Open late nail salon near me

So like; obviously we're not dating, and haven't for years now. We keep in touch here and there and of course, I help them out when I can if they are in trouble. (Because that's just how I am, helping others--And treating others the way I want to be treated.) But--There was a slight catch within it. While we ended things, she also wanted me to talk to her when I could and tell her if I ever dated, had sex, etc. With someone else; just in the off-chance that we ever did go down that road again together. If I ever open that door again; and vice versa. Which I'm kinda....Not really about, but thought it seemed fair considering how she's still in my life...However.... When I saw her again and spoke to her long ago sorta recently(?); she randomly changed up while I was helping her move. And said "...I don't think who I'm fucking, dating, etc. Is honestly any of your business." Despite me just simply talking to her about where we stood mutually, so that there was no confusion. The only reason I mention it, is because around that time--We turned on each other's location if there was ever an emergency. As I did with my little brother and other friends and family who are in my life. Now I don't check in on her like that when it comes to where she is all the time; and do a small "Check-In" Call once every blue moon, but lately...She hasn't picked up, returned and even hung up on some of my calls. Not even some texts. (A little backstory, she moved in with her best friend co-workers recently after fighting looking for an apartment n such; so I always assume she's either partying or just busy slammed with work) And the one time I check-in quickly; I peek at her location after its been a little while. And mid-streaming on Twitch; I see her location isn't at her usual place wit her friends...But at a hotel far north of town. I felt...I don't know. Mad? Conflicted? Sad? My mind only assumes the deed is being done. And I know I shouldn't give a fuck but like--I don't know. I feel so mixed, but I felt my heart drop.

I live on the east side of Cap Hill and would love to find a gym that is cheap but stays open late. Really, I'm only looking for weights/weight machines. I've found that a little bit of weight-lifting makes me feel so much stronger in my body, given that I have a very sedentary line of work. I'd be totally happy if I lived in an apartment building with a basic gym but alas, I love the house I rent.
The Y's monthly fee is outrageous ($91???). It looks like a lot of other gyms are running $75/mo on average. Which isn't worth it for my minimal use.
Any creative ideas? I'd prefer something in the neighborhood and I may just need to resort to buying some free weights and watching some videos.
Thanks good people of Reddit.

I (23f) have been dating my current boyfriend(20m) for about a year now. We started dating last year in July. Long post. Before I met my current boyfriend, let’s call him Andy, I used to do only fans it was a way for me to make money during covid but eventually I stopped doing it, I deleted my OF account about a year before Andy & I met but was still selling content to one or two clients who I had formed a friendship with. When Andy & I started getting serious I decided that I would stop selling content & just find a normal job because I could tell he was the type of guy who wasn’t too keen on it from prior conversations we had, so I never actually told him that I sell content. I had told my clients that I would be finishing soon & would do it one more time as like a “ closing down sale “They all agreed & bought one last round of content, I planned to completely stop and then tell Andy about what I used it, that obviously didn’t happen .. after a night out drinking I had left my phone unlocked on my bed & Andy proceeded to go through it, he saw the chats between me & a client & he took it as I was cheating on him & I was still sleeping with other guys, I explained the whole thing to him but I could see he was really hurt by it & didn’t really understand, keep in mind at this point we had only been dating for about 2 weeks maybe 3. I kept trying to tell him that it was just a job & I never meant for him to find out this way I could see how much it was affecting him so I tried everything in my power to try & gain his trust back & to try to fix the situation. I do realise I was wrong in this situation and it was up to me to try fix it, and that's what I thought I did. I have never really liked how he acts on social media and that was always something at the beginning of our relationship .. in about September we were laying in bed and he kept getting messages on Snapchat, I left it for about an hour of Andy and this Snapchat person talking till eventually I asked him whos he's talking to so much. He then said it was just some random girl on Snapchat that thinks he's cute and wanted to talk to him, I had a problem with this and asked him what the fuck? and how does he think that's okay? he said he's not flirting back with her so what's the big deal.. this turned into a huge fight and for the first time he threw the fact that I used to do only fans in my face. I knew it was bound to happen to I accepted it but still explained to him that I'm not okay with him talking to girls who are actively flirting with him especially if he's not going to tell them he has a girlfriend once again I thought we had resolved this issue. I then started to notice that he would like a lot of girls' posts and would comment under a lot of their posts commenting on their bodies and how they look. I again spoke to him about this and again he blamed him for doing it on the fact that I used to do only fans and again I just took it and tried to understand. I thought he and I were good until Jan of this year when I found out that he was talking to a lot of other girls as well as flirting with them and letting them flirt with him and was sending them topless photos of himself all the time as well as asking other creators if he can buy nudes from them. I was devastated when I found out and when I confronted him about it he again blamed me and the fact that I used to do only fans, at this point I had enough and told him he needs to stop blaming me for all the shitty things he does, I know I did a messed up thing by not telling him but he can't keep blaming me. This broke a lot of my trust in him as I had thought we had worked through those issues and had moved past them but clearly, we hadn't. He had been doing all of this all from September to November but I only found out in Jan. I had told him that he had broken my trust and that I would need some time to process all of it, and he promised me he would change & he realised how immature he was being. Over the next couple of months after Jan things seemed to be getting better but I did struggle to trust him which was causing even more issues between us but we were both determined to stay & make it work, I had full access to his phone and his socials and he had full access to mine... I thought we were doing fine until about 2 months ago when he had gotten a girl's number & saved it under a guys name, I asked him about it and at first he lied to me & said it was the girl's boyfriend's number then eventually told me it's actually her number that she was an old school friend but he just didn't want to to find out that he had gotten a girls number ( he had deleted all the girls off his phone a few months prior as a way to prove to me that he's serious about us, I didn't ask him to do this, he did it then told me about it afterwards )I was pissed, to say the least, now yes I'm crazy but I'm not completely crazy where I don't want him to talk to other girls. I just want him to be respectful of our relationship while talking to them, i was pissed about the fact that he lied straight to my face about it & again it turned into a fight about the fact that he did it because I don't trust him so he thought it would be better to just hide it from me. At this point, I was pretty over our relationship & over always being on edge because of him... We were in such a bad space I honestly didn't think we were going to last but we did & we spoke about it & things started getting better...
I recently found another girl that he had asked to buy nudes from on Snapchat in October and again I was pretty hurt, I brought this up to him & he said he doesn't understand why I'm so upset about it if it happened last year & we've already fought about it a few times, I explained to him that yes it happened long ago & yes we have fought about it but every time I find a new person he tried to get nudes from or that he flirted with it still hurts just the same, it's a thing of while I thought we were happy & in love, he was flirting with other girls.
Now we have spoken about this & i asked him why he did it so much & so often and he said he's never been in a serious relationship and he's always used to be having a backup girl if the relationship he's in doesn't work out but with me he doesn't have one & doesn't want one and it used to scare him so that's why he did it but as our relationship has grown he's realised he doesn't want a back up and I'm all he wants & that for a long time he struggled with the fact that I did onlyfans but that now he truly is over it & that he really struggled with the lifestyle I used to live ,I used to go out every weekend & I had a lot of male friends who have absolutely no respect for my relationship so In the beginning of our relationship Andy would always see my guy friends as his competition & as a threat so he saw it as he needs to have all these girls just incase I leave him for one of my friends ( I cut all my guy friends off pretty early on in our relationship but would still see them whenever we went out which also stopped being as frequent as we started getting more serious )
After everything that has happened, I don’t see Andy the same way I did... I don’t feel the same love for him as I did.. don’t get me wrong I still love him with my whole heart it just feels different... it feels tainted now... I feel like I can’t be as open & happy with him as I once was after him hurting me so badly.. & now I do understand that I messed up in the beginning but I tried to fix it.. he just used it as cover to do whatever he wanted... I’m now at a point where I don’t know if I want to be with him or not anymore , I do love him but I just don’t feel the same... I get annoyed with him so easily now, I prefer it when he’s at work because then I don’t have to be around him much... I have thought maybe he & I should go To counselling to try to overcome all of this but is that even worth it? He seems fine with me & still wants this relationship & recently has been putting in a lot more effort than he ever has before but I just don’t know if it’s too late & my heart has already moved on from him...
Please give me advice! I am very much in two minds about what to do because in every other aspect he is amazing, he's caring & calm with me and is patient with me when it comes to my mental health, my family loves him and he's amazing to my animals.. So for the most part is great I just don't know if the bad outweighs the good anymore

Your horns, the open wound of my name carved into your thigh
My sharp teeth and your name carved into my belly.
Our markings weren't active until lately
You heard my call.
It felt good to dissipate your energy last night and show you how i want to give you a feeding you've never experienced.
Are you excited for me to execute my kill move?
I love you.
Please lets have a date night tomorrow night. I've missed having wife time.
Im invoking wife time after i invoke wife rights. Time to bring my whore to heel.
I hope you respond as hoped if the past couple days are any signifier of anything.
I mean it. Good friends were made this past weekend and the energy...there was no indulgence on our part but you...i cannot wait to be your active dom around them, and having you get sadistic over people coming near me, only to back down when i give you the same two words i give you tomorrow.
We need to define some things so you can play while im gone, and so i can have my own toys, but, i think our current rules should still stand. No one gets a label higher then "boyf/girlf"
Im your wife and you mine; Until we're legally together and have your sweet succubus ass here with me, we dont need to act like we're exclusively eachothers. We're ours when it matters. And your toys dont need to know- unless you want them too or you wanna cause a fun "scandal" for them.
You know I'll happily play the role for you.
I love you. Im excited to come home. We deserve eachother.

I can’t sleep.
I’ve never been able to sleep. Even when I was very small, I could never fall asleep. I’d stay up all night and cry under the covers until I got tired. For years I thought It was my horrible fear of the dark. My mom would turn the lights off knowing I hated the dark with my entire soul which would cause me to scream at the top of my lungs in pure fear waking up everyone in the house to which my mother would beat me which only made me cry louder. This happened almost every night.
The people in my house despised me for it which I don’t blame them.
Again I thought it was my fear of the dark. As I got older and got a phone and a tv in my room and my mother stopped caring if I went to sleep at certain times or not. Even though I kept the tv on all night or the lamp, I still couldn’t sleep. Even if I was exhausted. I would fight my sleep till the very end.
I never sleep all the way throughout the night. I alwayyyssss wake up. Doesn’t matter if it for a minute or an hour and then I fall back asleep.
If someone turns the light off while I’m sleeping I’ll wake up immediately, I can’t sleep without light. If my show ends and my tv turns off, I wake up.
I can hear in my sleep. Footsteps, doors closing. People talking. Notifications. My cat moving in her box I can hear it.
My mother doesn’t talk loud about me when I’m sleeping because she knows I’ll hear her. She tells everyone not to talk around me sleeping because I’ll hear.
Melatonin doesn’t help, and in highschool i was nearly addicted to Benadryl because it was the only thing that made me somewhat drowsy enough to sleep. Now it does nothing for me.
I suffer from anxiety. I guess I’ve always have but recently I’ve been seriously thinking about seeking help.
My mother would always complain to doctors about my sleeping issues but it’s always been brushed off, I’ve never gotten help. My mother has even tired giving me alcohol when I was younger to get me to go to bed -Caribbean remedies.
My anxiety’s becoming to much lately and the only time I feel “ok” is when I’m resting, which is something I can’t even do properly.
I’m scared to get help though because what if I’m brushed off again and have to keep living like this. I can’t do it anymore.
What if I can’t be helped.
I’m lost.

Hi!
So, I’m an 18y/o male tertiary student on my learners license that hardly leaves home for anything besides course. I’m a bit(a lot) of a late bloomer socially and as an adult, I guess.
I’ve always lived with my family which sadly has an unbearably unhealthy dynamic. As of around November 2022, my parents and other family have been driving me mad, almost like I’m living with ginormous children. I’m definitely going through some stuff mentally/ emotionally and have been for a while, and whenever I try to talk to my parents about it, I just get shut down and made to feel like I’m stupid for feeling the way I do. Definitely the opposite of a safe space to talk about my worries.
I constantly have agonising migraines day in and day out which I assume is a result of their antics. I’m nearing my last straw with these people, and I fear I may do something drastic to myself or another, which is why I wish to get away from here.
Now, to the point of this post(sorry for rambling, I’m quite heated at the time of writing this). What options, if any, are realistic for someone like myself to get out of my home? I confess I am entirely ignorant to how the outside world functions which is why I took to reddit to begin with.
If I had to guess, I’d assume my options look something like boarding somewhere or (sadly)burdening extended family members with my presence in their home. Again, I don’t actually know/ understand what my realistic options are. I just desperately want to get out of here, and am willing to make sacrifices to achieve this.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Sorry if this is hard to read or if it isn’t actually relevant to the subreddit as I am not an avid reddit user. I also won’t be completely willing to disclose much detail about my private life as it is personal.

im constantly doing research but i always find something i didnt know before and i have so many questions. i bought him a massive and extremely expensive cage, constantly buying him toys, talk to him all the time, etc. i just have some questions id so so grateful if someone could help.

1. i read somewhere just a few minuts earlier that ur not supposed to make eye contact w ur bird cus then they see u a predator?? what?? i do that all the time and now im worried hes threatened of me
2. ur not supposed to chase around ur bird, ikik. butttt i used to give him a bath in my bathroom shower (in his cage). but now the cage is too big for that. i give him one in the balcony and use a water sprayer. he LOVES baths, and has no fear of water or baths. but the sprayer im using, he seems to be afraid of it? when he first saw it he panicked and flapped his wings and flew to the other side of the cage obviously panicked. my mom said its just cus its a new object, but i wonder if its cus of the colour? its bright red. he would also get scared when i sprayed it at him. idk why cus when we do it in the bathroom shower he loves it. i thought maybe cus its a new environment? but hes still not used to it. issue is when he doesnt do it i just chase him around with it, cus how else do i give him a bath? but now im realizing that was a bad decision. and i feel like its probably making him hate me. evetually he does settle down and stays still so i can shower him though.

he's a bit more accustomed to it now, lot more than before, but still he panicks sometimes and tries to fly to different parts of his cage sometimes esp if i get too close with the sprayer or try to spray his frontside. also he doesnt let me spray his frontside just the back. so like, how am i supposed to give him a bath? why is he scared of the sprayer, should i stick to what hes comfy with (the bathroom) or try to get him accustomed to this cus its a bit more convenient? im gonna try keeping the sprayer next to his cage today to see if he gets more used to it.
3) i put a lil container inside his cage for him to bathe himself sometimes. i took it out now but the issue is he keeps dipping hard things (pellets, biscuits) in it to soak them and eat lol. but the container is pretty big and wide so the biscuit floats away and then he cant take it again. and i dont want him taking a bath in that water.
4) i heard about target training to get him out of his cage. i have a question - so in target training u tap a stick and then he follows it, and when he does u treat him cus he followed te stick and eventually when hes used to it u take im out of the cage. thats cool but what if he follows the stick to attack it? do i still treat him?? cus if i give him a treat then, itll be like im treating him to attack, and i dont want him to attack things.
5) i got him to lick things i put inside the cage in exchange for a treat. but then i wasnt home for 2-3 days and now he doesnt do it anymore. also yesterday he was super mad at me for some reason, kept attacking me. he usually doesnt and i can put my hands inside the cage (as long as theyre not near him), sometime si even put my head in. yesterday he was NOT having in. today when i put my hand in to change his food he opened his mouth (didnt lunge). i took it a bit slow then he didnt mind.
6) his mood like fluctuates on certain days hes angrier than other. i think he likes kissy sounds lol whenever i make those hes a bit nicer. i think it soothes him or something.
7) i read somewhere that u shouldnt give ur parrot a bath and they can do it themselves?? this along with him not being a fan of the sprayer is making me consider it but when i give him a bath i can clean him nicely. plus he does LOVE baths, just not the newer version of it lol.
8) i dont give him seeds often. he loves them but ir ead theyre too high on fat so i rarely give it. yesterday i gave him 2 things he loves but no one was home all day n i came home n saw he hadnt eaten ANYTHING. and it was almost 9pm. so i gave him seeds and he ate that and i put him to sleep at 10. should i give seeds more often?
9) he sleeps from 8pm onwards and gets very cranky during that time i assume cus hes sleepy. but also the past few days ive been busy at night n my parents put him to sleep a lil late like 9-10pm. i think thats making him cranky??
10) how dark should his cage be at night? ever since i got this new cage, i cant cover it properly. his cage is in the hall. earlier his cage was smaller so we would drape a bedsheet over it but now the cage is too big for that. the hall has lights on until like 12am. i just drape a bedhseet over it and its semi-dark in the top part of the cage (where he sleeps) but its not DARK dark as light still seeps in from the bottom half of the cage + the bedsheet isnt fully opaque (little bit light still comes in from the bedsheet as i cant fold it since the cage is already big). also sometimes the TV is on during this time, is the noise annoying him? hes never minded the TV, in his smaller cage he used to sleep well cus we could make it dakr in his cage. now im thinking maybe hes not sleeping so good? i dont know, hes only been cranky the past 2-3 days, should i try keeping him elsewhere? how do i cover the cage well without making it super hot inside?
11) reasons i think hes been cranky - a) i havent been home the past few days and have been busy and not spending as much time w him b) the sprayer?? idkkk c) hes being put to sleep late? if the hall is dark he'll just go to sleep but then someone comes in and switches on the light and since theres no bedsheet covering him
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honestly just overall i need help w tricks on how to tame him. do i need to use those clicker thingies? overall, hes not super afraid of me. he eats from my hand (although one time he bit me), he loves it when i talk to him and listens intently. sometimes he gets mad or lunges at me. past few days hes been a bit mad.
hes not yet comfy coming out of his cage but if i can get this target training thing then ill try that soon. he doesnt let me touch him, not with my hand or any object.
i wanna eventually get him out and be able to touch him. but with the target training i really dont know if i should reward him when he follows the stick just to attack it. cus i dont wanna reward him attacking but i want him to follow the stick???

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u/KieveKRS providing the Trash certification of quality! (with help from u/coldfireknight cuz this one needed it.)
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Nalah affixed the massive shield to her back, the rectangular form large enough for him to fit behind while only needing to crouch slightly. It was mostly ironwood, but the sides and front were metal-plated, so it still weighed a considerable amount. Despite that, the thing’s bulk hardly seemed to be noticed by the blonde-furred female, likely due to the constant construction work she involved herself in. It paired oddly with the long pike she insisted on using, but he couldn’t deny that poking at things while hiding behind a mobile wall sounded like a good idea.
Jax was wearing his new armour, the bulky chest-piece a mirror of his blond-furred pack mate’s. Though he forwent the protection a buckler or likewise would offer, he doubled up on gear. Gauntlets, vambraces, pauldrons, and anything else he could wear to compliment the massive axe he had taken a liking to.
Where Nalah was fitted to look like an apocalypse survivor—her protections limited to her torso, forearms, and shield—the black-furred male resembled a giant, if underfunded, paladin. All he needed now was some religious imagery and a penchant for exalting the qualities of their god. Joseph almost nudged the guy to suggest it for kicks.
On second thought, he decided that Jax absolutely did not need a reason to start yelling about the Human-turned-religious-figure, because there was no way in hell he wouldn’t. There was no telling what he would choose to say, and the Grand Hunter was perfectly happy never knowing.
Having been with the male as long as he had, it would probably involve ‘taming’ females or something else that would leave him groaning for weeks, if not just contemplating another high-dive from the cliff.
Joseph fixed his own equipment, the ‘Wraith armour’ worn over his own thin iron breastplate. He wasn’t thrilled to wear the extra weight, but it beat being mauled by the thing they were heading out to kill. The trips so far had been tolerable, fog and overcast skies keeping the temperature in check, but he didn’t want to go out in this on a hotter day as Summer really kicked back in. He was sweaty enough without baking inside all this crap.
He adjusted the wolf-skull mask, the rest of the hunting party having gotten over the worst of the unease it gave them. Though they’d needed to rotate people out for the sake of fairness, this would be their eighth consecutive scouting. Using the information that Raine and Faye provided, they narrowed down a likely stomping grounds for the creature and were systematically clearing sectors. It might have been discouraging to keep looking after so long, but the occasional marking on trees and the odd moss-wolf corpse tipped them off that they were getting close. There was still another week’s worth of searching left if today wasn’t the day, but somehow he doubted they wouldn’t need that long.
All in all, they numbered six; larger parties were attempted, but their efforts at stealth quickly became pointless between so many trudging through the forest and stopping for breaks. There was a bit of a scare where one of Mi’low’s pack went missing, but the guy had just stopped to relieve himself. Since the discovery was made by someone else knocking him over in the process by mistake, they decided that keeping the number smaller made communication easier. And lowered the amount of grumbling about needing a bath.
Jax, Nalah, two security members, one of the hunters, and him. Sure, grabbing Tel or the Wraiths would have been a bit more useful for cohesion, but they were all busy with things, and he didn’t want to grind everything in the settlement to a halt for nothing if the search turned up empty again. They were more suited to taking out their fellow Lilhun than some monster in the woods, as much as he disliked the thought.
Scarlet was spending a lot of time with Violet and the new Atmo, Faye was spending much of her recovery with the moss-wolves and moss-pup, and Tel was in the process of helping Harrow shore up the few security members that were slated to become snipers. Kaslin was still learning chemistry with Toril, and Raine was helping whoever needed a hand, so that marked off all of his usual accompaniment. He could have taken more of his direct pack, but they all had important things to take care of as well.
Sahari was managing the pack and putting people where people needed to be put, Pan was working with Idee and Heralt to make a line of armour for the whole pack, and Mi’low was...well, Mi’low. He was pretty sure she was unofficially the master of the hunter’s lodge and spent most of her time keeping track of what came in and out of it, while also making sure that everyone got their fair share. It needed to be done with the settlement growing as much as it had, and it kept Mi’low busy enough to stymie the flow of complaints, so he wasn’t about to complain.
They double checked that they had everything that was needed; food, water, arrows, bolts, and some bags to store anything that the snares had caught on the way back. Four ranged and two melee weapons meant that they would be mostly using Jax and Nalah to soak hits if it came down to it, the others peppering it with projectiles. Given that Harrow was insistent on the bear-thing being resistant to anything they could use at a distance, they also carried spare weapons for the ranged users, just in case. Nodding, Joseph gestured to the group finishing up their preparations for the day’s trip.
“A moment, sir?” Scarlet called to him as she approached the gate, the Wraith flanked by Rose and Cobalt. The two Atmo were decked-out in their own armour, which appeared to be almost entirely metal, save for the palm lining the inside for comfort. Each of their six legs were adorned with broad shields, their bases capped off with a flat storage carriage. They looked like someone had a little too much fun testing how much the insects could effortlessly carry and had ended up with sapient hexapedal tanks.
“Only if you explain why those two would look more at home if they had cannons installed on their backs,” he quipped, an expression somewhere between surprised, amused, and plain dumbfounded plastered on his face. The blackish red-furred female smirked for a split-second before resuming her usual servile presentation.
“The young mistress had extended her request for these two to accompany you.”
Joseph tilted his head incredulously. “Violet told you to send them?”
Scarlet nodded, gesturing to the outfitted Atmo. “They have been under her tutelage for some time now, and wish to be of assistance.”
The Grand Hunter snapped his mouth closed when he was about to ask why his daughter would teach them anything that might be useful for fighting a deadly beast. Of course she did; It was one of the first things he did for her. It would have been weirder for her not to pass on what she knew after all the hours she spent either seeing him coach the others, or being coached herself. With the time she had under her belt, she was the local Atmo Close Quarters Combat specialist, and no one else understood how the modified boxing she learned worked with their bodies like she did.
He wore a hesitant expression, shifting his weight to his other leg. “Well, they’ve certainly geared up.”
“It is a product our smith is rather proud of,” the Wraith affirmed confidently.
He exhaled slowly. “Seems a bit much.”
She seemed to be expecting the remark, barely pausing to register what he said before responding. “Your kit wishes you safe, yet understands you would not allow her to accompany you. These two wish to be of assistance.”
To punctuate her point, the two nodded in agreement, walking forward and slinging some of the backpacks onto their carriages. It seemed ‘no’ wasn’t something they were going to accept after Violet had said her piece. He sighed, conceding that they wouldn’t slow the party down with everyone carrying so much weight in equipment, regardless of the bags. They took breaks frequently enough to accommodate the Atmo, so that wouldn’t hinder anything either.
“Fine,” he relented with a wave of his hand. “We’ll take them. Not like they’d hurt anyway. But–” He put a warning into his tone. “–they’re not playing the hero and getting themselves killed. This isn’t going to work if they think any of us dying is still a net positive, got it?”
The two Atmo mimed their understanding, Scarlet replying with a victorious smile. Joseph couldn’t help but bemusedly roll his eyes. The female had taken rather well to baby-sitting, and that seems to have extended to humouring the young Queen’s schemes now. It wasn’t an unwelcome addition to their little sojourn. At least they could haul back any larger game without it tacking hours onto the return trip.
He thanked Scarlet for her trouble before dismissing her, confirming with the group that everything was accounted for, and set off before it grew too late. He wasn’t looking to get caught out in the woods during the night. The Lilhuns might be fine, but he was pretty well blind unless the moon felt generous.
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Jax watched the two Atmo quietly follow on the sides of the group, their heavily armoured forms posing no issues with their naturally soundless movements in the forest. In the den, they would make moderate clacks and clicks as their chitinous legs contacted the ground, but the soft dirt and foliage stifled all but the smallest report of their travel. With Scarlet supervising alongside Violet, he wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the former Blade had influenced their movement with the goal in mind, though he had never paid much attention to how they walked before to compare.
He had to admit, having them carry the additional equipment was exceedingly useful. He had proposed having the group use the newly acquired platforms on their more arachnid-like abdomen to rest in shifts, but Joseph was quick to insist that the insects were of lesser stamina than even Lilhuns. The phrasing seemed like a comparative insult, but Jax had more than enough experience with the Human to know that he had simply spoken his mind. To him, everyone had sub-par stamina. Training had gone some way to remedy the discrepancy, but the Grand Hunter could still continue for longer than even the most well-conditioned of them.
The black-furred male rolled his shoulders, feeling the heft of his axe shift with the movement. It was an impressive size, the weight well-balanced and its edge sharp. He had once laid it to the ground out of curiosity and confirmed that it was about as tall as Pan from head to haft, though only if she stood to her full height. Regardless of its size, it was still lighter than the armour he chose to don.
Having only really worn leathers or a few sets of ironwood protections, the encumbering prominence of the iron equipment took getting used to. It wasn’t entirely restrictive, but did put a damper on any chances he had of sprinting from danger. That was fine, he supposed, since he was wearing it against a beast he had no experience with. It could very well outrun him regardless, and he would rather have the defences in either case.
Nalah seemed to be doing fine, the large barrier she kept on her back swaying slightly as she walked. She was unhindered by it, her movements barely affected by the bulk, which was reassuring. Joseph, however, seemed to be panting more than usual, the rolling cloud coverage easing as the sun progressively warmed the environment. The fog from earlier meant that it was rather humid, and that seemed to bore no well wishes for the male encased in dark leathers and thick plates. He had even flipped down his hood, the sweat beading on his skin adding a sheen to his visage.
“I liked this better when the sun didn’t exist,” the Human lamented quietly, just loud enough for Jax to hear. The black-furred male chuckled.
“It would be rather dark.”
Joseph glared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes. “I just don’t rank ‘heavily armoured hike through the woods’ high up on my list of things I want to do regularly.”
“I believe that list would be occupied by your mates, no?” he ribbed playfully, a smirk arising when the Grand Hunter shunted his eyes closed in a grimace.
“I hate you.”
“I can see your smile underneath your displeasure, Joseph,” Jax quipped, nudging the male with his elbow, then giving an apologetic smile when his friend almost fell. Joseph sighed, waving Cobalt over and fetching a water-skin from the luggage that the insect was ferrying without breaking stride—though he needed to be careful not to get stepped on.
The Atmo always amused Jax. Be it their passive demeanour hidden by their towering stature, or his interactions with the den-kit, they never failed to be curious people. Having the two that accompanied Volta with them was an unexpected development, but he couldn’t claim to disapprove. If they had been imparted the methods of combat that Violet had cultivated, then there was little worry of them being harmed by naught but perhaps their current target. At least not until there was a better reference of its strength than the single encounter the first-years had so long ago.
At the time, it had smashed pillars and pierced flesh effortlessly, claws proving to be little more than tempting ministrations of tender touch to the thick hide. Jax only had some of the pack’s recount to base the experience off of, but was content to take their word for it. He was, ashamedly, preoccupied taking care of baser needs when the event transpired, so he was woefully unprepared for the eventual encounter. Still, he was afforded the best the settlement had to offer so that he might serve his duty of protecting the Grand Hunter. Harrow would never forgive him if only he returned.
His thoughts were disturbed by Joseph calling for a rest, Jax’s legs thankful for the break from supporting the unusual weight for so long. The Human dispensed rations and water for the pack, the Atmo waiting until everyone else was supplied before accepting their portion. They rested on their base directly, instead of curling their legs beneath them like Jax had become accustomed. Perhaps the armour impeded such, or they wished to remain mobile in the event such was required. Regardless, they blocked what little breeze there was, forcing the Grand Hunter to walk beyond them to enjoy it in the shade. It was short-lived however, as Rose quickly repositioned to stay between the pack and whatever lay beyond their protections.
It was a futile effort, it seemed, because it repeated again twice before Joseph groaned loudly and threw himself atop the carriage to lay back, his legs dangling at the knee. He seemed perfectly content with the unorthodox arrangement, snorting his amusement along with a muttered comment about a ‘taxi.’
The entertaining sight was marred by a distant yelp, snapping the group to attention. Jax and Joseph traded looks, subtle nods and gestures given to move out while remaining quiet. Ignoring his earlier complaints, the Grand Hunter flicked his hood up and donned the mask, drawing his crossbow and readying a bolt. The hunter of the pack mimicked the preparation, the two security members loosely nocking their arrows while Rose, Cobalt, Jax, and Nalah took point.
They proceeded quietly for far longer than the proximity of the noise would have suggested, but marks and gashes upon the trees implied a moving conflict. Thoughts of it being a lost cause quickly became moot as a closer growl and bark shattered the careful silence they had been maintaining.
Motioning for the pack to stop, Joseph waved Jax forward, Nalah approaching the other side. Using the large shield as additional cover, they peered around a particularly thick tree. Locked in combat were two moss-wolves, both attacking a truly massive grey creature.
Twice the Human’s height, half that in width. Four pillars as legs—the muscular trunks sinewy and defined—supported the disturbing hunched figure, the wide base tapering slightly into a thick and extended torso. A singular eye-stalk replaced the head, the ocular organ atop it pitch black and free of any indication of its focus. Four arms with deadly claws parried and sliced the two yellow beasts as they attempted to drive off the predator, a sickeningly large maw gaping to catch any attempts at a lunge. The mouth of the creature almost occupied the entirety of the available surface area upon its front, the jagged bone tools of manduction undulating with the promise of sustenance.
Joseph pulled them back, cursing under his breath as he tried to fight off the tension. From Nalah’s worried expression, it seemed his caution was rather potent, the other members of the group smelling his reaction as well.
“So, what’s the plan, Jax?” the Human whispered, his grip on the crossbow alternating with his fingers stretching across the trigger lest his fidgeting cause a misfire.
“I thought that, with your record, you would wish to tame it for the settlement,” Jax replied while thinking through a plan of action. He was glad that his friend trusted him, but he wished he had known the true scale of the beast prior. Joseph grit his teeth, turning to glance past the tree again with sarcasm pouring out of his response.
“Can’t quite see Winnie-the-woodchipper there playing great with kids.”
“You say that after adopting an Atmo as kit, Grand Hunter,” he returned, nodding to himself when a plan formed. The Human smiled, the banter easing the tension somewhat. “Rose, Cobalt, you two are the most well defended of us. Circle around and drive the beast this way. You should be capable of such without noise, yes?”
The two insects nodded, emptying their luggage behind a tree so as not to lose any of it before disappearing into the trees. The slight glimmer of their iron armour was the only indication of their position through the dense forest. Jax hoped that the beast was not particularly curious about the dimly pulsing glare, nor finished with its current altercation in time to impede the pair.
Satisfied with their progress, he motioned for the two security members to scale a tree and gain a superior vantage point. Their weapons would be able to maintain a more rapid pace of sustained fire at longer ranges. Joseph and the hunter were instructed to hide behind trees nearby, though the Human would need to remain grounded as his lack of claws made scaling the large flora difficult with his equipment.
Finally, Nalah and he positioned themselves much closer, in order to flank the creature as it fled the Atmo and occupy it long enough for the others to bleed it out, if not outright dispose of it.
With the forms of the Atmo peeking through the brush opposite them, Jax raised his axe to signal the start.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Joseph felt the hammering in his chest, his heart preparing him to fight for his life against the walking abomination that easily outclassed the only other predator that he had experience with. Sure, the moss-wolves were easy to take down once you had equipment and a plan, but that thing screamed danger.
He watched Jax and Nalah set up behind thick trees, their goal being for Jax to hopefully disable a leg or two with the war-axe while Nalah occupied it with the shield. As the two strongest members of his little family, he trusted both to do their job.
As a clusterfuck of animal and torture device, he had no faith in the creature playing along.
Swallowing his hesitation, he adjusted his grip on the crossbow again, mentally tallying his shots and cursing himself for not researching explosives. Sure, Toril didn’t want to be involved in that kind of weapon, but at the moment, the tailless white-furred male could suck it up and make one anyway. Joseph would give his left nut to see how quickly the chemist would make weapons of mass destruction just to annihilate whatever that thing called home.
Jax raised his axe, glinting the sunlight of it towards the Atmo. Receiving the start signal, the two clicked and loosed a deafening screech, the Human’s ears ringing even from this distance.
The beast seemed unperturbed by the noise, though the lack of visible ears may have had something to do with the lacklustre effect. Regardless, it did notice the two armour-clad insects charging at it, and smartly decided to extradite itself from the area. The moss-wolves, however, didn’t quite get the memo, mistaking the advancing assistance as yet another foe to defend themselves from.
He had to say, Violet taught the two well. They flashed their blades out in the same flicker jab that he had shown his daughter, and with an unceremonious squelch, the two bisected canines landed in four pieces, a vibrant green ichor now staining the weapon-like appendages of the Atmo. Undeterred by their first act of violence—as far as he was aware, anyway—they continued herding the beast.
It wasn’t as fast as they might have feared, its quadrupedal gait hindered by its proportions, but it was still quick enough to be damn intimidating. Its arms acted as a counter balance, constantly adjusting this way and that just to keep it stable. That thing was clearly never meant for sprinting, all its mobility being given to the overactive maw that pulsated with the exertion.
He readied his crossbow, the shaking in his hands not ruining his aim against such a large target. He eyeballed the distance between the creature and the ambush point, forcibly moving his finger off the trigger so that he didn’t fire early.
Closer. Come on. Almost.
Now.
Jax wound up like a particularly enthusiastic lumberjack, putting his full body into the rotation. The massive axe swung like a horizontal pendulum striking home with all the finality of a clock tolling midnight. It bit into the front leg of the beast, only sinking a few inches before momentum nearly wretched the weapon from the black-furred male. Luckily, the force and timing was enough to trip it, the creature crashing to the forest floor with a deafening roar of pain.
They could hurt it. That made him feel better.
His relief evaporated as the beast swiftly recovered, hauling itself from the ground faster than he thought possible, but his archers took it for an unspoken signal. Arrows and bolts peppered its thick hide, to no effect—it shrugged off the projectiles like they were nothing more than pine needles, none sinking far enough to gain notable purchase.
Jax hefted his axe for another strike, careful not to over-commit this time. Nalah prodded the beast wherever she could with her pike, the melee weapon sliced and skewered just past the surface of the hide, though not enough to do more than marr. It was, however, enough to gain the attention of the target, the creature swinging two of its four arms to rake across the shield that the blond-furred female held. The iron plating across the front let out an unearthly shriek as claws ripped and crumpled the metal.
Well, fuck.
Nalah was quick to react, treating the shield less as an immovable barrier and more like a slight distance buffer, dodging in and out of range to steal jabs with the polearm. The security members nocked another volley, picking different targets than before. An arrow bounced harmlessly off the black orb of an eye, another finding purchase in what passed for gums in its mouth.
The hint was received; aim for the mouth. Thankfully, that was a large target. Less thankfully, it realized that flashing its teeth was detrimental to its health, slamming the maw closed.
Jax managed another swing, this time into one of the rear legs. It wasn’t as effective as the first strike, but it did warrant a sweeping double back-fist from the creature, scoring Jax’s armour with shallow claw marks as he jumped backwards. Joseph let out a breath as he fired his second shot, only just narrowly missing the sliver of a gap between razor teeth that the enraged attack afforded. It couldn’t keep its mouth shut forever, each frenzied swipe pulling its form enough for glimpses of softer flesh within to appear. The hunter dropped from their tree, darting across to reposition for a wider angle to capitalize on. The creature noticed, lunging forward to eviscerate the easier target.
Joseph blinked as two armoured figures jumped in front of the Lilhun, raising their blades in a tight guard to block the four arms grabbing for a quick meal. The beast recoiled with a thunderous screech, two of its appendages sporting deep gashes that fountained blood, while the others managed to impact above the edged outside of the blades. Rose and Cobalt pressed forward, buying time and space for the hunter to collect themselves and scale up another perch. Taking advantage of its pain, two new arrows ripped through the air, smacking into exposed inner flesh. Two new protrusions joined the first in the mouth, one landing next to the existing projectile, while the other cleared the gateway of serration, driving deeply inside of it.
More flicker jabs and extended straights pushed and cut the beast as it tried to gain distance from the two that wounded it, every retaliatory strike earning it another gash in its grey hide.. Unencumbered by the constant barrage, Nalah thrust into its legs more vigorously, her body leaning into each attack to gain every inch of penetration she could into the muscle and thick hide.
Jax used the chance to score another chopping blow, doubling down on a previous wound to a back leg—striking bone this time, based on the unholy wail the beast uttered. Joseph raised his crossbow to land another shot into its mouth, but the beast flailed wildly to fend off the ambush.
Rose managed to block, Jax lunged backwards, Nalah deflected most of it with what remained of her shield, but Cobalt was caught by a strike, taking the hit to its torso. The Atmo flew backwards, rolling when it landed, the carriage and assorted armoured plates trailing behind it. Rose shifted instantly, covering the direction that their companion had been sent while Jax and Nalah focused on pulling the beast away from the downed combatant.
Joseph’s eyes flicked to the Atmo, waging an internal battle on whether helping the insect would be better or worse for the situation as a whole. He didn’t want to lighten up their assault if it would just mean more injuries, but Cobalt could be in dire need for a patch job. It was hard to tell from where he was.
Cursing, he bolted from his spot, firing off one last round into the gaping maw before clipping the crossbow onto his armour and sliding on his knees in front of Cobalt, healroot hastily retrieved from his pocket.
He paused, sighing in relief when none of the armour bore more than deep gashes, the carapace underneath unblemished by the attack. Cobalt clicked lightly, dazed, but otherwise seeming unhurt. Unlearned in the physiology relevant, he ushered the Atmo to remain out of the fight for fear of concussion or something similar. They could look at the insect back at the base to be sure later.
“Joseph!”
His head spun around at both Jax and Nalah screaming his name, a massive clawed hand sweeping at him—the monster's approach unnoticed while he focused on Cobalt. Lacking a better option, he lunged forward towards the underside of the beast to dodge the swipe, crashing to his shoulder on the dirt below.
The creature raised a leg above Joseph, pounding the earth scant inches from his head as he rolled sideways. Ignoring the kicked up dirt, he brought his fist to the underside of the beast, flicking the release on his bracer.
Blood spouted from the newly formed wound, the blade breaking at the mechanism as the massive animal lurched in pain, Joseph rolling out of the way of another attempted trampling. He scrambled to his feet, feeling the wind of another strike narrowly missing him.
Yeah, that would probably kill him.
Luckily, the injuries renewed the desire to flee in the monstrosity, the group of attackers proving too dangerous to continue challenging. It stumbled away from them, sparing Cobalt from its panicked trudging. Jax and Nalah started to run towards him, worry evident in their eyes, but he barked for them to finish it, redirecting the two to keep the pressure going. He didn’t want to mention the pain in the arm from where the bracer hitched. It didn’t feel broken, and thus was irrelevant.
Pressure applied, the grey beast picked a random direction free of opponents to escape, ignorant of the waiting security. When it was too close for them to shoot into its mouth at a decent angle, they slung the bows over their shoulders and drew the swords they had been afforded, patiently waiting with the blades turned down.
It passed below them, the two Lilhuns dropping from the branches to put their full weight into the plunging blades. Both landed on the large target, one sword sinking deep into a shoulder, while the other managed to pierce one of its hip joints. The beast spun haphazardly to dislodge the ‘new’ threats, both security members kicking off and finding new trees to set up in.
Whatever damage was actually done, it had lost the use of an arm, and its gait shifted awkwardly as the blade lodged in its hip worked more harm with each shambling step.. Emboldened, Jax picked up the pace, struggling to position himself with the amount of metal he wore. Ducking another swipe of its claws, he saw his chance and swung, pivoting with his axe as a counter weight. For the third time, his axe blade found the wound in its leg, adding a sickening crunch as the bone snapped from the impact.
The creature swung wildly, forced to favour its two remaining good legs, and the only other leg that could still support at least some of its weight. It was unstable now, the hunched figure swaying while unmoving. Unable to run, it decided to go down with as many of them as it could.
Rose caught up with the attack, drawing attention from the comparatively squishy Nalah as the blond-furred female deflected a wayward swing with her shield. The once iron-plated ironwood now sporting little more than jagged scraps of metal atop its silver wooden structure, a series of deep gouges marring the surface. Two lunging thrusts with the pike bit flesh, drawing new blood from the beast.
Joseph loaded his crossbow, getting off two bolts, but not managing to keep it steady enough to hit anything of use, his arm faltering under the weight of the weapon. Cursing, he decided to flank the beast and try his luck with the other bracer. If nothing else, the force in which the blade deployed was enough to pierce the thick hide, and the others were doing a good job of distracting it.
The red armoured Atmo let loose a series of directed swings, the fifth severing an arm in motion, the flying appendage forcing Nalah to raise her shield to block the unorthodox projectile. The female was sent sprawling from the weight of the impact, but the beast was too busy voicing its agony to take advantage of it. Jax worked another two chops into the broad legs, but neither managed to incapacitate it any more, and the prolonged exertion was slowing his reflexes.
As if cued into his waning energy, the beast flung Jax with another strike, the hunter of the group sinking a bolt deep into the cavernous flesh of its mouth to prevent an attempt at following up.
Joseph roared, desperate to finish it off before the creature could do the same to his downed pack. He sprinted at the monster's back and slid underneath it with as much speed as he could muster. Throwing his fist into the passing undercarriage, he let the deployed blade leave a long gash in its wake.
The grey monster lost its ability to stand, torn tendons, blood loss, and inflicted injuries taking their toll. The Grand Hunter kicked off his knees to fling himself out of the way of the collapsing figure, grimacing as the remaining bracer proved unable to support the abuse he had put it through. He looked back at the beast, the flailing body failing to right itself as teeth did little more than gouge dirt, its back exposed. Rose approached, raising their blades together and plunging it through the body over and over until it stopped moving.
Exhausted, the Atmo dropped where it was, breathing heavily. Joseph’s instinct to yell their victory was delayed as he hurried over to Jax and Nalah to confirm he didn't need to bring back bad news. Nalah seemed fine, if a bit sore from hitting the dirt and rolling, while Jax just asked to lay down when he heard that everything was over. Cobalt came over to the group, the armour that had come off collected atop the carriage it had managed to loosely affix to its base.
It was light, a chuckle originating from the Human as he slumped to the ground against a tree, but soon the entire group was roaring with laughter as victory settled in their minds. The two security members helped the hunter begin disassembling the beast, their contribution to the fight leaving them with more energy than the rest. They hadn’t been slacking off, that much was certain. The number of arrows jammed into the maw of the thing would have guaranteed a few extra seconds of survival and chances to escape if one of them had been forcibly tossed into there, and it had caused enough pause for the rest of them to get in a few hits up close.
Joseph rested across from Jax and Nalah, letting his heart rate slow from the rapid pace it had been pinned to since the start of the conflict. His arm continued its protests, but from the amount of movement he still had, he guessed that he had just strained the elbow. A few days taking it easy should straighten that right up.
Once the active members were about half way through processing the creature for hide and meat, Cobalt approached him, a mimed request for assistance putting their armour back on being redirected to Nalah since he doubted he could lift the damn pieces without hurting himself at the moment. She obliged, getting the blue Atmo back in full attire, though it took a while.
Rose stood first, stopping over to allow the hunter to place collected bits and pieces onto the carriage before securing it with whatever they could make due. A security member gathered the moss-wolf corpses for a similar treatment. Waste not, want not, he supposed.
Rose ended up carrying most of their spoils. When he was about to ask why, he, Jax, and Nalah were dragged to Cobalt and hefted onto the carriage. A series of confused questions revealed that the rest wanted to head back before it started getting dark, and it was pretty obvious who was the most exhausted of them. Lacking the will or energy to argue it, he flopped back on the Atmo as the trees passed them by, Nalah resting her legs across him as her head sat on Jax’s lap. The black-furred male didn’t so much as smirk, so it was clear he had pushed himself too far to quip about the arrangement as he laid down.
“The next time you wish to exhaust me this much, Joseph,” the Head of Security started after a long while of silence, tiredness in his voice, “I would prefer it to involve my mate and a bed.”
The Human snorted, closing his eyes and enjoying the lack of walking as the surprisingly stable Atmo carried the three of them. “Fuck off, Jax.”
“Of course, Grand Hunter.”
Next
A/N: Patreon is fixed!... aka new one cuz problems with the last. Check it out to support the story, get AI character art every now and then, or even preview sections of chapters as i write them! (aka, before kieve gets to fix them :D)

Is there any word on flames being nerfed? (That falls under the category of Flamethrower, Molotovs, and Engine Fires).
Players should not be catching on fire instantly from simply touching a lingering flame unless its from a direct stream of fire from a Flamethrower, it should be at least 1-2 seconds sitting in the fire to engulf yourself in flames (Damage over time still applies without the instant flame stun). What really ticks me off personally is the engine fires instantly catching me on fire when i'm trying to extinguish it from outside of the vehicle. How big is the flame damage entity on the back of the vehicle? It feels like it covers the entirety of the vehicle than just on the point that's on fire.
In terms of the Flamethrower weapon specifically: It seems logical and fair that it should get a turn speed nerf while firing and movement speed nerf; to what percentage I don't know, as long as a i'm not able to swing nearly 180 degrees with a single mouse movement and casually strafing back and forth while firing the flamethrower. I think it's a good way to balance it as players will simply sprint and burst fire from cover to adapt to becoming sitting ducks when firing for long periods of time in the open without the ability to swing back and forth like its a low pressure squirt gun. Even then, players being attacked by a flamethrower would still be blinded greatly by the flame plume so its not much of a nerf than a balance pass.
I don't want to pull the "Realism" card but a high pressure tank and hose shooting an ungodly hot liquid shouldn't be so easy to spray around willy nilly getting free kills with the most minimal effort.
-Dedicated Flamethrower main, burning players through walls since 2021

Hey guys, me and this girl are both in our late 20s and have known each other for almost 3 years. We met on a dating app a long time ago and even though we hung out a few times, things didn’t really pan out. We kept in touch here and there, but it wasn’t until about 5 months ago that we reconnected and have been talking basically non-stop since then. 3 months ago we went on our real first date and have had a few more since then. We talk every day, our convos are usually text message. Don’t really call each other, but we will send voice messages sometimes. She is pretty busy with her job during the week and I run multiple businesses. She’s Asian, has only been in the US for 6 years, slightly on the conservative side, and a little nerdy as she works in tech. For whatever reason I think she’s beautiful on the outside and inside and am quite attracted to her. After our first date, our text convos became more detailed and exciting. We would share everything and ask questions to learn about each other, use hugs and kiss emojis, etc etc. We have a pet name for each other and say good morning and good night everyday without fail. Even if some days we are too busy to get back to each other, one of us always texts good night. You know how it goes. If you read our history of messages, you would think “they are definitely into each other”. Anyway, we just had our 4th date in the last 3 months. It’s been about a week and a half since then. The last two times we met up, we held hands during some portions of our time together. I wanted to kiss her on the third date since I saw all the signs, but I wussed out and instead gave her a kiss on the cheek, which she reciprocated back to me. After the 4th date, I dropped her off and we were sitting in my car just talking and laughing about stuff for 30 minutes. I grabbed some gum and started chewing it and she saw me and did the same. She started holding my hand and I said we should go home it’s late and went in for a hug. As I hugged her I slowly moved my lips to hers. She hesitated a bit so I pulled back and said “I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a while, is that okay?” She said yes. So I went back in for the kiss, our lips barely touched for 2 seconds when she pulls back and says “oh I almost forgot I got you something, let me grab it from upstairs, just wait in your car for 5 minutes.” so she leaves to grab the gift. I’m sitting there confused like did I do something wrong? It definitely wasn’t my breath cause I take care of my shit, not to mention I used mouthwash after dinner and chewed gum all day even up until I kissed her. So she comes back down to my drivers side door, I step outside, she hands me my gift. It wasn’t anything extravagant or wrapped up. Just a little kitchen gadget she bought two of and wanted to give me one. I thanked her and we hugged. Thought about maybe trying to kiss her again, but I still felt kind of awkward. Our hug lasted for almost 2 minutes though! We just didn’t let go of each other. It felt really nice. Once we pulled apart, she told me I smelled really good. After that, I get in my car to leave. My window was open so she starts holding my hand through the window and slowly lets go before saying bye almost like she didn’t want to. And that was that. The issue I’m having is that she’s being a bit more distant in our messages. Taking longer to respond, not bringing up as many topics. She will still share photos of food and send random videos and stuff, but it doesn’t feel as engaging as it was before the last date. This past week and a half I have noticed this behavior. She will still always text good morning and good night with the hearts and kiss emojis and use our pet names, but some days we only share a few texts back and forth in between. Sometimes I’ll bring up a topic and her response will be super short compared to mine. She also compliments me less. Mainly I’ve noticed that sometimes she won’t respond for 4-8 hours, though she always does. This started happening literally the next day after our date. It’s not like really bad since we still connect with each other every day, but there is definitely a difference or else I wouldn’t be asking for advice here. The first few days I pretended everything was fine and was still being my usual self. We didn’t talk about the kiss at all. Then I just started mirroring her because I didn’t want to come off as needy or desperate. Once I did that a few times, I’d get a double text from her. Or I would just get a goodnight text before she went to sleep. So what gives? I’m confused. Is she still interested? Is she playing hard to get? You think she’s just busy? Does she want me to chase her? Does she want me to ask her on another date again? I’d love to see her more than every 3 weeks, but I don’t wanna come off as needy or pushy since we are both busy people. Maybe since she’s foreign and a bit conservative, that was her first kiss and she feels confused herself about trusting me and wants to take it slow? Even if that’s the case, I don’t mind at all. I’m into her a lot and would be as patient as she wants. Maybe she didn’t want to kiss and felt I forced it? But she also gave me an affectionate and long hug afterwards and held my hand like it was a romance movie. What do y’all think? I know this is getting long, but I’m almost done. Some more context here. She never expects me or asks me to pay on dates. She tries to pay every time, even though I always say no and insist I will and would be happy to do so. On our last date, she paid the check while I was in the bathroom and I didn’t realize it until I came back. She’s a good woman for sure. And lastly, on Sunday after we texted good morning, she mentioned what she was doing that day and going shopping. I responded back and said that I need to buy a new shirt but maybe next week since I was busy that day. She didn’t respond back until midnight, but to her credit she did reply to each thing I had mentioned before she said goodnight. Referring to the shirt, she said “definitely show me the new shirt! Or we can go together if possible”. I got back to her in the morning and said that yeah I’d really like that. Didn’t ask her formally yet but planning to do so tomorrow. Here is what I had in mind: “Kimmy, how do you feel about Sunday? You can help me pick out a new shirt and maybe some new sunglasses. We can also go check out the Buddhist temple you mentioned last week. I’ve never seen one in person before. Something else that has been on my mind. I hope I didn’t make you feel weird or awkward when I kissed you that other night. I was quite nervous. And you looked so cute and pretty as you always do. I did it with good intentions and because I felt something special with you. I really like spending time with you, exploring new places together, and learning more about each other. I’m not the type of person to move fast with this kind of things, so if you ever feel weird, you can tell me “no” and I promise I won’t take it personally. I just wanted to communicate it to you since it has been on my mind. I feel it’s important to be open, especially since I care about you a lot.” If you read all that, you’re awesome and I could really use some advice. What should I do? Am I just worrying for no reason here? Should I talk about the kiss when asking her to get together on the weekend? Should I bring it up in person? Or even at all? TLDR: Talking with a girl every day for 5 months, started taking it more serious 3 months ago. We clearly like each other and have been on multiple dates. She’s foreign and a bit conservative. A bit nerdy too as she works in tech. I am a business owneentrepreneur. Every previous date has been great and fun and we had our 4th date recently and when I tried kissing her in the car after dropping her off, she pulled back a bit so then I asked if it was okay to kiss her? She said yes, so I kissed her, we barely touched lips for 2 seconds when she pulls back and says she has a gift for me and runs upstairs to get it. As I sit there awkwardly confused, she comes back, gives me a small gift, we hug. Hug is super tight and lasts for almost 2 minutes, just holding each other and not letting go. Didn’t try kissing her again. As I’m about to leave she holds my hand for a few seconds before letting go slowly and saying bye. Up until that night our conversations have always been very engaging and she’s pretty quick to reply. We always say good night and good morning every day without fail and use pet names and hearts and kiss emojis. Next day after date and for this past week and a half, she’s less engaging in convos. Doesn’t text back as quick - sometimes 4-8 hours, doesn’t reply as detailed, and won’t initiate as much as she used to. But she still mentioned a few days ago that we should hang out. It’s not all bad because we still talk every day and she says good night and good morning the same way every day with the hearts and kisses. But I feel it’s different. What do you think and what should I do?

My(F20) parents are extremely controlling and protective of us bordering paranoid. I've never been allowed to have friends, social media besides Gmail, YouTube or WhatsApp till I was 19. My father yesterday in a semi joking but serious manner cornered me and said he will be receiving all my passwords (for my phone and laptop) and account access tomorrow. He said he needs to check and see the people I may talk to and who and so that he can protect and guide me. In reality I have been having secret social media accounts and friends online, he doesn't know about any of this so I will not give him access. I also keep everything hidden and cleared because I'm worried of my phone being snatched as I've experienced in the past and been punished harshly for. So really refusing to access to my phone, laptop, email will be more about being petty and feeling uneasy and grimy about having to give my father access. He always says you can check my stuff therefore I can check yours but I'm personally someone who likes to give complete space to people so I hate the thought of even doing that.
I'm still navigating being an adult who is completely well taken care of by her family while also trying to figure out how to be herself. I'm trying to go to college but my father keeps forcing me to wait so I can do more things to improve my chances of getting into an ivy league school. I can't wait to go to college because them I will have a little freedom to not be 24/7 patrolled, tho he is hoping it's a college near us so I will be at home. I'm also hoping college will maybe be a way for me to start being allowed to live alone get a job get a car etc maybe even be with my boyfriend secretly!
I'm just worried if I do too much disobedience I'll be kicked out. I know I'm just being anxious and he wouldn't because he doesn't even let me leave the house alone, only with his permission 20 minutes to walk around our house or to take out trash. I try to be a good daughter by cooking and cleaning, assisting in a secretarial way in his work, being someone loving and caring while also fulfilling his desires of having a accomplished academic daughter. I recognise that none of this will payback the care he has given me. He is extremely verbally and emotionally abusive sometimes but I try to move past it.
Tldr: Considering my father still takes care of me and loves and wants to protect me very well, is it wrong to try to be more adult by trying to have privacy by not giving him access to devices and accounts.
Normally I would ask my boyfriend for advice but I haven't been able to sneak around and text to him and it's also too late at night to text.
What I've felt for years is that my parents are in the wrong but I wanna make sure.

John was bored one night and decided to get to work on something. He didn't know what exactly to do, so he decided to write a story since writing was one of his hobbies. However, John was so bored that he didn't even know what to write about, so that's when he gave up and went right back to bed staring at his vinyl record copy of The Best of Bread resting on his turntable. He was too lazy to at least make an attempt to drop the needle on the record and listen to some music. Instead, he just stared at the ceiling desperately wanting to do something great, but lacking the energy and motivation to do so; he needed some kind of incentive... John suddenly jolted not realizing that he had dosed off, so he decided to call it a night and close his eyes for good till morning. It was 12:37am...
Twisting, turning, and mumbling, John finally woke up not feeling too well, but it was only 2:00am. He stumbled to the bathroom like a blind drunk man to pee and wash his face. He was cold and shivering like a worried puppy trying to shake off the unpleasant dream that he woke from. After he washes his hands, he stares at himself in the mirror recalling the dream he just had...
A white middle aged man was mowing a lawn. The lawn looked like a small version of John's childhood home in Jonesborough Tennessee. The man was wearing a beige straw hat and had a smirk on his face while constantly wiping his sweat. There was no one else around, just the man mowing the lawn. There was something cold and unwelcoming about the lawn mowing man's presence. He never made eye contact with John, yet John felt as though he was looking at him. "But how?" John whispered to himself... The more John wondered that question to himself, the more hostile the presence of the lawnmowing man became. Still, the man never batted an eye at John, but gave the feeling as though he knew everything about John and was watching him like a Hawk... The lawn mowing man's smirk grew larger, more sweat began to pour from his face as he violently swatted his hands across his sunburnt forehead... Suddenly the ambience became louder and louder which resembled a chaotic orchestral crescendo and...
John suddenly snaps back to reality while still gazing at himself in the mirror; he smirks and tries to laugh the dream away, but there was just something so unsettling about the dream that words just couldn't describe. John desperately wanted to forget about the dream and was too scared to go back to bed fearing that the dream may reappear. He gets back in bed and stares at the ceiling once again but accidentally doses off...
John finally sleeps well until morning when he wakes up to briefly eat some cereal and then gets back in bed realizing he doesn't work on Saturdays... It was dark and raining, but no thunder or lighting, just rain. John hears the sound of a lawnmower revving. It comes in and out of audible range. He rolls out of bed like lazy lion and peeks out of the window only to see the lawnmowing man once again. This time however, the lawnmowing man waves with a normal looking smile on his face while politely hollering, "Hi John! How are ya?"
John suddenly springs upward on his bed like a petrified deer unable to move and process what's going on! "Oh crap, it's 2:00pm!" John says to himself feeling like the end of the world is at hand. John's mind slowly starts to wake up as he begins to relax remembering that he doesn't work on Saturdays. But nothing seemed to be able to ease him away from that dreadful dream. Nothing he did could shake that feeling off, it was almost as though the dream really did happen in some unearthly dimension or realm that the human spirit goes to while slumbering... But there it was again, the sound of the lawnmower slowly going in and out of audible range... John chuckles realizing that the active lawnmowing team outside was the reason he dreamed of a lawnmower in his dream... But what about the first dream? he thought to himself...
It was a beautiful sunny day and John wanted to take advantage of the day while also hoping to forget about the unpleasant dream he had. He ate a quick meal and dressed himself for an adventure to the grocery store. He had to pee before leaving, so he went to the bathroom to take care of business... While washing his hands, he stares at himself in the mirror and chuckles again trying to convince himself that it was just a normal dream. "It was literally just a dream about a man mowing the lawn, I mean how is that scary?" he said. "I mean, maybe I was feeling a little sick and that's why such a normal dream felt so terrifying. Oh well, it's normal. Let's go get some groceries and ice cream so that I can focus on that story I want to try to write this time tonight!"
John hits the road in his silver 2012 Mustang leaving nothing but dust and bad bad dreams behind. As he's driving through a suburban area, he notices a man in a beige straw hat mowing their lawn... John chuckles and says, "Haha, see? Totally normal!" John finally arrives at the local grocery store... John parks his Mustang when the sky suddenly turns grey as rush of pale clouds dim the skies. The grocery store looked rather ghostly and depressing. There were many old looking cars that resembled a 2002 Toyota Camry, some with rusting canopies and dirty hubcaps. Out in the distance of the lot, there was a lawnmowing team truck branded with a decal that read Straw Hat Lawncare...
John made his way into the the grocery store and felt a bitter welcome from everyone inside. Nobody glanced at John. Everyone in the store looked like depressed fish passing by each other. There was a Hispanic family talking Spanish. The father was wearing a green jersey and the mother was sporting a pink sweater with grey sweatpants. Their kids were following along while randomly touching items. John was Hispanic as well, but felt no connection around this family. That's when John started to notice that nobody made eye contact with him, even when he said "excuse me" to reach for something. Not the employees, not the local sheriff, not the old lady looking at flowers, nobody... Not that John wanted to be looked at or noticed, but there was something odd about this, almost as if everybody was purposefully told not to make any kind of contact with him. It was a feeling that was hard to explain.
John quickly grabs some groceries to rush over to checkout to test if the cashier would at least say hello or something. But to John's disappointment, the cashier did not even greet John when he set his items down on the checkout countertop. The conveyor belt squeaks every time it moves; it's movement seems so lifeless, just like the cashier... Still, no eye contact whatsoever, not even if he tried to make conversation. The cashier just looked down the whole time. John started to panic inside, something just didn't feel right. It's not all in my head! John thought to himself... John grabs his groceries and heads for the exit when he notices a dirty looking man wearing beige straw hat smoking a cigarette. This man happened to be the only person that glanced at John, but it wasn't a pleasant glance. The man had a grim look on his face... John started to get the feeling that everybody was on to him, and that even the people who were ignoring him were actually very aware of his presence.
John was a good guy, not a saint, but a good-hearted person. He's never caused any harm to anyone and has always been a respectful gentlemen. But why? Why does it feel like these people hate me for no reason? John thought to himself again. Although John was physically being ignored, he got the feeling that everybody was actually looking at him... John quickly paces towards his Mustang. His heart throbbing, muscles tightening, jaw clenching, head aching; John starts his car and glances around. He looks out his right window and sees the dull grocery store. He looks straight ahead and sees the lawnmowing team truck. He looks to his left and sees a man with a beige straw hat right next to the window. The man knocks looking like he was begging for money. John being good hearted lowers the window but the man speaks before John could do anything, "Your back tire is flat!" The man kept repeating the same phrase over and over as if having a flat tire was bad luck. The man reeked of whiskey and tabaco, he had no front teeth and looked like he was wired on methamphetamine or something. "Come on out here and look!" the man exclaimed. "That tire's lookin bad man, you gotta get that fixed. You got one of them spares?" "Yeah, I got a spare." John said. "I got this, don't worry about me." "OF COURSE I'm gon worry bout you brother, that's what we do round here!"
The man starts telling a story about his brother Phil who had a flat tire because he was being shot at by some thugs. The man's story seems to go on forever and John starts to tune out. John glances out in the distance over the man's shoulder; the man's voice begins to get muddled as John focuses on someone getting out of the lawnmowing team truck in the distance. His heart starts to race when he sees another man with a beige straw hat stepping out of the car, except this time, John felt a very hostile vibration. The man in the distance puffed a cloud of smoke when he quickly glanced towards John's way with an evil look on his face... John looks behind and sees another man with a beige straw hat just like the one from his dream. Oddly enough, this man waved and shouted, "Hello! Need some help?"
John's heart started to pound and he almost felt like fainting. Maybe it's just my anxiety. "I've got to go!" John told the whiskey breathed man and cranked on his Mustang. He peeled out of the parking lot like a rabbit fearing for it's life. He could still hear the whiskey breathed man crying, "Hey man! I just wanted to help!" The whiskey breathed man kept crying, "I just wanted to help man! I JUST WANTED TO HELP!!" Tears rolling down his face, down his now sad face, "I just wanted to help you DOOD!! Why? WHY this gotta happen to me man? WHY! Why man? Come on! I JUST WANTED TO HELP!! I just wanted to help! Ahh!! AHHH!!!"
John finally arrived back home and hurried out of his car into his house... Suddenly everything was quiet... Too quiet... Finally, peace. I just have to rest and forget about that dream I had. It's ok, that whiskey breathed man was just really high on meth, he didn't hurt me. I was just really freaked out, that's all. I hope that man will be alright. I feel kind of bad, I didn't want to leave him there all alone. He looked like he was a hurting man, could've used a little company. No, what am I thinking? He was just high. Why should I trust some random meth-head like that? Awe, he's alright. He's cool... I'm tired now, I'm just going to relax and see if I can start that story! Yeah, that'll cheer me up! It's just life, weird stuff happens! But what about... No, forget it... But why was I seeing men with beige straw hats all day like the man in my dream? Nah, I'm overthinking, it was just a hot sunny day today, duh... But what about all of those grim looking people at the store? I felt like they were on to me, like they were all in on it. Oh crap! Maybe they know about my dream! No way, that's not possible... But what if dreams really are connected to real-life? I mean, it's part of life after all... Nah, that's too weird, it's all in my head...
Suddenly, the sound of a 4-stroke engine starts revving... Grass? At this time? It's late evening. John crawls over to his window and sees a man in a beige straw hat cutting the neighbors lawn... "Ahh!!" John jolts upwards biting his nails. He crawls back to his bed and tries to once again justify what's happening... Suddenly, he smells cigarette smoke. "What's that smell?" he says... He slowly glances at a dirty light blue uniform and before he could make out what it is, a raspy voice 'declares, "WE"RE WATCHING YOU..." Another voice says, "WE'RE LOOKING AT YOU, HAPPY NOW?" Another voice answers that one, "LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO DALE JERK! AH HAHA!" "YEAH, YOU'RE SO MEAN FOR LEAVING HIM BEHIND!" "DALE ERA UN BUEN HOMBRE..." Said a Spanish voice...
John slowly looked up and saw an extremely pale faced version of the cashier from the grocery store and still not making eye contact, but three inches away from John saying, "Hi honey, how are ya?" and then repeats the phrase over again, "I SAID HOW ARE YA HONEY? WHAT, CAT GOTCHA TONGUE? WELL I'LL FEED IT TO MUH CATS WHEN I GET HOME THEN! BET CHU DON'T HAVE THE DECENCY TO HELP OUT DALE WITH A LITTLE BIT OF FOOD, DO YA?" She kept shouting at John three inches away while still not making eye contact. "SO? HOW YA DOING HONEY? FIND EVERYTHING YA NEED? HAHAHAHA! YOU SU................
John wakes up again... It's 2:00am. Everything is quiet. Desperately trying to forget the bad dreams and the strange day at the grocery store, he finally decides to drop the needle on the Best of Bread vinyl record. The music is soothing. He begins to drift into slumber once again.
John sleeps in and wakes up at 2:00pm on Sunday, he doesn't work on Sunday's either. John realizes he never got the groceries that he actually needed, so he makes his way to the grocery store once again. on another sunny day. He pulls into the parking lot, but this time they sky stays sunny and blue. The lawn mowing team truck is gone. John makes his way inside the grocery store. This time, a jolly old man greets him as he walks in. "How are you doing young man?" Says the old man. "Fine, thank you." John replies. Today, everybody was acknowledging John and making him feel welcome. Lots of smiles and hellos. There was even another Hispanic family who smiled at John while crossing paths. Even the children seemed happy. Hmm, too suspicious. It's almost like they're watching me and know what happened yesterday.
John grabbed all the items he needed and headed for checkout. He approached the counter and was greeted by the same cashier from last time. This time she actually speaks to John... "Hey honey, how are ya?" Says the cashier with a cute smile. "Great, how are you? John replies. "Oh honey, I had such a busy day yesterday! First I had to go see my doctor because of my back pain, then my car ran out of gas and I had to tell my hubby to help me out. Then he starts going off on me about how these lawn mowing guys woke him up at 5 in the mornin' and I told him, honey, they just doin' they job. Oh honey, today is much better, it's a beautiful day and my back feels better." Something about this doesn't seem right... She knows... She knows and she's playing around with me... Everybody is... No, I'm just being paranoid. Forget it, today is a great day!
John makes his way back to his mustang with a kart full of groceries... "HEY DOOD!!" suddenly screams the whiskey breathed man from behind. "Whoa man, you scared me!" Says John. "Oh I'm sorry man, didn't mean to startle ya.. Hey, I noticed you got a spare tire now. Good job buddy! Hey listen man, I'm feeling happy today a.. a.. and I just want to give you my hat!" John looks at the beige straw hat... "Are you sure?" John asks. "Yeah man, go on and take it, it's time I let go of somethings in life. I'm trying to start a new life man and stay away from theses drugs out here man. You go on an take it, it has good luck man!" John accepts and takes the hat. The man smiles. John smiles. "Hey I'll see ya later DOOD!"
It's 12:37am and John is staring at the beige straw hat that the whiskey breathed man gave him... John lugged out his vintage 1970's typewriter and was finally in the mood to write. He knew what he wanted to start with, but just right before he was about to type the letter L with his ring finger, the sound of a 4-stroke engine starts revving...
​
​
WERE LOOKING AT YOU. WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. HOW YA DOING HONEY?

I work nights and I’m regularly the last person out and the doors auto lock behind me. It’s 1 am, and I realized a second too late that my keys were still inside. I have a secret key hidden that lets me open my car, but it doesn’t have a chip so I can’t drive anywhere. I’m a young woman in an iffy part of town.
Do I just lock the doors, hide in my car, and awkwardly wait in the parking lot until they open back up at 10am? I thought about getting an Uber home, but my apartment key is on that same key ring so I’d be stuck there too. I’m new in town and my one friend in the area isn’t picking up her phone. Any ideas?

Fielding fly balls feels awful. I'm not sure if it's the new angle, or less magnetism toward the right spot once you're close, but if it's deep or anywhere near the wall it's pretty impossible to tell if you're gonna catch it or if you need to jump for it.
When a ball is hit slow mo in the infield, I'm pretty damn sure the game doesn't let you input commands to dive or jump while the slowmo is active. There's been many times, even after making sure the slowmo is over, I press dive and my player simply doesn't dive It has gotten to the point that I am MASHING dive and sometimes even then he won't dive.
The pitching feels either harder or just straight up worse. I've dropped from 85 to 80 ego and still it feels like sometimes the game just decides it's HR time for the CPU. Doesn't matter if I'm nailing GREATs on the corners or even throwing balls.
Batting actually feels pretty much the same for me besides the random balls the game calls strikes sometimes which I think they've addressed.
Is it just me, or is the timing on pitching and throwing different too? Why would they change it??? I've had tons of hours on 3 and I have never thrown so many wild pitches or errant throws.
Another thing, why are their so many fielding errors now? It used to be like 2 or 3 a game, now it's legitimately once an inning. Something like (Low Throw 4%) happens way too often now. Maybe they made everyones fielding generally worse in order for the new traits like the diving/jumping one and the cannon arm to seem more useful?
Add these things up with the broken coop stat tracking and the same exact free agents every new franchise (WHY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WOULD THEY DO THIS? Now every new franchise im just going to be looking to sign the same guys over and over instead of the fun of new randomly generated guys) and it's just been a huge disappointment so far.
I feel like almost all the fans would be happy with SMB3 + extra stuff. This feels like SMB3 plus some stuff, minus some stuff and some stuff different for no real reason, why would they take certain things away? And change things unnecessarily?
Why not add new animations like they did and also keep the old ones? Wouldn't that be a lot more variety? Why take away Gunns Jackman's buff body type? Why not just add more body types?
I think I'm sticking with 3 for a while. This has been more frustrating than fun.

Every morning I have started doing a long-line decompression walk with my 6 month Golden Retriever called Sunny. She's very excitable and can sometimes have trouble staying calm in outside environments. These walks have been great as its given her the chance to have some freedom to burn off energy, take in lots of sights and smells and give me an opportunity to walk on attention, recall and settle. I tend to do these walks in big open parks as we have a couple nearby. However, I am becoming so frustrated with other dog owners. It seems that because we're in a park, 90% of dog owners think it's fine to let their dog off lead despite having 0 recall and not paying to attention to what they're doing. It's getting to the point where I'm questioning if we can even go to these places ourselves. I have countless examples over the last couple of months but I couldn't help but feel the need to vent with this mornings encounter. Towards the end of the walk I like to get her into a semi-distracting environment, but one she can keep settled in. Today this was near a pond and kids recreational area. It was early morning so there wasn't many people about but once I get her in a settle, I like to do some hand feeding and capture attention she's giving me. We stayed in this spot for about 10-15 minutes and I fed most of her breakfast, to the point where she was completely settled and focused on me. We notice a man walking past with a lead in hand, he gets about 10 meters up the path and still no dog in sight. At this point the owner is nearly out of sight and then a dog appears and stops, staring down my dog. The owner hasn't realised (why would he when he's far away from his own dog) and his dog begins to slowly approach us. I attempt to keep my dog’s attention, while gathering our stuff and attempting to move on. At this point Sunny gets very excited (shock) and the other dog comes closer. Sunny gives off a playful bow and starts jumping from side to side, typical excitable puppy stuff and in return the other dog begins to growl at her. All the meantime the owner has just about realised and repeats his dog’s name over and over. I'm fearing if this dog is going to react and attempt to attack my dog. Eventually I manage to get our stuff together and begin walking away and the other dog ran away. For the rest of the walk back to our car I had to deal with an over-aroused dog that wouldn’t listen and began making bad decisions. I’m so sick and tired of other owners not being considerate of us. I explicitly make sure we’re out of the way of other dogs and people and always keep her on a long line so I have control over her. Why can’t anyone else do the same? I’m trying to best to keep encounters with other people and dogs calm and measured but every morning I feel like we get set back by other people who fail to control their own dogs. Does anyone else have similar experiences? What do you do in these situations?

Been evaluating DMARC recently, and I couldn't find much information to help guide me when comparing options. So I tried to write down my thoughts in a way I would have found useful. I hope someone on here gets a bit of value out of it.
A few observations is that there is a huge disparity between bottom range vendors and top range vendors in terms of price, and that there is a corresponding disparity in terms of tool functionality and Trust-center maturity. Top tier vendors offer some cool functions, but the increase in price was hardly worth it.
Common DMARC vendor problems
Common problems among nearly all DMARC vendors we spoke to (with 1 exception) was that they all had a hard time giving us a fixed quote, claiming that they needed to run a PoC/Trial to analyze our volumes before being able to quote us. A few would provide gross estimates for us. I got a bit grossed out, because it felt like the sales reps we met with were trying to gauge how much money they'd be leaving on the table.
Bottom Tier DMARC vendor problems
The bottom tier were sketchy in terms of where support is located, where data is processed (issue especially if we collect Forensic reports) and had a difficult time answering questions on the robustness and maturity of their organizational/technical controls for whatever certifications they held. They also provided low-usability UI:s and underwhelming project management features.
One of the vendors even suggested we spin up 2 instances of their platform to manage active/inactive domains separately. I assume sales person was either a) incompetent or b) thought we had just jumped off the bus from Jokkmokk or c) the tool was horrendous.
Another consideration was that these vendors were mostly in start-up mode, and really pushed their logo-slides, indicating to me that they are desperately accumulating corporate value to become attractive acquisition targets. God forbid they'd be purchased by like DarkTrace or something.
I did a bit of quick and dirty math, and couldn't see how they were running sustainable business models. When they described their headcounts and I looked at the revenue generated with an average across their entire "we have this many customers" slide. Especially since a few of the logos these guys said were 'customers' are actually using their freemium/trial to monitor (checked with contacts at company's who were part of the logo-slides.).
These vendors cost next to nothing, but introduce a level of risk I was not happy with.
Top Tier DMARC Vendor problems
3 of the vendors we looked at fit into this category, and the prices were absolutely outrageous. As in +30x higher prices. Than the other vendors. 2 of these were more forthcoming about price estimates, and the last one did the thing where the sales rep was really shady about the pricing so we finally had enough (I found their price list through google dorks and nearly puked).
However, the 2 vendors who were more forthcoming about their prices advised us that there is a mandatory Managed Service tacked onto the DMARC tool. The managed service sounded nice (bi-weekly/monthly project calls with a consultant from their side, effectively brining our time investment down by from ~6-8h / week to ~1-4h / week, which is helpful due to backlog). But we would be unable to unsubscribe from the managed service even after achieving p=reject and just monitoring.
The vendor who's prices nearly made me puke literally had 1 unique selling point compared to peers. The ability to generate DKIM keys through their console. Helpful, sure. But it absolutely does not merit a 2x higher price than the other 2 Top Tiers. The issue I have here is that this was the vendor pushed by Microsoft, and it really got under my skin that the sales rep almost took it for granted that the business was theirs because of the recommendation by MSFT. It made me wonder how many deals these guys get for outrageous price points by buyers who don't know any better.
These vendors cost a bunch, but offer the level of risk I am OK with introducing
What did we end up doing?
One of the vendors who didn't fit into either Top Tier or Low Tier fulfilled our criteria;

1. Mature trust-center backed by good contracts, DPA:s ISO-certs and SOC-II etc. Sales rep and Engineer could speak towards various elements and were happy to make introductions to their CISO:s direct reports for more information.
2. Price point was in-between Top tier & Bottom Tier.
3. Price transparency and Predictability (They could provide prices based on # active domains + number of employees, irrespective of email volumes & sending services)
4. Managed service portion could be removed upon renewal (once every 12 months) and the price effectively goes down by 50%.
5. The sales rep was slightly less sleazy, but maybe that was because their licensing model was simpler? He was also transparent when we asked about recent negative feedback about their support.
6. UI is decent & Integrated project management section so that tasks created in other sections of the console are populated into the project management time-line and assigned to an owner.

Notes;

1. I don't want to break any policy here. So won't post a link to the price-list I found via dorks. I found it on a publicly facing governmental digital market place, published by one of the vendor's partners. Example:
   1. 3-10 Domains + <5 Sending Services scales from £17.5K / year up to 3-10 Domains + <27 Sending services for £100K / Year. And god help you if you have +50 domains.
2. Don't want to mention which vendor we went with in the end. But we got 25 Domains + Unlimited volume + unlimited sending services for ~ €12K / year.
   1. As a comparison this is 10x the price of the Low-tier vendors, and 35% of the price of the most expensive vendor (when accounting for our number of sending sources, email volume and domains)
   2. Year 1 we added on Manage Services to help with our backlog, which we plan on cutting away once p=reject can be safely activated (expected time frame ~6 months -- Which realistically means ~8 months). At this point our annual bill goes down from €18K to €12K / Year.
3. A key consideration that I found tricky before finding the vendor we went with, was trying to forecast expected email volumes since the company is planning on entering new markets, with big marketing pushes. We could have woken up one day and gotten a "true-up" call with up-to a 6x license price increase if our outbound volumes exceeded 2.5million emails. (I don't see that happening anytime soon, but I'd hate to forget about this as the company grows).
4. Getting approval for the spend was done together with marketing, and we split it 50/50. We basically asked our CMO-lite what would happen if their marketing emails went to junk-folders or were rejected outright because one of their marketing services was unaccounted for.
   1. Convo went something like:
      1. "What's your worst-case projection for this initiative?"
      2. "It's x% of target"
      3. "Okey, does that worst-case projection account for if your email marketing ends up in junk folders?"
      4. "Ye... erhh.. end up in junk folders...?"
      5. (Marketing now has a vested interest in being open about the crap they use/want to get, and CMO-lite has raised this twice with her team so far).

Sorry for any spelling/grammar issues, guys. English =/= first language. Some of the information here could be inconsistent between territories/markets. Hope someone finds it helpful.

It happened around March of 2016 since I had my AC on and it was pretty hot night in Texas. Me heading off to sleep on my own bed after my week stay from a behavioral hospital. I was prepping up my bed and off I doze up to sleep at 11:36am. Yes I slept late even though I go to highschool but this week was for me to rest up from school since I gotten a therapist note given to the principal.
Anyways I doze off and woken up in my dream. I was in my room and it was sunny outside. I peeked out the window and it was so warm and fuzzy day. I then lay on my bed with the window opened and then move around my room from drawing to fixing my room a bit and looking at the time. Then it quickly got dark and I shut the curtains fast and hopped back in bed to lay down. I proceed to cover myself in my blanket and hold my body pillow close. It felt like an hour passed and heard a creaking on the floor and got alarmed. I turn slowly to lay on my back and saw the entity.
It was looking at me with pure black eyes straight to my own. It's a monster. A demon. It had six or eight thin legs that ended them being sharp. A long body that made the thing look agilities of a flexible snake with high speeds. The head of human like?? But fleshy of darkness. The body was covered in sort of scales but also the skin was hard and sturdy that not bullet can harm it. The skin was also coming off like a slimy substance but also noticed six pores on its belly which I didn't know what it can do there.
Then it began to speak in a very terrifying voice you can ever hear in your dreams. So clear that you might think you're talking to it in real life.
"So... You're the one I've been looking for you for ages!" It hisses in an angry tone, "I've finally found you... Future guardian!"
I scurried to run away but it quickly pinned me down on my own bed. My body now facing the opposite way whole my feet were on my pillow, I shivered in fear and tried to summon my wings but somehow the entity made something to avoid me from doing so. I felt hopeless as if I was caged up.
"LET ME GO!!! HELP MEEEEE!" I cried for help and my scream felt too real to me. I wished this was not happening in reality. I begged to wake up but couldn't and now stuck in this nightmare.
I checked the time and it was 2:30 am. I'll repeat the clock and keep in mind, the clock is an important piece of my stories.
The entity hisses and the pores became tentacles sprouting under it and lifted my shirt to reveal my back. I was scared shitless and then hit me with the tentacles on my back as hard as it could. My body was now paralyzed and couldn't move. I tried to scream for help or something but couldn't. Even trying to shift my limbs a bit. I couldn't.
"I FINALLY GOT YOU. YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU ARE NOW MINE!!! YOU CAN'T ESCAPE! Can't believe they chosen you to be the new guardian or something in their eyes."
My back felt wierd and it sucked out something out of me. It was hungry and starving for fear and I was looking at the door which was my only hope to escape.
Then my hope was close to diminished until I saw bright light on the gaps of the door. The beast looked at the light and continued to look at me. Then loud bangs on the door began to arise.
"THIS IS THE POLICE!! LET THE KID GO! OPEN THE DOOR!!!"
I was scared since the loud banging scares me and the beast snarled and continued to see me as it sucked my back.
The cops banged again and then another being appeared in my room with glowing white light.
"LET HER GO YOU BEAST OF HELL!" it said.
The beast finally let's go of me and scramble to be facing the being. "SHE IS MINE!! I WILL KILL HER IF I MUST!!"
"FROM THE HEAVENS TO GOD'S HANDS, I SHALL RETURN YOU BACK TO HELL!!! YOU BROKE THE GOD'S LAW OF TOUCHING A GUARDIAN IN THE MAKING AND SHOULD BE PUNISHED BY BOTH GOD AND LUCIFER!!"
The entity hisses angrily, "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!"
Then it lunges towards the being and I saw the clock. 3:45am
"TO THE GATES OF HELL!! TOWARDS THE PUNISHMENT OF TWO HANDS, YOU SHALL NEVER RETURN TO THIS REALM EVER AGAIN!!"
Then there was a bight light explode inside while the door was closed and I woke up.
I was in the same position as I was when the entity pinned me down on my bed. My shirt still exposing my back and the clock read 3:45am. I was still paralyzed and moved slowly as the most harsh tingling feeling grown in my body and back. I can still feel the tentacles on my back like six of them and to this day I can feel them still.
I then rested my head on my pillow and was scared to sleep back again. I couldn't sleep till 6 am and I couldn't dream. When I slept again, it was dark. Nothing. Floating in the void as if the entity and being were still around somewhere and it was protecting me for the time being.
After that incident, I fear sleeping because what if it happens again. Then as I dreamed, I felt pain anywhere I got hurt. It became too real that at one point my arm was in pain as well but that's a story for another day.
Idk if that being was the guardian angel since the glowing was too bright to even see them.

Hi! I work odd/late hours and usually in a solitary state when I am. Looking for a chat pal that wouldn’t mind keeping me some company while I’m at it. I like movies, music, and art. For movies I tend to like comedies, I like to keep things lighthearted or slapstick-y For music, my tastes are kind of varied and eclectic. I like rock, country, hip hop, electronic. But my tastes can get more pinpointed to hardcore punk, no wave, and chip tune. As for art, it’s kind of general, but I like abstract and surrealist visuals. But art encompasses so much more than paintings and visuals… If any of this sounds interesting I’d love to chat. Oh, and being that I tend to be a bit solitary, it would be nice if you were open to a more… exciting chat, if applicable lol Hope to chat soon!

TL.DR. at the end...
Pretty much what the title says. My gf has had anxiety and depression for years. We met last year through a mutual best friend "K" (21f), between August and September, and we hit it off as friends.
A few weeks later, I told K that I might be developing fellings for this girl but wasn't sure yet and would not try anything before being completely positive about it. She then suggested that I gorget about it for a while, since this girl was not in a very stable position, mentally speaking.
We get to february and I finally managed to get out of my ex's claws (she managed to rope me back in for a few months before I finally broke free). It should be noted that before and after the deal with my ex, I was completely sane and ready for a relationship (at least that's what I was told by my therapist).
Back to february and I told K that I liked this girl and was sure of it, we had become good friends and I was certain I felt that way and that she felt the same. K told me to go for it, so I went. I told my GF I liked her, I had liked her for some time and wanted us to date.
At first she was confused because she had had toxic relationships previously and was surrounded by false rumors (by the way I despise those), thinking nobody would have feelings for her. She told me she needed to talk about it. I agreed and waited patiently for her answer. She came back saying she felt something but wasn't sure what it was, but was willing to find out.
We dated for a month and a half and she managed to confirm that she did feel the same for me as I did for her, so I waited a couple kore days and proposed to her, so it became official.
While we were dating, and after we became an official couple, she'd have these anxiety attacks on our nightly facetime. They'd last a month on every single night, then be good for a week, and then back at it for another month. I tried to help her as best as I could by reassuring her, letting her know I was there and anything to try to calm her down.
Overtime, it became more difficult, she would no longer answer me and would start hitting herself on her thighs, getting bruises high enough her leg so that her skirts (she likes to wear them) would hide the marks. I died inside whenever I heard her doing it (she would turn off her camera but not her microphone).
She then told me she wanted me to listen, but because she did it in order to receive attention (she gets the worst end of the deal when it comes to her family and "friends"( they started the rumors based on a case of sexual harassment she suffered during the pandemic by someone we both know)). She did it so much she started doing it out of pure reflex, but I managed to convince her to stop.
She stopped hitting herself for a while when she found out I used to do it in private whenever I experienced my own anxiety attacks in the past and also when I told her it made me feel desperate and useless since I could do nothing to stop her whilst being over the phone.
This got her worse because she blamed herself for everything (this is important since she does it a lot over pretty much anything), but stopped punching herself. The first month of anxiety passed and we had a rather pepaceful week, then it came again.
We had a fre misunderstandings over silly things and she started doing something I always hated but never had the guts to say it since I fear I'll make it worse: she stated that every bad thing that happened to her was not important because she deserved it.
Now I don't know about you, but I am the kind of person who believes that nobody deserves to have bad things happening to them. May them be as small as scratching your arm against rose thorns or as big as mentally or physically suffering any sort of abuse.
She, however, is way down that hole and doesn't seem to get out, she says she'll do the work, but I just keep seeing her get worse and worse. Her family does the opposite of help (she gets treated like the black sheep even though she's done nothing wrong) and her classmates and project classmates pretty much force her to do all the work.
Between that and her job, she can't get a break from all the emotional trouble and breaks down every single time. I can't even have a normal conversation for more than five mintues because she starts berating herself and hurting herself again. She now digs her nails into her skin and pulls her hair (at least that's all I've been able to see, cause she might still punch herself without me knowing).
I have tried everything but she always goes back to thinking she's a failure despite everything she's accomplished.
She stops breathing, she feels like she's choking, she ends up telling me I deserve better and that it'd be easier if she just died, to which I counter with "and what about me?" Which gives me "you can get someone better than me because I am a waste of resources" and I am so tired and desperate of hearing that.
She knows I tried to end it myself last year by almost jumping of a building and falling on a piked fence. I did not go through with it by some miracle because I decided I was NOT going out that way and that whenever the time came, I would leave on my own terms.
She tried to do the same on a pedestrian bridge that overlooked a busy avenue but said she was to much of a coward to go through with it because she suddenly feared death. I told her at the moment that fearing death was everything but coward, and I stand by it.
I have a great deal of respect to people who did not go through with it and even towards people who, sadly, did. It is not easy to get yourself out of taking that last step or moving the arm or fingers and swallow one last time.
Whenever she has these situations she apologizes, stating she says a lot of things she doesn't mean, but I'm not sure anymore and it makes my heart break.
Last week I could not take it anymore, it was finals week and I had been studying as much as I could. I was also needed at home a lot to take care of repairs and stuff, so I had to cancel a few times we would be seeing each other. She confronted me about it, saying she felt disappointed, alone, worthless and a failure.
Then I snapped.
I snapped in a different manner than what you may think. I apologized, and didn't even explain. I apologized profusely about making her feel like that and that if she didn't want to talk to me anymore and end things, then I would understand completely and would not get angry or mad at all.
To be honest, it is kind of difficult for me to go out, even if it's just with friends. My family's economic situation is not great (my father stole from us before he ran away, died and left us with massive debts to cover, along with school debts) and everytime I want to go out, the first answer is always "we have no money, you will not go out".
After I said what I said while my first mental breakdown in months. She got worse. Open mouth, insert foot.
We talked it out, thought we'd progressed, but she's brought it up again a few times during her anxiety attacks.
This leads us to today.
One of her friends (it was NOT K) had an anxiety attack of her own and we went to help her. Said friend passed out in her arms (nobody saw it coming) and we rushed her to the infirmary. My GF had to go take an exam and I walked her to it. While on the way, she started having one herself, as she thought of herself as the worst friend ever because she had to go to the exam.
I tried comforting her as best as I could, but I had to skeddadle back home on the bus route and was running out of time. She had an anxiety attack about the same thing during the exam, told me about it and I couls only sit in the bus feeling miserable and useless.
I got home, she then got picked up by her parents and got home, we started talking and something insignificant on one of her school chats triggered another anxiety attack and she stopped breathing. This went on for a couple of hours. I'd try to stabilize her and not two minutes after she'd get it again.
She finally mamaged to sleep, but I am in dire need of any kind of help. I feel useless, desperate, ignored, fed up, worthless. I feel like I'm not enough because she told me she felt alone in this world and it just broke my heart. But everytime I tell her that I was sorry she felt that way or anything else to try to comfort her, she replies it's not my fault, that she's the one with the problem and that's it. But she keeps falling into the same things and repeats them over and over again for hours.
I don't know what else to do.
For those who read the entire thing, thank you.
TL.DR.: My GF's anxiety attacks have gotten worse and I feel useless and worthless because of it.