, it is no place to leave a collection of historical knowledge.”
Alex looked out of his window with a snort, watching a row of single-container cargo drones waiting for access queuing up as he dismissed her argument with a wave of his hand. “Oh yeah, nothing of value has ever been destroyed on a planet before, right?”
The back seat got very quiet.
When he looked back, Carbon was staring down at balled fists with deadly intensity, normally blue lips pressed so tight they were pale.
He figured out where he had fucked up a moment later. “I didn’t mean- Not like, I... Hell.”
Her words came slowly, precise. “I know you did not mean it that way.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. The statement is true, disaster or not. A planet can still oversee untold destruction.” She closed her eyes and exhaled, her body relaxing. ”It has been a difficult week.”
He had forgotten that isolation is hard on the Tsla’o. It had been annoying for him, but being nearly completely cut off from interaction in what was ultimately an alien prison cell must have weighed heavily on her. “Is it alright if I feel bad?”
Carbon took a deep breath and exhaled slowly again, watching her hands uncurl and fingers stretch as she recentered herself. She straightened back up, ears unfolding from being pressed tight against her head before she glanced over at him with a brief nod. A thin, wry smile slowly working across her short muzzle. “That is acceptable as long as you are done by the time we arrive.”
Alex laughed just as Mr. Yeong looked back at them over his shoulder. The older man gave them a bemused smile. “Has anyone told you two that you sound like a married couple?”
That shut both of them up for the rest of the trip.
 
First Prev
*****
That's right, I wrote the P word.
They're really not good at keeping things under wraps.

My girlfriend and I both played Diablo 2 as kids and recently ran through it together, and had fun: nostalgia, gameplay, etc.
We've run through Fable and Skyrim when we had an XBox, passing off the controller, and that was a good time, but we'd prefer to play together, and all we have right now is two new-ish mac computers.
We're looking for decent RPGs that we can play together, preferably ARPGs. I don't like turn-based. Diablo 3 was pretty boring, and we just got Torchlight 2 and if it ever works I'll report back.
Thanks in advance fam.

In the last fight of this qp match i was just in someone must’ve turned the servers off. i dont have the live replay but in the replay viewer it jus looks like everyone is off drugs for like 30 secs. Happens around the 10:30 mark. code is 1D7B3N

Credit to u/SpacePaladin15
Memory transcription subject: Salvek, Human-Venlil Exchange Program Candidate
Date [standardized human time]: September 3, 2136
I hate banks. Or, more specifically, I hate the United Banking Service. I've never really used another bank, on account of my mother signing me up for a twenty-five year family plan for a cash bonus that never came (it was twenty-five thousand credits, I can't really blame her) but that just makes me hate this one more.
The fat, lazy Gojid on the other side of the bulletproof glass teller window tapped away at his keyboard in order to process my application for a loan. Above him I saw the UBS logo and motto: "Speed, Security, Success." All a load of vyalpic if you ask me. (I will die of old age before this loan ever comes through)
"Sooooo....." Thank the Herd, he was finally talking. I was worried his fat ass had a heart attack and died with how little moving he did. "Your credit score issss....." Oh Protector, just spit it out already! Now I get why predators have such violent impulses. (What if I can't control mine? What if we're worse than them?)
Brahk my intrusive thoughts. How does Jack control his so well? I resolved to ask him when my loan got processed, assuming neither of us starved to death in the meantime. (Speed, security, and success this dick)
"Seven hundred and ninety." Oh, thank Inatala. (Inatala hates predators, can I still say that with one as my best friend?) Venlil credit scores go from zero, being applied to people who took out million-credit loans and blew all the money on gear to unsuccessfully rob the bank they got the loan from, to one thousand, which went to those who panicked over a two credit overdrawn balance and had a heart attack whenever they were a week away from a loan's due date and it still wasn't paid.
Seven hundred and ninety was above average, since my parents had always taught me to manage my finances well, but only slightly above average since Jack's presence and the constant racism that came with it were more trouble than the government stipend was worth. (I would never send him back home, he's better to me than many Venlil)
I thanked the Gojid with sincerity that I meant none of, and asked "Is my loan approved?"
He told me "Yes, it's been approved at..." Oh Herd, not this again. How do his coworkers interact with him? "5% quarterly interest." That's not even bad. (Five percent might be a robbery, but for UBS banks it's decent) "You'll have six months to pay it off in full... or the interest will double every quarter." (Somebody should disband the United Banking Service)
I agreed to these terms, since they were the best I was going to get, and left without another word. Eight thousand Federation credits had just entered my bank account, making me a very rich man. (Not really, but it was the most I'd ever had)
Jack was sitting on a bench outside the UBS building tapping away on his pad. A more skittish Venlil would have assumed that he was plotting something or bathing in the virtual blood of his prey, but I knew better than to assume the game he was playing was predatory.
Never mind, it was absolutely predatory. An army of huge winged beasts descended on what looked like a walled fortress in the middle of a hellish landscape, and lightning rained down from the skies at Jack's command to pick apart what I assumed were strategic defenses. (He might not actively do predator things, but he is excellent at them)
Within thirty ticks of the timer at the top of the screen, the beasts were above the fortress raining destruction on whatever they pleased. A few soldiers ran out of a building near the center of the base, attacking Jack's army, but they were quickly dealt with. Without the defenses that were destroyed by what I assumed was orbital bombardment, the base was helpless against the conquering predator.
A chill ran down my spine as I saw the defenders being slaughtered. A Venlil general or admiral (there were actually surprisingly many when compared to the rest of our military) could accomplish such results but those types of Venlil were very few and often had mild cases of Predator Disease. (That needs a new name. Maybe Arxur disease? No, too scary)
Seeing an average human, whose only military experience was four years serving on a war boat (They still have a boat military? Herd, those predators love their weapons) complete what many Federation officers would struggle to do terrified me for good reason.
We Venlil had treated Humans like they weren't even sapient, just dirt or pests that we had to tolerate. And the rest of the Federation treated them even worse. What if they decided peace wasn't worth it? What if, in our fear of the Arxur, we unleashed a threat worse than them? (Could Jack spare me from a human cattle farm? I'd have to kill myself if he couldn't)
Venlil Prime would be the first world to fall. We'd all die of our own hubris.
"Hell!" Jack turned his pad down so I couldn't look over his shoulder anymore. "I'm sorry you had to see that." Why did he have to be sorry for everything? The way my species, my Federation, treated him and his kind always angered me.
I told him "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault your hobbies are so... you know." I didn't like using the word "predator". At least, not to describe humans. Jack was cool with me using it as long as it wasn't in a derogatory way, (since they are predators) but it just reminded me of how unjustly he and his kind were treated.
Jack clearly didn't listen when I said not to be sorry because he kept apologizing. "Yeah, but it's not your fault you're so damn skittish either. And it is my fault I played Clash... I mean the game here. I should've known better." Herd, why did he never stand up for himself? The exterminators can't be that bad!
I explained to him "You don't have to apologize, Jack. You never meant to scare anyone." and before he could keep apologizing (I know him too well to think he wouldn't) I changed the subject. "We have money at our disposal now, we can buy something from the Mellow Firefruit on our way to the train station."
Jack agreed, but he was worried about "spacists". (Oh Herd, has he lost it?) I asked "What in the Arbor is a spacist?" In case you don't know, the Arbor is where followers of the Great Protector go when they die. It's a huge forest with plentiful and delicious food, and no predators.
When I finally mustered up my courage and told Jack that the god I worship hates his kind, I was half expecting to die horribly by his unusually short claws or extremely dull fangs. (Are they so peaceful because of their lack of natural weapons, or do they lack natural weapons because they're so peaceful? I should ask Jack that)
Instead, he shrugged it off and told me that, apparently, "Jesus still solos." When I explained the Arbor at his request, he had the brilliant idea to convert to worshiping the Protector and then kill himself in order to appear there and scare the afterlife out of everyone else. He quickly and profusely explained that he would never actually do that, but Inatala would never have accepted him anyway so it didn't matter.
Anyway, back to real life. Jack told me "Oh, spacists? They're just space racists except I mushed the two words together. It's a play on words type thing." The words 'space' and 'racists' do not fit together in Venlilese, and frankly, I was astounded that the translator even gave me the concept. (I bought it second-hand from a Mazic who stepped on it one too many times, but it was incredibly cheap)
I told him "If you told anyone but me that the words 'space' and 'racists' fit together then you would be screened for Predator Disease." and he covered his mouth in the gesture that was universally recognized as a prey-safe predator's laugh.
"God, sometimes I forget you guys have a sense of humor."
Just then, I started walking. I was tired, like any Venlil would be after a long walk, a long wait in line and the anticipation of another long walk, but the thought of the sweet, delicious food at the Mellow Firefruit kept me going. (I have to get Jack some, he's been underrating Venlil cuisine ever since he first tried my subpar cooking)
Jack fell in behind me, then he moved up to be at my side as an equal. Us Venlil didn't care where you were in line, but I guess predators have different priorities. (Is thinking 'predator' as bad as saying it? That's a dilemma I need to deal with later) I asked him "How come your claws and... uh... those pointy front teeth are so small?" (I don't like talking about fangs, sue me)
Jack turned to look at me, jerked his head away a little, then he turned and looked at me again. He responded to my question, realized I was a Venlil, and realized I was Salvek, in that order. I was good at reading people. He told me "First of all, they're called nails and canines. And second of all, we've never needed claws so they never evolved." A predator never needing claws was absurd! When would Jack learn that he didn't have to lie to me?
I interrupted my friend's explanation by telling him "Jack, I'm not going to run away or faint just because you tell me that ancient humans hunted. I get it. Just tell me how you lost your claws."
Jack sighed. He didn't sigh a lot, only when he was driven to the end of his very long rope (Turns out that's a human idiom too! Who knew?) by someone else's, usually my, stupidity. "Salvek, we didn't lose them. We evolved to eat fruit from trees, and by the time we were eating meat we had at least developed the art of throwing rocks at things. There was never any need for them, and they never appeared as a result. Satisfied?"
Developing weapons early on did make sense for humans, given how good they are at combat, so I nodded. It wasn't really a Venlil expression, but those in the exchange program had learned everything they could about their human partners. (I'm saying human instead of predator! Progress!) "Yeah, that makes sense."
Jack continued, explaining about human 'canines'. We just called them fangs. "Canines were originally fangs, yeah," He lowered his voice when he mentioned fangs. "but when we made fire around a million years ago, we didn't need them anymore and so they got smaller. I'm no expert, but that's what I know."
That actually made sense. I knew the Arxur didn't eat cooked meat, since I found uncensored raid footage on an internet rabbit hole when I was fourteen, (I peed myself and had nightmares for weeks but no one has to know) but I always assumed humans shared that trait. Maybe I was just like the rest with how I kept comparing humans and Arxur. (Why am I capitalizing one and not the other? No one knows!)
Maybe I was just like the rest. Maybe one day I would lose control and run from Jack, or freeze up, or worse, call the exterminators, and then it would all be over. I could never live with myself if my damned instincts got him to hate me or got him killed. I've only known him for a few weeks, but when we met we just clicked.
It's still weird to me how the concept of platonic soul mates doesn't exist yet.
"That's it, right?" Jack asked while pointing to a red restaurant a few blocks away. That was it. I was about to eat good.
"Yeah, that's it. Come on, let's go!" I ran to the Mellow Firefruit faster than most humans could, on account of my species being designed for sprints, (or we're just better than them) and Jack tagged along in a brisk walk. He was probably trying not to be mistaken for chasing me and shot dead, or worse, set on fire.
I know most predators don't feel pain, but humans do. Why in the Herd didn't exterminators at least have the decency to kill them humanely?
A couple seconds later, Jack was waiting outside the restaurant and looking at his pad while I waited in line (In case nobody noticed yet, I hate lines) for my meal. Jack's meal too, since nobody wanted their entire customer base to leave the second they began serving humans. At least, that was the official reason. The real reason is that most Venlil are still racist.
After an agonizing minute and a half of waiting, since the Mellow Firefruit was a popular restaurant (for good reason, as Jack was about to discover) I finally got to order my food. "I'll have two yaccay salads, and two red fires please." Jack only asked for a salad, but red fires were excellent drinks and if he said no to one I would drink both. I was being smart with this.
"Okay, that will be 43.8 credits." All right, maybe not so smart.
I asked "44 credits?" in shock as my mind struggled to wrap itself around this sudden increase in price. The last time I got a meal here it was only twenty credits.
The cashier, a large green Krakotl who was a tiny bit taller than me, explained "Inflation. Those damn predators brahked up the economy and now we have this." Putting hate on my friend Jack wasn't something I would normally tolerate, but my father had always said it wasn't wise to anger the people who made your food. I just swiped my card across his card reader and stayed silent, like dad would have wanted.
"If you ask me, Sovlin was right."
Was my father really that wise? He probably didn't know what he was talking about.
"How can you say that? No one deserves what he did to Marcel." I shot back, managing to contain the venom in my voice.
The cashier retorted "No one sapient. But those... things that Tarva's dumb ass let roam our planet don't qualify." with barely-contained hatred. (Thank the Herd Jack doesn't have to hear this)
Before I could respond, however, the manager came with my order and reprimanded his subordinate. "Don't get into politics with customers, and certainly don't spit those lies in my establishment!" Maybe the Great Protector was still looking out for me.
The manager handed me my items and apologized profusely. "My cashier here is still new to Venlil Prime. He hasn't gotten used to the... the new arrivals yet. Herd, even I struggle sometimes, and I'm in the exchange program!"
I thanked him, explaining that it wasn't a big deal but the cashier should still be reprimanded, and brought our food to Jack. He wasn't playing that predatory (it was predatory, but predatory didn't necessarily mean bad) game again, but he was scrolling through his account on UHerd.
UHerd was the Venlil's main addition to the galaxy at large, being a huge social media service that Jack had described as "just like Instagram." when he first heard of it. Bleat was another large website just like it, but it was much less known than UHerd. (Fun fact: the U stands for Internet! Maybe not in English, but in Venlilese it does)
Jack never posted much, but he had me and a few mutual friends from the Program followed and he liked hearing what we were doing. I plopped down next to him and handed him his food. "Here, I got you something."
He picked up the salad nonchalantly, but when I handed him his drink, he inspected it curiously. "What in God's name is this doohickey?" He asked.
I told him "Try it, it's a red fire. It's good." and he did try it.
Jack exclaimed "Holy christ!" and the look in his eyes was comparable to what I saw the first time I agreed to being pet. "This is heavenly!" He guzzled the spicy fluid with hunger that would have terrified me if I hadn't seen him devour meals a dozen times before, (He'll eat me next I have to run I have to run run run run for it [oh, shut up already]) stopping only to praise its taste. "This is like the nectar of the gods!" Then "Shit, this is what I was missing out on? We gotta desegregate the restaurants immediately!"
That got him thinking, and I could almost see the money-making gears turning in his head. "You know, Salvek, what if we opened up a restaurant? You could be the official owner and waiter, I could cook some delectable earth recipes, and as long as no one saw me, we could make bank!"
I didn't like that idea. It sounded a lot like a recipe for disaster. I told him "Nah, it would be too hard for just the two of us. And besides, we already have the clothing business." Selling shirts online is a lot easier and cheaper than owning a restaurant.
Since Jack asked me a question, I figured I could ask one too. "Hey Jack, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
Jack didn't care, and he told me as much, so I continued. "How do you keep yourself in check all the time? How can humans control themselves so well?"
He paused for a bit, causing me to involuntarily panic, (he's looking for weak points, or exterminators, he's going to snap my neck for this) but I quelled these thoughts and there was no visible change in my expression. Finally, the colossal man spoke. "How do you do it?"
"W-what?" I stammered, and he picked up a leaf that was blowing in the wind before cherishing his last sip of the red fire.
He held the leaf up to my mouth. "How can you resist the temptation to just chow down on every plant you see? It must be exhausting." I took a brief nibble of the plant, despite it being completely unappetizing in nature, and he told me "See? Your herbivore instincts made you eat it! How can you keep them in check all the time?"
I wasn't a fool, not by any means. I knew he was mocking me. But the thought of a predator not having any predatory instincts was an entirely unheard of concept, bordering on heresy for some. It would probably have gotten me screened for Predator Disease if I spoke of it aloud, but I still spoke of it aloud. (There were no exterminators, I was fine) "So you're trying to say that you don't have predatory instincts? But what about the drive to hunt?"
Jack sighed again, muttering "So smart, but so damn stupid." in a low tone before he explained to me exactly what I wanted to know. "We have the need to eat meat in the same way you need to eat plants, because if we don't do it we die." That made sense. "But just like you don't have a primal urge to devour all the greenery in sight, we don't have any instincts of our own. Make sense?"
It did, but I was still struggling to wrap my head around it, so I just nodded and finished off my salad. Jack had apparently forgot about his salad, as he hadn't touched it. He opened the plastic carton, looked at its contents weirdly, and took a bite.
"This is mid." He told me, point blank. "Like, I don't mean to offend anyone, but it is mid. I'm not even hungry."
I was mildly offended, but there wasn't much I could change about his honest opinion, so I just told him "I thought it was good." and left it at that.
Jack slid his salad over to me (I love these things like my only son) and offered "You can have it. I don't want it." I would have accepted, but I wasn't hungry. Jack didn't really mind, so he threw his salad out and told me "Then we should get going. We have only [1/8 of a claw], I mean... 1/8 of a claw before our train leaves."
I agreed, getting up and walking to the train station, and Jack followed. I was well rested by then, so the brief walk was easy. Jack... Jack was Jack. He never got tired.
We actually made a pretty good pace to the train station, and within 1/16 of a claw we were on our way back to my home district and my third-floor apartment. I had money to my name, I had a huge predator (Human! Damn, those words get mixed up too much) friend, and he and I were about to make a truckload of credits. Life was good.
Previous Next comes when I say it comes

Hello! So Im building my first ever Gundam and I know very little. My question is if I can build Kyrios without the LED unit or is it a necessary part for construction? I didn't realize It contained a seperatly sold piece!
Thanks for all help and input! I hope this is the right place to reach out for help?

[Re my last post: https://www.reddit.com/BPD/comments/13ttp12/anyone_else_lonely_all_the_time/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1 ]
Feel like I just got kicked in the face. The last time I messaged her was a few nights ago checking in on her since she had been drinking (she drunk texted me). She ignored my messages like usual and then suddenly texted me a half hour ago saying she was sorry she was angry at me for being upset I was being ignored by her. And then joked about how much she ghosts me, kind of calling me a simp 💀
And then she messages me about this fucking guy (ex mutual friend). I hate his guts. I told her many times that I hated him and that he’s a bad person and he used me and he uses her. She agrees with me but then still speaks to him while actively ignoring me. She says she’s cutting him off and then I see them together. I tell her not to bother cutting him off, I’ll distance myself instead and she says she doesn’t want that but still ignores me in favour of him and never fucking replies to me. She wants me to wait on her like a lapdog, begging for scraps of affection but she doesn’t want to give me any affection back.
Why even bother apologizing to me out of the blue? I read all her shitty things she said about me. I saw all the pictures of them together. I hear from our friends how close they are. She messaged me just now about how much she appreciates me AND him for “taking such good care of her”. I just don’t fucking understand. He’s the worst possible person to go to for comfort, he actively makes every situation WORSE. Why is she telling me this and then why apologize at the same time. She knows how I feel about him. Why does she want me to stay but she can leave whenever she wants?
At the same time I’m so happy she just messaged me. Just having her acknowledge I exist and she thinks about me and even to have her apologize even though she had to mention him… idk I’m conflicted.
And like the pathetic POS I am. I instantly message her back, ignore the texts about him and tell her not to bother apologizing and that I love her and miss her and hope she’s doing okay and this and that until I had messaged her a fucking essay. And now it’s back to being ignored. Love that 😍
My brain feels like soup and my stomach feels like it’s turning.
Anyways, any reply is fine.

Hey reddit! (and too my players if youre reading this please stop, I know you know my reddit username)
I'm currently working on a mystery campaign for my second group of players, inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novel, "The Sign of Four." For this adventure, I've created a missing magical artifact that the party must track down and recover.
Here's some background: My party is currently at level 2, having just finished the beginners box. They've expressed a strong desire for a story-focused experience, with one player specifically wanting to take on the role of a detective. I then decided to create a custom campaign rather than using a prewritten adventure, they should be roughly level 4/5 by the time this wraps up and they acquire the artifact. Side note: I have been playing Pf2e for a year now and am currently running SoT as my main campaign with a different group. Up until this moment Pf2es OGs content has met all my desires.
Now, I've drafted a magical artifact that holds significant power and properties. The idea is that it will serve as a central element in the campaign's mystery. However, I'm concerned that if the party successfully tracks it down and steals it back, they might be tempted to keep it instead of returning it. I want to strike a balance between enticing them with the artifact's power and pray it doesn't absolutely break the game.
Thank you in advance for your help!
Heart of Agra
Wondrous Item, Rare
Item Level: 5
Price: 5000 gp
Item Type: Wondrous Item
Rarity: Rare
Description:
The Heart of Agra is a beautifully crafted pendant that radiates a faint, pulsating light from within its center. It is made of a rare gemstone, shimmering with hues of blue and silver, set in an intricate silver pendant. The gemstone seems to hold a captivating allure, drawing the eyes of those who gaze upon it.
Effect:
The Heart of Agra bestows the following abilities upon the wearer:
​

• Arcane Insight: The wearer gains a +2 item bonus to Arcana checks, allowing them to discern magical properties or identify arcane mysteries more easily.
• Elemental Resilience: The wearer gains resistance 5 to one randomly determined energy type ( acid, cold, electricity, fire, force, negative, positive, or sonic) when taking damage from that specific energy type. This resistance changes every 24 hours.
• Spell Echo: Once per day, the wearer can cast a spell and have it echo in their next turn without spending an additional spell slot of 2nd level or lower. The echoed spell has the same effect as the original but occurs at the start of the wearer's turn. (this is a direct copy of the 20th level feat echoing spell with its spell level halved, originally I kept the feats 4th spell level)
• Arcane Bond: The Heart of Agra forms a mystical bond with the wearer, enhancing their arcane prowess. The wearer gains a +1 item bonus to their spell attack rolls and spell DCs.

Activation:
>! Wearing the Heart of Agra around the neck activates its powers. The pendant must be worn continuously to benefit from its effects. When active, the gemstone's center swirls with the color corresponding to the damage resistance type granted by the item. !<
Lore:
Legends tell that the Heart of Agra was created by ancient wizards to harness the essence of an otherworldly source of magic. Its purpose was to enhance the wielder's arcane abilities and provide protection against elemental forces. The gemstone at the pendant's center is rumored to contain a fraction of the power of a long-lost arcane artifact known as the Agra Crystal. (further campaign ideas. Basically granting myself more ways to drive the story afterwards)

This is probably not the right sub for this but I'm panicking. Yesterday my dishwasher had an error message which said it was blocked. There was water pooling at the bottom. I did a quick Google and emptied the water and took out the filter to clean. The filter wasn't particularly dirty so I disconnected the pipe under the kitchen sink and there was some nasty smelling gunk in it. I clean that out and reconnected the hose. Turned the dishwasher on again and everything seemed fine. Then tonight I put the dishwasher on and left it. Returned to the kitchen to find water everywhere. I turned all the electrics off for the appliances and removed the baseboard to find water pouring out the bottom of the dishwasher! What do I do now? Do I call in an emergency plumber or do I need an appliance repair person?

so when covid was on full blast and we where all doing online school i was changing and thought i had my mic+cam off but turns out i had the cam off already and ended up turning it on so i got my period so i was changing obviously and i did in in front of the cam so the whole class saw me struggle to put a pad on my underwear while the teacher was telling me to stop but i couldn’t hear because the mic was off and she had to make a new class and the whole group chat of my friend group went off and i cried a lot

My outdoor water faucet is leaking and I can not figure out where the main water valve is located? There is one by the water softener which will turn off the whole house except the 2 outdoor ones.
Found the water meter outside wall, has one valve before the meter, one valve after the meter. Both required a wrench to turn off, turned both those off and water still running? Any ideas?

Hello,
I wanted to share what I'm really struggling with currently - I'm in a clinic and getting tested for bipolar 2 and borderline. I've had the borderline diagnosis since 2019 but my new psych thought it could be bipolar because I've always struggled with depression - ranging from mild to severe, episodic - but last year in fall i mentioned the classical out of behaviour episode in summer where i smoked weed everyday (untypical for me as i was a big hater of weed at the time for personal reasons) even got high at school sometimes. I became very social and confident (untypical), sometimes i felt so attractive, sexy and beautiful that i was flirting with many guys - whether they were taken, single, really ugly or mid or hot (which is very untypical for me tbh), i started a friend's with benefits situation with my neighbour who is.. well, a drug user, has a very filthy apartment, missing teeth and is just.. ew. I thought it was a good idea. I did feel shame and disgust after the first time but needless to say i did think it was a good idea to keep going to him and smoking weed and doing the deed. Extremely untypical of me, i was quoted to say "even if he was the last man on earth, I'd never sleep with him" neither have I ever had one night stands before or after this. 2 months later i was in a severe depression because a friend broke our friendship off. Left me devastated until December. It was a 180, i couldn't bear seeing myself in the mirror and always found myself ugly, felt like i lost my sense of identity, felt worthless, self harmed, even had thoughts of ending it all. Then i got started on venlafaxine, smallest dose. I was also undergoing a lot of stress. On day 2 of taking the medication i was sleeping 3-5h everyday and being fine, having a lot of energy, headaches, being restless, huge pupils, good mood, talking fast, stopped eating and started starving myself and feeling beautiful again. In January my dose was slightly increased and 3 days later i immediately crashed. I was so depressed i slept 16 hours a day, woke up but didn't get out of bed - watched anything just to kill time and distract myself, take my med and go to sleep again. After a week i hit the rock bottom and i sobbed uncontrollably the whole day, felt like i want to die so badly, i lost all physical strength and was literally praying to any god out there to please take this suffering away. I sat down under the shower and sobbed, didn't even have the strength to get out. I think i crawled out of there. Needless to say, i stopped taking it automatically right there. I became less depressed, maybe mildly? Continued being under strong stress though. I started being unable to handle any mild stress and exploding with anger, once with uncontrollable rage, or just tears over the smallest of things. Then it was a switch again, i suddenly experienced a period of 3 days where my affect was normal to good but i had zeroooo ability to concentrate. I wasn't able to think, i wasnt able to say complex stuff just simple stuff, i couldn't count, i struggled with recognizing roman cifers, playing a simple card game. It wasn't impossible just very challenging and difficult. Which it normally never was or is right now. My bf says when i would talk i would often lose the point without noticing but i was happy and upbeat talking so he didn't bother. I was otherwise later in a stable mood but two separate times i had an episode lasting a day each time where i suddenly felt super fast - like, under electricity - where i suddenly wanted to do 10 things at once - have sex, go for a walk, learn how to dance, make a playlist for learning dancing, read a book, talk, learn Latin, browse TikTok. At first i tried just doing 3 of these at once but it didn't feel intense enough. I ran to my room tried studying latin but couldn't even start because it felt so underwhelming to sit and not be able to grasp a whole language in an instant. So i went to the kitchen, took Methylphenidat, tequila shots cuz it felt like a good idea. I listened to music i normally don't listen to and remember every song was great and i was vibing hard to each one - saved a few of them but after the episode i didn't vibe to them again, they are ok but just ok. I didn't sleep the whole night because I felt like i still am pretty awake. So i browsed TikTok the whole night and was so unbelievably horny. I continued sleeping little the next week but didn't feel so wired anymore. After some days my body was too tired to be physically active so, anyway. Anyways this wasn't the first time I felt this " wired and under electricity ". I've had a few of separate episodes, each lasting around a day. Everything felt faster, i felt like i need to do so many things at once and doing one is so overwhelmingly underwhelming. Once I struggled to speak correctly because I spoke too fast and couldn't control it. Or laughed like a maniac when it wasn't funny. But these episodes were very rare, first one occuring in 2017, the next one in late 2019, the next one hard to tell but i know that it sped up in how öften it occurs.
Anyhow i am in the clinic as i said. And i just constantly feel like a fraud. I feel like i am a secret hypochondriac who's faking an illness. If i feel normal and calm for a day or two i tend to think i was never sick to begin with and j exaggerated all depressions, all flashbacks, all panic attacks and all feelings I've ever had. I feel like, what if i don't know what hypomania is REALLY like and once i felt anxious and mistook it for something else, exaggerated my description of it and through that i am fooling my doctors? I did Google the symptoms. Could it mean i unknowingly overtook them and process them as my own experiences? I had a fucking nervous breakdown about it a few days ago. I couldn't take the anxiety, it was eating me alive. Whenever i struggle i know it's real and i know I'm ill. It's just the good days where i feel like I'm hysterical and attention seeking. I'm so scared of a misdiagnosis. Of fooling myself and doctors.
Anyone relates? :(

U know, im nobody important. I dont have any noteworthy credentials or anything like that. Just some random person whos been dealing with what seems like some kind of spiritual attachment, and it appears that as a side effect of sorts has enabled me to learn a just few hidden secrets that are related to this reality which were all experiencing together.
Alright so i know all of this can be just a little bit confusing, but i promise that i will try my very best make it all as clear as possible...
So, our higher selves are in whats considered to be true reality. This reality that were all in is not. The reason our higher selves are in true reality is because everything for the most part went right in each of their individual timelines. So the dimension that theyre currently now in, which actually is true reality, can be considered to be "timeless", if u will. And so because of that, and the capability they now have to be able to go back in time and manipulate their past selves, they realised that they can now "make a game of it" of u will, by going back and putting various different challenges, and roadblocks in the ways of our past selves, all in an effort to see just how well each of us would turn out with such alterations being made.
So, the archons come from one of these such timelines. Where although technologically speaking, they were very successful, they were misled in thinking that tech would be the path to ascension, which they were wrong about. And it isnt their souls that they lost in doing so, but their spiritualality.
So because of the types of beings they became, they realised that they had to go back time quite long before they ever made any technological changes to themselves, so they could feed off of our negative etheral, and spiritual energy which they now required tl survive. That type of energy has become their "food" if u will.
So, from our perspective we see these horrible, evil, alien type beings that dont seem to have any sympathy for us what so ever. That seem to actually enjoy seeing us being upset or even physical pain sometimes, and from their perspective they see these un-evolved, spiritually retarded beings that nothing more than spiritual "batteries" if u will, that supply them with the negative energy they need.
But, the very big irony of the whole thing is, that whats really happening here, is that the archons are really helping us. By syphoning off most of our negetive energy for us, so that when this universe finally comes to an end, they, and the negative evergy which they took from us, will all go along with it. So with them now gone, this would now leave us with mostly just positive energy in each of our own timelines, which in theory, should now allow each and all of us to ascend out of this dimension, to eventually finally re-connect with our higher selves, that are in what is considered to be true reality.
BLASPHEMY

A few years ago I wrote this, which I believe I posted here: https://philologicalcrocodile.wordpress.com/2020/07/15/museum-closed-on-the-desecration-of-the-hagia-sophia/
The same Turkish political party which has recently proven victorious in their elections had just then decided to reverse the humane and conciliating decision of Ataturk to turn the AS into a museum and had transformed it (back) into a mosque.
I wrote off the cuff, highlighting some Turkish neo-imperial attitudes, yes, but also the odd Western complacency and complicity in the ongoing cultural genocide of East Roman heritage. I still get...entertaining hate mail about this piece.
Was I wrong? The old church is not doing so good, and anecdotal evidence from travelers suggests that many other sites are dilapidated and/or inaccessible. Meanwhile you have members of the political party AKP using "internal Byzantines" as a slur against rival politicians. Hmm..
We seem a far cry from the kind of Turkey that could produce Selçuk Altun's The Sultan of Byzantium (yes, I recommend) and I am quite worried for the future of Byzantine studies.
Thoughts, lads?

I hope this is the right subreddit but please let me know if it's best suited to another...
This is a long story but I'll try give the gist of it. For context I'm 25 and in Scotland.
I've been messed about so much between different dentists and orthodontists starting with my family dentist. Asked for years for braces due to obvious over-crowding. Was always told 'we'll see next time.' Got an X-Ray when I was 15 because canine baby tooth was not budging. He saw the big tooth in the roof of my mouth but said it was fine. Next appointment (always 12 months apart) he forgot about the X-Ray, did it again and this time explained it was an impacted tooth. He said it could move but it's best to leave it. He retired shortly after. Next dentist said it should not have been left and referred me to an orthodontist. This was when I was 17. For the next few years I was sent different places, each orthodontist saying they can't do the treatment I need. In hindsight I believe that's because everyone knew I would need surgery but no one explained why they couldn't help me.
I went back to my initial dentist and she sent me to the local hospital's orthodontics department. This was 2019 and my initial doctor, Dr. T was great and recognised I'd fallen through the net. He said no matter where I'm living (by this point in another city), I should stick with them so there's no more miscommunication and he'd always see me. There was initially miscommunication around my treatment options with the doctor but what it came down to was either surgery to expose the tooth and slowly move the tooth down with elastic, before I got top train tracks which would also help move the impacted tooth into the right place, or surgery to remove the impacted tooth, remove the baby tooth, and implant the impacted tooth to where it needed to be, then top train tracks. I asked which option would be best and I was told exposing the tooth and having it slowly moved down would take longer, but would be less risky. So I consented to that. I had my surgery in early 2020 to expose the tooth and was give a plate for the roof of my mouth to correct my overbite. I felt confident about this because he was correcting the overbite whilst we waited for the impacted tooth to naturally move and expose itself more so there was more surface area for the elastic to be attached to.
A few months later I had my bottom train tracks put on. All was well until 2022, just had the elastic put on and the usual appointments for the bottom braces. Dr. T aways asked how I was feeling, aware that the appointment waiting times were quite long, but I always said I was just happy to finally get the treatment. Start of 2022 Dr. T retired and I was given Dr. A. This is when things kind of took a turn. Dr. A did not seem confident at all in my appointments with him. Straight away from our first appointment he had a look at my pictures and in my mouth and was 'hmm-ing' and 'uhhh-ing,' unsure of himself it felt like. I understand that I was a new patient to him and maybe my case it more complicated than others but I do feel like he lacked confidence and given how messed about I had been before, I was quite anxious. My appointments were straightforward with him- mainly changing my bottom wire and he changed my elastic for my impacted tooth. At one point he was unhappy with how the impacted tooth was moving, adjusting the elastic and reinforcing it when it snapped a couple times. I get this could happen anyway, but he just always seemed to struggle with me. I always felt anxious in my appointments and struggled to stay positive. He had students in now and again and let them change my wire/tighten them which was okay, but they weren't gentle and he had to take over. It just added to my anxiety and how uncomfortable I was but I know I should have spoken up at the time.
Anyway, Sept. 2022 I go to another appointment and Dr. A. isn't there. The dental nurse just tells me he had to leave and I'll now be seen by Dr. S. He's very nice, straightforward, and I felt confident with him. I've only had a few appointments with him but at the start of this year I got my bottom braces off and in the same appointment he told me my front two teeth have 'short roots' and asked if I felt they were loose. I told him that yes, I could move them slightly but asked my initial family dentist about this years ago and was told it was fine. Well Dr. S said it isn't fine and if I have top train tracks put on it might loosen them further so he doesn't think top braces are viable. Honestly, I just got so upset. I tried to keep it together but I did get very upset. He tried to reassure me that my teeth won't fall out, he'll come up with a plan for next appointment, and I've to enjoy not having my bottom braces.
Fast forward to literally today, I've had this next appointment and Dr. S told me this was our last appointment. I was obviously very confused given that I still have elastic and metal in the roof of my mouth. He then remembered off of my confusion and explained that ethically he can't give me top braces knowing the risks outweighing the benefits. This time he said I would certainly lose my teeth. I didn't know what to say, other than that I didn't understand how this has happened and that I didn't know what to do. What do I do about the impacted tooth? He said he doesn't know why I was advised to have the surgery and have the tooth moved. I don't know why no one else has pointed out my 'short roots' before despite multiple X-Rays and everyone I've seen having access to these photos. I've literally seen everyone look at my X-Rays. Dr. S. said he'll set up an appointment with me, him, and the surgeon so we can figure out what to do next. He said I could complain, or that I might want to complain after the next appointment. I don't know what this next appointment will accomplish, and I don't believe he's confident either.
I completely understand Dr. S is not to blame- he's the one who pointed out the main issue; but I don't know who is to blame, if anyone. Complain? To who? The NHS? That feels awful! And what would it even accomplish? I feel so upset and frustrated that the top work on my teeth has been for nothing. If anything the roof of my mouth is worse off. Due to the impacted tooth moving, more gum around my top teeth has receded. Understandable this would happen- but for nothing??
I appreciate this is a long post and I've tried to streamline the details but if anyone has advise I'd really appreciate. I can't explain how much this affected me. I don't trust the advice of people who are supposed to give me the right treatment. I feel like there was negligence at least with my initial dentist and that I've been gaslit, for lack of a better word, along the way here and there when I've spoken up about concerns. I only felt better once I started going to the hospital for appointments and I was just grateful to finally get treatment. I was fully prepared to deal with long waiting times and braces throughout my twenties. Have awful teeth and braces as I go to job interviews, for example, but today it's all been shattered.
I did consider biting the bullet and going private at one point but I was scared if I left the hospital i'd fall through the net again and end up worse off. I hope someone understand why I'm so upset and if anyone can advise me on next steps that would be amazing. I feel awful considering complaining to the NHS but you know it's bad when your own doctor suggests it. At the very least I just want someone to own responsibility rather than me just having to carry this.

Age 26 years old Male Medications I'm on: strattera(60mg) and wellbutrin(150mg)
I used to never be able to wake up. I would turn off alarms even across the room without waking up or remembering it. I even would get up and use the bathroom without remembering it. I never woke up feeling refreshed.
Then i started wellbutrin. I have no more sleep inertia. I wake up at between 5am and 7am everyday. I've read some studies that said wellbutrin can fix sleep issues. But what exactly is it that wellbutrin solved for me? When I was on just strattera for 2 months I didn't have this breakthrough. Just curious if anybody can make sense of the studies on it

I scrape all the salt clumps off my pretzel before I eat it.
Some people eat every salt clump. It makes you too thirsty in my humble opinion.
You may try to turn me into salt bae🧂... Change my mind🥨

My ex husband and I recently divorced back at the end of February and I have not initiated any contact with him at all. However, he never did stop texting me check in messages asking how I was doing every 2-3 weeks he does it. I thought he would stop after our divorce was finalized, but he continued to text me things like hope all is going well with you and if I told him I wasnt feeling good that day..he would always follow up a few days later to make sure I was feeling better. I just took this as he will always care for me because we were each other's first love. We got engaged after 7 months of dating in 2020 and married 11 months later in 2021. We just had alot of arguments last year due to him having an emotional affair and I built up alot of resentment towards him and he actually filed for divorce in January and it was finalized in February.
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Fast forward to now. It had been almost 6 months since I had last seen him and he wanted to come and pick up his remaining belongings. He first mentioned thursday night and I thought that was odd..mainly because I get off work early around 3pm at the latest. Also, he had already told me he was off thursday,so there was no reason for him to come at night. He never text or called that thursday, so I assumed it wasnt coming. He text me around 11pm and he wished me a goodnight and said he would come Friday morning instead.
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Friday came and when he got to my place his eyes got big when he saw me and he said hey, and walked past his belongings.He asked me how I was doing and kept giving me long hugs. While talking to me, I noticed he had moved closer to me and he asked could he kiss me and that he missed me. We end up kissing and also end up having sex. I know..big mistake on my part. He then told me before leaving that he was going to make time to try to come and see again soon. He text me the next day asking how I was and that he wanted to get me a gift for my new place and he asked about my family.
The next week I saw on his brother's tiktok page that their was an unfamiliar girl sitting next to him at what looked like a family dinner with his family. They looked to be a couple and I actually remember when they followed each other earlier this year on instagram..so I knew they had to be dating. I wasnt shocked that he had moved on so quickly after our divorce,but I was shocked that he had cheated on her with me and that he was cheating so early in his new relationship. The video was actually dated from that Thursday before he came over that Friday to pick up his belongings. So he was actually planning to leave the family dinner and come over my place. When me and him had just started dating,we were literally almost glued to each other
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.I plan to let him know that I found out he has a girlfriend..which is fine.. we are divorced..but he will not be coming by and having sex with me and cheating on her with me. I am not that kind of woman to settle for that and If I knew he had a girlfriend I would have not let my emotions get the best of me and had sex with him.